Chapter 8
Freedom Riders
Scott hurried back down the boarding ramp to leave an additional case of translation collars in China. He then showed Martzha and Zhao where to stow the birds safely in the cargo area, he also showed them to the best seats, behind the pilot and copilot. "Are your translation collars working?" He asked them.
"Mine is perfect," Zhao said.
"How do they make these?" Martzha asked.
"We think they grow them," the Admiral answered. "If we ever have a time of peace, we will be able to connect many fields of knowledge and perhaps obtain a better picture of how these translation gizmos actually work." He sighed a long breath and then let himself smile. "This is already the second model, by the way, the first model could only translate hearing. Now, with speech included, one can do perfectly well in another language."
"We believe the pioneers have contained crazy capitalists willing to wage war in order to grow faster forever," Zhao said, solemnly.
"Yes," Martzha agreed. "If we can just buy a little time here, our combined sciences will surly find a way to earn a wonderful fun living without destroying the planet."
"It sounds elementary," Inocente sighed, again. "I suppose, even if polluting war-idiots do destroy this planet, we will have time to use the delfinian ships as Noah's Arcs to carry as many species as possible to Planet Pacifica. Will She object ecologically? Who knows? I'm figuring She will accept Earth's orphans."
Martzha looked at him sternly, "Admiral, we brought crow people to help find environmental pollution on the North American Continent. Zhao and I look forward to teaching Erica Brave Moon's human people our earth friendly sciences. We require several years for our work. We expect you to make sure we have several more years after that for our students to fan out across the continent and do what we teach them to do." She winked into his surprised expression and then laughed, very pleasantly.
Eddy had been half listening to the conversation behind. "We'll travel using melodian technology now," he informed them, twisting in his seat and looking back.
"I need a few minutes to send the video data to Earth Base One," said the Admiral, with a more relaxed grin. "Let's hope our news from China will upstage the presidential election campaign going on in Use."
Eddy turned Pioneer Frigate into the sun and leaned back in his seat. He cast a quick glance to Erica as he watched the radio transmission light. When it blinked off he closed his eyes briefly, visualizing the location where Erica had decided to leave her people and travel on Star Song's voyage. He heard her playful melody join with the rhythmic song of Sun, Moon, and Earth. He too sang in praise of their beauty.
The windows turned mother-of-pearl white for the blink of a second, the next moment they were flying with night behind them. Early morning sunlight bathed stark ridges jutting from deep shadowed gorges and valleys. They descended rapidly in a long swinging curve that brought them in line with the Rocky Mountains, flying north.
"The windows looked like abalone shell for a moment," Zhao observed.
"That was the second time I've seen it," the Admiral said. "I was just thinking brighter colors might shine through if it lasted longer.
"I think so, too," Eddy said, "but the white only blinks, how far we travel doesn't seem to effect it."
"There's HUNTA!" Erica cried, pointing ahead to a plateau where army machinery was gathered. "I don't see Braves anywhere, though."
Eddy rolled into a dive down an east slopping canyon as a volley of small missiles took off headed in their direction. He evaded the missiles by diving even lower, under their trajectory, too fast for them to change course.
"HUNTA was traveling up the road in the bigger canyon south of us," Erica said, watching the blurred canyon wall to her right. She licked her lips nervously as Eddy moved upward and even closer to the canyon cliff.
Eddy cut all power when they lifted out of the canyon, now they plunged downward along the top of a ridge line. He was letting air drag slow them, soon the view wasn't speed-blurred except close in, directly below.
Pioneer Frigate slid off the mountain ridge and screamed out over a broad valley completely filled by the main part of the HUNTA army, which spilled out of the valley and beyond sight, eastward, down the mountains.
"Look at the rear view monitor!" Erica cried out. "There are crashed helicopters all over the hillside, where the road enters the tunnel into the gorge."
They were traveling too fast and low for the hail of antiaircraft gunfire directed at them but Eddy accelerated straight upward to ensure safety. He turned in a high loop and came back down further up the gorge, past the tunnel, climbing rapidly back toward the summit. The spaceship left a thundering boom behind as it cleared the continental divide.
"Our sensors have measured the area precisely," Eddy reported. "I'm going to take us down behind the next mountain range, slow way down, and turn south." Which he did, quite quickly.
"We should land and hide the ship under a cliff," Erica suggested. "Our passengers will be taken care of from there."
Eddy worked with the navigation computer and loaded topographical data for the area near the overhanging ledge where the buses had hidden, he then made a quick turn east, accelerated slightly, and followed a canyon back over the continental divide. They followed a short zig zag course through multicolored high desert bluffs until Eddy set the ship down behind the trees which had once hidden busloads of braves. He hovered just long enough to slip under the cliff overhang, where he cut power and opened the door.
Martzha and Zhao enjoyed the grandeur of the desert surroundings as bona fide high-desert tourists. Their calls and laughter echoed back and forth in the natural amphitheater of multihued sandstone. The cliff was too high to see the top unless one walked quite far away from it, which Martzha and Zhao decided to do. They were placing the crows in a sheltered outdoor area when six teenagers stepped from a hedge-like stand of low piñon pines.
Martzha and Zhao bowed. They stood quietly smiling for a moment. Zhao pointed to the sky and then to the overhanging cliff behind the trees.
Two of the teenagers bowed to the foreigners with crows, turned around, and trotted back the way they came. They would verify that the spaceship sighting was indeed true, more native americans would gather when a second messenger pair arrived with specific instructions.
"You were correct, Erica," said Eddy, nodding to four teenagers who appeared out of the trees suddenly and silently.
Erica smiled and walked to greet them. "Please come meet my friends and see the spaceship," she said, smiling, holding her hands out in greeting.
"Wow," the four teenagers breathed.
"You are Brave Moon," said the youngest, a thirteen year-old. "I am happy to meet you and very happy that you have returned safely." Her eyes widened as she looked at Erica's clothes, and then Eddy's, he was a few steps behind Erica. "I am Cecilia and these are my friends, Howie, Louise, and Poncho."
"We saw you on the news," Howie said.
"You guys are famous," said Poncho.
"I'm Eddy, the pilot," Eddy said, reaching out palms up for a round of hand slaps.
"We saw you in President Bushleeg's office," said Cecilia.
"In the President's office?" Erica asked with a surprised look at Eddy, who shrugged, grinning.
"Somebody leaked an inside security camera film clip to the press," said Louise. "It wasn't shown inside Use for over a week, after just about everybody else in the world had seen it."
"You were yelling something about native american braves."
"And there was a guy standing next to you wearing a sash like yours."
"The top of your heads didn't even reach his chest."
"Who is that guy?"
"Star Song," Eddy laughed, throwing up his hands as the teenagers pressed closer with more questions.
"What about the foreigners with crows?"
Erica's amused laughter turned a tad toward serious, "They are Peace People, just like us, and they are also Chinese. They, and the crow, are teachers of Earth Sciences. We need to find them a home base somewhere near other crow, as soon as possible. The crows they carry believe they have tamed humans."
Cecilia and Poncho immediately waved good by and started trotting toward home. "We are carrying your message home now," Poncho said over his shoulder as they left.
A passenger van arrived less than an hour after Cecilia and Poncho left with the message. Martzha, Zhao, and the crows were soon in the van, which disappeared into the trees as it left.
"They're off to start their quest to clean the planet here," Erica said. "What a fun life they have."
"The Admiral smiled at her, "Our job is to corral the mess makers before they do their dirty deeds. Are you still with us?"
Erica looked at Eddy's war sash, the Admiral's clothes, and then her clothes and belt buckle. "I'm not leaving," she said, reaching for Eddy's hand and raising her head proudly. "I am a Melodian ambassador and in on this until peace comes our way."
"Brave Moon is a strong woman," Inocente complimented, noticing to himself that he felt a genuine bond with her, similar as with Eddy. "Look, here comes some more people, let's hear their story."
After introductions, the pioneers learned there were over three thousand braves armed with bolo slingers, surprisingly HUNTA, with a total force of nearly a hundred thousand, had only a little more than one thousand ground troops, which were mostly deployed to protect the equipment. And bolo slingers had downed so many helicopters that they no longer flew anywhere near trouble.
"Any more atomic bombs?" the Admiral wanted to know.
"No," said Blossom, who had so far done most of the talking. "The down canyon night breeze would carry radiation directly to them. Up canyon day breezes would contaminate the very place they are trying to reach, at the top."
"We have people working inside HUNTA," said a man named Hank, looking up from a conversation with a group of elders. "They informed us that HUNTA has asked President Bushleeg for reinforcements, more troops, helicopters, and spare parts."
"Has anyone been hurt?" the Admiral asked.
"No braves, so far," Blossom answered. "We don't know how many were injured in the helicopters, over two hundred have been brought down with the bolos."
"How's your supply of parts for the exploding bolos?" Scott asked.
"We have more than enough of everything," Hank answered proudly. "The Braves have become very accurate, long range accurate, ridge to valley."
The soft purr of another small truck changing gears announced its arrival through the trees. It parked under the cliff overhang. A man hopped out of the truck and jogged to join them. He carried a paper bag, which he handed to the Admiral. "Hi, I'm Howard," he said. "Some of you already met my son, Howie."
Eddy and Erica waved to him and smiled, indicating it was they who had had met his son.
"That bag I gave you? said Howard. "Video memory chips of what's been going on around here. There is even a shot of the atomic bomb blast. The atom bomb video is a little crooked because the brave only held a hand up from behind stone and pointed without looking. The video is amazing, it is long enough to show the mushroom cloud curl down the canyon breeze, directly toward HUNTA."
"Ding!" Shouted the Admiral, jumping and clicking his heels. "I'll send this to PRN, Pioneer Radio News, at Earth Base One. They're set up for in-house edit and will move it on to world news outlets."
Scott, Erica, and Eddy exchanged looks of wonder. Was the Admiral running for President of Use?
The Admiral was indeed concentrating fully on the upcoming Use election. He wanted to challenge both candidates with interesting and optimistic areas of thought which the organized political parties were united to avoid; like separation of money and state and a seven facet government without a commander in chief. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Separation of money and state had turned out to be a catchy theme issue. That was a surprise.
"There's little else for us here at the moment," said the Admiral. "Save friendship," he added with a smile. "Fleet Commender Walker will also receive a copy of the video chips and our sensor data. He will keep a close watch on HUNTA. Tell the braves to call him for help. I should mention that it takes time for the pioneers to reach you. Even a star cruiser with full shielding will melt on the way down if it goes too fast. Whatever you do, don't hurry the pilots."
The pioneers bade fond farewell to the braves and returned to their ship.
"Go East a hundred kilometers," said the Admiral, gently hurrying them with a musing murmur. "Then go North to the road HUNTA is on. Follow it west, safely, to Nation Pacifica. "I want a good video of the road leading up to the valley toward the gorge's tunnel, where we already have video data. This should be interesting. Be there or be square, be safe or be sorry."
"You, too, Inocente? er.. Admiral?" Erica exclaimed and then giggled. "You sound exactly like Star Song trying to update his vocabulary to the last half of the twenty-third century."
"Okay, okay," the Admiral laughed. "And Inocente is fine, your not exactly in the pioneer fleet. Eddy and Scott should also know what I already told you," he said, turning to them.
"I am promoting Walker Berrigan to Fleet Admiral so that I can fully attend to my new duties as one of the three melodian contact humans," he said.
"So where does that put us?" Eddy asked. "Erica already said she was in, so I am, too. But, what are we in for?"
"This is it, for the next week or so. We're riding the election, down to the wire!" Inocente hooted for a good ride in perfect imitation of a young surfer who once dated his granddaughter. "Our job is to upstage the news. PRN will lift the Use presidential campaign to a higher plane. Our job is to find enough good to make a stream of daily good news. Our China and HUNTA films give us two news-days already completed. That leaves only five days to fill. Will good news vibrations cancel out war vibrations? I'm counting on us being able to fill the media with good, fun news."
"Where are we going?" All three asked together.
"Capitol Spaceport," the Admiral responded. "Test landing at the spaceport in Nation Pacifica. Anyone who wants to get off before we get there, just say so. We will go in to the spaceport fully backed by Admiral Walker, that's who he is now."
The Admiral's offer to get off the ship before testing a landing at the spaceport was met with silence. Nobody even considered missing a moment of Inocente's quest for good news.
"Okay. We enter Nation Pacifica when we clear the summit. Keep the speed down for awhile so I can send video and talk with Walker, then go in at about five thousand kilometers per hour. Liz will come in behind us, like we did entering China," the Admiral concluded, casting a warning look to Erica and Scott. "Eddy decides what to do if the going gets rough. I do not distract him."
Pioneer Frigate flashed from the secret parking area under the bluff. Eddy kept low, hugging valley floors and then the side of a volcano marking the last mountainous ridge between them and the highway, which they approached slowly, at about one hundred kilometers per hour.
They flew over a downward sloping plain of low grey sage brush, it was obviously an ancient broken sea bed lifted by volcanic might almost as high as the continental divide itself. There were no cars or trucks to be seen as they approached the straight east/west ribbon of unusual rust colored asphalt. The volcano loomed directly behind them as they reached the highway and turned left.
They flew faster following the highway, three hundred kilometers per hour, due west. It wasn't long before the highway ahead could be seen disappearing into an area of bluffs and canyons folding one upon the other all the way to the top of the Rocky Mountains. "That will be where the action started," said the Admiral, pointing ahead. "Atomic canons met modern sling-shots right there."
Eddy slowed the spaceship back to one hundred kilometers per hour as they entered the canyon proper. He coasted to bicycle speed as the passed the wreck of a huge crawler-mounted atomic bomb canon. It leaned over the road bank at an odd angle, as if hastily pushed out of the way by an impatient giant. The crawler tracks were almost completely covered with entangling bolo cables. He made sure the ship cameras were recording correctly before proceeding further into the mountains.
A sensor warning flashed red as they flew above the carcasses of several crashed helicopters littering the edges of a narrow pass. Eddy activated the second disc down on the war sash with a quick palm slap, it was the same disc he had seen Star Song use before he jumped from place to place hurling large rocks at the helicopters which were attacking the braves.
The experiment worked, Pioneer Frigate and everyone aboard were locked into the power field of a failed melodian invention, one that had allowed early melodian scientists passage through conscious spacetime, to a certain place, but only for strobe light quick moments. Though the spacecraft was solid and constant inside, HUNTA antiaircraft gunners only saw brief appearances in their fixed spacetime location.
Eddy had also flown an evasive corkscrew roll when the sensor warned antiaircraft targeting radar was locked onto the ship. He clicked off the melodian disc and accelerated, leveling off above the main army. Still accelerating, they flew past HUNTA so fast not one shot was fired at them. Pioneer Frigate once again left behind a thunderous shock wave rolling from the continental divide as they passed over it. "Next stop is Capitol Spaceport, Nation Pacifica," he said mimicking an airline pilot, and flashing a happy grin to Erica.
"Election polls show this to be a battleground state," Erica said, with an answering twinkle in her eye. "Both Use presidential candidates are tied here at zero to zero."
"Let's hope the battle stays in the ballot box," Scott said.
"We will know quite soon," said Eddy, "our arrival time is less than an hour away."