The Horicon Experience (22 page)

“Professor Angle,” he said with the biggest smile Stan had seen on Delmar in some time. “Thank you very much.”

∞∞∞

The computer class gathered in the nearly deserted cafeteria to have a late lunch in their favorite corner. As usual, Professor Angle held them late to finish their tasks. The old ritual of guessing the composition of their selections, or decomposition as some had learned to call it, had fallen by the wayside. Nevertheless, the students were still wary of their perfect food.

They were just starting to eat when Delmar appeared and walked over to join them. After he made his selection, he took his tray to the table and sat down next to Stan.

“Don’t keep me in suspense,” Stan said. “How did it go?”

 “When will you know the results?” Stan asked, plying him for answers.

“Well, normally we would have had it immediately, but their computer is still down,” Delmar replied with a wry smile. “We had to do the test using the old paper forms. Mr. Buar said he’d have it figured out by lunch time tomorrow.” Stan’s face must have reflected his disappointment.

“How do you think you did?” Stan asked, trying to find something to hang his hope on.

“Pretty good, I think,” Delmar offered between bites. “The questions were phrased differently from when I took it back in basic,” Delmar answered. Stan mulled this over.

“Well, if you had reprogrammed the computers, you could have at least given yourself a better score!” Stan said, taking a stab at some humor.

“We better get back to class,” Professor Angle announced, saving Delmar from further embarrassment. Delmar quickly wolfed down the rest of his food as the class rose to return to the classroom.

∞∞∞

The operations officer stood listening to a broadcast intercepted from the closed planet. Through the static, they could hear various military units reporting in and receiving orders. The operations officer wondered if there was a safe way to obtain visual confirmation of activity on the planet.

“They’ve been going on like that for the last two hours,” the trooper seated at the monitoring equipment reported. “Just before it started, they put out a series of tone signals that we suspect were codes to go on alert.”

“How soon do you estimate before hostilities begin?”

“I’m not sure, sir,” responded the trooper. “Several other countries down there are also going on alert.”

“Have you intercepted any orders to attack?”

“No, sir, we haven’t,” the trooper answered. “We suspect it’s just saber rattling and political posturing right now.”

“Well, keep me posted if it escalates,” ordered the officer and walked out of the room.

Down the passageway, the crew monitoring the strange signals was busy recording the latest activity. The operations officer stepped in just as the signal trace blanketed the monitor screen. The graph recorders went wild tracing the signal.

“How often has that been happening?” the officer asked. They all watched the erratic trace.

“All morning, sir,” the trooper watching the equipment answered.

“What do you make of it?” He leaned on the back of the operator’s chair so he could observe the instrument readouts.

“From what we observed early in the shift, we think they may be trying to aim their signal arrays toward ground targets,” the trooper answered.

“What about their tractor ray?”

“We haven’t seen any of its signal pattern,” the trooper said. “But in all previous cases, its focus matched that of the other signals. We’ve surmised they all run off the same antenna array.”

“Which means they may be trying to use the Red-tail device against ground forces,” the officer concluded the trooper’s thought.

“If it’s a Red-tail tight beam communications device, it won’t stand up to the strain caused by the gravitational flux of the planet,” the trooper conjectured. “Our experience with captured equipment shows that it’s stable in a gravity well only if it’s focused sharply away from the surface.”

“Keep an eye out for it,” the officer said as he straightened, “and let’s just hope they don’t try to use it.”

“Yes sir,” answered the trooper.

The operations officer left the room while he considered their possible options. Weighing risks against benefits, he knew intervention might be necessary. This tentative conclusion in mind, he returned to his office to review the personnel file of Captain George City, the man appointed by the council for this hazardous mission.
He’s flying into a volatile situation
, he thought.

∞∞∞

After lunch, Professor Angle gathered everyone back into the computer lab. “Suit up, everybody,” he announced. “We’re going to work on the Horicon for the rest of the day.”

A cheer ran through the group as they headed to their lockers and started putting on their protective clothing. When everyone was ready, they walked single-file down the hall to the Horicon lab. Cycling through the airlock, the students gathered around the professor inside the Horicon laboratory.

∞∞∞

The unit carefully observed the bipedal creatures enter the lab. From what it had gleaned from the library files, it determined they were generally what they defined as being happy. The unit reviewed its new records to see if this development might have any bearing on its decision.

Scanning the files containing information of the social interactions of these creatures, the unit determined that when the creatures were in a happy mood they were better able to absorb change. The same files also inferred that the creatures were far less prone to violent activity when in such an elevated state of mind.

Returning to its careful observation of the creatures, it noticed that they had gathered around one of their number. The unit used one of its audio pick-ups to listen to what the creature was saying.

∞∞∞

 “Today I want you to clean all of the controls and instruments,” the professor announced. “If we still have time when we finish with that, we’ll open the access panels and start wiring up circuits to light up the original meters for display.”

The students cheered and spread out to gather the necessary supplies and start their tasks. Within a few minutes, they were all engaged in cleaning the surfaces and controls of the inert ancient computer.

∞∞∞

Alarmed by what it had just heard, the unit performed a quick check of its original programming, confirming that access to its inner workings was a serious threat to its safety. Cautiously, it watched the bipedal creatures and listened to their conversations and activities. By this time, the unit had assembled a vast file of the creature’s verbal communications.

∞∞∞

 “Hey, Stan! Give me a hand!” Delmar called as he lifted the front of the console so he could clean its edges.

“Sure, Delmar,” Stan said. He reached over and held the section. Delmar ran the cleaning material around the edge of the panel and frame.

“That should do it,” Delmar stated. Stan lowered the section of console back down and secured its fastenings.

“Delmar?” Stan asked. “Did you notice this?”

He tapped the crystal face of an ancient monitor. Delmar straightened up and looked at the crystal.

“All those years and the crystal is still scratch-free,” Stan said.

“That’s what’s amazing about this thing,” Delmar said as he stepped back to get an overall view of the ancient machine. “All those years and it’s in such good repair.”

“I know,” said Stan. He joined his friend and stroked the console with his open hand. “To bad it can’t be made operational.”

∞∞∞

By careful observation, the unit slowly began to identify the creatures working on its exterior. Both by listening to how they addressed each other and by utilizing its newly gained understanding of their language, the unit soon identified the proper nouns the creatures called each other. The one they gathered around was Professor Angle, or Professor in short usage. Another creature with long filaments coiled under a head garment was Zorina.

It was by observing the two creatures working on its secondary input console that it discovered one of these creatures was referred to as Delmar. A quick survey of its records turned up the name Delmar Eagleman in relation to the code it used when it had accessed and corrected many of the primitive computers.

The unit pondered this opportunity. Its study of the material concerning social interaction of these creatures gave the impression that a formal address was important when establishing good communications. Here was a bipedal creature it could address by its audio nomenclature.

The unit waited until there was a break in the conversation between the two creatures and the one known as Delmar had risen to its bipedal stems. Activating its external speaker, the unit decided now was the correct time to address the alien creature.

Chapter Sixteen

Activity had generally ceased around the inert machine and the students were returning their supplies to the storage locker in preparation for a quiet weekend off from class. Professor Angle walked over to join Delmar and Stan, admiring the perfectly clean computer.

“You men deserve some time off,” Angle said. “You’ve worked hard. All of you have.”

A few other students joined Stan, Delmar, and Professor Angle at the ancient computer, admiring the work they had all put in cleaning the machine.

“It’s too bad this thing is inert,” Stan said. “I wish I could go back in time and see it in action.”

Professor Angle stroked the main console of the inert machine with the palm of his hand.

“This computer is older than Galactic Axia,” he said. “It predates everything you’ve ever learned about history. It’s entirely possible the Horicons were exploring the galaxy millions of years before humanity was created.”

“And all of that knowledge could be locked up in this thing’s memory banks,” Delmar said. “Do you think anyone will ever be able to access that information, Professor?”

“I really doubt it, son,” Angle answered. “These components are so old, and we have no way of knowing the power requirements, or even how to save and interpret the data if we could access it.”

Just as Professor Angle was about to instruct the students to service and stow away their clean suits, the room filled with a loud rumble emanating from the ancient computer. The noise level from the machine was almost deafening. A sound like rocks rolling down a metal roof emitted from the ancient machine, stunning the class by the unexpected noise. Another noise that sounded like a swarm of bees filled the air, then without warning a deep bass voice boomed from the main console of the artifact.

“Greetings, Delmar Eagleman, EX235612445.”

A stunning silence gripped everyone in the room even as the echo of the Horicon computer’s outburst reverberated around the lab. Several things happened in the next instant. The meters, consoles, and monitors of the ancient computer simultaneously came to life. The printer clattered an empty response.

Snapping orders with quiet efficiency, Professor Angle directed the students to man various monitoring consoles installed in the lab. He told Cornelius Wed to load the printer with paper. Zorina stood by an auxiliary control console in anticipation of orders but Angle told her not to touch the controls.

Delmar remained frozen where he stood while Stan quietly moved closer to the main console of the ancient machine. In the background, Delmar could hear Professor Angle direct someone to activate the visual and audio recording equipment. Delmar kept himself focused on this machine that had decided to invade his existence.

“Greetings, Delmar Eagleman, EX235612445,” the computer repeated in the same deep bass voice. “Please respond.”

Delmar continued to stare at the machine for a full minute before he finally found his voice.

“How do you know my name?” he asked in a raspy whisper.

“I acquired the knowledge from a small computer connected with this lab,” the computer replied. “Is there something wrong with your voice? It is not in your normal audio frequency.”

Delmar swallowed a few times and cleared his throat. “There’s nothing wrong with my voice,” he responded in near normal tones. “It was affected by strong emotion.”

Delmar heard a whispered discussion behind him and turned to see someone bringing him a piece of paper from the professor. Delmar quickly scanned the hastily scrawled questions and looked up to face the computer. He started to open his mouth when it interrupted him.

“Do not touch the controls on your left, Stan Shane,” the computer ordered.

Delmar glanced over to see Stan in front of the original main console of the ancient machine.

“Moving the third switch from your right on the top row will activate my holographic projector. Please do so now.”

Stan complied with the instructions and immediately a holographic image of an octopedal creature formed in the space between Delmar and Stan.

The creature had eight long, thin legs with barbed protrusions above and below its triple knees. It used six of its legs to stand on while two of its legs resembled long arms extending from either side of the creature’s spideral body, each having a forward and backward-bending elbow.

The creature’s small head, or what appeared to be its head, was perched on a thick neck. Two stalks with an oversized eye attached to each dangled at odd angles from either side of its head. Its body was covered with thick, coarse black hair.

The body seemed to have no bone structure, only dense cartilage.
Must be why they found no Horicon skeletal remains
, Professor Angle thought excitedly.

Exuding both calm and clarity, Angle helped his students competently handle this sudden and unexpected development. While they watched, the holographic projection appeared to survey the room, showing apparent surprise at the appearance of the bipedal creatures in front of it. It turned from side to side, skittering soundlessly on a raised platform Angle could only assume represented an alien workstation. After seeming to study the professor himself, the image turned its attention back toward a hapless Delmar.