ENCOUNTER by Hep Aldridge (bill gates books recommendations .txt) ๐
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- Author: Hep Aldridge
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As we headed out of the building, Dimitri looked at Jeannie and said, โIโm kinda hungry; you got anything to eat around this place?โ with a laugh.
She responded with that magical tinkling laugh and said, โIโm sure we can find something. Besides, Iโm sure everyone else is, too; itโs been a long day.โ
We headed back to theโI guess weโll call it the dining hallโwhere the table had been set even more lavishly than before. There were several new dishes, including some strange-looking fruit that tasted like a cross between bananas and oranges but looked more like dragon fruit. It was deliciously refreshing, and the drink that was provided in the tankards had a pungent new flavor and more kick than anything we had had before.
As everyone jumped in and began eating and drinking, our spirits lifted, with everyone laughing and smiling, and Dimitri was right in the middle of it, showing off his new scar. I thought I guess this can be considered a celebration as well as a much-needed decompression of emotions.
I immediately felt a warmth come over my body and a tingling sensation that filled me with joy. I looked to the end of the table, where Jeannie was standing, staring at me, smiling. Then, the thought came to me, โIt is indeed a celebration, Colt, a well-deserved celebration,โ and she inclined her head to me.
No-one stopped their laughing and drinking, and I realized that thought was meant for me only. I responded with as much emotion as I could and said, โThank you, Jeannie; you have no idea what your trust and friendship means to me.โ
Still staring at me, she slightly nodded as she touched her fingertips to her forehead, then to her heart, and extended her arm open palm upwards to me and said, โOh, but I do, Colt, and you are most welcome.โ
I cannot begin to explain what happened next, but it was certainly an experience I will never forget.
Docโs voice broke the spell as I heard him say, โHey, Colt, you okay?โ
โYeah, Iโm fine; why?โ I answered, jolted back to reality.
โWell, youโve been sitting there like a statue with your drink in your hand, smiling, for a while. I just wanted to make sure you were okay; you looked kind of spaced out.โ
I looked at Jeannie, who smiled and slightly turned her head away. Can blue chicks blush?
โIโm just fine, buddy, couldnโt be better,โ I said and turned my attention back to my friends and the party, smiling in somewhat of an incredulous daze.
When I looked around, Jeannie was nowhere in sight.
The next morning, we were back at it again, being the diligent students, trying to absorb as much as we could. There was a more relaxed feel to our sessions, not so much student-teacher as it was friends talking, with the conversation and the learning becoming easier.
Jeannie explained how her people, when they felt the time was right, began interacting with indigenous people around the globe. She described how the various cultures started developing and growing and how her people began helping them progress by gradually introducing advanced technologies, sharing concepts that encompassed math, construction, astronomy, and science. They provided them with the basis that they needed for their cultures to continue to develop at their own pace. When this occurred, many of the teachers left and fell back into an observation mode from a distance and watched from the original outposts they had created.
Others had integrated/inbred with the indigenous culture and stayed behind, continuing to advance the culture/civilization. Over time, as careful as they were, the visitors were observed moving about the skies in their ships and soon were given the status of gods, beings from the heavens. This is something that most of them shunned, but not all. It became a point of contention with the ones who had stayed behind, and, in many instances, conflict arose between them. It became evident that some of the visitorsโ hubris had caused them to accept this lofty mantel of so-called gods. That lasted for thousands of years, and then came the devastating self-destruction of Attalia. The ensuing cataclysm resulted from hubris, greed, and advancing technology that was in some cases (both intentionally and unintentionally) ill-managed. It wiped many of the civilizations, even beyond Attalia, off the face of the planet. The massive flood, earthquakes, and vulcanization events changed the face of this world for millennia. When equilibrium was finally achieved, the various groups that survived started to flourish again gradually. But it was a new world. Areas that had been lush with vegetation were now deserts or covered in ice. The landmasses had shifted dramatically, and vast oceans or immense mountain ranges now separated civilizations that had once interacted with one another.
A new world and new civilizations had to be created, a combination of the memories of the old civilizations and the realities of the new. Some flourished; others did not. The tranquil world environment was replaced by civilizations that did not embrace their neighborโs differences but saw them as a threat or competition for resources, something to be feared and conquered. Warfare became rampant, an ever-growing way of life. Jeannieโs people began to move further away and distance themselves from what was happening on this planet, greatly horrified and deeply distressed by an unanticipated outcome of their interplanetary social migration. At least most of them did, but not all. Thus, a rift was created within Jeannieโs people that led to many leaving Earth. Some who had integrated with the indigenous people and had established families remained; others reassumed their role as โgods,โ visiting the planet occasionally, and others stayed as Watchers, trying to reinstate the peaceful coexistence that had once flourished and discreetly sharing useful knowledge.
A few like Jeannie retreated to places like the Citadel, given the responsibility of continuing to build an invisible civilization around the globe and atone for some of the devastation that their well-meaning habitation
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