144,000: Journey - The Return

Epilogue

PROLOGUE

The scene is a vast field which is a shimmering green color. It stretches as far as the eye can see. It is in fact a giant crystal, miles wide. Floating a few feet above the surface, we see a silver colored space craft, about 50 yards in diameter. It is emanating a soft low tone. A figure is seen approaching the craft, and as it comes to the side, a walkway extends. The being is a female human in appearance, clothed in a white robe, and there is a slight glow all around the form. It almost appears as if she is transparent. She walks up the ramp and the walkway closes.

Inside the craft, the being walks over to a panel which has a series of crystals of various shapes and colors. She takes one of the crystals and inserts it into a slot in the panel. Immediately, a golden color fills the control area. She sits back in a chair and watches as a large viewing screen opens.

The initial image on the screen is a light violet as if one was seeing a sky of that color. It quickly changes and we see that the craft is ascending vertically. In a few seconds, the viewer is filled with a myriad of stars passing quickly by, suggesting the craft is moving at a high speed.

About 30 seconds into the flight, the interior color of the control room changes to a shade of luminescent blue. At the same moment, the viewer shows that the stars have been replaced by what appears to be a tunnel of light composed of silver, blue and gold strands. The sense is that the craft is now traveling in warp mode. This continues for about 1 minute at which time, the interior color again changes to the initial golden color. Simultaneously, the star field reappears.

A few seconds later, the craft is seen slowing down dramatically and a planet appears on the viewer. It is Pluto, and the craft navigates by its face, then changes course. In the next 1 minute, we see the various planets in our solar system passing on the viewer until finally, we see the earth in the middle of the screen.

The speed of the craft slows again and then we see a descent into the atmosphere.

The North American continent begins to fill the screen and then the focus becomes the south western portion of the United States. Then slowly and evenly, the craft descends into a field. The being inside rises and places another crystal in the panel.

CHAPTER ONE

Arrival of the Limousine

EVERYONE HAD ALWAYS PRESUMED THAT

THE ABILITY TO REACH OTHER STARS

WOULD HAVE TO WAIT UPON HUMANITY’S

CONTINUING DISCOVERIES IN THE FIELD OF

SPACE TECHNOLOGY. LITTLE DID WE KNOW

THAT OUR SPECIES' FIRST JOURNEY TO

ANOTHER STAR SYSTEM WOULD BE

PROVIDED IN THE FORM OF AN

INTERSTELLAR LIMOUSINE.

The location is a satellite tracking station in California. At the long range scanning post sits a young Air Force officer. We observe him as he carries out his regular duties. At exactly the moment that his eyes first spot an object just coming into sensor range, a computer triggered warning sounds and indicates that a large, and apparently guided, space vehicle, traveling at twice the speed of light, is approaching. Distance from earth at that speed meant that it would arrive in 15 minutes!

Lieutenant Adams is in charge of the station and he immediately calls his commanding officer, General Michaels. General, we have a class one situation in sector 3 of our long range scanner. It's a craft about 150 feet wide on a course that brings it to - the United States. Estimated time of arrival - fifteen minutes. The computer projects landing point – a small town in Northern Arizona named Sedona.

A visual printout appears on the screen, pinpointing the very acre of impact from the clouds down to a satellite view of the point of arrival. Sir, it's heading for the area known as Cathedral Rock, a few miles from the main part of the town.

General Michaels responds immediately. Open the President's direct channel.

The President is busy reading some legislation that is being proposed in Congress and is surprised to hear the red line phone ring. He answers it, Yes, this is the President.

General Michaels answers. Sir, this is General Michaels. We've got a class one situation involving a space craft occurring. Long range scanning shows it coming here at twice the speed of light - and guided! Estimated arrival in less than 15 minutes. Area of arrival is Northern Arizona, near the town of Sedona. I've initiated a reaction team level one response. We should have live transmission from the site within 10 minutes.

The President is silent for a few seconds and then says, Get me live video as soon as they're on site.

General Michaels responds, Yes sir and then passes on the command to the officer in charge of the reaction team. Colonel Jacobs, give me live video the moment you get it.

By now, Jacobs and his crew are in the cockpit of a jet helicopter. A pilot and co-pilot are discussing the best route to the destination, - and the fact that it was a level one situation. There is a small group of soldiers in the rear. They too are discussing the orders. No level one response had been called in the history of the project. This is cause for speculation among the soldiers assigned. They all know that a class one situation indicates a space craft is approaching the earth. A sense of anticipation mingled with the excitement of viewing a space craft from another planet is felt among the men.

The pilot indicates 30 seconds to landing. The men make their preparations for the arrival at the landing site. A dozen men jump out immediately as the helicopter lands. Three other helicopters with additional men land within seconds of each other. Two men from the first helicopter take out cases of equipment and have begun to set up remote cameras within a few minutes. As they complete their setup, the commander of the forces contacts General Michaels.

Sir, this is Colonel Jacobs. We've arrived at the site. I'm initiating video transmission now.

Back at the control center, everyone watches the giant screen in the command room as a large elliptical ship gently settles into position 10 feet above a grassy field in the park by the town. A crowd of tourists has gathered in the area. Ten seconds pass by and everyone in the room at the White House stands silent, watching. Suddenly, the transmission is interrupted as another signal comes in on the video screen at the landing control center and the one at the President's office. The scene switches to the landing site where the audio portion is heard by the crowd at the site as well. A voice, yet sounding like three voices simultaneously, speaks.

Greetings people of this planet. To celebrate the passing of your planet's infancy to its next age of maturity, we invite you to send 12 representatives to meet with us. An escort has been provided to assure your safety and comfort. Please contact the following persons that will be named and bring them to the location of the space vehicle we have provided within one day.

Everyone at the President's office appears temporarily stunned.

Back at the ship, a larger crowd begins to gather, encircling the soldiers monitoring the site. The ship just floats in the air without a sound. A young woman looks up and senses something. She views the scene from the middle of the crowd.

Since it is a weekend, the park was filled with visitors so there are hundreds of people viewing the ship. Everyone is in awe of the craft and tries to get closer to get a better view. Many are discussing their theories as to who the voice they heard is and what it means. A few are seen leaving the site as if in fear of being in danger. The soldiers are silent as they continue to form a protective circle around the perimeter of the ship which floats silently above the ground.

At the White House, the phone calls begin to come in. The President discusses the situation with a few key cabinet members. The decision is made to broadcast the video of the space ship and the message received via satellite to every government headquarters, and to call the United Nations General Assembly which is in session. The call goes out and the heads of nations are contacted and the events described to them. At the United Nations, delegates are informed of the situation. Above the din of the crowd, the Secretary-General of the Assembly tries to bring the meeting to order. Many participants already know about the spacecraft landing and are speaking on their cell phones.

The Secretary-General speaks loudly into the microphone, Please take your places and come to order. We are in the process of linking with the office of the President of the United States and viewing the video transmission from the landing site.

The delegates quiet down and attention focuses on the large screen above the speaker's podium. As the video feed is brought on to the assembly's monitor, the replay of the transmission begins. A human like form but one that glows lightly appears. It is female and appears to be about 35 years of age. The original message is repeated but the being on screen does not appear to be the speaker. Suddenly, the picture changes. The same form appears but this time she is seen speaking.

The voice then said, "Greetings ladies and gentlemen. My name is Seraphia and I am the escort mentioned in the broadcast. You are trying to evaluate the occurrences of the past few minutes. I believe a few thoughts will be of value to you. First, the message you received was broadcast from my superiors, who have dispatched me to bring 12 of your kind to a meeting with them. The names of the individuals and their present locations will be given you. They were selected as ambassadors of your planet to participate in the formal passing of an age.

This current age is the age of your infancy as a species. When your associates return from this journey, they will bring back with them the information to begin preparing your world for the next age, the age of planetary maturity.

You will then know of, and be in contact with, other worlds in this system, and you will begin to meet some of the other forms of life in the universe. And your planet will slowly join the ranks of the worlds becoming settled in light and life. These 12 men and women will represent this planet and its species. They will learn of the true history of your world and its place in this universe. They will also briefly experience the lives your type of being can live after passing on from your initial life on this world, will remember them and be able to share this experience when they return.

I am both the messenger of these good tidings and the captain of the craft that awaits your representatives. Here are the individuals selected.

Lenora Forsythe of Los Angeles.

Hans Mueller of Berlin.

Lia Chang of Beijing.

Rosa Garcia of Mexico City.

Mwabe Utare of South Africa.

Francios Costeau of Lourdes.

Mary Farnsworth of Adelaide.

Rick Pennington of London.

Tamara Sueno of Brazil.

Paulo Indiram of New Delhi.

Amman Keiman of Alexandria.

Hugh Yolands of Quebec.

Please arrange for these people to be brought to this site within one day. I will be in contact again shortly."

This same message has also been heard by the crowd around the landing site.

At the United Nations, the image disappears and the live shot of the spacecraft appears on the screen. The delegates are silent with surprise. They begin to discuss the meaning of this event among each other.

At the landing site, a woman in the crowd tries to push her way to the front perimeter.

Please, my name is on the list.

Suddenly there is an audio transmission from the space ship.

Please let her pass.

The soldiers and the girl both know whom it refers to. The squad commander Colonel Jacobs radios General Michaels.

Sir, we have a woman here who says she’s one of the people invited.

He checks some identification the woman is pressing in front of him and says, Her identification matches one of the names in the message received. A voice from the ship asked to let her pass. What should I do?

General Michaels replies, Hold her at the perimeter until I contact the President.

Jacobs replies, Yes sir.

He allows the woman to pass through the line of soldiers and escorts her to the command post set up on the perimeter of the ship. Suddenly, as the woman is standing alone, she is engulfed in a beam of light and immediately vanishes.

Jacobs rushes to the phone and yells out Sir, she was standing right next to me when all of a sudden a weird light appeared - and then she vanished!

Meanwhile, General Michaels has been in visual and voice contact with the President, relaying the message he had received less than a minute ago trying to get a decision about the woman from the White House. He asks the President to hold one moment when he replies to the base at the landing site.

Michaels then replies to Jacobs, Okay Colonel. Just make sure that no one else gets within the perimeter. He turns to the White House television monitor and says, Mr. President, I’ve just been informed that the girl I was discussing with you just disappeared a few feet from our post at the site. The word is that she was engulfed in a light and then vanished. We presume that she’s now inside the ship.

Suddenly, as