Story: The Lethe, pt. XIX

Leon and Zhang worked together on the nearby computer node that was hidden behind one of the walls in the basement. With a bit of tweaking and some creativity use of Commander Ella’s scanner, they were able to convince the Lethe’s sensors to set up in a false echo loop that showed no humans anywhere except where the androids expected them to be: inside the town on the main deck.
The team, led by Leon, cautiously left the building, which contained Leon’s watchmaking business on the first and second floors and his home on the third. The nearest stairway to the area “below decks” was on the edge of town, about 350 meters from Leon’s home. As the team moved quickly and quietly through the narrow streets to the outskirts of town, they continued to be impressed with how realistic everything seemed. They could hear birds singing in the distance, and bees buzzed by them on their way to and from their hives. If they had not known better, they would have been fully convinced that this town, this environment was all that there was.
As they neared the entrance to the lower decks, the team stopped and took cover behind some bushes. Two sentinels, dressed in security uniforms, stood on either side of the entrance to the stairs, which was disguised as a cave. Although the two sentinels stood at too great a distance for Dobbins to see their eyes, Ella’s scanner told him that the sentinels were androids.
“Mr. Zhang,” Dobbins whispered, “what is the effective range of the EMP this blaster emits?”
“I don’t know for sure, sir,” Zhang whispered back. “I would guess it to be 20, maybe 25 meters.”
“Well,” Dobbins whispered, “I guess we’re about to find out.” He pulled out his blaster and fired on the two guards. Other than a slight whine from the blaster, nothing else indicated that he had fired. The android guards still stood upright at their post.
“Make that 15 meters,” Zhang amended quietly.
“We can’t get any closer without being spotted. There’s simply no cover. We’re going to need to distract them somehow in order to get in range,” Dobbins said.
“I’ve got an idea,” Samuleson said. “Give me a minute, and I’ll draw them closer.”
He rose to his feet and walked straight through the bushes towards the androids. “Hey, you, there! Security guys!” he yelled. “Are you looking for Radioactives? Well, there’s one right here. Come get me! Come on, get me!”
Both guards drew their blasters and fired at Samuelson, who jumped out the way just in time. The location where he had been standing erupted into a small volcano of dirt. Once the dust settled, the androids left their posts and moved towards the spot where Samuelson had been standing.
Once they got within ten meters of Dobbins’s location, he fired. This time, both androids crumpled to the ground, knocked offline by the electromagnetic pulse. .
They all quickly moved up to the androids. Samuelson joined them from somewhere off to their left. He was covered in dust. “Okay,” he said sheepishly, “so maybe that didn’t quite go the way I had planned it. It still worked.
“Captain,” he added, “I don’t think that those blasters were set to stun.”
“I agree, Mr. Samuelson. That’s quite odd, since androids are supposed to be programmed not to injure humans. Something clearly has gone wrong.”
“Desmond’s work, no doubt,” observed Leon. “He needs some way to keep the population in line. Fear of death is a powerful weapon.” As he was speaking, he opened up the android’s chest cavities, and disconnected their main power packs. “Two less of the enemy to worry about,” he explained.
The team moved onward and into the cave. At the back of the cave stood a doorway that refused to open for them. Leon opened a panel to the left of the door, switched a couple of wires in a circuit panel, and the door slid open. The entire team walked through the door and down the steps to the levels below.
After taking the stairs down three levels, they exited the stairwell and found themselves in a hallway that looked identical to the one in which they had first stood after exiting the shuttle.
“Which way?” Dobbins asked Leon.
“The shuttle bay is to the right,” Leon responded. “The lower-decks entrance to the control center is to the left, and it’s quite a ways. We’d better get a move on before security realizes what’s happened to those two sentries.”
Ella and Skyler turned to the right and jogged off towards the shuttle, while the remainder of the team—Dobbins, Samuelson, Zhang, and Leon—headed left on the long walk towards the Control Center.
They moved quickly and quietly along the corridor, at least, as quickly as Leon could move. No sound could be heard ahead of them; if there were any androids below decks, they were far away. Within five minutes, they reached the doorway to the Control Center. The door refused to open for them initially, but Leon quickly removed a panel beside the door, switched a couple of wires, and the doors opened.
On the other side of the door were two human-looking figures which rose as the door opened. They drew their blasters, turning to face the door. As they turned to face the team, Dobbins could clearly see their purple eyes. Samuelson fired his blaster, and the androids crumpled to the ground.
Without delay, Zhang and Leon headed for the main computer terminal. Leon tried to log in to the system, which promptly refused his access.
“Desmond has disabled my access codes,” Leon said. “I can’t get in to the system.”
“Let me give it a try,” Zhang said. His hands flew over the controls with a fluency that came from much practice. Within two minutes, he had logged into the main computer system and was ready to search for the android shut down protocol.
“Do I want to know how you are so good at breaking into computer systems?” asked Dobbins.
“No, sir,” answered Zhang, “you don’t.”
He began his search for the necessary protocol, with Leon guiding him. Within seconds, the results screen appeared. It was blank.
“Captain!” Zhang exclaimed. “The android shutdown protocol is gone!”
“Gone?” asked Dobbins. “What do you mean gone?”
“It’s not there. Someone must have deleted it.”
“That’s not possible,” Leon said. “The only people who knew about the protocol were Captain Loman and me.”
“And Desmond,” an unfamiliar voice said from the main door.

Christmas Storm

The predicted Christmas storm turned out to be a record-setting event. Topeka set a record for snowfall on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I had about 8" at my house in Topeka, with 12" drifts. Other places had it worse, with drifts as deep as 2 and 3 feet. Lawrence received about the same: 8" on average, with drifts of about 12". The strong winds, however, made the entire situation awful. Roads that were initially clear were blown closed, again. The main roads in the Lawrence and KC areas were barely passable on Christmas Day, and the side streets in Topeka were in horrible shape even on Saturday. This is one situation in which the forecast was correct. Now, we'll be spending the rest of this week trying to thaw out and dig out. It should be an interesting, cold week.

Christmas Storm (Updated 6:50 pm)

Over the past three or four days, I have been watching the weather forecast, reading the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast discussions, and looking at a bit of model data, trying to get a feel for the strong winter storm that is closing in on NE Kansas. To make things challenging, the forecast models are generally not the most reliable at predicting these types of storms. If the forecast model miscalculates the storm track by even 40 miles (which is only a few percent error), then a heavy snow event turns into a rain/freezing rain event. And it's that sort of challenge that confronts forecasters, both the official ones at the NWS and T.V. stations and amateurs like myself. Given that tomorrow is Christmas Eve, this storm threatens to put the kibosh on many Christmas Eve services. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to be certain of what the storm does.
I'll try to post updates over the next day or so with my own thoughts, as well as the NWS's. Right now, the big story from the NWS is the location of the heavy snow axis. According to the latest forecast discussion, the forecasted location of the heavy snow axis has moved farther to the east. This shift has occurred due to the forecast models shifting the low pressure center farther to the east, putting the Topeka and Lawrence areas under the gun for heavier snow. If this forecast verifies, NE Kansas will definitely see a white Christmas. Whether we can get anywhere on this white Christmas to celebrate it with our families is another story.
For my part, I glanced at one forecast model, and I do see some cause for concern. If the model forecast I examined verifies, Topeka is looking at 2 inches of snow by noon on Thursday, with an additional 4 inches possible through Christmas Day. That means a total of 6 inches of snow in and around the Capital City. Whether we indeed get this much snow remains to be seen. The last winter storm that plowed through here looked like it was going to dump on Topeka, only to shift farther west and leave us in rain for most of the day.
So, I'm going to take a "wait and see" attitude on this one, although I also am going to be ready to adjust my travel plans should this particular forecast verify.
Regardless of the weather, merry Christmas to you. May you enjoy a blessed time of celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

UPDATE (6:50 pm) -- The latest model runs, along with the latest official NWS forecast, seem to indicate that there will be 5-6" of snow in and around Topeka by the end of the storm on Friday. It doesn't appear that the snow will start in NE Kansas until after noon. Freezing rain/sleet should hit for a while before that. Still, it looks like the storm will be a bit delayed compared to the last run. We'll see what happens when the 00Z models (models based on 00Z or 6:00 pm Central Time observations) come out in a couple of hours.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XVIII

Before Dobbins could say anything, the old man motioned for them to follow him. He led them through a door into a large room with a low-ceiling. The room seemed cold and damp, lit dimly by LEDs recessed in the ceiling. The room felt old, indeed ancient, as if it had been there forever. It almost seemed to Dobbins like the room smelled moldy, like the basement of an ancient house. Surely that was his imagination, though. The designers of the Lethe had not gone so far as to add actual mold to basements just to make them seem old, did they?
The old man, Leon the Watchmaker, nodded to himself and spoke. “It’s safe, now. We can talk here. It’s a good thing for you that I happened to see you turn down that alley from upstairs. It’s obvious to me that you are from an Earth ship. Perhaps my distress call has indeed been answered! Who are you? What ship are you from? How long have you been traveling to catch us?”
“I am Captain Christopher Dobbins of the Earth Ship Hyperion,” Dobbins replied. “We were sent here by Fleet Com to assist you all on your trip to Elysion. We caught up with your ship a day or so ago and have been trying to figure out what has happened since. We tried to talk to Captain Loman, but we couldn’t. And when we came on board, we were detained by security androids who called themselves Enforcers. Do you know where Captain Loman is? And who are you?”
“One question at a time, young man,” replied Leon. “I’ve been around quite a few years now, and my memory’s not what it used to be.
“To answer your second question, I’m Leon Sapens, and I’m the Chief Engineer of the Lethe, or at least I was until the mutiny ten years ago. I can see from the look on your face that I need to explain more. Let me see, where to start. Oh, yes. The first part of our journey was quite enjoyable. Everything was running fine and most days, we forgot that we were on board a starship. It felt like we were in a small town. We even decided to name it ‘Larson,’ just to give it a more homey feel, you know.
“But about ten years ago, this man named Desmond, the first officer, decided that he wanted to take over. He commandeered the Control Center, took control of all of the androids somehow, and then proceeded to take us all in for a ‘health check,’ which was really a way to brainwash all of us into believing that we were the only town that had survived a worldwide nuclear holocaust. Everywhere outside of this ship (or valley, as they called it) was said to be so radioactive as to make a person crazy within minutes. And anytime anyone started to cause trouble or agitate, they were said to be ‘Radioactive,’ and taken to the Security Center for ‘detoxification.’
“Well, as you can imagine, the end result is that this Desmond, who claims to be the son of Captain Loman, even though Loman had no son, is in charge, now. Everyone who resists his authority is quickly and swiftly dealt with.”
“How did you manage to escape ‘reprogramming?’ ” asked Commander Ella.
“Just by being clever, missy,” replied the old engineer. “When they started taking people in for this ‘health check,’ it didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize what was going on. Several people tried to resist, but they were all taken in, one-by-one. I was one of the last, whether it was because of my age or just random, I don’t know. All I know is that I got to hear enough of the official line from those who had been brainwashed to know what to say, and I did a little quick re-programming of their database to make sure that I was listed as already having been taken in.
“After a few weeks, once the takeover was complete, I tried to gain access to the hyperwave array. Unfortunately, one of the androids working in the Control Center must have detected my access attempts, because before I could do anything, the array was disabled, turned off from inside the Control Center. I did manage, though, to gain access to internal communications and use it to send a radio message back to Earth. I assume that you came in response to my radio message.”
“We never received any radio message,” replied Dobbins. “We must have jumped passed the radio wave’s location in space, because we never detected it.”
“So, jump drive has been adapted to serve on ships, huh?” said Leon. “It’s about time! It would’ve been nice to have had that form of propulsion 13 years ago.”
“It’s been a little more than 13,” Skylar broke in.
“Oh, right,” responded Leon. “I forgot about time dilation. Anyway, however long it’s been, the important thing is that you’re here. Now, maybe, we can get free of the control of Desmond and get everyone to Elysion.”
“How do you propose we do that?” asked Dobbins.
“Well, now, let me think,” answered the old man. “As long as those androids are out looking for you, we can’t do much because you’ll be arrested on sight. So, we’ve got to find a way to shut down all of the security androids. As far as I know, the only way to do that is from the Control Center. There’s an emergency shutoff sequence that we can initiate from there that will disable all of the androids. Of course, only Captain Loman could do that, and as far as I know, he’s either locked away or dead. The androids took him away, and he never returned. Desmond told everyone that he died as the result of an ambush by Radioactives.”
Dobbins thought for a second before asking, “Mr. Sapens, do you think that you could override the security codes and initiate that deactivation routine?”
“I don’t quite know, Captain, if I could anymore or not. I’m pretty good at cracking systems, but I haven’t done anything like that in several years.”
“I could, sir,” Zhang’s voice interrupted. “If this computer system is the same type as the one we trained on at the Academy, I should be able to trick it into thinking that one of us is Cleopatra, if necessary.”
Dobbins smiled. “I don’t think that will be necessary, Mr. Zhang. We’ll settle for getting the androids shut down.
He took a deep breath. “All right, then, here’s the plan: Mr. Skylar, Commander Ella—you two will try to sneak back to the shuttle and send a hyperwave message back to the Hyperion. Advise Commander Brackers of our situation. And have him prepare another away team of psychologists and engineers. We’re going to need some help if we’re going to convince these people that what they’ve been told for the past 13 years is a lie. Once you’re on board the shuttle, do not leave it for any reason until you hear from us.
“Mr. Zhang, Mr. Samuelson, and Mr. Sapens, you’re with me. We’re going to try to get into that Control Center and deactivate those androids. Once that’s done, we’re going to go have a talk with Desmond. Mr. Sapens, do you know of a way to sneak into the Control Center without being detected?”
“I think I could set the sensors throughout the ship to give false echoes for a couple of hours,” replied Leon. “That should give us time to get everything done that we need to get done. And there is an entrance from the lower decks. Our only challenge will be getting to the nearest stairway down. And I think that could be a bigger challenge than resetting the sensors. The androids guard the entrances to the lower decks vigilantly.”
“We can handle a couple of androids,” Dobbins said. “If you can keep them from tracking us, then we should be fine. Questions or comments?”
After a pause, Dobbins continued, “Excellent. As soon as Mr. Sapens has made the necessary preparations, we’re going to see if we can make some progress in getting the Lethe and its passengers to Elysion.”

American Society Is Falling Apart

I fear for American society. The moral core of our society, and its sense of decency, has withered after 50+ years of atheism/moral relativism in the schools, our movies, our television shows, and our music.
This article from the Associated Press demonstrates how much morality, common sense, and decency have disappeared from the American social mindset.
At a co-ed dorm at a college in Vermont, a female student is suing the school because there are problems being caused with co-ed bathrooms in the dorms. The sad part is more than that the suit is necessary. It is that the college didn't think that there would be any problem with complete strangers sharing a unisex bathroom. Talk about an awkward situation, not to mention a situation for all sorts of sexual impropriety.
We've spent so many years trying to provide "equal rights" for women that we forget that men are not women and that women are not men. We've taught our kids that men and women are the same except for social conditioning. As a result, the concepts of modesty (in language and in dress), propriety, and decency seem to have vanished from American society.
To save American society, the best solution is to turn around. We need to find a way to restore the moral base that undermined society in the past. Admittedly, many did not follow it perfectly, but that moral base was better than nothing. That will only happen if as a society, we turn back (perhaps turn to would be a better phrase) to Jesus Christ and trust Him. Nothing short of that will solve the problems that face our society.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XVII

“They went for it, sir,” Samuelson said once they had reached the edge of town with no sign of pursuit. “Your guess that the androids would all take the most direct line to the explosion was correct. Because they all moved straight for it, we found ourselves outside of their line. Now where?”
“We find the Control Center and try to meet with the Mayor,” replied Dobbins.
After a couple of minutes, they found themselves in a bustling main square of the town. On one side stood the main market where the town’s farmers brought their produce. On two others stood various businesses, and on the fourth stood the town hall, an impressive structure, five stories tall, that looked like it was well over three hundred years old.
“Wow,” exclaimed Skylar. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that I was back on Earth in some small town.”
Dobbins smiled. “The effort that the designers of this ship went to in order to create the illusion of being on Earth is amazing. Look at sky, for instance. There are clouds, the sun is in the right place, and even the shade of blue changes depending on the position of the sun. The holography to pull that illusion off is impressive. Let’s pay a call on the mayor, shall we?”
Before the team could move a step closer to the town hall, however, a voice proclaimed loudly over unseen, tinny loudspeakers, “Attention citizens of Larson, be on the lookout for five Radioactives who have blasted their way into town. They are dressed in strange uniforms and should be considered armed and dangerous! Anyone who spots them should report their location to a nearby Enforcer.”
Just as the announcement finished, someone shouted, “Look, over there! It’s them! Enforcers! Enforcers!”
“Run!” Dobbins ordered as the sidewalk beneath his feet exploded from a blaster shot. An Enforcer had been nearby to answer the call.
The team quickly turned down a street that led away from the square and began to take a series of turns to try to shake off their pursuers. With every turn, however, they could still hear the footsteps of several Enforcers behind them, plodding along. They chase seemed to go on forever. Finally, as they rounded a corner into a narrow alley, they came face-to-face with a wall. The footsteps of the Enforcers drew nearer. The team was trapped.
“Now what?” Skylar asked in a whisper as they all ducked down behind trash cans at the end of the alley and turned to face its entrance.
Dobbins drew his blaster. “We fight,” he answered.
Suddenly, a door in the building on his right opened. A man with gray, disheveled hair stuck his out through the opening. “Quickly! In here,” he said in a loud whisper. When the team hesitated briefly, the man added, “If you want to escape the Enforcers, you need to come with me, now. I know that you’re from an Earth ship.”
That unexpected statement caught their attention and earned their trust. Quickly, they slipped through the door and into a dark, narrow hallway that had two staircases, one leading up and the other down. The old man motioned for them to take the downward staircase. As they did so, they could hear footsteps approach the door that they just came in.
At the bottom of the stairs, they turned out of sight of the doorway and listened as a strong knock echoed on the metal door. After a brief pause, the sound of the creaking sound of the door on its hinges filled the stairwell.
“Yes, Enforcer,” came the old man’s voice, “what is it?”
“We are searching for Radioactives, citizen,” replied the Enforcer. “We have reason to believe that they turned down this alley. Have you seen them?”
“I haven’t seen any Radioactives here at all, Enforcer,” the old man said feebily, “but if I do see any, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Are you sure?” asked the Enforcer (or was it another? Their voices all sounded alike). “I am sure that I saw them turn down this alley.”
“Well, your eyes must have fooled you, Enforcer,” replied the old man. “I’m afraid that other than a few of my employees, there isn’t anyone else in this shop besides myself, Leon the Watchmaker.”
“Very well,” replied an Enforcer. “But if you see anything suspicious, be sure to report it to an Enforcer at once.”
“Oh, I will, Enforcer, I will. Anything that has anything to do with Radioactives, don’t you worry.”
The Enforcers’ footsteps started to move away, and the door slowly creaked closed. Then, the team could hear the old man as he slowly worked his way down the stairs. Eventually, he came into view, taking the last couple of steps with care.

Cold Weather's Coming

Brace yourself, NE Kansas! A cold front is forecast to push through late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Temperatures are supposed to fall all day, and it will be bitter on Monday and Tuesday. Winter weather is here, and it's not going anywhere.

Short Comment

The new way to spell "fail:" C-H-I-E-F-S

Story: The Lethe, pt. XVI

The team quietly and rapidly moved out into the hallway. Samuelson and Dobbins took the lead. Skylar took the rear, with Ella and Zhang in between. The met no resistance until they reached the main hallway. As they rounded the corner, they ran into two more purple-eyed guards.
Before they could pull their blasters, Samuelson fired, dropping both androids. They moved rapidly down the hall. Just as they neared the door, an alarm began to sound. Their escape had been discovered. They quickly fled out the door and into the wooded area.
They traveled for several minutes, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the security station. Once they had covered sufficient distance, Dobbins ordered a halt and handed his blaster to Zhang. “Reprogram it, Lieutenant. Then do the same to Mr. Skylar’s. We’ll need all the firepower we can get. Once that’s done, we’re going to find the Control Center. We need to contact the Hyperion and have a ‘talk’ with the Mayor.”
Zhang took the blasters and Ella’s scanner, and quickly reprogrammed the other two blasters. Just as he had finished, the scanner began quietly but insistently beeping.
“That’s a proximity alarm,” Ella said. “There are androids drawing near.” She grabbed the scanner and swung in a semi-circle to help the scanner get better readings. “Captain, there are androids approaching us from every direction we could go, all within 200 meters! We’re trapped.”
“Trapped? How could they know where we are?” asked Skylar.
“They must have used the Lethe’s sensors to locate us,” Samuleson surmised.
“How many androids, Commander?” asked Dobbins.
“Ten, maybe fifteen,” replied the psychiatrist.
“We can take them, sir,” said Samuelson. “Let’s blast them.”
“At ease, Mr. Samuelson,” Dobbins ordered. “We’re not in a good position tactically, and there will be more coming. We need to get somewhere that will cause them to lose track of us for a while. That means getting around other humans for a while so that we’re not easy targets for the ship’s sensors.”
“They’ve got us pinned in, though,” observed Skylar. “How do we get through their line and into town?”
“We could overload one of our blasters and cause it to explode,” suggested Samuleson. “That would create a large hole in their line.”
“And draw every android to that spot,” countered Skylar.
“Yes,” said Dobbins thoughtfully, “which would be exactly what we want.”
“Captain?” Ella asked, confused.
“I think you have a plan, don’t you, sir?” added Samuelson.
“I do,” Dobbins replied, smiling.

Five minutes later, as the android line solely closed in on the team, an explosion tore through the forest near one side of the android lines. As the trees crashed to the ground and dirt sprayed upwards, the androids all left their slowly-closing circle to make for the location of the explosion. As they arrived at the location of the explosion, they found a two-meter-deep crater, the scattered pieces of some destroyed security androids, and no sign anywhere of the away team. If, however, the androids had looked behind them, they would have seen five shadowy figures quietly and swiftly making their way through the forest and into town.

Let It Snow?

With cold air having descended on NE Kansas in the past few days, many people's thoughts are turning to snow. And snow may be coming. There is a slight chance of snow falling in Topeka tonight into tomorrow. A better chance of snow appears to be coming Tuesday. The exact timing and location of the snow is still uncertain. Right now, the NWS thinks the better snowfall amounts will be north of Topeka, with only a couple of inches in Topeka. A slight shift in the storm track, however, could result in 5-6 inches in Topeka. Exactly how the system plays out will remain to be seen. A more accurate snowfall forecast won't be possible until about 24 hours beforehand, and even then, snowfall prediction is very tricky because so many factors can affect snow accumulation. Personally, I'm ready for a snow. Hopefully, we'll see some.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XV

“Now what?” demanded Skylar.
Dobbins shrugged. “We wait. And devise a strategy. I don’t know about you all, but I noticed something quite interesting about our two ‘Enforcers.’ ”
“As did I,” added Ella, smiling faintly.
“The eyes?” Dobbins questioned.
Ella nodded. “The eyes.”
“Okay, okay, I give,” Skylar said in frustration. “What about the eyes?”
“They were purple,” Ella said.
“So?”
“Weren’t you paying attention, Skylar?” Zhang said strongly. “Captain Dobbins mentioned that the androids that were supposed to help the Lethe crew run the ship had purple eyes.”
“So, what does that mean?” asked Skylar.
“It means,” Dobbins replied, “that something a bit strange is going on here, if the androids think that they are the police of a town instead of security on a spaceship. If only we had some equipment, we could get out of here and investigate.”
“Would this help?” asked Samuelson, pulling a blaster out of pocket hidden in the side of his uniform.
“Where did you get that from?” said a surprised Skylar.
“You don’t work in security as long as I have without learning a trick or two,” Samuleson replied enigmatically.
“Excellent,” Dobbins said. “Now, if only we had a portable scanner, we could find a way out of this cell.”
“I think I can help you there,” Commander Ella said, pulling a small, rectangular device out of one of her pockets. “You don’t work in psychiatry for as long as I have without learning a trick or two,” she added with a bit of a teasing smile towards Samuelson.
“Okay,” Dobbins said. “Here’s the plan…”
Suddenly, they heard the bolt on the door being thrown. Samuelson and Ella quickly hid their contraband equipment. Enforcer Madden and his counterpart stood in the doorway, both brandishing blasters.
“You will come with us, immediately,” Madden ordered.
The team reluctantly obeyed. Madden led them back to the hallway the first saw and into a room in that hallway.
“You will wait here,” Madden commanded as he closed and locked the door.
The room that they found themselves in looked like an interrogation room. The walls were a plain, sanitary white. A small, white table sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by eight, unpadded chairs.
The entire team sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Time crawled as they waited for something to happen, someone to come through the door. Samuelson slowly tapped his fingers on the table. Dobbins sat staring at the one-way mirror. Eventually, the door opened, and a man the same height as the two Enforcers. He had brown hair and disconcertingly purple eyes. Enforcer Madden followed him in.
After seating himself in a chair across from the table from the team, he pulled out a small, old handheld, and looked over it briefly before speaking. “You say you found them below ground, Enforcer?”
“Yes, Chief,” replied Madden. “They were well below ground, close to the Chasm.”
“So, who are you?” asked the Chief. “You must be citizens, yet we cannot find anyone who looks like you in the town files.”
“I am Captain Dobbins,” replied Dobbins, “we are from the Earth Ship Hyperion and here to help you get to Elysion. We are not citizens.”
“You have to be,” the Chief countered. “You are not Enforcers. You are not Maintenance Workers. You are not part of the Mayor’s Office, and you are not Radioactives. Therefore, you must be citizens.”
“Do citizens dress as we do?” Ella asked, joining in the argument.
“No, but doubtless you made these clothes yourselves in a crude attempt to imitate the Civil Service uniforms in order to successfully sneak past the guards at the passage underground.”
“Town?” asked Skylar. “You mean the ship?”
“No,” replied the Chief. “The town of Larson. The town that all citizens are from. The only town.”
“What do you mean ‘the only town?’ ” asked Dobbins.
“Do not play dumb with me, citizen,” replied the Chief. “I know that you know what has happened to this world in the past thirteen years.”
“Pretend that I don’t and tell me the story,” Dobbins said flatly.
The Chief stared at Dobbins for a minute before countering, “I do not have time to waste on foolishness such as this. You will tell us what we want to know, or we will extract it from you in one of several unpleasant ways. After that, you will be reconditioned and put back to work.”
“I already told you,” Dobbins said, sounding frustrated. “We’re from the Hyperion, and we’re here to help you get to Elysion. Let me talk with Captain Loman.”
“Captain Loman? Do you mean Mayor Loman?”
“Whatever you call him, yes, we need to speak to Mayor William Loman.”
The Chief spoke flatly, without blinking. “William Loman is dead. He was killed by Radioactives thirteen years ago. His son, Desmond, is the Mayor, now. He does not talk with rebellious citizens.”
“Dead?” Dobbins said. “And what are Radioactives?”
“Enough stalling,” the Chief’s voice was matter-of-fact, betraying no emotion. “You obviously will have to have the information extracted. Enforcer Madden, take these rebels back to their cell. Have Enforcer Zetwig prepare the extraction chamber. We will question the woman first.” He rose and left the room.
Madden drew his blaster. “You heard the Chief,” he said forcefully. “Move!” He kept his blaster trained on them as they walked out of the room.
The team slowly rose to their feet and walked towards the door. They filed out quietly and walked in silence back to the same cell as before. As they entered the small room, they noticed that the equipment that they had left outside of the door had disappeared. After they all were inside, the door slammed shut with a clang.
Skylar spoke first. “I hope you have a plan, Captain! Whatever ‘extraction’ is, it doesn’t sound pleasant, and I want no part of it.”
“At ease, Mr. Skylar,” Dobbins said forcefully. “Yes, I have a plan. Clearly, something is quite wrong on board this ship. It sounds like this Desmond has taken over the ship and reprogrammed the androids to perpetuate this myth of a town called Larson. We need to get out of here, contact the Hyperion, and see if we can ‘arrange’ a meeting with the Mayor.”
“And just how are we going to get out of here?” Skylar asked, still showing emotion.
“Mr. Samuelson,” Dobbins said, ignoring the question. “Do you still have your blaster?” Samuelson pulled it back out of the hidden compartment in his uniform. “Excellent. Mr. Zhang, could you re-work this so that it will disable androids?”
Zhang took the blaster from Samuelson. “It shouldn’t be hard, sir. Using Commander Ella’s scanner, I can set it up to emit a broad electromagnetic pulse. That should overload the android’s artificial neural network and force it to reboot.”
“Do it. Quickly,” ordered Dobbins.
Zhang took the blaster and the scanner and began to work quickly. In less than two minutes, he gave the devices back to Ella and Samuelson. “All done, sir. This should take care of any androids that get too close. It’s a broad-spread pulse. It will take out multiple androids with one shot.”
Ella had activated her scanner and exclaimed, “Commander, there are two androids approaching our location!” She quickly hid the small device in her pocket. Samuelson did likewise with his blaster.
The banging of the door bolt being thrown echoed in the room. Into the cell walked Madden and his unnamed associate. Both had their blasters drawn. Madden pointed his blaster at Ella. “You will come with us,” he ordered. “Now.”
Ella stood and walked towards the door. As she walked through the doorway, both androids turned their back on the cell. At that moment, Samuelson drew his blaster and fired in one, smooth motion. Both androids crumpled to the ground instantaneously.
“Good work, Samuelson!” exclaimed Dobbins, grabbing their blasters and giving them to Zhang. “Can you reprogram these?” he asked the engineer.
“It will take a few minutes, sir,” replied Zhang. “It would perhaps be better for us to get out of here first to somewhere safe.”
“You’re right,” Dobbins responded. He gave one of the blasters to Skylar and kept the other for himself. He set his for maximum. “Commander Ella, does your scanner have a map of the area?”
“Yes, sir,” she said as she examined the map she had already pulled up. “Our best bet is to go back to the main hallway, turn left, and walk about 20 m to the exit. There appears to be a wooded area immediately behind this building. It should provide us with some cover for when the pursuit begins.”
“Excellent. Let’s go.”