Endless Voyage
Rise and fall of humanity
by
pradipkumar raol
&
prakash vaidya
Part - 27
On the beautiful bank of river Thames, in the county of Berkshire there stands Windsor castle in its total grandeur. During the Second World War the royal family took shelter in that. Usually high rated guests were often hosted and entertained there.
In its thirteen acres of premise, there is a beautiful palace, state apartments, round towers, curfew tower, middle ward, upper ward, lower ward and Lady Chapel etc. These magnificent structures were built in Georgian, gothic and Victorian styles. Since the 14th century, architecture at the castle had attempted to produce a contemporary reinterpretation of older fashions and traditions, repeatedly imitating outmoded or even antiquated styles. The kings enhanced various facilities from time to time spending large amount of wealth.
King Henry, in 1240 made a grand palace north to the upper ward. It was especially made for the queen and royal children. There was a large hall constructed at the basement. In that lay invaluable royal treasures and ancient documents.
Right now, in the hall of impressive building of the state apartments King Vincent was expecting somebody of high importance very anxiously. He was not so anxious when he had sent an invitation to British Prime Minister Mr. John Bozeman as he was now waiting for him. He was in dilemma whether his judgment in inviting him was correct or not. Because, the matter to be discussed with him was so complicated and confidential that if things went wrong the secret would come out in open as an international scandal; a subject of intense and angry national- and even international- controversy involving him. The centuries old royal image was at stake here. However, at present unprecedented circumstances world over arisen out of slow motion of earth had led him as a constitutional head of United Kingdom to almost to revealing a particular matter which was up till now a top secret. The matter’s roots lay far back into the history and touched his father king Edward’s youth. That story besides being romantic had plenty of tragedy, pain and unparalleled cruelty.
His Personal Aide entered the large hall and saluted him, “your highness, the Prime Minister of the country has arrived.”
‘Inform Faber about this’ saying this he moved from there to escort the PM. He quickly reached up to the Norman Gate. The PM was already there. He shook hands with him. After customary exchange of greetings both came to the palace. Bozeman had never seen such splendor in his lifetime. In the hall of 100’x 50’ they seemed to be alone. Formality such as drinks, tea, or coffee was conspicuous by its absence which indicated that this was an urgent and extraordinary meeting; otherwise he would have surely got to taste the finest wines.
There was heavy silence. Bozeman broke the ice. ‘Pardon me your highness, but what is it that you wanted to discuss with me so urgently and privately?’
“Yeah, I am coming to that, but I am waiting for my nephew Faber.”
‘Oh! That famous and brilliant Genetic Engineer, if I am not wrong.”
“Exactly, PM You are very much right!” Faber entered the hall taking quick and long strides; blue eyes, golden hair, tall muscular body, one can easily make out royalty from his face and personality.
Under the guidance and leadership of this brilliant genetic engineer a very secret project was being implemented, its name was ‘Neo super couple’.
This Project was kept so secret that all those working for it had not seen outside world for the last twelve years. This was a story of great sacrifice and dedication to the mankind, which had all the potentials of becoming a great epic for the human history. At the end of this project a dream was to be materialized which the humans had been seeing through ages. Even today this dream was in the minds of every human alive at the deeper corners of their minds. At last, now it was time for a dream to come true.
Many scientists across the world had made considerable advances in the field of genetic engineering and exactly because of that human kind had began to dream of many possibilities. The basic elements in the makeup of human body like DNA was found and decoded. All human genes were decoded. Moreover, somatic and germiline techniques were used to change the genes of egg and sperms. Scientists were able to add new genes to the human cells. Thus, such progress in the genetics science paved the way for rise of eugenics.
Hereditarily acquired genes could be altered or changed; when this was proved media went berserk. ‘Designer babies’ word became popular as well as a matter of controversy. however, world over, there were strong opinions and feeling both in favor and disfavor regarding the ethical righteousness of the science of eugenics as far as humans were concerned for its practices. However, it was amazing to know that nobody was much concerned about its implementation in animal or plant kingdom. Eventually, critics won out and International Community put a partial ban on this ethically controversial branch of science.
Because of these restrictions, the times immemorial dream of creating a superman could not be fulfilled for decades. And it remained confined in the domain of science fiction films, novels, cartoons etc.
But, there was something else written in the destiny. Whether your call it a destiny or coincidence but when the present king was a crown prince, one day quite accidently he came across some notes written by his father. It contained an essay “The superman: various beliefs”. When he read that he was full of remorse. Nevertheless, he was very much impressed by the essay on superman. He often slipped into dreams, dreams of becoming superman, he can accomplish most difficult tasks to save the commoners if he ever became a superman by some magic spell, he thought. He was also impressed by German Philosopher Nietzsche whose idea was; “Not mankind but superman is the goal”. The very last thing a sensible man would undertake is to improve mankind, Mankind does not improve and it does not exist – it is an abstraction and all that exists is an ant hill of individuals.
During his college years he had befriended two wealthy co-students. One was an Australian, the other came from Germany. In the spare time they used to talk a lot about mystery of Superman and often let loose their imagination. However “Superman” of each one of them used to be different from each other. Their college education got over, as it had to be during a course of time.
Crown Prince was crowned king in a grand royal ceremony at the 12th century Westminster Abbey, where every king and queen of England had been crowned for hundreds of years. A year after that, King Vincent married a very charming Moroccan princess. These events were seen with awe across the world through electronic media. Also, at both of these events king’s college time friend remained present. However, they did not forget to joke about “the superman” to their friend Vincent, now his highness “the king Vincent.”
Once when he was resting after a long trip from Ethiopia overlooking his charity works there, Faber suddenly woke him up, before the king could ask anything about the sudden intrusion upon his privacy Faber asked him, ‘Your highness, what were you dreaming?’
“Oh, nothing serious, if it satisfies your curiosity I was being Tarzan and felt like superman in the jungles of Africa.”
“Yeah, why not, it can be possible”. Hearing this king’s ears gave a sharp twitch. His mind was soon active with thoughts. But he managed to control his feelings and said, “Why you landed up so suddenly?”
‘Congratulate me my lord; my Ph.D. thesis in genetic engineering has been approved by the committee.’
“Well done my son, there will be a grand party, but meet me alone after that, understand!”
After a month or so that is after the party they had several secret meetings between them. As a result of these meetings the foundations of ‘Neo-Super Couple Project’ was laid. Additional expenses were to be borne by his old time wealthy friends. To maintain the extra security, basement hall of the palace was selected as a project venue. The treasures and important historical documents were shifted elsewhere. All the staff necessary to implement this project was hired by his friends. The staff included prominent genetic engineers, eminent scientists, doctors, lab-technicians and other supporting staff who came from different continents across the world. They were informed about the secrecy of the project and that their movement would be restricted and that they would not be allowed to go outside of Castle’s premises for coming fifteen years or so. In exchange of these harshest conditions they were paid unthinkable sums of money besides making provisions for welfare of their families.
Windsor Castle was the only palace in the world where presently more than thousand people were living. Actually, this was one more additional factor which helped in maintaining the secrecy of this unique and ambitious project. Tourists were also coming on regular basis so about 300 project staff it was easy to roam around the premises without being noticed. They were allowed to move about in the Castle’s beautiful gardens under strict supervision and they were often mistaken as tourists.
Project’s day to day handling was carried by Kings College’s retired professor Jonathan Milton. He was of the belief that if his knowledge is used in the right direction it would be better for humanity; the world may call it illegal or unethical, he was least bothered about that.
The Project ran smoothly, about thirteen long years had elapsed since its inception. The ‘Super Couple’ had completed almost eleven years of life since their birth, however in unconscious state.
Occasionally, the king himself came to the laboratory to increase enthusiasm of the project team and to see his dream taking shape. Faber’s used to come frequently for overall management and to guide the staff and address their problems if there were any.
Presently, the head scientist Jonathan Milton was made aware of the possible visit of their PM in advance. Time was short so he duly instructed his team-members to keep everything in order and immaculate to the extent possible.
The emergency single rang indicating that the PM and the king would be here in matter of minutes. He hurried near to the elevator and stood there with his assistant. The lift came down carrying three most extraordinary guests of United Kingdom.
The team members greeted the distinguished guests. However, before coming to the actual site of the project the King had briefly made PM aware about the project. The PM was shocked to hear such story from none other than King himself. He was taken aback and didn’t know how to respond. He was capable of answering any damn question in the parliament but here he was at loss. He knew of the fact that many secret projects were going around in the world. Many a time’s even governments were involved; search of medicine, deadly virus, dangerous weapon system were some of the favorite subjects for such clandestine projects, but this was incredible and highly ambitious and could prove to be fatal or helpful to the entire humanity depending upon its success or failure. Many years ago, Saddam of Iraq had been punished by America just on presumption that he was developing weapons of mass destruction.
Even otherwise people of Britain respected their monarch a lot. The King also had a worldwide role. He was the head of state of 16 countries including the UK, the head of the 54-nation Commonwealth. This monarch played very vital ceremonial, emotive and commercial roles for the nation. Moreover, the King led the nation in somber and joyful events. He was a fundamental part of British democracy. Considering the immense stature and importance of the King, the British PM thought it wise, not even as a PM, risk his displeasure at such times. At the moment he managed to hide his true feelings about the project and pretended his eagerness to the main subject of the project – “Neo Super Couple.”
King had led him here at the laboratory and had introduced Professor Jonathan Milton and his team to him. The lab staff had a germ protective white strip of cloth tied to their mouths as they do in the hospitals. They were wearing plastic transparent caps and clinical gowns. The lab was well equipped and very immaculate.
The Prime Minister’s attention was at once drawn to a large table in left hand corner of the hall; the king sensed this and led him near it. There he saw, side by side two human bodies so similar looking in shape and size that one can only make out the gender difference by keenly observing their chest area. The “Super Couple” was covered with a large dome made of thick glass.
Numerous tubes were joined to their bodies. ‘They were most probably meant for administering drugs, food, oxygen and used in performing various tests on them,’ he thought. The bodies were in naked state. Color was dark, near to ebony, height or length almost same, about 7’10”. He went near to them. Yes, they were breathing, their chests were heaving up and down. Eyes were wide open and no movement could be seen there. Their faces looked almost identical; with high cheek bones they looked pretty. Couple’s all fingers of feet were joined together with thin membranes of skin just like one finds in ducks.
One can easily describe them with utmost conviction as ideal muscular bodies. Wonderful, unbelievable words fell short to describe them. Imagination and reality had merged.
King signaled to Faber and he immediately started giving detailed explanation of the project with the help of large screen so Bozeman’s scrutiny of the “Super Couple” came to a halt at least for the time being.
Faber started his commentary as the technical information and pictures started rolling on the screen starting from the beginning of the project:
“The main purpose of making the “Super Couple” was to save mankind from impending disasters. The necessary genetic material was collected from different countries. There was provision to enhance human qualities & capabilities in the couple, which included capacity of healing, long vision, telepathy, re-growing of injured organs, capacity to bear pain and fatigue, immense strength; equivalent to that of an elephant, exceptional memory power and so on. As far as personality was concerned the couple would be brave and fearless, possessing great will power and altruistic nature.
John Bozeman intercepted him sarcastically, ‘What religion you have attributed to this “Super Couple”?’
“Their one and only one religion is to protect man-kind and help in its progress.” Faber replied curtly.
‘Oh, I see nevertheless, how good are their telepathic powers?’
“Not to the couple, only to superwoman Iva, her name is Iva, I may explain a bit here; the nature has endowed man and woman with different physical and mental qualities. We considered this fact while going ahead with this project. So instead of making one superman or superwoman we decided to make both. Thus taking advantage of inherent qualities already present in the two genders...”
“Okay, okay I am getting the idea,” Bozeman said, somewhat irked, “I am more interested in her telepathic abilities, can it be used”, he asked while pointing at Iva.
“I am not that sure, it is rather premature. All their qualities are in a developing stage, the process is going on. These are genetically cloned humans, for example their bones will be unbreakable, when they are fully developed, but this will take time.”
“I understand, however if their…, sorry… I mean if Iva’s help can be obtained, we can know the mind of aliens. The mankind is suffering too much and going through the most difficult times in the whole history of mankind. I think you are late,” he lamented.
‘Definitely, Let me try, we might get help from the Superwoman,’ Faber replied with more confidence.
Professor Jonathan made the PM seat in a specialized chair, and then he was asked to wear a helmet. The helmet connected his neurons with that of Iva’s while Iva’s brain had been already connected with numerous electrodes. They were in turn, connected with various machines for multi-unit recording.
Then, PM Bozeman was instructed to ask questions speaking only through his mind.
He finally asked when he was signaled to do so. ‘Who has slowed the spinning motion of planet earth?’ Iva’s eyes recorded minute movements. Soon on the screen many equation started appearing followed by jumble of words, figures which were difficult for anyone to understand. This went on for about seven minutes. Then the answer appeared on the screen “THE LIGHT”
Bozeman thought of another question, ‘where do these aliens live?’ Same thing was repeated on the screen. Hundreds of words & figures and signs fast appeared and disappeared.
Eva’s eyes now recorded more vigorous movements. The machines started recording her pulse rates and blood presser which showed above borderline criteria. The staff also got worried.
After considerable waiting for 12 minutes the answer appeared before them on the screen “ENTIRE UNIVERSE”.
John Bozeman’s third question was: “DO THEY WANT TO DESTROY THE PLANET EARTH AND ALL ITS INHABITATS?”
Iva’s eyes now started rolling; her chest started heaving like a marathon runner near finishing line. Again equations, figures…. started appearing on the screen but now its speed was lightening. Her blood pressure shot up to dangerous limit. The instruments started giving loud single. The situation was going out of hand. Faber quickly removed the helmet from PM’s head without caring for any mannerism. He feared something untoward or harmful may happen to Iva. Most of the team members rushed near to Iva. They injected some medicines into her body. Slowly her conditions attained normalcy. They all heaved a sigh of relief except John Bozeman; he didn’t care much about their Eve or Adam. In the midst of this chaos nobody had cared to look at the screen but Jonathan Milton’s eyes caught the screen. The answer had come but unfinished “HUMANS AND THE LIGHT…….”
However, Bozeman could not restrain his irk and he blurted out, “Damn it! I have never felt so stupid in my entire life, listening to all these crap.”
Everyone was stunned, their mouths gaping in horror. This could probably mean a direct dishonor to the king. It also implicated possible shelving of this project. But at once Bozeman realized his lack of manner and to undo the damage he said, “The human imagination of superman and endeavor to make him is more captivating than superman himself.”
“One day you may withdraw your words, when you are proved wrong.” king answered with acrimony.”
“Till then I would stick to my words. And by the way with great respect I would like to thank “his highness” for wasting my invaluable time while the whole nation, sorry! The whole world is passing through a nightmare.”
‘Never mind,’ the king answered sharply and then addressing to Faber he said, ‘You may escort the PM up to Norman Gate without wasting his valuable time.’
Even after this high wired atmosphere they bade good bye to each other like two gentlemen. King Vincent was not much concerned about the attitude shown by John Bozeman, he quickly regained his composure. He summoned all the team members before him and said the words of encouragement and assured them that their future is far greater protected in the castle then those who are outside. In sort he encouraged them to work hard without thinking about matters which do not concern them directly. Lastly, he gave important instructions to Jonathan Milton regarding the project.
