Chapter No.19.

"Well," Janet said. "This is not what we expected. This signal is definitely a prophecy. It says that nothing is real. Reality is an illusion that's a product of our minds and that we are trapped in the fabric of the cosmos."

"That sounds more like a philosophical concept." Carl said. "Why would they go to all that trouble to tell us that?"

"Maybe it's because they refer to Chandra, the Moon god. The word Chandra means brightness. It's consistent with the bright flashes of light we're seeing. We could also translate it as Soma, which is sometimes connected to Vishnu."

"If that's the case, what is the prophecy?"

"That Soma / Vishnu will restore the universe by destroying all those who threaten it."

"What does that have to do with the alien machine we found on the Moon?"

Janet shrugged. "We don't know. Maybe it's their way of visualizing the reformation of the universe."

"I suppose we'll have to leave it up to NASA to figure it out," Carl said. "I think it best that we keep quiet about what we experienced in the other timeline." He hesitated before offering a suggestion. "I think that we should remain together on what we do." He paused for a moment. "I have a suggestion. How about you two moving in with me. I have a large house, thanks to my Ex, who decided she wanted to live on Hawaii and left me with the house."

"Wouldn't that spike NASA officials' curiosity," Margaret said.

He smiled. "We spent all this time in a capsule. Let's just say we've become good friends."

"So, how big is this house of yours?" Janet asked.

"It's got plenty of bedrooms and baths and It has a really nice pool. I think you would like it."

"What makes you think that we'll be together for more missions?"

"I have a hunch that we will. There's going to be lots of questions about this mission, and they're going to rely on us to come up with the answers. You forget that Ellie, Ginny and Melicia are going to talk to them about what they remember. I think there's lots of potential here."

Margaret and Janet were not as convinced as he was, but they liked the idea of moving in with him. It would be more money in their pockets because they wouldn't have the exorbitant rent they were paying.

They didn't discuss their situation again and Mission Control didn't indicate that they had questions. With Mission Control's help, he put the capsule-rocket on a course to enter Earth's atmosphere. Seeing Earth in all its glory bolstered their spirits. However, they knew that there would be tough questions to answer.

A short positioning rocket burn put the Orion system on a controlled fall through the atmosphere and an upright landing on the Guiana launch platform using full power. A platform structure slowly moved into position so that they could exit the capsule. This time they enjoyed a ride down to the surface on the platform structure lift. Once on the ground, they were transported to the Mission station so that they could remover their spacesuits. But first they had to go through health exams to make sure they hadn't suffered any problems.

When they had cleaned up and were in conventional clothing, they took their places at a table facing an audience that consisted of NASA and ESA officials.

The mission review was headed by George Latimore, NASA's chief missions administrator.

"We've gone over your preliminary interpretation of the alien signal." He suppressed a smile. "It appears to be a joke."

Janet, in turn, suppressed showing any negative reaction to his conclusion. "That's a possibility, but it would require a prankster to have the ability to fabricate a quantum spin perturbation plot signal using ancient Vedic Sanskrit."

That caused murmurings among the audience.

"Why did you use that particular interpretation process?"

"We tried all of the proposed alien protocols without success. We assumed that the aliens must have visited the ancient Vedic civilization and were familiar with their language."

"This interpretation has no message that makes sense."

"We think it does. It's a prophecy, but it's also a warning."

"How so?"

"It warns us that there is no one reality."

"Are you suggesting a multiverse?"

"No. We think it refers to the possibility of infinite timelines."

That caused the audience murmurings to increase in volume.

George decided to leave it there, at least as far as the public was concerned. Further discussions would occur in secret.

Carl, Margaret and Janet were told that they would be transported back to Houston, which didn't occur until the next morning. They were flown back in a private jet and landed on a NASA private runway.

Carl drove to his home in a prestigious Houston neighborhood. He was glad to be able to sleep in his own bed. Margaret and Janet didn't arrive at his house until latter the next day, and they had their clothing and possession with them. Carl showed them their bedrooms with baths. Later when they were done putting their things away, he showed them around the house.

"How did you come to get these amazing digs?" Margaret asked him as she sipped on a Pinot Noir.

"My last Ex inherited a boatload of cash from her father. She wanted to live in Hawaii, but I didn't, so she gave me this." He waved his hand around.

"How generous of her," she said with a teasing smirk.

"I think she did it to get rid of me without a costly divorce."

"We really appreciate you allowing us to live here," Janet said. "It saves us paying the exorbitant rents they demand here in Houston."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Are we going to spill the beans about what happened to us?" Margaret asked.

"I'm not sure. The problem we face is the fact that we don't really know what that device on the Moon might do. It probably doesn't have an automatic mode, but we're not sure. Hopefully, they'll let us go back and make sure."

That wasn't what Janet and Margaret wanted to hear, but they realized that the human species could be in serious danger, and they were the only ones to deal with it.

Carl showed them the enclosed pool at the back of the house. It had a high diving board platform and a slide tube."

"This is amazing," Janet commented. "We didn't bring bathing suits."

"You don't really need them," he said, trying like hell not to smile. "There's plenty of privacy here."

"How convenient," Janet said with a smirk.

Carl laughed, but he realized that it was better that he didn't get too comfortable with this situation. He needed them for the difficult situation that he knew was on the horizon.