The Travelers 3

by Lee Hunnicutt

  Most of them wanted to stay in the city. A few wanted to go back to their home planets. We complied with their wishes.

  All we had to subdue Lithuania was Mac, Gyro, Max, Sarah and me. They had nothing to stand up to Sarah’s shields and fire power. They surrendered the first day we showed up.

  We left thinking we had solved the problem forever. We were wrong. Just a hundred and fifty years later they were back in business, pirating and slaving.

  We had placed probes to surveil the Lithuanians and less than a month after Mac wanted humans to staff his recreation center they had hijacked three personnel transports headed to Australia.

  Australia had been in an eighty year bloody devastating war with their neighbor New Zealand. Neither side won. After both were exhausted they signed a peace treaty and that was because neither side could continue the fight. They realized if they had continued the fight, both sides would have been annihilated. Australia needed people both to bolster their population and to rebuild their planet. So they searched the inhabited planets in search of two things, people who looked like the humans on their planet and people desperate enough to resettle to a devastated world. If they took in people who looked like Smiley, they would not only not have integrated, they would have taken over Australia.

  They settled on Bulgaria. At one time Bulgaria was a planet that was almost identical to Australia but for the last ninety years they had been in an ice age. Harsh winters had destroyed their crops and they were suffering a world-wide famine.

  The Australians were able to recruit 90,000 Bulgarians to come live and help rebuild Australia. The Australians had three stasis transport ships that would carry 30,000 people each to transport the new citizens to Australia.

  In the middle of the trip they were hijacked by the Lithuanians. Amanda’s probes picked up the whole sordid affair and transmitted it to Amanda.

  The transport ships were placed in the hangar bay of the battle cruiser Roy, commanded by the despot’s son Roy 16. Roy had 126 sons all named Roy. The top 15 had been killed off by their lower ranking brothers. It wasn’t healthy being a Roy with a low number after your name.

  This time we sent Zoe and Sarah to take care of the problem. Like before she solved it in a day. This time she not only destroyed the fleet, she rounded up the entire royal family and the oligarchy that supported them and anyone of the hanger ons over the age of 25 and she shipped them off to claxite mines in Portugal.

  A semi-arid planet where water was at a premium but they were rich in natural resources. Portugal was always in need of more miners. Most of the population worked in the mines. Life was short for the miners. The work was brutal with long hard hours. If you didn’t work, you didn’t eat but more importantly, you didn’t drink.

  The Lithuanian royal family and their sycophants were about to learn what it was to be a slave. They really weren’t slaves. They got paid for their labor but most of their pay went to housing, food and water. So, in reality they were slaves.

  The long and the short of it, we brought the transports to Mac’s Place, woke them up and showed them the city and the recreation facilities we had built and told them what we wanted from them.

  Fifteen thousand stayed. The rest, to their credit, said they had an agreement with Australia and wanted to honor it. With our blessing we sent them on their way.

  Those that stayed were given luxury apartments, food and clothing. They were given questionnaires on what jobs were available and they were to mark down their preferences, giving a numeric value to what they most wanted down to their least attractive job.

  We tried to please all of the applicants but some were assigned less desirable jobs but on the upside they were all given great vacation time, high pay and medical care, not that they needed much medical care. Most planets that had FTL technology also had conquered most diseases and cured aging.

  Because we had a surplus of labor we could offer them six months on and six months off. The cavity that was carved out didn’t just have great condos, restaurants, bars and casinos. It had large lakes for fishing and water activities. We had snow capped mountains for hiking and winter sports.

  We also offered them travel to other planets on our FTL passenger liners. It was as close to utopia as they would ever see.

  Now all we had to do was wait for our first customers. Surprisingly, we didn’t have to wait long. Within a month after we completed our staff training programs, crews and tourists began to show up. We had devised a very stringent security plan. We place docking satellites ten thousand miles away circling the planet. All crews and tourists had to pass through these docking stations where they were screened and scanned for weapons, explosives and toxins.

  Also, on the docking stations they were briefed on the rules of behavior. It was pointed out that every place on the planet was under observation. There was no privacy anywhere. The upside to this, only the computer monitored the videos. The computer determined if a crime had been committed and reported it to a human law enforcement officer. Only then, action would be taken.

  After the scanning and the orientation, our shuttles would take them to Mac’s Place.

  This was a recreation area. Mac was realistic enough to know there would be bar fights but if anyone was beaten to a pulp or killed there were serious consequences. A black eye or a broken nose could be ignored but if you were a violent person by nature and you seriously hurt someone you were sent to the claxite mines on Portugal. Based on the video footage, murders if found guilty, were spaced. If it was an accidental death, the perp was banned from Mac’s Place forever and turned over to the murder’s home planet authorities.

  All of the precautions were put in place to make Mac’s Place safe and fun, People could come here with their children and leave with nothing more than fond memories. They could mingle with people from other planets, planets that were their bitter enemies and know than no harm would come to them.

  The law enforcement administration was staffed by humans. The police officers were made up of specially programmed service bots. Their appearance, language skills and their physiological make up were designed to represent all of the ethnic groups in this part of the galaxy. They were given controlled AI so they looked, spoke and acted like a human. Only the staff knew they weren’t human. They were as nonthreatening as possible. Only when they expressed their authority to stop a fight or catch a thief did a large glowing police shield manifest itself on their left breast, Otherwise, they looked and acted like any other tourist.

  Because Mac’s Place was a neutral zone, ambassadors from different planets can come here to negotiate treaties. Waring planets meet here to try and iron out cease fires, surrenders and treaties.

  It became the Switzerland of this part of the Galaxy and it brought with it the intrigue, deception and at times the violence spawned by intergalactic rivalries.

  Because of the swift efficiency of Mac’s police force, the violence was kept to a minimum. Also, there was no such thing as diplomatic immunity. If you did the crime, you paid the price, no matter who you were.”

  Pete set down his beer and said to Victoria, “Now you know as much about Mac’s Place as I do.”

  “Well,” she said, “I can hardly wait to get there and see it for myself.”

  “You’ll have to wait a little longer. We are expecting visitors. They should be here in a day or so.”

  Chapter 9

  Beth, Anne, Sonny and Jack

  The next thing they knew, they were in a dark humid room. They were naked and Anne had her hands on her knees vomiting. They could hear scuttling noises and something slithered over Sonny’s foot. He jumped back and screamed.

  Jack said, “You scream like a girl.”

  “You didn’t have something slither over your foot. This place is creepy. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Beth said, “There’s a light down there. Let’s see if it’s a way out. Can you walk, Anne?”

  She retched and nodded her head.

  Be
th took her arm as they walked toward the light and whispered, “Do not speak or ask questions . Just do as I tell you. OK?”

  Anne nodded yes.

  The four stood in front of the light source which was a narrow opening in the wall.

  Beth said, “I’ll go first. Anne will follow.”

  Beth squeezed into the opening and felt the wall push in on her, holding her in place. She then felt a sharp pain in each buttock. The wall released her and she passed through.

  Anne followed experiencing the same thing Beth felt.

  “Jack, you’re next,” said Beth. She was right next to the opening and as Jack entered she whispered, “Don’t say a word.” She put her hand on his shoulder not letting him into the opening. She said, “The wall will hold you in place and you will get jabbed in the ass. It will be like getting a flu shot. Don’t cry out in surprise or in pain otherwise we will never get Sonny through. Do you understand?”

  He nodded yes.

  She then stepped back and let him through.

  Even though Beth had warned him, the jabs in the butt surprised him and he flinched. When he was through, he turned to face the crack in the wall and rubbed his butt.

  Sonny approached the opening and looked through. “You’re sure it’s safe to come through this thing?”

  “We’re here in one piece aren’t we? Quit being a wuss,” said Beth.

  Sonny squeezed into the crack, When the wall closed in on him he began to panic but the jab in the butt surprised him. He yelped and squirted out into the room before panic could set in.

  “What in the hell was that? He yelled. “Did the rest of you feel that?”

  “Yeah,” answered Beth “but we’re not wimps like you are.”

  “Don’t give me that. Being squeezed and stung in the ass would scare anyone. There’s something you’re not telling me.”

  “Frank warned me,” said Beth. “and I told the others.”

  “How come you didn’t tell me?”

  “Where’s the fun in that? You’re the practical joker. What’s wrong? You can dish it out but can’t take it when you’re on the other end of it?

  Besides, if I had told you, you would still be on the other side of the wall with the creepy crawlers. I know how you are about needles.”

  “True, I’d have stayed in there eating creepy crawlers until I died of old age.”

  As he rubbed his butt, he looked at Beth and said, “Beth, has anyone ever told you that you and Anne have great looking…” Beth prepared to pounce. Both Jack and Anne started to move out of the way but Sunny never finished the sentence. The words stuck in his throat. He looked at Beth and just couldn’t be his typical wiseass self. The last time he had seen her without clothes was when he was cleaning her horrendous wound from being mauled by a bear and placing the last of their bacitracin ointment on it. That was when she was twelve years old.

  Now she was a young adult and he saw just how badly the wound had healed. There was an ugly fat, thick scar that ran from just under her left collar bone diagonally across her body between her breasts to just above her right hip.

  He wanted to hug her and kiss her but because they were both naked that was just a little too creepy.

  He croaked out, “Are we ever going to get any clothes?”

  Beth snapped out of her attack mode and said, “CAIN give us robes. Build two bathrooms with showers and give us living and dining quarters and furniture for the rooms.”

  Like magic everything appeared. On the outside bathroom wall were four fluffy white bathrobes hanging from coat hooks. They put them on and Sonny hugged his sister and with tears choking his voice said, “I love you Beth and every day I thank you for saving my life and the sacrifice you made.” He put his face in the hollow of her neck and sobbed, “Since that horrible day I’ve never seen your scar and seeing it now drove home how much you sacrificed and just how much I owe you.”

  This took Beth by surprise She took his head off her shoulder and placed his face between her hands. She saw his tears streaming down his face and she began to cry. She kissed him and held him tight and said through the tears, “You are so precious to me, without thinking, I’d do it again.”

  Jack took hold of Anne’s hand. She looked at him, put her arm around him and with tears in her eyes said, “Damn you Jack. Until you held my hand I was holding it together. Now look at me. I’m a wreck.” She buried her head in his chest and began to blubber.

  Jack kissed her on the top of the head and joined her. Both were crying inconsolably.

  Jack was there when Beth was mauled and witnessed the aftermath when Whistling Elk tried to treat the wound with plains Indian medicine. He had seen the wound go bad and knew she was dying. The whole tribe knew she was dying. Sonny had taken it the hardest.

  Jack remembered it like it was yesterday. Although Anne wasn’t with the three teens until two years after the incident, Anne and Beth had become best friends, closer than sisters. When they were mining gold for three years she had shared a bedroom with Beth in their cabin. She had seen the scar every night when Beth changed from her work clothes into her night gown.

  Although Beth never mentioned it, Anne knew that it bothered her. She knew Beth thought she was disfigured which she was and that was never going to change.

  What hurt one, hurt them all. As emotionally close as the four of them were, when one was upset, they were all upset. Woe be it to the outsider that insulted or verbally hurt any one of the four.

  Beth pried herself out of Sonny’s iron grip. She wiped her eyes and said, “CAIN we need a box of Kleenex.”

  Sonny said, “How do you know this CAIN fellow?”

  “I’ll tell you later but right now, I need a shower and I guess the rest of you do too.”

  At that she turned on her heel and walked into one of the bathrooms. The rest followed suit.

  When the boys finished their showers and were drying off, Sonny said, “CAIN, how about giving us a couple of combs.” Two combs appeared next to their sinks.

  Sonny said, “I could get use to this.”

  The boys exited their bathroom first and went to the living room. They settled into two overstuffed easy chairs.

  Sonny asked, “How about a couple of cold ones?”

  Jack said, “After today, I could sure stand one.”

  “CAIN, two pints of ice cold English bitter.”

  Two bitters appeared on the end tables next to their chairs.

  Ten minutes later the girls joined them and ordered two pints of English ale.

  Sonny asked Beth, “Who is this CAIN fellow and how do you know him?”

  “I don’t know him. Frank pulled me aside and told me where we were going and what I needed to do to get all of you through the opening in the wall. He also told me about CAIN. He told me the bare minimum. He said I could ask CAIN for almost anything and he would get it for us. Once we were settled in, we were to ask CAIN who or what he was, where we were and why we were here.”

  Jack asked, “How does he make things appear out of thin air, like a magic act?”

  “I don’t know. Let’s ask him.”

  And they did.

  For the next hour CAIN answer all their questions. He gave them the same talk he had given Victoria. They learned about the nanobots, where they were, where they were going, who he, CAIN, was. He told them about the Creators and how they populated this part of the galaxy.

  All this science fiction type stuff was mind boggling for Anne. If she were superstitious she would think this was black magic.

  Beth told her to just go with it and she would, through experience, come to not only understand everything but to accept it.

  Sonny, always the chow hound wondered when they were going to eat.

  Beth said, “CAIN, set the table for supper. I want a 12 ounce prime rib eye steak, medium, a baked potato loaded with butter, cheese, sour cream and bacon bits, a side of sautéed garlic spinach, and a chopped salad with ranch dressing.

  Also give us al
l a tall glass of ice water and two opened bottles of a great vintage, dry, red wine.”

  The others ordered. As they ate the magnitude of where they were and where they were going hit them. They were overcome with excitement and the table was abuzz with excited chatter.

  After dinner they retired to the living room.

  “CAIN,” Jack asked, “you said we were going to a space ship, a population ship named Amanda. Can you describe it for us and what exactly is a population ship and give us some history about the ship?”

  It took another hour for CAIN to describe Amanda and her history. When he finished, the teens were dead silent letting what he had told them sink in.

  All of the story was almost too much to take in. The size of the ship, the war and why the need for population ships, the make up of the different decks boggled their minds.

  Anne asked CAIN, “I can understand that you know everything there is to know about this part of the galaxy but how do you know about ribeye steaks and English beer?”

  “The Creators have endowed me with almost omniscient knowledge. They recruited Stumpy, Mac and Pete from Earth so it is logical they would know everything there is to know about Earth and they have shared it with me.”

  “Hmm, makes sense. How about taking some of that knowledge and giving us all another glass of that yummy wine?”

  CAIN had provided pajamas and beds for them and after the stress of the day and a few glasses of wine they went right to sleep.

  When they woke the next morning, they went into the dining room. Cain had already provided an extensive breakfast buffet. As they were eating Jack asked, “CAIN, now that we are here, what’s next?”

  “Well, you must be special. Usually you are transported via worm hole to your next destination or by shuttle. A shuttle is used to transport you to a randomly moving object like a space ship, but in this case, Pete is sending Sarah for you. This is a real honor. Think of it as instead of traveling in a yellow cab, you are traveling in a Rolls Royce.”