by Jim Laughter
At other times the little ship explored the cavern and the side tunnel that had led him here. He didn’t go back into the long tunnel out of fear of more loud noises and falling things like the last time. There were several passageways into other chambers in the underground complex of caverns and the little blue ship explored these. He really liked the pretty colors and found other colorful pebbles. He brought them back for his growing collection.
Sensing for some unknown reason that it was time, the little ship went back to its place beside the hot springs and settled down to rest. He shut off his lights just as the last red and gold rays of sunset bathed the mountains far above the hidden cavern.
∞∞∞
Bobby and Grandpa Gary trudged through knee-deep snow toward the ridge. The cold air bit at their skin and their breath made hanging clouds of condensing vapor. The snow hadn’t drifted too badly onto the porch, so only a few minutes with broom and shovel had easily cleared it.
Before leaving the cabin, Grandpa Gary opened the cupboard beside the door and pulled out the snowshoes he kept stored there. He had Bobby sit on top of the cupboard while he strapped the snowshoes onto the boy’s feet. A few minutes later he’d secured his own and they headed out into the world transformed by winter white. At first they were both a bit awkward until they got the hang of snowshoeing again.
What had been a small mountain vale ablaze in bright fall colors the day before had magically transformed ed into a world of sparkling ice and snow. The trees hung heavy with blankets of white, and even massive boulders took on mysterious shapes with a covering of drifted snow.
Grandfather and grandson made steady progress over the rise toward the village. When they topped the rise they looked down on a scene transformed into a winter wonderland. All of the buildings wore a mantle of white, and even the railroad water tank had both snow on its roof and icicles dripping from the overflow.
“Grandpa?” said Bobby, “how will the train get here today?”
“There won’t be a tourist train today,” his grandfather replied.
“Then we’re trapped up here!”
“No, we’re not trapped,” Gary said as he took the boy by the hand. “Come on and I’ll show you.”
Grandpa Gary led the way down to the railway station. Once unlocked, he opened the station and went in to make a call. While he waited, Bobby noticed the snow alongside the track was as high as his chest. On the side of the station was a giant thermometer and Bobby saw that it read down in the single digits. Soon his grandfather came back out of the station and relocked the door.
“Come on, Bobby,” said Grandpa Gary. “I’ve got something to show you.”
“Hey! Wait for me, Grandpa!” cried Bobby.
The two hiked to the lookout on top of another ridge about half a mile from the station. Fortunately, it was a covered viewpoint and the wind had swept the floor and benches of the open-air building clear of snow.
The view from the lookout was breathtaking. A hearty explorer could see over a hundred miles on a clear day, and today was such a day. Situated on a promontory, the viewpoint was almost three hundred degrees. The two stood there for several minutes, silently soaking in the panoramic vista.
Gary finally broke the silence with a gusty exhale, “Okay Bobby, come over here. I want to show you something.”
Gary boosted Bobby up onto a bench and pointed down toward the valley at the base of the mountains.
“See the town down in that valley?” his grandfather asked.
“Yeah I see it,” answered Bobby, squinting into the distance.
“Now follow the valley to the right and you’ll see the railroad starting its way up here,” Gary continued.
“I see it! I see it!” cried Bobby excitedly, the echoes of his voice bouncing back from the mountain face behind them.
“Now see how it winds around those low hills over there?” his grandfather pointed, “where it goes into those side canyons as it weaves around to gain altitude?”
“Okay,” said Bobby, “but where’s the train?”
“That’s what I want to show you!” answered Grandpa Gary, excitement creeping into his voice. “Look over there on the side of that ridge.”
“Ohhhhh!” gasped Bobby as his eyes focused on the distant ridge. Along the side of the hill they could see the line formed by the railroad grade. The great piles of snow drift was obvious even from here.
At the lower end of the grade they could see a small work train made up of two engines and several cars. Coupled to the front of the train was a steam rotary snowplow. Gary and his grandson saw the steam from the whistles long before they heard them. The train slowly approached the drifts. The spinning blades at the front of the snowplow picked up speed.
As the blades bit into the accumulated snow they threw it far down the slope below the railroad grade. Soon the grandfather and grandson could hear the roar of the exhaust from the rotary plow mingled with the sounds of the snow shooting out of the blower chute and onto the mountainside.
They watched for many minutes while the plow train crept along the track. Occasionally, the plow operator whistled for the engines to stop pushing and to pull the plow back from the drifts so workers could clear the blades of debris. Workers came and went from the cars coupled behind the engine, inching forward to probe for logs and rocks mixed in the drifts ahead.
Bobby and his grandfather watched a small crew of workers struggle up a trail to climb above a cone of snow drifted in the lee of another outcropping. Soon they saw the men run for cover and then heard the crack of dynamite. With a muffled roar, the snowdrift thundered down the mountainside and across the tracks below.
“Why don’t they use blasters to clear the snow, Grandpa?” Bobby asked. “Wouldn’t it be a lot easier than using old-fashioned dynamite and plows?”
“Sure it would be easier,” answered his grandfather. Gary remembered stories he’d heard from other troopers about how they had used blasters to clear snow that had once covered the Empress’ ship on a distant planet. He chuckled inwardly at the thought.
“Let me tell you something,” Gary continued. “When the Empress Melinda reigned, she first rode on the train down in the valley. She was overjoyed after riding on a steam train in the mountains on another planet. Her husband, Girt, and the troopers got together and bought and setup this mountain preserve as a surprise for her.”
Gary brushed some loose snow off of one of the benches and motioned for Bobby to sit beside him.
“Unfortunately,” he continued, “her husband was killed by Red-tails before the railroad was completed and could be presented to her. The troopers carried on with the project and rebuilt the railroad and village just as Girt had planned.”
Bobby looked back over the precipice at the train clearing snow from the tracks.
“They worked on their own time,” continued Gary, “and depended only on donations for support. The project took many years to complete but was finally finished. By that time, the Empress Melinda had passed away and Empress Katherine ascended to the throne. At the dedication of the preserve, Katherine decreed that only methods employed when the railroad had first been built centuries before would be used to run the railroad. She said ‘Just because its old-fashioned is no reason to discard it.’ Since that time to this, the railroad has been maintained by retired troopers in honor of Empress Melinda and her husband Girt.”
“Wow!” replied Bobby. “I never knew all that!” Both grew silent again and turned to watch the plow train.
“Well, little trooper,” said Gary, “we better get back to the cabin and fix lunch.”
“Ah, Grandpa!” protested Bobby. “I want to be here when the train gets here.”
“That won’t be for some time at the rate they’re going,” his grandfather said. “From what the dispatcher told me, they don’t expect it until tomorrow.”
The two turned and started back toward the cabin and the warm meal they would enjoy together.
Chapter Seve
n
A clerk shuffled through the mound of paperwork that covered his desk. With a disgusted grunt he bent to the task of straightening out the mess created the night before.
“Stupid mechanical contraptions!” he muttered under his breath. Why does it have to be my department where they try the new robotic janitors?
Of course, he knew the answer. It was obvious. His department was the one everyone depended on to maintain and repair all of the sundry mechanical devices throughout the palace. What better place to try out the confounded things? Then if it broke down, someone would be readily available to fix the blasted thing! If he had his way, he would fix the thing all right. He’d fix it right into the metal recycling bin! No one figured that someone would also have to clean up the disasters created when the robot went crazy.
“That’s it!” he said disgustedly to no one within earshot. “As soon as I find my desk, I’m writing a memo to that confounded university and tell them to come get their marvel and never bring me another one!”
He continued to mutter and slowly dug down until he found the racks of pigeon holes the robot had collapsed. Repairing the racks took another hour, and then he was finally able to start sorting through the papers from the night before. He decided that he’d better take a break and stop for lunch. This stuff certainly wasn’t going anywhere.
At the mess hall, he ran into a couple of friends and they sat down together.
“What’s eating you today?” asked one of his friends just as he was taking a bite of roast beef sandwich. Why does someone always ask you a question when your mouth is full?
“I came in this morning and found my work area had been trashed by that experimental robotic janitor,” he said, his voice still muffled by part of that last bite.
“What’s wrong?” his friend asked sheepishly. “I thought it was supposed to make life easier for you?”
“That’s what they say about every newfangled contraption they foist on us from that university,” he replied with obvious disgust. “Why can’t they leave well enough alone?”
“I feel for you,” the friend said sympathetically. “Up in our department, they decided to computerize all of the records and personnel files.”
“Oh no!” responded the first trooper. “There goes our pay records into the maw of some demented machine!”
“Just thank the Unseen One our food is still prepared by human hands,” added a third trooper. Everyone heartily agreed and resumed their meal. All too soon they would have to go slay their departmental dragons in an effort to simply do their jobs.
∞∞∞
In the woods of Theta, the Mayne family enjoyed the first extended vacation they’d had together in quite a while. They found a secluded campsite and settled right in. The kids built a makeshift dam on a nearby creek and the water backed up, creating a nice swimming hole. This morning they’d go hiking together and then spend the warm, lazy afternoon relaxing in the sun.
When Susan Mayne raised herself up off the blanket to check on the kids, she noticed that her husband’s brow was furrowed.
“What’s wrong, dear?” she asked, concern shading her voice.
“Oh, I just keep thinking about things at work,” Biston Mayne said. “I guess it’s just hard to get my mind off work and onto more important things, like relaxing with you and the kids.”
“Don’t you go and get any ideas about calling in,” she said. “You heard what the captain said would happen to anyone crazy enough to do that.”
“That’s the last thing I want to do right now!” Mayne responded, thinking again of the party.
“You just lay right there while I go get us some ice tea from the trailer,” Susan said.
She stood and stepped over her prostrate husband, playfully kicking him in the ribs. Biston tried to grab her ankle but she pulled away from him and ran to the trailer. The kids spied her and made a dash to the trailer door pleading for drinks. Trooper Mayne smiled and decided that this was going to be a nice vacation.
∞∞∞
It was a somber group of scientists, technicians, and security officers that met in Betty’s office at the Ebilizer Institute.
“We’ve completely checked the entire hanger, including the Mary Belle, for fingerprints or any other telltale sign and found nothing,” the security officer reported.
Betty thought for a moment and turned to one of her assistants. “How are things going with trying to figure out how the ship was animated?”
“As close as we’ve been able to determine, it occurred shortly after you left the institute. But we still haven’t a clue as to why?” answered a member of the science team.
“Has Mary been able to determine anything?” Ane asked the scientist.
“Unfortunately, no,” the man answered glumly. “I wish for her sake, she could.”
The room grew quiet as they all considered what to do next.
“I think if the little ship were able to return to the cargo hold of the Mary Belle, it would have by now,” Betty said. “I think its safe now to release Mary from restriction and pursue our other options.”
“Where do you think we should look?” asked Ane, sensing that travel was in the offing.
“I think we need to go to Firstas to pursue this further,” Betty answered. “They built the little ship and understand its workings. We might be able to come up with something there.”
“Mary, did you hear that?” Ane called to the remote box on the table. “Can you lift and take us to Firstas?”
“Sure.” Mary’s voice sounded dejected. “I’ll get clearance to leave.”
Betty, Ane, and other necessary personnel were soon aboard the Mary Belle and the hatches secured for takeoff. Baby, with Myra onboard, hovered just outside the open doors of the research hanger. Mary called the controller and announced that they were ready to leave. It was heartbreaking for the controller to hear Mary sound so depressed and apathetic.
Listening in, Empress Ane decided to spare Mary the ordeal of having to talk to other people. She took over the communications board and they soon received clearance to lift-off. The Mary Belle rose off the floor of the hanger and glided silently out over the tarmac.
As soon as she was clear of the buildings, the Mary Belle lifted straight up and outward toward space. Myra and Baby stayed right by her nose all through the maneuvers. Observing the erratic flight behavior of the Mary Belle, Myra called over.
“This is Myra calling the Mary Belle. Come in.”
Instead of Mary’s voice, Ane’s came back in reply.
“This is the Mary Belle, Ane speaking. What’s up Myra?”
“I’ve been watching the way Mary is flying, and she’s way below par,” Myra answered. “Is there anything wrong?”
“Nothing we can fix with a tool kit,” replied Ane. “Our girl has her heart on other things.”
“Come on Mama,” cut in Baby, “let’s go!”
Mary didn’t respond verbally, but Ane and Myra did notice the speed pick up a little bit. Ane decided that it would be a long trip.
After several hours, life aboard the ship had settled down into a practiced routine. The troopers on the lower deck had set their duty watch schedules, and even now a trooper monitored the detector screen as required. Since they’d already had a long day, all those off duty decided to turn in for a sleep cycle.
The ship was unusually quiet. Ane and Betty walked together toward the upper mess for a snack before parting company to their rooms. They noticed that Mary filled their requests without her usual banter. The women looked at each other and silently acknowledged what was troubling them.
Ane thought that in this mood, Mary might let them get away with ordering junk food, but she decided not to press the issue. No need to create unnecessary tension right now. They finished their soup and disposed of their dishes before retiring to their quarters for the night.
∞∞∞
The alarm klaxon startled Empress Ane out of her bed. Instinctively, she wiggled into
a pressure suit and made her way forward at a run. Having slept only a short while, it took a moment for her to collect her thoughts. As she entered the control room she called out.
“Mary, what is it?”
Ane expected some irreverent quip from Mary, but the trooper on the detector screen answered instead.
“My Lady, we’ve just detected a very large contingent of Red-tail ships headed this way,” he said, pointing to the monitor. What Ane saw made her blood freeze. The screen was nearly full of red lines, indicating the presence of Red-tail ships.
“Why didn’t Baby see these earlier?” she asked, knowing the superior range of the detectors on the smaller ship.
“Baby and Captain Myra left us shortly after you retired and said they were going ahead to Firstas,” he said. “I was the first to see the indicators and sound the alarm.”
By this time Betty had joined them in the control room. Recognizing that Ane was busy, she checked with the troopers below who had manned their battle stations as soon as the alarm sounded. The fact that the Red-tails had gotten the drop on Mary troubled Betty, and she knew they were in for a fight without her help.
“What about the escort fleet?” Betty asked Ane. “From the looks of things, we’re going to need them.”
“We have a problem there, ma’am,” answered the trooper instead of Ane. “Several hours ago they reported that Mary had asked them to fall back behind us. It will be several minutes before they can catch up and engage the enemy.”
“Why would she do a thing like that?” asked Ane, her face reflecting her bewilderment.
“I overheard her say something about not wanting all those ships to scare the little ship in case it was out here,” answered the trooper.
“Then we’re in duck soup!” commented Betty.
“I’ll see if I can raise some help from any nearby fleet,” said Ane. She turned to the comm equipment. Long seconds dragged by while she tried to raise help.
“I’m not sure if I got through,” she said.