Mikol woke up laying flat on his back with a bright light shining in his eyes. He could make out the form of a person standing over him. "Where am I?" The shadow jerked back, as if it was surprised to hear him talking. It then moved out of his view. He tried to move his head, only to realize that he couldn't He tried to move the rest of his body with the same result. Somewhere beside him he could faintly hear voices.
"Yes doctor?"
"The last patient woke up sir."
"Already? How long has it been?"
"Only five minutes sir."
"He should have been out for another ten. I'm sending down a full security detail to escort him to the briefing room."
"Yes sir, he'll be ready." Suddenly Mikol could move again. He sat up so the light wasn't in his eyes. And he started to look around. The first thing that he noticed was the walls, they where smooth white bulkheads. He was on a ship. Next he noticed rows of beds beside him and all of the medical equipment. He must be in the sickbay. Then he saw the man standing beside him. He was about medium in hight and weight and was completely bald. He was wearing the white uniform of a military doctor. Mikoleth turned around to face him.
"Where am I?"
"You are in the sickbay aboard the U.E. Guardian, the flagship of all United Earth forces. I am Dr. McKnight, the head physician aboard." "Where are my friends?"
"They are in their quarters and if they are anything like yourself they should be waking up shortly."
"Like me? What do you mean like me?" As McNnight started to open his mouth to a double layered door at the other side of the room slid open seamlessly. In walked six tall and muscular security guards. They where all wearing the black uniform worn by the security division except they had a red strip down the side of each pant leg. They also had corpril's insignia's on their chests. Except for for one. She was a general. This was one elite security squad. However they weren't sporting any blasters. This only gave the impression that they didn't need them. Their leader stepped forward.
"You will come with me. I have orders to escort you to the briefing room by any means necessary. If you resist I will have you sedate and carry you there myself. Is that clear?"
"Vary clear. But I don't think that it will be necessary."
"If you are who they think you are it is."
"And who do they think I am?"
"That is not for me to reveal. However I imagine that you will be finding out vary soon." With that she walked out the door and two of the guards fell in behind her. One of the remaining four motioned for Mikol to follow. And so they marched with the four guards bringing up the rear. The corridors of the ship where brightly lit and white. Just as the sickbay was. The walls where also smooth and sloped inward at the ceiling. At regular intervals there where doors on both sides. The corridor was curved to the right so Mikol couldn't see what awaited him. After a few minutes of walking in silence they came upon a door at a dead-end. As the general approached the door it opened without a sound. Inside was a small circular room with maps and diagrams all around the circumference. If those where maps of the guardian it was huge. Fifteen kilometers long and twenty decks tall. Once they had all entered the room the general said.
"Computer, deck one, section one." The computer gave one beep as a doorframe descended from the ceiling.
"Not this again. Where will I wake up this time?"
"You will crosse the threshold or I will through you through."
"I guess I don't have much of a choice then do I?"
"No you don't." As she spoke she signaled for four of the guards to step through. After they went through he turned back to Mikol. "Your turn." He took a few steps foreword and crossed the threshold.
Before he knew it he was in another room. How had he gotten here? This room was the same as the last except the borders of the maps where blue instead of yellow.
"Move."
"What?" Who said that? He looked around and for the first time noticed the guard standing next to him.
"Take two steps foreword." Mikol moved foreword and looked back at where he was standing. There was yet another doorframe and as he watched a guard appeared out of nowhere. He looked back at the first guard.
"Let me guess, it will all be explained later, right?"
"Affirmative."
"I can't wait for later."
"Later comes quickly does it not?" Mikol turned around so quick that he almost fell over. There just in front of the doorway was a tall thin man. His hair was once black but now had quiet a lot of gray in it and he had on the bleu uniform of the technical division. He also had a admiral's insignia. Mikol's jaw dropped. There are only two admiral's and they only take orders from one person, the Preator. The man's authority was overwhelming as Mikol fumbled for words.
"Yes sir. Yes it does."
"I'm glad you agree. Now what I have to tell you is of the uttermost security so we must proceed to the briefing room before I continue." Without waiting for a response he turned and walked out the door. Mikol followed and emerged into a enormous room. There where two sections to it. The first section was literally a pit. It was filled with row upon row of computer consoles and a unnumbered team of low ranking officers manning them. Above them, on a series of catwalks where their commanders. At the front of the room was the most amazing sight. Three screens stretched for half the circumference of the room. They held a view of space. The vastness engulfed him for a second. The awe just held him in it's grasp. The stark contrast between the cold expanse and the pure light of the stars paralyzed him. He had never been of his planet before.
"Are you coming? I don't believe that your destiny will wait." The admiral was standing in a doorway to Mikol's left. He walked to the admiral and followed him through the door. The room inside was circular in shape. At the center was a near perfect round table. The only breach in the form was a square extension at the furthest point from the door. There where twenty spaces around the table with a twenty sided pyramid at the center, creating a triangular screen in front of each seat. In the chairs beside the head of the table sat Chan and Tech. The admiral took his seat at the head and indicated for Mikol to sit down next to Chan.
"You guys feeling good?"
"Yeah, we're ok."
"I hate to break up this happy reunion but we have a lot to discuss."
"What I want to know is what was that thing that brought us hear?" Tech's curiosity had final gotten the better of him.
"Ah yes, the M.D."
"Excuse me?"
"The Molecular Degenerator. It converts your body into pure energy and transmits it via sub-light communication to the receiver where you are converted back into your body."
"You mean the Johnson theory? It works? How did you avoid the physical displacement sickness?"
"Just my luck, I get the science buff. Now what is this about some sickness."
"Physical displacement sickness. Johnson theorized that because of the enormous distance traveled in so little time accompanied with the degeneration proses, the human body would be hopelessly disoriented. How did you keep that from happening?
"Oh, that.... Well when we transmitted you up from the surface the micro-second before you where degenerated the computer stunned you so your body was unconscious for the long voyage. In the ship however, we have placed relay stations along the way so that you made a series of small jumps instead of one big one. There, does that explain everything?"
"Yes sir. But I would like to see some technical schematics on ow it works."
"I'm afraid I can't do that. The M.D. is a military secret and if you tell anyone about it we will just deny it's existence. Now I suppose you're all wondering why you are here? First let me introduce myself. I am admiral Narvoc. This is my flagship, the U.E. Guardian. The reason we came to your planet is of extreme importance. As you may or may not have noticed we blocked all communication on your planet. Then we sent down landing parties to all of the schools to test the students."
"You mean by touching the Numenite?"
"Exactly. As you know there are three known levels of human thought. Level one means that you have an objective and you go directly for it with little awareness their surroundings. Level two thinking involves awareness of the factors that may affect how you achieve your goal. Level three is when you think in three dimensional terms and you take everything around you into consideration."
"And what does this have to do with us?"
"I'm getting to that. Our scientists have recently discovered a new level. It seems that man-kind is evolving. We are reaching level four. These people can not only be aware of their surroundings but they can influence it with their minds."
"Why haven't we heard of these people before?" Mikol was starting to get a bad feeling about this.
"The military has decided to keep quiet about this until we know more about the full extent of these abilities."
"So why are you telling us about this?"
"Isn't it obvious? There is only one way to detect a mind capable of level four thought."
"And that is. . .?" The admiral didn't say anything he just reached into his pocket and withdrew a black blob. He tossed it to Mikol, who caught it. The ball of Numenite jumped out of his hand and started rolling around the table under it's own power. No one said anything.