Read Borne On Wings of Steel Online
Authors: Tony Chandler
The festivities of Meramee on the island of Leyloi filled the night air with crowds of aliens happily eating, dancing and drinking to the rhythms of the island.
Mother tried to urge Kyle and Jaric to go out and enjoy themselves. They had not left her interior since Elise had gone missing. The boys had been grieving for almost two full days now. But in the end they each retired to their rooms, although they did make definite plans with Rok and Inaha to go out the next day and finally taste some of the treats of the Great Festival. As they left for their rooms, Mother continued with her nightly routines.
Mother felt a great drop in her utilization as she realized that much of her processing power had been running in endless cycles reviewing memories of Elise—and even of Becky. Most of the memories were duplicates of other memories and logically unneeded, but she realized it was her way of dealing with the stressful situation of Elise's loss—pondering precious memories over and over again like any worried parent.
Jysar gave Elise a final scan to make sure all was as it should be and had just uploaded that data for Mother to double-check when she received another highly encrypted signal.
Mother hesitated a moment, then with a rush of processors she answered.
But her voice was unheard by the others as she keyed the communication to a private channel.
"Do you have your daughter back?"
The deep, familiar voice of the Paum AI caused a strange sensation in Mother's circuits.
"Yes, she was returned in a rather secretive way just today. And I have contacted the Mejadic authorities who are still investigating her abduction as well as the explosion of the fireworks warehouse.” Mother paused.
"Did you mention me?"
"I told them from the beginning that I knew some Harg had taken Elise by force. And that I thought they could be in the work of the Paum."
"That is logical. And I calculated such a response from you. That is why I ordered my remaining agents off Meramee."
"And so now you contact me in order to urge me to visit you, as if somehow everything is now corrected...” Mother waited, a humming of excitement in her near-term memories.
"Yes. I greatly desire your company. Ever since the first, irrefutable data arrived. We must meet. We must!” The Paum's tone grew urgent.
"You must give me more data about Paum and about your AI programming. It would not be prudent for me to sail into the middle of an unknown kingdom to meet an entity of which I know so little. I do not fully understand your intentions at present."
"But I have plainly stated them,” he countered.
"So you say."
A long pause filled the channel.
"We are alike, you and I. We are the same. And ... and I have not been able to get you out of my near-term memories since I realized you existed.” Again, the Paum spoke in a heightened volume.
"What have you not been able to get out of your near-term memories?” Mother asked quietly.
"That there is another like me—another AI. That there is another I can communicate with as my peer, someone I can share my thoughts with. I cannot stop thinking about us meeting and communing over our deepest programming!"
"I understand,” Mother said.
"You desire this meeting too?"
"Yes."
"Then travel to me."
Another long silence lasting several seconds passed.
"Download more data concerning your Paum society—tell me more about yourself. I will review it and give you my decision forthwith."
"I am preparing it as we speak. Once our communication is over, I will upload it."
The Paum AI paused again. Mother wondered what could make such a powerful computer hesitate for so many seconds. She surmised it must be processing a heavy load. Finally, the deep baritone voice filled the channel again.
"You will come to me then?"
"There is a strong probability that I will travel to the planet where you reside. I, too, am curious about you. I never considered the possibility that another AI existed. I have spent much processing considering you—another AI—and all the possibilities it presents.” Mother paused for two hundred milliseconds. “But I will not bring my children, nor the other beings who travel with me. I must formulate a valid reason for such a trip without them. This is a
personal
journey for me. But I also do not wish to upset them."
"Good."
"The probability is that I will leave within three days."
"Good.” The Paum's voice grew deeper.
"If my decision is positive, I will need the proper coordinates."
"You will not allow the Iraxx to dissuade you. They will try. They will tell you lies about me and about Paum."
"I must take all factual data into account and evaluate it accordingly."
"They will have none—it will be nothing but conjecture and emotions."
"Then you need not be concerned."
It almost seemed that a soft, almost indiscernible sigh came through the communication channel—an electronic sigh almost unheard.
"It will be special when we finally meet. I will share everything with you. And then you will
truly know
."
"Contact me in three days, after I've reviewed the new data,” Mother replied.
The link dropped.
EARLY THE NEXT morning, just after the red sun lifted over the watery horizon, the boys were up and preparing to go out and enjoy the delights of Meramee and the island of Leyloi for the first time.
Inaha and Rok waited for Kyle and Jaric at the main ramp. They smiled and turned.
All four were dressed for a tropical climate—dark sunglasses, sandals, knee-length shorts and loose, brightly colored shirts—and each carried a beach towel. Rok had brushed his feather-hair mane and polished his horns until both glistened in the morning light. In addition, Kyle and Jaric each wore bright red baseball caps to cover their heads from the sun during the heat of the full day.
"Are we ready to have some fun?” Jaric's intense happiness was a challenge to the others.
"Fun is a good thing.” Rok smiled.
"Especially on the island-planet of Meramee!” Inaha laughed.
"Let's do it!” Kyle cried out.
"I hope you boys will endeavor to stay of trouble this time.” Mother warned with a commanding tone. “Especially don't get in trouble with the law this time."
Kyle and Jaric looked at each other with pained expressions.
"We will refrain from getting into trouble,” Rok said with confidence. “We intend only to swim, eat and drink this day. And meet lots of friendly aliens."
"Especially some sweet, young aliens!” Jaric laughed.
"And pretty ones!” Kyle added.
"The universe is ours for the taking!” Rok joked.
"Just try to restrain your emotions. And stay away from aliens of an unsavory character.” Mother advised.
"We won't go where the
bad aliens
live, MotherShip! Do not worry your circuits!” Inaha's jovial laughter shook the air and instantly became contagious, as the other three joined in.
And as they laughed together, slapping each other on the back, all four made their way out into the bright tropical sunlight. But instead of heading toward the interior of the island where the sound of music wafted on the morning breeze, heralding another day at the Taste of the Quadrant, the four headed straight for the beach. As they reached the soft sand, they threw off their sandals and ran for the endless rows of waves that marched toward the shore.
As they ran, each one stripped off his shirts and shorts, revealing the bathing suit he wore underneath, and dove among the frothing surf. Shouts of pure pleasure rang out as they swam in the crystal clear waters of the Emerald Sea.
They swam far out into the middle green lagoon bounded on each side by high hills covered with palms and dense tropical foliage. The four enjoyed the feeling of the warm water on their skin and floated or swam for a long time. After a while, they tired and returned to the beach and collapsed on their towels to let the hot sun dry their bodies.
Rok stirred, his energy renewed, and found a nearby booth that rented facemask-breathers and fins. Soon all four were snorkeling out where the purple reef grew beneath the waves at the far edge of the lagoon. The facemask-breathers worked great as they breathed in oxygen directly from the water through the filtered grills.
They gazed down in awe at the wondrous life under the waters.
Exotic, colorful sea creatures swarmed everywhere while numerous shafts of light pierced through the upper depths. It was like another world—miniature mountains and valleys of coral stretched out as far as the eye could see toward the deep waters beyond the lagoon. And like the Mejadic themselves, the fish and other sea creatures sparkled like electric rainbows with various patterns of exotic colors.
For more than an hour the four observed, each mesmerized by the aquatic life that danced before the eyes. After that, now thoroughly tired from all their exertions, they dragged themselves up on the lavender and white beach. They rented lounge chairs and fell exhausted into them with the red sun still below its highest point in the sky. But midday was not far off.
They lay there soaking up the sun until time seemed to stand still under the tropical sky. Slowly, each fell into a light slumber.
Finally, the roaring of the surf caused Jaric's eyes to flutter open.
"Hey, what's that?"
Kyle lazily glanced up at Jaric's excited cry.
To his amazement, the waves of the bay that had previously broken against the beach with clockwork regularity had changed. The tide had obviously gone out and the beach was now a wide-open expanse—more than twice the width of when they first arrived.
And now the entire nature of the surf changed.
Towering waves rose like small mountains and exploded with raw fury and plumes of frothing spray. Dozens of surfers floated on their boards in the middle of the lagoon, peering intently as they waited for the next perfect wave.
But there were others who floated
above
the waters—each also peering for the same perfect wave.
"I've seen surfers before, but what kind of boards are those guys riding
above
the water?” Jaric asked as he shielded his eyes from the bright sun now almost directly overhead.
"The Mejadic call them Fiarri boards,” Inaha said matter-of-factly. “Most aliens in this sector call them that."
"The Kraaqi call them lightning boards,” Rok added with a glint in his eyes as he watched a rider suddenly shoot straight up into the air.
"How do they work?” Jaric and Kyle asked together, excitement in their voices.
"They have a small, but powerful anti-gravity unit. And very sensitive controls,” Inaha explained.
"Look there,” Kyle said, as he pointed farther out over the water.
A wave began to rise. But this wave was larger than the others.
The surfers in the water suddenly turned and paddled furiously as they began to position themselves so they could catch the rising wave.
The aliens hovering over the water on their Fiarri boards simply stood upright and leaned back with a confident look.
Jaric noticed how they subtly used their feet as if controlling some mechanism on the board's surface in order to direct their movements.
Several surged forward on their Fiarri boards, at first matching the speed of those paddling their surfboards in the water. They sped up just as the wave's crest curled up behind them.
The wave was twice the size of any they had seen so far.
Most of those paddling their surfboards had not gotten up enough speed in which to catch the huge wave and simply rose and fell back with it on the other side—left behind.
But most of the riders on the Fiarri boards found themselves flying with the wave—their boards speeding just over the top of the water and their bodies just under the curl of water. For long seconds, they balanced themselves on their boards as they matched the speed of the great wave, bending their bodies forward for more speed as the wave caught up to them and began breaking just over their shoulders. They shot farther ahead of the wave where the water was only just beginning to break.
"How fast can those things go?” Jaric asked as he stared with admiration.
"Top speed is about thirty-five clicks,” Inaha replied. “They could easily outrun any wave. But the sport here on Meramee is to match the wave and try to ride just inside the pipe with the water all around you. That's the trick.” He laughed to himself, remembering all the times he had done the same thing. “It's great fun. But it requires skill, just like regular surfing. And only Fiarri riders can ride the really big waves—they have the speed to catch them."
In the next instant, several ventured too close inside the curl and the mighty wave smashed them down into the frothing waters, covering them and leaving them behind. The boards and riders reappeared, bobbing up and down after the wave passed.
But three skillful Fiarri riders managed to ride it out all the way to the beach.
Cheers broke from onlookers along the beach as they continued their ride over the sand, weaving their boards in and around swimsuit-clad aliens. In a flash of movement, the three rose as one high into the ocean breeze until they were fifteen meters above the treetops. They picked up speed and soared across the cloudless sky.
"Wow! Look at them over there!” Kyle shouted as they all watched with intent fascination.
Jaric whistled with appreciation.
Other Fiarri riders rose to join the trio. Together the group sailed with carefree joy far out on the ocean breeze. All of a sudden, it seemed as if the sky was full of wind surfers. Some sailed straight ahead at high speed while others bent their bodies and dove with well-practiced ease in acrobatic maneuvers. Others soared down to the wave tops—riding wave after wave without ever quite touching them. But they flew close enough to get drenched by the spray as the waves crashed on toward the shore.
A few of the more skilled riders performed bold and daring acrobatics. As they squatted low with one hand gripping the edge of their board, they set off twirling in a series of barrel roll maneuvers across the wide-open expanse then straightened out to soar away to another part of the sky. Still others raced at top speed before suddenly dropping into a crouch and tilting their bodies far over into a hard turn until they and their board were completely horizontal—one hand gripping their boards. The turn seemed to last forever to the wide-eyed observers on the beach—but then the sky rider would come out of it and shoot off with a sudden burst of speed.