Impulse- the Awakening Read online

  Both of you worked on a program in conjunction with an alien race seeking to encode emotions.

  They were a extremely rational race, they had evolved rapidly. Thanks to technology, their collective consciousness expanded, but their emotions were contained by logic. You worked with them to be able to encode feelings and emotions so that they could experience compassion and create the desire to go beyond the stars, meet new worlds and integrate with other races.

  Despite the fact that there are many races more advanced than humans, not all of them experience feelings and emotions like us, that is why some races visit us as if they were going to the zoo.

  During the last three years of your service, you were shown an advanced species hybridization program. It is not a new program, it has been around for millions of years, even if there are many hybrids on earth. But you took the program to another level and that is why you are here. At least that's what Charlie told me.

  Soon they will give you more information and progressively you will receive your memories, you will feel dizzy and tired because you will receive twenty years of memories in a single day. I recommend you to rest. I know you have questions, but as soon as you get your memory back everything will be clear. I need you to put on your uniforms and eat something.

  You just have to go back to your unit and there will be everything you need, if is not, then just ask for it and the ship will provide it for you. See you tomorrow.

  Jack got up from the chair and immediately the chair was hidden on the floor of the room.

  Sarah and Scott were trying to process all of that information without succeeding. They were sure that even the President of the United States did not receive a report like this on his first day leading the free world, as the report they had just heard, moreover, Jack had told them that part of that information was given to the cadets over the course of their first year and they had to process everything in just one day.

  Without much to say and much to think they got up and looked at each other for a second that felt forever.

  It was not a dream, and reality seemed to be totally subjective, that is, everything they thought they knew was only a fragment of the existing composition of the universe and nothing that was taught in the education system made reference to it, on the contrary, the system act as to ignore this information.

  As they walked hand in hand through the large hallway they had entered minutes ago, Sarah squeezed Scott's hand tightly, gesturing for him to turn to a larger room which contains the people they have seen before. They all received the same information as if they were taking a class. It seemed strange to Scott and Sarah that they didn't have a more personal report like theirs, so they inferred that it was the first time that those people had been there.

  Sarah looked at Scott and said:

  —I’m hungry, all this has left me very tired.

  —Me too. Jack said we would find everything in the room. I wish it has something to eat. —As soon as he said that, a light of a faint blue color was drawn on the floor of the ship and indicated the location of his room, it seemed a holographic image projected about five centimeters from the ground —It seems that we only had to ask the ship as Jack said.

  They both followed the directions on the ship to take them to their room. Scott began to feel a little strange. He noticed that his eyes were moving more than usual, started counting the number of doors, tried to mentally measure the length of the hallway, and said Jack's name very naturally.

  He thought to himself that he was beginning to adapt very quickly to the situation or perhaps his brain began to remember some things. Without giving more importance, he continued walking, anyway, nothing of what was happening made any sense at all.

  When they arrive in their room, they noticed a change in the layout of the items that were there when they left, now there seemed to be a bathroom that was not there, and there were cabinets in addition to a larger bed instead of the two single beds that were there when they woke up. Without saying anything they both opened the cabinets imagining that their belongings were there or perhaps they would find some sheets, but there were none.

  The temperature was very pleasant; they would not need sheets. They just wondered why anyone would put the cabinets in if all they had was their pajamas.

  They sat down to eat at the table. There were two sandwiches on the table, prepared like any sandwich that is made at home with two glasses of water.

  Next to them, two servings of military food in a box that said how many carbohydrates and protein they contained inside. It seemed strange and intuitively at the same time they took the sandwiches and began to eat.

  —I have to admit, I was expecting an out-of-this-world flavor, but it's an average sandwich. — Sarah said.

  —I just hope it doesn't mutate us. — They both laughed and there was an awkward pause. —What we cannot deny is that it is an incomparable view.

  —So, what now? — Sarah looked at Scott waiting without knowing what to do.

  —I do not know. A moment ago when we were in the hallway, I realized that I was saying Jack's name with great familiarity, I started counting the doors I could see and tried to measure the distance of that hallway. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I know it's something I wouldn't usually do.

  —The same thing happened to me, I counted the number of people in the room and saw all the marks on the officers' uniforms. And I don't think I'm Jack's assistant. He is very arrogant.

  —There is definitely something else with us. Maybe it's our paranoia and tomorrow we'll wake up at home, for now we just have to sleep. —and suddenly what appeared to be a double bed rose a few inches more to standard height.

  —This ship is nosy; it listens to everything we say. — and both began to laugh and with nothing more to say they went to bed and Sarah hugged Scott. All that information wandering through their minds did not allow them to sleep, but as exhaustion overcame them, they gave way until they were completely asleep.

  Reporting to Duty

  The next morning they both woke up almost at the same time and got up.

  They held each other gaze for a minute and kissed.

  Next to the bed they undressed without any embarrassment or apparent discomfort, folded their sleep clothes and walked to the empty cabinets to put the already folded clothes and immediately closed them again.

  Their posture and gestures were so different, they did everything naturally, showing a more relaxed behavior and with greater self-confidence.

  They waited about fifteen seconds as they gestured and giggled and the cabinets opened.

  Inside each cabinet was a perfectly folded uniform for each one, it was made of a material similar to neoprene, you could not see a single wrinkle or seam on the uniforms.

  Wearing them, an impressive number of internal sensors became apparent, not stitched to the uniform, but integrated. As soon as they finished putting them on, the uniforms adjusted perfectly, at the same time the structure of their composition changed with that adjustment, it stiffened like Kevlar fibers. On the back, they had a small battery, the size of a credit card with which the suit was powered with an autonomy of up to twenty-one days without the need to replace it.

  —Jack knows how much we hate this packaged food, he sure thought we'd take it for dinner. —Scott tossed the boxes to one corner of the room and the boxes just dropped through the floor.

  As they moved towards the door, everything in the room disappeared until a pristine cube was formed, glowing with a window that allowed one to see the vastness of the universe, without a doubt it was a sight that made anyone feel small.

  As they walked down the hall, some cadets looked at them and presented their respect towards the insignia on their uniforms in a firm position, they did not make any typical army salute, nor did they say anything like Sir! Or Officer in the area! something more solemn and discreet,
just a humble acknowledgment.

  They walked down the great hall in a short time. They were walking faster than last night. This time they kept facing the wall instead of turning and suddenly another door opened that was not permanently visible.

  They had just entered the command bridge of the ship and it was a true wonder.

  It was as big as a mall with an almost completely immerse view of the space. One felt like floating in the space when one looked up. Unlike all the fictional movies Scott enjoyed on Earth so much, this ship contained no high-resolution displays, no advanced control panels, and no holographic images popping up from all sides. In its place there was only a practically empty space where there were simply around eighty beings working in different areas, coexisting harmoniously. There was a small room on each of the three levels of the bridge.

  What was absurd was that, if you looked forward, the floor was white and you could walk wherever you wanted, but when you turned down, the floor became translucent allowing you to see the lower floors where there were more beings working.

  Despite all this Sarah and Scott were not at all impressed.

  As they entered the bridge, all beings stopped doing what they were doing, there was a deep silence, so deep that Scott could hear his own breathing. This disturbing silence did not last. Some beings nodded their heads, others smiled and some simply went back to what they were doing.

  They began to walk towards the center of the room, they knew exactly where to go, they were on their way to one of those small open rooms, they were like cubes coming out of the floor of the ship where the beings and officers sat down to talk, in the same way as in their room, the ship was adapted to its occupants and not vice versa.

  It bore no resemblance to the bridge of a science fiction movie ship or a navy ship, where seriousness and missions made the whole environment gray and gloomy; in this ship, a casual and relaxed air was breathed in the coexistence of many races of beings.

  As they got closer and closer they could see humans conversing with vastly different beings. They communicated with small devices, they looked like smartphones, but they did not have screens. One could also see another completely motionless being and some human officer nodding his head, this was because they were communicating telepathically. Some simply chatted in English and were seen laughing their way, as it is not pleasant to see an insectoid laugh.

  There were small beings with reptilian features, they had no tails, their skin was scaly moss green with pale orange, their eyes were dark unlike the eyes of reptiles on earth.

  Not all beings with reptilian features looked the same, there were also other taller reptiles, almost two and a half meters, with a more imposing appearance and small wings, they did not seem to be functional to fly, it is as if they were stunted, but they did have a tail, it was very long, its face was more elongated, its skin was scaly and stiff, it emulated the skin of a crocodile.

  A being that attracted attention was one with bird features because its colorful feathers blurred with the skin, and instead of hands it had hands with small claws, its beak was small, it was like seeing a swollen mouth, it hardly seemed a peak. His legs weren't inverted like the birds of the earth were more like a bird-shaped humanoid, but his skin had a sheen that blended with shades of gold to feathers from his forearm to his head. He wore a flat robe of an electric blue color.

  And like them there were many more that looked like the evolved lifeforms of planet Earth animals like a lion, jackal, praying mantis, ants and dinosaurs. It was a truly diverse meeting. There were also some little gray men and they all sympathized without any problem, it seemed like a meeting in the Hall of Unity Nations, where races, creeds and political parties do not exist, only human beings; The same could be said here, but they would only be beings.

  All corners of the universe were represented in one way or another on the bridge of this ship.

  —Hello everyone, did you miss us? —Sarah smiled as she closed one eye.

  —You left only for a few years. For me it was no more than a blink. —Charlie said —On the other hand, Jack has missed you.

  —I was telling them that yesterday you asked me if I was recruiting you. —Jack said smiling and slapping his legs.

  —Yes, I remember it perfectly. In the morning I laugh while I was putting on my uniform. Why did you give me a briefing? — All you had to do was wake us up today. You didn't need to do that.

  —You’re kidding — Jack said —It was my only chance to see your stupid faces and I would never miss it.

  —Your assistant? Didn't you think of something better? —Sarah looked at Jack and laughed as she remembered herself the night before, scared and afraid of what might happen.

  —So, I see that it is time. —Scott showed an attitude of self-control and determination.

  —We have called everyone together. Even the light beings are here.

  —All right. We are ready and reporting to duty. —Scott did not say it like a military crutch that was repeated like a mantra, he knew it was a conviction.

  This was all funny because Sarah and Jack were actually Sergeants while Scott was Major. But their working relationship was based on unquestionable loyalty. So the three of them found that report somewhat amusing.

  Failed Extraction

  Jack was overly excited to see his two friends. He is not an affectionate person, but he has feelings, after all, he does not stop being human.

  Jack fell in love with Sarah from the first moment he met her in the cadet training program. Every day there was endless competition with Scott on the tests; he wanted to impress her, but they were inseparable.

  Scott tended to excel like Jack in all the tests they received, they were two tireless people always giving their best.

  Eventually Jack realized that competition diminished giving way to cooperation and then to fellowship. One day they just became good friends and despite his feelings for Sarah he began to rejoice that she was with his friend Scott.

  One by one they passed all the tests, from analysis of threats and risks, a forecast of casualties and fatalities, tactics and military strategy and infiltration. They were an unstoppable team, but the service lasted for only twenty years. Some agreements cannot be broken.

  The missions they had together made them share many experiences that forged their ties of loyalty and fellowship.

  Jack would never forget the times when Sarah and Scott were with him when everything went wrong on an extraction mission.

  It was a quite easy mission. They had to do a hybrid extraction on a planet where intervention was not allowed because the planet was inhabited by a young race that was beginning its evolutionary process.

  Nothing could go wrong, they had the technology and everything necessary to be able to enter and exit without being seen. Only one person was needed for the mission, Jack was alone in a ship to remove a hybrid that was brought to that planet illegally, breaking the agreements of the Alliance.

  They wanted to raise the level of development of that planet so that they could colonize it as soon as the race began to show signs of developmental intelligence other than animal instinctive or plant intelligence.

  It is a practice that some races use to obtain resources from other planets. The more advanced races have trouble staying in the density of the material plane and this prevents them from performing many tasks on their own. That is why they use technology. Still, it is always easier for someone to do things for you, and more so if you live hundreds of thousands of years, it is something that gives them an advantage.

  Jack was about to descend into a desolate spot to extract the hybrid that was hiding in a mountain covered with lush vegetation when he was shot down by a strange force. Nothing appeared on the radars of his ship, there was no one but the hybrid. He immediately called for backup. Sarah saw Jack's call for backups and immediately called Scott, he was waiting for
him in an extraction ship. Scott did not attend field missions unless they were diplomatic in nature, as he was in the intelligence area, however no one would question him by taking a ship and starting a mission.

  Scott and Sarah left in search for Jack, it took them only four minutes to jump to the location marked by Jack's transponder, he created a holographic field like a dome that extends kilometers, so that nobody could see or hear what was happening inside, it converted the internal area into a space that was hermetically acoustically and visibly contained.

  Scott ran to the crashed ship to rescue Jack, who was on the ground along with the hybrid. He was a white-skinned, blue-eyed humanoid, about five feet tall, with a strange bulge between his eyes, a characteristic feature of that planet's race. The hybrid seemed to be asking Jack for help in a very strange language that included guttural sounds.

  Sarah maintained a secure perimeter with small spherical drones that she installed near the area which were loaded with plasma weapons. At the same time, she was alert incase the attacker appeared. Sarah was a tough woman, she liked field missions, but now she was disturbed because she could see her friend bleed to death.

  As Scott and Sarah arrived, the hybrid began to convulse.

  There is an assistance protocol for many breeds and species. Each extraction hall is equipped with small boxes that are placed on the bodies. These expand to the size of the being and are filled with a gel that puts the body in a static state of animated suspension, giving time to be cared for elsewhere.

  Scott asked Sarah to put the suspension chamber on the hybrid and immediately activate it, leaving in suspended animation the being inside her. The chamber was automated; it went towards the ship without any mishap. And they immediately walked to assist Jack.