The Accidental Explorer

by George Deeb

  “I have to ask,” Erika said, “I notice that your skin has a very light blue coloring. Are you alright?”

  Mersuul smiled.

  “Most people do not notice that.” she answered. “It is because of your low oxygen level. Four percent more oxygen is normal for me. Your air make me sleep some times and I do not feel enough energy.”

  'Another strange comment.' thought Erika. She wondered what Mersuul meant by “your low oxygen level”.

  “You live some place where the oxygen in the air is four percent higher than normal? Where do you come from?”

  “I cannot say. Your uncle will tell you.”

  Erika's eyes widened in surprise. 'OK,' she thought, 'this is even stranger.'

  “You can't tell me, but my uncle can? Do you know how strange that sounds?”

  “I do not have permission... authority... to tell. Tony will tell.”

  Erika's curiosity rose. She was with a strange (in more ways than one) person, who spoke a strange language, and couldn't give information about herself but her uncle could. This was a new situation for her. Then she looked at Vicious, as the little robot was walking by on its security rounds, and had an idea.

  “Vicious,” she said to the robot, “where does Mersuul come from?”

  Now it was Mersuul's eyes that widened in surprise.

  “Tony say you are very smart. I did not expect that.” she said in English, smiling.

  Vicious' head turned toward Erika, and when it recognized her the little robot walked towards the couch. They both waited for Vicious to answer the question. It took a few seconds before the robot responded.

  “Unknown.” said the little dinosaur's computerized voice.

  “Vicious, tell me everything you know about Mersuul.” Erika prompted.

  “Mersuul is Vicious girlfriend.” the little dinosaur said.

  It took a couple of seconds for the house computer to translate Vicious' words. Mersuul laughed and Erika shrugged.

  “It was worth a shot.” she said to Mersuul. “So when is uncle Tony supposed to be back?”

  Mersuul looked at the clock on the fireplace mantel, like a child who was just learning to tell time. She still had difficulty translating the two systems of time she had to deal with. Then her expression relaxed as she thought of another way to answer the question. The computer again translated for her.

  “He will be back before dinner.” she said with a self satisfied expression. “I do not use your time very much so I forget to tell your time easy. He went to get bar bee Q steaks.”

  Erika wondered what time system Mersuul was used to. She thought everyone used a twenty-four hour system, whatever country they came from.

  The next couple of hours went more like two new friends getting acquainted. Mersuul helped Erika unpack her bags, and Erika helped Mersuul refresh her memory on reading a clock. They even had time for a quick driving lesson for Mersuul, who claimed she didn't get much opportunity to drive a car – and yes, she did like convertibles. In the back seat sat Vicious, who acted as a remote translator node via his radio link with the house computer.

  It was during this driving lesson that the two seat home-built aircraft, with Anthony Travellor at the controls, dropped down and kept pace off the right side of the car. It flew twenty feet above the ground, and close enough for Erika to see her uncle smiling and waving. After a couple of minutes the plane accelerated and climbed, heading towards the house. One of the reasons her uncle had built his house here was that property was affordable. He had cleared a two thousand foot private landing strip in the back. “Property and privacy” he always told her. Those were the primary reasons he chose this area.

  By the time they had garaged the car, and came out the back door, Travellor was already tying down the plane. Erika ran to her uncle and wrapped her arms around him so tightly that her hug forced the air out of his lungs. He returned the hug and kissed her cheek, as he lifted her off the ground.

  “Ohhh... It is so good to see you.” he said.

  “I missed you so much.” she replied.

  The hug went on for several minutes before they released their hold on each other. Erika closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth and security she always felt when she was with her uncle.

  “How are you, beautiful?”

  “I'm fine, uncle Tony. How are you?”

  “Much better now that you're here. I see you've met Mersuul.” he said, as he watch the other woman approach.

  “Yes. We've been having a good time, and I have a lot of questions about her. She says she can't tell me anything about herself but you can. What's that all about?”

  Travellor reached a hand out to the approaching Mersuul, and she briefly spoke to him as she took it. This time they weren't near the house computer or Vicious, so there was no translation for Erika. Travellor replied in that same strange language.

  “No fair.” said Erika. “I don't understand what you're saying.”

  “I'll fix that.” said Travellor. “I have a portable translator in the house. That will work until we get you a more permanent unit.”

  4

  Barbecued steak and sweet potatoes cooked on the grill, with a glass of wine and a setting Montana sun made a great end to an enjoyable day. The wrist translator Travellor had given to Erika was faster than the house computer, which made conversation easier. As they lounged lazily in the cooling evening air, they took turns taking pictures of each other and laughing about the language problem until the sun was completely down.

  Cleanup didn't take long, and they were soon in the living room and continuing their conversation. Erika was in the mood for some answers, and she thought this would be the right time.

  “OK, let's clear up this mystery uncle Tony. Where does Mersuul come from, and why couldn't she tell me?”

  Her uncle smiled at her curiosity, and hesitated before answering.

  “I would like to tell you, and relieve your curiosity, but that would ruin the surprise. Tell you what, give me until you start your new job – and everything will be made clear.”

  Erika knew that look on his face. It was the one he had when he was planning a surprise for her.

  “Seriously?” she said. “You can't just give me the name of the country she comes from?”

  “If I did,” he replied, “I'd miss out on all the fun of seeing your reaction when you found out.”

  “So this has something to do with my new job then?”

  “Yes.”

  Erika was getting suspicious, and her mind shifted into high gear. This was a game they had played many times before, with her uncle challenging her to accomplish or figure out something. He challenged her often, but he always made it interesting. Most of the time the conclusion was something that completely surprised her. She was determined now – she would win this game!

  “What do I get if I figure it out for myself?” she asked.

  Travellor's eyes became as big as his grin. His niece was never one to back away from a contest of wills. He enjoyed their little games, as he knew she did.

  “If you figure it out, you will get to see me in the GREATEST state of shock that I have ever been in my life... AND I'll take you out for ice-cream.”

  “ICE-CREAM! Yes, you promised me ice-cream.” said Mersuul.

  “I did, didn't I? OK, tomorrow I'll take all of us for ice-cream.” Travellor replied.

  5

  Travellor, Erika, and Mersuul lay on their backs, on the dusty ground. They wore protective glasses, and ear plugs. They had reversed their baseball caps so that the bill didn't block their view, but that didn't keep the dirt from working into their hair as they positioned their heads to line up the shot. The morning sun was still low enough to bother their eyes. It was the final round before getting cleaned up and going into town for lunch. Erika had enough practice to re-familiarize herself with the weapon she had selected – a Browning Hi Power. She liked the all metal design. It was heavier than the Glock Mersuul had selected (and was very good
with). The gun's extra mass that normally helped to absorbed recoil, allowing her to get the sights back down and on target faster, now worked with gravity and against her. Her uncle had selected the Beretta, also an all metal gun. With the sights lined up on target, upside-down, they listened for the timer to beep - then fired. Six shots each. Ten seconds later the timer beeped against signaling the end out the round. They each checked their targets, and then looked over at the others.

  “YES! Yes, yes, yes!” screamed Erika, happily. “I win!”

  Still on her back, she released the magazine and placed it on the ground. Then she locked back the slide, verified the chamber was empty, and placed the gun on the ground, barrel pointed down range. She jumped up, and started dancing around. Mersuul and Travellor stood up more slowly, and brushed the dirt off their clothes.

  “HE'S MINE. HE'S MINE. HE'S MINE. HE'S MINE.” Erika continued, with a very big smile on her face.

  “Yes he is.” said Travellor, chuckling at his niece's exuberance.

  He felt a touch of nostalgia, as he watched his twenty-two year old niece acting like a little girl on Christmas morning, the way she had before her parents had been killed. He remembered that last Christmas when they were all together – when his sister was still alive. He thought about how Erika looked so much like her mother. Then he shook off the sadness and brought his attention back to the present.

  “Mags out, chambers clear.” he said, as he and Mersuul completed the safety procedure.

  They picked up their equipment and walked over to the weather worn wood table, and placed the weapons there. Travellor placed the guns in his range bag, with the extra magazines and ammunition. Erika continued jumping around exuberantly, while she helped Mersuul pick up the brass from the ground. Travellor couldn't stop smiling as he watched her. Not many things made him as happy as seeing his niece happy.

  Mersuul studied him as he watched Erika. His love of his niece was one of the things that attracted her to him. She was also very close to her family. As she thought about them, she became a little sad, and wondered when she would see them again. It had been a long time since she had seen home. There was even the possibility that she may not get back for a very long time more – if ever.

  They headed for the house, and Erika reached it minutes before the others. Mersuul took Travellor's hand as they walked.

  “Did you allow her to win?” she asked.

  “Oh no. I stopped doing that when she was eight. Erika is very good at anything she puts her mind to. She had a good day on the range, and I was a little off.” he answered, smiling at her. “I was going to give him to her anyway - but don't tell her that.”

  He held her hand a little tighter, and realized how much he enjoyed having Mersuul with him.

  By the time they reached the back door, Erika was coming back out with Vicious walking next to her.

  “Tell him! Tell him! Tell him!” she said excitedly.

  “OK – OK.” said Travellor, laughing at his niece's excitement.

  He put down the range bag, and squatted in front of Vicious.

  “Administration mode.” he said to the little dinosaur.

  Laser grids projected from the robot's eyes, onto Travellor's face, as Vicious ran identification protocols.

  “Vocal and facial recognition complete. Administration mode active.” said Vicious, in an all business tone of voice.

  “All command and control authority is immediately transferred to Erika Aimsler.” instructed Travellor. “Confirm Compliance.”

  “All command and control authority has been transferred to Erika Aimsler. Presentation of administrator required for completion.” said Vicious.

  Erika reached down to pick up Vicious.

  “NO!” yelled Travellor, causing his niece to jump back. “Not yet, sweetie,” he said chuckling, “unless you want to get a sudden shock. He is in maximum security mode right now. Until he accepts or rejects the transfer of control, he is operating as an independent agent. Squat down in front of him so he can verify your identity.”

  Travellor moved aside and Erika kneeled in front of Vicious.

  “Hi Vicious.” she said in a happy tone. “You're mine now.”

  With initial facial recognition confirmed via the cameras in the robot's eyes, Erika's face was scanned by the projected laser grid. Her image was mapped, and the robot's internal memory record was updated.

  “Vocal and facial recognition complete. Erika Aimsler confirmed. Records updated. Command and control authority transfer complete.” said Vicious.

  “NOW - he's yours!” said Travellor, as he stood up.

  “YAY!” said Erika, and she leaned over the robot, and placed a kiss on its head. She then scratched under the its chin, and it purred.

  Mersuul looked puzzled at the sound coming from Vicious.

  “I have never heard it make that sound before. I have petted it on its head.” said Mersuul to Travellor.

  “It's programmed to only make those type of sounds for Erika. It doesn't even do it for me.”

  “Will you build another to guard the house?”

  “No need to. Vicious was a great addition to the security system, but over the past few years I've installed sensors all around the property, and automated the house to a level that almost makes him redundant.”

  She looked at Erika and Vicious, and smiled at how cute they looked together.

  “Vicious is like a pet. A very useful pet.” she said. “And you can take him with you to travel. Sometimes I forget it is a machine.”

  Travellor looked into the eyes of his beautiful companion. 'Note to self - ' he thought, 'build a robot for Mersuul.' He moved closer and kissed her lightly on the lips.

  “Alright,” he said, “Let's get some lunch. We'll take the Cherokee. Mersuul needs to build up her time, for her private pilot test.”

  6

  Mersuul slid her hand caressingly over the metal skin of the Cherokee as she performed the preflight check of the aircraft. Erika watched her as she did this, and realized there was a sense of reverence in Mersuul's actions.

  “You really like this plane, don't you?” she asked Mersuul.

  “Very much. This is flying as it used to be. Only collectors and museums have aircraft like this back home.”

  “You don't have anything like this?” Erika asked, very confused. “You mean, you don't have any private aircraft?”

  Mersuul smiled broadly at her.

  “We do not have anything... what is your word for it... anything as CLASSIC as this.”

  Erika stuttered slightly with confusion.

  “This plane is just a few years old. It's got the latest glass cockpit. I mean... I guess you could call the design a classic. The basic airframe was designed a long time ago.”

  “Yes.” Mersuul agreed. “It is not the plane. It is the technology. Our air vehicles do not use atmospheric lift. They have not for generations.”

  Erika was very confused, and wasn't sure if Mersuul was having fun with her.

  “Your air vehicles don't use atmospheric... What?... What does that mean? What kind of aircraft do you have?”

  Mersuul stopped, and looked hesitantly at Erika.

  “You will have to ask Tony. I cannot tell you.”

  “WHAT???...” stuttered Erika, not sure if she was misunderstanding what Mersuul was trying to tell her.

  She wondered if something was getting lost in the translation. She turned to her uncle.

  “Uncle Tony, I want an answer. What does she mean they don't use atmospheric lift?”

  As she looked at him, Erika realized he had been laughing at their conversation for some time.

  “All in good time.” he said. “All in good time. Besides, my time isn't up yet, and the answers are related. He turned to Mersuul and asked “Preflight all done?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let's go.” he said. “I'm hungry.”

  They climbed into the plane, and fastened their safety harnesses. Mersuul performed a sof
t field takeoff with a simulated obstruction at the end of the runway. It was only a short thirty minute flight, and it was VFR all the way. She had spent enough time in the local airspace to be familiar with the landmarks, and had no problem navigating to the airport.