We reached a stream near the end of the valley where the land spread out to a flat plane. The streambed curved around the hillside and headed toward where YDRII said we would find the city. About halfway around the bend, at a narrowing of the trail, the lead animal stopped in front of a large, low tree branch that partially blocked the path. YDRII told us that this tree had the unpleasant thorns that stuck my animal and she wanted us to hurt it. She probably just meant remove it, but when one is dealing with concepts rather than spoken words, one must make allowances.
We dismounted and gathered by the offending greenery. It looked something like a low growing pin oak with fewer and fatter branches that had about a dozen huge thorns per foot. The branch overhanging the path was about four inches in diameter where it joined the tree. That was where M2 began to work with a folding saw, but as soon as his tool bit into the bark, a thick purple sap began to ooze out. The sap hardened rapidly in the air and formed a glasslike collar around the cut. After a short conversation, M1 had us all move back down the trail about fifty yards. He and M2 remained near the tree and as soon as we were back far enough, M2 blasted the trunk with his shotgun. It blew the main trunk apart and the thing toppled over like an out-of-balance Christmas tree.
“Booyah!” Shan yelled. She bounced with excitement, but her mount was not disturbed, “This is so exciting. Groovy.”
I saw Alice give her a hard look. I knew a heart-to-heart talk was in Shan’s future. The boys pulled it to one side then waved us forward. When their mounts reached them, they got the stroke/pummel treatment, which they accepted, with good humor. Both ladies kneeled while the boys reclaimed their seats.
Back in our saddles again, we ambled swiftly along for a while, just enjoying the scenery and admiring our powerful carriers. Out of nowhere, Alice began a giggle, which grew rapidly into hilarious laughter.
“WHAT?” we all shouted in unison.
Wiping tears from her eyes, she said between hiccups, “If only he could see us now—the Director, I mean. He sent us off on a futuristic mission fraught with unknown dangers—ray guns, alien monsters and the like. So here we are on safari, riding these beautiful beasts through this fabulous landscape, on our way to explore a deserted city. Our biggest hazard so far is the possibility of sunburn—ridiculous.”
“At this rate,” M1 called back, “our official report will have many blank pages.”
Now that Alice had calmed down, we continued as before and soon we could see the first of the city buildings on the horizon. We were concentrating so much on that far-off view that we failed to notice the thing that caused our mounts to halt and half-turn to the right.
It was just about the meanest creature I had ever seen, sitting on its haunches and calmly regarding us from a distance of about twenty yards. It was the color of the ripening grass and that tended to make it blend into the background when it was motionless. Based on the large blocky head fronted by two awesome tusks, this was a predator and its rhino-like size suggested that it might well dine on our mounts.
As we all sat and watched, two of the animals without riders advanced from the rear and took a position between the big monster and us. Our brave little Blue was also there between the two big gals. One of them pumped out the standard ‘WHUF’, but the thing did not move. Their four ears then swung forward toward the gleaming tusks and shivered slightly. It heaved itself to stand on all four legs and backed up two steps while snorting angrily. The ear shivering increased and Mr. Snort turned and trotted away. Apparently, that did not satisfy the two in front of us because the shivering intensified, which caused the trot to turn into a full gallop.
Alice was the first to comment. “I think we are riding the dominant life form in this area and I’m sure glad they like us.”
With Mr. Snort put firmly in his place, our safari continued at its rapid pace.
“I have a name for this place,” Amy called to us, “and I have a name for these animals.”
“About time,” Alice said. “These girls are so smart that I feel awkward just referring to them as animals so lay it on us kiddo.”
“I christen this place, the Seuss Provence,” she sang out.
“Like Dr. Seuss?” M2 asked.
“Just look at what upon we ride,” she said. “Those ears are right out of one of his books. Further, the ladies look like a cross between a giant horse and a moose. I christen them ‘morses’. The singular would be ‘morse’. Oh, yes, I also name my morse, Amelia because I like the name.”
“I name mine, Donna,” I said. “It’s the name of a great horse I once owned.”
The rest of the gang decided not to be too hasty with the names. By that time we had entered the forlorn outskirts of what looked like a large town rather than a sprawling city. As we continued the height of the derelict buildings increased. The decaying building material was, without exception, the same white stuff that we saw back at the dome site. The architectural style was vaguely Pueblo, but a very alien Pueblo.
By the time we entered the city’s center, the abandoned structures became a mix of large, official-looking and imposing properties and taller, graceful structures of four to six stories. Although overgrown in spots, our pathway was the remnant of a wide boulevard. There were many dry fountains and benches made from the same white material. At the city’s center, the boulevard opened to a large square. I saw the usual fountains, benches, a strange metallic-looking gazebo, ancient trees and a few statues of long forgotten inhabitants. The morses began to munch on the wild grasses as soon as we stopped. Blue was sniffing around, but his motionless tail told me there was little of interest here for him. The statues, although made of the same material as the buildings, did not fare as well. The pitting obscured the original features and left only a hint of what might have been there.
“How sad and strange,” Alice said, as we looked around. “This is still a beautiful place, even after so long a time. It seems they just walked away. This feels the same as when we entered that first room in the Hollow Mountain and the mystery is the same. What happened? Whatever happened?”
“There are no significant emanations, either organic or electronic,” YDRII said. “This city is even more devoid of life than the open country.”
“There’s a rather imposing building across the way,” M1 said. “It reminds me of a library or city hall. What say we see if we can get inside?”
This was more like it—another unauthorized entry. I was on my way before he finished talking. Like most big important edifices, this one had a series of wide steps leading to its large double doors. When we got there, we found a handle similar to a dome handle. The function was more normal though and after one twist, the door cracked open. It took a lot of yanking because of the sand on the ground, but the boys soon had one of the big doors pulled out enough to let us enter.
It was a library. A very alien library, but a place designed to hold many books has the same feel on any planet. That’s what I told myself though the many shelves that I saw had mostly low piles of crumbly dust. Here and there I saw a small and very fragile bit of paper held together by not much more than molecular attraction.
Although the building looked solid from the outside, it had developed cracks and small holes that were highly visible from the inside. They let in just enough oxygen and moisture to guarantee destruction over many years. There were no revealing posters on the walls and the electronic equipment was junk. A wide and ornate staircase rose from the center of the floor so we went on up and found what must have been government offices.
The surviving décor was very elaborate, but the revealing feature was the use of maps instead of draperies. They were some sort of plastic that had a very long shelf life. They even retained their color. Unfortunately, they were useless. One of the biggest of them had all to do with the local water shed. We couldn’t find any that showed the extent of this area. After a quick look, we ignored them and examined the furniture and more electronic junk.
“Hey, Moses,”
Harry called from a small side room, “take a look at this.”
Of course, we all crowded in to see what he had discovered. Resting under a clear cover on a pedestal was a golden sphere, about the size of a golf ball. The difference was that this one had a series of narrow blue bands running around its equator and a tiny bead of glass on its top.
Moses took one look and smiled. “This is an excellent find, Harry. If it still functions, it could be valuable in our search. It is the instantaneous radio transmitter and receiver the Germans were trying to duplicate. If operable, we can listen in and see who, if anyone is still using the system.” He raised the clear cover, picked up the device and put it into the belly of his ever-present companion. “YDRII will connect it to his internal circuitry and power supply. It won’t be long before we know whether or not it is functioning properly.”
“It’s very little for such a significant device,” I said.
“Actually the radio itself is much smaller. The shell is larger for convenient manipulation.”
We found nothing more at the library so we moved toward the next building bordering the square.
“The radio is functioning properly,” YDRII said, at the door of the next building. Moses extracted the small object and began to work notches in the blue bands with a fingernail. We heard a faint hissing.
“What does it use for a speaker?” Alice asked.
“I assume it is the shell, but I have never actually inquired. By manipulating the lower blue band, I can increase the volume to a painful level.”
While this was going on, M2 and Harry went in the building. They didn’t stay long and when they came out they were blank-faced, which told me they had news for the Band’s ears only.
“We think it’s a church of some sort,” Harry said. “The dominant theme is representations of three circles—one within the other—large, medium and small. We saw it on sculptures, wall motifs and even on the floor. I thought it was overdone. This building is different in that vandals wrecked the interior. It wasn’t bombed. Furniture was smashed and some wall symbols torn down. The dust told us it was a long ago event. It isn’t worth another look.”
“There are no transmissions across the entire spectrum,” Moses looked very disappointed. “I will leave it on. It is set to alert me to any signal at all.”
“Well,” M1 said, “this place is beginning to look like a dead end. Let’s poke our heads through a few more of these buildings, then head back.”
In total, we examined seven buildings, but found nothing more of value—nothing to indicate the cause of the mass exodus. As we left the last structure, I suggested that we examine the strange, metallic gazebo.
“Curious,” I said. “Although it’s near the center of this well organized square, it is not quite in the middle. I think the builder placed it there at a later date, not as a permanent composition, but more like something temporary. Plus it’s the only structure not made out of the white stuff.”
The six sides were open so we were able to walk inside for a closer look. At each angle, just inside each supporting arch was a four-foot circle etched into the material on the floor. Directly above the circles were domes of the same size, supported by a spidery framework under the roof that covered the whole area. Two different metals sandwiched together were the building materials. One suffered major oxidation and slabs of solid metal sagged as though ready to collapse.
“You know,” Amy said, “this reminds me of the transporter room on the Enterprise. This could be an actual transporter. Maybe they used it to evacuate the population.”
“If this is a type of portal or transporter,” Moses said, “it is something I have never seen.”
“Well,” M2 said, “if it was, it stopped working a very long time ago. I’ll take a few pictures and a sample of the rust. I think that’s about all we can do.”
After a short meeting, we decided to end the city search and return to the house near the dome. Our morses were all nearby and came to us when YDRII called them and we all got the same mounts without any sorting.
CHAPTER 25
The return trip went smooth and fast except for a short detour to a second thorn tree which the boys hurt big time. During showers and food preparation, Harry managed to slip each Band member a note about the interior of the maybe church.
It was vandalized, like I said, but what I didn’t talk about was what we saw scrawled on the wall. First, there was a big swastika. Under it were the words “falsche weg”. They mean, wrong way. Below that was “verdammt”! I don’t think I have to translate.
It looks like they turned the wrong way on the railroad. I guess we made the same wrong turn.
We sat down to a dinner featuring replicated Spam sandwiches on replicated Italian bread with replicated yellow mustard. Dessert was delicious, but shaded a strange red, local fruit that we gathered along the way. It had YDRII’s stamp of approval.
After dinner, we all went outside. I parted with several of my treasured cigars and Harry proved popular by producing a large bottle of replicated spirits. Our morses wandered off to do whatever morses do in the evening. YDRII was confident that he could call them back at any time. “For some reason,” he said, “the ladies have taken an instant liking to us.”
“What’s not to like?” Alice said. “We had showers.”
The first thing we decided was to spend the night as a guest of the local computer. We needed sleep and the place had comfortable beds.
“I wonder,” I said, while leaning back on my pack—a cigar in one hand and a drink in the other, “what Batts would think if he could see us now? I solicit opinions.”
M2 was the first to respond. “He’d say, ‘Marone, deal me in.’“
“I do not know this Batts,” Shan said, through a cloud of smoke. “I am a noob, so I will listen and learn.”
“Moses,” Alice said, “Any chance you could accelerate Shan’s slang memory fade?”
“I would hesitate to make such a delicate adjustment. In time the slang will fade and also Shan will see how you react to it and just not use it—hopefully.”
“Wouldn’t mind a plate of his pasta right now,” M2 said.
Harry waved his smoldering cigar at the sky. “All I know is that I’ve been on many, many assignments. Some dangerous, some interesting, some boring, some stupid, some funny and some romantic, but this one takes the entire cake. Think about this. We’ve barely scratched the surface of places to go. When we find Mary and return to Earth, we can turn around and explore the ninety-nine point nine, nine, percent of planets we have yet to see. We can make a career out of it.”
“What about Nora?” Alice asked.
“Someday I’ll tell you, but not today,” He replied.
“I wonder,” Amy asked no one in particular, “how far we are from Earth?”
“Once back at the farm,” Harry said, “if we wanted to, we could be back on Earth in less than six hours.”
“Jeez, that’s right,” Amy said. “I was feeling a little homesick, but that puts a new light on it. Thanks Harry.”
“De nada, kiddo.”
“I just thank my lucky stars,” Amy continued, “that I was in the right place at the right time. I wanted to take the day off, but I didn’t. What if I was off on another assignment? What if James didn’t need a guide? Think of all the little ifs that can change your world.”
“It’s something to ponder,” I told her. “What if I hadn’t gone out for cough drops on that rainy night and if my drug store hadn’t been out of stock and if I hadn’t driven to the next town and if I hadn’t gone to the Silver Diner and if the boys hadn’t found me… If, if, if. The world is full of ifs.”
M1 finally put in his two cents. “Since we now have to follow the tracks back south, is there any chance we could take our morses with us?”
“Lordy, I’d love to,” Alice said, fervently. “We could get where we’re going five or six times faster.”
M1 called over to the robot, “Hey, YDRII, do
you think that…”
YDRII interrupted. “Yes, M1, I will try right now. I can contact all of them regardless of where they are in the area.”
I looked at M1, then M2 and then at Alice. Our concerns about YDRII’s hearing were valid. He could hear us and he was constantly listening.
Minutes later YDRII had the answer: “The ladies are quite willing to ferry us for any distance and any amount of time. They will be here in the morning—ready to go. We will be traveling with the entire herd, which is a bit bigger. They need to stay together.”
“Say, Moses,” Harry said, through a haze of cigar smoke, “think we could take the morses through the portal to Nexus and then on to the one that goes to the farm?”
“Fantastic idea, Harry,” Alice said. “How about it, Moses? that would save even more time.”
“A moment while I consult with YDRII,” Moses replied. It was really just seconds. “My extension informed me that it is feasible and practical. The animals will need the blue and yellow pill. It will have a coating that will appeal to them.”
The conversation died down for a while as we watched the shadows lengthen. We gazed at the distant hills and thought our own thoughts while reveling in the luxury of a great cigar. As I set down my smoke to reach for my drink, I happened to glance at Moses who was sitting still, eyes closed, with a faint smile on his face. His morse had returned and lowered one ear over his head and I had to believe that it was the cause of the smile, but still I was cautious and mildly suspicious. I did the foot tap with M1 and pointed toward the still-smiling Moses. The rest of the gang noticed us and suddenly he had an audience. YDRII was next to him, resting on the grass.
LOST AND FORGOTTEN: Book 2 The Secret Path Page 18