by Steve Simons
Chapter 7 I Can See Right Through You
Barry asks a somewhat embarrassing question, "Now you have these weapons and a means of travelling through the gateway, are you going to go charging through to other worlds conquering as many worlds that you can?"
Aseer-Alc is somewhat shocked by Barry's question and is speechless for a few seconds. Although she feels very angry at Barry's approach, she carefully thinks over what Barry has asked and what the boys have been through recently, before coming back with response. She says, "Actually you have a good point about future use of the gateway, we will need to be as peaceful as we can be otherwise we may create another enemy and be back to square one." Then Aseer-Alc takes both boys by surprise when she finishes by thanking Barry for the reminder.
Just then Dar-Reg enters the room and asks, "Ready boys are you to return to your place?"
"Well nothing like coming straight to the point" says Barry then continues, "Ready and willing as we will ever be, much as it has been nice staying here and getting to know more about your people and its culture."
The last part of Barry's statement kind of left Dar-Reg a bit cold, after all he didn't do 'culture'. Instead he looked around and said, well "Need we what to get you home?"
Aseer-Alc suddenly exclaims, "Remind me that did, forgot nearly I." and she darts off out of the door.
Barry and Tom collect their walkie talkies from their bedside lockers. Tom puts down the gaming unit that he had been playing with onto the locker, muttering, "Better not take this."
Dar-Reg smiles and says, "take it you please, have we plenty, miss two those we will not." Then he turns to Barry, "Take you yours too, do please you gift from us."
Barry is most touched by this kindness and asks, "Really, we can keep them? That is most kind of you."
Dar-Reg laughs and says, "Sell you the know tech and make lots of money you eh?"
Tom says, "Not a bad idea eh Barry?"
Aseer-Alc walks in with a big smile on her face and holds out two devices that are quite small and sort of oval in shape. She says, "Our know tech people had the idea that you may be able to contact us and let us know that you have arrived safely back in your place, or if you run into trouble we can possibly come and lend our help. These devices similar to your comms devices, but these are binarital, a bit complicated to explain, but apparently converts sound and other information into numbers before transfer."
"Oh yes we've got something like that called, digital" says Barry.
Aseer-Alc shows the boys how the devices work and finishes by saying, "Well actually they do far more than that, but you will probably never need the other things. Here are the instructions, in-case you need them. Dar-Reg smiles and nods at Barry, "Sell you those too eh?"
Barry and Dar-Reg laugh. Then the whole party set off for the waiting transport, another of those helicopter type craft.
They arrive at the location of the gateway.
"Well it is goodbye, perhaps we will meet again one day and don't worry I will keep in mind what you said Barry." says Aseer-Alc as she gives both boys a hug. Tom and Barry wave to Aseer-Alc and Dar-Reg and are about to step through the gateway, when Dar-Reg says, "Forgot me nearly give me these our Know Tech people, say they batteries you walkie talkies run out soon, these last much longer." He hands each boy what looks like a smaller version of a 9 volt battery.
Both boys thank Dar-Reg, pocket the batteries and switch on their walkie talkies then step through the gateway.
Tom steps to one side as he catches sight of something approaching at speed, if he had not moved, he would have been injured for sure.
"You ok?" Asks Barry, walking towards Tom.
"Yeah, just a bit of a shock.... you'd have thought that whatever it was would have steered away from me." replies Tom.
"I expect it was as shocked as you were, after all it's not everyday that someone just appears out of thin air." suggests Barry.
"Did you see that thing? It was like a small vehicle, completely see through, but there didn't seem to be any passengers. Nor a driver come to that." says Tom.
"Perhaps it is some sort of automated goods transport device." replies Barry.
"Whatever it is, it is very fast, look it's all the way over there now." says Tom pointing in the direction that the machine had travelled. It was then that both boys noticed that there were several of these things moving in all directions and in the background were some sort of buildings. Then another of these things passes quite close to the boys, stops, changes direction, approaches the boys and stops immediately in front of the boys. They notice that it is shorter than they are, reaching only as high as their shoulders. The boys can see each of the components within the device, including some sort of array of lights that is flashing.
Tom waves a hand at the device, in the hope that it recognises the action as peaceful. The device does nothing apart from flash its lights at Tom. Wanting to establish contact, Tom says, "We come in peace and mean you no harm." There is still no reaction apart from the flashing lights.
Barry says, "It doesn't appear to understand you."
Suddenly another of these things arrives and stops beside the other one, They flash lights at each other, but nothing else.
Tom reaches into his pocket and fishes out the communications device that Aseer-Alc had given him, "Better see if we can contact our friends." says Tom.
"But nothing to report as yet." says Barry.
"What about these things? Surely they are worth mentioning, anyway Aseer-Alc will probably be worried bout us." Tom replies as he fires up the comms device. After a short silence the comms device comes into life. At first the boys thought it was Aseer-Alc and Dar-Reg trying to contact them, then the boys realise it is the devices standing before them communicating between themselves.
The devices are heard to say, "...not any form of diagnostic methodology... no indication of function method nor source of power. How do these things create motion? Are they self motivational or driven? No way to tell as we can not see any way to access the interior beneath the external covering. There is no method of communication, so probably no intelligence. Although motions would indicate some form of patterns of motivation of sorts. Would there be some sort of access plate to see below the covering?"
"Hey that's funny," says Barry, "sounds like they are analysing us, whilst we are doing the same about them. By the sounds of it they have a hang up about the fact that we are both NOT see through."
Tom asks, "I wonder if there is a way to talk back to these creatures with this communicator?"
"Why not try it?" suggests Barry.
Tom operates the communicator as Aseer-Alc had shown him. There is a hazy cloud where the gateway was. Tom raises the communicator to his mouth and says, "Hello, we are human and the reason you can not see through us is that we are made up of living cells in various forms."
A faint but quite recognisable female voice can be heard, "Is that you Tom? This is Aseer-Alc."
Tom replies, "Yes it is, these things actually work!"
Aseer-Alc says, "Of course they do, we are good at what we do." jokes Aseer-Alc, she laughs then continues, "Well I must admit it is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you. I think it works only because we are both within close range of the gateway."
Barry says, "That would explain the hazy appearance around the gateway, that communicator must be opening the gateway long enough to transmit a signal, then closes the gateway again."
Aseer-Alc replies, "Yes that's about the way our know tech people explained it. Presumably you are safe, did you get to your place alright?"
Tom replies, "Actually, no, we have ended up at some sort of planet with see through transporters on it, they are about three quarters our height and totally transparent, no obvious life form driving them and we can't make out what they are transporting, if anything."
Dar-Reg asks, "Have they threatened you at all?"
Tom replies, "No but they a
ppear to be curious at the fact that they can't see through us."
Then the communications device relays another communication from one of the see through things standing next to the boys. It says, "Perhaps we can examine these things without actually taking the covers off." Then there's some sort of reply, although it is not obvious that the two communications are from different sources as the voice continues in the same tone. The second communication says,"How can that be done." The first source replies, "Magnetic Resonance Monitoring, something new that we picked up from Deflajini six." The conversation continued for a bit further. Tom interrupted the flow by talking to Dar-Reg and Aseer-Alc, he says, "Looks like they are so curious about our insides that they want to scan us with some new technology that they have got their hands on."
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