The men in black turned, their dark sunglasses concealed their black soulless eyes, “We cannot say for sure but it is unlikely that this device is large enough to cause us any significant threat.”
This did not reassure the heads of state but they kept any further thoughts to themselves. The men in black kept a watchful eye on the scientists as they finished off the preparations; half an hour later they were finally ready for the first attempt.
The room had been a communications center but had hurriedly been formatted for the experiment; makeshift control panels lined the left-hand wall. The youngest of the scientific team was an engineer who had just turned thirty; he checked the power cables and then gave the thumbs up to the lead scientist.
The engineer quickly left the room and sealed the heavy steel door. The men in black nodded to the scientist who nervously returned the gesture. The forty-four year old gently turned the dial-up. Power rushed into the room and began to snake its way across the copper web.
The room watched as the power was gently turned up in stages. The room started to crackle as the electricity flowed through the cables and the heat inside began to seep out.
“Fifty percent.” The scientist called out, “holding steady!” replied the engineer.
The lights in the underground bunker flickered steadily for a couple of seconds and then went out.
Harold Wilson looked nervous, “Why have the lights gone out?”
“Nothing to worry about Prime Minister, we will need all available power from the base diverted to this project. Power will be restored when we have finished.” The men in black reassured him.
The three men running the experiment switched on their head torches so they could clearly see the displays. The wires attached to the devices swayed in the rising hot air, they danced about hypnotically and the copper wires glowed ever so slightly with a blue tint.
“Seventy-five percent!”
“Still holding steady.”
A large cracking sound resonated around the room as bright blue sparks stormed around the object; they raced faster and faster across the web of copper wires. One of the wires broke free and smashed into the glass barrier; it cracked slightly.
The men in the room continued to look worried as the electrically charged atmosphere grew larger still.
As the power level crept over ninety percent the acorn started to shake violently, the lightning spread across the room and claps of thunder boomed out.
The men in black turned to the scientist, “Raise it up to one hundred percent, we do not have time to wait.”
The man wanted to protest but he felt unable to resist, his hand moved on its own and turned the dial to maximum power.
Instantly sparks bounced off the side of the device, they ranged from a devilish red to a vibrant yellow tinge. The lightning bounced throughout the room, smashing off of the glass which caused small shards to break off and float in the electrical storm that raged inside.
The device glowed from inside, a brilliant bright yellow as it absorbed the power source.
It vibrated and shook violently and suddenly it shot up into the air; it levitated just below the ceiling. The wires attached to it strained as they were stretched to their limits.
The readouts on the control panel were redlining so the scientist went to shut the power down.
“Step away from the console.” The men in black chimed at him.
The scientist lowered his hand.
A deafening bang rang out as the control panel sparked, smoke billowed out and the electrical charge could not be held and started to dissipate from the room.
“We have lost all power, we can’t keep the atmosphere electrified, we must shut it down now or risk overloading the system and losing power from the whole base.”
“No,” The men in black said sternly, “Let’s see where this goes.”
The electrical storm continued to dissipate in front of their eyes, as the power left the small room the device stopped vibrating. Finally, the power left the room but the lights in the underground bunker did not come back on.
“God damn it, I knew this would happen. The fuse board must have been completely destroyed.” The engineer was about to open the large metal door to the room when a blinding light beamed out from the object.
Suddenly the whole room was illuminated as the acorn levitated towards the concrete roof, it hung suspended in the air mere inches room the ceiling. Out of nowhere, a huge purple beam of light spread out in all directions.
Everybody in the room shielded their eyes from the intense light. Another explosion echoed through the room and Harold Wilson was knocked to the floor. Admiral Moorer shielded the men behind him as the shockwave washed across the room.
The glass barrier shattered, sending shards in all directions, Sir Geoffrey yelled in pain, he could not see due to the bright light but he gingerly felt several shards sticking out from his right arm and upper calf.
The light disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared the power in the base flickered back into life. The room was filled with a pale blue layer of smoke. The men in black approached the broken window and peered inside.
The device had vanished but lying in the center of the floor was a long mental spear and a small disk-shaped object that laid flat. The round device was about as thick as a small bible.
Lights came back on all across the base. Then men in black turned to the shaken scientist. I want you to run some experiments on the objects left in the room, let’s find out what gifts they have left us.”
The scientist gingerly entered and slowly inspected the objects. The older man went to touch the small disc-shaped object but its display suddenly illuminated, the man jumped. When nothing else seemed to happen he picked the object up and turned it over in his hands; it looked like a futuristic watch.
Sir John Frewen checked over Sir Geoffrey’s wounds, he looked up to the men in black and shook his head. “He is in trouble.”
“Please get him the medical attention that he requires” The men in black responded to Sir John, “The rest of you please take your seats. We have a feeling you will want to watch the results of the experiments.”
Atlantis
The room was deadly quiet, only the gently shuffling of the scientist’s hands could be heard as they inspected the two objects that the acorn had left behind. The heads of state sat quietly with their heads bowed low like they were asleep.
The men in black watched patiently as the scientific team got to work. They had plugged the watch into wires from the base but as of yet, nothing had happened. The spear also refused to show its secrets as the thick metal was proving hard to cut into. The blades on saw that the engineer had used had snapped three times now; the engineer threw the broken tool to the floor and rested his head on the workbench.
Admiral Moorer was interested in the watch and he walked up behind the scientist. He started to ask questions.
“What is it? How come it has such a bright light coming from it?”
The scientist ignored him and carried on with his work.
Moorer pushed him out the way and picked the object up from the table, he twiddled it in his fingers absentmindedly as the scientist tried to pull it from his grasp.
The men in black were about to tell the admiral off when he accidentally pressed the bright light in the center of the watch’s face.
The device flashed into life, showering the room blinding beams of bright blue light. Moorer dropped the device and it bounced twice as it hit the concrete floor. The center of the device opened like a shutter on a camera lens.
A blue ghostly figure appeared to form from the blue light. It took the form of a female and just hung motionless in the air.