Campers Dream Part Two

by Waggoner, Robert C.

  "Let’s hope it doesn't come to that, but that is one reason we brought Planet Earth's prime battle strategists just for a time like we have coming up.

  -12-

  The next few days were taken up with plans for Spero. Many small subcommittees were formed to sort out the many details of relocation. One nice thing was not having need of food, but water was essential for various reasons. The bodies of humans did not need protection from the weather, but all wore a robe and for what reason, it was never explained to them. However, it became like a second skin after awhile.

  What Harry needed was a friend and confidant. Strangely for him, he found his confidant in Marco Polo. Harry found him quite unassuming and thoughtful. He'd met MP quite by accident in the library. When Harry walked by he saw the person was reading the famous Marco Polo travels. He stopped and introduced himself. A few minutes later they were face to face in a quiet conversation. Marco was curious about recent events in the world and Harry was fascinated that a person or group in the late 1200s would embark on a fifteen year sojourn to the Far East. He laughed and said, "We had money and that is what made the difference. People back then held respect for people with money. The have and have not's were different than those of your times. The masses were in awe of rich people. Anyway, what do you think about the migration to our new planet HW?"

  "I look back on the migration of Europeans and the British to America and the hardships they endured. It appears with the Virtuians moving from here to there is not a problem at all. They'll send workers and in a short while, we have living and working quarters. What I'd like to hear about is what you think about moving to a new planet and exploring its environment?"

  "I've studied the maps, which are not the best, but it appears that they're many places to live with diverse climates to enjoy. Like Magellan did when he went exploring, make the ship out of local wood and sail around for a few years."

  "Well Marco I’m not that adventuress, but like you, would love to write about it."

  "You know Harry; I've another friend you ought to meet. I’m sure you've heard of him, but it's a real treat to talk to him. His name is Thomas More."

  "Now that would be a real treat to meet the first author that wrote about a utopian society. This civilization almost seems utopian in design, but I feel in my bones it's not all what it seems. I'm sorry to speak out having only been here for a short while, but something just doesn't feel right. I wonder Marco am I just having cultural shock or something like that?"

  "You and thousands of others HW. Indeed we can do practically anything we want to do around here, but other than feeding the universe knowledge, we think something is missing. Tom in particular has thoughts on this phenomenon along with others like Huxley. But you know the strange thing is we haven't figured or guess what they really want of us. As you well know and all of us know full well they are so far advanced of us that it's probably impossible to know what their real intentions are. I don't dwell on it much anymore, but look at what an opportunity we've arriving soon."

  "I'm having a hard time getting over the idea of being alive after finally accepting the fact I was about to die back on Earth. I had full confidence that my brain would be taken and placed in a mechanical body. But you didn't know did you?"

  "Not a clue HW. I woke up here and what a surprise it was. You had some inkling of high tech being what it is, but for us old timers, shock was too nice a word to use for our belief. When we learned exactly what happened, we thought literally God had done something wonderful in His promise of eternal life. Then to discover that alien life had stolen our brains, we felt some resistance to our handlers."

  "This use of 'handlers' has been heard a few times for me and my wife to wonder why our hosts are referred to as handlers," asked Harry.

  "Some, not sure how many, feel we are just inmates in a plush prison. Others, or the same ones, think we're just puppets and always beckon to their will.

  "Regardless we're in for the ride and where it leads, only the Virtuians know," said Harry.

  ~~~~~

  After leaving the library more confused than ever, Andy, his AI said, "Excuse me Harry, but I'm unaware of any deceitful plans behind the Virtuians helping you humans. I do realize that my understanding comes from their programming. I would assume that all of us AI are unaware of any misadventure or misleading plans for the future. I can tell you we've humans that date back thousands of years. They're located on a special planet under observation. I can also tell you that Virtuians think humans have great potential in the coming centuries."

  "Thanks," said Harry silently. "I'm just flowing along with the times as they are. I like what the plan is to move to a planet of our own; even if it's overseen by the handlers."

  "I'm aware of another movement that will happen soon. It seems like humans who have expertise in warfare is being assembled for what reason I'm not sure."

  "I wonder what that is all about," said Harry as they reached his apartment. Upon entering he found Ginny laying down sleeping. He joined her and had a nice restful sleep.

  When they awoke and after a cup of coffee, Andy said, "I've word Harry that AZ would like to see you and Ginny in the council room in about an hour.""I wonder what that is all about. Maybe with all of the latest conversations I've had with others they are not pleased with me. Well, live and learn. Ginny, put on your best robe and comb your hair my dear," joked Harry. "I've only two robes dear husband. Both are new and never get dirty. I think they're good for a long time. Don't worry about those council members Harry. They're not really interested in us, but interested in their own welfare. We're just toys for them to play with. Come on let's go."

  When they walked up to the council doors, a small group of humans stood waiting for the doors to open. Harry recognized Jefferson, Madison, Rand and Eleanor Roosevelt. Both he and Ginny felt small joining such an illustrious group. There were some glances their way, but all the heard was small talk which ended the moment the door opened.

  A Stewart led them to the council where all five were seated. In a semi-circle sat six chairs for the visitors. All looked stoic to Ginny as if some big deal was taking place. She thought it a bit humorous that after a million years a race like this could expect or have a crisis of sorts on their hands.

  She and Harry sat at one end and remained attentive. EZ said, "Thank you for coming. You six are best to advise us in a situation we're not so familiar with. Let me explain and remember not to let this upset you. We're expecting an attack from our enemy the Breccia. We've been at peace with them for thousands of years, but recently we've seen them mobilizing their battleships. For you protection we've decided to expedite your relocation immediately. We'll transfer five thousand to temporary quarters with enough robots to see to your needs. The remaining humans will occupy our space underground where all the rest of our people will be. The main thing is to take enough fluid to sustain your brains. A cargo ship will have more than enough for at least a year or more sustenance to keep your brains active. I realize you've some questions, but accompanying you will be a mainframe computer and all the others things necessary for you to continue research on your planet. Now we must hurry and each of you will pass on the instructions as the others prepare for the journey. AZ will lead one group and BZ will lead another. Good luck."

  Harry could hardly remember climbing aboard the giant battleship. It easily held his fellow three thousand humans and robots. All were told to take a seat and prepare for takeoff. Each seat wrapped around the shoulders and legs of the occupant much like a seat belt would in the old days. Dot was next to Ginny as they had become good friends. Marco sat next to Harry as they too had become friends.

  It did not take long and the cabin lights turned from red to green. They felt a slight lift and then were pushed back into their seats feeling the pressure of a strong force against gravity. A few seconds later they were space. The next thing they knew a voice came over the room saying landing would be in a few minutes. Harry and the others knew it wa
s about the distance from Mars to Earth their new planet was from Virtue. The total flying time could not have been more then fifteen minutes. Harry flashed back and wondered what Earthlings thought about the new speed of travel. He laughed thinking it was only fifty or sixty years ago that a plane cracked the sound barrier. Then it dawned on him, as they filed their way off the ship that technology on earth had raised exponentially over the last hundred years. He thought further by wondering about their hosts having hundreds of thousands of years of advancing past what humans could even dream about where technology had gone.

  Once outside the space ship, the air was crisp and fairly cool as night was coming on. It was not uncomfortable as their bodies automatically adjusted to the temperature to protect its inner workings. It was a rather long walk up a slight incline to a plateau where a temporary camp was set up. Both Harry and Virginia thought it reminded them of their hiking days. It was difficult to see the landscape as dark had pretty much taken over from the suns job.

  Harry thought the structures reminded him of Quonset huts of the old days. But instead of being in a line, these huts, if seen from the air, would look like a pentagon. Later they would learn that in the middle of this giant pentagon was a smaller pentagon which housed the communication room. In the large or main pentagons accommodations were set against the walls. They were separated by a simple non transparent plastic wall. As the accommodations or rooms were all the same, a plastic card with a black pen for the name of the guests were on each one. It was all orderly and AZ came by to say that he would speak over the intercom to the whole group at one time. With the total of twenty five hundred humans a building that large was not available.

  Later a count was had and five hundred humans were in each building. From space it might look like a sharp wheel with a hub in the middle of it. In one short day, three thousand humans had relocated to their new planet. However, at the moment, AZ was about to speak. All new residents were sitting in simple chairs inside their respective rooms when AZ said:

  "We hope you'll forgive us for such short notice moving you to your new planet. Even if we're attacked, this planet was basically void of advance life forms. Consequently, it would not be a target for the enemy. We've excavated two large caverns where we'll hide one of our battleships and a cargo ship. They will be manned by a skeleton crew and activated if we need them for the upcoming war. Among you are six experience fighter pilots from Earth. If necessary, they will be a big help to our robots who are a species of military design. We have inserted a special chip into each of the pilots. If we need their help, we'll activate the chip. The robots will follow their orders.

  Another thing. Under the center structure is a shaft the goes deep underground. The elevator can hold about one hundred people. It only takes about ten minutes for a round trip loading and unloading. If in an emergency, take the elevator down to the area where the ships are located. On the battleship are accommodations for your entire group of immigrants. From the battleship we can communicate very easily.

  One last thing before I leave for my planet. Your group of six is who we'll communicate with. For all of you they are: TJ, JM, AR, ER, VW and RW. They're, at least for now, your leaders. We'll speak through them and they'll speak to you about any developments."

  A silence occurred that, to Ginny and Dot, felt kind of eerie. Especially for the old timers they said later this was the first time they felt a heavy weight was lifted off their shoulders. They were free and it felt great. Meanwhile a voice was heard by Harry and Ginny from Jefferson. He asked them to meet him and the others in the small center pentagon soon as they could manage it.

  Leaving the others Harry and Ginny went to the designated spot for the meeting. The four were waiting for them inside the room. There were six chairs in a circle for each member to participate and to see the others. TJ said, after all were seated, "I, we, called this informal meeting to discuss our current situation here on Spero. From what we gather war is on the horizon. All of us here, well, most of us here have experienced war first hand. Regardless of the times, war is destructive with loss of life. That could well be true of any or all of us. However, that being said, I speak only for myself and my dear friend James. We've been in these bodies for hundreds of years. At first it was wonderful and a bit thrilling. But after a hundred years or so, it has become monotonous. It appears we have all the freedom of expression and access to mountains of knowledge, but we feel like we're in a luxury prison. I for one would love a walk down a sidewalk or to stop in a café for a coffee. Others have been here for more than a thousand years. They are more than fed up with the system and would rather pass on than continue their lives here. However, we don't know of any way to shut down our brains. In truth, we know we're immortal and for all intents and purposes, living in a utopia world. I'll pass this on to Ayn who has her say coming."

  "Those of you who know me and my views about certain things realize I’m not happy living in a status quo without the chance to see some of my proposals at work. I certainly was around during WWII. It would seem war has a double edge sword: one side makes the rich richer and the other side slowly drags the middle class into or near poverty level. For that reason I'm happy to be here, but wonder what our future might be."

  Eleanor said, "We might be out of the direct line of fire right now, but what about later when they discover we're here. I realize that is presupposing the other side will win. Regardless of who wins, I'm for any other options we might come up with."

  All eyes turned to Harry and Virginia. Harry took the lead and said, "We haven't been here long enough to put any real judgment upon our hosts. It would be hard for me or us to speculate on what might or might not happen if war breaks out. What I do know is there's an alternative, I'm a good guy at playing devil advocate."

  James said, "Here's one idea we might consider. AZ said that if needed we'd be given a chip to operate the battleship with our pilots. I've not met the pilots, but can assume they're qualified with being some of the best. If so, why don't we—now this is rather bizarre – if we're called upon, take the battleship and speed out of here and away from this solar system and all others they control."

  A shock look was on everyone's face except TJ and AR. ER said, "Let me get this straight JM, you're suggesting we hijack the battleship, robots and all, then flee this part of the universe?"

  "Simply put that is what I'm saying. Where we go and how we do it is beyond my ability. But there must be navigators and others who can determine what we need to learn to accomplish what I'm suggesting," said JM.

  TJ said, "All of us know there're a thousand questions and few answer right now, but let's give it some thought and JM and I will talk to the pilots first. After they make a tour of the battleship we will know more. Meanwhile, let's get some feedback from our neighbors about who might want to go and who might want to stay. I'm saying that we might have a fine opportunity right here to begin a new life without – well – not too much interference we hope."

  Harry and Ginny left without any further conversation. They both felt they had a lot on their minds to think about first before running off at the mouth. They decided to sleep on it and as it was the dead of night, went to bed.

  -13-

  A few days had passed when AZ showed up one morning. He was in an interplanetary shuttle. He called a meeting of the six as he was obviously in a hurry, we all gather quickly in the center pentagon. He said, before we all sat down, "We're at war as of yesterday late afternoon. I'm in a hurry as we don't know yet what the status is, but we had our battleships ready. Just in case I don't get back here in a timely manner, I’m leaving the chips for your pilots to use in case of an emergency. The head robot of the bridge knows how to insert them. Once inserted, the pilots will have total control of the ship and its weapons. I'd like the pilots to begin now to study the maps onboard the vessel. The monitor will show all of the battles that are taking place and where they're happening. I haven't anymore time so I'll return as soon as possible. Good l
uck to us all." And he left giving TJ a small box.

  TJ said, after AZ left, "The pilots report that with the help of the robots it would be easy to fly the ship anywhere we wanted to go. They would follow our lead and our orders." He turned to Harry and asked, "What do you have to report HW?"

  "I've made friend with Marco Polo and Thomas Moor. They want to travel out of here and be on our own. MP has been here for over eight hundred years and TM around five hundred. They tell me that about half want to leave and the rest will stay."

  "That meets with what I've discovered," said AR.

  "Me too," said ER.

  "I don't know what preparations we need, but I think we need Harry and his wife to head a committee to prepare for departure when and if the order comes. We couldn't leave until we're called out," said JM.

  Harry told the others he and his wife would do the best they could. They sat down and made a list for their AIs. Ginny noticed her Jan was awfully quiet the last few days. She said to Jan, "Are you okay with what is happening Jan?"

  "I'm fine Ginny. I'm just taking it all in. I'll record your list when you're ready. I and Andy are on the job and ready to do what is needed or asked of."

  I know the first thing we need to survive is our brain food. We need an inventory of everything starting with the brain food. Next would be the necessary buildings we would need when we find our new home; or tools for that end. I don't know at this point. I'm a little scared of what is going to happen."

  "It's not like you're alone Ginny," said Jan. "We are always with you and can handle most anything that comes our way. For example, we know what we all need to survive and all of us AIs will see to it that before we leave, all what is necessary will be on board. You know that on that transport ship is everything we could possibly need. There's room aboard the battleship for the entire transport ship."