Chapter Twenty: Humanity’s spark
“Commander, we’ve achieved equatorial orbit at 200-miles.” Braxton announces. The crew sees a wounded planet, that’s also out of balance with the seasons. She’s still a beautiful world from above, with blue-green along the equator, and sprinkled with clouds. However, not too far to the north or south of that band of vegetation, ice rules the land. Also, even from this altitude it can easily be seen, that terrible things have occurred at strategic spots on the surface. Where there used to be major cities or mining regions, the crust of the planet has been gouged deeply! Immense swaths of material missing, with only striations, like giant claw marks, where the old population centers once existed, or where the minerals used to be found.
“Copy that, Braxton. Maintain orbit. Cooper, are you and Toby recording the damage below?” Esty inquires.
“Yes commander” Toby replies, with dread. “Also, it seems that we’re alone up here.”
“Thank you. Stay alert.” Esty, is still in awe at what she’s looking at. Dreadful things!
Further examination reveals that the rape of the planet doesn’t end there. Areas where rich natural resources, once caused greed and war among the human populations, are now just simply gone. Raked-up and taken away by unknown assailants, leaving the rings of debris seen in orbit. But, Esty would bet her last kilo of gold, on who the assailants were.... Parts of South Africa and Australia for instance, now resemble gargantuan Zen-gardens. But, unlike the soothing furrows of such wonderful gardens, these ugly furrows were created by powerful bands of energy from orbit, as they collected the wealth. They’re the signs of things to come for many planets throughout the universe, as the wanton machine-species expands. Ever outward they grow, geometrically becoming dominant. Earthling defenders, had no chance!
“How can this be?” Nyla mumbles hypnotically, not sure if it’s a bad dream, or warped reality. Her home world, sacked and plundered, seemingly without mercy. Max’s beloved space station gone. The space around the planet, void of satellites or space junk. The planet has become a throwback in time, a shadow of its former glory.
“Esty, I now understand your feelings about this enemy.” Wil inputs, not being able to avert his gaze from the destruction. Careful analysis would show that because of the huge amount of material missing, the Earth’s rotation and axial-tilt were adversely effected. Possibly, being partial cause of the ice-age that grips the planet so coldly.
Esty regains focus. “We must find a way to prevent such destruction. There can be no higher goal, than to stop this enemy!” Her venomous tone, filled with determination. Except, there actually is one higher goal to achieve first.... Procurement of exotic star-fuel, comes to mind!
Alarms, scream bloody-murder at Toby and Cooper’s reactor-console! If not for the restraints, the young women might have hit the ceiling, they jumped so hard! Reaching, Toby cancels the audio. “Esty, fuel-quantity has reached critical level.” she reports, nervously.
“Thank you, Toby.... I’m aware.” She knows they’re in a deadly predicament now. Far from home and desperate! She’s never pushed her mighty ship into such a quandary, or endangered a crew in such a way. But, from memory of the ships specifications, she knows they still have a tiny reserve. Hopefully enough to save their lives. “Braxton, head northwest and when we reach these coordinates, take us down to the deck.”
“Aye Aye, commander.” He and Magnus exchange worried glances. Gort, seems unfazed.
Soon, the Queen Ann’s Revenge breaks the window of specified coordinates. Gort, keeps a keen eye on the phase condition, as Braxton manipulates the warp-bubble, causing the ship to sink into the atmosphere. With practiced experience, Gort expertly maintains just the right amount of slipstream exposure to conserve fuel. Too far into the slipstream, and the faster the fuel is consumed. Too little, and the ship begins to interact with the matter in this universe too much; also, using more fuel. So, in this partially de-phased condition, not fully in this universe, and not fully out, the mighty Revenge, cuts a path down to 500-feet altitude without sending sonic shockwaves. Once again, Bernoulli has no job, as the electronic-fog, veils the sleek machine from his uplifting ways.
Traveling from east to west across the Atlantic, Braxton and Magnus pilot the Revenge towards the eastern seaboard of North America. At 5,000-mph, the sleek ship nary causes a ripple in the space-time above the water. Just to the north of their flight path, a mile-high wall of ice, dominates the landscape! “We’re coming up on New York City.” Braxton announces for the benefit of his earthling android friends. Slowing to 2,000-mph, the scene ahead is one of breathtaking dread!
“It’s gone!” Talia shouts. “It’s just simply gone!”
All are shocked, as the saucer over-fly’s the island of Manhattan. The land here has been scraped clean by voracious glacial-activity as of late, and the slow-moving beast of nature, still looms large to the north. At a mile-high in some places, it’s a force to be reckoned with! However, the city and residents were raked clean from the planet, long before the glacier arrived.
“Braxton, here’s the coordinates we’re looking for.” Esty, transfers old GPS coordinates obtained from Carter.... 42° 45’ 30.97N, 84° 45’ 10.37W.
“Got it, commander.” With that, the lad increases the squeeze on the warp-bubble, continuing the northwesterly heading at 5,000-mph.
A firm tug on the jumpsuit sleeve, and a look from Gort, tells Braxton to ease off. Decreasing back to 2,000 he sees a look of approval from the grizzled-one. Soon, they’re breaking past a portion of ancient Lake Erie, with the old motor-city straight ahead. Off to the north, the ice-sheet looms menacingly large. Its been in decline for the past several-thousand-years, but still has far to go. Below, the land is nearly void of trees, as they haven’t yet migrated this far north after the glacial retreat. Tundra rules the undulating moraines left behind....
Pulling back on the power, the sleek phantom-saucer now has more in common with our universe than it does with the slipstream. As it approaches an old Grand River valley in what was once the state of Michigan, the electronic-fog is almost invisible. Bernoulli, finally gets his chance to sink some fangs into the beautifully curved airfoil, causing mild buffeting within as he latches on for the ride. Directly to the north, a wall of ice towers nearly a mile-high, as it skirts the ancient river valley near where a city called Lansing once stood proudly. A raging torrent has replaced the placid currents of the Grand River. Boulders as big as houses, deposited by the glacier, are played with by the current, as if they were merely tiny pebbles.
“Braxton, I’ve got control.” And with that, Esty takes over the flight once again. The two pilots breathe a sigh of relief. Piloting in such close-proximity to the planet, is demanding at best; and black-smoking-hole into the planet, at worst. Esty, slows her mighty ship to under 100-mph. With Mr. lift assisting outside, she gets a rare chance to feel the beauty of flight, instead of avoiding it by manipulating space-time. Heading west and hugging the river, she rocks the ship back and forth in celebration, not caring about the cost in fuel! Below on the tundra, intelligent eyes look upwards with shock and terror. Trusted spears, pointing upwards as the flying beast rips past, almost over their heads. Bands of roving humans, still maintain a foothold on survival, but are a shadow of previous greatness. What they just witnessed will be legend, before the next sunrise. Perhaps, even a new God will be formed, after their superstitious ramblings build the siting into such. Westward she continues, as they come upon a series of ice-bridges extending over the torrential waterway.
“Eeeeeeeeeeee!” Esty enjoys a rare outburst from her lofty perch, as she takes the saucer under a monstrous ice-arch crossing over the river. The sleek saucer hugs the water as it passes underneath. Enormous chunks of glacier, fall in her wake, creating large splashes across the aft monitor! Checking her data, she sees the target coordinates coming up fast! Slowing to just a crawl, she seeks the sweet-spot on the northern bank of the river, where the Grand Ledge Institute
of Science, lays buried deeply under ice and rock.
Ships sensors, chirp an alarm. She slows, hovering the disk just above the river as it rages through a canyon. In front of her, just 100-feet to the north, a tall rock wall, guards the river bank. Inside the rock, lays the fabled laboratory of Doctor Sawyer, the star-fuel cook. No obvious opening is seen. The natural place for an entrance, would be on top of the rocky plateau just beyond the river cliffs. However, on top of that natural formation, a glacier sits. It towers for nearly a mile, dropping massive chunks of ice into the river every now and then, just to show who’s boss. “Well, we’re here! What now?” She points at the monitor. “That glacier is sitting exactly on top of where the Institute should be. Any ideas?”
Nyzilla comes forward with a brazen idea. “We could de-phase, and tunnel our way into the glacier.” She raises her eyebrows, in hopes of garnering approval.
“I like the way you think! Are you sure you didn’t use the headband?” Esty jokes, while tweaking the warp-bubble, expending more fuel, and causing the electronic-fog to return to the outer hull. “This might just get us killed, so hang on!” And with that, she gains altitude so as to clear the grand ledges. Moving slowly towards the glacial ice-wall, with electronic-fog bathing the saucer in blue light, the craft exits our universe slightly. Into the icy prison, the proud saucer slowly slices. Steam, and torrents of melt-water, flow from the wound that the Revenge inflicts on old man glacier. He stands no chance!
From a distance, natives watch in awe as the shinning saucer is swallowed, leaving only a festering and steaming hole in the ice. Heavy buffeting, as melt-water rushes past the burrowing machine. Deeper she tunnels! The exotic-fog clears the tunnel walls of ice, for about 25-feet in all directions from the hull. After about 400-feet, Esty feels confident that they’re over the buried institute. She gently rocks the saucer from side to side, so as to make a large cavern inside the glacier. Outside, the tunnel entrance gushes heated meltwater into the river far below. Inside the newly formed cavern, the fog-enshrouded saucer hovers over bare rock. No entrance to the underground facility is observed. Hopes fade, dreadfully....
“Carter, I’m not seeing anything that looks like an entrance. Any ideas?” The nervous commander inquires, but it’s too late! Time has run out for the warp-bubble. The spaceship gives a tremendous shudder! Esty reaches for the landing gear icon. Just as the quad-gear extends and locks, the warp-bubble fads away to nothing, sending all for a hard landing, as usable fuel-quantities reach exhaustion.
“Ahaaaaaaaa!” Comes a yell and crash from the other compartment. Out comes Harper, with hand held tightly to his wounded head. “What happened? .... Braxton, what did you do?!”
“Okay okay, settle down everyone.” Esty orders, needing quiet for thinking. However, there is only two ways to proceed, now that they’re marooned on an alien world. Either drill with the ships laser, hoping against hope, or get out and join the roving gangs of Earth! Even if she could fit in with the natives, it’s not in her circuits to just give up! “Cooper, do we have power for the lasers?”
“I think so, but there’s only one way to find out for sure.” .... Sharp, and to the point.
“Well, let’s not waste time.... Carter, how far down do you thing the institute is?”
“Well, I saw a thick layer of glacial debris on top of Oak Park.... I mean the institute, so I would estimate about 300-feet.” His tone, doesn’t offer great confidence.
“Cooper, Toby, light up the laser with 50-percent power for one-minute, then go to 100-percent for another 30-seconds.” Looking around, she shrugs her shoulders, and with a healthy chuckle.... “Hey, I’m only guessing, so hold on. Unless somebody else thinks differently. Let’s just hope we don’t hit anything meaningful down there!”
There’s no dissenting viewpoints. So, Cooper and Toby adjust the timing and intensities of the laser-shot and lets it rip! The ship vibrates from the tempest just below their butts! The glacial debris and sandstone bedrock, is violently assaulted! Under the Revenge, her hull plating is singed by the heat of the blast, as smoke and molten debris, flee the point of annihilation. Power reserves drain rapidly, as the focused energy, drinks its fill from reserves.
“Braxton, Magnus, Jax, you’re with us!” Esty assigns, while noticing that the remaining humans seems lethargic, and content to guard the fort. None, are used to the extra gravity of the situation, as the planet is 6-percent more massive than what they’re used to. It weighs heavily on their bodies!
Under the keel of the Revenge, crawls five androids, three humans, and one Gort, as they cross freshly scorched earth to reach the drill site. Ropes and beams of light extend into the 3-foot-diameter abyss. Something at the bottom, portends of a larger opening than the drill hole. Upon descending, the group finds a large room of scientific equipment, some of which, still has power running through its veins! The laser hole continues for another 100-feet, filling with water at an alarming rate!
“Looks like we drilled too deep.” Android Tina comments, as Carter pulls her from the rope and into the mothballed institute. It was hermetically sealed back in the day, and hopes run high, as things don’t seems too deteriorated from age.
“Yeah, but somebody left the lights on, and that’s a good sign.” Esty’s, hopes rise.
Carter leads his friends farther back into the complex. “The reactor must still be operational.” He happily reports. “And the star-fuel, if any, should be stored next to it.”
Traveling along a corridor, the group comes upon a door. Pushing it open, Jax and friends enter the gloom of a sleeping compartment. “Let’s just hope we don’t find a ghost in here, Jax.” Braxton jokes, ruffling his brother’s thick hair, that’s nearly standing on end anyway.
Jax looks into the first of the hibernation chambers, his dark features turning ashen. Within the glass-covered chamber is a jumpsuit, with thick dust extending from the neck and sleeves. Laying amongst the dust where the left hand used to exist, a band of gold, glints in the light.
Carter and Tina bow their heads. They recognize the name on the jumpsuit. It’s their old mentor, and chief scientist of the facility; Doctor Jacob Sawyer. His remains will continue to lay here for all eternity, and a day. Nobody disturbs anything in the room. Another twelve chambers are occupied; same conditions exist within each. All, were human acquaintances that fought to the bitter end; putting up resistance against the inevitable. There are no survivors, leaving Jax feeling haunted. With the High-Council searching high and low for the facility, and global warming baking the land, the human scientists made their last stand, under the grand ledges, next to a lonely stretch of river. Just one of many human outposts in the wilds during the final days, before death from above arrived to scrape the land clean.
“Rest in peace, Jacob. Rest in peace, all of you.” Tina says lovingly, as she places two kissed fingers on the lid of his chamber. They leave the final resting place of their old friends, and make a bee-line toward the fusion-reactor containment section. Within this fortified area, they’re relieved to see that the tactical-reactor is still plugging away after 175,000-years. A self-feeding system brings in river water, breaks the atomic bonds between the hydrogen and oxygen, and feeds the hydrogen into the reactor after mixing it with tiny amounts of helium-3 and a hybrid mixture of deuterium.
“So far, so good.” Carter says calmly, as he and Tina lead the way into a side compartment where the final distillation of exotic-fuel was achieved. Magnetic storage bottles are still functioning after all these years! And, the realization that they might just beat the odds, is not lost on anyone who stares anxiously at the strange apparatuses. Carter checks the status of what may be inside the containment-vessels. Turning back to his shipmates, with a big smile. “We might be in luck my friends!” He reports happily, motioning for Esty.
From an accessory belt, she removes a testing devise. Twisting a dial, she zero’s the calibration and brings it close to the theorized fuel source. With a series of blinking lights and clic
king sounds, the sensitive machine soaks up the residual radiations from the bottles. When it finishes with a long tone, Esty is almost afraid to look. Holding her breath against bad results, she braves a glance at the data.
The room falls silent, as all watch the little gray android do her magic. They’ve come to depend on Esty’s skills. And, even though they know she had nothing to do with the development of the fuel within, they hope against hope, that she can pull a rabbit out of her hat! Tension builds, and as Esty deciphers the data-stream, she begins to worry. She hopes the others don’t pick up on her growing angst! She puts on her best poker face. The analyzer has indicated an inconclusive result. Not a total damnation of the fuel, but a result she has never seen before. She clears the memory, aiming and taking another pass near the bottles.
“Well, Esty?” Wil’s anxiety, reaches the breaking point. “What does it think?”
“Patience my friend.... Wait for it....” Esty stalls for time. Suddenly the little device emits a series of chirps, and the screen lights up with more delicately garnered data. The information she sees, takes her mood to seventh heaven! After an energetic cry of celebration, she turns to her friends with a smile that should cause an android pain. “Good news, everyone! Although the fuel is not pure, I think it’ll work!” She hopes nobody challenges her use of the word ‘think’.
Her emotion spent, Esty leans heavily on Wil who’s been looking over her tiny shoulder. He gently supports her, as the others break into wild yells. Nyla who had become quiet during the testing procedure, sits down hard on the ground. Her poor overheated circuits, cause a near catastrophic episode. But her training, keeps it from becoming too debilitating. Wil, is at her side immediately. He and Esty, take seats on the floor next to her, breathing in copious amounts of cooling air.... Gort becomes alarmed, as he’s never seen such a failing in the mighty-ones!
“Breathe deeply, Nyla.” Wil begs, as he gently brushes her disheveled hair back into place.
“I’ll be fine. Thanks, Wil.” She reaches, gently touching his face. Turning to Esty, she smiles widely. “Thanks for being such a great friend, Esty. Are you sure about the fuel? Will we really be able to travel back to Oberon Prime?” She inquires, needing extra reassurance.
Esty reaches, placing a slim, long-fingered hand on Nyla’s shoulder. “Well, like I said, the fuel is not pure. But if it works, the sky’s the limit! We can go wherever our little circuits desire!” She laughs in her own fashion, patting Nyla on the back. Everyone is giddy, as Carter, Wil and Esty begin the arduous task of transferring the fuel into portable storage vessels. Now, the fuel with no engine, finally has a purpose. It finally has an engine that will hopefully eat it up like candy. Radioactive candy to be sure, but sweet enough to take them to the far reaches of the galaxy, and beyond!
Chunks of glacial ice have been falling from the ceiling of the makeshift hanger all morning. The situation becomes more unstable with each passing hour. Still out of useable fuel, the once proud flying saucer from across the galaxy, might soon be crushed by the weight of unbearable proportions. While transfer of the fuel to the saucer went well, getting the machine to enjoy eating it, is proving more difficult. There’s also other technical problems to overcome. However, time is not on the side of the brave explorers. Solutions are few and dubious, hurdles tall and foreboding....
“Are you sure?” Wil inquires into the saucers hell-hole, where reactor maintenance and re-fueling occurs. “I mean, is the containment field calibrated correctly?” Cooper, Toby and Esty have been wrestling with the calibration all morning. Built-in safeguards prevent inappropriate fuel from creating catastrophic results. The star-fuel from Doctor Sawyers laboratory is not pure, and perhaps not up to the task, as previously thought.
Cooper sticks her head out of the opening in the deck plating, her normally beautiful blond hair, completely disheveled. “We’ve tried calibrating until we’re blue in the face, Wil.... Well, except for Esty, of course.” Even after such a harrowing ordeal, she still manages a joke. “We just keep getting the same results.... the fuel is borderline at best, and the reactor just doesn’t like it.” Her words hit like a sledgehammer! All morning, hope had buoyed everyone’s faith that a solution would be found. At the very worst, the biologics can abandon ship and live with the natives out in the cold wilds, but androids need food that can’t be found out there.
A violent shudder goes through the saucers structure, as yet another chunk of ice falls from the roof of the cavern! It shakes everyone to their very core, reverberating hauntingly. Perhaps even the biologics won’t survive either, if the ice cavern collapses!
“Max has an idea, that might at least get us out of this cave.” Wil announces. “Then, we can figure out how to make the fuel more palatable.”
Esty climbs from the pit. “I don’t know what else to do, so let’s hear it!”
The handsome young scientist, calls the gray commander to his console. “Esty, I’ve been looking through the fuel system schematics. You’re not going to like this idea, but it might save our lives.” He expands a part of the diagram, pointing to a control-junction deep in the belly of the craft. “If you bypass this molecular-filter and this safety flux-control-valve, I think the reactor will fire up. We might not be able to slip fully into the stream, but at least we might get out of here.” He hopes for favorable response.
Esty studies the technical data. The young human proposes to circumvent engineering safety protocols, and force-feed the reactor food that might not stay down! “Well, sure we could do that, Braxton. But it might kill us before the glacier does.” She reacts, dubiously.
“I realize that, Esty. But like you said, we’re out of options.” Another slam from above accents the threat, lighting a fire under the metallic commander’s back side.
“Okay, okay.” She shakes her head, as if to clear cobwebs. “Okay, we’ll try your idea. It’s really all we have left.” She knows that to abandon ship will also mean her death; with Gort’s demise soon to follow! Climbing back into the hell-hole, Esty and her engineering duo, busy themselves with gaining access to the needed filter and valve assembly. After another half-hour, they’re picking up tools and securing the floor panel back into place.
“Everybody to their positions and strap in!” Esty orders, as she climbs her lofty perch. With the reactor primed and ready, even though with impure fuel, she sees that quantity levels are topped off. Using the last bit of electrical energy in reserve, she introduces fuel, and shocks the heart of the ship with life giving amperage. Soon, a deep rhythmic hum, emanates from the belly of the beast, causing her hopes to rise like a rocket!
“Cooper, how do things look?” She inquires.
After a satisfactory response, Esty, slowly increases the reactors output, sending incredible energies into the warp-coils that make up 95-percent of the ships mass. She cringes for the explosion she’s certain will occur! However, no atomic-blast blows them to atoms, so she checks the warp-bubble to see if her luck still holds. Her eyes have never seen such a beautiful sight, as when a healthy warp-signature reveals itself.
Outside, the hull is once again bathed in a healthy electronic-fog, as the bubble of tortured space-time expands. The ship de-phases just a little bit from our universe, becoming a shimmering image of what it was just minutes earlier. Falling ice chunks, now simply vanish, as they hit the fog-layer on the hull. All, is good in her world! She increases power further, squeezing and manipulating the warp-bubble just right. The saucer rises from the frozen grip of gravity. Hovering, as the landing gear retracts with a whisper. The crowd goes wild, as her crew of 24, lets loose with such a hullabaloo, she fears it might bring down the cavern!
Wasting no time, she guides the Revenge along the ice-tunnel leading to the Grand River. The aft monitor, shows the cavern collapsing in their wake. With a gush of freshly melted glacial ice, the sleek machine breaks from the icy tomb. “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Esty exclaims, as she feels the taste of freedom! She climbs for the stars, with glee
ful hope! Accelerating rapidly, she fights the urge to goose it. Being so close to the core of the planet, the delicate warp-bubble wouldn’t react kindly, if she pushed into the slipstream too soon. She pulls the power back to idle at an altitude of 500-miles, coasting at nearly 10,000-mph. Far less than required by human spacecraft to break free of the planets gravity. But, being out of phase, even slightly, has its advantages. Below, the once-proud mitten of Michigan, is half-buried with ancient ice, indistinguishable from surrounding regions of white.
“Braxton, plot a course for Oberon Prime.... And Max, good job back there. I doubt I would have braved such a move on my own, and we’d all be dead now!” The bridge breaks into boisterous praise.
The proud young man, beams with pride. “Awe, that was nothing, Esty.... I mean, commander.” And for his effort, he gets a nice peck on the cheek from a smiling Shirley.
“Esty.” Braxton calls. “The course has been plotted, and checked by Gort.”
“Very well,” she glances at her data-pad. “It seems we’re past the danger zone, so when you’re ready, we’ll head home.” She begins to relax. No big hurry, now....
“Copy that commander.” Braxton acknowledges, reaching for the intercom. “All hands, prepare for jump! We’re leaving for home in 30-seconds!”
Normal transition to full de-phasing and slipstream penetration, usually occurs before disorientation becomes unbearable. However, something’s wrong this time! Something’s terribly wrong! The expected flow-back of ghostly lines from everything inside the warp-bubble, has quickly morphed into a maelstrom of convoluted distortions! A monstrous tempest of twisted reality, grips the saucer and occupants. Alarms, screech bloody-murder like nobody’s business! Before Braxton can ease back on the power, several long seconds of pure torture, slams the ship and crew. An event that nearly popped the warp-bubble, in what would have surely been complete atomic annihilation. The reactor and warp-field had belched from indigestion of dirty fuel! Causing the twistation of the space-time, to momentarily turn inside out. Something it ought never do!
The mighty Revenge limps along, as the reactor chews on its bile. Still upset at having to digest such swill as the humans created, it resists coming back to full potential. Becoming fully de-phased for faster than light speed, will be impossible without better fare! Requiring near perfection, it continues to belch, causing great angst among the nearly killed astronauts as the ship lurches along in protest!
“Gort, take us back to the planet! Put us down as soon as possible!” Esty orders, not wishing to have anybody less than a master pilot, perform such duty. Meanwhile, she lowers her head, rubbing her temples, wondering what she had done to deserve such a sad turn of events.
The grizzled-one takes control. Turning the ship around, he pilots toward a tiny speck of blue in the distance. Twisting the wounded warp-bubble for greater maneuvering speed, he secretly dares it to disobey his authority! The blue dot, grows in size. He calculates the best approach for a landing on a favorable continent. Picking the first opportunity, he cuts the atmosphere above Tanzania in East Africa. With a terrible crash of sonic-boom, he violates the airspace! With the saucer, nearly in phase with our universe again, Bernoulli reaches and snags the beautifully shaped airfoil. With greedy teeth, the awesome phenomenon of physics, holds on tightly, providing life-giving lift to the crippled Revenge.
Ahead, Gort sees his landing zone. He allows the ship to sink lower. After leveling off at 200-feet, he tears the local airspace a new corn shoot! Below, any number of animal’s, scurry to the safety of dens or nests, to escape the flying monster! Death reaches, but misses, as the saucer tears past, slowing all the way. Soon, the landing gear can be heard clanking down and locked. Picking a smooth spot on a very rugged plain, Gort brings the craft to hover, allowing Bernouli to escape back into the atmosphere where he always feels more at home. Setting the ship down gently, he idles the drive, causing the warp-bubble to evaporate. Darkness, will soon be upon the land. The monitor shows a veritable garden of Eden surrounding the vessel; albeit, a rugged and dry landscape.
By the time the hatch is opened, darkness has fallen on the region. The sky is clear, and Nyla becomes alarmed when she gazes up at the stars that seem out of place. “Oh my, but don’t those stars look wrong?” She throws the question to anybody that might care.
After moments of skylarking, Talia is first to agree. “The constellations are twisted somehow. They don’t match with my memory of Earth’s sky at all! Even taking into consideration how far into the future we are from the days of Sohn Space Systems.”
Wil, has already allowed his CPU to crunch the data flowing into his eyes like a bad dream. “Folks, you’re not going to like what I have to say.... But, either somebody moved the stars unnaturally, or we’ve gone back in time somehow! Yes, those stars are perturbed. But into the past, not the future. I’m crunching data that looks like we might be 950,000-years in the past! .... someplace in East Africa.”
“Oh my!” Is the politest phrase murmured, while most others are much more colorful.
Esty stiffens. “Gort, what did you do?” She’s rewarded with the most innocent looking face, you can ever imagine! Putting her hand on his shoulder, she lets him off the hook, knowing it was the ships reaction to bad fuel, not him.
“That weird anomaly we had in space, must have thrown us backwards in time.” Omari, supports Wil’s horrible claim.
“Oh, my circuits!” Talia exclaims. “This isn’t going to be fixed anytime soon, is it.”
“I’m afraid, we’ve gone and done it now!” Wil cements the dreaded thought that everyone is thinking. A direr straight, none had ever been in before!
The next several days, finds the intrepid crew reversing the safety mechanism that was bypassed earlier, or later. It’s confusing, now.... This allows them to electromagnetically filter the fuel for a better taste to the reactor. It’s a painstaking process that can’t be rushed. The days are hot, the nights cool and pleasant. Every so often, bands of nomadic hominids can be seen nearby. Often, spying on the silvery bird from the sky, wondering what spirit is angry at them this time. Once, Omari glimpses two brave males, approaching stealthily for a better view. From his digital memory, he’s sure the hominids will be known to modern humans, as Homo Erectus. It’s since been determined that they landed in an area that will someday become known as olduvia gorge. So, it quickly becomes paramount to reverse the time dilation, or leave the planet before something worse happens....
“Has anyone seen Harper and Ling?” Nyla, inquires frantically, on the fourth afternoon. Nobody has seen them lately, she’s told by all. She realizes that her strict warning about staying close, was violated. Circuits heat! .... Searching high and low, the two desperadoes can’t be found anywhere! The day grows late, when Ling wanders into camp, crying her heart out!
“We didn’t plan to go far, Nyla. But before we knew it, we were following a group of hominids.... and well, time got away from us.” Uncontrollable sobbing.
“Well, where’s Harper?” Mother android demands, as she gathers supplies for a search.
“He slipped and fell from the trail, and into a ravine!” The distraught young lady, cries. “He didn’t answer my calls. I couldn’t go after him, so I started looking for a way down. When I got to where he landed, he was gone! Dragged off by the looks of it. There was some blood, not much, but he was just gone! Lots of footprints, and they weren’t his!” More sobbing from the distraught young woman.
Nyla lands hard! She knew it was coming, but she always fights it to the last. Her time-out this time didn’t break any furniture, but rather some unlucky insects that were perhaps going to go extinct anyway. When she comes back to consciousness, the others had already gone looking for the missing Harper. Wil stays with Nyla at the camp, along with Esty and Gort. The night grows cool. Towards midnight, most of the search team returns.... empty handed.
“We found where Harper fell.” Adam and Tina report. “But only Carter, Braxton, Magnus and Jax fo
llowed the trail.” Others in the group, collapse next to the saucer, too tired to go inside.
The trail is long, but easy to follow. Whoever took Harper, didn’t care about hiding their footprints in the sand. The darkness weakens, as Sol brightens the eastern horizon. The trail becomes easier to follow. Ahead, Carter sees movement in the diminishing shadows. An encampment it seems. A dozen or so hominids, gather around one who kneels, working on something intently. They watch excitedly at the chore being performed. The person doing the work seems familiar, and is much more massive than those gathered around. The tall android’s curiosity is peaked.
Carter motions for the boys to stay put, while he sneakily approaches. He’s shocked at what he sees! In the middle of the group, and the focal point, there of.... is Harper! He’s busily drilling a piece of wood, in a fire-making process. The young man bends closer, blowing on glowing tinder’s. He’s rewarded with a puff of smoke in his face, and a flame at his fingertips! The crowd goes wild! .... Maniacally hooting, and jumping all around!
While, they had been making fire for as long as memory served, they have never seen it made so fast. The bow-style tool, made from a bent stick and one of Harper’s bootstraps, drills much faster and easier, than palm-drilling alone. With a flat piece of wood in his left palm, Harper had a base for which to put pressure on the spinning stick. Like a vertical lathe, the bow-drill spins fast and near effortlessly. Before you know it, the young alien-human, has a nice blaze going for his new friends.... His stomach growls at the thought of a hot meal.
Carter is flabbergasted! He can’t believe the brazen Harper, and his lack of concern about others that worry! The heavy android, stomps into the camp stiff-legged, arms outstretched like Frankenstein’s. “Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!” He does his best at terrifying, shaking the ground real good! .... Hominids flee, like hominids have never fled before! Screaming all the way! They quickly disappear into the brush, with nary a footprint in their wake. Looking up at the commotion, Harper’s dark face turns ashen when he sees an angry Carter looking down at him.
“Young man, I think we’ve seen enough of your fire-making skills.”
“Jeez Carter, you scared me half to death!” Color, coming back into his face.
“Well .... I guess, that’s the half that Nyzilla won’t have to destroy, when I get you back to the Revenge.”
“Awe jeez! .... I couldn’t help it Carter! .... I slipped and knocked myself out! .... The fall almost killed me, I swear!” The desperate young man pleads. The thick fur and moss bandage on his head, proves a great truth in his words.
“And, what about helping them invent an easier way to make fire? I mean, what the hell!”
Okay, okay, you got me there, Carter .... But, somebody figured out how to do what I just did. Who’s to say it wasn’t chief Turkana, who by the way, you also frightened half to death, thank you very much!”
Carter helps the wayward explorer up, checking his headwound and brushing dirt from his furs .... furs? .... Another shock for the tall android! “And pray-tell, what else have you been teaching these fine folks? .... Also, did you switch clothing, or did somebody do that for you?”
Harper’s face loses color once again, offering a sheepish glance. He hadn’t expected such a pointed question. He’s never been able to lie effectively in the past, and against Carter he has no chance at all. “Well jeez ..... I don’t exactly remember, Carter ..... but, when I woke up ..... I was already in these furs! .... and being looked after by the females of the clan.”
“Looked after?! .... LOOKED AFTER?!!” The shocked android inquires incredulously, trying to not wake the dead. The thoughts running through his CPU, are surely not for the pure of heart. “Please, just tell me one thing honestly, Mr. Harper Williams .... did you make it with any of those Homo erectus females?” He glares the pointed question like a laser beam.
“I .... uh .... what do you mean, Carter?” He stalls for time....
“I mean .... did you have sex with any of those female erectus?!!” ..... There, straight to the point, Carter thinks.
“Well, I .... I never got the chance, Carter .... I mean .... well, they made it with ME! .... Before I could stop em! .... honest! .... Jeez Carter, I was weak! .... and they were many .... and STRONG! .... you never felt such steely muscles in all your life! .... I had no chance! No chance at all!” The desperate young man exclaims wildly, almost believably....
“Don’t worry, Harp .... don’t worry.” Carter repeats disappointedly, putting his arm around the young man’s shoulders. “Your tragic tale is safe with me. But, if there’s any more information about last night, please save it for another time. I need plausible deniability. And, whatever happens when we get back to camp .... even if Nyzilla’s wrath, turns the screws tight, don’t lie to her, my boy. That’s your only hope for survival.” Carter laughs nervously, glad he won’t be in the lad’s boots when they get back home!
However, Carter fully realizes the possible ramifications of the lad’s mischievous night. Humanity may never be the same, he ponders. Imagine, an entire human global-population one day, with high-intelligence, and a proclivity for head injuries and falls. How bad can it be, he figures? That, plus he realizes that changing anything now, might just create a time-paradox that’s infinitely worse than just a young man, being a young man.... Who knows, he ponders quietly, perhaps Harpers misfortunes are what history demands in this universe. Perhaps it’s Harpers actions that fuels the spark for future advancements of humanity. While in a parallel universe, they never get thrown back in time, and Harper couldn’t have done what he says, wasn’t his fault .... however, many will suspect otherwise.
Just then, Braxton, Magnus and Jax brave an entrance into the camp. “They’ve high-tailed it, Carter. We won’t see them for a month of Sundays!” Jax informs. “Hey Harp, you okay? What happened? .... You sure got Nyla’s circuit’s in a knot. She’s fit to be tied!” Mr. smoothy, lays it out bluntly.
“Yeah, I’m okay.... if Carter doesn’t get me destroyed!” He glances embarrassedly, in hopes that the handsome olive-toned android, will put some positive spin on the subject when they get back to civilization.
“Hey, nice furs!” Magnus exclaims jealously, punching Harper ferociously on the arm.
“Thanks Maggot!” Harper retorts, rubbing the impact site. Then, moving quickly, he enters the female’s hut, where he changes back into his badly torn and bloodied jumpsuit and boots .... minus one bootstrap.
The group of high-tech, futuristic hominids, leisurely yet boisterously, exit the camp. Leaving a drill-bow half buried and forgotten in the sand. As they walk along, Carter offers support to his new friend, of whom he knew the father very very well. Whispering, “Oh, and by the way Harp, for what it’s worth, I’m glad you survived your dreadful ordeal.”
“Thanks Carter!” Harper, is glad the alpha-android isn’t going to ride him about the incident. “It might not be a bad thing after all,” Harper prophecies, “because the knock on my head gave me an idea about how to get us out of the mess we’re in!” The lad drops a bomb that brightens the android’s morning. He only hopes the idea won’t explode in their faces....
Also .... the hills have eyes! Curious hominids spy stealthily from secret locations, hoping the tall angry-one, won’t hurt their new friend. Many wondering if they’ll ever see the tall, dark stranger from the sky, ever again....
Now, as we all know by now, Nyla isn’t stupid .... She’ll drill until she hits pay dirt! .... And, Harper.... Well, Harper will find a way to confound her circuits, as always. His only true hope, is that Ling chooses against exploring the particulars of his primitive ordeal. He isn’t proud of his weakness .... after all, he is just an animal .... a simple product of Mother Nature’s undiluted lust. And, being a male of the species, his most basic of urges, is a gargantuan force. A gargantuan force indeed! It’s really no different than other males, of any other species, found throughout most other universes. All he can do is recognize the cosmic trait .... and
try to try.
He knows that his siblings will wonder for the rest of their lives, about what happened to him that fateful night. But, as hard as they try .... as hard as they might .... they won’t get the goods from him, concerning that magical night. If there’s one thing Harper has learned during his short lifetime .... is that .... loose lips, sink ships!
Breaking Interstellar: Cosmic Lives Matter Page 21