AS the magnetic locks released the landing pod there was the loud hiss
of air that escaped into space ! which housed nomad and abel
from the automated ship, the journey had been a long one, launched in the year
2078A.D. from the orbiting platform around the planet MARS once outside
the solar system it began to accelerate up ninety percent the speed of light
headed for a star forty light-years away, it had taken nearly fifty years to
get there, both nomad and abel were in a electronic deep sleep upon awakening
the two would be interconnected by the secondary computer systems .
THE pod which is radio controlled was in orbit around the EARTH SIZED world,
the decent rockets fired upon command from the mothership and slowly and
methodically drifted down thru the dense atmosphere, it's heat shields began
to glowed a cherry red in constant control by the mothership !
down thru the layers of air the pod sailed, from the surface a splash of
sunlight could be seen reflecting off a metallic surface, that if there was
anyone to see it .
TRAVELING at more then the speed of sound, the explosive clap of manmade
thunder echoed from horizon to horizon, the pod, tear shaped landed near a glacerial river it had been sent here to see if was habitable or inhabited,
the command signal was given by the empty mothership and nomad felt the slow
stirring of awakening in his mind, the command codes were cycled thru his neruo-net,
full consciousness was restored to nomad, so at last we are here !
on a planet of a sun forty light-years away from EARTH the star HD.51148
a middle age solar type star, this star was chosen by the scientist in charge
of the project," because the family of planets that the
interferometer in orbit beyond the ort cloud had detected, had revealed
a habitable world, the one nomad sits upon now !
IT was time to awaken abel, who was tuck away neatly! the
man shaped android
was the color of gold, equipped with a positronic brain and an emotion chip,
it's creators felt this was necessary for abel to function as a reasoning
being, IMAGES swirled in abel's brain, faces, sounds, strange metallic
structures that seemed far away lost in the midst of time and space, he felt
restrained in his thoughts like he was being controlled by a superior mind
indeed he was it was nomad that had wakened him and brought him slowly to
consciousness .IN abel's mind filtered in binary codes, codes that had been
programmed into nomad codes that would enable the two to function as one, his
mind clear now abel knew were he was and was aware of the presence of nomad
that it seemed so natural a part of him like an arm or leg or his mind, the
restraining straps holding abel in were released and abel was able to stand
for the first time in his short existence, he walked slowly at first then sure
of himself toward the airlock that held him in the belly of nomad, he punched
in a code and the door slid silently aside, then abel walked into the airlock
and the inner door again closed, abel could hear the air of the airlock being
pumped into a storage unit, there would be no polluting of the outside
environment of this alien world .
A ramp unfolded first and then the outer door opened up and for the
first time in abel's existence sunlight and the natural sounds flooded into his
senses, he was frightened at first everything was new to him, even though he
had been programmed with certain information, prime numbers that contained
secret codes, but not the information of a vibrant living world that had to
be learned . ABEL took his first tentative steps onto the ramp and
walked slowly down it, a small animal darted in front of him, this made him
stop and think about what had just happened all the while watching the
creature sitting up in it's hind legs looking at the pod and then back to abel.
clearly the animal had never seen anything so strange and it's curiosity got
the best of it, all at once the animal took flight into some thick bushes and
was gone from sight but not sound for abel could hear it moving around in the
brush . THE valley in which the pod sat was cris crossed
with many animal trails, the one functioning as two were sent here to
explore and explore they would ! setting off toward the west abel made his way
to a wide trail that led out of the valley, slowly but surely abel accompanied
by the thoughts of nomad made his way up the trail toward the crest of the
ridge once reaching the top of the ridge, the trees and under growth thinned
out to reveal another deep valley that widen out like a broad avenue and thru
this new valley ran a river cold and deep feed be glaciers and sitting
squarely in the green abode was a village along side the unnamed river as it
curved along side of the village.
WHAT is it abel thought, why don't you adjust your bionic eye sight said nomad
deep within his mind ! then you will discover what it is, abel got the feeling
that nomad knew what the structures miles away really are, and that he was
just teasing him adjusting his state of the art eye sight abel easily saw what
the structures were, dwellings and that only that he could see movement closer
his eyes brought him, until he could see individuals standing and walking
about and going about their business, there was something familiar about them,
abel could feel nomad's laughter deep within the convolutions of his brain, he
didn't like it, although he was like an infant in his experiences, these mind
games that nomad was playing with him disturbed him, nomad was suppose to be
his mentor ! but he was acting more like a tormentor, but abel had forgotten
that nomad was also learning, althrough he was programed with more knowledge
then abel. IT was then abel
decided to follow the trail down to the village to get a better look at these
creatures, abel was no more then a quarter of a mile from the dwellings, when
he encountered two beings, small for their size children a thought came to
him, nomads presence was stronger then before, it was like the two's minds
were intertwining become one, the presence of nomad was comforting, the two
children hadn't seen abel yet ! they were busy picking fruit from
over hanging bushes, but all that changed within a moment, the two small one
started to walk in his direction and that's when they noticed him their faces
turned white with terror neither made a move, after a few moment they
curiosity
over came them and moved toward him, until they were a foot from him and
reach out and toughed him . IT was quite an experience for the three, abel
spoke first but it was gibberish to them and then the spoke and abels
positronic brain took over .
DEEP within abels brain, vowels were being compared to other sounds and soon
abel had a working language and this he was understood, please don't be
afraid, I'm from a far away place, another village the children said no
comment abel and looked toward the sky from the sun the young female said, no
laugh abel, they thought for a minute and then an astounding look came upon
their faces, the stars they said in a chorus, yes the stars abel said, after a
lengthy talk the three part company, the children to the village and abel back
to the pod ! once back at the pod abel strapped himself in and nomad started
the count down, the pod lifted off effortlessly it climb higher and higher it
till it was a bright dot in the sky, this event didn't go unnoticed for the
two children had followed abel to the sight of the pod, they had witnessed an
astounding event only a few were privileged to see in this vast universe, they
both agreed to speak of this to know one, it would be their secret and with
that they both do what children do running and chasing each other back to their
homes with a huge secret stored within their minds .
