Just went 24 hours without electricity thanks to a major tropical storm (and I don't even live in the tropics); the weather here sure is changing. Well now the computer is powered up, I can post again.
Chapter 13
Amazing Stories from the Twilight Zone
Blue and the professor rushed back into the examination room as soon as they heard the young girls cry. They found her attempting to use a gurney as both a shield and weapon.
"WAIT CHILD" Professor Adisa called to Calla "I promise we won't do anything to hurt you. What happened in here?"
"That guy wants to cut my arm open" she accused.
"No I don't" Doctor Vieira declared "I only want to take an x-ray; it's like a taking a picture.
This made Calla feel a little less agitated but she did not move out from behind her shield. No one had considered the possibility that she would not have any clue about what they considered normal medical procedure. After what had happened in the store room, Blue was still feeling very protective and kept trying to rush over and defend Calla.
"You don't have to have an x-ray if you do not want" Linton Adisa offered "Does she Doctor?"
"Err no; I just wanted to be sure" Quill Vieira responded.
"I want to go back to the surface... NOW!" she still looked at the men around her as if they were a pack of hungry carnivores.
"Yes alright" Professor agreed as he held Blue back "but there is a small problem."
Calla did not say anything but she looked at the Professor with doubt in her eyes, like someone who was expecting to be lied to; Linton Adisa knew he would have to choose his next words carefully.
"There are currently only two ways out" he informed her "Through a vent like the one you fell down, and that would be far too difficult to climb, or at the mouth of the rail gun at the top of a mountain many kilometres away. We can take you there if you demand it, but it might be better if we talked a little more first."
"Why should we talk?" Calla asked sarcastically "Do you think you can just hold me here? You'll regret if you try."
Professor Adisa looked down at Blue, who just shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm inclined to believe her" the young man declared.
"There is a lot we do not know about the current state of the surface" Professor Adisa admitted "Perhaps you could tell me about it; and I in turn could tell you all about this place. How does that sound?"
Calla thought about the Professors offer; she only wanted to get back to her father and brother, but it would be good to take back some choice information. If only she could be sure these people could be trusted and she would be allowed to go back. The influence of the Wood Duck of Curiosity swept over Calla as the fear she once felt began to melt away. Far from being the evil kidnappers she had once suspected these people to be, they now appeared to be easily manipulated. It was time to give them an honesty test.
"It looks like I don't have any other choice" she declared accusingly "Just answer this."
With stern and deliberate purpose, Calla pushed the gurney aside, marched up to the Professor and whispered quietly to him "What is a P.A.M. Booster?"
She could tell her question surprised him, but she knew if he tried to pass it off as unimportant or made up some kind of lie, she would be able to tell. Then she would know for sure they could not be trusted. Linton Adisa exhaled as he realised what she was doing, he leaned forward and answered her softly.
"You are a clever girl" he whispered "P.A.M. stands for Payload Assist Module; quite an old piece of technology but we still use them to boost heavy payloads into a higher orbit. It could also be employed to send a smaller payload on the start of a journey beyond the Moon."
Calla considered what the smiling man had said for a few seconds. Blue had mentioned something about high orbit launches when she had been interrogating him back in the tunnel; now for the final test. She went on another little march to the doors of the infirmary, where about twenty people were now looking through the glass at the new addition to their ranks. They back off to avoid being hit by the doors when it became apparent that she was not going to stop. Stumbling backwards, they almost fell over each other as she burst through into the corridor.
"YOU THERE" she pointed at a terrified woman "What's your name?"
"Um... ah... Sarah... Doctor Sarah Spencer" the frightened lady wondered why she was being picked on by such a little girl.
"Tell me Doctor Sarah Spencer, what is a P.A.M. Booster?"
"Err... it's a Payload Assist Module" she replied "a rocket motor."
Calla smiled and nodded, pleased that she had received the same answer from two different people. She turned back into the infirmary and approached the man standing with Blue.
"Thank you for not lying to me; I'm Calla Donia Linwood" she smiled and gave a slight bow "Pleased to meet you."
"Professor Linton Adisa" the tall man replied "Would you like to come with me to my office?"
"I still really want to get out of here and find my Dad" she admitted "He must be going off his tree by now looking for me."
"Yes of course; that will be our main topic of discussion."
The two children walked out with Professor Adisa passed the still stunned group of engineers and scientists. Although Calla was slowly getting used to the strange way these people looked at her, she still could not really understand what it was that had them so fascinated; it was as if she had two heads and a tail.
"Why does everyone keep looking at me like I've got two heads and a tail?" she asked.
"You have to understand this Miss Linwood; as far as we were aware, we were either in grave danger from survivors on the surface, or were possibly the last people left alive on planet Earth. Although we did hold out hope that there may be pockets of survivors somewhere in the northern hemisphere, we had no way to know for sure. We never entertained the thought one day we would ever be visited by someone such as yourself. Your arrival has come as a complete surprise to us and although we are very happy to see you, we are not precisely sure what it means. At one time there were people who wanted to stop us and were prepared to kill us to do so."
"Why is that?" she asked as they entered Professor Adisa's office "You all seem like nice enough people now nobody is chasing me?"
"We were once the major provider of supplies for the Mars colony and I now suspect we are the only ones left."
"So without you, they die?"
"They should be self sufficient by now, I hope."
Calla had never seen an office before, so it did not strike her as odd that this one resembled more of a living room, than a place of work. It was quite a large room, with a large desk and table at the far end; both were covered with papers and plans. Just inside the door and to the left, were two couches, and two plush reclining chairs and the Professor gestured towards them.
"Just knowing that there are people alive on the surface, means that we must alter our plans somewhat, but in order to make an informed decision, we must be informed" the tall man informed the young girl "I know this is a silly question but do you know how many people there are up there, roughly?"
His words confused Calla somewhat; she had no idea what he was talking about but as she sat in the comfortable chair, she thought about his question.
"We left a few hundred people in New Zealand and there were small pockets all the way up the east coast of Australia and in the top end. Most of the islands we've come across since then have been deserted though."
"Hmm." Professor Adisa rose, wandered over to a flat file cabinet and opened the third draw down. He hoped the map he extracted would help Calla to understand what he was about to ask.
"Let's see now" the Professor placed the map down on a coffee table in front of the couches.
Blue and Calla left their chairs and went to sit on either side of the man in charge as he pointed some areas out on the map.
"This is where we are now" he pointed to a spot well inland from the sea before moving his finger much further on "and this is the exit near the top of Mount Singgalang. Blue tells us that you came down a shaft near point L-41, which is all the way back here at the old construction site; does that look right to you?"
"Yes sir" Calla replied "We came in at this beach here, where the big ship is."
"Big ship?" the Professor frowned "What big ship?"
"The giant tanker; we spent last night on it."
Calla gasped in shock as Professor Adisa grabbed her by the shoulders and spoke very slowly and clearly.
"Miss Linwood this is very important; this ship, it was driven up onto the beach?"
"Y-yes" she replied.
"And it had huge stabilisation legs along each side?"
"Yes it does."
Professor Adisa gulped as his grip tightened.
"Y-you're hurting me" Calla declared and the tight grip was instantly released.
"Oh, I'm so sorry my child" Linton Adisa begged "Tell me, is the ship intact?"
"Well we couldn't find a way down into the hold; mind you, we didn't look very hard."
Without another word, Professor Adisa leapt up and marched to the phone on his desk. He pressed the number two button three times and speakers all over the complex crackled into life.
"All engineering, manufacture and supply heads report to the AV Room in one hour; and Doctor Spencer, please come to my office at once; that is all."
Blue and Calla watched as Professor Adisa suddenly turned from a quiet and calm individual, into a frustrated and frantic wreck. He dug through the papers on the table next to his desk, before giving up and hurrying over to a floor to ceiling cupboard on the opposite side of the room. Doors were opened, then slammed and draws were rifled through before he finally found several small black rectangular slabs about the size of his hand, which he placed inside a battered old leather folio case.
He turned sharply at the sound of a knock at his door and bid the person outside to come in; Calla recognised the woman who entered as the one she had accosted outside the infirmary about fifteen minutes ago.
"Sarah, I need you and Blue to take care of our guest for a while" the Professor requested. "Stay close to her, answer any questions she has and help her to understand what is going on."
"What is going on Professor?" Doctor Spencer asked.
"More than any of us realise" he sighed "I've got a very strong feeling that things are going to get very hairy, very soon and a lot of people are going to be very very upset."
"That's a lot of very's" Sarah Spencer gasped.
"I'm sorry about this Miss Linwood, but I must go and call Olive Roux. I'll meet you in the AV room as soon as I can."
The three mildly stunned people were ushered out of Professor Linton Adisa's office and into the corridor.
"One last thing Miss Linwood; have you ever heard of a group known as the Earth First Alliance?"
"No sir" Calla answered before the professor disappeared and closed the doors.
"What on earth happened in there?" Doctor Spencer asked Blue.
"Well... um... we were looking at a map..." he began.
"And he was showing me where I was" Calla interjected "But when I told him about the ship..."
"THAT WAS IT!" Blue interrupted "He got all weird and nervous when Calla mentioned the big ship!"
"What big ship?" Doctor Spencer looked even more confused.
"My Dad called it a supertanker, but it had these legs on the side."
"Oh... crap!" Sarah Spencer's eyes widened "Calla, it is very important that you do not mention this ship to anyone else until Professor Adisa has had the chance to break the news delicately. Maybe we shouldn't go straight to the AV room; the department heads will all have questions and we shouldn't answer them yet."
"I left the Princess in her cage when all this started" Blue noted "and the Moon is still somewhere in the assembly area."
"Good idea" Sarah nodded "We'll swing by there to kill some time while Professor Adisa makes his call."
"So who is this person he's calling?" Blue asked.
"It's not so much who" Sarah informed them "but where."
"Okay then; where is he calling?"
"Mars" she replied.
Got two chapters of the link story written so it should appear early January 2017.
Happy New Year everyone and I'll be back soon.