by Tom Hoffman
Orville frowned. “I can hear you back there. For your information someone told me quite incorrectly that flying this thing was exactly like flying The Dragonfly.”
Sophia whacked Orville’s arm. “Relax, we’re out of the building and the ship flies. Abacus, directions?”
“We are currently located on the southeast inner perimeter of the Black Wall. Our initial scan was too broad an area to give a precise location, but there is some indication the ship is near the northwest edge of the wall. I have tried a number times to locate the MV Bermitar but was unsuccessful. Our only hope is the power will decrease enough for the ship to disengage non-essential systems like the cloaking mechanism.”
Sophia pointed to the circular compass on the control panel. “Rotate the ship heading to northwest. Gently, please, I don’t want to spin around five hundred times and throw up all over you.”
Orville burst out laughing. “Some friend you are. Adjusting course.” The blinker ship rotated until the compass read northwest. “That’s it, here we go.” Orville nudged the right stick forward and the ship responded smoothly, flashing forward at an easy sixty miles an hour.
“Nice job, Captain Orville. Take it slow for a while until you get a feel for how the ship handles.” Sophia peered down at the landscape passing below them, watching as they soared over an ocean of blue foliage.
Abacus flipped up a small holomap of Earth and studied it. He flipped through the map until strings of flashing symbols were passing across the holoscreen. His fingers were a blur as he tapped on the moving symbols. When the symbols stopped moving he blinked off the holoscreen. “I am still unable to break through the cloaking device to determine the MV Bermitar’s location. I am also unable to determine whether my second form is stationary or moving, so we shall continue heading in a northwesterly direction toward its last known general location. In one hundred and ninety-three miles we reach the sea, which is three hundred and ninety-four miles across. The MV Bermitar should be approximately two hundred miles inland, if it is in fact stationary.”
“Heading due northwest. We just passed over another small town with more of those weird buildings they grow from seeds. I wonder if this is what Anarkkia looks like?”
“It is somewhat like this, although their sky is a brilliant red and they possess binary suns, two stars orbiting each other. When the suns are in alignment the Anarkkians experience winter, when both suns are visible they experience summer.”
Sophia sat up straight, studying the horizon. “The sea!”
Abacus flipped off his holomap. “We must be extremely careful crossing such a large body of water. Keep your eyes open for anything at all out of the ordinary.”
Orville looked back at Abacus. “What do you mean? Careful about what?”
“We are inside the Black Wall. The wall was constructed by the Anarkkians to deter any form of land based invasion, including all atmospheric vehicles. The wall was not designed to deter attacks from interstellar warships, ships traveling in dark space. They had numerous other defense mechanisms in place for such contingencies, often hidden in bodies of water. These are what give me concern. This particular blinker ship has no defensive shields. A single blast from even a small pulsar weapon would obliterate the ship.”
“Maybe we should fly really low, right above the water so their defense systems won’t spot us.”
“That is not necessarily a bad tactic. Fly as close to the surface of the sea as possible.”
“Only another mile or two till we reach the coastline. It’s beautiful isn’t it? So calm. It reminds me of the Vesarak Sea where my mum and papa used to take me.”
Sophia smiled. Every body of water they saw reminded Orville of the Vesarak Sea where his mum and papa used to take him. She sensed he was remembering the time his papa took him out on a fishing boat.
Three minutes later Orville brought the blinker ship to a hover, then gingerly tapped the left stick until they were only a few feet above the water. “Hold on, here we go!” Orville pushed the right stick and they shot forward at over one hundred miles an hour, so close to the water the ship was leaving a large rooster tail of spray behind it. “Whoo hoo! It feels like we’re going a thousand miles an hour!”
“Orville, keep your paw on the stick in case we need to take evasive action.”
“There’s nothing to avoid, we’re flying across a calm sea.”
“Remember what Abacus said about the defense systems.”
“Fine.” Orville put his paw back on the left stick. He was just about to make what he considered a hilarious comment to Sophia when he noticed a section of the sea appeared to be rippling, the reflection of the sky and clouds unfocused, blurry. “Can you see that? It looks weird, kind of like a wavering mirage or–”
Before Orville realized what was happening Abacus reached between the seats and yanked the left stick back. The blinker ship plunged downward, bouncing twice across the water, then sank rapidly into the sea.
“WHAT DID YOU DO? WE’LL DROWN!!”
Abacus grabbed Orville’s arms as he frantically grasped at the control sticks. “Stop! We are not going to drown. The ship is fully capable of dark space travel and undersea travel. The hull is pressurized and we possess an integrated oxygen generation air purifier system which activates automatically when the hatch is closed. If you’re still wondering about that blurry, rippling portion of the ocean, it was a cloaked Anarkkian interstellar heavy beam pulsar gun emplacement. Two more seconds and our ship would have been destroyed, along with your first form and Sophia’s first form.”
Orville’s paws were shaking. “What? We’re not going to drown?”
Sophia shook her head. “We’re fine. Blinker ships were designed to travel through the atmosphere, in dark space, and beneath the ocean. There’s nothing to worry about. Go ahead and take the controls. Abacus, what’s the best way to avoid the pulsar guns?”
“Maintain a minimum depth of one hundred feet. Our speed will be severely impacted, but Anarkkian sensors will be unable to detect us.”
Orville took a long slow breath, doing his best to calm down. “I wish someone would tell me these things. How was I supposed to know we weren’t going to drown?”
Sophia snickered. “You should have seen the look on your face.”
“I wasn’t scared, I was just extremely surprised.”
Abacus interrupted. “We must keep moving, now more than ever. Traveling beneath the waves will slow us down, and that is time we can’t afford to lose. Orville, the altimeter is reading minus one twenty, indicating we are one hundred and twenty feet beneath sea level. Maintain current depth at maximum velocity, heading northwest. Subsurface speed will be thirty-two miles per hour.” Abacus reached over and tapped a set of blue tabs Orville hadn’t noticed before. A ring of circles appeared on the ship’s canopy. “An alarm will sound if we approach an obstacle, likewise if something is traveling rapidly toward us.”
“Something might attack us? Like what?”
“Any number of undersea creatures might display a natural curiosity toward our ship, but such organisms are harmless. Do keep an eye out for Anarkkian drill fish, however.”
“Drill fish? What’s that?”
“It is another autonomous defense system created by the Anarkkians. Drill fish appear on the holoscreen as an ordinary school of fish, but in close proximity they latch onto the ship’s hull, perforating it in less than a minute with hundreds of small holes. Such an action at this depth would bring your mission to a sudden and untimely end.”
Orville gulped, pushing the right stick all the way forward. Their ship churned ahead through the murky sea. Despite his best attempt to avert them, images of the grotesque and terrifying sea creatures he had seen in the Senyph Ocean on Periculum were dancing in his head.
Chapter 31
The Dome
Orville’s eyes were drooping when the holoscreen alarm blared. He sat up straight, peering into the dark green water. “What is that? Something big direct
ly ahead of us!”
Sophia squinted her eyes. “I can see it now. It looks like buildings inside a big glass dome.”
Abacus’ eyes were flickering wildly. “Scanning for communication and command systems. Negative. I believe we have stumbled across the defense control center for the Anarkkian colony. This is excellent, quite fortuitous, but I will need to enter the dome. I should be able to disengage all colony defense systems, including the heavy beam pulsar gun emplacements and more than likely the Black Wall. If I am successful we shall be able to fly unhindered through the atmosphere. Orville, take us down and circle the dome.”
Orville nodded, pulling back on the left stick. The ship descended smoothly. “Altimeter reading minus three hundred twenty-five feet. How deep can we go? Won’t the weight of the water crush us?”
“Maximum depth for this blinker is six thousand feet. Continue descent.”
Four minutes later the ship reached the base of the dome. “We’re ten feet above the seabed and I’m taking us around the dome’s outer edge. What are you looking for?”
“The entrance used by their autonomous maintenance vehicles.”
“Sophia and I could just blink inside the dome. Can we shut off the defenses?”
“Impossible. It is far more complex than just flipping a switch. I must merge with the system, just as I merge with my second form.”
Proto called out, “I have detected an entrance using my narrow line scanners. Six hundred yards ahead.”
Orville guided the ship forward, circling the enormous glass dome. “I see it. Abacus, how are you going to get from the ship to the entryway? If you open our hatch seawater will flood the ship.”
“I will use the emergency exit on the cabin floor. The pressurized air inside the ship will prevent the seawater from entering the cockpit. Once I am gone you may close the hatch.”
“You’re sure don’t need any help?”
“I’m afraid you and Sophia would not last very long inside the dome. The atmosphere is quite toxic, unsuitable for organic creatures. You could survive by shaping an airtight sphere of defense, but there really is no need for your presence. It should only take a few minutes to merge with the system and deactivate it.”
“Okay, we’ll wait here. We’re next to the entrance now, fifteen feet above the sea bed.”
“Excellent. “Abacus released his jump seat safety harness. He reached up and flipped a small red lever on the ceiling. “Stay seated.”
Orville watched as a circular section of the floor whirred open. Just as Abacus had said, the air pressure within the ship pushed back against the seawater, preventing it from flooding in.
“If I do not return within twenty minutes, you must continue on without me.”
“Wait, what? How are we supposed to–”
Abacus dropped through the escape hatch with a small splash, sinking rapidly to the ocean floor. He looked up and gave a quick wave, heading toward the dome’s entrance.
“He’s walking on the bottom of the ocean!” Orville peered through the ship’s canopy, watching as Abacus stepped across the rocky sea floor to the arched entryway.
Sophia gave a loud gasp. “He’s dissolving! He’s turning to liquid and getting absorbed into the door!” A moment later the reverse process occurred. A thick blue liquid oozed out of the other side of the door, quickly coalescing into the familiar form of Abacus. He turned and waved, disappearing around the side of a massive silver cube lined with rows of glowing violet lights.
Orville spun his seat around to face Sophia and Proto. “What do you think he meant when he said he might not return?”
Sophia shrugged. “He’ll be fine. He’s indestructible, just like Proto.”
“But suppose he doesn’t come back? How will we find the MV Bermitar?”
“We’ll keep going until we reach the other side of the sea, then surface and search until we find the ship.”
“But it’s cloaked so only Abacus can find it.”
“Stop jumping so far ahead. We’ll figure it out. We’re Metaphysical Adventurers, that’s what we do.”
“I know, but how are we going–” Orville’s question was interrupted by a blinding flash of light and a powerful shock wave that shook the ship violently, tossing the three adventurers to the floor, slamming Orville against the bulkhead. “Uhhnnh.... my arm!”
Sophia cried out, “The dome is collapsing!” A massive explosion had shattered the dome and Sophia watched in horror as the inconceivable weight of the ocean roared into it, displacing the dome’s atmosphere in a split second. Vast clouds of shimmering bubbles rose up toward the surface. The dome had imploded with Abacus inside it.
Orville looked at Sophia in horror. “What about Abacus?”
“I don’t know. He’s indestructible, but I don’t know what that explosion was.”
“It could have been one of those pulsar gun weapons. The kind that hit the MV Bermitar and shattered him.”
“We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Proto stood up. “I will search for him.”
Sophia shook her head. “No, we can’t afford to lose you too. We have no idea what defense systems might still be active within the dome. Something else could explode.”
“We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
“There’s nothing else we can do.”
“Wait, the dome is gone so I can fly us over the rubble and we can look for him!”
“Good idea.”
Proto scanned the destruction. “Take us twenty feet above the wreckage and I will search for Abacus using wide spectrum. I should be able to pick up his residual electronic signature.”
Orville nodded to Proto, easing the blinker ship up to twenty feet. “I’ll take us across the area in a grid pattern. Call out if you see anything.”
“It looks quite dreadful. Whatever it was that exploded obliterated half the contents of the dome. Abacus most certainly succeeded in his attempt to shut down all the Anarkkian defense systems. I don’t see a single blinking light anywhere.” Proto scanned the rubble anxiously, searching for any sign of Abacus.
Ten minutes later they were still searching.
It was Orville who spotted the blue glow. “Look, over there! Underneath that big pile of rubble!” He veered the ship toward the small blue light.
“It has to be him.”
“The electronic signature is a match! It’s Abacus!”
“How do we lift all the wreckage off him?”
Sophia shook her head. “We don’t have to move it, we can convert it to thought clouds.” Sophia held out her paw to Orville. “Take my paw, we can link minds again, the same as when we created the tornado. It’s the only way we’ll be able to convert that much physical matter to thought clouds.”
Orville took Sophia’s paw and closed his eyes, letting go of his physical self. He felt his mind merging with hers, once again experiencing everything Sophia had ever seen or done, feeling everything she felt. It was difficult to distinguish his own thoughts from hers. “Ready? Start at the center of the pile and move out. Be careful not to convert Abacus.”
Proto watched as a brilliant golden aura surrounded the two mice, watched as a white sparkling light appeared in the center of the massive pile of wreckage. The glimmering fire circled outward across the mounds of ravaged metal walls and twisted beams. It was over within a minute. The rubble was gone and they could see Abacus, or at least what was left of him.
“Where’s the rest of him? Where’s his arms and legs and head?”
Before Sophia could reply the blue torso glowed brilliantly, a trillion stars and planets and galaxies appearing inside him. “He’s reassembling!” Sophia gaped as streams of blue glimmering liquid flowed out from beneath the remaining piles of rubble toward Abacus. It took only minutes for him to absorb them, minutes for his arms and legs to form again. He flashed brightly, then rose to his feet, the ends of his fingers blazing with a blinding pink light.
“What’s happening to him?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him this bright before.”
Abacus staggered forward, his long hands pressing against his head. Finally the brilliant light dimmed and he lowered his hands. He looked dazed, but finally caught sight of the ship. Orville guided it directly over him and opened the emergency hatch.
Abacus reached up through the opening and Proto grabbed his arms, pulling him into the ship.
“Are you all right? What happened? What was that explosion?”
Abacus’ voice was strained and hollow. “A grave miscalculation on my part. When I merged with the dome’s control center it set off a hidden self destruct mechanism. I was only twenty feet from the pulsar bomb when it exploded.”
“We saw you reassemble. Are you all right?”
“I believe so, but I am different. More than I was. I am as yet unable to explain this phenomenon. I have gained much knowledge, but do not clearly understand the source of the new data. I now know the precise location of my second form, and I also know we have less than two days until the MV Bermitar collides with the surface of your planet, bringing an end to our galaxy.”
Chapter 32
The Blue Tree
“Going up!” Orville pushed the left stick forward and the ship rose up through the murky sea, exiting in a cacophonous explosion of waves and salt water spray. Freed from its watery prison the ship shot into the sky at over four hundred miles an hour. “Whoa! Too fast!” Orville pulled back on the stick, slowing their rapid ascent.
Abacus pointed to the compass. “Head due west.”
Sophia cried out, “The Black Wall is gone! You did it, Abacus!”
“All Anarkkian defense control systems have been disengaged, destroyed by the pulsar bomb. We no longer need be concerned about them.”
“I thought you said the MV Bermitar was northwest of us?”
“I have become aware that my second form was cloaked, then programmed to fly in a wide circular pattern high above the Black Wall. The MV Bermitar’s altitude has been decreasing as its power diminishes, its cloaking device functioning only sporadically. Current position is directly to the west at an altitude of seven thousand fifty-two feet, the ship descending at a rate of three thousand twenty feet per day. When she hits the earth the titanic force of the impact will set off the Size 15000 M2 Galactic Time Throttle and that will be the end of us.”