For Saturn

This is impossible. I’ve got to stop thinking this way. There was always a possibility. I decided life would be easier if I didn’t dwell on it. I actually might be from Saturn. But how did they know? And why are they looking for me? Is there some kind of unrest involved? Would long lost relatives be searching for me? I’m intrigued? But at the same time this could get dangerous. 

But why am I seeing it that way? Why am I being negative? It could be that they didn’t realize that any posterity of a relative of mine had any family left. But why this statue? I’ve never seen this before or heard any tell of any statue being willed down to my grandparents or parents or heard any story of an uncle or aunt creating or buying any artifacts. I’ve never seen this statue in any photo albums digital or otherwise.

“You need to have this. It wouldn’t be right for us to keep it. It belongs to you,” she said. “Don’t look up. Don’t look around. Take an alternate way home. But don’t go within the next few hours. I’ll lead them away from here. I’ll be in touch Elias,” she told me. And in a step and pivot she disappeared into the crowd. I didn’t see her face. All I recall is she wore tan pants and a black windbreaker. The statue is no more than a foot in length so I slipped it in the bag with a hoodie I bought took a sip of hot chocolate and weaved my way through the crowd and away from the train station. 

Like most everyone else in the station I had just come from the basketball game. My alma mater versus a team I followed from my home state was playing. The college team from my home state had always been good as long as I can remember. But my alma mater, let’s just say they snuck up on me and are still undefeated after today.

The stranger knew exactly where to find me. And figured this would be the best moment to deliver the artifact without either of us being detected. She must have been watching me.

And why did I take it? I was curious. I had been receiving e-mails from this stranger. No private questions asked. She already knew. Or they already knew. Whatever organization she was with. I say organization because it seems like she has a lot of backing. She’s not in this thing alone. Where does she disappear to when she needs to? Moments later I looked into the crowd. No trace. I drifted to where they were loading trains to head back upstate. 

No trace of tan pants and a black windbreaker when I looked over the railing. I casually drifted toward the exit scanning the crowd. I looked to my right pulled down my cap and looked as far as my vision could. The wind had picked up and it was starting to rain. It was late afternoon and the sun much like the crowd was casually moving toward it’s destination.

I crossed the street and scanned the cars, looking deep into the tinted windows without being obvious as if I had lost something. I looked beyond the entrance of the stores to see if she was heading out the back exits. If she had she moved fast. I looked in the opposite direction down the street. There was no sign of her bending the corner. She vanished.

I’ll be in touch. That’s what she said. When? Where? How? With who? At the job? At another event? At zero dark thirty when I’m drifting off in front of the television. She we need to return to Saturn. That was te extent of the e-mail. ‘I’ll be in touch.’ were the finish words.

I didn’t know what she meant. Nor did I take her seriously. And the less I believed as the time passed. Her first contact was almost two months ago. Or more like seven weeks and a day. The three e-mails over the course of two days drifted from my memory. I didn’t expect a visit. If someone was watching me they likely would have got bored. Most likely come to the conclusion there would be no contact.

She was patient. It was her desire. The plan was to make them let their guard down. All they needed to do was hesitate. That’s all the moment she needed. And the artifact was delivered. And it was as if we never met. As far as I can tell. For all I know those that were watching her, following her were standing next to me. Or planted a listening device in my jacket on the train. Or as I was moving through the crowd at the arena. Or in my car.

But the way she delivered the statue and then disappeared. She was likely two to three steps ahead of them. They were likely no where around. And any listening devices were probably jammed. I got the sense that I wasn’t in danger. But what they want is to get the artifact before it got into my hands. And now what?

Once it got into my hands once I received the statue things changed. A shift came about. You are the eighth generation grandson…Another email stated then stopped. She never revisited that phrase. The following messages were more about the artifact. This object is foreign to me. I have no idea who this person is. Or what he stood for. There is no history of this person on Earth.

I’ve heard tell we’ve come from the stars. But that was so long ago it is impossible to trace that history. Or is it? What if this is the beginning of my expansion. Why did they wait so long. Have they been here for decades, visiting, watching, waiting until the right time? Why is now the right time to spring this on me?

Maybe this expansion is not just about me but about this civilization. We’ve expanded to Mars and Mercury. We’ve had several rover missions. Now there are regular flights to Mars. Everybody wants to visit Mars. The interest in visiting Mercury is picking up, but the interest in Mars is trending. Mars tells more of a story about the human past. Mercury? Well Mercury, like the rest of the universe needs more excavating.

And that’s where I am with Saturn. I’ve heard stories within the family when I was younger about Saturn. But my parents, aunts and uncles spoke of Saturn in the distant past. But I got the sense there was a strand of truth flowing through the stories they told. Past down from generation to generation the stories changed somewhat. 

They would say: No, what my grandmother actually said was…And she said she was told this by her father and grandfather. They said that this place would be hard to find now. This place where our ancestors came here from Saturn would be hard to find because the land had changed. The location shifted to another part of this planet. The ice never came to this place but the waterways left, or moved. The rivers. The rivers became wider.

All the land was together. That’s what her grandmother said. We’d have to see all the land together. All the land together before the continents split. That would be the best way to find the place our ancestors landed on this planet. It wasn’t a crash landing. No scattered debris to go looking for. Some stayed on Earth. Others left to build a life elsewhere in the galaxy. Could she? The one who contacted me be the posterity of those who left? Something must have happened or is happening on Saturn and it’s time for the children of those explorers to return home. There is a sense of urgency weaved with a calm resolve. 

A new message pops up on my screen “Watch your back. Keep the artifact safe. I’ll contact you.”

⎯ For Saturn