The Passage Read online

  The Passage

  Nancy Lieder

  The Passage

  Coyright by By Nancy Lieder in 1997 and 2009

  Table of Contents

  Introduction …………………………………………………

  3

  Scenes

  Prolog ………………………………………………… 5

  Theories ……………………………………………… 12

  Signs

  ……………………………………………………

  20

  The Horror ……………………………………… 31

  Stories ……………………………………………

  39

  Friend and Foe …………………………… 47

  On the Move ……………………………………… 56

  Harm’s Way ……………………………………… 72

  Helping Hands ……………………………… 81

  New Neighbors ……………………………… 94

  2

  -Introduction-

  The Passage follows several groups as they experience a pole shift and are

  increasingly introduced to friendly aliens. These themes and the cover-up over

  the approaching danger are introduced early. Martha, as a child, and her

  young son Billy are both shown to be contactees. The cover-up over the

  approaching rogue planet that will cause the pole shift is encountered when

  the public tries to use observatory telescopes.

  Danny, a young journalist encounters the pole shift cover-up when he tries to

  publish a theory held by a local East Coast professor. The story follows

  Danny. Discouraged at being dismissed by his editor, Mr. Maya, he goes on a

  camping trip to the West with his girl friend Daisy. Hitting it off with

  another couple, Frank and Jane, up in the Rockies, they discuss professor

  Isaac’s theories and the congruence of prophecy, folklore, and geographic

  evidence.

  A local rancher, Big Tom, finds his cattle restless and his wife Martha

  drinking beer in the middle of the day when the earth starts moaning. The pole

  shift hits, preceded by days of darkness, red dust, and a slowing rotation. A

  tent city is erected. An old timer at the ranch, Red, keeps the family on an

  even keel. Martha and Red feed the group possum and earthworms and Red cobbles

  together a windmill from a lawnmower and car parts.

  Various groups migrate to a local ranch, as the roads and communications are

  disrupted. Danny and his friends are looking for a working phone and some gas

  for their car. The local Mayor, Herman, along with a couple close to the ranch

  folks, Len and Clara, are looking for any place not devastated. Netty, the

  lone survivor at a resort, is being pursued by the Groggin brothers, who are

  dealt with in vigilante style justice. Mark, the pilot of a downed small

  plane, and his lover Brian are looking for rescue. The group shares stories.

  Insanity due to the stress of the changes affect little Tammy and Brian. Young

  Billy receives a gift from the Zetas to cure his sister. Mark takes Brian back

  to the plane wreck to rig an air balloon, traveling under strong west winds to

  New York City, viewing the devastation as they go.

  The group gathering at the ranch soon encounter a rogue military unit, lead by

  General Flood and his acquiescing assistant Sergeant Hammond. They must leave

  the ranch for their own safety after Jane has been killed during a rape

  attempt. The traveling band lives off the land as their supplies have run out.

  The group find evidence of cannibalism.

  3

  The traveling group then encounter another survival group led by Ian,

  established on a river bluff. There Frank meets a new love in Madge, a mute

  cook. Red helps an old timer at the camp cobble together a wood gas generator

  for the antique tractor.

  The rogue military unit follows, as Colonel Cage and others assigned to quell

  the ranch rebellion have broken orders. On the move again, the group encounter

  an innovative houseboat city afloat in the river, using plastic bottles as

  floatation devices. They arrive at a dome city under the protection of benign

  visitors, the Zetas. The dome city is self sufficient, growing food indoors.

  The city mayor, Jonah, is an obvious contactee and hybrid children live at the

  dome city. After a battle in which the protection of the Zetas plays a part,

  the residents of the dome city find they have some friendly new neighbors, not

  entirely human.

  Danny and Netty are taken on a tour to meet alien lifeforms. Billy is the tour

  guide. They meet an intelligent octopus, a hominoid pair with thick plate

  covered skin, an intelligent jellyfish in a living ball of water, and

  intelligent manta rays living on a poisonous gaseous planet.

  4

  -Prolog-

  Martha, as a little girl, is in the swamp near the ranch home where she is

  being raised by her father as an only child. Martha is dressed in a short

  sleeved T-shirt and blue jean coveralls with the name “Martha” stitched in

  faded red lettering across the left side of her coverall bib. She is barefoot,

  hair in pig-tails, an obvious tom-boy. She is munching half a sandwich as she

  approaches a clearing at the edge of a pond. There is a large tree at the

  edge, with another nearby laid out on the ground with the top branches

  splashed into the pond. The roots of the fallen tree have pulled from the

  ground, forming a disc of tangled roots as tall as a man, leaving a shallow

  hole in the ground where the tree used to stand. Grass has grown around this

  area, as sunlight can now get through.

  Martha is listening to the thrumming of the frogs, a chorus, and has stopped

  munching her sandwich in fascination, looking out over the pond in a type of

  rapture. There is a splash to the side, a racoon at the waters edge, and

  Martha forgets the frogs, turning her head sharply toward the sound with a

  slight smile. She knows this racoon. She leans over putting her sandwich on

  the grass and creeps back behind the huge roots of the fallen tree, which

  easily hide her small frame which is half the size of the root base. The

  racoon scuttles over to investigate the sandwich, then chitters at something

  it sees descending from the sky. The area is lighted, soundlessly, for a

  moment, while the racoon grabs the sandwich and runs off with it.

  A sport size space ship, 25 feet in diameter, is descending rapidly into the

  clearing Martha is exploring. Motion is very rapid at first, slowing suddenly

  near the ground. A ramp lowers from one side, and a small beige Zeta bounds

  out, not bothering to walk down the ramp as much as touching the ramp only at

  a couple points. Another floats out, touching down on the grass. Martha has

  her mouth slightly open, is blinking a bit too much, and is stepping further

  behind the tree roots.

  A small beige colored Zeta, no larger than Martha, comes around the root base,

  leaning forward head first as though to establish eye contact first, to not

  startle Martha. He walk
s up to Martha, takes her hand, and turns to lead her

  back into the grassy area at the edge of the pond. Martha displays no fear.

  Two other little Zetas are outside the ship on the grass, one bent over and

  reaching a hand out to the racoon who is also not fearful and standing on rear

  legs, as though the two of them were having a conversation, silent and

  telepathic.

  _______________________________

  5

  Now in the current day, the fallen tree has rotted, is sinking into the

  ground, and more brush has grown up where the grass used to be. Billy wades

  along the edge of a pond, his jeans rolled up to just below his knees and his

  shoes tossed on the edge of the pond. The water is cool against his bare legs,

  taking his mind off the hot sun. A large fallen tree that has thrown its

  branches into the pond when it fell has rotten so that most of the branches

  are broken off and sinking into mud. The trunk of the tree is falling apart,

  covered now with moss in places, and brush has grown up along the sides of the

  tree. The rain has reduced to a steady drizzle and drip, the fallen tree

  looking wet and Billy’s flannel shirt looking damp and clingy.

  Billy freezes and moves slowly, his hands out in front of him as though to

  grab something as he lowers his body slowly toward the side of a tall grass

  clump at the edge of the swamp. He grabs a frog.

  Gotcha!

  The frog is struggling, long legs hanging down and kicking. Billy lets it go,

  the frog leaping out of his hands into the pond. He’s good hearted, while

  being all boy. He leans back against the fallen tree trunk, digging a cookie

  out of his pocket and takes a bite. Billy looks around the swamp edge,

  scanning the water. All is silent, no chorus of frogs. A puzzled look comes

  over his face. He blinks.

  _______________________________

  Red is in the tool room in the barn, hiding out again. Retirement does not

  suit him, and where he has no cause to regret living with his daughter on the

  farm, being a perpetual guest is also a difficult role for the guff old man to

  maintain. Here, among the tools, he is in his realm, unchallenged as the

  authority, and feels he is adding something solid, something real, to the

  family's well being. Going by the nickname Red, more for his tendency to get

  behind issues quickly and passionately than the touch of red in his shock of

  graying hair, the old man finds these moments when he is alone and

  unchallenged restful. His kingdom may be a dusty room full of rusting tools,

  but increasingly, this is where he spends his day. Billy comes up to his

  Gramps, uneasy and wanting to share with the old man, who always has an ear

  and a keen interest in his grandson's exploits and discoveries. Billy is

  upset.

  Gramps . . all the frogs are gone!

  The old man says,

  . . What you say Billy?

  Billy is distressed.

  There’s no frogs . . there's no noise, no jumping

  around. Did someone else catch them all?

  Red considers for a moment.

  6

  . . I just heard something about that on the radio,

  that all the frogs were disappearing and no one knew

  why, for sure.

  Red turns, muttering to himself.

  Maybe it’s got something to do with those circles we

  found in the field.

  Pondering mysteries comes to an abrupt halt for higher priorities when they

  hear Martha, Billy's mom, giving a dinner call from the house.

  Dinner, don’t be late!

  An unnecessary warning. On a farm, the men folks are seldom late for dinner,

  and then not by choice. Red puts down his tools and starts walking towards the

  farmhouse.

  Come on Billy.

  Billy runs ahead towards the farmhouse.

  _______________________________

  A white-haired man, balding on top and with unkempt white hair springing out

  from his head in all directions, is bending over the viewing eye-piece of a

  telescope.

  He’s a bit wild-eye’d, clearly in his 80’s. This is an older observatory,

  small, and thus one that has escaped the cover-up blanket as it is not seeking

  government grants. The Astronomer is retired, no longer under any employment

  restrictions, another arm of the cover-up. He looks up with glee in his voice,

  speaking to his middle-aged daughter at the side of the room.

  Pourrait être une comète. Est sur un des bras d'Orion.

  7

  The daughter has her bland face toward her father, taking this in. She smiles

  and turns to a laptop she has on a table in front of her, typing.

  From my father’s observatory, his first comments. Could be a comet near

  the arm of Orion. It emits waves. Father is excited!

  _______________________________

  A young man with short sandy hair is approaching a modern day observatory,

  high in the hills in an arid region supporting only pine trees in the rocky

  soil. He opens the door and strides in.

  The young man, an amateur astronomer, is greeted by the attending assistant

  astronomer. The attendant is wearing a lab coat over his sweater. The evening

  is cool. The amateur keeps his leather jacket on. He says,

  Hi. I’m Joe. I rented this scope for this hour. I’ve

  got my coordinates here . .

  The amateur is pulling out a piece of paper and hands it to the assistant. The

  attendant frowns on seeing the coordinates, gesturing toward some scaffolding

  placed to the side of the scope.

  Can’t look in that direction. I’d move this equipment

  but I’m not authorized. .. Huh . .

  The attendant is puzzled, as there is no rational reason for the scaffolding,

  especially since the scope had been rented. He is muttering to himself, under

  his voice.

  Why is that there?

  The attendant’s face brightens. He begins walking sideways toward a side door.

  We can use another. Come this way.

  _______________________________

  8

  Both are now huddled over another telescope, having pulled stools up to the

  viewing piece, side by side. The attendant is ready to enter coordinates into

  the scope, has his hands over a keypad, and looks at the amateur expectantly.

  The amateur has his piece of paper out and unfolded. He reads the coordinates

  off.

  Right Angle 5.151245, Declination +16.55743.

  The attendant says,

  Orion, eh? Lots of interest in that area lately.

  The telescope hums and moves to a different angle. The attendant leans back

  and says,

  Take a look.

  The amateur curls over the viewing piece, pulls back, moving away from the

  eyepiece with a scrape of his stool. He gestures toward the eyepiece with his

  hand.

  Can we center on that light blob just to the left of

  center? Is that supposed to be there?

  In the viewfinder are several bright to medium bright stars with a light blob

  off to the left hand side. The blob is lightest toward the center of the blob,

  the light diminishing toward the outsides of the blob. The blob overall is

  larger than the stars, which tend to be pinpoints of light.

  The attendant leans forward to view. He adjusts the
telescope to center the

  object, takes note of a reading, and then gets up and walks to the side of the

  room where large star charts are laid out on a table. He pulls one to the top

  of the pile and locates the coordinates by checking the top and side numbers,

  running his finger first down from the top and then in from the side. He turns

  to answer the question, surprise in his voice.

  No.

  _______________________________

  Out in space, Niburu, aka Planet X, the Planet of the Crossing, is seen

  approaching. The whole scene is bathed in red, with red dust swirling about,

  filled with debris. Stones and a type of gravel are on occasion seen in the

  swirling mix. The planet appears to be a water planet but this is not obvious

  because the red dust does not give it a blue hue. There is little land, less

  than 10% land in various small continents, basically islands.

  The tail, seemingly never-ending, has an occasional moon sized object, most

  often in a dance with another such moon sized object. The debris continues,

  but always the swirling red dust. A number of moons swirling around each other

  curl like the tail of a scorpion. The red dust tail itself, electrically

  charged, is likewise whipping and curling. Gray gravel and fine debris forms

  its own cloud in the tail, and reacts to the motion of the moon swirls and red

  9

  dust swirls by swirling itself. The whole complex is a writhing monster as it

  moves off into dark space.

  _______________________________