Brynin 2

By Thadd Evans

In the distant future, the OTA Corporation, an organization that is spread across many planets, has created elite clones called the C. The C, the smartest humans that have ever lived, fly and maintain OTA’s starships. This is the story of one of them, Jason_664, a man who no longer has to work for OTA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eXtasy Books Inc
• Release date: Jun 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781771112079

Book preview

Part 2

By

Thadd Evans

Chapter One

As an architect on P L Five, I helped design and construct floating apartments for the Qoowo and Turon. Because every shoreline, ocean, mountain and desert was crowded, erecting these buildings in the sky was the best solution.

Yeliv Aardliy

Near the bottom of the star map, D24 enlarged, making it easier to study. I peered at Greg, Have you talked to Palk, Paley, or Yeliv?

"Yes. Palk and Paley told me that after LN starships landed near their town, robots attacked everyone with laser rifles. Palk and Paley escaped, but the robots murdered their wives and daughters.

Yeliv said that atomic bombs were dropped on his small town, Fresp, a floating municipality that had been designed to hover a quarter of a mile above the Grua Sea, a body of water six hundred miles north of P L Five’s equator. The blast killed his wife and children. He hopes he can find some of his cousins on Icir.

Very sad. The LN kill without remorse. I shook my head, disgusted.

"Yes.

By the way, Yar told me that she is an experienced ambassador. He smiled.

Interesting. What else do you know about her?

Yar listens more than she talks. She speaks Qoowo, Ulthe, Amboa, and at least nine other languages. She owns hundreds of SR translation software applications.

Amazing. I remembered that if two humanoids were speaking to each other in English, Qoowo, Ulthe, Amboa or Aito, SR could translate both party’s speech simultaneously. Perhaps it could decipher Gdii, Etite, Lim, Dseo, Turon and Mlaan, alien languages, just as quickly.

I glanced to the left. Close to the floor, along the edge of the star map, text scrolled. In Coio province, Gra Mountain and Zyy Peak are just over thirty-eight thousand feet high. But there wasn’t any map of D24.

An out of focus D24 slowly materialized. I shook my head, disgusted.

After studying three mountains, Hmou, Bipe and Snom, I felt frustrated. Every slope was too blurred, making it impossible to spot any buildings. This map is useless. Dortan or somebody else, whoever created it, did a lousy job.

Greg bit his lip, upset. I agree. You’d think they would give us better information.

Chapter Two

"Two years ago, after many battles, our people, the Aito and Qoowo, signed a peace treaty.

Although Paley and I managed to escape, we are troubled because we must find a tranquil planet to live on.

Palk Yyin

According to the accelerometer, ST7 had just reached 161, 011 miles per second.

Just over four hours ago, Greg had entered room three and started inspecting the server’s photonic laser mirrors, searching for misaligned ones.

Needing to exercise, I started walking around. Out of the corner of my left eye I noticed something moving and looked up. A slender silhouette, a passenger, someone barely visible against the dark star chart, had entered the bridge.

It was Tia. The right side of her face was severely burned, the eye socket empty, a gaping hole.

I blinked, surprised. What happened to your face?

Tia frowned. Normally, a facial hologram covers the burned part. Something accidentally shut it off.

My tablet didn’t pick up that hologram.

She scowled. Are you going to kick me off at D24 for breaking SP?

No.

I don’t know anybody on that planet. She blinked nervously, a distraught expression on her countenance.

Don’t worry.

Her semi-transparent hologram, an eye, cheek, lips, and forehead, appeared. Within seconds, they became opaque. These features blended in perfectly with the other side of her face.

I need to survive. Without this mask, I can’t get a job. My scarred face scares everyone.

I smiled. Understood. How are you getting along with the other passengers?

She began fidgeting. Yeliv, Palk, Paley, and Yar are friendly enough, but Bemme just keeps saying she’s hungry. Yeliv says he misses his wife and son.

I nodded. Although my heart went out to all of them, the only thing I could do was listen patiently.

She cleared her throat, I just wanted to stop by and say hello. I’m lonely.

I enjoy talking to you. The problem is that I need to inspect the barometer because it keeps measuring the air pressure incorrectly. Greg will return to the bridge within an hour and you can spend some time with him. I’m sure he would enjoy speaking to you when he finishes.

Tia frowned, yet she didn’t say anything. My guess was that she felt I didn’t care enough to listen to everything she wanted to say.

I paused, weighing my options. I should talk to everyone more often. If it weren’t for the fact that the telescopes, barometers, spectrometers and software needed to be repaired, I could do that a lot more.

After biting her lip, upset, she walked away, headed for the passenger compartment.

I felt uncomfortable because although Tia needed company, I had too many responsibilities.

There was another concern. Perhaps I should tell each passenger that once we reached D24 or Icir, all of them would be safe.

When these refugees reached Icir, they could start a new life. Unfortunately, since I didn’t know anyone on either planet, I couldn’t tell any of the passengers when they would find a job or a place to live.

Who was waiting for Tia on Icir? I didn’t know. I would talk to her later and find out what her plans were. Hopefully, I could offer some helpful suggestions, ones that would calm her nerves.

Chapter Three

In my role as Niil’s Ambassador on P L Five, I taught many Qoowo, Ontx, Glemal, Dseo, Lim, and Embas to become better translators. Some of my students used SR software language applications. Others never used those tools, relying instead on their memories. I worked with all of them.

Yar Massi, Niil Ambassador

Behind me, boot heels clicked louder. Someone, not Greg, had just entered the bridge. I glanced beyond my right shoulder as a humanoid silhouette, a dimly lit figure, walked through the holographic star map, a wall. It was Bemme.

I think you saw my recent email, but I wanted to tell you in person that your ability to escape Brynin was impressive. She grinned.

Greg played a major role as well, but thanks. I smiled.

She strolled away and went through the holographic star map, going back to the passenger compartment.

I looked straight ahead. Close to the ceiling, on the star map, a tiny piece of asteroid dust shot by. It had missed our ship by just over eighty feet. At the same time, my heart started pounding, a worried reaction because I realized that the telescopes hadn’t spotted the dust. If a 1/16" diameter piece of dust hit the ship, it would rip a hole in it, and air would leak out.

Behind me, the faint sound of heels scraping against the floor got louder. I glanced to the right as a humanoid silhouette walked through the star map. It was Yar. Although she resembled Homo sapiens, her forehead and high cheekbones were slightly wider than the features on any human’s face.

She stooped next to my chair, facing me, but I couldn’t tell what Yar was gazing at because she didn’t have any pupils. Unlike a human, she had three fingers and thumb. I want to thonk you forr saving my life.

I appreciate it. She had mispronounced several of her words, but I didn’t mention it because doing so would be it rude.

She raised her hand, the forefinger bent forward.

I don’t know what that hand gesture means.

Ah lay wa.

At the top of my screen a translating text came into view. Your instructions helped me adjust my seat properly, preventing me from being crushed to death. Thank you for your help.

You’re welcome. Although software keeps track of your seat, it’s important that I update the software because your heart, veins, and arteries are unlike ours, the Aito, the Qoowo or the Gdii. Eventually, you will have to improve it.

She tilted her head, but didn’t say word.

As far as I could tell, her earplugs hadn’t translated a single word I had just said. I placed two fingers over the bottom of my tablet.

A Niil welcome response, a greeting my tablet had created, appeared on both sides of my screen, making it possible for both us to read it. Tain, ere.

Yar smiled. After I learn mooore vo vocabulary, we’ll talk more.

"I’ll try to learn more as well." Even though she had mispronounced a couple of words, Yar was doing her best, an effort that impressed me.

She pivoted and left the bridge.