Gabriel and the Resurrection of Maldek

by Neil A. Hogan

Available in digital and in print

This is a work of fiction. An resemblances to beings living or dead is completely coincidental.

Gabriel and the Resurrection of Maldek Digital

Gabriel and the Resurrection of Maldek Print

Part 1

Prologue

In a private, electric aircraft, hovering silently above the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Brigadier General Hazelnutcoffee stared in disbelief at the grainy screen on the back of the pilot’s chair, his wrinkled and jowly face reflecting off the glass. All this technology and he couldn’t get a good screen in his plane? He sighed and flicked his fingers across the panel, trying to increase the resolution without success.

Of course, he could use his glasses. They could give him a panoramic view of everything happening below, and the white wash effect of the light filter allowed for his surroundings to almost disappear when using it. The problem was, he was getting a bit too old for this kind of thing. At almost 120 years of age some of the alien technology he’d been using to extend his life was starting to not be as effective. Or he’d simply decided it was time to age gracefully and move on to the next life. In any case, those glasses gave him a migraine.

He grimaced. If he looked at the tiny display any longer, that would give him a migraine too.

Then he grinned. He didn’t need to look at the screen. He knew what he could do. He should have thought of that before. Age was definitely catching up with him.

Haze reached over to the pilot, tapping him on the shoulder. The pilot briefly looked in the reflective viewer and saw Haze lower his hands, then push them together. The pilot nodded and took the plane down and made it invisible. It hovered silently next to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney skyline showing through it as though it wasn’t there. Not even an outline could be seen.

Haze could see his ward on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Though, of course, Haze knew Gabriel had no idea he was being taken care of.

Gabriel Marks was a fit 18-year-old boy with blue eyes, brown hair and a fairly relaxed looking face. He was part of a climbing crew, going up one side of the Harbour Bridge. The tour group were dressed in bright orange and clinging carefully to the side of the bridge. Many were attempting to take pictures with their mobiles, trying not to look down, while the winds blew them.

Gabriel looked to be the only one not afraid of the height, though that could be because he was currently enamored with a beautiful Japanese tourist his age. Her thin body, long black hair, dark smoldering eyes and red lipstick smile were definitely distracting Gabriel. He wasn’t even noticing the view.

Hmm, thought Haze. This could make things a bit complicated. He hadn’t been following his ward too closely recently, leaving his operatives to make the reports, so he hadn’t noticed if Gabriel had met someone new. He quickly looked up the recent surveillance reports on his netbook.

“Ah,” Haze said when he found what it was he was looking for. Her name was Hoshiko, and Gabriel had met her recently during a Japanese exchange meeting. Not everything could be monitored, of course, so at some point they must have made a date.

He clicked on her file and brought up more details about her. Then he looked again in surprise. “Very interesting,” he said aloud.

“Is everything alright back there, Brigadier General?” asked the pilot through the headset.

“Oh, sorry, just talking to myself,” said Haze. “Getting old, you know.”

The pilot laughed good naturedly, knowing Haze’s age. “Very good sir!”

Haze looked down again at Gabriel and Hoshiko. He could see they were already wrapped in each other’s energy. He couldn’t have aliens meet Gabriel at this point if his focus was elsewhere. Haze had to organize another meet up.

He indicated to the pilot to leave, and the plane flew back to the Australian Military Space Fleet’s Secret Underground Base under the Northern Territory.

Maybe not tomorrow, but soon.

1: 8:00am

Gabriel looked down at his homework. It was so boring. So terminally, incredibly, frustratingly boring. He couldn’t believe he had to suffer through this stuff again.

Repeating a year at school was driving him insane. He had no idea that deliberately flunking all his exams would result in a repeat of his year. He thought he’d be thrown out, or just pushed to the next year with ‘has potential’ and ‘could do better in future’ on his report cards.

His mother knew he had an off-the-chart IQ and that he was doing his best to hide it but she was also disappointed at the school board’s decision. They had to play it safe though and let things take their course. If the knowledge of Gabriel’s abilities got out, they’d be chased by the media everywhere.

“Oh no. The poké ball didn’t catch the Pokémon” said a small voice from the other side of the lounge room. “Aaaaah! I hate this mod.”

Gabriel looked up. “Are you playing Minecraft again?” he asked his eight-year-old brother.

“Oh, now an enderman… aaaah zombies, and squids. I should use the Jurassic mod instead!” said his brother, not listening.

Gabriel grinned. His brother had gone through the stages most kids in this period went through. Thomas the Tank Engine, Mr. Men, Cars Movies, Dinosaurs, and now he was up to Pokémon and Minecraft. Not long to go before his brother’s abilities would start to appear and he’d also completely change his life.

That was the trouble with being a future human, he thought. What’s the point in being advanced if you had to fit into society until the right time? What a waste of potential for humanity.

He had, of course, seen countless science fiction shows about super humans having to fit in, and knew what possible futures awaited. Not only had he seen every negative permutation and combination, he’d written some himself. Fitting in was the only option at this time.

Just then his mother came out and gave him a hug. She’d read his mind again.

“Not long to go,” she said with a grin.

“You said that last time!” he said indicating the work in front of him.

“Yes, but you’re capable of multitasking, right?” she said with a warm smile. “Why focus completely on that? Write a book in your head while you do it.”

“Yeah, but I can’t publish the book, so why write it?” he said, with a frown of disappointment.

“Compose a sonnet? Create a new computer game? Come up with a free energy invention?” said his mother with a grin.

Gabriel looked at her, suddenly serious. “You know, all the free energy systems are already available. Society just isn’t using them. Besides, even recognized scientists can’t get their inventions out there. What hope do I have?”

“Hmm, I think you need to go for a walk,” replied his mother. “Clear your head. Why not check out that new shopping mall that’s opened down the street. It’s another one with a green star. Way of the future.”

Gabriel thought. Shopping or homework? Which was the worst of two evils? He sighed. “You’re right. I need to clear my head, get more positive vibes.”

His mother released him and nodded. “Great!” Then she said, “You can pick up some stuff for me at the supermarket.”

“Aww!” he said, mock disappointedly.

Haze met with his alien counterpart in boardroom four. Well, to him he seemed alien. He was actually his alternate self from a parallel Earth where the humans had changed themselves with genetic manipulation. Haze knew it was hard enough for the population to accept aliens, let alone understand the concept of multiple Earth’s, alternate humans looking like aliens, aliens that were them from that alternate world, and other situations, so he had no idea how he could ever explain this meeting to anyone in this current time period. He decided to just get on with it.

“Okay, Alien Haze,” said Haze. “Tell me about this meeting with Gabriel. He’s only 18. What possible use could he have for you?”

The big-headed alien with the large round black eyes looked dolefully at him and put his hand to his head. He couldn’t speak in English, it just came out as a mumble if he tried, so he sent the message to Haze’s head.

“The genetic program agreement we had with your Earth is over, but we still need the help of your people in other ways,” appeared the soft thoughts in Haze’s mind. “Gabriel’s abilities will help us with the eventual integration of both our civilizations on your version of Earth.” The Alien Haze nodded as he said this.

Haze felt more comfortable speaking as he thought so he said aloud “I’m still unsure of this whole integration project. Most humans would think it is some kind of invasion, like you want to take over the planet. I understand you want to interbreed as well. That could be seen as conquering with stealth.”

Haze felt understanding wash across his mind and felt the next set of thoughts of Alien Haze.

“I understand the people’s concerns,” said Alien Haze’s thoughts. “The concerns are based on a feeling of lack. Lack of land, lack of resources, lack of territory, lack of identity. It is a victim mentality that will change eventually as free energy becomes available, as the stars come into reach of the person on the street, as everyone has everything they need. There is no need for us to conquer, to take over, to invade, as you say. In fact, we can already see the timeline where this worked and everyone is happy. However, at this point in history your people will still exhibit these irrational and fear-based beliefs, and so the program needs to take time. While we plan to have the hybrid humans living on your Earth in small communities from 2018, we don’t expect to be able to begin any kind of integration between our races until around 2050 – plenty of time for adjustment and for your world to reach a planet-wide non-victim-mentality stage.”

“And Gabriel?” said Haze, still concerned about the use of a young man in his alternate self’s plans.

“Reality needs to be changed a little to allow for our hybrid children to live on your planet,” continued Alien Haze. “Gabriel can assist with that. Without him, we would simply need to wait until reality shifted naturally. That shift is due around 2025, but Gabriel could help us speed up the process, creating bubble realities within your time track where the hybrids could live.”

Haze nodded at this. The Earth was going through some dimensional shifts. Expanding exponentially, increasing its vibrational level and becoming more positive. Sometimes, standing in the shower in the morning, he could feel the gravity shift underneath him – a weird feeling of his left side, followed by his right side, becoming slightly heavier, passing across him like a wave. Some mornings he shook in the bed, as though picking up on the increase in acceleration of movement the planet was shifting to.

“The meeting will be soon,” said Haze. “Though, we hadn’t thought that Gabriel would meet a girl that would appeal to him. His IQ is off the scale so we assumed he would look for someone with an equally high IQ.”

“IQ is simply a measurement of the speed that the mind can process certain concepts,” continued the thoughts of Alien Haze. “All humans can get a high score in those tests of yours. It’s just that some may take longer than others, and some might even take years. It is a very arbitrary measurement. The heart is pure and equal in everyone and is not controlled by the mind’s process speed. We have already factored in his finding love at his age. Do not be concerned.”

“Ah,” said Haze. “In which case, we can do it now. I’ve recently had word that he is at location 47b. Our latest monitoring center disguised as a shopping mall.”

“Excellent,” said Alien Haze

Gabriel looked through the aisles of the supermarket, searching for the new noodle snacks that were very heavy and filling, rather than those light papery noodles where you just add water. Perhaps they were in Aldi.

Suddenly he felt a tingling down the base of his neck. He knew what that meant. He was getting too focused on what he wanted and if he wasn’t careful, reality would shift around him to give him what he wanted. He quickly flicked his mind through several different ideas to get him away from manifesting what he needed, and reality settled down again.

Gabriel’s ability was that he was extremely conscious of how to shift to the reality he preferred. The problem was he could just as easily shift to a reality that only had the things he preferred. In which case, he might shift out of his normal reality altogether and be stuck in a complete fantasy reality. It was becoming harder and harder to simply hold onto this reality.

He’d already discussed this with his mum and advised them that he would do his best not to shift completely. She knew that he had the ability to simply disappear forever from her life and had come to accept that one day it might happen. She had decided they would live each moment in the now and not worry about the future. That way Gabriel could still live this life without stressing about what the future might bring, and reduce the chance he would change it.

He shook his head and took a deep breath. No changing reality.

He turned to go to another aisle when he suddenly realized that things had changed. He groaned. Had he shifted to a similar reality or had he shifted something to his? The wall at the end of the aisle was supposed to feature a huge display of chocolate on special. But now it just wasn’t there. Instead, the aisle seemed to extend into the wall, as though it had always been that way. Why would the aisle end in a blank wall?

He went over to have a closer look, and realized that the wall seemed to shimmer slightly. The wall wasn’t there! It was an illusion!

Ever curious, and knowing he could change the reality if he didn’t like it, Gabriel walked through the wall.

2: 9:00am

Haze looked up in surprise as Gabriel walked into the room with him and Alien Haze. Somehow the transportation energy between their base in the Northern Territory and their monitoring station in Ashfield, NSW, had shifted. Or perhaps Gabriel had shifted it. In any case, it looked like Gabriel had decided to take the situation into his own hands.

“Looking for me?” asked Gabriel. Then he saw the grey alien form of Alien Haze and simply said, “Oh, hi.”

Haze opened his mouth and closed it again. Why does this new generation of kids continue to surprise him? He had expected Gabriel to look shocked, or at the very least, yelp.

“Hi,” said the alien in Gabriel’s head, patching Haze in to hear the conversation. Three-way telepathy. Always confusing. Gabriel seemed to take it into his stride.

“Give me an info blast, like in that movie ‘Paul The Alien'” said Gabriel.

The alien nodded and simply pulled his fingers away from his head and concentrated. Gabriel closed his eyes and opened them again.

The change was profound. It was almost like Gabriel had aged a few years. His eyes were more mature, more understanding, as though all his questions about the universe had been answered and he now had a decision to make.

“Let me think about it,” Gabriel said, and walked back through the wall and was gone.

Haze looked at the alien and shrugged. “Easier than I expected,” he said.

Alien Haze nodded. “Now we wait for his answer,” was the thought.

Gabriel shook as he materialized back in the supermarket. The terrible history that alternate Earth human had had to go through. He wanted to save them all but he also knew of the terrible history his Earth had gone through. The idea that both could merge at some time in the future was exciting, profound and alarming.

He had no idea what to do next. Such far reaching consequences. Such a change to the future history of Earth. The whole of reality would be changed in ways that were almost impossible to comprehend. The whole situation was hugely overwhelming. He had to get his thoughts in order, to decide. He had to do something so mind numbingly boring that he would be taken away from these thoughts for a while and be able to make a clear decision.

He made his decision – and went to Aldi to buy some noodle snacks.

Gabriel’s mother was short, blonde and very kindly. She had a great heart and, while many had taken advantage of her good will over the years, she never faulted in her tireless efforts to help people. She felt she had been born to help humanity in some way but had instead done the usual thing of marrying and having children. While she had no regrets, she just hoped that one of her upline lives or downline lives would have a different lifetime. Well, she knew she didn’t have to hope, she knew it was possible. She’d connected to those different lives many times.

One time she had even connected to one of her future lives that was happening nearby now. Due to the mechanics of the universe, lives did not occur linearly. Rather they were all happening at the same time, as time didn’t exist. And so, within her reality, it was possible for her ‘future’ life to be a few doors away in her teens. She had passed the girl many times in the supermarket or in the local cafe and they would simply nod to each other, knowing the truth but not really wanting to disturb the reality they were wanting to experience in their chosen life paths by making a more definite, reality changing connection. In dreams, though, she would see her other self’s perspective. Even look through her eyes at herself in the cafe looking back. It was an unusual sensation.

Being this sensitive to how the world worked, as well as supporting the developing natures of her children, meant that she knew when someone had disturbed her son.

It had hit her like being dumped under a wave, and she had stumbled slightly as she walked. A profound shift in his entire thinking. He’d learnt something incredible, perhaps terrible and he was processing the information.

Immediately she ran upstairs, then stood outside his bedroom door. What would she find? Every now and then she’d visit his room and it would be slightly different. Not dramatically different, like a completely new bed, for example, but just little things like his blue dressing gown had turned black, or his study desk had got slightly larger. She knew he had simply shifted the items from parallel time lines into this one while retaining the reality of the shift. He could have simply shifted them all and all their memories would change and no one would notice the shift. She knew Gabriel had wanted people to notice what he could do, and he wanted to be reminded as well.

She turned the handle, entered the room and gasped.

Everything had changed. The study desk was gone. In its place was a computer of a type she had never seen before. Certainly, it was not from this timeline. The bed had been replaced by a floating, metallic but soft looking table, and his clothes cupboard had simply disappeared. There was a glowing energy coming from the wall.

Something had happened. And by the look of it, Gabriel suddenly had access to time tracks and parallel realities that were completely unconnected to his current life path. Though, of course, she realized, obviously, these realities were part of his life path, now.

She looked at the glowing space on the wall where his clothes cupboard had been, and watched as a faint ghostly image appeared, which then coalesced into the shape of Gabriel.

It was still her son. He hadn’t changed his form. He was even still the same age, but now his eyes were different. A new Gabriel.

Gabriel came over to her and gave her a hug.

“A quick reinvention before lunch,” he said with a smile.

His mother nodded, concerned. “What happened?” she asked.

“I have two versions of Earth to save. I have no idea what to do about it,” he said, dismayed.

His mother smiled. Still the same Gabriel inside. “You will know in time. You always know,” she murmured.

Gabriel looked up and grinned. “You’re right. I’ve lived my life following my excitement and the answers simply come. The answer will come!”

Gabriel’s mother felt something then and knew she had to tell him. “Remember that we can only really do something important when we have gone through some kind of training or experience that will allow us to see what needs to be done. The answer is out there but you must need to do something else before that happens. You need to learn something to find the solution. I feel you have a challenge coming up that will help you discover what you need to do next. I have no idea what sort of challenge you’re going to have to face to learn how to save two worlds.”

Gabriel looked into his mother’s eyes. “Whatever happens, I’ll be ready. In this parallel reality and countless others.”

Then he held up the bag of shopping.

“Noodle snacks,” he said simply, and his mother laughed.

3: 10:00am

Haze was back in his research facility in his secret base under the Northern Territory of Australia when he suddenly received a call from his counterpart at JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Well, the Special Operatives Section (SOS). JAXA was getting ready to investigate a near Earth asteroid and the public team were planning to fire an explosive into it to see what was inside.

Well, that was the official story. The unofficial one was the explosive was designed by the SOS to test how much they could disrupt the orbit of the asteroid. If they could prove the math, then being able to knock asteroids away from Earth would get a closer step towards reality.

“Konnichiwa Makoto Murakami-san. How’s everything?” asked Haze.

“Good afternoon, Brigadier General Harold Hazelnutcoffee, sir,” said Makoto Murakami, bowing. “We are receiving you loud and clear. Attention please as I need to discuss a serious problem.”

“Certainly, Makoto,” said Haze, relaxing into his usual conversational style. “I’m all ears.”

The Japanese JAXA representative nodded, also relaxing. “Cover story, Haze. Lost contact with asteroid. Actual story. Asteroid has disappeared through a portal.”

“Ah,” said Haze. Not a good situation. “Details?”

“According to Nishino-san, our magnetosphere expert, at 5:47 this morning, asteroid 1999 JU3 began glowing green at one end. At 5:48 the green color expanded. It surrounded the asteroid. In moments, it was gone. Our scientists measured infra-red, gamma and other frequencies. Conclusion: asteroid 1999 JU3 had gone through a portal. We are attempting to follow it through.”

“You’ve launched an IFO?” asked Haze.

His Japanese counterpart nodded.

“So, you’re investigating,” said Haze. “Everything is on track to find out more. I’m not sure how I can help.”

Makoto smiled for the first time, as though he’d just won a huge payout on a pachinko machine.

“We need your IFOs, Haze. It seems that other asteroids are disappearing.”

Haze immediately knew why Makoto had smiled. The agreement around the world, amongst all the secret underground IFO bases, was that if an investigation was started by one country and they find a threat to the entire solar system, that country could command the other bases to assist.

Haze grinned back. Well, at least the responsibility wouldn’t be his, this time. “I think, at this point in the conversation, this is where young people say ‘LOL’!” he said. “Of course, my entire base is at your disposal. How can we help?”

Makoto then grew serious again. “I’m afraid we will need help from a new resource,” he said. “Code name: Alien Characters.”

If Haze had been drinking coffee at the time, he was sure he would have sprayed it all over the screen. He could barely hide his surprise. How did Makoto know?

“All the bases know about them, Haze,” said Makoto, grinning again at Haze’s surprised reaction. “It’s really not possible to keep a group of aliens in an invisible shield going around the planet shutting down cyclones, hurricanes, tornadoes and, of course, typhoons, secret.”

“The Tokyo typhoon,” said Haze, in realization.

“Yes,” Makoto said, eyes wide and excited by Haze’s confirmation. “Our operatives watched the green grasshopper-like aliens, and the clam-like alien with many blue eyes, collapse the typhoon. So, we know they’re friendly and we need their help.” said Makoto.

Haze looked back at Makoto resignedly. “And I thought I still had at least one secret left,” he said with a sigh.

“Can we arrange a meeting?” asked Makoto.

“Of course,” replied Haze, back to being professional. “I’ll get onto it immediately.”

“Thank you, Haze-san. We really appreciate your help in this matter. Or lack of matter, as the case may be,” said Makoto with a smile, then closed the connection.

Haze smiled to himself. Makoto was always trying a new pun with English. He admired that. He couldn’t speak any Japanese at all, though he had tried. Translators were too easy a crutch these days.

Makoto was a very interesting character, thought Haze. He was a great drinking buddy, and some of the other centers had even joked about their ‘bro-mance’. He looked forward to having sake again with him sometime.

Haze brought his mind back to the matter at hand and turned to a new item on his desk. A crystal structure that looked like any crystal you could buy in any crystal shop, but which glowed blue on contact with your hand. He put his hand on it now, watched as the light blue color seemed to seep through his hand, and closed his eyes.

It was time for the Alien Characters to join in.

Inside a ten-story tall and one block wide navigation room, staring out the window at the rings and moons of Uranus, a tall purplish-blue alien with a head like a hammer-head shark, smiled. He had felt the connection of Haze on planet Earth and turned to Sarah, the ship’s computer, to find out what it was about.

“They need our help with the disappearing asteroids,” said Sarah.

“Yes,” he said in response. “I was wondering when they would contact us. How many have disappeared so far?”

“100,000…150,000…200,000…” began Sarah.

“That fast? How many asteroids are there?” asked Hamish.

“Approximately 1.5 billion, though some are not entirely within this local space time, some are nothing more than dust particles, and some would be identified as comets rather than asteroids, though they’re from the same formation.” said Sarah.

“Right,” said Hamish. “Connect us to Haze.”

Sarah connected Haze through to the aural communications system and Hamish heard his voice broadcast throughout the navigation room. Sarah also connected the sound throughout the ship, as well as via the telepathic net on the nearby parked Planet Elizabeth, so that members of the crew could decide whether their personal skills would be needed at this time.

“Hamish,” began Haze. “I’m so glad to have been able to get in contact with you.”

“I now rarely sleep,” said Hamish. “You could probably even get me when I’m under water.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Haze. “We have a problem. Can you help?”

“We’re looking at the situation of the disappearing asteroids right now and, apart from reaching 200,000 disappearances and climbing, there’s nothing much more that we know,” said Hamish.

Haze sounded shocked. “But, they must go somewhere. Where are they going?”

Hamish looked surprised. He was so used to people and things being at different frequencies and simply moving through various dimensions, disappearing and reappearing, that it never occurred to him to find out where they actually went. He had assumed they would just still be there, at an undetectable frequency from this reality.

“Well,” said Hamish, a little confused. “I guess that’s why we have a few Earth people here, to remind us to think about limited frequency living. I’ll see if they are actually ‘going’ somewhere, rather than becoming invisible or shifting outside of our usually perceived reality.”

“Thank you,” said Haze.

“Energy signature similar to the asteroid energy is coalescing,” said Sarah. “I am detecting an energy build up outside your normal space time. Actual location has not been confirmed, though projections suggest arrival somewhere between the orbits of planets Jupiter and Mars.”

“Any idea why?” asked Haze.

“I am simply detecting this formation,” replied the computer. “I have no further information at this time.”

“Can you contact me the moment you find further information?” asked Haze. “We need to know whether this is a threat or simply a natural phenomenon.”

“Yes, of course,” said Hamish. “We’ll keep you informed.”

“One other thing,” said Haze. “All our IFO bases on Earth are on high alert and are being directed by our Japanese counterparts. They request a meeting with you. When can you visit the base inside Mount Fuji?”

“Please arrange a meeting on your planet of Terra on your island known as Nihon for five point seven to the power of 14 galactic time units,” said Hamish.

“You know, if you could use our twenty-four-hour system, it’d be a lot easier!” said Haze.

Haze overheard the ship’s sentient computer Sarah calculating, then Hamish repeated the information.

“We believe it is equivalent to about an hour,” said Hamish, wryly. “Roughly about the same time it will take for the energy to coalesce. We’ll meet with as much information as possible.”

“Thank you,” said Haze, with a smile.

After Haze disconnected, Hamish turned to look out the navigation window. “I have an uneasy feeling about this,” he said, looking out into space.

“Estimated total energy after all asteroids convert and coalesce, on your screen,” said Sarah.

Hamish looked up to see the intergalactic language appear in scrolling symbols on his screen. He analyzed it quickly. Then looked very shocked.

“Oh, no!” he said.

“Yes,” said Sarah, simply.

4: 11:00am

In the depths of space, outside the solar system, a strange glutinous mass was coming together. It had spent many years shifting between realities, trying to find the right one that would suit its purpose. The purpose it had been engineered for.

Like an amoeba, it shifted and moved, formed and reformed, parts of itself moving through it to the outside. It was kneading itself, becoming more consistent, more complex, more balanced and ready to expand into the right reality.

It changed its frequency and homed in on a particular reality that matched its current vibrational level. A reality where all the available resources existed. A reality where it would simply appear in the right place at the right time to get what it needed.

With a flash it appeared within a large expanse of water on a blue green planet, the third from its star, and settled onto the seabed to wait. It could feel the resources around it but, in its current form, it could not gather it. It would reinvent itself again and find the elements it needed. The elements unique to its own physiognomy. The elements of Maldek.

Haze almost tripped. He felt the sudden gravity wave flow through the wall near him, and his weather system alerted a possible minor tsunami off the east coast of Australia. He checked the landing records on the heads up display. No IFOs had landed in the area, no meteorites or other space debris either. It had simply shifted into this reality and displaced the water on the seabed.

He shook his head. He was sure everything was related. Things were getting complicated. He needed the Alien Characters to check this one out too. He decided he’ll wait to bring it up at the meeting.

Haze left his monitoring station, headed down a well-lit corridor, and stopped before a sliding door. The door scanned his signature vibration and opened. Inside was a one-person Shinkansen, a bullet train connecting to the Japanese base under Mount Fuji. He got in and put on his seatbelt, feeling the inertial dampening field activate as soon as he had closed the door. At 600km an hour, this vehicle would take him direct to the base via a series of tunnels in under an hour, and he wouldn’t feel a thing. Plenty of time for him to catch up on some reports.

The bullet train rose slightly, then sped into the vacuum tunnel along a series of room temperature semi conductors. A soothing female Japanese accented voice said in English. “Konnichiwa General Brigadier Hazelnutcoffee-san. Your estimated time of arrival is 11.57am. We hope you have a pleasant journey.”

Haze acknowledged the message. Despite the situation he was looking forward to the meeting. It would be great to catch up with the Alien Characters again. He wondered which ones would choose themselves for this project.

As Gabriel finished washing up, his phone beeped a beep he’d reserved for one person. Hoshiko. He smiled, dried his hands and read the message.

“Hi Gab. Party tonight at Saya’s place. Wanna go? Bring craft beer!”

He quickly texted a reply.

“Sounds awesome. She’s in Pyrmont, yeah?”

“Yes. Meet at the bridge at 20:00”

“Ok. 8pm! C U there.”

“C U”

Gabriel put down the phone and smiled. Then he let out a breath and realized. The matters of the universe and the need to save a couple of civilizations paled in comparison to meeting a hot Japanese girl at a party. Her energy was so exciting…

He looked down at his clothes. He’d changed them without thinking, just shifted himself to a similar reality along the same time track where he was already wearing them. Casual, nondescript clothing for melting into the background. It was time to…

Oh. He couldn’t believe it. The frequency around him had changed dramatically, and it wasn’t his doing.

He realized he’d zoned out from connecting to the world around him for just a minute, and in that minute a creature had arrived in the ocean a hundred kilometers offshore. He had felt its possibility in the energy field but hadn’t really thought it was going to arrive any time soon in this time track.

Immediately, he was upstairs, skipping over that period of time needed to run up to his room, and sat on his new floating bed, feeling the energy field block out other basic fields such as the downstairs microwave and TV, and closed his eyes.

Reaching out his consciousness into the general direction of the creature, he used his remote viewing abilities and peered through the water. The sea bed was four kilometers down and there was barely any light, but he was able to see the energy patterns quite clearly.

This creature was huge. At least the size of a football field. And it seemed to be a gestalt. Some kind of creature made up of the consciousnesses of thousands of other creatures. Yet only the minds of the creatures were different. The body seemed to be a simple ball of matter. An animated blob.

Great, he thought wryly. He was going to be part of a 1950s B-Grade movie!

As he watched from his bedroom, viewing into this part of reality, he suddenly saw the creature’s energy fluctuate. Parts of the energy stream were changing color, forming what looked to be jagged jigsaw edges along red lines. The energy pulled apart and suddenly the creature was in two, then four, then eight. It wasn’t breeding. It was splitting up into identical pieces. Within moments the creature had split into thousands of long tubular shapes with blobs on either end.

Suddenly, as though on a prearranged signal, the school of tubes flipped their heads and tails and darted off through the water in multiple directions away from each other. In seconds they were all gone.

Gabriel was so surprised that he lost connection.

What was going on? He needed to tell someone about this.

But who?

Then he realized. The shopping center. He headed off to find the link.

Haze was greeted by two Japanese security guards who took him silently via a golf-cart-like vehicle down a well lit but sterile corridor to the meeting hall. They opened the door and bowed to him, indicating that he enter, then shut the door behind him and waited outside.

Inside, the Alien Characters had already assembled. Some he knew, some he didn’t.

“Konnichiwa Brigadier General Hazelnutcoffee-san,” said Makoto, officially. “It is time for introductions.”

A squid like creature with what looked to be about fifty eyes on its head spoke out of one of its mouths. “Hello,” she burbled in a high voice. “You can call me Lily. My skill is in monitoring. I have thousands of screens and millions of orbs that can be deployed throughout your solar system to visually monitor the area.”

Haze nodded, realizing he was flushing slightly. For a squid creature, she was actually quite cute. Something about those red legs.

“We’ve met before,” said a hairy, green, three-armed creature, who seemed to also be smiling at Haze’s reaction to Lily. A known reaction across species then, thought Haze. “I’m Aiden and I bring my security skills, as well as some minor understanding of time mechanics to the table. I’ll also be liaising with Hamish and be keeping the other Alien Characters updated on everything in case others need to join us at some point.”

The other aliens continued their introductions around the table.

“I’m Ethan and I can transport myself across space without the need of coordinates or flash bands,” said a very white blobby creature in a red suit. “Particularly useful in following an asteroid down a portal, if that becomes necessary.”

“I’m Ava,” said a thin creature with a star-like head and one eye. She looked surprisingly like a neuron. “I can connect to places and feel the energy of what has occurred in that region previously. Sometimes the connection is strong enough to give me complete visual and aural historical records of the entire planet.”

“I’m Rex,” said a creature that looked a bit like a Tyrannosaur, but with herbivore teeth. His tail twitched as he spoke. “I can detect portals between parallel reality time tracks and not only navigate to them but also shift back to this one. If the asteroids are shifting to other time tracks, I should be able to find them.”

Haze introduced himself, and two Japanese assistants to his counterpart also introduced themselves as Mayumi Miyasaki and Taiji Matsumoto. It was a small group and he was curious to know what they would come up with.

“Hamish has informed us,” began Aiden, “that the energy signature of the disappearing asteroids is coalescing at a point somewhere between your Mars and Jupiter. You should be aware that the energy signature is changing slightly and the new energy signature is represented by the planet you used to know as Maldek.”

“What is Maldek?” asked Makoto.

Haze also looked a little confused. “I’m not sure either.”

“Maldek was the planet that used to exist between Mars and Jupiter,” said Ava. “It exploded about six million Terran orbits ago, and so the only remnants that exist are the bits of asteroid and the occasional comet that permeates your solar system.”

“Ah,” said Haze. “You mean all those rocks in the asteroid belt. It has also been called Phaeton, Malona, Mayona, Tir and other names. Our scientists have studied the asteroids and other matter and confirm that there was never enough protomatter within the solar system to create a planet in that orbit,” said Haze. “If there was it would have been smaller than Pluto.”

“Much of the matter already left the solar system millions of years ago in the explosion,” said Lily. “The force of the explosion actually sent a lot of it towards the Large Magellanic Cloud. We used it to travel from our galaxy to yours, following the path of the asteroids like stepping stones across the void between the galaxies.”

“So, there was enough matter to make a planet!” said Haze, surprised.

“Not only that,” said Ava. “It existed for millions of years and, at the end of its days, had an advanced civilization. I was able to get a lot of information when I touched a large asteroid a couple of years ago. Beautiful farms, happy people, six seasons, thriving cities, large moons that caused regular temperature changes as the passed in front of your star, and more. More advanced than your current civilization.”

“What happened to them?” asked Haze, suddenly feeling sad at the loss of an entire planet of people.

“Many things,” said Ava. “But one situation caused a bigger problem than most. In their desperation for more energy they attempted to remotely take energy from Terra, disrupting the planet’s balance. The planet overloaded and exploded. Some of the population reincarnated on Mars. When Mars’ atmosphere was destroyed by a passing asteroid, ironically from the remains of Maldek, the civilization there then reincarnated on Earth. You may very well have started your incarnations in this solar system on Maldek.”

Haze took this in his stride.

“Actually, Earth has also had a brush with Maldek,” began Ethan. “One of the comets that formed from the explosion, actually broke through the time barrier and went back in time, then crashed on Earth about 65 million years ago. Without it, it is unlikely that the Sasquatch would have evolved to a point where alien intervention could have been possible to create your race from their DNA.”

Haze sighed. “Yes, I think you’re the third person in Earth history that is aware of this. Please don’t reveal it to any of the population until at least 2063.There’s a good chap!”

Ethan opened his mouth in surprise, then smiled good naturedly. “Yes, we understand Earth is not ready for any of this information. What are you going to do about the freelance star searchers who discover asteroids are missing?”

“Amateur astronomers are used to our stories,” said Haze with a grin. “Most are a lot more intelligent than the mainstream population, and when we say a freak galactic event, not known before by scientists, is responsible for rapidly moving asteroids off their course, amateur astronomers usually sigh, say ‘yeah, right’, roll their eyes, then go on about their business of spotting more asteroids. Many people on Earth are now already aware of the existence of aliens, unreported space phenomena and other things popular TV shows struggle to report, so you can count on them as supporters. They’ll continue to pretend that aliens don’t exist, that nothing strange is happening, and everything is ‘normal’”

“So, you’re already at the stage of acceptance without confirmation,” said Aiden, approvingly.

Makoto nodded. “Officially we are in disagreement with the Chinese government. Unofficially the Japanese and Chinese governments’ ‘special’ departments work together on advancing civilization to be ready for official first contact. The Japanese government unofficially supported the Chinese government’s announcement of delays at various airports across China due to IFO activity, so we’re getting our populations ready to be galactic civilizations.”

Aiden laughed good naturedly. “So, much of the political fights we see via your digital transmissions are just for show!”

“Oh, yes,” said Haze. “There are still millions of victim-mentality and primitive thinking humans on our planet and we need to make sure they remain calm and collected until it is time to join the interstellar alliance. It’s best to play the dream a bit longer. I don’t think we’ll be ready for official first contact until at least 2025. Perhaps not even until 2033.”

“I believe we’re getting off the point of our discussion,” said Makoto, politely. “What can we do about the asteroids? We had a mission that has now been temporarily aborted.”

Suddenly a bright light appeared above the table in the meeting room.

Lily looked at it in surprise. As she had recognized it instantly, the others in the room turned to her for an answer.

“It’s one of my orbs,” she said, haltingly, as though unbelievingly. “But I lose orbs all the time. They collide with things in space, or they vanish down portals or they get eaten. This particular vibration went missing about two years ago.”

The orb floated above the table and seemed to look at the members of the group individually, then shifted to be above the table, looking down.

“Hello,” said a voice from the orb. “I’m Christopher. Remember me?”

Aiden gasped, then covered his eyes with his claws.

“Not a friend of yours, I take it,” said Haze.

Rex leaned over to Haze and spoke quietly, as though not wanting to upset Aiden further.

“He is the answer to all our questions, actually,” said Rex. “He has wanted to rebuild Maldek for years. He is not originally from Maldek, but when he lived there, he had a lot of power.”

“Quite right!” said the voice. “With my supreme cunning, guile, wit and charm I was able to use the Alien Characters’ travel planet to recreate the core of Maldek with the asteroids we’d collected. I took this with me through some dimensional bridges to your solar system.”

“If that’s true,” said Haze. “Why now?”

“Time isn’t the issue, it’s timing,” said the voice. “This is the perfect timing for the resurrection of Maldek. The anniversary date of the destruction. The alignment of the energy field of the galaxy. The position of your star system being in the same general place it was in its path around the galactic plane millions of years ago. The finalization of the electromagnetic poles changing place in your main star you call Sol. It’s perfect. Not only can I recreate Maldek here, I can link it to its past and use the energy from the destruction to further the re-creation.”

Then a laugh sounded out of the orb. “Listen to me, going on about my plans like one of your B-grade movie villains,” said the voice. “Usually that means that the hero or heroes jump in and save the day. Unless, of course, it’s already happened!”

At that moment, the orb disappeared. Immediately everyone’s communicators began broadcasting Hamish voice from the Celestial Breeze Space Ship.

“Confirming matter coalescing between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter,” stated Hamish. “Moons of Mars known as Phobos and Daemos have disappeared. Other moons around Jupiter have also disappeared. Massive gravitational disturbance…”

In the meeting room both Haze and Makoto had also taken out their pads and were analyzing the data coming via a telempathic link. Faster than light.

“A new planet is forming,” said Haze.

“An old planet,” corrected Makoto. “Older than the Earth.”

Haze felt the gravity shift, almost like being pulled under water for a moment. Others in the room felt it too. If they could feel it, it would effect Earth.

Mayumi, one of the Japanese guards, forgot protocol in her surprise, grabbing onto a chair to steady herself, and asked in English “What’s happening?”

Makoto answered solemnly. “Maldek is returning.”

5: 1:00pm

Skipping over time again, Gabriel appeared at the shopping center, then was at the shimmering wall within the supermarket. This time though, the wall was solid. He attempted to push through but the link had been broken. He closed his eyes and searched. The link required the older man and the alien together. They weren’t together.

Gabriel looked at the possibilities. If he shifted to a reality where they were together, he may completely shift out of this one and not even exist in the new one. His family may not have had him in this form. He also had to consider his other selves in the other realities doing their thing too, and knew most would choose a similar course of action. Remain in this series of realities but find another way that limited the change from the time track.

Then he realized. There was another way! If he could just remember what the feeling was like…

He closed his eyes and brought back his memory of Haze, the signature vibration of him. He recreated it in his mind then spread it through his body, feeling himself also take on the feeling of Haze’s age. He had no idea he was that old. Over 120 years!

Gabriel suddenly felt very old and extremely wise, along with a very happy outlook. As he became closer to Haze’ vibration he felt like laughing. This guy was so in touch with the universe he was in ecstasy the whole time! Gabriel was amazed that Haze had been able to remain calm. How could he feel this way and still function?

Gabriel knew he had to drop the frequency quickly or he wouldn’t be able to concentrate, but he held onto it long enough to make the bridge. He could feel the Alien Haze on the other side of the bridge and connected. The wall shifted and he was able to pass through, journeying along the frequency corridor to Haze’s alien self.

Suddenly Gabriel was there. But it wasn’t the meeting room he first went to.

It was alternate Haze’s IFO. A disk-shaped ship hovering at a different frequency about two kilometers above the East Coast of Australia.

Several grey aliens with large eyes turned to him.

He immediately understood that Haze’s counterpart was not a captain. Perhaps they all had equal roles performing what was necessary.

Alien Haze connected to him mentally.

“Why are you here?” he asked, telepathically. Or rather, telempathically, as Gabriel’s vibrational level returned to his normal self.

“Need your help,” replied Gabriel, mentally.

“Download?” asked the alien with a mental smile not reflected in his face.

“Of course!” replied Gabriel, and replayed in his mind what he saw under the sea.

Alien Haze broadcast this to the other aliens and Gabriel felt an understanding pass between them.

Suddenly the view on the screen change. A decision had been made.

The IFO had headed into a dive!

Gabriel gasped and his heart rate shot up as 2km disappeared in seconds. The IFO sped through the atmosphere faster than light and slammed into the ocean.

But then, nothing happened.

The ship slowed again and slid through the water without even causing a wave, as though it wasn’t even there.

Gabriel’s heart slowed again. Different vibrations. It really wasn’t there. From the vantage point of the vibrational level of the ship, Earth was simply a holographic light ball!

The aliens began touching light panels on the inside of the ship, directing the ship to find what Gabriel had seen.

Multiple images began appearing on the view screens from under the sea. The little fish worms had begun gathering together again, but this time in clumps in different locations. They seemed to be burrowing into the dirt and sand on the sea floor.

The ship shifted to float through the bottom of the sea. It lowered itself through the bedrock and observed the creatures digging.

Gabriel was surprised to see galactic symbols appearing on the screen analyzing the data and surrounding area. He was even more surprised to then see the symbols translate themselves into something he could understand. But they stayed the same. Perhaps he could now read the language?

The information indicated that there was a high level of iridium and other elements not natural to Earth. Something had landed in the water here millions of years ago. It was some kind of meteor and the creatures were excited to find it. They were changing their shapes to be able to dig it out.

Then Gabriel looked again. No, they weren’t trying to dig it out. They were going to absorb it.

Large mouths or holes had opened at the front of the worms and some of the worms joined together to make bigger mouths. Others joined together to make large tail or stomach areas. Then they shot themselves at the rock and enveloped it.

In seconds the rock began to rise out of the seabed. The ship also rose to observe.

The rock now looked like a misshapen balloon, slowly rising out of the depths. A ripple appeared on the surface of the skin and collected itself near the end where a large tail grew. The rock now looked like one of the worms, but almost as large as the IFO.

It flicked its tail and was gone.

Gabriel blinked. It just seemed impossible. These worms were looking for bits of rock? What for?

The aliens had no idea. The IFO floated in the water as they observed other worms in other areas doing the same thing. What were they going to do with all these rocks? And would moving these rocks affect Earth in some way?

Alien Haze connected with Gabriel again. “Until we know why these creatures want these rocks, we have no idea how we can help or even if we can help. We can only suggest you report this to Haze, but he is in a top level meeting at the moment and we cannot interfere.”

“Well…,” began Gabriel.

“We also cannot help you to interfere as we’ve signed an agreement,” continued the alien, pre-empting what Gabriel was going to think next.

“Well…,” began Gabriel again.

“You cannot shift to a reality where we can help you as that reality is far too different to your normal reality,” said Alien Haze.

“I…” began Gabriel for the third time, then stopped. “Please schedule a meeting with Haze and myself, asap.”

“Yes, this we can do!” said Alien Haze. “Do you want the whole process or do you mind if we simply skip over some time?”

“Please skip time where possible!” said Gabriel.

Suddenly it was one hour later and Gabriel was aware that Haze had returned to his base in the Northern Territory. More than that Gabriel found himself sitting in a chair awaiting Haze’s appearance at the meeting. Gabriel also found he had some additional memories formed by skipping time in this way but still, in another reality, experiencing them.

It was an interesting situation. Like waking up, then finding you’re washing yourself in the shower and not remembering the intervening minutes, then recognizing those time periods as they come back to you as memories you don’t remember experiencing. Slightly disorienting.

“I’m really glad to see you again, Gabriel,” said Haze as he walked into the room. “We have a situation that I believe you might be able to help us with. My counterpart here says you shift between realities all the time.”

“Actually,” said Gabriel, “we all shift between realities all the time, billions of times a second in fact, but I think I might be one of the very few people not only aware of this happening moment to moment, but also with the ability to control the shift more consciously.”

“My main question,” said Haze as he took a seat at the long, metal table, “is, can you shift the entire solar system to a reality where an issue that is currently in progress is unlikely to affect Earth?”

Gabriel shook his head. “Not without myself transitioning into a completely different reality. Whatever problem you’re having in the solar system needs to be solved within this time track. But no problem ever exists without a solution. That is the nature of duality.”

“Well, trinity,” said Haze. “Don’t forget the balance point. But you are right. We just need to find the solution to this problem. I understand from my counterpart that you have found a problem too that you think we can help with. I’m really sorry but I think the problem we have at the moment is a lot bigger.”

Gabriel opened his mouth and closed it again, then decided to simply tell Haze and see what would happen next. “Worms are eating rocks on the seabed, then taking those rocks somewhere. I’m guessing a mass of rock equivalent to a mountain, or perhaps more. I don’t even know if they are just on Earth or have appeared all over the Solar System. Don’t you think that would have a greater threat, not only to the gravitational stability of the planet but may also cause earthquakes?”

“So that’s what I felt this morning,” said Haze to himself. He’d forgotten to bring it up at the meeting. He indicated for Gabriel to sit down and sighed. He’d already decided Gabriel would have top level clearance. After all, if he can do the things he thought he could, then he could simply read his mind anyway. “A new planet has appeared between Mars and Jupiter in the solar system,” said Haze, resignedly. “It’s still coalescing but millions of years are happening around it in hours. I’d say within 12 hours it’ll be complete. I think this planet will do far more to disrupt Earth’s gravitational field than any movement of some rocks under the sea might. We also have no record of the worms you describe as being involved. Well, not yet, anyway.”

Gabriel opened his mouth in surprise, then closed it again. A planet forming, time rushing across its surface like waves. How exciting! He closed his eyes, searched for the energy within the solar system, and was there.

In the moment he appeared in the vacuum of space, he felt sheer freezing cold, and lack of air. Reacting quickly, he materialized a white space suit around himself and started taking quick breaths. As the oxygen filled his lungs and the space suit, he smelt what smelled like hot metal and the kind of smell you get from stones sparking against each other, along with a crazy kind of non-smell that seemed like the smell of cold.

He wouldn’t be doing something that stupid again any time soon!

Rocks were falling into a bright yellow space body that seemed to ripple at high speed. It was spinning, absorbing and broadcasting radiation, as though a basket ball was spinning millions of times a second. It was amazing to watch.

More amazing was the feeling of the energy coming from the creation. It wasn’t new creation energy. It seemed to be something old. The feeling was almost spikey, with tinges of green, if green could have a feeling. He could feel chills run up his back and he shook slightly. There was something really wrong happening with this proto-planet. Almost like something evil was being resurrected. Something that should have remained dead. Something that no longer belonged in the vibrational level of the solar system. Something was missing. Then, he thought wryly, perhaps it’s a zombie planet.

Gabriel closed his eyes and returned to the meeting room. The room was small and with him suddenly appearing while wearing the space suit, the air displacement resulted in some chairs being knocked into the walls, and the table Haze and the Alien Haze were standing near, slide to the other wall.

Gabriel made his suit disappear and apologized.

“I wanted to see for myself,” he said, shrugging.

“You went there?” asked Haze, horrified and curious at the same time.

Gabriel nodded.

“I can feel the energy he has felt,” said Alien Haze telepathically. “It is not compatible with the current vibrational level of the solar system. Either the solar system will need to adjust to the lower level, or the planet will not be able to cope, and will either explode or transform.”

“Problem solved, then,” said Haze.

Both Gabriel and Alien Haze looked at him.

“Okay,” he said, back-pedaling, “Maybe not!”

“If the planet explodes,” said Alien Haze in their heads, “then those pieces of planet are going to go somewhere. Calculations indicate not only several plummeting to Earth but most smashing into Jupiter, or being attracted to Jupiter, which may cause a chain reaction due to their high volatility.”

“If you’re thinking Space Odyssey II where Jupiter turns into a second Sun, I’m pretty sure our scientists have said it’s impossible,” said Haze.

“True,” said Gabriel. “But our scientists have not considered the ancient energy of Maldek pouring through a portal and accompanying the asteroids, as well as the increased speed of time. You’re looking at Jupiter not just turning into a second sun, but a super nova!”

Haze was silent. Absolute disaster. Destruction of the solar system! Then he took a breath. “Well, sounds like just another day at the office, then!” he said, grinning.

Gabriel grinned too, and Alien Haze seemed to convey a smile, though his face couldn’t do it. They were all in agreement. Something had to be done about Maldek.

And they had just twelve hours to do it.

To be continued

Gabriel and the Resurrection of Maldek Digital

Gabriel and the Resurrection of Maldek Print