by K R Sanford
“I want you and Kiterage off my ship,” he continued. “And I want you to go back to that dying galaxy of yours and stabilize their civilization before any doors get open. I will be sitting here with weapons on. We will prepare for war. If I see anything before I see you and Kiterage, I am going to blow that machine to kingdom come.”
Legion smiled. “I would expect nothing less, my dear Marco. If I am in error, you and the Mastodon will have to do just that.”
Marco replied, “The Mastodon is under the command of General Stiller.”
“Then we will have to remedy that, wont we? I’m giving you the rank of Admiral. How does that sound, Admiral Marco Miller?”
“It will most likely be good for business but if we are all dead, we make no profit.”
Legion let loose an old fashioned belly laugh. Kiterage kept silence. He sat patient and confident. A warm glow emanating from every breath he took. Brilliant stars danced in his eyes from another worldly reverie. Legion smiled and turned back to Admiral Marco. He replied, “Their galaxy is dying because it is collapsing at a greater rate than its mass can sustain.
Marco puzzled by the unexplained force replied, “What the hell’s going on out there?”
“We are taking Lao and his team. They will do analysis. Kiterage and I will sound out adiabatic leakage in adjacent dimensions.”
Surprise filled Marco’s face, “You can do that?”
“We can do that,” replied Legion with dead pan determination. Kiterage and I have explored many alternate dimensions such as this phenomenon. Although not exactly as this, we can at the very least provide escape for most.”
Marco was shaking his head. “You can’t.” He stared at Kiterage like a mouse searching for the cat behind the creak in the wall. “Well, you both need to be interdimensional beings.”
“That’s right, you’re not surprised?” said Kiterage.
“I guess not.”
“That’s how it is,” said Legion. “Something inside you spoke and said Mark is a very natural individual. Where he was, in what he was doing, made you feel he was human, like you. But, as it turns out he is supernatural, a super human. We best get going. Time, as I said, is very much of the essence right now. We will disembark our own galaxy inside the labyrinth. I trust you are as honored as we are in helping our new friends on the other-side. We need their power source to open a portal to the target dimension. Their collapse is going to be the source for our new cube and our friend’s new home.”
“You mean the new parallel multiverse?
“I don’t see where we are going to be a parallel multiverse, no. This is semantics my dear Admiral.” The Emperor stood. He uttered a low guttural tone, untying the knot in Marco’s belly.
Kiterage stood then approached the sliding glass door. The door did not respond. Kiterage stepped up close to the door then vanished into the glass. He evaporated leaving no residue or trace of what had occurred. The Emperor did likewise. The crew and guests on the bridge of the Eagle had round eyes and open mouths. The question of what happened hung in the air like the blind beggar wondering how to ask for alms when no one was around.
Chapter 13
_______________________________________________________
EVOLUTION
“Clarity of purpose trumps knowledge.”
Professor Clayton Christensen
Harvard School of Business, 2010
“That’s our cue,” said Marco. “Hector, weapons, full alert, and full containment of that cosmic bridge out there.”
“I’m going to need a dozen Amedans to sweep the area.”
“Use Theo’s team,” said Marco. “They’re the ones who swept Shrine Castle,”
Hector looked over at Devin with an inquiring raise of his chin.
Devin replied, “I’m sure they would appreciate the challenge. I usually tell them what I need then stand back and watch them work.”
“Come with me, said Hector moving from his chair, “Chris, you come too. Clorissa, inform Theo we will meet him and his team on the landing pad in five minutes.”
“Copy that,” said Clorissa.
“And, I need Vito in on this right away. Will you get Vito for me?”
Jimmy whispered to Balrug, “Why Vito?
Balrug signaled Jimmy to lean in. “Vito is a very smart man,” he said. “He has clarity of purpose. He understands the desperation of refugees and will be able to accommodate them. And, Vito has more credits than the Emperor. He is not someone who would take a bribe. He does not need to take advantage of the homeless crises. Vito is also a fair man and deserves respect, not out of fear but out of loyalty.”
Jimmy replied. “The number of refugees coming in will number in the billions. How can Vito manage all that?”
Balrug nodded in agreement. He stroked the edges of his beard. “Jimmy, people in the Milky Way have descended from war. They have a long history of violence.
Many such as the Marillians have been warriors from their youth. They will treat the refugees as an invading army. They will first divide their forces into manageable groups.
We will help them sort-out leadership within their own ranks. We have medical care, adequate shelter and food. Once again we will look to Vito for supplies. That’s the simple version Jimmy. Do you any more thoughts?”
“I’m thinking,” said Jimmy.
Balrug laughed. “I see you picked a good time for it.”
Jimmy replied, “For thinking?” nodding his head. “For thinking?” he repeated, again nodding his head as if coaching Balrug to agree.
Balrug did a double take. He watched Jimmy nod his head with an offbeat smile. Jimmy wore a pleasant expression on his face like a broken doll or human cyborg with a short in its processor. “Please don’t take offence Jimmy, but I need to ask you a question.”
“Oh, I’m wound up on stimulants," said Jimmy. "I found a snuff box in the casino filled with amphetamines.”
“So, you don’t have an out-dated AI chip?”
“No, I’m just hopped-up on good old fashioned speed. To keep awake while I play lady luck; my game of chance, the wheel of fortune
“You better calm down. You are going to infect the ship,” said Balrug with a look of crazy.
Commander Ryan turned from monitoring ship’s systems. “You got any more of that stuff, Jimmy? We need to pull an all-nighter.”
Balrug spoke up again, “See what I mean? Everyone will need to be careful on this starbase. The coils around the labyrinth alter the senses; reality distorts. Now with the event of the cosmic bridge, the sensory fields are going to increase.”
Ryan took a mental inventory of the ship’s crew and passengers. The Mastodon held a compliment of twenty thousand. The Royal Neptune has medical personnel and high-end warehouse robotics numbering five thousand. “We have it covered.” He said.
Marco scratched his forehead. “We’re blind Ryan. We have no way of knowing what’s coming our way. The Emperor doesn’t know and neither does Mark Kiterage. We have no other choice but to evolve. We evolve while feeling our way through the dark, then sit and wait for the exodus.”
“They will have portable currency on their bodies. We can expect to see tattoos of formulas, and genealogies, names of family and friends,” said Ryan.
“Do we know what class civilization they are?” asked Clorissa.
“Have Lao report in. Tell him I need a summary of the refugees.”
“Aye, Captain.”
“What do you think about all this, Grantham?” asked Marco.
“There is a sense of helplessness,” replied Grantham. He ran a suspicious finger over his chin. “At the same time I am excited for the evolution of species.”
“Humm,” said Marco. “The difficulty of growing is painful at best, yet unavoidable and we have to evolve. We have to evolve or get run over by what’s coming. And I’m sure change is heavy on the minds of the peoples from the dying galaxy. We may be the only rational option they have.”
“If you don’t mind me saying, Marco," said Grantham. “If the Emperor had reservations about this mission, he would have come out and said something. We were not ready to act like Type three civilizations. I am honored we did not have that conversation.”
“I am too Grantham,” replied Marco.”
Jimmy was grinning from ear to ear. “So we embrace the event one moment at a time.”
“Play a card, Jimmy,” said Balrug. “I’m curious what you get.”
“Your turn Master Balrug,” replied Jimmy.
“Excuse me, fellas,” interrupted Clorissa, “Message from Lieutenant Chew. Kiterage and Legion have opened a portal from the other side. They have entered a wormhole. We lost contact one minute ago.”
“Alright,” said Marco. “Tell them to stay inside the control quarters. Like Legion said, have a disciplined blowing off of steam. Make sure you lock and seal the door.”
“Very good, I’ll tell him. He wants them sealed off from the outside, communications as well. Admiral, they say, congratulations on the promotion.”
Marco nodded and gave the cut throat signal.
“Congratulations,” whispering to Grantham.
“That remains to happen,” said Marco.
Grantham smiled in commiseration. “The pageantry of rank can be useful. The show of command will bring solidarity.”
Marco held up a finger. “You make an excellent point, Governor. Send a message to all personnel. Everyone is to dress in full uniform until further notice. We are having guests. Orders of: Admiral Marco Miller. Ryan, I know you love your leather jacket, but for the time being, will you put on your Captain’s coat?”
“I’ll do one better, Admiral,” said Ryan. “I will change into full dress, if it still fits.”
“Balrug, your black and gold robe and white hair make you an official anywhere. But, what are we going to do about Jimmy?”
“An advisor’s robe, Marco," said Balrug. "It's the same as mine but without the gold trim, only a thin gold braid around the collar.”
“I know what that is.” said Marco. “That means he’s your new associate.”
Balrug nodded, “If this is agreeable to Jimmy
The bridge made a violent shake. The Eagle dipped as if the launch pad pulled itself out and slammed itself back again. Buzzers and lights erupted over the ships console then died down as quick as they started.
“Status, Captain Majors?”
Jimmy spoke. "My stomach felt like it got sucked into my chair.
“Everybody else; is everyone alright?” said Marco.
“We’re good here," said Ryan. "It was a large spike from the new bridge opening. A bit like opening a bottle of warm beer that got shook up.”
“Shook up, my ass!” barked Marco. “Let’s put some kind of mechanical pillow between the door and the deck. Fashion something before it goes off again.”
“I’m sure it’s vacuum, Admiral.”
“Ok, fine, loop a stabilizer line. You can do that. After all, it’s only plumbing?”
Ryan answered. “Yeah, yeah sure,” he said. “It’s only plumbing. We’ll have maintenance rig up a dampener underneath, fix it up fine.”
“Shit,” said Marco. “If that happens again, I’m going to lose my taco.”
“And we wouldn’t want that, sir,” said Ryan writing his maintenance order and coming down hard on the send button.
Marco laughed.
Clorissa puckered her lips and blew a kiss to Grantham. Grantham looked to Admiral Marco and Captain Ryan.
“If you will excuse us Admiral, Clorissa and I am going to freshen up.”
“Balrug,” said Marco. “Take our new associate and put a new dress on him. Make him look like your new cabin boy.”
“Oh dear, said Grantham shaking his head. “Come on Clorissa let’s get out of here before this place turns into a frat house.”
“Hold the door,” said Balrug. “Come on, Jimmy time to put it on. The last dress you will ever wear.”
“Oh no,” sighed Jimmy.
Ryan turned from ship’s controls. “Don’t worry Jimmy, you’ll be okay,” he said. “If he asks you to shave your legs, run for your life. You won’t get allowed on the bridge if that happens.”
“What if I run into the cosmic bridge,” said Jimmy.
“Our new bridge,” replied Ryan. “With a black dress and shaved legs, that’d be a sight. Go on now, apprentice. Get moving we have guests coming.”
Balrug grabbed Jimmy by the arm. They disappeared behind the blast door.
Marco looked up from his chair. “Ryan, this is a rescue mission not a celebration with a lot of pomp and ceremony.”
“That was my understanding, only this event is historical,” said Ryan.
“True enough. Okay, request medical and maintenance to standby at the ready. Ask the Mastodon to do the same. Send it, Admiral Marco Miller.”
“Done, your request is acknowledged,” said Ryan. “General Stiller sends congratulations and suggests celebrations are in order.”
“Oops, his promotion to General needs to get recognized,” replied Marco. “Send the following: There have been several promotions to honor. We will need your attendance on the flight deck to present official citations. The time and date will follow. There, that should do it.”
“Yes, that statement works perfect,” said Ryan. “Will I send it like that?”
“Yes, send it,” he said. “What other housekeeping do we need to attend to before the new galaxy lands in our lap?”
“I don’t know,” said Ryan. “Except a back-up plan needs to get installed if this rescue mission turns into something else.”
“What we need to know will have to wait until we hear from what’s on the other side of that door,” said Marco. "Our back up plan is this starbase.”
“I’m getting a report from the Amedans. They say: high energy signals are sensing the cosmic bridge,” said Ryan.
“Is that it?”
“That’s all I’ve got so far.”
“Maintain battle stations, Ryan. Send that.”
“Sending,” replied Ryan. “All have acknowledged.”
“All right, let’s put this bridge on automatic and get down there,” said Marco.
“Excellent,” said Ryan. “First, I want to stop by my quarters and change my coat. I’ll meet you on the flight deck.”
“Right, that reminds me.”
General Stiller and Captain Clairy were standing in front of the observation window. They observed the preparations.
“The flight deck is shaping up to be a full scale rescue mission, General.”
“Your people are doing a fine job. The Royal Neptune looks like they have done this before. They have been working for two hours. Already they have put up a small city with food, water, tents and beds.”
“And if the refugees have different forms than what we’re used to?”
“I don’t think it’s going to matter much. These folks can adapt. Look at this, medical is coming out with emergency shuttles. Each is equipped with surgical facilities. They can operate on a dinosaur with what they have here.”
“How about security?” asked Clairy, “I can’t see any sign of weapons?”
“That’s the idea, Tomas. Between the Eagle and the Mastodon whatever is coming out of that bridge will get isolated. We can seal them in the area around the bridge until the hostiles get quarantined.”
“With weapons?” replied Clairy.
“No,” said Marty. “We use bubble shield, shot around the bridge and the surrounding area. We’re the best bubble producers in the entire cosmos, Tomas.” He gave Captain Clairy a slap on his shoulder. “No, no need for weapons here. Those are in reserve as a last resort, god forbid,” he said.
Captain Clairy pressed the communicator on his lapel. “Will you set about five hundred chairs and about fifty tables out here as soon as you can. They’re for the workers and guests. Thank you.”
“Good thinking, Tomas,” said Stiller
. “It could be a long day.”
“We don’t know, it’s a wait and see thing until that door opens. At least we know the door works.”
“Yeah!” said Stiller cocking his head to one side. “I almost fell out of my chair. Where were you when that door blew open?”
“I was settling into my new quarters, said Tomas. The crew misses the luxuries on the Eagle.”
“They make up for it in team spirit,” replied Stiller. “Look here: the table and chairs you ordered. The Mastodon is first to accommodate tired feet and backs. This is good for moral.”
“And now our maintenance people are fixing the dampener under the bridge. I’m curious what pressures are on the door from the collapsing universe?”
“The man with that answer is coming up behind you.”
Clairy turned. Captain Ryan and Admiral Marco were approaching. “Almost didn’t recognize you with formal coats.”
“Almost didn’t recognize myself,” replied Marco.
“Ryan, you look smart in your Captain’s coat” said General Stiller.
“You see, someone noticed. Good to see you too, sir, and congratulations are in order.”
“Let’s hope the funfair is not short lived. Admiral, congratulations are to you as well.”
“That’s thoughtful, Marty. I see maintenance has finished with the dampener. Do you know any of these men yet, General?”
“No, this is a good time to find out what’s going on with the pillow,” said Stiller. “Let's take a walk?”
The senior officers worked their way between the reception tents and the crew. The crew was returning the powerlift to the Mastodon’s cargo bay. “Sargent,” said Stiller leaning to read the nametag. “Sargent Levitt, how’s it going?”
Sargent Levitt came to attention and held a crisp salute. Stiller did likewise with a smart return, Marty Stiller style. His manner raised their spirits to a notable notch up in vigor. “We were happy to see you and your men out here installing the cushion.”
“We wanted it fixed as much as you did, General. Any news when the refugees are coming out, Sir?”
“No, not yet, sargent. It’s still a hurry-up and wait scenario. You know the drill.”
