Chapter 31 – Disc Five
Apart from a clean set of yellow sheets on the bed, Ursula’s room had not changed since Christmas. Every week Mémé would go in to wipe the dust away, but she did not touch or move or take away anything. It was Ursula’s room, and she was not going to change that. Occasionally, when Granddad Benjamin really missed Ursula, he would enter, sit on the bed and recall fond memories. Like Mémé, he would not touch anything and would only leave his imprint where he had sat on the bed.
The door creaked open and Alexander and Andrea entered. Straightaway they noticed the perfectly made bed with the ruffled end where Granddad Benjamin chose to sit. On the glass-topped, school desk they saw the laptop. It still looked brand new and had obviously not been touched. Alexander flipped open the screen, pressed the on button and the slim computer whirred into life. Andrea inserted disc five and they both sat down on the bed to watch.
Professor Larsen appeared on the screen but she looked different from the other CDs. Her composure had gone and she looked frantic. Her grey hair had not been brushed and untidy strands fell over her face. There were bags below her bloodshot eyes and the white gown which she wore had been buttoned wrongly.
In her arms, she held Eric and Ursula, who were dressed in silver baby grows and looked fast asleep. Professor Larsen talked rapidly, gently rocking the babies as she did so. It was difficult to make out her garbled words at times but Alexander and Andrea still understood what she was saying.
“This is Professor Larsen and this is an additional compact disc to my original four. I do not think I have long and therefore I must be quick. They have found me, and because they have found me, I must pass on my fears. These are fears that have come from my observations and inferences. Some people will dismiss them as the mad ramblings of a space sick, old lady. I assure you that they are not, and despite my current appearance my thinking behind these is clear and logical. My three fears are these...
“Number One. In the fall of nineteen forty seven, I accompanied Professor Schwarzkopf and Major Marshall into a secret laboratory far below ground at Roswell Airforce base in New Mexico. We were taken down white-washed corridors to a sterile white tiled room. Inside it, on two metal tables, were two child-sized bodies covered in white sheets. They were extra-terrestrial beings or aliens, from the dart-shaped craft which had crashed. Other scientists believed that they were both dead. I do not believe this was true. I am certain that at least one, maybe both, was still alive. Its body may have seemed dead, but its mind was not. The moment I pushed the heavy doors open and entered, I felt as if my own mind had been seized. It was as if someone was hypnotizing and analyzing me at the same time. It tried to take control of my mind and read my thoughts. I fled before it achieved its aim.
“Over the following years I have come to some conclusions regarding our alien visitors. None of these are based on fact, only observations, and I hope that they are simply the result of my over-active imagination.
“The crash between our Foo Fighter and the alien craft in nineteen forty-seven was a tragic accident. However, I do not believe the alien’s location was an accident. New Mexico is a hot, dry, barren and ragged area of the world. In many respects, it resembles other, non-gas planets, more closely than anywhere else on planet Earth.
“Many scientists are now beginning to believe that originally there was no life on Earth, and you cannot create life from nothing. Therefore, life had to be introduced to our planet. A theory has been proposed that a meteor storm crashed into the Earth bringing life in the shape of single-cell organisms and maggot-like creatures. From this ‘accident’ we all evolved. On Mars, rocks have been recently discovered that contain tiny tunnels as if made by a tiny, maggot-like creature. It is my assumption that the same meteor storm which hit the Earth also hit Mars and other planets. It is possible, though not probable, that life evolved on other planets too. In an infinite universe, it is hard to believe we are on the only planet capable of supporting life. But different worlds have different environmental conditions and therefore life could evolve differently and at different rates. On some worlds, this could be slower than on Earth but on others it could be faster. Likewise, some alien races, if there are others, may be technologically behind us while others may be light years ahead of us.
“I have said before that the role of science is not to speculate, and I will try to avoid this. I shall, therefore, report the facts. In the last sixty years especially we have witnessed huge technological advances and with them our lifestyles have changed. All these advances require energy. We are using more and more fuels and also wasting more and more. The energy we use has come from rapidly vanishing natural resources underground as well as massive deforestation. The results of this have been increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, global warming and an increased temperature on average of between one and half and two degrees. This does not seem like much, but it has meant increases in storms and their power, loss of biospheres and species, an increase in lands that we can no longer use and a loss of coastal areas. In short we are becoming a more extreme planet and in this respects much more similar to other planets in the universe.
“The questions I want to ask are: what if another race has advanced quicker than us? What if they destroyed their world the way we are destroying ours? What if they are looking for another one? And what if a hotter, more extreme world, is their idea of home?
“My second fear also goes back to Roswell. In nineteen sixty-six, after discovering Operation Mulatto and the plan to create Identical Hybrid Beings or Hybrids, I fled New Mexico and America. However, before doing so I returned to the underground labs for only the second, and last, time.
“I stole more alien samples and other items I thought may be useful to me. As I mentioned on another compact disc, I also destroyed everything else.
“My fear is that my efforts were in vain. Agent Angel does not give up easily, and he will not be beaten. He has set a goal and will not stop until it is achieved. He will still want to create his Identical Hybrid Beings, his cloned army, and have a ‘super army for a super power.’ I may have delayed him, but I have not stopped him, of this I am certain. If I can achieve his goal, albeit on a smaller scale and on my terms, then so can he.”
Professor Larsen stopped and looked down at Eric and Ursula like a mother with her newborn infant.
“My last fear concerns my Adam and my Eve. Before beginning my research on humans, I conducted preliminary studies on rats. For a number of years, I achieved nothing with these studies but then slowly, painfully slowly, I made breakthroughs. Two years ago my research on rats was successful and I managed to create a ‘test tube’ rat.”
Suddenly a loud beeping noise drowned out Professor Larsen and her face filled with panic. She left the camera for a short while and the beeping stopped. When she returned she was crying.
“I must be quick. I do not have much more time. The average life span for a rat is three years or thirty-six months and is equivalent to the average life span for a human of seventy-two years. I noted that, for the first three months of my rats' lives, they were normal. At around three and a half months they started to develop, what I can best describe as abilities beyond that of an average rat. However, each time this happened they visibly aged. None of my rats lived beyond six and a half months. In human terms, this means that my Adam and my Eve will not live beyond their thirteenth or fourteenth birthdays.”
The beeping began again but it was faster and louder. Professor Larsen leant forward, mouthed the word ‘sorry’ and then the screen went blank.
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