Chapter Fifty-Eight
THE BIG SELL
1
Even though Tavish McTavish’s public execution was completely ignored by the mainstream media, it nonetheless proceeded to go viral on the Internet. As much as government agents attempted to censor the spread of Tavish’s information about the comet through existing internet sites, they could do very little to control it within the social media. As well, people simply emailed the video file to one another. The news spread around the planet like wildfire.
The first thing that became noticeable was that people just stopped showing up for work. It began slowly with maybe one person not showing here and there. The word got around quickly and before long more people stayed away. They became extremely distracted by the rumours going around about what was rapidly becoming known as ‘the end of the world’. They sat in long gas lines until someone came up to them and informed them that there was no one working at the gas station. They went panic shopping and found empty shelves and no one working the checkouts. People got robbed and called the police, but no one came. The trains and busses stopped running. Everything was beginning to unravel and it was all because of the fact that the government was incapable of controlling the cyber traffic on the Internet. It was turning into a state of virtual anarchy.
2
Back in Australia, things took a little more time to go bad. Maybe it was because Australia was so far away from everywhere, or maybe it was because of the Aussie ‘she’ll be right, mate’ attitude, or maybe it might have been the diatribe of lies propagated by the incumbent regime, whatever it was, the Australians mostly believed that everything was happening clear on the other side of the planet and the most they would know about it would be what they would see on TV.
Things were a little different in the Noosa house, however. It was Monday, September 11, 2023. They were sitting around the kitchen bench having their breakfast when Thebe announced,
‘Ambriel and Adam are coming to visit and they’re bringing Zeke with them. This will be their last visit before the time shift.’
‘That will make someone very happy,’ smirked Slater.
‘Shut it, whipper snapper,’ said Lucy with a joyful grin on her face.
‘This will be our last opportunity to fine-tune our plans with them,’ said Thebe. ‘Even though we won’t see them for about one of our weeks, they won’t see us for a hundred years. They will be here to greet us when we pop up in the future.’
Two days later, the matt-black space ship settled into the L shape of the jetty under the cover of night. Lucy threw herself into Zeke’s open arms and they disappeared into her bedroom. The other four laughed openly as they walked up the steps into the house and sat down on the veranda. Kane came home from visiting a friend and sat down with them. Ambriel began the conversation,
‘Thank you so much for having us. It is always such a pleasure to stay in this beautiful house.’
‘Ours is the greater pleasure, Brie,’ replied Thebe.
‘Been getting any good waves, Slater?’ Adam asked.
‘Plenty. The last season was extraordinarily good.’
‘We saw Iapetus before we came here,’ announced Ambriel. ‘He suggested that he could either pick up Kane himself or if you thought it was OK, we could take him back to Rama with us. Iapetus thought that this was an unusually advantageous circumstance for Kane’s studies because he could spend a hundred years with him and be away from you for only one week.’
Thebe showed instant apprehension at the suggestion that she was about to be parted with her only child. It was a natural reaction. She knew however, she had always known, that her son would be taken away when he became ten years old. The time shift made this a unique situation for both of them. She would not see her son for about one week although he would not see his mother for a hundred years. She hugged him and whimpered,
‘You’ll be 110 years old when I see you next.’
‘I’ll miss you too, mum, but when I return it will be as a time master.’
‘I suspect much more than that, my son. A century of disciplined study and travel throughout the cosmos should broaden your horizons substantially. You leave me a boy, but you will return to me a man.’
Slater hung his head in sadness in anticipation of his son’s departure. Then he remembered that they would only be apart for one week. That cheered him up again.
Not long after, Lucy and Zeke emerged from her room, appearing slightly selfconscious, and re-joined the group. Lucy brewed tea for everyone and brought out her mix, while Thebe packed the Mana pipe and Slater chose some music with Adam.
‘We plan to be there when you emerge from your time shift,’ said Ambriel. ‘We’ll all be there. Zeke will be with us, as well as Kane. Iapetus may be there, I am not certain, but Adrian plans to be there, I know that for sure. And Noah will fly straight back over from Green River. We will bring shelter and supplies. We expect that we will set up camp by the river, somewhere near the river mouth. We expect that there won’t be too much change in the geography because we think that Noosa will only be affected by one or two surging tidal waves. All the signs of civilisation will be washed away by the powerful surges. We expect nothing to remain but pristine wilderness.’
‘I’ve been inventin like crazy,’ Zeke told Lucy. ‘I’ve been workin with Max’s gravity sails an comin up with all sorts of stuff for non-telepaths. There’s the flyin backpacks, the flyin discs, generators, pumps an green houses. We might have lost the technology from Earth, but there’s a thousand other planets we can visit to trade technology with. You oughta see the way Rama tents are held up by gravity sails. I’ve been on Rama for 31 years and I’m startin to get a handle on how they operate. They’re traders. They’ve got the ability to travel anywhere in virtually no time at all. If they want somethin they just go someplace an get it. They’ve all got one speciality that they trade with. Max and Ada, they make gravity sails, an things that go with gravity sails that are useful. Gravity sails are amongst the most valuable things in the universe an they are infinitely tradable. That’s how they get their stuff an that’s how they got so rich.’
‘Oh, we’re not so rich, Zeke,’ said Ambriel modestly, overhearing Zeke’s comment.
‘You’re loaded, darling,’ exclaimed Adam, ‘but that’s what I really love about you.
There’s nothing quite like a woman with money, I say. It’s a bona fide turn-on.’ Everyone chuckled.
Lucy had a look at Drudge on her tablet. She announced,
‘Oh look; the President of the United States is going to give an address to the world tomorrow night. The White House has sent out a media release requesting that every citizen on Earth tune in to his speech. I wonder what he’s going to say?’
3
The following night, everyone on the planet gathered around their television sets to listen to President Griffin’s speech. The President appeared on the screen, flanked by his top-ranking general and admiral. He was making his speech from within a featureless room, which could have been located anywhere. Robert Griffin III began to speak in his ice-cool, confidence-inspiring voice, although it didn’t stay like that for long.
‘My friends, we meet here today at a time when we find ourselves at a crossroads in the history of the world.
‘It is a time where you can go to your local gas station or supermarket and find that no one showed up for work. No one is picking up the trash or driving the buses or trains. No one is loading up the teller machines or selling tickets at the movies. Everywhere we go we see panic with people not knowing what to do.
‘My friends, it is for this reason that I have come to speak to you today.
‘Everyone has heard of Travers’ comet. If you haven’t, you’ve been sleeping under a rock somewhere. Now, I know that your government has been sending out mixed messages regarding this comet, but that was for a reason, for a good reason. Your government tried to keep you calm. We protected you from the facts in order to prevent exactly what is now happening all over our country and apparently all over the world. People are panicking because they are listening to crazy people on the Internet. Our whole system of civil life is unravelling right before our eyes. East L.A. is ablaze. Manhattan has bodies piled up on top of the uncollected garbage. Sears Tower and half of downtown Chicago is burning out of control because the whole Chicago fire department has taken a holiday. People are stranded all over the highways of the United States because they’ve run out of gas. This madness has to stop because it is getting us nowhere.’
President Griffin was beginning to look profoundly disturbed. He stopped talking for a moment in order to calm himself down and take a sip of water. After taking a deep breath and looking at both of his military chiefs, he continued.
‘I have come here today to beseech everyone to go back to work. Nothing productive can come out for anyone or their families by panicking and unplugging from society. The every-man-for-himself approach just will not work … and it is anti-American. … We either stand united or we fall divided.
‘If you drive a truck, bus or train, collect the trash, deliver mail, work in a bank or work for any of our fine police departments, go back to work because your country needs you. Our nation is unravelling at the seams … er … er …’
RG3 stumbled in his speechmaking. He looked at his military companions with a ‘what do I say next?’ look on his face. The general leaned over and opened a folder that was lying on top of the lectern in front of the President. RG3 slowly turned his head and glanced at the general with an ‘are you sure you want me to read this?’ expression. The general nodded. RG3 looked down at the script, titled The Hail Mary, and began to read.
‘My fellow Americans and citizens of the world. Your government has not been entirely frank with you … about many things. For example, your government has concealed a secret more profound … er, more important to life on this planet, than any other phenomenon in history. It is true, ladies and gentlemen, that the Earth has been visited by extraterrestrial races and that this has been going on for many decades.’
A bead of sweat rolled down the President’s right temple and his eyes expressed great inner conflict. He turned to his general who motioned with his eyes for him to keep reading.
‘Er, although there have been uncountable accounts in the popular media of sightings, encounters and even abductions, your government has stringently denied any existence, in reality, of this phenomenon. Your government has done this for your own protection, not to mention national security.
‘Just like the day comes when a child must be told that there is no Santa Claus, the day has come when the citizens of the world must be told that aliens are real.’ Ambriel burst out laughing.
RG3 paused and attempted to clear his throat. His eyes nervously twitched around the room as he took another sip of water. He continued,
‘Er, we have all watched the documentaries, called Incident at Green River, every year for the past eight years, or so. We have all been amazed by what we have seen. Er, now, thanks to your government, you were never completely sure about whether the documentaries were just plain-old, superbly-contrived hoaxes or whether they were true. Your government chose to ignore the events and thus consign them into fiction.
‘Now I know that what I have just told you must come as a shock. I was shocked when my parents told me the truth about Santa Claus, but I eventually realised, ladies and gentlemen, that it was a necessary part of my growing up. And now it’s your turn to grow up.’
RG3 turned to the general with a, ‘who wrote this shit?’ look on his face. The general motioned with his eyes to keep reading. Lucy jokingly quipped,
‘Isn’t there any Santa Claus?’
The President continued,
‘Er, your government has not been totally honest with you as regards to Travers’ Comet either. A number of astronomers have calculated the true trajectory of the comet and unfortunately some of them have paid a high price for that knowledge. The truth, my fellow citizens of the world, is that Travers’ comet is on collision course with our planet. The good folks at NASA have calculated the impact point on the globe and the exact time that impact is supposed to happen.’
RG3 looked up from his script and improvised,
‘I imagine that you are all riveted to your screens right about now. Me, I can definitely feel a bowel movement coming on.’
The general prodded him on the shoulder to keep reading. RG3 looked at the script and mumbled,
‘I wonder what’s next? OK … continuing … er, if the comet were to collide with the Earth, it would do so at 2.23pm, Mountain Time, on the 23rd of September this year. Ground zero for impact would be …’
RG3 paused, shook his head from side to side, looked at the general, then directly into the camera.
‘Ground zero would be Green River, Wyoming. Now you might have noticed that I said would instead of will. I did this for a reason. The reason I said would instead of will is because the comet WILL NOT, I repeat, WILL NOT make contact with Earth.
‘Those of you who have been paying attention would have noticed that ground zero and the time of impact coincide with the annual alien visit as depicted in the documentary Incident at Green River. We can now tell you that the timing and location of these visits was no coincidence. It was all planned. They have known about the comet for many years. They, that is to say the visitors, go by the name of Arcturians, and your government has been in close liaison with them for many years.
‘Citizens of Earth, of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy …’ RG3 glanced nervously at the general then directly into the camera ‘… the Arcturians are our friends … and they have offered to help us by deflecting Travers’ comet off its lethal trajectory. Your government has forged a peace treaty with the noble and benevolent Arcturians. In return for saving our planet from the catastrophically destructive effects of the comet, we have co-signed a treaty with the Arcturians, which allows them total visitation rights and if they decide to stay, residency visas and ultimately citizenship of Earth.’ ‘Who are the Arcturians?’ asked Lucy.
‘Beats me,’ replied Ambriel.
‘Is this all bullshit?’ asked Zeke.
‘It would appear so,’ replied Thebe.
‘I have assigned NASA the responsibility of televising the whole comet event, including the deflection. Ladies and gentlemen, never in the history of the Earth has such a telecast been attempted. There will be over one thousand cameras trained onto the approaching comet. We will have cameras in space, in the air and on the ground. The most eminent experts in their fields will provide commentary. As well, there will be celebrities from all fields of artistic endeavour to entertain you. The final 24 hours of the comet’s flypast will be transmitted live on every channel on Earth. This will be the only show on the planet, folks. It is our wish that every citizen of Earth will get to see the comet’s approach and its ultimate deflection by the Arcturians. Every citizen will be able to see the whole show at home. That is why the telecast will be made available free-to-air worldwide.’
RG3 took another sip of water. He looked at his generals who gave him a confident thumbs-up. His confidence was returning, as was his ice-cool, inspiring voice.
‘My fellow Americans and citizens of Earth. I assure you that there is nothing to fear, except fear itself. Life as we know it will continue to flourish long after Travers’ comet has passed us and disappeared off into the infinite void.
‘I beseech you; I plead with you, please go back to your jobs and do your duty for your fellow Americans. United we win, divided we lose.
‘Finally, I am declaring a public holiday for the 22nd and 23rd of September so that everyone can enjoy the big show. Stock up on the beer, popcorn, chicken wings and pretzels and settle back to enjoy the greatest show of all time.
‘Thank you, God bless you and God bless the United States of America.’
They must have forgotten to switch off the mike in the live broadcast because just as the telecast ended, the President could faintly be heard asking someone, ‘Do you think they bought it?’
…….