Extraterrestrial Lessons (Part 32)

Yal-hune walks me through the controls of the craft. It is much as I remember it. Since Shayla left I had not seen one of these. Knowing they are capable of inter-galaxy travel is a bit overwhelming. I keep thinking of Uncle Ben Parker's message to his nephew Peter, "With great power comes great responsibility." The possibilities are endless. The world would go nuts if they knew what I now have at my disposal.

"Are you planning on traveling to other worlds in this craft?"

"I don't know, yet. For now, I think it's probably best to familiarize myself with using it here on Earth."

"That's probably a good idea. This craft is not a toy and its potential for improper usage and relative harm is extremely high in this environment. Many of the materials used in this craft clearly were brought in from outside your solar system. However, the designers are to be congratulated for they chose elements that would be stable in your sun's solar system and which would not pose a radiation hazard to human biology."

"I think Shayla designed these crafts herself with several others from her world. She is not one to overlook the details. It's strange how my pasts place me alongside female extraterrestrials. What exactly did I do in the past that spurred such a cycle?"

"You have amnesia of your pasts. You have gotten around quite a bit and many worlds where you have lived - still have your personal frequency on file. Since there isn't a whole lot of transfer between worlds with this capacity and the planet Earth, you drew quite a bit of attention to yourself as soon as your were born here. Many worlds were wondering just what was going on when your frequency popped up here. Naturally, some worlds were suspicious and have monitored you since a few days after your birth. The Norchans were particularly suspicious and have actively tried to thwart much of your technological work."

"Did we know each other in the past? Have I lived on your world?"

"I don't think you are ready to know everything yet. One step at a time. Now let's return to Shamballa. Watch me carefully as I engage the craft."

I watch her stand by a small console of pure white. She motions her arm in two directions.

"As you know, this craft raises your atomic structures to higher isotopes as you board. The navigation can be conducted by thought or by a combination of thought and computer navigation. This craft has been designed primarily for alien usage on Earth. It's clear Shayla did not intend for it to be used by humans, because it has intentionally been designed without a manual interface. The navigator must be capable of conversing with the computer system by thought. And because of the isotopic changes, this craft can not be used by anyone in a negative or lower emotional state. Such emotion will be incompatible with the navigation systems and other systems and the ship will not work."

"Like an alien Lojack. It keeps any of those pesky humans, Norchans or whomever from stealing the ship."

"Not by design. All advanced EMF crafts have this particular element built in. Lower emotions are signals. This ship transforms its occupants into signals capable of being transported along the magnetic fields at tremendous speeds faster than light. So, naturally, as a safety mechanism the ship does not operate when it detects low signals. In the earliest designs, when crews have lost equilibrium and became violently emotional, the ships themselves exploded. So future designs filter for consciousness and synaptic frequencies. You are barely transportable."

"Thanks."

"Nothing to take personally. If you work on your consciousness and maintain greater equilibrium, you will put some distance between yourself and that lower marker threshold. However, you can see that this ship will not be for most humans. If you expected to be able to use it on missions, you will have to abandon those notions. By the way, we've already arrived in Hangar C. Do you feel that? That's your atomic structures being stepped down again."

"I didn't feel anything?"

"Well, you're not sensitive enough yet. Eventually, you will feel a very light itching sensation all over your body momentarily. Some crafts are better than others in this regards, this one is actually pretty good considering all the limitations built into it for human usage."

"Yal-hune?"

"Yes?"

"Can you teach me more?"

"More?"

"More about things...like the worlds in the galaxy, the history of our galaxy, the time differentials of various worlds, the dangers of other planets and of leaving our solar system...what life is like on more worlds, a map of sentient planets, that sort of stuff."

"Why?"

"I want to know more. I feel as though many galactic eyes are peering down upon me and yet I know less than nothing about the various worlds out there doing the peering. I want to learn. My education on Earth can only teach me so much. If I'm going to be interacting with beings trying to rip thoughts out of my mind, I need to develop my sentience. I've felt your mind and its cavernous depths, and I realized just how animal like we appear to others when Ketta-Nu-Ma invaded my mind. I suddenly saw my knowledge as others do, and realize how deficient my knowledge base is."

"Okay. So long as I sense the need is not based upon lower emotions I will share more with you. Remember, you are a human, your brain has certain parameters and limits which - "

"We are viewed as animals aren't we? Just as we might view a whale or a porpoise, other worlds look at humanity and group us in with the animal kingdom?"

"Those worlds that view humanity as more animal than sentient are themselves not that developed and their discernment is impaired. The lower one goes in the sentient spectra the more harshly they judge those nearest them. The Norchans are only few hundred thousand years in advance of your world technologically and mentally. They, like the humans they judge, are still burdened by many lower emotions. Do not take Ketta-Nu-Ma's thoughts personally. If you do this you merely empower his negative intent. He also knows you are not really human, in the truest sense, and took the opportunity to kick you while you are down, so to speak. Your paths have crossed before, as can be expected, and not in the most pleasant circumstances."

"Yes, I imagine I did him some harm in some past. A burden he carries with him."

"Your thoughts serve you well. Yes, you made a number of enemies when you were on other worlds. Your righteousness and stubbornness has long been a source of discord throughout your many lifetimes. You will need to work on this."

"Here is how to open the exit."

Yal-hune makes another arm motion. Some sort of sensor array detects the sophisticated series of movements and obeys. A stairway emerges and folds into existence from compressed sheet metal of some unknown alloy.

"Thanks Yal-hune...for everything. I'll really try my best to follow that balanced path...I promise."

"I know you will."

"I imagine you do...don't you?"

Yal-hune smiles, beatifically.

(End Part 32)