An Ecology of MInd (26 page)

He heard a light step behind him.

“Hi, Nora, do you want a scotch with your dad and I?”

“How did you know it was me?”

“Elementary, my dear Watson, your dad shuffles around like a bear and your mother walks with a definite purpose wherever she goes while you have a light
step as if you were almost dancing everywhere.”

Michael turned and smiled at Nora. “How are you doing?”

“Really well. I got another promotion at work.” Nora worked as a financial analyst at one of the larger banks in Boston.

“Great. About time, they recognized your amazing talent.”

Nora looked at him sharply “You didn’t have anything to do with it did you?”

“Nora, I offered years ago to set you up in a position, and you told me you wanted to do it on your own. I respect that and agreed not to interfere with
your career, so no, I had nothing to do with whatever promotion you received. You earned it totally on your own. Like I said, you have an amazing talent.”

Nora relaxed and smiled. “Thanks. It was unexpected. Cody is doing really well at school as well. It's tough keeping him off the computer and trying to get
him outside but other than that, things with him seem great too.”

“That’s wonderful. Back to my original question for a second. Would you like a scotch with your dad and I?”

“Sure, what bizarre scotch did you bring for him?”

“I’m hurt. It is not bizarre. I’m just trying to expose him to some of the varieties and ranges of flavor that are out there. This one is a single malt
from a company that went out of business about 80 years ago after a tragic fire. Shame, it’s got a nice smooth oaky flavor with some other interesting
hints of flavor.”

“You love your alcohol and food so much it’s a wonder you aren’t over three hundred pounds.”

“What can I say, I’m blessed with a high metabolism, and it would be a shame not to take advantage of that to enjoy some of the finer things in life.”

Chris came in. “How’s my darling daughter?” He walked over and gave her a hug.

“Doing great Dad. How did the lecture go today?”

“The usual” laughed Chris, “The students looked sort of dazed by the time Michael was done playing with their heads. I doubt they will look at the world
the same way for a couple of days at least.”

Michael passed a tumbler of scotch to each of them and raised his own. “Cheers, to Nora’s promotion.”

“Cheers, you got another promotion Nora? That’s wonderful. Congratulations.”

“Thanks. I told mom already when I got here. That's a very nice scotch Michael."

"Yes, it's very smooth. It would probably go well mixed with cola." said Chris.

"You Philistine! Mix it with cola?! I don't know why I bother trying to educate you."

"Relax, I'm kidding, but it probably would go nicely."

"Thank God Nora, that you inherited your mother's taste along with her looks. Your father is hopeless, but that is nothing new. So what have you been doing
to keep you occupied outside of work?"

"Not too much. I try to spend as much time with Cody as I can, and work keeps me very busy. I did get out for dinner last week with a number of girlfriends
from university. We try to get together about once every four months or so. It's nice keeping in touch."

"It's great that you all still make the effort to keep in touch. It is so easy to lose touch with friends."

"Yes it is, speaking of which, I haven't seen much of you the last while."

"I know; I'm sorry; I accept all the blame on that. We should set up a time to get together soon."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Please do." smiled Michael.

Nora's son, Cody, came into the den and joined them. He was an energetic ten-year-old with red hair. "Hi Michael, how are you doing?"

"I'm well Cody, how are you doing? Still playing that online role playing computer game you were telling me about last time I saw you?"

"Yeah, some. Not as much as I was. I still like the game but my friends aren’t playing as much so it is not as much fun as it was. Grandma said I should
tell you all that dinner is almost ready and to start making your ways to the dining room."

"Thank you Cody, message received." said Chris. "Shall we?"

"I think we should. I don't want to have Margaret angry at me," answered Michael.

Nora looked at him skeptically. "You want to get at her cooking is what you really mean."

"That too, of course."

The three of them started towards the dining room. Cody already went on ahead. He hadn't run, but he had been moving pretty fast.

When they made it to the dining room, Michael saw that Margaret had done her usual job of making the table look amazing and even had small treats beside
each person's place setting. Cody was already seated and looking expectant. He was a normal ten-year-old and hungry most of the time.

Most of the meal was already on the table, and Margaret was just bringing the chateaubriand to the table.

"It looks great Margaret, as always."

"Thank you."

They all sat down and enjoyed dinner. There was a comfortable mix of eating and conversation. One of the wines that Michael brought complimented the meal
extremely well.

After dinner, Cody escaped to the basement to watch one of his television shows. This got them all talking about shows and actors. They were in the process
of discussing who each person's favorite actor was and why when Cody started calling excitedly from the basement.

"Mom, Grandpa, everybody come here, come here. You have to see this, come right now!”

They looked at one another, smiled and decided they should go see what had Cody so excited. When they got to the stairway to the basement, he was at the
bottom impatiently urging them to hurry up. "Come on quick, they are saying on TV that aliens have landed by Detroit! Come on!"

Everyone piled into the television room and looked at the screen. There was a newscaster for one of the major networks that seemed to be in the middle of
an ongoing story. He was telling everyone that apparently an unidentified aircraft had landed just north of Detroit.

There was a photo that someone had taken of the craft with their cell phone and government sources confirmed that an aircraft of some sort had landed
there. The photo did not look at all like some sort of airplane or any other type of aircraft from Earth. It was fairly large and had landed in a farmer's
field not too far from a collection of big-box stores. What really had people amazed and concerned though, was that about fifteen minutes after it had
landed a giant dome had appeared over the whole area.

The dome was several miles across and could not be seen through. It totally sealed the area and there had been no contact from within the dome by any means
since it appeared. There was no telephone communication, not even over land lines and no radio or television signals from within the dome either. The photo
they kept showing had been sent by a friend of someone who worked at the network, before the dome went up.

Other than people with friends and family within the dome, most people did not seem to be in a panic but were very concerned at the news. The newscaster
kept saying they would pass on more information as it became available.

"Nora asked "What do you think? Is it real?"

"It seems to be." answered Michael. "It looks like Earth is now in contact with an alien species. This is huge."

"What do you think the dome means?" asked Chris.

"I'm not sure. Hopefully, we'll get more news soon."

At that moment, they heard the doorbell upstairs. They glanced at one another and Chris shrugged and went to answer it.

"This will probably mean big changes in a lot of areas, but just what or what kind, it's too soon to tell. We'll have to watch out for panic resulting from
this. People aren't always rational. Nora, it may be best for you and Cody to stay here with your parents until we see what people's reactions are. It may
be business as normal for most people or there may be some initial rioting in the streets."

"Okay, I don't have anything urgent at work that I know of for the next couple days, Mom, is that fine with you and dad?"

"Of course dear, I think it's a good idea, at least until we see what happens."

Chris called down from upstairs. "Michael, there are some people here that want to talk to you."

They glanced at one another questioningly and then Michael headed upstairs. Nora and Margaret followed behind. There were two men in suits at the door.
Both looked very official and as Michael approached, the man on the left spoke, "Dr. Michael Pearson?"

"Yes, I'm Dr. Pearson."

"We need you to come with us please."

"Why?"

"It will be explained sir when you get there."

He showed Michael some identification that indicated he was an agent Dodds with the Department of Defense. Michael turned to Chris and his family. "I'll
have to go. If it's what I think it is, it’s related to what we were watching on television. If you people need anything, anything at all while I'm gone,
contact Redstone and my staff, there will take care of it for you if they can. Thank you for a wonderful dinner Margaret, take care everyone."

"Is everything all right Michael?" asked Chris.

"I believe so. I probably should have expected this, as soon as I saw the story on the TV.

He turned back to agent Dodds. "Okay, let’s go."

They led him to a waiting black Government Issue car and ushered him into the back seat. The two agents got into the front seats and backed out of the
driveway and drove away.

Chris and his family watched from the doorway until the car was out of site, then looked at one another and slowly closed the door.

In the car, Michael spoke to Dodds. "I assume this is about the alien craft and the dome they were talking about on the news. How did you know to look for
me here?"

"I really don't know sir. My orders are to take you to Washington and deliver you. That's all I was told. We tried to reach you at the Redstone Foundation
and at your house. We managed to contact your executive assistant at Redstone, and she told us you were probably visiting Dr. Wales after some lecture you
were giving at Harvard."

"Okay, if it's fine with you, I'll try to have a nap back here until we get there. I suspect I won't get much sleep for a while once I get there."

"Go ahead sir. We'll wake you when we get close."

THE SURVEY SHIP HAD LANDED in an open area not far from some artificial structures. The ship was on high alert, and all sensors were active gathering
information and searching for possible threats. There were lots of broadcasts in the electromagnetic wavelengths but what they meant was unknown. It was
most likely some form of communication, but they had no way of knowing what it might mean. With no reference points, they could note that there were some
repeating patterns, but that was about all.

The atmosphere and outside conditions were similar to most other conditions that had been noted where life or intelligence had been found so no big
surprises had been found so far. There seemed to be a variety and order to artificial structures throughout the area and what seemed to be transport
vehicles were moving on land trails nearby. The land trails seemed to form an extensive network and extend to distant areas. They did not seem to be just a
local phenomenon.

Air traffic was also noted, but it seemed less numerous than the traffic on the land trails. The land and air traffic seemed to be vehicles of some kind
and not biologic creatures. This was supported by the sensors' readings. There was usually logic to the structures of an intelligent species; it just took
time sometimes to figure out what that logic was as in their experience, the logic and organization varied hugely between different species.

They were releasing chemical messages into the air outside the ship on the off chance that the local dominant species communicated in a similar way to
themselves. Experience showed that to be unlikely. Communication methods tended to be extremely varied in other species that had been discovered.

There were several life forms that had come near the ship since they had landed. They had not attacked the ship, and it was unknown whether they were
members of the dominant life form on the planet or not.

Some ground survey scouts had been hatched in preparation of their landing and when the initial surveys from inside the ship were completed, they would be
sent to explore the area more fully and possibly make contact. They would go out when night came. While they could tolerate the sunlight, they preferred
and operated better at night. Some fighter units had also been hatched just in case and preparations had been made to hatch many more if they were
required. Hopefully, they would not be.

Experience had shown that most intelligent life forms could be pacified genetically and made useful without having to exterminate the species. Of course if
extermination was required the survey ship, and crew would probably be destroyed and dead by the time that decision was made.