Chapter 25 - A Heart Of Stone

Tracy was just nodding off when she felt the shudder. This was followed a few seconds later by a deep boom. She switched the light on, it was 2:34 AM. She decided to inspect the house, including the part that Roger had fixed. There was no damage at all. That was good. She still recorded it, meaning Andy and Imogen would pick up on it. In a round about way she owed Imogen a big favour, the homestead had gone from absolute secrecy to 'play it down'. That meant she could bring friends around and have less cold and lonely nights...

The rest of the night was uneventful and in the morning she surveyed the property with one of the drones as the farm was overdue for a good look over. Overall things were progressing well, but there will always be one or two things that need attention. One of the swales was showing signs of blockage and a few patches of tagasaste were yellowing, possibly due to water logging.

Then she spotted it, a crater in the ground some 10 metres in diameter. She guided the drone in closer and it seemed the meteorite was still intact. She logged it straight away on the database and rode the quad out to inspect it. It really was just a rock. She got a call from Andy, "Tracy, is there any gold or platinum in that thing. I've heard that some of those things can be choc-a-bloc full of goodies."

"Looks like a burnt out piece of rock to me. There's no rush to block this crater up, who knows it may even make a good dam. Lets wait until the winter rains come before we backfill, could be saving ourselves a whole lot of work.

Imogen is into meteorites. It would be an easy return of favour to let her come up for a look. Who knows she may share a bit more inspiration when she comes up.", Tracy suggested.

Andy agreed. While Tracy had a keen mind and plenty of new ideas of her own it was Imogen that came up with the with the far out ground breaking new ideas that was transforming the homestead from a barren wasteland into extremely fertile ground. It was Imogen who suggested that the bugs from the BNF compost can be fed to ducks which in turn, with their droppings, would seal the dams, saving enormous expense of their construction and maintenance. It was also Imogen who pointed out that the ground seepage along one of the up slopes was coming from the abattoir that was violating discharge regulations resulting in nutrient rich seepage going into the stream on the homesteads property. The weeds from the banks were cleared and sawdust from the sawmill was spread over the ground for deep litter chickens. The resulting compost from the chickens activity could be spread far and wide. As the pollution in the stream cleared away it would be good for fishing and possibly drinking, except in summer when it dried up.

Surprisingly Imogen and Daniel had made their own way up on their mopeds. That was a long leg for the poor little engines. "How are you going to get back before dark?", asked Tracy.

"Don't worry about us", replied Daniel. "Imogen says you have an airbed, is it OK for us to crash out for the night?"

"Do you know I'm legally responsible for you idiots. You're both under 18. It would be appreciated if you could get a lift with your father in future."

"It's kind of difficult when he's not working on the house. By the way are there any cracks from the tremor."

"No, its all good. Here are the GPS coordinates of the crater, you better get going and see what you want to see. The quads are in the shed."

Half an hour later Imogen and Daniel were at the site. "Sure left a bit of a mess. If you'd brought your bikini along you could have done an alien photoshoot", he commented.

"In ya dreams buddy boy. Anyway this isn't some eccentric hobby I have. A couple of years back at Bremers Bay I found a meteorite and I could make contact with the bacteria in it. Now unless someone with the same ability as I have has pulled one hell of a prank on me then there's life beyond Earth, drifting around the solar system."

"Pranks do happen, Imogen"

"There was no way that someone could have known that I would have stumbled across that meteorite. As far as I know I am the only one in the Great Southern who has my ability. I want a confirmation before I say anything more."

Imogen stepped into the crater, it had been raining and the rain had seeped into the meteorite, providing a contiguous chain of life from Imogens hands to the bacteria within the shocked rock. Daniel had seen what Imogen could do at Andy's house, but this was little preparation for the expression that came across his girlfriends face.

"Whoa, that looks more than a confirmation of a pre-existing belief...."

"Shutup"

"I was only..."

"I mean really shutup"

She was in one of her strange moods so not seeing any danger he left her to it. He was beginning to get a feel for surveying the land himself. With a few trees planted strategically this area could be made into a fun and private place for camping. His mind drifted away from revegetation and focused on the camping. He was brought back to the present by a crow squawking. He made his way back to Imogen.

She still had hands laid on the meteorite when he returned. A few minutes later she sat back, totally stunned. Daniel crouched down next to her and was concerned. He placed his hand on the meteorite, ready to pull back if any weird shit started happening. As far as he was concerned it was just another piece of rock. Their mobile phone provider didn't have coverage out here and it would be a two hour walk to get to the homestead. Not that Imogen was in any shape for walking, she was just sitting there and Daniel was started to get worried. Finally she spoke. "You think that's just another meteorite don't you."

Daniel tried to be as laid back as he could in the hope it would be contagious. "Well, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck ..."

"It was made to look that way. The meteorite that is. That's right, it was made. But not by us."

"What, you think its a piece of space wreckage from another star?"

"No, it is the spaceship. Look, I'm ok. I'm not bowled over in anyway. I am just, well, kind of stunned. Ok, here goes with an explanation. This meteorite was grown, not manufactured in the traditional sense, much like my Dad's biocrete. It was designed as a protective living space for yet more bacteria whose job it is is to explore unknown regions of space. So this was shot in our direction, millions of years ago and arrived about 10,000 years ago. In most ways it behaves like most other objects, it gets covered in ice because water is the most common compound in the universe - no surprises there. As it enters our solar system the ice starts to melt and it forms a tail. The debris from this tail crosses the orbits of the planets within the solar system. The bacteria within the debris fall to the planets surface, start breeding and form a collective intelligence which performs an assessment of that planet. Sometime later the comet collects debris from the planet, which contains DNA encoded with the collected data from the progenitors of the fallen bacteria. This information is then stored in the meteor and sooner or later the meteor leaves the solar system and is collected and analysed by the aliens which sent it."

"Why not just send robots?"

"Robots can't get small enough to get into rocks, to get blown by the wind, to infiltrate ecosystems, to record the pressures of evolution through their mutated DNA. The atmospheric composition at every latitude, longitude and altitude."

"So how does the meteor get back to the parent solar system."

"Well, the story didn't get that far with this one."

"If this technology is scouting ahead of the species which created it then the only way I can think of is a robotic capture probe on the edges of the solar system. When the meteors speed is at a minimum it intercepts it, attached a nuclear powered ion rocket and sends it back in the right direction. By the way, how does this bacteria get off the planet it has fallen on to."

"Most of it doesn't but planets get hit with asteroids, especially if they are sent on a collision course by the alien robot. This kicks up dust which escapes via the solar winds and get captured by the meteor. Another way is that the meteor could be sent through the upper atmosphere by the robot. Either way, its a better technology than what we've got and its a slow process. A third way is that it doesn't leave the planet but gets read by the aliens when they eventually get around to landing. As another possibility the meteor could also do planetary level surveys and read the heat signature of widespread photosynthesis to identify a target planet, or any combination of the above. You're talking about a very versatile and covert technology.

This has been going on for thousands of years."

"How do you know?"

"Well these bacteria started recording before they left their parent planet. On Earth the most powerful lifeforms ever were the dinosaurs which were a combination of reptiles and birds. They were smarter than the mammals of their day. On the other hand these aliens are part reptile and part mammal, but no asteroid ever wiped them out. They orbit a red dwarf star 55,000 light years away. Being a red dwarf their sun will out last ours by billions of years. The past belongs to them and so does the future, unless Earth life can counter colonise."

"Do you know what they look like?", asked Daniel, he was beginning to feel a little bit shaky.

"Yes, like the figurines of Tell Al’Ubaid in Iraq. They have been dated at 7,000 years old. Obviously a previous meteor fell as well and someone of my ability must have found the meteor and unlocked its secrets. Like dinosaurs, of which birds are a surviving part of, their brains are wired highly efficiently. The Elohim, as they call themselves, have a brain pan capacity about half of ours but their minds are ten times more powerful."

"Would these be the same as the Annunaki, you know those webpages about aliens altering the DNA of humans?", asked Daniel as the hairs rose on the back of his neck.

"No. Nearly all humans who come across this knowledge do so through the communion with bacteria. Unfortunately nearly all of those go mad, the madness being a defense to the truth which usually manifests of putting the future in the past. That way the threat doesn't have to be dealt with. Our DNA hasn't been altered in the past, that's what they have got in store for us should we ever be discovered."

"Well with technology like that what's stopping them?"

"I don't know Daniel. But what I find really freaky is that they are carbon based life, with DNA having base 4 coding and genes that code to the same proteins. Maybe that's the best way for life to go about its business. On a lighter note though guess what"

"What?", asked Daniel

"The atmospheric pressure on Mars is one third that of Earths. Those lying bastards at NASA. Wernher von Braun was right all along. Not only that but this solar system is pretty well inhabited. Small isolated lenses of lithotrophs under the poles of Mercury..."

"It's too close to the sun only 58 Million km."

"Yes but the same side is always facing the sun, meaning the other same side is always turned away from it. Somewhere between those two sides it is just right. Bacteria in the clouds of Venus 50km up, lithotrophs under the surface of Mars producing methane. Sub surface oceanic microbes on a whole host of bodies. Once you get past the mainstream media brainwashing it's really not that surprising. If fact the big surprise would be if the only life was here on Earth."

"But it's all mindless slime, right?"

"Slime would be a much more accurate description. By the way there is no data about Europa.", Imogen added.

"Bummer, I thought there would be by the way that some people were talking."

"I didn't say it was dead. I didn't say it was alive. I didn't say it's unknown, from the meteors perspective anyway. It's been examined by these alien meteors. I believe the computing terminology is null. Not zero, not one, but null. You're just digesting my words. But I've felt this conscious meteors interpretation of Europa's null. It's something I find deeply disturbing."

"So how did all this life get started?", asked Daniel.

"On Mars. Some rocks containing bacteria got ejected due to an asteroid impact, this seeded the comets that have been scattering it far and wide throughout the solar system ever since. It's taken hold where ever its been able to. It also got going on a few comets independently."

A look of realisation came over Imogen's face. "I think I've just realised why we are undiscovered. Why we have the privilege of knowing about them through their own greatly advanced technology."

"C'mon girl the suspense is killing me."

"It's Jupitor. It acts as the solar systems vacuum cleaner. While Jupitor type planets are quite common in the universe, its position in the solar system is extremely rare compared to other solar systems. It's not something that the Elohim would be anticipating if these meteors are scouting way ahead. Most stars have their 'Jupitors' close to their sun, hence the astronomy term 'hot Jupitor'. Fate has given us a reprieve for an unknown amount of time. It may be that they have interpreted the disappearing meteors as a race more advanced than their own capturing the meteors. This may scare them off. But we can't count on it. Also, sooner or later, they will come close enough to examine the solar system through more conventional means and then our cover will be blown.

I have seen beyond the bounds of infinity and drawn down demons from the stars….I have harnessed the shadows that stride from world to world to sow death and madness... H.P. Lovecraft, From Beyond"

"Wow", said Daniel, trying to take it all in. "Life started on Mars, seeds Earth with life and now we're going back to Mars to help it recover from its catastrophe. In every sense, that is totally epic."