The Search for Cleo

by Aaron J. Ethridge

“What if it were just you and me?”

  “We still wouldn't make it,” he replied. “On top of which, we're not splitting up.”

  “Could we trick Sturm into coming back here?” Morgan asked. “If you could lie him back, we could requisition his ship.”

  “Even if we could find a way to reach him – which I admit, we might be able to – he'll be expecting me to lie, Morgan. You can be sure he'll keep his distance no matter what we do.”

  “What if we...” the young man began before his statement was interrupted by a distant roar.

  “We can talk about it later,” Robert replied. “For the moment, we need to go.”

  They quickly repacked the car, taking enough time to make everyone as comfortable as possible considering how crowded it was (Morgan ended up far more than comfortable as he was packed in beside Azure like a sardine), and headed back into the sky. After just over three hours, Morgan decided that he had to bring something to Robert's attention.

  “We've got to land, man,” he said.

  “We will soon,” the traveler nodded. “I'm just trying to find a decent place to setup a base camp.”

  “One way or the other,” Morgan said, “we have to make a comfort stop. I need to stretch my legs, and take care of some other things, as well.”

  “I need to do that, too,” Celeste added.

  After Cleo and Azure had also voiced their desire for a “comfort stop”, Robert assured them that, if he hadn't found a suitable location in five more minutes, he would stop wherever they were. Just before the clock ran out, the traveler spotted what he had been looking for. In the side of a mountain range that seemed to run on for countless miles, nature had dug out a massive cavern.

  Robert piloted the car into this before parking it on the stony – and relatively level – floor of the cave. Immediately, Doc climbed from the car and pulled the PPSU (Portable Personal Sanitation Unit) from the trunk.

  “I'll have this put together in about five minutes,” Doc said, as he laid the device – which looked almost like a large briefcase – on the ground. “It would be best if you could all wait that long. Under the circumstances, I think it would wise not to spread our scents around the area any more than we have to.”

  “Good point, Doc,” Robert nodded.

  “Please hurry,” Cleo added. “It's beginning to get urgent.”

  Doc, Vox, and Robert all began working together to assemble the PPSU. From the case, they pulled what appeared to be a number of tracks and paper-thin panels made out of plastic, along with three different generators. They snapped several of the tracks together into a square and laid them on the ground before snapping the panels together and then into the tracks to form a floor and four walls (complete with door). Once this was done, Doc took a small step ladder from the case and put the roof in place. The moment it was completely assembled, Vox fired up the generators.

  “Ladies first,” Cleo cried, leaping into the empty structure and closing the door behind her.

  “A few things,” Morgan said with a touch of concern.

  “Yes,” Doc smiled.

  “Those walls are paper-thin,” he said. “That thing can't be very sturdy.”

  “They're made out of vallimor,” Vox explained. “We'd have a hard time knocking it apart if we hit it full-speed with the car.”

  “That's a mild exaggeration,” Robert laughed.

  “Only just,” Vox replied.

  “Next,” Cleo said, stepping from the chamber with a smile.

  “Thank you!” Celeste exclaimed, making her way inside.

  “Alright,” Morgan nodded. “Well, what does it do with... all... the...”

  “The solids,” Doc said, “are transformed into extremely dense, completely sterile pellets that can be used for a variety of things.”

  “Like what?” the young man asked with a disgusted look on his face.

  “It depends on your needs,” Doc replied. “They make an excellent fertilizer, for example.”

  “And the liquids?”

  “Again, it depends,” Vox said. “In our current situation, they'll just be transformed into gas and released into the air. If we were short of water, though, it would recycle it for us.”

  “You mean to tell me...” he began.

  “That it can be made into drinking water?” Doc chuckled. “Yes. That's exactly what we're telling you.”

  “It may make it for you guys,” Morgan replied. “It ain't making any for me, though.”

  “That is much better,” Celeste said as she exited the PPSU.

  “I'm sure it is,” Azure replied, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her.

  “Okay...” Morgan said, scratching the back of his head. “The room's empty though... So, do you just stand there, or what do you do?”

  “You'll see in a minute,” Robert chuckled.

  “Alright,” the young man nodded, “but I'm warning you now; if I feel like I need help, I'm asking for it.”

  Less than a minute later, Azure emerged from the chamber. Morgan then took his turn. The young man was almost stunned by the sight that met his eyes. The moment he closed the door behind him, the room was transformed into a quaint little bathroom apparently from Earth in the mid-nineteenth century. It had everything one would expect (except for the fact that it had a shower instead of a bathtub), including a small window that seemed to be letting in sunlight.

  “There's a toilet in here,” he yelled.

  “We know, man,” Vox said from beyond the door. “That's one of the main points of the thing.”

  “I can see out of the window,” Morgan continued. “There are deer grazing in the yard just feet from me.”

  “It's supposed to be relaxing,” Robert asserted.

  “The sink doesn't have any water in it,” the young man said. “When I turn it on, nothing happens.”

  “Put your hands under the faucet,” Azure yelled.

  “That is weird,” he replied. “I can't see it, but I can feel it.”

  “It's not really there, man,” Vox pointed out. “Hurry up. You ain't the only one who's got to go.”

  Just over a minute after this, Morgan emerged and Vox took his place.

  “That's incredible!” the young man said. “I had to lift the seat!”

  “I hope you put it back down,” Robert replied. “Ladies hate it when you leave it up.”

  “Yeah...” he nodded. “But, I mean; I had to lift the seat.”

  “So you said,” Doc smiled.

  “How does it work?”

  “One of the generators produces shaped force fields,” Robert explained. “It creates all the fixtures in the PPSU and makes things 'touchable'. You probably noticed that the seat felt a little weird, though.”

  “I did.”

  “That's because it wasn't really there,” the traveler asserted. “You were actually touching a force field. The second generator is a holo-emitter. It makes everything nice and visible.”

  “How did it wash my hands?”

  “Another type of force field. It sterilizes whatever it touches, breaks the molecular bonds that make dirt stick to you, and applies a downward pressure to push contaminants off your skin. I guarantee you, it's been a long time since your hands were that clean. It can also brush your teeth, but I don't like the way that feels.”

  “Me, either,” Cleo said. “I much prefer just using a toothbrush.”

  “What's the third generator for?” Morgan asked.

  “It's not a generator,” Vox said, stepping from the room. “It's the waste-disposal unit. Who's next?”

  Robert was. After both he and Doc had taken care of business, the traveler turned his mind back to the task at hand.

  “Alright,” the traveler began, “one of the first things we need to do is explore this place. We don't want some massive, prehistoric monstrosity creeping up on us unexpectedly from the dark recesses of the unknown. Before we can take look around though, we need to make sure nothing can get at us from the ou
tside. Vox, you and Azure block the cavern's mouth with a force field while the rest of us unpack the car.”

  “Can do, boss,” Vox smiled.

  “If we're not sure that we can stay here,” Morgan said as he pulled the holo-emitter from the trunk, “is it a good idea for us to unpack?”

  “One way or the other,” Doc replied as he was collecting his fishing equipment, “I think we're going to be here for a while. Robert simply wants to know what else will be sharing this place with us.”

  “I hope it's 'nothing'.”

  “As do I,” Doc nodded.

  Just over half-an-hour later, a force field was blocking the entrance, the car had been completely unpacked, and Celeste had prepared enough pallets (made out of clothes) for all of them to sleep on. The moment all of this was complete, the party prepared to delve more deeply into the cavern.

  “Fortunately,” Robert said, handing a small cylindrical object to Morgan, “I keep a couple of high-powered flashlights in the glove box, so we won't have to try to do this with torches. Celeste, you didn't happen to grab any red shirts, did you?”

  “No,” she replied with a rising inflection. “Should I have?”

  “Probably,” he nodded, “but we'll carry on without one. Morgan, take the lead and do your best to concentrate on the color red.”

  “I will take the lead,” the young man replied, moving toward the front of the party and holding his pistol in the ready-to-kill-it-dead position. “The color I intend to focus on, however, is blue.”

  “That may be for the best,” Robert agreed. “Either way, I was joking. I'm taking the lead.”

  “No, sir,” Morgan replied, shaking his head. “This area needs to be secured and I'm the head of security.”

  “I'm the captain.”

  “Which is a good reason for you not to get eaten,” the young man retorted. “If I get killed, you'll just alter time and save me, no problem. On the other hand, if you get killed, going back to save you could be extremely problematic.”

  “Lead the way, Mister Harker,” the traveler replied with a smile.

  Morgan switched on his incredibly bright flashlight and stepped boldly toward not-so-distant darkness. At its entrance, the cave was roughly forty feet wide and perhaps thirty feet high. It's rough stone walls made it look as if the earth had simply torn itself apart at some earlier epoch. The ground (or floor, depending on how you look at it) sloped gently downward and was covered with small, jagged rocks. As the party progressed, the walls came closer together and the ceiling became somewhat lower. Nearly two-hundred feet from its entrance, they discovered the rear of the current chamber, along with a natural passage leading deeper into the cavern. This, they followed.

  The stone hallway was just over twenty feet long and wide enough that there was only one point along it that Doc had to work to squeeze through. At its end, the companions discovered another chamber – the walls of which had been worn somewhat smooth over the eons by the occasional flow of liquid – that was connected to several other natural rooms, all of which led to dead-ends. Having made this discovery, the party continued to follow the stone passageway.

  After marching along for perhaps two-hundred feet more, the sound of running water reached their ears. Another two-hundred feet of narrow stone hall led them to an expansive chamber, the far walls of which, their flashlights couldn't reach.

  The band cautiously explored this area in a tight circle – their eyes (and guns) pointing in every possible direction. Although they didn't find anything dangerous, they did make several interesting discoveries. The first was a shallow stream of hot water flowing across the cavern floor before disappearing deeper into the earth under one of the walls. This rill was fed from a spring near the top of the cavern. Before it made its way to the floor, it passed through what almost seemed to be a bowl of raised stone about three feet deep and six feet in diameter.

  “You know,” Morgan said, searching through the steaming water with his flashlight before carefully touching it with his fingertips, “we could use this as a jacuzzi if we wanted to.”

  “We probably could,” Robert agreed, lowering his own hand into the fairly hot water. “Of all the things I've ever just walked up on in a cave, this is arguably the coolest.”

  “If you girls would ever like to...” Morgan began.

  “We'll keep you posted,” Azure interrupted.

  “Of course,” he continued, “seeing as how we don't have any swimsuits, I suppose we'd just have to...”

  “Shut up, Morgan,” Cleo laughed.

  The next thing to attract Robert's attention was a particular discoloration in one of the walls.

  “That's lucky,” the traveler smiled.

  “What is it?” Morgan asked.

  “Iron ore,” Vox replied as he scrutinized the stone. “It looks to be a rather rich vein, too.”

  “That seems incredibly lucky,” he observed.

  “Yes and no,” Robert replied. “It’s lucky that we just walked up a vein of it, but this area is very rich in iron – at least, according to the car’s scanners it is – which is one of the reasons I decided we should make this our base camp.”

  “Too bad it isn't...” the young man began before stopping mid-sentence. “Is that... Is that gold?!”

  “I believe it is,” Doc observed.

  Immediately, Morgan began frantically scanning the rest of the wall. It was filled with the precious ore.

  “We're rich!” he cried. “Crazy, next level rich!”

  “We certainly are,” Robert smiled.

  “The best part is that we can safely take it all,” Morgan continued, “even though it's in the past, none of this gold ever has any effect on the time-lines.”

  “Why would we take it?” Cleo shrugged.

  “Why would we... Are you insane?! We'll be billionaires!”

  “Morgan,” Robert chuckled. “We spend our lives flying around in a spaceship-time-machine with the most attractive women the universe has ever produced, being essentially immortal, doing the most amazing job that ever existed, eating basically whatever we like, and spending our free time doing whatever we want – well... almost. What would you buy if you were a billionaire?”

  “A monster truck for Azure,” he immediately replied.

  “That's sweet,” the blue maiden smiled.

  “If you want to buy her a monster truck,” Robert replied, “I'll give you whatever money you need. You probably deserve a raise, anyway.”

  “You see, Rob,” Morgan said, shaking his head, “this is the problem with counterfeit money: it makes hitting the mother lode pointless.”

  “That's basically what all fiat currency does,” the traveler observed.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” he replied. “Also, I never said it was counterfeit.”

  “So,” Morgan said, staring at the wall, “we're not going to work this vein, then?”

  “We might a little,” Vox replied. “Gold makes fairly good electrical wire.”

  “Electrical wire...” the young man said, shaking his head again.

  Having made these discoveries, they continued their search. Another natural hallway led from the chamber even deeper into the earth below. After yet another few hundred feet, the party came to the shores of a massive, underground, freshwater lake. From here, their exploration could proceed no further.

  “Let's go,” Morgan said, after glancing over the dark water.

  “Why?” Azure asked. “It's really tranquil down here.”

  “That's how the monsters get you,” the young man explained. “If this was a horror movie, you girls would be overwhelmed with the desire to go for a swim completely and totally...”

  “This isn't a horror movie,” Robert injected.

  “Then,” he continued, “Me and Rob would decide to join you – for extremely obvious reasons...”

  “Shut up, Morgan” Cleo laughed.

  “Just as things were getting interesting,” he said, ignoring the gre
en maiden, “something horrifying would swim up and bite me in half.”

  “You don't need to worry about that,” Azure asserted. “I have absolutely no desire to go for a swim in that.”

  “Back to the hot tub, then?” he asked hopefully.

  In reply, she simply shook her head.

  “Alright,” he sighed. “Let's get off this beach. Personally, I have absolutely no desire to have some liopleurodon come up out of that and eat me.”

  “What if it was a magical liopleurodon?” Robert asked, doing his best unicorn voice.

  “I'd still pass,” Morgan replied, stepping back toward the entrance that had led them there. “We'd better put a force field up to block this passage. Who knows what might be living in that water, even if the rest of the cave is empty.”

  “You're a pretty good head of security,” Robert asserted. “And, you're right. Vox and Azure can take care of that in the next few minutes.”

  “I'll stand guard over them,” Morgan volunteered.

  “No, you won't,” Robert replied. “They can more than handle all the nothing we've run into down here. I actually want you and Doc to go scrounge up some food while Celeste, Cleo, and I handle moving everything into those cave-rooms we found.”

  “I don't like it,” the young man replied, shaking his head.

  “You don't have to,” Robert said, slapping him on the shoulder. “You just have to do it.”

  Just minutes later, Doc and Morgan were walking through the thick foliage just beyond the entrance of the cavern, doing their best to find palatable food for themselves and their companions. They managed to accomplish this in fairly short order; collecting a wide variety of fruits – and not encountering any deadly dinosaurs – over the course of the next hour.

  Doc also took the time to dig for worms. This quickly paid off and, in mere minutes, he had a handful of massive, prehistoric lumbricus thunderaris. (Those are “worms” on Thundera. You see, on Earth they're called lumbricus terrestris. Terrest being a reference to Earth – I think. Either way, that's what Robert called them. Of course, that really doesn't prove anything, does it?) Morgan was afraid he knew what the worms were for. He was right.

  As soon as they got back to the cave, Doc grabbed his shorty fishing rod – that looked even more shorty in his gigantic hands – and headed back for the lake with Morgan in tow.