First Contact (Galactic Axia Adventure) (25 page)

“That’s all for now, my friend,” Delmar said. “Give my regards to the Professor.”

“I did better than that. I also sent him a picture of your new ship.” The comm signal went silent as Ert and Delmar disconnected.

“That’s really something,” Jake said.

“I told you,” Robert commented. “This thing is one fancy toy.”

∞∞∞

Across town Stan and Leatha were thoroughly enjoying the Science Museum. While they walked among the various displays in the astrophysics section, they found themselves telling each other about their lives. Stan had just finished telling Leatha a quick background of himself.

“So you were in that flight of basic trainees that got jumped by Red-tails?” she asked incredulously. “The same one where Delmar was injured?”

“Yes, I was,” Stan answered, embarrassed that he had gained a degree of fame when so many of his friends had died on the same mission. “Delmar and I helped rescue our training flight and the crew of the transport when we were shot down. Then later we rigged up the comm unit to call for help.”

“It must have been terrible for both of you.”

He always felt a little uncomfortable when people fawned over him about the Red-tail attack. He didn’t feel like much of a hero when he thought of the eleven friends killed in the action. He tried to stay focused on what Leatha would say rather than the past.

“What are you doing with yourself besides flying your ship?” Stan asked, trying to change the subject.

“Oh, I’m looking into signing up with the Mentor Program.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s fairly new,” she answered. “It pairs troopers and civilian youngsters of similar interests to help the kids with their studies.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“I only heard about it just before graduation from survey school. My application is still in the paper mill. I should find out if I’m accepted about the time my leave ends.”

“That brings up another thing,” Stan said. “How come you went to check on Delmar and used up your leave time?”

“Oh, after a couple days flying around, I got bored,” Leatha answered. “I’d heard so much about the Hassels from Delmar that I decided to see for myself. I also wanted to see how he would react to being chased by a girl.”

“And what did you find out?”

“Delmar’s description of the Hassels didn’t even begin to do them credit,” Leatha said. “They’re some of the more interesting people that I’ve ever met.”

“What about Delmar?” Stan asked. “How did he react to your unexpected visit?”

“Pretty good I’d say. He might even get interested in girls someday.” Stan chuckled.

“That’s Delmar all right,” he said. “I don’t think he’ll stay a bachelor forever, but I’m not holding my breath either.”

“Whoever reels him in will have quite a catch,” Leatha said. “If he can get past his insecurity and shyness.”

∞∞∞

Maranar scientist Dr. Garret was finally led to the bridge of the mothership by a trooper-second. He’d already been given the grand tour while Commander Tess returned to her duties. As much as she liked playing hostess, Tess had a ship to run and a sector to oversee. When compared to the small patroller he’d been shown earlier, the mothership was a marvel of technology many times the size of even the largest aircraft carrier on Maranar.

“So you finally made it here,” the commander commented as the Maranar scientist and his tour guide entered the bridge. “I was beginning to think he’d left you chained up with the other galley slaves.”

“You have quite a vessel here,” Garret said as the trooper-second stepped back to give their guest and the commander some privacy. “It’s like walking around a city.”

“Glad you like it,” Tess said with a smile. “She’s a good ship and I have a great crew. It goes together well, don’t you think?”

“Most certainly,” Garret agreed. “I don’t often see such camaraderie back home. Honestly, I think the different branches of our services spend more time fighting each other than getting their job done.”

“That could be improved with changes in your military organization.”

“What do you mean?” Garret asked. “Our services are the best they’ve ever been!”

“You’ve definitely made improvements in the last generation, don’t get me wrong,” Tess said, trying to reassure the man. “It’s just that our service doesn’t have a tiered system separating the enlisted ranks from the officers. We found over time that the... what’s that word?... the élan or as you might call it the ‘spirit’ of the service works much better if the enlisted and the officers are on the same sliding scale. Our officers come up through the ranks. No exceptions.”

“I’ll agree that it has also been a benefit when that happens for us as well,” Garret agreed. “But change comes so slowly.”

“That it does,” the commander agreed. “And in time, Maranar can change for the better too.”

“When I look around here I feel like a backwards primitive,” Garret admitted sheepishly. “Like maybe I should drag my knuckles and go back to my cave.”

“Maranar has many strengths,” Tess said diplomatically. “That’s part of the reason we’re being so careful not to hinder your social development. Good things take time.”

“True,” the scientist admitted.

“Now,” the commander announced as she changed the subject. “We’ve arranged to give you a special treat.”

“I’m fast approaching overload. Everything you’ve shown me is going to fill my dreams for years!”

“How about something familiar then?” Tess asked with a nod toward one of the troopers manning the comm system.

He adjusted a panel of controls and the speaker erupted with the ongoing sounds from the Maranar space mission. Using a relay, they were tapped into the progress report of the shuttle headed back toward Maranar. The commander then set the holographic display to show Maranar and its moons. A little blinking light showed the location of the orbiter. The scientist could see it move along its path home. The comm officer had also tapped into the communications between the vessel and the control center on Maranar. The scientist was amazed at the clarity of the signals they were intercepting.

“Looks like it’s going well,” Commander Tess said.

“Yes it is,” Garret agreed. “They should enter orbit sometime late tonight.”

“What do you think is going through the minds of the men onboard?”

“It’s probably similar to what I’m thinking. That all of this is pretty overwhelming.”

“Do you think there will much trouble keeping them quiet about the Red-tail incident?” Tess asked carefully.

“Can’t say. The press team at the space agency has already started a campaign that should discourage speaking out. By using a few planted hoaxes, it makes anyone who suggests visitors from outer space as being less than credible.”

“Rather drastic, isn’t it?”

“Normally I’d agree with you,” Garret said. “But the impact knowledge of the Axia or the Red-tails could have on our society could be devastating.”

“Then you don’t think your people are ready?”

“Honestly, I don’t,” he answered. “I’ll admit that there are a lot of people who would give their left arm to be a part of your society. But we’re not ready. We need to mature on our own first.”

“That’s what I thought you might say,” the commander said. “I was curious about your evaluation of the situation. May I put it in my report to the Axia?”

“Yes you may,” Garret answered. “It hurts to think of not having access to all of this wonderful technology, but we’re not ready for these toys. We’d just end up hurting ourselves and others.”

“What will you do when you go home?”

“Destroy all of the information about your comm signals. Or seal it up. Someday we’ll be ready to talk again but that won’t be for quite a while.”

“What about keeping a dialogue going?” Tess asked, wondering how he might respond “Such communications could have many benefits.”

“That would tend to make us dependent on you for answers to problems we should solve ourselves,” replied the scientist carefully. “We need to come to terms with ourselves first and then face the universe. If not, we’ll just disintegrate when full contact is finally made.”

“Well stated, I think,” Commander Tess agreed. “You’re a good people but you have some serious problems to solve. In the distant past your people had a lot to contribute to the general society of the galaxy. When you overcome yourselves, you’ll have that much more to offer to everyone.” The scientist nodded his agreement.

“Well, I think I’ve seen enough of your wonderland,” Dr. Garret said. “I know what I’m going to recommend to the agency chairman but I don’t think he’ll be surprised. How soon can we head back to Maranar?”

“Any time you wish,” the commander said. “I do think it would be prudent to wait until after your moon mission has landed. That way, all the extra detectors for the mission will be off-line and it will be easier to sneak in.”

The scientist agreed. “No need to cause an incident at this stage of the game.”

“I’ll have someone show you to our guest quarters. That way you can rest up for your trip home.”

“I appreciate the offer of a guide,” Garret said with a chuckle. “I don’t want to get lost trying to find my own way around in this floating city!”

Chapter Seventeen

The stack of papers threatened to slide off the table in the makeshift office they’d been given at the Maranar facility. Tim leaned back in his chair and put his foot up on the desk to stabilize the pile. The avalanche averted, he continued reading the report in his hands.

At their request, a temporary work area had been set up just off of the quarters provided for the trooper-third couple. The chairman’s staff provided them with reports on nearly every subject they thought might be pertinent. The process of furiously gathering information about the society and technology of Maranar had been going on for several days now and the task was on the verge of overwhelming the couple.

Tim was just going over another report about crime and law enforcement when Diane entered the makeshift office with yet another stack of paper. “Not more reports!” Tim said with a groan.

“Unfortunately, this just covers their primary education system.” Tim leaned back and surveyed the mountains of data.

“You know, I appreciate all the information the chairman’s staff is making available to us, but I think we have a problem here.”

“What is it?” Diane asked as she set the latest stack down on the floor and wearily dropped into a chair.

“I think we’re in danger of missing the whole point of this evaluation. It’s in danger of being buried under all this paper.”

“That’s one area where they would fit into the Axia,” Diane said with a smirk. “They’ll have no problem adapting to our paper mills.”

Tim desperately tried to keep a straight face. Diane just smiled at him and tried to ignore titters and chuckles leaking out through Tim’s clenched teeth.

“All right! You win!” he finally said with a burst of laughter. She joined him and felt relief as she laughed at the absurdity of their situation.

“Tell you what,” Tim began, “why don’t we go take a tour of the city and try to get a feel for what things are really like?”

Unspoken for security reasons was the fact that anything they learned would be compared with reports from Galactic Axia watchers already integrated into Maranar society. Commander Tess had warned them that as visitors, the couple would not likely be under constant surveillance. Even discussion with each other could disclose the Watcher net the Axia already had on the surface and could be counterproductive of any attempt to help the natives of the planet.

“I’m game if you are,” Diane said, pushing up from the chair. “I’ll let the chairman’s secretary know what we’d like to do if you’ll get our jackets.”

“Right on it. Just don’t let them shove any more reports in your hands or we’ll never get out of here!”

Other minds had already considered the possibility that Tim and Diane would want to get out among the populace. When his secretary notified him of their request, the chairman made one call to set a plan in motion. Then he visited the couple. “I hear you want to go sight-seeing,” he said. “Anything particular you’d like to see? There are quite a few places of interest around the city that’s worth the visit.”

“Just some of the regular goings-on of the city,” Tim said, trying to be diplomatic.

“Frankly, the reports are rather dry,” Diane added. “We thought just poking around might give us a better feel.”

“I know what you mean,” the chairman agreed. “Seeing something versus just reading about it are two different things.” A subordinate stepped into the room. “Ah, here’s your tour guide now! His name is Justin Lutes. He’ll take you wherever you want to go! Wish I could go with you but I’m chained to my desk until this moon missions is over.”

“If you’ll come with me,” Justin said to the couple. After a quick goodbye the couple and the chairman headed in opposite directions. The chairman had confidence that Lutes would follow his instructions to keep these envoys from sticking their noses into the wrong places.

After they were out in the hall Justin spoke again. “I’ve got a van waiting in the parking garage,” he said as he led them through the corridors. “Should be a good day to see the major sights.”

Tim glanced sideways at Diane but said nothing. They’d been warned to expect something like this when they were briefed aboard the mothership. A tour package that told them nothing about the regular folks of Maranar was just what they didn’t want. The flood of helpful reports had also been no surprise. Much of Maranar society had already been evaluated and the Axia had expected the natives to try to hide how things really were under mountains of words. The couple’s true assignment was to understand the feel of Maranar rather than the technical descriptions. The challenge was avoiding being swept away under an avalanche of paper.

Minutes later the van passed through the front entrance of the facility and into the small city that had grown up around the government launch complex. Thanks to identification badges provided by the chairman, they appeared to be just two of the countless people that regularly visited the space complex. Looking out through the windows of the government van, Tim pondered how to get free of their handler and see the people of Maranar for themselves.