by Tom Hoffman
The tall holo rabbit stepped briskly over to the counter.
“Name, please?”
“Ummm... Sophia Mouse.”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t quite hear that, would you mind repeating it?”
“Sophia Mouse.”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t quite hear that, would you mind repeating it?”
“MY NAME IS SOPHIA MOUSE!”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t quite hear that, would you mind repeating it?”
Orville grabbed Sophia’s arm. “Wait, let me try something.” Orville leaned over the counter and said loudly, “I am Senior Mechanist Bletchley Rabbit, here to check my messages.”
The holo rabbit glowed brightly. “Senior Mechanist Bletchley Rabbit, you have one new message. Please use booth number 31. Please use booth number 31. To retrieve your message simply insert your Military Identification Card into the appropriate slot.” The holo rabbit flickered, returning to its original position, standing at attention, paws behind its back.
Sophia pointed to a long hallway. “Down there. I can see a long row of doors.”
Two minutes later the two adventurers were standing in front of a door adorned with the large red numeral ‘31’. Orville pressed the violet tab next to the door and it slid silently open, revealing a room no bigger than a small closet. He stepped in and an overhead light blinked on. He heard the sultry, sensuous voice again. “Please insert your Military Identification Card to retrieve your messages.”
“Hey voice, can you teach Sophia to talk like that?” Orville grinned at Sophia.
“Orville! Do what it says before I tell it to vaporize you.”
“Unnhhh. All right.” Orville located the narrow slot on the wall in front of him and slipped in the Military Identification Card.
“Good evening, Senior Mechanist Bletchley Rabbit. You have one new message. To receive your message, please say, ‘This is Senior Mechanist Bletchley Rabbit, and I am here to receive my new message.’”
Orville groaned, repeating, “This is Senior Mechanist Bletchley Rabbit, and I am here to receive my new message.”
The overhead light blinked off and a massive room appeared in front of Orville, the very angry face of an enormous rabbit wearing heavy blue coveralls glaring at him.
“BLETCHLEY!! Get down to Level Six right now, do you hear me?? Right now!! I don’t know what your game is, but we got four damaged blinkers that need to be back in the air by tomorrow morning. Two with major and two with minor damage but all no-flies. You got it? Get on that lift and get down here now! I want to see you walking the green line before I count to three!!”
The room went dark and the overhead light blinked on.
Sophia turned to Orville. “We have to find Level Six. There might be blinker ships down there we could use to get off this mesa. Maybe we could even fly one across the Senyph Ocean.”
“Good idea. We need to find the lift that angry rabbit was talking about.”
Orville and Sophia hurried down to the end of the corridor, reaching a set of tall red doors. Orville inserted his card into the card slot next to the doors and they whirred open, revealing a small metal room. “Is this a lift? I don’t really know what they look like.”
“I think so. Look on the wall at those seven colored tabs. If you push one of them it probably takes you to a certain level.”
“Which one should I push?”
“Good question. He said you should be walking the green line. Try pressing the green one.”
Orville hit the green tab and the red doors slid shut. The lift shot down so quickly Orville felt as though he was in free fall. “Aggghhh!!”
Sophia grabbed the rail on the wall with both paws, her eyes wide. After rapidly descending for fifteen seconds the lift came to an abrupt stop, almost sending Orville to the floor. The red doors slid open.
“Please follow the yellow line. Please follow the yellow line. Mind the gap between the car and the platform.”
Orville stepped out of the elevator into a long dark corridor.
“There’s a line of little yellow lights here. Maybe they take us to the green line, whatever that is.”
Sophia and Orville headed down the long corridor but found no sign of a green line. “This is a little troubling. I think we might be on the wrong floor.”
“You’re probably right, but let’s just go a little bit farther and see. The hallway turns left here. Maybe the yellow line ends and the green line begins in the next hallway.”
“Maybe.” Sophia did not sound convinced.
They reached the end of the corridor with the yellow line of lights and turned left.
“Uh oh.” Orville was looking down the length of the corridor. His eyes had followed the yellow line all the way down to an enormous Rabbiton standing at attention – an enormous Rabbiton who was now looking at them with a dreadfully severe frown.
“He’s way bigger than Proto. I think he’s one of those A6 Warrior Rabbitons, and he doesn’t look very friendly.”
“We should go.”
“HALT!” The huge Rabbiton bellowed down the hallway at them. “NAME??”
“What?”
“NAME AND RANK, TROOPER!!”
Orville thought quickly. “I’m Senior Mechanist Bletchley Rabbit, at your service, sir!”
The huge Rabbiton was now striding quickly toward them, his glowing red eyes scanning Orville’s form. “What’s your game? You’re not Bletchley Rabbit! You’re not even a rabbit, you’re a mouse! Do you think I’m some kind of dimmer? Stand at attention so I can vaporize both of you!” The A6 Warrior stretched out his immense silver arm and it began to glow with a brilliant purple light.
“Run, Sophia, run!!” The pair of adventurers turned and ran just as a mammoth blast of purple light exploded behind them, vaporizing a six foot wide hole in the corridor wall. Orville shrieked as they sprinted at top speed down the echoing hallway.
Sophia hollered, “Back to the lift, back to the lift!” Orville reached the lift first and slapped the violet button. He heard the familiar sultry, mellifluous voice.
“The lift is currently undergoing daily maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please try again in five minutes. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Sophia cried out, “Here he comes again! Run!”
The two best friends dashed wildly down the wide corridor, the Rabbiton booming out, “WARNING! WARNING! ANARKKIAN SPIES HAVE INFILTRATED NORRICH BUNKER!!”
“Aggghh! Faster! Turn right!” They skittered and careened around the sharp corner, racing down the hallway.
“Orville, into that room! We have to hide, there’s no way we can outrun an A6 Rabbiton.”
Orville flung the door open and they dashed in, quickly closing the door behind them. “Look at all these big desks. Let’s hide underneath one near the back of the room.”
The pair of adventurers scuttled across the room and slipped under one of the huge desks.
“We should be safe here.”
Sophia heard the A6 Rabbiton thundering past the door and down the hall.
“We’re safe for a while, but we can’t hide here forever. The problem is that A6 Rabbiton can wait in the hallway forever. He’s probably been here guarding the bunker for the last thousand years.”
Proto poked his head out of Orville’s backpack. “Great heavens, you two certainly do manage to get into some dreadfully awkward predicaments.”
“Proto, this isn’t funny, we’re in real danger now. That A6 Warrior Rabbiton thinks we’re Anarkkian spies and is trying to vaporize us. We don’t have a chance against a creature like that.”
“Yes, I completely understand, it’s all quite clear to me. You want me to rescue you again, but you’re too embarrassed or too proud to ask for my help. Orville and Sophia, my dear, dear friends, you should know better than that. Of course I’ll rescue you.”
“I know you mean well, but–”
Proto’s beak opened up and Orville’s voice came out of it. “I
know you mean well, but–”
“Hey, how did you use my voice like that?”
“I am fully capable of perfectly mimicking any sound or any voice. Don’t you remember how I used the cry of an attacking Gnorli Bird to scare away the carnivorous centipedes?”
“Of course I remember that, Proto, but how are you going to rescue us using my voice?”
“Trust your old friend Proto to come up with a foolproof escape plan. If you wouldn’t mind cracking the door open, I will fly through the corridors until I spot that dreadfully fearsome A6 Warrior Rabbiton and lead him on a wild Gnorli bird chase he won’t soon forget. It will be quite exhilarating, I’m sure.”
“That could work, Proto! If you can lead the A6 away from us, then we’ll head back the other way to the lift.”
“Precisely, you have grasped the essence of my ingenious plan. My weapons shall be misdirection, confusion, and a variety of very rude insults. I’ll infuriate him, distract him, and then fly back to the lift and hit the violet tab, opening the lift doors. Be ready to dash back down the hallway and into the lift!”
“All right, Proto, I’m opening the door for you.”
Proto waddled out of the room, flapped his wings and shot off down the hallway.
“COME AND GET ME IF YOU DARE, YOU GREAT ENORMOUS SILVER NINNY!”
Orville heard the A6 Rabbiton’s deafening voice boom through the corridors. “ANARKKIAN SPY MOUSE! I’VE GOT YOU NOW!”
Sophia nodded and they crept out of the room, heading back the way they had come. They could hear Proto shouting dreadfully rude insults at the A6 Warrior Rabbiton. “Good heavens, where did Proto learn words like that?”
Orville snickered. “Let’s run for the lift.” Sophia and Orville darted down the long hallway. When they reached the end of the corridor Orville peered cautiously around the corner.
“All clear!” They raced madly toward the lift.
“There it is! Proto opened the doors!”
They could hear Proto still shrieking extremely vulgar invectives at the Rabbiton.
“I think he really likes this, Sophia. We may have created a monster.”
Seconds later Proto flashed into the lift. “Hit the purple tab! I found a sign showing purple is for Level Six!”
Proto stuck his head out between the lift doors and shrieked, “TOO LATE, NINNY FACE! BIG SCARY A6 RABBITON COULDN’T EVEN CATCH A MOUSE!!”
Proto pulled his head in just as the doors to the lift slammed shut and the car rose up one level. When the doors opened again Sophia peered out, then smiled. There was a lovely line of green lights leading out from the lift and down the corridor.
“You did it Proto! You really did rescue us!”
Sophia picked up Proto and kissed him on the top of his head. “You’re the best! I really do not know how we ever got along without you.”
Chapter 24
Sophia’s Plan
Sophia and Orville exited the lift, following the line of green lights down the wide hallway. Orville sent a bright glowing orb out from his paw.
Sophia slung her pack up onto her shoulder. “That’s better, now we can see. This is the level where they repair the damaged ships, but I can’t image how they get them down here.”
“There must be a gargantuan lift that goes up to the surface of the mesa.”
“You’re right, and if it still works we can use it to take a blinker up there.”
The trail of green lights turned sharply to the right, stopping in front of a set of wide green metal doors. Orville slid his card into the slot and the doors whirred open.
“Creekers, this place is huge!”
“Over there! Those are the four blinker ships the angry rabbit was talking about, but two of them are almost crushed flat. The other two look okay though.”
“That angry rabbit called them ‘no-flies’. I guess that means they don’t fly. Let’s take a look around. They must have left this place in a hurry.”
Sophia scanned the room. At the far end was a large silver scout ship with a great jagged hole in the port side, and sitting next to it was a large white boxy craft with an array of odd glowing cubes and antennae running around the top of it.
“What’s that big box thing?”
“I think it’s an interstellar ship. They don’t work the same as scout ships and blinkers. They don’t actually travel through space, they just... well, they’re here and then they’re somewhere else. I don’t really understand how they work, but it has something to do with creating a fold in space.”
“Oh, that doesn’t sound like something we could use. The only ships I see here look badly damaged. Let’s take a look at the two blinkers that aren’t in such bad shape.”
“I want to search this scout ship first. Maybe there’s something in there we can salvage.” Sophia climbed through the ragged tear in the side of the ship and studied the craft’s interior. She spotted a rack on the wall holding six clear glass cylinders, each about three feet long with a pair of silver tubes running down one side. At the base of each cylinder was a round violet tab. She strode over to the wall and gingerly removed one of the cylinders. After searching the rest of the ship and finding nothing, she climbed out of the scout ship and held the glass cylinder up for Orville to see.
“What is it?
“It’s what you hoped we might find. It’s a vape gun. They’re easy to use, but incredibly dangerous. Papa let me shoot one.”
“I remember you said that. What do they actually do?
Sophia looked around her then pointed to the wall. “See that picture hanging on the wall?”
“Yes?” Orville was not certain he wanted Sophia to be firing ancient and incredibly dangerous weapons in a closed room. “Wait, is something going to explode? We probably shouldn’t–”
Sophia aimed the vape gun at the wall and pressed the violet tab. There was a loud humming sound and the picture vanished, along with a twelve inch wide circular section of wall. “That’s what it does. It vaporizes matter.”
Orville stepped over and examined the hole in the wall. “Creekers, don’t point that thing at me. Should we bring it with us?”
“Let’s leave it here. We’re shapers, we don’t need weapons like this. Let’s go check out the two blinkers.” Sophia set the vape gun gently down on the floor and they made their way across the cavernous room to the damaged blinkers.
“We’re in luck, they never took them off the lift, Orville. If by some chance they do fly, we can take them back up. That looks like the lift control panel on that brass pedestal.”
“Well, the two crushed ships obviously won’t fly, but how can you tell if the other ones will?”
“There should some sort of indicator lights. I think so, anyway.”
“You think so? Do you know how to fly these?”
“Not exactly, but it can’t be too hard.”
“Sophia...”
“Quit being a nervous ninny, Orville.” Sophia stepped into the first blinker, studying the control panel. “Hmmm... it looks fairly simple. Two control sticks and that bank of colored tabs. Let’s see, violet means on and yellow means off. So I’ll just tap this violet tab.”
Orville backed away from the ship. “Be careful, please!”
Sophia pressed the violet tab and a blaring alarm shrieked. All the tabs were blinking bright yellow. “That doesn’t look promising. I’ll try the other ship.”
Orville covered his ears and a minute later a similar alarm blared from the second ship. Sophia peered out of the main hatch at Orville.
“Well, we won’t be flying these anytime soon. Drat, I was hoping we’d find a ship that was still in working order. Help me look and we’ll see if there’s anything we can use.”
Orville stepped into the blinker ship and looked around. “This is amazing. How did they fly without wings?”
Proto pushed his head out from under the flap. “They were powered by CDETS and utilized anti-microgravity units with force displacers. Some of the later ones had i
nertia deadeners which allowed them to stop almost instantly.”
“What?”
“It’s quite simple really. They warp the space around them to alter the gravitational pull. When they shoot forward they are actually falling, attracted by the enhanced artificial gravitational pull they create.”
Sophia was eyeing the ceiling of the ship, her jaw slowly moving back and forth. “There is one option, but I really do not think you’re going to like it.”
Orville’s eyes narrowed. “Does it have anything to do with carnivorous centipedes or big green sticky ball creatures?”
Sophia snorted. “Nothing even remotely like that. Stand outside the ship and keep your eyes on the top of it. Tell me if anything happens.” Orville exited the craft and stepped away from it.
“Okay, I’m watching. What are you going to do?”
“Here goes!” There was a sharp squealing of metal on metal, followed immediately by a small explosion on the top of the ship. A gigantic orange canopy burst into the air above the craft, then drifted slowly down, draping itself over the craft. Sophia dashed out of the blinker, poking her head out from under the orange canopy. “It worked!”
Orville stood silently, staring at the huge orange canopy. “I don’t get it. What is that thing?”
“It’s an emergency sailing canopy. If the ship loses power and begins to fall, the blinker pilot pulls the release lever and the sail canopy pops out, allowing them to glide safely to the ground.”
“Ummm... are you saying we’re going to jump off a three mile high mesa holding onto that big piece of orange fabric?”
“No, of course not, that’s not what I’m saying at all. We’ll be safely inside the last blinker. We just have to roll the ship to the edge of the mesa, climb inside, rock it back and forth until it rolls off the edge, and when we’re falling I’ll pull the emergency canopy release.”
Orville’s legs began shaking. “That really doesn’t sound like a very well thought out plan. It’s three miles straight down to the very hard ground below.”
“Pay attention. It’s just physics. The canopy will billow out, increasing our air resistance and drastically slowing the ship’s rate of descent. We should glide at least five miles, probably much more. The Elders wouldn’t have installed these in blinkers if they didn’t work.”
