The Ship Finder: Young Adult Edition

by John Bluck

  He motioned Wilson, Yarnell, and Rachel to follow him. Rachel snatched Wilson's arm and leaned against him as the small group went with Raven to the equipment hold of the ship.

  "I'm glad you're better," said Rachel. "I'd like to resume English lessons whenever you're ready."

  "Let's continue lessons after we get back from Triod," Wilson said. He and Rachel followed a few paces behind Raven and Yarnell.

  "Perhaps you can cook some Earth food for me," Rachel said.

  "I have some cans of spaghetti and meat balls, canned fruit, waxed beans, and some other stuff like that, which I can prepare," Wilson said.

  "Is this typical of your diet?" Rachel asked, as they neared the equipment hold.

  "It's not restaurant food, but it's quick. Lots of Earth people eat like that."

  The small group stepped into the equipment area. A large, new electric land rover stood in their path. Raven patted the camouflaged vehicle on its hood, and a metallic sound resulted.

  "This is the toy," he said. "It includes an advanced metal detector built into its undercarriage, and you guessed it. The detector can find gold as well as other metals."

  "You could cover a lot of territory with that vehicle," said Yarnell as he stooped down to peer under the rover. It had high ground clearance so it could travel off-road in rough country.

  "The detector can scan down forty feet into dirt and rock because of the size of its coil," said Raven. "There's a computer screen mounted in the dashboard. A program analyzes the return signals from the detector, and the onboard computer creates color images that represent several kinds of metals as well as cavities like caves, graves, wells, and small boxes."

  "How do you tell the difference between a big chunk of gold or just an old pipe?" Yarnell asked.

  "The computer studies the signals and can identify steel, silver, and gold. When it finds a certain type of metal, it displays a word like 'gold' on the screen," Raven said.

  He opened the doors of the vehicle and got into the driver's seat. Yarnell sat in the front passenger seat while Rachel and Wilson got in the back seat and began to peer at the computer screen in the dashboard.

  Raven turned on the computer. "I'm going to show you the tutorial on how this beast works," he said. He flipped through a series of computer images that showed examples of how to find precious metals, how deep they might be, and where to dig for them.

  "How much land do you think we have to scan to find gold?" Wilson asked.

  "I've cut it down to about four square blocks," said Raven. "I'm not on the lookout just for small nuggets. I want to find the twin of a 106-pound nugget found in California's Gold Country." He pulled a plastic map from his hip pocket and spread it out.

  "How can you be sure you'll find a similar nugget on Triod?" Wilson asked.

  "Experience tells us we have a 95 percent chance of finding one in this area," Raven said. He pointed to an 'x' on the map. "We've done this many times. In almost all cases we've found similar things on 'superimposed' planets in separate dimensions."

  "Remarkable," Wilson said. "But couldn't somebody already have found such a large chunk of gold?"

  "That's certainly possible, but the area on Triod where we'll look is deserted except for a few natives," Raven replied.

  "I'm glad of that," commented Wilson. "It'll be fun, and at least we'll be out of harm's way."

  "Very true," said Raven, "but be sure to enjoy this mission because on a later trip we'll go back to Triod. That's when we'll destroy the water supply of the cyborgs' capital city." He hesitated. "I expect we'll run into a beehive of enemy soldiers on guard duty at the reservoirs. We plan to blow up the water works with fusion bombs, but it won't be a walk in the park."

  "Why don't we just do it after we get the gold?" Yarnell asked.

  "The assault plan isn't finished yet, and scientists have to test new, marble-size fusion bombs designed just for this water mission," said Raven. "After the tests, technicians must make enough bombs so we can plant them next to all of the capital's water storage areas. If we're successful, it'll put the enemy in a really bad way because they use the water not only for drinking, but for irrigation and industrial production."

  "When do we return to Triod to do the mission?" Yarnell asked.

  "It won't take us more than a day, maybe two days, to find lots of gold on Triod," said Raven. "When we get back here to Sunev, the crew can rest a few days while we finish the plan and the techs build the bombs. So, probably a week from tomorrow we'll destroy the enemy's water supply."

  Wilson knew he had to send this critical intelligence about the raid to Ramon Black before The Ghost Liner left for Triod to search for gold.

  "We'll leave for Triod's gold country in two hours," said Raven. "If you plan to leave the ship, be sure to return no later than an hour from now."

  "Let's have a quick lunch at the spaceport cafeteria, Bill," said Rachel.

  "Okay," Wilson said. "I'm hungry."

  "Have a good lunch," Yarnell said.

  "We will," said Rachel, and she took Wilson's arm. They walked out of the ship and headed for the cafeteria.

  Soon, they were in the lunch line, and they selected their meals, sat down, and began to eat. "Excuse me," Wilson said. "I need to use the restroom."

  Rachel nodded as she chewed some pizza.

  He walked toward the men's restroom, went around a corner and into an alcove. There he pulled out his mobile phone, entered the scrambler code, and punched in Black's number.

  "Hello, Bill," Black answered. "What's up?"

  "I can't talk long, but I learned something important," Wilson said. "Today, we leave for Triod to look for gold. We'll return to Sunev in a couple of days, and then we'll go back to Triod to the outskirts of the capitol city, Emor, to destroy its water supply system."

  "That is critical," said Black. "We'll have to stop the attack. I don't know how yet. When you return to Sunev, I'll contact you. If you don't hear from me after a few hours when you get back, call when it's safe. Thanks for this vital intel."

  "I'm glad to help, but I need to hang up now, or Rachel will miss me."

  "Okay, thanks. Goodbye, Bill."

  "So long," Wilson said. He walked back to find Rachel already half done with her lunch. They finished eating and returned to the ship ten minutes before Raven's deadline.

  Chapter 20 – Anticipating Triod

  "You two cut it close," said Raven, as Rachel and Wilson entered The Ghost Liner's command deck. Yarnell stood near Raven and peered at a map of Sunev on the ship's navigation computer. The ship was to leave for Triod in a little more than an hour to start its mission to find more gold for the war effort.

  "We had a good lunch at the spaceport cafeteria," said Rachel. "You should've come with us."

  "Yarnell and I had to plan the route to fly to Sunevian Gold Country so when we land we'll be in the right spot to jump to Triod," Raven said. "You might as well relax while we fly to the dimensional jump point."

  "Okay," Wilson said.

  "Let's go to my room and practice English," Rachel whispered. "I want to be ready when we travel to Earth."

  "All right," Wilson said.

  The two strolled to her cabin, she keyed in her entry code, and the door swung open. Then the lights came on, and bewitching Sunevian music began to play from an unseen device. Wilson followed her into the front room.

  "Let’s dance instead of doing an English lesson," she said. "I understand that you like to waltz."

  "Okay,” Wilson replied.

  As they danced, her soft hair gleamed and swayed back and forth.

  She was so much like Lena that he forgot for a moment she was another woman. Brushing her soft hair aside, he saw her tattoo, 214866, behind her ear.

  Rachel's number is different than Lena's, Wilson noticed, and he concentrated on the number.

  "Do you want to tell me something?" asked Rachel, interrupting his thoughts.

  "I just want to dance," he replied. I've got to play
the part, he thought.

  She squinted and blinked. "Me too," she said.

  "Maybe I'm drawn to you for other reasons besides your physical beauty," Wilson heard himself say. "Your personality is different than Lena's."

  "I must admit that my task is to please you," she said with a hint of anxiety in her voice. "But there's more. You must have guessed that I'm supposed to listen to you and report to Officer Yarnell, if I hear you say anything disloyal."

  "Have you heard me say anything like that?" Wilson asked. He questioned himself, where's she going? Why would she admit that she's been assigned to keep an eye on me?

  "I haven't heard you say a thing that's even close to rebellious," she said. "But because I'm a clone, I can see why Lena might convince you that all higher beings whether they're natural human beings, clones, cyborgs, or robots should be equal under the law."

  "I thought all the clones on Sunev were just as human as natural people," he said.

  "Under Sunevian law we clones are not equal to people conceived in a sex act," she said. Her eyes flickered. "But I think, just as Lena must believe, that we are normal people, not merely pets." She brushed her soft hair away from her hazel green eyes. "So, I can see how the clone rebels and the cyborgs convinced Lena to join their rebellion. The rebels think all intelligent beings should live in a true democratic state."

  Wilson was silent, as he thought, I have to speak with care. Is she telling me lies to get me to admit I'm a rebel? "I think the rebels were able to recruit Lena because she thought they'd create a free society for all," he said. "But no system is flawless. Even if the rebels win the war, they wouldn't create a perfect government, just like the Sunevian regime isn't ideal."

  "So, do you think Lena was right to join the rebels?" Rachel asked.

  "She did what she thought was right, even if I think she was wrong."

  "You don't condemn her, then?"

  "No, I don't. I can understand why she did it," Wilson said. "She's very talented, and she probably thinks people should value her for her contributions. Too bad the state didn't award her a status equal to that of a natural human being. If that had happened, she wouldn't be a rebel."

  "I could be a rebel too," Rachel said.

  "I don't know you well enough yet to even guess what you think," he said. "Still, you're a person clearly distinct from other people, and your mind grew in its own, unique way. I respect you for your individuality."

  "Thank you," she said, and they began to dance like they were in a dream. After a while the ship's launch bell rang and jarred them back to reality.

  "That bell means we'll take off for Sunevian Gold Country in ten minutes," Wilson explained.

  "Okay," Rachel said, as they started to move towards his cabin door.

  The two went to their flight seats and buckled in. The Ghost Liner took off like a spaceship, quickly ascended to 150,000 feet, and flew another hour to reach its destination in Sunevian Gold Country.

  "Prepare to land," Raven announced to the crew over the loudspeaker. "After we're on the ground, we'll take a fifteen minute break. Then we'll jump to Triod's Gold Country."

  The Ghost Liner landed like a huge vertical-takeoff-and-landing fighter jet. Wilson and Rachel unbuckled their seatbelts and got up to stretch.

  "It won't be long before Raven gets to try his new land rover and the gold-scanner," Wilson said. "I didn't think to ask him if we're invited to go along."

  "I asked him, and he said okay," said Rachel. "It'll be lots of fun. I've never done anything like searching for gold before."

  "I panned for gold once at a tourist attraction in California, but I didn't find much except a few small gold flakes," Wilson said.

  Raven walked up to the pair. "You two will get a thrill when we find some big gold nuggets on Triod." He grinned.

  "That should be enough gold for at least one new dimension ship," Wilson said.

  "Actually, it could help us build as many as four ships," Raven said. "That's why this mission is important."

  "And we'll still need gold ore for fusion machines even after the war ends," Yarnell added. "That's why the search for gold isn't just a hobby."

  "If it's okay with you, I'll take some notes," said Rachel. "I could write an article about how we found gold."

  "That's okay by me," said Raven.

  "Thank you, Commander," said Rachel.

  Raven nodded, sat at the command console, and picked up a microphone. "All crewmembers, attention. Please move to your flight chairs and buckle in. We will begin the jump to Triod in five minutes."

  Wilson and Rachel sat down and snapped their seatbelt buckles shut. A few hours later the ship vibrated less and less, as it shifted dimensions and appeared in Triod's Gold Country.

  "I can't wait to get out there," said Rachel. "I wonder what else we'll find."

  Chapter 21 – The Gold of Triod

  The Ghost Liner cloaked and came to rest in the rugged area of Triod that parallels California's Gold Country.

  "We'll get started straight away," said Raven. "Yarnell, Wilson, and Rachel will join me in the land rover. Everyone will carry side arms. O'Reilly's mobile squad will deploy with us in case we run into Cyborg soldiers."

  "I hope we won't be in danger," Rachel whispered to Wilson.

  "We'll be okay. Most of the Cyborg forces are near their capital city, Emor, which is thousands of miles from here."

  "That sounds good, I guess," she said. Though Rachel was Lena's clone twin, they were very different. Lena was calm, even under fire, while Rachel was emotional and had never been in combat.

  Yarnell handed ray pistols to Wilson and Rachel. The armorer gave the squad members ray rifles as well as mini grenades powerful enough to shatter enemy soldiers into bits.

  "Come on, folks," said Raven. "Move out. Be prepared to find a big piece of yellow metal."

  Raven opened the rover's rear passenger door for Rachel. As Wilson got in the vehicle next to her, he detected a new-car odor that mixed with Rachel's exotic perfume.

  "It's pleasant to drive a new machine," said Raven as he got into the driver's seat.

  Yarnell sat in the front passenger seat of the tank-like rover and closed his door, making a solid "thunk" sound. Raven turned on the car's fusion-electric motor, and at the same time the gold location computer program flashed to life on the dashboard screen.

  Yarnell snatched the vehicle's two-way radio microphone from its bracket on the dashboard and squeezed the transmit button on the handheld mike. "Rover to base," he barked into the oval mesh-covered mouthpiece.

  "Go ahead, Rover," replied deputy ship commander, Ken O'Leary, via the two-way. He had taken command of The Ghost Liner in Raven's absence.

  "Please open the hatch door and deploy the vehicle ramp," Yarnell said.

  "Ten-four," O'Leary replied. "Good luck," he added.

  The ship uncloaked among a few medium-sized pine trees in a forested grove, and the roll-up door opened. The trees were far enough apart that the rover could drive around them with no trouble.

  Raven opened the vehicle's windows a bit. A spice like odor drifted into the rover from fragrant small trees with smooth, chocolate colored wood. He eased the heavy rover down the sturdy metal ramp, and the vehicle's big, treaded tires crushed into the dry, straw-like grass and weed-covered ground. Then he pushed a button to completely roll down the vehicle's bullet-proof windows.

  "It's a nice day," he said. "Let's enjoy the fresh air. Scanners did not report any sign of the enemy."

  Wilson saw a buck jump from behind some bushes and smoothly lope deeper into the forest. "Do the scanners detect deer, bear, and other animals?" he asked.

  "Sure," said Raven.

  "How can they tell the difference between deer and people?" Wilson asked.

  "The computer nerds will have to explain that," Yarnell said with a laugh.

  "I'll drive it back and forth like a plow," Raven said. "The compass and coordinates on the computer map will help me line up."

&
nbsp; "What about the trees, big rocks, and other things in the way?" asked Rachel.

  "That's where you, Bill, and Yarnell will come to my aid," said Raven. "We have some portable gold scanners in the back. You can use them when we run into areas where the vehicle can't go."

  Yarnell pointed to the back of the rover and said, "They're fancy metal detectors linked into the vehicle's computer system."

  "How will we know if we find something?" Wilson asked.

  "Signals from each handheld detector go to the vehicle's computer, which will combine data we gather with the rover's scanner info. The computer will let us know if we find metal."

  "I didn't realize we had to do something," Rachel said. "Good thing I wore my canvas clothes." Before she left the ship, Rachel had donned heavy duty tan pants and a shirt, which looked like safari garb. The rest of the team members wore tan combat fatigues.

  "It won't be a hard job," said Yarnell. He looked back at Rachel. "I think you'll rather enjoy it."

  She smiled and showed her perfect teeth.

  The sky was deep blue in Triod's Gold Country, like it is in California, except during the rainy season. A warm wind wafted the smells of fresh grass and trees to the alien gold seekers. They sat in the rover and enjoyed the scenery, as Raven drove slowly and scanned the ground beneath them.

  Wilson glanced at colorful graphics on the computer screen, images that showed a cross-section of the ground forty feet deep. The picture changed as Raven drove. Wilson saw cartoon-like images of what he thought were ground hog burrows, underground rocks, and roots. The vehicle grazed bushes on its right side next to a big boulder and a six foot dip in the otherwise flat terrain.

  Raven finished his first two-block-long pass along one edge of a four-square-block area.

  "Time to turn around, boys and girl," he said. He turned the vehicle and began to go back the way he had come, like he would mow a lawn. "Be ready to get out near that big rock and the depression so you can hand-scan it."

  "I just started to enjoy the ride," Rachel said, winking at Wilson.

  "We didn't bring you with us to party," chortled Raven. Wilson had never seen him in a happier mood.