Interview with: Dr. George Wonder

My visit with Mud had left me with a few questions about who the woman that he called an alien prophetess was. I was also still very curious as to some of the events Alma had told me during her story. I was sure Dr George would be able to answer them. The trick was getting him to actually talk to me.


I had found him at his usual Friday night hangout, the remains of the CDC. He was on the top floor eyeing the dusty karaoke machine. He confessed he used to love singing back in his day and after I told him about my book, he said he would only speak with me if I sang a song with him. I told him I was no singer, but he handed me a mic after blowing the dust away. Then he cranked up the volume and we started singing.


After I squeaked and squawked enough to satisfy him, we sat back down on the old sofa and I told him about who I had talked to, some of the stories I had heard and some things I had learned. He listened attentively. I could see his eyes gleaming in the candle light from behind his strange glasses. Finally he raised his hand indicating he wanted me to be silent. "So you want to hear it from the horse's mouth do you?" He asked. "Well, let's see what I can remember..."


"I was a young thirty something back in those days but I was on top of my game, as they used to say. I was working for the government in the space traffic division, but I had skills in all areas of science. I started learning about what makes this universe tick as soon as I was forced from my mother's womb...." he rambled on for a few minutes about all his scientifc acomplishments and such then finally began telling me what I wanted to hear, "It was, hmm, let me think, two maybe three years before the accident at the old chemical factory. I was sent out to this crash site..."


"...a UFO had crashed in the hills not far from our lab. For some reason no one wanted to go out on the first contact mission, even after they told us all the scans came back negative for harmful toxic levels in the air. Everyone was still reluctant, so since I had been exposed to nearly every chemical known to man and never had a reaction, I volunteered. Anyway, when I arrived at the site I noticed the strange craft leaking liquids into the nearby pond. All the fish were dead or dying, but the plants looked unharmed."


"Upon closer inspection of the area, I noticed many new plants growing around the base of a tree which had it's roots connected to the pond. It was a strange green vine of a plant with reddish pink flower like leaves. I didn't touch any of it until my back up arrived with the proper equipment. Everything was sampled and documented for further research back at the lab."


"The vine itself was a magnificent specimen! So many rare elements found within in it. I studied it for weeks, months even, there was always something new to discover about it with every test I performed. After a time it was clear it had many medicinal properties. I was convinced it was an answer to many of the sicknesses that plagued mankind. I wrote many journals about my findings to give to the pharmaceutical department at the CDC."


"I should of focused my time solely on the plant, but after the crash many strange things had been happening around the site and the lab, for that matter. These little crater like formations began popping up all across the nearby desert. Most of them were full of crystals. On occasion though, we would find strange little lifeforms inside them."


"I was also tasked with a building project. You see, we discovered a set of blueprints and a container full of strange parts made of an unknown metal. I was one of the only ones who could actually read the prints. It turned out it was a sort of doorway. None of us could figure out how to turn it on though, so for a time it sat in our lab vault."


"Then one evening, it was just after nightfall, I was caught in a beam of light and sucked up into a little spacecraft. I'll never forget that day, it was the last day I experienced the rain. I remember the drops of water hitting my face as my feet lifted from the ground. I don't remember anything that happened to me over the next 24 hours. Just waking up on the ground in front of my house the following night."


"I couldn't sleep after my abduction. I was itchy and kept getting flashes of images from some place I had never been before, or at least remembered being, but I seemed to be in a perfectly normal condition except for a strange tattooed marking on one of my arms. I was incredibly thirsty, so I went to my favorite pub for for a drink. Not long after I arrived, I was joined by a beautiful, exotic looking woman and a strange man. Both of whom I had never seen before."


"She started chatting about her job and asked me about mine. She seemed to know exactly what kind of work I did with her questions. They were all very detailed. Her companion kept giving her the strangest looks. As if she was saying or asking too much. He himself did not talk, then he downed his drink and excused himself, looking as if he was going to lose the contents of his stomach."


"Once he was out of the room she leaned closer and asked me very pointedly about the doorway I had built back at the lab. I tried to act as if I had no idea of what she meant, but I could tell she would not be fooled. She asked if we had found a small container with lightening bolts on it within the ship. I nodded. Then she told me the device inside would activate the doorway. She slipped me a paper with some symbols on it and told me to punch them in, in order, on the key panel of the doorway. I had so many questions to ask her, but her companion returned and she said she must leave."


"The following morning I was in a hurry to get to work and find the container she spoke of. I had remembered it begin among the wreckage but we had never found a use for the strange device within. Now that I knew it's purpose I quickly went to the doorway and pushed the button on the handle of the device. There was a low humming sound and with a whoosh the doorway sprung to life in a swirl of green and black. Like a cosmic swirling field of energy. The key panel started blinking, awaiting it's command. I took out the paper the woman had given me and punched in the symbols. Then, I stepped through the doorway."


"I felt as though I had traveled through time and space itself, which was not far from the truth. The doorway led to another world where a duplicate doorway stood. I tried to explore the immediate area around me, but the air was heavy and thick. My lungs felt as if they had to work twice as hard to push the air in and out. I will never forget the things I saw there. The same alien plant we found near the crash site thrived on this world. There was a sound all around me that was like a soft chorus of singing. It seemed to be coming from the plants themselves. Soon the pain in my chest forced me to find my way back through the doorway and return home."


"Over the next few days I noticed a few changes to my body that I could only contribute to my visit to the alien world. My skin began to turn a sickly grey color and the hair at my temples was beginning to fade as well. I took a sample of my blood and conducted a series of tests. It seemed the air I had breathed in was killing certain cells in my body. Mainly ones that affected pigmentation and aging. I was a fool for letting my curiosity get the better of me. There had to be some way of stopping it and I thought that perhaps the answer could lay within the alien plant."


"Well, this is where Alma's story comes into the picture. It is true, the CDC wanted us to find a cure for the common cold, the plant had the elements within it to do such if we could of only found the right combinations, but the real reason I was at the factory was to find a cure for myself. I spent days there helping them look for the cures,....then the accident...once again I was a fool for not being aware of my surroundings. But I did not know of the shipment of crystals, anyway as a result the factory was closed so I returned to the CDC to further my work."


"At the CDC we had been conducting various tests on the alien plant. I had discovered many more things about it during my work there, and written many papers on my findings. But now that the factory was shutdown, I would also have to use our small lab to continue the work we had been trying to do. I was so close to finding my cure then I discovered something that even to this day I can not believe I didn't see from the start. Within the plant were chemicals that when they came into contact with human DNA would produce a violent reaction, a mutation. Resulting in a deadly virus that could potentially wipe out all of human kind."


"I knew I had to share the things I discovered, the truth had to be made known so I began to log the new findings in a notebook. I poured through my other papers and they led me to the realization that the alien plant was some how self aware. I was deep in thought as I went back to the chemical table to grab the vial I had just been working on. I was so absorbed in my discovery I did not notice what had begun to happen in the next room. Then I heard the soft humming. A song I felt I heard before. Like a chorus of voices. They were all singing my name."


"I turned to face the room next to me and to my surprise and horror the plant the lab had been trying to clone had doubled, tripled in size and was still growing. It seemed to pulse and move, growing a few millimeters in size with each movement. A strange glow rippled through it with each pulse. It's song was growing louder in my mind. It was calling me towards it."


"I did not even realize I had begun walking but soon I was standing before this hulking plant, it's vine like arms curling at the ends in a mesmerizing way, calling me closer and closer. The singing chorus in my head grew louder with each step. Then I heard a voice telling me to stop. I obeyed without thinking. Images of horrible things began to flash through my mind and then I heard a voice screaming at me to run."


"I dropped the vial I was holding, it shattered on the floor near my feet, and I fled the building never once glancing back. The song faded a little, but still played in my mind. The voice telling me to run was still screaming at me so I ran. I ran and ran all through the night in a panic driven blur. I must have eventually passed out, because the next thing I remembered was waking in the middle of the desert."


"I had no sense of direction at first. Disoriented and still confused about what happened back at the CDC. Images still flashing in my mind when I closed my eyes. Even though there were none of the alien plants around, I could still hear the singing, softly as if carried on the wind. It was almost maddening. I felt I had to keep going farther into the desert. I had to get away from the song. With each step it seemed to grow quieter and the images began to fade. I wandered alone for years seeking shelter and food where ever I could find it."


"I lived mostly on roots and the morning dew. But there were times when I could not even find those simple things and the pain of living became almost worse than the fear of what might be waiting for me back in the lab. Then one day as I sought shelter near some caves, a woman came walking to me from across the sands. As she drew closer I recognized her face. It was the same woman from the pub so many years ago."


"She spoke with me for a moment, telling me that the time had come for me to return to what I had left behind. That she and others needed my help. I told her I could never return. Then she began to glow and with a bright flash of light she changed into a beautiful alien woman, her voice soft and sweet. It seemed to sooth my very soul much like a gentle rain refreshing the dry earth."


"She spoke with me further, trying to tell me who she was and why she needed my help. She said I did not need to fear the plant. They had made it sleep. Then she told me to take her hand and when I did a bright light grew around us both and in a flash we were teleported across the desert."


"When the light faded, we were near some sort of strange oasis on the other side of the caves. An old woman came walking towards us carrying a bowl of the most delicious smelling food. She said she had been expecting me and that it was about time I had arrived. The alien woman told me, 'This is the sand whisperer, and she will make you strong enough to return to Murkland.'"


"Then the alien woman looked at us both sadly and said, 'It will not be easy to fix the wrongs my people have done to your people, and there are many yet who wish harm to you still. So few are on my side so I will need the help of your kind if I am to succeed in this great task,' then she looked at me and smiled, 'May you grow in strength and courage, Doctor George, wanderer of the desert sands. We shall meet again.' Then in a flash of bright light she was gone."


"I stayed with the old woman whom I learned was called Kiki. She fed me on her desert stew and told me stories of life since the apocalyptic events had taken place. By this time my hair had turned completely grey and my skin was the color you see today. Although I am only in my early fifties, I look older. Something in the alien's air causes a human's body to age faster. I knew that if I could ever get back into a lab and find all my old notes, I could perhaps find a cure and maybe even reverse the effects. So when I was strong enough, I returned to Murkland."


"I returned here, to the CDC, but the basement lab had been filled with the toxic air of the plant. I dared not go down there. While I had wandered the desert, the plant had tried to take over much of Murkland. You can see it's vine like growth everywhere you look. Although now it lays dormant, as if sleeping. You Murklanders walk about paying it no mind, as if completely unaware of the deadly thing lying all around you."


George sighed and looked a little troubled,"I am at a loss as to what must be done now. I am waiting for the alien woman to return and tell me what help I can provide. Many may feel that the worst of all this is behind us, but none of us can even know what lays ahead. Perhaps the worst is yet to come. It is good you are writing this book, now maybe others will know. Those who read it will better understand the things that took place and maybe, just maybe it will prepare them for what is still yet to come."


After thanking George for sharing his story with me, I headed back outside to find it was now daytime, the sun rising slowly on the horizon. It would be a day like any other. Hot and dry. But now everywhere I looked all I could see was the plant. It had tangled it's way into every nook and cranny around Murkland. And it lay sleeping quietly waiting for someone to awaken it. Would we be ready for it when it happened? Like George had said, maybe. But one never really knows whats just around the corner......