Odyssey Bourne Force

Chapter 3: Odyssey Bourne Force Part 1

Saturday morning, 2029

Blake Bennett handed his twenty-two year old son, Sam, a book, stating, "I feel you are ready for this. Please read it."

"What's it about, Dad?"

He looked at his son solemnly. "Mankind's most secret history and discoveries, what, I believe, not everyone is quite ready for yet. No historians have ever taught this, let alone know about it. Maybe one day they will, but you will understand what I mean. All I want you to do is keep an open mind, and read it from the beginning to the end. However, when you get to the last page, you may feel a little, err angry. But I have a surprise for you."

Sam could have questioned him, but what was the point?

Sam Bennett stroked the worn hardcover entitled, Kingdom of the Old World, Volume 1, Dr. Peter Reynolds, archeologist PhD (Hons).

Sam was well aware his father, once a top photojournalist, had a penchant for unusual theories and enigma.

Intrigued, Sam read three quarters of the way through. What he found was a fascinating, methodical journal of Reynolds' specific 1999 travels to Ancient Egypt, where he had discovered a buried temple the archeologist claimed belonged to an unknown ancient royal family and contained supernatural properties. Reynolds made mention that his more down to earth colleagues had pooh-poohed his theories. He compiled an extensive list of objects found inside the temple, including hand drawings, photos of stone scriptures, and unusual symbols. According to Reynolds, most of what he discovered, especially the strange symbols predated Egyptian hieroglyphics.

The last quarter of the journal changed format and wads of text followed, like a diary. He sampled the first page and it was fantastic. He was beginning to see why Dr. Reynolds' amazing discoveries had to remain secret.

He flipped through the writing, noting he had sixty-odd pages to read. The last entry dated July 2005. He needed fresh coffee and perhaps something stronger for later.

He stared at his father sitting on the verandah smoking, wondering what this was all leading to and what was the relevance? A cold fear made him shiver.

Would it be a case of ‘dare he look behind him wherever he went?' Or, watch the darkening skies. Alternatively, this could all be poppycock.

When Blake Bennett had first read the journal, he was thirty-two years old and at the peak of his professional career. In the past, he had interviewed the archeologist a few times, as they shared similar views. Though he only knew the archeologist by reputation, his reporter's instinct recognized sincerity. He believed in Reynolds' theories.

Overall, the diary portion sounded like a complex science fiction fantasy story. Alternatively, if he was a real cynic, it could be one man's fantastic journey to boost his own ego. No, Reynolds had no reason to lie-he was an intelligent and articulate man, willing to lay his reputation on the line. At that time, Blake needed to find the archeologist, but the answers were already in his hand.

This story was too damn real. He should know-he had become involved. He glanced at his son, now sprawled on the living room sofa, deep inside the journal, and anticipated his reaction.

After all, she did say, "Humans are such curious and emotional children."

February 2005

The OBF1 team were geared up for the latest mission, loaded with supplies, weapons for defense, and a range of devices for long and short range audio and visual communication.

"We have a go!" boomed a voice over the loudspeaker.

"Right guys, listen up! Let me remind you this is a brief visit. Assess the situation, hand over the goodies and high tail it home," stated Gene Tremaine, the leader, to his two colleagues.

Though his team had visited this destination many times, a never-ending fascination of what was before them or what could happen was always present. These men had adventure in their blood-a natural prerequisite.

Throughout their specialized and intensive training, the single most emphasized dynamic instilled to keep them alive is, ‘complacency means death,' and not just for this specific team.

This particular destination, the planet Ahmadeus in the far regions of the Gamma-four Quelain Galaxy, is two hundred and fifty million light years away from the Milky Way and parts still very much unexplored by the team.

Tremaine checked his wrist computer for the ETA.

Through the door, it will take eight point five seconds Earth time to arrive. A relatively short time as travel is through an astronomical portal where they step from one planet to another. The speed of light does not factor into this form of travel, nor does the effect of heading out millions of light years away and going into the past. In other words, the door, officially known as the Black Star Portal, or BSP, defies the accepted astronomical laws of physics, as we know them. This is one reason why it is the most closely guarded secret of humankind to date.

For some reason, Tremaine's normally hardened concentration flashed back to the beginning -

Over the past five years, a covert and mysterious civilian group known as Divisions was the powerhouse behind the Odyssey Bourne Force project. Deliberately set up so no fingers pointed to one person, although Divisions had an ‘overseer.' The common belief is it all began with a few enthusiastic night sky watchers with cosmic interests and unimaginably deep pockets. The group rapidly expanded, collectively known as the Secret United Earth Powers. They consisted of a diverse, secretive mix of private businessmen who invested money and resources and were the backbone of Divisions. Some of the members had interests and contacts in private enterprises dealing in microcomputers, electronics, well-funded research & development scientific laboratories, and numerous skin factories specializing in metals and steels combined with materials not relative to Earth.

The doorway's main purpose is for off-world exploration to discover other forms of intelligent life, and to bring back technologies that could be useful on Earth, especially in regards to defense, historical, and medicinal purposes. Divisions were not answerable to any reigning governmental bodies or armed forces. Ironically, it had clandestine connections within areas of each. The day-to-day running of the administration was very strict. Incoming and outgoing personnel were scrutinized via eye scans, codes, and voice recognition, and if necessary, blood samples. It was more sophisticated than any military type of operation. The President was aware of the organization, as his representative sat in the monthly S.U.E.P. summits. While the organization was not encroaching on the laws or upsetting his armed forces protocol, he turned a blind eye. He did not want to know, unless it affected his country directly. As far as he was concerned, Divisions was another line of defense. He knew the public must not become aware or find out-unless their backs were against the wall.

If the worst came about, he always had the plausible deniability answer.

What the President, and S.U.E.P. had in common right away was the belief to keep this project secret from the public for as long as possible.

The device, or key used to open this enigmatic doorway to the stars, is an elaborate collection of palm-sized crystals, though only six were required for the door to unlock.

The crystals were clear except for varying black marks, like veins, engraved into them and placed in a specific order on a pedestal six meters in front of the BSP. Sixty-six crystals had been located, but they had not dispelled the fact there could be more.

With numerous combinations, the "crystal keys" required scanning and harnessing in an elaborate computer program put together by a scientific team for ease of deployment. This was no mean task.

To activate, a powerful laser is required to shine through the positioned crystals spreading the resulting rays of light onto the BSP. An unexplainable form of metamorphosis occurs, rendering the black stone from a solid opaque to a white liquid energy that further changes into a rainbow vision of blinding beauty. This energy image gives the impression of a huge television, without the restrictions of a screen. Millions of fiber optic multicolored threads move faster than the eye can follow. To Tremaine, it looked more like a crackpot's psychedelic dream machine.

Ironically, the stone door itself is so black, if one shone a normal battery torch on it, the blackness swallowed the light-it would not reflect. Only light concentrated through a powerful laser via the crystals transformed the body of the stone into an astronomical gateway. The size of Earth's BSP was five meters high by three point five meters wide by one point five meters deep. It was, to date, the only known stone to exist on Earth.

To any uninformed observer, the travelers walking into the portal disappeared. In reality, they were light years away, on another planet walking through a sister doorway.

A strict up-to-the-minute schedule is mandatory, as the only known way home is when the Divisions based operator opens up the Earth doorway at a predetermined time. The away team had a maximum of thirty seconds to send a coded radio or video signal through the bright light to register at base headquarters. If they ever missed, they had to wait a further thirty seconds for home base to open the door again. Once communication is established, the team can return. If, for any reason, another team sends a signal through at the same time from wherever, they will receive a jamming code and have to wait until the home base operator lets them through. That had not happened yet as the scheduled missions did not coincide. For security reasons, all personal identification signals change upon completion of each mission.

There probably is another way to open the door from the destination end, but how is yet to be ascertained. Each sister doorway visited possesses no crystal ‘keys' to open them. In fact, information concerning neither this strange doorway, nor its creators is sadly lacking. Currently, only Earth possesses these crystals. Even though both the crystals and the door are located on Earth, their top scientist's state the origins are extraterrestrial, which Tremaine sardonically interpreted as, they don't have a clue.

Divisions have placed an electrical force field two meters around the door, so if any unfriendlies manage to gatecrash, they would be, in theory, trapped. This action did not make Tremaine feel any safer.

The BSP's momentous discovery was all possible thanks to a talented young geological archaeologist, Dr. Peter Reynolds. His independent, prolonged study and deciphering of the unique, ancient scripture scattered around the Junghis Temple walls where the door was found, along with extensive research, and later an unlimited budget thanks to Divisions, made this galactic travel a reality. Later he dubbed it his Leap Frog discovery.

A thorough non-stop six months of pre-testing and probing ensued. Based on Reynolds' theory, scientists bombarded the stone with everything from radio waves to gamma rays. Success came with the concentration of visible light. A long life battery powered toy car with a camera on board were just a few of the first tests set up once the historic and exciting discovery of the first opening of the door had been established. The first live being, a frog (hence the nickname), was sent through. When a remote probe followed and a video link was established, what everyone saw was astonishing-a landscape similar to Earth's that had a breathable atmosphere. They had discovered Ahmadeus, an astonishing jaw dropping quarter billion light years' distance from Earth.

Why this particular planet?