RoustWriter: Blog

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...Liam called up to Jeff who was sitting on the cage just above the driver’s head. “The aliens will be expecting us to use the main passageway, but with yours and Dr. Emerson’s permission, I know another way. When we get out of this maze, we’ll soon be back on a wider passageway. If my memory serves, there is only one place that is so low that you’ll have to dismount for a hundred yards or so. I’ll let you know in plenty of time.”

“Sounds good to me,” Jeff said, and a moment later the Doctor gave her permission too.

The first passageway was only a foot or two wider than the runabout, and Liam kept his speed down to little more than a walk. The runabout’s electric motors were almost totally silent, with the mesh wheels crunching on the gravel making more noise than the motors that drove them. No use advertising where we are any more than we have to, Jeff thought. The passageway was drastically different from the route they had used when Jeff, Kayla, General Whitworth and the First Officer had walked in. It had not received the clearing that the main passageway had. Consequently, Liam frequently had to slow to a crawl.

After a particularly rough stretch of passageway, Jeff was glad of the spare steel mesh wheel attached to the back of the vehicle – they might just wind up needing it. Other than the mesh wheels, nothing short of a tracked vehicle would make it through the rough terrain.

Later, as Jeff continued to stare ahead in the hopes that he would see the aliens before they could attack, they rounded yet another of the many turns in the passageway to see nothing but black, glass-smooth water reflecting their lights...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...Kayla saw what seemed to be ripples in the air near the bottom of the steps dividing one section of seats from another. After frantically looking around her, she crouched in a nook beside the doorway they had used to enter the amphitheater. No sooner had she knelt than she saw what seemed to be heat shimmers halfway up the stairs. She snapped her rifle up and gave the area two short bursts, which resulted in screams and the thuds of bodies collapsing to the stairs.

“Kayla!” Jeff yelled. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but two of our ghosts aren’t,” she snarled back. “Once the invisibility is gone, they’re some seriously ugly bastards,” she added.

“Sir, we need to get your team to safety.”

“No shit,” Whitworth responded, the three now standing back-to-back as they tried to see the nearly-invisible aliens.

“Here,” Jeff called out to the scientists, “all of you hunker down around the General, the First Officer and me.”...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...After turning to the First Officer, Jeff whispered, “How long do you think it will take for your language interpreter to work?”

“Sir, as you know, Ship has been working to improve the language translation software and has enhanced the mental aspect of it to the point that she has already vastly improved upon my home world’s best efforts. She has also shortened the time it takes for the software to learn the language straight from the subject’s mind. Unlike our encounter with the Graex in space, this should work well if we can get within mental range of the subject. Ship thinks the distance might vary between races and individuals, but she is reasonably sure that the device should work once it is within fifty feet of most individuals.

“As was the case with the original language interpreter, understanding the new individual’s language isn’t the only problem. Learning to pronounce the other’s words can take time. It generally takes practice for our tongues to learn how to make the new sounds well enough to be understood. That said, all we need to understand them is for the software to lock on mentally. Oh, yes, and Ship is in the process of further miniaturizing the unit, which, she assures me, will be much smaller than this one,” he said as he took the new translator off his belt and handed it to Jeff.

“No helmet?” Jeff asked

“No, Sir. This model only requires you to use an earbud,” he said as he handed one to Jeff. “Ship expects the next generation of the unit to be small enough to attach to a collar and will project the subject’s words to you mentally.”...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...With her inertialess tractor beam, Ship put them down twenty feet to the left of the entrance. First stepped out toward the entrance, obviously intending to lead the group and consequently taking the most vulnerable position. Jeff and the General passed a glance, and both shrugged. Jeff also noted that the entrance had been cleared of larger rocks that were piled to the side – presumably by the Team.

As they stepped past the entrance, Whitworth took his radio off his belt. “This is General Whitworth calling the Science Team. Whitworth calling the Science Team,” the General repeated.

After a moment of silence, he called again, but still, there was no answer.

All had turned their headlamps on as soon as they stepped past the entranceway, which they had determined while still on Ship, was approximately twenty feet wide by ten feet high, and at this point, was generally level. This held true past the first curving turn of the tunnel and continued for the next hundred yards of the winding path before it began to slope downward at a slight but noticeable angle while the width of the passageway quickly reduced to twelve feet or so...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...Jeff sighed. “Yeah, I know, but if I remember correctly, cave-ins are common, at least in Earth caves and caverns. Some have been declared safe by structural engineers, but many have never been professionally examined. I would think that cave-ins here, as on Earth, could be caused by a number of things,” Jeff said as he frowned. “Water undermining the supporting structure, that same supporting structure shifting due to stress, limestone dissolving and that same supporting structure collapsing. Maybe an earthquake or volcanic activity far underground. On an on, I would think.”

“What I’m worried about is a deliberate act,” the General continued. “Although the primary survey determined the planet to be free of intelligent life, this dimension has an active interstellar presence – multiple space-going races – and there always seems to be those who want to prey on the weaker – as evidenced by the Graex attack a few hours ago. Also, a planet is, by nature, a vast place – lots of real estate in which to hide or just occupy. Our equipment is supposed to detect intelligent life. Still, the surveys weren’t done from orbit, but rather from smaller craft capable of being partially dismantled, sent through the Portal and reassembled on scene. Usually, the wingspan is the kicker.

“Supposedly, the equipment is capable of detecting animal life, and more importantly, it is supposed to be capable of detecting intelligent animal life. Just another of the items we were able to trade from another race that is well-advanced in that type of technology. But… our survey teams have been surprised before when they thought they were alone; although, most of the time, that was because of races capable of space flight which detected our people from orbit. Unfortunately, those races also tend to be aggressive. When they perceive that a group is not sufficiently capable of defending themselves, they tend to attack.

“I think we should be very cautious, indeed, with our approach to the coordinates we received from my research team.”

Having led his fire team on rescue missions more times than he cared to remember, Jeff thoroughly agreed...

Have a goodun;

Roust