ENCOUNTER by Hep Aldridge (bill gates books recommendations .txt) 📕

room. Next to it was a small table and on it was a pitcher and cups. One whiff of the pitcher and my senses were hit with a fresh, fruity aroma. The drink was indescribably fruity, and as I consumed It, I could feel my energy level increasing. The other doors began opening, and my comrades exited with varying levels of astonishment on their faces.

Dimitri was the first to speak, “Man, that was fantastic. That was better than the car wash down at the Mobil station back home.”

I was about to ask how he could compare this alien bathing experience to a car wash and immediately thought better of it—some things you just don’t need to know.

We finished off the beverage in the pitcher, grabbed our packs, and went outside, where the ladies were seated on a bench, waiting for us, smiling broadly and looking totally refreshed.

As we approached, I said, “So, it looks like you ladies got the same message we did?”

“That was better than the best spa day I’ve ever had,” O’Reilly said.

Reggie, smiling from ear to ear, nodded in agreement, “That was heavenly.”

“Well, we can compare notes on our way to Jeannie’s,” I answered as we headed out.

Chapter Twenty-Three

We arrived at Jeannie’s place, the building that held the Cathedra of Knowledge, and this time I took the seat in the big chair. I placed my hands in the impressions on the arms, and Jeannie appeared as before.

She looked the same, long robes with a hood, her face partially hidden by it, all blue. As everyone took their seats on the benches, I started asking questions that would help us better understand our surroundings.

“Jeannie, we have seen this blue glow and blue lights since we first found the road; what is it?”

She looked at me and said, “That is the color signature in your lighting spectrum of our energy source, Zero-Point Energy as you call it.”

“So, when we see that, we can deduce that what we are seeing is being powered by that energy?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“But what about in the shower, and by the way, thank you for helping out in that situation. Not only was it much needed, but it sure beat the late-night excursions outside the cloak.”

Her enigmatic smile broadened ever so slightly, “Our race has many of the same needs as yours, and they are all provided for in the Citadel.”

“And the food and drink, it was fantastic,” Dimitri added.

“You are welcome. Sustenance is a requirement in one form or another for all races. As for the blue glow in the cleansing facilities, that is a modified form of our energy that was created to replenish the body.”

“So, that’s why I feel so energized; no pun intended, much more refreshed and recharged.”

“Yes,” she replied, “its effects will stay with you for a few days. Then your normal levels will return.”

“That’s another question we had,” I said. “We have been told about the ability of your race to extend the life of humans, for tens if not hundreds of years. Is that true?”

“Again, that is a process we have developed using our energy source. We have found that your race’s short lifespan can be extended for four to five hundred of your years. Unfortunately, after that length of time, your mental facilities begin to deteriorate, ultimately resulting in the rest of the body stopping functioning, shutting down, and dying. However, some are able to live longer and maintain their mental abilities. We have found some that live seven hundred to nine hundred of your years. Their longevity can create problems within the social constructs of your society. Therefore, we rarely initiate those longevity protocols.”

I hesitated, then said, “I must tell you; we were warned that there is a group of people within our society that are searching for the secret to this longevity for evil purposes.”

“I know,” Jeannie replied, “remember your thoughts, memory, and knowledge are now mine. I am aware of your pursuers and their intentions. This cannot be allowed to happen. For now, they have been otherwise distracted by one of our Watchers, but I fear they will not be dissuaded from their task and will soon become a threat to us.”

“Wait a minute,” Doc said, “Watchers?”

Jeannie turned to him and said, “Yes, there are individuals who have been carefully selected to monitor and assist with the development of your world’s civilizations for thousands of years. They have all been given a level of longevity beyond the normal and have the ability to contact me or other keepers, who then relay that information to me.”

“Hold on, Jeannie; you mean there are others like you… Where?” I asked.

Jeannie raised an arm over her head, and an image of Earth from space appeared. But the continents weren’t right—there were oceans and a large land mass. Small blue dots began to appear on it. The image started to change as the land mass began breaking apart. I realized I had been looking at a representation of Pangea, the super continent before it broke into the major continents we have today. Slowly, North and South America took shape, followed by the European continent. All of them had little blue dots scattered on them. Even the Northern polar region and Antarctica had blue dots.

As I gazed at the image rotating overhead, I said, “All of those blue dots are citadels like this?”

“No,” she replied, “most of them were outposts that we established; there was only one other Citadel such as this.”

I watched as the globe stopped turning and a larger blue dot appeared on a land mass located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

She continued, “The only other Citadel like this one destroyed itself.”

I pointed to the one in the middle of the Atlantic and asked, “What was that one called?”

“That was Attalia, a most beautiful and glorious island until their leaders’ lust for power and avarice led them to try and use the energy to conquer others. Their scientists were developing weapons of unimaginable power. One