Chapter Four

Fishing has always been a dangerous profession. The fishermen spend long periods of time away from the comforts of home. They must sometimes travel through rough seas and inclement weather to go where the catch can be found. Their job can be a mixture of long periods of tedious boredom interspersed with life threatening events. The fishermen of this story are not very different. They set out in 625,360 ships of various sizes and shapes on a long voyage to the location of the catch: Earth. This convoy had various types of ships for various jobs that would have to be performed. Some were to navigate. Others specialized in electromagnetic phenomenon. Still others were process vessels designed to manage the harvest itself. They set their course through the worm holes of the universe. They plot their course with pin-point accuracy to avoid magnetic storms, supernova explosions, and galactic collisions. When they finally reached their destination galaxy, the Milky Way. They entered through the very center, a black hole, a conflagration of swirling cosmos and blazing jets. The fishermen maneuvered single file and undetected in their minuscule craft through this apparent chaos toward the outer rim. Like an invisible cloud of particles of dust they finally assembled on the outer reaches of one particular solar system and prepared to set their lines.

"Damn it all Lona!" Quinton muted the television news broadcast. "These entitlements are breaking the back of every tax paying citizen and there’s no stopping it all. The silent majority and the minority and their lawyers are turning everything upside down. You can’t say the truth because no one wants to hear it. It’s the people who work who have to carry the burden. What happened to personal freedom? A person can’t say anything without fear of offending someone. And here’s an example of another wild accusation that’s ended someone’s career. It’s bizarre! Anyone can be expunged from the Society because of merely the appearance of impropriety due to only the accusation of misconduct. No proof, mind you; no trial; enough of an investigation to yield no evidence but still, no one wants to act. The administrators haven’t the guts to do anything but bring down the boom and have them suspended, the police refuse to make a statement, and the prosecutor’s office hasn’t even received the case number. If one of us is dead meat, Lona, we’re all dead meat!" The conversation stopped for a moment. It seemed as though the lamp moved.

Lona was behind him and he thought for a moment that she had pushed his chair. The ceiling light swayed for a moment. "Quinton, was that an earthquake?"

There began a rumbling sound as the house began to shake with the sounds of nails and squeaking wood.

"Good Lord! Quinton, it is!"

Even the news commentator was looking strangely into the camera. Quinton turned the sound back on. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ve just experienced an earthquake!"

Within twenty minutes the newsbreak flashed that commentators in every country of the world had addressed every nation as people eagerly tuned in. "Seismic activity of a strength of four on the Richter scale was felt simultaneously around the world today. There were no fatalities and little damage, but Geologists are unable to explain its occurrence." This announcement was followed by pictures of frightened women and children. They televised interviews of random people on the street. "I think the world is coming to an end!", said a spokesman for a group called the Moral Conservatives. "There is nothing to fear!", said one astute scientist. "This is merely an unexplained geological phenomenon!" Five hours later, all electricity stopped for fifteen seconds around the world.

Automobile engines shut off, batteries went dead, television stopped, lights went out. The world stood naked in lifeless buildings of wood, brick, and steel. Heating systems and air conditioners stopped. When the power returned, television sets that were on, burst to life. The whirring of motors once again were heard. The occurrence of this phenomenal loss of power was broadcast, over, and over. Absolutely no explanation could account for this. Then, another five hours later, without warning or portent all radio and television communication went dead. And when it was reactivated a short time later, a soft deep voice could be heard on every station and channel, in every telephone, through every speaker in every language: "I am God, the Father, and I am coming as I have promised. Prepare to enter the Kingdom of Heaven!"

Billions of people dropped to their knees, rocking their bodies, and praying. Many others commit--ted suicide. The Christians thanked God for His second coming. Protestants praised God for finally bringing the rapture. The world of Islam prepared for eternal joy. Everywhere, only the voice could be heard. And another five hours later a massive wheel of light surrounded the earth like a magnificent aurora. It started at the south pole as a sphere, it flattened out to create a ring, circumventing the earth, and finally recollecting in a ball over the Hudson Bay to explode into space. This incredible display appeared like a brilliant, beautiful rainbow seizing the rays of the sun and casting off brilliant colors. At night, the colors shone in the sky illuminating everything.

Control of all communication was once again returned. Much of the commercial programming had simply been deserted. Some of the stations had been commandeered and many people were speaking incoherently, confused and frightened. Quinton and Lona held hands to comfort each other. Everyone felt the fear. Everyone was humbled. Everyone was confused.

Another five hours passed after the rolling light show, and the voice returned. This same message was repeated over and over in every language, "The gates to the Kingdom of Heaven will come to you in the sky. You will be drawn into the Kingdom of Heaven by a beam of light. Rejoice for salvation is within everyone’s grasp! You have only to repent and wait for the glorious beam of light!". The message was everywhere. The people listened. They waited. Each person prayed that they would be taken Everyone ran into the streets and looked above, with open arms, and upturned faces. For some, the gates came quickly. For others there would be hours, days and weeks of waiting. When the light finally beamed down from above, their bodies were drawn, one after another, up into the center of the gates. Into the Kingdom of heaven. The gates filled the skies and the beams of light swept the landscape like vacuum machines drawing millions into the fisherman’s vessels. Even aircraft were drawn into the gates and disappeared.

Quinton and Lona, like millions of others, watched the news coverage of the "gates" approaching closer to their area. They watched one "on the scene journalist", joyous to be taken by the beam of light, just before the camera went blank as the cameramen too were scooped up into the gate. There were those, of course, who questioned the Gates of Heaven. But even they were so in awe of the message and the events that they had little to say. Soon there was little doubt in anyone’s mind that their destiny was in the beam of light. As the radio and television stations signed off, one after another, Quinton and Lona watched from an elevated vantage point on their front lawn as the gates finally approached their part of the world. In the distant sky they could see the hundreds of dim, glowing saucer shaped objects across the skies. These were the Gates, slowly drawing nearer and nearer. The night was clear, and the stars above the Gates shown brightly. The beams of light swept silently back and forth underneath the Gates. They could see what looked like little specks being drawn up through the center of the beams. These were the harvest. These were the people.

As Quinton and Lona watched on that peaceful night, there appeared another light higher in the sky. Like falling stars, there appeared one, then others. They became brighter and brighter above the Gates. Their light soon shown with such brightness that the entire landscape was illuminated. Quinton and Lona finally had to turn away shield their eyes. The hot bright lights slowly descended through space. Quinton and Lona ran for shelter. When they finally hit the ground there was a blast of heat and light. Quinton and Lona hugged the ground. Gigantic, orange balls of flame rose above the points of impact filling the horizon. Quinton and Lona had rolled into a gully. They felt the earth tremble. They could see the orange colored hues of light reflecting indirectly about them. Then came the shock wave of the impacts. The shock from the impact tore the leaves from the trees and rolled anything that was not tied down along the ground. The sounds of breaking windows and explosions surrounded them. Water gushed from the ground like geysers. Then there was a calm. The wind then reversed its direction and rushed with almost as great a force. Then, there was a stillness. Quinton the Lona stood up and viewed the devastation.

Hundreds of the Gates now lay strewn across the countryside in disarray on the ground. Some were fairly close. The car was still in working condition; it started. It had been saved by an earth wall. As Quinton and Lona drove toward the wrecks of the Gates, they clung to each other. "What in Hell is going on?", exclaimed Lona. "I don’t have the slightest idea!", responded Quinton.

Eight miles later they joined the throng of curious travelers as they approached the torn remains of one of the Gates, a fishing vessel. Those Gates that were close to the impact sites were virtually vaporized as was everything else. However, the first wreck they came across was broken like an egg and lay open, like a mammoth, partially deflated balloon on the ground. As they pulled their car to a stop, they could see that it was not a Gate of Heaven. They stepped out of their vehicle and stood in awe at the very size of the craft. It draped over the landscape like hundreds of bulky, full, silvery plastic bags for a thousand yards. There was no apparent structure to the craft. It was as though it had been a hot air balloon. There were, however some identifiable pieces of wreckage. It was broken into numerous pieces, and, in some places, the inside was revealed. As Quinton and Lona approached, they could smell sweet and pungent odors emanating from the vessel’s bowels. blinking lights of every color could be seen throughout the wreckage. Some were steady while others flashed on and off through the many layers of this strange craft. All through the rest of the night and into the next day they wandered through the wreckage trying to understand its purpose and function. The horrible truth was finally disclosed.

The vessel was made of a light material, strong, pliable, and yet unbreakable. There were remains of the little fishermen. Their eyes of multi-faceted lenses and thick, rigid exoskeleton skin were like that of insects. In the very center of the Gate was the source of the beam of light, a massive anti-gravity machine. Just above this machine was a circular devise which collected the bodies of those drawn up through the beam of light. The bodies were thrown, by centrifugal force, head first to the outside of the circular devise, like a macabre carnival ride. Their bodies were driven, head first, through holes on the outside and, with their shoulders restrained, their heads were lobbed off. The heads then collected in a gigantic vat below while the bodies were vaporized. It was mid-morning by the time the vat of millions of heads was discovered. They were totally immersed in a sweet, thick syrup. The HB100 was the "Human Brain - 100%". Still encased in it’s skull and covered in a thick sweet syrup, it was a crunchy, delicious food to these unseen aliens.

By that night, the sky above the wrecks was full of Gates, swarming around and around. There were no eager humans waiting for the beams of light. The news of the true identity of the gates had spread around the world. Photographs had been taken and people saw the evidence. In the confusion following the meteorite impact, the aliens did not prevent the news of their fraud to be broadcast around the world. Those humans with weapons were attempting now to damage the fishing vessels. Each Gate was now the target of every missile and projectile that could possibly be launched. Those humans that had not been taken ran and hid from the beams of light. For the aliens, the harvest was becoming thin and dangerous. The swarm of the vessels above the meteorite impact became larger and larger till they numbered in the tens of thousands. Then, on command, they spiraled into a great vortex, like and upside-down tornado, and disappeared into space.

The people cursed the aliens for this blasphemous sham. The grief from the loss of life was world wide and brought many together who were previously enemies. Many fell to their knees and thanked the Heavenly Father for sparing them. The leaders pointed out that the religious books warn of the evil, false prophets. These aliens may have been the Persona of the Devil himself. The Meteorite was the instrument of God to save his chosen people. Quinton and Lona went to church and felt the united love of the people around them, united in the sorrow of those they lost, united in their victory over a common enemy, united in the joy of having survived, and united in their love of God.

Light years away traveled a special vessel. One of the Gates. It was different than the others. It was going to a place far away from Earth. A Garden. It had slightly over a thousand human infants on board.

MEMO

HB100 Project Disaster

The harvesting operations of the HB100 was interrupted by the event of a multi-meteorite impact. The number of vessels lost was significant. The HB100 population became aware of our harvesting. News and pictures of the downed vessels were spread around the planet and the population was no longer cooperative in our harvesting effort. Harvesting was considerably slowed. Open resistance by the HB100 population to harvesting became, in some cases, destructive to the vessels and cost additional fishermen their lives. Time limitations, due to fuel consumption, as well as, economic feasibility, have lead us to break off our harvesting efforts and return our vessels with only two thirds of the harvest complete. However, this operation is considered successful and new seeding will be initiated on another planet soon.

Quinton and Lona survived and dedicated their lives to helping others to understand the wisdom of the Father’s Laws.

The Beginning

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©Richard F Hall, 2004