New Hope: Book 1
16

There were many people in the room when Ellie stepped inside. All heads turned toward the newcomer.

“Um, good morning… everyone?” said Ellie, a little uneasy.

“Doctor!” said Director Yeager, welcoming Ellie joyfully. “I’m so glad you made it. I hope it wasn’t too difficult to find your way?” she asked.

“No, I managed not to get lost. I had help,” replied Ellie politely. “I thought today’s meeting would be small?”

“Yes, that was the initial plan,” said the director, “but when you arrived at our complex, as I said yesterday, strange things started happening in some of our laboratories. So when the news spread that our team will be joined by the person possibly and most probably responsible for activating the artifacts, I was bombarded by the scientists with demands to meet you,” she said. “I decided it would be easier to introduce you to each other at the same time, at one meeting. That’s why there are so many additional people present today,” she explained.

“I see,” replied Ellie. She smiled and nodded as a greeting gesture, eying all the faces in the room. “It’s nice to see you,” she said.

“Of course, individual talks and getting to know Dr. Ellie are planned after the main part of the meeting,” said the director, “otherwise we’ll never get to explaining certain matters and determining how we’ll proceed,” she sighed. “Doctor, I would like you to describe to us everything that happened from the moment you and Captain Cousteau were approaching landing until you touched the orb on the Moon’s surface. Please don’t leave out any details as everything could be very important. I’ll also be grateful to hear the visions you experienced when you made contact with the artifact,” said the director.

“Very well, I’ll try to describe what I remember. Just be aware that I don’t know everything. I did black out twice within only a couple of days, after all, and one of those times I set a Guinness world record for length of sleep on the Moon,” joked Ellie, evoking some laughs throughout the room.

Ellie started reporting her experiences starting from hearing the command to leave orbit until the day on which she was shot by lieutenant Lassiter. She tried to be most meticulous, omitting just her private conversations with Julius and the mundane parts of life. She focused on any incidents connected to the artifact: the failure of the landing pod, the strange, deafening sounds coming from the radio, as well as what happened when she touched the mysterious object. During her story, she could hear several gasps and even signs of exaltation. Goodness, these people really don’t get out much, thought Ellie in reaction to it all.

When she finished, she was flooded with questions.

“How bright was the light and how much energy was emitted?” asked one of the scientists. “And how much of that energy was in the visible electromagnetic spectrum, you think, Doctor?”

“How long did your visions last, and did time flow at the same pace as when awake?” asked another.

“Why did the orb react to you and not on hundreds of others who’ve had contact with it on the Moon over the years?” one woman asked.

There were so many questions, Ellie felt lost and stifled. People were throwing out their questions, some shouting over others, thinking that the louder the question, the faster it would be answered. Ellie didn’t know what to tell them because she didn’t know the answers to most of the questions herself. At last, the Director intervened, seeing the Doctor’s withdrawal and understanding that this kind of interrogation would not bring anything good. At least not in the short run.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re all interested in what the Doctor might have to say but yelling over each other and torpedoing our guest with so many questions would give anyone headache,” she said, trying to calm everybody down. “Since we’ve been sitting here a couple of hours now, and the Doctor’s voice probably needs a break, I suggest we all go for a meal. In the meantime, I’ll set up a schedule with the Doctor, and we’ll plan out some visits in your departments, where Ellie will be able to get a closer look at your work on the other artifacts we’ve found, and also try to activate them. We’ll see,” she added, “maybe that way we can answer your questions and additionally push the boundaries of human knowledge and ingenuity a little further,” she concluded.

A disgruntled murmur spread across the room among many disappointed voices, which didn’t want to or have the patience to wait. They hoped that the mysteries of the ancient artifacts on which some of the guests had worked hard each day would be uncovered there and then. Pushing this gratification away in time must have stimulated the prefrontal cortex of many of those present, thought Ellie, remembering that this area of the human brain is responsible for the ability to delay the desire of getting rewarded. An awaited pleasure tastes better. Ellie smiled to herself.

“Thank you all for today’s meeting,” said the director. “I’m sure that with the information provided to us by the Doctor, you all have much to think about,” she smiled, indicating that the meeting was over.

As the scientists were exiting the room, Ellie walked up to Director Yeager.

“I hope you don’t overestimate my abilities and value for your research.”

Yeager looked at Ellie. “Doctor, I don’t only hope this, I know it will be true,” she said with a smile and twinkle in her eye.

Without knowing why, Ellie felt as if the director was hiding something from her. She didn’t feel threatened but she had the impression that she hadn’t been told everything about her expected involvement in the facility’s work. Is there something going on here that I don’t understand? she asked herself. Ellie extended her hand toward the director and with a confident handshake, she parted with Dr. Cassandra.

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