The computer hummed and came to life, then emitted two thin red laser beams that struck each of them harmlessly in the foreheads. Then, the beams began to horizontally fan out, until it was the width of their heads.
It started quickly oscillating up and down.
Chapter Two
They had been watching, and studying, and gathering information on the human race for eons. Ever since the first amphibians crawled out of that primordial soup and filled their newly developing lungs with air.
Theywatched how the early mammals scurried across the Mesozoic terrain, evading the footsteps and jaws of the larger reptilians of that period. These small mammals did their best to survive in that harsh landscape. And after millions of years those reptiles, the dinosaurs, finally died out and the mammals were allowed to evolve from small quadruped mammals to bi-pedal primates.
They chronicled the events of the first Homo Sapien, awkwardly taking that first step to stand erect. Theywatched this small planet's population grow. And They studied everything.
They collected the works of all the great minds of the early times, like Socrates and Plato, and They marveled at the genius of Archimedes.
They were mesmerized at the immense talent that came out of the Renaissance period. The beautiful brush strokes of Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. The marble masterpiece of Michelagelo’s Pieta. And Their favorite, the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, from his great collection of paintings and sketches to his many inventions. They knew them all.
They could remember, so long ago in Their history, the exhilaration and excitement They felt on that dark moonless night when They first gazed up, using a crude instrument, and viewed the multitude of stars in the Heavens. As did Galileo Galilei, on his dark moonless night.
Then, about the time Isaac Newton defined the law of universal gravitation,They started to lose interest in this small inconsequential planet. They had other priorities. The human race by no means was the only race They studied. There were hundreds of thousands of populated planets out there. Many of which were ready to be indoctrinated, but the human race was just not physically or mentally ready yet. The gathering of the information was just protocol. After all, this was still considered a third class world. A world to be watched and its histories collected and studied with the intent that one day, perhaps, They would introduce Themselves.
Over the centuries, it had always been the job of the curator of The Great Antiquities Museum to oversee all items of historical interest that were brought into the museum, and to manage the information and histories of all known populated worlds. Presently, these duties were performed by the current curator of the museum, Curator Aggister Bancus.
Each world had its own computer file. And within that file, folders and sub-folders of all their accomplishments. For instance, one world's file would have a folder marked “Inventions” which would consist of sub-folders within, in chronological order of all of that particular planet's innovations. One planet’s file could hold hundreds of folders. With headings such as: Inventors / Inventions, Political Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Art and Entertainment, Criminal Activities, Wars, Deaths, Planetary Weather, and so on.
This was the same for the human race as well, although their file was not as big as some of the others. Even though the human race was not looked upon with interest any longer, it was still the job of Curator Bancus to observe and gather all the information he could on the human race and file it away into the museum's “Anthology of Worlds” computer. This way, They would have something to reference when it was time for the human race.
Usually he performed these duties during his lunch hour.
He collected information on the first shots fired at Lexington.
Napoleon Bonaparte crowning himself Emperor. Then turning the armies of France into the greatest military power of its time. Curator Bancus filed away Bonaparte’s military victories, his conquests, his exile, and then his death.
He chronicled and filed away the invention of the gasoline combustion engine. The beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Then that momentous day on December seventeenth, when two brothers took to the air in powered flight.
And when Albert Einstein published his “Theory of Relativity”, Curator Bancus found a kindred spirit. A man of science, a physicist and mathematician as himself. He read all of Einstein’s papers, even though the theories were not new to Them.
The human folder marked War was filling up. Not a surprise to the Curator. Most populated worlds had their differences with each other. And the human race was not an exception.
He collected information on the killing of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sofia, which started a great war that involved the majority of this little planet.
Then, shortly before the Great War ended, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate after the Russian revolution. Later he, his wife, and five children were all arrested, then all executed, along with the family doctor and personal servants.
When the National Socialist Party in Germany elected their new leader, Curator Bancus was not surprised. He’d seen things like this before on other worlds. He watched the newly elected leader rise to power and become Chancellor.
Then came the invasion of Poland and the start of another great war. Which again involved the majority of their planet. And as with all wars, its eventual end with the unveiling of the nuclear age.
But it was not all business for Curator Bancus. He did enjoy the human form of entertainment, which was much different from Their own. He enjoyed listening to Glenn Miller and even taught himself how to swing dance. But being that Aggister Bancus is a short, slightly pudgy individual, his colleagues thought he was having a seizure when they witnessed his swing dancing for the first time. So, from then on he danced strictly in the privacy of his
