Adventures in Space - Issue 2
From Booyor
Scene 1 in a transdimensional pocket
Munin sits still, serene, focused, trying to maintain his sanity in the presence of ceaseless Kenny G. The first two days were difficult, the last few days have been a maze through which the greatest of men would lose their mind. The gnawing hunger is nothing compared to the endless thrist. Even a peaceful well kept library becomes the most hideous of cells without the basic needs. And the stench of the dead body and human waste has almost become appetizing against the painful need for sustenance. Once those foul smells turned his nose, now they turn his stomach and twist his mind. Munin concentrates in meditation to hold his focus and help the hours pass, will help come? What has happened in the outside world? Did they all die? Is this temporal gap to be his eternal resting place? He can only wait and hope against hope, as time continues to crawl...
Scene 2 in the Void of space
The coldness of space, small pieces of debris float without purpose; meandering in the dark void against the backdrop of small points of light.
Then something happens defying the laws of physics. A wind begins to blow, but there is no air in space? Yet there is an unmistakable manifestation of a sturdy breeze. Pieces of debris swirl as if in a dust vortex, some scatter as if caught in a spring storm. And a flash of light, pure and penetrating fills a moment in time. And Euraquilo remains where there was once light. His golden wings span as he surveys his environment. "This is not good," he thinks to himself.
Realizing that his body ceased to function on the ship with the attack of that hideous beast, he begins to realize what has occurred. Either the conflict resulted in the entire destruction of the party and the craft, or the craft has left. He assumes with the pieces of metal and other garbage that the space vehicle was destroyed. But what of the team? Euraquilo expands his senses and awareness trying to perceive the slightest hint of anyone, nothing but the emptiness of space.
Faced with the long task of a flight across space to Earth, Euraquilo considers his other options for even at his top flight speed around 4 million miles per hour it would take an age to return to Earth. He sighs at the prospect of such an option. There is nothing else to do but pray. When faced with a situation which seems to hold no viable option the Lord has always been faithful to give him direction or at least give him the grace to overcome the hard journey ahead. So he centers himself, seeking that still small voice of the Lord which is always there but so many remain too busy or cluttered to ever hear. There it is...Is He saying wait? Wait here Lord? What is the reason to wait in the middle of space? Are they returning for me? Euraquilo listens again and simply hears, "wait."
And so he waits in the cold of space considering the nature of his predicament. Maybe it is to be a season of isolation so that he may commune with the Lord in silence. Paul, John and many others have spent years waiting in isolation for the Lord to act. St. Patrick spent much of his youth among a foreign people unable to communicate with them.
Euraquilo resolves himself, "I shall wait upon the Lord for He is my deliverer."
He folds his wings around him to keep the cold of space at bay a little, as times continues to crawl...
Scene 3 in the Not So Distant future
"Your majesty we believe we have picked up the disturbance in the timeline."
"Excellent. Can you zero in on all 4 axis for the exact temporal disruption location?"
"We believe so sir. We think we can get you within in a few days of the event and certainly within a few hundred meters of the location."
"Well that will have to do for now. Is everything ready for the jump."
"Just about sir. We have fitted a small craft for the jump. Most critical era dangerous technology has been removed or hidden. It should provide you with your needs and not risk too much temporal compromise."
"Very well." Prince Shandarsup makes his way to the launch platform. Time is short. Soon the temporal shock wave from the disruption will hit this time period. It was already closing fast and some things may have changed even with their temporal protection system in place. Eventually changes in the timeline are unstoppable. The Empire is already in jeopardy. Hopefully he would be able to put things in order. He must.
Shandarsup climbed into the craft in preparation for the jump. Time travel is never pleasant. Something about the 4th dimension displacement is painful to most living fabric. Oh well. A disembodied feminine voice begins to count down, "20, 19, 18..."
"Your majesty, do not forget your cover identity. It is an important part of risking as little temporal disruption as possible."
"15, 14, 13..."
"I understand. The Mandolin it is from now on."
"10, 9, 8..."
The Mandolin expects that this will be interesting at the very least, no pressure. Not like the entire existence of the Empire was hanging in the balance, oh wait it was, OK a little pressure.
"4, 3, 2, 1, initiating temporal displacement"
A nauseating wave of pain ripped through the Mandolin as he is overcome by the sensation that time continues to crawl...
Scene 4 Back in the Present
Something was stirring. Euraquilo could sense it. It was strange, something almost similar to the presence of the Alpha and the Omega. Almost as if that which was, is, and is to come were meeting for a moment. He began to drift, sensing that what he was waiting for is about to occur. There it is, coming quickly. Then the fabric of the space time continuum folds and opens at the same moment as a strange looking craft floats before him.
At first Euraquilo waits to be greeted but realizes that they may not have an external communication system. He decides to investigate. He teleports himself inside the craft. Its interior is alien yet seems to have a certain familiarity to it. He cannot quite put his finger on it. There appears to be an unconscious figure at the controls. Eurauilo approaches him and moves to heal him, but realizes he has no injuries. He just seems unconscious for the moment. The figure stirs.
Euraquilo, "Are you OK? Who are you?"
"I'm fine. My name is the Mandolin. But a better question is who are you and how did you get on my ship?"
"You may call me the Benefactor. I apologize for being rude but I was waiting here for you and was not sure if you could communicate with me out in space."
"You were waiting for me. You could not have known I was coming."
"I was with a group of friends and became separated from them. I was directed by my superiors to wait here. I believe it was to await you."
"How could your superiors know I was coming? That is impossible..."The Mandolin tinks to himself, *unless they are from further down the time stream, or maybe even a rival temporal power? He must be careful around this one.*
Euraquilo stuffles a small chuckle, glibly responding, "People often say that when they do not really understand what my Boss can and cannot do. Are you injured? Do you need assistance?"
"No, thank you. I'm looking for some friends in need. I don't supose you would know where I could find the Suplex?"
Euraquilo sighs. "Actually I think I know where he is headed; if he still lives that is. Either way I know where we could find someone who will know for sure. You wouldn't happen to have the ability to track transdimensional travel with this craft? Or at least a sensor system which has warp sensitivity? If so I might able to pick up their trail."
"I might have what you need? What exactly are we looking for?" The Mandolin wonders about this guy who looks like he is about as normal as they come, but something about him seems almost too normal for the way he talks. Odd.
Euraquilo stares out the port, "My last contact with them was when we were in that craft that is floating in little pieces out there. In the middle of the fight I lost consciousness. When I awoke there was nothing but these remains. However we came on a different vehicle. If you can pick up their jump vector maybe we can follow them. I might be able to track some of the people in our party if I'm given a heading, but searching the entire expanse is well beyond my ability. Is your system capable of such a thing?"
The Mandolin begins working at the controls, "Well lets see what I can do for you. This is odd? I'm picking up a transdimensional tear, or not exactly a tear but more like a stain in the fabric. It is almost as if something was bridging two dimensions and then was sudenly sundered before the gap was properly closed. Could that be them?"
Euraquilo closes his eyes. "No. I think I know what that was." In his heart he fears that means Stutter was slain. And in a flash a horrible thought occurs to Euraquilo. Munin! He jumped into the pocket. Has he been there all this time?! "I need you to wait here a minute my friend. I know you have no reason to trust me, but there may be something horribly wrong that needs immediate attention. I will return shortly." With that he disappears without a sound or motion.
Mandolin checks his sensors. He is nowhere with in sensor range. Could he have transported that far instantly? Why was there no tell tale sound of his motion? Wait...let me check...he did. He moved dimensionally. That is impressive. Even in his era the ability to travel across dimensions requires signifcantly more technology than he saw. Not to mention that none of the typical dimensional side affects occured. There is certainly more to this guy than meets the eye.
Munin waits patiently in a library prison.
A gentle voice breaks what had become a deafening silence over the past week. "You are not alone my friend. I'm sorry you were left to feel that for so long."
Munin opened his eyes to see the Benefactor. Finally, some help. Ben seemed to have a look of sorrow yet simultaneously joy on his face.
Euraquilo surveys the scene, and waves his hand. "I believe you may desire this. Eat and be well my friend."
A small banquet appears on the end table next to Munin. Munin quickly eats, maintaining an air of dignity but certainly with the briskness of significant hunger. The pitcher of water is his first target, it tastes of light honey and lemon. It quenches his thrist unnaturally quickly. It might be the most refreshing experience of his life.
Munin asks, "What hapened out there? I've been her for over a week." The simple bread is unlike anything he has ever tasted. It melts in his mouth with little chewing. The flavor seems so simple but he can feel it meet his physical needs faster than it should. What is this stuff he thinks?
"I'm sorry about that. If I had known you were still in here I would have come to your aid sooner. I lost track of the group. I did not realize that Stutter had died trapping you in here."
"Stutter died? Any other casualties? What is this stuff?"
"Yes I'm afraid he is gone. When we join the rest of the group we can confirm that for sure. Some know that as mana. Are you well enough to travel?"
"Please, get me out of here. If I never see this place again it will be too soon."
Munin places his gloved hand on Euraquilo's shoulder and they vanish without incident.
---
The Mandolin was busy using his sensor system searching for any trace of the Suplex or what might have caused the timeline disruption. Maybe it was the death of this Stutter. If his death left this temporal rift then that just might be the source of the problem. He wondered whether Ex-Ray was still in the company of the Suplex at this point. That must be investigated as well. It is strange how he never saw anything in the records about this Benefactor. He would have to check the records when he returned home.
Without warning there were two others in the room behind him. The Mandolin recognized Benefactor, but the other he had never seen in the records either.
"Mandolin, this is Munin. He is part of the Huntsman's Pack also. He was trapped beyond that temporal rift you detected. I simply needed to retrieve him before we proceeded after our friends."
"Munin, nice to meet you. The Huntsman's Pack is legendary where I come from. Your exploits are well known."
"Really?"
"Uh, yeah." Mandolin quickly realizes his error, changing the subject he says to Ben, "I'm sorry but I have not been able to track the other craft you suspected. Any other ideas how we could find them?"
Euraquilo, "I'm not really sure. I was not given any other directions but to wait here. Normally when I get directions if I am obedient to the letter of the law things work out."
Munin, "What's the problem?"
Euraquilo, "We do not know where the Immaculate Dominion craft headed."
Munin, "Oh. Here." He types something into the console. "They are headed here. This is the coordinates for their homeworld. Well actually the planet that is their homeworld here in our universe. It is a little messy but I believe we can meet them there if they have followed their originl plan."
Mandolin, "How do you know what their plan was?"
Munin, "Just something I picked up while waiting around for the Benefactor to come get me."
Glancing over his shoulder, the Benefactor raises an eye brow.
"How long will it takes us to cover this distance in your craft?"
"I'm pretty sure we can make it in a matter of hours. It really isn't that far."
"Nothing like the present." quips Munin.
The Mandolin throws a switch and the craft begins to hum. They all feel their stomachs lurch and are dizzy for a split second. Time begins to fly by as they race through space to rejoin their companions.
The Mandolin turns to Munin. "We should be there shortly." Looking around, "Where did Ben go?"
Munin, "Don't worry. He does that all the time. He'll show up later when he is needed. I think he likes to do that."
Madolin, "Huh. I was going to ask him exactly what device he uses to move the way he does. His micro technology is amazing. Not to mention I was wondering how he simply survived in the void of space to wait around for me to show up."
"I have not known him for long but he certainly is an unusual individual. I wouldn't count on getting a straight answer out of him. I also think he likes the mysterious thing a little too much."
"Well we have a few hours to kill...why don't you tell me about yourself? Where are you from? How did you come to know The Suplex and Ex-Ray?"
And time begins to crawl...
