The Event Series (Book 3): The Archive and Beyond

by Thomas Larson

  March 31

  I woke up a little late I think, but headed down to ‘Asuna’s Room’. It was # 487. I never noticed the little numbers on the outside before. She was still in bed, just lying there with a smile.

  “Good morning, how did you sleep?” I asked.

  “It was wonderful, once I was allowed to finally crawl into bed. I remembered, Gram was there with me, and Pokie Puss.” She held up a Hello Kitty stuffed animal.

  “Nice, but what do you mean finally allowed?”

  “I had a visitor last night after you left. We talked for a while, about things, but he made me promise not to say anything.”

  “Let me guess it was either Krezz or Brimk and I am thinking Krezz,” I offered.

  “Yes, but how did you know?”

  “Well, seems I also had a visitor, it was RRqil, and she also wanted to talk, and I will bet it was about the same thing.”

  “Well, since you guessed, yes, Krezz had questions about our relationship, and how we bonded. He is interested in RRqil but is at a loss for what to do. I guess they, the QUalz have some pretty strict mating customs.” She said.

  She lifted the bedcovers and invited me to join her and Kitty Puss. I accepted willingly.

  “Yea, that is what RRqil said, she is in love with Krezz, but tradition and Brimk are in the way for their bonding. She was asking pretty much the same questions.”

  “Well, romance boy, what did you tell her?”

  “I suggested that she just tell him what is going on, what is on her mind and then see where it goes from there.”

  “Ah, the subtle approach, your strong suit” she laughed.

  “And you? What did you suggest?”

  “The subtle approach, get her alone and communicate his feeling to her.”

  I thought about it for a moment then said; “Well that works on one side, but what about the tradition. How are they going to get around the promise to Brimk thing?”

  “That is a problem, but I wonder….”

  “Uh oh, we aren’t gonna put Brimk to sleep are we, in the name of love.” I chuckled.

  She gave me a sour look, “No, but we might try going to speak with KHriz and HYlon, shoot for the special dispensation.”

  “That might work; we can give it a try, just to cover that side of it. The rest they will have to work out together.”

  We spent a little more time in her bed, I turned Kitty away from us; we wanted no audience.

  Later in the day we tried to visit KHriz and HYlon. But when we reached the door we were turned away by the posted doorman. But it was all in clicks and strange sounds that neither Asuna nor I understood.

  “The First Hatched is not available at this time. He is currently in suspension and unable to see visitors.” Winston translated.

  “Winston, ask the doorman if HYlon is available.”

  After much clicking from Winston, the doorman made a call on his communications device. Moments later the door opened and HYlon greeted us. She invited us in.

  “I am sorry for the wait at the door, I was not aware of your presence” she said. “How can I help you?”

  We explained our visits from Krezz and RRqil and what they had told us. She listened intently and as the conversation continued she became lighter and lighter. Then she broke out in a grimace and hiccups.

  “So let me understand, we have two who are not promised to each other, interested in bonding, but they are too traditional to make the request to break the vows.”

  “That pretty much nails it,” I said.

  HYlon looked from me to Asuna and back.

  “Yes, that is correct,” said Asuna, giving me a kind of a ‘keep your language simple and to the point’ look.

  “The First Hatched may be able to help, but he is on another special level at the moment, and I cannot speak with him on the matter right now. But I will be joining him there soon and we will speak of this” stated HYlon. “I have always disliked the idea of promised bonding, so this is finally an opportunity for change. And I think that there will be a change. You have done your part, I will resolve the rest. But let us not share with them that we have met. ”

  “Thank you, Krezz and RRqil are good friends,” I replied.

  We talked a little more about the upcoming stasis and I told her that we were disappointed that we would not have the chance to have dinner with KHriz and her again before we climbed into the capsule.

  As we got ready to leave HYlon said, “It is interesting that they went to you, trust you and sought your help. It is an honor that they have given you. I think that the bonding that you have together must has inspired them.”

  I think the hardest part of the rest of the day was when we had to meet with Krezz and his crew to go over details of the stasis. We knew what we had done, but we were kind of stuck in not revealing it.

  The afternoon, for lack of a better term was spent staring at Mars, the Red Stone Marker. We crossed by the orange landscape, it is clearly orange and not red. Krezz, who was watching with us, said that it was because of the thin atmosphere content and the iron composition of the planetary crust.

  We saw the Olympus Mon, the huge extinct volcano. We also saw the Columbia Hills. Krezz added some filtering process to the view window that resulted in our being able to see the sulfur spewed from one of the lesser volcanos. It was breathtaking.

  I turned to Krezz, “It is too bad that we couldn’t take a shuttle to the surface and actually walk on the planet.”

  “That would be an unsafe adventure; we have no suits for you to wear that would protect you from the cold, radiation and low oxygen levels. And only KHriz could authorize such a trip” he replied.

  “Just a wish, I understand” I smiled.

  The sunset over the planet, we circled to the back side of Mars, we were on our way home now, and tomorrow it would be nap time.

  We spent the night in room #487, with Kitty Puss. The bed was kind of tight, but it worked.

  April 1st

  We lazed about for a while this morning, granted there would be plenty of rest over the next months, but we had time to use before it was time.

  Brimk came and got us just after the noon meal. He escorted us to the stasis area. Krezz and RRqil were already there.

  Krezz stood before us and asked, “Are you prepared?”

  “Let’s get to it” I replied, Asuna shook her head up and down.

  We climbed into the pods and Krezz and RRqil began to hook us up.

  ****Forgive me Tom, I am making a voice entry into Readpad 37, and I have not asked if I may. You both are in stasis now. But I want to just add the last few minutes of pre-stasis.

  “Krezz, one last favor before you seal us in, I have given some last dictations to Winston here. Would you keep him safe until we wake up?”

  I looked you and lighten (am happy). “You wish me to protect your journal? I am honored, it will be done.”

  As you and Asuna lay there, it was remarkable. You looked at each other, smiled; and mouth words that I think were ‘I love you’ and then joined hands as you slipped to stasis. I wish it was RRqil and me, together.

  July 18th

  I wakened, and was kind of cold, a little thirsty and actually kind of refreshed, I looked over at Asuna, she was staring at me smiling.

  “Welcome back there hmong. It’s about time. I have been sitting here waiting.” She said.

  The capsule was open but there was no sense of urgency, no rushing around, we had just woken up like we were supposed to and everything was perfect. And yet there was something going on, or maybe it was my imagination. RRqil was standing a little closer to Krezz than she did before we went to sleep.

  I later found out over toasted bagels with cream cheese and coffee, real coffee obtained from KHriz’s stash, that KHriz and HYlon intervened on their behalf and Brimk was given another bonding partner. It all worked out and it was good.

  We had to do some tests for the duration of the day and were none the worse for wear. Then at
dinner time we were summoned to see the First Hatched and HYlon. It began as a happy reunion and HYlon had created, or should I say re-created, the Velveeta and Spam casserole.

  After the meal, and a couple of glasses of Spanada wine, another bottle of low budget delight, we began to relax and just chat. I wonder if they ever found any MD 20/20 or Ripple. I did ask about the wine thing and they said that they enjoyed drinking wine, and an occasional beer, but hard liquor was not an option. It appears that the distilled spirits were just too strong and could have fatal results.

  “Tom, Asuna, we are two days from your departure, your return home” KHriz told us. “I have been in contact with Matt from home and he and the others are doing well. They have had a few problems, but they are well, and changing, changing themselves and the ways of the world.”

  “That is great, is Margo okay?”

  “Yes, they were all fine.”

  I never liked that word, fine, it just always hit me wrong, ‘fine’ to me was sort of saying “yea I’m not fine, but I don’t want to share it.” But in this case, the QUalz would not know about all that.

  “But there is a little problem, not with home, but with your trip. I instructed Krezz not to tell you, but we have had a problem with the ship and while we originally were going to shuttle you down to your camp and then return to the ship we can’t do that. We can get you to Earth, but it may not be as close to Romanica as we would like.”

  I looked at them for a minute and could see a little color shift. “But it will be close, yes?”

  “I am not going to lie on this, we are not sure, we have to send you down in an escape pod, and they are not steerable, they are meant for getting you down, best location, ASAP. What we are working on is trying to play with the release point and to be able to use that point to aim you as close as we can. But the rub is that we need to make a water landing. Setting down on land would not be good. You would probably survive, but there would be problems.” KHriz told us.

  “Well, we really have no choice here, we need to get down and I know that Krezz and your people will do the best they can.” I was not pleased with what was happening, but what else could I say. We have come this far.

  It kind of put a damper on the visit and a little while later as Asuna and I walked toward our room, # 511, she asked me, “Will we make it home safe?”

  “Yeah, I think we will get down alright, and we’ll hit water, my concern is where that water will be and once down how far will we be from home.”

  Kind of sums it up. Sleep was elusive.

  July 19th

  It’s maddening to have to sit and wait for it. It is like being a kid at Christmas, no, actually more like waiting for your report card to come in the mail when you have not done as well as you should have. We know we are heading to Earth, but there are questions.

  Asuna and I spent the morning looking at the Earth as it comes closer and closer and soon we would be back home..

  “Winston, how long before we are going to leave the ship?” I asked.

  “The exact time has not yet been confirmed. The planners are still projecting and calculating the numbers.”

  “Give me a ballpark then?”

  “Ballpark, I do not see the relevance of a sports arena to your question.”

  “Agh, Winston, I am sorry, okay, is there a projected window, or timeframe for departure of our pod?”

  There was a lapse of a minute or so and then Winston said, “The current projections show a timeframe of between 28 and 31 hours. The navigation staff is still working on the final trajectory and part of that is in figuring out how to use your companion rock to adjust the speed of the escape pod.”

  I figured out he was talking about the moon.

  After lunch Asuna and I did a little more exploring of the Hive and the rooms that were created for various guests taken from Earth.

  “Let’s stick with rooms in the late 400s and early 500s today” Asuna suggested.

  “I am good with that; now that we know they are numbered and sequenced it gives us a little better idea on the approximate years of the visitors.”

  “Okay, pick a number say, 470 to 505.” She said.

  “487” I quickly responded.

  She laughed and gave me a shove, “Ah, no, not the room with Kitty Puss.”

  I did my best to look disappointed, and then said, “How about 474.”

  As we walked through the door, I stopped, stunned, almost as if I had been hit with a hammer. The walls were a light blue, the twin beds on either side of the windows, the desk and drawers that my dad had made. I remembered it all, I slide open the desk drawer to the right of where my chair went, it was empty, all the drawers were empty. There were no familiar folded clothes in them. The bookcases had knick-knacks, my gold Pinewood Derby race car #23, and some books. What looked like my copy of Lord of the Rings that Harry Lee had given me back when we spent the summer at Cape Cod was there but when I opened the Fellowship, but I already knew, the words were not there.

  “Tom?”

  “Asuna, I, here, I was one of the taken!” I almost shouted. “But I don’t remember it.” I pointed to my bed, “That was mine, and that was Nick’s.”

  Then it hit me, maybe it wasn’t me, “Winston, who was the occupant of this room?”

  “I am not allowed to reveal that information. The file is blocked.”

  “Winston, was it me?”

  “I am not allowed to reveal that information. The file is blocked.”

  “Winston, WAS IT ME?” by now my heart was pounding, and I was …. I can’t even say. Asuna had tried to calm me, then a voice came from behind me.

  “Yes Tom, it was you, you visited us in 1970, January.” It was Krezz, RRqil stood behind him.

  “But, but I don’t remember. I never…I couldn’t have.”

  “You did, for two days.”

  “But I don’t…”

  “No, you would not. You were ill, very ill, it blocked your memory.” Krezz added.

  “But why, why did you take me? If I was sick, what good would it have been for your research, what would you have learned?”

  “I cannot explain, it was on KHriz’s order, he only told me to make sure that you did not sleep.”

  My mind raced, was I that sick, was I …… dying when they took me. I vaguely recall being sick, I had a fever, I hurt…but that was all I could remember and I wasn’t even sure it that was the right time period. .

  “Krezz, can you tell me anymore? Was I dying and you saved me?”

  “Yes, yes and no, yes, you were dying, we did save you, and no, I can tell no more because I do not know anymore. KHriz simply said that you had a place to be and that you were not to sleep. I could get no more from him. I have often wondered, and even when we came down to get Asuna I was told not to speak of your earlier visit.”

  Asuna and I headed, more like raced to KHriz’s room. When we arrived, his protector told us that he and HYlon were on another plane. I still do not understand this ‘other plane’ thing. Dejected we walked back toward our room #511.

  “Tom, you gonna be okay?” asked Asuna.

  “Yeah, it is just kind of a shock. I mean, your visit was or seemed kind of cool, but mine, I don’t remember and seems so very mysterious. Asuna, why take a kid who is sick and save him, why was it so important?”

  “I don’t know,” she said

  I didn’t sleep much. I was trying to recall, trying to find pieces of a puzzle that just weren’t there. When I get back, maybe I can talk to Teckla and Nick, they may have something, a piece of the puzzle.

  July 20th

  I am still distracted by the find yesterday. I am trying to remember. I have snippets of the past; I remember my Uncle Sven, and my Grandparents, and Christmases long ago. I remember the Toompta Guber, the flaming presents, the football jersey gift in the underwear box, but no, nothing of the QUalz.

  RRqil and Krezz stopped by to check on me. I mean I am fine, just confused. The ‘why was I taken’ still ha
unts me.

  “Asuna, Tom, can you stop down to my lab a little later. I want to update you on the trip home and show you the escape pod that you will use.”

  “Yes, of course,” said Asuna, “Is about an hour good?”

  “Perfect, we shall see you then.”

  She and I sat for a little bit, and as we did, I gained more and more control of what was in my head. It was kind of like yeah, you were taken, and don’t member it, so what, how is that gonna change anything? Let it go.

  “Asuna, can we go back to #474 for a little bit? I doubt I will get any answers, but like you with your room and Kitty Puss, I would just like to sit and remember what it was like back then.”

  She took my hand, smiled and led the way.

  It is funny, and I had noticed this long ago, often when you have a memory float to the surface it triggers a whole series of other memories. I doubted that I would remember the trip from 1970, but it would be good to remember other things, the days of old.

  As I lay back on my old bed, things rushed back into my mind, and I can’t write about all of them. Some were silly, some were shameful, and some were just there. I remember each morning being awakened by my Dad as he came down the hall doing a kind of reveille thing, or hearing my parent’s clock radio playing the ‘Happy Wanderer’.

  I told Asuna about the differences between Nick and me. Things like how my half of the room and closet was always neat and tidy, and his was less so.

  So many stories and each one was like an octopus with arms running off to other stories. I remembered the Mickey Mouse that my dad had drawn under the hardwood floor in our bedroom closet, and that led to the floor in the house we lived in before that. The bedroom there had blue and yellow linoleum squares for flooring. It just went on, memory after memory.

  “Asuna, let’s get out of here.” I finally said, standing up.

  “You okay?”

  “Oh yeah, it is just too much, I am overloading on the past, it’s a fun place to visit for a while, but it is gone, I can’t change it, no do-overs. We have the present to deal with, let’s go see Krezz and RRqil.”

  The escape pod was larger than I expected, I guess years of sci-fi movies had burned an image of an 8 foot round can into my mind. This was bigger, and the inside was like, of what I could best describe as, a large SUV, bigger actually, more like a small RV. It had a little cooking area, and beds, and a toilet. It was not so elaborate that it had wood paneling but it did have brushed metal and plastic surfaces.