The Accidental Explorer

by George Deeb

  “Correct.”

  “Sounds a little dangerous to me.” said JJ.

  “On your planet, you have many vehicles for transportation.” said Munen. “Yet few of the people who use those vehicles know how they work. Most don't want to know what makes them work. They just know how to use them. It would be the same thing. Of course, space travel is much more dangerous, which is why you will have crew members who do know how they work. These crewmen will come from other planets.”

  “YES – YES – YES!” said Radio loudly from excitement. “Oops..., “ she said, lowering her voice, “I didn't mean to be that loud. BUT THAT IS DAMN EXCITING! We were only thinking about making it to the moon a few months ago.” she said, looking around at her crew mates. “Now we may be able to go to the stars!”

  “Not only that,” said Munen, “it is usual for new signatory peoples to send ambassadors to live on other planets to learn about their cultures and laws. If you learn scientific principles on another planet during your journey, and bring them back to your home planet, that is not illegal. Of course, no one will intentionally teach you these things, but when you have access to schools, libraries, and people, it would be hard not to learn some things.”

  The questions on trade and legality continued on with growing excitement, putting an end to the scheduled class. This was a doorway the Trailblazer personnel had not seen in front of them. Once it was open, it was easy to imagine all the good aspects without thinking of any of the bad. For that part of their day, they forgot that they were on a crippled alien ship that was unable to lift off from the moon – which was exactly one of the dangers Munen and Vaana had been talking about. Travellor was thinking thinking about the mineral Munen had mentioned, and wondered just how much of it was on the moon – and how much was it worth.

  Chapter 9

  Contact

  1

  March 2007

  Tonio looked up at the stars that shone overhead. It was an amazing sight. The crater was presently in the shadow of the moon and there was no ambient light to affect his view. As he lay on top of the crate he could see what must have been millions of stars, and each one distinct and bright. Were they different colors or was his imagination affecting his vision? Or maybe it had something to do with the Ganaphe' helmet he was looking through. Every astronomer on Earth would love to be here and see what he was seeing. But now it was time to get back to work, and he rolled off the crate and back onto his feet. He was almost done. The freedom the Ganaphe' space suit gave him made it feel like he was just out for a nightly stroll. This was part of his physical therapy. He was out here gathering the bits and pieces of the shipping crates that had suffered a less than successful landing. None of it was very heavy here on the moon. It was Toisae's recommendation to Commander Travellor that Tonio be assigned this task as the bending and lifting would help strengthen his body. The Commander took the doctor's recommendations very seriously. As he had said to Tonio, 'The doctor saved your life. We could not have. As far as I'm concerned, until she gives you a clean bill of health she owns you.' He didn't mean it literally of course, but if she said something was part of the treatment for Tonio's recovery it carried the same weight as an order from Travellor.

  Tonio didn't mind. He knew Toisae had his best interests in mind. After five days of this he had found almost all of the scattered materials, including loose hardware, tools, and pieces of damaged electronic equipment, which he placed on the floating platform that followed him around. Some items could still be used, and some could be repaired. Both the primary and the backup communications systems had been damaged, but JJ had said he could scavenge pieces from both to make one working system. He had almost finished that, and everyone was hopeful they could call home soon. The Ganaphe' had said that it would be a violation one of their laws to allow Trailblazer personnel to use their communications systems for contact with Earth. They had a lot of laws concerning contact with a new species, but who would know if they did? Tonio hadn't made up his mind if the Ganaphe' were law abiding because of respect for the law or fear of the consequences. Maybe both.

  Some of the water containers had been damaged, and the water from them had disappeared. He thought this was strange as he had expected to find it frozen, on the ground close by, but it was gone. 'One small mystery for mankind.' he thought. The physical work did make him feel better. His various pains and aches had diminished to the point where he no longer paid attention to them and, except for lifting heavy loads, he felt fairly normal. He wasn't going to worry about it. The water containers that had survived would supply the Trailblazer base station that was being built, and they wouldn't have to ask the Ganaphe' to share their supply. But until reliable communication was established with Earth, all water related activities would take place on the Orysta so that the water could be recovered and re-used.

  2

  “Earth base, this is Trailblazer. Do you copy? Over.”

  Jibble Delfin choked on the bite of bagel that suddenly was trying to go down the wrong part of his throat. His eyes went wide open, not because he was choking on his breakfast but because for over a month his assignment had been to monitor this radio in the hope of hearing from people that everyone knew were probably dead. Farber-Chatwell himself had put Jibble on this assignment, no doubt as a punishment for something Jibble had never been able to determine. His muscular and slightly overweight body convulsed with his choking as he tried to regain control of his breathing to answer the call, but when he tried to speak his coughing overrode his voice. For over four weeks he had spent twelve hours a day here, going home only to sleep and take care of necessities. That gave him a lot of time to try to figure out what he had done wrong, and still he couldn't.

  “Earth base, this is Trailblazer. Do you copy? Over.”

  Jibble quickly took a swallow of coffee. It helped.

  “Trailbl... cough, cough, cough. Trailb.... cough, cough, cough.” was the best Jibble could do. He took another swallow of coffee, calmed himself, and took a deep breath. Then he tried again. “Trailblazer! …, Trailblazer! …,” he got out in staccato, “Earth base responding. Over. Is that you? Is it really you? Jibble looked around at the walls of the room, where sixteen by twenty inch photos of each member of the Trailblazer team had been hung.

  There was a pause of a few seconds, and Delfin began to wonder if he had lost the signal. Then Jibble heard a group of cheering voices over the radio.

  “Earth base, this is Trailblazer. Yes it's us. Who is this? Who am I talking to? Over.”

  “This is communications specialist Delfin. Over... OH MY GOD – YOU'RE ALIVE!... uuuh, over... again.”

  There was silence again, which confused Jibble.

  “Delfin, did you say? I think I've met you. This is mission commander Anthony Travellor. Listen closely Delfin. We're working on a patched up rig, so I'm not sure how long it's going to remain operational. Get this to Farber-Chatwell. All team members are alive and well. Ran into unexpected welcoming committee on arrival. Details for your ears only. Did you get that, Delfin? Over.”

  “Yes Commander. All team members alive and well. Unexpected welcoming committee. Your ears only. Over.”

  The large bright red flashing light on the ceiling immediately caught Delfin's attention. The radio remained quiet, and Jibble thought again that he lost Trailblazer's signal.

  “What time is it there Delfin?”

  Delfin quickly checked the clock.

  “Zero four thirty-seven Commander.”

  Again silence. He was just about to repeat himself when he heard Travellor talking.

  “Ah – good. This clock I took from the ship is working correctly. Sort of lost track of time for a while. Going to sign off now. Have a cup of coffee for me Delfin. Can't tell you how much we'd like one up here. Over.”

  “SIR! - Before you go. I believe the Commander is on his way here! Don't you want to talk to him?”

  Silence again. 'There must be transmission delay from the moon. That's it!' Jibbl
e remembered. 'How long was that supposed to be?'.

  “Ears only Delfin. When he has that set up, tell him to transmit on our scheduled comm periods. We'll be waiting to hear from him. Travellor out.”

  3

  Farber-Chatwell's eyes popped open, and he didn't know why. He heard voices that shouldn't be there - he was the only one in the house. Then he recognized Anthony Travellor's voice and knew he was still asleep - except he wasn't! 'The receiver.' he thought, the concept solidifying in his thoughts. 'It's coming from the the linked receiver.' He looked at the clock on his night table – it was four thirty-three in the morning. His body jumped upright of its own volition.

  The linked receiver picked up encoded transmissions from the Trailblazer communication control room. There was only two of them – one in his bedroom beside his bed, and one downstairs in his home office – and they only worked when his ID badge was within four feet of them. He had ordered them built so he would have a better chance of knowing if Trailblazer made contact. He was fully awake now. It was Travellor's voice and he was talking to Delfin. He knew he had picked the right people to man that control room. Delfin and Sawyers had both met the Trailblazer team several times while the team was training for the mission. He had wanted radio operators who had a personal connection to Trailblazer and could put faces to the missing people. He believed this would give the men more incentive to do the job, and both men had not disappointed him. For weeks they had worked twelve hour shifts, seven days a week. They had given up their normal lives to accomplish this job – everyone assigned to mission Trailblazer had.

  Farber-Chatwell turned up the volume on the receiver, then slapped the large button on top of it, which began to flash red. The button initiated a signal back to the control room causing a red light located there to flash, to indicate to the man on duty that Farber-Chatwell was monitoring the communication. He quickly headed for the bathroom to begin dressing. He had to get there – had to BE there! No time for formal attire. No time for socks. Sweats and sneakers would be the quickest way to dress. 'What the hell? Did he say welcoming committee?' he thought. That phrase made him stop for a second. 'That's not good.' He pulled a sweat top over his head, jumped into the pants, slid his feet into the shoes, shoved socks and underwear in his pocket, and headed downstairs. The minutes were ticking by.

  4

  It was high-fives and cheers all around the Trailblazer team, as Travellor terminated communications with their base on Earth. Vaana and Munen stood further back in the room, each smiling at their friends' success. A lot had been done in the short time the two peoples had been together, but this marked the beginning of the future for both groups. By law, Munen was not allowed to contact the base on Earth. Now that the humans had made the contact he would be allowed to communicate to their commander and attempt to form an understanding that would allow the exchange of supplies, as well as having the Orysta crew travel to the planet. This would allow the Ganaphe' to leave this isolation they had been trapped in for too long. He would create a leave schedule before ending his day, so that it would be ready to be implemented. Before the humans showed up, the isolation was becoming a mental health issue,. Now that they were here everyone hoped it might mean they could soon leave this barren moon, even if just for a short time. To be able to walk on a planet again, where a sun provided light and warmth, and air could be freely breathed, would put a positive attitude back into his crew. The humans would benefit also, as the Ganaphe' could give them the means for real-time travel to and from the planet with much greater safety and speed than would have been possible with their own vehicles.

  There was a lot going on, and things were moving quickly. Contact with the Earth would not only affect the physical and mental well being of his crew, but may possibly make available the means to begin the long journey back home – something that was lacking now. The Orysta was stuck, and the equipment and supplies they had on hand could not free it. Munen knew his crew would realize this, and it would energize them. Every mirlot saved would be one mirlot less before they could see their families again.

  5

  Farber-Chatwell stepped down from the shuttle, and tried to take in what was in front of him. It was less than an hour ago an invisible ship appeared in his own back yard, carrying Anthony Travellor, Dal Yimka, and two strangers that were introduced as Tahn-grilik Intul-sil-Califas and Lead Technician Mengu-sil-Valian. 'What the hell is a Tahn-grilik?' he remembered thinking. Travellor had placed a bracelet on his wrist, and the foreign language the two strangers were speaking was translated through it, attenuating the sound from his ears and sending signals directly to his brain. It took him a while to learn to ignore the diminished sound his ears heard, and listen to the second louder translated voice. He had been told they would only stay long enough to pick him up and depart, but Travellor did take the time to go into his kitchen and grab a bottle of Irish Whiskey and two pounds of coffee beans, which he claimed were mission critical supplies. He was still trying to believe what his eyes were seeing when they left Earth's atmosphere and made the trip to the moon at what was described to him as minimal cruise speed.

  Now he was on the moon, inside the landing bay of the inter-galactic mining ship Orysta – and it was unbelievably large. He had been on container ships that he thought were huge at the time, but some of them were smaller than this. In front of him, standing in a line and facing him were the rest of the Trailblazer team. Opposite them and standing in a similar manner were the crew of the Orysta. That was when he noticed the name tags. Both human and Ganaphe' wore them, with a slight difference. On the Trailblazer team their names were written in English on top, and below that an unfamiliar script. On the Ganaphe' the names were in that script on top, and below they were written in English.

  Farber-Chatwell looked back at the four men behind him and noticed for the first time that they were wearing similar name tags. All eyes were on him. The man at the front of the Orysta crew stepped towards him.

  “I am Artau-sil-Munen, Grilik of the Orysta. Welcome to my ship.”

  “Thank you.” said Farber-Chatwell. “I am Robert Farber-Chatwell. Commander in charge of the Trailblazer mission. Thank you for taking care of my people. I am very grateful.”

  Munen introduced each of his crew members, and greetings were exchanged, formally and a bit stiffly. Farber-Chatwell was a stranger to these people, and they were not yet as comfortable with each other as the Trailblazer team and the Orysta crew were.

  6

  The sharing of a meal is a universal gesture of good will. Farber-Chatwell was introduced to some good but basic Ganaphe' food. But it takes time and familiarity for two peoples from different galaxies to be at ease with each other. The Ganaphe' and the Trailblazer team had reached that point, but for Farber-Chatwell this was all new and strange. The thought that just outside the structure of the ship was the cold and airless environment of the moon kept popping into his mind. The meal consisted of a combination of Ganaphe' foods and re-hydrated Earth foods. At the end of the meal, when everyone was full and relaxed, Travellor brought out from the kitchen several containers of hot black coffee. Now the Ganaphe' would try something they had heard Trailblazer members often mention. The Ganaphe' had several beverages made with various plants from their home world, but nothing had come close to coffee for the Trailblazer team. Everyone in the room was poured a cup. Some sniffed it to see if they could determine if the beverage would be palatable by its smell.

  “For our extra-terrestrial neighbors,” started Travellor, “I suggest that first you take a sip before adding sweetener or creamer, to get a taste of coffee itself. Be careful – it's hot.”

  They all did as instructed. Some liked the taste of the coffee, and others thought it was too bitter.

  “Now try it with some sweetener. Start with a little and increase the amount to your taste. On Earth some people drink it with a large variety of flavorings, but if it's good coffee you will only need sweetener. I like it with just sugar, and sometimes
a touch of cream. After you find the right amount of sweetener, try it with creamer. I'm looking forward to trying it with bliml.”

  “Bliml ?” queried Farber-Chatwell.

  “You would consider it a combined creamer and sweetener.” replied Munen. “It comes from a plant that grows on our home planet. Commander Travellor has said that it should go well with your coffee.”

  The Ganaphe' did as suggested, and most of them liked the beverage. Others thought their own beverages were much better. The tasting was as much entertainment as it was a sharing, and the mood grew more relaxed. But there lingered a tension in the room, brought on by Farber-Chatwell's presence. The Ganaphe' hadn't had time to get to know him yet, and vice versa. Travellor had explained to Munen and his crew that Farber-Chatwell had both the capability and the resources to get the things they desired. He made it clear to them that this was a man whose influence should not be underestimated.

  Since Farber-Chatwell normally added cream and sugar to his coffee, he decided to give the bliml a try, and a very pleased expression appeared on his face. He took a few more sips of his coffee with bliml.