2012 - The One

CHAPTER 9 THE PRESS CONFERENCE Adam was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. The excitement of the moment was filling the whole earth. He imagined that no one was sleeping. The world was awake, perhaps holding its breath, but awake. The alien's press conference was all there was on the tube, but it was, no doubt, the most important news conference in the history of mankind. Adam shuffled back and forth in the little living room as the newscasters recounted and recapped all the events of the past few days. “Eve, Kate, Molly! It's starting!” Adam called to the girls who had been taking turns freshening up in the little bathroom. Adam's hair was dirty. He scratched his scalp and smelled his fingers confirming the need for a shower. He hadn't shaved in days, but he wasn't about to miss this. He pushed Walt off the futon, and brushed the upholstery for the girls to have a clean place to sit. The television camera panned across Red Square. It was packed. The newscaster said people had come from all over the world to be present for this historic moment. The snow, a foot deep and continuing to fall on the crowd, but each face wore a smile. There was a palpable hush over the entire world as the Russian spokesperson introduced the alien. Her words were translated and subtitles ran across the screen beneath her. She called him: “The One.” The tall alien dressed in a white suit mounted the snow dusted platform smiling and waving to the crowd. The platform was packed with officials wearing their winter hats and gloves. They parted, like the Red Sea, to let this creature through to the podium. The One wore no hat, no gloves and his suit appeared woefully inadequate for the Moscow weather. He was thin but, something about him exuded authority and strength. His chiseled features and perfect white teeth were framed by his dark brown hair which hung half way to his shoulders. His smile was beautiful, his voice deep and resonant. It penetrated Adam's very soul. // “I am The One.” The world was silent as the Alien paused. He gazed into the cameras, burning deeply into the retinas of his worldwide audience. “I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly,” he said, raising his hands to the exuberant multitude. There was a thunderous applause overwhelming the podium and shaking the stage. Igor and Sergey were almost knocked backward by the solid wall of sound coming from the mass of people before them. “The crash that you call the asteroid brought many changes to your world. You cannot understand them now, but in time you will. Your air, water and lands are being restored to their native condition. The pollution and damage wrought by man is, even now, continuing to be erased.” The great creature again paused. It felt to Igor that he was reading the collective minds of all those viewing the broadcast. “I want to reassure each of you that the dust cloud has run its course. There will be no more loss of human life from its effects. What has happened has resulted in a much healthier and safer world. My wish for each of you is that you live long and enjoy these blessings.” The cheering crowd was on its feet. Igor felt as if his eardrums would burst. The One raised his hand and waved to the adoring masses. He turned and gestured for Igor and Sergey to lead the way off the stage. The news conference was over. // The broadcast was live. The One spoke in perfect English. How could the Russian audience understand him? Adam thought. The whole thing was over in a moment. “Oh my God!” Eve cried. “He is so beautiful.” “I felt as if he were speaking just to me,” Adam whispered. The Fox Newscaster informed them that the broadcast was not translated, but that every person heard the voice of the alien in his own native tongue. This was another miracle. Adam considered that they were becoming desensitized to miracles. They were coming one after another with no time to digest or reflect on the last when yet another swept over them like the giant Tsunami waves that washed over the coastlines in Japan carrying off many poor souls after undersea earthquakes. These miracles were overwhelming and irresistible. As with the giant waves, humanity was completely at their mercy. I could use a miracle, he thought. His news conference had been short, too short. Adam was left hungering and thirsting for more. This savior of the planet had greeted him with what felt like the embrace of a loving father. The warm caress of his voice had filled him with hope. Adam felt like he had touched this wonderful creature for a moment and the touch was orgasmic. Eve, Kate and Molly professed that they shared his experience. “We have to meet him.” Molly spoke for everyone. “That's impossible,” Eve said. “Maybe not. I would do anything to meet this man,” Adam said, staring out the window at the lightly falling snow. He clutched this dream close to his heart and held it as though his life depended upon it. “Hopefully he will speak to us again soon,” Eve said. The little group mulled around the apartment aimlessly. They were without purpose or direction. Adam's mind, as he imagined the minds of all those who had heard this magnificent creature, was fixated upon his words, his face, his eyes. They all were drawn to him in inexplicable ways, but in ways they were unable to deny and unable to resist.