Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth (14 page)

“Marranalis, let me fly the shuttle for a bit,” she signed quickly with a big smile on her face.

“We saw that.  Did you enjoy it?”

“Yes, very much.  I want to learn to fly all kinds of ships.”

“That will be difficult if you cannot talk,” I said, hoping that she might try to and speak again.

“Perhaps,” she signed, “but I’m sure I will think of some way to overcome that.”

Marranalis’s voice came over the shuttle com system, “We’re approaching the landing location; all I can see are trees and a few lakes. I have the coordinates of where we set down last time, and I am trying for that location.”  On hearing his announcement, Jenira turned and headed back into the control room.

“You don’t think he’ll let Jenira land this thing, do you?”

Kala grinned, “Not unless he thinks she is good enough, but I suspect that on this mission he will not let her attempt it.”

Marranalis brought the ship down over the small lake and then rotated the craft, trying to find the natural avenue under the giant trees that we had flown our patrol ship in over a year earlier.  Once he found it, we proceeded in until we arrived at a location that looked like our previous landing site.  Through the view screen, I could see the greenery of the jungle, but I didn’t see any natives.

“We have arrived!” Marranalis announced, as he began shutdown procedures for the shuttle.  "It hasn’t changed much has it, Tibby?”

“It doesn’t seem like it.  I wonder where Regata and Jnanara are.  Thumumba implied that they would be here waiting.  I guess we should go outside to wait for them.”

There was a hiss of air as the hatch opened; Jenira was practically jumping up and down with excitement, as this would be the first world other than Goo’Waddle that she would set foot on.  Immediately we were hit with the near 100% humidity of the planet’s atmosphere and the sauna like heat.  Jenira reacted to it by rubbing the back of her hand across her brow as a sheen of sweat began to appear.  I chuckled and then began to scan the jungle and trees for any sign of native life.

It seemed like one minute I was staring at the jungle plants and then suddenly the plants themselves turned into the native children of Thumumba.  I realized that they had been there all the time, but they were so well camouflaged that they blended perfectly into the environment.  It was not until they began to smile and move that they were visible.  Before us, two individuals appeared from what moments earlier appeared to be two bushes; one was an old woman, nude save for a woven plant head dress; I recognized her immediately as Jnanara.

“Greetings, woman-who-speaks-for-the-Children-of –Thumumba,” I said.

“Greetings, man-who-speaks-for-Thumumba,” Jnanara replied.  “The children of Thumumba rejoice in your return.”  While she was speaking, several other natives came forward with giant nut shells filled with fruits and berries and offered them to us.  Jnanara continued talking.  “This is Regata, Thumumba says he is to go with you and to learn your ways.” She stepped aside as the native with her stepped forward.  His overall appearance was much like the other natives, except he was about 75 millimeters taller.

“It’s my pleasure to meet you, Tibby, or do I address you as First Citizen?”  Regata said in perfect Federation Language.

“Tibby will do,” I replied, “I hate the honorifics.  Regata flashed me a toothy grin and then turned to Kala.

“And you must be Kalana,” Regata said. “Thumumba speaks highly of you both; I am deeply honored that he has chosen me to accompany you.”

I noted that Jnanara was staring at my eye patch as she reached with one hand and gently touched it.  “You have lost an eye, man-who-speaks-for Thumumba forward.  This is a sad thing.”

“Yes, but I will have a new eye soon,” I replied.

Jnanara stepped back with a shocked look on her face.  “You can grow a new eye?”  At my side I heard Regata chuckle.

“If you don’t mind Tibby, perhaps it will be easier if I explain,” he said in perfect Federation language.

“Tibby has a great magic which is called science, and with this magic, it is possible for him to grow a new eye, but it takes time for the magic to work.”  As he spoke to Jnanara her eyes grew even wider.

“Tibby is a god, like Thumumba?”  She questioned.

“No, no,” I said.  “I am not a god, and I am not like Thumumba.  We just have a different magic, but I am not a god.”

Jnanara eyed me carefully and then replied, “Maybe you are not a god, but you are a child of Thumumba, and I think you have more of his blood and magic than we do.”  Beside her, I saw Regata smile and wink at me.  Obviously Thumumba had trained him well in Federation, and possibly even my own Earth customs, as it was apparent he knew and understood us.

Jnanara noticed Jenira and an odd expression crossed her face.  “Who is this one?”

“This is Jenira.”  I said.

Jnanara stepped forward looking at Jenira closely; her eyes lingered on the two short swords on her back as she circled her.  “This one is blessed child.  She must come with us, must stay here tonight, must become child of Thumumba.”  I looked at Kala, who shrugged and stared back at me.

“Tibby,” Regata interjected, “She will be safe and no harm will come to her.”

“I know no harm will come to her with Thumumba’s children.”  Then I turned to Jenira.  “Jenira, they would like you to go with them and stay the night.  I suspect that they want to make you a child of Thumumba like they did with Kalana and me.  I do not know why they have chosen you, but it is a great honor that they offer you.  The choice is yours.  We will not leave orbit without you if you decide to go with them.

Jenira’s eyes glistened as she signed back.  “You and Kala have gone through this?”

“Yes, we both did,” Kala answered before I could.  “They will not harm you, and it will be a very pleasant experience for you.”

“Yes, then I will go.”  Jenira said.

“I was not sure if Kana and I were meant to accompany Jenira or not, but I started to step forward to follow, when Regata extended his arm blocking me and said.  “This is for Jenira alone; you have had your time; now it is hers.”  Inside I was hoping that somehow Thumumba would work his magic’ and when we returned for Jenira the next day she would once more be talking.

As Jenira approached, Jnanara extended her hand and took hold of hers, then turned and led her through the throng of natives.  Regata said, “You are welcome to spend the night here, or we can go back to your ship and return in the morning for her; the choice is yours.”  I looked at Kala as she watched Jenira being led away, smiling.  “I think we can go back to the ship Tibby, there is no real reason for us to wait, and I think it would show distrust if we stayed.”

Once Jenira was out of sight, Regata, Kala and I boarded the shuttle and Marranalis flew us back to the
NEW ORLEANS
.  I had expected Regata to be amazed and awe struck by the shuttle and its flight, but he gave no indications of any emotions and appeared to be completely at ease.  We had barely left the surface of the planet before he began speaking.  “I hope I will not be any inconvenience to you and your ship. I will try to blend in with the rest of your crew as best I can, and if there are any ways I can be of service, please be assured I am most eager to help in any manner.  I am hoping that you can provide me clothing of a similar fashion to what is normal aboard your ship.  As you are already aware, clothing is uncommon on Alle Bamma, but I am prepared to dress for the experience.”

“Clothing will not be a problem,” Kala interjected, and I felt it best to let her deal with such issues, as she had been a diplomatic attaché for the Federation for many years and still held a rank in the service as one.  Of all the persons on my ship, she was the most experienced and qualified to deal with foreign dignitaries or visitors to our vessel.  “The closet in your suite will be equipped with a clothing replicator that will produce the needed attire for you.  I’ll get Piesew to acquaint with you with the features and workings of your suite.”

I was beginning to imagine how Regata would appear in clothing.  The natives of Alle Bamma went about nude most of the time, and when they did wear something, it typically was either flowers or  headdress- It would seem strange seeing one of the natives in clothing.  Their skin had camouflaged spotted skin patterns; Regata had a large brown patch that covered the left part of his face and covered the flesh around his left eye; even with clothing he still would draw attention to himself.

“Regata, exactly what will be you doing for Thumumba while aboard the
NEW ORLEANS?”
Kala inquired.

“I will be observing and learning.  Thumumba sees through my eyes and hears through my ears.  He will be learning much by this experience.”

When we disembarked after arrival on the
NEW ORLEANS,
Piesew was there to meet us, a major domo on the ship; all housing and housekeeping services were under his supervision.  I never interfered with what he did, and honestly I had no idea how large a staff he managed. I knew was that he was responsible for my quarters and served Kala and me personally in our suite, but I was surprised that he was there to greet us.  Then I realized that he was there specifically to see to Regata to assign him quarters and see to any other needs that he might have.  It was not unusual for Piesew, as in the past he’d usually relegated this responsibility to someone else and only appeared personally when the individual was a person of importance in the Federation, like Senator Tonclin, or the Admiral.  “Did you request Piesew to be here on our return?”  I asked Kala, while Piesew was greeting Regata.

“No, I thought you must have when I saw him here.”

“First Citizen,” Piesew addressed me.  Will you be wishing to have a dinner this evening with the officers and our new guest?”

“Ahh, certainly Piesew.”  Until that moment I hadn’t thought about it at all, and now I was somewhat embarrassed by my failure recognize our guest formally.  I’m sure Piesew realized it also but gave no indication of it, and continued, “I’ll make arrangements for dinner to be served in the observation deck dining room at the usual dinner hour.  Do you wish for me to arrange the guest list, or will you or First Citizen Kalana be doing so?”   I looked at Kalana, who was suppressing a grin at my discomfort.  Before I had a chance to speak, Kalana spoke up, “We’ll leave that to you, Piesew.”

“Very well,” Piesew replied.  “If you will please follow me, Regata, I will show you to your quarters; if there is anything you need or desire be sure to let me know.  Do you prefer me to call you Regata, or is there another more formal title that I should use in addressing you?”  As they were walking away I heard Regata reply.  “Regata is fine; I have no other title or name.”

Kala and I were barely back in our quarters when I received a call from Cantolla.  "I wonder what she wants.”  I said to Kala.  Last time she contacted me it was to voice her concerns about A’Lappe and his origin.   "I sure hope this is not another concern about A’Lappe.”

I arrived at the laboratory shared by A’Lappe and Cantolla and was immediately greeted by Cantolla.  “Tibby, you have got to see this!  It’s my greatest discovery yet, and I owe it to you and your Earth Science,” she exclaimed excitedly.  I had no idea what she was talking about, but I tried to listen to her as she chatted and led me to another room in the lab.  “I got the idea from your discussions with A’Lappe about quantum mechanics.  I was able to get the Admiral Team monitoring Earth’s broadcasts to send me copies of translations of their recordings explaining the subject, and well, see for yourself,” she said, pointing to a table set up in the lab.

I looked, but all I saw in the room was two tables set about eight meters apart, each with two small equilateral triangle frames set up on one side with one of the points in the air. Next to each frame on the floor was a control console and some other equipment panels.  A’Lappe was standing by one of the panels, and looked up as we entered the room.  “Tibby! You’re going to like this a lot.  Cantolla may just have come up with the greatest thing for space travel since the discovery of gravity wave propulsion.  At this point I still had no idea what they were talking about.

“Hold on a minute.  What’s better than the gravity wave?”

“Here-- watch this,” Cantolla said as she picked up a small block on one of the tables, then nodded to A’Lappe, who adjusted a few controls on one console and nodded back.  Cantolla took the block and tossed it through the open space in the triangle, only it didn’t come out the other side.  At the far end of the room, I heard it thump on the other table and bounce off onto the floor.

“What the…?  You invented a transporter?”

“No, something much better,” Cantolla said with glee.

“Something better?”

“Yes! A transporter needs to dissemble an object and reassemble it at the other end in the same molecular order as it was taken apart.  The amount of energy and computer power to accomplish that is beyond anything we have, even with solbidyum for power.  We’ve got something better!”

“You’re losing me here.”  I said.  “I just saw the block disappear here and appear over there, and it didn’t pass through the space between, so it must have been transported.”

“Not so,” The object was never broken down, and did in fact travel in a solid state from here to there, only not in the same space as you see between the two frames.  We’re folding the space with the two frames so the edge of one frame is the same as the edge of the other frame; none of the molecular structures of the object are changed in any way.”  Cantolla said excitedly. You could have these frames light years apart and anything passing through them would arrive instantly at the other location.”