by J. D. Tew
‘Lincoln!’ Mariah shouted out of consternation, perhaps afraid she would lose him again.
However, as swarms of particles clouded Lincoln’s mass, he easily assembled himself, piece by piece. Before our astonished eyes, a convincing replica of a Rangier priest appeared in front of us.
Mariah gasped, then said half-jokingly, ‘Who are you, and what have you done with my Lincoln?’
Lincoln held out his arms, as if requesting our heartfelt approval. He smiled at us, and I felt giddy, hoping he was once again the mischievous teenager I had always known.
‘No screen contact yet, right, Nilo?’ I shouted out. I didn’t want Diode Command Control to have witnessed the magnificent transformation.
‘Just now, Ted, if I can bring them up on the screen. They are requesting the person in charge.’
‘Okay, I’ll take it.’
The appearance of a bored Rangier space traffic controller appeared on screen; glowing futuristic cones—his headphones—rested comfortably on his giant ears.
Seeing the red light on, I announced in my most authoritative voice, ‘This is the starship Freebird, we mean you no harm. We are here to visit Eppa. Please do not fire upon us, we are friendly. There is a Rangier cleric aboard this vessel.’ I tried my best at oozing supreme confidence, but I felt like I was playing a shoddy version of one of my favorite starship captains from television. I can only imagine if an unidentified plane was flying toward the Pentagon, the National Guard would be activated! So I understood their actions.
‘Let it be known to your crew that we apologize. We received your flight plan, but it was re-routed by accident into the dampening field maintenance folder and did not reach us.’
‘That explains it,’ ED whispered to me. ‘I did file it yesterday.’
The space travel controller continued, ‘Notice that we do not allow any weaponry into Diode, so please be prepared to surrender your weapons at the entrance. We now have retrieved your flight plan, but due to this late hour, we have to go through this manually. Again, our apologies. Identify yourself.’
‘I am Theodore Crane, the captain of this ship and this is my crew.’
Practically shoving the Rangier traffic controller aside, the commander of the Diode security said, ‘Do you have the cleric? Where is Sanjay? Let me see him!’
‘I am here,’ Lincoln said, posing as this cleric, known as Sanjay.
‘Sanjay! We were worried. Is this your security outfit?’
‘Yes. With the Dacturons’ attack on Booyang, I was given these soldiers as an escort.’
‘Welcome to Diode. I bet you’re eager to bless Eppa. Follow our ships into the field.’
The communication ended. Two ships skimmed along the force field of Eppa, removing a circular section of the electronic field like a burglar with glass cutters. The section disappeared, making a nice porthole for our ship. We flew our ship through the hole in the force field and hovered within it. The Rangier ships guided us downward through the giant tunnels bored through the planet’s outer crust.
Our descent was smooth. As I gazed at the view screen, I became aghast. ‘Where’s Diode?’ I exclaimed.
Nilo understood my reaction. ‘Ted, you see that huge metal slab on the ground right down there?’
‘Yeah,’ I said, puzzled, looking at the one kilometer by one kilometer square giant slab of metal flush against the massive ice field. ‘But there’s nothing on it! It’s just an oversized landing pad! There’s no fortress, no city, nothing!’
‘Ted, Diode is below that.’
‘Ohh!’ I said, amazed. ‘You mean Diode is right under the ice surface?’
‘Yes. Diode is different in that it takes three levels to get there, instead of the usual two. You know, for Booyang and Zong, we had to fly though outer space first, then the layer of air in between the crust and the planet’s core. Well, Diode is even deeper down—and that’s one more enhancement of security that it has.’
‘Man,’ I said. I was further astonished as the slab of metal separated within its center, in a spiral shape cascading outwards. As the artificial light displays shone upon the magnificence of Diode, I could finally see the fortress. It consisted of thick stone walls nestled against the ice crust, as if someone had lowered a tin box so that its top lay flush with the surface of a glacier, but all the sides of the box were enclosed by sheer ice.
I was amazed at the grand scale of Rangier technology.
Our ship was now descending down past the colossal metal hatch, into the city boxed in by a wave of ice.
‘Dude, this place is sick,’ Dan said.
Mariah joined in. ‘This is like something from my favorite movies.’
We entered a landing bay far below the ice surface, now descending into Diode itself. From our vantage in the ship, ED explained to me that hundreds of massive blue power core bundles were built into the palace’s walls. The walls of Diode were, from the bottom up, at least four hundred feet in height. There were thousands of people walking on numerous bridges crisscrossing the enormous space in between the walls; the slender bridges connected each distant wall like a black widow spider’s web. As we drew closer, we can see that each bridge was supported by massive columns beneath. The people looked like ants carrying on about their business.
‘Okay, everyone needs to focus. There is no telling how they will act now that they have us. Stay close.’
‘Theodore, the use of weapons is prohibited. I cannot say that I agree, but we have no choice,’ ED said.
‘Yes, we have to play by their rules if we are to finish our objective here,’ I said.
‘Ted, this is golo! Although, it does feel great to be entering the motherland,’ Nilo said.
The communication screen informed us of an incoming message and we accepted it.
‘You can bring down your engines, we will lower you to the landing pad.’
“The drop hatch opened. I looked over at Liam, Lincoln, Mariah, ED and Nilo. I asked, ‘Are you ready?’ Everyone nodded. The hatch lowered and the moment to finally see Eppa had arrived.”
19 THEODORE: EPPA
“We left all of our gear and weapons on the ship and walked down the ramp, exiting Freebird. Reaching the end of Freebird’s drop hatch, I saw the Rangier commander, from the earlier communication on Freebird. He stood five feet in front of us. Thousands upon thousands of Rangiers soldiers were walking about busily from end to end of the giant city. One end of the entire square that comprised Diode was packed full with three massive motherships and hundreds of smaller vessels. It looked like the Rangiers were prepping for something big.”
I walked up to the commander and shook his hand. He pulled me in for a hug and a pat on the back, surprising me with his enthusiasm. I was close enough to get a good look at him. An older Rangier, he had no hair, looking like a mellow Buddhist monk. His head was much larger than Nilo’s. I wondered if their heads continued to grow throughout their lives. With his long beard, he reminded me of my Rangier friend, Pike, on the jungle planet of Tritillia.
‘Thank you for bringing the cleric. We are in your debt. I am Rozzy, the liaison of the Rangier guard.’
‘It’s nothing. My crew and I will just need some refreshments. We are tired and hungry,’ I said.
‘It will be arranged.’ Turning to Lincoln, he said in reverential tones, ‘Sanjay, Eppa is in need of your expertise. She is temperamental and will not allow anyone in, as of late.’
‘Well, I will see what I can do. She looks fine to me,’ Lincoln said.
‘Of course,’ Rozzy said, grinning. ‘I’m sure you are already aware, but nothing is what it seems. Can you introduce me to the rest of this crew?’
‘This is Mariah,’ Lincoln said, taking the liberty of introducing everyone else. He was doing his best to play the role of the cleric, representing a flawless representation. His Dietons mimicked the image file to perfection.
‘Mucho gusto señor,’ Mariah said in her native tongue. She knew that Rangiers knew almost eve
ry language in our galaxy, so she used her native tongue freely.
‘Mucho gusto señorita,’ Rozzy responded, using Mariah’s dialect. ‘Latino! From Earth. It’s a pleasure to meet with Earthlings. I don’t think I have before.’
‘And this is Dan. He is a skateboarder,’ Lincoln said.
‘It’s an honor. I’m not sure what skateboarding is, but it sounds important. Ha-ha.’
‘Oh! A Rangier and an ED!’ Rozzy exclaimed.
‘ED and Nilo,’ Lincoln said.
‘What a fine robot, Urilian issued, but designed by the steady hand and ingenuity of Rangiers. Hence the R upon its chest. Interesting, nice to meet you—ED. And Nilo, named after the famous Rangier philosopher. Nice to meet you both. Peculiar, a Urilian vessel and an ED. A curious combination.’
‘It is a profound honor to meet my makers,’ ED said. He was trying to change the subject.
I immediately took over. ‘Listen. Rozzy, we volunteered to transport your cleric here safely, without compensation. As a courtesy, we would appreciate your cooperation. This includes keeping a watch over our ship, if that is most suitable to you. We want to remain anonymous.”
‘As you wish. My cleric is indispensable. And we are grateful.’
Lincoln continued to introduce people and lighten the mood. He said, ‘Finally, we have the Armizardian brothers, Philmai and Jscetski.’
‘The Piexon brothers I have already met, unfortunately.’
‘Yeah, sadly we bested Rozzy and his Rangier counterparts countless times for galactic weapons advancement,’ Philmai said.
‘Yeah, bested,’ Jchetski added.
Philmai attacked Jchetski verbally, ‘Will you shut your trap, you twit.’
‘If I am a twit then youuuu are the speckle on a dragon’s ass!’ Jchetski yelled in return.
‘Okay, okay you two,’ I said, interrupting their squabble. They both muttered Bilovian swear words at me under their breath.
‘Welcome to Eppa, everyone. Please follow me. Watch your step on the catwalk here and use the railing there if you have to.’ Rozzy said, as two black monolithic metal doors opened, which were at least twenty feet high. ‘As you can see, there she is... Eppa. In all of her glory. She has been here for quite some time now, and we built this base around her.’ As the doors opened I could see Eppa in the distance. She was massive, like the Egyptian pyramids in Gaza.
Dan said, ‘Dude, it looks like an Egyptian temple, but made of metal!’
Mariah joined in and said, ‘Yeah, the way Theodore spoke of it, I thought it was a room full of computers, tucked away behind a bank vault.’
Rozzy said, ‘If only she was that simple; Eppa has four heat extractors at each corner, pulling heat out and allowing the natural cool air of Foita to seep inward. One of these devices alone weighs ten tons; that’s equivalent to three Earth gas-guzzling cars. Also, we have a battalion of five hundred men and women inspecting her daily, but not lately. Not in her present state. Eppa commands one half of a square mile of space in here. We only work on her exterior, because inside is something different altogether. The internal portion of Eppa needs a cleric’s touch.’ Rozzy winked at Lincoln in a joking manner.
Eppa’s clerics were lifelong devout technicians that trained throughout their entire lives to work the kinks out of the Galaxy class mainframe. Clerics were the only visitors she allowed for level six maintenance or higher.
Rozzy snapped his fingers, calling out for the cleric whom we knew to be Lincoln. ‘Sanjay, please come with me for a moment. Just Sanjay, and no one else.’
‘I must request that Theodore stay by my side, sir. He is the head of security,’ “Sanjay” replied.
‘Oh please. Call me Rozzy. I’m not uptight like the other Rangier commanders. That’s fine. So... Sanjay, we will not spend very much time on this. Time is, as you know, of the essence. I was assured by the Council that you would be ready upon arrival. You do want to enter Eppa, correct?’
‘Yes. I am ready.’
‘Anything. If you make it to the central unit, she will allow you to ask her questions. Take your time and make it count. I can remember when I went into Eppa for the first time. She was much more civil then. Do what you must to fix her before you start searching for enlightenment.’
‘Then it’s settled. When may we enter Eppa, Rozzy?’ Lincoln said, making this Sanjay ruse look easy.
‘After we eat, of course,’ Rozzy said, as he stroked his long goatee, inadvertently flicking away few old food particles previously trapped in his beard. ‘Oh, and... before I forget. You can bring your head of security. However, I must caution you. The more unreliable the escorted visitor, the more unpredictable Eppa may be.’
‘Theodore is very good at what he does. I am fortunate to have him by my side.’
‘Okay, then. We shall eat first!’
We walked over to a large building adjacent to Eppa. Walking closer to Eppa, I detected a low sound frequency that I found incredibly annoying. My crew was waiting for me at the entrance of this building. I was pleasantly surprised at how well Lincoln was handling this disguise as a cleric.
The ground shook and I think we all lost our stomachs a bit. ‘Whoa, what was that?’ Dan asked.
‘That is just the magnetic push and pull. Hourly, our computers measure our base’s position under the tectonic ice plates, and deliver our city into a safe position with electromagnetic pulses. Usually it is only a micron or two. We are not always making adjustments, we only need to adjust if Foita gets restless. The Piexon brothers can fill you in a little more. Everyone gather around!’
‘Rad! Well let’s see the food!’ Dan exclaimed, sniffing around like a foxhound hot on the trail. He obviously remembered the incredible, sumptuous feast we all had aboard the Uriel.
‘Right this way,’ Rozzy said.
The doors opened automatically, and in the middle of the banquet hall, sat two tables, each three meters in length, neatly arranged with food.
‘Smorgasbord!’ Liam shouted.
‘Last one to eat has an empty stomach!’ Mariah shouted. She latched onto a type of poultry with six legs and yanked at it.
‘This is awesome,’ I said, as I was tearing into a pile of pickled pomperans, which were glowing spherical berries, harvested from the Golong bush; they were perfectly ripe and tangy—sweet, with a subtle zip from its acidic vinegar.
Dan grabbed a pile of mashed scarbune beetle pudding and started chowing away like a hyena clamping onto its prey
‘Won’t you eat some food?’ Rozzy said to Lincoln, noting the contrast with us ravenous eaters.
Lincoln looked at me for help, because he knew that real food would probably make a mess of his Dieton insides.
As head of security, it was my job to save my friend from coating his insides with green teloocan bird eggs and electric blue genovesion slug slime jelly. ‘I’m sorry, but the cleric does not eat before entry to a temple. He is fasting.’
Liam was gulping down a goblet full of frothy cream. ‘What is this stuff? It’s amazing! I could drink ten-quarts of this stuff.’
Rozzy leaned toward him and said, ‘That is the breastmilk of a duckbill platypus. It has antibiotic qualities.’
Liam tried to contain the bolus of thick breastmilk in his mouth, and just barely he gulped it down, nearly losing his gut. We had a good belly aching laugh at his expense.
Dan rubbed his hands together with glee. ‘My football coach was an Army Ranger, and he always did a sports team chant to get us fired up. I’ll start it.’ He started whooping out the words, clapping in sync. “Are you motivated?!”
Mariah said, hopping up and down. ‘I know this one. One of my friends is a cheerleader.’
‘Okay. I’ll start it again,’ Liam said. ‘Are you motivated?!’
The entire crew with a resounding yell said, ‘Sir yes sir!’
‘Are you dedicated?’ Liam shouted.
And we returned. ‘Sir yes sir!’
‘How motivated dedicated are you?’<
br />
‘Motivated motivated downright dedicated!’
Liam had his hands in the air, and said, ‘Check us out! Now is that a sendoff or what?’
‘Thanks guys,’ Lincoln said, looking down as if he was embarrassed by the outpouring of glee.
‘Come, Sanjay. It’s time,’ Rozzy said. ‘Be careful, as Eppa can be very eccentric.’
We saw the giant temple, Eppa, about five hundred feet ahead. It had twenty-six metallic columns at the front and a towering pyramid mounted on top of the roof. The entire temple was glowing with a splendorous radiance and the layers constituting the mounted pyramid were revolving slowly. It was a sight to behold.
‘Sanjay. Can you come over here for a sec?’
‘Sure. What’s up, Theodore?’
‘I’m coming with you, right?’
‘You’re the straw stirring the drink man. I’m just a cleric,’ he said, laughing.
‘Alright, this is it. Sanjay, Theodore, you may enter.’ Rozzy said.
We issued our goodbyes.
The door rose upward slowly. It seemed that it would take the power of an entire city to lift that vaulted entry, weighing probably multiple tons and about ten feet thick. Everyone was plugging their ears from the opening warning alarm and the sound of massive ten-feet-wide hydraulic pistons lifting the door. Gears the size of monster truck tires were rolling on metallic frames.
Lincoln and I entered and from behind the closing door, Rozzy shouted, ‘Sanjay, she will test you. Your loyalty, your honor, and integrity. Do not give in to your doubts. Be true to yourself!’
The door inched shut behind us. With a resounding thud, the power and weight of the massive door vibrated the ground we were on.
‘What did just you get me into?’ Lincoln asked.
‘Well if this is the last we see of the world, then at least I’m doing it with you!’
‘I like that. Let’s get going,’ Lincoln said.
We walked forward into a room; the walls of the room were black, perfect and smooth. After feeling them I knew they were graphene. A closer observation, with my nose pressed against the wall, revealed circuits a thousand times larger than those of a desktop computer.