“Just under five eight.”
She smiled some more and took a quick breath. “And weight?”
“One fifty five.” I replied, nudging slightly closer to her.
“Okay, light brown hair, sparkling blue eyes, Caucasian. Corrective lenses?”
“No. I can see just fine.”
“The photo and finger prints will have to wait for you to heal up, but I can get started with this. I’ll give you a printout of the background for you to memorize, once I get it all done. It’ll take about a week to create and embed all of the background data, and then we can add the photo and fingerprints.”
“So I’m going to get a new driver’s license?” I couldn’t help but smile at her.
“And Passport, Social Security Number, birth certificate, credit cards, bank accounts, magazine subscriptions, utility bills, past employment history, everything.”
“And the authorities won’t be able to tell them from the real thing?” I asked.
“The way we do it, they will be the real thing. When you have skills, you let the system make the documents for you.”
“By skills, you mean hacking into computer systems?” I asked.
She pulled back from me. I had asked something too personal, but I had to know. There was so much she didn’t know about me and I had to get some kind of a feel for how she felt or might react to what she might learn about me. “There’s more to it than that, but yes, skills include hacking.”
“You got started early?” I asked, pushing the issue a bit more.
She stopped and looked at me. I could see the debate going on inside her mind, wondering just how much she should reveal to me. She had to wonder why I was asking, and whether she could really trust me.
“Grade school,” she said, as she looked back at the computer screen. “With the two-color eye thing, I didn’t have a lot of friends. That all changed in junior-high. I had one close friend who worked in the school office and supplied me with the school’s computer password for the week. I became the go-to person for all the popular kids in school, you know, for fixing grades.”
I laughed out loud. She stopped and stared at me again. This time she looked angry.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I totally understand. Really, I do.”
She changed the subject and went back to work on my new identity. I could see I had pushed her a little too much. She wiped a wisp of her blonde hair back over her left ear and continued typing. John said we had more in common than we thought, and he was right. We were both people with skills.
CHAPTER 7
After two weeks my face had healed, but my eyebrows were still a little spotty. Tia had used her eyebrow pencil to fill them in. She photographed me, scanned my fingerprints, and embedded the information in the various files she had created for my new identity. Within another two weeks official identity documents were arriving. That progress was counterbalanced with a lack of identifying the timing of the meteor storm. Day after day and long into the night hours, we asked questions of the robot’s head. We learned the ancient civilization had flourished for more than 10,000 years and was known as the Rama Empire.
While massive glaciers had covered most of northern Europe, North America and what is now Russia, the ocean level was remarkably lower than it is now. A fertile and prosperous valley thrived with 400 million people and thousands of cities where India, the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea is now. With the end of the last ice age came rising sea levels and eventually the Mediterranean valley was flooded with sea water.
The only thing we learned about the meteor storm from the robot’s head was that it had happened in late summer. That meant it would be either this summer, in about three months’ time, or next year, some fifteen months away.
“I’ve invited an old friend to join us,” John explained. “I’ve kept him apprised of what we have found out about the ancient civilization in India and the Mediterranean valley. He says that our information about India is consistent with the stories in the Vedas, but the Mediterranean valley was a complete shock to him.”
“Does he know about the robot’s head?” I asked.
“No,” John said, “and I’d like to keep it that way, at least for now.”
“So does he know about the meteor storm and when it will happen?”
“No, he doesn’t,” John replied. “But he may be able to get us to where that information still exists.”
Tia and I looked at each other and back to John. “Are you telling me that there are records of the last meteor storm somewhere?”
“Maybe,” John said. “He may be our last hope of finding out when the meteor storm will happen. He’s due here any minute and he doesn’t know about the communications room, either, so we need to go upstairs and meet him there.”
Tia and I followed John up into the main room. About that time John’s limo pulled up in front. A somewhat portly man with short white hair, a stubbly white beard and thick rimmed glasses climbed out of the back seat of the limo. He wore an old fashioned three piece pin-striped suit that looked at least twenty years old with as many miles on it. He also carried a beat-up tattered brief case bleached light tan by exposure to the sun and other elements. He had a reddish complexion, blue eyes and the bulbous nose of someone who was fast friends with alcohol.
“Trent, would you like to get settled into your room first?” John asked.
“Oh there’s plenty of time for that later,” Trent said, “I’d rather get to know these fine young people better.”
John directed us to the set of chairs near the front windows.
“Carl, Tia, this is Professor Trent Colburn, specialist in ancient Eastern Literature, Sanskrit and several other ancient languages. Professor, this is Karl Koenig and Tia Harkensen. They have been recovering the information I shared with you.”
“What a pleasure meeting you,” the professor said in a noticeable British accent as we shook hands. “John has informed me that your project is all hush-hush, so I shan’t press the matter. But I am fascinated by what you have found.”
“We’re fascinated by the information, too,” I replied.
“What fascinates me are the terms and language you are using to describe the ancient technology involved here,” Trent said as he sat down. “In the Vedas, the terms used for the ancient technology are characteristic of people who witnessed the machines and flying craft, but lacked the technical expertise to know exactly how it all worked. Your descriptions, in contrast to the Vedas, are very explicit and show an in-depth understanding of the science behind the technology.”
“Well,” I replied, “I have some understanding of Electrical Engineering and Physics. That may account for the language.”
“Oh no, my dear boy,” Trent said, “I’ve discussed this technology with PhD’s in Physics and Quantum Mechanics and they show nowhere near the technical grasp of the subject you two have shown. Whatever it is that you are reading or translating demonstrates an insider’s knowledge and familiarity with these advanced devices.”
I glanced over at John. He shook his head slightly.
“I wish I could be more explicit in our source of information,” I said. “But the risk to us is just too great at this time.”
“Of course, of course,” Trent replied. “I suppose it is incumbent upon me to make the first step toward resolving the issue. I must therefore rely on your discretion in keeping what you hear completely confidential.”
I glanced back at John. He smiled and gave a nod. I looked over at Tia. She agreed, as well.
“I promise we will protect your information at all costs,” I said.