This story is freshly written the previous week even though it went through a quick revision. I may end up redoing the very end of this story. What happens after the adventure is over. I seem to be having problems with that part of some of my stories lately. But we shall see if I come up with a better one for this one. I split it up here because it is over 4,700 words, on another format it won’t be. Adventure, suspense and Science Fiction
So without further ado, enjoy:
Multi-Castles
“You think this is the place?”
Rick looked at the desert around his location, a few tiny shrubs and maybe cacti in the distance. He stopped his visual tour at the castle. A whole village actually inside a large stone wall. Over ten feet if its one, he thought, probably three or more thick too. With medieval structures inside: Inns with more than one story, plenty of houses, a couple of clear areas, a church, and something else. But the dominate building was that castle. It sat on a low hill, it looked taller and narrower than other castles he has studied. The full super moon rested a moment behind it. A very rare blue and super moon event. They needed one for what they wanted to do. Even though a shot of that would make a great screensaver or wallpaper. Cory sat back at their base since his wheelchair-the latest in power chairs-didn’t do well on loose sand. Not only did the tires have a tendency to loose traction, the tiny particles got into the chair’s motors and comp.
He paused a moment to wipe sweat off of his face and to take a long drink of warm water. In this heat he still enjoyed it though. And it washed out the sand that still seemed to be in his mouth after that spill ten minutes ago. He thought he had gotten sand in his mouth, even spitting didn’t help.
Jonna walked up next to him, Rick took a moment to study at her outfit. Very nice for desert work-nice for any time.
He looked back at the surroundings. Even at this time of day he could still smell the hot sand and now his own sweat, even though the sand dust had settled. It didn’t make him sneeze anymore. He should be used to it. They had been here twice before, but in the daylight both times. The first time they had just looked around. Jonna had been very particular about if this was the location they wanted when she decided she had smiled and really seemed happy. Then a native in one of the small villages not far from here called her an American. Her eyes had narrowed and her cheeks puffed out for a second. She had already explained that she was an Englishman who had been raised in Brazil. Which is why she had very little accent.
During the second trip there they had set up everything but their readings showed nothing would happen so they gave up. The devices worked, in stand-by at least, but readings from space-part of Cory’s job to get data from one of two satellites we could tap into-said nothing would happen. So we gave up and went home.
After itching a spot on his hairline he adjusted his head band with the web cam on it. He used one to keep his hands free. The cam was to recored their actions and to show their other member who was back at their HQ what was going on. Cory always complained about the strange motions when Rick took it off, adjusted it or bumped his head, but it worked best this way.
Jonna had been the one to insist that he drive the one car, even though she tended to ignore him, along with the others. He would be chauffeuring everyone but the other two were late to many times they drove themselves.
He noticed that she carried her adjuster, about twice the size as his mother’s breadbox and almost the same shape. This had a slight upward curve on one corner, plus lights and digital switches. She liked these switched she had said, and he wondered if this prototype really was one. Or the Mark two version.
She said, “It is according to my instruments.”
They moved down the sand dune a little fast. Rick almost slid down, but managed to stop his feet from leaving his control. They stopped at the bottom, looked around. Without a word or even a motion of her head, she started forward. What he thought of as two minutes she stopped, looked around then sat her device down. A moment later she had a three legged collapsable stand out. She set it down, then placed her adjuster on it. He stepped in to help secure it to the stand. She said a, “Thanks,” then started to flip switches. Green lights lit up all over the top.
A spray of sand from the top of the dune they had just left, indicated their last two members were here. A brother and sister team who were habitually late. Jonna had decided to start without them.
Rick called for them to come down. Three car doors slammed, one sounded like a hatchback lid. The two siblings showed at the top of the sand dune. He wore his favorite all yellow pants and shirt today while she had on a new brown tunic and hunter green leggings. Both wore pith helmets. Rick just wore a blank baseball cap-gray.
The two new comers half-ran and slid down the dune. They each carried two larger plastic boxes with a bulging sack on top. He was surprised they made it without stumbling or dropping the boxes or sacks.
Once down they opened the boxes and set up two arrays. One would produce energy using of all things a projector based on Tesla’s death ray device. Turned out it had components that worked for other things. They also brought out a diamond infuser-must gems could be used but diamonds seemed to do a better job. Jimmy had brought some cookies in his sack. Without looking backwards Jonna reached back and grabbed one. She hadn’t even looked but probably had smelled them.
Rick looked at Jimmy who nodded so I grabbed one. I bite into it and took another. Their mother had made these. She had owned a cookie store for years. She had been the head cookie maker and still loved to bake the small round goodies.
They finish setting up the infuser and a power expander. It created a field that multiplied the strength of whatever energy was in that field. In this case that meant that the energy, the diamond infuser produced, was magnified. That went for the Blackwell-Jonna’s last name, she did invent it after all-dimensional hopper. Named after a device in her favorite series. It found different dimensions and was able to pinpoint them. His contribution, besides being a driver and sometimes helper, was a very special battery I pulled from my pocket. Rick had designed and made it using tech from Tesla, Edison and Bill Franklin-a descendent of Bill Franklin-who recently invented a new matter transference machine. He claims Ben Franklin’s notes gave him the clues he needed to know which direction to go.
Rick thought about them as a group. Jonna was oldest, over 30, while the rest of them were under 27. He was second oldest at 26, just been out of collage for one year when the group decided to get together. They had meant on the internet, while on a smaller social media site that most people hadn’t heard very much about. The others were still in school, even though Cory took most of his courses online. He claimed it wasn’t because of his disability but because of expense and ease. Jonna had called Cory and talked into joining their experiment. He watched the computers, made sure everything got recorded as it should and had found the castle for them to use as a test site. Evidently the area around here was weak and therefore it would be easier to punch through, especially on a night of a super blue moon according to Jonna. She had tried to explain why with a description of the Earth’s magnetic field, how the moon’s poles reacted to it, and cosmic influence along with gravity and even that which made the moon look blue. Rick didn’t quite get it though. Jonna had gone over his head almost from the beginning and he had the nagging suspicion that she didn’t really know, but that this was her best guess.
All of their experiments had worked though, and in one case had gone too far. They had gotten mini fields and almost lost his car when one expanded suddenly. Jonna had pulled the power cable so quick she had to be almost ready for something like that. Maybe she had figured or guessed, the wild cascade could happen so had readied herself just in case. She suggested we try here again when she read of the coming special super moon, but at night-that night.
This was their third castle-the first one they had known was wrong when they saw it. Jonna had almost come to tears when the second one proved to be the wrong one, when nothing happened. Everything had functioned just as it should. The power had built, the fields had formed, energy had been multiplied and he had felt the universe bulge, or one corner of it anyway. That was the only way he could describe the feeling. He thought he had seen it happen, so did the twins, but everything ran for almost half and hour and Jonna had said to turn everything of. Something was not functioning. After a through examination of the devices, battery and themselves they decided every device had worked as advertised, but still we had nothing. After more research online, Jimmy had asked if we had the right night and the right place. Something did happen, three of us and one recorder said so. But it hadn’t produced what they wanted.
That meant they had tried at the wrong location. So they searched again and after a day of study Jonna thought this was it after all. Cory agreed next. He had the data from the previous two attempts and thought this one had been the closest. Rick had been last to agree but now he felt it too.
So they went back, at night. We all checked out on, our own, out what wild animals were out here. Some smaller ones like snakes and rats but no hyenas, nor leopards or lions. Rick had brought high pitched whistles for everyone. Jimmy had a loud fireworks with whistle and bangs that sounded like gunshots and that produced flaming swords plus the sounds for over thirty-seconds.
Once set up they waited. Cory said his readings showed the magnetic field sensors had the right numbers. Rick gave Jonna his battery, she plugged it in the right side of her adjuster. It already had some batteries but they only powered the lights and sensors while the main part of it needed something more powerful. After this was over Rick hoped to sell the battery to some company or even door to door if he had to.
At the right moment she plugged in Rick’s battery, waited a second, then when certain lights flashed on she touched spots on the display. Jimmy and Coral’s devices came on at almost the same moment. It took quite a few seconds for the combined fields to build up. He knew that tachyon and Quantum distortion waves were going out. The wall, castle and moon became fuzzy much the same as if we looked through heat waves. Rick sniffed, smelled sweat-no one seemed to mind that their deodorants were working too hard-ozone and the sand. And a new odor; almost as if either the sand or the air burned or had become charged. That last could be since a charge going through cables can produce an aroma. His nose told him this one was a combo of baked meat, hot metal and the ocean. Not pleasant but not really bad either.
He licked his lips, decided his nose was running. Rick sneezed again but so did everyone else. So humans are allergic to burnt sky, he thought.
The field grew more intense, it moved outward, for a second he was afraid it would harm the village somehow. But it didn’t.
Without warning something moved in the village. What people? But no one had been there before. That is one reason they choose it too. But maybe someone had been camped inside. It should not harm them. It didn’t the last attempt at the other castle, but this one would go on for an hour, if it worked.
Jonna popped up, said, “Oh no people. We need to get them away.”
She ran toward the village walls, leaving her apparatus functioning. Rick blinked, she hadn’t been that concerned last time. He looked at Jimmy and Coral. Jimmy nodded and waved toward the village, “You go, we will watch the devices. And you have the recorder anyway.”
He nodded, thinking they knew more about the devices than he did. And he could run faster. So he turned and ran toward the village walls. He had been in it once, last time they had been here, as well as other castles and villages. None as well preserved as this one though-except for a few he had seen videos of. Most had been just castle though without a village so that last thought still fit.
Once at the wall, he found the gate. It stood open, which from his last visit was not unusual. He stepped in carefully since it was night and dark in there. He had the tiny LED light he kept on his keychain as well as the long flashlight, that looked like a billy club and a flat rectangle light that fit easily in his pocket. That was a spare just in case something happened to the large one. The tiny one could be used but it produced little light, just enough to see keyholes and such.
Footsteps sounded to the right. That puzzled Rick. Anyone here would probably be at the castle. He turned though and called her name. No response so he ran in that direction. After he tripped a third time, he decided he hated cobblestone streets. His feet tended to slid between the stones. Those that lived here must have developed a certain way to walk over them.
Rick continued on though. Most of the stores, houses, and Inns were in dark shadows. Good thing he had overcome his fear of the dark. He debated calling her an American and see if that would get a reaction since she disliked it so much, but she would have to hear it first.
However he jumped when someone ran out of an alley and on down the street. He blinked, that hadn’t been Jonna. Come to think of it she had said that people were in the city. Now that he was here he hoped they were not thieves or drunks. He heard footsteps in front of him, so fearing the man who just ran in front of him was a drunk after Jonna, Rick ran harder.
end this section
Showing posts with label Sci Fi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sci Fi. Show all posts
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Saturday, December 9, 2017
First half of Alternate Universe tale by me
This is my first alternate universe tale. Or half of it that is. I wrote this originally over six years ago, I could easily see what needed work, even though I went over kinda of quick. It was 4600 and some words long and that was before I started to revise it. Now it is 4,995 words. It will be over 5,000 by the time I finish. And that is with deleting some parts. This part is 2,282 words.
Enjoy:
The Gathering
Samuel G. Longrian waited. He knew they would make an appearance just like he had known that the process would work this time. That trip though had been wild. He still felt a bit dizzy. Which wasn’t the fault of his ship-the thirty meter long twenty meter wide Future. The energy convertors and extra shielding: radiation, electronic, stealth-he had those turned off now though-and heat and cold, all functioned well. He didn’t know if he would need all of that but to test his new process drive powered by tachyon radiation he thought it would be best. So now he waited. His cushioned seat, silk fused with leather, and air temp were set for his maximine comfort while he waited. The air tasted just right too. He had learned that something bad in the air would change its flavor, the hard way. For a second he thought he had smelled too many man scents during the trip but now his command center had a good smell.
The command center contained three other seats, but he didn’t need a crew or passengers for this trip.
His command center-like a big cockpit in a huge air transport-styled plain with the only colors were black, silver, and dark gray-had arrived here in one piece with every device functioning correctly at 110 percent.
The sensors beeped for his ship sat inside a large empty pocket near the side of an area full of asteriods and other space debris. The experts thought an exceptionally large comet had collided with an ice planet. One or the other had a change of orbit possibly because of a mini black hole passing though, a war, a very slight time shift, or nothing at all.
He had known there would be such a clear area, before he arrived, so it hadn’t taken long to find it. Samuel made the test with his sensors on max, just to make sure that he really was the first to arrive. He had been.
Some of the asteroids that made up this belt were as big as large houses, while others were barely the size of a medicine
ball. Opposite where his ship was resting, there was an opening, just large enough for a small space craft to easily fly though. He had flown though it, so knew it how easy maneuvering through it, would be for the others.
Samuel had been waiting for twenty-four hours already, and was surprised no one had shown up yet. He still had no doubt they would be there. Not all, of course, for some would have experiences circumstances that interfered with them being able to come here. Some would be dead, that made him think. How many times had he almost died. More than he wanted to conterplate
A few hours later, after he made a trip to his little ship's head, he made himself some Chinese green tea. As he poured the tea leaves into the hot water, he wondered if the others would like green tea as much as he did. Probably, but it wouldn't be that big of a deal if they didn't, he decided. He would be finding out soon enough anyway. He quickly ascended back into his ship’s observation cabin.
On most ships it would be called an observation deck, but because his ship was so small, he always referred to it as a cabin. He sat in his favorite of the four seats in the cabin. It was a comfortable padded lounge chair, that was in the right spot for him to see space, free of any obstacles. Five steps behind the chair there was a circular door in the floor, which led to the control room. He always left it open so he could hear any beeps the computer might make. He could jump though it and immediately be in the control room, if something did happen.
Not many vessels, as small, as his had observation cabins and that was one reason he had chosen this vessel. One of the other reasons would be evident if any of the others gave him any trouble.
He had just taken a couple of sips of the tea when his sensor array beeped. Something was coming. After glancing at the small repeater screen, near the chair he was relaxing in, he decided that he had time to enjoy some of his tea.
A few minutes later he observed another vessel make its way though the opening in the far wall. It was a vessel slightly larger than his with different lines, however he could see that it too had an observation blister.
His ship was very streamlined, looking very much like pictures he had seen of spy planes flown way back in the 1950s on Earth. The Future was thicker than those planes, with various blisters along each side. Some blisters protected sensor arrays while others hid weapons. One larger blister on top, toward the back, made up the top part of this cabin. This new vessel was less streamlined and more cubic looking.
“So”, he spoke out loud, a bad habit he let himself have, “the first one has arrived”.
After another thought he added, “The first one after me that is”.
Now he had to decide rather to contact the newcomer, or allow the person to contact him. It was possible that it was not one of the ones he was expecting. Someone else could have made the trip, but he just shrugged thinking that he would find out soon enough.
The other would know that he was there. The new ship's
sensors would be able to identify his ship easily. He took another sip of the tea rolling it around his tongue. He decided to let the other do the work. He glanced at his sensors again and it showed what he had expected, that the newcomer had no weapons online. He had been careful keeping his weapon systems on standby. They could be at full power in a second, or two though.
He watched the other ship stop in the center of the clear area. His sensor screen showed that the single occupant of the new ship first scanned the clear area, some of the surrounding asteroids and finally executed a deeper scan of Samuel's ship.
Seconds later his comm unit beeped the incoming message signal. He decide to jump down to his command room instead of
activating the observation cabin's comm screen. It would lower
from the ceiling and obscure most of the window he was now looking out of. That was one of the few things he didn't like about this ship.
He sat down the still half filled cup, stood than running to the hatch he leaped though it, landing easily, flexing his knees as his feet touched the floor. He quickly straighten up and took the three steps to the main comm unit. He activated it and, as the screen slide up out of its recess a picture formed on it. It showed the head and shoulders of a fairly young man with medium length reddish hair, bright green eyes. He looked to be in his 30s, 38 to be exact, Samuel knew. Even though the image on the screen had longer hair than he expected, it was one of the people he had been expecting.
He said in a deep voice with proud ring in it , "Greetings. I am Samuel G. Longrian."
The other responded with a hello, and by saying his name.
Samuel said, "I've been expecting you."
"I am, on the other hand, fairly surprised to see you."
Samuel sat down in his captain's chair and said, "After some thought I concluded that I wouldn't be the only one to learn of the process, and be willing to test it."
"Now that you mention it, it's obvious." The other said with a smile.
They chatted for a long period of time, describing their lives plus getting into the history and modern affairs of both their worlds. During their talk more ships joined them. Some came though the short channel and others came though the narrow wall of asteroids that made up the edge of the belt.
Soon the clear area was full of one man ships. Many were carbon copies of Samuel's ship, while three were copies of the second arrival's ship.
Of the ship's similar to his, most were black, even though two of those had red trim. One copy was bright red and three had been painted white. One of the white ones had red trim while one had black trim. The third was solid white.
The smallest of the ships arrived almost last. This ship was the only one with just a passenger compartment, to Samuel it looked to be some type of runabout: long, narrow, with two drive pods next to the hull and what might be a shark’s fin on top. It was purple, blue, green with chartuse trim of all colors That ship came through a side wall, thick with larger asteroids, and stayed to one side, instead of mixing it up with the other vessels.
The second to the last ship to arrive zipped though the opening at breakneck speed. Its pilot almost scraped two ships sitting near the opening. Finally it executed a maneuver that could only be called screeching to a stop. Even before this new ship had come to a complete stop, its occupant had sent a signal, interrupting all of the other comm signals being used.
His image showed a man with long flowing hair, a muscular figure except for the start of a beer belly, he wore a black turtleneck with slacks. he said, "I am here, let the party begin."
Samuel noticed that even though this brash new comer looked to have the same build as most of the others, some were a little heavier while some were a little scrawnier, he seemed to take up more room. It was as if he had a large body to go with his loud voice. His green eyes were intense while having a humorous twinkle to them. He dressed in an older, to Samuel, casual-dress style. The majority of the others were dressed in a casual-formal style. Samuel's clothes were one step up from them. Some of those gathered wore ship jumpsuits. One man dressed in bright colors of a form of robe.
Some of those present ignored the newcomer going back to their conversations. Others greeted him like a long lost brother.
Samuel, along with everyone else in the gathering, talked for many hours, after taking his leave of the first man. Some shared computer files: with songs, books, histories etc, while others just chatted. Finally, after most of those talking considered it to be late night, the conversations ended for the day. Many went to bed, while others stayed up even later. The noisy one invited some over to his ship where they partied far into the "night". The next morning, ship time, Samuel G. Longrian woke and had a leisurely breakfast. Afterwards he commed a few of those present, he hadn’t had the time to talk to the previous evening. Hours later he realized that he had talked to most of those present. He had declined invitations to come over with various excuses and made more excuses when two of the more brash ones wanted to visit him.
He had, as most had, exchanged adventure tales, while asking questions about the other person's background. Samuel asked some questions a few had thought strange.
He looked at his computer's screen and decided that he needed to talk to just two, or three more than he could go home. He was uncharacteristically a little nervous about the return trip. The process had worked once to transport him here, as it had worked in tests, therefore it should function correctly to send him back home. Should was the operative word though. In his life he had found many things that should work didn't. There was always the possibility that it would not work at all, or that it would send him someplace else. The process had been steady and reliable in the many tests, but a part could short or disappear on him. That had happen twice during his first tests. He had learned that most of the others had the same test results. Except for three he had talked to. One had gone through the tests like they were not really needed, another had better success so hadn’t needed the same number of tests. Samuel thought about talking to him more but he seemed even more intellecual then Samuel which was sating a lot. He mentally shrugged there was always a chance of harm in most things humans do, even in ordinary travel.
His musings were interrupted by his comm unit beeping. Someone else wanted to talk to him. Which was fine with him. That is it was fine, until he keyed his unit to receive. A picture of the person comming him instantly appeared.
The one comming him was dressed in the same tasteful clothes as Samuel was and had his hair in the same style. Samuel eyed the other warily, pressing a button that traced the comm signal back to its source. He wasn't surprised that it led back to a vessel very similar to his. It was one of the black ones and had exactly the same power readings as his vessel.
The other smiled warmly, which did not reassure Longrian, and said, "Hello, brother traveler. Is this what you expected?"
Samuel said, "Yes and more. This is wild.”
end part one
Enjoy:
The Gathering
Samuel G. Longrian waited. He knew they would make an appearance just like he had known that the process would work this time. That trip though had been wild. He still felt a bit dizzy. Which wasn’t the fault of his ship-the thirty meter long twenty meter wide Future. The energy convertors and extra shielding: radiation, electronic, stealth-he had those turned off now though-and heat and cold, all functioned well. He didn’t know if he would need all of that but to test his new process drive powered by tachyon radiation he thought it would be best. So now he waited. His cushioned seat, silk fused with leather, and air temp were set for his maximine comfort while he waited. The air tasted just right too. He had learned that something bad in the air would change its flavor, the hard way. For a second he thought he had smelled too many man scents during the trip but now his command center had a good smell.
The command center contained three other seats, but he didn’t need a crew or passengers for this trip.
His command center-like a big cockpit in a huge air transport-styled plain with the only colors were black, silver, and dark gray-had arrived here in one piece with every device functioning correctly at 110 percent.
The sensors beeped for his ship sat inside a large empty pocket near the side of an area full of asteriods and other space debris. The experts thought an exceptionally large comet had collided with an ice planet. One or the other had a change of orbit possibly because of a mini black hole passing though, a war, a very slight time shift, or nothing at all.
He had known there would be such a clear area, before he arrived, so it hadn’t taken long to find it. Samuel made the test with his sensors on max, just to make sure that he really was the first to arrive. He had been.
Some of the asteroids that made up this belt were as big as large houses, while others were barely the size of a medicine
ball. Opposite where his ship was resting, there was an opening, just large enough for a small space craft to easily fly though. He had flown though it, so knew it how easy maneuvering through it, would be for the others.
Samuel had been waiting for twenty-four hours already, and was surprised no one had shown up yet. He still had no doubt they would be there. Not all, of course, for some would have experiences circumstances that interfered with them being able to come here. Some would be dead, that made him think. How many times had he almost died. More than he wanted to conterplate
A few hours later, after he made a trip to his little ship's head, he made himself some Chinese green tea. As he poured the tea leaves into the hot water, he wondered if the others would like green tea as much as he did. Probably, but it wouldn't be that big of a deal if they didn't, he decided. He would be finding out soon enough anyway. He quickly ascended back into his ship’s observation cabin.
On most ships it would be called an observation deck, but because his ship was so small, he always referred to it as a cabin. He sat in his favorite of the four seats in the cabin. It was a comfortable padded lounge chair, that was in the right spot for him to see space, free of any obstacles. Five steps behind the chair there was a circular door in the floor, which led to the control room. He always left it open so he could hear any beeps the computer might make. He could jump though it and immediately be in the control room, if something did happen.
Not many vessels, as small, as his had observation cabins and that was one reason he had chosen this vessel. One of the other reasons would be evident if any of the others gave him any trouble.
He had just taken a couple of sips of the tea when his sensor array beeped. Something was coming. After glancing at the small repeater screen, near the chair he was relaxing in, he decided that he had time to enjoy some of his tea.
A few minutes later he observed another vessel make its way though the opening in the far wall. It was a vessel slightly larger than his with different lines, however he could see that it too had an observation blister.
His ship was very streamlined, looking very much like pictures he had seen of spy planes flown way back in the 1950s on Earth. The Future was thicker than those planes, with various blisters along each side. Some blisters protected sensor arrays while others hid weapons. One larger blister on top, toward the back, made up the top part of this cabin. This new vessel was less streamlined and more cubic looking.
“So”, he spoke out loud, a bad habit he let himself have, “the first one has arrived”.
After another thought he added, “The first one after me that is”.
Now he had to decide rather to contact the newcomer, or allow the person to contact him. It was possible that it was not one of the ones he was expecting. Someone else could have made the trip, but he just shrugged thinking that he would find out soon enough.
The other would know that he was there. The new ship's
sensors would be able to identify his ship easily. He took another sip of the tea rolling it around his tongue. He decided to let the other do the work. He glanced at his sensors again and it showed what he had expected, that the newcomer had no weapons online. He had been careful keeping his weapon systems on standby. They could be at full power in a second, or two though.
He watched the other ship stop in the center of the clear area. His sensor screen showed that the single occupant of the new ship first scanned the clear area, some of the surrounding asteroids and finally executed a deeper scan of Samuel's ship.
Seconds later his comm unit beeped the incoming message signal. He decide to jump down to his command room instead of
activating the observation cabin's comm screen. It would lower
from the ceiling and obscure most of the window he was now looking out of. That was one of the few things he didn't like about this ship.
He sat down the still half filled cup, stood than running to the hatch he leaped though it, landing easily, flexing his knees as his feet touched the floor. He quickly straighten up and took the three steps to the main comm unit. He activated it and, as the screen slide up out of its recess a picture formed on it. It showed the head and shoulders of a fairly young man with medium length reddish hair, bright green eyes. He looked to be in his 30s, 38 to be exact, Samuel knew. Even though the image on the screen had longer hair than he expected, it was one of the people he had been expecting.
He said in a deep voice with proud ring in it , "Greetings. I am Samuel G. Longrian."
The other responded with a hello, and by saying his name.
Samuel said, "I've been expecting you."
"I am, on the other hand, fairly surprised to see you."
Samuel sat down in his captain's chair and said, "After some thought I concluded that I wouldn't be the only one to learn of the process, and be willing to test it."
"Now that you mention it, it's obvious." The other said with a smile.
They chatted for a long period of time, describing their lives plus getting into the history and modern affairs of both their worlds. During their talk more ships joined them. Some came though the short channel and others came though the narrow wall of asteroids that made up the edge of the belt.
Soon the clear area was full of one man ships. Many were carbon copies of Samuel's ship, while three were copies of the second arrival's ship.
Of the ship's similar to his, most were black, even though two of those had red trim. One copy was bright red and three had been painted white. One of the white ones had red trim while one had black trim. The third was solid white.
The smallest of the ships arrived almost last. This ship was the only one with just a passenger compartment, to Samuel it looked to be some type of runabout: long, narrow, with two drive pods next to the hull and what might be a shark’s fin on top. It was purple, blue, green with chartuse trim of all colors That ship came through a side wall, thick with larger asteroids, and stayed to one side, instead of mixing it up with the other vessels.
The second to the last ship to arrive zipped though the opening at breakneck speed. Its pilot almost scraped two ships sitting near the opening. Finally it executed a maneuver that could only be called screeching to a stop. Even before this new ship had come to a complete stop, its occupant had sent a signal, interrupting all of the other comm signals being used.
His image showed a man with long flowing hair, a muscular figure except for the start of a beer belly, he wore a black turtleneck with slacks. he said, "I am here, let the party begin."
Samuel noticed that even though this brash new comer looked to have the same build as most of the others, some were a little heavier while some were a little scrawnier, he seemed to take up more room. It was as if he had a large body to go with his loud voice. His green eyes were intense while having a humorous twinkle to them. He dressed in an older, to Samuel, casual-dress style. The majority of the others were dressed in a casual-formal style. Samuel's clothes were one step up from them. Some of those gathered wore ship jumpsuits. One man dressed in bright colors of a form of robe.
Some of those present ignored the newcomer going back to their conversations. Others greeted him like a long lost brother.
Samuel, along with everyone else in the gathering, talked for many hours, after taking his leave of the first man. Some shared computer files: with songs, books, histories etc, while others just chatted. Finally, after most of those talking considered it to be late night, the conversations ended for the day. Many went to bed, while others stayed up even later. The noisy one invited some over to his ship where they partied far into the "night". The next morning, ship time, Samuel G. Longrian woke and had a leisurely breakfast. Afterwards he commed a few of those present, he hadn’t had the time to talk to the previous evening. Hours later he realized that he had talked to most of those present. He had declined invitations to come over with various excuses and made more excuses when two of the more brash ones wanted to visit him.
He had, as most had, exchanged adventure tales, while asking questions about the other person's background. Samuel asked some questions a few had thought strange.
He looked at his computer's screen and decided that he needed to talk to just two, or three more than he could go home. He was uncharacteristically a little nervous about the return trip. The process had worked once to transport him here, as it had worked in tests, therefore it should function correctly to send him back home. Should was the operative word though. In his life he had found many things that should work didn't. There was always the possibility that it would not work at all, or that it would send him someplace else. The process had been steady and reliable in the many tests, but a part could short or disappear on him. That had happen twice during his first tests. He had learned that most of the others had the same test results. Except for three he had talked to. One had gone through the tests like they were not really needed, another had better success so hadn’t needed the same number of tests. Samuel thought about talking to him more but he seemed even more intellecual then Samuel which was sating a lot. He mentally shrugged there was always a chance of harm in most things humans do, even in ordinary travel.
His musings were interrupted by his comm unit beeping. Someone else wanted to talk to him. Which was fine with him. That is it was fine, until he keyed his unit to receive. A picture of the person comming him instantly appeared.
The one comming him was dressed in the same tasteful clothes as Samuel was and had his hair in the same style. Samuel eyed the other warily, pressing a button that traced the comm signal back to its source. He wasn't surprised that it led back to a vessel very similar to his. It was one of the black ones and had exactly the same power readings as his vessel.
The other smiled warmly, which did not reassure Longrian, and said, "Hello, brother traveler. Is this what you expected?"
Samuel said, "Yes and more. This is wild.”
end part one
Saturday, November 11, 2017
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