(continued)
I finished
the third page and looked up at him, saying nothing.
He nodded. Hard
to fathom, isnt it? Just an optical illusion, beamed from
a satellite burrowed deep below the Nevada desert. Just an image,
like a projector screen He smiled. Smoke and mirrors,
my boy. Smoke and mirrors
I just stared at him.
As you read, its
been there since the fall of 1917 he continued when
the American government completed work on the satellite and first
beamed the image up. And its been there ever since, slowly
shitting on our innocence He shook his head sadly. And
it will continue to do so, until people realize the truth, and
band together to destroy the satellite he said, eyeing me
gravely Perhaps you will lead them, my boy
Wait a goddamn
minute! I said angrily 1917?! What on earth are you
people talking about?! People saw the moon before that! Ancient
civilizations saw the moon in the sky! This I
gestured at the envelope Is bullshit!
People before 1917
were crazy he said with a shrug. They were probably
seeing things, all hopped up on opiates, or sick with diseases
that sprung forth from the filth in which they lived. Degenerates
who couldnt be trusted, all of them were
But-
Were you alive
before 1917? he asked calmly
Well
no,
but
Then there you
have it he said coldly, staring me down as he stirred his
drink. There you have it, indeed
But what about
astronomers! I protested Surely they would realize
at some point its just an elaborate image, with their fancy
telescopes and so forth. I mean, wouldnt one of them at
some point come forward and say something? For the honor of their
profession, if nothing else
Astronomers?! Ha!
he spat Astronomers are crooks and crazies, ghoulish wretches
pulling the wool over the eyes of the public, and then choking
the public with the same piece of wool. My boy, there is a special
circle of hell reserved for astronomers, I will tell you that
much. They make me sick, the lab-coated slime who peer into their
little toys and croak their gibberish: Look, a Quasar,
or Ahh, a Supernova!. Utter nonsense. They should
be publicly beaten and pissed upon
Well
but
but anyone can use a telescope, not just astronomers
I protested, choosing my words carefully so he would not tear
me apart so easily. If I were to look at the moon with the
right tools, I would be able to tell it was a man-made hologram,
as opposed to all the other asteroids and stars-
Stars! he
threw his hands up in the air Dont get me started
about stars!
CONTINUED
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