Page 22 of The Space Traveller's Lover
THE WITNESS
Professor Khan, please explain. What is the probability of intelligent life existing on another planet and visiting us, here, on planet Earth?
The court hearing is being broadcast live on all major news channels. Throughout the world, giant screens in city centres show images from the courtroom in real time as the latest headlines scroll beneath.
Judge Abiko solemnly enters the room and takes his seat at the podium.
A stocky man with a serious round face and short grey beard, his impassive expression demands total respect.
He orders his papers while looking around the courtroom over his thin glasses, channelling all his authority through his piercing narrowed eyes as he tells everyone to be seated.
He speaks in a firm tone as he describes the day’s proceedings and asks the prosecutor to call his last witness.
Ms Porter, the chief prosecutor, is a lady of a strong-minded demeanour.
Behind her black-rimmed glasses, her steely brown eyes briefly focus on Sam with a frosty look before calling her star witness.
Even the heavy make-up and thick mascara can’t smooth out her stern face; her flattened hair, pulled tightly back in a bun, makes her look even harsher.
Professor Mishu Khan takes the witness stand and readily stares at the packed gallery as if he’s about to start another of his famous scientific lectures .
As emeritus professor of the World’s Institute for Science and Space Exploration (WISSE, or WIZE as it is most commonly known), he is the leading expert for the prosecution.
He has dedicated most of his professional life to researching one of the most crucial questions scientists and laymen alike have ever asked: Are we alone in the universe?
He has gained a worldwide reputation for his outstanding work in biocosmology, being the first man to discover life-essential amino acids in warming coalescing molecular clouds.
His face is partially covered by his bushy white beard and thick sideburns, as if trying to hide the all-pervading wrinkles.
His small, beady eyes give off a flash of vitality and strength that is in complete contrast to his ageing complexion.
He’s wearing a navy blue overall with red trims. Over his left top pocket, a thick red badge, topped with a glossy golden star, boasts of his high position in the WIZE organisation.
Sam holds the professor’s scolding gaze as the revered scientist is about to speak. He remembers the famous Khan’s lectures on the science programs, but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he would be confronting him one day, contradicting his every word.
“The data from our high orbit surveillance satellites show,” Khan explains in a confident tone, “that there has never been a positive irrefutable evidence of an alien spaceship, ever.” He raises his voice even louder on the word “ever”.
“Thank you, Professor Khan. Please explain. What is the probability of our survey satellites missing such an event?” Ms Porter asks.
“Zero,” Khan confidently replies, looking straight at the judge, “our specialized Near Earth Objects satellite network scans the space around us in all frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum, constantly analysing and identifying every signal, every second. I may add … I have dedicated most of my life to studying life as we know it. With our powerful optical, infrared, and radio telescopes, we’ve acquired a vast amount of data in our extensive research.
So far, all we have to show for it is the presence of stable life-essential amino acids in distant molecular clouds. ”
“Objection, Your Honour,” Wray protests. “How can we be so sure? Maybe we haven’t detected it yet because we do not have the right means to do it. The alien technology may be so different from ours that it is impossible to identify it. ”
“Sustained!” Judge Abiko replies instantly.
“Let me bring to your attention, Your Honour, another matter that is equally as important,” Ms Porter continues, unabated.
“Professor Khan, please explain, what is the probability of intelligent life existing on another planet and visiting us, here, on planet Earth? What is the probability that these aliens may be similar to humans?”
A brief suspenseful silence seems to spread across the crowded courtroom, all eyes now fixed on Professor Khan, who appears to be thinking hard on his best answer.
“Our best cosmic statisticians have concluded that it would be virtually impossible for intelligent life to evolve the same way somewhere else.
Even here on Earth, where the conditions are perfect, how come only one species, us, has evolved advanced intelligence?
In our cosmic backyard, on the Orion spiral arm, suppose that solar systems with habitable planets are abundant, for the sake of argument.
“We know it would take us a considerable number of lifetimes, with our current technology, to get to any of our closest stars. For example, it would take us tens of thousands of years to get to our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, at around four light-years away. And to reach the exoplanets around the star Wolf 359, we would have to travel double that distance. So, if any alien makes it here, first they have to be an extraordinarily advanced civilisation, able to warp space or travel close to the speed of light. They would’ve, by now, let their presence be known, or we would’ve, by now, detected some trace of their advanced technology, at least. As for the probability of intelligent life living on another planet and visiting us, I can answer this with another question. ”
Khan stops for a second to look across the expectant audience. Then he adds in a sarcastic tone, “Where are they?”
A rumble of sceptical laughter ripples through the entire room, followed by heated arguments for and against UFO sightings.
“Order, order!” Judge Abiko leans forward, hammering impatiently on the table.
Sam purses his lips to stop himself from contradicting Professor Khan. Erin is right. There’s only one way of making them believe me. We have to show them , he says to himself.
“Any further questions?” Judge Abiko asks the prosecutor .
“No, Your Honour,” she replies and then proceeds to walk ostentatiously to her seat after scolding Wray with a searing gaze.
“Let’s hear the closing statement from the defence next,” the judge orders as Professor Khan leaves the stand and takes a seat in the very front row of the packed courtroom.
Jack Wray clears his throat before speaking.
“Your Honour, thank you very much for your patience during this most unusual court hearing. I appeal to your wildest imagination, to your profound ability of thinking outside the box. The question we must carefully consider is the following: Why would Sam Sheppard, a kind, fun-loving teenager, kill the girl he loves? Even if she were to reject him, why would he do it? Could it be that, in a sudden rage, he lost his mind? No, no, and no! As we all know, Sam Sheppard is an honest, decent, stable young man who would never contemplate such a crime. And I think he would be the best one to convince you of that.” He extends his hand towards Sam, beckoning him to come forward.
Sam saunters towards the witness box, looking directly into Professor Khan’s eyes and then into Judge Abiko’s.
“Objection, Your Honour.” Ms Porter runs towards the podium. “We have not been instructed of the defendant taking the stand.”
Judge Abiko looks intensely into Sam’s supplicant gaze. He finds the youngster’s silent plea impossible to reject. By the persistent way Sam is looking at him, the experienced judge can sense that something significant is about to happen.
“Overruled! Let Sam Sheppard speak,” the judge orders, nodding at Sam and not even bothering to acknowledge Ms Porter’s presence by his podium.
Sam smiles and gratefully bows his head to the judge.
For the first time today, his uptight demeanour has changed into a confident one.
He stares at the public and then at his tearful mother, Martha, and his anxious sister, Stella, nodding slightly at them in a comforting gesture.
Then he looks at his father, with a forewarning glare flashing across his face.
“Thank you, Your Honour,” Sam finally says, his voice breaking through the dead silence of the expectant audience. “Perhaps I can introduce you to a special witness …”
Everyone, even Ms Porter, is holding his or her breath in anticipation .
At this very moment, when the courtroom appears to be frozen in time, the double entrance doors creak and abruptly open wide, giving way to a bright white beam flooding the central aisle.
Everyone gasps as an elegant, veiled woman walks amid the light shaft toward the podium—everyone, that is, except Sam, because he knows perfectly well who the unexpected visitor is.
The white veil disintegrates around her, revealing her svelte figure gleaming in a white bodysuit. The purple glint from her almond-shaped eyes immediately grabs the audience’s complete attention.
She nods in turn as she encounters every disconcerted stare and then she says in a vibrant voice, “My name was Erin, but I’m not dead.”
“Erin!” Mr Lobart screams in disbelief as he runs towards her, making his way through the standing public and pushing everyone away in a desperate attempt to reach her before anyone else.
“Is it really you?” Lobart staggers, stretching his arms towards her but stumbling onto the floor before he can reach her.
Every muscle in his face knots up in exasperation as he tries to understand what has stopped him.
Then Pat Lobart tries to get close to Shaillah, but she too is pushed back as if she has bumped into an invisible barrier.
Judge Abiko stands up behind his podium, hardly believing that Erin Lobart has suddenly appeared in front of him.
Ms Porter’s face has turned so pale, she seems about to faint.
Professor Khan is stroking his beard as he struggles to find an explanation for what he is witnessing while Jack Wray can hardly move from his seat, startled.
“I’ll be damned,” he grumbles. “So he was telling the truth.”
Several people leave their seats, congregating along the aisle and close to the seemingly invisible wall surrounding Shaillah.
Sam makes his way through the startled group until he reaches the dividing edge, and to everyone’s bafflement, he is allowed to go through and stand next to Shaillah.
They both look directly at the judge, who seems completely lost for words.
Martha tries to reach her son, but all she can do is sweep her hands over the invisible wall surrounding him.
“Erin! Stop this game, please,” Martha pleads, fearing for what could happen to Sam.
“Do not dare harm him,” Stella shrieks in a threatening tone .
“Sam is perfectly okay, and he is telling the truth,” Shaillah replies calmly. “I’ve been away. But I’ve returned to bring you a message.”
“What message?” shouts Professor Khan, who has joined Judge Abiko at the podium.
“On behalf of the Rom-Ghenshars. They are here and want to let you know about their plans … as soon as possible,” Shaillah declares.
“Is this a joke? A new kind of alien abduction scam?” shouts Ms Porter.
The impatient audience seems to have had enough and breaks out in a turmoil of protestation, everyone demanding to know what is happening and trying to get a better view of Shaillah in any way they can.
“Order, order!” Judge Abiko shouts over the noisy crowd, eventually managing to get the courtroom under control. “Let Erin Lobart speak.”
“Thank you, Your Honour”. Shaillah smiles at Judge Abiko.
Then she looks around the courtroom as she speaks in an uplifting tone.
“The Rom-Ghenshars have come from very far away from within our galaxy. Humans must feel fortunate that they have chosen to visit this planet and even offer their friendship and assistance.”
“Who are these people? The Rom … whatever?” Ms Porter disgruntledly asks amid the grumbles and murmurs of collective incredulity.
“We, the Rom-Ghenshars, have now come full circle from a distant past. Today is the day of a new beginning when vast distances are erased and faraway worlds are reunited. We have come to start a new era, to forge a new destiny. Let us work together—for a brighter future.”
Shaillah raises one fist in the air in a triumphant gesture, but the multitude around her hardly moves, staring at her in complete awe. She looks at Sam with a proud reassuring smile, but he is also in absolute shock.
Realizing that everyone is struggling to believe her words, she starts walking towards the exit, pushing Sam in front of her. As they step forwards, the crowd has to make way for the impenetrable protecting shield.
When they reach the exit doors, she looks back and announces, “You have heard what I had to say. And I will repeat it until no doubt remains.”
Then pushing Sam onto the waiting scouting-craft hovering over the pavement outside, she adds, “Now, it’s time to set Sam free.”
As Shaillah enters the cockpit, a puzzled Sam is scratching his head while inspecting the flickering dashboard. A constant stream of multicoloured symbols springs up and flashes above the glowing screens, weaving into a network of intertwined pathways.
“Wow, Erin. And you drive this?” Sam asks, astounded, his eyes wildly moving around, unable to focus on anything.
“Oh, It’s quite easy. All routes are programmed in advance. I only need to activate the sequences from my brain. Like this!”
The swift vertical jolt makes Sam fall on his seat.
As the engines roar amid a fast-scattering white mist, they fly over the townhouses and then out over the country roads, trailed by the line of chasing police cars and helicopters.
The sleek aircraft frequently decelerates to maintain a constant leading gap with its pursuers, as if not wanting to disappear from their sight.
It soon becomes quite clear where they are all heading—towards the Lobarts’ farm.