The World Game Read online

  The World Game

  by

  Allen Charles

  The World Game

  by

  Allen Charles

  Copyright © 2011 Allen H. Charles

  All rights reserved.

  Allen Charles may be contacted at

  [email protected]

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Earth image in cover art courtesy of NASA.

  Cover Art By AUSome Llc. graphic by design gifted to

  Allen Charles

  Published by Ausome Llc.

  6606 Park Heights Ave, Suite 3A

  Baltimore MD, 21215 U.S.A.

  [email protected]

  Available on Amazon.com Kindle Books.

  ISBN 978-0-9850518-0-8

  Ed: 6-17-12 Under Revision

  THE WORLD GAME

  Chapter 1

  5785 Years ago - somewhere on Planet Earth

  The tall, thin figure materialized in the shadow of a fig tree, blending in with the dark and light dappling. It did not move and was invisible to the slender woman who was totally absorbed in touching and examining the fragrant fruit of another tree, scant feet away from the apparition.

  The woman had glinting tresses of golden hair and was perfectly formed, as perfect as if she was the only woman in existence. Which on this particular planet, she was.

  She suddenly balked and tensed, sensing the presence of something unknown. Feeling eyes upon her. She looked about without fear, just curiosity, scanning past the being and instantly swinging back, the gaze of her brilliant blue eyes fixed upon it.

  “Who are you?” Her voice was pleasant and lilting, her smile innocent and enchanting. Her intuition told her that this thing did not belong. “You are not part of this place. Where did you come from?”

  The apparition cocked its narrow, scaly head to the side and stared at her silently through tiny, round black eyes that were ringed by vivid yellow circles.

  She walked towards it, without hesitation, to examine this new living thing that had presented itself.

  It spoke.

  “I am Snake.” it whispered, its sibilant tones bringing a shadow of something cold into the air, new in the world and not pleasant. “This place is wonderful,” it hissed, “to whom does all this belong?”

  The woman raised her hands and looked about, shaking her head in wonderment. “It must belong to the Creator of all things. I have no knowledge other than this place and of my other who is like me, my man.”

  The World Game by Allen Charles Page

  “Who is this Creator?” it asked her.

  “Creator made all this and put us here to enjoy all of His work. There is no other reason for us to be here.”

  Snake moved his head to the opposite angle. “So you will wander about this garden for eternity, thinking about the Creator, with nothing else to achieve in your existence?”

  She shook her head, a little puzzled. “What is better than such an idyll? You too are part of this creation.” It tucked its head under a stubby arm trying to stifle a snigger of disdain. A thought flushed through its mind, “That’s what you think, human!”

  It looked up at her, now composed, and asked, “Wouldn’t you like something more in your life? Something to challenge you and give you goals and ultimate satisfaction of success.”

  “What do you mean? My man and I have one challenge that our Creator gave us. A simple rule that if followed, allows us satisfaction in all else. We are grateful to our Creator for giving us this existence.”

  “And what is this rule?” it sneered at her.

  Having never encountered aggression, she was somewhat taken aback, replying “We are instructed not to eat the fruit of one particular tree. In fact not even to touch the tree.” she added, even though the latter comment was her own invention to insulate the real rule from the apparently belligerent Snake.

  Snake knew she referred to the Source Tree. His instructions were clear: get one of the humans to violate the Rule. “This is just too easy.” it chuckled to itself. “Lady, why do you think the Creator made this rule?” He paused a moment for effect. “It is because if you absorb the essence of this tree by eating its fruit you will become the equal of the Creator. You will no longer be a prisoner in this garden.”

  Snake walked out in the open. “Look here,” and approached the Source Tree. The woman moved closer to see what it was talking about. It moved fast and bumped her while she was off guard and fell towards the tree, grasping the trunk to steady herself.

  “See you are touching the tree and nothing has happened to you. Now look closely at the tree and see the small things that are unlike any other tree. These are the things that make the Creator all powerful over this garden - and you! Take the fruit and hold it!”

  She hesitantly reach out to a fruit and touched it, then held it. She saw small round, shiny spots in the tree bark, and tiny, sharp silvery wires, where twigs should have been.

  “Go on, take the fruit and taste it. You will see what the Creator sees.” hissed Snake.

  Chapter 2

  In a galaxy far away.

  A thought flashed inside an instant galactic neural entertainment network. “Hey! Who put that snake into the scene? No direct interference allowed. Rule breaker!”

  A reply bounced back, “I did. I had a wild card I won from the last World Game edition. So there!”

  “The Rules say you can’t use a wild card without first announcing. I say you forfeit the wild card and there is a set back to the performers by mind wipe and get rid of the snake.”

  “Don’t be a black hole!” the disdainful thought came back. “The wild card rule is that it can be played without warning provided it was won during a Universe’s Got Talent program sector and there is a public posting of use notification within 72 hours after the play.”

  “That means you can cheat on the betting, you overblown interstellar gas bag?”

  “No need to get antsy with me you comet fart! The wild card player is not allowed to bet until after the 72 hours, just like anybrain else. Anyway, what are you watching? Any tips for a good bet right now?”

  There was a sudden influx of attention in the network as audience consciousness throughout the universe strained to eavesdrop on the answer.

  “Cain and Abel are looking good for a blow up.”

  * * *

  1000 years after Game Start.

  “Hey! Worm Hole!”

  “Watcha want Boiled Brains?”

  “Wanna bet on that Og giant hanging onto the back of Noah’s Ark? 5 to 1 he falls off and drowns!”

  “You’re on!”

  * * *

  Around 2000 years after Game Start.

  “Are you awake Globular Cluster?”

  “You leave my cluster out of this. Go play with your Celestial Pole!”

  “Ha ha! Haven’t had one of those for over six Game Editions.”

  “So what cooking good-looking?”

  “I’m watching a little altercation between some King Nimrod who’s trying to cook some guy Abraham in a furnace.”

  “Any odds on it?

  “Well... I’m a bit wary on this one. You took me to the cleaners on the Og thing last time and this guy should have been toast by now. Something strange going on and I don’t have any more wild cards in play.”

  “So ya wanna bet or not?”

  “Aw, OK, but evens! I’ll take that he walks out of the furnace alive.”

  “Done!”

  * * *

  Around 3500 years after Game Start
.

  “Hey, Quasar Fluctuation?”

  “Who you calling a Fluctuator, you Ecliptic Brain?”

  “OK! Let’s be nice. I was watching this bunch of descendants of that Abraham fellow we bet on.”

  “Oh! I’ve been watching a group called the Chinese and that general area. Have they EVER developed some amazing ways of killing each other. Whatcha got in mind?”

  “D’ya think this World will go anywhere the same as the last six World Game Editions?

  “Depends on the Talent segment at the end. Who are the Judges for this one?”

  “Don’t know yet. Too early to guess.”

  “Well I want some excitement; a really good bet. Haven’t had anything since our Abraham wager.”

  “Anything happening with the Chinese?”

  “Nah. Just the usual slaughter when they’re not farming for survival. How about your lot?”

  “Now that you ask...”

  “If you had any hands you’d be rubbing them together and grinning with the face you don’t have either. Right?”

  “Maybe...”

  “So the odds on this one had better be really stacked my way or no bet.”

  “Don’t wet your brain pan. How’s 5 to 1 sound?”

  “It sounds like 10 to 1 to me.”

  “OK. But I am taking the Abraham descendants. You get the Egyptians.”

  “Agreed!”

  * * *

  Around 4000 years after Game Start.

  “Are we betting on this one?”

  “Naw! We know how many people a hungry lion can eat. This lot has been overfed.”

  “Oh brain! I thought the Chinese had it down for killing people. These Romans take the prize.”

  “Quick, tune in to the main arena in Rome. Something is happening there. Bets! Now! Quick! What’s the Emperor going to do. he’s run out of prisoners and gladiators and there’s nothing to feed the lions! The crowd is getting restless.”

  “Ten thousand credits he throws the first rows of citizens into the arena!”

  “Are you nuts? His own people?”

  “20 to 1 odds!”

  “That’s 200,000 credits if you lose. Have you got that much?”

  “Course I have. Been betting against you for how many Games now?”

  “Middle finger if I had one! Deal!”

  * * *

  Around 5000 years after Game Start.

  “Hey Naked Singularity!”

  “Watcha want ya Maclaurin Spheroid?”

  “I wanna win back the ten thousand credits.”

  “Keep dreaming you Main Sequence Turn Off.”

  “Good thing you’re just a brain or I’d show you Turn Off!”

  “So hit me with your latest losing bet!”

  “I’m watching the Crusaders fighting the Saracens for Jerusalem. The last few Games the crusaders won. I’m betting on the Saracens for this time. Interested.”

  “Let me have a quick look at the performance. Wait a mo!”

  * * *

  5794 after Game Start. Year 2034 by Earth count.

  “Network announcement! Attention all subscribers!”

  The neural network went from a busy rumble to an eerie silence as everybrainy turned attention to the broadcast.

  “General Edition World Game access in now suspended and Universe’s Got Talent Seventh Edition has commenced. Our judges will be announced momentarily...”

  The network broke out into a palpable, excited hum.

  CHAPTER 3

  Korean Hegemony, Pyonyang - 24th June, 2034

  Lun Jong Il was seated at a large conference table. An image floating before him changed as he pointed and made a flicking motion with his finger. The positions around the table were occupied by his cookie cutter, blank faced, subservient government ministers.

  His voice was intense and shrill, fitting with his moon face and clownish hairstyle, as he ranted about the threat of the Iranian Islamic Empire. “They have more nuclear capability than we do. We cannot tolerate the threat of nuclear destruction that hangs over us. What is even worse,” he stood up going red in the face, in almost apoplectic rage, and screamed “THEY ARE USING THE TECHNOLOGY WE SOLD TO THEM TO THREATEN US!”

  Jong Il collapsed back into his seat with an exhalation and sudden evaporation of his anger. He continued calmly, with just a little screaming, “We have Japan, China and Western powers paying us not to use our nuclear capability. Paying us tribute! They are SCARED OF US! Now these Iranian upstarts come along and tell us to move out, THEY ARE MOVING IN!”

  He placed his small hands on the table and slowly scanned the faces of his ministers. “This means war my friends. Something we have been able to avoid all these years by making the rest of the world think that I and my father and grandfather were all maniacs cut from the same cloth. We have done well until now, but these Iranians really are insane. We did it for the money. They are doing it in the name of religion. There will be no stopping this madness.” He was silent for a moment and his hard expression turned to one of forlorn, abject sadness. A real tear, the first of a lifetime, trickled down his cheek, evoked by the thought of the loss of all that easy wealth. “Prepare the army and the population. Arm all our satellites and missiles. There will be no winners in this war.”

  In a far corner of the conference room, a patch of paint on the wall imperceptibly changed color and fluidly altered shape.

  Jong Il raised his head. “Does anyone not concur with my assessment?”

  Half way down the table Jun Park, a cousin and close adviser of Jong Il stood. His tone was aggressive. “How can we be so sure that the Iranians will strike first, or even strike at all? We risk everything just on your word? Where is the intelligence information that leads to this conclusion?”

  Park stopped and stood, leaning on his hands on the table, staring at Jong Il, waiting for an answer. Jong Il whipped his hand up and a flash of red light slashed across the room, inches above heads and across the neck of Jun Park. With a brief spray of blood Park’s head tumbled off his standing body and clunked onto the table, rolling erratically down the middle, the neck almost cauterized by the searing heat of the light blade. The body collapsed back onto the chair and then slid out of sight under the table, just the fingertips peeking up from the arms wedged into place.

  Mouths and eyes were wide open in shock all around. Park’s dead eyes stared at them all as the head finally came to rest, teetered on the table edge and thudded to the floor. There was a collective sigh of released breathing as the ministers turned as one to see the fingertips dip out of sight.

  “Does anyone else have something to say?” Jong Il peered around, the white faces swinging back to him, as he waved circles in the air with the deadly light blade finger. His voice was icy. “There is no room for the faint hearted or the doubter at this table. We cannot afford to be wrong. We MUST first strike!”

  The patch on the wall moved again, contracting into a perfect disc shape.

  CHAPTER 4

  Greenbelt, Maryland- 24th June 2034

  Announcement:

  NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Skyhook Terminus is home to the nation’s largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists who build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe. Goddard is the Earth based control center for the International Space City and the Skyhook Transport Sysytem, a direct evolution of the early International Space station, which is an unprecedented achievement in global human endeavors to conceive, plan, build, operate, and utilize a permanent, self sustaining habitat, in space. With the assembly of the space city at its completion and the support of a permanent population of one hundred and sixty, a new era of utilization for human expansion is beginning. During the space city assembly phase, the potential benefits of a closed cycle space-based habitat were demonstrated; including the advancement of scientific knowledge based on experiments conducted in space, development and testing of new te
chnologies, and derivation of Earth applications from new understanding. The Skyhook System has reduced the need for costly orbital launches, conserving resources and making near space available to all. (See net.skyhook.vid for more information.)

  The newly developed Dinkshif FRF Ion Drive will be transported to the ISC for proving under real space conditions. The brainchild of Euro-Russian scientist, Nylast Dinkshif, the ion drive is capable of accelerating a large mass (small asteroid size, 20 to thirty yards across.) up to and beyond light speed using Frame of Reference Focus theory. Dinkshif claims to have conceived of this radical mathematical anomaly while swimming laps and staring at the black line on the bottom of the Goddard pool. Micro model testing of the FRF Ion Drive has so far verified the validity of Dinkshif’s discovery. We are on the threshhold of interstellar and possibly interglactic travel.

  On a different note – 20 award winning students from around the country have joined us today at the Goddard Space Flight Center to prepare for a ride of a lifetime on the ISC Shuttle, to visit the ISC for two weeks.

  Hosted by the Goddard Education office, NASA scientists, engineers, educators and astronauts will engage these top students in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (FRF Theory). Students will have the opportunity to experience Earth science, planetary exploration, astrophysics, heliophysics and more through Skyhook travel and two weeks of hands-on activities in the Space City.

  Media interested in attending can contact Elliott Worthington, Goddard Public Affairs Officer. Goddard Release No. 34-112

  CHAPTER 5

  Goddard Space Center - Skyhook Base. 24th June.