Ancient Voyager Book 1 Trillion Dollar Mistake: Ancient Voyager, #1

By Brian Afton

  Four student filmmakers learn more about drugs, history and themselves than they bargained for.

 

   This is the story of four students whose education is interrupted by an education. This is a journey through time, space and mind and above all else a reality check. This is the book about the real war on drugs, the one which actually matters and the one you never hear about. Many things are involved in the drug problem and several other crushing burdens now devastating society, unfortunately, not one of them can be fixed until people begin to understand what they actually are. We've been trying to fix the wrong things for a long time.

 

  The book also gives a detailed explanation of why business in serving its own interest will not automatically serve the interest of everyone else, contrary to what Adam Smith suggested in "The Wealth of Nations" and what is taught in colleges. It discusses the failure of the health system, why and how it is contributing to the drug problem, why it is failing and why cheaper, better, practical, remedies for everything are ignored and stymied at every turn. It also points out that there is scarcely a threat to health and well being you can name which is not a hell of a lot more serious threat to our society than street drugs. Approximately three million people die in this country every year and they simply are not dying from what most people think they are.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Afton
• Release date: Nov 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798201991340

Book preview

Ancient Voyager

Book 1

Trillion Dollar Mistake

Brian Afton

Copyright © 2023

All rights reserved Brian Afton.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Chapter 2: On Campus

Chapter 3: The Tibetan's Shop

Chapter 4: The Vertical Shaft

Chapter 5: The Chamber

Chapter 6: The Depression

Chapter 7: Temperance Movement

Chapter 8: Jim's Initiation: My drug use doesn't hurt anyone else

Chapter 9: Patent Medicine

Chapter 10: The Cemetery

Chapter 11: Ignorance and Corruption

Chapter 12: Gangland Chicago

Chapter 13: The Political Process

Chapter 14: Carol's Initiation: The Rule of Law

Chapter 15: Julies Initiation: I don't have a problem

Chapter 16: The Village: Business 7000 BC

Chapter 17: Blackie: Big Business & Drugs

Chapter 18: Mound Builders

Chapter 19: Dunkirk

Chapter 20: Bruce's Private Lesson

Chapter 21: Return

Chapter 1: The Beginning

None of us could believe that anyone would be so stupid as to do what they were doing.  I'll spare you the details.

At the end the ship was on fire; they were screaming for my help and begging for the mercy of God.

I can't begin to explain the fire and the breakup of the ship in anyway you would understand.  It wasn't just fire as you are accustomed to it:  It was time, space and experience woven together in a burning collapsing tsunami punctured with flying metal like something from your worst nightmare.

I fought for control of the ship, I fought for the lives of my masters for what seemed like forever, but I could not undo what they had done.

At the end I was blinded by flame and heat and dying myself.  Only my faith in everything they did not believe in brought us down.

We crash landed where you found us, smoking and badly hurt but not quite dead.  I've been doing repair work ever since.

Chapter 2: On Campus

Carol has been studying law now for almost four years.  She is an attractive blond haired student of average size and build with a tendency toward excessive neatness and order.  Today she is sitting at her usual spot in a street side café near the campus waiting for her friends to show up after classes.  It has been a long four years for Carol punctuated by the usual trials of college life in a relatively small town.  At the moment Carol is agitated because she, Bruce and Jim have yet to complete the class project required for their graduation.

Looking down the street Carol sees Julie, another friend, headed towards her.  Julie is a dedicated science and math major.  She is black, of average size, though starting to put on a bit of weight, and the very first in her family to aspire to getting a college degree.  Today Julie is not happy either, but unlike Carol, it is not academics which are her problem.

Hi Carol, said Julie, as she unloads her books on the table uninvited.

HI Julie, you sure look glum, answered Carol.

I just had another fight with Rodney, Carol. He’s such an ass sometimes, said Julie.

What was it about this time Julie?

I’m not even sure exactly.  I mean he took something I said wrong.  He thought I was telling him that I was pregnant and I didn’t say anything like that.  Well he just exploded, Carol.  He as much as told me that was my problem and that he wasn’t going to have his career ruined by my mistake and, suddenly that he wouldn’t be seeing me this weekend.

We were supposed to go to…well it doesn’t matter.  We’re not, and I’m pretty disappointed, said Julie.

I’ve told you about this guy before, said Carol.  He is everything women have been trying to liberate ourselves from for centuries, said Carol.  Get rid of him Julie!

Well at the moment it looks like he is gettinChapter 1: The Beginningg rid of me.

No, Julie.  In a few days he’ll discover that you aren’t pregnant.  Then he’ll take up right where he left off.  Only, now you know you can't count on him. said Carol.  He is a childish, self centered, useless, jerk.

But I love him Carol.

Julie, you’re supposed to be becoming a Scientist.  Use your brains.  That boy is just poison.  I’ve been trying to get you to meet nice men as long as we’ve known each other and you keep showing up with adolescent jerks like Crudly.  He has nothing in common with you!

Julie knows that there is some truth in that.  Her relationships haven’t turned out the way she hoped.  In truth, she hadn't found Rodney.  He had found her and charmed his way into a date, and then another until his presence became constant.  Meanwhile Bruce and someone she does not know, Jim, are headed across the street towards their table. 

Bruce is a brown-haired business major about six feet tall.  Jim is black, about the same size, and majoring in Video technology with a minor in business.  In many ways the two of them are so different that they almost make an odd couple.  Bruce is slow, deliberate and calculating.  He comes from an upper middle class family and has  little concern about obtaining the basic needs of life.  Jim, who would dare to do just about anything, has a much shorter fuse and is in exactly the opposite situation.  But Jim refuses to be stopped by any of it.  He is determined to claw his way out of the old neighborhood and the kind of life they had there.  Jim knows where he is going and where he doesn't want to wind up. 

We have to work on our video project, said Carol. But you should stay anyway.

Won’t I just be in the way? asked Julie.

Well, maybe, but it won’t take long and I’ve been trying to get you to meet Jim for 6 months.  He's tight with Bruce and I think they'll go into business eventually,  said Carol. They couldn't be less alike Julie, added Carol.  Jim is black, Bruce is white.  They come from completely different backgrounds and yet they get along together perfectly.  It's like they were brothers in some past life or something.

Jim and Bruce unload their books onto the table and after introductions have been made take their seats and prepare to order.

Well, lets see I’ll have the lemon fish and a side dish of vegetables, said Bruce.

That sounds good. said Carol.  I’d like a glass of wine too but thanks to the 21 year old drinking age that’s now illegal even though its been proven to be good for your health.  Oh there I go again, she added.  Never mind.  Lemon fish.

I think I’ll have spaghetti and meatballs, said Jim.

Well to tell the truth, I’m used to eating at the grease pit where I can get that good ole southern cookin like my momma made, said Julie.

You keep eating that Ole southern cooking like your momma made over there at the grease pit and you gonna end up weighing 250 pounds like I bet your momma already does.

And, as it happened, Julies mother did already weigh 250 pounds;  just too much of a good thing as the older woman had always said.

How do you know what my momma looks like? asked Julie.

Cause I got one just like her Julie. I can’t step in the door without what she’s trying to stuff me full of something.  Tastes good.  Gotta admit it tastes good. Nobody cooks like momma but now that I’m out of the house I mostly eat stuff like Bruce and Carol eat.

You mean limp, dead, tasteless diet food?  said Julie.

Well I suppose you could look at it that way, but you get used to it Julie and finally the food you used to eat tastes greasy and salty and rich and actually starts to make you sick if you eat too much of it anymore.

Well who could resist anything laid out in those terms.  I’ll take the lemon fish. But only because there isn’t anything good on the menu! said Julie.

So, to get started with our business, how is the script coming Bruce? asked Carol.

Well, it isn’t.  I’ve got lots of stuff.  It’s OK but it just isn’t….great, said Bruce.

The grants for the film aren’t coming too well either.  I’d originally figured a video on Drugs would get lots of support from anti-drug groups.  Only it turns out that most of these groups don’t actually do anything.  They’re just against it,  said Carol.

Don’t look at me guys.  I can’t film it if you, Carol, don’t get the money for it, and if you, Bruce, don’t finish the script.

Well it would be a lot easier to get money if we had a script, said Carol.

I know.  I’m working on it.  It isn’t easy, Carol.  We need something new.

Bruce, said Jim, You’re like Charleston Heston in that old Michelangelo picture.  You suffer and suffer but never finish.  I bet what you’ve got was good enough two months ago.

No it isn’t.  Its been done.  Its same old, same old, answered Bruce.

At that point the waitress shows up with their food and they start to eat in silence.

We don’t want to make another same old, same old.  If you haven’t got a script you haven’t got anything, said Bruce.  There’s no amount of money  which will make a bad script good and no amount of filming and directing can turn it into a good picture either.

I know.  But what are we gonna do man?  We got to do this and get a lid on it.  We’re running out of time.  We only got three months left, said Jim.

Maybe I should go back to the library?  Sometimes I get ideas there, said Bruce.

How about you Julie.  Do you know anything about drugs? asked Jim.

If you don’t use them, then you don’t have to worry about them, said Julie.

I wonder if that’s really true, said Carol.  Other people use them.  They get into automobile accidents. They get involved in crime and, of course, they drive up medical costs tying up resources treating their addictions and injuries.

I suppose that’s true, admitted Julie.  So, from a Scientific point of view, society should learn what causes drug use and save ourselves a lot of trouble in the long run.

Yes.  How about that angle, Bruce? asked Carol.

Been there, done that.  We need a story Carol.  Those are important but that’s just not what audiences want these days.  They want car chases, gunfire, explosions, hooters, sex.  It's a waste of time to tell people drugs are bad.  They already know that.  We need to think of something they don’t already know, observed Bruce.  And something they will care about.

Well, said Julie, I see your point Bruce, but not all successful movies have dazzling special effects, a few of them just had great stories.

You know, that’s true Bruce.  Casablanca had nothing.  A cardboard airplane and people are still watching it almost 70 years later, said Carol.

And there were some horror movies like the stuff Alfred Hitchcock wrote.  They didn’t have special effects.  They just scared the hell out of people, added Jim.

Maybe we could go for the supernatural angle? suggested Jim.

Well maybe, said Bruce.  We’ll have Elvira, mistress of darkness take off her underwear to fight drugs.  Not too convincing but I’ll bet a lot of guys would pay to see that.

I’ll just bet they would, but that's not exactly the kind of picture I want to be associated with, said Carol.

OK Carol, all of the girls will get to keep their clothes on.  That does, however, leave us with a slight problem because even if we have Dracula himself in the picture I don’t see what showing horrible things, even supernatural things is going to get us,  said Bruce.

Why not? asked Carol.

Because, what could happen to the characters in the film that would be worse than what is really happening.  And people know what is happening and no one cares. Well, not enough to buy a ticket.  But now if Elvira takes off her underwear or if some Klingons get blasted, or cars jump across rivers, then we have something!  insisted Bruce.

That’s sick, said Carol.

I know, admitted Bruce.

Well, I don’t know about any of that Bruce, injected Julie. But, if you are really interested in the supernatural angle I saw a shop yesterday on 13th avenue.  Kind of old and faded.  Looks like it had been there forever.  Its called the Tibetan’s; something about a Tibetan Initiate or something.

On 13th Avenue.  I never noticed it, said Carol.

Well, I didn’t either and I’ve been here over 3 years but it was there yesterday and I have to tell you I got the strangest feeling when I walked past it, scientist or not,  said Julie.

Well I’ll tell you what.  I’m going to the library but if nothing happens there, what the hell, tomorrow morning I’ll go talk to the Tibetan.  I’m not proud, said Bruce.  At this point, I’ll take a story anyplace I can get it.

Chapter 3: The Tibetan's Shop

The following morning Jim, Carol and Bruce make their way to the 13th Street alley, but they can’t find the Tibetans shop.  There is a store front building there, but the display cases are empty, the building looks unoccupied and it seems to be closed.

Well I don’t see anything, said Bruce.  I'm not sure this building is even occupied.

Must not be the right place.  I know! said Carol. I’ll call Julie.

A moment later Carol has Julie on her cell phone.  As it turns out she is only a couple of blocks away and heads over to join them.

I know I said I’d take a story anyplace yesterday, but right now this feels a little silly.  Looking for a Tibetan we can’t find and knowing I should be looking for more facts.  Maybe I should just go back to the library? said Bruce.

We need to try something else, Bruce!  We’ve got to finish this project! insisted Carol.

Then they all see Julie rounding the corner and heading their way.

Hi Julie, said Carol.

Hi Carol, Jim, Bruce, answered Julie.

Well, I give up, said Bruce.  Where is it?

You’re standing right beside it, Bruce, answered Julie.

I am!  Where?

It’s on the door, said Julie.

As they looked again they notice a side door off from the main storefront, one of the kind that looks like goes to a staircase and an apartment upstairs.  And, there was indeed a small brass plaque on the door which said: Tibetan Initiate.

That?  You noticed that? said Bruce.

I could swear even the door wasn’t there a minute ago, said Jim.

Well, it was there the day before yesterday, said Julie.

Anyway, lets go in, suggested Carol, but the door handle starts to turn then freezes.

Did you go in here Julie? asked Carol.

No.  I was just passing by, said Julie.

Here let me try it, interrupted Bruce.  Its old, maybe its just stuck.

Bruce worked the door knob a little.  It was sticky and turned with great difficulty at first, but then it suddenly moved and there was a sort of faint electrical flash of some kind accompanied by the discharge of a subtle donut shaped ball of colored light which expanded into space around them.  Then the door opened.  As it did a strange oriental looking man complete with a beard, robe and some kind of Tibetan hat appeared.

Bruce is temporarily speechless, wondering exactly what had happened to the door knob and what on earth that ball of energy was.

Er, are you the Tibetan? asked Carol.

The old man nods, looking at them slowly and very carefully, one by one.

There seems to be some problem with your door, said Bruce.

Yes, that can happen, I'm afraid. answered the strange man.

Are you sure that thing is safe? asked Bruce, wondering what in hell had just happened and looking over the door mechanism suspiciously.

Oh yes, answered the strange man.  It won't hurt anyone. It just does that to keep the riffraff out.  It won't actually do anything to you, except not let you in.

I’m surprised you get much business, with a door like that, answered Bruce dryly.

No, not much, answered the Tibetan.  Most people don’t even notice the sign and only  deliverymen have ever gotten the door to open.

That must make it kind of hard to stay in business, said Carol.

In truth, I am much too busy to take care of very much business, but, since you are here you had best come in, answered the Tibetan.

My name is Bruce, offered Bruce.

I am called Tenzin, responded the Tibetan.

And what exactly do you do here? asked Bruce.

There isn’t a two sentence answer for that, I’m afraid.  Its very specialized, but seeing as you got in, I am forced to conclude that you’ll  be interested in it.

The Tibetan motions them inside and closes the door behind them.  The door itself did not lead to an upper apartment as they initially expected but opens directly into a large room which is a jumble of tables, shelves and boxes all piled high with books and the debris of much study and what looks like some kind of gigantic electrical experiment.

There are wires, electrical components, oscilloscopes, meters, and tools of many kinds mixed with piles of books the four students hadn't ever heard of and