Not Your Ordinary Alien Story

CHAPTER SIX

As soon as I wake up, I pick up the journal and begin reading where I left off. The journal describes how the extraterrestrials need Qi for their survival. Qi, the journal states, is the vital energy permeating Earth. They need to extract a quantity of it and transport it back to their planet. They are able to go a hundred earth-years without an extraction of Qi, however after a hundred earth-years, if Qi is not extracted and transported back to their planet, the elderly and the weak on their planet will die. The longer they go after the hundred-year mark without Qi, the more people on their planet will die until ultimately, even the young and the healthy will die off.

The journal says they chose that spot in the middle of the forest, the latitude and longitude coordinates spot, for the extraction because the forest, especially forests with ancient redwoods, have a high concentration of Qi. Not to worry, the journal states. For after Qi is extracted, most humans living in the area will simply feel weak for two or three days, as though they have the flu. For Qi, by its very nature, regenerates on Earth in a matter of days, until it is as plentiful as before the extraction. There's just one thing. Any elderly, or people already weakened because of a serious illness who live in the area, most likely will not survive the extraction.

I stop reading and look up from the journal. This couldn't be for real!

I turn the page and read:

The previous Yamame was on Earth for eighty years. He returned to Belita Mpash without Qi. No extraction took place because the planets were not in the proper alignment for the portal to be opened. And then the Yamame grew too old to transport Qi. His power to activate the beacon remained but he had grown too old and his ability to transport Qi declined. As the previous Yamame aged, the inhabitants of Belita Mpash much wanted the birth of the next Yamame. At long last, the next Yamame was born. The old Yamame on Earth waited for the planets to be in the proper alignment, then he opened the portal. The new Yamame was left on Earth and the old Yamame returned to Belita Mpash.

I close the book running my finger over the woven threads on the cover. It's not true; it couldn't be true. Still, I find myself trying to make some sense of everything I've read so far. Their planet is called Belita Mpash. They need Qi for their survival. An alien was left here but not just any alien, an alien known as a Yamame. Only a Yamame can activate the beacon. Only a Yamame has the ability to transport Qi. And the portal through which they come and go can only be opened when the planets are in a certain alignment.

This is just a made-up story I remind myself. I wonder who wrote it though and why they left it inside the fallen redwood. My common sense tells me I should not keep reading the journal. It's a scam, I tell myself, probably thought up by some crazy person. Maybe even a dangerous crazy person.

But why?

This isn't something I should be messing with. I should throw the book in the trash and forget about it. But there were things about it that cannot be explained by any logical explanation. First of all, as I trekked to that remote spot in the forest, there were no signs of anyone else having been there for a long time. Second, there was something strange about how the giant redwood had been spliced open. I've never seen anything like it. And what about the material the book was wrapped in? The material that hissed in the sunlight then evaporated into thin air?

I take a deep breath in and let it out. I can't put the book down. I have to finish it. Opening the book back up, I pick up where I left off. The journal goes on to describe how their planet, Belita Mpash, is twice the size of Earth. Belita Mpash orbits something similar to what we call the sun only they call it Ka 'Mmma which in their language means bright star. Belita Mpash is about the same distance from Ka 'Mmma as Earth is from the sun so the temperature on their planet is similar to the temperature on Earth. The journal describes how they have an abundance of water, hydrogen and oxygen. However, Qi, the vital energy permeating Earth is a resource not naturally found on their planet and it cannot regenerate on Belita Mpash the way it does on Earth.