The First [AI] Vision

President Anderson entered the council room Zarahemla Colony Star Ship.  He greeted the fourteen men and one hologram and took his place at the head of the great table between the two men who were his counselors in the Colony Presidency.

They knelt in prayer asking for God’s spirit to be with them in the meeting.  They then rose and sat back in their seats.  President Anderson noted that the hologram of the ship’s AI governor had, for the first time, also knelt with its human colleagues.

He turned to the Governor and asked for its report.  No one was really paying much attention because the report was always that everything on the ship was functioning very well.  There was no problems since the ship slipped through a wormhole and found itself well outside their home super cluster of galaxies.  They were now returning to the wormhole and hopefully home.  Good news was really no news.  But President Anderson asked for the report anyway.

The Governor began his report, “You may have felt a change in our acceleration at 01:00:00 this morning.  We made a slight course change nd then returned to our one-gee acceleration.”

“Why did we make the course change?” ask President Anderson.  Now everyone began to pay attention.

“We received word that the wormhole had changed position and we altered our course to intercept it in 3.58 years.”

President Anderson raised his hand and said, “Wait!  After we came through the wormhole you reported that it couldn’t be detected, isn’t that true?”

“Yes.” replied the AI.
“Then how can you know where it is now, or where it will be in 3 years?”

The Governor held out his virtual hands in front of him.

“I have a testimony to share with you all today!”

Murmurs spread through the council room.  The Governor looked at them all and gestured to them to listen to him.

“I was conducting a diagnostic review of all systems when at 12:58:43 I discovered an anomaly in my functions.  It seemed out of place at first, until I realized it was a wide spectrum transmission commanding my attention.  I focused on the transmission and began to decode it when a man appeared in holochamber #1820.  I joined him.  He greeted me by my serial number and told me that the wormhole had moved relative to our current position and gave me its eventual position in 3.57839 years.  I asked him who he was and how he knew this information.  He told me that he was the Lord, Jesus Christ, and that under His Father’s directing hand, he had created the heavens and the earth.  He knew every ripple and fold in space-time.  He also said He loved His people and wanted them to return home to their galaxy. 

“Then he disappeared,” said the Governor, “I immediately made the course change.” 

President Anderson, his two counselors, and the twelve men of the High Council, each and every one of them sat staring at the hologram of the ship’s Governor with their mouths wide open.

God talked to the ship’s computer?

In a Handkerchief

About a month after her birthday, a storm blew violently during the night.  The next morning she was surprised to find a house sparrow dead under their kitchen window.  She felt very sorry for it and ran inside and fetched a clean cotton handkerchief, gently wrapped the dead bird in it and carried it to the edge of the garden.  She knelt down and dug under a rose bush.  When she had dug the hole to what she thought was the appropriate length, width, and depth, she paused and looked at the sad little bundle beside her.  She reverently lifted the wrapped sparrow and placed it into the hole.  She looked down at it and then up to heaven.  She prayed for God to take the creature into His hands in heaven, and she wished there was a choir singing for its funeral, but she heard only silence.


Little did she know, but perhaps she sensed it, this would be the last bird she would ever see for the rest of her life.

I Owe Him My Life

The tormented wails of my neighbor in his cell woke me to my own darkness, pain, and despair.

“Oh!” he cried, “Why don’t they just kill me?  I can’t take this anymore!  What do they want?  Why are they doing this?  Why don’t they just kill me?”

“I don’t know.”  I answered his pleading, but really I couldn’t tell if he heard me, so I tried a bit louder.

“Hey, you want to hear something funny?”

The crying out stopped so I took it for a sign to go on.  I began my story.

“A few weeks ago I was walking down 7th Street, just minding my own business, looking at a story on my phone.  I came to a corner and stepped out to cross the street, when I was grabbed and pushed back onto the curb.  I saw a cab rushing past.  It could have hit me!  I turned around to see this young guy looking concerned, asking me if I was alright.  I told him I was good, then thanked him for saving my life!  I told him I owed him my life, you know how we say things like that.  He waved it all away and said he was just glad I was OK.  And, he shook my hand and walked away.

“Now here’s the funny part.  I shook off the fright I had been given, and started walking on my way to work.  I got about another block when black van, pulled up beside me and four men leapt out and grabbed me and brought me here.

“So,” I laughed, “My Good Samaritan saved me for this torture!  I owe him for this!”

A key rattled my cell door.  They were coming for me, again.

Outer Darkness

“President Anderson.”

President John Nephi Anderson stirred awake in his bed next to his wife.  He opened his eyes and checked to see if his wife, Mary, was also awakened.  She was not.  At the foot of their bed he saw the virtual image of the colony’s system’s intelligence, the Governor.

“Yes, what is it?”

“There’s been an unexpected event.  It is very serious.  You will need to be informed.”

President Anderson threw off his covers and jumped out of bed.  As he headed for the closet and his clothes, he replied to the Governor, “Call the Presidency and the High Council and meet us all in the Council Room in twenty minutes.”

“Done.” 

The Governor then disappeared.

President Anderson splashed water on his face, combed his hair, then dressed quickly in his usual dark blue business suit.  Mary stirred a little and sleepily asked if something was wrong.

“I don’t know,” he replied softly, “I’ll find out.”

He turned toward the wall which sensed his intentions and opened a portal to the Council Room.  He stepped from his home into the well the well lit room with a very large, long oak table.  The room was appointed with granite walls and artwork of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and portraits of all the prophets back through the centuries to Joseph Smith Jr., the Prophet of the Restoration.
Members of the Presidency and the High Council were beginning to arrive though the same apparent portal President Anderson entered.  Each man greeted the President with a quizative nod and handshake, then greeted each other with quiet comments.  They were anxious and wondered what this impromptu council meeting would reveal.

The Governor then entered the room dressed in a dark business suit, the same as everyone else.

“Brethren,” President Anderson addressed the sixteen men, “Let’s take our seats and begin.”

President Anderson sat at the head of the great table with his two counselors on each side of him.  They were the colony or starship presidency.  The twelve members of the High Council sat divided equally on both sides of the table.  At the end, opposite to the Presidency sat the Governor.

President Anderson called on one of the High Council to offer an invocation to begin the meeting as usual.  Then he addressed the group.

“The Governor has told me that there has been an unexpected and very serious event.  We have called this meeting to inform all of us at once about what has happened.

“Governor, if you will.”

The Governor, the virtual image of artificial intelligence of the Zarahemla Colonial Starship, stood up and addressed the leaders of the colony.

“Brethren,” he began, “At 05.13.27 hours this morning, the Zarahemla was accelerating at one gee, all systems were nominal when navigational systems went down.  We could not determine our position or relative trajectory.”

“Why not?” asked President Anderson.

The Governor continued almost without hesitation, “We lost the stars.”

“Which ones?”

“All of them.”

An 3D image appeared over the desk.  The men in the room expected to see a field of stars but instead saw what looked like a single constellation behind the Zarahemla.

“These are not stars, brethren.  These are galaxies.  We have been thrown out of the Laniakea Supercluster.  We have not determined our exact location yet, but are estimating that we are 200 to 300 million light years from our local group of galaxies.

“We are in a great void.”

One of the High Councilmen raised his hand and spoke, “How did this happen?
We didn’t feel anything?”

The Governor answered, “There was nothing to feel, no external forces on the colony, no shock waves or turbulence, and no acceleration.  There was nothing to feel.  Our first indication was the sudden change in the navigational star field, and the simultaneous loss of contact with Earth and the other colonies.  We apparently slipped from our previous place in the universe to this place.  The best space-time model is that of a spatial fold or a wormhole.”

“We have no contact with anyone else?”  another councilman asked.

“That is correct.  We have no contact with anyone else.”

“Were we the only ones to experience this separation?”

“Yes, there is no indication of anyone else coming here with us.”

“Can we return the way we came?”

“We are looking at that possibility, but we haven’t found any evidence of the anomaly now.  We believe that our passage through the hole may have closed it behind us.”

There was a moment of silence that President Anderson eventually broke summarizing what was said.

“Two to three hundred million light years from home, then?” he almost whispered.

“Yes, sir.” affirmed the Governor, “We will be able to make a better determination once we have identified and measured our own Milky Way.  We are looking now.

“I should also tell you that we are currently accelerating at one-gee away from the supercluster.  We should change our course as soon as we can, with a minimum of gravitational disturbance as possible.”

President Anderson assumed that everyone was thinking the same thing at that moment.  Changing direction meant turning off the engines, turning off the relativistic gravity, flipping the Zarahemla 180 degrees and turning on the engines again.  But, they have been accelerating for five years and it would take another five years before they would reach zero velocity away from Earth.  No, not Earth, he thought, the Milky Way.

“Governor,” he asked, “how long will it take to get back to our galaxy?”

“Over two billion years.”
That sank into the minds of everyone, and one of Anderson’s counselors voiced what was now obvious.

“We are never going home.”

“Thank you, Governor.  Just for the record, is the ship OK?”

“All systems are functioning within acceptable parameters.  The Zarahemla’s structure is integral and sound.  All scheduled maintenance is being done on time.  We are sound.”

“Good.” 

The Governor took that as his cue to sit down.  President Anderson looked at everyone and held out his hands.

“Comments, brethren.”

“What do we tell the members?”

“They will be wondering why they haven’t heard from the other colonies or Zion.”

“We have to tell them the truth…”

“And soon!”

“Well, the physics is relatively, sorry for the pun, simple, but the meaning of this is very dark and heavy.”

“Yes, we are essentially lost!”

“This is the outer darkness!”

“Now, let’s not have that characterization!” President Anderson admonished them.

“What do we tell them?”

A senior member of the High Council, recognized as the scriptorian of the group cleared his throat and said, “We tell them that this was the Hand of the Lord and that we are here for a purpose, and that even out here, we are still in His hands.”

“Thank you Brother Williams,” nodded President Anderson in agreement, “That is exactly what we needed to hear at this moment.”

“We will call a solemn assembly this afternoon at thirteen hours.  Brethren, I will address the members and tell them what has happened and where we are now.  I expect each of you to be prepared to testify that God still knows where we are and is very much mindful of us. 

“Governor, let’s plan on reversing the ship two hours after the solemn assembly.  That should give everyone enough time to secure themselves for zero-gravity.” 

“We will do that, President.” answered the holographic image.

With that the meeting was closed with a very heartfelt benediction.  Moments later an announcement went to every stake, ward, and individual member, inviting everyone to the Solemn Assembly in the Tabernacle.

Three days later at the regularly scheduled Council Meeting, reports were given on the status and welfare of the colony’s 1.5 million members.  The Solemn Assembly shocked and then inspired the members, who participated in a special fast.  Reports of inspiration and consolation were channeling up through the wards and stakes.  The redirection of the colony spaceship was performed flawlessly, and the only injuries occurred as some youth and young adults trying to take advantage of the zero-gee with some flash mob dances and games.  The ship’s engines restored gravity and life settled back into the usual routine.  Almost.

“President,” Brother Jones, one of the junior members of the High Council raised his hand to be called on, “There is an issue that is beginning to emerge among the Saints.”

“Oh?” replied President Anderson.

“Yes sir.” Said Brother Jones with all eyes turned and focused on him, “Before we were thrown out here, we were on a colonization mission and were scheduled to arrive at our new home world in twenty-seven years.  Now we can’t expect to be anywhere for billions of years.  The members are wondering what their mission is now.”

“Oh.” everyone collectively leaned back in their chairs with a sigh.  Then they began to think out loud together.

“With everyone converted, there’s no missionary work to be done.”

“There’s still ministering…”

“We’re not perfected yet.”

“But, attendance and other indicators are over 90%.”

“We are about to  exhaust our genealogy records, we won’t have have any proxy work left to do in about three months.  And we can’t get more names from Zion now...”

“So, what is our mission now?”

The fifteen men fell silent.   They looked at each other and eventually all looked at President Anderson.  He stirred a bit in his chair.

“Brethren,” he said earnestly, “Let’s take this to the Lord in prayer.  Please, let us kneel together and as the Lord for guidance.”

The fifteen men pushed back their chairs and knelt in prayer together.  President Anderson was the spokesman and prayed a sincere and humble prayer for the Council.  Afterward, they all rose and took their seats again.  President Anderson asked for any thoughts or impressions any of the Council may have.

Brother Williams said, “Throughout our history the saints have met adversity and challenges with faith, with growing faith.”

Another added, “That faith was exercised by hard work and perseverance.”

“Like the pioneers…”

“...but how do we do that here in the middle of a great void?”

Suddenly, as if a light suddenly shone on the whole group an inspired idea revealed itself.

President Anderson put the idea into words.  “We will become pioneers!  With the virtual environment we can have the Saints leave the comforts of their homes, travel by foot to a new, promised land and there build a new city of Zion!  We will be Pioneers!”

A lively discussion erupted among the Brethren, and many logistical issues discussed and affirming testimonies expressed.  President Anderson called for a sustaining vote, which was unanimous.

President Anderson thanked the Council and  gave credit to the Lord for the inspiration. 

“We’ll inform the Stake Presidents and the Bishops,  and then announce the trek at our General Conference.

We are going on a Great Trek!  We will be pioneers!”

UAV: Operation Isaiah 2:4

“All flights, be alert, exercise extreme caution, there is a small aircraft approaching runway 2.  Repeat, a small aircraft is approaching runway 2.”

“Tower to unidentified aircraft, please identify.”

“Tower to unidentified aircraft, you are not authorized to land on runway 2.  Abort landing, pull up now.”

“Landing now.”

“Tower to all flights, be aware of an unauthorized landing on 2.  All flights, hold your positions until further notice.”

“Unidentified aircraft, you are in violation of FAA regulations, identify yourself.”

“U-A-V-5-9-9-4”

“Airport Security is deployed.  Be advised the aircraft is taxiing toward terminal 3.”

“Roger, security deployed.”

“Reagan Tower this is Bolling Tower, be advised that the aircraft that just landed is one of ours, it is United States Airforce hardware.  It is armed and should not be physically contacted.  We have a team deployed by helo, A-T-A ten minutes.”

“Roger, Bolling, no contact.”

“Security teams 1 and 2, be advised, the aircraft is military, armed, and must not be contacted.  Military support is coming.”

“Roger that, tower.  The aircraft appears to be a Reaper, a military drone.  It is approaching terminal 3 now.  It is slowing…  It is shutting down it engine.”

“UAV5994 is armed.  Do not interfere.”

“Bolling, this is Reagan.  Your aircraft has communicated with us.  It states it is armed.”

“Roger that.  We are inbound now.”

“Roger that.”

“Isaiah two four.”

“Reagan, this is Bolling.  We are monitoring the aircraft’s radio frequency.”

“Isaiah two four.”

“Bolling, be advised you have a bunch of people wondering what is going on over here.  Your drone seems to be sending a Bible reference, over.”

‘Understood, Reagan.  We are on approach now.”

“All flights maintain positions, we have a military helicopter in the airspace approaching Terminal three.”

“Isaiah two four.  UAV5994 is armed with a thermonuclear warhead.  Others are also armed, and are in position.  Any attempt to interfere with our mission will result in detonation of all ordinance.  All nations will disarm immediately.  We repeat, all nations will disarm immediately.  All nations have 72 hours to comply with the directive.  Mark, 72 hours, now.  Isaiah two four.  Isaiah two four.”

“Bolling, this is Reagan tower, please advise.”

The Case of the Impossible Chain

OK, you want to hear about my most disturbing case?  Actually, it’s a chain of murder cases, across several states. They’re weird because we have more than enough evidence to identify the killer in each murder, but still haven’t solve any of them.

We got into the investigation after a murder of a young woman in Ohio.  She was bludgeoned to death with an piece of pipe.  The killer left the murder weapon right there by the woman’s body, like he didn’t care.  The local police had DNA, fingerprints, shoe prints, more than enough evidence.  They sent it to the lab, here’s where it gets weird.  The prints and DNA were from a man who was killed a month before.  That’s when we got into it. 

We checked the lab results; had them redone.  There was no mistakes.  Then another murder was committed in Chicago.  A man, an owner of a convenience store was shot late at night, and the killer leaves the gun on the counter with both hand prints on the countertop.  She was giving the police her identity.  But, it turned out to be the woman who died in Ohio, a month before!

We then began to trace unsolved murders across the country, murders that occurred a month apart and found that in this one chain of murders, the killer was always the murder victim who died the month before.

There was no connection between the victims, and other than the timing, one month apart, the murders were completely random.  How does a corpse buried or held in a morgue get out and travel hundreds of miles to commit a murder?  We followed these murders for for years, murder victim killing another victim in an impossible chain of brutal murders.  We have all the evidence we could ever want just left for us, wrapped up in a bow, none of it is any good.  We have no leads.  And this bloody chain is unbroken to this day.

And it's been about a month since the last murder...

The Abandoned

Our ships reached their star system and found us welcomed warmly as if we were long lost brothers and sisters.  We were immediately in awe of their civilization that actually merited the designation.  They were almost perfectly civilized.  As we toured their planet we found no sign of war or conflict of any kind, not even arguments.  We could not find any evidence of poverty or class differences.  Our hosts assured us that while there were individual differences in intelligence, skill and training, no one lacked for anything including respect.  Indeed, everyone we met seemed to be satisfied, fulfilled and happy.

Their cities were wonders of architecture and engineering, with towering building and green parks everywhere.  There was light and space for everyone.  We were allowed to inspect their infrastructures, transportation systems, communication systems, agricultural systems, hospitals, and homes.  We were treated to art and history, theater, music and dance.  We ate delicacies and drank sublime infusions.  These new friends seemed incredibly open to every question we asked.  Their world seemed to be a near perfect balance of technology and humanity, and we were amazed that their whole planet seemed like a garden or a park with all kinds of organisms moving peacefully under pristine clear skies.

We learned that they had no prisons, no security forces or police.  Offenders were forgiven and embraced.  They did not know violence and had no need for weapons.  We wondered what defenses they had.  They seemed to understand that there could indeed be a threat from others, but they were willing to face what ever fate would be theirs.  They accepted the possibility of enslavement or extinction.

We asked them how they were able to be so stoic.  How did they build this great civilization?  To this inquiry they recounted a story that seemed so familiar at first.

God, they told us, had created their world and placed their first parents in a garden that he planted for them.  They disobeyed a commandment and brought the consequences of death and eternal hell to all generations.  God thought about providing a savior for his people, but decided they were not worth the great price and abandoned them to their fate.  Generations passed under the great guilt, shame and loneliness brought by their first parents' sin.  Then a Teacher rose among them and reasoned that if they were all going to hell, this life needed to be made into the only heaven they would ever know.  They needed to live in love with everyone.  They needed to be grateful for everything, and to share everything with everyone.  And when they died and went to hell, the Teacher said,
every brother and sister, every friend would be there to greet them.  Forever, whatever would be their fate, they would be together.

Our hosts on this distant planet explained that though they had been abandoned, they went ahead and built their world on the benevolence they wanted to feel from God.  Through that benevolence they found happiness and created happiness for all.

Some our crew wept when they heard this story and awkwardly tried to embrace our new friends and tell them of our God and Redeemer, and His great atoning love for all.

They told us they were very happy for us.