Encounters (The Spiral Slayers Book 1)

by Rusty Williamson

  It happened without warning as the craft left the moon. Adamarus abruptly stopped checking the schedule on his PDA and looked up, his eyes unfocused. Through the semitransparent hull, the unnatural geometric mirrored surface of the moon was dropping away, but none of this registered with Adamarus. It had come to him out of nowhere…in a flash of insight that had jarred him. He suddenly knew exactly what was causing the bouts of sadness inside him. He didn’t know why he hadn’t seen it before. It seemed so obvious.

  Before the Loud had come, his people had strived to progress—to move forward with both disappointments and elation, failures and victories, but always advancing and discovering. Ever since they had fallen out of the trees and started walking upright, they had, without help, pushed the envelope of their understanding of the universe. There had been pride, ambition, newness and wonder.

  But now? Now all of that was gone. The Loud were a thousand years ahead of them. Want to know something…anything…just ask and get the answer from the Loud.

  No, he corrected himself, not all of it was gone. There were still areas that the Loud seemed to have no interest in: art, music, fiction and even some areas of science. And in some areas, the Loud would give Amular what they knew and then they would be even, both on the edge of that one area pushing the envelope.

  Still, overall, these were just small exceptions. He rubbed his eyes and wondered if anyone else had looked at it this way. He thought of the suicide rate and wondered if that was related at all.

  A sharp sound shook him out of his thoughts. A heat shield had slid over his window; they were entering the atmosphere.

  ---

  Professor Floyd Earl Woodworth, famous historian, had been 72 years old. Finding retirement not completely fulfilling, he had taken a second grade teaching position in Hillcrest.

  Then the skies had filled with little white immortality doses. Now he was a young man again and of course he loved it. Besides the de-aging process making him look young again, it was the difference in the way he felt! Endless energy is the only way he could describe it.

  Like many in his same situation, he felt more comfortable in the type of clothes he had worn as a young man and chose to dress that way at his “new age.” He looked quaintly out of date. However, this mode of dress had become a style in itself.

  Professor Woodworth stood five foot eleven again, but at first, his body had been just as out of shape as it had before the treatment. He had placed himself on an exercise routine and now it was starting to show.

  Life was good. Life was great!

  But right now he was confused, not to mention embarrassed. The suggestion he had made to his second grade class regarding their one and only chance to ask a Loud a question had seemingly backfired.

  Mistake indeed! How could such an error be made? People all around the world had seen the dim star change into a bright new star and reported it, some meticulously describing the location.

  When Nero Maximus had told the class that the Loud had said that there had never been a solar flare, he had been shocked. He made a class assignment out of researching the issue and finding the problem. But none was found and so he had had to wait until the summer vacation before he could pursue it further.

  And so here he was. He had traveled 700 miles from his home in Hillcrest to Bakersfield where the archives were kept at the Central Museum of Science. He was supposed to be on his way to the 23rd Annual Symposium on Quantum Physics, but felt that he could make this detour and still be there on time. Now, he sat in a viewing room reviewing the original accounts of the solar flare that had been observed 1,023 years ago.

  Astronomy had been a little different back then, but it had still been a mature science. The Loud’s home star, G214h, had not been classified, logged or named back then, but other large stars around it had been and, of course, the constellations had been named and documented for thousands of years before that. G214h was dim but visible to the naked eye.

  He leafed through the 22 accounts of the event that he had narrowed his search to. There were other accounts, but the ones he needed were the ones that had documented where the star appeared to be in relation to the constellations and other bright stars. These accounts came from sources all around the planet.

  Eighteen were completely consistent on where the star was located. One was a few degrees off while the other three were significantly off… maybe. The 18 consistent accounts were all from better developed areas for the most part.

  The ones that were off, well, one was in an area that was definitely underdeveloped—he could dismiss that one. He could dismiss a second one as well—it had been made during a break in a storm that had pretty much hidden the entire event. The other one was in a developed area, but the language suggested that it had been made by a layman—at least Woodworth could, if he wished, view it that way.

  The one that was only slightly off was in an area considered highly developed, but it was the only report from that area so maybe they had constellations that were slightly different.

  He sighed. Well, he didn’t really know about the ones that were different, but he did have eighteen that were consistent. All of them pointed to what could only be G214h.

  He sat back and tried to think what else might explain it. Perhaps a wandering star had just happened to align itself with G214h and it had flared. Doubtful. He wished that he could talk to the Loud directly about this. He needed to contact someone working with or connected in some way to the aliens and tell them about this discrepancy.

  It had only been a fluke that he had stumbled upon this thousand-year-old flare up. When Nero had told him that the class could come up with one question that they could ask Bugs, he had searched the databases for the star as an afterthought. This had turned up nothing at first, what year it was classified, type, distance and so on. But then he had searched on the constellation it was in and came across a note on the flare up. He had then done several more searches on the solar flare and there it had been.

  And yet the alien Loud called Bugs had denied it had ever happened to their star or any other around it. How odd, he thought.

  He looked at his watch then quickly stacked the reports and left the room, carrying them precariously. Making it to the turn-in desk without dropping them, he dropped them off, signed himself out, and rushed from the building. He was cutting it close. He had an hour and a half to get to Plymouth via train, rent a car, and then get to the conference center.

  ---

  On any given day you would have at least twenty Loud avatars working one-on-one with the humans, hammering out what items could be traded and what the exchange rate would be. This was grueling and tedious work. It seemed that the Loud were experienced in the art of trading which both helped and hampered the process.

  Also on any given day, anywhere between four and 12 Loud were traveling with guides to somewhere on the planet to tour high technology centers, manufacturing plants, laboratories, computer hardware shops, software development companies, machine shops and other varied facilities of interest to them. Almost always they would suggest a number of improvements, sometimes even sending back avatar technicians to help implement these upgrades.

  Then there were the invitations to the Loud to speak at lectures, conferences and other events. None had been accepted. However, Bugs had been invited to do the opening address at the 23rd Annual Symposium on Quantum Physics and had accepted. It said that it was time “to compare notes” and this event presented the perfect opportunity.

  ---

  After the tour of the farm, Bugs had landed at the listening chamber compound in Hillcrest with Adamarus, Leewood and Harrington. Bugs’ avatar had needed a fresh power pack so while that was being taken care of, the others went to freshen up and grab something to eat before traveling 420 miles to Plymouth where the conference was taking place.

  After a quick breakfast, Leewood took off. He was in charge of a tour of a large wildlife preserve in the Southern Hemisphere that the Loud had requeste
d. Only Adamarus and Harrington went with Bugs. In the hover capsule, the flight to Plymouth only took about half an hour.

  When they arrived, Bugs parked the hover capsule in the mobile home parking area. It was 7:15 a.m. – the conference would start at 8:00. It was about a half mile to the entrance and they decided to walk. The early morning sun promised a warm day, but now it was cold and a strong wind blew in from the Southwest, buffeting them.

  Upon arriving at the gates, they entered and waited in line to pick up their name tags and other assorted literature from tables in front of the entrance. Bugs—or rather his robotic avatar—was getting a lot of attention.

  A woman dressed and tagged as someone associated with the conference hurried from behind the tables and came up to them. “Hello!” Addressing the avatar she asked, “Are you Bugs?”

  Bugs answered, “Yes, I am, and with me are Captain Maximus and Dr. Harrington,” he motioned to them.

  “Well, my name is Lora and I’m delighted to meet you.” She offered her hand to the avatar just a little nervously and Bugs, trained by three years of video shows, took her hand but instead of shaking it, with a sweeping gesture of its other arm, Bugs bent over and pretended to kiss it. Lora turned a bright red. It was absolutely hysterical and everyone around laughed.

  Bugs had not been prepared for more than some token chuckles. He leaned towards Lora and said, “Did I do that correctly?”

  There was more laughter from the people close enough to hear. Lora also laughed, “Bugs, you did it perfectly—in fact, it was absolutely superb and you made my entire day!”

  Bugs was still holding her hand, “Oh, good. Then, at this point, a gentleman would ask for your com number, but alas, I’m afraid it simply wouldn’t work out between us.” Again everyone who could hear laughed. Bugs released her hand and bowed. The laughter grew louder.

  Adamarus leaned towards Harrington and whispered, “Bugs is sure in top form today!”

  Lora turned to Adamarus, “I certainly recognize you, Captain Maximus,” again offering her hand. “It’s an honor to meet you.” Adamarus, not about to follow Bugs’ performance, took her hand and shook it once, inclining his head slightly.

  She then turned to Harrington, “Dr. Harrington, I’ve read both of your books and loved them.” Harrington raised her eyebrows in surprise at this. They shook hands.

  Lora turned back to Bugs, “As you’re the keynote speaker, we need to get you backstage.” She turned back to Adamarus and Harrington, producing their name tags/entry badges. “If all of you will follow me.” She led them through the front doors and Bugs continued to turn heads and stop conversations.

  They entered a large lobby filled with science exhibits and displays and Bugs slowed down to take them in, even stopping at several for a better look.

  Soon they were led through several doors and down a long corridor to an open region that was clearly the backstage area. There Lora introduced them to half a dozen people then led them to a dressing room with Bugs’ name and a large star on the door.

  Inside were a couch, a closet, and several chairs, one in front of a vanity with a large mirror. “This is your dressing room, Bugs. Normally, if you were human, this is where you’d have your makeup done and dress before going on stage.”

  Time passed and finally someone from outside hollered, “We’re on in five!” Then he peeked into their dressing room—it was one of the technicians with a headset and a clipboard. He seemed to be going 100 miles an hour, but came to a dead stop when he saw Bugs. “Ah…Mr., er…Bugs?”

  “Yes?” Bugs held up a manipulator as if needing to identify itself to the technician.

  This small joke went right over everyone’s head. “Ah…sir…we need you on spot A1 now…I can show you.”

  “Okay.” Bugs got up, and Adamarus and Harrington followed them.

  The tech led Bugs to an area just off stage behind a curtain. A scuffed and worn orange circle was painted on the floor with A1 painted on it in black. Behind it was A2 and A3 but no one was on these.

  The tech told Bugs to wait there until he signaled him to go out on the stage and deliver his keynote speech.

  Adamarus and Harrington, seeing that Bugs was in good hands, asked where they could watch from. The tech waved to another tech and this one showed them to an area to the extreme left of the stage and told them to wait.

  While they waited they listened to the host, a high ranking scientist and politician named Wayne Brittan. He was in the process of welcoming everyone to the conference. The tech came back with two folding chairs and they sat down.

  ---

  Woodworth knew he was cutting it close, but refused to look at his watch—it would only cause additional stress and there was nothing more he could do to get there any faster. Better to focus on his driving.

  He reached the parking lot and decided to drive towards the entrance and park as close as possible, regardless of whether or not there was a parking space. He’d park illegally—getting there in time for the Loud’s keynote address was worth the cost of a ticket.

  He took the corner a little too fast and his tires screeched. He grimaced as a parking attendant turned and gave him a disapproving look.

  He drove to the end of a row of legally parked cars and pulled next to the last car. Perfect, he thought, he wasn’t too far out in the drive and it might go unnoticed. He quickly got out, locked up and jogged to the entrance.

  Woodworth grabbed schedules and tags from the table and entered. As he did, he saw a clock and immediately slowed down—it had just started and he could hear that the host was still speaking. He passed by all the exhibits and entered the conference room. It was packed but a friend was saving him a seat.

  Woodworth pulled out his com unit—he had heard that Adamarus would be accompanying Bugs and if he could contact Nero’s mother, Grace, he might be able to arrange a talk with the Loud while here. He searched his PDA for the number as he headed down the right side aisle heading for the front row where a friend would be saving him a seat. Finding the number, he pressed dial and got ahold of Grace after two rings. “Hello, Mrs. Maximus, this is Professor Woodworth, one of your son’s teachers from school.”

  “Well, hello, professor. There’s nothing wrong I hope.”

  “No, no, nothing like that. In fact, I’m up in Plymouth at the conference—I understand your husband is here with Bugs.” She indicated that was true. “I’m following up on a little mystery that has to do with the question your son’s class came up with to ask Bugs. Actually, I’m trying to find a way to discuss this with one of the Loud, or at least find someone who works with the Loud to ask some questions for me.”

  “I can call my husband and see if he can help.”

  “That would be great.” Woodworth had reached the first row and looked down it. Woodworth’s friend had already spotted him and was waving him over.

  On the com Grace was saying, “Well, hold on then, let me see if he is answering his com unit.”

  “That would be great! Tell him I’m in the front row,” Woodworth replied as he made his way to his seat.

  ---

  Adamarus felt his com unit vibrate in his coat pocket. He dug it out and answered, “Adamarus here.”

  “Hi, stranger.” Grace said.

  Adamarus smiled, “Hmm…this sounds like a very sexy and mysterious woman I happen to know.” He felt Harrington look over at him.

  “That’s me” she replied. “Honey, I have Nero’s teacher from school on the other line, Professor Woodworth…”

  “The Professor Woodworth?” Adamarus asked.

  “Yes, the one and only. Anyway, he wants to talk to the Loud—Bugs if possible—about that question Nero’s class came up with…the solar flare thing.”

  “Oh, yes, I remember, the one Bugs denied.”

  “That’s it.”

  “Well, Bugs is about to give his speech right now—I’m not sure how long it will be.”

  “Well, he said to tell you that he was sitting
in the front row.”

  Adamarus looked but didn’t see him. When he remembered that he wasn’t looking for an old man, he immediately spotted Woodworth holding his com unit to his ear. “I can see him. Tell you what, tell him I’m on the left side of the stage off to the side—I’ll be waving to him. Then get his number, send it to me, and I’ll call him as soon as I can.”

  “Okay, love, see you later?”

  “I should be home tonight.”

  “That would be nice. Love you.”

  “Love you, too,” he replied and disconnected.

  Adamarus turned to Harrington, “See that fellow on the com unit in the front row?” She nodded. “Ever heard of Woodworth’s ten volume set, ‘The Advancement of our Species – A Historical Perspective’?”

  “Who hasn’t? We were forced to read it in college. I think everyone is.” Harrington looked at the front and spotted him. “What about it?”

  “That’s Woodworth.” As they watched him, he hung up and immediately looked towards them. Adamarus waved and Woodworth waved back. Checking his com unit, he saw that Woodworth’s com number had arrived so he called it and watched Woodworth pick it up. “Professor Woodworth?” Adamarus asked. He listened for a moment then said, “It’s an honor to meet you as well. Can you come to us as soon as Bugs’ speech has ended? He listened again, then, “We’ll see you then,” and disconnected.

  ---

  The host had told the audience who would be speaking, and also mentioned where restrooms, refreshments, and other things could be found. At last he was introducing Bugs and the mass of assembled scientists, politicians and VIPs all stood and began clapping and yelling. The host had a very hard time getting through the introduction.

  The shiny mechanical robot that was Bugs’ avatar walked out on the stage, his metal feet thudding on the wooden floor. The applause doubled, then tripled. Bugs shook the host’s hand and as the host exited the stage, Bugs got behind the podium and waited. The applause went on and on, thirty seconds, sixty seconds—Adamarus looked at Harrington, both a little worried that Bugs might not understand, but then the applause started to die down. Looking back, they could see that Bugs had raised one manipulator in just the right way to indicate that the applause should end. Finally there was quiet.