KATRIZULL.HTM

KATRIZULL
Sci Fi tale written by Alfredo Juillet Frascara
18 September 2005.. 12 October 2005
Epoch : 2085
Places : Planet Zubeneschama, Constellation Libra.
Characters : Captain Autlia Veermer , Cyborg 1,2,3.
Explorers .Commander Lara Bascom (Cyborg) Luigi Bartom. Hydroponics, chemical engineer
Gladia Howtorn, pipelines, radar, food supplies. Technical officer. (Cyborg)
Garotto Mainly, Engines, Engineer
Shaira Toloza, weaponry section, Engineer.
Coracious Lafonterius, radar section, technical engineer Commander : Bomdar
Crew : Lara Bascom the Cyborg, geologist
Lion Fetich, Geologist
Rawson Reed, Gunner Sardriton Nework.
Three Robots .
Chapters
1.- Katrina Spaceship.......................page 2
2.- Zubeneschama Star System.................page 6
3.- The Exploration of Continent 3 at Zubeneschama - planet 2.......page 24
4.- Professor Zull and the APALA on Zubeneschama and Gorink IV (Known here as Jot 1 Libra IV).......................page 57
5.- Mission 393 (At Jot 1 Libra Planet IV). ................ page 106
CHAPTER ONE
KATRINA
The spaceship KATRINA crossed the sky with a roar.
On board, and clinching his teeth, was Captain Autlia Veerme, together with a valiant crew, scattered alongside the inner hulk of the big ship.
The automatic pilot made a fine landing, so the Captain was proud of the system. His men begun joking among them, happy to be safe once more.
"Captain, who are the ones who will descend now? " - The first officer asked from his seat.
"Me and Bascom. "- Said the Captain, signaling to the Cyborg to get on the move. The creature obeyed instantly, walking to the locking section. When the Captain arrives there, officer Vadart approaches, saying to him : " Sir, I recommend you to use the thermal suit this time. There are 50 Celsius Degrees out there."
"All right; I«ll use your advice."- Replied the surprised Captain, who has no previous knowledge of it.
The suit was very lightweight, and it has also a helmet made of the same fabric, together with a transparent plastic on front, to let the user see through.
Once in the outside of the ship, Veerme saw Bascom already seated on an airmotorcycle. The machine was able to fly at 300 km. per hour, using the anti gravity device invented eighty years ago.
"Where to, Captain ?" - Bascom asked.
"Just follow me"- The Captain said, smiling - he already has a sketch on his mind, about the path to follow- straight due west, where a big scar on the ground was seeing by him during the short time the KATRINA was descending some minutes before. He remembered a long line of hills, at the west side of it, and a plain with what seems to be trees, to this side of that ravine.
Once flying at 400 meters high, he could see the plain littered with stones and boulders under the fiery rays of that sun, star ZUBENESCHAMA ...
Before the big ravine, or canyon, Vermeer saw how the vegetation begun to appear, if somewhat dried by the sun. There was no water in sight there.
The canyon was huge, with steep walls 100 meters high; at the bottom of it a streak of water was moving to the south. The waters reflected the light like a saver, silvery white.
Vermeer and Bascom went down at 150 kilometers per hour, like two gliders under a strong wind. Their machines whined over the big boulders who perched alongside the descent.
Vermeer and his crew member saw several animals brazing (grazing) near the river, who had muddy (banks) , who was no problem for the big creatures in sight. AT last, Vermeer landed on a stretch of dry land, near the waters.
Cyborg Bascom landed at his left side, and jumped to the ground easily, saying "You can lift off your helmet, Captain! Temperature here is 38 Centigrade."
So Vermeer lifted the helmet, and felt instantly the difference between 20 and 38, but also, the difference in smell and consistency, from a decontaminated, aseptic air, to a strong burst of odors , from the atmosphere of the planet.
Near them, a forest grows , showing small trees with leaves of different colors. The radio of Bascom«s airbike chirped, and she answered it fast; after some phrases, she turns to the Captain, saying " It«s first officer calling. He asks about our whereabouts."
"Tell him not to worry, and that we are at the bottom of the big canyon ,west to the ship. No civilization whatsoever... yet."- Vermeer said.
The Cyborg repeated it, and hung the phone. The captain touches some fruits from a small tree, and Bascom eats one, saying "Delicious, some kind of orange. Not poisonous."
"Let«s see."- Vermeer said , and eats a fruit, finding it refreshing. Two big butterflies fly over some sticky plants not ten meters away. Bascom approaches the river, and sips a couple of drops ,using a stem.
"Very contaminated. Don«t drink." - She said, spitting unto the ground. The Captain heard a sound, and saw a couple of big birds rushing unto them, from above.
"Fire, captain!"- Bascom said, pointing her gun to the nearest of the flying creatures, who had hide instead of feathers. The whole head of the first of them volatized with the heat ray, but his body bumped on Vermeer, throwing him five meters away. With the concussion, he was dizzy and didn«t use his gun, so the second flying creature used those scant seconds to dip unto him and open a big wound on his head, using the big beak he has in front of his skull.
Bascom fired repeatedly against the big brute, but didn«t prevent the fiery animal to really opened Vermeer head in two, with fast bites. There lied those two flying creatures, one almost upon the Captain«s body, much to the annoyance of Bascom, who was meant to protect the human at all times.
The Cyborg went to the motor flier, and said "Bascom here. The Captain«s dead. I«ll carry his body in some moments more."
"What happened!"- The startled voice of the first officer come by the phones.
"A big brute smashed his skull- they were two of them, I killed both but not as fast as it was needed."- Bascom said.
After some seconds of silence, the first officer said "All right, take him back. And be careful. There could be others flying around."
"Okie dokie."- Bascom said, ending the transmission. She takes the limping body to the first motor flier, and tied it there, and using a replicant driving system, from her motorbike she could drive both machines unto the air and set course back to the KATRINA spaceship.
SECOND CHAPTER.
UNDER ZUBENESCHAMA
Bascom was taking a bath, after the delivery and the explanations. She was upset, so she used the bath to straighten her feelings once more. Not that she could really needed the bath, but she also likes to feel and see those streaks of water running down her beautiful body. She was the epitome of what humans felt beauty was at the late twenty one Century : fat but without hanging bags of grease under buttocks or the belly, dark green eyes, really black hair and eyelids with a golden glow, 1.70 Mt. in height. The rest of her attributes were mental, and it represents all what was known at the moment of her inception: 2055, plus, of course, what Bascom could learn in her studies- who in her case, were really scant.
Bysycat, her cloned special cat, come running to take a bath, too. She laughed and stroke his hear with delight. The cat was really an amusement for her, and she had it since his twentieth birthday, a present from her stepmother, when she went out of the Space Academy, with her space pilot«s license.
After the bath, she takes a half minute dry bath, who leaves her skin and hair perfectly dry, and takes the cat in her arms, saying "You little brute, you love a warm bath, eh?" And the cat purred in consent.
She clothes with fresh garments, and puts on a pair of sandals. Bascom looked at the monitor, and punching the keyboard, obtained the last news on board. The captain«s body was to be iced , but three clones were to be produced by doctor .... now. They didn«t said for what use those new crew members were going to put at, but of one thing Bascom was sure, they weren«t going to be Captains of the ship ...
The chimney of her wrist watch alerted her, and she talked unto the built in microphone. "Bascom here."
"This is the first officer. Please come to the hatch."
"Coming, Sir."- She replied, hastening so.
At the hatch, she saw a raider team ready to depart.
First officer saw her too, and said "You are going with them, Bascom. Same place you were with the Captain. I want them to take a look at the bird."
"Aye aye, Sir."- She replied, and went out with the five other scouts. Two more were already with motorbikes standing in waiting. They climb on them, and the six explorers climb fast to the sky.
"You guide, Bascom. Same place as you were with the deceased Vermeer."- The chief of the expedition ordered.
"Yes sir."- She replied, and located her vehicle in the center of the group, that takes the figure of a V.
Soon they were gliding over the cliff, and she was searching for clues ,in order to find the exact spot . When she was beginning to recognize it, several big birds come flying to their site.
"Birds incoming! Aim and fire them!" - The chief of the expedition yelled by the microphone, amplifying his order through the earphones every one was using, together with the helmet.
The flock of birds approaches very swiftly, and begun trying to hit them with their beaks and paws, that were armed with real hooks, the size averaging half a meter.
Two scouts were injured, but escape going down at top speed.
The rest used their armor, killing three of the birds , who escaped in flames. The rest begun to gain altitude.
"Don«t shoot them! Let them live."'- The chief of the expedition ordered, and went after the three who were now almost landing in a stretch of dry land, near the river.
Once they were standing on the ground, Bascom went to see the injured, helping them to bandage their wounds, none of them too dangerous for their lives.
"Do you see them birds? Those big beaks surely could kill a man in one bite, if they get us in a soft spot!"' - One of the astronauts said.
"It really hurts! And I am feeling week every minute it passes."- Other space soldier said, seating on a boulder.
Soon the three of them were panting on the ground, with fever.
_ Must be venom on those beaks. Call the captain." - The Chief of the expedition told his aid de camp, a sergeant.
Soon the new captain, Gorosito, realize he has several injured men in danger, and he sent them a scout ship, who appeared just in time, as the big birds were turning over their heads each second in less altitude, as going ready to attack again...and in greater numbers.
- Don«t use the airbikes anymore, says the captain! Every one on board, and carry those airbikes inside!«' The commander of the scout ship ordered when he was at ear shot. Other paramedics went swiftly to the injured men, injecting them with medicines and antitoxins; they carried them inside the scout ship and in ten minutes they were again in the air, turning as they climb and soon heading hurriedly to the Katrina spaceship
The chief of the expedition went to give his briefing schedule to the captain, and Bascom went to the Library, where she asks the computer to show her every known bird or creature capable of flying, in any era available.
Soon she was staring at the replica of the bird they were attacked by. His name was Quetzacoatlus ,a pterodactiloid of 15 metes wing span, from the Cretacic, 66 millions years ago.. in the Earth, but obviously, the same era wasn«t happening here in this planet.
"We are back in the Cretaceous!"' - She mumbled to herself, in awe. So, the rest of the animals could be similar to those of the same era in Earth... no human beings, then , but dangerous creatures.
She went to the Scientific officer with that information, finding him looking through a microscope at the Second Laboratory.
"Oh, hi, Bascom. What wind brings you down here?"' The man asked, looking briefly in her direction.
"I find out in which era this planet is."- She announced, looking at some tissues floating on a bottle.
"In which era this planet is ? "' Bomdar asked, amused, but not so much as to retire his eyes from the apparatus.
"Cretaceous. 66 millions years in the past."- She announced. Bomdar, the Scientific officer on board, inhaled deeply, and looked at her in disbelief.
"Some queer joke of yours, Bascom?¬"- He asked, straight seating at his revolving chair.
"I don«t get amused with bad jokes, Officer BOmdar. I saw that bird out there, the one who killed Captain Vermeer, and now some others of the same kind, attacked three more crew members. Now they are in sick bay, dizzy as a drunk duck."- She informed the scientific man.
"My me! How pity this is it ! Well, it «s the normal in dangerous trips like this one! And where did you learn they are Quetca... birds ?"- Bomdar asked.
"Quetzacoatlus . Fifteen meters long. Their beaks measured more than a meter long! And they have long paws. "- She said, seating on the verge of a table.
"Well, I must admit I am very astounded! And interested ! Guess I could study dinosaurs instead of mammals in this trip- a good opportunity to make my name reverenced, if we return to the civilization in one piece!«- The officer said.
"You«ll surely return in one piece, Bomdar! As long as you have your ass down here all the time , that«s for sure!"' - Bascom said.
Bomdar looked at her with a long stare, and said " I don«t believe you are here just to frighten me or plainly insulting me ! Tell me what you want, Bascom, and we could end this conversation in educated terms."
"Pardon me, If I was rude. Well, I want to know if you are interested in those venomous the Quetzacoatlus has in their beaks. "' - Bascom said.
"And you want me to go down there and take a sample from those dinosaurs? "' - Bomdar asked, incredulous.
"Of course not, man! I want you to take a sample from the wounds of those who are being treated at sick bay! Because if we are going to stay in this planet for some more time, we could be having more fights with those brutes."'- Bascom said.
Bomdar approved her idea, and takes some items from his laboratory, and went to sick bay, just in time to see the last one of the injured went out of the sterilize chamber .He was out in the open with that, as samples of the venom were wiped out from both clothes and flesh of the injured men.
The captain Gorosito saw him lurking around, and said "What are you searching for here, officer Bomdar?"
"I was told there were some venom in this men, Sir, and I was trying to obtain a sample of it. Pity, they went through the sterilizes now, and the samples disappears with it."- Bomdar said.
The captain looks unto those injured, who were sedated at the time, and said "You could take blood samples now, I presume. The venom should be there, in their blood."
Bomdar takes some samples of their blood, thinking it was not the same thing, but it worth a try. In the solitude of his laboratory, he finds nothing strange on the blood, and it was not astonishing it, as the sterilize chamber not only cleans by the outside, but also by the inside of bodies....
Later, Cyborg Bascom went to see him, and asked "Well, did you find something there, officer?"
"Nothing at all. The sterilize did its job , and not a trace of alien substances were found." - Bomdar said.
¬ So we should be waiting for the next attack to study it ! "- Bascom said, seating on a chair.
"Right. Perhaps somebody could go there and take a sample of those dinosaurs«s beaks! Could be you."-Bomdar said, smiling.
"Not in a hundred years! I prefer time takes care of it. "- She said, with a twist of her lips.
They heard the alarm bell going on at the corridor, and they went out - several crew members shouts in panic, and the ship moves to the right, sending them in a heap to the other extreme of the corridor.
"What is happening!"- Bomdar asked, but everyone were busy trying to regain the equilibrium. Bascom managed to arrive to the main cabin, just in time to see the Captain Gorosito yelled to the pilot "Rise the ship now, take off immediately!"
But his order could not be obeyed by the pilot, as he was jerked out of the seat by another big movement of the ship, that this time turns itself on its axis. Bascom was already firmly attached to a security cord, so when the ship ends the turn, she jumped to the pilot«s position, and her clever fingers made the final adjustment, sending the order to the graviton.
Soon the ship was hovering 300 meters from the ground, and people could walk by the corridors, wandering what had happened.
At the control cabin, Bascom was looking at the monitors, finding out what had happened by looking at the instruments...
What happened ? "- Captain Gorosito asked , from his chair.
"We were attacked. Those are the enemies."- Bascom said, centering the visor on the field just abandoned seconds ago. The figures were huge- seven big dinosaurs, the size of the ship, were lurking down there, finding their prey has escaped flying...
"Dangerous spot. Tell me about the situation ."- The captain Gorosito asked to Bascom, who was the only available officer there, as the poor pilot had his neck turned in a strange way.
Bascom read the signals on the screens, and said "The hull has a crack in middle ship, Sir. One deflector is bend. Engines are OK."
"Well, at least we could mend it up. See to it."- The captain said, pale on the face.
Bascom used the intercom to say "To all personnel: we were attacked by a pack of dinosaurs, but now we are safe. We are to repair the outer hull, but first I«m going to move the vessel to a safer ground. Stay at your posts ."And with dexterity, she moves the ship from that place, searching a higher ground- she finds it in a terrace, over a hill.
The ship hit the ground with its supporters, and Bascom stop the engines. She turns round, to see the Captain Gorosito, who said "Well done. Now, take care of the repairing crew yourself."
Bascom went out, seeing some of the injured people were being carried to the Infirmary, where doctor ... begun to attend them.
At the engine room, Bascom talks with the Chief Engineer, asking for some personnel in order to begun looking for damages in the outer hull.
"That«s fine, officer Bascom. But I would use my men first in here, where some minor problems arise. This mechanisms are very delicate." - The Chief said.
"That«s OK by me, but I need at least a couple of men. "- She was not meant to be cooed as easily.
The Chief puts on a grievous face, but complied, and so Bascom went to the outer hull by a lock .
The air outside was colder than at the plains, and the two men shivered with it.
"Nothing as hard labor to heat the body, men! Let«s see what is the damage, now."- She said, smiling.
The technicians were, as almost everyone on board, young people, and soon then were staring at the bent shields.
"Wow! They sure used some strength here !¬- One of the men said. His name was Rodolfo Menguad.
Bascom realized they were going to retire at least one sheet of metal ,to repair the rest. She called the Captain Gorosito, by her wrist-watch , and said "Sir, we are going to need extra help here in the outside. The use of a couple robots could do the trick. Give me permission to awake them."
Gorosito mumbled something first, and then he said "All right, but make it quick! I don«t want to be seating here for too long."
"Aye aye, Sir."- Bascom said, and from an inner connection, she activated a pair of robots, who come to the outside in five minutes.
"Names."- She said.
"KB 390 and OSC 283 "- One of the robots said.
This were new models, used only in test mode, and they didn«t need maintenance at all during 209 yeas, as they had uranium batteries, that lasted for that span of time without problems.
For sure, by the time those batteries need recharge, other newer models would be available.
"All right, Kabe and Oscar ! We need to replace some outer hull«s sheets . Let«s see to it."- Bascom said, and soon she was working with her team of two humans and two robots, under Cyborg guidance...
Two days it lasted the reparations, 48 hours were enough for it, as the robots didn«t need repose, neither Bascom. The humans were there to give a helping hand in the final steps, in the coating and polishing of the surface. Bascom sent the robots again to their sleeping pods, and for the humans she has words of appraisal, in front of the Captain Gorosito, who was called to see the end-finish of that work.
"We all worked in an organized team, Sir. Let me tell you the crew members worked hard and that they deserve some rest after this."- Bascom said, knowing there was no other way to repay their efforts. Gorosito mumbled something, and said "All right, the work seems to be OK, and about the rest, you know , Bascom, the ship receives a severe blow, and there are too many injured people at the Sick Bay, to leave good hands at rest. Sorry, but you«ll had to work as the rest."
And went away, whistling some tune for himself.
"Well, buddies, I try to give you something in return!"' - Bascom said, rising her shoulders.
"Don«t worry, officer ! We understand ! And we worked at ease with you."- Rodolfo Menguad replied.
Bascom went to a higher point in the terrain, looking at the landscape it was there to see, being in the side of a big mountain. The river was not distinguished, but the canyon stretched by both sides , golden at that time of the day.
Some big birds were lurking over them, but they didn«t come down, afraid of the laser rays an automatic machine fired every time some of them dare to descend more than a hundred meters below. Several charred remains rested scattered around the KATRINA vessel.
When almost dark , Bascom returned to the ship, and went to the mess hall, more to hear the conversations than to eat, as her needs of food were amazingly little. She asks for a cup of milk with a little coffee, and was about to drink it, when two young women seats at her same table, saying " Could we seats here, comrade? "
Bascom looked at them, and smiled, as they were Cyborg as herself.
"Of course. It«s good to have good company now and then." - She said.
The women asked cakes and beverages, saying "Good work you did out there ! We went to see it ourselves.
"Oh, you are from the Revision team ? "- Bascom asked, acidly." Don«t need to be nasty, officer! You know we support ourselves a lot."- One of them said, laughing. Her hair was black, and she has green eyes and thin lips.
"I am Gladia, and my friend here is Ashtaria. Glad to meet you."«- The woman said.
"Nice to meet you. I didn«t see you around, earlier. Seems the Captain awoke more personnel."- Bascom said, as she was well aware that since that moment, she was the only Cyborg working at the ship.
"Yes, you know, Captain Gorosito was in real need of capable personnel, now something happened to the ship down there."- Ashtaria said, with a mild voice, signaling with her right hand to the Canyon.
"A bunch of dinosaurs get the fists against this ship- a moment more, and they could had broken the thing in two!" - Bascom said, sipping her coffee.
"I don«t know what the humans likes in that brew you are sipping !¬¬- Gladia said, looking at the cup of coffee.
¬I guess they drink it to have some more energy, I suppose! Coffee has something that fastened your heart."- Bascom said, lecturing her.
Gladia sniffed, saying "Oh, that I was well aware already! But there are some other better things to get your heart pounding like a drum in the fourth of July!"
-"Name me one of those things."- Bascom said, looking at her intently.
" A fine male." - Gladia said, blushing.
Bascom finished her cup of coffee, saying: "You know we are not supposed to have lovers on duty! ¬"
"Yes, the regulations are a dull thing for us."- Gladia said, and Bascom laughed of her show of dark humor.
"Nobody rules nobody here in outer space. We are in the rim of the unknown, nobody will make a row for a simple romance."- Ashtaria said.
She has dark hair, cream white skin, and dark big eyes, with eyelashes really large. Her body was superb, well, all the Cyborgs were made following the epitome of female beauty- that was a challenge to any rule-abiding male, and somebody said it was a joke played on the rules by the makers of Cyborg
¬ To night there will be a dancing party at one of the halls. You coming?«' - Ashataria said to Bascom.
"I«m not too much prone to dance. "- She said, thinking how many time she wonders how that could be , but without invitations, how she could be dancing? And now they were inviting her!
¬" Don«t by shy, officer ! I will take care of you! Please, come with us."- Gladia said, touching her sleeve.
"All right, but I cannot swear I «ll be a fine company."- Bascom said, rising her shoulders a bit.
"We«ll get along fine! We«ll meet you here at 22 hours."' - Gladia said, rising from the table.
Bascom stands up too, and went to comply with her duties for the rest of that day.
At 21 hours, she was free of toll, and went to her cabin, where she takes a warm bath. Inside the bath tube, with that warm liquid surrounding her body, she flexed her legs, thinking how she was going to exert her femininity some day ! She was still a virgin - and the cause of it was to had seen how many rigmarole and dramas love affairs produce in people««s lives
At 22 hours, Bascom arrives to the mess hall, where a dozen other crew members were playing cards. She seats at a table and waits- for ten minutes, and then one of the card players, a blond young man, come to her side, saying Don't wait any longer, officer! Here I am , to accompany you !
Bascom made a gesture towards one of the seats around the table, saying "You«re welcome. Guess it was only a joke."
"What was a joke, officer? And by the way, the name is Barton."
"Mine is Bascom. The joke was that two other girls invited me to some dancing party, but they are not showing."- Bascom said, doing a circle with a finger in the air.
"Don«t worry! Perhaps they are late, or they forgot."- Barton said, looking at the other table, where somebody was making the thumb up signal...
"Guess they are a pair of jokers. But not a nice thing to do to me."- Bascom said, blushing deeply.
"I know who you are. Bascom, the officer our Captain Gorosito had in great esteem."- The man said.
"Oh, yeah? And me not knowing it ! "- Bascom said, smiling.
"It«s true! I work at Hydroponics, where he was seldom working before achieving his present post - and he keeps on going there, out of habits, and talk with us - me and the comrades you see at that table."- Barton said, looking at the other table.
From there, a man said "Take her along with you here, Barton! Perhaps the officer wants to play cards with us!"
"And do you want, Bascom?" - Barton asked her, politely. Bascom was changing her plans all together, looking at them, seeing they were honest looking chaps, and also, to erase the failure - those chicks will be sensing her fury afterwards !
"All right, I don«t see no harm in a play of cards."- Bascom said, assenting with a little bow.
"Fine! "- Barton said, and they both went to the other table, where they exchange names and the one who invited her, crewman Laskar Oliveira, said " The play is very simple, just plain poker, Bascom! Now, we play for deserts. At every meal, the looser must pay with his - or in your case - her desert. Understood?
"Understood. A desert is what you are stacking here."- Bascom smiled. As she already know to play poker, she didn«t loose games too easily, but in the end of an hour and a half, she lost two deserts...
The conversation was light spirited, and she understood very quick the matter was, primarily, to establish a bound between the players, a way to get friends. She was delighted, as nobody made a pass unto her, or lascivious stares. Just some friends playing cards...
She almost thanked those two Cyborg, for to late her down in the appointment!
After the game, several of the group went to their duties, as a new shift was begun. Bascom retired herself to the radio set, where Sumerdio Farthomex was hearing a tune.
"Hi, officer Bascom! "- He said, smiling.
"Hi, Farthomex! Nice jazz you have there."- She said, seating at another chair. She takes a couple of headphones, and with the other receiver, searches the waves , listening .
There was only static going on. She expected - half expected, really, to listen some day an alien broadcast...
For two hours she was there, and then the soft chime of the half shift sounds down the corridors- she yawned and went to her cabin, to sleep.
In the morning, Bascom went to work at 8.00 hours. She was doing some repairs at the fins, when she was called by the Captain Gorosito, at the main cabin.
When arriving there, he said "Good morning, officer Bascom. In order to comply with orders, we must explore some more of this planet. "
And he shows a map on the main screen, saying "You and a team already waiting, will go to the second continent, that is the major of the three, as you could see. I am interested in flora and fauna, of course, but also in those three spots indicated on the map. Here, here and here, our long range scanners had encountered important quantities of minerals, in need at hour home system. You are going with a couple of mineralogist, who must take samples to study if there are valuable minerals there, and the law of fine , things they understand and I don«t need to explain too much here. Well, you have your orders. "
"How many auxiliary ships are going to use? And how long in time is my mission, Captain?" - Bascom asked.
"You are going in one auxiliary ship. The time you need is what you must use, of course. Not a day longer."- Gorosito said, turning the main monitor into normal view - that is to say, the surroundings of the KATRINA spaceship.
"Very well, Sir. I«ll be in touch , if needed be." - Bascom said, marching out of there.
She takes a bag from her cabin, with her personal belongings and some gadgets, and went to the departure corridor, where the hatch of the auxiliary ships were located.
In one of them, several crew members were waiting.
Hello, officer. We are ready to depart."' - One of them said. She recognized Barton, and said " What happened with Hydroponics ?"
¬ My other fellow workers remained there, officer. I was the expendable, I guess."- Barton said.
Bascom already has counted them - 5 in all, with two women in the team - one of them a Cyborg ... Gladia.
"Hi, Gladia. Good to have you around."- She said, in ominous tones.
"Glad to serves you." - She said, looking startled.
"Well, I don«t know if they told you what kind of research we are going to do."- Bascom said, going inside the auxiliary ship.
"They told you we were to be briefed by you."- Barton said.
¬I was told something related with my profession - geologist."- Another crew member said.
_And of course, I need your names and jobs now, please.- Bascom said, starting the engines.
_Bartom, Luigi. Hydroponics, Chemical engineer .¬' Bartom said, seating at a chair.
"_ Gladia Howtorn. Pipelines, Radar maintenance, food supplies. Technical officer .¬- The officer said.
"Garotto Mainly, Engines, Engineer. "- Other said.
The auxiliary went out of the main body of the KATRINA spaceship, and with both magnetic engines working, swings to the north of the planet.
Another woman said : " Shaira Toloza, Weaponry section, Engineer. "
And the last one , a man, said "Coracious Lafonterius, Radar section, Technical engineer."
"Very well. Fine crew I have here. Nice to be with you, except one of you... I expect you to be open wide with the surroundings. We have a captain already in the ice, just because the animals of this planets don«t suppose to be lovingly pets. I want you armed at all times. "- Bascom said, turning the ship downwards, when arriving to the Third Continent.
From where they were flying, the monitor shows a sketch of the land ahead, plus some vistas from the front cameras, who shows, mainly , CLOUDS OF YELLOW COLOR.
Chapter 3.
The exploration of Continent 3.
Explorers .Commander Lara Bascom (Cyborg)Luigi Bartom. Hydroponics, chemical engineer
Gladia Howtorn, pipelines, radar, food supplies. Technical officer. (Cyborg)
Garotto Mainly, Engines, Engineer
Shaira Toloza, weaponry section, Engineer.
Coracious Lafonterius, radar section, technical engineer.
The whole place seems to be under a fiery fog, when notwithstanding a terrific rainfall. Bascom, who was piloting the auxiliary ship, decided to go for a landing relying mainly on the computer scanning system, not always commendable.
"Brace for hard landing ! " - She announced, and pushed the necessary buttons. Soon the ship swooped downwards, and after some very rude shifts in direction, landed fast and easy - much to the astonishment of everyone on board !
Bascom revised the instruments before opening the hatch... winds of 90 km per hour, heavy rain... 9¼ C , means problems, so she said " We are going to use the helmets, and our thermal suits. No way to go outside in explorer«s shirt and pants now."
They take the aforementioned clothes from the closet at the back of the ship, and once fully robed, Bascom said "As there is a strong gale outside, two of us will remain here, and I will send for them after some while. Gladia and Garotto, you stay here."
So there was only four persons crossing the hatch - the vision was hampered by the rain, that washed their helmets every second. Using the built in light torch, they could see with a seventy per cent of visibility. The terrain was full of mud and rocks, the later being washed by the light brown rain , and using the magnetic compass, they walked away from the auxiliary ship, who was using its landing lights, in order to be utterly visibly in the mid of that storm.
After half an hour of walk, they arrive to the board of a big river, who went to the south with fury. The rumor of the rocks being towed underwater was also a trembling behind their feet. There was no sign of life whatsoever, nor trees nor animals. The place was very primitive looking, and gives them a sense of barrenness.
Bascom, using the compass, begun circling around the not visible ship, going sometimes between big boulders, that prevents the gale to throw them away. She takes some samples, and said by the radio : "No way to take samples with care ! This is just a lot of mud !"
"Let«s return to the ship, Sir ! "- Luigi Bartom said.
"There is nothing clear here ! " Bascom didn«t reply, but went directly to the ship, and once all inside, they take off the thermal suits, with sighs of relief.
"What a weather! Is it all like this?" '- Shaira Toloza asked.
"I guess not, but in hundred of kilometers, this bad weather has its reign!" - Bascom replied, once at the controls. With the weather scan, she could use the long range radar from the Katrina, connected via radio waves. The only place free of the storm was located to the north side. She feed the computer with the information, punched a series of buttons, and said " Pity, we must leave this enchanting place ! Brace for take off!"
And they all fastened to their seats. The last button was punched , and the small airship went up and away very quick. Twenty minutes later, they descended unto a sunny stretch of land, near the extreme north of the Third Continent.
"We«ll go with the thermal suits, and no helmets. Temperature, 19 ¼ Centigrade."- Bascom said, opening the hatch. The soft smell of grass come into their lungs, and they all smiled- compared with the precedent site, this was Heaven !In front of them, a chain of mountains extends itself from the north to the south, possibly shunning down the hurricanes. The landscape was in green, with green grass, green mountains and a forest of green to the west.
"Well, here we have mountains to climb and a forest to search for bugs. Nothing to worry about !" - Luigi Bartom said.
Bascom said " Well, the geologist are going up that hill and try to find some minerals in it. We are in one of the hot spots for that. The rest, we«ll going to that forest, and try to take enough samples on animals and vegetal that could differ from what we know before. "
So, officers "Garotto Mainly , Shaira Toloza, geologists, begun their trek up the hills, with order to open the radio receivers at all times, in order to be in contact with them. The rest, with Bascom guiding them, gets into the woods . The terrain was full of weeds and grass a meter high, and there were several insects flying over the leaves- a meter long, and with big stings protruding at their backs. All was going well, until Coracious Lafonterius steps on a log that wasn«t a log...
A big dinosaur stands up from the long grass, showing his mean eyes ablaze with fury- Bascom saw some big eggs near her, and expect the worst.
"She«s protecting her babies ! Eggs are lying there ! Run to the woods!"- She commanded, as she was sure bullets would sting the dinosaur 30 meters long , but never could kill the beast !
Coracious begun turning his body to run, but the dinosaur was lightning speed in their movements, and chops his body in two, with is big fauces . The rest of the group doesn't stop, but that was no problem with the dinosaur, who jumps more than five meters in the air, landing on the shoulders of Gladia Howthorn, who smashed the floor with her chest- her head was cut clean by the fiery teeth of the dinosaur, making a chopping sound . The beast did a big roar, who melted the blood in the runners, who leaped and run as rabbits... Soon they were among trees, and Bascom climbed a big tree, followed by Luigi Bartom, who panted near her shoulders...When at 12 meters high, the monster appeared down below, and with his evil eyes of dinosaur, looked unto them - made a tentative jump,that carry him at seven meters from them- but as the dinosaur has no wings, his body returned to the ground with a thud, and went away immediately, to finish his meal on the broken corpses already get...
"What a devil!"- Luigi Bartom said.
"We lost two party members. What a pity - and a waste of personnel. Captain Gorosito will be nasty when knowing it."- Bascom said, looking down eagerly.
"It«s not your fault, officer Bascom! Destiny was written before we arrives here."- Luigi Bartom said.
"Don«t give me that crap! I don«t buy "destiny" stories myself! Things happens because there are errors in the path! I should never come here into the woods ! I should content myself with what we could had obtained at the prairie."- Bascom said, realizing, as she speaks, that she was wrong... the only way to obtain interesting specimens were to get into the woods... But things were already donned, and she could not return to the world of the living those bodies half eaten by a dinosaur mother...
Ten minutes later, Gino said " We should depart from here, Bascom! The dinosaur must be eating now, but when finished, he will return. He knows where we stand."
"Or perched. Well, guess you«re right. Let«s descend and take a share of destiny on our lives."- Bascom said, rising her shoulders...
Once at the floor of the forest, Bascom try to return , giving a detour, to the ship- there was no need of more exploration here, as the only specimen was 30 meters long- too long to get him inside the scout ship!
"Look" - Luigi Bartom said, retaining her by an arm. She looked in the direction he was signaling.
"I see nothing."' She whispered.
"Let«s get a little closer."' - Luigi said, and then she saw the eggs- they were more than a dozen, neatly posed in a circle of sand. Big and shiny...
"That seems to me of a different species."- Luigi said, kneeling besides the nest. She was panting in terror, Cyborg or not, and said " We should leave this place immediately! Mama dino should come back any minute now!"
"Not without stealing a pair of it! Take one!"- Luigi said, handling one to her- it weighed more than half a kilogram, and it was dry and smooth. They run by the forest with the eggs careful handled with both their hands. The ship was shining 400 meters away, once they leave the forest. Nobody puts in their wake, so they arrives to the ship, opened the hatch, and leave the cargo in a special box...
"All our efforts are paid with this babies! And the killing of our comrades will be lest notorious."' Luigi said.
"The other team - I«ll all them to tell them the truth."- Bascom said, producing the radio transmitter.
"Wait! Perhaps you should consider it before! Are you telling we have two dead in half an hour? They would get nervous, and perhaps they will not found a golden nugget the size of a boot no matter a half meter distance! Say nothing about the dead people now! "- Luigi Bartom said.
"All right, I am receiving recommendations to-day ! "- Bascom said, and when talking with the mineralogists, said nothing about the dead crew members...
When hanging, Luigi takes her and kissed her mouth, saying "That is a good girl."
Bascom stared at him in disbelief. Luigi smiled, and said "Take that like a therapeutic measure, commander ! We are under shock already! At least, if you take me into court martial, that is what I will say!"
She laughed, and embrace him, saying "Finish what you was beginning. I need the whole treatment!"
"By all means !"- Luigi said with eagerness.
Before dusk, the mineralogist«s team arrives back, with two bags full of samples. They were tired, and Garotto Mainly said " Gold, my commander! This hill is full of gold!"
Shaira Toloza takes a rock the size of a fist, and said "You know here are more than half a kilo of gold ? "
"Yes, but gold is not our goal - not primarily, I mean."- Bascom said.
"Well, commander, we haven«t find any other mineral around here." - Shaira said, defensively.
"And where are the rest of ours?"- Garotto Mainly asked.
"Dead. We were surprised by a dinosaur- a mother dinosaur taking care of her eggs, in a matter of fact. It went right after us- killing Gladia and Coracious Lafonterius."- Bascom said. They stared at both of them, and so Luigi Bartom moves his head from up to down, saying "Yeah, we had bad luck. fortunately, as a revenge, I take some eggs."
Shaira looks pale, and said "And that is not dangerous ? I mean, we are in a little ship, no matter if metallic, those animals sure are big, or not ?"
"Thirty meters long, but the ones I get the eggs, seems to be shorter. Of course, we didn«t see them, or we would be not here ".- Luigi Bartom explained.
"And why don«t we move from here ? I mean, if you leave tracks... they could trace us here!"- Garotto Mainly said.
"No way! Why, did you think those monsters has supernatural senses ?"' Luigi asked.
Bascom was thinking - she wasn«t so sure about leaving the place out of afraid! But also, common sense was telling her a dinosaur , in all probability, could make a know with the aerial ship and chew it like a chewing gum ,afterwards !She opened the hatch- it was pitch black outside. She shut the door, and said "It«s too dark to try a take off! Sure we have a wonderful automatic pilot, but I just cannot risk our lives ,putting them in a computer system«s whim! "
As she was the commander, nobody argued her - not now, after the internal mourning of those killed by the dinosaur that very afternoon!
Bascom went to the bath room, at the end of the ship, and when she went out, Luigi was waiting there in the small corridor.
"What are we going to do? Wait here for the dawn?"- He asked, nervously.
"Yeah, why? Have you some premonition, or something?"' - She asked, looking at him with a smile.
"No premonition, but I«m plainly scare."' - The man said.
"I have a remedy to that. It«s name is "therapeutic measure"- it works in this afternoon, why it will not works now?"- She asked, grabbing his hand.
"All right, but we cannot moan here with those two inside! Perhaps in the outside... "' Luigi said.
"It«s pitch dark outside."'- She said, remembering the scary vista...
"Afraid? I can light the surrounding area with the landing lights."- He said.
"Do it. I«ll tell the others we are going to scan the perimeter."- Bascom said.
As they said, they did, and soon they were between some boulders, a hundred meters from the ship, inside a thermal bag. After a while, they heard a shatter near them, and some objects come stumbling against the rock. "What is going on?"- Luigi said, coming out of the bag as fast as he could. He was spellbound when seeing what was the matter.... Two big dinosaurs were trying to make a flat dish out of the aerial vehicle!
"Oh, no ! Garotto and Sharia were inside!"- She moaned, gripping Luigi by an arm.
"Stay quiet! Or we«ll be next !"- He recommended, seeing how the lights went off suddenly.
"I cannot see a thing!!"- She moaned.
"Well, guess we must hid ourselves! Those animals seems to have a good olfactory sense!"- Luigi whispered in her hear . They retrace their steps to the thermal bag, and carried it to the end of a little tunnel between three rocks.
"I guess they cannot dig in here."- Bascom said, getting inside of the bag. Luigi said nothing, as he wasn«t sure of a thing now! They were hearing the banging outside for quite a while, and then some sniffing in the vicinity - Bascom was so frightened that was trembling in Luigi«s arms. Then, the silence come back.
"They are gone."- He said.
"Do you believe it ? perhaps they are in the dark, figuring a way out to catch us !"- She said.
"Guess not. Well, we cannot move from here! There are some 7 hours until the light return- I guess we must wait here."«- And he embrace the Cyborg, all that night...
At dawn, Luigi went out to see what was in sight... the ship was almost gone, a thin sheet of metal ,bend and twisted. There was no sign of human bodies- else they were eaten, or soldered together with the rest of the ship...
"I can call the mother ship with my wrist-watch radio emitter ! It«ll transmit the SOS code- one and again."- Bascom said.
"Guess it is a good idea. No need to explain things, that way ! - Luigi said.
In the early afternoon, a dark silhouette appears in the sky, and guided by the radio transmission, it landed near the wrecked spaceship. Luigi and Bascom run for the rescue vehicle, and when at the inside, begged the pilot to depart immediately....
Once in the air, Bascom explains the facts to the crew members, and was repeating it again, but better worded, to the blushed captain Gorosito. When she ends the explanation, he said "Well, officer Bascom, I see I misjudged you, unfortunately ! Everyone dead, except you and another member, it«s not good news ! Also, you have not a sample to show me! Do you consider your mission as a successful one ?"
"I cannot say that, Captain; in fact, it«s at the contrary. I am as sorrow for the lives of those people as the best one, and all I can say in my behalf is that the dinosaurs in this planet are deadly beasts.... Sir."
Gorosito was thinking hard in what to do with the Cyborg, now she came back with so bad news! To degrade or imprison her for inoperative, could be a mistake, now they were so far off from the known universe... So he decided to put the blind eye on all of the mission...
"Well, officer Bascom, since your mission failed, there is nothing more to talk. Return to your previous tasks. Same to you, Bartom."- Gorosito said, looking older...
Both Bascom and Luigi Bartom went to their private cabins, but communicate between them by interphone, the second they were alone.
"And, what do you think the captain would do to us?"- Luigi asked her.
"Nothing. I read his mind, so to speak- you know women like me could sense the temperature and pulse of a person three meters away... He will do nothing unto us- specially me, as I was the responsible."- Bascom said.
"Oh, how good it«s that to know!"- Luigi said, relieved.
"Yes, Luigi. But we must pretend to be very sad, repented by what could had been our fault- soon this will be forgotten, you«ll see."' - Bascom said.
"Pity we have just one auxiliary ship now."- He remarked.
"No matter that! With the remaining one, and well taking care of, we could end the necessary explorations here."- She said.
"Yes, we cannot leave the vehicle all on its own , again! But of course, I doubt you could get another commanding post again!"- Luigi Bartom said.
"Don«t be so damn sure, pal! I have a nice record, who is impaired with any of the rest of the crew ! So it«s possibly the Captain Gorosito could be giving me another mission in the future... not too soon, in order to let people forgot about this tragedy ."- Bascom said, who had all crystal clear in her mind...
Gorosito change location in the sky, doing the next orbits around the equator. From there, the continents could be viewed and scanned by the radar and other instruments, so Captain Gorosito said "I cannot risk more men, but also, we couldn«t go out from here without a proper exploration. We haven«t samples, and we haven«t places to recommend. You know there are lots of star systems, but not everyone of them has terraformed planets such as this... So we must stay and made some other try at it. I will send the future explorers there, and the spaceship will comeback. After the necessary time, explorers will be brought here with another flight from the Auxiliary ship. Is that understood, or do you want me to repeat it ?"
The officers present at the main cabin nodded in aquiescense or aproval. Gorosito calls the first officer to his cabin, and said "Well, you hear what I want. This mission is looking grimmer and grimmer each day it passes ! Too many deaths."
Bomdar, the new first officer, said "Well, Captain, our mission speaks not of dead people in the way of success! Guess it«s implied in the whole mission, that somebody must to end his life in an accident. We choose a profession it«s dangerous for any man! "
Gorosito paced the room several times , and said "I must send another team there! Third continent seems to be the seat of Satan!"
"Well chosen name, Sir, if I may say so."- Bomdar said.
"Do you believe? So it«s not third continent any more! Satan continent will be called."- Gorosito said, not knowing that the name will produce more effects than he has never dreamed before!
"I guess you are not electing officer Bascom again, as the commander!"'- Bomdar recommended implicitly.
"Of course not! She is a failure! I cannot deny she is brave, boulder, and make things done, but this time she fails me! Of course, I can elect her as a member of the team! In fact, she knows something about the surface of this confounded planet!"- Gorosito said, shocking with words, as it was his habit...
."And who will went there? I mean, apart of our officer Bascom."- Bomdar said, smiling proudly.
"First of all, I need people who really attain things! I think you could command the expedition, Bomdar ! I leave to you the election of the rest of the raiders- mind you, must be five plus the commander. Well, good luck, and be back in three weeks!"- Gorosito said, leaving the Bridge. Bascom was pale as a sheet of paper ! He never believes he was the one to send to Satan as a commander! He wants to refuse, but seeing the faces of the other officers there, staring at him as if they were going to laugh on his face, he restrain himself, and went to his cabin, to seat and with both hands over his head, rocked to and fro, moaning in pain. After half an hour of that and similar mourning expressions, he wash his face and with his computer and the list from the crew members, he begin to choose. He want the best men, the strongest ones, and not seeing them in the awoken crew, he search in the deep sleep ones, the ones at the cryonics chambers ....
From there, four names come whistling : men with great strength, height and weight enough to be Atlas. He sent message to the pods, and called Bascom to the Bridge.
There was Bascom, when he arrives...
Bomdar told her : "Bascom, you are going to the surface with me, and some other people who are going to awake , at the Cryonics chambers. See you brief them there, and meet me with them, at the Locks."
"Aye aye, Sir."- Bascom said, as if they were asking her to go and fetch a glass of water. Bomdar was astonished, but said nothing...
Instead, he went to the Mess hall, where he asked for an healthy meal, in view there were going not to be banquets in the Expedition... or so he thinks. Soon he saw Captain Gorosito, who was seating at a table, and went there.
"Pardon me if I intrude, Captain, but I want to ask you a few questions."
Gorosito asked the machine for a steak and smashed potatoes, a Coke, and a piece of bread. Then, he said "You may speak."
"Three weeks seems to little if I find interesting things, and too much if I move fast and there aren«t interesting things. What I am saying, is that if the lapse of time could just be flexible, meaning I could return earlier or not than the aforementioned three weeks elapse."- Bascom said. Gorosito was going to eat a piece of meat, but he stops in mid air the fork, and said "I never believe one of my men was going to ask me such a silly question, first officer ! Please get out of my presence, and leave me eat my meal in peace!"
Bomdar retired from there scalded, and he believe he heard some rumor of laughter, from some of the tables...He was furious. He wish the mission could last a week, if possible, and if possible, to be in command at the KATRINA, looking everything from afar ! There were too many deaths on that planet, to go and be at ease in its surface! Bomdar went to his cabin, and rest in bed the time the men in the cryogenic pods must need to awake and be operational...Three hours later, and in the middle of a dream, Bomdar was awake, by the chime at the door. He went there, and opened.
"The team is ready, Sir."- Bascom told him, from the corridor.
"Oh, yes ! Be ready to depart!"- Bomdar almost yelled in disgust. The whole operation was eating his nerves !He take a bag with his belongings, and passed it to Bascom, saying: "You go along. I«ll be there in a minute."
Bascom takes the bag and departed; meanwhile, Bomdar washes his face, and went to the mess hall, where he drinks a cup of coffee. The last one in the ship. Then, he went to the Locks, and saw the specimens... good reliable guys, fully equipped, and with red in the eyes, consequence of the recently awoken process.
"We are going to explore a pacific planet, without any aliens there. So don«t be worried, and we will depart now, for a three week mission. "- Bomdar said.
They climb on the auxiliary ship, and Bascom drive the vehicle until they were flying over the Satan Continent at a velocity of 400 kilometers per hour . Bomdar was looking down, through the patches free of mist or clouds. The land seems to be with a lot of mountains, and the rivers were dark big serpents dwindling among forests unknown to man. His scared heart has a motive to be scared, and he wished he could resign from his present post, but that could very well mean afterwards he would be demoted and the First Officer post would be given to somebody else...He must succeed! He said, with not too a firm voice
" See you could land around here, Bascom. Guess this is the hearth of the Satan Continent."
"You are right, Sir. The middle of it."- Bascom said, looking at the console. She saw two possibly available landing sites, and she chooses the closest one, give a U turn, and descended with the gentleness of a rock... at 200 meters, he puts the brakes, and the ship landed with a thud.
"Where do you learn to land in such a way, officer Bascom? Next time you«ll wreck the ship!"- Commander Bomdar said, half scared.
"Sorry, Sir. It will be not repeated."' - Bascom replied, hiding a big laugh. She already know the chief of the expedition was a louse coward!
THE EXPEDITION OF BOMDAR ON SATAN CONTINENT.
Commander : Bomdar
Crew : Lara Bascom the Cyborg, geologist
Lion Fetich, Geologist
Rawson Reed,
Gunner Sardriton Nework.
Bomdar opened the lock with a twitch of his finger on his console, and said: "Now , Bascom, go out and revise the perimeter with this men, and come back to inform me."
"Aye aye, Sir."- Bascom said, jumping out of the machine. The rest followed her suit.
Bomdar stretched his legs, rubbed his hands, and said to himself :"This is the way I «m gonna ride things out here! Not a dangerous situation for me!"
Bascom looks at her companions- big athletes, 1.92 meters high, lean faces, decided stares... the guys really were impressing, but in the face of danger, could they be so bold as they look?
"Follow me, men! Arms ready! The place gets dinosaurs."- Bascom said, and she was amused by the worried look in their faces, the second she mentioned "dinosaurs!" The "Katrina"«s auxiliary vessel was standing in the middle of a clear in the woods, some 100 meters wide. The site underneath the ship was scarred black, with the force of the magnetic thrusts... but the rest, were of a brilliant green, moist with the logical rain must have descended over the place, not too many hours ago. The Trees that could be seen around the clearing, were pale brown in color, in general, as there were others dark brown and even rosy pink. But they all had something in common, and that was the height; more than 40 meters high, that seems to touch the clouds up there .She enters the forest with her retinue, and after some 40 meters, she begun to get round the clearing, obeying orders. They saw several lizards, some birds no great than 20 centimeters long, and many many leafs stretching hundred of meters in all directions. Branches of all sizes, and the smell of rotten leaves all around. Water was also present, with muddy patches here and there- they were soaking wet at the first hundred meters. When they were ending the circling , a beast appeared in front of them. It was perched on a tree, and resembles a monkey of behemotian height: 5 meters in height, with a head the size of a three door«s closet. The eyes were round, big and red as the devil.
"Fire!"- She said, producing her laser pistol. The rest had guns and sonic rifles. The being jumped in their direction, missing for a meter long- he had targeted one of the men, but missed, as the crew member jumped like a rabbit behind a log. The super- monkey attacked immediately, not caring for the terrible wounds he was having- big holes were smoking like a forest in flames, but he was not paying much attention to those... Bascom attacked it when she saw his back, but the creature turned in her direction like a flash, and give her a blow with his arm, sending among ferns like a puppet. The rest of the men kept firing, and escaping. The monster followed them into the forest, growling all the time...
Bascom awake from unconsciousness four hours later- in pitch dark situation. She grubbed her eyes, thinking she could be blind, but then she saw a faint luminescence to his right, and crawling some meters, she was able to see the KATRINA, fully lighted. The directional lights, and the beacon on top, were on. It seems a beautiful toy, there, alone and in the middle of the greenery. She was gasping in pain, as the brain seems (to her) to be about to explode; so she stops her crawling, and try to rest for a while, but the dizziness grew in intensity, and she fainted once more time...
When she awoke, for the second time after the terrible blow, it was in daylight. All was peacefully there, with the wind moving gently the green leaves . She looks unto the ship, and saw it not. She propped herself in one elbow, to see with more care. There were no ship in all the clearing area !She stands up, and saw the scarred site where the ship was standing, some hours ago.
Bascom walked there, having great care not to move too much her head, who seem to be floating in a rough sea. At last, she arrive to the center of the black seared spot, and looks unto the heavens, saying "You yellow coward ! You left me behind!"
The sun was not strong, due to the clouds, and she walked to the rim of the clearing, not knowing exactly what to do next... to be waiting there seems to be the right decision, but also, who was going to detect the spot afterwards? Bomdar ?
"Hello, there!"- Somebody said.
She answered swiftly :"Bascom in here!"- And she walked into the clearing again. From the opposite side, he saw one of her men, limping in one leg. She walks there, and they soon were standing one before the other.
"Hi, officer Bascom! Nice to see you around!"- The man said- he was Rawson Reed, with a leg tied to a branch.
¬ What happened to you, Reed?"- She said, pointing at his leg.
"The supermonkey! He grabs it and was going to munch through, but I managed to blow his brain, firing at his hear ! The guy is lying three hundred meters from here!"- Reed informed her.
"And the rest of the scouts?"- She asked.
"Don«t know of them! I was running as hell, hearing yelling and all! I guess I was lucky! But I also fainted from some time- it was dark, I remember vividly- and then I awoke, not 20 minutes ago! But, where is the ship ?"- Reed asked.
"Seems our valorous commander leaves the scene for some reason! Perhaps he heard the shouting, and seeing we were not returning, takes off !"- Bascom said.
"I don«t think he could had donned that! Perhaps he was called from the KATRINA, by our captain Gorosito! Don«t think so, officer ?"- Reed said.
Bascom understand Reed very well- he was a good man, with good feelings, and was not able to understand mean people- or even, evil people . So she said no more about it. They return to the rim of the clearing, as Bascom was eager to find the rest of the team- she said "Wait me here. If somebody else comes here, you yell to be heard, not to loose the opportunity to join forces. I will explore the circuit, in order to find the rest of the men. "
"Good luck, officer."- Reed said, now showing signs of pain- his leg was hurting him.
Bascom finds a tree with some fruits on it, and smelled one. She was beginning to have hungry. Then, she finds the supermonkey, who was littered with flies and some little rodents.
"Good for him. He deserves it!"- She mumbled, and then he realize that it could be more of those creatures, lurking on the big trees... so she take every precaution available, trying not to show herself much, under the leaves. She finds traces of broken branches, possibly made by the monster... soon she was staring to several bodies madly dismembered, with black blood staining everything around- she counted the boots, only way to figure out how many they were lying there... Three different sizes- three men- almost the whole of the precious ones ! She wept a little, huddling a piece of trouser...
She come back to the clearing, and show Reed the remains of the trouser." This and little else more is lying on the forest, Reed! Pity on us!"- She moaned.
He was silent for some time, and then he said "It«s not your fault, Bascom! Things went awry this time!"
"But you don«t understand! We have too many bodies lying in this forsaken continent! We should depart with what we know of this planet! Greater forces must come and clear a site for the colonists! "- She said, seating on the turf.
"It«s clear that is what is follows ! But we must do our job..."- Reed said, touching his aching leg.
"Seems you are in sufferance! Let me put you a shot of medicine !"- Bascom said, producing the small first aid kit, a bag every thermal suit has in the outside. She uses half the quantity available, and soon Reed said " That really ease the pain! Would you care to see what is happening with my leg, now I am sedated?"- Reed asked.
"Of course, I will."- She said, and takes the bandage away. What she sees didn«t like her. A good chunk of flesh was missing, and the rest shows to the bone- a good 20 centimeters in all. Not a deadly wound, if proper aid was at hand. A deadly one, in the present situation...
"Let«s bandage it again. I will pour the rest of the medicine over it, in case it is infected."- Bascom said, knowing it was a hundred per cent of probabilities the teeth of the super monkey WERE infected...She went to search food at the near by trees, and finding some fruits, she carried it to the wounded man.
"Try this. Perhaps you have thirsty."- Bascom said.
"I am ."- He said, smiling. They both eats from the fruits, and waited the rest of the day- for not avail, as the ship didn't return that day, nor the next . Bascom was attended him , changing the bandages (using the thermal suits), carrying fruits for him to eat...
At the fifth day, Reed was reeking with fever, and howling most of the time. The swollen leg was twice as thick as when normal, and Bascom was really despair .At the seventh day, Reed dead with the first lights of the morning, totally unconscious .Bascom buried him under a lot of stones, crying all the time. In the afternoon, she went out from there, as she was not wanting to be near when dark begins....
The night encounters her 20 kilometers to the north, inside the forest. She climb the trees, finding a good hook where to lie for the night. Soon she learns the site was like a road for little monkeys, so she leaves the place after a family of seven jumped over her lying body....She perched in another site, not in a good position, but without traffic at all. She dozed there for hours on end- or so it seemed to her- and at dawn, went to the floor of the jungle, and searched for a fruit. She finds it 29 kilometers away, near half afternoon. The place was at the north side of her arrival to the Satan Continent. Bascom knew where the north and south were, using the magnetic compass. She was lying under some big leaves, when she heard sounds of voices. She reminded there, listening with pounding heart...
Soon she was able to see what kind of animals produced those sounds..."Homo Erectus!"- She moaned, astonished.
The beings were seven- possibly a family. Two were very old, then three were adults, and the rest were child. The height ,when adult, was of 1.40 meters tall. The males were carrying poles, also the old one. One of the females saw her, and gives a shrieking sound. The males jumped in front, sticks in the air. Bascom didn«t move, and stared back, The eyes were deep set, and with little humanity showing there. The fire of intelligence were there, but in small quantity... One of the males try to beat her with the stick, so Bascom stands quick and jumped to a side, pistol ready. They looked at the firing gun with apprehension- as knowing that little thing could hurt...
The male don«t try to attack again, and commanded the group to turns back the way they come. Bascom was intrigued ; she was curious how the male knew she could hurt them, and secondly, the fast decision, in less than three seconds- retreat. Perhaps the males didn«t want to fight, walking , as they were, with females and child... Could be that, in another position- namely, alone and hunting- Bascom should had seen herself firing for her dear life! Sighing, Bascom went in another direction, to the right of the Homo Erectus group- she didn«t want to hurt them- possibly maiming the line of descent of those creatures, if killing specimens at this early stage of their evolution... She remembered Erectus wasn«t in the same branch as Homo sapiens- in Earth. Here, who knows? She smiled, when realizing she was thinking in this abstruse themes, being herself in the verge of extinction, in a far away planet, with a loony incompetent captain orbiting in the warmth of his ship... She was sure her fate was already written- but just the same, she didn«t want to die, nor here and not now. So, she jumped and run by the jungle«s floor, trying to find fruits, and not be seen by predators...
Several days she was living on fruits, sleeping perched on branches, trying to avoid bigger creatures. She saw several more specimens on her trek- two big super monkeys, at the distance- three more Homo Erectus" kind of anthropoids, and several dinosaurs, the size of a mouse, scurrying under the undergrowth. They possibly live on insects, that were a lot, specially by night.
At last, the woods ends at the feet of a mountain; she keeps on walking round the hill, and then there were a chain of hills to East and West, too large to try to follow. She decided to return to the safety of that wood, instead of to venture trying to cross the mountains with no food and no water at all. But she wishes to see the landscape ,so she begun climbing the nearest mountain, until she was on top of it, near darkness fall. The landscape was superb, as it shows the jungle occupying all of the land until the horizon ! Big trees and little trees, all fused in a green color under the cloudy skies. The wind begun to blow , so she searches for a shelter- and when finding a cavern, she went a dozen steps inside, and takes refuge on a corner of stone, and braced herself to endure the night, that was showing a long and cold one, at that altitude. The silence was broken when gusts of wind blow inside, but that was not too often- she begun to feel drowsy, and soon she was asleep. That night she awoke a couple of times, sensing the darkness and the gusts of wind now and then- she heard a different sound, and went to investigate- it was raining outside, and the streaks of lightning crossed the air and strikes the humid forest down there. At dawn, the rain keeps on falling, and she decided to descend, being no food up there- and when descending, she saw several big birds flying to the west.
They were big birds, or perhaps dinosaurs, as the wing span was more than fifteen meters- calculated at the distance. She trembled at the thought what those pteranodons could do to her, almost in the open up there! She cringed down and waits the flying creatures lost themselves in the distance, and kept on descending by some other part, in order not to be so visibly . At a depression in the mountain, she finds several caverns, and looking at their entrances, smell the humid interiors, and also felt the dank odors - perhaps those holes has several dozen meters in depth. Some golden rocks were scattered, and she figures it was gold, but to what use she could put those rocks, it was unknown, being absolutely without tools- just in case, she takes two small pebbles, and put them on the bag she was carrying with all the last utensils she still kept- the laser gun, the magnetic compass, two dozen food pills, and a knife. Her weather suit was torn and in bad shape, same thing with her boots. She look unto the forest, and saw several hominids there, apparently at rest, but giving occasional glances in her direction.
She stops and defined them as Homo Erectus- not the kind of persons she want to meet- and begin walking round the hill- the Homos begun to follow her, not disguising any more her intentions . Bascom inhales deeply, and begun running round the mountain, at a pace she knew it wasn«t possible for Homo sapiens...
She was going to learn if the Erectus could outrun a Sapiens here and now! For the first hundred meters, the Erectus did a good race, but then begun to slack their pace, and after the first five hundred meters, they decidedly give up chasing her using the velocity- but kept on at a trot, using now the patience !Bascom looks unto the star- it was in its last quarter- perhaps three hours more, or perhaps four- and darkness will arrive. She kept running, not so fast this time- she knew she could run for twenty hours without stop. But stop she must, eventually! From up there, she begun to see a change in the landscape- not so many trees, occasionally arroyos, and then open land, with several pinpoints of life- animals .Here, on Satan Continent, animals means danger, and so she believes the Homo Erectus will think twice on to follow her there. Perhaps they stick to the woods ? A thing she probably will learn soon! She arrives to the feet of the mountain, and was in the woods once again- she grabs several fruits, and eats them on the run. Strange birds appeared , flying and giving shrieking noises- some of them were half serpents, half birds- possibly dinosaurs of an unknown species ! Here was not Earth, and also,
Bascom was no anthropologist herself , either! At the border of the woods, she saw boulders of rock, like walls, circling mud towers. Some creatures lurked there, and she approaches to the site with curiosity- soon she was looking at some kind of hominids, not a meter high, who begun to get alarmed when seeing her approaching....She stands up in front of what seems a gate or an opening made of sticks. Some of the creatures went out of that crude "city", and stared at her in disbelief.
"Hello, there! I«m lost!"- She said, and waved a hand. The beings approaches some more- some of them were using knives, but sheathed on leather straps.
"Hello, little men!"- She said, and then the hominids gives some sounds with their little mouths. They seem to rely on her, and with signs, they invited inside the walls. She looked unto the forest- the Erectus would arrives there not for a long time yet, if they ever. She passed through an opening, and then she was observed for more than a hundred more creatures like those who went outside- little ones measures not more than twenty centimeters, but walked upright as their elders! She kneeled to touch one, and then others approached, with cooing noises. The elders looked the scene without interfere. Then, a sound was heard, and several "men" approaches, coming from a hut. They invited her to enter the hut, with signs made with their arms. She went inside, and saw a fire burning, and several elders seated on a dais. She approached there, and stared at the older of them all, a creature with a big mustache- something very funny for her, but she managed not to laugh...
"Hello, king of the elders!"- She said, smiling. The old creature look unto her for a while, and said something in their language. They invited her to seat, and soon they were eating a porridge, made of fruits and roots brewed in a bowl made of cooked earth. Greda. Several of them begin a kind of chant, made of humming, and it was very soothing, so she became more and more drowsy, until she felt asleep. The creatures just stared, not moving at all .When she awoke, it was because of a distant din; something was happening outside the hut. She saw just the elder of them all, asleep. She went out of the hut, and run to the sound of yelling. It was dark, but soon she saw they were using torches, and under that light, she climbs the wall, who had wood sticks to climb easily.
On the upper part of the wall, all the males were yelling and throwing stones and javelins out . She saw the Erectus trying to open the wall, but the creatures were giving a good fight, sending them stones and javelins not long, but sharpened in the point. Several Erectus were hit, some of them fell to the ground and remind there, others moved around with javelins inserted on the body. The growls of the Erectus were terrific, like a bear in heat ! Bascom takes her laser gun, and begin killing them as fast as she could- soon they were parts of them littering the place- severed like with scalpels .
The little men looked at that weapon repeatedly, and when the last of the Erectus run out for shelter, they went out and bring inside all the Erectus remains- and brewed them in a big cauldron, under a newly born fire. Soon they were eating and dancing in the dark, much to Bascom«s annoyance.... she was not sure the Erectus were or not eatable, but surely they were anthropoids like her, and so to eat an Erectus should mean she was a cannibal !
She went to the Chief«s hut, and seated there, among the elders, who were eating and possibly making jokes, thing she don«t knew, having no knowledge of their language at all. They invited her to eat the soup- Erectus soup- and she refused. Everyone on the hut stared at her silently, and Bascom realize she was committing some kind of unkindness... so she takes the bowl and pretends to eat. Then, everyone resume their "Talking", in their special language...
For two days the "soup" was served, and Bascom finds fruits in some baskets, so she kept on pretending to eat the hominid«s soup. She realize it was a practical way to dispose of the enemy bodies... if only a cannibal could eat without throwing out!
She saw the little ones were kept in a single hut, feed there and sleeping there all together. The rest were four huts- two for the males, two for the females, and it seems to her there were no matrimony at all- just males and females, with the child being cared for by certain women of the tribe. Everyone worked, in some way or another, and the sum up was collective. The elders dictate justice, and commands the warrior troop, who were climbing and descending the walls all day long.
In the fourth day, assured now that the Erectus threat was over, Bascom went out of the compound and went away, with nobody trying to stop her in any way. Free she enters town, and freely she went out. That night she slept on a tree, near a group of fruit trees, remarkably tasty. She was taking revenge of the days the "soup" were the only meal ! That night, however, she was terrified, as some giant super monkeys come to eat the fruits in utter darkness, and she couldn«t move from there, blind as she was by the absence of light. At dawn, just one super monkey were milling around, a fat older specimen, so she not even move a finger, until the being went away- this, at noon!
She descended, seeing the fruit trees almost devoid of any fruit at all ! She finds two of them, and carried for some dozen meters, until disposed of. A stream was glittering in the half darkness below the greenery, and she takes a bath there, realizing she was very filthy ! The thermal suit was almost a rag, but just the same she washes it clean, putting the garment and boots under the star of the planet«s rays. At three in the afternoon, she puts on her garments, and walks to the north east, always lurking in the undergrowth, as the monsters were in the open !
She saw several dinosaurs, and under her dubious knowledge, she catalogs them as Avimimus, some 1.5 meters long, with long legs and a beak in front, that run in groups of thirty members, with the small ones at the rear. They were like birds, with small wings with feathers, that were used not to fly, but to ease their running habits; some of them were like darts, flying over the vegetation- and capturing small rodents, insects - one of them their favorite, the long winged fly. They also produce shrieking sounds, specially when running together, that was scary to hear from a distance; possibly a way to distract larger animals , making believe they were a large and powerful animal- instead a bunch of small ones. They were as dangerous as any other dinosaur, as their beaks could break the spine of a mammal with ease- witness of this, was Bascom, who perched on trees to see their behavior.
That night Bascom see lights not 500 meters away, under the trees. She went there, using the branches of larger trees, and saw a group of Homo Erectus, ten of them, all possibly males, a raiding party. They were roasting several Avimimus, near the fire and over some flat rocks. Bascom retreated until at her precedent site, and kept there until noon of the next day- a habit she was obtaining at the Satan Continent ... She went again to see the Homo Erectus camp fire, but they were gone, and when she went down to see the remains, realize the bones of those avimimus were buried into the earth, who knows for which purpose...
She also finds a rock ax, a crude weapon, possibly lost by a Erectus. She handled it, and sensed it possibilities- a dangerous weapon, if the hand was strong enough. She patted the laser gun- she could use it for several years more, provided she could live as long !Finding fruit trees was her first job of the day- and after finding them, she takes no more than three of it, and went up a branch, to eat in security.
She saw several big insects flying round the fruit trees- some of them has dangerous stings, more than fifteen centimeters long, located in the last section of their black bodies. She finished her "meal", and walk away from the spot, always by the bigger branches. She felt herself more secure up there, but always looking for super monkeys- a threat she could not face, if discovered first! Later, she heard a wave of heat coming from the right, and she went there to discovered a flat rock hissing and pouring vapor three meters in the air. The surroundings were devoid of life.
She approaches, and saw several dead insects floating in a pool of boiling water, but as they run, the water forms a stream, who run by the forest in a crystalline form.
Bascom went with the stream through the forest. Suddenly, she saw four pale brown trunks at the distance - The shrubbery hides the rest. She lie on her stomach, looking patiently in that direction; soon a flock of Avimimus raced near that place. The "Pale brown trunks" come to life, showing a vision of hell running through the flock - two, three Avimimus were sent sprawling to the left and right of the Datuosaurus (15 meters long) who then or after his attack , finds and devour his prey. Bascom keeps on looking , until the Datuosaurus hide himself again, under the branches. ..
She went up and give a detour, as silently as she could - her laser gun was a mere toy, unable to kill that beast, in case of attack. Possibly, the laser gun could maim the Datuosaurus to death, if fired from an upper branch of a tree ...
Soon a clearing was reached; she was in doubt to cross it, when she saw, silently as a ghost, the figure of a predator, at the other side of the clearing. The monster returns to the wood, but she was sure now ; the clearing was a sure path to suicide ! She went away, and after two hours, using the magnetic compass, returns to her former north- east travel.
She was crouching below some big leaves, when a metallic sound was heard. She try to find the source - and after some searching, she almost passed out in surprise ! Not a hundred paces in front and to the left of her, near a big tree, a telephone cabin was standing; painted blue, and with clear type words painted in a rectangle. A door in front was opened, and an old man with white hair appeared, with a machine or box in his hands.
The man puts the machine on the floor, and moved some levers on it. The machine produce a kind of ethereal matter, like a fog, in a sphere 2 meters round. The man surveyed, now, the surrounding terrain, and seeing her, puts his right hand over his brow, as if to ascertain what he was seeing was true.
"Hello... gentleman!" - Bascom said, with broken tones.
"Ah, you are real! For a second, or two, I was sure it was a figment of my imagination! but come here, lady ! Nothing to worry about! I am Professor Zull !
CHAPTER 4
PROFESSOR ZULL AND THE APALA.
Bascom blinked, and said " Glad to meet you, Professor Zull! My name is Bascom, engineer. But, how do you come here? And you are dressed... in a funny way, let me tell you so!"
"Well, perhaps this habits of the end of eighteen century is not the appropriate here, in the Cretacic Era of planet Zubeneschama 2 ? "- He asked, mildly.
Bascom understood she was judging him by her standards... and dropped the case.
"I am with some problem inside the APALA, and that is why I am here. For a while, of course... guess our friends of the jungle aren't too amiable... I had visited this place before."- Professor Zull said.
"For me , it's the first and last time!"- Bascom said, shivering.
The Professor 's smile vanished. Things were getting worse
in the APALA on almost a daily basis, he thought. To Bascom, he said "I have some young people on the APALA, now. If you mind to accompany us, you're welcome!"
"Oh, Professor Zull, you don't know how lonely am I ! I am the sole survivor of an exploratory team - in fact, the second team here already - usually, one or two gets back to the main ship! This time, unfortunately, the commander seems to have fled from here, leaving us stranded... the last one died some days ago."- Bascom confided.
"Oh, what a pity ! And can I ask of what he died ?" - Professor Zull asked.
"A terrible bite, donned by a native monster ! I was lucky- a big monkey hits me and I run under some bushes... so the creature didn't find me... Now, there are scant possibilities to reach my mother ship, the KATRINA, up there, without an auxiliary ship."- Bascom said.
"I understand, lady .Well, I was expecting a certain degree of interpersonal tension when
I brought Jadi and Angela on board; it is always
difficult for humans to adjust to additional people in
their daily lives. But adding in a romantic entanglement
left things in a rather nasty state, and being trapped in
another dimension didn't help matters any. And as bad
as things are now, they'd get worse when Jadi found
out about Angela...You certainly understand, all this happening there."- And Professor Zull pointed to the telephone booth.
"Is that a ship... of what kind? To me, it looks like an ancient, very old and shattered phone cabin!"- Bascom said, half expecting all this was only a joke ...
"Well, in fact it resembles a telephone cabin, for practical reasons, of course. But I assure you it's a good dimensional ship. Only now it's faulty- nothing I cannot fix, of course. But I need your help."
"Count with it. What must I do ? " - Bascom said.
"The computer display...it should be showing our location. But the APALA must be accessing the
literary data banks by accident. Come inside."
The telephone booth was small by the outside, but by the inside the dimensional state was different, using some space of this and the next dimension. The Professor presents Bascom to the inmates - Jadi and Angela.
"Hi.!" - Angela said, without interest. Jadi looked at her, with astonished look, and said nothing- possibly out of breath.
The Professor Zull thumped the side of the
monitor, but the text remained the same. "Still, it is showing
excellent taste. Can't fault it that." He turned to the others.
"We'll have to gauge manually--the dimensional transfer
probably confused the poor girl to no end." He pressed a
button on the console and a small drawer popped open.
From it, he removed three wristwatch-like devices. He then
tossed one to Jadi, and another to Bascom . "Go ahead and
put those on, would you?" As they complied, he explained,
"These are navigational locators--the APALA equivalent of
sextants. When we go outside, they'll automatically
squared position with the APALA and give us our
exact position in space and time. Jadi, Bascom, and myself
will each head off in a different direction. Angela, if you could, go outside and watch over us."
Angela didn't even look up from her book. "Why bother?"
It's worse than I'd imagined, thought the Professor . Aloud,
he merely quipped, "The fresh air will do you good."
"Assuming it is air," Angela said. "For all we know, the
atmosphere out there is pure hydrochloric acid or something."
The Professor seemed unconcerned. "No, no. The APALA
environmental systems would warn us if it was inhospitable
out there."
"Would these be the same systems that are currently favoring
us with selected quotes from children's literature?" Angela asked
sweetly.
"Er...yes, but that's only a minor fault. Trust me, nothing will
go wrong."
Privately, Angela felt less than reassured by this, but she knew
better than to try to argue with the Professor . She set the book aside
and joined the others as they prepared to leave.
"See?" the Professor remarked as they stepped out of the APALA.
"If you're referring to my breath," quipped Angela, "then yes. Good
thing you had us all bundle up like this."
"Traveler's intuition," the Professor said as he locked the APALA
door. "Now then, Lady Bascom, if you could just head down that brown tree;
Jadi, you head towards that red tree trunk ; and Angela, you're with me.
Jadi smirked. "Sure, no problem. How will we know when
it's done?"
"The locator will light up. When that happens, just turn around
and walk right back to the APALA. Now then, off you go--the
sooner we start, the sooner we finish, unless we're caught in a
chronosynclastic infundibulum." He started heading off purposefully.
Jadi and Bascom touched hands briefly and set off. Angela paused for
a moment, apparently lost in thought, then set off after the Professor .
Bascom walked where she was told, and turns around with the wristwatch-like device. Soon Jadi arrives to his designed spot, and Professor Zull walked past a group of trees, and went out of sight... Three, four minutes, and Bascom said " I am feeling ridiculous here."
"Me too ! But, I am growing accustomed to Professor Zull seemingly nonsense; but I assure you, Lady Bascom, there is no nonsense in the actions of the Professor . " - Jadi said.
Bascom was waiting patiently. And thinking; it was queer their appearance here- of course, the telephone booth was a ship in disguise- that was sure. Now, the actions of Professor Zull in the planet were a matter she must investigate, to see if he has the possibility of to restore her to the civilization of Earth...
The wristwatch-like device begun to vibrate, and also takes heath- each second a bit more, and Bascom was worried the artifact could get so much heat that she should let it down ! But fortunately, it stayed at the verge of what a human could stand without burning his hand ! Ten seconds of this, and the wristwatch-like device begun to get cold. The Professor returns from the woods, trailing the woman, and said : "Thanks you, Lady Bascom, and Jadi! You not need now to remain there ! Let's return to the "APALA" !"
They went back to the strange artifact. Now Bascom had more time to see all what was to be seen inside the machine. For one part, the dais has the controls, and there Professor Zull was calibrating the dimensional apparatus; there was a round corridor leaving the dais like an island, and there was a round wall encircling the room. Those walls had circles of unknown function, and the ceiling was high and covered with a white substance- like everything else, so the effect of light was strong.
"And from where are you, Lady Bascom? " - Jadi asked her, standing next to a wall.
"From Earth, but of course, I was exploring the second planet of Subeneschama in the Libra constellation, when something went wrong, and my crew died because the place is teaming with Dinosaurs."- Bascom explained.
"Earth. Dinosaurs. Meaning of those words, please ?"- Angela asked, seated on the verge of the dais. Professor Zull apparently was absorbed in his work, and didn't get involved in the conversation...
"Earth, third planet circling the Sun, a yellow star of a second class. We believe in the half part of his peaceful life."- Bascom said.
"That figures, of course, or you wouldn't be here !"- Angela said, without an atom of sympathy ...
"Don't interrupt her, Angela ! Please continue with the other word... dinosaur?"- Jadi asked.
"Dinosaur, or terrible lizard... named like that by the first paleontologist , when finding animals pertaining to the ancient history of the biolife on Earth... Animals 40 meters long, walking on two feet, with strong set of teeth, angry and savages ! Reproduced by eggs."- Lara Bascom recited.
"Oh! There are really mean! "- Jadi said, looking worried.
"Oh yeah ! Terrible monsters ! And how come you was not eaten, like your friends?"- Angela asked, looking at her fingernails.
"Pure luck ! I have no real merit in my surviving. " - Bascom said.
"The APALA is ready to go! Or stay, as we please."- Professor Zull said, turning to them. He had one of the wristwatch-like device in his right hand. The other two were on flat surface, over the dais.
"Professor Zull, I don't know from where are you, and your companions, but I repeat to you I am very grateful for you to had rescued me. The place is teaming with dangerous and primitive animals, as I was explaining to your crew."- Bascom said.
Professor Zull puts a hand on his waist, smiling and didn't reply. Bascom continues : " And I am asking myself if you would be so kind as to return me to my own civilization- in Earth planet."
The Doctor walked with the wristwatch-like device and inserted it on a hole in the wall, and turning to her, he said : " This is impossible for me to do , Lady Bascom! You see, the APALA could very well travel to Earth in a year or two, but impossible for it to do it now. You see, I am going somewhere else in an important mission- perhaps you don't have idea of what The Professorate is ?"
"I'm sorry, Doctor , but I have not an inkling of an idea."- Bascom replied.
"What an ignorant!"- Angela remarked, from the floor.
"Lady Bascom, I heard all you told them- and please, don't take offense for Angela's remarks- she is a spoiled brat, and I expect she could mature in this trip! And , as I was saying, Earth is not on the schedule for me! The APALA seems to be a Telephone Booth by the outside, and a strange saloon by the inside- but it is far more than that ! I could cross the Universe in it ! As a matter of fact, I had donned so a couple of time myself!"- And the Professor chuckled.
"Professor Zull is a great traveler!"- Jadi said, beaming.
"Two years. But you promise me that at the end of those years, you could return me to Earth?" - Bascom said, with a lot of patience growing thin.
"I almost could put it in writing, Lady Bascom! Of course, if some or other dangerous situation arises, and my skills are required some where else, at that time, I'm afraid I should postpone the Earth destination! But as things are going now, two years seems to me a reasonable probability.... "- Professor Zull said.
"I cannot say I am thrilled to be here for two years ! But if there is no other way... "- Bascom murmured.
"And there is no other way, Lady! And now, let me informs you about the next steps we are going to give: from this planet, where we were forced to stop for repairs, we will continue our voyage to Ritamun. "- Professor Zull said, smiling.
Bascom said " I assume this ... vessel, has no chairs?"
Professor Zull made a rotation with one arm over his white hair, and said "No chairs, Lady Bascom! But don't worry! There are plenty of chairs where we go!"
And walking to the dais, punched some buttons, and said " The travel has begun!"
Bascom was very disconcerted, as there was not the hinting of a movement under her feet- as a matter of fact, the place seems to be very stable, solidly standing on the soil of planet Nu 2 in constellation Libra , with or without wristwatch-like devices !
Professor Zull has studied Bascom from the distance and hurriedly make a scheme to be helped by the woman- he had sensed her valuable strength, her scant sensibility to pain, and her unblemished will. So she could solve one of his missions- number 390, to be exact, one of many waiting for him to solve.
So he went out in the exact spot where he could do much harm- by using the new element!
He said, after the trip was over: "Ladies and gentleman, we can depart now. The APALA HAS arrived to Gorink IV."
Jardi rise an eyebrow, saying "And was not meant to be Ritamun? "
Professor Zull waved a hand, saying "I'll explain later ! Please, follow me!"
And stepped outside.
The place was an alley, where some garbage cans were lying near the APALA, who seems -queer enough- not out of site there, standing like a relic of ancient London...The buildings , at the sides, were old and stained with smoke - the smoke of years of untidy use. The sky was dark; possibly three o'clock in the morning...
Professor Zull arrives to the principal street, and they saw several cars parked there- for Bascom, they were laughable, as they have ... wheels !
"Earth, Professor ? Year 1980?" - Bascom asked him, but the Professor seemingly didn't heard , as she keeps on walking. Several cars passed through the street, during the block they were walking by. At the corner, sound was heard, and a big theater was in the opposite sidewalk, with people outside cheering up and singing. On the wall there were several big boards , with pictures.
"A rock star, I suppose? ' - Bascom asked again.
"Yes, a celebrity! I had the tickets !"- Professor Zull advised them, and they went inside, after the deliverance of the four tickets. Bascom was amazed to see a man travels half the galaxy , in order to see a rock star !
Inside, the people were cheering and singing- especially women. The platform was adorned with the usual revolving lights, clouds of smoke and music for deaf people as Bascom had seen in the old videos ! The language was strange, but Professor Zull looked at her intently, saying "Now you know the language !"
And amazingly so, she suddenly understand every word they said! The eyes of the mind of Professor Zull has donned the trick, and Bascom begun to suspect the aliennes on that man , who resembles a common old man ,dressed in a funny way!
The songs were love songs, with some piquant remarks sprinkled here and there. Nothing much for the art of composing, but the man on front was a superb specimen, with strong arms, at least 190 centimeters in height, and very athletic- he jumped, rolled and run the length of the scenario with ease, and his voice didn't alter a bit, no matter how hard he run or twisted his white body, dressed in yellow and white.
Women were hysterical, jumping and passing out in front of her idol. Not one, but many underwear were flying to the stage, and the man takes a garment, sniffed it, and throw it again to the crowd, making them wild. There were males, all right, but they were scant in numbers, and didn't yelled as the women - they just whistle.
"What is this about?"- Bascom asked Jadi, who rise his shoulders, meaning he ignore why they were there. As to Angela, she was changing fast- from the indifferent woman, to the excited female in the brink of hysterical. She begun moaning, and ends jumping and giving guttural sounds with her throat - a thing Bascom finds very unpleasant...
Professor Zull said, in her hear : "Lady Bascom, here I present you Asbar the Great ! Known in all the world of Gorink IV , for his songs and films ! Your next mission, if you like to help me."
Bascom seize the opportunity to do something ,instead of to be a passenger in the APALA, and said : "What do you want me to do , Professor Zull ?"
"I'll explain you briefly now, of course. This man , whose real name is Baradon Ukgor, murdered his wife, but when interrogated, he deny it flat, saying it was all framed by a psychotic enemy fan group - the ones who follows Ariema Surrin, another singer who is a female. Your mission could be to get him on the open - unmask him . "- Professor Zull said.
"Unmask him. But I not even know the guy! How could I approach him ? And How could I be sure he really murder his wife?"- Bascom asked him.
"Oh, bah! I have a videotape showing the whole scene ! One of my missions is this , given when I became Time Professor ! You see, we are entitled to correct misgivings, no matter in which world or civilization it occurs ! Something like a Universal Police - and Jury, for that matter ! We have machines recording almost everything intelligent beings are doing throughout half the Universe ! "- Professor Zull said.
Bascom thinks it over, and finds a lot of interesting questions to ask, and perhaps even to question the whole right to judge people in such a big scale, but she said nothing , as information was what it has not in abundance . Seeing the man singing, she thought it would a pity to deprive those fans of a good element ...
"Well, what do you say? Are you helping me in this, or not ?"- Professor Zull looked at her in earnest. Bascom thought she was being hypnotized again, and said " Yes, Professor . Just tell me how to do it."
" I' ll be grateful to you !" - Professor Zull expressed, caressing briefly her hair....and handled her a booklet, adding :"Here are all the necessary indications. I must get going when this concert ends, as my friends must be attended."
"What? Are you going to let me stranded in an alien town?" - She asked, surprised.
"And do you prefer in the planet you were having a vacation? Don't let this upset you, Lady Bascom! The mission I give you is a simple one . :"
"But the APALA, are you going to leave this planet, or what?"- Bascom asked, worriedly.
"No, no ! The APALA will stay where you see it ! And when you finish your job, just go there and talk to the door - it will open for you!" - And Professor Zull speaks no more, as he was apparently hearing the singer and his orchestra !
Bascom went to the lobby, and begun reading the booklet, who has some thirty pages of indications, in good print letters and diagrams. In short, the whole schedule for the star Asbar the Great ! And how she would get to know him- at the Hotel were he was staying !
Wishing not to loose a minute more, she went to the Hotel, after asking for the whereabouts... it was not five blocks away, so she went on foot.
At the Hotel Sweuinbofdo", she ask for her keys, and retire to her suite - a rather luxurious one, that makes her believe it better be paid, or she would end having problems with the bill !
At the right of her suit, the one of the singer was located, and she re-read the instructions- she was going to present herself as the neighbor , and try to talk with Asbar by the phone, first, about the ones who murdered her wife. Professor Zull was sure the man would want to talk about it... and Bascom must try to realize, by his reaction, if there were or not murderers, or it was Asbar the killer !
Bascom wasn't very sure of her abilities in this cases, but she was going to comply, no matter the end results!
At three of the morning, the corridor lost its silence, and several whistles and yelling were heard. She opened the door a bit, and saw how the ghouls the singer has to protect him, was fighting with several fans , eager to get into the sheets of their idol! Half an hour later, the peace returns to the corridor.
She grabs the inter phone, and calls the singer's suite phone. Soon a grave voice asked who was calling, and she explained she had a notice for Asbar.
"No calls to night, lady! The vidstar is sleeping! Call to morrow!"
She insisted, but the man was stubborn, so she hangs up in despair. She went to the window, and seeing there was a rail running along the wall, she stepped outside, and begun moving along the wall, until she arrives to her neighbor's window. It was alighted inside, and he saw Asbar drinking and caressing a blonde on a couch. Bascom managed to get inside the room without breaking her neck, but the blonde gives a shrill cry, and Asbar 's body guards run up to take her.
"Who are you?"- Asbar asked, sure it was a loony fan.
"I'm your neighbor next door ! And I want to talk to you about your wife!"- Bascom said.
Asbar changes his smile for a worried look, and said "What do you know about my wife?"
"Enough to let you trap the band who kill her !"- She said, trembling in anticipation.
"What ? This woman is faking all along! Don't listen to her, Asbar!"- The blonde girl said, rearranging her buttocks.
"They are four, and if you get hurry, we could cope with them tonight!"- Bascom improvises: and all the while she was looking at his expressions.
"Impossible ! I cannot believe it ! "- Asbar said, changing of mood. Now he didn't seem to be interested at all !
Bascom bow her head, and said no more. The ghouls push her outside the room, and so she went to her suite, thinking she had failed.
"To the heck with Professor Zull!"- She said, and went to the bathroom, where she prepares herself a bubble bath, as the bathtub was sensational. Soon she was relaxing there, but a noise startled her, and soon she was looking Asbar, in a night robe, standing next to the bathtub.
"What are you doing here ? Can't you see I'm taking a bath?"- Bascom said. The eyes of the man gets a brilliant look- and she realize the bubbles weren't enough to hide her round breasts...and she did nothing to hide them too !
"You said something about my wife, and a bunch of delinquents. I want you to tell me all you know, before calling the Police !"- Asbar said, crossing his arms in front of his chest...
Bascom said " Your wife, Diane Eliasberger Winhein , was found at your home, strangled with a cord and the furniture without being smashed or searched for. That was a sign your wife knew her murderer and cannot oppose the criminal act until it was too late. Police interrogate you, and you had an alibi or, saying you were at a rehearsal with your band. Is that correct?"
"That everyone knows now ! It was in the news two months ago! But start with what you know !"- Asbar said, menacingly.
"The case it's not closed yet, and you put the blame in a mysterious person who called you home saying horrible things to you and your wife, threaten your life, etceteras, but nobody but you and your wife knew of it, and now your wife is dead. The supposed threat is not proven, nor the man as been found."- Bascom recited what the booklet of Professor Zull says...
"Nothing new."- Asbar said.
" Well, I met a guy some days ago, and he boasted to have strangled your wife and get away with it. Three other guys were with him at the moment of the killing. Are you interested now?"- Bascom asked him.
Asbar takes the phone and was going to dial, when she said "Stop before I add something more- the guy said one of the witness was you !'
Asbar hangs the phone, and said "A lie. And if you think I am going to get scared with your lies, and pay for your silence, you are terrible wrong !"- Asbar said, looking at her intently.
"I want no money for the information- I can show you the guy any minute, if you want, but I will no say a word to the cops. "- Bascom said.
"No cops. Well, that suits me! I can crush the guy with my bare hands- no need of police here, and the media making a show again! Let's go!"- Asbar said, taking her by the wrist.
"But don't bruise me over ! Or I will not go!"- Bascom said. He releases her, and shows the door with a gesture. The ghouls marched behind them to the elevator, but when they were descending, she said "And no ghouls. They will suspect I am betraying them, if they see this gorillas trotting on !"
Asbar looked at her incredulous, and said "Well, we can let them near the place. Guys: be ready for my call."- And they assented, getting ready their cell phones...
Bascom not even knew the whereabouts, but was pointing with a finger where to drive, and soon they were in the outskirts of town- she pointed the most desolate house on a dark street, and said "There they are."
Asbar stops the car, and said "This is what we are doing: you guide me, and my bodyguards stays here, waiting for my signal. Okey?"
'Yes, it's fine."- She said, trembling.
They walked to the door, and she gives a tapping on the wood. Inside they heard a shuffle of feet, and a dark big man opened an inch the rustic door, and said "What is happening?"
"It's me, Gardian! Open the door!"- Bascom said, but the man shuts and so Asbar begin to yell at him :"Open the door, you murderer!"
After a minute, the man opened the door, and he had a rifle on his hands. He said "Else you go, buddy, or I'll shoot and scatter your brains down the pavement!"
Asbar grabs the barrel, and they begun to struggle in there. Bascom saw the stirring of ghouls down the street, so he pushed them hard inside the house, and closed the door. Inside the house it was pitch dark, and the growling were in crescendo- she takes refuge on a corner, and soon he finds a corridor. The lights went on, and a woman, from the other extreme of the room, looked the fighters with terror in her eyes. She opened the mouth and yelled in unison with the crashing on the door, who was trying to be opened by the bodyguards!
The dark man gets Asbar under his knee, and grabbed free the rifle: he pointed to the vidstar, saying " Else you calm down, buddy, or I 'll shut!"
Asbar grabs the eggs of the guy, so he fired the gun ! The hole in Asbar's chest was visible the moment the smoke dissipates. The door was unhinged, and the three ghouls enters the house like Huns- seeing the scene, they begun firing repeatedly on the black man, and pushed the woman to the floor.
Bascom was already running down the corridor, jumped by a window, and finally enters the vidstar's car in a hurry, but the keys weren't there, so she jumped out, in time to see the ghouls running out of the house ! With bullets flying all around her, she managed to arrives the next corner, and run until she sees a low fence, in front of a house. She jumped in, and run until she went out by the other side of the block. She repeated it several times in a row, and finally lost the ghouls entirely.
She knew not where she was, but walked fast trying to put more distance between her and the tragic death of Asbar ...
A taxi car was coming by the desert street, so she signaled it to stop. Once in the inside, she named the Hotel Sweuinbofdom , and rest until the arrival.
"It's $90, Lady."- The man said.
"Wait here."- She said, and went inside, to talk with the desk attendant. Bascom explained she was out of cash in that moment, and that a taxi driver was waiting to be paid $90 in the outside.
"No problem, Lady Bascom! I'll take charge of it! Here is your key."- The elegant man said, and handled her the keys of her suite.
She went inside the room, and closed the door. Sighing, she went to the bed and lie there, where she was asleep in a couple of minutes...
Two hours later, the bell rings near her bed, and she answered it.
"Yes?"- Bascom said.
"Pardon me , Lady Bascom, for the intrusion. But you see, there are some gentlemen from the Police, who said they have some witness here saying you are involved on a crime."- The clerk said.
"Me, in a crime? "- Bascom asked, but her mind was racing through the possibilities... surely, the ghouls were back at the Hotel Sweuinbofdo, and remembering her saying she was a customer in the same Hotel, called the Police...
"Is there are some way to get out of here ,not causing you trouble? I mean, the reputation of this Hotel is a stake here!"- Bascom said, hurriedly.
The clerk was mute for a couple of seconds, and then he said " I really don't see you in any misgivings, Lady Bascom . I will help you . But you have really a short time to get away. Do this: climb by the stairs, not the elevator- they are already looking the numbers and your floor is already known. So you go up by the stairs, reach a small door in the end of it, and you will be in the roof. There is a bridge up there crossing the street to another building. Get hurry and perhaps you would be out of touch. Good luck."
"Thanks you, I will never forget this."- Bascom said, and went out of the suite like a flash. She run the stairs up, arrives to the roof in seconds. Running, she crossed the abyss by the bridge, and arrives to the other side of the street - 39 floors up the ground!
She went down in the elevator, and in the meantime, she give away her jacket, in order to be not so noticeable to the eyes of the ghouls, who knew what she was wearing before.
When at the street, she saw several police cars parked in front of the Sweuinbofdo Hotel", and so she walked in a natural way , until she rounds the corner- heading to the APALA, several blocks away...
When arriving near, she waits nobody was in sight, and run to the machine unnoticed.
"Bascom is arrived !"- She said to the door, who went opened with a sharp sound. Once inside, she closed it, seeing the lights in the interior flickered on. The place was deserted, no Professor Zull in there - yet.
She looked at the controls, and the flashing lights . She was tired, and seats on the floor, with her back to the wall. Soon she was lying on the floor, asleep...
Professor Zull's voice awakes her five hours later. It comes from somewhere the controls, and it was saying " I know you are here, Lady Bascom. Please respond."
She said ' I arrived some hours now. The problem... is solved."
"Wish you could say me more, but at this instant, I am solving my problem. Please awaits me there."- Professor Zull said.
"I am... starving. Is there not a fruit or something here ?"- Bascom asked, meekly.
"Of course! Please go to the console on the right... see the blue button? Touch it and you'll see. Bye."- Professor Zull said, and the communication was over.
Bascom discovered that the blue button opened a corridor, where a table in one side, and a giant refrigerator on the other, makes the kitchen at the APALA. She selected what she loves best, and with the two plates and a glass full of yogurt, she seats at the table, sighing in relief.
"And me, thinking there was no food in this booth!"- She murmured, almost laughing...
After the meal, she throw the garbish unto a can, who seems to be the garbish can - only this can was very queer, as the objects thrown inside, disappears almost instantaneously some three centimeters over the bottom. The can was very normal looking, and it weighs what a 40 x 25 centimeters cylinder could weight normally...
Bascom looked around her, marveling how many other abnormalities were hidden in there !
There were some compartments in the kitchen that were not mean to be there - they look like spare parts, and in a lower drawer she finds an old Album of photos, where Professor Zull was with several different persons - some of them decidedly not from Earth.
She whistled, as the photos shows buildings impossible to be donned with the technology she knew : also, there were some other items she couldn't understand, no matter how much time she keep on studying it.
She left the Album in the drawer, closed it, and return to her post on the floor. The silence was total, and Bascom knew that in an alley of a big town, the rumor of a thousand sites come sifting along- but here, just a silence enough to heard the drums of her hears receiving the air pressure!
She dozed several hours, and then she made some exercises, in order not to loose her physical training .
Professor Zull called again, awakening her .
"Hello, Lady Bascom ! How is it going there? Are you too uncomfortable? "
"Well, the bed isn't right a dream, you know! The floor has no blankets, either!'- She said, thinking how many time she should be there waiting.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you the bedrooms are in the left wall, the second circle must be pressed twice ! That would open a door... Well, Lady Bascom, I suggest you also read something of my former missions! IN that way, you will learn what to expect in this two years !"- Professor Zull said.
"All right, tell me where to find the files."- Bascom said, amused with the weirdness of it all. The detailed information comes later, and so Professor Zull ended the communication saying: "I will be there soon. Please a little more patience, please!' And hung up.
She opened the bedroom section, and also the Library, who was also a multimedia office, with monitors where to hear and see parts of the Professor Zull's expeditions in the past. She laughed , later, when she saw a younger Professor talking in the films. But also, she begun to understand what was all about- not only a police he was, but sometimes a diplomat, a warrior, a politic .
In the next conversation, she asked a manual for the driving of the APALA, and Professor Zull said "Very well, but I recommend you not to really move any of the important levers out there! I don't want to be responsible for your troubles, later!"
"Oh, no, I will just look and learn the basics! "- Bascom said, thankful the Professor was trusting her, learning that.
The Manual appears under a table, and she was amazed to see how easy was the theory of the driving such a wonderful apparatus ! But then, reading more on the Manual, realizes the tiny little details changes almost everything once and again, so the clumsy driver could very well ending in the sun's core, or lost himself in the far regions of the Universe !
At last the Professor appeared, banging the door behind him.
"Good afternoon! Sorry about the door! It slipped me."- He said, smiling to the startled Bascom, who was alone since a week inside the APALA.
"And your companions ?¨- She asked, standing up.
"Oh, I leave them where they belonged ! In this city, of course. "- He said, touching a place in the wall. A comfortable arm chair protruded ,and he seats there. Bascom looked at that with astonishing glances. The APALA had a lot more gadgets that she once believe it has!
"Well, I guess I own you an explanation: the woman was a illegal trader of drugs, and would had escaped , if not by Jadi , who was a policeman. "- Professor Zull said.
"So Angela was a drug dealer ? Incredible."- Bascom repeated, with astonishment.
"The facts of life! People who want to be more than what they deserve, and used crooked ways to profit ! But sooner or later, the wheel of chance, or the Destiny, or God, or the Karma, reaches them. And, did you slept well in here, lady Bascom?_ He asked her.
"Not in the first day! But when you teach me where the bedroom was, I certainly slept like a baby."- Bascom replied.
"Good. Now, I have some other missions to attend, and I expect you could forget your former life for a while."- Professor Zull said.
"I already promise you that, Professor Zull! And I will comply. I had seen the record of some of your previous missions. A lot of danger and turmoil are in them. Perhaps even risking your life."- Bascom said.
"Yes, it is hard to be a Time Professor ! "- Professor Zull laughed. Then, he said "- There is a certain leader on a planet, who married for his second time, but there is a daughter of his first marriage who wants things different. The leader is working to secure a peaceful future to his planet, by searching technology some other aliens had left behind on his planet. He finds opposition in the person of his daughter, who heads a public campaign demanding the destruction of all alien artifacts."
"Oh, what a shame! A daughter plotting against her own father, instead of worshipping him !¨- Bascom said, who never has a father , and how much she wished to have one , in her dreams...
"Politics has caused a rift between father and daughter, and as if that weren't enough, the daughter doesn't approve of her new step-mother either. Here we are talking about persons, who drags hundred others with their speeches..."- Professor Zull explains.
"And what are you supposed to do, Professor Zull? "- Bascom asked him.
"Well, triumvir people had a long struggle to get rid of the Killorans, that is , the alien race who left a lot of high technology in several parts of that planet."- Professor Zull said."- So they hate the shadow of them! But to me, they need the technology, just in case the Killorans could return. I have certain ideas about that, too- not too clever to inform you too much, just in case of being caught in our mission."-
"I can stand a high level of torture."- Bascom said.
"I don´t doubt it. I have a plan, of course, to do things the easy way. What I guess you could do, is to get close to the daughter of the elected Principle Triumvir, and by patient psychological treatment, turns her in a loving child, who cares for his father's ideas, and helped him in any way he can - seeing their leader change of attitude, the rest of her followers will dwindle into oblivion. "- Professor Zull said.
"How old is she ? - Bascom asked.
"Your age- or looking 23 years old. "- He said.
"I'm older, but thanks. And you will provide the means ? Or am I go step out of your APALA and made my own plans?- Bascom was saying it to probe the Professor.
The Professor Zull pushed a certain piece of wall, and a large map appeared. He fumbled with some levers, and appears there a 3-D map of the city of Bilodi, where the action was to begun. Professor Zull begin pointing to the different parts while he was speaking, to show their locations...
"We have this large city of Bilodi, near the sea of Ladiomfor. In the north part of the city, the palace Gowri, where the Principles rules , together with the Senate ; offices of the government are there in an incredible number. Rossiter lives there, works there, and sometimes went to rest at a ship , who went by the coast a couple of days. "- Professor Zull said.
Bascom observed the site where the ship was docked- not 30 kilometers away, and in a secluded port.
"The daughter lives downtown, in a very exclusive Hotel- she is a lady who doesn't want to clean dishes, nor made the beds, nor clean under them. In fact, she wants to went out and plot all day long, with some visits to night clubs ! Typically the works of a revolutionary- a lot of words, few old ideas with a faint varnish of modernism, and desires to change it all with little knowledge in between."- Professor Zull said.
"That's right."- Bascom smiled.
"I´ll provide you with Goros, or the local currency here; some gadgets, a schedule, and you can call me any time you want."- Professor Zull said.
"All seems to me very queer, Sir . "- Bascom said.
"Why queer? They are standard Homo sapiens ! The only queer here were the Killorans, aliens I am sure you don't want how they look."- Professor Zull said.
"The thing is queer, is what are you going to do in the meantime? - She asked.
Professor Zull scratched his head, saying " As you could very well turn this youngster from evil to righteousness . Also, there is a gadget in here- " - And he fumbled with a drawer, producing something like a small telescope- " That could change an angered gorilla into a sweet lamb with a click."
"And why don't you use it on her yourself?"- Bascom asked, handling the weighty artifact.
"Because the effect is just for a couple of hours. Later on, it returns to her - or his- proper self, proper behavior. No, the change must come from the inside."- Professor Zull explained...
"Clothes."- Bascom said. "Behavior."
Professor Zull rise his shoulders, saying " You should learn it on the site; I recommend you to stay at the Hotel several days first, and then begin the approaching. "
"Sure."- She said, looking at the gadgets. Professor Zull begun explaining their use, and then gives her several Credit Cards saying they were perfectly legal.
For two days Professor Zull was lecturing her, and at the third day, he moves the APALA to downtown- again an alley, barely used, and with the lettering in perfect Odirfor scripture, the same Bascom learned in deep hypnosis a day before, together with the language.
Bascom walked out of the APALA, feeling herself very self- aware . She walked through the alley, thinking in the APALA and its owner...
Soon she was taking a airbus, who leaves her in the top of Hotel Titerpar, a 390 stories building, three blocks wide. She enters the lobby, after a swift travel on the elevator, and asked for a whole suite.
The man in charge, clad in green and yellow color, offers her several suites, all located in the most luxurious sections. Bascom knew the woman object of her mission, Terass, was having a suite on the 39th floor. She asked for a suite on the same floor - and obtained it. She later used the credit card named Oskofo to pay in advance for a full week there. Almost a little fortune.
She was guided to her new abiding place, and the luxurious suite was something incredible even for a Cyborg of Earth... every item there, was the epitome of the state of the art - in that civilization.
Bascom was aware the garments she was wearing didn't much entirely her position in the society, as they were elected by the Professor Zull beforehand. They were cheap, and the bellboys and attendants were looking at her suspiciously . So she reads on the Yellow Pages of the videophones of that city list, where the big stores were located, and choosing the biggest advertisements, memorized their locations, and called to the Lobby.
- Suite 395 here. I want a guide for to go shopping." - Bascom said.
- Right away, lady. " - The lobby attendant replied. Soon a young guide appeared, female , and said " Good afternoon, Lady Bascom. I am Sarga, the guide, at your service."
Bascom let her come inside the suite, realizing it was a young woman, dressed in a soft cream colored dress, with her hair dyed with a golden hue.
"I want to go shopping, specially clothes. "- Bascom said.
"Very well, madam. Have you credit cards?"- Sarga asked her.
"Yes, here they are."- Bascom said, showing her the several credit cards Professor Zull has given her. The guide smiled, and said " You have them all. That is good. We can go anywhere, so I must ask you how high are going to be your expenses."
"I wish standard clothes, with a bit here and there of high style. Something to wear that could put at ease people who meet me, be them rich or average people."- Bascom said.
The guide wrinkled her nose, saying " That is a bizarre idea, lady Bascom! I should say you better get standard clothes AND expensive clothes at the time. You go clad in standard clothes one place, and expensive clothes to the other place, or you'll find you will not fit in any of those two places... People is like that, here !"
Bascom nodded, saying " I understand. Well, let's go to do the shopping, Sarga !"
They went out of the suite chatting amiably, and the guide ask for a Hotel aerial car, and they went swiftly over the roofs of so many big building, among thousand other vehicles, who glittered under the star - or sun, as Bascom also thinks no matter in which far away corner of the Galaxy...
The shopping takes them more than that afternoon- in fact, it takes two days and a half, as the stores were full of customers, and they had to almost push and turn to obtain what they want!
At the third day, Bascom awake with her first task accomplished, and remembered ,with a smile, all the pushing and arguing she and the guide had in the previous days, with the lots of females from BILODI city.
In those passed days, Bascom studied the room 399, the one Fiasa was living in. Several people went to and fro the suite, some of them talking out loud when passing by the corridor. Bascom has everything they said in her memory, and with it she had already an idea of whose motives had the daughter of Rossiter into her head. Also, she has several photos of her, taken by spy cameras , not bigger than a pin, who were located at the corridor, and that send the images to a small camera receiver, in her room.
One of the most assiduous person at Fiasa's suite, was her boyfriend, a tall handsome man, clothed in costly garments. His name was Socromi, but more Bascom didn't know about him.
She dressed in one of the costly garments recently acquired, and waits the moment Socromi strolls out of Fiasa's suite . At eleven hours, the man went out, and walked through the corridor , on route to the elevator. Bascom inhaled deeply, and went out so she could walk in front of that man, also going to the elevator.
She felt the stare of the male on her back. She was having her superb body swinging sexily in front of him, and stayed at the elevator, looking at its door with big glossy eyes... When she gives the man a small look, she noticed the man was almost drooling.
"Hi ! New in the Hotel ?" - Socromi asked, with a smile.
"OH ! Yes, I recently arrived."- She said, touching her bosom, as to felt her heart, and said "You scared me!"
"Am I so ugly, to scare such a beautiful lady ?" - Socromi asked, gallantly. He also takes a swift look to the end of the corridor, just in case Fiasa was looking.
"Oh, no ! But your voice startled me a bit. "- She said.
The elevator doors opened, and it was full of people inside, so they crammed there: Bascom managed to get her buttocks in front of him, so he felt the firmness of it. Soon he had an erection Number 3, much to the amusement of Bascom, who moves a little , as if rearranging her feet... Socromi almost moaned inside the elevator!
When at the ground floor, Socromi was blushed and excited, and follows her , stomping in some other people's feet in the process. He said " Pardon me, Madame, but I notice you are a tourist in town! I could escort you wherever you go ."
"Oh, don't disturb yourself so! I am just shopping !"- She said, giving her the promise of Heaven with a blinking of her moisten eyes. Socromi saw the whole galaxy revolving in those superb eyes, and said "For me it will be a pleasure ! I have nothing to do until some hours more!"
She smiled, and was escorted to the street, where Socromi hailed an aerial taxi. Soon they were traveling, while Socromi tried by all means to impress her in his favor. Bascom was not interested in him, looking how unfaithful he was, but also, Socromi was her entrance to Fiasa's suite...
At the stores, Bascom bought some perfumes only, and get as information as she could from her accompany ... Socromi begun talking about how he was working to change the government, helping Fiasa.
"I know you could be not interested in politics, but I am well connected. Fiasa, the daughter of a Principle here, is my friend. With her we are working to get support from the people, and force the government to destroy all the Killorans weapons that still are in our world. Those weapons of mass destruction are dangerous, specially in some future government that could turn a tyranny."
"How interesting! Pity I don't know a thing about politics ! But I admire their doings." She said, with a naive expression...
Socromi takes her by a hand, saying "You don't need to understand politics, with your beautiful face ! But I am telling you this : in the future, I will be with the predominant party , and guess I am prepared to be an important leader, too! "
That he was saying, to awoke some interest in Bascom, in order to give the next step himself. Bascom , of course, was reading him like an open book, and acted as suddenly interested in him, and pressed his hand slightly. That gives him courage, to say " You are beautiful, and I am becoming madly in love with you."
"I cannot believe it !" - Bascom said, but with a face showing a lot of joy...
Socromi smiled, and kissed her lips lightly. She didn't move, and so he was with his mouth dry, suddenly.
"Well, I guess I am not going to buy more perfume here !" - She said, blushing. Socromi paid for the perfumes, and taking a taxi, he said " Now I must leave you, lovely Bascom ! But sure I could be seeing you afterwards?"
"Of course ! At the hotel." - She said, and was kissed again. She puts on some fire in the act, so the man was almost forgotten of his next errand...
She return to the Hotel smiling, as phase one was accomplished- the key to Fiasa's headquarters !
AT 21.00 hours, somebody rings the bell. She went to open it, and finds Socromi on the threshold.
"Hi, love ! May I come in ?"- He said, with a smile of self confidence. She smiled back, and let him went inside. He said "I was busy, but now we have time for us."- And try to embrace her, but Bascom knows better, and said "- Wait! We almost don't know each other! And there is a lot of questions to make !"
"Shut !" - He said, smiling with some difficulty.
"First of all, are you not the boyfriend of Fiasa?"- She said.
"Of course not! Who told you so? She is just a member of a popular political party, nothing more! And as she has a lot of money, she also had a lot to help in the organization. That's why I kept coming here."- Socromi said.
"Right."- Bascom smiled.
"What? Do you not believe me? We can go there, to ask her in person!"- He said, bluffing.
"Not necessary, darling! I trust in your word !"- Bascom said, kissing him hard. Soon he was begging for to have some more intimate behavior, and she said no.
"It's not possible now, dear ! I'm in that time of the month."- She said.
"Oh, well, you don't take pills for that ? "- Socromi said, abashed... There was pills not to bleed now, "jumping over " the "period", but of course, Bascom was lying. She has no period at all!
"Now you go, like a good boy. "- Bascom said.
He was hard to convince, but in the end, and seeing he was not obtaining a thing, he went away, just to save face...
Bascom begin a plot recently devised : to record in a film all the love scenes between her and Socromi, so he planted several cameras around the big bed, with a switch hidden next to the night table. She was sure Socromi will appear with bad intentions, later !
She went out, and stroll by the corridor, until Fiasa come out of her apartment, together with a lot of other people- and Socromi was not there. Fiasa looked at her for a scant two seconds, so Bascom was sure she will be recognized in the future...
That day Fiasa come back and went away other three times in a row, and every time she passes by the corridor, Bascom was there, pretending to wait for something at her own apartment...
Two days later, Socromi come back to the attack, and this time Bascom kissed and almost made love with the guy, in order to film everything up.
" I love you!" - Socromi kept saying, and when the caresses were too hot, Bascom jumped out of the bed, and get inside the bathroom, where no force in Earth could get her out. Socromi begged for three hours in the outside, until he went away.
Bascom lock the door, and return to see the recorded films. What was there, could very well pass by a whole relation, so she handled the films and waits for Fiasa to pass by the corridor in one of her errands.
"Hey, with you I want to talk!"- Bascom told the woman; Fiasa looked at her in a startled way, an asked " What do you want? I don't know you!"
¨" Take a look at this tapes ! And then come and repeat me your words!"- She said, handling the films to Fiasa, who takes it and went away, with her usual retinue of peddlers...
Fiasa returns from her errand two hours later, and at his apartment, and surrounded by members of the political party, begin to see the films. What she looks there, was not of her liking, and went banging Bascom´s door little after the finish of those scenes...
"You don't know who am I ? I'm an important person! If you make this forgery, you'll end in jail! That is a promise !"- She said, enraged.
Bascom yelled back, saying "- You ´re engage is over ! Socromi is mine now ! You are nothing for him , but a wallet!"
Fiasa paled horribly, as she knew, for experience, that many men were interested in her just for the money- so the sting went deep... She return to the apartment, where she saw the scenes again, with several commentaries of the party members...
"Tell Socromi of this ! Find him ! He must explain his behavior!"- Decoten , one of the leaders of the party, said.
"I know all of this is faked !"- Fiasa said, twisting her fingers over and over again.
"I don't know ! That woman seems to be a very common person, and the figure of your fiancee is all over the place!"- Decoten said.
"Oh, shut up! Go away! Go away all of you!"- Fiasa ends by saying, too much in distress to kept her manners as a lady....
They went away, and when the last one was going out of the apartment, Socromi arrives. She takes him by the hand, and asked " Where had you been all day ?"
"I was making some deals, important deals, with some politicians! Social relations, you know, helps a lot in politics!"- Socromi said. The truth was he had stayed almost all that afternoon in a coffee shop, talking with some friends...
"Please, see this tapes, and then you give me your opinion !"- She said, kissing him lightly.
"Of course, darling!" - Socromi said, seating at her side on the sofa. When he saw himself trying to have intercourse with what appears to be the girl next door, Socromi felt his feet were dangling over a cliff, and a cold shill runs down over his back...
"I can explain... it's not what you think..."- Socromi said.
Fiasa was expecting other words from him, and so she paled and said " Who is that woman?"
"Oh, this is old, before I met you! Are you going to be jealous of my past?"- Socromi asked her, trying to mend the error.
Fiasa was no fool, and said " The past is four doors down the corridor... perhaps waiting for you! Get out of here , and go with your bitch!"-
Socromi felt himself at lost, without love and a future, so he kept denying it all. Fiasa went out at a run, and banged at Bascom´s door. She was waiting that, and opened it fast.
"There you are ! See that you explain it all to my fiancee ! He is in my apartment!"- Fiasa said.
Bascom went there, seeing Socromi seated at a sofa. When he saw her, he almost fainted, and didn't stand up.
"Well, you told me your affair with Fiasa never occurs ! What is lie and what is the truth for you, Socromi ?" - Bascom asks, with a hurt voice.
Socromi was between two fires, as Fiasa also begin to speak, and both women in rage made a bedlam, so he ends by running away from the apartment...
"The liar ! And a coward, too ! Running away of two defenseless women!"- Fiasa said, yelling by the corridor.
Bascom kept herself in silence, and pretends to be weeping. Fiasa looked at her, and said " Do you knew about me - being her fiancee ?"
"Never ! He told me he had no compromise with anyone, being a bachelor ! And that you was, in the past, a good friend only!" - Bascom said.
Fiasa´s eyes seems to be sparkling with fire, and she hissed "The vermin ! I was her lover all this past few months! He also mentioned the word "marry" to me ! But I knew best! Something in me was in doubt ! "
Fiasa was more enraged with the man, than with Bascom, and soon she was offering her a drink. They both drink a lot, and soon Fiasa was totally drunk, and smiling at Bascom, who couldn't get drunk, by genetic design ...
"We are victims of a man! Innocent victims !"- Fiasa was saying. Bascom takes her hand in hers, and said "We should be friends ! Like sisters in disgrace!"-
Fiasa laughed a lot at that, and said "Why not? We both were ignorant of the machinations of this man ! Double crosser!"
And her friendship begins that day....Not in a sound way, of course- they hate each other, but all the party members were in the know, and some of them find amusement trying to rise Bascom as a contender of Fiasa on the field of fashion and petty leadership. The old party members try to refrain this stupid game, but the majority wished to end the leadership Fiasa was obtaining , thanks to her money.
Bascom was for ever trying to weaken the will of the party members about the use of artifacts being left by the Killorans, but finds they were adamant in their believe - they don't want to change their opinions, no matter if they were going to be in a weak position afterwards...
Bascom went to the APALA an afternoon, in order to tell Professor Zull about the futility of her mission among the enemies of Rossiter , but the door doesn't opened no matter how she try- the lock didn't respond to her voice, and it was solid rock when trying to move it by force...
She return to the Hotel, not knowing if she was stranded in that strange planet, with Professor Zull probably dead inside the machine - or with him somewhere else in the planet .
Fiasa was waiting her at her suite.
"Where were you, that I am waiting here for two hours and a half?"- Fiasa asked her.
"I went to make an errand, why ?"- Bascom replied.
" Because I detest to wait ! But , let's get to the point: today we are going to the Government Building, to yell them to stop trying to use the crap those aliens leave behind! "- Fiasa said, walking around the first room.
"All right, I ´ll go. "- Bascom said, and went to the drawer room, where she change clothes- the dress she was wearing was pink, with a pair of sandals. She change it for leather suit to the neck, and boots.
"I see you are learning!"- Fiasa said, laughing. She was wearing a similar costume. "The police has no considerations between men and women, when the time comes !"
They went to the street, with some other adherents. Soon they were in the front of the Government House, where not more than five hundred people were yelling against the idea of to get information from the artifacts and machinery the aliens left behind. The war cry of Let the Killoran crap rot in a heap " was uttered once and again. The police guards were in front of the building, ready to refrain any attempt to walk inside.
Fiasa jumped from one place to the other, and she was the first who throw a stone against the police. Soon everyone on the party were throwing eggs, cabbage and stones to the police. -The police charged, and they all run away, but the slower ones were caught.
Five blocks from there, Fiasa waits for Bascom, who was amazed to see how childish that action was.
"Good fight, didn't it ? What, do you breath some of the toxic gases the police throw us? ¨- She asked .
"No way! I run like a rabbit."- Bascom told her, and they went on foot to the Hotel. Before they arrive there, Fiasa said "Let's go by the employees door ! No reason to make us a bad name here."-
Bascom was about to say that, if she was worried by that, she should not act like a delinquent, in the first place, but she shut her mouth and said nothing. Once at Fiasa´s apartment, she said " You have real taste! This apartment is better than mine."
"Oh, yes ? I asked the manager to made some adjustments. I never live in a place decorated for anonymous people. I am Fiasa !"- And she give a laugh- soon she offers Bascom a drink, and prepared other for herself. Bascom almost not drink liquor at all, but feigned to drink, while saying " Your idea to refuse the alien technology just because it's from the enemy of yesterday, seems not a good idea to me."
"What? Are you a collaborator of the Killorans, per chance ?¨´' She said, seating on a sofa.
"No, but think how many good things could sprout from those artifacts. Possibly a jump ahead in our technology. "- Bascom said.
" A Jump. You are really something. I am sure the Killorans leave that behind them just to make us repeat those artifacts, and the technology included, to have us where they wanted us to be ! Think in this: we copy everything they leave behind, with the idea of to use it for a good purpose. Then, we keep improving those artifacts in the only line they possible could be developed. What we have there ?¨
"That we will be going in a direction already knew by them. They will be ahead of us- knew how many improvements we could do in a certain amount of time- and stops us cold wherever and whenever they like - possibly with another invasion."- Bascom said, following the idea to the end.
"Right ! So , you see we are not acting childish? They are clever ! They were here for 80 years ! We defeated them using our own technology- there were some new tricks in it, who made the difference ! So they don't want new paths ! They want us in their own terrain! Fifty years from now, and we would be- if accepted the alien technology`- just a primitive effort on Killoran technology, while they will be a thousand years in the future! And so, defeat us would be like defeating a tribe of fishermen!"
Bascom grabs the idea, for further study, and said " You are opposing your father in this political arena."
Fiasa rise her shoulders, saying " The old man has old ideas, and didn't see beyond his nose ! No matter how many times, in the past, I told him this same thing ! He just have a confidence on our technicians, who say we would outsmart the aliens in their own field ! "- Fiasa said.
Bascom didn't press the matter further, as it was a good start - to be there, talking like a friend of Fiasa, drinking her liquor, and seated at her own living room!
Some other members of the party begin to arrive, and news about the ones being caught, and accidents and sayings, were thrown to the air , by a dozen throats at a time. Bascom stands up, and begin scurrying to the door. Once at the corridor, she went to her suite, and takes a long bubble bath, puts on a new pink dress, and went to see Professor Zull.
The door opened at the first trying, and inside the APALA a message was waiting for her, on a sheet of paper. It says " Dear lady Bascom: I knew you were at the demonstration. Good. Final approach and further actions are in your future. Take your time. I´ll be out for quite a while. The APALA doors will be opening for you in the future. Your´s , Professor Zull."
"So he had the doors locked ! Not a funny thing to do !"- She said almost to herself, not knowing every action inside the APALA was recorded and filmed . She went to the bed room, and stayed there asleep for eight sound hours. When awake, she eats some from the fridge, and went out at 05.00 hours in the morning. The sky was still dark, and she walked by the sidewalk at a brisk pace. Several workers were already going to their jobs, using overcoats and caps.
She went to the Hotel and at her suite she changes clothes, and start the holovideo. News from the city and the planet were offered there, and she saw how things differs just in form with what she already know from her home planet. She also was delighted to see how everyone was plain and simple humans. The idea of to create Cyborg were alien to this aliens !
Suddenly, she saw her own face, when the news about the demonstration against the use of the Killoran artifacts was projected. She also has a glimpse of Fiasa, running with her hair in the wind. In all, a small demonstration, a case of minor importance.
The prime minister, or Principle , Rossiter was there speaking (the day before) in front of some students at a University. He expounded about the necessity of to be using alien technology not only to made weapons, but of to a number of things.
Bascom heard him talk for fifteen minutes, and the man has her all convinced of what he was asking was the correct thing to do.
Later, Bascom decided that Fiasa will never assume her father points of view. There was only one thing to do: dispose of her . To kill was not in the list for Bascom, but she could kidnap her and put in some distant place, where the come back was less than impossible.
The use of the APALA for that purpose shows to her in a lime light. Perhaps a little kidnapping could not molest Professor Zull ?
The use of the APALA , by the other hand, was an enigma for Bascom. Give her a spaceship, and she could take Fiasa to the end of the Galaxy, but without one, she was just an ordinary woman more in the crowd... or that would seem for the onlooking majority...
Fiasa went to her suite at 18 hours, and said "Hi, friend! How do you do to-day? "-
"Take a seat ! Fine, thanks you! I was thinking of you - did you saw your daddy on the holo - tv?"- Bascom said.
"Oh, he appears every time he wants ! Yes, the same song over and over again, until it reaches home! He is used to it, that's why he is so successful !"- Fiasa said, smiling. She was in good temper...
"I have an uncle I want you to meet - he is an old man in his final days, and young people give him strength to keep on living. I wonder if you could come with me to pay him a visit, some day."- Bascom said.
"Of course! Any time. But no to day !"- And she laughed.
"What, have you another meeting or something? "- Bascom asked her.
"No way! A meeting is something to get us in the news ! And give strength to our movement. "- Fiasa confided her.
Later, Fiasa invited her to go shopping- she bought herself several good dresses, and a pair of shoes. Seeing Bascom wasn't buying , she also bought her a blue dress.
"Thanks. I was needing one."- Bascom said.
"Why, aren't you receiving money ? "- Fiasa asked her.
"In fact, I'm not working lately. I am at that suite for my uncle - you see, he is a whimsical person, and I am her only niece. He rent the suite for some days, as a gift for me. Soon I´ll be going, and I don't know what come next."- Bascom said, shifting the queer parts a bit...
"What a terrible situation! You on your uncle's payroll ! And the old man didn't come to visit you, or is he available someplace ?- Fiasa said, in surprise.
"He is in his place, right now ... I guess ."- She said, smiling.
"What, the old man hasn't got a telephone, either ?- Fiasa was astounded.
"Oh, guess he hasn't ."- Bascom said, shrinking her shoulders a bit.
"I guess we are going to visit the old man! You an me ... this minute!"- Fiasa said, and asked the manager store to send her purchase to her suite...
Bascom guided her to the Police Phone Boot, in that alley ... Fiasa wasn´t believing the man was actually living in a phone booth, and was looking at Bascom as a loony person, but she actually grabbed her by the wrist, and hurled inside.
"What a miracle is this ?"- Fiasa said, once inside - as the outside was small, but the inside of the APALA was bigger .
"My uncle is a queer person ... Professor Zull! Anybody here ?"- Bascom asked, yelling quite a bit.
Professor Zull appeared from the interior of the bedroom quarters, carrying a magazine of some sort. He wasn't as surprised as Bascom believe he was going to be, and said "Oh, you brought a little friend in here ! Welcome, Fiasa !"- The man said.
"You... you know my name !"- Fiasa said, looking for the door. Bascom puts herself in the way, but Professor Zull said "Let her try to leave, if she want ! "
Bascom step aside, and so Fiasa was enraged with her and of course, with herself, to let be putted in a situation like that ...
"You get to explain this whole situation, Bascom! I thought you was my friend!"- Fiasa said.
"I am your friend! But also, I am trying to reach my real world and this man here is my only way out. "- Bascom said.
"Well, let's not get impulsive here ! Fiasa, you know your meddling with politics has no future whatsoever."- Professor Zull said.
"And what do you know about politics ? You, that lives in this.. . telephone forgery ?"- Fiasa said, defiantly.
"And what is more, your pathetic little group of misfits is condemned to disintegration in the near future! Why is that a daughter of such a high qualified person, as your father, has such a failure like you?"- Professor Zull asked, with tranquil voice. The eyes of Fiasa seems to be about to explode, as she wasn't believing this was happening really, and she said " Why you, rakish old guy, you has no right to address me like that !"- And she walked to the door, much to the worried look of Bascom.
"You cannot go, until I said the magic word"- Professor Zull said, standing stolidly in the same spot.
"You cannot kidnap me ! I will tell the police about this... counterfeit phone booth of yours!"- Fiasa said, with eyes aflame.
Professor Zull addressed Bascom, saying "Well, this kidnapping is all your doing, of course. You know that bringing her here will cause her to became a threat for my plot. Now we must kidnap her for sure."
"Do as you must do. All I want is a trip home, you know."- Bascom said, rising her shoulders.
"And I told you the real reason why I cannot comply with your desires, is that your tiny little world is orbiting now half the normal distance from here ! And in two more years, and as we work through the worlds, your trip will be possible ! "- Professor Zull said, mildly.
Bascom begin to believe him, and said nothing.
"Fiasa : take this seriously. Now we are going to some other city, and you will have a life there. Not as easy as in here, where your father pays you all your whimsical desires, but a place where, with some luck, you'll be able to get a job and be useful."- Professor Zull said.
"Return me immediately to the city, or I´ll yell !"- Fiasa said, taking a big breath.
"Suit yourself. The room is soundproof. And furthermore, we are leaving now."- Professor Zull said, stepping on the dais, and after some buttons were pressed, he said :"Bingo. We had arrived. You can go, if you want."
"You loony stupid, now you'll see in what a mess I can put you through!"- Fiasa said, opening the door using the handle . The door opened swiftly, and she went out, not shutting the door. Suddenly, the door shuts itself.
"Donned. A non canonical way to do things, but what the heck? All cannot be perfect."- Professor Zull said, seating on the floor.
Bascom went there, and seats at his side, saying "Well, what will happens now ?¨
Professor Zull reflected some seconds, and said " Principle Rossiter will mourn for a couple of years, but he'll be all right, in the end. His party will be unhindered any more by Fiasa´s followers, and the Killoran artifacts will be studied, copied and used for a thousand years to come."
"But Professor Zull, Fiasa was saying the Killorans could come back, and make avoc with her civilization!"- Bascom said.
"Don't paid any attention to weak minds. Nothing is gonna happens here. I give you my word."- Professor Zull said, smiling.
CHAPTER 5
MISSION 393.
Professor Zull stands up, saying " Well, we have a small other mission on this same planet, Lady Bascom. Will you help me in this too, or rather you prefer to stay here , studying my files ?"
Bascom stretched her legs, saying " For me, the use of a spaceship would suits me fine. Have you not a mission like that ?"
Professor Zull approaches the controls, stepping on the dais, and mumbled " No need of a spaceship when the APALA is around !"
Bascom seats on the dais, and said " Well, anything will be good at this time of the year."
"You'll not regret it ! We have some UFOs Sightings from people around Yudu, city at the occidental continent of this here planet. "- Professor Zull said.
Bascom gives a laugh, saying " Well, my me ! The old Filocosmic Club rising from the dead ?"
Professor Zull scratched his head, and said " Pardon me, but the joke escapes my knowledge. What is that Club Filocosmic ? Never heard of it before."
"The hell you don't ! Well, I´ll explain you... there was a club, in the golden years, who has interest in UFO galore, and his members were fans of the unknown, the mysterious things, and the like. Also about E.T. and Flying discs . "- Bascom said quick.
"Ah ! Well, I'm afraid I miss that organization ... The Yudu people didn't know what I, being a Time Professor , already know. And it's simple : those queer vehicles they are seeing, are Flying _Saucers from planet Xiis. They had come once more time, as they usually did, after twelve months of absence."- Professor Zull said.
"Really ? Well, I cannot say you could be speaking in serious."- Bascom said .
"I usually don't lie while working, young lady ! " - Professor Zull said, and his eyes suddenly appears red. But that was like a flash, it only endure two seconds... to Bascom's surprise. Then, he said " The Yudus are in what you know the fifties, in the XXth. Century of yours. Honorable people, trying to work for a living, and minding their own business. So this vultures, so to speak, that come here to do evil, deserves to be punished."
Bascom sighed, and said " Count me in"
Professor Zull smiled, and said " Your part in the operation will be simple enough : search and find the Goohodos 's headquarters, destroy the site, and retrieve what they are coming here to steal. "
"Oh . Very simple." - She said, astonished.
"Yes, as I would be involved in something a lot more complicated. I will give you some tools to accomplish your duty. " - Professor Zull said, and walking to a corridor, opened several compartments, and begin handling her the gadgets - a scan device, able to find Goohodos engine emissions, a stun gun, plastic cards in case of expenses to be made, and a satchel with several more items he explain how they work.
"You will be not going with me ?" - She marveled.
"No, young lady; but don't worry yourself, as you can call me with this."- And he handled her a medal with a lace, who was to be hanging from the neck. "It's a telephone. It never breaks, never need to be charged, and will rings no matter you are under water." - Professor Zull explained.
"Fine! I expect not to be under water."- She said, smiling.
"Why ? Are you afraid of the water ?:" - Professor Zull asked, with a strange look on his eyes.
"Forget it." - Bascom said, seeing her little joke wasn't understood ...
"When do we start ?" - She said, looking to the door.
"Right now ! We're going to be booked at some Hotel, of course - not very wise to leave the APALA on the open, and we going in and out of the place ! I will put it in stasis, so to speak - invisible for anyone and out of the way, as I like to say ... but with the telephone at your necklace, you'll be able to see it and enters by the door." - Professor Zull explained.
"Oh, yes ? And how I am going to insert the key ?" - Bascom said, almost laughing.
"Oh, you don't insert a thing ! You just press One." - He said, signaling the number one on the little keyboard...
"Silly me !" - She said, thinking how simple it was ...
They went out , and the professor hailed a taxi. This one didn't fly, just have tires and rolled on them . Given an address, the taxi driver carried them to a big building, where a fine Hotel was located.
"Hotel Einlein, Sir. Twenty kurdes. Please pass the card by the slot." - The driver said, signaling a little device on the door. Professor Zull did as told, and then they went out.
"As you see, lady Bascom, things are easy in this planet. But of course, watch your tongue, made no friends, and never speak about the APALA, please."' He said.
"Count with that."- She said, smiling. The people were very numerous, and inside the Hotel Einlein the temperature was graduated to exquisite 20 C.
"A suite for me and my daughter, please"- The Professor told the man in charge, and they were booked and given a nice suite at the eight floor. She was marveled of the exquisite details in every corner and object the suite has. There were two baths, two bedrooms, and she saw no TV sets.
"Well, lady Bascom, I assume you are satisfied ! Don't worry about the bill, I'll be here to pay." - Professor Zull said, and departed.
She sighed, closing the door, and said to herself "From a swamp to a suite ! Not bad for an astronaut !"
She takes a bubble bath, and then she puts her clothes, that smell ... She went to the lobby, asking for a good Mall where to go and fetch her some clothes. The man in charge said "I'm Hames, the manager in charge. Let me introduce you a person who could go with you , in order not to have some mishap ... new in town?"
-"Yes, it's so noticeable? " - Bascom said.
"Well, let's say that in this trade we learn how to know some things... but don't worry ! Here is the person... Ladlia, please go with the Lady Bascom and see she could do some shopping without hindrance. " - The Manager told a beautiful young lady, who smiled and said " Shall we go, Lady Bascom? A taxi of the Hotel could serves us right!"
So she went in a good car, to a nice and exclusive Shopping Mall, where she bought at hearth's content... forgetting , for some hours, the problems of her Mission !
At her return, and in the same car, the alarm sound begun to chirp, and she opened her purse and look on the little gadget. Coordinates appeared there, in a grid with the near/by streets. She ask to stop the car, and told Ladlia to keep on going with her bought.
"All right, Lady Bascom. Your bought will be at your suite. Bye." - The young woman said.
Hurrying down the street, Bascom soon was in front of the place where - supposedly - those aliens were. It was a three story building, ancient and with two entrances, between several shops . From the opposite side of the street, she analyze the possibilities. The entrance door opens, and a small woman went out, closing behind. Soon another person gets in, using a key.
Bascom went there, and seats on the steps, until a man arrives, using a key to get inside. She follows the man inside, and find a large staircase, that went directly to the third floor,
"Are you searching for someone, lady ?" - The man asked her. He was middle aged, small in height, and with an amiable smile.
"Yes, but he gives me not his address in full ! " - She lied.
"And what is his name, to see if I can help you ? "- The man said.
"Oh, he is a seller ! Something related with machines !"- Bascom replied.
The guy shrink his shoulders a bit, and said " I cannot be of help.. Here there is only workers... There is some new renters, perhaps they could be the ones you are searching. There is the room."- And he signaled to a closed door, at the end of a corridor.
She went there, staring at the lock hanging from a pair of iron lock. As the man still was looking at her, she said "Guess I'll wait a moment here, if he comes back."
"Suit yourself." - The man said, and opening another door, he gets in and close the door behind him.
Bascom waits two minutes, and opened the lock with a universal key, provided by Professor Zull. The lock opened, she enters the room swiftly, and what she saw nailed her to the floor...
On a chair, a man was seated, tied with ropes. His eyes were looking at her , franticaly . Bascom closed the door, and look at the rest of the room. Six big boxes were piled against a wall, with metal locks in it. A big table, with some chairs, and two closets were the furnitures available there.
She went and takes the bandage out of his mouth, and so the man said "Help me ,please ! They are coming ! Those terrible brutes are going to return !"
Bascom went to the boxes, and opened a lid. Inside, several packages were to be seen, containing meat. The interior was cold, possibly with some means of refrigeration.
The door opened, and a woman come in. She was tall and with a bag on her hand, and when looking at Bascom, went out yelling . Some men appeared on the threshold of the door, but nobody enters the room. The same little man Bascom meet at the corridor, appeared.
"What is happening here, miss ?" - He asked, from the door.
"This man was tied at the chair ! And look, there are many pieces of meat inside this boxes !" - Bascom said.
The little man come inside the room with a knife, and untied the man at the chair, that said "Thanks you ! This lady come in here, and save my life ! The ghouls that attacked me killed three other persons- that you are seeing there, transformed in
Packaged meat ! "
Bascom was perspiring. She has almost grabbed the thread to the enemy, but now, with all those people looking, surely the aliens will never came back for their prey !
She went out, without a word, and the people there was milling around the corridors and stairs, more than forty people appeared from nowhere ! She arrives to the street, and takes a taxi, but she went down four blocks before the Hotel, just in case the taxi driver was questioned by the Police ... surely, the Police would want to know who were the butchers, and what was she doing at the scene of the crime !
She arrives at the Hotel rather depressed, but when at her suite, and seeing all the new clothes neatly parked at the closets, she lighten her heart and begin thinking life was worthwhile ! She gives herself the rest of the day, and puts on a fine dress in pink color, with matching shoes, and went to a fine Restaurant, where she asks food not thinking in the calories !
She was at her third plate, when the waiter comes near and said "This note come from that gentleman over there."
She looks and saw a good looking male, black hair and broad shoulders... she smiled, and read the paper. It reads " Want some company for this evening ? I had a white car."
She smiled again, and nodded. The man come to her table, saying "Good evening, lady ! Pardon my intrusion! But I saw you, a beautiful lady , eating all by herself, and I couldn't resist the temptation of to accompany you ."
:"You did well. Sometimes it's sad to eat all alone."- She said, smiling.
"My name is Euro Margut, wine merchant. "- He said, seating next to her, and not in front.
"Hello, Euro Margut. I'm Lara Bascom, tourist."- She said, looking at him with tenderness. The man begun to melt in her hands, and she was enjoying the flirting...They eat together the rest of the dishes, and as he asks for an expensive wine, she also drink of it. In the course of the conversation, Bascom realize he was not only the merchant he said, but also, the owner of a winery, inherited from his father.
"So you are a tourist ! I mentioned the car, in case you want to have a ride through the city ! At night the streets and the neon signs are very romantic." . He said.
"Are you inviting me , or are you just saying it ?" - She asked, melancholically.
"Of course, I am inviting you ! "- He said, eagerly.
"Well, after this meal, we could ride your car ! An exciting experience, I guess."- She said, smiling again.
After the meal, they went out and in his car, they rode by the streets talking amiably. Bascom finds him nice and respectful, and when she yawned, Euro Margut said " Oh, but you are boring ! Or do you have sleep?"
"Oh, it's just sleep, I guess ! I wake very early, in the morning...Could we leave the ride at this point?" - Bascom said, thinking she was being very impolite...
"Of course ! We finish it this instant ! Do you want me to leave at your place?"- He asked her.
"Of course, if it's no problem with you !"- She said, yawning.
"Not a problem ! And I will put the radio, in case you get asleep..."- And he laughed.
Soon she was back at her Hotel, and saying good bye to Euro Margut, went to her suite, and in the moment she puts her head on the pillow, became asleep... fully dressed.
In the morning, she revise her gadgets, and fumbled with the scan . Soon it was showing Goohodos activities, near the piers. She dressed properly, and went there in a taxi cab.
The signs were coming from a yacht sixty meters long, and at least half the height, from the surface of the water... The crewmen were milling around, going up with cargo, and others in the watch. The alien detector Professor Zull gives her was good , and soon she realize there was no way to enter the ship in daylight, so she waits for the darkness and climbs to the ship by the ropes that attaches the yacht to the pier. Once on board, she gets inside a corridor, where she manages to run and hide until arriving to a desert area.
The sounds were almost nil, as the crewmembers weren't at work, and the loading process was interrupted by the night.
At the third deck, she finds the boxes were storage in refrigerated chambers; opened one of the boxes, she finds it was meat. Taking a portion of it, Bascom went out and returned to the Hotel.
In the morning, she went to a Laboratory, asking to know what kind of meat was that.
"Seems to me a large animal, by its consistency. In a quarter of an hour I could give you the results. "- The laboratorist assistant said.
"I'll wait here."- She said, and at the waiting room, she reads a pair of magazines while waiting. Soon the man appeared, saying :"Please, come in to my office."
There, she rise her eyebrows, and the man said " It's human, lady. Where did you find this ?"
"I found it in a box, freeze, and it is not mine. "- Bascom replied.
"I 'm thinking you should call the police. This could be a case of a murder."- The laboratories assistant said, handling her the package.
"I'll think about it. Thanks you for your examination."- She replied, and paid the man what the examination was due.
At the street, she hailed a taxi, and drops the meat at a corner, by the window.
At her suite, she changes clothes and went out, with the stun gun in her purse, for she was heading to the pier.
There, the ladder was connecting the ship to the ground, so she walks by there at a briskly pace, finding nobody on guard. She went directly to the cabin, where she find two fat men.
"Who are you? "- One of them asked, after the first second of surprise.
"You have human cargo in this ship! I know everything !"- She said, putting the examination paper in front of them.
They looked each other, and the tallest one said " Lady, you are trespassing private property here. Are you from the Police or what ?"
"No, but I'm telling you'll be in a lot of trouble ! You have storage human meat on board ! "- Bascom said, looking at those men who were, as Professor Zull has informed her, ALIENS.
The smaller one made a dive against her, but she pressed the trigger fast, and the body of the fat man creaks and fall to the floor with a thud. The other "man" stumbled on her leg, but she also fired him in an arm. With that was enough : the "man" stiffed himself as a log, and fall to the ground like a tree trunk.
Bascom revised them , opening their shirts- they were human to the neck, but from then on, a green lizard hide was showing. One of them begin to stir, so she fired both aliens again, and this time they get a faint glow over their bodies.
Bascom revised the Deck, and find a big metallic chest, full of gold coins. She takes the box on her hands, and went out.
Three sailors stared at her, but she remained calm, and when passing near, she said " I'm the new Secretary of Customs". With that, they men did nothing against her...
Once at the street, she hailed several cabs in chain, so they could not trace her , if asked, and arrived safe to her suite. She close the door, and on the soft rug, begin counting the golden coins - they were 1.290 coins ! Several of them had different weighs, and she wonders what they could mean that.
In the days ahead, she went to sell the gold a few each time, not to rise suspicions. At the end of the month, she had a little tower of bills, enough to bought a couple of palaces !
One evening the telephone Zull gives her, begin to ring. She answered it, and the voice of Zull said " How is your mission going, lady Bascom?"
"Fine ! I already find two aliens. They are stiff cold now. They were at a boat, ready to depart with a meat cargo, if you know what I meant."- She said.
"Talk freely, dear Lady ! We have special cell phones here ! Nobody could hear us!" - He said.
"Well, the human meat was all over the place. But I was alone , and the sailors were a-plenty. So I just kill the aliens, and went out."- Bascom said, thinking it was no use to mention the little affair of the gold coins...
"Fine ! You had donned fine! You know that our best men takes more than a year to find an alien? And you find two in a couple of weeks ! I'm very proud of you!"- The Professor Zull said.
"I am happy you are proud of me ! Now you could send me home."' - She said.
"Dear lady, I cannot , as I told you ! But in due time, you;ll have your reward, plus your voyage ! Have confidence in me!"- Professor Zull said
"Did I keep on searching, or what ?"- She asked, munching a chocolate.
"Keep on doing the good work ! Kill aliens ! They are everywhere , and in disguise !"- Professor Zull said...
"- When are you going to come back here, Professor ?" - She asked by the phone.
There was a silence, and then the Professor Zull said " My delay is worthwhile ! I 'm still working at a case. But you have my full confidence ! See that your mission ends well, and wait me there. Bye."
And the communication was over.
Bascom stretched her legs, thinking about the conversation. The professor Zull was more interested in the mission than in her welfare, that was sure, so if she die, all the Professor Zull would do, it will be to forget about her aid, and carry on.
So Bascom believe not in a total devotion to his cause now. Perhaps also the rest of the "volunteers" could very well being using the money for her welfare, and about the mission itself, they do nothing.
Another thing, the technology being used by the civilization she was living in , was well behind Professor Zull, a thing that gives her some relieve about her doing missions for him.
She made a scan in that instant, and the gadget shows nothing . She sighed, and
Prepare herself to went out ,for a chase ! In a taxi cab, with orders to go at will by the streets, she sightseeing the city, with the scanner working. Parks and boulevards were visited, to not avail. Even a tour by the docks produce nothing.
"Chauffeur, let's get back to the Hotel, please ?"- She said, and soon she was going up in the elevator to her suite.
Once there, she give herself a bath and went to sleep, among pink silk sheets.
From that day on, she used to give the same tour over and over again, and always finding nothing. Professor Zull called her twice in the second month, and when hearing the Goohodos weren't there, she recommend patience.
Two years later, and no Goohodos in sight, the Professor Zull come back with a black bag to the Hotel suite, and seeing Bascom asleep, went to the telephone, and asked for a healthy breakfast.
When the bell boy come in, she was awake and talking with the Professor, who said " Your mission is over ! Tomorrow we are going back to your ... country. Happy now ?"
Her eyes were shining and Bascom said " Of course I'm happy ! As a vacation period, the time spent here were superb, but one has to belong to something, a larger cause ! And what is for me real life, it's to be on board of a spaceship ! And here, there are not such things."
"All right, I understand ! Here I brought some presents for you ! Want to see it ?"- Professor Zull said, and opened the bag. Inside, several jewelry and electronic gadgets were seen and explained, when necessary, and all were for her.
"Thanks you a lot, professor ! You are given me more than I give you."- She said.
"No matter that ! Well, I guess I'll go to the best Restaurant in town, before we go." Professor Zull said, and they went together to a fine Restaurant, where Professor Zull shown the gourmet he had inside ...
Next day, the APALA leaves her at New York, where a large building of the Starfleet was standing, and Bascom, after explaining the best she could how she get there without a spaceship, was given a place at a spaceship of the Federation.
" Considering you have an encounter with an alien, from a civilization unknown to us, you deserve a rise in your career."- The Admiral told her, at his office in the eight floor.
"I am in full accord with you . " She smiled, and was risen to Captain of the Starfleet, to be serving in the "Rita" spaceship, on route to Zubeneschama, in Libra.
The end.
A.J.F. - 17.October 2005 Chile.