Solarans 1: The Gift From Aquarii
Page 2
# A half hour later #
At home, Andy related to his mother what happened earlier that afternoon. She shook her head in amusement as she cleaned Jeff's abrasions and put antiseptic on the places where the skin was broken.
When she had finished, Andy excitedly motioned to Jeff, "Come with us! I’ll show you our practice and study rooms." They stepped out the backside of the house to stand in front of what appeared to be an oversized windowless three-car detached garage with a mother-in-law apartment above. The garage doors were really a false front. As they entered the side door, actually the only door, they found themselves in a small anteroom. After the outer door latched closed, a security panel lit up with a retinal and fingerprint scanning device. Jeff’s jaw dropped in awe. This was not what he had expected.
As he used the device, Andy explained, "The walls to this building are reinforced concrete with a 12-foot ceiling on the first floor and 10 feet on the second. Its built to look like a garage with an apartment above.” Jeff could see the pride in Andy’s smile as he filled in more details, “The first-floor has been fitted as a full dojo. Plenty of padding and sound-proofing. You are welcome here anytime but please we would prefer to not advertise what is here.”
“This would be a good place to get back up to speed with your training. Hold on a minute.” Andy walked away from the group and came back with a key in his hand. “This key is for when you want to come practice on your own. When you bring Judy, we will give her a key too."
Jeff was surprised, "You know about Judy?"
“Yeah.” Andy nodded. A wide grin broke across his face. “It’s not the world’s best kept secret.”
Not wanting to embarrass Jeff too much, Andy interjected, “But there is more!” He motioned across the room, “Beyond those doors there are changing rooms, shower rooms, and locker rooms.”
Gus corrected him, “Actually there are two of each, one for the guys and one for the gals.”
“Thanks Gus,” Andy rolled his eyes ever so slightly.
“No problem,” Gus chirped back with a grin.
The intricacies of the interaction were so subtle that few would have noticed, but Gus and Andy had always seemed to communicate in a way that others didn’t understand. "Wait until you see our study room." They went up a flight of stairs to a room as large as the one they left. There were ten work-stations with reference materials on one wall, and computers at six of the ten stations.
Jeff was amazed, "Holy cow, this is way overboard."
"Yeah,” Andy nodded. “It does look that way. Mom was originally going to home school us, so that is how this started, but she decided we would develop better in a more public environment.”
Andy went on to explain that the structure was built from a large inheritance when his grandfather passed away. “I really do not know why I picked ten stations but I am glad I did because we are growing into it. After building this place and putting in the hardware for six stations, we have the funds in a trust to keep this place updated with current equipment for the next 100 years.”
Gus, who had seated himself at one of the terminals, yelled across the room, “And that’s if all ten stations were operational.” He then stood up with Jeff’s key in hand.
“It looks like Gus was busy adding you to our security system while I was rambling on. It’s based on multiple biometrics, including retinal and finger print scans as you saw when we came in. The key will only work for you since it will be programmed to recognize you."
# Monday, June 6 #
Chief Cody called O'Malley into his office and said, "Well Sean, It looks like you grabbed the ‘brass ring' on this one. O’Malley’s brow lifted slightly as he pondered what the Chief was referencing. “Remember the tourist that was shot two weeks ago during an attempted robbery?”
“Yeah.”
“Care to guess whose gun shot the guy?"
"You're kidding me, not the one we found on Buzz?"
The Chief grinned, "Got it in one. Better yet, he still had the victim's phone and credit cards in his possession.” Both men shook their heads in disbelief, “Not real bright. The DA is licking his chops with this one. All this brought to a halt by an 18 year-old kid, amazing. The DA says he is looking at a minimum of 7 years in the hoosegow for the tourist attack and another three for the attack on Jeff."
O’Malley allowed a smile to cross his usually stoic face, "The kid is amazing. So is his buddy, Gus. You should meet them Chief, I think you’ll be surprised. Not only that, they’re the best witnesses I’ve had for any case.” You know me, I’m not easily impressed by most things, but this. . ."
"OK, so I’d like to meet them. When can we do that?"
"How about now? Assuming they’re available…" O’Malley trailed off.
"OK."
O’Malley quickly walked out of the Chief’s office and pulled up Andy’s number. Andy answered and said that all three boys could be at the mall in 15 minutes. Looks like the Chief was going to get to meet the impressive trio.
# Fifteen minutes later #
After introducing the Chief, Sergeant O’Malley informed the boys that he had signed up for adult classes.
Andy couldn’t contain a grin, "I know, Sensei told me that Gus and I get to be your instructors.” His face wrinkled as he paused for a moment, he hadn’t pondered how the Sergeant would react. “I’m not sure how adults will react. Gus received his fourth-degree recently. Sensei is an eighth-degree holder, the highest rank there is. He wants us to start the lessons with a demonstration match to show that we’re serious about what we do and are capable. The class we’re teaching has 10 individuals, all of whom are in law enforcement, so there will be some elements added to directly assist you in your work."
This disclosure startled O’Malley, but he was even more surprised to see that the Chief appeared to already be aware of the situation. "Chief, you knew about this. That’s pretty sneaky."
"Yep. That’s why I am the Chief. Also we’re using department training funds for this effort. I don’t expect immediate results since this is one of those things that takes time to gain proficiency. But Lieutenant, I expect you to become more proficient than the others."
"Lieutenant? But I’m a... wait a minute, why do I get the feeling that I’ve just been snookered, big time."
Andy replied, "Probably, because you have." All three boys were grinning from ear to ear.
After the shock wore off, O’Malley allowed himself a grin, "Now I get it, you were all in on this." His gaze turned to the Chief, "How do you even know them?"
"Andy has been dating my daughter, Pat, for the past four years, and Gus has been dating my other daughter, Barbara, for the same amount of time. While Jeff here has been dating Sergeant Hurf's daughter for around three years. I guess you could say I know these kids pretty well.” The Chief winked at O’Malley, “Your evaluation definitely confirmed my own.”
The Chief started fumbling around with something in his pocket before continuing, “The promotion was long overdue, and I thought this would be a fun way to let you know. I believe you also know that I’ve been planning a vacation starting in five days.” The Chief motioned towards the boys, “These three along with their girlfriends and parents are all going to be joining me at Turner Lake for two weeks.”
O’Malley couldn’t remember the last time that the Chief had taken a vacation, looks like this was a day filled with surprises. At that point, O’Malley finally was able to identify that the Chief had pulled a small box from his pocket. What was he up to?
The Chief droned on, “We have both Forest Service cabins rented, each has two aluminum boats, courtesy of the Territorial Sportsman and the Forest Service.. The lake is absolutely spectacular this time of the year, it’ll be a great way to relax for a bit. We are all hyped up about the trip. We will fly in Saturday via a chartered twin Otter on floats with all the gear we need. You’re one of the few who will know where we are.” He paused and his voice took on a more serious tone, “I would just as
soon keep it that way. Cell signals don’t reach that location, nor do most radios, so the only practicable means of reaching us is by plane or boat."
"Yeah, I've been to Turner a few times myself. The only downside is that it gets pretty buggy at times. Take your bug nets with you."
"You have that right, and we will have spares."
As the Chief and O’Malley spoke, the boys grew visibly antsy, shifting and swaying in place. O’Malley ignored the visual, "Is that still a catch-and-release lake for Cutthroat Trout?"
"Yes, numbers haven’t improved enough for Fish and Game to change that regulation, but they’re fun to catch."
Finally the boys couldn’t contain themselves any longer. Jeff nervously raised his hand to speak as if he was seated in class. This caused O’Malley to chuckle, “Yes, Jeff?”
"Lieutenant, I would like to personally thank you for all you have done for us this past week. Andy and Gus, if you hadn’t come along, I would be in the hospital or worse now. The first I knew I was under attack was when that big dude hit me with a bat from behind.."
Gus responded, "Hey man, I'm glad we were near when the need arose. Just be the best you that you can be and we’re cool with that."
The newly minted Lieutenant interjected, "See what I mean Chief?"
Andy, here are Lieutenant O'Malley's rank bars.” He handed the boy the box that he had dug out of his pocket. “Would you do the honors of pinning them on him."
"It would be my distinct pleasure, provided the Lieutenant agrees."
"Andy, I can think of no one I would rather have do this."
After Andy pinned on the bars, the Chief went on, "Tradition says that the newly minted officer buys the first round. Looks like milkshakes all around! Make mine cherry flavored, thank you very much.”
Chapter 2 - Turner Lake
# Day One at Turner Lake #
# Saturday, June 11 #
Turner Lake is about 18 air miles East of downtown Juneau but the planes used were at the Juneau Airport making the trip about 25 miles each way. Actually the trip is a bit longer because charter flights to the lake generally fly Southeast down the Gastineau Channel and then turn East when they get to the Taku River. The West End cabin was the most desirable so they decided that it would be their base of operations. The cabin was built for six and they had 14 in their party. The Foster's had rented 8 light weight cots and so they decided to all squeeze into the West End cabin and stockpile some of the food and fuel supplies at the East End Cabin. It was cozy but it worked. They brought the two boats from the East End Cabin so that they had access to four boats. With that many people all trying to make it work, there were no glitches that they were not able to overcome. The fishing was amazing but the lake was noted for that. The weather was reasonably cool, so the bugs were not a particular problem. They had planned to be traveling between the two cabins with some frequency so they had plenty of fuel. They had a number of small field radios for communication and coordination.
# Day Three at Turner Lake #
# Monday, June 13 #
Directly to the south of the West End Cabin across the lake, there is a waterfall and a notch adjacent to it that the group decided it might be fun to explore. One part of the notch had some interesting looking formations that they wanted to see up close. On their third day there, they decided it was time for a look, so after breakfast they prepared a light pack with a lunch and some trail gear and headed across the lake to the notch. There was really no place to beach the boats but they were able to secure them to boulders at the base of the notch. They climbed up the notch a few hundred feet and stopped to take some pictures. While there, Andy said, "Hey Dad, does this rock face look strange to you?" As he said this, he reached out to touch the rock and his hand disappeared into the rock. He immediately pulled his hand back saying "Whoa!"
Several others saw him do this, including Gus who said, "Well, that is not something you see everyday. Did I just see what I thought I saw?"
Andy again approached the rock and put his finger in until it disappeared to the second joint and moved his finger about three feet to his left and met resistance. He then reversed course and moved his finger until it again met resistance.
His father, Bill asked, "Son, what are you doing?"
"I am checking the dimensions of this unseen opening. It appears to be about seven feet wide and the walls inside appear to be as smooth and slick as glass. I am going to check height. Hmm, height is about seven feet high and smoothly curved at the corners." He brought his finger out and continued, "No ill effects or sensations. It's like there is nothing there. Hey Gus, take my hand will you and make like an anchor." Before any one could say anything, he stepped through the barrier. Everyone heard him exclaim, "Wow," and he stepped back out. He repeated, "Wow."
Andy sat down on a boulder and everyone was gathered around him. "I do not know of any technology that we have on Earth that can do what we are seeing, umm, make that not seeing here. This goes beyond anything I have read about or heard about. The only thing that told me that something was weird was the way the light is hitting the notch. There is no sign of construction out here. No indication of drilling, no debris. No nothing. It may not have been the wisest thing to do but I had to see what it looked like on the other side. There is a long curving tunnel in there and it is illuminated. The light source is in the walls. It is like daylight in there. I could hear you out here but the acoustics in that tunnel are damped down. That tunnel is not natural and it is not man made. I have to admit that my curiosity has stepped over the edge. I have to see what is in that tunnel. But first I want to try a little experiment." He faced the tunnel and said, "Tunnel door lock." He then tried to push his hand through and it met with solid rock. He then asked his father to reverse his last command.
His father, said, "Tunnel door unlock."
Andy then tried to push his hand through and again it met with solid rock. Then he said, "Tunnel door unlock," and he stepped through the door. He then said, "Dad, see if you can follow me." His father stepped through the door. From outside they heard his father exclaim "Wow." Andy then said, "Anyone else want to see this, come on in." Pat came next and took Andy's hand. Everyone else followed.
Chief Cody commented, "I am not sure we are doing the right thing, but I have to say I am curious."
With that, they all heard a voice that said,
Pat said, "Did you notice that we were not hearing that voice with our ears, but inside our heads? This gets stranger by the second."
Jeff contributed, "But nothing here feels threatening. This is really interesting. The only possible explanation is that we are dealing with aliens, beings not from Earth."
Again they heard the voice,
When they arrived at the room at the end of the tunnel they were surprised to see an immense room with a number of what appeared to be workstations of some kind and a series of doors around the perimeter of the room. The walls of the room were a light metallic blue and that was very easy on the eyes. Lighting was bright but not overly so. At several places around the room there were large murals with scenes from space including one of Jupiter that was particularly striking. In the middle of the room was a large circular lounge with a table in the middle and fresh food that was familiar as it all appeared to be of Earth origin. They were invited to make themselves comfortable and enjoy the food and drinks. All of it was real.
When they were all seated and reasonably comfortable, the voice came back, abit the system you call 11 Aquarii about 86 light years from this location. My people were decimated by an invasion from a race of lizard-like creatures called the Sorza that allowed no opportunity for negotiation or discussion. It was pure wanton destruction. They just came in and destroyed everything that moved and took anything they wanted. I believe they were after our resources since our system was rich in minerals. The Lotans were able to construct a device that could counter the invaders but they had no time to train anyone how to use it and employ it themselves before they were destroyed. They were able to project the expected course of the invaders and it appears they will reach this system in about seven of your years. They are traveling at about 10xSL. (10 times the Speed of Light.) We have been searching this planet for those that might use this gift effectively and stop these creatures from continuing their path of destruction.>
Barbara asked, "Why are you telling us this?"