“Right and wrong were easier to discern back then. Even when we were ordered to do the wrong thing, it usually seemed like it was for the right reasons. Today, everyone seems to have their own agenda.”
Caesare’s smile disappeared in the darkness. “I don’t know how much longer we can contain this thing, John. All of this. And now here,” he said looking around. “This feels too easy. Like we’re missing something.”
Clay nodded. “I agree. Let’s hope we’re just getting lucky,” he said. “And be ready if we’re not.”
He took the gun from Caesare and motioned toward the tent. “Get some sleep. We can’t stay here much longer.”
Without a word, Caesare nodded and walked away. He lowered himself onto the ground not far from the tent, where he could hear DeeAnn’s breathing. And Dulce’s snoring. How a three-year-old gorilla could make that much noise, he would never know.
He shifted his bag behind himself and leaned his head onto it. Glowing wisps of clouds trickling in front of the full moon was the last thing he remembered before drifting off.
Sunrise over the Congo and the mountains of Rwanda was a stunning sight to behold. Rising over the distant plains of Kenya and Tanzania left a fully unobstructed view of the sun as it emerged slowly from the edge of the Earth. Thin clouds allowed the morning sun to pass through beautiful layers of red, pink, and orange before finally moving into the soft blue background of the African sky.
The colors and the sounds of the waking world left John Clay with a deep, if only brief, sense of calm as he took in the scene around him. It was one he would try to remember for a long time.
Once the sunlight had crawled over the stretches of trees before him and finally reached their camp, Clay turned to find Ronin sitting up from under his thinly-lined blanket, resembling thick Mylar. The shorter man rose to his feet and moved silently to the base of the boulder, which Clay was standing on.
“You are awake.”
“It was my shift.” Clay dropped down onto the ground. “Did you get some rest?”
Ronin nodded. He studied the forest around him, marveling at how far it stretched. “This is what our planet looked like. Parts of it, before the event. Fortunately, we still have many images to remind us.”
Clay followed his gaze, thinking. “I once saw your base underwater here. In our ocean. Before you left.” He turned to Ronin. “I remember seeing more than just the water. You were rescuing many of the sea creatures as well.”
Ronin faced Clay. “That is true. It was not just the water. The animals, both on land and off, are important parts of the ecology. As I said, it is more complex than any of us had appreciated. Delicate. Losing even one species can create a ripple effect larger than you would expect. Losing many creates a wave that is difficult to stop. Your sea creatures are different than ours. But we are trying to compensate and to allow evolution to find a new balance. It is all we can do. And they will be more protected on our planet.”
Clay frowned. “I guess we still have a lot of challenges here.”
“You think you do.” Ronin grinned wryly.
“What do you mean?”
“You think you have problems. But you do not.”
“Well, there’s an awful lot of people on this planet that might disagree with you.”
With a bleak shake of his head, Ronin looked back at the trees. “Believe me when I tell you — all of your differences, your cultures, your laws, and your pride. They are merely barriers. Politics and favors and corruption are not unique to your world. They are present, in some form or another, in every species with any intelligence. These attributes are deeply ingrained and closely related to an individual’s survival. Nothing more.”
“You’re not painting a hopeful picture here.”
Ronin turned back and smiled once again at Clay. “Human nature changes when it must change, John Clay. Never sooner. And nothing will change it more than when the survival of an individual group is surpassed by the survival of one’s entire species. When your entire human race is threatened with extinction, politics and fighting no longer matter. Another lesson we were forced to learn, as you say, the difficult way.”
“How did you get here? To Earth?”
“With great struggle,” Ronin answered. “We are told that our scientists succeeded in creating portals shortly before the event. Crude, but the ability was there. Made possible by an energy source your world has yet to discover. A new element, I believe.”
“And that’s how you did it?”
“No,” Ronin kindly smirked. “That is what made it possible. The scientists, some of whom are still alive, were able to establish a portal with one end that could be moved. With increasing amounts of energy generated on our planet, it could stretch to yours. But this new element is rare and in limited supply. We nearly exhausted all that we had to keep the tunnel open until our ship could make it to your planet. And we have very little of it left.”
“You can’t find this element somewhere else?”
“Thus far, they have only found it in two places. Our planet. And yours.”
Clay looked at him with surprise.
“And it was decided not to strip you of yours.”
“I’m sure we’re going to appreciate that.”
He nodded. “The ship that we built to travel here was the only one of its kind. And only with great sacrifice did the crew make it. Most did not survive.” Ronin paused. “They have been immortalized as heroes.”
“You seem to know quite a bit.”
“I don’t know the science involved. What I tell you are details known to all my people. History. Not unlike your moon anchorage.”
“Landing,” Clay corrected.
“Yes.”
“So when did you get here?”
“Our arrival, though perilous, was not ideal. We landed in the middle of your great war.”
Clay dropped his head forward. “Wait. You mean World War Two?”
“Yes. That is it.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I am not. It presented many difficulties for us.”
Clay shook his head, considering the ramifications of what Ronin had just told him. His head suddenly stopped shaking, staring at the visitor. “Wait. Did you… intervene?”
“In your war?”
“Yes.”
Ronin’s face remained placid. “I was not there. The decisions were not mine to make.”
102
“I miss anything?” Caesare asked, approaching the other two.
Clay nodded. “A bit.”
“Good, you can fill me in on the way. Time’s a ticking. We’ve got to wake up DeeAnn and the kids and get moving.”
Inside the tent, DeeAnn awoke to a noise and rolled over to see what was rustling behind her.
Her eyes focused to find Dulce standing behind her. Two long hairy arms snaked through the neck of DeeAnn’s khaki shirt, leaving both sleeves draping to the ground. When she frowned, Dulce snorted and chortled through a large toothy grin. In the corner, the smaller Dexter was wearing a sock on his head like a night cap.
DeeAnn dropped her head back down onto the pillow and rolled her eyes. “Ugh. I should have gone into medicine.”
Dulce climbed on top of her playfully and stared down into her face. She grunted and motioned with her hands but DeeAnn could not understand.
“Sorry, honey. No vest,” she replied, causing Dulce to cock her head and make what sounded like a human sigh. At that, DeeAnn grinned and rolled her own head to one side. “And Steve’s right. We need to carry some breath mints for you.”
Emerging from the tent, DeeAnn combed a few fingers through her disheveled hair before extending her arms into a wide stretch.