Flidoring The Early Wars

by Hayes, Roger W.

  Lyemad, amazed at what he was hearing, blurted out, “How do you find the time to read that many books? It would take a lifetime—and more.”

  “We are able to scan about two pages a second into memory, with perfect recall,” stated Irpis, “but I would like to know why you would want to risk your lives on the horrors of space.”

  “What Horrors?” Lyemad questioned. “We have not seen anything worse than a meteorite and some solar radiation.”

  “Have you not crossed paths with any acid spitting dragons or other such monsters?” asked Irpis.

  “It sounds more like fantasy than real space travel,” mumbled Lyemad.

  “You must forgive my son’s manners,” apologized Bellmus as he stared wide-eyed at Lyemad.

  “Not at all,” interrupted Irpis, “I would respond the same way if not for the fact that I remember the Dragons. About a hundred years ago, when I was a young lad like you, Lyemad, I was part of an expedition to Noteorius Major. We had five glorious ships—all shiny and new. It was our first venture to another world. Our minds were full of grandiose ideas about meeting other intelligent beings and finding new technologies that would provide endless energy or medicines that would extend our lives. Our eyes were blind to the realities of how terrible life is outside of our world.”

  “Yes, go on,” encouraged Bellmus.

  “Our ships entered the upper layers of thick clouds, and the visibility went to zero almost instantly,” Irpis continued. “For minutes that seemed like hours, we flew blind as a Tibit. That is a small furry nocturnal flying mammal with no eyes, which navigates using echolocation, and is indigenous to Noteorius Prime. However—back to the story—it got darker with each passing moment, and the heavily charged particles in the atmosphere rendered our sensors useless. Finally, we cleared the cloudbank and entered a world of glowing red lava flows and towering flames leaping around jagged pillars of rock protruding from the inferno. Our navigator was first to notice a large, winged creature perched atop a huge rock bridge. Its body was thin and long, almost matching the size of our ship. A tail as thick as a tree trunk at its base curled around its back and tapered down to a point equaling the length of the body. Just as the navigator mentioned spotting it, the creature spread its wings wide and pounced into the air.”

  “How ssscary that mussst have been,” said Timsssack, with a chill running down his spine and into his tail.

  “Indeed it was,” Irpis proceeded. “I stood frozen in place—watching in horror as it flew right through a column of flame mixed with lava. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, the Muge Dragon, as we now call it, maneuvered around to the side of our number ‘Three’ ship and spewed greenish-red plasma-like acid out its mouth. Within seconds, the acid penetrated the hull and the ship imploded from the immense atmospheric pressure. Stunned by the unbelievable event, no one had noticed that two more dragons had taken to the air. By the time our captain realized the gravity of our situation, our number ‘Five’ ship imploded right beside us. He ordered a quick retreat back into the thick clouds, but not before the number ‘Two’ ship met the same fate.”

  “What a tragedy,” said Bellmus in distress.

  “We lost sixty souls that day,” Irpis said in a somber tone. “We raced through and out of the clouds into the vacuum of space with the Muge Dragons close behind. Our ship had suffered minor acid damage to non-critical parts, and both remaining crews were devastated with shock and fear. Upon our arrival back to our home world, we decided that space travel was not in our best interest. We dismantled the ships and displayed a piece of acid worn hull in our history museum as a reminder of the horrors in leaving the security of our home-world.”

  Bellmus, having been moved by the chilling tale, said, “I can see why you would stay secluded on your world after such a terrible episode. However, since our arrival, surely you can see that not everything in space is a terror. We are on our way to other star systems that we know have intelligent life because we have been in communication with them. We would like to include you in an alliance of peaceful planets that would have free exchange of information and technologies.”

  “We are grateful for your offer, but we have made up our minds. We are convinced that nothing good will come from being involved in off-world affairs,” Irpis stated with resolve, and then while he stood up he continued, “Now, thank you for sharing information about yours and other worlds, but now we must ask you to leave our world and honor our request of solitude. We would appreciate it if you would inform the other worlds you meet of our request for privacy.”

  “Of course we will honor your request, but I would ask that you would allow us to leave a communication device with you that would permit you to contact us if you ever were to decide…” started Bellmus.

  “You may leave a gift if you wish,” interrupted Irpis, “but we will not have a change of mind on this matter. Please accept this gift from us,” as he held out a claw that was as big as Bellmus’s two hands. “This is to remind you of our resolve on this issue. This is a claw from a Muge Dragon, which had latched onto our ship as we left the skies of Noteorius Prime. It died in the freezing vacuum of space during our journey back. When we landed, we found its claws still firmly embedded into our hull. What is left of the monster is on display beside the piece of hull in the museum. We are content to stay here on our planet by ourselves.”

  “Thank you for this gift. We will pass on your request to all the worlds we encounter,” said Bellmus as he marveled at the monster’s claw.

  Straight away, they headed back toward the Volkran, pleased with the encounter, but they were disappointed that they would not be able to learn more about the Noteorians and their world. While strolling back through the streets leading out of the city, Bellmus passed the claw to Timsssack. He in turn passed it to Slabriel, who in turn passed it to Bichael, and so on, until they all had a chance to feel and gaze on their first relic from another star system.

  Chapter VII

  Little but Mighty

  Back on the Volkran, Bellmus gave the command to leave the Paylee system and to set course for the Tamsek system. On the two-day journey, all the Ambassadors exchanged their mental images of the Muge Dragons and Noteorius Prime. Many of them had nightmares for many days after hearing the chilling tales from Irpis, and all of them were anxious to get to the Tamsek system.

  Tamsek is a yellow star that is average in size and brightness, and it looks inconspicuous amongst the many stars in the Nebula. The Tamsek system is home to the Furzonians, Wicterians, and Platonians. There are nine planets and thirteen moons in the system, of which only the three closest to the star have life. Furzon is the third planet from Tamsek, Wicterus is second, and Platon is the closest.

  Once they arrived at the Tamsek system, Lyemad remarked, “Wow! Look at all those planets. Have you ever seen anything as stunning as this?”

  “No sssir, thisss isss beautiful,” answered Tessslan.

  “Look at all the moons,” added Bichael, “our telescopes could not see all of them.”

  “Put us into orbit around Furzon,” commanded Bellmus, “and open a channel to Huglam.”

  Huglam was the Supreme Ruler of the Furzonians. He lived in Stalagamite, which was the largest cave city on Furzon. Furzonians are only three feet tall, at most. They are very muscular, and they are hairy all over except on their face and hands. The males braid the two-inch long dark-black hair on their bodies as a show of dominance while the females leave theirs straight.

  With a communications channel opened, Bellmus announced, “Sir Bellmus to Huglam, can you hear me?”

  Many moments passed before the reply came, “Sir Bellmus, this is Huglam, yes I can hear you. Have you reached our system yet?”

  “Indeed we have,” answered Bellmus, “we are just entering orbit around your planet now. Do we have your permission to land?”

  “Absolutely! I will have a welcome party meet you on the landing platform just outside the main entrance to Stalagamite. W
e built it just for your arrival,” said Huglam.

  “Thank you, I will see you soon, Bellmus off.”

  Furzon is a cold planet on the surface, but deep caves provide plenty of warmth by means of geothermal vents that are scattered throughout them. Tall mountains, with very little vegetation on them, cover the surface of Furzon. A few species of birds and rodent creatures live outside the caves, but the vast majority of life resides inside the thousands of caves that dot the faces of the mountains. Small bodies of frozen water rest between great peaks of rock—some reaching heights of ten-thousand feet. During the thaw of a short summer season, water evaporates into the sky and falls back as snow on the mountains, which in turn melts and flows in streams back down to the lakes. Some of the streams flow into the caves and collect in pools, where heat from the geothermal vents creates steam that rises out of the entrances.

  Lyemad, looking out the lower front windows, was thinking that the mountains looked like angry, freckled faces with steam coming out of the ears, noses, and mouths. It seemed ironic to him that the mountains had snow and ice while hot steam was rising all around.

  Tessslan set the Volkran down flawlessly on the stone-carved landing platform. Surrounding it was a party of at least fifty little, hairy beings—each looking like fit, well-trained athletes. Some had little trays of assorted fruits and vegetables, while others had small boxes cut from a single rock with beautifully carved pictures on all sides. A few were playing cheerful songs on stone flutes, accompanied by others keeping time with a variety of different size stone clackers. Many were involved in making Furzonian pyramids, by standing on top of each other five or six levels high. Bellmus knew from previous communications that this was to show off their strong and joyous culture. Different tribes would put on such shows when they visited each other.

  Making his way down the landing ramp, Bellmus greeted the half-sized but twice-strong ruler with, “I am Sir Bellmus of the House of Tomolack, and we come to your world in peace.”

  Huglam, familiar with Bellmus’s ways, responded, “Welcome to Furzon my friend,” as he stood toe-to-toe with him and looked straight up. “You seem much taller than I had envisioned from our talks.”

  “I suppose we look like giants to you,” joked Bellmus, “but I am sure that size is deceiving when it comes to your strength and character.”

  “You flatter all too well, my friend,” complimented Huglam, “come, and let us make the acquaintance of your shipmates. We have many gifts and delicious refreshments to share with you, as soon as we get in from the cold.”

  Inside Stalagamite, they followed a long narrow winding path from the opening. They finally turned one last corner and entered a large cavern. The Volkran crew stood frozen with surprise at the size and splendor of the cave city. Timsssack was first to overcome the awe and respond with, “How naturally beautiful thisss isss. You have blended well with the work of the Creator,” already knowing that their culture was religious—or at least superstitious.

  “Thank you,” said Huglam, “we consider ourselves as part of the creation, and we strive to complement it.”

  Slightly annoyed that the religious stuff was already coming out when they had just arrived, Lyemad said, “I think you have done well at manipulating your environment to suit your needs. You are obviously master craftsmen.”

  “Again, thank you for the compliment. We believe that we must use whatever resources have been entrusted to us, to better our environment and our way of life,” accentuated Huglam. “Follow me. If you think this looks nice, wait till you see the inside.”

  The first building they entered was the main receiving hall where the Furzonians entertain smaller numbers of guests. Master artisans had carved the walls with historic scenes and famous leaders. They had carved fancy moldings in the stone around the windows, doors and ceiling—polishing them to perfection. The entire hall was a masterpiece of workmanship that any of the other worlds would have envied. The stunning decor continued right into the hallways and other rooms and buildings of the city. Bellmus voiced the opinion of everyone when he said, “I would sure love to have one of your craftsmen do the decorating of my house.”

  The next room they entered into was the large receiving hall that the Furzonians call “Zimteal” which loosely translated in Electerian means “Place of Fellowship”. The hall was eight-hundred feet long and four-hundred feet across. The ceiling was a dome eighty feet high in the center, tapering down to four feet high at the sidewalls.

  Impressed, Lyemad thought. “Zimteal lives up to its name as a fellowship hall with tables for the guests to sit at, tables with lots of food, open floor spaces for dancing and pyramid building, and there is even a children’s area complete with toys and babysitters.” With perkiness in his voice he said, “If that is more of the same food we ate on the way down to the city, then bring it on. That was some of the best produce I have ever tasted.”

  “Lyemad, mind your manners!” blurted out a shocked Bellmus, knowing that he was raised better than he was acting.

  “Your praise of our cooking is well received, Sir Lyemad,” said Huglam. “We, also, are most fond of eating. It is good to see that we have some things in common.”

  Many, including Bellmus and Tessslan, wondered if Lyemad was that perceptive of the Furzonians or just lucky that time. Either way, he had made a good impression on their leader, and that went a long way towards building their respect for him. Lyemad just grinned after Huglam’s jubilant response to his comment. No one knew that he had spent hours talking with the Furzonians late at night over the communicators during their journey from Noteorius Minor. He knew more about their customs than all the other Ambassadors combined.

  Delighted that Lyemad pulled off such a smooth display of diplomacy, Bellmus decided to sit quietly by and let Lyemad further prove himself. Lyemad knew just the right things to say to make the Furzonians comfortable with their strange-looking guests. He figured that the Graznosians and Angelians might intimidate them with their animal and fish-like looks, but a few well placed jokes and carefully asked questions kept the situation non-threatening.

  Huglam proceeded to introduce many of the leaders from the different cave cities that were scattered all over Furzon. The gathering was the largest one in many years. Between the guests and the natives, there were thousands filling up the Zimteal. Excitement filled the air, as the Volkran crew became the center of attention for the Furzonians.

  As everyone took a seat around the long but well-spaced tables, dozens of servers brought huge plates full of colorful foods. Other attendants brought various drinks of assorted colors. Hours flew by as song and dance filled the Zimteal. Night-darkness had settled over the mountains, but no one could have known it because the caves were extremely bright. Electric lights powered by generators that ran off the geothermal vents lit up every corner of the caves and buildings. Copper wires hidden in channels cut into the rock walls, with steel power-tools, distributed the electricity. Copper, steel and other alloys were plentiful and easily extracted from the rock. The smelting process, to separate the alloys from the rock, used electricity to melt the ore. The thermal vents gave the Furzonians an abundance of energy and virtually everything was run by the electric grid. They even grew their food inside the caves using grow-lights powered by the grid.

  Lyemad knew that the Furzonians like to tell stories so he asked Huglam, “What—if I may ask you Huglam—was the chain of events that led to you becoming the Supreme Ruler?”

  “Ah, yes you may, and that is a very interesting story,” Huglam said while grabbing a large, blue piece of fruit. “Please, everyone, help yourselves.” He continued, “This story starts a long time ago when I was just a young boy. My marvelous father—may his brown bones turn to rock—had taken me on a climbing hike in the Deep Spike Mountain-range just north of our city. It was a warm summer’s day, which was much warmer back then. Much of the snow had melted from the peaks, and the wildflowers and grasses were covering the valley floors.”
r />   “It sssoundsss beautiful,” exclaimed Tessslan, just before he sank his teeth into a big, juicy, red and black-striped piece of fruit.

  “It was truly glorious,” resumed Huglam, “nothing can compare to the canvas of colors laid out in that valley on that day. The sky was pale-blue, and the mountains were layered gray and black with a few white peaks. The flowers spanned the colors of the rainbow, and the new grass was a brilliant green. The climb, however, was steep and treacherous, with overhanging cliffs and narrow ledges. The rocks were damp and slippery from the morning dew. Each step higher into the mountains brought with it increased danger and challenge. We had been in the highlands for about two hours when I pulled myself up onto a small outcrop, and right there in front of my eyes I saw it.”

  “What was it, some sort of a monster?” inquired Bichael, in-between crunching on some green nuts.

  “No, no,” insisted Huglam, “there are no monsters on Furzon. This was a sight that would change the course of my life and the future of our race.” He paused for a moment. “Lying there on a jagged piece of rock was a small, white and barely alive, Nick bird. It had probably tried to fly out of a nest on a ledge above us, or possibly it was bumped out by a sibling. At any rate, it had crashed not long before our arrival and was no doubt suffering. I gently scooped it up and placed it in my backpack, carefully tucking soft ropes around it for protection. We climbed back down the mountain and went straightway to the city, where I spent the next five light-cycles nursing it back to health.”

  “That was surely heroic,” said Bellmus, “but how did that change your life or the lives of your people?”

  “An excellent question,” said Huglam. “The Nick bird is very rare and it is a symbol of love and commitment amongst our people. After it became healthy again, it decided to stay with me even though I tried to let it go back to the mountains. For many years, as I grew older, I watched that Nick fly effortlessly around our house. One day I decided to build a replica of it, to see if I could understand the principle of flight. My first few attempts were a total disaster, but finally I was able to make one that glided from one side of the city cave to the other, with the help of some compressed air stored in a rubber bladder inside its body. My little ‘Nick-O-Light’ not only became a popular toy, but it also led to us thinking about sky and space travel.”