Gifts From The Stars by James Octavo Read Free Book Online Page A

while some looking casual in jeans and
sweatshirts digging around the trees and ground.
    Leading the group, Dan
Ophelder, a tall, well-dressed man digs with a hammer and chisel in
a tree. Next to him, examining a bark encrusted purple star is his
colleague Nora Jonston draped in a simple but stylish
dress.
    “Dad was right. This is
incredible.” She twirls her long brown hair while she stares hard
at the star. “These pieces on the ground have smooth surfaces. But
the ones in trees combined on their surfaces with parts of the
tree, as if the objects and trees intertwine like roots in the
earth.”
    “Yes. Both retain their
separate chemical properties. Maybe a plastic mold mixture,” Dan
says.
    “No. This can’t be plastic
mixtures.” She takes one of the blue opals and puts it on her
chest. “Look. They’re beautiful. I could wear it on a chain as it
is.”
    “You’re right.” He blushes.
“Beautiful. But why would people do this. Think of the expense. And
what about the ones in the ocean?”
    “It is crazy, isn't it.” She
holds up another gem up to the sun and looks through the filtered
light, seeing it sparkle.
    “This one looks like a
Citrine. Do you know what Citrine means?”
    “Like citrus?”
    “It’s Latin for gift from
the sun, because of its yellow color.”
    “Hmmm? I doubt they’re gifts
though, unless a rich eccentric is throwing away his money. It is
like dropping money out of a skyscraper causing rioting on the
street.”
     
    “I already saw some people
fighting over them. Some guys are trading them like sports cards
and one guy is sitting over there meditating with his.”
    While the scientists examine
the scene, a young man runs towards them, almost falling, out of
breath, handing his cell phone to Dan.
    “Slow down. What’s
wrong?”
    “It's happened again. This
time in a town about 200 miles east of here in Nevada.”
    “You look pale. What did he
say?”
    ”They want us there now. The
National Guard's will send helicopters to pick us up.”
    “National Guard?
Why?”
    “They said something bad
happened.”
    Can't they wait? We just got
here for God's sake,” Dan says.
    “Nope. It's too big. They
have a crisis and need our help.”
    “Great. This is not what I
wanted to hear. They're going to turn this into some damn military
operation.” He shouts hitting the hammer against the tree. His
anger remains even when the helicopters arrive, and he only mumbles
a few acknowledgements as the National Guard commander directs them
aboard.
    “Why are you so upset?” Nora
asks and jumps aboard the chopper.
    “Because science will take a
back seat to the military.”
    “What do you mean? They need
our help.”
    “It happened to me before.
They wanted me to examine a new form of Virtual Reality. It was
awesome. But they brought me in a dishonest way. I almost wanted to
quit.” (Author’s note. See the ebook ‘When is a Video Game No
Game’).
    “I didn’t know. You did
sound so glum when you returned from the mission.”
    “Yeah. So we probably
shouldn’t even go,” he says as he climbs aboard.
    “No. This is big. They
wouldn’t fly us in copters unless it’s huge.”
    “I don’t know. It might be
good to get out of our labs.”
    “Even scientists have to get
along with people.” She musses his hair while the green machines
climb into the sky. She looks out and smiles as the ground shrinks
away. “Besides, this is the first time I get to fly in a
helicopter. I think it's grand.”

Chapter 2 – Nevada

     
    When their helicopters
approach the small Nevada town, the scientists see it resembles
western towns of old with small storefronts, including a general
store, an ice-cream parlor, drugstore, post office and even a
two-pump gas station. But descending, they realize this is no
longer a normal town. Everywhere the pieces glisten. While the
helicopters land and the scientists jump off, townspeople run to
them, pulling them, pointing them toward the