The Mendelssohnian Theory: Action Adventure, Sci-Fi, Apocalyptic ,Y/A (7 page)

The prime minister of autonomous Australia, James Chapalcharie,
first and foremost among the ‘Dreaming People’ had navigated his country with
impressive elegance within the political thicket of the major superpowers for
many years. He managed to establish Australia as a neutral zone, in which the
United World Parliament was located, as well as the deputations of the largest
commercial corporations. Even though his authority had been limited by the
Central Government Committee, in actuality, Chapalcharie was one of the most
influential people on the face of the Earth due to the fact that he was the
ultimate authority, which allowed entry and exit from the space port.

In the political-geographical division that the Mumbai treaty
had outlined, Australia became a type of testing ground for the super powers’
ability to cooperate with one another. The small continent remained a kind of
autonomy, headed by a committee composed of delegates from all six superpowers
and delegates of the local citizens. It had no armed forces and its police
force did its best not to be too prominent. The only part of the country in
which military presence could be felt was the central desert of the continent
that had become, over the years, the main launch base for private space
shuttles. The ASP Corporation (Australian’s Space Port Inc.) offered both
private people as well as government and public companies such inexpensive
flights that there was no justification for any organization to maintain its
own landing strip. The Great Victoria Desert in the southern and western parts
of the continent, with its arid salt water lakes, became the giant space
shuttles’ home port, the sole civilian arrivals and departures site on the
globe. The location allowed the most economical takeoff and landing angles, as
well as greater precision and higher acceleration rates. Upon their return to
Earth, the space shuttles, carrying quarried substances from Mars and Jupiter’s
moons, docked in a station outside the atmosphere, above the ‘Australia One’
port, taking care not to cross the misty climate control strip that wrapped the
blue planet and regulated its climate. Small navigation hovercrafts attached
themselves and led them down toward the space docks on the face of the Earth.
Immediately as they landed, their merchandise was unloaded and transported to
their destination on the Southern Time Rings (STR © Southern Time Ring). The
Time Rings were gigantic buoyancy rings that circled the Earth and served as a
monument of humanity’s ability to join as one in order to accomplish a single
task. All major superpowers had joined forces to accomplish this floating
project as a gesture of good will, indicating a common striving for world
peace. The Buoyancy Rings that circled the Earth were supposed to be the
fastest, most economical transportation means humanity had yet known.

The idea behind the construction of the rings was to utilize
the rotational speed of the Earth in order to move from one place to another.
The width of the rings was exactly one hundred and fifty feet, and they circled
the Earth in orbits that were devoid of mountain obstacles, about a mile above
sea level. One was constructed next to the equator, the central ring, the
other, the northern one, above Northern Europe, North America and large parts
of Asia, the third, the southern, floated in the air above Australia, South
America and the southern part of Africa. The use of the rings was supposed to
be perfectly simple and significantly cheaper that other means of
transportation. A ground hovercraft would rise in the air, connect to the
static Buoyancy Ring and allow the Earth to continue with its rotation until
its destination would reveal itself below. The hovercraft would disengage
itself from the ring and glide down with a speed appropriated to the spinning
of the Earth until it would land. Of course, the direction of the Earth’s
rotation dictated the transit time from place to place and whoever needed to
travel in the opposite direction had to continue and use traditional
transportation means.

It was an ambitious project whose cost was beyond imagination
and whose construction continued for almost thirty years. But when the work was
done, the rings significantly shortened the amount of time it took to move from
one continent to another.

Five years later, the Norwegian corporation Kraftig announced
a new invention, curled air holes (Curly Wind Tunnels CWT ©) that stretched
like tunnels throughout the planet’s atmosphere, an invention that rendered the
use of the Buoyancy Rings useless.

Since the technique of the curly wind tunnels had been put in
use, the rings were mainly used for the transportation of merchandise and
cargo. Today, the only ones who still use the Buoyancy Rings are the ones
traveling to space or returning from it.

The two additional time rings, other than the southern one,
have long been rendered inactive, and only the one that connects Australia
still operates regularly and serves as the main route leading to the world
space port.

Just like every morning, the prime minister had begun his day
with dream practice, like his fathers and forefathers had done for centuries.
He clung to the vision of the running boy that accompanied him since he had
come of age. It seemed as though the dream possessed its own rhythm. He was
never able to advance more than a few miles, he was always dressed the same and
his pursuers with their black suits, were always remote and unidentifiable. And
always, every night, every dream, he felt the hand of the great goddess, turned
to her and was swallowed in her black eyes that made him feel more Aborigine,
yet also a part of the family of nations.

A sharp knock on his room’s door interrupted his
concentration and he was drawn out of the dream before its regular ending,
which he could never recall. He knew the frustration that accompanied the
inability to finish the process of the dreaming will burden his heart
throughout the day, and yet he called, “Come in,” and invited whoever had
knocked on his door with an official tone.

Into the room entered his personal bodyguard, Don Manialock.
“They’re here,” he announced, “should I tell them to wait?”

“Yes,” answered Chapalcharie, “I’ll see them in the orange
office.” Manialock straightened up in reply to the command, turned around and
left. The prime minister headed to the bathroom, shoved the Flash tooth cleaner
(Tooth Care Flash OMD ©) into his mouth and waited for the light in the
instrument to turn green and indicate his teeth to be in perfect condition. He
went into the entrance hall and opened the door leading to the orange office.
Chapalcharie sat in his chair and held the traditional dream-power stick that
had passed in his family for generations. A soft knock on the door preceded the
entry of his distinguished guests.

Manialock led the two men who arrived from New York at the
request of their employers, to meet the Australian Chief and discuss a
sensitive matter with him, at least that was what the message sent to him two
days earlier had stated. Even a prime minister could not refuse the demands of
the Skil Corporation. Manialock waited until the guests were seated, then
immediately left the office. Chapalcharie activated the shielding and encoding
measures (Shield & Encoding ©) and at the same time turned on the ancient
recording device. He was certain that the office was scanned that very moment
by subcutaneous detectors, implanted in his guest’s bodies and assumed that the
old technology of the recording device would not allow its identification. He
cleared his throat and flashed them a polite smile. “To what do I owe the
pleasure of hosting both of you in my humble abode?” he chose to open with
formalities. The two connectors maintained polite expressions, but Chapalcharie
felt that beneath the perfect formality they demonstrated, the two were tense
and serious.

“The pleasure is ours, Prime Minister,” answered the older of
the two, “greetings from my bosses.” The two men nodded simultaneously and
Chapalcharie nodded back. John Wooden was the name of the older man and
Chapalcharie knew he held a very high position in the corporation’s management.
He had never met him and was extremely curious to learn the reasons that’d
brought the senior manager to his office. The second man, even though he was
younger than Wooden, demonstrated such tranquility and disinterest that he made
the prime minister feel uncomfortable. He was not identified by Chapalcharie’s
people. If not for Wooden’s rank and importance, he would never have gained
access to a face-to-face meeting with the Prime Minister. “Skil would like to
thank you for your assistance in the matter of the private hovercraft pilots.
Thanks to you, space merchandise now reaches their destinations more quickly.”

Chapalcharie smiles politely. “It was the least I could do…,”
he said and did not finish the sentence. The aggressive methods of the
corporation have infiltrated the Australian port. The corporation demanded to
stop all private takeoffs from the central docks and transfer them to the
outer, smaller docks. At the same time, the super-conglomerate threatened all
private pilots that provided cheaper and faster delivery services. Shortly
before the confrontation would become violent, the Australian prime minister solved
the problem by initiating the opening of a new landing site, intended solely
for the use of private customers. Chapalcharie was very careful to hide the
revulsion he felt toward the large corporation and its belligerent methods.
“How can I help you, gentlemen?” he asked, implying with his question that his
time was short.

“In the course of the next few months, perhaps by the end of
the year, a certain man will attempt to sneak his way through the port and into
the solar system,” said Wooden. “He is extremely dangerous, a criminal
according to the general constitution, threatening to harm the corporation and
human beings everywhere. We are not requesting that you will arrest him or
openly act against him. Our only request is this: let us know when he arrives.”

‘That was straight and to the point’, thought Chapalcharie,
maintaining a dignified appearance. “Surely you know that this falls outside of
our jurisdiction,” he said, “our laws and policies do not allow us to report a
person without receiving a warrant from the World Border Patrol Police (WBPP).”
Wooden fished a document out of his briefcase and handed it to Chapalcharie who
examined it closely. He hid his excitement as he recognized the photo of the
boy from his dream, attached to the formal warrant of extradition. In his
dream, he could never clearly see the face of the running boy, but the moment
he saw the picture, he knew it was him. Adam First, he read the name of the
wanted person, no longer a child, but not yet a man, young and handsome. This
was the man who endangered the Skil Empire? “Am I allowed to know what he’s
done to earn such a dubious reputation?”

“Surely you understand I can’t answer that,” said Wooden and
Chapalcharie nodded, feigning understanding.

“I’ll do whatever I can to assist you,” the prime minister
summarized and turned his head to the screen that glittered behind his guests,
“now you’ll have to excuse me, I have a tight schedule.”

Both connectors rose from their seats. He shook their hands
and accompanied them outside his chamber. Just before he closed the door,
Wooden said, “Skil will be more than grateful for your assistance in the matter
of the escaped criminal.” He did not respond to his words and closed the door,
careful not to reveal his anger. ‘Are they trying to bribe me?’ he thought,
‘how dare they? Someone didn’t do his homework.’ He was very proud of the fact
he had never taken any bribe and always conducted himself without favoritism,
acted with decency and earned a reputation as one of the world’s most honest
men. The dreams had taught him humility and humanity, and he did his best to
implement them in his relationship with the ‘unreal world’ as the people of the
dream called what the rest of humankind referred to as reality. He tapped his
middle finger to establish contact and once he received approval for a secure
line, he said, “Ellie? Chapalcharie. Wooden was just here.”

Once he had finished speaking with Elizabeth, he turned to
his assistant who was standing beside him: “I have a mission for you, Don.”

“I’m at your service,” answered Don Manialock and
straightened his back.

“We need to keep an eye on this boy when he gets here,” the
prime minister instructed, “he’s important.” Manialock nodded.

“When is he supposed to arrive?” asked Don.

“It’ll take some time,” answered Chapalcharie, “but he will
arrive and when that happens, we need to be ready to receive him.” Don nodded
again, turned around and exited the orange office. Chapalcharie waited another
moment, then sat in his armchair behind the desk. He knew that Don would do
everything he could to fulfill his request.

Elizabeth sat behind her table in the spacious office located
next to her living quarters. She gazed at the large window that composed most
of the office walls. Beyond the window, the depths of the Northern Sea were
revealed. She could not stop thinking of the boy she had left, lost and alone,
in the white room. She knew she must allow him to digest everything she had
told him and that he must do that by himself. More than once, she found herself
fighting the urge to return to the room and embrace him. She didn’t have
children of her own and knew that people were talking behind her back about the
fact she was an old bachelorette and that she’d been married to her work most
of her life. She didn’t care. She had led the organization almost from the day
it had been established, after John Barnes had been killed in an attack that
forced them to go underground. Today, under her leadership, the organization
was so secret that Ellie had often suspected the leaders of the superpowers and
the organizations did not remember it at all. To her great joy, the only time
it was discovered turned out to be a blessing. Joseph was a significant
addition to their strength. And now the youth. She knew she had no other choice
but order his rescue, but she also assumed that the rescue mission would hurt
their secrecy and may even force them to find another hiding place. She was
sorry that they may soon be forced to leave Lower Amsterdam, but staying was
even more dangerous. The sound of a soft knock on the door awoke her from her reflections.
The door opened and a young warrior was standing at the entrance. She nodded at
him and he moved aside and cleared the way to Adam.

“He demanded to see you,” said the sentry.

“I understand,” said Ellie with an expressionless face and
signaled to the guard that he was relieved. The soldier nodded and turned back.
The door closed and they remained by themselves. Ellie led the boy to a chair
in front of her table, and she sat in hers. She examined his face and saw in it
a startling level of toughness and indifference. “I know how difficult it is to
accept the loss of loved ones,” she said softly.

“You don’t know anything,” hissed Adam with restrained anger.

“I do,” whispered Ellie.

The boy ignored her answer, “who killed my parents?” he
snapped, “and Naomi?” he added, connecting the two events in his mind.

“First of all, I would like to help you stay alive,” said
Ellie.

“Then what?” the boy interrogated her, “suppose you succeed
and I stay alive, what then? Will you tell me who killed them?”

“Yes,” Ellie agreed, “on the condition that you won’t try to
locate the killers by yourself. That’ll be suicide and I’m not willing to take
responsibility for such a futile action.”

“I want to catch them,” the boy almost screamed, “they
deserve to be harmed.”

“That’s not an emotional place you want to be in,” Ellie
tried to calm him down, “sometimes you need to let bygones be bygones,” she
sounded pathetic even to her own ears, but couldn’t think of a better
suggestion, “besides, you need to wait until the implant is ready and in the
meantime I’ll prepare you for its hatching.”

“Implant?” Adam asked, momentarily confused, “what implant?”

“The head implant,” Ellie replied with what was obvious to
her, “didn’t they teach you anything in the Jewish reservation?” She was both
surprised and embarrassed by his ignorance about the subject. She had never met
anyone who did not know what the implants were. Everyone was familiar with the
head implants. “Almost every child in the world receives their head implant
slightly before they are a year old, just before the fontanel closes in their
heads,” she began to explain, “the implant is attached to the baby’s brain,
sends tiny bulbs of nerves to both the right and the left lobes, and develops
along with its adoptive host. It is a passive development process in which the
implant gathers information and prepares for its designated role.” She felt
like a schoolteacher reciting a textbook and hated herself for it, but the boy
lacked a lot of information and time was of the essence.

“I’ve got one as well?” Adam asked and Elizabeth nodded. He
felt the back of his head, seeking a scar or another mark on the skin, to no
avail.

“Not there,” said Elizabeth. She held his hand and guided him
to the exact place through which the implant was inserted into the baby’s head,
“but you can’t feel anything. When the fontanel closes, the mark disappears. At
about the age of seventeen, a short time before the end of the physiological
and spiritual coming of age process, the implant undergoes a process of
awakening and begins to operate.”

What Elizabeth did not tell Adam was the Brain Improve
Implant series (Brain Improve Implant ©) was assigned according to a strict
division of professions and careers designated to the newly born according to
his or hers unique genetic structure. This enabled the authorities to map the
direction most likely to allow the newly born to fulfill the potential inherent
in them. The basic implants were freely given by the country, but whoever could
afford them was able to purchase, for an appropriate price, higher quality
implants that could secure a better future for their offspring. Elizabeth knew that
the commerce in illegal and semi-legal Brain Improve Implants was extremely
profitable. This was why most major corporations, and even some of the
superpowers, took part in it. ‘I wonder what implant was transplanted into the
boy’s head?’ Ellie was curious, because she knew he was born in the Jewish
reservation, and part of the autonomy rights the reservation leaders received
was the right to manufacture Brain Improve Implants independently and implant
natives with them.

“Will this implant help me catch the killers?” asked Adam.

“Oh, it’ll do much more than that,” answered Elizabeth with a
smile. “It will advance every aspect of your abilities.”

“Will I be stronger?”

“Much stronger,” Elizabeth answered, “and quick of thought,
and if you practice, you’ll be able to fully utilize the various improved
capabilities the implant will offer you, which are quite a few. Besides, the
implant serves as the connection of each and every one of us to the web,
through it, we gather necessary information and upgrade ourselves with various
applications.” She deliberately did not tell him about the implant
classifications. She continued to secretly wonder what implant was given to the
boy. The first scan he unknowingly underwent when he’d arrived at the Amsterdam
station area had located the implant and recognized the date in which it will
become fully active, almost two years in the future, but the implant type was
unrecognizable.

“I see, so you’ll train me for free so that I can catch
them?”

“Nothing in life is free, Adam,” said Elizabeth.

“I knew it,” he said and his body tensed, “you want something
from me as well.”

“That’s right,” said Elizabeth, “I want something. I want to
protect you. I want to be by your side when the implant awakes, I want to help
you reach the right decision.”

“You want to decide for me,” Adam suspected.

“When the right moment will come,” said Ellie, “it will be
your job, to choose and decide.”

“Neither you nor anyone else can tell me what my job is,”
Adam got angry. “I have no job.”

Ellie was silent, allowing his anger to trickle through her
without responding. The youth stared at her, his eyes steady and filled with
accusation. “I’m sorry,” she finally said and a moment later added: “We will
provide you as much protection as you require, train you, teach you, and
improve your body and mind. You will fulfill, with our aid, the potential
inherent in you.”

“Why?” asked Adam, “why would you do something like that? I
don’t know you and you don’t know me, why should you care?”

Ellie lingered a moment before answering: “In order to answer
this question, you need to understand where we stand. Whoever’s after you, is
after us as well. You must have heard the name more than once throughout the
course of your life. The
Skil
Corporation. Are you familiar with it?”

Adam nodded in affirmation. The name
Skil
appeared on
so many instruments around him, from one-time-use laser pens and the processed
food he’d consumed his entire life to the ground hovercrafts.
Skil
owned
every super-metal factory, medical equipment manufacturers, building materials
as well as weapons manufacturers, aircraft and spaceships. It owned the media
as well, and he supposed even the clothes he wore were manufactured by one of
the corporation’s subsidiaries.

“As far as the
Skil
Corporation is concerned, we’re a
pain in their ass. They’re looking for us in the same way they’re looking for
you and we always take care to be a step or two ahead of them.”

“Why are they after you?” Adam asked and Ellie thought she
was able to arouse his curiosity, but when she looked into his eyes, she
realized it was not his curiosity, that was leading him. He gathered
information and cataloged it in his mind for future use. Well, she thought, at
least he’s fueled by motivation. Given time, curiosity may arrive as well.

“Because we know many things they would prefer to remain
secret.”

“Like what?” the youth continued to interrogate her.

“For example, that we were not the creator’s first choice,”
said Ellie.

“Really?” asked Adam, “so who were?”

Ellie smiled. “We survived the longest.”

“And they’re after you because of that?” Adam found it hard
to believe.

“No,” answered Ellie, “they’re after us because for the past
few years, we’ve been ahead of them in the race for finding Mendelssohnian
chains. They’re after money and power while we want what’s best for humanity.
Progress does not belong to the privileged few, but to everyone, to all
humankind.”

“But you also earn a profit from the chains you’ve found.”

“That’s right,” Ellie admitted, “no more than anyone else.
Most of the time we create deceptions and malfunctions that make it difficult
for the corporation people to locate those they seek.”

“So you’re actually terrorists,” Adam stated and questioned
at the same time.

“We prefer to think of them as the real terrorists,” answered
Ellie patiently. More than once, they’d been accused of dealing with terrorism,
accusations normally fueled by the corporation’s public relations departments.

“Joseph said that I’m the last chain,” Adam changed the
direction the conversation was taking, “what did he mean?”

“Just that,” answered Ellie, “you are supposed to somehow be
the means to bridge between humanity as it is today and what it could become
once your chain is completed.”

“And if I get killed?” asked Adam, “then all of humanity is
damned?” His father had the habit of using that word—damned—the boy recalled.

“Maybe,” said Ellie, “but I think whoever planned it all took
care not to place all the eggs in one basket,” Ellie knew that she wasn’t
telling Adam the truth in its entirety about the activities of the organization
she headed, but also knew she had no choice. Adam was overwhelmed by feelings
of vengeance and was not yet ready to handle the information she possessed. She
needed him to cooperate. It was also for the benefit of his personal safety.

“What would you like to do now?” she asked following a moment
of silence that had separated them.

“I want to know everything about my parents’ death and how it
is related to you being sought after by the corporation. I want to know who’s
heading the corporation and why they are trying to kill me, and I want to be
able to leave whenever I want,” Adam finished the list of his demands. Ellie
knew he was negotiating and that she had to bargain with him.

“And what do I get in return?”

Adam thought for a moment before answering. Deep inside, he
knew he had no choice. Circumstances had led him there and there was no turning
back. Elizabeth offered him a way out and he had to accept it. “You have my
loyalty and secrecy. You’ve saved me and I owe you for that.”

Ellie subdued a smile. Eventually, she planned on offering
all he had asked for and much more, but it was important for her that Adam
understood commitment their deal involved. “Very well,” she said, “then we’ll
start tomorrow morning.”

“Why not now?” asked Adam with disappointment.

“Because I said so,” said Ellie, suddenly not sounding so
soft and embracing, “your first lesson will be learning how to obey your superiors.
Go with Joe,” Elizabeth motioned to the sentry who appeared as if she’d
summoned him, “he will fit you with a protective suit. Then go to your allotted
room and report here at five am tomorrow.” Adam straightened his eyes at her.
She did not give up, and after a moment the boy lowered his eyes, turned around
and left Elizabeth’s room.

Adam’s period of apprenticeship had begun.