IMAGINATION'S PLACE
FICTION
JOURNEY TO THE LIGHT
By; Speaker Gerald Polley
All rights reserved.
Chapter 20
Things settled down. Some people on Earth were
still demanding that missiles be fired and the attacking space ship be
destroyed. "They can't really believe that!" Carol sighed one
day.
"Too many science fiction movies," her new friend
answered. "Do you really think the steam discharges have stopped?"
"I think so," Carol explained. "Exactly why,
I'm not sure. But the pressure seems to have disappeared.
That this thing is holding its atmosphere is just so damned
strange! But I think it's a natural phenomena. I wish we
could get there faster."
"As I told the children," Tin answered, "we
could go faster but we wouldn't be able to spin the living compartments
and produce gravity. It's just much more comfortable for everyone
if we take our time. Mars isn't gonna go anywhere."
"Are your people always so patient?" Carol asked.
"We've had a long time to get that way," her friend
answered. "We don't think we're quite as old as The Old Ones, but
still we've been around a while. That we're able to copy
personalities and make physical forms for them to dwell in has kept us
going. Some of the personalities on the mother ship can't even
remember when they came into existence! They were the
originals. But their personalities have been split so many times
there's just no memory of the beginning."
"Artificial souls," Carol sighed, "such a strange thought. Even The Ancient Ones can't do that!"
"But They did," Tin argued, "during the troubled
time some of their splinters became totally functional beings."
"Not all of them!" Carol answered, "Just a hand full of
the most important ones. The visiting God gave them the power to
become mortal, really, immortal."
"No one believed your race would survive," Tin
commented. "You know, if you're done your readings you promised
to take the children to Silvers. They're going to be very
disappointed if you do not. There's nothing new. The thing
is right on course. It will go into orbit without disturbing
Mars' existing moons."
"The gravitational shear is going to be incredible!"
Carol snapped. "It should make Mars' rotation about 23 hours,
just about an hour short of an Earth day. No telling what else
it's gonna do!"
"Well, for one thing," Tin remarked, "if whatever's
creating that magnetic field ceases to operate, it's going to give Mars
a considerable amount of atmosphere."
Carol shrugged. "You're sure your people don't
know anything about this?" she asked as they headed back to pick up the
children.
"Absolutely nothing!" her friend answered, "We've
searched every record we have. No mention of anything like this at
all. Oh, my son is absolutely delighted by the way, with the
attention from the other children. But he still can't convince
them he's not a cyborg, that he's just an ordinary little boy."
"An adorable boy too!" Carol put in. "He's a charmer! You've had no idea that was gonna happen?"
"Absolutely none!" Tin assured. "What I had been
given was supposed to function only for pleasure, not for the producing
of offspring. His mother and I were quite surprised, but it was a
joyous surprise. She was so glad she had a little time with
him. I still wish she had let us copy her personality. It
was such a treasure to lose."
"Some of us just like one of us being around!" Carol answered.
Tin returned her smile. They got the children and
got to the restaurant. "I can't believe," Carol remarked again,
"that this fish is fresh, that we produce it, the burgers at
McDonald's, real beef!"
"As long as we can produce light," Tin commented,
"we can produce just about everything we need. It's all planned
to make this vessel an ark. Why do they call them an ark?"
Carol laughed. "Something from our mythology," she
explained. "When The Great Holocaust destroyed The Ancient Ones
some of their offspring survived in a storage unit in suspension along
with some of their cattle. When things quieted down they came out
and established a city. Because the storage unit resembled a ship
of that time, the legend grew that that is how they had survived the
flood. The ship was called an ark. So now, whenever a ship is
built to carry a group of people that is totally self sustaining, it's
called an ark."
"Hmm!" Tin muttered, "I've gotta read that story!"
The children all looked at each other
mischievously. "Mr. Tin," Carol's youngest asked, "will you sing
about the cowboy?"
"Oh no, dear!" Tin objected, "Not here! We don't want to terrify these poor people!"
Everyone around laughed. "Oh, no!" a woman cried, "We'd love it!"
Tin shrugged. "Let's see," he remarked,
checking several of his pockets. "Ah! Here it is!" He pulled out
a little device. "Gotta have some music!" he remarked, setting
the device on the table.
"What do you require, sir?" a mechanical voice piped.
"Well, I suppose," Tin answered, "I've got to do "Devlin Stage" or I won't be forgiven."
The music began to play and he began to sing.
"Well, the Devlin stage is rollin all over the plains, you
can hear the shotgun rider a mile away! Oh, ride away young
Apache brave! William Walker is a ridin' on the Devin stage!
Now, William Walker they say is a thunderbolt!
Against his deadly shotgun there is no hope! Oh, ride away young
Apache brave, or this is gonna be your buryin' day!
Now, many the man that's faced his blazing
guns! Many the man that's died in the western sun. He did
not want to live this way, but death is ridin' there on the Devlin
stage! He did not want to live this way, but death is ridin'
there on the Devlin stage!"
The children began to laugh with glee and applaud.
"Another?" they all asked. Tin nodded and remarked,
"William Bonney" The music started and he began to sing.
"Wiliam Bonney was a killer, William Bonney was a
thief. He roamed through Lincoln County long ago. With a
pistol in his hand he killed 21 good men, one for every year that he
lived.
Then Pat Garrett gunned him down, yes he put him in
the ground! He ended the legend of the Kid. He came
burstin' through that door with a blazin' 44 and William Bonney was no
more.
Well the legends they are told of the men so dark
and cold, who lived and died by the gun. William Bonney was the
worst, 'til he was laid down in the Earth. That's how the legends
they do grow.
William Bonney was a killer, William Bonney
was a thief, he thought he was the best of all! Then Pat Garrett
gunned him down, yes he put him in the ground and ended the legend of
The Kid.
Every evil man does know that when his legend grows
someone will put it to an end. Pat Garrett was the man against
young Bonney he did stand and ended the legend of The Kid. And ended
the legend of The Kid."
One of the little girls shivered. "I can't
understand," she remarked "how men can be like that, how people can be
like that, that they can kill one another."
"Well, with Bonney," Tin explained, "it was greed
and hate. With Garrett it was a need to protect and serve.
Sometimes life has to be ended. It's going the wrong way, doing
the wrong things, creating more harm than good. There has to be
those that can end it, not in hate, not in anger, but simply because it
must be ended. Those are very special people. We could not live
without them. All would perish if there were not those that would
protect the innocent. But we're supposed to be having a happy meal and
not getting into profound philosophy. Let's switch to
something more pleasant. Let me see... How about..."
He began to sing the hymn "Rock By Rock, Stone By
Stone," and the children joined right in. When he got done his son
asked "Father, what are the rocks and stones?"
"The rocks," Tin answered, "are boys, the stones are girls."
"Oh!" his son answered. "Now I understand!"
Tin smiled. Something on him beeped and he
searched for a pocket, found a communicator and took it out. "I'm off
duty!" he snapped.
"Sorry sir! Incoming message for the lady. Her communicator won't activate."
Carol took out her communicator. "Damn!" she
snapped, "Dead again! I'm going to have to replace this
thing. Well, now it's on!"
"It's gotta be the power cell!" Tin remarked.
Carol looked at the message and a broad smile came on her face.
"I take it something good!" Tin teased.
"Yes!" Carol answered. "It's from Dr. Pasteur. It just says 'I thought you should know. Success!'"
"Excellent!" Tin cried, "Excellent! Well, now
that everybody has finished their meal we'd better get them back!"
As they made their way through the corridors Carol
praised her companion. "You're so good with children! I'm so glad
you have a child."
"It's scary!" Tin answered. "We're born fully
functional, fully aware. To have to train and perfect a
consciousness, it's frightening. Fortunately I have plenty of
help and we seem to be doing very well."
Carol smiled. "I think there's another
consciousness that's developing too!" she praised. "And when are
you going to take that little nurse on a date?"
Tin looked at her in absolute horror then
sighed. "I'm not going to be able to avoid it, am I? She is
going to be absolutely persistent isn't she?"
"She's hooked! There's not a god damn thing you can
do about it. You can put off the inevitable. But there's no way
of stopping it. Trying to distract her is absolutely useless!"
Tin sighed again. "I will arrange some
pleasant outing!" he managed. "Perhaps female companionship would
help in the development of my son."
"Certainly will!" Carol assured. They reached
her quarters. It wouldn't be long before the parents would be
showing up.
Tin spoke to his son. "We might as well go on
now," he suggested, "no sense in me coming back for you in half an
hour."
The look on his son's face told everyone he wanted
him to come back in half an hour. Tin's communicator beeped
again. "I'm off duty!" he snapped, taking it out.
"Code 20!" the voice answered.
"Code 20?" Tin muttered. Then he said it
very loudly. "Code 20? I'm on my way! Pick you up
later son!" In an instant he was racing down the hall.
"Code 20?" Carol muttered, trying to remember the
lists of codes she'd read through. "Code 20. Ship approaching. Ship
approaching! Come on children!" she snapped, "Everybody
inside."
She waited for the signal to seal all compartments
but it didn't come. About 45 minutes later Tin
returned.
"A small ship has overtaken us," he remarked, "hired
by a very rich individual. They wish to speak with you."
"With me?" Carol managed. "Why would they have gone to all that trouble?"
Tin had no answer. Totally bewildered Carol
took up pursuit as he led her through the corridors and they descended
into the zero gravity section.
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