The militiaman, p.21
The Militiaman, page 21
part #1 of Totality Series
One glance at Linda, standing awkwardly on the other side of the table looking uncomfortable, made William realize that once again he had let his frustration get the better of him and he needed to keep better control. He muttered something like an apology to Zotz and commenced pacing around the room, feeling impatient and impotent. Finally, Zotz suggested that they might want to lie down and get some sleep while they could, since there was nothing they could do while the ship was scanning. William’s instinct was to resist but the Sage read him clearly.
“I know what you’re thinking, William, and you will be absolutely no good to the Trepsis colonists if you are too tired to think clearly. Go. Get some sleep. Transcendence can do her work while we rest, and believe me, we will be awakened if the ship catches up to our quarry or anything else happens at all.”
William sighed and his shoulders fell as he gave in. He allowed Zotz to lead him through the ship once again with Linda trailing along behind.
“These were, I believe, the officers’ quarters,” said Zotz, opening a door to let them inside. “They are well-appointed, as you can see: bed, bureau, desk, table, personal bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower. Over there, you will find the same system for food and drink as the cells downstairs and that panel on the wall by the bathing facilities produces clothing to your measurements. All you have to do is just press the blue button in order to engage the voice response system. I will be across the hall in my room, if you need me for anything.”
Zotz left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Linda and William looking at each other. She raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Too exhausted to bother discussing the same old thing again, he responded with a noncommittal shrug and climbed into bed, leaving enough space for her if she decided to make use of it. He expected it would be hard to fall asleep, with his mind as active as it was turning over the problems they faced and examining them from every angle, but it was mere moments before fatigue overruled him. He was not even aware of it when Linda crawled under the blanket and curled up beside him, nor did he notice when she left the room hours later.
It seemed like he’d only just fallen asleep when Zotz’s insistent calls over the intra-ship communication system awakened him. Fumbling around on the nightstand beside the bed, he finally located the little speaker that had broken through his slumber so sharply and pressed the button to respond.
“Zotz, I heard you. Just give me a minute,” he said, sitting up bleary-eyed on the edge of the bed.
It was closer to fifteen minutes before William arrived back in the control center, and at least five of those minutes had been spent figuring out how to operate the ship’s shower system, which did not actually involve water but certainly got the dirt off in a matter of seconds. A few more minutes were lost figuring out the automated clothing system, and a few more finding his way back. Linda greeted him with a smile, signaling him over to the table where she and Zotz were busy working. She pointed to the table’s surface, where a green spot slowly blinked against the bright white background of the table.
“You see that, Will? It’s a planet,” she told him excitedly.
“Aren’t there a lot of planets out there?”
“This one is inhabited,” Zotz said, as if he couldn’t believe it himself.
21. A Golden Dream
Following a more or less direct vector from where their enemy had departed the Trepsis solar system, this solar system was the first their course had encountered, and Zotz thought it rather curious that they would discover an inhabited planet right away.
“It may be a coincidence,” he said. “Then again, it may not. It warrants further investigation.”
“Okay, but if we don’t find anything related to the attack on Trepsis, we need to leave immediately,” said William. “You said yourself that we can’t afford to waste any time.”
Zotz could hardly argue with that. He insisted on running some routine scans of the planet before they departed for the surface, however, and William didn’t much like the sound of what could turn out to be a lengthy process.
“How long is that going to take?”
“We need to ensure the environment is suitable for us. The atmosphere and gravity are fine from the looks of things, but there is always the possibility of allergens, microbes, and other unknowns that may adversely impact us,” Zotz explained. “A detailed atmospheric sample will give us the information we need in order to safely proceed, and that may be a few hours.”
William frowned. “Is there anything we can do to speed the process along?”
“I’m afraid not. It takes as long as it takes. I will engage the surveys and scans so we’ll have as complete a picture as possible of the planet’s situation. There is one other issue, however,” said the Sage. “As I explained before, this planet is inhabited. They appear to be humanoid, at least so far as initials scans can determine. If we are to proceed to the surface, there is the small matter of how to communicate with them.”
“It’s not likely that they’re going to be speaking Lexinian,” Linda commented with a wry smile.
“I assume you have a solution in mind?” William asked impatiently.
Zotz smiled his understanding. “Of course. This ship offers an elegant and permanent solution to communication with other human civilizations. All that is required is a simple injection containing microscopic machines which penetrate the visual, auditory and language centers of your brain. Any language you encounter, be it spoken, written, or gestural, will automatically be translated within your brain. You will also be able to communicate fluently in said language. Of course, this only works for languages the Order is familiar with, which I can tell you is quite a comprehensive list.”
“Just break out the translation devices!” William blurted out. “That’s what you’re talking about, right?”
“Ones that go in your brain,” Linda said, her apprehension obvious. “You’re going to inject tiny machines into my brain and they’ll help me speak other languages? Am I the only one who finds that more than a little creepy?”
“I’ve had these devices in my brain for decades, and no ill effects have been noted,” Zotz assured them. “No meaningful records of this particular planet exist in the ship’s memory apart from a location reference, so there may be no record of whatever language they use to communicate either. Nevertheless, the translators should be able to learn the local language after a brief adjustment period, and then we should be able to speak with them.”
“Sounds great, sign me up!” William said, his voice oozing sarcasm, “Alien planets, abducted colonists, brain implants...”
“Sometimes, William, you have to think outside of the little box you keep yourself in. Sometimes you have to do more than simply question your suspects, you must also question your assumptions,” said the Sage. “You have assumed me to be a rather deranged elderly man with harmless, but ultimately misguided, intentions; I challenge you to see that I am more lucid, saner and more firmly grounded, than most anyone you’ve ever met. I have reasons for believing everything I do, even if I lack the time and the inclination to fully explain myself to you.”
William thought it over, and realizing that in the end he didn’t really have a lot of options, he finally let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine. Give me the damn injection.”
“Same here,” said Linda bravely.
Zotz smiled. “You won’t regret it, I promise. I will be right back.”
A few minutes later, he returned with two small cylinders. At Zotz’s direction, William apprehensively extended his right arm with the wrist facing up, watching as Zotz pressed one of the cylinders filled with translucent, light-green fluid into the flesh of his wrist. The fluid quickly vanished, and then the Sage repeated the process with Linda. At first nothing felt different, then all of a sudden William began to feel light-headed and the room lurched around him. For a moment, he thought he might pass out but Zotz had anticipated this sort of reaction and quickly moved to prop him up.
“Don’t worry,” Zotz said, his voice like a distant echo, “The sensation will pass momentarily.”
It did pass, quite quickly in fact, and William’s blurred vision returned to normal along with his sense of balance and awareness. He looked around the control room, which suddenly seemed like a different room entirely, and he realized that he could read everything around him that had been nothing more than unintelligible symbols moments before. “PROPULSION,” “SENSOR,” “NAVIGATION,” “ENGINEERING,” “SHIP-TO-SURFACE;” all of the signs and labels throughout the room were as familiar to him as if they had never been anything else.
“This is incredible.”
Zotz smiled. “As I said, there are many advantages to the technology this ship offers and there will be more, I can promise you. Soon, we will be prepared to depart for the planet’s surface and you can witness the full potential of what you’ve just endured.”
A couple of hours later, Transcendence deemed the planet safe to visit. Zotz noted with some degree of curiosity that the planet appeared to completely lack anything in the way of microbes harmful to humans, and while not an impossible prospect, he clearly found it intriguing.
“One of us should remain on board to look after the ship,” Zotz declared. “Even though it can be controlled remotely, I’d rather not leave it completely unattended in orbit.”
The three of them looked at each other, and it was clear that all of them wanted to see what this new planet was all about.
“Well, I definitely need to go down there,” William said. “I need to question people, find out if they know anything about the Totality or the abduction.”
“Either Linda or myself would be perfectly capable of that, as well,” Zotz pointed out, and William had to admit it was true even if he did feel that he was more qualified to question people. “We need to be fair about this.”
The Sage wrote the numbers 1, 2, and 3 on a slip of paper and folded it into three sections, carefully tearing them apart. Placing them face down on the table, he mixed them up and said: “Whoever takes number three remains behind.”
William didn’t notice what order Zotz had written the numbers, but he thought it safe to assume that the piece of paper with two perforations would be 2, so he chose that one. Linda selected hers, and Zotz picked up the last. William looked at his number and was surprised to see it was not 2 after all, it was 1. Linda held the 2, which left the Sage remaining behind aboard Transcendence. Without further ado, he escorted them to the dropship bay.
“This is your first sojourn to an alien world. There is no time to teach you the Order’s protocols about these things as they are quite extensive, but I can summarize with this advice: treat them with respect, deference, and dialogue,” Zotz told them. “If you find their beliefs, practices, or culture peculiar, or even offensive, hold your tongue and keep it yourself. Defer to their laws and traditions as much as possible. Remember, it is their world, not yours. If they appear open to conversation with you, by all means, indulge them; teach them about our culture, if they wish to learn. Avoid insulting them at all costs! If they require a show of good faith in order to engage with you fairly, accommodate them if you can. We know nothing of these people and a good first impression will be invaluable.”
“What about weapons? We’re not going to a strange planet unarmed, are we?” asked William.
“If you find yourself needing a weapon, then you have failed,” said the Sage, directing a level gaze at the Chief Militiaman. “This ship and all its wondrous capabilities are merely tools, and even they cannot compensate for a lack of judgment or foresight. A gun at your side only offers the illusion of protection, since you and Linda would be fatally outnumbered if things deteriorated into a firefight. If I suspect the situation is getting out of control and to the point that it will soon involve violence, I shall intervene myself.”
“You mean you’ll be monitoring us?” Linda asked.
“Yes. The same translators that will help you communicate with the locals will also transmit back to the ship, both for the purposes of updating its linguistic processing systems and so that I may listen in real-time.”
“So much for privacy,” William said with a sly smile. “I knew there had to be a downside to these translator things!”
“I can, of course, halt the monitoring if you require privacy at some point, you need only say so. I would simply prefer to have it active as much as possible, for the sake of your safety.”
“Fine, keep it on for now, but if I say to turn it off, you’d better.”
“Of course, William.”
“And don’t let Macomb out of that cell for any reason. I don’t know if you have any plans to go talk to him, but my suggestion is that you don’t. He likes to fuck with your head. It’s what he does. He’ll get you feeling sorry for him or something for being short or fat or unloved or being an unrecognized genius. Just promise me you won’t listen to him.”
“I have no intention of disturbing him.”
Zotz programmed a dropship to take them down to the surface and deliver them to a site near the edge of the largest settlement Transcendence had detected on the planet, a city of roughly six million people, and the only significant humanoid presence.
“Whenever you are prepared to return to Transcendence, simply return to the dropship and activate the return mechanism,” instructed the Sage, indicating a large red button next to the door to make sure they knew which one he meant. “Good luck.”
Linda smiled a little nervously at William. “Really for a little adventure, Will?”
“I don’t know how you can be so excited about this,” he replied as the pod door sealed shut.
“It beats being a grouch. Let’s face it, you were always a grouch, it’s just that now you feel really justified about being one.”
“Talk to me next time you lose a whole colony,” he snapped at her.
The ship shuddered as it began its descent, causing them both to press their bodies back against the wall and hold tightly onto the handles.
“I’m not getting into that with you right now. Let’s make a rule: no bickering in front of the aliens.”
“Fine. I’m just going to save it up for when we get back to the ship.”
“Wow, I think I’m going to faint. Did you actually just make a joke?” she teased.
“You’d better hope I’m joking!” he said sharply, but his smile gave him away.
Somehow he felt a little better, even though recent events continued to weigh heavily on his shoulders. He hoped the planet below was interesting enough to keep distracting him for a while, at least as long as it took to get the information he needed without having time to analyze what it meant.
Soon they landed, and the door of the dropship slowly opened. Linda was closer to the door, so she took the first few cautious steps out onto the surface followed by William. They found themselves amid a bed of thick, lush grass tall enough to tickle their ankles, and incredibly soft beneath their feet. Amazingly, when they lifted their feet it sprang back up as if it had never been stepped on. The grass covered quite a distance, until it reached a line of trees where it disappeared below a vast forest canopy.
Behind the pod they could see the actual settlement, though “settlement” understated matters dramatically: what stretched out before them was an enormous city which began as a series of short, rectangular buildings neatly arranged in rows.
“It looks like a giant circle,” Linda said, in awe. “But it’s so much bigger up close than it was in orbit, way bigger than I imagined.”
William couldn’t help but agree. The curvature of the planet logically should have made most of the city disappear behind the buildings nearest them, and it would have if they were all the same height, but the farther one got into the city, the taller and more elaborate the buildings became. In the center, great columns, spires and towers rose up, culminating in a tremendous needle-shaped building that seemed to pierce the clouds. From end to end, from the edge to the center, the entire city was a sparkling, glittering gold in the daylight.
The two of them glanced at one another, and began to head toward the city when William heard a noise and turned back. The dropship was slowly vanishing from view; it did not rise into the sky or sink into the ground, it merely disappeared as if it had never been there. After a moment of panic, William realized he “knew” that the dropships automatically hid themselves from prying eyes, and it would show up again once they were close enough to it.
As they approached the city, there was no one in sight and William began to wonder if everyone nearby had holed up inside to hide from the strange visitors. “Holed up” was perhaps the wrong term, since none of the buildings had doors, just open archways, but even so, nobody was visible through any of those. Finally, a man with short-cropped blond hair, decked out in gold shorts and tunic, rounded the corner from a nearby side street and walked toward them. He held up one hand and said something, but the man’s voice was muffled and William didn’t quite catch it. The man tried again and it sounded like a greeting, so William decided to raise his hand and say hello back.
The man said something else as he came closer, which sounded like gibberish to William, and he exchanged a questioning look with Linda. Why aren’t these stupid translators working? As if on cue, suddenly he understood: the words “Welcome to Golden” formed in his head, and he discovered that he also knew how to respond.
“Thank you. My name is William, and this is Linda.”
The man bowed respectfully to each of them. “It is our honor to receive you, William and Linda. You are off-worlders, are you not?”
“We are. We come seeking information.”
“We will share any information we possess. What do you wish to know?” asked the man.
“Do you know anything about people being abducted by the Totality?”
The man’s pleasant smile evaporated. “You will find no Totality here, nor anything of their ilk. Golden is a sanctuary from those creatures. No Totality may ever breach our skies nor afflict our hearts.”
