The readpad is simple on the outside, what looks like a piece of tinted glass, kind of 10 inch piece of oval glass. It is activated by touch and then you simply tell it what you want to do. And it can do a lot. It seems to be, among other things, a link to their information data base. You ask it a question and it gets an answer for you. For example I asked how fast we were traveling, and the voice clicked out something. Mumbled about it not being in English and suddenly in what I think was the voice of Winston Churchill, was given the answer of 49,787 miles per hour. - I am glad I did not get Margaret Thatcher’s voice.
I was able to have Winston determine what day it was back on Earth and being February 9th, I begin this journal of our adventures in space.
Feb 9th
I like this idea of dictating to the machine. No typing, just “Winston, take dictation,” and then I lay it out there. It has taken a couple of days to work out some issues with the device but it is pretty good now. Interestingly the idea of contractions is one that is just not sinking in.
So today, I am still learning the layout of the ship. It is very warm on the ship; Winston says it is 94.3 degrees which is the optimal temperature for the QUalz.
We are currently hurdling through space toward Mars (they call it the Red Stone Marker) which we will loop around and return to Earth. The amount of time for the loop depends upon where Earth and Mars are currently located in their respective orbits. The trip could take 6 months (Earth time) or up to two years.
Asuna and I are bored by now, we have looked out the windows of the ship a lot, watched the Earth and Moon moving away, seen breath-taking galaxies, it is not like being on Earth were you see a few stars here and a galaxy there. Think of the darkest night with the clearest air, and then imagine seeing forever, stars, galaxies, nebulas…at first it is awe-inspiring, and after a couple weeks, well it is still kind of cool, but it is the same, a little different angle, but the same.
Feb 10th
I guess I should talk a little about his ship, the Sky Crystal, its big, Winston told me that it is about a half mile long overall, but that it was not all “ship”, much of it is an asteroid.
What the QUalz did was to find a rocky body that was circling their home planet. They bored into it and added the inner workings. Cabins and tunnels honeycomb much of the top half of the ship/asteroid. They put the power system to the lower rear part of the ship. I have no idea what the power system is based on, but I have time to find out, too much time to find out. The placement of the engines and the rocky walls give them protection from the radiation that is generated by the engines.
They also took care to build an area in which they could seek shelter from cosmic storms and radiation. There is a kind of cavern in the middle of the asteroid. Winston told me that it has saved them from storms while in the Earth solar system as well as some that they had encountered long ago in their own planetary system.
I asked him about the home system, where the QUalz came from, but he explained that part of his programming included strict rules against revealing that location to anyone. I guess it makes sense.
I asked him about other things that he could not tell me, and he said, “Sorry Tom, I cannot reveal that information.”
Feb 12th
We have spent the last few days having some testing done on us, blood work, stool samples, hairs plucked and such. We willingly allow it because of the potential of a cure to the illness on earth.
It is hot, and we, Asuna and I have cut out most of our clothes. It is not like the QUalz are real interested in seeing us naked as they pretty much are naked too, although there is a certain fascination on their parts with the hair on our bodies.
It is kind of funny to watch them, one eye on us as we walk past, and that eye follows us as the other looks ahead to where they are going.
It is boring.
Feb 14th
Guess it would be Valentine’s Day back home. Asuna and I kind of laughed about it. I would have sent her flowers, but out here that is not an option. Best I would do was a bunch of the little mushroomy things they make food out of. It is the thought that counts.
I find it difficult to focus on a topic to write about each day, so there will be gaps in the journal.
The one thing that keeps coming to mind is the question of how the camp and Margo are doing. I think, I hope they are fine; they were in a good spot with food and supplies when we left.
I wonder if it was a good idea for me to have come along with Asuna on the trip. It was a hard call, part of me wishes that I was still on Earth, helping, my friends and family. But at the same time I feel I need to be with Asuna and help in creating a vaccine or method to cure the virus that has killed and changed so many.
Feb 19th
I asked questions of Winston today, trying to get a better handle on our little scaled friends. I sometimes run into this programing wall that prevents certain information like the location of their home world or certain technology that they have. But I was able to get some information.
The QUalz are a relatively old race, or species. They began visiting us, Earth, back in the era of Cro-Magnon man. It was actually the Cro-Magnons who gave the ship the name, “Sky Crystal”.
They also had some contact with the Neanderthals. But they never brought on aboard the ship. Now that is one that I will have to explore a little more down the road. So much of man’s early history could be revealed and yet, at this point, other than curiosity, what difference does it make. There is no one to tell about it really.
This heat thing is not so bad, we have kind of gotten used to it. But the food, now that is something that we should have considered. I would kill for some of Nick’s Deer Stew, but here we, Asuna and I, eat some kind of worm, or larva that is mashed and mixed with a kind of mushroom. The QUalz eat the larva raw and wiggly, Asuna and I have no choice but to eat the same thing, but we at least have our food sort of cooked.
Feb 21st
I guess I could tell you about the room in which we stay. Unlike the QUalz who just sort of just stop where they are and stand frozen for periods lasting between an hour or two, Asuna and I still need to sleep.
Over the course of time this was something that the lizards learned and have created rooms in which their guests could find comfort and some degree of being at home. What they have done was with each period or era that they took humans on board they attempted to emulate the living conditions of the time. We walked in the area that they called “The Hive”.
Winston told me that the first went back to the Cro-Magnons where they had basically a cave (it was actually a real cave in the rocks of the asteroid.) and then over time added to that a cliff dwelling from the southwest, a mud hut from the African continent, an Egyptian room with a view of the desert which I was told predated the pyramids, a castle room reminiscent of the early middle ages, the interior of a Mongolian Yurt, a captain’s cabin from a sailing ship, a hut from somewhere in southeast Asia, the home of a Samurai warrior, a western Conestoga wagon, and even an early cold-water flat from an American city, Chicago-based upon the newspapers we found in it. They had even re-created the interior of our little cabin back at Romanica. They tried.
Of course, these were only the interiors, but they did a nice job with them. Their detail work was right on target.
It was still warm, that 94 degree thing, and the food was still that mush, but it was kind of neat to think of who they, the QUalz, tried to make their subjects as comfortable as possible.
Asuna and I move around the rooms and will stay for a few cycles in one room or another. It does break up the ho-hum a little, but beyond that it is kind of interesting to think about the various people who have preceded us and what they may have been like, or what they really lived like.
Feb 24th
We are nearing the halfway point between Earth and Mars, two months, we’re moving along quite quickly. We can see the difference in Mars; it is getting more color having gone from white to a kind of pale orange.
> We were in for more blood work today, and while we were there I had the chance to talk with Krezz a little.
“How is it going? Are you finding the key to curing the illness?” I asked.
“Progress has been accomplished. Development has been completed in three different possible cures. But we have been unable to complete testing on them yet. That will be part of the use of the blood that we have extracted from you this day.”
I have to admit that Krezz has done a good job of assimilating our language. And he truly seems to like us humans as well as his work in studying us.
His two assistants, Brimk and RRqil have also done pretty well at it also, unlike some of the others who still give us annoyed clicks or grunts to try to Sat-Communicate with us.
Unlike Krezz, Brimk is a pretty bland character, straight to the point and all business, although he does seem to care about us. But on the other hand, RRqil is a hoot, she, I found out she is a she, actually has a sense of humor and tries to smile. It is funny to see because things such as smiles are pretty much non-existent due to the facial structure. It is more a teeth baring grimace, and it is compounded with a kind of repeated hiccup sound that she calls laughing.
Feb 26th
Asuna and I have been sleeping in the Cro-Magnon Cave the last few nights. It is just a small cave with a little stream running through it. There are some bones strewn about over in one corner and a little fire pit in the middle of the room. I doubt it could generate much warmth, and was there more for light and cooking.
On a couple of larger flat rocks there are animal skins that we could use to sleep on. I am told that they are actual skins from a bear and giant sloth. For some reason the room is much cooler than the rest of the ship. I am not sure if this was because of it being dug into the rock of the asteroid or by design of the QUalz. It did cool down to the point where we had to cuddle under the skins. At least to their credit they (the QUalz) made the furs so that they did not smell too badly.
“It isn’t so bad here.” Suggested Asuna, but I was not sure if it was a suggestion or a kind of Sat-Comment of justification.
“No, not really, and in all honesty, I do like the coolness.”
“Do you think he was afraid?” she asked as we lay side by side.
“The caveman, oh yeah, Think about it, actually think about it for all of the people they captured, it was, it had to be just, so far out of their world.” I said.
“I wasn’t afraid!” she said defiantly.
“True, but remember, you were from the modern era. We had many stories about spacemen, and UFO’s so at least you had some idea of what they might be. And they spoke your language. They had years of TV and radio to become familiar with us. The QUalz have had time to deal with and absorb our world and our cultures.” I offered.
“Yeah, that is true, but I was only 4 years old. I don’t remember much of it. Think about it, what four year old would be ready for a lizard guy stealing you from your own bed.”
“But you said you weren’t scared.”
“Okay, maybe a little and I wasn’t gone that long. I never rememb……wait, maybe I do, I think the QUalz were around while I was in my own room in Japan, or maybe they were here and I had a room like the others.”
“Do you think there is an Asuna room? Maybe we can find it.” I suggested.
“Maybe, and maybe there are a lot of rooms we haven’t seen yet.” She said thoughtfully then laid back. Soon I hear the gentle breathing, she was asleep.
I lay back too, trying to imagine what it must have been like for the inhabitant of this room. Wow, there I am struggling to get by, fearful of lightening, and thunder. I think there is something out there, gods of some kind and then I am in front of little green things, like I have never seen before. We have no way of Sat-Communicating. What do I do?
Then you wake up in a strange cave, alone, it looks like the one you lived in, but your tribe, your woman, your wolf are all gone. You’re alone and those things, they click and pop at you, the poke and prod you.
I think I want to talk to Winston in the morning to see what I can find out about some of the other pick-ups that were made. Maybe I can find out if Asuna had a room made for her.
February 28th
Well, this was special; before I could get too carried away with talking to Winston we had an alarm go off. I guess there was a solar storm and the QUalz were concerned that we (Asuna and I) might be at risk so it was off to the center of the ship, in the interior to be shielded from radiation. That in itself was not so bad but in the shielded area the sort of ship wide Wi-Fi (I use that term because I have no idea what else to call it) is prevented from working in the shielded area.
March 1st
After we were released from the protected cavern we decided that sleeping in ‘The Cave’ was as good a place as any. It is a little cooler and more comfortable. RRqil made some Sat-Comment about our liking it cooler because then we would share body heat followed by that grimace and some hiccupping. (I think she meant we could fool around.)
This morning Asuna was in for some tests and such. I dragged out Winston and started asking him some questions about the caveman. At first, he was unable to understand who I was referring to. When I said the Cro-Magnon I think he made the connection.
“If you are referring to Earth Sample #1, he is deceased.” said Winston.
I mumbled to myself, “Yeah, I figured that”….then louder asked, “How did he die?”
“Earth Sample #1 self-terminated.”
I sat for a minute, “Self-terminated?”
“Yes, he intentionally ruptured his blood circulatory system and allowed all the fluid you call blood to seep from the rupture,” said Winston in the kind of cold machine like way that we think of when we think of robots or AIs.
I sat quiet for a few more minutes. “Winston, of all the Earth samples that you, the QUalz, have dealt with over time, how many have terminated?”
“64” he responded.
“Okay, well let me back up a little, How many Earth Samples have there been?”
“My directives do not allow me to answer that question.”
“Alright, can you tell me how many rooms, like the cave or the one Asuna and I share, are there total?”
“There are 512 rooms.”
“Okay, now, have there been Earth Samples that did not get rooms?”
“Yes, 3 had not gotten rooms, the rooms were started but the Earth Samples terminated before completion,” He said.
“Are they part of the 64 number you gave me earlier?”
“Yes”
“And of the 64 that terminated, how many self-terminated?”
“17 self-terminated.”
“And the rest terminated of ah, natural events?” I asked, and was surprised at the answer.
“33 were terminated by natural causes, or as you call it, old age or infirmity and 14 were terminated by the QUalz,” Winston said, again in that machine like calm.
“What caused the need for their termination?” I asked.
“10 of the 14 were found mentally unfit to be returned to Earth, to do so would have been seen as creating a situation in which they would have suffered. The others were terminated by QUalz after they destabilized and created a hazard to the ship and crew.”
“How did you kill them?” I asked, kind of deflated.
“Killed? Terminated, the 10 went to sleep and did not awaken; the 4 by violence.”
“I see, Thank you Winston,” but I was unsettled by what I had just heard. It did make sense; it was just something that I had not considered.
I thought about what I had heard from Winston and when Asuna returned from the lab I filled her in on what I had learned. Her reaction was similar to mine. It made sense; it was just something we never thought about.
March 1st
I approached Krezz today to see if I could find out more about the ‘terminations’ but he was unable to help me.
“I was not yet hatched when those even
ts occurred,” he said. “We have had guidelines put into place many cycles ago because there were times; I think you use the word incidents, with some of our guests. But those were from many rotations in the past, mostly with the early humans we brought to the ship.”
“I see, I am curious, is it possible to get information on those past guests? If for no other reason than to fill some time, Asuna and I are bored.”
“I can speak with the First Hatched to see if he will allow it. But I am not hopeful; he tends to be very protective of such information.”
(Note: First Hatched is the overall leader or Commander of the Sky Crystal, generally this is the oldest member of the crew, hence ‘first hatched’, the QUalz being reptilian are born or hatched from eggs, as is the case in Earth reptiles.)
“Thank you, Krezz, I’m not thinking that you did wrong, I’m just curious. “
I did not hear back from Krezz or anyone else for the rest of the day.
We decided to move back to our little room, the one like our cabin at Romanica. I, we just felt a little funny about staying in a dead guy’s room.
March 3rd
We were summoned early this morning, and I call it early because it was just at the end of a sleep cycle. RRqil came and got us.
“Asuna, you have a message from your home world. Come, they need to speak with you.” She told us.
We hurried to the communications center where Asuna was placed before a console of sorts.
A technician played back the message that had been received overnight. It had taken some time for them to translate and sort out because the tech didn’t speak human. It took some time for him to figure out it was for us. (I later found out that this was the second message that had been received, the first was just ignored, not pleased, but what can one do.)
“Asuna, Tom, we have a problem, and we need to know if there are any forms of air defense available at the Arsenal. Can you help?” Asked Captain Emo.
The Event Series (Book 3): The Archive and Beyond Page 4
