Jose' Luis Diaz: Blog

The Rocknauts Part IX

  Serene looking sprites of blue flame danced on the waters’ surface like flowers exploding open. Steam wafted all around and the energy beams streamed away in four directions, still encircling the earth. The band was silent now, all standing stoically on their stages, heads bowed. They seem an epitomization of the calm before the storm. They had weathered a few ‘man-made’ storms recently. There was still the sizzle of freed energies in the air and a slight metallic breeze scattered hot mist away.

  Small white lights blinked into existence around the four stages and swelled into fist-sized balls. They fell away and were replaced by new lights. The resulting cascade fell onto the ocean and raced away between the fingers of azure fire towards the horizon. Each of the stages slid over into a respective beam and melded with it. The thrumming grew much louder and Drum began a snare roll. He accented it with rim-shots and his beam danced thru a spectrum of colors with each rapport. Guitar and Bass both hit their guitars with all strings open. Those grating tones decayed into fierce feedbacks that they let ring on. Their beams danced in multi-colored splendor. Singer was silent but his microphone was screaming along to the rest of the band with an ultra high whistle. Presently the entire length of all four beams began to rotate, sweeping around the entire globe. Singer shot away first down the length of his beam. He was followed a moment later by Drum on his own beam. Then Bass was gone down his. Guitar was the last to flit away. Four sonic booms shattered the calmness in succession. On the other side of the world they passed the sand ball, one by one. A few miles from the intersection, Singer and Drum, or Bass and Guitar spiraled around one another in opposite directions. They transited multiple mach barriers and Guitar started the intro to “Bring It On”. The four visitors zipped around the earth faster and faster. They blurred into the beams which fattened up considerably and the rest of the band kicked in.

  From the decks of every ship crew members watched the dazzle just above become wide swaths of sizzling light. A few turrets took pot-shots without effect. A few missiles were fired but none could lock on to a target. Then the visitors began ‘their’ attack.

  As one beam raced over the horizon it bent down in one place and collided with a destroyer. Metal degenerated into sub-atomic fire and the ocean turned to spray as surface tension gave way to the super-sonic dust that was once a steel ship. The next beam took another target and produced the same result. And so, it went on, ship after ship was obliterated in spectacular fashion. The beams were whipping down with perfect accuracy. Cracking the next sound barrier in the process and leaving only rapidly expanding clouds of grey and white mist. The visitors were picking them off one by one. All around the world, and piece by piece, mankind’s machines of war were being disintegrated. The band played on as loud as ever and never missed a beat. They were ‘bringing it on’.

The Rocknauts Part X

  The human race had thrown everything it had at the visitors with little or no effect. Around the world every visible piece of war waging hardware had been reduced to quantum particulate. Still the energy bands whipped across the face of the earth, and still the band played on.

  The energy bands undulated in feint maneuvers here and there, looking for another target to make itself known. After a while another song began.

  In the depths of military bunkers generals sighed in disappointment, mulling over their devastating losses. Not one was ready to admit defeat without another ‘shot’, or attempt at one. A handful, here and there had one more futile gesture to make. Satellites and silos were warming up for missile launches. Two sets of coordinates were uploading into perspective targeting solution processors. One last act of defiance would soon ensue.

  Singer was in the chorus section belting out a message.

(Chorus as intro)

“The blind man scans the stars.

The mute man sings a song.

The deaf man hears the music,

That the cripple man dances to,

In the moment of truth.”

(Verse-1)

Way back in yesterday, a days’ labor, for a days’ pay. The sweat on your back, was a simple fact. Food on the table, pillow under head. A mans’ word, was all that he had. Now look how quickly man forgets.

(Chorus here)

(Verse-2)

Lawyers, politicians, black and white smear into grey. Although you read, it’s legalese. It’s all an act, stabs you in the back. They twist the blade, so many ways. Can you forgive them and forget?

(Bridge)

Forked and silver, many tongues. Laying waste to everyone. Change the rules, in the game. Lead you right, into the flames.

(Chorus here)

(Lead out)

             (words, music, and arrangement by: Jose’ Diaz)

Guitar danced his finger upon the fret-board. The tones were distorted and dirty yet the chord progressions were eloquent and memorable.

Bass and Drum held down the tight rhythm section.

  Thousands of silos commenced the eruption of their deadly packages skyward, and hundreds of satellites purged themselves of their doomsday magazines. Not a single device was countered by the energy bands. Warmongers found elation and renewed hope that this volley might succeed where all else had failed. Contrails streaked onto courses bound for opposite hemispheres.

  The first reaction from the Rocknauts was a simple increase in volume. Their energy bands were still flashing rapidly along their circuit. On the night side of earth they chased away every shadow. On the day side they were equally as affective. The second reaction came soon thereafter. Each band of exotic power suddenly flattened vertically and extended upwards to create a wall. The bright ‘paddles’ extended quickly beyond the moons orbit and faded in intensity once past that point. Knots of multi-colored flashes peppered each wall of light and with one quarter of a sweep every inbound device was pulverized. Staccato thunderclaps raced thru the atmosphere and sheets of shooting stars swept across the skies.

  Thus was the end of war for mankind. Their weapons reduced to dust, their armies wiped away like so much talcum, and still their generals screamed out in defiance from their buried citadels.

  The four-bladed paddle-wheel deconstructed itself back down to the original four energy conduits. The cello-like thrum eased off to what was probably a normal roar. The flicker of light and the resultant shadow display continued to strobe across the planet. Ever so deftly, the bands began to decelerate. The Rocknauts kept playing but slowed their speed to sub-sonic. They each came to a stop along with their circuits above the equator and began to tip their stages left and right. The energy bands undulated to their rhythmic motion and the Rocknauts began to move along their bands.

  Drum approached a small mountain range and battered out a rolling ‘fill’ for the song being played. His band lurched along longitudinally and from his right a bow of it dropped down and connected with the rocky range. Where it disappeared into the ground plasma erupted in fury. The prominence split into two and diverged. Some length of the beam arched thru the depths of the mountain range and shockwaves rolled down every face. Dust bore witness to avalanches, professing that something deep within had been violently destroyed. The separate visible ‘ends’ of the beam re-converged and the filament of destruction lifted up and away from the still trembling peaks.

  Guitar, Bass, and Singer all repeated Drums’ actions around the world. Generals and other defiant leaders soon found that there was no place to hide. The Rocknauts even struck reserve missiles and other stockpiles of ordinance. Research and development facilities also hidden deep underground were targets just as easily rendered moot. Down to the darkest and deepest secrets of mankind’s trysts with the follies of destruction, not one thing was spared.  

The Rocknauts Part XI

  The Rocknauts left the now stable energy bands behind and went into high-orbit over the North Pole. The exotic ribbons slowly faded to a dull red and along with them the humming low end ‘D’ note also waned away. When they finally winked out of existence only the two spheres of sand and water were left. They hovered motionless over their prospective opposite points of the globe.

  The remnants of humanity were breathing collective sighs and taking some notice of the differences now manifested upon their world. The air was filled with the burnt smell of metal, scalded water, and many other things that could only be wondered at. A thick overtone of ozone was apparent as well. In slow electronic motion, radio stations crackled back onto the air. Test patterns flickered out of television screens. Intercoms and playback devices began to work properly again. If there was a normalcy to get back to, no one on earth could have possibly known what that might be.

  “We will leave you to yourselves.” Singer cut thru the airwaves once again. It wasn’t a clean intrusion like before. This time he message simply seeped through a background of normal broadcasts and communications chatter. A weather report could still be heard and understood just beneath his voice on a station in Hawaii.

  “We came from farther away than any of you could possibly imagine. You are not the first world we have visited. We have laid many armies to waste because they deserved to be treated as they treated us. It is better to remove such infestations from a planet than to let it be. Such sickness always destroys a world eventually. Here is your chance to build a world together in peace. I caution you to rebuild your arms wisely. You may well need them in the future. We are not the only ones out here. We are only the first to arrive.

  Your atmosphere is crippled. Your magnetic field is weakened. Your water is fouled with poisons, some of which are our doing, but much of which is by your own hand. We will repair all the damage that has been done as we leave. What you eventually mature to be, is now in your hands. There are no other species out here that will help you along the way. To the contrary, there are many that would rather see your demise. So, get on with it! Forever won’t stand by!”

  And so, the final song began to play. Thunderclaps circled the globe once more as both spheres shattered, releasing their now highly exotic payloads. Small wisps of energy scattered on the winds like dandelion seeds. The air in their wake tickled everything back to normal. The waters of the ocean returned to a crisp clean blue. The air regained a moist freshness it had not had in centuries. Greenery seemed to be brighter. Clouds were fluffier and rain was far sweeter than it had ever been. The only evidence that anything had happened at all was the slight glow on the face of the moon, and the millions of warriors who would never come home.

(Verse-1)

How good is good? How mean is mean? Do you forgive, or just forget? Do you refuse, though you lose? Do you give in, and let them win?

(Pre-1)

You have spread your wings, as far as you could. You’re bending ion the wind, as the storm settles in.

(Verse-2)

How gainful is gain? How painful is pain? Have you been giving, your best? This is life, and not a test.

(Pre-2)

You have lived your life, as best as you could. You’ve carried yourself far, like you always dreamed you would.

(Chorus-1)

But forever won’t stand by. Forever won’t stand by.

(Lead to Verse music)

(Pre-3)

You aim for the stars, but it seems to do no good. The lightening fills the sky, as the days pass you by.

(Chorus-2)

Forever won’t stand by. (4X)

(Lead out)

(Words, music, arrangement by: Jose’ Diaz)

 

  From northern latitudes four bright points of light were seen shooting away from the earth in formation. They plunged out of sight into deep space. The visitors were gone. They left a clean slate upon which mankind could take a better educated shot at becoming something worthwhile.

  They also left another gift unlike any other. On every hard drive and every computer processing chip, in every electronic device, and even down to calculators and of course cell phones, a packet that could be accessed but took up no room. It held three-thousand songs. A lot of them were familiar to the people of earth. It was no less than a gift of amusing muses for the people of a new world.

THE END?