Sitting in my office, I fended off an attack of the mundane. Paperwork through the ages, I mused in annoyance, may very well have moved away from paper, but it never lessened in volume somehow. Fighting for the past two hours, I felt unaccomplished. Staring at the screen, my eyes suddenly decided to cross. Realising I needed a break, I arose and marched out of my office.
Torli nodded as I approached. My faithful secretary, she doubtless heard my frustration with her superior hearing. She confirmed my suspicion by stating, "All calls held Mr. Kaden. I hear there is a lovely jazz concert occurring this afternoon at 1."
Grunting an acknowledgment, I stalked past her desk. Casting about, I decided to head for the top floor of the building. A quick trip up deposited me in the clinical confines of the research and development department. I laughed faintly at the sound of an alarmed shout, coming from the far back corner. Heading in that direction, I soon located Doctor Jersil Weki. Waiting patiently for him to extinguish the smoking remains of something, I finally pulled him aside.
"Doctor, " I said loudly over the general noise of the department, "anything new?"
Weki stared blankly at me. Tapping a foot impatiently, I waited for his brain to return. In a moment he said, "Ah Norville." With that statement, I noted with some frustration, ended his attempt at social pleasantries. Waiting again, I knew from previous experience his distracted thoughts would catch up. I hoped that is.
I pulled his sleeve, dragging him away from the commotion and scurrying staff members. Steering him to a quieter corner of the floor, he said, "Nothing new developed really Norville. We thought, "waving a furry hand at the disaster I found him attending, "the solution of the Mystery of Talius presented itself."
Nodding to him, I frowned in sympathy. The Mystery of Talius represented a handful of true temporal mysteries not a soul seemed able to solve. I sighed in disappointment, casting about in my mind for what to do next. Weki sucked in a sudden breath, scattering my thoughts. Pulling me along to his office, he produced a case and opened it. I stared at the device within, puzzled beyond words.
"Alright Doctor, I give. What exactly am I looking at?"
Weki pulled the device from the case. Studying it a moment, he said simply, "By all appearances, a temporal projector. A primitive one at that."
"Alright Doctor, but why are you showing me this? I see the non-standard design, and by the bulk it is fairly primitive, but-"
Weki waved me to sudden silence. Looking at it absently, he said, "Agent Colui discovered this item. She found it on 19th century Earth. It appears inert."
Eyes widening, I pondered that statement. Earth of the period was barely into a Class 2 society, and certainly unable to produce anything concerning temporal manipulation. I studied the device in Weki's hands intently. He turned it over, popping open a control panel. Applying all my knowledge, I could not fathom the design on this device.
Noticing a large button, I asked sarcastically, "Now, what does that button do?"
Without a thought, Weki pressed it. I began laughing...
My laughter halted when I landed in a warm puddle of muddy water.
I blinked, then again for extra good measure. I scrambled out of the puddle, dripping to drier land. Cursing loudly, I screamed, "Weki!" Huffing from all the shouting, I looked about me. Snapping my temporal locator off my belt, I groaned aloud. The scrambled readings informed me I was quite on my own. Sucking in a breath, I proceeded to clean mud from myself.
Looking aloft, I noted twin suns. No signs of advanced civilization greeted my eyes, scaring me a bit. Regaining calm, I let my mind automatically run through a checklist. Pulling out a simple scanner I decided to see if rain was going to pelt me. Fiddling with the scanner, I barely noticed the ground shaking. The ground ceased shaking as I determined no rain in the immediate area.
Freezing suddenly, my skin crawled. Pure silence greeted my ears, causing me to flick on my forceshield. Growling, it refused to activate, doubtless from the muddy water. My eyes flicked left then right, showing nothing in range. Slowly turning, I faced the opposite direction.
Yelping, I stared into a mouth full of teeth, big teeth. Breaking my gaze from teeth straight from a childhood nightmare, I saw the rest of the large animal. Swallowing hard, I said cheerily, "Nice doggy. Want a treat, other than me?"
The roar silenced me, nearly knocking me over into the puddle. Thinking hurriedly, I fiddled with the controls on the scanner in my hand. Smiling, I triggered a sonic pulse. The beast roared and stomped about in rage. I managed to miss most of it's performance, already running for the nearby trees. Running harder, feeling the ground shake, I tripped over a stone, flying into the brush and skidding to a stop against a tree. I crawled, barely missing teeth from the massive head poking in the trees for me.
Huffing and counting bruises, I staggered away from being the main course. Musing over the emergency checklist, I decided to add a few things should I return home. Smiling at the absurdity, I formed the memo and the lecture in the same thought. I couldn't, I thought mischievously, wait to get my hands on Weki.
Landing unceremoniously on my behind, I yelled. Adding a major bruise to my list I opened my eyes to identify the offending object. Disbelief chased my pain away, as I looked up at a pair of spears. Letting my eyes wander farther along, I noted with serious dismay what was holding them.
Reptilian humanoids. Primitive reptilian humanoids, with spears.
Smiling, I managed to rise. Reviewing things rapidly, I spoke slow and even. "Hello. I seem to have landed here quite accidentally. Perhaps you fine chaps could direct me to a safe place?"
Hissing, I realised the translator would provide roughly zero assistance. I began pondering ways out of this particular turn of events. Smiling for all my worth, the stony expressions I received in return did not endear me any. Backing up slowly, the advancing reptiles with spears cornered me. Swallowing hard, I wondered what effect my remains might incur on the time stream.
The reptiles stopped advancing, turning and hissing. Puzzled by this, I realised they possessed sharper senses than I, as the ground commenced rumbling. Scrambling up the tree behind me, I climbed as far as I could get. Willing my panting to quiet, I listened to the commotion below. Roaring mixed with the reptiles, forcing a smile. I turned my mind to the more immediate issue, of getting home and kicking Weki a few times.
Pulling out my temporal locator, I saw in disappointment the thing was still quite scrambled. I yanked out the pair of scanners in my pockets, glaring at them. Ideas chased logic through my head, sadly to no avail. Feeling my mind shift to hyperspace, I refused to stop it.
Completely in a dimension of thought, moments passed before noises intruded upon my rampaging thoughts. Blinking myself to my rather dismal reality, I glanced down from my perch. Seeing a crowd of reptile humanoids all looking up, I tensed. Frowning, I attempted to reason their thoughts. Surely they would have climbed by now, I thought, so what in the worlds were they waiting for?
Seeing a flaming stick, the answer rang in. Leaning out, I saw in total dismay that my tree was surrounded by wood. The flaming stick passed around the pile encircling the tree. Flames sprouted, burning and beginning to burn up the tree. I frantically searched the trees about me, finding none near enough to jump to. Panic building, I hurriedly played with the devices in my hand. Sweating, fire licking at my shoes, I pressed a button. Screaming as nothing occurred, I threw the devices against the tree.
Landing on my head, I wondered absently why death looked like the lobby of the building I worked in. Scrambling painfully to my feet, surprise colored my features, followed by embarrassment. Straightening my rather dirty and battered clothes, I strode past the astonished onlookers. Entering the building lift, I keyed my code to override the security. Going straight to the research and development floor, I exited the lift to mass commotion. Smiling wickedly, silence descended slowly as I searched the floor for Doctor Weki. Finding him bent over the device causing my misadventure, I broke his intense study. Looking for all the worlds shocked, Weki rose. Waving him from uttering a sound, I pasted him with a glare.
"My office, 15 minutes."
Smiling broadly, I simply turned away. Entering the lift, I laughed, knowing Weki would sweat a bit.
07 July, 2010
On the New Frontier...One Last Day
(This is a story I have had kicking around in my head for quite a while. It is mixes end of the world with my actual Life. For those of you who know my actual family and me well, you will see just how true this can be. I will warn you now, this is a very emotional piece.)
Dad and I sat in the shade of the red maple in the front yard. Both of us simply looked west, towards the airport. The sounds of the gathering storm mocked us, light but intense. Chugging water from a bottle, I reflected on Life, my father lost in thoughts of his own. A proud and cranky old man of 82, I was uncertain what crossed his mind.
"Going to need to water those tomatoes tomorrow."
I nodded to my dad's sudden statement. A loud boom gave me pause before I could answer. "Yep. Last time I saw a forecast, no rain for several days." I stopped, staring at the browning grass. Smiling sadly, I reached down and touched the grass at my feet.
Dad reloaded his chew, allowing me a chance to light a cigar. Blowing smoke, the light breeze caught it, blowing it easterly and away. A series of loud rumbles caused me to jump in my chair. My father, I noted in faint amusement, hardly even reacted. He continued his long stare away to the distance. I followed his gaze, just letting my thoughts randomly ramble.
"Do you want to leave dad?"
Even at this late of a date, the only response I received was a stern shake of his head. My father said the words he always said when I asked. "You go, you don't have to stay."
"No dad, I am fine right here. Got no where to go anymore anyway."
Nodding, my father returned his focus to the sounds from the west. I looked right, staring at the house. A faint smile crossed my face, remembering everything that ever was. My father had built the house with his own hands and a pair of uncles in the late 1940s. A monument after a fashion, and the starting point of so many adventures and misadventures. Empty now save the collected memories and pieces of living, it might even outlast all of us.
An explosion of sound nearby dragged me unwillingly to the moment. Squinting into the distance, I could see a pair of craft fighting overhead. In moments, the F-22 exploded in mid air, leaving a fiery trail as a marker. Sighing, I said to my dad, "Getting closer I see."
Spitting chew contemptibly, he held his tongue. Perhaps, I thought, he was right. Not much was left to say about anything. I drank some water, pondering this insight. Green streaks of fire arced overhead, followed by more explosions. I laughed suddenly at my jumpiness even now.
The sounds of the storm, the battle drew nearer. My father shifted, hefting his favourite rifle, an old 8mm German Mauser. I did the same, with my 8mm Mauser. Insane, I thought yet again, sitting here in the path of invasion. Insane, I mused, cocking the Mauser, to not attempt to survive.
As the wall of noise increased, I thought of my friends, of my brother and mother. Of my friends not killed in the initial invasion, I hoped that humanity would prevail for them. Of my brother and mother, I hoped they would find my sister, and remember. Depending on events, I thought hopefully, they might even return to our home.
Tears springing forth, I looked at my father. Despite his full life, he too was crying. When the aliens invaded, he simply said he would not leave. Despite countless arguments, I remained. Deep inside, I knew why I stayed with the stubborn old bastard.
I could never continue living, knowing he died alone.
Seeing the spearhead of the alien invasion heading towards our home, my father spoke the hardest words of his life, in his own fashion.
"John, you're an asshole. I love you."
I cried freely. I cried freely and unashamedly, for everything that was, everything that is, everything that could have been. I let the tears roll, not for me, but for humanity, and my cat that I would miss dearly.
Fighting tears the whole way, I spoke words I never said before to my father, as we sighted in aliens advancing through the browns and greens.
"I love you dad."
Dad and I sat in the shade of the red maple in the front yard. Both of us simply looked west, towards the airport. The sounds of the gathering storm mocked us, light but intense. Chugging water from a bottle, I reflected on Life, my father lost in thoughts of his own. A proud and cranky old man of 82, I was uncertain what crossed his mind.
"Going to need to water those tomatoes tomorrow."
I nodded to my dad's sudden statement. A loud boom gave me pause before I could answer. "Yep. Last time I saw a forecast, no rain for several days." I stopped, staring at the browning grass. Smiling sadly, I reached down and touched the grass at my feet.
Dad reloaded his chew, allowing me a chance to light a cigar. Blowing smoke, the light breeze caught it, blowing it easterly and away. A series of loud rumbles caused me to jump in my chair. My father, I noted in faint amusement, hardly even reacted. He continued his long stare away to the distance. I followed his gaze, just letting my thoughts randomly ramble.
"Do you want to leave dad?"
Even at this late of a date, the only response I received was a stern shake of his head. My father said the words he always said when I asked. "You go, you don't have to stay."
"No dad, I am fine right here. Got no where to go anymore anyway."
Nodding, my father returned his focus to the sounds from the west. I looked right, staring at the house. A faint smile crossed my face, remembering everything that ever was. My father had built the house with his own hands and a pair of uncles in the late 1940s. A monument after a fashion, and the starting point of so many adventures and misadventures. Empty now save the collected memories and pieces of living, it might even outlast all of us.
An explosion of sound nearby dragged me unwillingly to the moment. Squinting into the distance, I could see a pair of craft fighting overhead. In moments, the F-22 exploded in mid air, leaving a fiery trail as a marker. Sighing, I said to my dad, "Getting closer I see."
Spitting chew contemptibly, he held his tongue. Perhaps, I thought, he was right. Not much was left to say about anything. I drank some water, pondering this insight. Green streaks of fire arced overhead, followed by more explosions. I laughed suddenly at my jumpiness even now.
The sounds of the storm, the battle drew nearer. My father shifted, hefting his favourite rifle, an old 8mm German Mauser. I did the same, with my 8mm Mauser. Insane, I thought yet again, sitting here in the path of invasion. Insane, I mused, cocking the Mauser, to not attempt to survive.
As the wall of noise increased, I thought of my friends, of my brother and mother. Of my friends not killed in the initial invasion, I hoped that humanity would prevail for them. Of my brother and mother, I hoped they would find my sister, and remember. Depending on events, I thought hopefully, they might even return to our home.
Tears springing forth, I looked at my father. Despite his full life, he too was crying. When the aliens invaded, he simply said he would not leave. Despite countless arguments, I remained. Deep inside, I knew why I stayed with the stubborn old bastard.
I could never continue living, knowing he died alone.
Seeing the spearhead of the alien invasion heading towards our home, my father spoke the hardest words of his life, in his own fashion.
"John, you're an asshole. I love you."
I cried freely. I cried freely and unashamedly, for everything that was, everything that is, everything that could have been. I let the tears roll, not for me, but for humanity, and my cat that I would miss dearly.
Fighting tears the whole way, I spoke words I never said before to my father, as we sighted in aliens advancing through the browns and greens.
"I love you dad."
04 July, 2010
On the New Frontier...Chasing Darkness Part IV
Day 7
Jumping out of hyperspace, I entered an asteroid field. Following the guide beacons, I settled into orbit around a large asteroid. The data I acquired indicated this spaceport belonged to the Free Trade Guild. Hopefully, I thought darkly, this meant I would not have to worry overmuch about people looking for me.
Scanning the spaceport, I scanned the place intently. Finding a clear location, I teleported myself down, glad my luck held. No one noticed my arrival, and no alarms sounded. Smiling, I set off for the nearest trade shop, in search of gossip and rumor.
In minutes, I located one. Entering the dim confines, I noted several other beings. Dialing my forcescreen to maximum intensity, I poked about the place. Looking through trinkets and artifacts, I became conscious of one of the beings following me. Groaning lightly, I freed my ion blaster from its holster. Drawing a breath, I waited, not wanting to initiate hostilities.
The sound of projectiles being fired caused me to leap into the air. Diving for cover, I happily realised I was not being shot at this time. Coming up behind a battered crate, I peeked about. Watching gunfire and knives flying, I yanked out my ion blaster. Hearing a scream, I saw the creepy being who tailed me through the shop, pinned to a wall. A tall girl stood before him, tagging him with a device.
Smiling anew, I found myself struck by the girl's appearance. Tall and redheaded, she appeared humanoid and damn attractive. Snapping myself out of staring, I rose and continued my investigation of the shop. The scanner hummed merrily, recording every detail. Satisfied, I strode out of the shop, biding farewell to the keeper.
Once on the street, I wandered aimlessly. Try as I might, not an idea of how to proceed presented itself. Skipping past thoughts of how to return home, I could not even fathom how to precisely survive in my current location. Not one contemptible thing amounted to any form of sense. Mood darkening, I searched for a spot to contemplate.
Finding an observation deck, I entered, delighted no one was about. Striding the the glass, I stared off into the alien space and asteroids. Perhaps, I mused bitterly, revelation would just present itself in these blasted stars.
"Would you mind explaining what you are?"
Cringing, I revised my estimate of safety downwards. In the reflection I could dimly make out a figure behind me, cutting off obvious escape. Playing nonchalant, I said coolly, "I am afraid I am not following your question. Mere trader am I, humbly scraping out an existence."
The female voice behind me wasted no time. "Acting suits you not my friend. Again, "a fine edge colored her voice, "would you mind explaining what you are?"
Sighing ruefully, I turned to face my questioner. To my astonishment, the redheaded girl from the shop studied me. Tilting my head, I spread my hands. Waiting for a count, I said sincerely, "My fair lady, I am nothing more than a lost traveler looking for a way home."
Flinching under the unfathomable gaze, I stood my ground. I lost count of how long we stood there, before she casually flicked a wrist. Puzzled when nothing occurred, I opened my mouth to speak. Another wave of her hand stopped me, trying my patience.
The door behind her opened. Her senses and reflexes better than mine, she already had hit cover before I noticed an object bouncing into the room. Exploding, my forcescreen took the blast, the kinetic force tossing me against the observation window. Sliding down to the floor, I jumped as projectiles blasted at me. Angry now, I ripped out my ion blaster. Dialing in to maximum intensity, I fired at the offending wall where the shots came from. A pair of gurgling screams later, no more fire issued forth. Looking about, I spotted the women on the floor, a trail of jade blood behind. Hearing shouting and klaxons, I grimly tapped commands into my palmputer. Kneeling beside the woman, I activated the teleport, removing us both from potentially bad explanations.
Onboard, I dragged the barely conscious woman into the medic booth. Laying her on the table, I hoped the bloody thing could do something for her. I sat impatiently, tapping feet in alternating rhythm. No doctor, the readings puzzled me, but the basic diagnostic stated the bleeding and shrapnel had been removed. Assuming that constituted good news, I waited for her to regain consciousness. tiring of staring at her form laying on the medic table, I retreated to flight control.
Punching commands, I shifted the Stellar Rush to a position affording easy escape. Sitting, my thoughts returned from the place they bolted to in a crisis. Feeling depression kick in again at the tangled mass of questions, I leaned on my hands. My thoughts mocked me, the puzzle stretching to an infinity of stars. Each piece seemed further and further away, eluding me.
Jumping out of hyperspace, I entered an asteroid field. Following the guide beacons, I settled into orbit around a large asteroid. The data I acquired indicated this spaceport belonged to the Free Trade Guild. Hopefully, I thought darkly, this meant I would not have to worry overmuch about people looking for me.
Scanning the spaceport, I scanned the place intently. Finding a clear location, I teleported myself down, glad my luck held. No one noticed my arrival, and no alarms sounded. Smiling, I set off for the nearest trade shop, in search of gossip and rumor.
In minutes, I located one. Entering the dim confines, I noted several other beings. Dialing my forcescreen to maximum intensity, I poked about the place. Looking through trinkets and artifacts, I became conscious of one of the beings following me. Groaning lightly, I freed my ion blaster from its holster. Drawing a breath, I waited, not wanting to initiate hostilities.
The sound of projectiles being fired caused me to leap into the air. Diving for cover, I happily realised I was not being shot at this time. Coming up behind a battered crate, I peeked about. Watching gunfire and knives flying, I yanked out my ion blaster. Hearing a scream, I saw the creepy being who tailed me through the shop, pinned to a wall. A tall girl stood before him, tagging him with a device.
Smiling anew, I found myself struck by the girl's appearance. Tall and redheaded, she appeared humanoid and damn attractive. Snapping myself out of staring, I rose and continued my investigation of the shop. The scanner hummed merrily, recording every detail. Satisfied, I strode out of the shop, biding farewell to the keeper.
Once on the street, I wandered aimlessly. Try as I might, not an idea of how to proceed presented itself. Skipping past thoughts of how to return home, I could not even fathom how to precisely survive in my current location. Not one contemptible thing amounted to any form of sense. Mood darkening, I searched for a spot to contemplate.
Finding an observation deck, I entered, delighted no one was about. Striding the the glass, I stared off into the alien space and asteroids. Perhaps, I mused bitterly, revelation would just present itself in these blasted stars.
"Would you mind explaining what you are?"
Cringing, I revised my estimate of safety downwards. In the reflection I could dimly make out a figure behind me, cutting off obvious escape. Playing nonchalant, I said coolly, "I am afraid I am not following your question. Mere trader am I, humbly scraping out an existence."
The female voice behind me wasted no time. "Acting suits you not my friend. Again, "a fine edge colored her voice, "would you mind explaining what you are?"
Sighing ruefully, I turned to face my questioner. To my astonishment, the redheaded girl from the shop studied me. Tilting my head, I spread my hands. Waiting for a count, I said sincerely, "My fair lady, I am nothing more than a lost traveler looking for a way home."
Flinching under the unfathomable gaze, I stood my ground. I lost count of how long we stood there, before she casually flicked a wrist. Puzzled when nothing occurred, I opened my mouth to speak. Another wave of her hand stopped me, trying my patience.
The door behind her opened. Her senses and reflexes better than mine, she already had hit cover before I noticed an object bouncing into the room. Exploding, my forcescreen took the blast, the kinetic force tossing me against the observation window. Sliding down to the floor, I jumped as projectiles blasted at me. Angry now, I ripped out my ion blaster. Dialing in to maximum intensity, I fired at the offending wall where the shots came from. A pair of gurgling screams later, no more fire issued forth. Looking about, I spotted the women on the floor, a trail of jade blood behind. Hearing shouting and klaxons, I grimly tapped commands into my palmputer. Kneeling beside the woman, I activated the teleport, removing us both from potentially bad explanations.
Onboard, I dragged the barely conscious woman into the medic booth. Laying her on the table, I hoped the bloody thing could do something for her. I sat impatiently, tapping feet in alternating rhythm. No doctor, the readings puzzled me, but the basic diagnostic stated the bleeding and shrapnel had been removed. Assuming that constituted good news, I waited for her to regain consciousness. tiring of staring at her form laying on the medic table, I retreated to flight control.
Punching commands, I shifted the Stellar Rush to a position affording easy escape. Sitting, my thoughts returned from the place they bolted to in a crisis. Feeling depression kick in again at the tangled mass of questions, I leaned on my hands. My thoughts mocked me, the puzzle stretching to an infinity of stars. Each piece seemed further and further away, eluding me.
On the New Frontier...Why Didn't They Clean That Up?
Landing on one's face is surely not the way to begin a Monday of work.
Rubbing my bruised jaw, I moaned in agony. This action halted a sudden rise from the floor, giving time to my banged knees to clamor for attention as well. Cursing feverishly, I composed a memo to the building cleaning service inside my mind. Third time this bloody year, I noted sourly, one of the cleaning droids decided ceasing function inside my office constituted a good idea.
Pushing myself up gingerly, I called out for the lights. Wincing as I turned, the lights revealed the offending cleaning droid. Primed to kick, I halted mid swing, shock hitting at full power.
Lying on the floor, staring back at me, a body lay. Suppressing a shriek, I slowly moved to touch it. My eyes saw no blood, which I thanked. No need to adding fainting to the list of things I might accomplish today. As I reached to touch the body, I stopped. While appearing quite human, I suddenly remembered this could be one of 65 or so species of human looking humanoids.
Stepping to my desk, I dragged out one of the many tools of my trade. Setting the life scanner to general, I pointed it at the body. Letting it hum merrily, I waited for it to give me answers. The wait turned short, as it confirmed two suspicions for me.
First, the man laying on the floor was indeed human.
Second, he happened to be quite dead.
Before any further thoughts issued forth, my secretary stepped into the office. Neatly avoiding the body on the floor, Torli remarked evenly, "Another droid quit in here Mr. Kaden? I think the cleaning people hate you."
Knowing I refined the art of astonishment to a new, and quite possibly grotesque level, I accept the stack of holocards from Torli. Looking at them blankly, I felt the puzzled glare from my secretary. Smiling sheepishly, I said, "Thank you Torli. Contact the masses for a meeting in three hours. Please divert any incoming calls to the usual response as well."
Shaking her reptilian head, she simply strode out. Staring at my now closed door, then the floor, I blinked several times for good measure. Rooting through the nearby closet, I located a stick from Alcazr VI. Smiling fondly at the memory, I turned and poked at the body I saw. After smacking the body, I leaned down and touched it.
Frowning, I moved back to my desk. Sitting down, I called up video and scanner feeds for the last 72 hours. Pouring over them, nothing amiss registered. In point of fact, nary a thing registered in the slightest, including the arrival of the 'body'. Smacking the communications system, I dialed up the duty attendant for cleaning services.
"Cortil, one of the cleaning droids cleaned its last in my office. I would like it removed immediately, as I have a client coming for a visit."
Cortil spoke back, "Of course Mr. Kaden. I know that is the third this year."
Thanking him, I leaned back to wait. In quick enough time, my door opened and a repair droid strode in. Clicking to itself, I held my breath. Surely, I hoped, the droids sensors would reveal the truth of the matter.
To my utter dismay, the repair droid picked up a cleaning droid and neatly tucked it away. The repair droid closed the door, leaving me baffled beyond words. The body on the floor mocked me further, just laying there unmoved. I leaned back further, thinking furiously about the matter before me.
Tipping my chair right over, I deposited myself on the floor. Laughing a moment, I rubbed the two new bruises I acquired. I whined as I rose, wincing from all of the bumps. Looking across the room, I found my gaze arrested by the figure lying on the floor. After a moment, I walked towards it, worry running across my mind. Leaning down, I rolled the body over to study it.
Concentrating, I recorded every detail of the figure. Quickly rifling the pockets, nary a thing turned up. Kneeling, I contemplated what I knew. After that passed in the space of a deep breath, I began wondering.
Why did I get out of bed? And what exactly was this?
Standing, I frowned at the mess I found myself in. Acting on impulse, I exited my office. Perhaps I needed some fresh air, I mused, in order to fathom this annoying little puzzle. Heading out into the main area, I pondered options for fresh air.
"Norville old chap, have I got a deal for you!"
I cringed at the rough voice calling to me. Groaning mentally, I turned to confront the source. To my complete contempt, Drebin Nordberg stood smiling at me. He waved his case about, full of useless gadgets no doubt. Following closely behind, the look on Torli's reptile face indicated Nordberg might yet lose a limb. Or perhaps, all of them.
Waving Torli off before she murdered Nordberg, I manage a happy smile. Drebin Nordberg, crackpot inventor and peddler of useless temporal gadgets. I fingered my right forearm in memory of his last invention.
"Drebin, hello. Dreadfully sorry,-"
"Norville, just one moment! Look, "Nordberg deftly opened the case, producing a gizmo, "a temporal transmitter and general science scanner, all rolled into one!"
Disguising a smack to my head, I forced the smile to stay home. Listening halfheartedly as he prattled, I attempted thinking a way out of this unwanted mess. Nordberg continued, happily gushing about the product, scanning and waving it all over the place. A sudden pause in the outpouring of words dragged me back from a world devoid of the clinically insane.
Nordberg frowned, staring intently at his device. Punching buttons, I began to believe I could make a hasty retreat. As I backed off, the readings on the screen caught my eye. Yanking the device out of his hand, Nordberg launched a sales pitch at my apparent interest. Tuning him out, I stared in abject amazement at the readings on the device's screen.
Astonishment set every nerve buzzing. Scrambled, the readout changing information by the blink of the eye, I recognized the pattern and the meaning.
Chronostatic emissions. Loads of chronostatic emissions, originating from my office.
"Drebin, mind if I test drive this little puppy?"
Nordberg exclaimed joy, shoving a manual and a few other trinkets at me. Muttering some words, I entered my office. Throwing the manual and assorted items on a chair, I tinkered with the device's setup. Aiming the newly configured contraption at the body only I could see, I sucked in a breath. Exhaling, the display readout a temporal shift measuring minus 30 of the Byrd scale.
Reading the manual, I double checked. Resetting Nordberg's device I checked one more time for good measure. Without nary a doubt, the readings displayed true, minus 30 no matter what adjustments I made. My thoughts jumped through hyperspace, leaving one behind.
Insanity turned viral overnight, or, this body on my floor truly was a dead human from the future.
Rifling through my office, I located every piece of temporal equipment. Checking each, I removed one item from the list, never stopping. Once the list checked out negative, I commenced a check of the office in general. Clearing the office completely, I rounded on the offending body.
After my third intensive search of the morning, I stood. Frowning at my lack of result, I reigned in my thoughts. Tapping a foot, I drifted off in a sea of thinking.
Jumping almost to the ceiling, the interoffice comm screaming for attention, I snapped back to reality. "Yes Torli, " I called out. "What seems the bother now?"
Torli sounded apologetic, saying, "Reminder Mr. Kaden, new hire class meeting in five minutes."
Growling a response, I moved out of the office. Sincerely wishing to skip this task, I remembered I was stuck. With all my other agents out, the job fell to me. I reflected on what was worse, new hires or a mystery making zero sense, delivered from the Future no less.
Skidding to a stop with the help of a table, I smiled at the 15 new faces of my Temporal Troubleshooters Ltd. agency. Scanning the faces, nothing seemed amiss as I got the show rolling. I condensed the company history section in to five sentences, trying to hurry things along.
In the middle of describing all the (boring) required information on company policy, something in my jacket beeped. Continuing as the beeping kept up, i tried to remember the source of this noise. Stopping my recitation, I fumbled through my pockets. Pulling out Nordberg's device, I contemplated smashing the contemptible thing right there.
Looking for an off switch, the readings display caught my eye. Processing the readings, I detected the chronostatic buildup of earlier. This time I noted in amazement the readings seemed more intense. Almost like a...
In a flash of color, a hooded figure appeared in the room. My new hires managed reactions all across the spectrum. My reaction consisted of yelling, "Excuse me! Unauthorized teleport entry carries stiff punishment under Galactic Code."
Turning burning eyes on me, the cloaked figure said nary a word. Raising an arm suddenly, I narrowly managed to avoid a blast of energy. One half of the new hires bolted for the door, and doubtless to turn in resignations. The other half tossed chairs, tables, shoes, anything not attached to the walls or ceiling. Smiling at them, I suddenly spotted one figure huddled in a corner.
Looking intently, realization paid a visit.
The man in the corner was the same one on my floor. Alive, but with the hooded menace advancing, ignoring a shower of objects pelting it. Watching and scrambling for a weapon, I saw the boy produce an electric stunner.
In a flash, I saw. Scooping up my glass of water, I shot past the hooded figure, throwing the water in its face. Bouncing off the wall, I slapped Nordberg's device right onto the face, taking it down as I tripped over the cloak. Yelping, adding to the day's bruises, I limped away, grabbing a fistful of the boy in the corner. The remaining people dashed out.
Thankfully holding onto the wall, the explosion shook the entire floor. Turning, I watched the assembled new hires look at the room, then me. Smiling grimly, I said cheerily, "Lesson concluded. First floor reception. Torli will take you on the full tour."
Turning my attention to the lad before me, I stuck out a hand. He handed over the electric stunner wordlessly. Smiling suddenly, I affected my professor's voice. "Son, rule 2.386. Never use an electric weapons device on androids."
Nodding in pure confusion, he accepted the admonishment. Pocketing the stunner, I escorted him to reception. Handing him over to Torli, I entered my office, happily not finding anything waiting to trip me. Sitting carefully, I spent a good amount of time attempting to reason how all this came about. In the end I decided I would never be certain, the change in outcomes erasing whatever prompted the oddball message to myself. My only thought centered on a freak of temporal displacement, perhaps a time echo. A shudder gripped me, reminding me about the vast variables of temporal cause and effect.
Settling in, I prepared to dive into the day's mundane events. Torli's voice interrupted my attempt to accomplish work.
"Mr. Kaden, Mr. David Sidar on line six. He said he will wait, all day if needed."
Swallowing hard, I wondered if in the other outcome I survived talking to the building owner. Huffing in hope, I answered the line. The nonstop screaming greeting me sucked the hope clean from me.
Rubbing my bruised jaw, I moaned in agony. This action halted a sudden rise from the floor, giving time to my banged knees to clamor for attention as well. Cursing feverishly, I composed a memo to the building cleaning service inside my mind. Third time this bloody year, I noted sourly, one of the cleaning droids decided ceasing function inside my office constituted a good idea.
Pushing myself up gingerly, I called out for the lights. Wincing as I turned, the lights revealed the offending cleaning droid. Primed to kick, I halted mid swing, shock hitting at full power.
Lying on the floor, staring back at me, a body lay. Suppressing a shriek, I slowly moved to touch it. My eyes saw no blood, which I thanked. No need to adding fainting to the list of things I might accomplish today. As I reached to touch the body, I stopped. While appearing quite human, I suddenly remembered this could be one of 65 or so species of human looking humanoids.
Stepping to my desk, I dragged out one of the many tools of my trade. Setting the life scanner to general, I pointed it at the body. Letting it hum merrily, I waited for it to give me answers. The wait turned short, as it confirmed two suspicions for me.
First, the man laying on the floor was indeed human.
Second, he happened to be quite dead.
Before any further thoughts issued forth, my secretary stepped into the office. Neatly avoiding the body on the floor, Torli remarked evenly, "Another droid quit in here Mr. Kaden? I think the cleaning people hate you."
Knowing I refined the art of astonishment to a new, and quite possibly grotesque level, I accept the stack of holocards from Torli. Looking at them blankly, I felt the puzzled glare from my secretary. Smiling sheepishly, I said, "Thank you Torli. Contact the masses for a meeting in three hours. Please divert any incoming calls to the usual response as well."
Shaking her reptilian head, she simply strode out. Staring at my now closed door, then the floor, I blinked several times for good measure. Rooting through the nearby closet, I located a stick from Alcazr VI. Smiling fondly at the memory, I turned and poked at the body I saw. After smacking the body, I leaned down and touched it.
Frowning, I moved back to my desk. Sitting down, I called up video and scanner feeds for the last 72 hours. Pouring over them, nothing amiss registered. In point of fact, nary a thing registered in the slightest, including the arrival of the 'body'. Smacking the communications system, I dialed up the duty attendant for cleaning services.
"Cortil, one of the cleaning droids cleaned its last in my office. I would like it removed immediately, as I have a client coming for a visit."
Cortil spoke back, "Of course Mr. Kaden. I know that is the third this year."
Thanking him, I leaned back to wait. In quick enough time, my door opened and a repair droid strode in. Clicking to itself, I held my breath. Surely, I hoped, the droids sensors would reveal the truth of the matter.
To my utter dismay, the repair droid picked up a cleaning droid and neatly tucked it away. The repair droid closed the door, leaving me baffled beyond words. The body on the floor mocked me further, just laying there unmoved. I leaned back further, thinking furiously about the matter before me.
Tipping my chair right over, I deposited myself on the floor. Laughing a moment, I rubbed the two new bruises I acquired. I whined as I rose, wincing from all of the bumps. Looking across the room, I found my gaze arrested by the figure lying on the floor. After a moment, I walked towards it, worry running across my mind. Leaning down, I rolled the body over to study it.
Concentrating, I recorded every detail of the figure. Quickly rifling the pockets, nary a thing turned up. Kneeling, I contemplated what I knew. After that passed in the space of a deep breath, I began wondering.
Why did I get out of bed? And what exactly was this?
Standing, I frowned at the mess I found myself in. Acting on impulse, I exited my office. Perhaps I needed some fresh air, I mused, in order to fathom this annoying little puzzle. Heading out into the main area, I pondered options for fresh air.
"Norville old chap, have I got a deal for you!"
I cringed at the rough voice calling to me. Groaning mentally, I turned to confront the source. To my complete contempt, Drebin Nordberg stood smiling at me. He waved his case about, full of useless gadgets no doubt. Following closely behind, the look on Torli's reptile face indicated Nordberg might yet lose a limb. Or perhaps, all of them.
Waving Torli off before she murdered Nordberg, I manage a happy smile. Drebin Nordberg, crackpot inventor and peddler of useless temporal gadgets. I fingered my right forearm in memory of his last invention.
"Drebin, hello. Dreadfully sorry,-"
"Norville, just one moment! Look, "Nordberg deftly opened the case, producing a gizmo, "a temporal transmitter and general science scanner, all rolled into one!"
Disguising a smack to my head, I forced the smile to stay home. Listening halfheartedly as he prattled, I attempted thinking a way out of this unwanted mess. Nordberg continued, happily gushing about the product, scanning and waving it all over the place. A sudden pause in the outpouring of words dragged me back from a world devoid of the clinically insane.
Nordberg frowned, staring intently at his device. Punching buttons, I began to believe I could make a hasty retreat. As I backed off, the readings on the screen caught my eye. Yanking the device out of his hand, Nordberg launched a sales pitch at my apparent interest. Tuning him out, I stared in abject amazement at the readings on the device's screen.
Astonishment set every nerve buzzing. Scrambled, the readout changing information by the blink of the eye, I recognized the pattern and the meaning.
Chronostatic emissions. Loads of chronostatic emissions, originating from my office.
"Drebin, mind if I test drive this little puppy?"
Nordberg exclaimed joy, shoving a manual and a few other trinkets at me. Muttering some words, I entered my office. Throwing the manual and assorted items on a chair, I tinkered with the device's setup. Aiming the newly configured contraption at the body only I could see, I sucked in a breath. Exhaling, the display readout a temporal shift measuring minus 30 of the Byrd scale.
Reading the manual, I double checked. Resetting Nordberg's device I checked one more time for good measure. Without nary a doubt, the readings displayed true, minus 30 no matter what adjustments I made. My thoughts jumped through hyperspace, leaving one behind.
Insanity turned viral overnight, or, this body on my floor truly was a dead human from the future.
Rifling through my office, I located every piece of temporal equipment. Checking each, I removed one item from the list, never stopping. Once the list checked out negative, I commenced a check of the office in general. Clearing the office completely, I rounded on the offending body.
After my third intensive search of the morning, I stood. Frowning at my lack of result, I reigned in my thoughts. Tapping a foot, I drifted off in a sea of thinking.
Jumping almost to the ceiling, the interoffice comm screaming for attention, I snapped back to reality. "Yes Torli, " I called out. "What seems the bother now?"
Torli sounded apologetic, saying, "Reminder Mr. Kaden, new hire class meeting in five minutes."
Growling a response, I moved out of the office. Sincerely wishing to skip this task, I remembered I was stuck. With all my other agents out, the job fell to me. I reflected on what was worse, new hires or a mystery making zero sense, delivered from the Future no less.
Skidding to a stop with the help of a table, I smiled at the 15 new faces of my Temporal Troubleshooters Ltd. agency. Scanning the faces, nothing seemed amiss as I got the show rolling. I condensed the company history section in to five sentences, trying to hurry things along.
In the middle of describing all the (boring) required information on company policy, something in my jacket beeped. Continuing as the beeping kept up, i tried to remember the source of this noise. Stopping my recitation, I fumbled through my pockets. Pulling out Nordberg's device, I contemplated smashing the contemptible thing right there.
Looking for an off switch, the readings display caught my eye. Processing the readings, I detected the chronostatic buildup of earlier. This time I noted in amazement the readings seemed more intense. Almost like a...
In a flash of color, a hooded figure appeared in the room. My new hires managed reactions all across the spectrum. My reaction consisted of yelling, "Excuse me! Unauthorized teleport entry carries stiff punishment under Galactic Code."
Turning burning eyes on me, the cloaked figure said nary a word. Raising an arm suddenly, I narrowly managed to avoid a blast of energy. One half of the new hires bolted for the door, and doubtless to turn in resignations. The other half tossed chairs, tables, shoes, anything not attached to the walls or ceiling. Smiling at them, I suddenly spotted one figure huddled in a corner.
Looking intently, realization paid a visit.
The man in the corner was the same one on my floor. Alive, but with the hooded menace advancing, ignoring a shower of objects pelting it. Watching and scrambling for a weapon, I saw the boy produce an electric stunner.
In a flash, I saw. Scooping up my glass of water, I shot past the hooded figure, throwing the water in its face. Bouncing off the wall, I slapped Nordberg's device right onto the face, taking it down as I tripped over the cloak. Yelping, adding to the day's bruises, I limped away, grabbing a fistful of the boy in the corner. The remaining people dashed out.
Thankfully holding onto the wall, the explosion shook the entire floor. Turning, I watched the assembled new hires look at the room, then me. Smiling grimly, I said cheerily, "Lesson concluded. First floor reception. Torli will take you on the full tour."
Turning my attention to the lad before me, I stuck out a hand. He handed over the electric stunner wordlessly. Smiling suddenly, I affected my professor's voice. "Son, rule 2.386. Never use an electric weapons device on androids."
Nodding in pure confusion, he accepted the admonishment. Pocketing the stunner, I escorted him to reception. Handing him over to Torli, I entered my office, happily not finding anything waiting to trip me. Sitting carefully, I spent a good amount of time attempting to reason how all this came about. In the end I decided I would never be certain, the change in outcomes erasing whatever prompted the oddball message to myself. My only thought centered on a freak of temporal displacement, perhaps a time echo. A shudder gripped me, reminding me about the vast variables of temporal cause and effect.
Settling in, I prepared to dive into the day's mundane events. Torli's voice interrupted my attempt to accomplish work.
"Mr. Kaden, Mr. David Sidar on line six. He said he will wait, all day if needed."
Swallowing hard, I wondered if in the other outcome I survived talking to the building owner. Huffing in hope, I answered the line. The nonstop screaming greeting me sucked the hope clean from me.
27 June, 2010
On the New Frontier...Would You Say I Do?
(Inspiration hits me at the damndest of times. I am currently fighting my way through a complete rewrite of a longer story, which has sucked up my time from working on the story I am posting to this blog. In the middle of its frustrations, setbacks and contemplation of launching myself into orbit, inspiration nailed me for something else. Just remember...I hate weddings.)
"Just who the Hell are YOU?"
Blinking rapidly, I attempted to ascertain where I was. Firstly, I appeared to be laying down. Secondly, the surface I found myself on was not comfortable. Thirdly, a wedding dress hanging over me stared in my face. Fourthly (Is that a word? Oh, it is now.) a rather angry brunette women fumed at me. Looking into her blue eyes, I smiled apologetically. "Dear me. I seem to have arrived in a most unusual fashion."
"Get off the table!"
Swinging hurriedly off the table at the scream, I stood, assessing my surroundings. Groaning, I realised I was in a wedding hall. Judging by the appearance of everything, a Terran wedding hall. A further groan issued when I noted it was early 21st century Terran, and the woman appeared in her early 20s. Terrible music during this period would soon assault my senses, if this woman before me did not.
Realising some form of explanation might be required, I smiled again. "Why hello there, Norville Kaden at your service. Terribly sorry for the unconventional entrance. I seem to have been blasted out of my nap to here."
Rounding on me, the women snapped, "You almost ruined my wedding dress! You made a mess of the whole table!" Eyes flashing in pure anger, she looked into me. Deciding for once to be charming, I said humbly, "Simply your servant Miss, and a mere mistake. Inspection-"
"Get out of here! OUT!"
Running for the nearest exit, I stopped only when a corner hid me from view. Panting and checking for holes, I frowned in thought. Somehow, something yanked me out a rather comfy chair, dropping me on a rather uncomfy table. Shaking aside the thoughts of how rude, I pondered as I walked.
Flicking my wrist, the temporal locator popped out. My initial assessment held true: Earth, November 2011, Fremantle, Western Australia. Odd place, I mused, to find oneself tossed in, especially the bit about the wedding. More thoughts followed a trip over a trash bin into flowers. Dusting myself off, I strode purposely, mindful of the glances of onlookers.
Two hours, three detours, one loss for words and four old people mistaking me for someone's grandson later, I arrived at lodging. Eating in record time, I threw myself at the bed. Bouncing on it, I let the motion jar my thoughts. When that failed, I stared straight into the ceiling for a count.
In my era, temporal travel represented a well documented phenomena. Working for a time agency, traveling through time was nothing new to me. Occupation it happened to be, this represented an amusingly frightening first: uncontrolled temporal shift.
For the 20th time I attempted shunting myself back to my own time, and for the 20th time failed. Cursing, the same answer read out in my brain. Some force was blocking me from achieving temporal shift, yet for some unfathomable reason I appeared here. The growling accomplished little, except to remind me of a cartoon from circa this period.
Waking up in a heap on the floor, I winced from my rather painful choice of sleeping positions. Stumbling about, I managed to shower. Banging my head on the shower, I reflected about just how Terrans survived this period of history. Giving up, I dressed, pondering what next to accomplish.
Striding down the street, I let my thoughts wander about. Returning to reality after bouncing off a pole, a telephone pole to be precise, I laughed. Despite a lifetime of solving complex things, simple items always seemed to escape and amuse me. I headed for a small store I spotted, entering and buying a paper and a coffee.
Making my way back to my lodging, a hotel I believe it is named, I sat down. Listening to the chair creak, I poured over the paper intently. Taking in the info, I smiled, laughing at this century of Terran history. As I continued on, the news turned mundane. At least I noted, reading then tearing the page out with the comics on it, something funny brightened the day.
Turning the last page I saw the notices. I gripped the paper suddenly, seeing a familiar face in the section. Reading over the notice, I saw that the wedding for the woman I met yesterday was to occur today, in roughly three Terran hours. Tossing the paper down, I wondered why I thought this important. Speculation mounted a starship and flew off, leaving me at the spacedock.
Snapping my fingers, a decision arrived. Information needed, and only one way to acquire it. Heading out the door, I laughed, knowing I had but the vaguest of plans for acquiring any knowledge.
Charm working once again, I managed to sneak my way into the wedding hall staff. Vainly attempting to remember Terran wedding customs and the like, I managed to sneak about the place. A concentrated search provided me nothing, not a clue. Huffing in disgust I trudged down a hall, quite intent on making an exit. A plan to find my way home needed-
"Excuse me, we need a couple of towels for the bride's room."
Turning, I smiled and nodded. Escape plans would wait a moment. Wait they would, as I found myself sucked up into the work team for the wedding. Running through chaos and seeming disordered order, I panted. I vowed in my mind never to mock anyone's job, ever again.
Before I could comprehend, the time for the ceremony arrived. Finding myself in the reception hall, I added the finishing touches to the tables with a flourish. Smiling in childish delight, I marched off to the kitchen, checking to see if I could take a break. Receiving approval, I threaded my way to a spot to think.
Reaching the spot I located in my travels, I looked about and realised I could see the wedding. Moving quietly, I saw the groom and minister standing. Skin crawling, I hated the sound of the organ player mashing keys. Just then the bride arrived, slowly marching up the isle. This time she actually looked happy, unlike upon my first encounter. Smiling, my attention wavered as a sound caught my ear. Frowning I turned about me in the dim light.
Seeing something in the dim light, I advanced towards it. Tripping, I landed besides a bound and gagged figure. I noted three things instantly.
First, the person I untied was wearing a tuxedo, and in his early 20s.
Second, more than just this person where occupying this room, all bound and gagged.
Third, this man in the tuxedo looked awfully familiar.
Leaping, tripping and landing at my view into the wedding I stared hard. The ceremony underway, I stared at the groom. I stared again, after a good head shake.
Standing beside the bride, the man on the floor looked on expectantly. Slapping myself, the vision wavered. Slapping myself again, the vision finished wavering, solidifying for me. Choking a scream down, I noted to my dismay a mess of Chindith masquerading as the groom and members of the wedding party.
Acting, I grabbed the real groom and undid his bonds. He was still groggy as I hunted around for a weapon of some sort. A frantic search produced a half empty bottle of water and a yo-yo. Moaning I grabbed the real groom and propelled him towards the door leading into the ceremony.
Finding the lock tripped, I reverted to Plan K, kicking the door open. Yelping from the pain, I staggered into the stunned assemblage. Shock, astonishment and outright anger greeted my unannounced arrival. The father of the bride rose, advancing on me menacingly. I chucked water on him as he did, waiting for the holoshield to short and show him for what he truly was.
Jumping aside as the bride's father lunged, now madder for getting a soaking, I realised my mistake. Turning, I threw the rest of the water on the father of the groom, just then heading for me.
Sparks flew and wedding party and guests scattered, some fleeing. The bride herself stood her ground, staring in something beyond contempt and disbelief. Everyone present looked on in horror and amazement at the unmasked Chindith before them.
Flashing my credentials before the Chindith, I addressed them sternly. "By order of the Galactic Temporal Code, I order you to vacate this planet and temporal location."
My words produced little effect. At this point, the remaining Chindith unmasked, inspiring more panic. Drawing a breath, I steeled myself for serious dramatic acting.
"Jonathan!"
The bride rushed past and grabbed the real groom. Staggering into her arms, he focused on her, saying, "Oh Kella." Turning from the sight of them kissing madly, I returned to the matter at hand. Most of the Terrans managed a masterful retreat, excepting the bride and groom and a handful of guests. Sighing, the Chindith glared at me in unison. Having dealt with them before, I knew I could expect the glare, and possibly being converted into melted flesh.
Speaking rapidly, I made the yo-yo appear. "This device, when activated, pulses non Terran lifeforms. Sadly, for such beings as Chindith, your molecules shall suffer cellular inversion." Stopping before my acting skills received the test of a lifetime, I waited. Fighting the urge to climb on the ceiling, I opened my mouth.
"I don't give a flying damn what you are...leave my wedding!"
Kella's sudden shouted caused everyone present to jump or scream. I managed both, looking in disbelief as the Chindith present clustered together. As a body, they all teleported right from view. When I blinked again, Kella and Jonathan ran to free the remaining members of the wedding party. Kella's father, muttering away, went to round up the guests.
All I could do was stand there. And just laugh.
Roughly an hour Terran Standard Time later, Jonathan and Kella said, "I do." Standing at the back of the hall I smiled, watching the proceedings. Everyone filed out past the newly wed couple, leaving me for last.
Approaching them, I shook their hands. Smiling sheepishly, I said, "Terribly sorry my dear girl for breaking in like that. However, I concluded you may not want to marry an alien, let alone live with one."
Kella smiled just then. She put a finger to my lips to stop me from saying another word. She looked through me again, saying, "I am afraid of an explanation of who and what happened. I wish to convey my thanks to you."
I nodded and bowed to them. My temporal locater beeped, causing me to smile. "Home, headed for, is I. Before I go, I believe tradition says I owe you a gift." With that statement, I handed them each a card. Waving, I faded from view, going home.
Laughing over the entirety of the misadventure, I registered a single regret.
Missing the expressions of shock upon opening those cards.
"Just who the Hell are YOU?"
Blinking rapidly, I attempted to ascertain where I was. Firstly, I appeared to be laying down. Secondly, the surface I found myself on was not comfortable. Thirdly, a wedding dress hanging over me stared in my face. Fourthly (Is that a word? Oh, it is now.) a rather angry brunette women fumed at me. Looking into her blue eyes, I smiled apologetically. "Dear me. I seem to have arrived in a most unusual fashion."
"Get off the table!"
Swinging hurriedly off the table at the scream, I stood, assessing my surroundings. Groaning, I realised I was in a wedding hall. Judging by the appearance of everything, a Terran wedding hall. A further groan issued when I noted it was early 21st century Terran, and the woman appeared in her early 20s. Terrible music during this period would soon assault my senses, if this woman before me did not.
Realising some form of explanation might be required, I smiled again. "Why hello there, Norville Kaden at your service. Terribly sorry for the unconventional entrance. I seem to have been blasted out of my nap to here."
Rounding on me, the women snapped, "You almost ruined my wedding dress! You made a mess of the whole table!" Eyes flashing in pure anger, she looked into me. Deciding for once to be charming, I said humbly, "Simply your servant Miss, and a mere mistake. Inspection-"
"Get out of here! OUT!"
Running for the nearest exit, I stopped only when a corner hid me from view. Panting and checking for holes, I frowned in thought. Somehow, something yanked me out a rather comfy chair, dropping me on a rather uncomfy table. Shaking aside the thoughts of how rude, I pondered as I walked.
Flicking my wrist, the temporal locator popped out. My initial assessment held true: Earth, November 2011, Fremantle, Western Australia. Odd place, I mused, to find oneself tossed in, especially the bit about the wedding. More thoughts followed a trip over a trash bin into flowers. Dusting myself off, I strode purposely, mindful of the glances of onlookers.
Two hours, three detours, one loss for words and four old people mistaking me for someone's grandson later, I arrived at lodging. Eating in record time, I threw myself at the bed. Bouncing on it, I let the motion jar my thoughts. When that failed, I stared straight into the ceiling for a count.
In my era, temporal travel represented a well documented phenomena. Working for a time agency, traveling through time was nothing new to me. Occupation it happened to be, this represented an amusingly frightening first: uncontrolled temporal shift.
For the 20th time I attempted shunting myself back to my own time, and for the 20th time failed. Cursing, the same answer read out in my brain. Some force was blocking me from achieving temporal shift, yet for some unfathomable reason I appeared here. The growling accomplished little, except to remind me of a cartoon from circa this period.
Waking up in a heap on the floor, I winced from my rather painful choice of sleeping positions. Stumbling about, I managed to shower. Banging my head on the shower, I reflected about just how Terrans survived this period of history. Giving up, I dressed, pondering what next to accomplish.
Striding down the street, I let my thoughts wander about. Returning to reality after bouncing off a pole, a telephone pole to be precise, I laughed. Despite a lifetime of solving complex things, simple items always seemed to escape and amuse me. I headed for a small store I spotted, entering and buying a paper and a coffee.
Making my way back to my lodging, a hotel I believe it is named, I sat down. Listening to the chair creak, I poured over the paper intently. Taking in the info, I smiled, laughing at this century of Terran history. As I continued on, the news turned mundane. At least I noted, reading then tearing the page out with the comics on it, something funny brightened the day.
Turning the last page I saw the notices. I gripped the paper suddenly, seeing a familiar face in the section. Reading over the notice, I saw that the wedding for the woman I met yesterday was to occur today, in roughly three Terran hours. Tossing the paper down, I wondered why I thought this important. Speculation mounted a starship and flew off, leaving me at the spacedock.
Snapping my fingers, a decision arrived. Information needed, and only one way to acquire it. Heading out the door, I laughed, knowing I had but the vaguest of plans for acquiring any knowledge.
Charm working once again, I managed to sneak my way into the wedding hall staff. Vainly attempting to remember Terran wedding customs and the like, I managed to sneak about the place. A concentrated search provided me nothing, not a clue. Huffing in disgust I trudged down a hall, quite intent on making an exit. A plan to find my way home needed-
"Excuse me, we need a couple of towels for the bride's room."
Turning, I smiled and nodded. Escape plans would wait a moment. Wait they would, as I found myself sucked up into the work team for the wedding. Running through chaos and seeming disordered order, I panted. I vowed in my mind never to mock anyone's job, ever again.
Before I could comprehend, the time for the ceremony arrived. Finding myself in the reception hall, I added the finishing touches to the tables with a flourish. Smiling in childish delight, I marched off to the kitchen, checking to see if I could take a break. Receiving approval, I threaded my way to a spot to think.
Reaching the spot I located in my travels, I looked about and realised I could see the wedding. Moving quietly, I saw the groom and minister standing. Skin crawling, I hated the sound of the organ player mashing keys. Just then the bride arrived, slowly marching up the isle. This time she actually looked happy, unlike upon my first encounter. Smiling, my attention wavered as a sound caught my ear. Frowning I turned about me in the dim light.
Seeing something in the dim light, I advanced towards it. Tripping, I landed besides a bound and gagged figure. I noted three things instantly.
First, the person I untied was wearing a tuxedo, and in his early 20s.
Second, more than just this person where occupying this room, all bound and gagged.
Third, this man in the tuxedo looked awfully familiar.
Leaping, tripping and landing at my view into the wedding I stared hard. The ceremony underway, I stared at the groom. I stared again, after a good head shake.
Standing beside the bride, the man on the floor looked on expectantly. Slapping myself, the vision wavered. Slapping myself again, the vision finished wavering, solidifying for me. Choking a scream down, I noted to my dismay a mess of Chindith masquerading as the groom and members of the wedding party.
Acting, I grabbed the real groom and undid his bonds. He was still groggy as I hunted around for a weapon of some sort. A frantic search produced a half empty bottle of water and a yo-yo. Moaning I grabbed the real groom and propelled him towards the door leading into the ceremony.
Finding the lock tripped, I reverted to Plan K, kicking the door open. Yelping from the pain, I staggered into the stunned assemblage. Shock, astonishment and outright anger greeted my unannounced arrival. The father of the bride rose, advancing on me menacingly. I chucked water on him as he did, waiting for the holoshield to short and show him for what he truly was.
Jumping aside as the bride's father lunged, now madder for getting a soaking, I realised my mistake. Turning, I threw the rest of the water on the father of the groom, just then heading for me.
Sparks flew and wedding party and guests scattered, some fleeing. The bride herself stood her ground, staring in something beyond contempt and disbelief. Everyone present looked on in horror and amazement at the unmasked Chindith before them.
Flashing my credentials before the Chindith, I addressed them sternly. "By order of the Galactic Temporal Code, I order you to vacate this planet and temporal location."
My words produced little effect. At this point, the remaining Chindith unmasked, inspiring more panic. Drawing a breath, I steeled myself for serious dramatic acting.
"Jonathan!"
The bride rushed past and grabbed the real groom. Staggering into her arms, he focused on her, saying, "Oh Kella." Turning from the sight of them kissing madly, I returned to the matter at hand. Most of the Terrans managed a masterful retreat, excepting the bride and groom and a handful of guests. Sighing, the Chindith glared at me in unison. Having dealt with them before, I knew I could expect the glare, and possibly being converted into melted flesh.
Speaking rapidly, I made the yo-yo appear. "This device, when activated, pulses non Terran lifeforms. Sadly, for such beings as Chindith, your molecules shall suffer cellular inversion." Stopping before my acting skills received the test of a lifetime, I waited. Fighting the urge to climb on the ceiling, I opened my mouth.
"I don't give a flying damn what you are...leave my wedding!"
Kella's sudden shouted caused everyone present to jump or scream. I managed both, looking in disbelief as the Chindith present clustered together. As a body, they all teleported right from view. When I blinked again, Kella and Jonathan ran to free the remaining members of the wedding party. Kella's father, muttering away, went to round up the guests.
All I could do was stand there. And just laugh.
Roughly an hour Terran Standard Time later, Jonathan and Kella said, "I do." Standing at the back of the hall I smiled, watching the proceedings. Everyone filed out past the newly wed couple, leaving me for last.
Approaching them, I shook their hands. Smiling sheepishly, I said, "Terribly sorry my dear girl for breaking in like that. However, I concluded you may not want to marry an alien, let alone live with one."
Kella smiled just then. She put a finger to my lips to stop me from saying another word. She looked through me again, saying, "I am afraid of an explanation of who and what happened. I wish to convey my thanks to you."
I nodded and bowed to them. My temporal locater beeped, causing me to smile. "Home, headed for, is I. Before I go, I believe tradition says I owe you a gift." With that statement, I handed them each a card. Waving, I faded from view, going home.
Laughing over the entirety of the misadventure, I registered a single regret.
Missing the expressions of shock upon opening those cards.
12 June, 2010
On the New Frontier...Chasing Darkness: Part III
Day 5
Watching the readings on my detectors, I whistled. The ship had just dropped out of hyperspace near my position. Thankfully I was powered down already and in a sensor masking asteroid field. My short range detectors worked out of the field thankfully. Based on what the readings informed me of, really thankfully.
The ship registered about as massive as an Alliance Stellar Navy light carrier. Heavily armed and armour plated, I decided I was damn glad I already was hiding. My little transport was certainly no match for anything this massive. A question haunted me about this ship.
Who were they?
So far, nary a clue in my possession told me who happened to have such a 'healthy' interest in me. I mulled over again and again what scant facts I observed. Simply nothing added up in my mind. Running them again accomplished nothing beyond grinding a layer off my teeth. Reason seemed to escape me at this point, and critical thinking was never a strong suit of mine anyway.
Watching the detectors, I noted the ship within visual range. Shrugging, I fired up my exterior vision and made a photographic record of as much of the ship as possible. Keeping a wary eye on the detector readings, in a minute the ship departed. Sighing relief, my thoughts quickly returned to my musing of earlier. I decided to review the information I collected on Sirrum.
Scanning through the history of space flight, I stopped suddenly. The section titled 'Rise of the Imperium' drew my attention. In this place I found myself, space travel was an older knowledge than in my neck of the woods. In the beginning, it seems there were no less than 170 small kingdoms scattered about this particular galaxy. The usual fare of power struggles ensued and the galaxy plunged into a galactic Dark Age of sorts.
About the time Earth first achieved hyperspatial travel, the forces of the Imperium started conquering star systems, bringing order and re-establishing communications. Reading over this information chilled me, with my amateur historian bent screaming bloody murder. All of it had an all too familiar lean to it, right out of the Earth history of dictators and empires.
Leaning back again, I pondered the last major intangible, that of my ground encounters. What in the name of everything unholy were these people using? No visible weapons...chanting...what the Hell! My musings brought me no peace of mind. Turning decisively, I punched every reading on the atmosphere of Sirrum. Giving the computer some marching orders, I focused my attention to leaving my hiding place.
Powering up, I plotted myself a leisurely course out of the asteroid field. Watching carefully as I made my way through, my heart hit my boots when the short range detectors commenced screaming. Company arrived in the form of the light carrier I saw earlier. Cursing myself, I accelerated as much as I dared. Managing not to hit an asteroid, I blasted into clear space.
Seeing three groups of 15 fighters converging on me forced a sudden revision to 'clear space'. Boxing me in, I grimly punched maximum intensity to my forward screens, firing maximum power ion strikes at everything dead ahead. Picking a target as the formation scattered, I screamed for the fighter at 95% sublight. Holding my breath, the fighter loomed larger as the collision alarm sounded. Turning blue, during the last second the fighter skated off to my port.
Exhaling with every thing I had, I gasped as oxygen hit my system again. Scrambling, I engaged the aft shields, listening to the symphony of things bashing my hull. Dialing the shields all the way, I watched the explosions form to my aft. Jumping to hyperspace, I bounced around jumps for an hour. Satisfied, I settled into a nice, tight orbit around a trinary star group.
Huffing my relief, memory kicked me swiftly in the ass. I remembered the analysis I asked of the computer. Transferring the readout to the forward display, I pondered over it. My science skills lacking, I punched a comparative analysis against Earth. In a short moment, I poured over a detailed breakdown of atmospheric components. Two readings caught my eye suddenly.
One seemed to be a radioactive isotope. Suppressing panic, I had the computer check and found it harmless due to my shielding. The other element registered as an inorganic compound. The odd thing I noted, was the inorganic compound scanned at high concentrations in the atmosphere, along with the radioactive isotope. The computer confirm that neither element seemed to be a product of the other, which made little sense.
I mulled over this poser. Something nagged me, saying how truly odd this occurrence was. I thought for a good long while, no revelation forthcoming. I flagged the data, keeping it fresh in my mind.
Searching the immediate area, the detectors found a dead moon floating through the area. According to scan info, the mining base showed no sign of habitation for 64 years. I brought the ship down and settled under a cliff. Troubled, I set the automatic warning, and dragged myself to my bunk.
Day 6
I decided to explore the abandoned mining complex before departing. Hopping about in the weak gravity, I smiled. Looking every bit the old fashioned ghost town, a complete record of Life unfolded before me. Recording everything to an uplink on my ship, I decided I could sell all this upon reaching home.
Home.
Depression slammed me, stopping me cold inside a building. Emotion finally caught me, draining everything from me. I simply stared into the alienness of this deserted place. Home, a place seemingly in a dream. A place remembered, perhaps remaining a memory.
Minutes passed before I moved again. I spent a solid hour exploring, finding nothing but dust and ruin where ever my torchlight shone. Frustration lashed out a foot, kicking a wall. Snarling at myself, I fumed all the way back to the ship. I needed results, not pointless pottering about.
On a whim, I set the computer to analyze the soil of this moon. Waiting impatiently, the analysis presented itself shortly. To my utmost surprise, the same elements I noted in Sirrum's atmosphere appeared again. Frowning, I wondered what this could possibly mean.
Setting down on a world called Asxia, I exited my ship carefully. Looking about, certain no 'reception' committee awaited, I thought. The portable analyzer was strapped to my left arm, allowing it to take readings on everything. Remaining nondescript as possible, I described a circular course through the spaceport. I spotted a park, and entered. Despite the differences, seeing trees and grass of a fashion brought a smile. I spotted a bridge over a reddish stream and looked over it.
"Life is a flowing stream, never staying in place."
The soft voice startled me enough to almost leap right into the stream. Looking left a women stood close to me. She stared intently at the stream herself, lost seemingly in some thought. Locating my voice, I said evenly, "Indeed so. Change, constant, unremitting...unfeeling marching across the shores of Time."
The women turned purple eyes on me. Studying me a moment, she spoke again in her soft voice. "Wisdom of truth I find unfamiliar." She paused, her next words causing my heart to skip, "Strange, I feel no sense of you, yet see and hear you."
Turning, I stared in disbelief. A leap of logic told me that she was referring to a spiritual sense of me. My thoughts mounted a horse and rode off. Unsure of what may happen next, I managed a skillfully hasty retreat. Once certain no one followed, I used my recall and teleported back to the Stellar Rush. Safely inside, I received clearance for departure, wasting no time in the process. In minutes space stretched before me, along with an infinity of questions.
Frowning, I knew at least one answer I could get. Punching the scanner info in, in a moment the readout on Asxia appeared. Unsurprisingly, once again the two mystery elements appeared. Impulsively, I scanned myself and the air of the ship. No trace of those elements existed in me or the air of the ship.
Frowning deeper, I wondered. I could not place it, but something nagged me about this. Those two elements showed up in air and soil in three distinctly different worlds.
Why? What did they do?
Damn I hate mysteries.
Watching the readings on my detectors, I whistled. The ship had just dropped out of hyperspace near my position. Thankfully I was powered down already and in a sensor masking asteroid field. My short range detectors worked out of the field thankfully. Based on what the readings informed me of, really thankfully.
The ship registered about as massive as an Alliance Stellar Navy light carrier. Heavily armed and armour plated, I decided I was damn glad I already was hiding. My little transport was certainly no match for anything this massive. A question haunted me about this ship.
Who were they?
So far, nary a clue in my possession told me who happened to have such a 'healthy' interest in me. I mulled over again and again what scant facts I observed. Simply nothing added up in my mind. Running them again accomplished nothing beyond grinding a layer off my teeth. Reason seemed to escape me at this point, and critical thinking was never a strong suit of mine anyway.
Watching the detectors, I noted the ship within visual range. Shrugging, I fired up my exterior vision and made a photographic record of as much of the ship as possible. Keeping a wary eye on the detector readings, in a minute the ship departed. Sighing relief, my thoughts quickly returned to my musing of earlier. I decided to review the information I collected on Sirrum.
Scanning through the history of space flight, I stopped suddenly. The section titled 'Rise of the Imperium' drew my attention. In this place I found myself, space travel was an older knowledge than in my neck of the woods. In the beginning, it seems there were no less than 170 small kingdoms scattered about this particular galaxy. The usual fare of power struggles ensued and the galaxy plunged into a galactic Dark Age of sorts.
About the time Earth first achieved hyperspatial travel, the forces of the Imperium started conquering star systems, bringing order and re-establishing communications. Reading over this information chilled me, with my amateur historian bent screaming bloody murder. All of it had an all too familiar lean to it, right out of the Earth history of dictators and empires.
Leaning back again, I pondered the last major intangible, that of my ground encounters. What in the name of everything unholy were these people using? No visible weapons...chanting...what the Hell! My musings brought me no peace of mind. Turning decisively, I punched every reading on the atmosphere of Sirrum. Giving the computer some marching orders, I focused my attention to leaving my hiding place.
Powering up, I plotted myself a leisurely course out of the asteroid field. Watching carefully as I made my way through, my heart hit my boots when the short range detectors commenced screaming. Company arrived in the form of the light carrier I saw earlier. Cursing myself, I accelerated as much as I dared. Managing not to hit an asteroid, I blasted into clear space.
Seeing three groups of 15 fighters converging on me forced a sudden revision to 'clear space'. Boxing me in, I grimly punched maximum intensity to my forward screens, firing maximum power ion strikes at everything dead ahead. Picking a target as the formation scattered, I screamed for the fighter at 95% sublight. Holding my breath, the fighter loomed larger as the collision alarm sounded. Turning blue, during the last second the fighter skated off to my port.
Exhaling with every thing I had, I gasped as oxygen hit my system again. Scrambling, I engaged the aft shields, listening to the symphony of things bashing my hull. Dialing the shields all the way, I watched the explosions form to my aft. Jumping to hyperspace, I bounced around jumps for an hour. Satisfied, I settled into a nice, tight orbit around a trinary star group.
Huffing my relief, memory kicked me swiftly in the ass. I remembered the analysis I asked of the computer. Transferring the readout to the forward display, I pondered over it. My science skills lacking, I punched a comparative analysis against Earth. In a short moment, I poured over a detailed breakdown of atmospheric components. Two readings caught my eye suddenly.
One seemed to be a radioactive isotope. Suppressing panic, I had the computer check and found it harmless due to my shielding. The other element registered as an inorganic compound. The odd thing I noted, was the inorganic compound scanned at high concentrations in the atmosphere, along with the radioactive isotope. The computer confirm that neither element seemed to be a product of the other, which made little sense.
I mulled over this poser. Something nagged me, saying how truly odd this occurrence was. I thought for a good long while, no revelation forthcoming. I flagged the data, keeping it fresh in my mind.
Searching the immediate area, the detectors found a dead moon floating through the area. According to scan info, the mining base showed no sign of habitation for 64 years. I brought the ship down and settled under a cliff. Troubled, I set the automatic warning, and dragged myself to my bunk.
Day 6
I decided to explore the abandoned mining complex before departing. Hopping about in the weak gravity, I smiled. Looking every bit the old fashioned ghost town, a complete record of Life unfolded before me. Recording everything to an uplink on my ship, I decided I could sell all this upon reaching home.
Home.
Depression slammed me, stopping me cold inside a building. Emotion finally caught me, draining everything from me. I simply stared into the alienness of this deserted place. Home, a place seemingly in a dream. A place remembered, perhaps remaining a memory.
Minutes passed before I moved again. I spent a solid hour exploring, finding nothing but dust and ruin where ever my torchlight shone. Frustration lashed out a foot, kicking a wall. Snarling at myself, I fumed all the way back to the ship. I needed results, not pointless pottering about.
On a whim, I set the computer to analyze the soil of this moon. Waiting impatiently, the analysis presented itself shortly. To my utmost surprise, the same elements I noted in Sirrum's atmosphere appeared again. Frowning, I wondered what this could possibly mean.
Setting down on a world called Asxia, I exited my ship carefully. Looking about, certain no 'reception' committee awaited, I thought. The portable analyzer was strapped to my left arm, allowing it to take readings on everything. Remaining nondescript as possible, I described a circular course through the spaceport. I spotted a park, and entered. Despite the differences, seeing trees and grass of a fashion brought a smile. I spotted a bridge over a reddish stream and looked over it.
"Life is a flowing stream, never staying in place."
The soft voice startled me enough to almost leap right into the stream. Looking left a women stood close to me. She stared intently at the stream herself, lost seemingly in some thought. Locating my voice, I said evenly, "Indeed so. Change, constant, unremitting...unfeeling marching across the shores of Time."
The women turned purple eyes on me. Studying me a moment, she spoke again in her soft voice. "Wisdom of truth I find unfamiliar." She paused, her next words causing my heart to skip, "Strange, I feel no sense of you, yet see and hear you."
Turning, I stared in disbelief. A leap of logic told me that she was referring to a spiritual sense of me. My thoughts mounted a horse and rode off. Unsure of what may happen next, I managed a skillfully hasty retreat. Once certain no one followed, I used my recall and teleported back to the Stellar Rush. Safely inside, I received clearance for departure, wasting no time in the process. In minutes space stretched before me, along with an infinity of questions.
Frowning, I knew at least one answer I could get. Punching the scanner info in, in a moment the readout on Asxia appeared. Unsurprisingly, once again the two mystery elements appeared. Impulsively, I scanned myself and the air of the ship. No trace of those elements existed in me or the air of the ship.
Frowning deeper, I wondered. I could not place it, but something nagged me about this. Those two elements showed up in air and soil in three distinctly different worlds.
Why? What did they do?
Damn I hate mysteries.
13 May, 2010
On the New Frontier...Chasing Darkness: Part II
Day 3
I carefully plotted a course through the alien space I found myself in. I thanked the fact, yet again, my luck in acquiring this ship. This marked the third time my detector range saved me from encountering alien ships. Watching the data process made me fidget as the ships slipped by. Sighing, I double checked for any other vessels. upon finding none I returned to my thoughts.
Using the data retrieved from that old transport I had located a place I could land and look for information. The approach to the system was troubling me as I did not want to get caught off guard. No technician, no detector counter measures and me a hack of a pilot seemed to fit trouble.
In the end my patience gave up and I made a slow approach to the planet.
"Approaching vessel this is Sirum Control. "
Swallowing hard, I answered the hail. "Sirum Control, Stellar Rush. Requesting permission for ground clearance for maintenance."
I tensed. The (few) seconds stretched into the vastness of time. I think I stopped breathing and the like. Hand poised over the flight controls, an escape vector already plotted, I turned blue.
"Stellar Rush, Sirum Control. Clearance granted. Orbital approach confirmed. Landing beacon activates in 10 seconds."
Exhaling, I scanned the ships in orbit. None seemed similar to the lot I encountered as I went on by. Entering the atmosphere, the beacon pinged merrily away. In three minutes I found myself parked along with 20 or so other ships. Powering down, I pondered the problems before me.
First up, how to find information without drawing suspicion. I held hope for some sort of library/reference system to access.
Second came the question of money. If I needed money/credits/whatever, trouble would abound. No forger or hacker, this one was troubling to me. All I could count on was being a bullshit artist to get me through.
Third was hoping that I could remain here without being detected by whomever attacked me. I despise great big 'ifs' with a passion.
Deciding on action, I levered out of my chair. Walking down to my quarters, I entered and immediately pulled out a case. Popping it open, I removed the portable translator and hid it in a pocket, excepting the ear piece of course. Seating it in my ear, I tested it with a quick clip of alien transmission. Satisfied, I grabbed the next item.
Strapping a holder on my wrist, the small plasma blaster clicked into place. Checking that it remained hidden under my light jacket, I smiled. This little beauty had cost me a small fortune, but had come in handy a few times. Grabbing a spare charge for it caused me to frown in thought.
I slipped a ion disruptor into one of my bigger pockets. Reason told me that perhaps this alien space had superior personal protection than I did. in that case, some strong medicine might be a requirement.
That thought lead to the last item I pulled from the case. A personal forcescreen with environment filter was the greatest single defensive option. Enough backwater planets taught me that lesson in my journeys.
Exiting my ship, I carefully locked and coded her. Strolling around the landing site, I made notes of everything. After a few minutes I used a walkway to make tracks to the actual space port. So far so good, thought me about all this.
The walkway deposited me in the spaceport. Looking about, I noted that at least I would appear nondescript enough to any observer. I thanked my luck and just passed through the crowds slowly, my translator picking up data and adding it to the translation matrix. While alien, the surroundings followed a somewhat familiar look to spaceports at home.
Meandering about I looked around. My shades relayed a visual translation for me to see as I did. Smiling, I spotted a directory and aimed for it. Looking it over I noted all kinds of businesses and attractions. I tapped the information to feed to my palmputer for future use. I smiled as I even got a map of the place. That would come in handy for when I decided to be lost in about 15 minutes.
Moving off I remained as nondescript as possible. Scrambled bits of conversation filtered through to me, but nothing that drew my interest. My review of the spaceport map seemed to indicate something akin to a reference center. Hopefully they were not going to check me for a library card.
An outburst to my left caused me to pause. Three surly looking men suddenly appeared, running for all they were worth. In hot pursuit appeared a uniformed man and woman, striding confidentially. I noted this in puzzlement, doubly more so as the crowd moved suddenly as one, taking me for a ride. In seconds, the three were frozen in place, and dragged off. The crowd, silent through this, sprang back to life and filtered out.
I resumed my walk, thinking for all I was worth. Seemingly, what I witnessed passed for the norm on many a planet, in many a place. There was something odd to the whole event. The massed move of the crowd and the capture of the three men occurred without something obvious.
Any sign of a weapon or restraining device. The crowd just moved as one body, one thought. The three men just stopped, not a sound or anything.
Using a bit of charm and gruff, I managed to secure myself an access terminal. Running through the base tutorial, I soon found what I wanted. Looking about, I made sure no one watched as I used the palmputer to record everything I displayed. A concentrated 20 minutes satisfied every need I could think of. I leaned back in thought.
Here was I, in a completely alien place, no idea where home was.
I jumped out of my seat at that thought. No point in mulling over the things bigger than I. Depression was something I did not need gnawing at my psyche at this point. A brisk walk should provide action enough.
Walking out of the library, my thoughts drifted. Heading towards the landing area, I decided a return to my ship was warranted. An in depth study of the available data might provide answers. Surely, I could at least settle the rumbling in my stomach.
In minutes I gained my ship at the landing area. Entering, I locked the Stellar Rush up. Time to do some thinking.
Day 4
I awoke with a seriously stiff neck. Noting my sleeping position (Sitting) a quick round of reasoning told me I feel asleep reading. Wincing in pain, I worked on my neck and motivated myself for the day. I needed to do something after all.
Getting 'kitted up' to use a quaint turn of phrase, I departed my ship. Checking my palmputer, I located my next search mission on this planet. Engrossed as I was in my work, I managed to run into a wall. Falling on my ass, I cursed myself loudly. Looking up changed my mind on my cursing suddenly.
A rather large and powerfully built humanoid loomed over me. Glaring for a count, I noted movement at the edges of my vision. Smiling up at the figure above me, I stammered out an apology. My smile faded as I detected nary a reaction from the being before me. Looking it over, I noted a father large sword looking weapon in it's hands.
I moved before I could think about it. Hearing the blade strike the spot formerly occupied by me, I rolled into a crouch. I winced as energy bolts bounced off my shield, blasting me back a few feet. Pushing up I suddenly saw I faced three opponents. I snapped out my plasma blaster and fired at each.
Looking at each target, not a thing happened to them. I cranked up the power to full and fired again. Three shots, three direct hits and still no effect. Full power, I thought ruefully, should have blown a hole through each individual, a nice smoking hole. Frowning, I reclipped the plasma blaster to my holder, and just stared.
"Alright friends," I said evenly, "perhaps we have a minor misunderstanding going here. I am sure we can all get along if we talk."
My reward for ham handed diplomacy was chanting from my 'acquaintances'. Translation turned it into balderdash, making me scratch my head. Looking at them, surely they thought something of it. Amazement chased concentration off their faces as they stopped. I smiled sheepishly. "If that was intended to kill me, then my 5th grade teacher was right that I never listen."
Judging by the curses hurled at me, my joke rated low to this audience. Another stream of energy bounced off my shield, pushing me into the nearest wall. As I hit, I yanked out the ion disruptor, thumbing the selector to maximum intensity. Picking the one throwing energy bolts at me, I fired two strikes. Number caught an incoming blast and scattered it. Number two produced the desired result, dissolution of about half of the being in question.
Turning to the remaining two, I grinned at the looks of astonishment they sported. Alien as they were, somethings appeared universal I decided. I fired a strike in front of each, dissolving the landing pad. Suddenly, both began chanting and linked a hand. Frozen to the spot I, I shrugged and aimed, firing three full intensity strikes.
When the smoke cleared I found myself alone. Staring at the smoking remains of them, I realised I mad an error. I cursed as I realised I failed to record information on them. Damn crisis responses anyway.
A sound caught my ear. Something was causing the air to crackle all out. Frantically searching about, I detected more hostiles. One of them was chanting something, causing the air to form into a nightmare. closing my mouth, I reacted by firing at everything. My dismay was profound as I noted that nothing happened. Screaming a tirade i did the last thing I could. Closing my eyes, I tapped my palmputer in my pocket.
In a second or so, I snapped my eyes to the comforting sight of the interior of the Stellar Rush. My relief at emergency teleport lasted a moment, as the sounds of something trying to eat my hull resounded through the ship. I pounded off to the flight controls. Sliding into my seat, I fired up the ion pulsers and opened a channel to ground control.
"Sirum Ground Control, Stellar Rush, dock area 13. Request emergency take off clearance. Under attack at dock area. Repeat, request emergency take off clearance."
"Stellar Rush, request denied. Power down ship and prepare for boarding by authority of Imperium command."
Flicking the toggle off, I brought the pulsers to full. Bringing her nose up, I hosed the landing area in ion particles from the drive. I checked readings as I rose through the atmosphere. No sign of weapons lock meant I would have company above. Snarling I throttled out of the atmosphere, detectors screaming at me. Five ships inbound, I noted sourly.
Cranking the shields to maximum intensity, I assigned the target computer the job of confusing the inbound vessels. Missiles of some kind blasted into the shields, giving me pause. Spinning my ship, I fired at the ships harassing me, only nailing one of them. Swearing, I altered course for a tight orbit. The enemy craft hesitated a moment before regrouping and coming again.
More missiles and now laser fire hammered away at me. Impatience and anger mounting in me, I tore through the planet's atmosphere. Fighting my bucking controls, I looped behind a pair of the aliens attacking me. Firing full ion disruptors at them, I watched both explode as their drives imploded. Turning, I found the other two ships fleeing with all due haste. Firing at them, I plotted a course to exit the system hurriedly.
Entering clear space, I stopped to let my nerves unwind. Huffing loudly, I attempted to organise thoughts in my head. Sadly, and despite all hope, my alien presence to this place had not gone unnoticed. Hence, I noted sadly, this made me a rather popular figure on someone's list.
But why?
I allowed that question to rattle its chains as I pondered other facts. From my ground encounter, what were these people using as weapons? No sign of anything obvious filtered through my mind. And the words, the chanting prior to some of those attacks mad no sense to me either. Muse as I might, nothing sensible presented itself for review.
Hopping into hyperspace, I jumped in random fashion five times for good measure. Making sure no geniuses followed, I parked myself high above the plane of the galaxy I sat in on a roaming chuck of rock and ice. I needed to think for certain, minus distractions.
I carefully plotted a course through the alien space I found myself in. I thanked the fact, yet again, my luck in acquiring this ship. This marked the third time my detector range saved me from encountering alien ships. Watching the data process made me fidget as the ships slipped by. Sighing, I double checked for any other vessels. upon finding none I returned to my thoughts.
Using the data retrieved from that old transport I had located a place I could land and look for information. The approach to the system was troubling me as I did not want to get caught off guard. No technician, no detector counter measures and me a hack of a pilot seemed to fit trouble.
In the end my patience gave up and I made a slow approach to the planet.
"Approaching vessel this is Sirum Control. "
Swallowing hard, I answered the hail. "Sirum Control, Stellar Rush. Requesting permission for ground clearance for maintenance."
I tensed. The (few) seconds stretched into the vastness of time. I think I stopped breathing and the like. Hand poised over the flight controls, an escape vector already plotted, I turned blue.
"Stellar Rush, Sirum Control. Clearance granted. Orbital approach confirmed. Landing beacon activates in 10 seconds."
Exhaling, I scanned the ships in orbit. None seemed similar to the lot I encountered as I went on by. Entering the atmosphere, the beacon pinged merrily away. In three minutes I found myself parked along with 20 or so other ships. Powering down, I pondered the problems before me.
First up, how to find information without drawing suspicion. I held hope for some sort of library/reference system to access.
Second came the question of money. If I needed money/credits/whatever, trouble would abound. No forger or hacker, this one was troubling to me. All I could count on was being a bullshit artist to get me through.
Third was hoping that I could remain here without being detected by whomever attacked me. I despise great big 'ifs' with a passion.
Deciding on action, I levered out of my chair. Walking down to my quarters, I entered and immediately pulled out a case. Popping it open, I removed the portable translator and hid it in a pocket, excepting the ear piece of course. Seating it in my ear, I tested it with a quick clip of alien transmission. Satisfied, I grabbed the next item.
Strapping a holder on my wrist, the small plasma blaster clicked into place. Checking that it remained hidden under my light jacket, I smiled. This little beauty had cost me a small fortune, but had come in handy a few times. Grabbing a spare charge for it caused me to frown in thought.
I slipped a ion disruptor into one of my bigger pockets. Reason told me that perhaps this alien space had superior personal protection than I did. in that case, some strong medicine might be a requirement.
That thought lead to the last item I pulled from the case. A personal forcescreen with environment filter was the greatest single defensive option. Enough backwater planets taught me that lesson in my journeys.
Exiting my ship, I carefully locked and coded her. Strolling around the landing site, I made notes of everything. After a few minutes I used a walkway to make tracks to the actual space port. So far so good, thought me about all this.
The walkway deposited me in the spaceport. Looking about, I noted that at least I would appear nondescript enough to any observer. I thanked my luck and just passed through the crowds slowly, my translator picking up data and adding it to the translation matrix. While alien, the surroundings followed a somewhat familiar look to spaceports at home.
Meandering about I looked around. My shades relayed a visual translation for me to see as I did. Smiling, I spotted a directory and aimed for it. Looking it over I noted all kinds of businesses and attractions. I tapped the information to feed to my palmputer for future use. I smiled as I even got a map of the place. That would come in handy for when I decided to be lost in about 15 minutes.
Moving off I remained as nondescript as possible. Scrambled bits of conversation filtered through to me, but nothing that drew my interest. My review of the spaceport map seemed to indicate something akin to a reference center. Hopefully they were not going to check me for a library card.
An outburst to my left caused me to pause. Three surly looking men suddenly appeared, running for all they were worth. In hot pursuit appeared a uniformed man and woman, striding confidentially. I noted this in puzzlement, doubly more so as the crowd moved suddenly as one, taking me for a ride. In seconds, the three were frozen in place, and dragged off. The crowd, silent through this, sprang back to life and filtered out.
I resumed my walk, thinking for all I was worth. Seemingly, what I witnessed passed for the norm on many a planet, in many a place. There was something odd to the whole event. The massed move of the crowd and the capture of the three men occurred without something obvious.
Any sign of a weapon or restraining device. The crowd just moved as one body, one thought. The three men just stopped, not a sound or anything.
Using a bit of charm and gruff, I managed to secure myself an access terminal. Running through the base tutorial, I soon found what I wanted. Looking about, I made sure no one watched as I used the palmputer to record everything I displayed. A concentrated 20 minutes satisfied every need I could think of. I leaned back in thought.
Here was I, in a completely alien place, no idea where home was.
I jumped out of my seat at that thought. No point in mulling over the things bigger than I. Depression was something I did not need gnawing at my psyche at this point. A brisk walk should provide action enough.
Walking out of the library, my thoughts drifted. Heading towards the landing area, I decided a return to my ship was warranted. An in depth study of the available data might provide answers. Surely, I could at least settle the rumbling in my stomach.
In minutes I gained my ship at the landing area. Entering, I locked the Stellar Rush up. Time to do some thinking.
Day 4
I awoke with a seriously stiff neck. Noting my sleeping position (Sitting) a quick round of reasoning told me I feel asleep reading. Wincing in pain, I worked on my neck and motivated myself for the day. I needed to do something after all.
Getting 'kitted up' to use a quaint turn of phrase, I departed my ship. Checking my palmputer, I located my next search mission on this planet. Engrossed as I was in my work, I managed to run into a wall. Falling on my ass, I cursed myself loudly. Looking up changed my mind on my cursing suddenly.
A rather large and powerfully built humanoid loomed over me. Glaring for a count, I noted movement at the edges of my vision. Smiling up at the figure above me, I stammered out an apology. My smile faded as I detected nary a reaction from the being before me. Looking it over, I noted a father large sword looking weapon in it's hands.
I moved before I could think about it. Hearing the blade strike the spot formerly occupied by me, I rolled into a crouch. I winced as energy bolts bounced off my shield, blasting me back a few feet. Pushing up I suddenly saw I faced three opponents. I snapped out my plasma blaster and fired at each.
Looking at each target, not a thing happened to them. I cranked up the power to full and fired again. Three shots, three direct hits and still no effect. Full power, I thought ruefully, should have blown a hole through each individual, a nice smoking hole. Frowning, I reclipped the plasma blaster to my holder, and just stared.
"Alright friends," I said evenly, "perhaps we have a minor misunderstanding going here. I am sure we can all get along if we talk."
My reward for ham handed diplomacy was chanting from my 'acquaintances'. Translation turned it into balderdash, making me scratch my head. Looking at them, surely they thought something of it. Amazement chased concentration off their faces as they stopped. I smiled sheepishly. "If that was intended to kill me, then my 5th grade teacher was right that I never listen."
Judging by the curses hurled at me, my joke rated low to this audience. Another stream of energy bounced off my shield, pushing me into the nearest wall. As I hit, I yanked out the ion disruptor, thumbing the selector to maximum intensity. Picking the one throwing energy bolts at me, I fired two strikes. Number caught an incoming blast and scattered it. Number two produced the desired result, dissolution of about half of the being in question.
Turning to the remaining two, I grinned at the looks of astonishment they sported. Alien as they were, somethings appeared universal I decided. I fired a strike in front of each, dissolving the landing pad. Suddenly, both began chanting and linked a hand. Frozen to the spot I, I shrugged and aimed, firing three full intensity strikes.
When the smoke cleared I found myself alone. Staring at the smoking remains of them, I realised I mad an error. I cursed as I realised I failed to record information on them. Damn crisis responses anyway.
A sound caught my ear. Something was causing the air to crackle all out. Frantically searching about, I detected more hostiles. One of them was chanting something, causing the air to form into a nightmare. closing my mouth, I reacted by firing at everything. My dismay was profound as I noted that nothing happened. Screaming a tirade i did the last thing I could. Closing my eyes, I tapped my palmputer in my pocket.
In a second or so, I snapped my eyes to the comforting sight of the interior of the Stellar Rush. My relief at emergency teleport lasted a moment, as the sounds of something trying to eat my hull resounded through the ship. I pounded off to the flight controls. Sliding into my seat, I fired up the ion pulsers and opened a channel to ground control.
"Sirum Ground Control, Stellar Rush, dock area 13. Request emergency take off clearance. Under attack at dock area. Repeat, request emergency take off clearance."
"Stellar Rush, request denied. Power down ship and prepare for boarding by authority of Imperium command."
Flicking the toggle off, I brought the pulsers to full. Bringing her nose up, I hosed the landing area in ion particles from the drive. I checked readings as I rose through the atmosphere. No sign of weapons lock meant I would have company above. Snarling I throttled out of the atmosphere, detectors screaming at me. Five ships inbound, I noted sourly.
Cranking the shields to maximum intensity, I assigned the target computer the job of confusing the inbound vessels. Missiles of some kind blasted into the shields, giving me pause. Spinning my ship, I fired at the ships harassing me, only nailing one of them. Swearing, I altered course for a tight orbit. The enemy craft hesitated a moment before regrouping and coming again.
More missiles and now laser fire hammered away at me. Impatience and anger mounting in me, I tore through the planet's atmosphere. Fighting my bucking controls, I looped behind a pair of the aliens attacking me. Firing full ion disruptors at them, I watched both explode as their drives imploded. Turning, I found the other two ships fleeing with all due haste. Firing at them, I plotted a course to exit the system hurriedly.
Entering clear space, I stopped to let my nerves unwind. Huffing loudly, I attempted to organise thoughts in my head. Sadly, and despite all hope, my alien presence to this place had not gone unnoticed. Hence, I noted sadly, this made me a rather popular figure on someone's list.
But why?
I allowed that question to rattle its chains as I pondered other facts. From my ground encounter, what were these people using as weapons? No sign of anything obvious filtered through my mind. And the words, the chanting prior to some of those attacks mad no sense to me either. Muse as I might, nothing sensible presented itself for review.
Hopping into hyperspace, I jumped in random fashion five times for good measure. Making sure no geniuses followed, I parked myself high above the plane of the galaxy I sat in on a roaming chuck of rock and ice. I needed to think for certain, minus distractions.
23 April, 2010
On the New Frontier...Chasing Darkness: Part I
(This is yet another new story. It came to me while watching episodes of the anime series Outlaw Star and the new season of Doctor Who. It is a science fiction story of course. Nothing like being faced with an impossible choice. I am going to wind up writing this in parts on the blog.)
Sitting on a rock, I waited impatiently.
Never known for patience on the best of days, this was not the best of my days at all. My friends would laugh I suspect if they could see me right now. Cursing loudly and muttering, looking for all the worlds like a murder suspect gone wrong.
A fortnight ago, I would have been in a position to have my friends laugh at me for seeing this display. A fortnight ago I set off on a simple flight, nothing more exciting than running out to the frontier to inspect equipment to buy. A fortnight since my ship hit an unexplained spacial disturbance, putting me someplace else entirely.
Day 1
The blaring alert klaxon scared me right out of my bunk. Scrambling in my bare feet, I skidded straight into flight control. Landing in my pilot's seat, I started punching up the full 360 detectors and vision. I powered down the hyperatomic motor of my ship, the Stellar Rush. Scanning everything, I could see why I was awakened.
Directly ahead and to 30 degrees port and starboard, space seethed with energy. I could barely spot it visually, but the detectors bounced madly with readings. Looking them over, I frowned. One moment, the readings bounced off the scale. The very next, nothing.
I spent 20 minutes going over everything in the database trying to figure out what was going on. I held hope I would learn something, as the Stellar Rush was an old Type-4a long range transport. In a stroke of luck, I had managed to get her unmodified when she was decommissioned from active Alliance service thanks to a friend.
At the end of those 20 minutes, I had nary a clue. Nothing in the database matched remotely what I was seeing. I ran a quick science search through the datalinks with all news services. Nothing returned from that. Disappointed, I reached over to send a message and drop a navigational hazard buoy.
The buoy dropped flawlessly. Communications, however, were scrambled beyond eggs. Hammering at the communications board accomplished nothing, prompting me to think. In a moment, I opened a channel to the buoy, transmitting all my sensor info and a brief narrative of events.
"2-October-2315. Stellar Rush outbound from Rigel for Iceon Four. Encountered unusual area of energy activity. Sensor readings erratic, conforming to no known phenomena available to ship databanks. Long range communications disrupted. Navigational hazard buoy dropped per standard Articles of Notification. Attempting to plot new course and report incident once out of range."
Closing the channel, I leaned back in my pilot's seat. Loathe to leave this little discovery, I couldn't wait til another ship happened this way. I sighed, content in the knowledge that I had done what was necessary. I turned my attention to getting on with the show.
Checking the readings, I realised that the erratic nature of this was going to preclude flying through. Flying around would take serious time and care. Doubling back would take time, perhaps causing other complications. I fretted through this mess for several moments.
Finally, I punched my navigation controls and reversed course. I pondered how best to make up for the delay as the ship turned. As she turned, I decided upon speed testing the engines and save the visit to Asimov station for the return trip.
Jumping out of the seat as the warning klaxon went again, I powered the shields to full. Glaring into the detector readout, a tirade formed for the person or persons who scared me. Space piloting rage was a hallmark of mine.
The energy effect seethed in front of me again.
Blinking, I double checked the nav controls. Seeing they were right, I exercised a slow 90 degree turn on thrusters. Blinking again, I saw to my dismay that the energy effect was before me. I powered up the hyperatomic motor, picking a z axis descent. Smiling as space cleared I let the ship creep up to 70% sublight.
What happened next will be hazy for all my life. The warning klaxon started, and I shunted emergency power to the shields. I reversed course under full power, trying to kick into hyperspace. The last thing I remember seeing was the ceiling of flight control rushing at me.
I felt my head throbbing. Every last thing in me ached mightily and then some. With effort I pulled myself up using the pilot's chair. My eyes noted quickly that all seemed working. I slid into the chair and punched commands for a damage report.
In seconds the readout appeared. Running through it, nothing seemed damaged at all. I huffed a serious sigh of relief. I checked for the energy disturbance in case it was lurking nearby. No sign of it prompted a shrug from me.
That's when my eyes caught the main viewscreen. Blinking a few times, the sight before me remained unchanged. I hammered the visual detector controls, then linked the exterior detectors into the visual display. I looked again and again, searching for a fault and finding none.
Knowing the route well, I stared at the viewscreen. As I stared, I linked the databanks into the sensors, looking for known markers. Reaching out and flicking switches, the detectors and communications relays fired to life, searching. Fidgeting in my seat, the answer arrived in about 11.34 minutes.
Position: Unknown. Detectors: No buoys, markers, ships, planets in range. Communications: No signals of any kind detected.
Losing track of time, I have no clue how long I sat there. I have no clue of how many times I checked again everything. In short, I have no clue how long it took me to realise what I was seeing, was no illusion.
The long range detectors pinged suddenly. Turning to them, three ships entered detector range. Waiting for the analysis to come in, I decided to go for broke. Tying in the translation system, I opened every channel I could.
"MayDay MayDay...Ship in distress...repeat ship in distress."
I held my breath, watching the detectors. Without knowing for certain how the translation came out, I could be telling those ships anything. Perhaps something completely mean. Perhaps something completely nice.
I received several bursts of something in reply. Routing that through the translation system, all I could do was hope. Taping I foot and keeping a wary eye on the detectors, I received more bursts of something.
"Attempting to translate your transmissions. Sending pulse ping for locating purposes. Will send more language information as required."
Slapping the shields on emergency full, I fired up the ion pulsers. The unknown vessels detector system was not as good as mine apparently. The directional pulse, however provided all the direction needed. I found the three ships streaking for my position, some sort of projectiles firing from all three, then energy weapons.
Turning 70 degrees starboard, the first cluster of projectiles missed by a good bit. The second batch missed by a few yards, causing me to turn into the third group. The shields managed them handily, I noted happily as I turned, looking for a clear lane out.
I noted as I shoved off at 90% sublight the three ships closing port side astern. Bafflement caused hesitation as more projectiles streamed forth from each vessel. Moving a bit slower, I had enough time to get a good look at them.
Slapping the fire control, the plasma cannons filled space with streaks of magenta. Thanking my luck on getting this ship unmodified, the targeting computer nailed all the projectiles. Firing one last volley, I managed to jump to hyperspace.
In the end I made several totally random jumps, hoping I didn't manage to plow into anything. After the last one, I found myself within range of a binary star system. Running the detectors at full, nothing in the way or life or artificial structures returned in the data. Heading for it, I found myself thinking again.
Running the long range detectors again against the stellar catalog, no recognizable objects returned. Frowning at the repeat of this development, I felt the icy grip of panic grab a hold of me. What was I to do? Where was I to go? How do I survive this?
Upon entering the system, I noted the spatial and magnetic interference would mask my ship. Finding a valley on the fifth planet I settled down under the cover of an overhang. Powering down everything but life support and the sensors I decided to force myself to grab some sleep. A creeping feeling told me I might need it.
Day 2
Nothing disturbed me during the 10 hours of fitful sleep I got. Awaking, I showered and reviewed my situation. No new revelations poured forth, so I excited to my flight controls. Powering up all systems, I feed all the communications data into the translation program. Letting it run, I ran through preflight checks and blasted into the inky sky.
I gingerly made my way through the binary system. My eye caught a reading the flashed up. An erratically twisting asteroid had shifted enough to allow me to see something I missed yesterday. A metallic mass was laying on the surface, partially buried. Curious, I altered course for a closer look.
I hovered 200 yards over the wreck. What I thought was one large spaceship turned into a pair. The detectors told me the wreckage was 40 years old. A creeping sensation feel upon me, as I noted two things.
The first, that the ships look like they had collided. The second was the design off one of the ships.
After a minute and with the computer's help, I realised it was a Westinghouse D40a freighter. Along with that realisation came the knowledge that they hadn't collided, but the alien ship had rammed her. A shudder passed through me, causing me to check my detectors. Upon seeing them clear, I made a decision.
It took more time than I wished it to, but I managed to match the asteroid and touch down next to the wreck. Setting the remote functions, I marched to the airlock. Once safely in my spacesuit, I exited my ship. Bouncing along carefully, I made it to the wreck. The sensor wand detected no remaining power, hardly a surprise.
Looking about, I spotted a large enough hole in the hull of the D-40a. Jumping into it, flashing my torch as I landed on a wall, I barely even made a noise. Smiling that I managed that, I began trekking through the ship. Thankfully the D-40a was mostly just a cargo container, and from scans it was intact.
After marching on the wall for 50 yards, I came to the cargo access door. I dropped my laser torch, as the door already showed evidence of being forced. Pushing through, I flashed the torch about the cargo hold. I actually was astonished at how much was still in the room. I spent a good 90 minutes in that hold, picking through antiques.
I picked up a few things in the hold along the way before exiting. Another 10 minutes had me in flight control. Damage appeared extensive, but I located the data recorder. Prying it out I scanned the room for anything else. Nothing of interest seemed floating about.
I made my way out and stood upon the hull of the D-40a. Staring at the alien ship, I debated going into it. After a moment or so, I turned for my ship. Deciding I would be unable to locate anything useful in alien technology, it was time to roll.
Safely home in the Stellar Rush, I linked the data recorder and waited. In minutes I reaped an unexpected reward, star charts for the general area. Looking them over and feeding them through to the navigational system. The text display of the log yielded little science information.
The strangest part was a line from the captain of the vessel. Noting they had met with representatives of a faction, the captain stated some thing about telekinetic powers. That would merit mention again during the last log entry about a hostile encounter.
Scratching my head, I leaned back in thought. Concluding the captain understood less science than I, I dismissed it from my mind. Deciding to work on a plan, I set the automatics and thought.
How was I going to get home?
Sitting on a rock, I waited impatiently.
Never known for patience on the best of days, this was not the best of my days at all. My friends would laugh I suspect if they could see me right now. Cursing loudly and muttering, looking for all the worlds like a murder suspect gone wrong.
A fortnight ago, I would have been in a position to have my friends laugh at me for seeing this display. A fortnight ago I set off on a simple flight, nothing more exciting than running out to the frontier to inspect equipment to buy. A fortnight since my ship hit an unexplained spacial disturbance, putting me someplace else entirely.
Day 1
The blaring alert klaxon scared me right out of my bunk. Scrambling in my bare feet, I skidded straight into flight control. Landing in my pilot's seat, I started punching up the full 360 detectors and vision. I powered down the hyperatomic motor of my ship, the Stellar Rush. Scanning everything, I could see why I was awakened.
Directly ahead and to 30 degrees port and starboard, space seethed with energy. I could barely spot it visually, but the detectors bounced madly with readings. Looking them over, I frowned. One moment, the readings bounced off the scale. The very next, nothing.
I spent 20 minutes going over everything in the database trying to figure out what was going on. I held hope I would learn something, as the Stellar Rush was an old Type-4a long range transport. In a stroke of luck, I had managed to get her unmodified when she was decommissioned from active Alliance service thanks to a friend.
At the end of those 20 minutes, I had nary a clue. Nothing in the database matched remotely what I was seeing. I ran a quick science search through the datalinks with all news services. Nothing returned from that. Disappointed, I reached over to send a message and drop a navigational hazard buoy.
The buoy dropped flawlessly. Communications, however, were scrambled beyond eggs. Hammering at the communications board accomplished nothing, prompting me to think. In a moment, I opened a channel to the buoy, transmitting all my sensor info and a brief narrative of events.
"2-October-2315. Stellar Rush outbound from Rigel for Iceon Four. Encountered unusual area of energy activity. Sensor readings erratic, conforming to no known phenomena available to ship databanks. Long range communications disrupted. Navigational hazard buoy dropped per standard Articles of Notification. Attempting to plot new course and report incident once out of range."
Closing the channel, I leaned back in my pilot's seat. Loathe to leave this little discovery, I couldn't wait til another ship happened this way. I sighed, content in the knowledge that I had done what was necessary. I turned my attention to getting on with the show.
Checking the readings, I realised that the erratic nature of this was going to preclude flying through. Flying around would take serious time and care. Doubling back would take time, perhaps causing other complications. I fretted through this mess for several moments.
Finally, I punched my navigation controls and reversed course. I pondered how best to make up for the delay as the ship turned. As she turned, I decided upon speed testing the engines and save the visit to Asimov station for the return trip.
Jumping out of the seat as the warning klaxon went again, I powered the shields to full. Glaring into the detector readout, a tirade formed for the person or persons who scared me. Space piloting rage was a hallmark of mine.
The energy effect seethed in front of me again.
Blinking, I double checked the nav controls. Seeing they were right, I exercised a slow 90 degree turn on thrusters. Blinking again, I saw to my dismay that the energy effect was before me. I powered up the hyperatomic motor, picking a z axis descent. Smiling as space cleared I let the ship creep up to 70% sublight.
What happened next will be hazy for all my life. The warning klaxon started, and I shunted emergency power to the shields. I reversed course under full power, trying to kick into hyperspace. The last thing I remember seeing was the ceiling of flight control rushing at me.
I felt my head throbbing. Every last thing in me ached mightily and then some. With effort I pulled myself up using the pilot's chair. My eyes noted quickly that all seemed working. I slid into the chair and punched commands for a damage report.
In seconds the readout appeared. Running through it, nothing seemed damaged at all. I huffed a serious sigh of relief. I checked for the energy disturbance in case it was lurking nearby. No sign of it prompted a shrug from me.
That's when my eyes caught the main viewscreen. Blinking a few times, the sight before me remained unchanged. I hammered the visual detector controls, then linked the exterior detectors into the visual display. I looked again and again, searching for a fault and finding none.
Knowing the route well, I stared at the viewscreen. As I stared, I linked the databanks into the sensors, looking for known markers. Reaching out and flicking switches, the detectors and communications relays fired to life, searching. Fidgeting in my seat, the answer arrived in about 11.34 minutes.
Position: Unknown. Detectors: No buoys, markers, ships, planets in range. Communications: No signals of any kind detected.
Losing track of time, I have no clue how long I sat there. I have no clue of how many times I checked again everything. In short, I have no clue how long it took me to realise what I was seeing, was no illusion.
The long range detectors pinged suddenly. Turning to them, three ships entered detector range. Waiting for the analysis to come in, I decided to go for broke. Tying in the translation system, I opened every channel I could.
"MayDay MayDay...Ship in distress...repeat ship in distress."
I held my breath, watching the detectors. Without knowing for certain how the translation came out, I could be telling those ships anything. Perhaps something completely mean. Perhaps something completely nice.
I received several bursts of something in reply. Routing that through the translation system, all I could do was hope. Taping I foot and keeping a wary eye on the detectors, I received more bursts of something.
"Attempting to translate your transmissions. Sending pulse ping for locating purposes. Will send more language information as required."
Slapping the shields on emergency full, I fired up the ion pulsers. The unknown vessels detector system was not as good as mine apparently. The directional pulse, however provided all the direction needed. I found the three ships streaking for my position, some sort of projectiles firing from all three, then energy weapons.
Turning 70 degrees starboard, the first cluster of projectiles missed by a good bit. The second batch missed by a few yards, causing me to turn into the third group. The shields managed them handily, I noted happily as I turned, looking for a clear lane out.
I noted as I shoved off at 90% sublight the three ships closing port side astern. Bafflement caused hesitation as more projectiles streamed forth from each vessel. Moving a bit slower, I had enough time to get a good look at them.
Slapping the fire control, the plasma cannons filled space with streaks of magenta. Thanking my luck on getting this ship unmodified, the targeting computer nailed all the projectiles. Firing one last volley, I managed to jump to hyperspace.
In the end I made several totally random jumps, hoping I didn't manage to plow into anything. After the last one, I found myself within range of a binary star system. Running the detectors at full, nothing in the way or life or artificial structures returned in the data. Heading for it, I found myself thinking again.
Running the long range detectors again against the stellar catalog, no recognizable objects returned. Frowning at the repeat of this development, I felt the icy grip of panic grab a hold of me. What was I to do? Where was I to go? How do I survive this?
Upon entering the system, I noted the spatial and magnetic interference would mask my ship. Finding a valley on the fifth planet I settled down under the cover of an overhang. Powering down everything but life support and the sensors I decided to force myself to grab some sleep. A creeping feeling told me I might need it.
Day 2
Nothing disturbed me during the 10 hours of fitful sleep I got. Awaking, I showered and reviewed my situation. No new revelations poured forth, so I excited to my flight controls. Powering up all systems, I feed all the communications data into the translation program. Letting it run, I ran through preflight checks and blasted into the inky sky.
I gingerly made my way through the binary system. My eye caught a reading the flashed up. An erratically twisting asteroid had shifted enough to allow me to see something I missed yesterday. A metallic mass was laying on the surface, partially buried. Curious, I altered course for a closer look.
I hovered 200 yards over the wreck. What I thought was one large spaceship turned into a pair. The detectors told me the wreckage was 40 years old. A creeping sensation feel upon me, as I noted two things.
The first, that the ships look like they had collided. The second was the design off one of the ships.
After a minute and with the computer's help, I realised it was a Westinghouse D40a freighter. Along with that realisation came the knowledge that they hadn't collided, but the alien ship had rammed her. A shudder passed through me, causing me to check my detectors. Upon seeing them clear, I made a decision.
It took more time than I wished it to, but I managed to match the asteroid and touch down next to the wreck. Setting the remote functions, I marched to the airlock. Once safely in my spacesuit, I exited my ship. Bouncing along carefully, I made it to the wreck. The sensor wand detected no remaining power, hardly a surprise.
Looking about, I spotted a large enough hole in the hull of the D-40a. Jumping into it, flashing my torch as I landed on a wall, I barely even made a noise. Smiling that I managed that, I began trekking through the ship. Thankfully the D-40a was mostly just a cargo container, and from scans it was intact.
After marching on the wall for 50 yards, I came to the cargo access door. I dropped my laser torch, as the door already showed evidence of being forced. Pushing through, I flashed the torch about the cargo hold. I actually was astonished at how much was still in the room. I spent a good 90 minutes in that hold, picking through antiques.
I picked up a few things in the hold along the way before exiting. Another 10 minutes had me in flight control. Damage appeared extensive, but I located the data recorder. Prying it out I scanned the room for anything else. Nothing of interest seemed floating about.
I made my way out and stood upon the hull of the D-40a. Staring at the alien ship, I debated going into it. After a moment or so, I turned for my ship. Deciding I would be unable to locate anything useful in alien technology, it was time to roll.
Safely home in the Stellar Rush, I linked the data recorder and waited. In minutes I reaped an unexpected reward, star charts for the general area. Looking them over and feeding them through to the navigational system. The text display of the log yielded little science information.
The strangest part was a line from the captain of the vessel. Noting they had met with representatives of a faction, the captain stated some thing about telekinetic powers. That would merit mention again during the last log entry about a hostile encounter.
Scratching my head, I leaned back in thought. Concluding the captain understood less science than I, I dismissed it from my mind. Deciding to work on a plan, I set the automatics and thought.
How was I going to get home?
26 March, 2010
From the Archives....I Woke Up this Morning and I went to HELL
(I am so very proud of this story. I wrote this one for an English assignment in my senior year of high school. We were reading and doing lessons on Dante's Inferno. I decided to write my very own redressing of the original. It contains one of my favourite characters from my writing, as well as myself, not to mention some of my twisted sense of humour. For those who went to Moon, you may just get a laugh out of the devil, and the devils attendants. I have not modified this story from it's original nearly 17 years ago, excepting where there was obvious errors.)
6:03 A.M.
I awoke, as usual, to my mother smacking me in the head.
I, also as usual, hauled myself off to the bathroom.
Oh rot, came my scrambled thought, another sickly pathetic day.
If I had known what was in store, I'd have stayed in bed.
6:55 A.M.
As expected I was doing a mad dash to finish getting ready.
I fired a comb through my hair and launched myself for the doorway.
And never knew what took my senses.
Time Unknown
My senses were swimming, but I somehow managed to regain them. I groaned loudly and tried to stand.
That's when something foul and putrid splashed on me.
"Oh gross!"
The smell was nasty. L tried to locate a pool. Nearby, I spied a pond and quickly jumped in.
I wasn't in the pond more than 3 seconds when something grabbed my ankle.
I struggled desperately to free myself. Yet I knew it wasn't going to work.
Without notice, whatever had a hold of me, let go. A hand reached out and pulled me on land.
"Thanks," I huffed.
"No bother," the man said evenly.
"Uh, where am I?"
"Well," the stranger said slowly, "we've both crossed into an alternate time and dimension, "at this he paused, "a.k.a. Hell."
I just stared, totally lost.
"My name, "my companion said, " is Doctour, Time Tracer."
"John W. Lasanich, "I said solemnly.
After the intros we hiked off.
Land of Slime
Our first stop was green and slimey. I gazed about at all the green slimed people. I decided that they had been envious.
"People green with envy right?"
Yes,"came Doctour's reply. He stopped by one sinner. A nasty smile crept across his face.
I glanced around and spotted J. Edgar Hoover. I noted, in utter surprise, that he was secreting the slime.
I felt nauseous and said hurriedly, "I think we should go."
Doctour turned, also appearing pale and nodded.
Hellhole C.C.
"This is, " came Lee Harvey Oswald's rough cadence, "The Hellhole Country Club. The worst 36 in the universe."
I watched a procession of gluttons stream by the club house. Each was being assaulted by all the food they'd consumed.
I and Doctour headed across the 'reds'. We saw caddies get shredded and golfers chased by gophers.
We both were forced to hurry as Arnold Palmer appeared. He chased us down for a bit.
In our journey across the course we saw:
Landmine hazards and a war zone hazard.
Vortexes that swallow anything without notice.
Man and golf ball eating monsters.
And the coup de grasis, to reach the 36th hole, one must clear a series of nuclear detonations.
Upon witnessing this, Doctour said in awe, "I know where the next Time Tracer's convention is going to be held."
Land of Infidels
"I think that we're going, "I said nervously, "to get a surprise."
Within seconds a large mass of fools headed by Bill Clinton approached. Each was talking about some absurd ideas.
Doctour was groaning. "The worst president you've had so far."
I really didn't hear him. I was far to preoccupied with my thoughts.
"Wait, " I said suddenly, "Clinton's not de-"
If it wasn't for Doctour's quick intervention, I'd have been smashed. An avalanche of rock, bodies, foam, etc rained down on the group.
Land of Darkness
"I can't bloody see!"
"Calm down, "said Doctour calmly, "I've got a lantern."
True to his word he lit off the light. It threw a circle of light.
"I wonder where this is?"
I had no answer for his question. Originally, I was pondering why I saw a non dead person. Yet a feeling of vague terror assaulted me.
As I tried to pin down the source a shot of light flashed by.
"What was that?" came an astonished shout from Doctour.
I made a slow turn, gazing hard into the darkness. Upon completing the turn I said, "Haven't you noticed the complete absence of sound?"
His lack of silence (nervous chattering) was all the confirmation I needed.
"Stand back to back!" I barked.
I felt him comply. We waited, the silence around us oppressive.
In an almost blinding flash, hundreds of forms appeared.
"Oh by the seven suns!"
At least my companion Doctour could speak. I watched in grim fascination as Jack Ruby was systematically skinned and disemboweled. (Red pen comment: Yuk!)
The arm that hauled me away belonged to Doctour. He said tonelessly, "At least I know that Jack the Ripper was taken care of."
Thoughts
"You know, "came the once again steady voice, "you and I were brought here for a reason. But for all my lives, I can't seem to figure out why."
"Maybe this isn't Hell."
"It has to be lad, "came Doctour's response. "Why wouldn't we be?
"I saw Bill Clinton down here, "came the the reply from me.
"What's that supposed - Wait!" Realization hit the Doctour right in the face.
"Of course, "he yelled." Do you know what this means lad?"
I had an idea. So:
"It's subjective."
"Right! It means we create Hell in our own image!" Doctour tossed his head back and laughed. "I figured it out, Dark Lord!"
"You're only half done. You've got to find me."
The disembodied voice made me jump. Off to my left, Doctour sobered up. He said wearily, "Blast him. He's right. I know how to get out of my Hell. But, whose Hell is this?"
The Doctour savagely kicked a stone. His frustration was clear.
None of that mattered. I was remembering something Sherlock Holmes had said. Something about solutions and the impossible.
Minus warning, the entire scene changed. My words cut through to the Doctour:
"I know how we get there."
Centre of Hell
"Into the Jaws of Death."
"Plus all the other good English, "I said.
We then lapsed into silence. In the distance we heard a rumble. We ran towards it.
Then we realized that running was getting us nowhere. Both of us skidded to a stop.
"This is almost too much, "the Doctour huffed.
"Perhaps if we, "I said, " think our way there it'll work."
No sooner than said, a ghastly sight appeared before us. The Master of Evil actually was a Mistress.
An involuntary groan caused Doctour to ask, "What's wrong?"
I just stared at Mrs. Canan, buried to the waist in response books. (Red pen comment: Oh, thanks a lot!)
"More suffers from the Overworld."
Flying response books came at us. Doing some crazy dance maneuvers, Doctour got close to the Devil(Canan) and was about to ascend the pile. Before he got anywhere, Dave Hays and Chuck Rupert yanked him off.
As they tried to pummel the Doctour, I ran and skitterd up the pile. I hit the Mistress of Evil square in the face. No effect on it and for my pains I was tossed. I landed hard, taking out Dave Hays. My loss of sensibility (And concurrent taking out of Dave Hays.) caused Chuck Rupert to be distracted. Doctour rearranged his jaw with a roundhouse.
The as he turned to start climbing, everything dissolved. I had a sensation of falling.
I fell.
And fell.
And fell.
Then sat up.
I was totally puzzled and completely lost. I realized that I was back in the bathroom. I smiled gamely at the whole thing.
Stupid imagination, I chastised myself. That's when I felt an object in my hand. A simple medallion, with an inscription, was in my hand. It read:
Time Tracer Elite, by order of President Time Tracer, Ralph Mordor.
I smiled again. An interesting paradox, but true.
I arose from the floor and finished getting ready.
6:03 A.M.
I awoke, as usual, to my mother smacking me in the head.
I, also as usual, hauled myself off to the bathroom.
Oh rot, came my scrambled thought, another sickly pathetic day.
If I had known what was in store, I'd have stayed in bed.
6:55 A.M.
As expected I was doing a mad dash to finish getting ready.
I fired a comb through my hair and launched myself for the doorway.
And never knew what took my senses.
Time Unknown
My senses were swimming, but I somehow managed to regain them. I groaned loudly and tried to stand.
That's when something foul and putrid splashed on me.
"Oh gross!"
The smell was nasty. L tried to locate a pool. Nearby, I spied a pond and quickly jumped in.
I wasn't in the pond more than 3 seconds when something grabbed my ankle.
I struggled desperately to free myself. Yet I knew it wasn't going to work.
Without notice, whatever had a hold of me, let go. A hand reached out and pulled me on land.
"Thanks," I huffed.
"No bother," the man said evenly.
"Uh, where am I?"
"Well," the stranger said slowly, "we've both crossed into an alternate time and dimension, "at this he paused, "a.k.a. Hell."
I just stared, totally lost.
"My name, "my companion said, " is Doctour, Time Tracer."
"John W. Lasanich, "I said solemnly.
After the intros we hiked off.
Land of Slime
Our first stop was green and slimey. I gazed about at all the green slimed people. I decided that they had been envious.
"People green with envy right?"
Yes,"came Doctour's reply. He stopped by one sinner. A nasty smile crept across his face.
I glanced around and spotted J. Edgar Hoover. I noted, in utter surprise, that he was secreting the slime.
I felt nauseous and said hurriedly, "I think we should go."
Doctour turned, also appearing pale and nodded.
Hellhole C.C.
"This is, " came Lee Harvey Oswald's rough cadence, "The Hellhole Country Club. The worst 36 in the universe."
I watched a procession of gluttons stream by the club house. Each was being assaulted by all the food they'd consumed.
I and Doctour headed across the 'reds'. We saw caddies get shredded and golfers chased by gophers.
We both were forced to hurry as Arnold Palmer appeared. He chased us down for a bit.
In our journey across the course we saw:
Landmine hazards and a war zone hazard.
Vortexes that swallow anything without notice.
Man and golf ball eating monsters.
And the coup de grasis, to reach the 36th hole, one must clear a series of nuclear detonations.
Upon witnessing this, Doctour said in awe, "I know where the next Time Tracer's convention is going to be held."
Land of Infidels
"I think that we're going, "I said nervously, "to get a surprise."
Within seconds a large mass of fools headed by Bill Clinton approached. Each was talking about some absurd ideas.
Doctour was groaning. "The worst president you've had so far."
I really didn't hear him. I was far to preoccupied with my thoughts.
"Wait, " I said suddenly, "Clinton's not de-"
If it wasn't for Doctour's quick intervention, I'd have been smashed. An avalanche of rock, bodies, foam, etc rained down on the group.
Land of Darkness
"I can't bloody see!"
"Calm down, "said Doctour calmly, "I've got a lantern."
True to his word he lit off the light. It threw a circle of light.
"I wonder where this is?"
I had no answer for his question. Originally, I was pondering why I saw a non dead person. Yet a feeling of vague terror assaulted me.
As I tried to pin down the source a shot of light flashed by.
"What was that?" came an astonished shout from Doctour.
I made a slow turn, gazing hard into the darkness. Upon completing the turn I said, "Haven't you noticed the complete absence of sound?"
His lack of silence (nervous chattering) was all the confirmation I needed.
"Stand back to back!" I barked.
I felt him comply. We waited, the silence around us oppressive.
In an almost blinding flash, hundreds of forms appeared.
"Oh by the seven suns!"
At least my companion Doctour could speak. I watched in grim fascination as Jack Ruby was systematically skinned and disemboweled. (Red pen comment: Yuk!)
The arm that hauled me away belonged to Doctour. He said tonelessly, "At least I know that Jack the Ripper was taken care of."
Thoughts
"You know, "came the once again steady voice, "you and I were brought here for a reason. But for all my lives, I can't seem to figure out why."
"Maybe this isn't Hell."
"It has to be lad, "came Doctour's response. "Why wouldn't we be?
"I saw Bill Clinton down here, "came the the reply from me.
"What's that supposed - Wait!" Realization hit the Doctour right in the face.
"Of course, "he yelled." Do you know what this means lad?"
I had an idea. So:
"It's subjective."
"Right! It means we create Hell in our own image!" Doctour tossed his head back and laughed. "I figured it out, Dark Lord!"
"You're only half done. You've got to find me."
The disembodied voice made me jump. Off to my left, Doctour sobered up. He said wearily, "Blast him. He's right. I know how to get out of my Hell. But, whose Hell is this?"
The Doctour savagely kicked a stone. His frustration was clear.
None of that mattered. I was remembering something Sherlock Holmes had said. Something about solutions and the impossible.
Minus warning, the entire scene changed. My words cut through to the Doctour:
"I know how we get there."
Centre of Hell
"Into the Jaws of Death."
"Plus all the other good English, "I said.
We then lapsed into silence. In the distance we heard a rumble. We ran towards it.
Then we realized that running was getting us nowhere. Both of us skidded to a stop.
"This is almost too much, "the Doctour huffed.
"Perhaps if we, "I said, " think our way there it'll work."
No sooner than said, a ghastly sight appeared before us. The Master of Evil actually was a Mistress.
An involuntary groan caused Doctour to ask, "What's wrong?"
I just stared at Mrs. Canan, buried to the waist in response books. (Red pen comment: Oh, thanks a lot!)
"More suffers from the Overworld."
Flying response books came at us. Doing some crazy dance maneuvers, Doctour got close to the Devil(Canan) and was about to ascend the pile. Before he got anywhere, Dave Hays and Chuck Rupert yanked him off.
As they tried to pummel the Doctour, I ran and skitterd up the pile. I hit the Mistress of Evil square in the face. No effect on it and for my pains I was tossed. I landed hard, taking out Dave Hays. My loss of sensibility (And concurrent taking out of Dave Hays.) caused Chuck Rupert to be distracted. Doctour rearranged his jaw with a roundhouse.
The as he turned to start climbing, everything dissolved. I had a sensation of falling.
I fell.
And fell.
And fell.
Then sat up.
I was totally puzzled and completely lost. I realized that I was back in the bathroom. I smiled gamely at the whole thing.
Stupid imagination, I chastised myself. That's when I felt an object in my hand. A simple medallion, with an inscription, was in my hand. It read:
Time Tracer Elite, by order of President Time Tracer, Ralph Mordor.
I smiled again. An interesting paradox, but true.
I arose from the floor and finished getting ready.
11 March, 2010
Side Step...Looking Around
(I want to point out that the inspiration for doing this comes from reading Elizabeth Fulton's blog entry about today. You can find it through this link: http://bethsrants-raves.blogspot.com/2010/03/optimism-and-fresh-air.html Thanks for writing something so pleasant Beth my dear.)
So it is a seriously sunny day, feeling much like Spring. It has been nice these last couple of days, but today is different.
I fix the poor battered mailbox that got wiped out last month by a snow plow. Perhaps this summer I will replace it entirely, considering this mailbox is older than all Hell, and looks the part. And in my memory, it is the second time it has been taken out by a snow plow. The last time being 17 years ago.
I spend some time on the phone, smoking and soaking up the sun. I manage to talk to several people and run myself out of smokes in the process. I even learn a few things in the course of chatting.
I spend some time staring off into space and the sun, watching wispy cirrus clouds overhead. I also follow the airplanes taking off, since they are close by.
I realise why it is different today in a suddenness. I am actually able to enjoy it.
No distractions. No job. No screaming aliens.
Nothing to stop me from enjoying it. Just Time.
I never thought being unemployed would actually be that good of a thing. My Life consists of running, always running. Never one to sit that idle, I have always managed to find something to do, or been working. Accomplishing both those at the same instant of Time marks a crowning achievement of sorts.
It is warm to me, and causing me to melt as my body is still geared for cold. I have been chased by flying stinging insects. I know it is going to rain tonight and tomorrow, and that I may need a boat to get around to the places I need to go.
Despite all the above...
I am going to be thankful that I was able to enjoy a spring feeling like day once again with no hassle, no job, no screaming aliens...nothing at all. Truthfully, forgot what it was like to enjoy something simple had I.
I am heading back outside. If you read this today, the 11th day of March, 2010 I suggest you do the same.
So it is a seriously sunny day, feeling much like Spring. It has been nice these last couple of days, but today is different.
I fix the poor battered mailbox that got wiped out last month by a snow plow. Perhaps this summer I will replace it entirely, considering this mailbox is older than all Hell, and looks the part. And in my memory, it is the second time it has been taken out by a snow plow. The last time being 17 years ago.
I spend some time on the phone, smoking and soaking up the sun. I manage to talk to several people and run myself out of smokes in the process. I even learn a few things in the course of chatting.
I spend some time staring off into space and the sun, watching wispy cirrus clouds overhead. I also follow the airplanes taking off, since they are close by.
I realise why it is different today in a suddenness. I am actually able to enjoy it.
No distractions. No job. No screaming aliens.
Nothing to stop me from enjoying it. Just Time.
I never thought being unemployed would actually be that good of a thing. My Life consists of running, always running. Never one to sit that idle, I have always managed to find something to do, or been working. Accomplishing both those at the same instant of Time marks a crowning achievement of sorts.
It is warm to me, and causing me to melt as my body is still geared for cold. I have been chased by flying stinging insects. I know it is going to rain tonight and tomorrow, and that I may need a boat to get around to the places I need to go.
Despite all the above...
I am going to be thankful that I was able to enjoy a spring feeling like day once again with no hassle, no job, no screaming aliens...nothing at all. Truthfully, forgot what it was like to enjoy something simple had I.
I am heading back outside. If you read this today, the 11th day of March, 2010 I suggest you do the same.
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