ENCOUNTER Hep Aldridge (best autobiographies to read .txt) 📖

“That is not true.” Jeannie’s soft voice spoke to me. “Your assembling of this group and the discovery of the Citadel was not happenstance. You were the right person at the right time to make this discovery.”

I didn’t move, and Jeannie’s voice continued, “Because of that, the mysteries that you are entrusted with are safe and will benefit your planet. The knowledge that is withheld or erased will be revealed when the time is right via the scholarly resources you help provide; thus, your role in this discovery will live on.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” I thought, “how will all this come about?”

“When the circumstances and time are right, you will know what to do.”

“Are you sure, Jeannie? Because I’ve got some doubts,” I replied.

Her musical laugh filled the night, and she said, “Dr. Colten Xavier Burnett, you question me, a being that has lived thousands of years and watched civilizations rise and fall many times because of the actions of man. You think I have not learned from this?”

“I’m sorry, Jeannie; I meant no disrespect to you. I guess I am having doubts about myself.”

“I understand and would be disappointed if you didn’t. But your role in this story is cast. You and your friends will do what needs to be done, and my spirit will help guide you. So, it will be. Now, rest.”

I don’t remember falling asleep again and woke up four hours later, feeling rested even though I was chilled and had been lying on a rock. I roused myself thinking about what Jeannie had said as I made my way back down to the platform steps and into my sleeping bag, falling sound asleep almost immediately.

The sound of campsite activity roused me. As I rolled out of my sleeping bag, I realized I wasn’t sore and felt refreshed. Not at all the worse for wear from my late-night excursion. Another one of Jeannie’s benefits, who knew? Our morning routine kicked in, and we stopped by the “bathhouse” before heading to the Citadel’s “restaurant.”

Over breakfast, we finalized our questions for Jeannie. We had pared our list down to maybe a dozen, hoping that Jeannie would agree to answer them. We had not seen Lithel nor Jeannie as we made our way to the Cathedra room, where Jeannie was waiting for us. Everyone took a seat on the benches around the room, and I went to the “big chair.” Jeannie was on the raised dais, smiling at us. I was getting used to her new look; the teal aura suited her, I thought.

I began, “Jeannie, we have some questions we would like to ask.”

“I know, Colt. I can see you have many questions, and I will answer a limited number. Knowledge can be overwhelming and misunderstood if delivered like a tsunami or out of context.”

It began, learning more about the library, why it was created, and how it was to be used. We learned more about the outposts that her people and others had established and their locations. Additionally, Jeannie shared more about their star drive and interstellar capabilities, including their ability to navigate wormholes as transit points and learning not all were safe. Her people, she explained, without delving into complex specifics, had created a way to determine which ones were usable and which were not. Joe asked Jeannie about the device he used to weld the two halves of the collector/receptor back together.

She explained the device worked from the inside out and, at the molecular level, fused the two pieces back into one, much like healing Dimitri’s wound. The device she used healed the destroyed tissue from the inside out, quickly completing the life-saving repair process. The settings on the welding device could be changed to turn it into a cutting tool that would cut any material and a shaping tool that allowed the user to shape irregular stone and metal objects so they fit together perfectly. It made the materials malleable and allowed them to flow into the voids between one another. When the beam was turned off, the material immediately hardened.

“Does this mean a device like this was used to create the megalithic stone structures, for example, in Peru?” I asked.

“Yes, this device, along with our lifting devices, have been used around the world by various civilizations, Jeannie replied. “They are especially beneficial for construction in seismically active areas.”

“Well, that explains a lot,” Doc said. He continued, “Jeannie, you said there were colonies on Mars. We’ve sent spacecraft there and haven’t found any indication of habitation.”

“It is another unfortunate story of our colonization attempts. Mars, as you call it, was once very similar to Earth, with oceans, forests, and a breathable atmosphere. Our settlements had been established around the planet and were thriving when a massive solar flare erupted. It hit Mars with a ferocity never before seen, ripping away its atmosphere, and destroying everything on its surface. Some of the colonists were able to leave and make it to Earth before it hit; others chose to stay and took shelter in the underground caverns they had discovered and mines they had been working deep beneath the surface. They survived for a few years but finally had to retreat to Earth, leaving most of the evidence of their colony underground.”

“If the flare was that intense, how did Earth survive?” Doc asked.

“Unlike Mars, in anticipation of such an event, we had continued to develop our technology. Therefore, this protection was in place on Earth, and having enough warning, we were able to increase the magnetosphere around your planet. It absorbed or deflected most of the flare’s energy around the planet. In essence, we created a magnetic cocoon around Earth, but there was nothing we could do for Mars,” Jeannie explained. “Like all civilizations, we too have learned much throughout the years.”

Dimitri asked, “With all this technology, I haven’t seen much in the way of weapons. Don’t you have any?”

“Yes, we do, but not in the