by Grant Fausey
"Good directions," laughed Jerolda Manchi. "Are you lost? Want me to take the lead for a while?"
Tee conceded; the trail was covered. "No," he said with a smile. He wasn't about to let it happen again, not without a direct attack on his pride. Jerolda Manchi had managed to get one over on him earlier, and Tee had no intention of letting it happen again. He thought about it for a moment then kicked his stubby little friend with the broadside of his foot.
Jerolda Manchi went sailing into the center of the grassy corridor, spinning to a halt in the middle of the cobblestone runway. Relix’s radar eye opened wide, bathed in the uneven light of the evening’s fading sunset. "We've a rendezvous to keep, don't forget," yelped Tee. "The Proteus Mona will be in contact range shortly and old Treads will be sending down a shuttle to pick us up, unless we come up with something useful, fast."
"Oh..." said Tee, looking past Jerolda Manchi. The spectacle beyond the archway caught his eye, "… would you take a look at that!"
Relix wrenched his neck to see behind him, stepped under the dome archway and emerged into an enormous hanger. His mouth drooped open––the sight awe-inspiring. An interlinked support structure stretched upward from the floor to the ceiling in one vast movement fastened at the top, interlocking above what app eared to be a loading dock. Wrapped around the huge cargo mover; its structure slung from the top of the bay around the core of the ship.
A multitude of tiny workers mounted the hauler working like honeybees, disappearing into the top of the structure one after another. Tee followed the bug workers with his eyes across the floor with his eyes, until the vanished on both sides of the starship into a transparent, glass–like structure that trailed off along the curve of the structure ramp. At least, a hundred levels dropped into the darkness and just as many floors existed overhead. They were somewhere in the middle.
The core of interconnected honeycombs reflected in Relix’s radar eye like an upside down labyrinth, leaving him astounded, then dumfounded. Before him, a big as a house, lumbered the monstrous shape of the cargo ship. It rested silently perched atop the loading dock line stretching outward along the concourse of long ramps, where a multitude of landing struts connected to a full range of mechanical wonders. Cargo moved up each strut into the base of the spacecraft on both sides of the spacecraft, while smaller, beetle–shaped machines suspended from a single appendage made minor adjustments to the vehicle.
Tee huffed, letting out a breath of fresh air completely mesmerized by the spectacle. He looked at Relix and smiled. His senses overwhelmed, but with a shake of his head, he was definitely ready to go, back in operational mode. On-the-other-hand, Jerolda Manchi jerked to the sound of clamoring hooves turning around … Dinosaurs! He screamed.
The tree-dweller recognizing the sound from somewhere in his DNA, before letting out a deafening scream no one heard. The corridor was bursting with huge powerful legs, feet pounding like jackhammers under the hooves of a dozen or so multi-legged machines headed for the ship's cargo hold beneath the umbrella array. Tee's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Before him, weaving in and out of the framework along the wings of a butterfly, the beasts clamored out a scream. The dinosaurs resembled cattle driven to market. If not for the sound of heavy doors opening, Tee was content to let his receptors take it all in; however, the noise set off an alarm in his head, immediately drowned out the noise of pounding feet against the rumble of a rocky cobblestone floor.
The little Trod screamed, leaping out of the way. Two spidery, six-legged creatures smacked the floor, lashing out against the rock as if in a flight for his life. On-the-other-hand, the herders snapped at the dinosaur's heels rushing them around the curves of the corridor, never missing a beat. An instant later, the beasts mounted the ramp into the cargo transport.
Jerolda Manchi darted between the legs in his own flight to reach the other side of the docking bay. Tee right behind him. Then … Smack! Tee ran headlong into the rock wall on the other side of the corridor at a full gallop and collapsed to the floor, sliding down the wall to sit beside the tree-dweller.
"Catch your breath," stressed Jerolda Manchi, trying to be heard above all the noises, but Tee didn't answer, he just looked up at him with a blank stare, terrified by the ordeal; his mouth drooped open. "We have to figure this out," continued the old tree-dweller.
Tee nodded, moaning. “Why did you bring me here?”
The shadows of a hundred or more varieties of dinosaurs scramble past him, leaving the Trods in a cloud of dust. "I think we'd better do things my way for a while,” said Relix, “before you get us both killed––or worse."
Relix crossed the corridor, oblivious to anything but his counterpart. Tee’s mind clouded with microcircuit gibberish until the last shadow passed by and screeching tires attacked him. Jerolda Manchi zigzagged out of the way, ending up about half way across the cobblestone runway, only to disappear into a soft, spongy surface. Tee muttered. Jerolda Manchi screamed louder than either of the Trod’s sensors could calculate.
"Get me out of here!" he yelled. A tiny fist gripped his arm and pulled. Jerolda Manchi gasped for air and spun around to face the huge machine, looking up passed the immense tires to the sheer size of the hauling machine. The mechanism tilted downward, greeting him in a strong Texan accent.
"Well––howdy, partners," announced the device. Tee remained perfectly still; his knees quivering. "You sure are a little fellow," continued the machine in a southern draw. "You'd better stick with me, before someone accidentally steps on you. Your friends there, too."
Tee gazed up in a haggled stare, wearisome trying to get a grip on his fear of the unknown, but couldn't. He was afraid. The machine hummed with movement, alive with an unusual sense all its own. It was a sort of shovel–shaped thing, with a long neck and spongy tires that resembled flapjacks on a pancake turner. The head descended along the side of the mover, drawing back as it spoke again with the strong Texan draw. "You fellows just step aboard and we'll get out of here."
Jerolda Manchi pushed in on the tire, trying to steady himself on the boarding ramp. The tire felt strangely soft and not very durable. In a way, it resembled skin. The platform lifted on a smooth cushion of air, taking only a moment to reach the top of the vehicle's back. The pancake turner lowered to the middle of the flatbed and barely touched the top of the platform.
"Step off simultaneously, will you," groaned the machine. His demeanor was a gesture of friendship. "Wouldn't want to rock the boat." Tee smiled then stepped onto the spongy surface, both feet sinking into the coating. The machine's head dropped closer, glaring down at the three of them. His voice rattled with the loudness of a nearby thunderstorm.
"It's a good thing I happened along," bellowed the Tripodal mover. "Or you two sidewinders could have gotten left behind. Where did you fellows come from, any-who?"
Jerolda Manchi chuckled, shook his head. It was like listening to a child. Tee panted, out a deep breath. He tried keeping his cool, but his mind roamed a million answers. None of which seemed appropriate. The truth of the mattered was too simple for words. He was just a traveler. Anything else would be a lie, and he couldn't lie. It was against his character, so he thought about it for a minute and finally said: "That's what we're trying to find out, if you take my meaning, Sir."
"Well-–– hell son!" laughed the machine, rolling forward somewhat easier with each turn of its organic wheels. "We've all been trying to figure that out for as long as I've been around. I've even heard tell of a rumor. I've heard tell they've sent out exploration critters, in some sort of teams. They're supposed to try and make some heads or tails out of it: Mathematical calculation experts at that. Some kind of super genius, I reckon."
The Tripodal hesitated and thought for a moment. "Hey," he said stretching upward as the notion come to mind. "You fellows wouldn't be one of them types, would yeah?"
Jerolda Manchi jerked; his head concealing his smile with an awkward grin. "Us?" he answered. "Hah...."
Tee countered
with a crack in his voice. "We're just a couple of wanderers, trying to find our way, that's all."
"Well––" said the Tripodal. "In that case, we'd better get you on board the Earthcore Two. She'll be departing for the far side of the galaxy at sunset."
"The Eden Sector," Tee whispered to himself. "Earth?" His mind raced at top speed, flying across the galaxy. At last he had something of value to report.
Relix gleamed; his large radar eye alive with the micro implants that controlled his communication systems. He was sending out a coded message to the Proteus Mona.
Tee could feel his genetically engineered blood cursing through the veins: A tingly feeling was rapidly taking over his whole body. For the first time, in as long as he could remember, he felt wonderful.
The little Trod twitched; his higher functions mere impulses, converted to coded symbols. The message flashed on the screen, and with little more than a thought, leaping from his transponders to the outside world and beyond. He had actually done something worthwhile and was feeling pleased with himself. The transmission began, and continued in overlapping succession:
FLASH ALERT
PROTEUS MONA
PREPARE TO COPY COORDINATES:
A78-5692334-B90-00003458 C78-9879 C
COORDINATES LOCKED
DATA UPLINK FOR ALL TEAMS
5 - 4 - 3 - 2 – 1
PRIORITY ONE –– TEAM ALPHA: RAMPIA
TO COMMANDER PROTEUS MONA
DATA UP LINK COMPLETE
PRIORITY ONE
INFORMATION CONCERNING POSSIBLE REGENERATION OF DINOSAUR FOOD SUPPLIES FOR INDUSTRY USE LOCATION AND DESTINATION STILL UNKNOWN
BELIEVE TO BE EDEN SECTOR
ALPHA TEAM DEPARTING ABOARD
HAULERS INCORPORATED ARK EARTHCORE II
REQUEST TIME LINK
RECOVERY OPERATION AND ATLANTIS RENDEZVOUS
– END TRANSMISSION –
Relix’s radar eye went blank waiting the microseconds it would take an answer to reach its destination and return. It seemed like decades. Tee listened, waiting and watching. The Tripodal was too involved in telling his own story of the good old days to be aware of Relix's transmission. He was a hauler at the time of the first regeneration, and had survived the great dismantling. "In fact," he said excitedly, "I was one of the few who’s been crated and transported to Rex's group in the Enay system. We stayed there until the first wave of genetic regeneration forced us into hiding on places like this."
"You mean Trinod Rex is here?" asked Tee.
"Nah, not anymore, it was at one time when … but that was a long time ago, before the Industries transformed Rampia."
Tee looked up at Jerolda Manchi. Something snapped in his programming. A pulse. "Most of the places were forgotten after the human wars," continued the Tripodal. "Rampia was no exception. I guess it was one of the places left to die on its own. But it hasn't. There's new life here. And it’s beginning to thrive. The Empire hasn't a clue of what's been going on here."
Tee glanced over at Relix again and gave him a glare. There was still no answer, but somehow the message didn't seem important anymore. Something intriguing was transpiring. The events of the past where well preserved here, and the future was taking a course into the unknown. The message was all to clear. Rampia was part of a secret operation, hidden away in the protected silence of the Eden Sector. There was no longer any doubt. Whatever it was, it was underway and closely guarded.
Relix and Tee had stumbled onto something bigger than both of them. And at the rate they were going, it was going to take centuries to find out just what it was. Their new friend Jerolda Manchi sat back against the spongy surface and watched as the ark's cargo door cranked open, allowing the Tripodal to track along the floor ramp and converge on the starships entrance. The inner doors slid sideways into the wall, leaving the edge barely visible beyond the opening. The ship appeared to be hollow inside, darkened to the point of blackness. Like an abyss with only a shadow of its contents exposed.
Finally, Relix’s radar eye lit up with the soft glow of a reply. Tee sighed a breath of relief––help was on its way.
ALPHA TEAM: RAMPIA
BEAMRIDER ATLANTIS II – DEPARTURE CONFIRMED
PROTEUS MONA PREPPING FOR TIME TRAVEL
RENDEZVOUS ATLANTIS AT DESTINATION
GOOD LUCK
A massive combination of technology and living machine, the starship Proteus Mona was a vast resource in the service of the Industries. Its glistening, scale-less shape slipped silently through the dark edges of space, a predator in search of prey. The hunt took the frigate to the boundaries between the great sphere of the Netherlands Nexus and the Trithen Barrier. The starship's twin upper fins repositioned in the void of space taking a new course through the blackness, while keeping the bulk of ship aligned for separation maneuvers.
The main hull quivered with electrical impulses that raced through the central access tube, running the quarter kilometer from bow to the stern of the spaceport. The arcs crisscrossed the conduits opening infinite lines between the docking supports and the ships four Beamrider shuttlecraft housings. Clear to maneuver, the aft docking supports released the main gantry and swung out along the spine extending the support arm. The docking port mechanism released as it yawned open, its interlocks setting the Beamrider free.
The ATLANTIS TWO lurched away from the docking supports, pivoting outward from the mechanism––a baby whale among the stars. The shaft slipped silently away from the docking latches, closing as the ship maneuvered under the power of several small exhaust thrusters. Each fired in unison, pushing the hulk into variance with the Proteus Mona. The ship’s generators whined, driven forward along a beam of proton plasma projected in a straight line from the nose generator. Similar electrical arcs raced across the surface of the converters sending a glow of amber light outward from the ship's starboard side. The space around the generator buckled, covering the hull in a fluctuating distortion that blended both energy and the bulk of the cruiser into a glittering aurora of electrical discharge. The Atlantis Two's six main engines fired, accelerating the Beamrider into the distant night sky. The Proteus Mona faded into oblivion. Her next stop, the rendezvous at Relix and Tee's destination.
• • •
The past...
Sara Jolland viewed the course of the two tiny living machines from a distance, staying airborne atop her dragon steed. Thoughts of her childhood had her preoccupied––memories of the first time she rode on dragon back. She was fourteen and could almost see over the head of the beast. She laughed: How silly she must have looked hovering in the wind, a great distance from the glowing lights of the machine cities. However, she was no longer a child, but a woman true to herself and steadfast in her beliefs. Yet, to the rest of the world, she was nothing more than a twinkling reflection in the sky: the oldest star point, flanked by a setting sun. She could feel the same acceleration coursing through her blood that pounded at her heart as a youth. She was ready for something grand to happen in her life; something she felt would never come.
The reins tightened and with a tug of her left hand, she pulled the beast in a new direction, heading to the north along the Athinian plain. She watched the curve of the landmass, following the trails in the sand to the old ruins: the stomping grounds of her youth. She smiled a happy smile. The memories of her first dragon ride still alive within her.
Her recollection was like the reflections of the metal city, half buried in the breath–taking view. It was a spectacle seen a million times, tucked tightly into the surface of a landmass––like the city, confined between the peaks of two mountain ranges, in a delicate beginning that was held together by the threads of a dwindling humanity. The city was like her father: cared for, but destined never to be whole again. If she'd only known her mother, then perhaps, her life would have been different; perhaps different for both of them. It was the part of living that bothered her most––being trapped in an endless cycle destined to remain a mystery.
> Instinct guided Jolland’s existence in much the same fashion. Most travellers to Rampia huddled in secrecy, holding meetings with the wizard Rallumn and her father. The time spent in their company left little to be remembered. The facts where twisted in a relationship between the living and the dead. Her father's every breath tormented the harsh realities of regeneration, something she'd forced herself to live with at an early age. Life itself beckoned, calling her to the only means of escape from this twisted and tainted world. But like always; fear-of-the-unknown kept her at bay; walking the long corridors of Administrator Rallumn's fortress. She wasn't afraid of the wizard, but closeness wasn't something she treasured either. For now, she was content to follow the newcomers; to keep an eye on them until the lifted from the Athinian Plain. She edged the reins back, tugging at the beast's neck with a sharp jerk in a westerly direction.
The steed glided upward into the heavens, taking a position from which she could watch the corridor of light as it rose from the docking port. The column lifted in a whirlwind of bellowing clouds and dust, pulling debris into the swirling mass. Like a tornado's funnel set high into the atmosphere, the brilliant pillar dropped away at the edges returning to the surface, before its essence reached the threshold of space.
Jolland leaned forward on her dragon, gripping the beast's neck in a hug. The dragon dropped out of the heavens on a single–minded course, using its huge wings to break its speed. One talon gripped the rocky soil as the other caught the pebbles of soft ground.
Keeping a taut grasp on the reins Jolland dismounted, standing at the isle's edge. The umbrella shaped cargo ship lifted from the city and cuddle the blanket of stars.
"Maccon," she whispered, "the transport is away."
"Thank you, Jolland...." echoed Maccon’s voice back to her.
"Without your help, the remnants of another time would be forgotten."
"I'm returning to the ranch, then?" asked Jolland. The wind began to howl and a fist full of snow flurries fell to the ground.