Good morning! A lot happened in yesterday's episode. Johann broke some pretty mind-bending news to the XenTek board of directors. Evelyn Poltier, heroically, took a huge gamble to expose a truth that Johann didn't wish to be revealed. Details are coming fast and furious now so be sure to read carefully. Things that are being presented now are very important to the understanding of what will unfold in the plot later. I hope you enjoy today's episode!
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Evelyn slowly stepped from the darkness and spoke with such ferocity that she startled a few of the board members seated around the table. “Sir, I beg your pardon, but did you intend on telling them what else Norm said?”
Johann cleared his throat and spoke up. “That’s quite enough, Ms. Poltier.” The accent he tried so hard to hide was becoming more pronounced with his agitation.
“But sir, with all due respect, the board deserves to know the whole truth,” Evelyn said.
“Please continue, Ms. Poltier,” Ms. Vanderbilt said, her chest heaving with excitement.
“I’ve read the reports,” Evelyn continued, “and this being we call Norm very clearly and distinctly warned us how perilous this stage of evolution is. He explained that literally millions of civilizations across the universe have progressed to our level. We are now at the tipping point where we will either very quickly destroy ourselves and our environment or overcome our challenges and blossom to a point where we will eventually be allowed to join a very large community of many other highly intelligent civilizations traveling the universe.”
Johann shook his head. “No, this is complete nonsense!”
But it was too late. All attention was on Evelyn as she walked near the head of the table.
“The being they called Norm warned repeatedly that at this stage of our evolution, spiritual and technological growth must happen concurrently at the same balanced rate. Norm told us we must begin teaching meditation to our young ones in our schools and we must all learn and incorporate meditation into our daily routines. The military seemed more interested in learning about the technology discovered in the wreckage than wasting time listening to words of wisdom from some strange looking little man from another world.”
“Meditation? Really? Ms. Poltier, can you tell us what happened to Norm?” asked Mrs. Vanderbilt. Up close her face was flawlessly smooth and unnaturally tight from one too many cosmetic surgeries.
Johann recognized his opportunity to regain control as he stretched his lips across his teeth in a smirk fierce enough to make Evelyn wince. “After they felt they had learned all they could from Norm, the captors tried their best to make this being comfortable and happy. He lived for a few more years, spending most of his days sitting upright in a meditation posture with his eyes closed and a smile on his small slit of a mouth until one cold winter day when he disappeared without a trace. In his cell was found only his clothes, folded in a neat little pile right where he usually sat.”
The board seemed to quickly dismiss Evelyn’s outburst. She took her seat and shrunk down praying that she hadn’t made a fatal error by losing control of her emotions and speaking out of turn. She had witnessed many times how vicious Johann could be when anyone got out of line. She was almost sure that somehow there would be repercussions. This time, she hoped that the messenger wouldn’t be shot.
Johann got up from the table and waved his arm in front of a large touchscreen monitor. As he did so, an intricate diagram appeared. “Luckily, we have received one last gift from our little alien friends. We thought we had nothing marketable left from the crafts that were recovered, but our programmers found one last precious gem. A few years ago our hackers harvested some exciting data from one of the craft's computers. Our best physicists believed these to be nothing other than blueprints to build a time machine. I can tell you with my full confidence they were correct indeed.”
“Whatever are you talking about, Mr. Pfizer?” Ms. Vanderbilt asked. “Can you explain what good a time machine would be to us?”
“Of course, it's deceptively simple, Ms. Vanderbilt. We send XenTek operatives from our own time into the future. We will bring back with us future technology from our own company to the current time and merely market it as our own. Just think of it as borrowing from ourselves to ensure our future success. There are no witnesses. In fact, any witnesses live in a different time altogether.”
Ms. Vanderbilt took off her oversized glasses and squinted at the blueprints on the screen as she paused for a moment. “Hmm. I could think of a million other interesting applications of this time machine in the financial world, but isn't this dangerous? Won't using this machine alter the timeline of our future?”
“This is, of course, a possibility, Ms. Vanderbilt. This is why we have to be extremely careful.”
“Ingenious, Mr. Pfizer! If anything, Ms. Vanderbilt, our future will be more advanced because of it,” the sheik said as he quickly digested the impact. “Then the situation is not so desperate after all.” He slapped Ms. Vanderbilt on the shoulder with his meaty hand, knocking her forward in her chair.
After determining the mood of the board had turned favorable to this idea, Johann decided it was time to finish what he needed to tell them. “Actually, in the best interest of each of you seated at this table, I took a huge gamble years ago. We are a step ahead, at my direction. We have already built the machine in the Terra Valley. We chose this location for security reasons—it’s virtually impenetrable, surrounded on all sides by mountains. The time machine stands ready, and our physicists are confident it will work flawlessly for our first team of human travelers.”
Johann had again found himself in complete control. The board members seated around the table were silent, their looks of reverence showing the awe they felt in Johann’s foresight and leadership.
“I can’t do this alone. I need the support of this distinguished board to carry out this plan any further. There are risks, but if successful, I assure you it will benefit our shareholders and ensure the continued success of everyone in this room tonight. Shall we have a vote?”
Alarm Clock Dawn is the first novel of a trilogy. The sequel entitled, Truth Is Stranger, will be published in the Spring of 2017.
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