Waking in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 2)

by D Patrick Wagner

  “Valid points. I see no issue with the protocols. However, this does mean that I can not activate the disconnection until you exit your ship, Buster.”

  “That is not an issue, Vidhee. I will insure that, during my first step off of Griffin, I will not activate my Wi-Con systems in any manner. You may monitor my wireless activity as insurance. Then, the moment I am off of the ship, you may personally activate the damping module.”

  “I accept your proposal.”

  Facing Krag, Vidhee continued, “Captain Marston, my magnetic sensors indicate that you are wearing some sort of woven metal clothing under your military uniform. Is it for self-protection?”

  A flustered Krag hemmed, hawed then responded. “I am going into territory of which I have no knowledge. As a military man, I tend on the side of safety. If that is a problem, I can remove it.”

  “That won’t be necessary, Captain Marston,” the princess stated. “Your armor suit isn’t needed here. But if you feel more comfortable wearing it, then that is fine.”

  Turning to face Keiko, Vidhee observed, “And my sensors are picking up electro-radiation from some sort of clothing underneath your formal wear, Ambassador Suzume.”

  After receiving a nod from Krag, Keiko began, “We call it a chameleon suit. It bends light around whoever is wearing it so that the wearer appears invisible. Again, erring on the side of caution.”

  “We have nothing like your light-bending clothing. Your chameleon suit may be another point of discussion in the near future,” Princess Analyn commented.

  “I look forward to that discussion, Your Highness.”

  “The environment on our ship is much colder than on your ship.” Pointing to Doctor Roshnak’s arm, Vidhee continued. “As you previously learned, we are wearing cooling screens to protect us from the heat inside Griffin. For you to be comfortable within our environment, we have modified four coolers so that they become heating units. I have sent the technical specifications to Buster for his inspection.”

  “Buster?”

  “The units are very elegant, Captain. They set up an electro-static field that closely hugs the body. This creates an air pocket which is then cooled or heated.”

  “Breathing, sweating?”

  “The field is dynamic. Breathing produces a membrane which controls the air flow. Elonians don’t sweat. As we wear the units, I will monitor their functionality, determine if modifications are needed. Also, the field compresses to a thickness of less than a millimeter for grasping or walking. I believe that it is harmless and beneficial.”

  “Thank you, Buster.” Krag nodded to Keiko.”

  “We accept your generous offer, Vidhee,” Keiko stated as she held her hand out.

  Vidhee distributed the units and, using Keiko as an example, taught them how to put them on and activate the heating mode.

  Once everyone had donned and actified the heating units, Vidhee turned to Princess Analyn and stated, “My Princess. The required security is in place. I deem that it is safe to proceed.”

  “Thank you, Vidhee. Ambassador, Captain, guests, shall we?”

  Captain Marston slammed to attention. “Permission to come aboard.”

  Princess Analyn looked at Keiko in confusion.”

  “There is a custom and a tradition going all the way back to our water-bound ships.”

  “Your planet has a large enough un-frozen body of surface water that allows you to build and float ships on it?”

  “All of our planets have open water. We call them ‘oceans’. Our planet of origination, Earth, has its surface covered by over seventy percent water.”

  “Astounding. Our oceans are all subterranean.”

  “Back to the tradition. Any ship, be it water, air or space, is commanded by one individual. No one may come aboard without that person’s permission. Since you are the commander of Wisdom Seeker, Captain Marston is asking your permission to come aboard. The proper response is ‘Permission granted’.”

  “I see.” Facing the human captain, Princess Analyn formally stated, “Permission granted.”

  Krag relaxed his stiff attention and the five representatives of mankind, one being synthetic, followed the four Elonians down the tunnel to the doorway at the end. As now becoming normal, Sir Mahajani kept his place between the humans and his Princess.

  Reaching the end, Vidhee pressed a button and the door slid into the supporting wall. Walking through to the exiting door, Vidhee repeated the process. All eight filed through with all the natural humans trying to absorb everything they saw. After exiting the clean room and moving further into the cargo bay that currently housed Griffin, Princess Analyn paused to allow her guests a moment to take in the surroundings.

  Their breath became the first thing they noticed. Each exhale produced a small puff of cloud, warm air meeting cold.

  “Well, Cap, these heaters seem to work.”

  “Good for us.”

  “Ya. My Pa didn’t raise an icicle.”

  Turning slowly, the four humans gawked at the immense bay housing the Griffin. All could see through the shimmering, slightly greenish dome encompassing their ship.

  “What is that? Why can we see in but it was totally black when we were in Griffin?” Mack, being overcome by his curiosity, asked.

  “That is a gravity dome, Mack,” Vidhee answered. “It creates a slightly increased gravity area inside. This allows the trapping of anything associated with your ship. The darkness on the inside is due to the light-absorbing properties which have been incorporated.”

  “The whole security thing again, right?”

  “Once again, your brilliance is apparent. At least you didn’t use a dirt reference.”

  “Again? Really? Oh, you are so going to get it, Syn-Gal.”

  Everyone had a good chuckle.

  Krag, being the military person of the group, noticed the guards organized in a half-circle around his human group. All wore the standard, burnt-orange tunic. A metal cuirass covered each Elonian’s shoulders, chest and back. Metal baltea hung front and back from the guardsmen’s belt. Helmets with slots to keep their ears free adorned their heads.

  “Sir Mahajani. Are those the guardsmen you spoke of?”

  “Yes, Captain Marston.”

  “I notice none have weapons other than swords and javelins.”

  “We do not carry weapons that kill at distance. The javelins are capable of firing an energy burst, but only at close range.”

  “Is this part of your inner balance between your fighting instinct and your civilized society?”

  “Very astute, Captain Marston. Although we have the technology to create long-ranged weapons, it is against our laws to carry them. We do have powerful members in our Senate and of our businesses which think that we should manufacture and supply these weapons for security reasons. But, so far, their plans have been stopped. When planet-side conflicts occur, they are hand-to-hand.”

  “Elonians are truly a warrior race.”

  “But under control.”

  By this time, Princess Analyn had called over a guard with the royal seal on his chest plate. “Ambassador Suzume, Captain Marston, allow me to introduce Commander Tarunga. He leads our royal guardsmen on Wisdom Seeker. He will be accompanying us during your tour.”

  Executing the Elonian salute, Krag waited for a response. The commander returned the show of respect and both dropped their arms simultaneously.

  “An honor, Commander”

  Having telepathically received the human’s name and title, the Elonian commander replied, “The honor is mine, Captain Marston.”

  Krag knew that Commander Tarunga’s presence bespoke of protection against the strange humans. He, they all, needed to do everything in their power to sell the Elonians on the idea that they were benign.

  “As you say, ‘err on the side of caution’. I hope you are not offended.”

  “Of course not, Your Highness. In your place, I would do the same,” Keiko responded.

  “Knowing scie
ntists and engineers, we thought that we would actually have two tours. One for Sir Mack and Mrs. Benton. One for Ambassador Suzume and Captain Marston.” The princess turned her head and flicked an ear. A short, burly Elonian leaped forward. Keiko assumed that Princess Analyn had used her telepathic abilities to summon the Elonian.

  “This is Lieutenant Varrini. He is our lead engineer. He will show Sir Mack and Mrs. Benton the mechanics and engines of our ship. Is that acceptable, Ambassador Suzume?”

  “More than acceptable, Your Highness. With your permission, we would like Buster to accompany them.”

  “Certainly.”

  “Also, Buster has recording capabilities. Would it be permissible for him to utilize them during the tour?” Since Mack and Sue weren’t skilled in self-defense, Keiko wanted Buster there for protection. And Keiko assumed that the technical aspects of Wisdom Seeker were what she and Krag wanted during the bargaining. Buster’s recording would help their evaluations.

  “I see no issue with that.” Princess Analyn had discussed this scenario with her people and they had come to the conclusion that this would be no threat. Lieutenant Varrini had been carefully briefed on how detailed he was to be in explaining the inner workings of Wisdom Seeker. And, Princess Analyn knew that she, her father, in fact everyone within her clan, wanted the jump drive. The true purpose of the tour was to whet the human appetites, establish a barter point.

  “This way, Please.”

  As Princess Analyn led the group across the enormous bay, three more cat-like guardsmen fell in step. Watching the military precision of the three taking up positions, Krag assumed, once again, that the Elonians were communicating at the telepathic level. Through his cranial net, he had experienced its ease and clarity of communication and almost envied the capability.

  “Vidhee?”

  “Yes, Captain Marston.”

  “I was just wondering if I could initiate a telepathic link.”

  “As long as you are within Wi-Con range of Buster, you can.”

  “Why can you telepathically communicate with Buster?”

  “When we brought Buster to sentience, we also installed his ability to communicate telepathically. As that is a normal state for Elonians, we didn’t think anything of it.”

  “Could that be done with my cerebral net?”

  “We would need to upgrade the software in your central processing unit. But then, who would you communicate with? Since humans are not intrinsically telepathic, you would be unique.”

  “True. But it would strengthen my communication with Buster. And I could directly link to my people’s communicators. One more question. Could anyone with a cranial net be upgraded for telepathy?”

  “If it is the same configuration as yours, then yes. It could be done.”

  “Would you do this for me?”

  “I will check with Princess Analyn. But I see no reason not to.”

  “Thank you, Vidhee.”

  “You are welcome, Captain Marston.

  For the minutes it took to traverse the massive bay, the human contingent took in the alien equipment, alien design and general largeness of the alien ship.

  Feeling warm but breathing cold, the mixed group arrived at an opening against a bulkhead of the huge bay. Looking inside, everyone saw a large cylindrical space reaching up and up.

  “If you would all please step inside.”

  The civilian Elonians and Commander Tarunga entered as they had done it thousands of times before. Humans followed second, with the three guardsmen trailing.

  “This device, I think you would call it an elevator, is used to travel between decks.”

  “How many decks do you have, Vidhee?”

  “Twenty-three, Mack.”

  “Wisdom Seeker is a big ship.”

  “The largest in the fleet. One of our gravity generators is used to power all of the elevators on the ship. Please do not be alarmed, or struggle. You are completely safe.”

  The Elonian guardsmen pulled their javelins close to their bodies and stood at attention. Princess Analyn, Sir Mahajani, Doctor Roshnak simply stood comfortably. Vidhee simply stood. The four humans attempted to simulate the casualness of their hosts while Buster emulated Vidhee.

  Slowly everyone rose off of the decking, floating up. Sue let out a ‘yip’. Mack laughed. Krag and Keiko struggled to present a confident air. Strange markings on the cylinder wall would eliminate then fade. After five of these lightings, everyone stopped ascending. Swiveling his neck, Krag saw six passageways leading in six directions. Hatches and turn-offs broke the contours of the curved walls and domed ceiling. All the hallways seemed to go on forever.

  “This is the deck which leads to engineering. Sir Mack, Mrs. Benton, Buster, please follow Lieutenant Varrini.”

  Everyone watched the Lieutenant push off from a wall, float towards the opening and just before his momentum pushed him through, he put out a foot paw and lightly stepped onto the deck.

  “Here goes nothing,” Mack commented.

  Trying to imitate the engineer, Mack pushed off, floated and stuck his foot out. He pushed off too hard. When he tried the same, soft foot-planting, he toppled forward. Three running steps stopped him from nose-planting the deck and completely embarrassing himself.

  Buster followed, seeming to have been doing the maneuver for years.

  With a sigh of resignation, Sue followed. Having seen Mack’s almost pratfall, she only gave a light push. Everyone watched as she very slowly approached the opening, very slowly touched her foot down and very slowly stepped onto the deck.

  “And that is how it is done, Wrenchy.” Her excitement came through in her ta-da moment.

  Two guardsmen followed, again with the same grace as the Elonian engineer.

  “Lieutenant Varrini.”

  “Yes, My Princess?”

  “I think two sedeca will be sufficient. Upon completion, bring our guests to the bridge crew’s eating hall.”

  “Yes, My Princess.”

  “Vidhee, the bridge.”

  The gravity generator once again lowered the gravity under those remaining in the cylinder and increased the gravity above them. Everyone sedately rose, either being use to or having gotten used to the strange sensation.

  Reaching the second-to-topmost deck, the ascension halted. Again Krag saw six separate passageways. In his mind he visualized twenty-three decks, each with six exit points.

  Sir Mahajani waited as his princess chose a hallway and stepped off. The large bodyguard followed, stepping aside and establishing a presence between Princess Analyn and the humans. After watching Mack and Sue, Krag and Keiko succeeded in stepping off without any balance or stumble issues. Then came Doctor Roshnak with Commander Tarunga, with his subordinate, stepping off last.

  Once everyone was ready, Princess Analyn pointed to a hatch that opened to a large room. A long table lined with Elonian chairs sat, centralized. Counters and strange contraptions filled the far wall.

  “This is the bridge crew’s eating area. This is where we will reconnect with Lieutenant Varrini, Mack and Mrs. Benton.”

  She led her charges down the hall and between closed, equally spaced hatches.

  “These are the rooms for Wisdom Seeker’s bridge crew,” she commented as they walked. Everyone, including the humans, feigned interest, as they had seen many closed doors leading to sleeping quarters before.

  Reaching a closed hatch at the end of the passageway, she pointed a single, soft-paw digit to her right at another closed hatch with much more wall space. “This leads to my quarters.”

  Waving her paw at the two doors on her left, “These doors are Captain Kakkarna’s quarters and work room.”

  “The layout very closely resembles Griffin and all of the ships of the Federacy,” Krag commented.

  “I guess practicality defines designs.”

  “We have a saying, Your Highness. Form follows function,” Keiko added.

  “Well said, Ambassador Suzume.”

  After the
princess flicked an ear towards her guardsman, Sir Mahajani pressed a series of buttons and waited for the end hatch to slide into its pocket. Stepping to the side, he waited for his princess to lead. Upon her stepping through, Captain Kakkarna rushed to welcome her onto the bridge. He stopped, performed the now-familiar salute and dropped his paw when she flicked an ear. The rest of the bridge mimicked their captain’s actions then returned to their perspective tasks.

  “My Princess, welcome.” Knowing that the humans watched, he put on his best formal showing.

  “Captain Kakkarna, thank you. Let me introduce our guests.” Proceeding farther into the control center, she turned sideways and pointed to each human as Keiko and Krag entered.

  “Captain Kakkarna, may I present Ambassador Suzume, spokesperson for the human ship, Griffin and for Humanity. She is a human child bearer, in human terms, a female.”

  Keiko stepped forward and performed the traditional bow of her people. Placing her hands together in prayer fashion, she bowed deeply while touching her thumbs to her forehead. Wisdom Seeker’s captain again placed the back of his paw against his own furry forehead and flicked his ears forward. Princess Analyn flicked a single ear. Krag assumed she was communicating telepathically. Captain Kakkarna lowered his salute and Ambassador Suzume rose.

  “This is the captain and owner of the human ship, the Griffin, Captain Marston. He is a seed bringer. In human terms, a male.”

  In full military dress, Krag saluted smartly, holding his rigid hand against his forehead until the Elonian captain completed his returning salute.

  “Welcome aboard Wisdom Seeker, Ambassador Suzume and Captain Marston.”

  “Thank you for your gracious acceptance, Captain Kakkarna,” Keiko answered for the both of them.

  Both Krag and Keiko noticed the extreme formality everyone exhibited during the introductions. Keiko understood that societal rituals avoided embarrassing faux pas. Krag simply excepted it as military discipline.

  “Welcome Sir Mahajani, Doctor Roshnak. Vidhee, how is my ship running?”

  “Excellently, as always, Captain Kakkarna. I monitored the repairs to the forward sensor array and the crew performed admirably. I think we need to test our repulse cannons as we are approaching a fairly dense asteroid field. Also, I’ve detected slight fluctuations in our gravity shield. I suspect that one of its generators is in need of servicing.”