Alita 2
Fending off parents; finding specimens
Last time, we began with a foreword by a researcher from 3800 years in the future who was able to transcribe the voice log of Alita, the pilot documenting her journey back in time from 10,000 years in the future to what we call 2018, for her Ph.D. research. We read Alita’s narration as she arrives at her destination, positioning her craft hundreds of miles above Earth, and reveals a bit about her mission. Right now she’s discussing the disputes she had with her parents over deciding to take on this adventure in the first place…
I'm certain Gulans has a very high-level institute of its own or they could never do the things they do, but no one has seen it and some think it doesn't exist. Some think the authorities use people from wherever they are, with whatever tools they need without having a central location. I can't believe that. They are too advanced, in their own twisted way.
It’s funny how Panilus doesn't even figure in on this. A whole continent with no research schools to speak of. Their people come to us in Serdinane or maybe to Alitana to study, and then they go home and do whatever they do, grow food, take out garbage, whatever. We don't really want them to stay with us, so it's no loss for us, but we don't mind taking their money and giving them some help to take back home. And they do make great food, so I'm glad we've helped them with food technology. The solar growing buildings and all. Maybe I'll discover something new on this trip to help Panilus make new food, like Swurgen did in the early years. I love brabdigans.
My Dad didn't even know about the brabdigans. I guess he teaches his own specialty and doesn't follow the agricultural developments. There I was, eating one in front of him and he's telling me nothing much has come of these surfing flights.
“I would not be eating this brabdigan if it weren't for Swurgen's flight!” I think I yelled that at him. And I threw the yellow peel at his head. He barely ducked in time. It was very funny.
“What are you talking about?” Dad said. “Brabdigans grow all over Panilus.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Because Professor Swurgen analyzed the DNA data from his flight and we reconstructed it. They were totally extinct before that, you know.”
He did not know that. He nodded, and grunted, and maybe thought better of our program for it.
“Everything's 'we' now, isn't it?” he said, and he seemed sad about it.
Yes, it is “we.” I was in intense training for months. We're a team. We carry on where the others left off. When I get back, I'll be part of the team and the younger ones will carry on with new flights. I'm proud of it, and Dad, you will be too, when I get home.
Wow, look at this panel. The imaging shows much more human activity than we thought possible. It looks like they have large cities with a broad range of radio wave usage. This doesn't match up with later studies where there are far fewer numbers and not such a broad range of radio as I'm seeing here now. We'll have to analyze to be sure, but preliminary numbers show possibly ten billion humans or more. I was expecting fewer than one billion at this point in time.
The pod is nearing the back edge of Earth. We are following the Earth as it orbits the sun. It’s sunset down there. Looks like Serdinane. It must be. It's a pretty good match, but the coastline is different. A little more land, less water.
Maneuvering down to around 100 miles altitude so I can select a few human specimens for transport to the pod.
The containment shells are prepared for their comfort. Hopefully I can catch them sleeping and keep them that way. The atmosphere within the pod is now adjusted to the proper pressure and air composition in case the shells have any leaks. I could remove my own suit in this environment. Maybe I will. For the moment I am too busy and must complete the transferring task on time or wait another 36 hours for the next alignment.
Activating warmup projector and diverting energy flows to the transport processor.
I am using the viewer to locate human bodies by heat, mass, and metabolism. I can see massive groupings of houses. I have located two humans that appear to be lying down outside in a field of vegetation. They would be the easiest targets. I may have to pull one from a house, using a slightly higher energy setting.
I am selecting the specimens. A young female, not yet adult, is one of those sleeping outside. I'll take her. I want a male. I'm tuning in on an older male. No, the rigors of this transport may be difficult for him. I will seek out a younger male.
Found one lying inside of a thin fabric structure.
Aiming the projector on these two humans. I may be able to bring in two more in another 36 hours when I return to this side of Earth. I will focus for now on these two selections.
Locked onto the two humans. They both appear to be sleeping. This transport should have minimal or no effect on them.
Their cellular structure is fully warmed and activated; now locking in transport processor for time-freeze. Done. Capturing is in process now, should be completed in less than seven seconds. Here they are, each inside a comfort shell. I believe the very short time-vector freeze will not harm them. They should return to normal spatial forces very quickly, much quicker than I did after the long journey.
Perfect import. Here they are, two live ancient human specimens, lying in their shells, asleep. Injecting small dose of Enkios with air mixture, to ensure continued subconscious state and to minimize digestive activity. They should last up to 40 hours without needing to reposition themselves. Configuring full-body scanners. Switching scanners on now for total analysis.
The girl looks a little like some kids I've known. We humans have not changed so much in 10,000 years. The light-colored hair on her head has been allowed to grow very long and is the distinguishing factor in her appearance. She has a sharp-edged nose and the color of her skin is quite light. Her eyelids flutter; her breathing is steady and slow. The fabric she wears is colorful and has odd markings. Now that I examine it, I think it is an attempt at an image of a dog or other small animal, crudely drawn in two dimensions, possibly directly by human hand.
The young man is also sleeping peacefully. His skin is not as light-colored as the girl's but not as dark as ours generally is. His eye sockets are quite large, giving him a gentle look, and the hair above the eyes, the eyebrows, is messy and relatively long compared to the girl, but his head hair is short and not as demonstrative as hers. His lips are thicker, and he appears to be smiling. He may be dreaming something pleasant; the psychic scanner will reveal more about this. His body is muscular and capable. He reminds me so much of Ranlen. Excuse me, I must pause for a moment.
Okay, I'm back. Slight delay but all is going just fine. The scanners are working smoothly. First the density and metabolic scans, the DNA and cellular scans, then the psychic and electrical observations. The delay is me. No consequence. I am still on track. I will be more disciplined and stop staring at this young man. I can't escape his similarity to Ranlen. The muscular body, well proportioned. Even his feet remind me of the barefooted walks we took together in our last journey. Why did we venture so close to the Gulans? It is unusually mountainous and beautiful there. I remember now, we were certain the terrain itself would help us get near Gulans without their bothering about us. We didn't even care to see their territory or their people, we just wanted to be together in that wild and mountainous place. It was well worth it.
Worth what? Never seeing him again? No. But it was such a beautiful, untouched place; we were so happy to be able to be there. Worth the risk? How can I say that? We took the gamble, and lost. I guess anything is worth the risk if the risk never materializes.
I would not be here if it hadn't been for that journey. Does that make the risk worth while? No, no, I'd rather have Ranlen than be here. I am fooling myself into feeling content with what happened. I am not content. I will not forgive or forget the Gulans. What a horrible continent and people. Maybe we should not blame the people. But then, they really are inherent in the problem. Their leaders have made it so. They would say Gulan himself made it all happen for the best. He is their god, and is responsible for everything. All his people are created in his image. They are genetically modified to make sure of it.
I must switch off. All equipment is functioning smoothly. I must get sleep. I will set the alarm inside my suit to wake me if something malfunctions or if a human stirs with conscious movement.
To be continued…