Chapter 13: Chapter 13

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Interstellar communication

Frank got up very late …it was ten past and he was

wondering how Mary had not woke him up .. then there

was a knock and Mary entered with breakfast ..her cheerful

good morning revived him and he said he would be with

her in a minute .. he refreshed himself and sat to have the

breakfast.

Mary asked him, ‘ did you find anything in the basement?’

Frank showed her the cartons and said, ‘ didn’t get

anything of importance ! I want to ask something Mary..

the villagers were telling me that they miss some small

items and some eatables now and then.. have you

experienced it at any time here ?

Mary was amused , ‘ Oh yes .. even today I missed a set of

silver tea spoons and few packets of sugar . I couldn’t even

tell anyone as always some very small thins ... sometimes

these spoons and cups and saucers would mysteriously

appear .so I keep my mouth shut.. One day I will catch the

thief red hand and then I will skin him alive and bring him

to you.’

Frank laughed heartily imagining a monkey being skinned

.

.

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He asked if Redim had her breakfast ad she said ,’she came

early ..such a polite young lady .. had her breakfast and told

me to tell you that she had gone to the village’ Mary

cleared all the things and left.

He was taken aback .. Redim had been always very bold ,

she would initiate things and would expect others to follow

her..

He was worried because they were not dealing with

something ordinary .. He called her number and got an

answer back that it was out of coverage area.. Usually only

near the mountain range the network failure would occur

not in the village .. He called Richard and he came

immediately on line and asked about his whereabouts

Frank, ‘ Richard , please do me a favour .. Redim is there in

the village .. If she is there let me know ..I am not able to

connect with her..’

Richard was happy to oblige but he said that he wanted to

see him .. he needed to discuss something very important

He agreed to meet him anytime after Redim was found .. he

disconnected .

Then he thought of connecting with Re..He touched the

Link and concentrated.. Re came on .. he asked if he had

seen Redim anywhere as she was missing since morning..

Re said , ‘ we have been following her .. don’t worry ..she

is visiting the cave that you had seen in the video..we are

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there but invisible to her . She seems to be searching for

something along the wall .. we will take care of her …’ He

went off..

Frank was relieved.. Even though these creatures did not

exhibit any sentiments, they gave lot of importance to their

word of honour..

Frank thought it was prudent to stay at home ..he called

again and asked Richard to come .

When Richard entered his room , he could see him

completely immersed .. He waited for some time and went

near him to see what he was so engrossed.. He could see

some stone tablets arranged in the order of the numbers.. he

could see the embossed depictions on them .. The stick

drawings were not impossible to interpret ..

When Richard placed his hand on his shoulder he jumped ..

‘

oh Richard.. when did you come? Just look at these and

tell me what you understand..what you see..’

Richard took the first stone tablet ,observed for a minute

‘

Few huts and people standing outside the hut….’ He took

the second one after keeping the first one very carefully on

the table …’the second one shows people standing in a

group and looking at something ..’ he looked closely , ‘ a

rocket with wings?’

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‘The third one was easy.. the same group of people looking

at something with wings…. No I think something that is

burning ..’

Frank was impressed and told him .. Richard swelled with

pride ..

He looked at the fourth one without lifting it.. He bent

down to observe ,then he took it in the hand .. he said , ‘ not

very clear.. one man is standing at the edge .. others are

down ..dead? and few lines are drawn from the object on

the ground to the fallen people..

Frank said ‘go ahead .. you are reading them well.. I

wanted a second opinion..’

The fifth one shows a man behind a tree and the huts .. not

sure.. may be burning….’ The sixth one shows many

people …and the seventh one has a box at the centre and

two people are bending down touching the box.. no they

have something in their hand..’

Frank went and sat on the couch and asked Richard to sit

…

Richard was puzzled and waited for him to tell

something…Frank said, ‘ Richard I am thinking if it is safe

to tell you.. No don’t be offended ..I am thinking about

your safety.. ‘

Richard laughed and said, ‘ Frank I had lost my family .. I

don’t have anyone . since my childhood I had been living

alone. I had come along with other villagers just to see

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you… I remember your kindness when we studied together

.So don’t worry for me and if it is a secret you don’t want

.

me to know ,it is ok .. But you can trust me .. I will never

let you down’

Frank was so moved and he said , ‘ it is a long story .. yes

of course we go back a long way.. come let us go out’

Frank removed carefully the link and kept it safely in his

bed locker.

They both went down and went out..

Frank looked at the western side where he knew Redim was

doing some research.. Frank turned towards the same

direction and as they were walking through the orchard , he

told everything without leaving anything.. without adding

his opinion just shared the fact..

Richard listened intensely and finally he said , ‘Frank only

the colony that you had visited is news to me.. Otherwise , I

guessed that some extraterrestrial elements are involved

here after talking to the old man. I had spent a lot of time

with him as I felt sorry for him. He was considered as a

taboo in the village as some elders remembered him as

clairvoyant ..a mystic who could bring death..He used to

foretell about all the misfortune so from childhood I was

kind of obsessed with him.. He started confiding in me and

the talking animals were not his imagination as he showed

me one bird that spoke to him .I could not tell all these to

anyone as I feared for his life .. He spoke of the treasure

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very often..and he said if I helped the talking animals , they

would give it to me …But he never told me what they

wanted.. What are you going to do?

Frank was so flabbergasted at this twist.. he thought of

Richard as just a villager but he seemed to be so intelligent

and caring..He was very happy to have him with his side…

‘Richard , the stone tablets are easily decoded.. It tells us

the story of some UFO that fell on earth… The people who

had witnessed died except one .. and then they found a

box ..’

Richard said , ‘ or they kept something in the box’

‘Excellent Richard’ Frank did not think of it .It all added to

what he knew from Re..

Zo came flying and sat on a nearby branch and said

‘

go back to your room and wear the link.. go now…’ the

urgency in that metallic voice was so infectious ..he ran

The voice followed him … Redim is on her way…

…

Switch on your TV’

He did not stop to see anyone took the steps two at a time

and behind him Richard was doing the same..

He switched on the TV and took the Link and wore it . as

soon it touched him it glowed . He closed his eyes and Re’s

voice clearly came through..’ Listen to the news from

NASA ..now..

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He opened his eyes and heard the news..The newscaster

was announcing with an excited tone, ‘Interstellar

communication has been received from some unknown

source . It is pulsing the same message again and again…

the astronomers are thrilled to get this repeated message

which will allow them to make multiple observations and

to home in on from where they are originating .. The

signals seem to come from a distant spot in the universe

.

.and this time NASA is sure to get the coordinate points of

the spot in the Universe..;

The radio signal could be seen as pulses of radio waves on

the screen ..

Frank and Richard looked at each other.. then Re came on

the link

‘The signal is calling me to respond .. It is repeating my

name’ Re was shouting

What your name .. are you sure ? Frank was so thrilled .

Redim came running and the link went dead as he lost the

concentration…

Redim . ‘ did you hear from Re? he says he got a personal

signal from space ! do you think he is telling the truth’

‘

But why would he lie?’ Frank thought aloud… Richard

asked, ‘ if so there is no doubt that they came from space

.Good to clear one doubt..Frank is it your doctor ? Doctor

you are very beautiful.. I am Richard ..’

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Frank smiled and said , ‘my childhood friend .. Richard.

But now formalities over , we should plan…’ He typed

something in his cell phone and showed them

‘

We are always eavesdropped … don’t tell anything

negative about the creatures’

Richard took the cue and told them, ‘ why don’t you both

do some research …? Redim ..may I call you like this.. tell

us what happened today? where did you go?.. we missed

you!

Redim had an instant rapport with Richard which was very

rare for her.. ‘Richard I went to a cave today ! you know

the cave to the left of the house’ Richard looked at Frank

and he did not react .

Redim continued, ‘ You know ,years back the old man

found a box in the cave and I wanted to know if anything

else would be there..’

Frank told Richard , ‘ You remember the pen drive. This

cave was there in a video .. Redim did you get anything? ’

Redim showed them two small shining gadgets which was

made up of some unknown metal.. Both Frank and Richard

recognised it immediately as a similar one was found in the

old man’s house..

Frank was about to tell something, when Redim cautioned

him not to speak… She gave him the gadgets and signalled

him to hide the gadgets.

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Frank thought the whole thing was moving too fast….

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