The Two Worlds of Billy Callahan Read online

  “Dad!” Billy yelled. “Can you hear me? Are you all right? I’m trying to get out of here.”

  He waited for a moment and hoped for a response from overhead…silence.

  The ground came to rest. He found himself in the middle of his dirt cell. The wall rose twenty feet. The disaster created a semicircle space. The distance between the front wall and the back wall was fifteen feet. He roamed the space like a caged lion. Instead of metal bars, dirt and stone held him prisoner.

  He renewed his efforts to escape. He desperately sought a way to reach his father. He felt guilty that his dad could be injured, or worse, because he failed to move rapidly enough when his dad asked him.

  Billy said aloud “I’m not dying in this stinking hole, that’s for sure.”

  He used the same techniques of digging his feet and hands in the dirt and stone walls. He scaled halfway up the northern wall when an aftershock hit. Billy crumbled and fell further to the left, heading to the side wall, which opened and he became half buried between the cavernous opening he had landed in and this new area of a few square meters, developed by the aftershock. He struggled to extract himself from his new position. He was lying on his stomach, his mouth free to breathe the dusty air while his rear end and legs stuck out of the dirt wall that encased him. This would be a horrible death. He was having trouble breathing due to the force of the rocks squeezing down on his ribcage. Each breath grew more difficult. He would suffocate if he failed to free himself from his current dilemma. He tried using his knees to soften the dirt that ensconced his waist in hoping that he could wiggle out of his awkward angle. His used his arms to scoop away dirt. A passing Houbana bustard flew overhead. The seldom heard “eeeek” resonated in Billy’s new cell.

  “Don’t mock me you stupid turkey wanna-be,” he yelled.

  The bird moved on. The ground at his waist loosened. The pain in his leg grew worse as the stone and earth moved deeper within his damaged leg.

  Yet another aftershock rattled the ground. The earth tipped and rolled, and Billy rolled with it. He had nothing to hang on to and pitched forward. He took a deep breath as he fell free of his trap. He caught sight of something shiny through the dirt. The area filled with dust and debris. He couldn’t identify what he spotted. It disappeared as quickly as it emerged. Billy perceived a “pinging” reverberation. He was sure of that. The echo reminded him of the brass camel that his father had brought him from a “Mud Man” episode filmed in Saudi Arabia. The animal stood four or five inches high and came with a brass stick to strike it. The clank of the brass imbedded in Billy’s memory the first time he heard it. He heard a similar noise here, in the bottom of this hole, but couldn’t see what created the sound.

  He tried to rise and slipped. As he tumbled slightly forward, he placed his right hand on the ground for balance. He stood like an Olympic sprinter getting ready to run the 100-meter dash. The shimmering orb returned into his view. It plunged through the air and took aim at his skull. He raised his left arm to protect his head, sending the orb off to his right, where it bounced off the wall and ricocheted back into Billy’s abdomen and sent him sprawling backwards.

  Dirt continued to fall around him. He lost his breath for a minute. He grabbed the sides of the object and tried to push it away from his body. He searched for a handle to grip, but found none. The obvious question of what was it and why it was stuck twenty feet below the desert were questions that would have to wait.

  In that moment, all Billy tried to do was to extricate from this precarious position. His hands found indentations on the object and his head pulsated. If anyone with a flashlight aimed the light down into the pit, Billy’s head, shoulders, back of his torso, and the back of his legs would be visible. A thicker pack of dirt covered the front of his body, and the orb remained stuck. It was half in the dirt in front of Billy, and half stuck in his grasp. He couldn’t move his wrists, keeping his fingers locked in the grooves of the object.

  The ground repositioned. He remained powerless to fight in his current state. His head throbbed and intense lights filled his vision. He became a human version of Hans Solo from Star Wars, stuck in carbonite at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. That image passed in a blink and Billy was free from tension and pain. A low steady hum filled his head. He sensed a foreign entity taking control of his brain and his body. “What is happening to me? He whispered, “I love you, Dad,” fell silent, and closed his eyes. He no longer had any control of his body. Deep within the orb amber lights flashed. A series of clicks and beeps followed. Billy heard none of it. The orb sealed Billy’s fate.

  CHAPTER 3

  Billy saw two orbs sailing to Earth at tremendous velocity. His mind raced with confusion. He tried to move, but his body failed to respond. Cold air rushed passed him, the wind ripping at his skin.

  The next moment he was on the ground, standing adjacent to tall trees. He craned his head upward and spotted an enormous airship circling overhead. The underside opened and seven flying machines exited the mother ship. Billy saw their landing near a clearing beyond the trees. The planes parked in a well-ordered row. The pilot of the airplane closest to him popped the hatch and a head rose from the center of the plane. A human form emerged and climbed out of the plane. A well-built man, and at least seven feet tall. The rest of the pilots piled out of their machines. Nobody detected the child who stood no more than fifty feet away.

  Billy called to them. “Hey, what is this place? What is going on?”

  “They can’t see or hear you,” the voice came from Billy’s left.

  “Who said that?” Billy spun toward the noise and saw a boy, close to his own size and shape, the slightest faint of a smile on his slender lips.

  “You found me. I’m here to help you.”

  “Great. Get me out of here and back with my father.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I’m here to help you understand what’s going on.”

  “That’s a start. Now get me out of here. Who are you? Where are we?”

  “We’re on Tenegraw, you call it Earth. My name is Eeka, but you can call me ‘teacher’. I am not real. My image makes it easier for you to understand what is happening. Your brain isn’t able to handle solidarity for long. Having a representation of me will help you.”

  “Tene-what? Don’t tell me what my brain can’t handle! Who do you think you are? I’m smarter than most kids are my age. This has to be some freaked-out dream. You say you’re not real, but I can see you. Okay teacher, if that’s what you want, fine. Get this over with and get me out of this dream.”

  “It’s not a dream. I can promise you that. You’ve had the unfortunate luck of finding one of our recording devices. You must have touched it. Do you recall grabbing it?”

  “I don’t know. When I fell into the hole, I was trying to figure a way out, and this thing missed my head by inches. That’s the last thing I remember.”

  The teacher scanned Billy’s head and downloaded his life experiences in a matter of seconds.

  “I automatically activated when you touched the correct sequence. The good news is that you’re the perfect age for this. You’re a young boy; you’ll still have time to act. Don’t be nervous about what is happening to you. I’ve taken command of your thoughts and vision. You can’t speak aloud any longer, but I can hear your thoughts. I will keep your body in good shape while you learn. Humans are at an early evolutionary stage and can’t comprehend this technology.”

  “How can I get out of here? asked Billy.

  “It’s going to take a long time. You won’t be home for dinner. When I’m through with you, you’ll have a chance to save mankind.”

  Billy didn’t like the way that sounded. “Save mankind?”

  “It’s all in the programming. I was able to draw experiences from your brain and get the information I need. It’s routine for us. This technology is beyond your grasp, but you’ll have to trust me on this. I know everything about you.”

  Billy yelled, “That’s a bunch of bu
ll. You’re not even real. If you’re so smart, tell me what video game Greg and I play?”

  “Give me a challenge. That’s too easy. You play ‘Vampire Hunter.’ You’re good at it, but Greg has surpassed your high score and has moved on many levels. You have a sizeable green chair with worn out arms that you insist on sitting on when you play with him. You tell Greg that it is your good luck chair. And, I’m sorry about your mother.”

  This stunned Billy. The green chair was a gift from his cousin Amy. It was her favorite item of furniture. When she moved to Arizona, it wouldn’t fit in the back of her truck, so she left it in Cleveland.

  “How did you...I don’t understand. How could this illusion, or teacher, possibly know about the game or the chair?”

  The teacher moved closer. “This will all make sense in time. Let’s continue the lesson.”

  The men in the field talked among themselves. The man from the first plane was dressed in a one piece suit of clothing that hugged his muscular frame. The dark blue material had no apparent zippers or buttons. The other pilots dressed in yellowish-green attire. They stood silently in the clearing. The man in blue addressed them.

  “Let the record show that we are the first sentient beings on this planet. The recording device is operational and this moment will live in perpetuity. I suggest we stick to the task at hand and establish our camp. Miranel, get the marking gear. Check the position of the devices. They want us to record it.”

  Billy could see the man’s mouth move ahead of understanding his words. There was a delay, perhaps a second, between the time he spotted the man’s lips move, and when the voices registered in his head. Billy tried reading his lips, but the words failed to sync with the movements.

  The teacher interrupted. “I’m translating our language to English so you can understand what’s going on. There’s a brief delay. That will fade as your brain gets accustomed to it.”

  One of the men scurried away at the leaders request and returned in short order with a metallic box. He opened it and removed a piece of cloth with multiple colors. A pattern of stars filled the material and the man connected the cloth to a slim metal bar that had a pointed end on the bottom. He searched the ground for a soft spot and jammed the pointy end deep in the ground. The man in blue nodded in approval and the second man returned to his position. Another man turned the recorder toward the man in blue and shuffled in the opposite direction to check on the second device, which remained out of Billy’s view.

  The man in blue continued. “Thanks Miranel. We stand on the seventeenth planet we’ve colonized. Our president has given this world the name ‘Tenegraw.’ It will serve as a gateway to other planets we have populated. The rich resources deep underground on this planet will supply our people with vital raw materials for our civilization and bestow substantial benefits to our homeland.”

  The group applauded the man in blue. Another man, three inches shorter than the leader, called out to the man.

  “Hargudus, you are the first commander on this new world. Congratulations!”

  Hargudus was delighted, showing an exemplary set of sparkly white teeth, all flawlessly formed. The teeth were slightly bigger than the average human tooth.

  “Thank you Arazon. In the future, you will command your own landing party. Today, that privilege is mine. Enough of the platitudes…we have work to do. You have your assignments. I suggest we begin,” he continued.

  “Wait,” said a third man, “we have a surprise for you.”

  “Diro, I hope it’s important. I don’t want to get behind schedule,” implored Hargudus.

  Each of the men withdrew a cup from their pocket. Arazon grabbed two cups and handed one to Hargudus. He ran back to his aircraft and returned in less than a minute with a cylindrical bottle containing a red liquid. He moved from person to person, filling the cup to the top. “Let us raise our glasses to our leader Hargudus. He has brought us on this long journey and we have arrived safely. To Hargudus!” said Arazon, raising his glass and gulping down the crimson beverage. “Now we’re ready,” declared Diro. They laughed and gave each other hugs.

  Hargudus removed a communication device from his front pocket and spoke. “Command station one, this is Hargudus. We’ve made camp and are ready to proceed.” He stood with the listening device to his ear while he received instructions. “I understand sir. We’re ready when you are.” He disconnected the call and stashed the device away.

  “The rest of the landing party will arrive shortly. Please continue your preparations and I’ll signal you when we’re ready,” said the man in blue.

  Billy briefly returned to his own mind. “Am I having a hallucination?” He was not standing next to a group of seven-foot tall people talking and celebrating colonizing a new planet. He was sure of that.

  “I must be dreaming,” he said to no one. Thirty minutes passed. If his father was all right, he would have tried to make contact. If Marrick was alive, eventually he’d wonder what happened to his American customers. “What if Marrick was hurt too?” Billy’s best chance of survival relied on a passing motorist who might spot his father. The long odds caused his hands to tremble.

  “Keep it together dude,” he said to himself. He created games in his head that would keep him occupied while he waited for rescue. The teacher emerged from within his head. The man in blue returned before he could think of anything else.

  Billy and the teacher left the ground and were on the bridge of a space ship circling high above the earth.

  The teacher pointed to the man at the front of the ship. “That’s the captain. The ship is circling the world you call Earth. Our linkage is reaching optimum levels. This won’t hurt.”

  The Captain was not Hargudus. This tall, human-looking form stood on a glossy floor, glancing at the screen in the front of his ship. The monitor measured ten feet wide by ten feet high. The crystal clear image showed incredible details. The darkness of outer space behind the monitor gave the picture more contrast to the planet below. Billy peered at the planet. It had many of the same characteristics of the Earth, but something was amiss. There was one giant land mass, and water covered the rest of the planet. Nobody on the flight deck of the ship acknowledged Billy’s presence.

  Billy and the teacher returned to the ground, where Hardugus had become a city leader.

  “Teacher, I don’t understand what’s going on.”

  “Watch and learn. In one of your science classes, the instructor, Mrs. Miller, told you that history repeats itself. Try to remember that while events unfold. You are young. Comprehending some of these issues may be difficult, but your father taught you well. Observe.”

  Hargudus, his arms folded confidently, guided the city’s growth for the next twenty years. Billy’s viewpoint remained the same. He could see the events happening. He was observing a visual recording of the proceedings that had previously transpired.

  “Diro, you must work faster,” demanded Hargudus.

  Sweat dripped from the assistant’s brow. The heat of the day took a toll on the man and he was having trouble keeping up with the day’s assignment chart.

  “I thought you said we’re bringing more workers from the ship?” He asked Hargudus.

  “We have enough staff here if you do your jobs.”

  “You haven’t told me how you want the work to be done Hargudus. How can I please you if you don’t tell me what you want?” asked the perplexed Diro.

  “You frustrate me. Do I have to show you how to do it myself? Don’t you recall how I want the cords wrapped and the cables laid on the ground? You’ve done a messy job with this. It will take twice as long to clean this way. Get out of my way and I’ll do it myself.” Hargudus gave the man a slight push and Diro eased away to avoid getting knocked over. Hargudus mumbled to himself and Diro searched for another project to work on. He found Arazon, the man in charge of establishing communications between the planet and the ship soaring high above the earth.

  “The one land mass helps us set our satelli
tes at the borders. It’ll take years to complete the job. When we’re done, it’ll be a workable system. With the modifications crafted back home last year, you’ll be able to talk to anyone on the planet without interruption from the magnetic fields on this planet,” said Arazon.

  “Good work,” said Diro, “Hargudus is having a moment. I had to get away from him. Can I help you with your work?”

  “That would be great. Take the vehicle and mark the distances. The markers are in the back of the building. Find an assistant to help you. I’ve preprogrammed the coordinates for you. You’ll hear a beeping noise to alert you when you’re close to the spot and your scanner will light up when you’re within the zone. The ground instruments we brought should be sufficient. Remember to put the markers in the right spot.”

  “Do you think I’m dimwitted?” asked Diro. “Don’t answer that.”

  “Just follow the numbering system that’s in place, and we’ll be fine.”

  The motorized vehicle was the size of an army tank. It had three lasers fitted in the front of the vehicle. Diro and Mordo traveled half a mile when they faced their first obstacle. A series of trees blocked their path.

  “They told in us preflight training, if it gets in the way. Blast it. Prepare the weapon,” said Diro.

  “Check,” said Mordo.

  “Fire,” ordered Diro.

  That command from Diro brought the weapons straight on the trees. They evaporated within seconds, leaving little more than a pile of ash on the ground. The tank moved forward, plunging the residue in the ground. What had taken a century to grow, vaporized instantly.

  It was first in a long line of hundreds of thousands of trees and greenery eradicated for a simple road that led from the landing site to points adjoining the shoreline of the land mass. The scene in Billy’s head switched to Hargudus, who was back at the command center. Hargudus scrutinized the work crews on the monitors located in the rear of the building. Thirty monitors filled the room, each one recording the same territory markings that Diro and Mordo were doing. Billy could see Hargudus in the middle of the room, supervising the action. He removed his communication device at different intervals and conversed with others. More often than not, he remained quiet.