Trial by Ordeal

by Philip R Benge

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  The direction that Tyler and his family and friends took was along a wide gorge that curved away from the horizon, and was now fringed with hills that rose and fell as they progressed along it. They passed many a track that Tyler thought would take them back on course for the portal, for they thought the portal to be set into the mountain range that drew ever nearer. However, Appolon insisted on sticking to the main track, and so Tyler had gone along with him, for Appolon had found signs that indicated that another party of men had preceded them along this track, although it had been some days prior. They were sure that they were on the correct track when they came across the remains of a man who had been partially eaten by one of the dinosaurs of this particularly terrifying domain.

  “Caroline will you take the children by when I have covered his remains.” Tyler then took out his blanket from out of his backpack and covered the poor man`s body.

  “That looks to be Loran; he is a member of the team of archaeologists which entered through the portal soon after it had been discovered.” Patina sobbed.

  This was the first sure sign that Patina had a heart, for tears slipped down her face, although whether they were for Loran, or her husband, or even herself, Tyler didn`t know.

  Tyler had been thinking about the magnetic keys and had come up with another explanation about them; with this in mind, he approached Data.

  “Data the time limit on the keys, whereabouts did you find the information giving your people this particular piece of information?”

  “It was in the ancient`s language, written on a plaque just outside of the main portal, why?”

  “How sure are your people that they got the translation of the writing correct?” Tyler asked.

  “They are not one hundred per cent sure, it is in a very much older archaic version of the language that is still in use by us today, and many of the words they had to guess at, why; do you have a different interpretation for the writing?” Data asked.

  “I am not a linguist Data, and even if I was I haven`t seen the writing anyway, but it appears to me that there may be a more logical explanation behind it.” Tyler ventured.

  “And just what would that be Tyler Burrows?”

  “That the keys do not have a time limit that locks you inside the domain should you exceed the period of twenty four hours, it was simply meant as a ticket allocated to the user for a particular time period. Should you exceed it presumably you would have been fined or made to pay a further charge, but you could still update it at the next portal to allow you through it.” Tyler explained.

  “A very interesting interpretation Tyler Burrows, and very logical, but one I think we should only test as a last resort.”

  “Definitely only when really needed Data, such as after we find Marot Pallas.” Tyler now had another question for the android.

  “Did any of the teams that went through the portal possess any other weapons except for their energy weapons?”

  “No of course not, they took along the best weapons that we possess.” Data said.

  “Do you know what weapons the kidnappers of Marot Pallas carried?” Tyler asked.

  “The guard and the witnesses only saw energy weapons.” Data replied.

  “Which could mean that they are mostly dead then, and that might include Marot Pallas, and especially if there are any more nasty surprises in store for us?” Tyler said.

  Patina who had been listening in to the conversation then butted in.

  “No, I know that he is alive for we have a psychic link, it is partly what brought us together, I should know if he were dead.” Unfortunately, for Patina the psychic link was supplied by Magi.

  They all walked on in silence, however, when Caroline joined them, Patina left to drop back from Tyler and took the android with her. Perseus looked up at his father with eyes that wanted rest and sleep, so Tyler picked him up and sang to him some of the songs that he still remembered from the twentieth and twenty first centuries, and his youngest son slowly fell asleep on his shoulder. His children liked to hear these old songs, as did Caroline, and Tyler did possess a pleasant voice. She had asked a friend back on Earth, Tom Parkinson, no now he was President Parkinson, to see if he could find recordings of the music from Tyler`s time for his fortieth birthday. Somehow Tom had found some in a museum of music, they should have arrived on Orion by now, sent along with all the other items that had been ordered by the people of Orion from Earth, they would be aboard the ore freighter that called there once a year. Caroline hoped that they would all be back on Orion soon to celebrate Tyler`s birthday.