Suddenly the screen went blank and the illumination in the room returned.
Everyone was quiet.
“Well, there you have it,” Arak said. “A concentrated capsule of Interterran history and scientific fact. Now, I’m sure you’ll have questions.”
“How long did the Dark Period last?” Suzanne asked.
“A little more than twenty-five thousand years,” Arak answered.
Suzanne shook her head in amazement and disbelief, yet it all made a certain amount of scientific sense. And most important, it explained the reality she presently found herself in.
“But you stayed under the ocean,” Perry said. “Why didn’t your people return to the earth’s surface?”
“For two main reasons,” Arak said. “First, we had everything we needed and we’d become accustomed to our environment. And second, when surface life evolved anew, the bacteria and viruses that developed were organisms to which we had never been exposed. In other words, by the time the climate would have permitted our reemergence, the biosphere was antigenically inimical to us. Perhaps deadly is a better word, unless we were willing to go through a strenuous adaptation. And so here we remain, very happy and content especially since here under the ocean we are not at the whim of nature. Of all the universe we have visited thus far, this small planet is the best suited to the human organism.”
“Now I understand why we had to go through such a strenuous decontamination,” Suzanne said. “We had to be microorganism-free.”
“Exactly,” Arak said. “And at the same time you had to be adapted to our organisms.”
“In other words,” Suzanne continued, “evolution occurred twice on earth with essentially the same outcome.”
“Almost the same outcome,” Arak said. “There were some differences in certain species. At first we were surprised about this, but then it made sense in that the original DNA is the same. Multicellular life evolved from the same blue-green algae in both instances and with approximately the same climatic conditions.”
“Which is why you refer to yourselves as first-generation humans,” Suzanne said, “and to us as second-generation humans.”
Arak smiled with satisfaction. “We counted on your understanding all this as rapidly as you have, Dr. Newell,” he said.
Suzanne turned to Perry and Donald. “Scientific studies confirm some of this,” she said. “Both geological and oceanographic evidence suggest there was an ancient single continent on earth, called Pangaea.”
“Excuse me,” Arak said. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but that’s not the same as our original continent. Pangaea formed de novo during the latter part of the Dark Period geological upheavals. Our continent suffered complete subduction into the asthenosphere prior to that.”
Suzanne nodded. “Very interesting,” she said. “And that must be the reason the fossil record of the first evolution is not available.”
Arak smiled contentedly again. “Your grasp of these basic fundamentals is heartening indeed, Dr. Newell. But we had anticipated as much even before your arrival.”
“Before I arrived?” Suzanne questioned. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” Arak added quickly. “Nothing at all. Perhaps we should remind your colleagues that it was the breakup of Pangaea that formed the present continental configuration.”
“That’s true,” Suzanne agreed while she eyed Arak searchingly. She had the uncomfortable sense that there was something Arak was not telling her. She looked over at Donald and Perry and wondered how much even they were taking in. Arak’s presentation was clearly beyond Richard and Michael. They looked like bored schoolkids.
“Well, then,” Arak said, marshaling some enthusiasm by rubbing his hands together. “I can only imagine how all this information affects you people. Having one’s preconceived and accepted notions dashed is a daunting experience. That’s why we have been insisting on going slowly with your introduction to our world. I’d venture to guess that you’ve already had enough talk, too much perhaps. At this point I think it would be better to show you some of the ways we live, firsthand.”
“You mean go out into the city?” Richard asked.
“If that will be agreeable to everyone?” Arak said.
“Count me in,” Richard said eagerly.
“Me, too,” Michael echoed.
“What about the rest of you?” Arak asked.
“I’ll go,” Suzanne said.
“Of course I’ll go,” Perry said when Arak looked at him.
When it was Donald’s turn he merely nodded.
“Wonderful,” Arak said. He stood. “Now if you’ll give Sufa and me a few minutes by remaining in your seats, we’ll make the arrangements.” He extended a hand toward Sufa, and she rose as well. Together they exited the small conference room.
Perry shook his head. “I feel shell-shocked. This whole situation keeps getting more and more unbelievable.”
“I’m not sure I believe anything,” Donald said.
“Ironically enough, it seems to me to be too fantastic not to be true,” Suzanne said. “And it all makes a certain amount of scientific sense.” She looked over at Ismael and Mary Black, who had been sitting patiently. “Please, folks, tell us your story. Is it true you are from the surface world?”
“Yes, it is,” Ismael said.
“From where?” Perry asked.
“From Gloucester, Massachusetts,” Mary said.
“No kidding,” Michael said. He sat up. “Hey, I’m from Massachusetts, too: Chelsea. Ever been there?”
“I’ve heard of it,” Ismael said. “But I’ve never been there.”
“Everybody from the North Shore has been to Chelsea,” Michael said with a snicker. “Because one end of the Tobin Bridge sits on it.”
“I’ve never heard of the Tobin Bridge,” Ismael said. Michael’s eyes narrowed in disbelief.
“How’d you two end up down here in Interterra?” Richard questioned.
“We were very lucky,” Mary said. “Very lucky indeed. Just like you people.”
“Were you diving?” Perry asked.
“No,” Ismael said. “We ran into a terrible storm en route from the Azores to America. We should have drowned like the others on our ship. But, as Mary said, we were lucky, and we were inadvertently rescued by an Interterran interplanetary vehicle. We literally got sucked into the same exit port you people did and were then revived by the Interterrans.”
“What was the name of your ship?” Donald asked.
“It was called the Tempest,” Ismael said, “which turned out to be rather appropriate considering the fate. It was a schooner out of Gloucester.”
“A schooner?” Donald questioned suspiciously. “What year did this happen?”
“Let’s see,” Mary said, “I was sixteen. That makes it eighteen hundred and one.”
“Oh, for chrissake,” Donald muttered. He closed his eyes and ran a hand over his bald head. He’d shaved it that morning. “And you people wonder why I’m skeptical?”
“Mary, that’s about two hundred years ago,” Suzanne said.
“I know,” Mary said. “It’s hard to believe, but isn’t it wonderful? Look how young we look.”
“You expect us to believe that you are over two hundred years old?” Perry questioned.
“It’s going to take time for you to comprehend the world that you are now in,” Mary said. “All I can say is that you should try to avoid making any hardened opinions until you’ve seen and heard more. We can remember how we felt when we were being subjected to the same information. And remember, for us it was even more astounding since your technology has come a long way in the last two hundred years.”