The Discovery
The Pow wow - 2014
THE CAST:
Jon, Nigel, Anna, Ken, Mao, Dao, Krankel, Ventar, Grace, Mandy, Gordon, Drango Sin, Karl Sin, Zeck, Stefan, Dall, Watsin, Rase, Astromic, Carsasi
Not a lot happened at the pow wow. It had been nearly a day since their arrival, but to most of them, it felt like a week. Ken tried to take control of the proceedings, to exercise some authority, but after a degree of rambling handed over to Ventar, sitting down with a “my work is done” look and getting a poke in the side off Anna.
Ventar didn’t add much. ‘All I know is that we have to go to Watsin’s Pass about now; a cryptic remark from Astromic. Come on then, let’s go. Who’s coming?’
They all decided to go, all eleven of them – four Vercetians, a single Trun, five humans and a dog.
They entered the pass from the monastery, walls appearing as the height of the mountain increased. The walls were perfectly vertical and flawlessly smooth.
‘How is this so?’ asked Jon of no one in particular.
Ventar replied, ‘We believe the pass stays at this height and circumnavigates the mountain. How it got here has always been a mystery to us. Seca Watsin spent much time exploring the pass, hence the name…’ He was interrupted by a low-pitched hissing sound that lasted a few seconds. The rock facing the body of the mountain faded away, replaced by a magnificent city.
The building immediately in front of them was beautiful. It appeared to be an office or accommodation block, possibly eight storeys judging by the number of protruding, dome-shaped windows. The walls were a cherry red shiny marble material, with vividly contrasting strands of cream swirling through. A long lost artisan may have stirred them together to achieve such a fantastic result.
A few yards to the right of the building a golden road started from the point the holographic mountain had ended. It wound its way up past increasingly tall and spectacular buildings. All of the Earth kids imagined Dorothy and Toto about to come dancing around the corner, followed by a whole load of Munchkins.
Nigel was stunned by the sight of this fantastic city, not just the size, but by the building designs and the vivid colours everywhere. He had a love for architecture and had studied and visited many of the famous cities of Earth, but this was something else. Symmetry had been thrown out of the window here, sharp and straight edges replaced by oblique proportions and strange geometry.
Much higher up and heading into the far distance of the “mountain” was a monstrously large building that appeared to be floating away in the sky.
They started gingerly exploring the edge of the city segment, peering around corners and into strangely shaped windows, creeping under archways between buildings. Soon the city began awakening. Cleaner droids appeared from nowhere, ignoring them in their quest to find specks of dust. Androids appeared from nowhere, all shapes and sizes wanting to be of assistance, to feed them, find them accommodation and take them anywhere. It was a world of wonder.
Ventar gathered everyone. ‘We must find the members of my Life Team,’ he stated. ‘They must be here, somewhere.’ But before he could say anything further, two speeding objects raced straight toward them.
The Sin brothers pulled up shy of the very unexpected group facing them, shut down the bikes and stepped off.
Carl whispered to Drango. ‘What do you make of this lot?’
‘Vercetians and aliens,’ he replied. ‘We better take this easy. We’re well outnumbered now.’
‘Greetings,’ said Ventar.
Drango studied the boy. Is it the Prince? he asked himself. He’s about the right age.
‘Yes, I am.’
The boy’s voice was crystal clear in his head although he hadn’t spoken aloud. ‘Does this mean our ride home won’t be along anytime soon?’
‘It does look that way,’ replied Ventar. ‘They probably received orders to go straight home.’
‘They didn’t catch you then?’ Drango felt he needed to ask the obvious question.
‘No,’ said the Prince. ‘We managed to outrun them.’
The gentle smile from the boy didn’t dampen Drango’s hostility. ‘So, five Vercetians, five – I don’t know whats – and a Kayman mountain wolf-dog. Come to get your friends?’
‘There’s no reason to be rude to the Prince,’ Grace butted in. ‘Would you speak to him so if he were a Trun?’
‘A hypothetical question not worthy of an answer,’ Karl said, Drango having already turned to get on his bike.
‘I can assure you that Seca Mika and I are the only Vercetians in this group,’ Grace said. ‘Do the maths.’
Karl followed his brother’s lead and floored the drive pedal of the bike to the deck. They sped back into the city.
It wasn’t long before Zeck’s group chanced upon the new arrivals. After the release of the wedge of the holographic mountain they had come to check it had opened fully to the pass. The sight of Jake, Maot, and Ventar had them running.
The diminutive Bala Stefan un-hugged herself from the Prince. ‘You’ve grown,’ she cried. ‘You’re bigger than me now.’
‘It’s wonderful to see you, Stefan,’ he said, ‘though I must admit, you’ve outdone yourself with the refurbishment of the monastery.’ He waved his hand expansively.
‘It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t have an obstinate teenager to fuss over,’ she laughed. ‘The holographic mountain has been closed for three days. We thought it only closed for twenty-five hours, once a month for maintenance or something. We were getting worried we were trapped. And look at you Tauriar, all grown up and beautiful.’ She hugged Grace.
They mingled and chatted about their experiences, with special attention paid to the Earth kids. The remaining members of Ventar’s Life Team wanted to know everything about their planet and growing up with the Princess.
Stefan loved fussing over the Kayman. ‘Krankel, you say?’ She was rubbing the dog behind his ears – his favourite place. ‘I didn’t even know you’d taken the puppy with you,’ she said to Grace.
‘When did you get back?’ asked Bala Dall, who was monopolising the Prince.
‘The day before yesterday. How didn’t we know about this?’ he asked. ‘When was it revealed to you?’
‘Not long after you left. The Trun fighter pilots found a panel with the door missing and changed a dial and wham.’
An excited comment came from Watsin to their left. ‘The panel is missing from this one!’
Dall went to look. The panel was missing.
Stefan joined them. ‘Go on,’ she said to Watsin. ‘Switch it from Mountain to City.’
Watsin moved it from the pictorial sign of a mountain to the one of a multi-story building. To their left, the mountain melted away, revealing more of the metropolis.
‘A city of the Schumberlay,’ Ventar stated.
‘A city of the who?’ enquired Watsin.
‘Is there anywhere to eat?’ Ventar asked. ‘We need food and I can tell you all about the Humb. Then we can explore.’
A few days later, their explorations took them to the museum, which was now wholly free from the holographic mountain. The fact wasn’t lost on anyone – the Trun pilots, especially – that this could be a route away from this planet. They couldn’t all fit into the sphere, and Ventar had secretly hoped there would be an upgrade from the Schumberlay. He wasn’t permitted to ask them, but it was clear they had offered their pick of the working ships. The Sin brothers were all over an impressive looking long-range fighter. With the main hangar door released from the mountain, there was a way to fly it out.
Jon and Mandy stood with Grace, Ventar, and Rase, admiring the Golden Teardrop.
‘Watch this,’ said Rase, and queried the information android.
“The TD08, or Golden Teardrop, is the fastest vessel in the known galaxy. The four-person spacecraft with parallel dimension oscillating Cammerine Coils will accelerate to a speed of nine thousand times the speed of light. The 14th generation of Boron Composite gives a 0.000134 deg C expansion over the thermal uplift range of the hull. By using Aurum over Argentum, this model allows greater extension over its predecessors. The length of the vessel doubles in size at maximum velocity. This model TD08 is fully functional.”
‘A 0.000134 deg C expansion over the thermal uplift range of the hull, is very impressive,’ Mandy said, ‘and it approaches the finite value it is possible to achieve with extension based space travel.’ She realised everyone was staring and tentatively finished, ‘Which, of course, is the fastest method of moving through standard space.’ She ground to a halt. ‘Did I say that?’
Ventar’s knowing smile was more knowing than ever. ‘Gifts? I wonder. Mandy, how do you access this ship?’
‘You place the palm of your hand just here, where the golden hue is a touch darker. It’s an access pad.’ Mandy placed her hand on the pad and an opening revealed itself, the door merging into the surrounding hull plate. ‘What?’ screeched Mandy.
‘Jon, jump in,’ suggested Ventar. ‘Can you pilot it?’
Jon jumped in, with Mandy right behind. They dropped into the front two seats, running hands over panels that weren’t there and activating screens. ‘Yes!’ they cried out in unison.
By now Grace knew what was happening. ‘It appears the gift from the Schumberlay is the knowledge to fly the fastest spaceship in the galaxy.’ To Jon, she asked, ‘How does that compare with your mountain bike?’
A loud noise above them captured their attention. The hangar door in the roof was retracting. The long-range fighter, piloted by the Trun brothers, hovered in readiness, ten feet off the ground.
‘We can catch them easily,’ Mandy said from inside the Teardrop, catching this development on one of her screens.
‘No,’ said Grace. ‘The Prince is communicating with them. That isn’t the reason for this gift.’ She smiled at her friend. ‘Very impressive though, Mandy.’
‘Take it steady, little brother,’ Drango said. ‘Another minute and we’ll be off this rock.’
‘I’ve got this,’ replied Karl.
‘You don’t need to go just yet. Stay and talk to me. I am your fellow countryman. What I have told you is the truth.’
‘Look, kid, it’s all a pack of lies, and I don’t want you in my head,’ an agitated Drango replied.
In the preceding few days, Ventar had tried to reason with the brothers, but they refused to even listen to him. He was trying to ease into their confidence but didn’t foresee them escaping so quickly.
‘Have a safe journey home, comrades. Remember, all is not what it seems on our planet.’
The roof door, now fully retracted, was the signal for Karl to accelerate upwards. ‘Who cares what the boy says? We’re out of here.’
The fighter rose horizontally through the roof doors. Another five hundred feet and they held their height, ready to accelerate forward.
‘Entry into space?’ Karl asked Drango. ‘As we would normally do it?’
‘Go for it,’ replied his brother.
Karl eased the ship forward and picked up speed, rising through the atmosphere the faster they went. Two circumferences of the planet and they were sixty miles above the surface and at the imaginary line where the thin air ended and space began.
‘I couldn’t have ascended any faster,’ Karl said, ‘there was a fix on the trajectory angle. It seems this baby won’t allow you to break it.’
As they entered the vacuum of space, the brothers looked at each other and smiled, proud of their audacious getaway.
Drango turned to his brother. ‘Well, he’s out of our heads for good.’
‘Ha ha. I don’t know about that. You can’t get rid of me that easy; your minds are receptive. I’ll be in your heads for a good while longer.’
Earth Date: 7th September 2014 – unadjusted.
Diary!!!
My mind is full of information. Jon’s too. To me, it feels like someone has stuffed an encyclopaedia of the Teardrop into my head, and all I have to do is think of a question and I get the answer, plus I know the wheres and whys of the answer. It’s bloody amazing!
We’re part of things now. Not just bystanders along for the ride.
In our first test run, we agreed that piloting this beauty, we’re untouchable. It doesn’t have any weapons, but who needs them when you have everything else you could ever think of, and probably loads of stuff that we can’t think of!
I’m so excited about tomorrow’s test run, Diary. I’m off to bed early.
Night D, x