by Tom Hoffman
Orville gave Sophia an anxious look. “Do you think it’s safe?”
“It looks a lot like blinking. It’s probably the same process but a machine does all the work. It’s just science. Come on, let’s go.” Sophia disappeared with a small flash of blue light. Orville took a deep breath and hopped onto the disc.
“Whoa! It’s exactly like blinking!” Orville’s eyes swept his new surroundings. “This is definitely the bridge, it’s the same as the crystalline cube projections we saw. That giant hole is where the pulsar beam hit. Look at the size of it, half the bridge is gone and you can see all the way down through the decks. I can see the sky from here.”
“Abacus, how will you fly the ship with all the controls destroyed?”
Abacus did not respond to Sophia’s question, his eyes firmly focused on the emptiness which had once been his navigation and control console. He placed both hands on the gray bulkhead next to him. His voice rang out across the bridge.
“Abacus MV Bermitar making his presence known. Second form merging imminent. Core field link activated.”
“What’s happening?” Orville took a nervous step backwards.
“He’s merging with the ship!” Sophia watched in amazement as Abacus melted into a pool of blue liquid which rapidly spread out across the bridge. Moments later he was gone, absorbed into the ship.
“What’s he going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wait, do you feel that?”
“A vibration, but it’s more than that. There’s some kind of force... I don’t know.”
Orvilled grabbed Sophia and pulled her backwards. “The walls are moving!”
Sophia gave a yelp of surprise. “It’s just like the Blue Monks’ monastery! It’s growing!”
The three adventurers stood motionless, mesmerized as the walls and decks surrounding the massive hole in the ship began to blur and change. Decks spread out across the empty space left by the pulsar beam attack, walls streamed upward, consoles and chairs and holoscreens, communication panels flowing out of nothingness, sprouting up in seconds across the bridge. The vibration Orville had felt was now a deafening hum, the room pulsating wildly, growing faster than Orville’s mind could register.
As suddenly as it had begun, the earsplitting hum stopped. Proto scanned the bridge. “Astonishing, the ship has been restored. This technology is quite unfamiliar to me. The ship healed itself just as a living creature heals from a wound. Even the Elders had nothing comparable to this.”
“Did Abacus heal the ship or did it heal itself?”
“It was a collaborative effort. I enabled the process, while my second form healed itself.”
Orville whirled around to see Abacus standing behind them, glowing brightly.
“The ship won’t crash?”
“I have repaired only the damage done by the Anarkkian heavy beam pulsar weapon.”
“What about the power supply? The antimatter core you told us about?”
“There is still much to be done. We must go to the parallel core portal field in engineering. Hurry!” Abacus strode across the bridge, slapping a violet disk on the bulkhead. A wide circular doorway appeared and he stepped through it. “Transport tubes.” He pointed to a long row of yellow discs lining the corridor and raised one hand. The fourth disc switched from yellow to violet. Abacus rushed over to it and disappeared in a flash of light, the three adventurers following him.
Chapter 35
The Net
Orville’s second trip through the MV Bermitar’s tube transport system was not as unnerving as the first. Before he knew it he was facing an enormous translucent orange dome. In the center of the ninety foot wide dome was a twenty foot wide wavering black cylinder. Sophia gazed at the mammoth orange structure. “What is that thing? Is that the ship’s engine?”
Abacus shook his head. “It is the portal to Ainran, the parallel antimatter world. I will activate it.” He stepped over to a curved silver panel on the orange dome. Abacus studied rows of multicolored discs and tabs on the control center. “It is stable.” His fingers became a blur, tapping on the grid of colored tabs.
Orville blinked. The floor of the orange dome had transformed from a smooth gray surface to a ninety foot circular section of bleak rocky terrain. “Is that Ainran?”
“It is Ainran. The interior of the dome is now dimensionally linked to the world of Ainran. By altering the UMS coordinates we may access any segment of the planet we choose. Once I find an appropriately sized piece of antimatter I will utilize non-matter fields to surround the object and maneuver it into the central cylinder, infusing it into the antimatter field fence core. When antimatter from Ainran comes in contact with the negatively charged matter from our world, stupendous amounts of energy are released. It is this energy which powers my second form. There is currently less than one-quarter ounce of antimatter remaining inside the field fence.”
Abacus slid one finger across a bright green disc, watching as the terrain within the orange dome slipped past. Finally he stopped. “There, that large rock will do nicely.” He moved his fingers across the green disc, tapping it gently. Orville watched as a wavering blue cloud of energy appeared, surrounding the fifteen foot wide boulder.
Using a pair of silver control sticks protruding from the main panel Abacus began maneuvering the massive rock. The huge stone drifted upward, then floated over toward the inky black central cylinder. When the boulder touched the black cylinder a circle of white sparks appeared around the area where the two objects intersected. Inch by inch Abacus moved the massive rock into the central field fence core.
Proto looked over to Abacus. “The rock loses its form, its atoms diffusing into the central core field?”
“Precisely, the rock becomes a cloud of gaseous antimatter particles which can be injected into the ship’s dual magnetic thrusters and antigrav displacers. “Abacus stepped back from the control panel, watching as the last section of the boulder disappeared into the black cylinder. He turned to Orville and Sophia. “The ship will not crash, the time throttles will not activate, and time will continue on in your world.” Abacus made an odd choking noise, pressing one hand to his chest.
“Abacus? Are you all right?”
“I am uncertain how to accurately describe my current state of being. I feel weak, profoundly affected by the multitude of apparently insignificant events which have led us to this moment. If Orville’s papa had not picked up the blue marble, if you had not persuaded Orville to purchase a necklace for his mum’s birth anniversary, if he had not noticed the blue marble rolling uphill, if Myrmac the Brave had not sold the blue stones to Ollo the Rock Mouse and the gem trader, if you had not showed such kindness to the last mechanic and to Arthur the Anteater – without all these events occurring in their proper order the world we currently live in would cease to be within hours. Perhaps these thoughts are a direct result of my second reassembly.”
Sophia put her paw on Abacus’ arm. “We’ve all been under enormous stress trying to find the MV Bermitar and prevent it from striking the Earth. We were successful, we stopped it, but it takes time for stress of that magnitude to dissipate from our physical forms. It’s not unusual for it to take many months, or even years. I will more than likely have many nightmares about this, dreams of time stopping, dreams of being unable to prevent it.”
Orville sank to his knees with a low groan. “Something is wrong.”
Fear shot through Sophia. “What is it??”
“The time throttles. We have to get down there. Something is very wrong.”
Abacus pointed to the row of yellow tube portals lining the hallway. “Number 9 will take you to deck three High Security Zone. I have deactivated all security defense protocols.”
“What does that mean?”
“If an unauthorized intruder enters the High Security Zone their first form would be vaporized by an autonomous proton beam gun.”
Sophia stopped in her tracks. “You’re sure it’s safe to go?�
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“All defense systems have been deactivated.”
Orville staggered to his feet. “We need to go. I need to go.” He ran down the corridor and stepped onto the ninth tube portal, vanishing in a flash of light.
“Orville! Wait for me!” Sophia had never seen Orville like this, never sensed such a depth of fear. Whatever was down there, he was terrified of it. She stepped onto the ninth portal and disappeared.
When she blinked into the security zone Sophia dropped to the floor, a sphere of defense popping up around her, her eyes scanning the hold for active defense systems. “I know Abacus said it was clear, but better safe than sorry.” She sprang to her feet, looking for Orville. He was nowhere to be seen.
“Orville! Where are you? Orville??”
There was no reply. Sophia studied the mammoth hold. She was standing in a twenty foot wide corridor lined with several dozen heavy Morsennium blast doors opening into the cargo hold chambers. Half of the doors were open, as if someone had been randomly searching the chambers. “Orville couldn’t have opened all those. He just got here.” Sophia hugged the corridor wall and crept down the long hallway.
When she reached the first open chamber door she peered around the corner. Massive metal racks were filled with gleaming black boxes, all marked with indecipherable symbols. “These must be the time throttles. There are hundreds of boxes but they’re too small to hold a galactic time throttle.”
She slipped over to one of the boxes and unlatched it. “A time throttle, larger than the time looper we found on Periculum, but not much. These were carried by troopers and used in ground battles. Maybe the crew left the doors open when they abandoned ship. But why would they leave them open? Surely they must have had protocols that included–”
Sophia had been a Metaphysical Adventurer for over five years. In those five years she had gone on numerous missions, often under extremely hazardous circumstances. She had encountered her share of terrifying creatures, beasts who might well have sprung from the fabric of a mouse’s worst nightmare. She had seen Metaphysical Adventurers lose their lives and she was supremely aware of the risks involved on each and every mission. During those five years she had also heard her share of screams. There had been screams of fright, of anger, of terror, of dreadful anguish, of pain. The scream she was hearing now was unlike any of those. Her insides turned to ice. The scream was disbelief, the scream was loss, the scream was horror, the scream was an end to all things. Sophia was afraid her heart would stop. The scream had come from Orville.
“ORVILLE!!” Sophia sprinted down the corridor, the horrifying scream echoing in her mind, her eyes burning. By the time she reached the last cargo chamber she was almost blinded by the tears in her eyes. She slid around the corner with no idea of what abomination might greet her. She stopped short, trying to comprehend what she was seeing. The first thing she saw was Orville kneeling on the floor, his arms wrapped around himself, his body hunched forward, a low guttural moan coming from his open mouth. He did not look up at Sophia, he didn’t even know she was there.
The second thing she saw was the body. A mouse lay sprawled on the deck, one arm stretched out at an odd angle, one leg twisted to the side. The body was motionless. In an instant Sophia knew everything. She knew exactly what she was seeing. The body she was looking at belonged to Eldon Mouse, Orville’s Papa.
“Oh, no. Oh, no.” Sophia ran to Orville and sank down next to him, wrapping her arms around him, holding him close to her. “Don’t look, Orville, don’t look at him.”
Orville made a ragged choking noise. “Papa.”
Sophia forced herself to look at Eldon Mouse, afraid she might faint, afraid she might throw up. His eyes were open, focused on nothing.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. “Sophia held Orville as tightly as she could, merging her thoughts with his, then pulling back, the enormity of his grief was too much. She turned toward Eldon, trying to comprehend what had happened. How could he possibly be here? What had he been doing? It was clear he had died recently, in the last day or two. How was it possible? Why hadn’t he come home before then? Of its own volition, Sophia’s enormous intellect clicked on, her magnificent brain an organic neuronic processor with a trillion electrical impulses sparking simultaneously. Her brilliant eyes scanned the area for clues, scrutinizing every aspect of Eldon’s body. That was when she saw it. Sophia let out a ragged gasp.
“Orville! Stop! Stop crying and pay attention to me! Listen!”
Orville turned slowly toward her, dazed and confused. “What?”
“Look very carefully at your papa’s body. Look at the deck where he is lying. Look clearly. Rest your head on the floor and look at him.”
“What? Why are you saying that?”
Sophia grabbed Orville’s head and pushed it down to the floor. “LOOK AT HIM, ORVILLE!” Sophia could feel Orville suddenly jerk backwards. He sat up, staring at her in disbelief.
“He’s not touching the floor.”
“No, he’s not touching the floor, and there’s only one possible explanation for that.”
Orville’s eyes blinked rapidly. “He’s frozen in time! He’s not dead! He’s frozen in time! That’s why he never came home.” Orville was sobbing uncontrollably.
Sophia held him until he stopped, then said, “Look what he’s holding.”
“A time throttle. It must have accidentally gone off while he was holding it.”
“Focus, Orville. Look around and tell me what you see.”
Orville scanned the hold, his eyes traveling across the massive metal racks. “I don’t know what I’m seeing. But we can shut off the time throttle! Just like you did on Periculum with the time looper.” Orville stumbled over to his papa. He grabbed the small time throttle clutched in his papa’s paw.
“STOP! PUT IT DOWN! Look at the cargo shelves and tell me what you see! Focus!”
Orville looked up, his observant mind slowly returning. On the top shelf, almost thirty feet above the floor was a massive fifteen foot wide black packing case tilted at an odd angle, the case larger by far than any of the others in the hold. When he looked more closely, he noticed the shelf beneath the huge black box was twisted and bent, the heavy support struts all missing. Something had vaporized them. “That big box should have fallen. Why didn’t it fall?”
“Now you’ve got it. Why didn’t it fall?”
“Papa activated his time throttle on purpose. It was the only way he could think of to stop the Size 15000 M2 Galactic Time Throttle from hitting the floor and activating. If we shut off Papa’s time throttle the M2 will fall and time will stop in our galaxy.”
“Take my paw, Orville. We need to shape a Morsennium net to catch the box when it falls.”
Orville stepped over to Sophia and grasped her paw tightly. Their minds merged within seconds, their thoughts and feelings intermingling. It was hard for Orville to tell if he was thinking a thought or if Sophia was, but it didn’t matter. “We’ll shape a six inch ring of Morsennium, then another one linked through it, and on and on. Once we have the net formed we can suspend it from the superstructure, positioning the net directly beneath the M2 Galactic Time Throttle.”
A brilliant golden glow surrounded the two mice and sparkling white Morsennium rings began blinking into existence. By the time Abacus and Proto arrived in the cargo hold a huge net hung beneath the M2 Galactic Time Throttle, suspended from the ship’s superstructure by heavy Morsennium chains.
Abacus studied the net, then the body lying frozen above the deck. He grasped the situation immediately. “The intruder set off the automatic proton beam displacer gun defense system. He was able to dodge the beam, but it vaporized the shelf supports holding the M2 Throttle. He must have realized what was happening and activated the time throttle he was holding. It was the only way he could prevent the box from falling. Whoever this mouse is, he saved our galaxy.”
“It’s Orville’s papa. He’s been missing for two years.”
Proto gave a great start.
“That’s your papa? He was frozen in time. That’s why he never came home!”
Orville nodded. “Sophia and I shaped the net to catch the M2 Galactic Time Throttle when we shut off Papa’s time throttle.”
Abacus studied the net and the supporting chains. “This will function perfectly. Do you know how to deactivate a time throttle?”
Sophia nodded. She leaned over and picked it up from the floor. “I unscrew the top like this, flip this open and simultaneously press the two blue tabs.”
A split second later Orville’s papa shot forward, rolling across the floor. He did a complete somersault and sprang to his feet, looking up at the huge black box. Much to his surprise the box was now swaying gently back and forth, nestled safely within a massive Morsennium net. “What? Where did that–” Eldon Mouse heard something move behind him. A powerful sphere of defense blinked up as he turned to face this new threat. His eyes scanned the four adventurers, stopping at Orville. For a moment he said nothing, a look of confusion on his face.
“Orville? Is that you? Am I dreaming? What are you doing here? Why are you so big?”
Orville had tears running down his face. He ran to his papa and threw his arms around him. “It’s me, Papa. We found you.”
“The time throttle! Oh, no, how long was I frozen?”
“Two years. I thought you were dead.”
The two mice held each other for almost a minute. Sophia thought her heart might burst, Proto had both of his long silver hands pressed against his chest, and Abacus’ golden eyes were flickering wildly.
Chapter 36
Reunion
Orville was in heaven, at least his version of heaven. He was standing on the bridge of the MV Bermitar with his papa on one side of him and Sophia on the other. Eldon was talking to Abacus.
“It’s hard to believe I’m really speaking with an Abacus. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever meet one. You’re quite right, it’s miraculous that I found the blue marble on Varmoran and gave it to Orville. I remember telling him it was magic. Maybe I was right.” Eldon put his paw on Orville’s shoulder. “I can’t believe my little Orville is a Metaphysical Adventurer.”
