Trade World Saga 1: Manual Interpretation (13 page)

"Whoa," Andrew interrupted, "Did you say distortion of time?"

"Yes," Susan said, "When the interior field weakened, all persons outside the main field appeared to move slower."

"That may have been an actual time distortion and Fran and Tod's reactions could have been altered," Andrew said, better understanding the alien's problem when the belt had first malfunctioned. "The vertigo and nausea are probably not a result of being in a field but only are caused when a person is subjected to a field that fluctuates rapidly. I think you'll find out exactly with some tests. Ling, you work with Tod and let me know what you find out.”

“See if you can't work out something using the time distortion that could produce algae faster for more food and air if it was needed. Let’s find out what will pass through the field at various power levels. The alien’s field allowed me to see clearly through it and the atmosphere passed through it sufficiently for it to breathe. I want to see if we can adjust the permeability of the field and what kind of frequencies of electromagnetic energy…anything that it will stop or anything it will allow to pass through."

"Tod, finish those weapons tests. We will have a maiden test flight as soon as you finish. Fran, how are the algae tanks doing?"

"Don't worry about them. Anything that will kill that stuff would have killed us long before. The data from the old manned Mars mission was useful."

"Let's go get some rest. We've got our work cut out for us tomorrow," Andrew said.

"Wait a minute, Andrew. Are you planning to pilot that thing?" Brad asked walking up to Andrew.

"Sure, the computers will handle the navigation," Andrew answered.

"You have to ask the right questions or those computers are going to give you gibberish. Remember, garbage in, administrative dysfunction out
.
How much do you know about astrogation?" Brad queried.

"Well, I know about the moon and planets rotation and orbits. I guess I can point out Polaris and a few of the major constellations. What are you getting at?"

"Remember that side project I mentioned a few days ago. The World Government has provided us with a very advanced memory transfer device. I've used one for the last eight years in my work. Don’t think it works like the one you described that the alien used but it’s pretty fancy."

"What's your real work?" Andrew asked looking at Brad's sinewy and hard form.

Brad carried on while completely ignoring Andrew's question. "You just lie down in an enclosure, take a special relaxant and start the program. They even made a tape especially for you to help you with this damn project."

"What would the World Government gain by me doing a good job on this?" Andrew asked.

"If you do carry this thing off, the government will have a show horse. If you do well, it reflects on their support and adds to their prestige. If you do poorly, because you lack a little training; that reflects on them and hurts the unification project to bring nations back together. Remember, this is
Earth's
first starship. Everyone wants this done well, except the cults, of course. You people are the first team. Anyone else is just chopped liver. You haven't watched the news or you'd know your life histories have been plastered all over the media. They want you and they will not accept a substitute."

"Are you sure you're not a preacher or a used car salesman?" Andrew asked. "When do you need me?"

"I need you to come to the chem lab about eight. It's easier to set up there. By the way, get up early and eat a good breakfast before you come."

They parted after a few more words and after a fitful night but a good breakfast, Andrew strolled into the chemistry lab.

Seeing what lay in store for him, Andrew stated, "It looks like a computerized coffin. I'm supposed to lay down in that?"

"Yep," Brad said with a trace of seriousness, "This thing packs a wallop. It will take a few hours -- so here, take this liquid," Brad said as he poured some brown fluid into a graduated glass. "The speed varies with the lesson but you just lie still if it finishes early because this really tires you fast. You wouldn't believe how much information they can cram into one of these disks. It's like absorbing a dozen Mem-Dex memory cores."

Brad popped the disk into the machine and Andrew, who was feeling drowsy laid down and tried to get comfortable -- in spite of the contacts close to his skin and displays over his eyes.

It was about four hours later that Andrew woke up feeling wonderful and marveled as he tested the knowledge he had been given. He did feel a bit drained however when he thought about it.

Everybody ought to have one of these. Wow, what a lot of stuff…everything from stellar charts to emergency communication beacons. I wonder where Brad is? What’s next? I guess I'll just start phase two for myself.

Andrew looked and found a second disk in a box made to hold two. It was marked
Survival
Training
and indicated the amount of liquid drug to take. Andrew took the first disk out, popped in the new one, and took the exact prescribed amount of the drug. Still feeling the glow from the first session, he laid down for another romp through library land. He first noted something was different when everything became gray around him and then it began to lighten. He woke up in a room, bare, except for a crude cot and toilet. He was living this dream.

Andrew felt the bed beneath him and smelled the stench of urine and decay that came from the room. His body got up, went to the corner, and began a systematic search.

My God. I'm just a puppet. I'm living this...this bizarre experience.

Willing his body to do anything was useless since it wouldn't respond and Andrew was only an unwilling passenger.

His body searched the entire room until it came to the cot. He realized he was also being tutored in what items would be helpful in a search. Coming to a spring steel piece in the cot, the piece was worked back and forth until it broke free. Wedging the short piece of steel into a crack in the bed, he bent the metal into an L-shape. Sticking this into the lock into the heavy wooden door so that the lever action tumblers in the antique lock could be felt, Andrew manipulated open the lock. He understood completely how the mechanism operated.

Andrew lifted it as it opened to lessen the creaking as he eased the door open. Walking slowly down the hallway outside, Andrew reflected that he would have crouched down and stayed close to a wall, at least. Hearing footsteps coming down the hall, Andrew tried to will this damn body to hide so he'd have some kind of chance to surprise the other.

A man turned down the corridor. Andrew could see the man's step falter and jaw drop as the man recognized that Andrew was not supposed to be walking around.

The man's surprise was final as Andrew's right arm shot out holding the stiff piece of spring steel; up into the man's neck between the windpipe and ear, missing the jaw and penetrating the base of the brain stem. The medulla oblongata, Andrew noted, or was forced to note calmly. After searching the body and finding nothing useful, Andrew put the body in a storage closet and locked the door. He then took the piece of spring steel and wedged it into the lock mechanism. He worked it back and forth until it broke off in the lock and put the rest back in his pocket, turned and continued down an adjoining corridor.

It seemed that there was only one corridor left after all the others had proved dead ends. The last corridor ended in a room where, from a partially opened door, came the muted sounds of talk and laughter. Striding through the door as if it were the normal thing to do, Andrew walked boldly into a room where three unkempt men sat eating and drinking.

This time there was little delay as the closest man stood up and leaped to tackle the intruder. Andrew stepped lightly to the left and with his right toe, kicked the man in the crotch and as the man's body was still going past Andrew's right shoulder, Andrew hit the man at the point below the skull at the rear of the neck. The crack of the man's head against the wall was very loud in the small room.

The other two men, looked at their comrade and then at Andrew. Drawing knives out of boot sheaths, they approached Andrew from different sides of the table. Andrew took a knife from the boot of the fallen man and grasped the hilt between his thumb and forefinger. Andrew stood with his strong foot ahead of the other, blade tip pointing to the closest man's face and the weak hand to the side with the palm open, (the John Styers guard position) Andrew noted.

As the closest man slashed toward Andrew's face, Andrew slashed the top of the man's right hand and followed up with a slash to the side of the man's throat. Immediately turning to the third man, Andrew realized he faced his deadliest opponent. This man produced no noise as he moved into a position closer to Andrew.

Andrew feinted low to the left and then slashed up toward the man's throat hoping the feint had drawn the man's guard lower. But this one was wary and experienced. He bent his forward leg and ducked under the thrust, extended and thrust with his knife hand. His thrust stuck the knife into Andrew's side. The pain was momentarily brief and felt like a burn more than anything else. With the knife still in him for that split second, Andrew thrust his blade deep toward the man's subclavian artery in his shoulder near the now exposed neck and ripped the hilt down.

The man had jerked the knife back out but was already unconscious. Now the pain began to come in waves. Andrew, or his body, slowed and deepened his breathing and began the process to help slow the blood loss and cut off the pain, another technique new to Andrew. Holding direct pressure on the wound, Andrew preceded to clean and dress the wound. After that, Andrew ate and drank his fill, made a knapsack out of one of the assailant's shirts for provisions, and taking the knives strode out the door.

Needless to say, this was but one of many similar yet achingly realistic incidents that Andrew was forced to endure. Leaky boats in rough seas; cold high mountains; and scorching deserts along with the many dangerous or tame animals, insects, and people that filled them. Each incident was only minutes long. All injuries were healed from one incident to another but broken bones, gunshots, insect stings, were all very unpleasant. How much of this Andrew endured before totally losing consciousness was a moot point. When he came to, Brad and several physicians were hovering over him.

"How do you feel?" Brad asked gravely.

"I feel like a piece of beef that has been made into hamburger and run through someone's digestive tract," Andrew said. "I've got to go to the bathroom. When I'm finished with that, someone bring me some water and then I'm going to eat a decent meal if I can get served, while you, Brad, explain to me what the hell happened.

When Andrew had eaten a tasteless meal contrary to what he threatened, he stopped and wiped his face. An attendant came in shortly and removed his tray. Brad, who had remained quiet the whole meal, finally spoke. "How do you feel?" he asked.

"I feel..." Andrew hesitated, "Weak as a kitten ... odd, ... almost like… like I control myself more. I think I could do anything but I'll weigh courses of action before I take them." (pause) "What was that I went through? What was it for?"

"Evidently you took a second, unscheduled disk. That disk was meant for me." Brad answered.

"Well, though I'm a little tired, nothing was harmed. Now besides all that information and training on stellar navigation; I've got a whole set of experiences I will hasten to forget," Andrew said.

"You really don't know, do you?" Brad said with a snap. "You nearly died. You were on the verge of death from exhaustion and dehydration for two days. You've been in this hospital for three days. No harm done, huh?

"You idiot, where did you get the idea that you should take an advanced survival disk designed for me? If I hadn't come in when I did, you really would have been dead. You better not forget those lessons that disk gave you."

"I will remember my lessons well. I was simply taken aback by the way those lessons were delivered. Now, briefly explain how that device works and what your job truly is. I've taken you at face value for too long simply because I wanted to. My new training, healthy skepticism, suggests I look for deeper motivations in you and your aid with this whole project."

Kyger settled back in his chair by Andrew's bed with a look of growing amusement to Andrew's sudden understanding.

Brad started right in with his explanation. "The first disk was designed as an introduction to the machine which is still highly classified. Your first session transferred sight and sound memories from dozens of experts on dozens of subjects. Take astronomy for instance; a group of experts prepared several condensed courses on the subject. These you absorbed without the learning by rote method. This was impressed on your mind at an accelerated speed. The same was done with other subjects. It’s a more sophisticated version of what’s used, prior to, moving up grades in school. It just added the physical skills with nerve induction."

"What about my second session and my little spell of fatigue afterwards?" Andrew said sarcastically.

"Your second disk was quite a bit different. Where the first session only tired you, like a long session of reading, the second session actually electrically stimulated the correct muscles to coincide with the movements in your mind's view of the situations. When you need to use something you have learned, you already have keyed responses to draw on. A trained person reacts faster because they have keyed responses to draw on and can recognize dangers sooner than an untrained person who must originate responses to some danger. Since the second session involved both mental and physical conditioning, designed for me at great expense I might add, it was terribly demanding. When you had a second session without rest, you nearly killed yourself. That second disk was rough on me when I took it two days ago. I can imagine what it must have been like for you."