CHAPTER 14. LEARNING THE ROPES.
Later, after an absolutely delicious meal consisting of he knew not what, the Earthman and the Alien faced each other across the table.
"Are you completely recovered now, Michael?" asked Kandras.
"Yes....completely. ...are you?"
“I think so. We need to sort out a few problems to help us communicate. I asked you if you were going to be completely honest earlier. If you have secret inner thoughts which you do not wish me to discover then the problem will take a long time to resolve. If, on the other hand, there is nothing you wish to hide and can honestly open up your mind to me, I can learn what I need to know in a relatively short time."
Michael gazed steadily back at his companion and searched his innermost soul. He had always been an honest and astute man and decided that he had done nothing of which he was ashamed and he certainly did not harbour any sinister thoughts concerning the Alien. All he felt was gratitude and a sincere feeling of pleasure that he had been able to help in what was obviously a severe crisis in both their lives.
“There is nothing which I need to hide from you. What would you like me to do?"
"It will be difficult but I want you to search your mind and go back to the very beginnings of your learning in mathematics and bring your whole mathematical knowledge to the forefront of your mind stage by stage.”
Michael took a moment or two to put his mind in order then indicated to Kandras that he was ready to begin. Their minds came together as they both concentrated. First he offered simple arithmetic and concepts of shape, then he progressed onto the pure mathematics of basic algebra. He then progressed on to the pure aspects of geometry and trigonometry. He then regressed and thought about the practical applications of those last two disciplines. All the while he could feel his recall system being stimulated by Kandras’ steady and gentle insistence.
Next he tackled Newtonian mathematics and their application through the notions of Calculus and the laws of planetary motion and navigation. At this point he decided to combine his knowledge of maths and physics and went through magnetism, light and the whole gambit until he finished with his somewhat scant knowledge of astro-physics. By this time he was feeling mentally drained and realized that his concentration had sunk him into an introspective state of fugue. With a sudden feeling of panic he struggled back to reality and focused on his companion who was still sitting there motionless.
“I’m sorry Kandras, but I will have to rest... this is a rather frightening experience.”
”You have a strong and well structured mind, Michael, but there is a great difference between us in the anatomy of the brain. The oldest part of your brain controls your emotions and it is the later development in the outer layers that controls your logical thinking. This means that in times of stress you will tend to think emotionally. We are exactly the opposite; we are logical beings who have acquired emotions, so, in times of stress, we revert to cold logic."
"Has my thought process been of any use at all?" enquired Michael.
"Oh yes.... I have conceptualised practically everything you have thought. That is another difference between us. ..our memory facility is much more reliable than yours. The peculiar part of it all is that your brain has more facility than ours, but it is unused. This will change as your species becomes more sophisticated. Are you ready to carry on?"
Michael then went back inside himself and thought about more mundane things and offered pictures of life on Earth and the Moon. For some reason his thoughts were frequently interrupted by visions of Charlotte; he could not control it and a feeling of helplessness came over him so he surfaced again.
"I'm sorry, I keep getting interrupted by thoughts of my lady friend, I am completely unable to keep my concentration."
Kandras stared back in a state of disbelief and awe. “Michael, that is not lack of concentration, those thoughts are being externally triggered. I am unable to pick up the source myself... but you can. Charlotte is calling for you and you can hear her. Do you realize that we are moving away from her at five times the speed of light and you can still communicate with her at this vast distance and speed? If you ever learn to develop this facility its power will be absolutely monumental. It's little wonder you could communicate with me so quickly. The strange thing is that you appear to be unaware of this fabulous gift. I may be able to help you develop it using some of our techniques but, believe me, we do not have telepathic power like yours. However we can control what we have got."
Michael detected an immediate change of attitude in Kandras . Instead of being a lower life form, he had been elevated to at least an equal in intellect, even though his technology was less advanced Kandras' admiration was genuine.
“We call it our' Sixth Sense' or ‘Extra Sensory Perception.’ Some people display it more than others but we are unable to prove its existence. I did not realise that I had it... it's quite an exciting discovery.”
"Well you have proved it to me, but it will be difficult to demonstrate and explain. It is deeply rooted in the emotional side of your brain and would appear to be randomly activated by stress, but I am sure you could learn to trigger it at will.” replied Kandras. “You look very tired, Michael, why don't you go and rest?"
Kandras took him to a cabin and said, "You might as well call this your room now, have a nice rest.”
Michael thanked him, laid down on the large bed and fell into a fitful sleep which was plagued by images of Charlotte and darkness.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
On board the Black Swan life was not too pleasant. All the Officers and men had steadfastly refused to co-operate with any of Harry’s schemes and, instead, had promised to escape as soon as a chance manifested itself. Harry had gone through fits of foul temper. He had tried persuasion and dire threats but it had made no difference. His broken nose and consequent nasal voice only served to make him look and sound foolish. Unfortunately nobody dared to laugh; Harry and his crew were dangerous and had already proved that they meant business.
The result was that the men were enslaved and kept under constant armed guard. Both Arnie and Henry had been shot by the 'Stun' guns again for refusing to obey instructions. Although not fatal the 'Stun' guns were very painful and soon the Crew were morosely carrying out their allotted tasks. At first this consisted of cleaning parties. Harry was remarkably calm when he realised that Neville had escaped; his absence had been discovered by the cruel-looking First Officer when his work rota failed to tally. When the Crew of the Atlas were questioned it was soon obvious to Harry that nobody knew where he was. They admitted that they knew he had gone but they did not know where he was hiding, or even if he was still alive.
Harry had simply said that he must be on the ship somewhere and hunger would soon drive him out. He had made this profound declaration just as Neville was tucking in to a nice meal back aboard the Atlas.
Charlotte had not been asked to work, she had been secured in some pleasant quarters and Harry visited her daily in the mistaken belief that his boyish good looks, charm and repartee would soon win her over. Eventually Charlotte had left him in no doubt and had told him in a most unladylike way what to do with himself and to leave her alone.
Harry had been shocked to hear such language from a Lady and decided to punish her by locking her in an uncomfortable, darkened room with only bread and water to sustain her. She was already at a low ebb and soon began to sink into a deep despair. It was during this period of blackness that she had begged Michael to come to her, if only in spirit. Strangely she had the feeling that he had heard and felt comforted.
Meanwhile the Black Swan weaved undetected amongst the outer Asteroids towards her home base.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A few hours later Michael and Kandras were facing each other across the table. Both had rested and felt refreshed and alert. The ship was streaking along into deep space at the same speed and Kandras was happy that everything was working perfectly.
“I want you to completely relax your mind and be receptive to the thoughts I will send you," said Kandras. "I am going to feed you some technical information."
"I'm ready,” replied Michael.
The first piece of information flooded in and Michael immediately tried to make sense of it; Kandras stopped his train of thought.
"Please do not try to rationalise the information I am sending you, I just want you to accept it and soak it up. Try not to work with the information until I have given you all of it. It is a very difficult thing to do... just relax and receive.”
They tried again and this time Michael remained completely inactive and again went down into a deep fugue, but his mind remained open. He struggled back to reality as Kandras urged him out of it. To his amazement Michael looked at his chronometer and realized that he had been under for three hours. This time it was Kandras who was a little shaky. Again both men went for a rest and Michael realised that the increased gravity and change of atmosphere were quickly tiring him. He expected that this would pass after a period of acclimatisation.
When they next came together Michael sat down at the computer and was amazed to find that he understood the keyboard symbols. Their mathematics was completely different to anything on Earth. It was not exactly a duodecimal system but rather a parallel application of two base six systems. Michael soon found out that the keyboard was designed for four arms with three large fingers rather than for two relatively small hands with five digits on each. However he was soon able to prove that he understood the basic rationales of the system.
One of the results of the combined system was that it produced a lot of symbols and the keyboard was complicated with six shift keys, but it gave Michael no trouble. It was just as though he had always known it. The two men discussed the two systems at length. Kandras agreed that the Earth system had its advantages but had one big draw back. His criticism was that it lacked choice and direction; his own mathematics were very linear and it only worked because there were many choices and many symbols to represent the choices. In reality the Earth system was far more complicated and clever but most problems in the Alien system could be settled by a critical path through the symbols and the changes in direction had far reaching connotations which increased as the numbers got higher. The big advantage of the Alien system was that immense numbers could be handled easily without dozens of zeros.
Now that they could converse a little more meaningfully, Kandras showed Michael round the complex Space craft. The method of propulsion was amazing. The main drive consisted of two very strong chambers connected by an even stronger main tube. In the first chamber was a source of high speed harmonic light. Its emissions were collected and concentrated, rather like a laser, and then directed down the tube. Inside the tube two things happened. Firstly, by an incredible process, the light photons were given weight by the addition of a heavy molecule so that they had substance. Having been slowed down considerably by their increased density, the particles were fed into an accelerator and then fired against a thick thrust plate. As the particles expended their minute amounts of momentum against the plate there was no equal and opposite reaction and consequently this energy produced motion in the vessel.
The spent particles were collected and returned to the first chamber by a secondary tube; they were then recycled, each time getting heavier and heavier. With the subsequent increase in the weight and the volume of particles a corresponding acceleration was produced which increased in a geometric progression, quickly attaining the super-light velocities.
Changes of direction were easily produced by tilting the thrust plate using four massive hydraulic rams. It came as a surprise to Michael to hear Kandras admit that he did not have a clue how the navigation and guidance systems worked. He was able to use them but knew nothing of the principles on which they operated. All he knew was that it was not electrically powered but was operated by a kind of synthetic light flux. They never went wrong and so he did not require this related knowledge.
Eight hours later Michael had learnt a lot of details about his new home and was feeling exhausted. Kandras did a quick check of all the systems to make sure that everything was to his satisfaction. "Is it time to relax, Michael?" he asked.
“I'm tired but not sleepy," replied Michael.
“In that case we can we can relax in the recreation room.”
The two companions went to a fairly large cabin which Michael had never seen before. It was tastefully decorated in restful pastel shades and had a sunken area with soft loungers in it. On the walls were pictures of alien landscapes showing formidable mountains and lots of water. There were others showing strange vegetation and lower life forms; some were impressions of seascapes which depicted ferocious-looking, serpent-like creatures of an immense size. There were screens both for educational and pleasure purposes and a music system which could produce sound on the same wavelength as the telepathic facility.
The music was quite eerie and was felt rather than heard; it reminded Michael of underwater scenes and was soothing and restful. There was a small galley area with an eating surface and some comfortable stools. As the men perched on the stools Kandras produced two goblets of a pink drink and two ready-cooked burgers in a kind of bread, from the dispensers. Michael did not know what the meat was and he did not care it tasted delicious.
The pink drink was also very pleasant and the first one slipped down very easily... and so did the second... and also the third. Michael was starting to feel a bit giggly and very relaxed. Kandras, on the other hand, was going more introspective and morose. Michael recognised that his companion was suffering from a kind of delayed shock due to grief and his recent trauma; in spite of the drink he knew he had to help. Michael had never been particularly famous for his tact and once again he took a deep breath and firmly grasped the nettle.
"How did it happen?"
Kandras pulled himself together and replied, "How did what happen?”
“Come on now... you know what I mean. How did the accident happen...?
You have never discussed it and I can see you are distressed and uncertain, please let's talk about it."
"Do you really want to know...? Does it make any difference? What is done is done," replied Kandras gloomily.
"That is rubbish. ...we must find out what happened and take steps to prevent a similar tragedy should the same circumstances arise," scolded Michael.
"You are correct, Michael, but I just know I am not going to like what I find. "Why do you say that?
"Because it is impossible for what happened to happen,” insisted Kandras.
"Well it did happen and we should do some detective work to find out why. It must have been a defect in the monitoring system or something like that.”
"Now you are being ridiculous,” retorted Kandras.
“Do you seriously think that I would be travelling at five times the speed of light in a vessel with defective systems? I have thoroughly checked out the systems and they are working perfectly everything always works perfectly on these vessels."
"Well it must be pilot error then,” insisted Michael remorselessly.
“It's a pity we cannot be sure and reconstruct what happened."
"I can see what happened very easily,” said Kandras quietly.
“Well, why are we hesitating?” asked Michael incredulously.
"Because in my heart I already know the answer,” said Kandras sadly. “To clear up any doubt and to help me come to terms with things, we will watch it. The screen on the wall there is the 'Automatic Daily Log.' It is a visual record of what goes on in the vessel."
Michael was impressed and watched with trepidation as Kandras switched on the large screen. He fiddled with some dials and switches, picked up a remote control and sat down with Michael to watch. A three dimensional image of Kandras sitting at the controls filled the screen. At the bottom of the screen was a read-out of data which included coordinates, velocity, direction and information on vessel status. Michael was able to understand enough to realise that the vessel was moving very slowly under manual control.
"This vessel is almost completely self sufficient due to the fact that there is a 'Matter Synthesizer' on board. It can make anything we need from oxygen to food by reducing matter to its basic particles and then reassembling them in the form of the substance we require. Energy is a little different. Every now and again we try to pick up a supply of a metal which naturally emits radiation; it can be found in considerable quantities amongst the ruins of the destroyed planet."
"We call the metal 'Uranium' and the remains of the planet are what we call the 'Asteroids,” added Michael helpfully.
"Well, a small amount of 'Uranium' provides enough energy for a considerable length of time. We were here searching for some when the accident happened.”
The picture changed and a second alien joined Kandras. After a while Kandras handed the watch over to the second alien. He checked his instruments and settled down to piloting the ship. The data readout was slowly but continually altering but suddenly a red light flashed in one corner. Kandras explained that this was a signal that the sensors had picked up a source of radiation. The pilot dutifully made a course change and headed towards the source. He was then joined on the bridge by the third alien. Soon, some tiny pricks of light which could be seen through the image of the forward observation panels began to take shape. As they reduced speed it could be clearly seen that one of them reflected much more light than the others. Needless to say it was the diamond-tipped rock.
The vessel came to a halt close by and the two aliens studied the strange rock intently. One left the bridge and returned with two goblets of the delicious pink drink. They made a sign to each other, embraced and knocked back the complete contents of the goblets. The ship was put into reverse and the rock shrank in size. Then, with a determined gesture, the pilot selected forward drive and headed straight for the needle-like tip. Alarm lights shone and buzzers buzzed but the alien manually over-rode the lot.
When the rock hit it was so realistic that Michael threw up an arm to protect himself: Kandras remained unmoved. The rock actually hit the pilot a glancing blow and sent him flying, then the screen dissolved into complete chaos. This was followed by blackness as the systems automatically shut down.
There was a shocked silence which was broken by Michael. "So it was suicide.”
"Yes.”
"But why? They had everything to live for... a superb ship and all the comforts it can supply. It does not make sense."
"It makes sense to me," brooded Kandras.
“But why?” persisted Michael who could not accept suicide under any circumstances.
"It is all a matter of time, Michael. Our last orders were to remain in your Solar System and investigate it until we received further orders.”
“Well I know you must have waited a long time because it is twelve years since I first saw this craft", observed Michael.
“We have waited much longer than that… we have been in your Solar System for one hundred and fifty-eight Earth years now."
“And you are still obeying your last order?"
“Yes.”
Michael pondered this surprising piece of information and slowly came to terms with how the other aliens had felt. They had lost all hope and could only see their lives as wasted and pointless. They had no motivation.
"Why did you not contact us?" probed Michael.
“Our orders forbade it…….. anyway we have seen some of your weapons and your willingness to use them... we feared for our lives.”
“And now?"
“You are my trusted ally now and I am alone, circumstances have altered drastically. Do you think your people will accept me, Michael?"
“We may experience some apprehension but I think you will be made an honoured guest; particularly if you help me to fulfil my mission successfully."
Kandras turned back to the screen which was showing a dark but discernible scene. Michael could see himself struggling with the large rock. He saw the rock slowly disappear from the shattered screen and saw himself flung back inside as the screen dropped. The data under the screen was blank apart from a weak, flashing, green light which indicated that a life form existed on the vessel.
A stronger, steady light joined it as the scanners picked up Michael's vital signs. Even as he watched, the flashing, green light went dimmer and flashed more slowly. The picture then showed the systems coming back to life as the cabin repressurized and Michael tearing off his helmet to search for the one remaining occupant. Kandras watched fascinated as he witnessed Michael's frantic efforts to revive him, followed by his grief when he thought he had lost him and then his obvious joy and emotion as he had recovered.
“You worked very hard on my behalf, Michael... I had given myself up for lost. It was your powerful determination which pulled me back. I am very grateful."
“I hope after all this that you are not harbouring the same thoughts as your companions,” scolded Michael.
“Me.. suicidal? Not likely. My recent brush with death has given me a renewed will to live which is very strong indeed.”
“That makes two of us,” agreed Michael. “Now that you have faced up to the facts, do you feel any better?"
“I feel more disappointed than anything else, but I'm glad for you. If they had not done what they did, you would have died a slow, torturous death. Oh, to Hell with it, it doesn't matter anymore... we are here and we are together... let's have another drink."
Kandras switched off the screen and produced another two drinks. Several drinks later the two companions fell into their respective rooms, a little the worse for wear but in a good frame of mind. They fell asleep almost immediately and the ship hurtled on through space without a care for the troubles of the beings it contained.
"A familiar smell invaded Michael's nostrils and he could not place what it was. He struggled back to consciousness aware of a slightly hung-over feeling. Kandras was standing next to his bed with a tray in two of his hands, a drink in his third hand and some cutlery in the fourth.
Michael looked at the plate and was both surprised and delighted to see a huge helping of scrambled eggs. He sat up in bed and took the proffered tray. "If you can't make a living as a pilot on Earth, you will make a fortune as a waiter," laughed Michael mischievously. "Thanks for the meal."
Kandras gave his happy gurgle and said, "It's your turn next. I will show you how to use the machine and with practice you should be able to produce some of your own favourites."
Michael gratefully ate his breakfast, washed and made his way to the Command Area. Kandras was already there and was strapped in his seat; he asked Michael to do the same since they were going to decelerate and stop. This time the deep crystalline orb took up a position behind the seat. It began to pulse as Kandras manipulated the controls and the speed began to drop away at an unprecedented rate. It was a strange sensation. Instead of being rammed hard against the straps, the sensation was of being pulled gently back into the seat.
Soon streaks of red light started to form in front of the vessel and the other colours joined in as their critical velocities were encountered. Suddenly the separate colours imploded to form the white coloured cloud which slowly faded into nothing as the speed dropped to sub-light and a few minutes later the sensors indicated that they were motionless.
“Alright,” said Kandras. “It is your turn now. There is nothing within one and a half light years of us now so you have plenty of room." He pressed a button and a duplicate set of levers swung smoothly into view from the console. Kandras painstakingly outlined the function of each control and the actual piloting of the vessel was quite simple when compared with the problems of a C.A.M.I.D. powered craft. The big problem for Michael was having only two arms; the ergonomics of the vessel were not designed around humans. It was like having an old-fashioned aeroplane with two joysticks which were both essential to its control.
They pondered the problem for awhile and Michael came to the conclusion that it would be impossible for him to pilot the vessel with the controls as they were. He pointed out that he had always used his feet, in addition to his arms, when it came to piloting his craft and would need to adapt the controls to include this facility.
At first Kandras was very dubious about this idea, but, when Michael made a drawing of what he intended, he relented.
“Do you have a workshop?” asked Michael.
“Yes, but I am afraid that I am not very pragmatic in that area... my engineer was one of those killed. We tend not to overlap our skills more than we have to.”
Kandras lead the way towards the stern of the vessel where the compact, well equipped workshop was situated.
"I need some strong metal rods,” requested Michael. “Do you have any in store?”
Kandras smiled back patiently and reminded Michael that it was not necessary to carry stores when you had a 'Matter Synthesizer.' Instead he showed Michael some samples of what was easily available and already programmed into the machine.
He chose a hollow, alloy rod which had a substantial tensile and compression strength and programmed the machine for ten rods, each six feet long. They were ready in five minutes.
Next he synthesized a supply of a light, but strong, metal sheet and was relieved to find a supply of rivets and a combined laser cutter and drill ready for immediate use. He quickly cut his rods and assembled two pedals whose operation worked on a pantographic principle. They then returned to the control panel where Michael devised a quick-release system for fitting them to the floor, the console and finally to the levers. The operation was smooth and successful. The job had taken Michael two hours and Kandras impressed.
“Your problem solving capabilities are very good. It would have taken me ages to design and build that, but now comes the big test. .. let’s see if it works?"
“The low speed handling was a compressed jet arrangement very similar to the Atlas. Michael mastered the handling within minutes. Kandras was amazed at the delicacy and co-ordination of the synchronisation between the hands and feet of the Earthman.
"You are a born pilot, Michael. Are you considered an expert amongst your own people?”
“Probably a little above average," lied Michael, who suddenly wondered where his golden comets were at this particular moment in time.
They went through the procedures for setting off and heaving-to, but keeping below light speed. Again Michael quickly grasped the feel of the vessel and was soon completely competent in its operation. Kandras then threw him a few problems such as spins and pitch-poling effects, which Michael soon learned to correct. He had a little trouble with the pitch-poling effect where the vessel tumbles end over end; it was something which he had never experienced before, but once mastered it gave him no trouble.
Next, they tackled the procedures for exceeding the speed of light which we