M'palla, was headman of the town and a distant cousin to Merkah. He rose to address the group using the near universal trade language of Neslan: “Welcome to our guests” he began, gesturing to the head table where we had all been seated. “The records of our town and the stories of our grandparents and great-grandparents before them speak of the time many races traveled through doorways between the stars. They tell of how those doorways were suddenly closed leaving travelers to survive--or not--on this world while still longing for their homes. We know that only a few days journey from where we sit is a site where the ancient ones opened the doors between worlds for any who wished to travel. We now have in our company a party of travelers whose knowledge of these doors far surpasses our own. One in particular (here he gestured toward Lady Camille) has studied them at length. They seek to discover if it is even possible for our doors to swing open once more. What a glorious undertaking. How can we not do everything within our means to assist them”. At this point the crowd rose and cheered for what must have been a full minute before M'palla signaled all to be seated.
Without further discussion it was settled the Fusians would join the expedition, restock our supplies and guide us the remainder of the way to the transporter site. It would take three days to assemble the key people and equipment. Until then we would rest and enjoy the hospitality of Tascala.
CHAPTER 34
On the morning of the third day the party rose before dawn. Two Fusians would guide us to the transporter site. The first was a middle aged man named Das'Tala. He had the heavy brow ridges, stocky limbs and thick body hair typical of the Fusian people. Although his appearance was akin to that of a Neanderthal his personality was wonderfully upbeat. He had bright, intelligent brown eyes and a keen sense of humor. He and Lady Camille had hit it off from the first moments they met. She had delighted in speaking first, startling him. They both had a good laugh later about this. Seems of all the alien races known to inhabit Pacham/Ulan there were none who looked anything like Lady.
Talus Tarkit was the second addition to the party. He was younger, intelligent, very well muscled, and quite eager to travel to the transport site. For years members of his family had worked to translate writings that had been meticulously copied from that site. The work had been aided by a find that had served as a local version of the Rosetta stone. This consisted of a piece of transport site signage that repeated the same instructions/information for travelers in a dozen or more languages. One of these was Fusian, another Neslan, and so on. The last was in the script of the old ones. Talus felt he might be able to translate some of the instructions/operating manuals at the site should any be found. Lady was extremely excited by this possibility as she and her people had discovered a large quantity of material they could tell (from the diagrams) were technical and operating manuals. Unfortunately they had no success translating any of them.
The document Talus had initially translated advised travelers of the fact that the equipment had been set so as to permit ONLY organic material to be transported. It described how some travelers who had tried to avoid this restriction by swallowing or otherwise secreting on their person forbidden objects had been unpleasantly surprised, and absolutely unsuccessful.
It further explained that for most travelers there were significant health benefits of using the transportation devices. Any non-organic materials were eliminated and replaced with healthy organic tissue. A being whose left arm had been amputated found that after the transport a new one was in its place based on scans of the healthy right appendage. A traveler with tumors found them gone. Even missing teeth were replaced based on scans of what the machinery determined to be healthy material. As I had personally found out, dead or diseased tissue was not transported. I had arrived on this world completely bald and hairless. Even my fingernails were cropped short. Over time my hair grew back even in the large bald spot I had been battling since my late 20's. Finally a cure for male pattern baldness. . . the people of Earth would be thrilled.
There was no need for concern about lost luggage. . . there wasn't any. The ancients allowed individuals and their ideas to travel freely but any trade goods went via an entirely separate system. The ancients thus kept tight controls on the import/export of potentially harmful products and made a very substantial income in the process. Rates described in the translated documents were a complex system based on the ability of the world to pay the fees. Thus, a ton of agricultural products from a relatively poor world might be transported for less than a single kilo of expensive spices or other luxury goods from a long developed planet.
Six nights later we were camped in a grove of trees near a small stream. The trees looked a bit like something from a Dr. Seuss book. They were tall, spindly, and topped with tufts of fern/feather-like foliage of soft red, orange, and yellow hues. Their fragrance was quite pleasant. Palomas had forgotten the name and had to ask Das’ Tala. In the language of the Fusians they were called something which loosely translated to “Breath of Spring” on account of their fragrance. The wood was used to craft small boxes, and other decorative items. Sometimes it was ground up as an ingredient for incense. Das’ Tala described how it was popular to burn this when younger people had a party because of its mildly hallucinogenic effects and the tendency of the smoke to produce a sense of mild euphoria after prolonged contact.
We had burned some of the downed fronds and branches in our own fire, but here in the open air no one had more than a whiff of smoke. . . certainly not enough to have any kind of a “buzz”. In any event we would need to have clear heads. Das’ Tala estimated that we would reach the transporter site by mid morning tomorrow.
That night around the campfire we fell into a discussion of what was known about Pachem’s seasons. Dhars and Palomas indicated that the planetary year was a bit over 400 days. Mola and Omeera described signs they’d been seeing suggesting the change over from fall to winter. Although the seasonal variations were smaller here on Pachem (due to a more or less circular orbit and an axis which tilted only 16 degrees off vertical).
I had to concede that it was definitely getting cooler. Perhaps the days were getting a bit shorter. The campfire slowly died and as we said our good nights and the same alien stars which had been in the sky my first night on Pachem were once again rising. I even found the grouping I’d dubbed “the stop sign”. Hard to believe that first night had been more than a year ago.
The next day dawned clear and cool. “If memory serves me, Petar” said Palomas. . . “and Das’ Tala confirms that it does, we should see the site when we reach the crest of this ridge. The goal you have journeyed so far to reach is about to come into view. Are you excited?”
“Truth be told . . . I have mixed feelings. Now that the day has actually arrived I’m not so excited as I thought I would be. When I recall all Dhars, and Lady and I have seen and done since we set out from MonTon last spring. I’m amazed to have been part of it. As difficult as it was at times a part of me will be sad to see our journey end. In the beginning I thought only of finding a way back to my planet, Earth. Now I’m not sure I should go. I do, however, want to help Lady return to her home world. Her people are in such a difficult situation. Does that strike you as very strange?”
He replied simply, “No”.
A few minutes later we topped the ridgeline. Below us in a shallow valley we could see the transport site. The physical layout was similar to the one where I’d arrived far toward the other side of the planet. Sitting atop a small rise in the center of the complex was the “terminal” building with its dome, and arched entrances. Clustered around this main building were the support structures, temporary housing??, administrative offices?? Just like at the other site. This complex appeared more intact. Maybe there was less seismic activity here than at the other site, better stone for building? There was also less vegetation overgrowing the area. All paused for a few minutes to rest after the climb. We stood there saying little, each taking in the general lay out of the facility and visually
scouting for the best route down. Directly ahead the ridge dropped off steeply, but to the left the slope was gentler. We followed the ridge a few hundred meters in that direction before starting our descent.
By midday we were making our way through the outbuildings and slowly approaching the main “terminal”. I was hyper vigilant, recalling the encounter with the drakor. Looking about I took inventory of our party. Moving forward with me were Dhars, Lady, Captain Allestaer, Mola and Omeera, Palomas, Das’Tala and Talus. Each one of them was a friend, a person I could rely on, people who counted on me as much as I did on them. Reminding myself of that reassured me. I stayed alert, but was immediately more relaxed.
“This way” Palomas called as he led us in a counter clockwise direction around the side of the main building. “There is an easy entrance here”. He and Das' Tala led us past the first two ramps heading down to the subterranean main level of the terminal building. “Yes, this is the one” Palomas said, gesturing toward the ramp we'd just reached. This was the primary entrance we used on the first expedition. At that time it was the easiest way in. I think I have a hand lantern in my pack”.
After considerable digging around he produced a bulky object about the size of my foot and began to crank it. As he did a pale yellow light seeped from a crude bulb set in the end. As we were all eager to get a look inside we fell in behind him and followed him down. Once we had moved away from the outdoor light at the ramp entrance I could tell that the light was more substantial than it had initially appeared. The floor of the ramp sloped gradually (probably identically to the ramps at my arrival site). We shuffled on in semi darkness following the beam of Palomas' “hand lantern” until we reached the point where the ramp ended and the floor was once more level.
“Petar. . . look at this” Palomas called, motioning for me to come forward. The dust of the floor was cris-crossed with roughly triangular footprints about a 35-40 cm long. The whole party fell silent, vigilant. Those who were armed brought weapons to the ready. In the semi-darkeness we listened. . . but heard nothing. Clearly, someone or something had been inside this chamber rather recently.
We left the ramp and stepped warily out on the main floor. Soft light poured in from arched windows in the dome above. These appeared to be intact and the coating of dust was much lighter here than it had been at the other site. Otherwise the layout was identical. Row upon row of “couches” filled most of the floor beneath the dome. Thin cables disappeared beneath the floor from each station. We held our breath as we entered the huge Romanesque space. It was more like a cathedral than Pachem's equivalent of an “airport”. Here and there footprints clustered around a piece of machinery. Two of the “couches” and been dusted off along with the control panels and cabling which seemed associated with each. Whoever had been here seemed to have a mission similar to our own. It could not be coincidence that we’d seen the same footprints in the dust of the other site.
After perhaps 15 minutes of looking around the party was satisfied that the main chamber was not currently occupied. Initially we had felt only eagerness at getting to see the end point of our journey. Now that eagerness was tempered with caution, even apprehension, we were ready to return to ground level.
As we ascended the ramp the discussion turned first to which security measures we should take then moved on to the mundane matters of setting up our camp. Das Tala and Palomas showed us where the former expedition had set up just opposite the portal where we had entered the complex. The spring that provided clean drinking water to the previous expedition was still flowing. A nearby outbuilding sheltered the group so there had been no need for tents. It would also be a defensible position should we be attacked.
The captain reminded us that the last time the complex had been mapped had been more than 20 years ago. He organized us in two teams to survey the area. We would take note of any resources that might be useful and sweep the area for potential threats. He cautioned us to stay alert for potential hazards from intelligent beings as well as from animals. He also ordered that at least one member of each team be armed. We were not to search beyond hailing distance of the rest of the party. There would be time to explore further a field once our camp was set.
Three days later we had searched everything within a radius of about half a kilometer area and discovered no threats. There were some small “birds” and other creatures in the building we occupied, but these fled as soon as we approached. A cooking area, had been set up near the water supply and a latrine located behind a low wall perhaps 50 meters to the other side of the spring, but for security reasons just half that distance from our living quarters. It seemed unlikely we'd be here long enough to necessitate better separation.
For the next 25 days Talus, Lady, and Palomas were the primary investigators of the transport site. They took notes, made sketches, and took photographs using the relatively unsophisticated camera Palomas had brought along. The rest of us assisted as much a possible. We pulled guard duty, kept the fires burning, cooked meals, swept out our living quarters, etc. Each evening the technical team—as we had taken to calling them—briefed us on what progress had been made.
There were occasional breakthroughs. Talus and Lady were quiet excited about their partial success in discovering and translating a minor technical manual. As it turned out it related to the water-purification and plumbing system. . . and not to the transport device. They discovered a locker with tools and metering devices obviously intended for the maintenance of the facility. The meters (assuming they were applying them properly) showed no power to any of the couches. Even the two that had been dusted off by whomever had been here before us.
The work was largely a source of frustration for them. Everything that seemed necessary for the functioning of the transport system seemed to be in place. . . EXCEPT there was no power to any system. No one had the slightest idea of how to activate the refrigerator sized units connected via cables to every couch.
CHAPTER 35
Within a couple of days everyone in the party had agreed it was pointless to stay longer. We were no closer to solving the power supply problem than we had been two weeks ago. Talus had enough materials to keep him busy translating for years. Palomas, Mola, Omera and the Captain had gathered artifacts, taken notes, made photographs, surveyed and made sketches of every aspect of the site.
Lady Camille and I probably had the most to lose by abandoning this last hope of returning to our homes, but in the end we agreed it was time to move on. Without the means to activate the power there was no possibility of departing this world for any destination. We used the following day for packing and organizing for the long trek back to Arthena.
The Threatan capital was a pleasant enough city. Lady and I both had some friends there. Now that Voquira was an ally, and a very useful way-point, trade would be established with the eastern shores of the great salt. We could return to Mon Ton. I knew Dhars missed his family horribly. I couldn't help wondering how Leeta, Urs and Modran and all the folks at the Cornered Vanu were doing.
It was with mixed emotions that I hoisted my pack in the first grey light of morning and took the initial steps . . . back. We climbed and crossed the ridge that had been the last obstacle on our approach. By late afternoon we were once again making camp in the grove of fragrant “Dr. Seuss” trees. The mood of the party was somewhat somber but not entirely disheartened. That evening we had our usual campfire conversations.
Omeera gently asked: “What will you do when you get back to Arthena? You know your share of the treasure from Voquira has made you rather wealthy. You could live in comfort for the rest of your life, could start a business. . .could pursue any of the possibilities the city has to offer. As one of the heroes of Voquira you could even run for public office!” I suspect this last remark was said only half in jest.
Before I could think of some clever reply Dhars interjected “Look up. . . look up!”
We did. There floating noiselessly about 10 meters above our small clearing was a
dark gray shape. . . a rectangle with somewhat rounded corners. A series of small lights marked the corners and sides of the object, like the clearance lights one might see on a large delivery truck. Without even rustling the fronds of nearby trees the craft settled smoothly to the ground. A few small bushes snapped beneath the bulk but otherwise the area was undisturbed.
We all stepped out of the circle of firelight and located our weapons. Something large and bulky moved across the open deck of the “vessel” to where a ramp now sloped to the ground. That single figure began to move away from the vessel and to cross the 20 to 25 meters separating the clearing to our campsite.
As our eyes adapted to the gloom and the creature neared the light we could begin to make out its shape. A somewhat rough, but not unpleasant, voice greeted us. “Welcome, children. I have been anticipating this meeting for a long time. I am the Lady Vesselss Val ^ta” it spoke/clicked to us.
Before us stood a creature whose appearance shouted “dinosaur”! A little over two meters tall it stood erect T-rex style on massive legs. The “hands” were strong but of lighter construction than the legs. Three fingers worked against an opposable thumb. Yellowed claws on each hand had been carefully clipped and filed, whether for appearance or a practical function I could not tell. The eyes were black and from the corner of each fluid seeped to form a dark stain on the cheek. Depressions high on each side of the head occupied the places where ears might be in most species. Organs to detect sound were no doubt located beneath the thin membrane of skin. The head and mouth were like those of a very large draft horse I'd once seen at a county fair. As the jaws opened and closed a double row of flat teeth could be seen on each side. (I felt a little better with this small evidence she was probably not a carnivore. . .then I recalled that humans have mostly flat teeth and still consume considerable meat.)
The Ways Between Worlds: Peter Cooper Page 31