Unable to contact Dr.Unable to contact Dr. Russell and almost sure that something was wrong, a rescue team was sent to his island. Upon arriving, they found that all of the power had been shut off to the high-voltage electric fencing, electronic locks, and booby-traps surrounding his compound., but not to the interior of the buildings themselves., so it did'nt take them too long to get into his encampment. They found Russell on the floor of the first building, hand clutching his chest, radio control panel in his other hand, the long coiled cord snaking up to the main unit. On the wall they noticed that the main switch on the island's electronic defense panel had been turned off, probably by Russell himself. But why? If he did not want anyone on the island while he lived, why would he want to make it easy for strangers to get on it after he had died? Was there something here that he felt needed to be found quickly? One man touched Russell's body. It was already cold. However, upon feeling his chest, the man opened Russell's shirt and noticed that he had a small flat foil packet taped to his chest. It contained a note. The note read, in part: "If you are reading this note, it probably means that I am dead. I have labored many long years on a project that I hope will bring harmony, peace, and unity to mankind. We have been in the 'space age' for over half a century and despite the billions upon billions of dollars spent on probes, telescopes, radio antennas, and other things, there has so far not been one shred of evidence to show that life exists anywhere else in the cosmos. I believe that it does, but it is currently beyond our means to detect or contact such life. In the centuries to come, when we have the capabilities to reach other stars, I feel that we will find much life, but also discover that INTELLIGENT life such as we consider such will be exceedingly rare. |