Chapter 4
We managed to settle down and get back to work. Ax went off into his own little world and started working diligently on the power source and the wires. How he did it was completely baffling, but he was doing well. It looked horrible, but he said it would work perfectly once he was done.
And who was I to judge. He knew more about stuff like that than I did, and he wanted to help us and get it done.
The thing that confused me was why he wanted so badly to get this done. I had nothing that would hook up to any power source. I made sure to get the plugs though, so when it was done, we could fit an appliance into them. I wanted a refrigerator so we could actually keep meat and other good food from going bad.
That and a stove or a microwave so we could actually cook something rather than eating cold everything.
"You sure this is going to work?" Sam asked.
"I hope so. It is all we can hope for." I answered.
"But I seriously don't see how. I mean seriously. He said something about compound light or something. How can you turn compound light into energy?"
"Think solar power, I guess. It turns solar light int electricity. Maybe it is something like that. Besides, light essentially is one form of energy. Maybe the crystal simply is a converter to turn light energy into another form. Like a windmill uses kinetic energy from the wind to turn it into electrical energy. Maybe the crystal does something like that. Don't forget, we are working with far superior technology."
"I guess so."
We both shut up and waited as Ax worked on the device. Me and Sam both decided that he would be better off alone, our pointless chatter was probably irritating and distracting.
As we walked outside, we saw Tobias flutter onto the corner of the house roof.
[How's Alien boy doing?] he asked.
"About as good as bird boy." I told him. Then laughed. "He's doing just fine. He is hard at work on that little thing and we decided his superior knowledge was better left alone."
"Yeah, we were talking about my telekinesis and his mind reading." Sam told him.
[What did he say?]
"I don't know completely. Something about random chance and a connection to Zero space." I said.
[The same zero space that allows faster than light travel?]
"Something like that." Sam said. "And he says that Gordon almost definitely has it, but he is using a different aspect of it. Between the two of us, we are a complete unit. Though he's never heard of the thought speak radio. You know, when he hears you say something to me when it is not directed at him."
[Oh, so that's good news.] Tobias said.
"Let's hope so. I still Can't use it, even if I try." I said. "Watch." I squinted my eyes and stared at a rock on the ground. I stared and grunted and even pointed my finger at it and imagined what I wanted it to do and nothing happened. Point proved.
"I can see clearly that you can't do it now. But at the same time, neither could I at first. Only when emotions raged. Same with you. You only did it so far when we were fighting. It was clear then. Maybe if I get you mad enough..." He trailed off.
I left it alone. I didn't really want to talk about it. At the time, I decided I wanted to just be calm about everything and not get too excited. Besides, it obviously didn't work. How many times did I have to tell them that.
I walked over to the tree and thought of something, a possibility maybe.
"Hey, Sam."
"What?" he asked.
"We have lot's of room here. I was thinking maybe we could use this land to plant some gardens and stuff. Vegetable gardens and stuff, so we don't have to spend as much on food. And that way, we could just eat the food right off the plants, that way they don't go bad."
Sam just shook his head. "Sorry. I can't do that. We don't want too much attention. We aren't far enough away from civilization to risk something like that. An alien is one thing. If anyone see's that, they will probably run away. But if they see lovely little gardens and windmills and stuff, then they are going to be attracted to the thought of damaging such a place for fun. Lousy little runts."
"I see. I do understand. I guess you are right." I said. I was kind of disappointed, but he was indefinitely right. That would attract bad people.
"I have an idea, how about we try to do pushups, to see how far we can go before we collapse." I suggested.
"How about no. I have a better idea." He said as he flopped down and stared at the sky. I followed closely and fell on my back.
Tobias left soon thereafter. [See ya later!] he called.
"Say hi to Rachel for me!" I called back.
[Will do!]
So there we were. Laying there bored out of my mind. There was absolutely nothing to do right then. We had no mission, I had no work today, and I didn't have enough money to go out and buy anything that we needed, so I was stuck at home with nothing to do. Maybe when he had it ready and I got a few more pay cheques I could buy a refrigerator. Just a small one though.
Then it actually occurred to me. Why did Ax needed a computer?
"Hey Sam, has it occurred to you why Ax may need a computer so badly?"
"Yeah, he wants to speak with his people. I thought you had already figured that. It was quite obvious." He said.
"But why is it so much of a big deal?"
"Why don't you ask him?" He suggested.
I decided to take him up on his offer. I got up and walked back to the house. When I got in there, I saw Ax still concentrating hard on the little device. He only took the time to swivel one of his stalk eyes to look at me.
I continued to look at him.
"Hey Ax?" I asked.
[If you don't mind. I am terribly busy right now. I can talk later.] he said. Clearly distracted.
"Well, I was wondering, what was the big hurry when you said you wanted a computer?"
He stopped for a moment and looked up at me with his main eyes, keeping a stalk eye on the device. [I want a communication device. I thought we discussed this.]
"I think we did. But I was not completely sure of the reason. I mean, I don't think a little computer is going to send messages across Zero space and stuff." I said.
[But with a few simple adjustments, I can turn even a weak human computer into a computer that can do just that. It isn't really that difficult.]
"I guess, but you still haven't told me why you want to contact them so badly. Is it to maybe tell them of the invasion here?"
[Oh, they know about the invasion here. How do you think I got here? No, I want to go home.]
We managed to settle down and get back to work. Ax went off into his own little world and started working diligently on the power source and the wires. How he did it was completely baffling, but he was doing well. It looked horrible, but he said it would work perfectly once he was done.
And who was I to judge. He knew more about stuff like that than I did, and he wanted to help us and get it done.
The thing that confused me was why he wanted so badly to get this done. I had nothing that would hook up to any power source. I made sure to get the plugs though, so when it was done, we could fit an appliance into them. I wanted a refrigerator so we could actually keep meat and other good food from going bad.
That and a stove or a microwave so we could actually cook something rather than eating cold everything.
"You sure this is going to work?" Sam asked.
"I hope so. It is all we can hope for." I answered.
"But I seriously don't see how. I mean seriously. He said something about compound light or something. How can you turn compound light into energy?"
"Think solar power, I guess. It turns solar light int electricity. Maybe it is something like that. Besides, light essentially is one form of energy. Maybe the crystal simply is a converter to turn light energy into another form. Like a windmill uses kinetic energy from the wind to turn it into electrical energy. Maybe the crystal does something like that. Don't forget, we are working with far superior technology."
"I guess so."
We both shut up and waited as Ax worked on the device. Me and Sam both decided that he would be better off alone, our pointless chatter was probably irritating and distracting.
As we walked outside, we saw Tobias flutter onto the corner of the house roof.
[How's Alien boy doing?] he asked.
"About as good as bird boy." I told him. Then laughed. "He's doing just fine. He is hard at work on that little thing and we decided his superior knowledge was better left alone."
"Yeah, we were talking about my telekinesis and his mind reading." Sam told him.
[What did he say?]
"I don't know completely. Something about random chance and a connection to Zero space." I said.
[The same zero space that allows faster than light travel?]
"Something like that." Sam said. "And he says that Gordon almost definitely has it, but he is using a different aspect of it. Between the two of us, we are a complete unit. Though he's never heard of the thought speak radio. You know, when he hears you say something to me when it is not directed at him."
[Oh, so that's good news.] Tobias said.
"Let's hope so. I still Can't use it, even if I try." I said. "Watch." I squinted my eyes and stared at a rock on the ground. I stared and grunted and even pointed my finger at it and imagined what I wanted it to do and nothing happened. Point proved.
"I can see clearly that you can't do it now. But at the same time, neither could I at first. Only when emotions raged. Same with you. You only did it so far when we were fighting. It was clear then. Maybe if I get you mad enough..." He trailed off.
I left it alone. I didn't really want to talk about it. At the time, I decided I wanted to just be calm about everything and not get too excited. Besides, it obviously didn't work. How many times did I have to tell them that.
I walked over to the tree and thought of something, a possibility maybe.
"Hey, Sam."
"What?" he asked.
"We have lot's of room here. I was thinking maybe we could use this land to plant some gardens and stuff. Vegetable gardens and stuff, so we don't have to spend as much on food. And that way, we could just eat the food right off the plants, that way they don't go bad."
Sam just shook his head. "Sorry. I can't do that. We don't want too much attention. We aren't far enough away from civilization to risk something like that. An alien is one thing. If anyone see's that, they will probably run away. But if they see lovely little gardens and windmills and stuff, then they are going to be attracted to the thought of damaging such a place for fun. Lousy little runts."
"I see. I do understand. I guess you are right." I said. I was kind of disappointed, but he was indefinitely right. That would attract bad people.
"I have an idea, how about we try to do pushups, to see how far we can go before we collapse." I suggested.
"How about no. I have a better idea." He said as he flopped down and stared at the sky. I followed closely and fell on my back.
Tobias left soon thereafter. [See ya later!] he called.
"Say hi to Rachel for me!" I called back.
[Will do!]
So there we were. Laying there bored out of my mind. There was absolutely nothing to do right then. We had no mission, I had no work today, and I didn't have enough money to go out and buy anything that we needed, so I was stuck at home with nothing to do. Maybe when he had it ready and I got a few more pay cheques I could buy a refrigerator. Just a small one though.
Then it actually occurred to me. Why did Ax needed a computer?
"Hey Sam, has it occurred to you why Ax may need a computer so badly?"
"Yeah, he wants to speak with his people. I thought you had already figured that. It was quite obvious." He said.
"But why is it so much of a big deal?"
"Why don't you ask him?" He suggested.
I decided to take him up on his offer. I got up and walked back to the house. When I got in there, I saw Ax still concentrating hard on the little device. He only took the time to swivel one of his stalk eyes to look at me.
I continued to look at him.
"Hey Ax?" I asked.
[If you don't mind. I am terribly busy right now. I can talk later.] he said. Clearly distracted.
"Well, I was wondering, what was the big hurry when you said you wanted a computer?"
He stopped for a moment and looked up at me with his main eyes, keeping a stalk eye on the device. [I want a communication device. I thought we discussed this.]
"I think we did. But I was not completely sure of the reason. I mean, I don't think a little computer is going to send messages across Zero space and stuff." I said.
[But with a few simple adjustments, I can turn even a weak human computer into a computer that can do just that. It isn't really that difficult.]
"I guess, but you still haven't told me why you want to contact them so badly. Is it to maybe tell them of the invasion here?"
[Oh, they know about the invasion here. How do you think I got here? No, I want to go home.]