Age of Men Read online

door, “We’re not taking you to Guantanamo Bay. That’s just an urban legend.”

  “It’s not an urban legend if it was on the news.”

  “If you’ll follow me, please.” Agent Smith insisted.

  Jack glanced at the door and then at Sarah. He wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Why would the Federal government come knocking on his door? What did he do? He had seen too many movies in which individuals trust the government only to end up dead or go missing and though he had his reservations, the guns holstered by the agents told him he had no other choice but to go with them.

  “Sarah,” Jack asked, “What did you tell them about me?”

   

  5

  Jack and the two Federal agents were met outside the university building by a black Mercedes Benz. Agent Smith opened the door and motioned for Jack to get in and though hesitant, Jack got in. Agent Smith closed the door and once inside, the car started moving. It was a smooth ride and with the blackened windows, it was hard to tell whether they were actually moving.

  Jack studied the car upholstery, trying to keep a poker-face he knew he didn’t have. He was curious as to what the agents wanted from him. They seemed to have gone all out with the fancy car so he had to be very important to him. Usually when Federal agents wanted someone in the movies, they simply kidnapped them in a black van or something. He had somewhat of an obsession with conspiracy theory movies, especially the one starring Mel Gibson. He was never a big Mel Gibson fan, but he liked the is-he-crazy-or-is-someone-really-out-to-get-him role Gibson played.

  “Nice ride.” Jack said approvingly.

  Agent Smith handed Jack a file marked Top Secret.

  “I’d like you to take a look at this.” Agent Smith said.

  Jack opened the file and paged through its contents; it was about the emergency water landing of Australian Airways Flight 19. It contained official statements and photographs of the plane wreckage and survivors being pulled from the water by the coast guard. Jack was confused as to why he was being involved with a plane crash. Perhaps they had the wrong professor and were either too stupid to know or to foolish to admit their mistake?

  “I don’t understand. An airplane accident? What has this got to do with me?”

  “This is not just any ordinary plane crash.” Agent Smith said, “About six hours ago, Flight 19 had to do an emergency water landing after attempts at communicating with Sydney Airport was unsuccessful.”

  Jack continued browsing through the file contents, but he was still not sure how the plane crash pertained to him. Surely they had the wrong man? What did he know about aircrafts? The only thing he knew about aircrafts was that the Wright Brothers didn’t come up with the idea, but rather borrowed it from a French man, Francois Le Roux and improved upon the idea…

  “Did their communication system fail?”

  “Radio systems, navigation and auto pilot were all in perfect working order.” Agent Smith confirmed.

  Agent Smith lingered a moment on his thoughts. He didn’t know how to inform the professor why his help was needed as he himself didn’t quite understand or grasp what had happened. He leaned in closer to Jack as if about to tell him the door-code to Fort Knox.

  “It’s Australia.” Agent Smith uttered.

  “What about it?”

  “It’s gone.”

  “I’m sorry.” Jack said rattled, “I don’t seem to follow.”

  “It’s not there anymore.”

  “What do you mean?” Jack was still confused.

  Jack was still not sure what the agent meant when he said gone. Did he mean it was bombed or what? What exactly did he mean by gone? The word ‘gone’ was an extremely vague description when referring to an entire continent.

  “The continent of Australia has vanished without a trace. At first the pilots of Flight 19 thought their systems were faulty and they somehow managed to go off course, but their systems were in working order. Sea Search and Rescue navigated the area. Those pictures you see there – “

  Agent Smith pointed to the file Jack was holding.

  “That’s the longitude and latitude location of Sydney Airport.” Agent Smith said.

  Jack was dumbfounded. What the agent was saying made no sense at all. What did he mean by that’s the location of Sydney Airport? There was nothing but ocean and some scattered plane debris.

  “But… there’s nothing but water?” Jack said in disbelief, “How can this be? What happened?”

  “That’s what we’re hoping you can tell us.” Agent Smith said, “This is your field of expertise and you are world renowned for your theories about disappearances. The media hasn’t gotten wind of this yet and that’s the way we would like to keep it for now… or at least until we figure out what is happening and whether it holds a threat for our nation. The entire continent and all its people are gone. Was this a one-time occurrence? Will it happen again? We need answers and you are the only person who might have a theory as to what happened there.”

  Jack couldn’t believe his ears. This was unprecedented. Nothing like this had ever happened. How was he supposed to know what it meant when an entire nation and its people vanished into thin air?

  “My expertise is people who disappear without a trace.” Jack said, “I give theories as to where they might have gone. I’ve never heard of an entire city vanishing into thin air, never mind an entire continent. This is beyond anything I can comprehend.”

  “Atlantis disappeared.” Agent Smith said.

  “There’s no mystery there.” Jack corrected him, “It’s at the bottom of the ocean.”

  “Could it be that the continent of Australia has sunk to the bottom of the ocean?” Agent Smith asked, “Like Atlantis?”

  Jack studied the photographs in the file once again; there were no debris in the water except from the plane crash; there were no floating cars, trees or animal cadavers. There was nothing in the water that suggested that the continent sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

  “Possible- yes. Plausible- no.” Jack said, “Cities don’t just sink into the ocean without a major earthquake or Tsunami. There’s no debris – besides those of the plane drifting in the water. There are no trees or animals—dogs or cats – drifting in the water. There’s no suggestion of a natural disaster of that magnitude. I highly doubt you’ll find answers at the bottom of the ocean.”

  “Some of our agents are saying rapture.” Agent Smith said with a heavy heart.

  “I’m not a religious man,” Jack said, “But I think it’s safe to say this isn’t the rapture. According to the Christian belief, the rapture would take place all over the world simultaneously with the second coming. So far it’s only one continent.”

  This wasn’t exactly what Agent Smith wanted to hear. He wanted answers and he wanted them fast. Jack seemed to have no clue as to what was happening and might be a dead end, but he was all they had. He might be their one and only hope of stopping whatever disaster unfolded – natural or supernatural.

  “You’re all we have.” Agent Smith said, “Any theories you have you must tell me. We need to follow up on anything you might have.”

  Jack nodded and went through the file again while taking a deep breath. Where should he start? It was a complete mystery as to what happened down under. Agent Smith’s phone rang and he answered it. Jack could see from the expression on the agent’s face it was not good news.

   

  6

  The black Mercedes Benz pulled up to a field office of the Department of Homeland Security a few miles from the university. A junior agent awaited them at the entrance and once the car came to a stop, he opened the door and Agent Smith got out. After assessing the situation, Jack got out of the car and followed the agents into the building.

  Agent Smith was visibly upset about something, but said nothing as he scurried over to the entrance. The junior agent handed Agent Smith a document and he glanced at it as they walked. Agent Smith tore up the document enraged, but calmed himself down. There was n
o use in shooting the messenger, no matter how bad the news was.

  “How did this happen?” Agent Smith asked enraged.

  “I don’t know, sir.” The junior agent said.

  Security at the entrance was strict and thorough; even though Agent Smith checked in on a daily basis, he had to show his identification card to pass. The security stopped Jack as he approached the security point.

  “He’s with me.” Agent Smith said to the security.

  The security guard was skeptical, but allowed Jack to pass and they continued towards the elevator. The junior agent pressed the elevator button and they waited for the elevator to arrive. Jack hated elevators, especially old ones that creaked and moaned as they moved.

  “What’s happening?” Jack asked unsure.

  The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. The junior agent pressed the button for the third floor and the doors closed again.

  “Damage control.” Agent Smith said, “Somehow the media got wind of this.”

  “It was probably only a matter of time.” Jack said, “I mean; you can’t hide the fact that an entire continent has vanished overnight. Sooner or later people would try to contact loved ones in Australia.”

  “Only a select few people knew.” Agent Smith said, “Gag orders were put in place to keep those who knew about this from talking. All airlines were rerouted to New Zeeland. Every precaution was taken to prevent hysteria.”

  “What about the public?” Jack asked, “What about the internet? Internet Calls? Our society is a technological