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The Saga of Emiko Station - Complete

Just Jim

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Just Jim

Just Jim

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FYI, this chapter was going to be much longer, but I decided to break it into two parts so it wasn't too long.

And since pretty much all of the screenshots for the next part are finished, if the weather permits I may be able to get it posted as soon as tomorrow.

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Geschosskopf

Geschosskopf

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1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

"That mole <bubble bubble> Gene Kerman <gurgle> was my foster-brother <gurgle bubble> Parka B. Kerman!"

Oh wow....  I was wondering how he was going to fit back in, and how it was on the darker side of things.

Anyway, very good.  Lots of things are starting to make some sense now :wink:

 

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Just Jim

Just Jim

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Chapter 62
All Roads Lead to Emiko

 

 

It was growing late in the day, and after hearing the truth behind the covert Zaltonic Electronic space program, Gene and his companions stood quietly, trying to absorb all they had heard. Many of the pieces were starting to fall into place, but some still doubted what had been said so far, especially Captain Kuzzter.

"Surely you can't be suggesting..." but just then he was cut off by his first mate Geo.

"Stop... just stop!" Geschosskopf growled.

"What?" Kuzz asked, trying to sound as innocent as he could.

"That time you did it on purpose... Shirley!"

cvii5oH.png

Near them Emiko giggled, "Shirley."

"OK," Kuzz smiled, "You caught me. But you can't blame an old pirate for trying to lighten up what is turning into a mighty grim tale." Kuzzter turned to face Emiko. "With all due respect, ma'am, I don't know you, and I don't believe anything that... that... pod thing has to say. Are you seriously trying to suggest these Krakens and saucers... well, whatever they are... they're real? And they're coming here, now?"

A frustrated look came over Emiko's face, "Emiko doesn't really know... doesn't remember... Emiko is... so sorry..." And with a sob Emiko ran into Werhner von Kerman's arms. "Please... Werhner... please... help Emiko... help Emiko remember!"

For the next couple minutes everyone gathered around and tried to calm down poor Emiko, more than long enough for the signal to get to the Diamondback and back, and soon Thompberry's voice came over von Kerman's receiver.

"Ahhh, Captain Kuzzter <gurgle gurgle> you don't trust me... <bubble gurgle> perhaps there is hope for you yet," Thompberry chuckled in his weird way, but then grew more serious. "But Captain, there is evidence <gurgle> besides myself, evidence that something <bubble> odd <gurgle> is happening. <gurgle gurgle> Tell me, Captain <gurgle> why exactly were you and your shipmates <gurgle gurgle> heading to Dres?"

Back at the hanger, Kuzz looked up at Gene, who nodded his approval. 

"Our mission was to investigate a..." Kuzz drifted off as the importance of what he was about to say hit him as well, then finished in a much softer voice, "We were to investigate a ring of asteroids that... well, that seems to have mysteriously appeared in orbit around Dres... my god..."

JZ1kZ9q.png

Around the hanger everyone gasped. Floating rocks and Magic Boulders, and now a ring of asteroids around Dres?

Then Thompberry's voice rang out again, "And I'm afraid <gurgle gurgle> there's more. <bubble gurgle> Gene, tell them about the landers."

Gene shook his head, "Like Dres, that was also classified, but I see your point. Over the last few years landers on Duna, Ike, Bop, and Eve have all mysteriously... moved. Not inches or feet, but in some cases hundreds of kilometers. And images we've received all have one thing in common. All the re-positioned landers appear right next to boulders, and in many cases, floating ones. We have no official explanation....."

dL68Thc.png

"Thompberry," von Kerman asked next, "These wormholes of yours, can a lander be moved thru one? Or one of the Magic Boulders perhaps?"

Several seconds later Thompberry replied, "I'm... I'm not sure <gurgle bubble> When I escaped Bop <gurgle> I was atop a Chariot. <gurgle boil> But the Chariot did not survive. <bubble gurgle> Only my pod. <bubble gurgle> However, this was the first <gurgle> and only time I attempted such a feat. <gurgle bubble> Given time to study the problem <gurgle gurgle> I see no reason it <bubble blurp> it can't be done."

"But why?" Kuzz asked, "Why would someone, or something, want to move a bunch of landers about? Are they trying to send us some sort of message?"

"No," Geo replied softly, deep in thought, "No.... but what if... what if they were taken somewhere else, and then brought back, but not quite to the exact same location?"

Harfield saw where Geo was going, and continued softly, "We're being studied..."

Standing next to Harfield, Jandolin agreed with her husband. "This is reasonable enough. They may be as curious about us as we are about them. But Thompberry, you said the monoliths and arches are also connected. How?"

While they waited for a reply, Harfield reached out and took Jandolin's hand. This was the first time he had heard Jan speak to Thompberry without any hint of agony or malice, and he was filled with pride at his wife's ability to put the past aside and focus on the problem at hand.

"I only have a theory <gurgle gurgle> Jandolin Kerman. <gurgle bubble> During Piper Kerman's trip around the Mun <bubble gurgle> I modified and <gurgle bubble> upgraded <gurgle> most of their scientific equipment <gurgle> to answer that same question."

Across the old hanger Piper turned to the Rocklady and smiled, "You were right..."

"The data I've collected is <gurgle bubble> fascinating, but... <gurgle bubble> inconsistent. Both the arches and the Monoliths <gurgle boil> are emitting huge quantities of gravioli particles< gurgle > and seem to be focusing <bubble seethe> gravity itself."

"Fascinating," Harfield whispered when they received the signal.

"At this point I can only speculate <gurgle bubble> that the arches assist in <gurgle> focusing and opening <gurgle> a much larger wormhole or portal. <gurgle bubble> But the monoliths appear to be <gurgle bubble> preventing this from happening. Further, the arches only help to focus gravioli particles <gurgle> So far, I haven't been able to determine <gurgle bubble> the focal point itself."

DCrXe8U.png

Back at the old hanger, Captain Kuzz was starting to understand the seriousness of the situation, but still had questions. "OK, brain-pod boy said earlier he can create a wormhole with just one floating rock, and Miss Emiko here can travel around from planet to planet using a Magic Boulder. Assuming this is true, why do they... whoever they are... why do they need the arches to make a larger wormhole?"

Still trembling terribly and clinging tightly to him, Emiko whispered as best she could manage into Werhner's ear, "Speed of light."

"What?" von Kerman asked, then understood, "Oh... Oh yes, of course! Legend says the Krakens came from somewhere 'beyond our universe'. This can be interpreted a couple ways; that they came from another solar system or galaxy, or even a different dimension. No matter the case, unless they've broken the laws of physics and can travel faster than light, which is highly unlikely, then the only way to travel such a vast distance...

"...would be using some sort of huge wormhole." Kuzz finished. "Now I think I understand." 

From the back of the crowd, Stardust Kerman was doing her best to keep up, despite a lot of this sounding like complete fantasy to her, and asked, "Why not use a Magic Boulder with the arches?"

"That's a very good question, young lady" Kuzz agreed, winking at Stardust. "Thompberry, you mentioned the arches needing a focal point. Could it be one of the Magic Boulders?"

v7Y3VqR.png

"No... no... <gurgle> I considered this <gurgle> The Magic Boulders appear <gurgle bubble> independent... unique. <gurgle> I need more time to <gurgle> study one. <bubble gurgle> But if my computations are correct <gurgle bubble> What we are looking for is something <gurgle bubble> like a floating rock <gurgle> only massive. <bubble boil> On the order of 3,000 - 4,000 tons at least."

From the far side of the hanger the Rocklady gasped, and Piper felt her blood turn to ice when she heard her whisper ominously, "It can't be... starchild???"

Piper turned and looked at the Rocklady in complete horror, and felt her legs giving out beneath her. "Noooo..."

"What?" several voices asked at once.

"Starchild!" The Rocklady said thru the tears welling up inside her.... "Emiko asteroid! It came from beyond our solar system and at a billion to one odds it just happened to fall into orbit around Kerbin? And... and Emiko asteroid is... was.... almost exactly 4,000 tons!"

 A feeling of dread filled the old hanger, and on board the Diamondback even Thompberry felt a rush of fear overwhelm him... "Of course..."

"My vision!" Piper began sobbing uncontrollably, "I saw... I saw Emiko... and KASA... the whole world... it... it was burning! No, oh noooo.... not my home... not Emiko..."

Atop the small capsule, Gene could barely speak, barely breath... 

"Could it be possible?" he whispered, "Is Emiko... is Emiko Station actually some sort of... of a portal?"

33QQNrw.png

 

 

The Saga of Emiko Station, and the Tale of Emiko Kerman, are far, far from over...

Go to Chapter 63
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Edited by Just Jim
changed a word here and there
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Just Jim

Just Jim

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5 hours ago, adsii1970 said:

Again, an amazing tale!

Thanks!

5 hours ago, RocketSquid said:

Mine quickly!! If we can get over 1,000 tons off of Ekimo Station it will no longer work as a focal point!

Perhaps...  We'll explore this further in the next chapter.... :wink:

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Geschosskopf

Geschosskopf

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7 hours ago, Just Jim said:

"Could it be possible?" he whispered, "Is Emiko... is Emiko Station actually some sort of... of a portal?"

 

7 hours ago, RocketSquid said:

 

Mine quickly!! If we can get over 1,000 tons off of Ekimo Station it will no longer work as a focal point!

 

Heheheh, :)

 

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Mjp1050

Mjp1050

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8 hours ago, Just Jim said:

Several seconds later Thompberry replied, "I'm... I'm not sure <gurgle bubble> When I escaped Bop <gurgle> I was atop a Chariot. <gurgle boil> But the Chariot did not survive. <bubble gurgle> Only my pod. <bubble gurgle> However, this was the first <gurgle> and only time I attempted such a feat. <gurgle bubble> Given time to study the problem <gurgle gurgle> I see no reason it <bubble blurp> it can't be done."

Thank you so much for clarifying this. The fate of Thompberry's Chariot has been bothering me since you first posted that chapter, but I didn't want to call attention to it by nitpicking your story... thank you!

1 hour ago, Lo Var Lachland said:

Whoa whoa whoa, 2 new chapters??! Geez, I Gotta check this more often.

Are you complaining? :D

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Drone_Kerbal

Drone_Kerbal

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13 hours ago, Just Jim said:

Is Emiko... is Emiko Station actually some sort of... of a portal?

To be honest, I had no clue this is what was coming. Also, another very interesting chapter (as always :)). Lots of answers but many, many more questions. Not to put any pressure on you, but I can't wait for the next chapter.

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Just Jim

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On 8/20/2016 at 8:49 PM, Geschosskopf said:

Oh wow....  I was wondering how he was going to fit back in, and how it was on the darker side of things.

Oh, I have plans for ol' Parka.  But honestly, he's only on the duskier twilight side right now... we'll get back to him in a just few more chapters... :wink:

 

13 hours ago, Lo Var Lachland said:

Whoa whoa whoa, 2 new chapters??! Geez, I Gotta check this more often.

 

12 hours ago, RocketSquid said:

Its really more of a two-part chapter.

Yup... what happened, quite simply, was Saturday night I was writing out chapter 61, and it started getting late. I was getting a little bleary-eyed, and didn't want to screw things up, so I ended it in what felt like a good spot, and picked up with chapter 62 the next day.

 

10 hours ago, Mjp1050 said:

Thank you so much for clarifying this. The fate of Thompberry's Chariot has been bothering me since you first posted that chapter, but I didn't want to call attention to it by nitpicking your story... thank you!

Oh wow... sorry about that. If you had asked about the Chariot, I would not have called that nit-picking, and been more than glad to answer you.

The only time I got really upset at what I consider nitpicking was during the Duna Station takeover, and someone, I don't remember who, seemed to be questioning everything I wrote, especially little stuff like the lab seats not having seat belts when I thought they all did. OK, my bad, but seriously? I hate going to movies with someone that picks apart every little detail, and can't just relax and get into the story, despite a small technical flaw here and there. And this is what it began to feel like for me. Sci-fi and fantasy often take liberties that most of the time aren't technically perfect.... and neither am I. 

I'm just an old geezer on limited disability trying my best to pretend I'm a real author. 

OK, having said that, back to the Chariot and the wormhole. From a writing POV, if the Chariot had survived the passage, there wouldn't have been any reason for Thompberry to immediately apprehend the Raptor before it could escape. If that Chariot had made it to Ike with him, he could have taken his time and used it to plan a more devious trap.

Plus I felt having a small red-glowing probe appear in the dark patch on Ike had much more dramatic effect than having an entire Chariot show up.

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Just Jim

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6 hours ago, Drone_Kerbal said:

Not to put any pressure on you, but I can't wait for the next chapter.

Neither can I... lol.  I want to get this meeting over with so I can go back to building new stuff and then blowing some of it up... :D

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Torgo

Torgo

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1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

I hate going to movies with someone that picks apart every little detail, and can't just relax and get into the story, despite a small technical flaw here and there.

Good thing you weren't with my wife and I when we tried to watch Gravity. Did the film makers actually expect us to believe someone wouldn't stay married to George Clooney? Ruined the whole story for me!

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RocketSquid

RocketSquid

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1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

The only time I got really upset at what I consider nitpicking was during the Duna Station takeover, and someone, I don't remember who, seemed to be questioning everything I wrote, especially little stuff like the lab seats not having seat belts when I thought they all did. OK, my bad, but seriously? I hate going to movies with someone that picks apart every little detail, and can't just relax and get into the story, despite a small technical flaw here and there. And this is what it began to feel like for me. Sci-fi and fantasy often take liberties that most of the time aren't technically perfect.... and neither am I.

I apologize for that. I was unused to the experience of reading a story on the forums, and was basically broadcasting my fridge logic.

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Mister Dilsby

Mister Dilsby

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1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

The only time I got really upset at what I consider nitpicking was during the Duna Station takeover, and someone, I don't remember who, seemed to be questioning everything I wrote, especially little stuff like the lab seats not having seat belts when I thought they all did. 

Heh. You want to have some real fun, have a character fire a gun in space and "correct for recoil". :P 

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Just Jim

Just Jim

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19 minutes ago, RocketSquid said:

I apologize for that. I was unused to the experience of reading a story on the forums, and was basically broadcasting my fridge logic.

That was you? Don't sweat it... just please bear in mind this is the first book I've ever tried to write. And honestly, I'm still learning as I go along... :wink:

 

18 minutes ago, Kuzzter said:

Heh. You want to have some real fun, have a character fire a gun in space and "correct for recoil". :P 

Oh, I remember that fiasco! Got so bad it was almost comical, and one of the reasons I don't really want conventional weapons in Emiko... :D

 

And... I'm out of likes for today... not surprised... 

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Just Jim

Just Jim

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1 hour ago, max_creative said:

Ramming speed!!! Oh wait... Maybe that's not a good idea... Actually, how about we just throw Emiko Station out of the system? 

This may be one of the options our heroes have to consider...

But what kind of insane dV does it take to eject a 4,000 ton magic-asteroid from the Kerbol system, especially with OPM installed?

 

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insert_name

insert_name

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1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

This may be one of the options our heroes have to consider...

But what kind of insane dV does it take to eject a 4,000 ton magic-asteroid from the Kerbol system, especially with OPM installed?

 

less than it does to put it on a collision course with jool

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