Aurona, page 14
He laughed along with them and then concluded, his voice steady and sure. “I have something to show you now, something marvelous. We’re all on the same great quest! We all want to know what’s out … there!” He turned to the curving wall behind him and pressed a thin bar at the center. Simultaneously, the stage dropped and the panels slid back to reveal a huge, curving panorama.
Gasps of awe escaped. A magnificent spiral galaxy filled the view, dead ahead! Stars, trillions of them, washed across a great black velvet canvas of nothingness, amazingly compact star systems within systems swirled inside stupendous bands of light in a mind-boggling aggregation. All clustered toward a glowing orb of light at the center. Out on the fringes, thousands of other pinwheels glowed softly, with spectacular nebulae and impossibly dense globular clusters studding an endless, galaxy-filled cosmos.
A deep silence fell as they valiantly tried to comprehend the vastness and scale, overwhelmed by the crystal clarity of the immense forty-foot screen. Several long, breathless minutes passed before a mellow, hushed voice rose near the front of the room. It was mature, and familiar with the Knowledge of the Ages.
“‘In my Father’s house,’” Tola spoke quietly, “‘there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you.’” He rose to his feet and turned to face the crew. “As a preacher, I feel compelled to share these timeless words with you. Even as a kid back in Oklahoma, that scripture popped into my mind every time I drank in the stars on a clear night. Just look at those countless mansions! Have you ever seen such perfect specimens of creation?”
Quiet murmurs of agreement riffled through the crowd.
The round man glanced at Adam. “And now, sir, I’m just, plain curious, and I believe I’m speaking for everyone here…. Um, where in blazes are we going?”
Adam walked across the view, his lanky young form darkly silhouetted against the blazing star field. “Right about there,” he pointed. “That big globular cluster. As to where we are at this very moment, it’s anybody’s guess,” he shrugged. “Our starship is slowing and turning toward that point; everything’s been preprogrammed into the internal guidance computers. This section of the universe is far beyond the range of our most powerful and sophisticated space scopes.”
Tola smiled mischievously. “Ah, we’re nearly ‘there,’ despite….”
Adam beat him to the punch. “Despite our short sabbatical on the Obelisk Planet, you mean?”
A wave of nervous laughter swept the room.
“Sorry, Tola. Didn’t mean to be rude. I meant that despite our unexpected crash landing and subsequent three-day delay, the ship’s computers and gravity wave sensors quickly found a nearby wormhole, an ‘open line’ so to speak.” He turned to the crew. “Believe it or not, guys, we’re more than a month ahead of schedule!”
On the far side of the room, Dexor’s eyes flew open. He elbowed his companions, whispering nervously. “Oh, no! D’ya hear that, pinheads? A whole month ahead of schedule?” He let out an oath. “Damn! I hope that doesn’t mess with our pod! A month is a lotta time!”
As murmurs of surprise riffled through the crowd, Adam turned to the big screen, busily punching out another code on his wrist programmer. “Let’s get right down to business.” He watched the screen light up. “This … is our journey!”
Overlaying the enormous window to the stars, bold, graphic highlights suddenly flickered to life: curving arrows and pulsing, dotted lines pointed the way inward to an obscure globular cluster, a little to the right of center, where a tiny blip began to pulse steadily.
Adam pointed at it, shrugging. “Aurona,” he stated simply. Wonder was in his voice, too. “That shiny ball represents her solar system, still quite a distance away even at our present rate of deceleration. Absolutely nothing is known about the planet, except that it was of great importance to my grandfather. He called it his ‘utopia.’” He looked up. “And speaking of my grandfather,” he added softly, “he’s been to Aurona and back, although he, um … he died during his return to Earth. He had a little speed job that he called a TimeWarper. I’m sure that if we’d all been able to fit into it, we’d have been there already.” He held up his hands. “Don’t ask me how that’s even possible. Who knows, he may have hit direct wormholes both ways. I still can’t figure it all out….”
He collected his thoughts. “So. Seeing that there’s still a whole month to go, we’ll spend our time wisely. We’ve been in sleep mode so long we’ll have to get used to our muscles again. Build them up! And we can’t forget our minds, either!
As they nodded in studied agreement, he tantalized them with a little bait.
“How can we do this, you ask?”
They shrugged. Was he implying there was more?
“Aha!” He grinned. “We’ll work out downstairs in our big, SuperGrav gym and Olympic-sized pool, then enrich our minds in the Dream Library!”
Startled, they stared excitedly at each other and broke into a buzz of anticipation. A Dream Library? A gym? A pool? This ship was getting interesting!
“A little over and hour from now, we’ll start briefing sessions to familiarize ourselves with a lot of radical exploration equipment! We’re a large group here; exactly three hundred and fifty-one noble characters!”
Todd jumped up with a shout, bobbing up and down like a buoyant cork in a pool. His chubby arms waved in the air, his beaming face sending out a spontaneous, concentric circle of laughter.
“Okay! I’m almost ready for part two!” Adam held up a finger, chuckling. “Just like I assigned Todd to be Jon’s shadow, I’ll need to have my shadow!” He spun around, pointing. “Kron!”
Stunned, the muscular man shifted his feet and stepped hesitantly out of the shadows. All eyes turned to him, scrutinizing.
“In Kron’s remaining three interviews, I found out all I needed to know about him. This man has real character, guys! Guts! Unknown to all of you, and surprisingly even to him, I have a holo-recording of quite a memorable day in his life.”
Kron glanced at him in surprise, his face quickly turning beet red.
“Believe me, in a few moments it’ll be delivered to you in a spectacular fashion! I have a holo-recording that was, ah, mailed to me by some close friends of my grandfather’s, some of the prime benefactors of this journey. They urged me to present this slice of time to you sometime before we reached our goal. While I’ve seen it with a mini-viewer, you’ll be experiencing it in a whole, different way. It’s amazing!
They squirmed excitedly on their cushions, elbowing each other.
“As your leader,” he continued, “I want to share this vision and hope with you. I’m sure we’ll all benefit greatly from this unforgettable, graphic example.” He nodded to someone waiting eagerly in the front row.
“Okay, Rico. It’s time.”
As the crew whispered questioningly to each other, the young ensign pulled out Adam’s valise. There was the faint, unmistakable sound of zipping.
Motioning for Kron to wait, Adam walked up to the front of the room busily punching codes on his wrist programmer. Turning toward Rico, he held one hand high in the air, his palm outstretched. “Remember!” He shrugged. “Anything’s possible!”
A large black sphere rose out of the valise and flew toward him. As the crew watched in astonishment, it hovered rock-steady over his head, and then lowered slowly into his hand. Holding the gleaming orb at eye level, he traced out a few codes on the glassy surface. Mysterious, hidden lights flashed a response.
Chapter 8: THE HOLOSPHERE
A colorful graphic quickly flooded the enormous screen behind Adam. Not quite comprehending what they were seeing, the crew stared at the display in total confusion. He went quickly through the steps, animatedly waving his arms and giving them a short summary of what was about to happen. Holding up a finger, he turned and made his way back into their midst. The crew gawked at the graphic. No way, this was totally impossible; he’d just dreamed this all up! Smiling enigmatically, he held the sphere high over his head and punched in another command.
In rapid sequence, the galaxy wall slid shut, the lights dimmed, and there was a faint sliding noise somewhere overhead. Startled, the crew looked up. The ceiling was moving! Their jaws dropped: it was true! The graphic had just shown them! What had been masquerading as a series of decorative spiral overlays now revealed themselves to be part of a great lenslike eye. It dilated open from the center and the panels quickly vanished into a thin slit along the circular wall.
There was a faint vibration under their cushions. No, it just couldn’t be happening! They glanced nervously at each other and then down at the floor. With a mechanical whirr, the huge, circular disc they were sitting on parted along a blue line about two feet from the wall. With startled exclamations, they scuttled toward the center on their cushions. The entire room was transforming!
As the floor rose slowly on a great central piston, they peered over their heads, craning their necks and trying to focus on something, anything. It appeared to be just a huge, empty, black hole up there. Soon a soft glow fanned out from the edges of the disc. They could now see each other, but still couldn’t focus on a single thing beyond the perimeter. Murmurs of unease grew, especially near the edges. Was there really a force field to keep them from falling? One by one they turned their eyes to Adam for answers.
“No, your world isn’t flat,” he chuckled mischievously. “There is something out there beyond that wild, blue horizon…. Oh, sorry, I meant that blue line.”
The floor stopped smoothly and they waited in expectant silence.
“You are now in a visual void,” he began, stretching out his palms, “created specifically for the viewing of holo-recordings. Essentially, you’re inside a big empty sphere at the top of the starship.” He paused and looked down, studying the floor near his feet. Quickly finding what he was looking for, he tapped out another sequence on the ball and stepped backward. A slim, black metal rod rose in front of him, stopping at shoulder height. Lifting the sphere above his head for everyone to see, he explained further.
“This round object I’m holding is what we’re going to call a holocamera, for lack of a better term. In a moment, this skinny rod will raise it up to the precise height that it originally filmed the action you’re about to see. Now, ready for this one? Here’s a mind-bending twist: the upcoming scenes are now actually seven hundred and four Earth-years old. In other words, this 3D cyber-slice of time happened four years before I received this holo-recording…. Get it?
He glanced discreetly at Kron. The man’s eyes suddenly widened, his hand flying up over his mouth. He chuckled. Just as he thought, he didn’t have a clue. He glanced back at the crew. There was a lot of whispering going on; they were clueless, too, doing their best to piece everything together. He smiled encouragingly and continued.
“Okay, down to business. The ensuing action was originally shot, um, I mean ‘imaged’ from a very unique perspective. In this case, you’ll actually see the location of the camera, although it was masterfully disguised. You’re about to experience the ultimate in VR, far surpassing our feeble, earthly stabs at this incredibly complicated technology. You’ll actually believe you’re ‘there,’ so get ready, because some pretty intense action will pass over, around, and yes, even through you!”
He paused, sensing their uneasiness. “And don’t worry, guys, that glow you saw is a force field around the edge of the platform. It’s an invisible barrier, almost like a safety net about two feet wide. Don’t worry about falling!”
They smiled, but still edged nervously away from the drop-off: there were no shadows or movement out there; the ambiguous light was revealing absolutely nothing. Their slim disc of a platform appeared to be floating, suspended in space.
He snapped them all back to reality. “Remember to watch this black holocamera! The minute the action begins, the sphere will transform into a very familiar object! Kron here will supply the narrative.”
Kron’s jaw dropped. “Huh? Me?”
Adam laughed along with the crew. “Yes, you! And believe me, Kron, you’ll know exactly what to say as soon as the scene opens. This event, I’m sure, is burning in your memory as it will be in ours!”
He motioned outward with his palms, urging the crew to form an opening in the center. Nervously, they complied and slid backward on their cushions. Glancing apprehensively over their shoulders, they refused to go any further and lined up a few feet from the edge. As Adam twisted the tip of the black rod, it snapped open and flared out into a trumpet shape. The sphere neatly fit into the resulting cup on top. In moments, it rose high above their heads. “Remember one word, everyone!” he called. “Initiative!”
Slowly the ball started to spin, gathering speed. Emanating from the surface in glowing ribbons, strange, wispy lights began to drift outward in undulating auroras. The surface of the sphere transformed quickly, shading from a jet, obsidian black to a tarnished-looking, metallic gold. They stared at it, thinking, then their eyes lit up. Could that be the ball on top of…. They grinned. Yes, it was! They were looking up at the ball-shaped finial on top of a flagpole! What a disguise!
More images were starting to appear in the distance, but they were blurry, as if seen through a heavy fog. As they resolved into focus, a tinny sound, at once familiar, rattled and clanged nearby. They cocked their ears, listening. What, could that be a trash can? Surely not. But … If so, who, or what, was making the noise?
Suddenly, incredibly, they were there, totally immersed in incredibly sharp virtual reality! Their jaws dropped as they looked around. A phantom breeze sprung up, riffling their hair and clanking a pair of empty pulleys against the flagpole’s chipped surface.
There was a sudden, loud yowl off to the side. Startled, they turned to see a small brown streak hurtling toward them! With a shout, a few scooted aside to let it through. An alley cat! The lid from a trashcan rolled out after it, tipped into a spiral landing pattern, and settled onto the middle of the floor with a clatter, flutter and flourish. As the horrific din died away, they became acutely aware of their location.
They were outside, it was late afternoon, and they were sitting in a large circle in the middle of a park! They craned their necks, spinning around on their cushions, seeing but not believing. Where was this, somewhere in the slums? As far as a human arm could reach, graffiti covered every square inch of every vertical surface. Once-proud buildings surrounded them, but the structures were now dilapidated, neglected, scarred and kicked into shame. Nearby, the entire roof was gone from one building: it gaped open to the sky, blackened from a recent fire.
In the shocked silence, there was another movement in their midst, this time a real one. Kron rose slowly to his feet and cleared his throat. He gestured at the mess, looking apologetic.
“My home,” he shrugged.
They were stunned. How could such a sharp-looking specimen be the spawn of such decay?
The man lowered his head, his face reddening. “This is really hard, guys,” he murmured. “It was a really tough time in my life.” He paused, thought a moment, then took a resolute breath and turned to Adam. “Sorry about not mentioning this during my interview, sir. I-I thought you might chalk me off as a crackpot, or a lunatic. When I found out what you were up to, I really, really wanted to come along on this mission.”
Adam smiled. “It’s all right, man; you made it. Now go on….”
Kron turned back to the crew. “Something amazing happened to me on this day, guys, and it changed my life forever! First, I hafta’ clue you in on some details before things start happening: I was, ah … different. I was a punk. I was washed out and being flushed into the sewer along with the rest of my gang. We lived on the streets. You know, literally, the streets? We got our bread from pickin’ pockets, rollin’ drunks, breakin’ into condos or whatever else we could do to survive. Some of us had seen more bars than a gorilla at the zoo!” He was clearly doing his best to make light of his embarrassing situation, and the crew began to chuckle along with him. They understood.
There was a loud rustle of crinkly paper down one of the alleys. In unison, everybody turned their heads to see an old bag lady wander out, finishing off whatever was staining the dirty food wrapper in her hand. Suddenly she paused, wrinkling her nose. Evidently, something had displeased her palate.Taking a deep breath, she spit out a big wad of goo and sent it flying through the air.
With a loud cry a man jumped up, turning green and madly slapping at his chin and neck. He stopped short, suddenly remembering the goo was actually a virtual moldy, wet crust of bread. Changing from a sickly green to an embarrassed red, he joined along with the crew’s hooting and laughter.
“That’s Fanny!” Kron shouted over the din. “Our resident bag lady! This was her prime pickin’ territory!” He felt more at ease now and started loosening up, offering a simple, yet eloquent running commentary. “Ya know,” he said, shaking his head, “now that I’m seein’ all this again, it’s funny but sad at the same time? This dump was actually where I lived! I-I had to belong, to have friends like anyone else, so I changed what I looked like, ya’ know? I had to look ‘bad’ in this turf or I’d get ripped to shreds! I had to beef out and learn how to fight, be strong in order to survive!” He turned, pointing at the bag lady. “On the other hand, some people just accepted what life doled out to them.”
Fanny wandered about, doddering aimlessly, poking and searching. She was soon forgotten as they heard a loud rustling and thumping near the center of the room. What could that be? It was far too loud to be an animal. They turned toward the source. Something was moving at the foot of the flagpole. They watched and waited in expectant silence.
Debris rolling off his back, a weird-looking old man staggered to his feet from under a pile of trash! His face was deeply creased and dirty; his wet clothes were in deplorable condition.
Kron pointed excitedly. “There he is! That’s him! So that’s where he was hiding!” As he edged slowly toward him, the man lurched drunkenly and fell. Picking himself up, he stood there rocking on his heels. Tentatively, Kron stepped a bit closer and started to poke at the man’s clothes. “This is unbelievable, guys,” he muttered, “this VR image looks as solid as a rock!” He bent closer to peer deeply into the man’s face, eyeball to eyeball, as if he were searching for something inside, then with a sudden thrust, pushed his arm through the man’s chest! The crew gasped in shock. To them, the two figures looked equally real!
