The Colony Ship Eschaton: The entire ten book series, page 126
“Good idea, but not right now.” Jamie teased.
Liduma looked up from where she was lying by the side of the cabin. She had heard the term dog and her yellow eyes were expectant.
Jamie then went on, “Lorna and Josiah have cut a way into that rotating door we found under the Knobs. They asked me if we wanted to come and help them explore. How about that?”
“Good idea, but not right now.” Michael replied. He had finished pulling what he thought were weeds, he was still not entirely sure, from around the green bean plants. He stood up.
Michael started to walk away then turned and said, “You know, Hulda is in Medical Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy 12 working with the AI Kurat. She took Willie along. Something about taking the identification chips out of the bodies which have been found, and using them as markers for our own people. Should we go help? After all, we did find those dead bodies under the Center.”
“Good idea, but not right now.” Jamie replied. She too got up and stretched. “So what do you want to do now?” Jamie asked with a playful grin.
“I think we should take up Jacob’s and Joel’s offer to teach us how to swim. Shall we get them and go to the river?”
“Good idea, shall we do it right now?” Jamie asked.
Giving her a quick hug, Michael answered, “Yes, it is a good idea, shall we race there?”
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Thornton lives with his wife of many years, and two ancient cats. He plays with his two not genetically enhanced dogs, and enjoys the times when his grown children and their spouses come to visit.
Revenge on the Colony Ship
Book 8, Colony Ship Eschaton
John Thornton
Copyright © 2013 John Thornton
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1492725749
ISBN-10: 1492725749
DEDICATION
To my wife and daughters who have listened to my story ideas for over twenty years, and still listen today. Thanks for everything.
CONTENTS
1 Airboat surprise
2 Roxanne has some thoughts
3 Trouble comes to Troas
4 Low tech testing
5 Considering a trip to the mountain
6 A steep learning curve
7 False operators
8 Energy surprise
9 Descent
10 Power fading
11 Healing in Paradise
12 Watching and wondering
13 The challenge
14 The Imitation world
15 Anger, a window, a girl and a dog
16 Planning the payback
17 Planning the other payback
18 A nap in Gath
19 Remote drain
20 Wrong turn on way to Coastal plains
21 Wrong turn on way to Tropical
22 Arena
23 Melee begins
24 Escape
25 Melee ends
26 A visitor to the arena
27 Healing
28 The island
Epilogue
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Cover art by Dedefox
Back cover art by Stanley Vay
1 airboat surprise
“This one will work. It did last time,” the man said as he pulled the old airboat from the small inlet where he had hidden it. The sky tube far overhead was bright, and the waters of the Salt Sea were shimmering in the sparkling light. The water lapped up against the edge of the beach as he pulled the boat out onto the sand. It had a large keel but was light weight. The scraggily trees which had obscured it from view were a deep green color. The grassland rose at a gentle rate until it reached the edge of the world not too far away. The edge of the world went up vertically until it arched over to the sky tube far overhead.
“The last two did not work. I say we strip off the old motor things, and use the paddles, those always work,” the man’s companion said. They were both middle-aged people of medium complexion. They wore wide straw hats which were homemade, but not crafted by either of the men. The hats were made instead by productive members of their society, and had been taken from their rightful owners. For neither Alelmar nor Morgan were what would be considered hard working, nor industrious, but they were sneaky and took liberties with the things of others, whenever the opportunity occurred. They wore woven shorts, basic shirts, and sandals of simple leather. Sharp knives with conch shell handles hung on their belts.
“I tell you, Morgan this one will work,” Alelmar said. Alelmar was somewhat older than Morgan and he often dominated the conversations. But since Morgan was a bit on the dull side, he was a good listener for Alelmar.
“I can always use the paddles, and I will just take that motor and throw it in the sea.” Morgan liked to take things apart, but he was not especially good at reassembling them in any kind of working order. Too complex of a machine and he ‘tossed it in the sea’ so he was not reminded that it was beyond his capacities. The beach, and sea front, around where he currently lived was littered with many of his projects, none of which were in working order.
The airboat was pulled out and assessed. It was mostly made from one of the soft metals, but it did not have any holes or tears in its hull. The seats were chewed away, perhaps by one of the many otters who habitually got into things and chewed on them. Seats and cushions seemed to be a favorite, but from the remains that were found in otter dung, it did them no good. The boat was several paces long with a flat bottom, and a smallish engine on its stern. A large propeller was covered by a hard metal grille.
“Look Morgan! See that shiny stuff on the top of the motor? That gathers the light and makes the motor work. It is not shattered or broken. When the shiny stuff is not busted, the motor can work. And look at the green lights there,” he pointed to a symbol on the front of the engine. It glowed a light green color. “I told you this one would work. Now we can ride it out to Turtle Island and get some good eating.”
“Okay Alelmar, but we should take some paddles too.” Morgan grabbed several wooden paddles which had been lying around on the junk-cluttered beach. “What else do we need?”
“Nothing. This airboat will zip us out there and back. We can just fill the bottom with turtle eggs, baby turtles, spiky fruit, and purple fruit. No one goes there, so there will be lots of food and whatever else we find. Turtle Island is just like the other islands around here, all have fresh water to drink.” Alelmar was always right in everything he said, and if anyone doubted that, all people needed to do was ask and Alelmar would tell them that he was always right. That is one of the many reasons Morgan was the sole person who would associate much with Alelmar.
“I do not want to see whales. There will not be whales will there?” Morgan asked.
“No whales. They are always out in the deep. Besides, they do not hurt anyone, even though they are big.”
“Sharks? Will there be sharks?” Morgan asked. Even though he had grown up in this world, and lived his entire life by the edge of the Salt Sea, he still did not like to venture too far from the grassland. He liked a small boat, small nets, and a handy paddle. He only rarely went past the shallows and into water deeper than his waist. He was an excellent swimmer, like everyone around the Salt Sea, but being able to just walk out of the water was always a safer choice, at least to Morgan’s mind. This might have something to do with his getting stung by a jellyfish when he was a child.
“I tell you Morgan, this airboat will take us to Turtle Island really quick. Nothing to worry about. Last time I used it, I went to Coral Island, and the mangroves there are huge. I got some of the best oysters and lobsters out there.” Alelmar licked his lips remembering.
“But you said the crocs were there too,” Morgan was a bit more frightened.
“Yes, so that is why we are going to Turtle Island. I went there long ago. Easy food, no work like at the farm or doing that Fellowship stuff. We are free people. We do as we want. Live as we want. Eat what we want,” Alelmar said.
“Okay, but no sharks or whales. And no crocs,” Morgan emphasized. “I have enough problems with the snakes that live in the old ruins by Troas.”
“I keep telling you, Morgan, do not go over by Troas. The Fellowship of Maintenance folks live there. They do not like people like you and me. All they care about is going to that mountain, to Weather Monitor. They are nuts about their crazy orange book. Not like us. We are free to go where we want when we want,” Alelmar said as he climbed into the air boat. He sat on the remains of the seat, and then grabbed the control stick. Moving it around he could tell it was still functional. He pushed on the pedal controls and they too seemed to be functional. For some reason he thought briefly of his father and mother, perhaps because his mother had taught him about motors and machines. They had been dead for a long time now. “Come on, I am going to Turtle Island to get us some good things to eat. You will like turtle eggs. They are far better than chicken eggs, and all just lying in the sand, no work at all.”
“Better than chicken eggs? Just in the sand? Not like the crocs or snakes?” Morgan was concerned again.
“I know right where they are. Only I know this secret.” Alelmar proudly proclaimed. “And they are right down in the sand. Or if we are lucky a whole bunch of the little turtles will be around and we can just scoop them up in this net, and carry them back. Or if we find a big turtle, we can kill it and have meat for a long time. Lots of meat. Maybe trade the shell too.”
Morgan climbed in, holding both his paddles with him. He eyed the motor suspiciously, but sat on the remains of the other seat.
Alelmar put his hand over the symbol and the engine coughed to life. The symbol turned yellow as he pulled his hand away. Manipulating the controls a bit, the large propeller started to turn inside the permalloy grille which surrounded it. The air began to blow out from behind the boat and it moved out over the water.
Alelmar directed the airboat out across the Salt Sea. He turned directions when he noticed the sea bed starting to drop off. The shallows of the sea extended for a ways out from the beach, only getting gradually deeper, but at the end of the shallows, the sea bed dropped suddenly and the bottom was no longer visible. All that was below was a deep bluish expanse of water. Alelmar knew the large sea creature lived down there, but today all he was concerned about was charting his course. By watching where the sea bed dropped off, and comparing that to the sky tube far overhead, he could usually find his way across the sea effectively. The airboat made the travel much faster than if he had used a boat that had to be paddled. Had that been the case, Alelmar probably would not be going to Turtle Island. Rowing a paddle was too much like work to suit Alelmar’s attitudes. Besides, almost no one visited the islands anymore, and Alelmar only knew of them from his parents. The people in Troas did not seem to care much for the islands, only being concerned about their orange book and who was next to go up the mountain.
Morgan sat quietly as they sped along. He kept looking back at the shore they had left. He knew the Salt Sea fairly well, but just did not like getting too far from his usual places. When the shore line could no longer be seen he felt anxious. But since Alelmar was taking them, and the airboat was running, he tried to enjoy the ride and watch for whales, sharks, or other dangers from the sea. He still clutched the paddles. He knew he could rely on those, and his arm muscles.
They came up on Turtle Island as it appeared in front of them. The island was oval in shape, as were all of the islands in the Salt Sea, and had an area of shallows all around it, as could be seen by looking down in the water, but the island’s shallows were not connected to the shallows by the shore. One end of Turtle Island had a small rocky elevated area which had a few scraggily trees. There was no place to really land the boat there, so Alelmar guided it toward the sandy beach. Alelmar directed the air boat over the shallows and toward the beach of nearly white colored sand.
“Alelmar, where is the drinking water on Turtle Island?” Morgan asked.
“At the high end, by the trees and rocks. A small stream bubbles up and runs down to the sea.” Alelmar replied. “The turtles and their eggs are along this beach. There are some of the yellow striped fish in the shallows as well as others. But we should get the turtles and eggs first.”
“Are there ruins on Turtle Island?” Morgan asked. He was still concerned about snakes or some other critters.
“Only thing like that is at the center of Turtle Island. There is a hard metal dome. It is just like the edge of the world. Nothing to worry about there. Just a big hard lump. In fact, after we get the turtles, fruit, and eggs, I might take a nap. You know we can do as we please. This island is great.”
Alelmar drove the airboat up onto the beach and shut off the motor. The boat left only a minor dent down into the sand, some of the sea water followed that newly plowed grove. The rotating blade slowed and finally stopped. The sound of the motor faded away.
Morgan jumped off, and landed in the sand. He dropped his hat in the boat, but then shaded his eyes with his hand and looked around. He could not see back to the grassland which was all along the edge of the world. That made him a bit unnerved, because he had not been this far out on the sea before, and he just did not like it very much.
“I do not see any turtles, I was hoping for the smaller ones. But come on, you need to look for tracks in the sand, and that way you can find where the turtles have laid their eggs. When we find one nest, it will have maybe a hundred eggs,” Alelmar said. He too had jumped out of the boat and was walking about the beach. After only a little while, he cried out, “See! Over here!”
Down in the sand was a trail leading from the water up to the top end of the beach. The two men followed the trail in the sand until they got to the point where it looked like something had spun around in the sand. Sand was scattered in all directions, and it was hard to tell where the nest might be. So they both just started to dig with bare hands.
Alelmar soon found the clutch of turtle eggs and started to carry handfuls of them back to the airboat. Morgan helped. The eggs were a bit leathery feeling.
“Alelmar, you were right! There is free food here on Turtle Island,” Morgan exclaimed.
“A person can get all the food needed, when you know where to look. You just stick with me and we will have an easy life. As soon as we get these loaded on the boat, I am going over to the stream and get a drink. Maybe then I will take a nap.”
They emptied the nest and loaded several dozen turtle eggs into the airboat. They packed some sand around them so they would not roll around too much. Then they walked the short distance toward where the scrubby trees were located. As they approached, a long green lizard slid off the rocks and into the water and swam away.
“Too bad we did not see one of the big turtles. We could have got one of those and had lots of meat. They look tough on the top with the shell of deep green and brown colors, but all you have to do is flip it over. Then you can kill it easy. Easy as skinning a fish. I mean, you need to catch the turtle on the land, in the water they swim way too good to catch. The meat is all red, and fries up so tasty.”
They got just past the trees and saw something neither of them expected. There had been people on Turtle Island. There was a camp built near a small cleft in the rocks which provided a bit of shelter. Some simple wooden tools were lying around. There was also a fire pit. Near that was a pile of small bones and also fruit rinds were scattered about.
“Alelmar, who is here? I thought no one ever came out here except for you,” Morgan was looking around.
“I never heard of anyone else coming out here much either. My parents told me about it long ago, but I thought it was my secret. So we go back to the boat and leave. I am not sharing turtle eggs with anyone.”
They turned and ran for the airboat, but between them and the boat stood three men. The men were very skinny with worn clothing. They all looked fearful, yet the tallest one was holding a wooden spear. All had various beards, but the tallest man was bald, and his beard came to a long point jutting out from his chin, he had deeply set brown eyes. By their stance, he was clearly the leader or the motley group.
“You get away from our airboat!” Alelmar called. He put as much authority into his voice as possible. Morgan stood as tall s he could. Both men had placed their hands over their fishing knives.
The tall man threw down his spear. “A thousand pardons, I beg of you! We are not your enemies. My friends! You have come to save us!” His accent was strange, yet the words were understandable. “I am so glad to see you. Will you please help us?”
“Who are you?” Alelmar asked.
“We are victims of a terrible crime. We have been put on this horrible place, and we beg you to help us. Please!”
“You have not told us who you are. Why should we help you?” Alelmar said.
“I can see you are a good and honorable man, wise in the ways of the world. We have been trapped here by evil forces. We were nine of us, but the terrible biting fish monster in the water killed some, and others have died from hunger. Oh please have mercy on us.”
