The Saga of Emiko Station - Complete

[obney kerman]

1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

hey everyone.... thanks for being patient with me. I just finished uploading all the new screenshots for the next chapter. I would have been done sooner today, but I changed the ending of this next chapter... again (for the third time).

Still, it should be no problem getting it written up and posted tomorrow.

 

Thanks!

[DarkOwl57]

Hey, Jim, I've got a question. So I actually got this idea from @adsii1970: Could I use the Saga of the Emiko station as a TV show in my Civil War story?

[KAL 9000]

31 minutes ago, DarkOwl57 said:

Hey, Jim, I've got a question. So I actually got this idea from @adsii1970: Could I use the Saga of the Emiko station as a TV show in my Civil War story?

Like "The Twilight Zone" or something? Cool!

[DarkOwl57]

43 minutes ago, KAL 9000 said:

Like "The Twilight Zone" or something? Cool!

Yeah; so basically Gene's going to come into the new KSC (Named the KAFB for plot purposes) and the unit he's assigned to has parties every week, when the "Saga of the Emiko Station" comes on the TV

[Just Jim]

3 hours ago, DarkOwl57 said:

Hey, Jim, I've got a question. So I actually got this idea from @adsii1970: Could I use the Saga of the Emiko station as a TV show in my Civil War story?

Like @adsii1970is doing?  Yeah, sure, I'd be honored. In fact, I may now have the first fictional TV show that crosses over different parallel universes... lol. 

[adsii1970]

@Just Jim: In case you're in need of reminding:

 

[DarkOwl57]

16 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

@Just Jim: In case you're in need of reminding:

 

GAH CURSE MY SCHOOL'S YOUTUBE ISSUES!!!!! I'll need to wait until I get home since for some reason YouTube's buggered

[adsii1970]

1 minute ago, DarkOwl57 said:

GAH CURSE MY SCHOOL'S YOUTUBE ISSUES!!!!! I'll need to wait until I get home since for some reason YouTube's buggered

Yeah, they do that. They do not want you watching alien conspiracy theories during class...

[DarkOwl57]

2 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

Yeah, they do that. They do not want you watching alien conspiracy theories during class...

Well it isn't that; people're saying there's a problem with the network. Some are saying it's blocked, others say it's a network problem. The teachers are getting it fixed first, then us lowly students get the fix

[obney kerman]

4 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

Yeah, they do that. They do not want you watching alien conspiracy theories during class...

Too late.

[DarkOwl57]

1 minute ago, obney kerman said:

Too late.

*X-files music plays over headphones*

[Just Jim]

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside
                                                                                    EMERSON, LAKE, & PALMER: Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression Part 2

 

Chapter 75
  Karn Evil  

 

"My friends," Kuzzter smiled wickedly. "We're going saucer hunting..."

For the last couple hours it was all Piper Kerman could hear...

"We're going saucer hunting..."

If it was a rogue saucer that caused the Eagle disaster, and nearly poofed Piper and her friends, then she wanted it... and badly. But inside she was torn between her desire to take out that saucer, and having to work with.... uggggg... Thompberry Kerman, who was still securely docked to the top of her ship.

For the sake of her best friend, Kerenna, she was trying to be patient. But while it was hard enough just cooperating with him, it was totally insufferable that he insisted on flirting with her constantly. Piper knew he was doing it just to goad her, and again, she was trying her best to ignore him and not take the bait... but her patience was worn down to a thread, and she kept looking down at the emergency eject button, and thinking how wonderful it would be to just slam it and send him off into oblivion.

But as much as she hated to admit it, Thompberry did construct the saucers, and knew more than anyone else about them, and his insight could prove helpful, as disgusting as it sounded to Piper. So she kept her mouth shut, and instead concentrated on adjusting the Pandora into a low orbit over their intended target so they might first survey the area and make sure it was safe to land. And as eager as he first sounded, once the ship was in orbit, Thompberry indicated it would be wise to gather what information they could from where they were, and not land again until near sunset.

"Unless it has been radically altered, the saucer is primarily solar powered, and will not attack until it's capacitors are fully charged," Thingberry had told them. "It will most likely make one quick scan of us, then wait until sunrise, after which it would take approximately one hour to fully charge itself. We have that long to prepare."

Next to Piper, Kerenna seemed lost in thought for a while.

"Thompberry?" she finally asked. "I'm confused about something."

"Yes, Kerenna Kerman? How may I be of assistance?"

"Maybe I remember wrong, I know it's been a few years, but I thought Alpha-77... back when it still Alpha-77.... said there were only three saucers like it? And they were all on Kerbin..." Kerenna drifted off for a second. "So was Alpha-77 lying??? Could it lie??? Just what is this new saucer we're trying to find?"

"Ahhhh." Thompberry chuckled. "Alpha-77 wasn't lying so much as just being annoyingly specific. Technically it was correct, there were only three like it: Alpha, Beta, and Delta. But there was also a fourth, albeit somewhat different, of the same series: Gamma-77. But the Gamma saucer was different in many ways, and adapted for the Mun. And if memory serves, it was thought lost or destroyed when he told you this, was it not?"

"Hmmmm," Kerenna thought back. "I believe so. OK, if this is the case, then how is this saucer different from the others you built?"

"The Gamma-77 saucer was superior in many ways," Thompberry began to explain. "But a failure in others, which led to its eventual discovery. You see, in order to get it to the Mun I cut back on the carry-all transport that accompanied it. This decision proved... unfortunate."

"Haaa!" Piper interrupted, unable to turn down a chance to poke at Thompberry for a change. "So the great big brain made a mistake? Ha, again!"

 

"Piper!" Kerenna scolded, but Thompberry just chuckled again.

"No... no. My dear Piper is right. I did make a mistake, a costly one, and while both the saucer and carry-all made it to the location of the buried Mun-saucer successfully.... and without anyone noticing, I might add... the drill unit proved totally inadequate, and was unable to refuel the saucer. Instead Gamma-77 had just enough fuel left to launch itself again, once, in an emergency. Which is what it did when Jeb and his companions discovered. And again, it was thought lost at that point."

"I see," Kerenna mused. "So instead it must have landed safely. I suppose that's easy enough to believe, Alpha-77 had acquired a sense of self-preservation from the buried polar saucer it was scanning. Perhaps this Gamma saucer was developing the same thing, and hid itself instead of crashing." 

"My thoughts exactly, Kerenna Kerman," Thompberry replied. "But do you understand the problem we face now... the frightening and perhaps fatal flaw in all of this? The reason it is imperative we find that saucer, now, and destroy it if necessary?"

Kerenna sat back and thought about it, but it was Piper who spoke up first.

"It couldn't refuel itself... yet it attacked and destroyed the Eagle.... halfway around the Mun?"

"Yes, Piper?" Thompberry sounded pleased. "Yes... continue..."

"That's impossible.... unless... unless it had help."

"Exactly." From the back Kuzzter spoke up. "And while I can't explain quite how, or why, I now suspect who may be providing it."

"Carlenna," Kerenna whispered.

"Yes," Kuzzter shook his head sadly. "Carlenna. And I'm sorry, Thompberry, I truly am, but perhaps your parents as well."

Suddenly, as weird as it seemed, Piper felt genuine sadness for Thompberry, and was relieved when looked at her monitors and saw an excuse to change the subject.

"We're coming into view of the saucer. ETA 20 seconds."

"I have it on my.... wait...." Thompberry paused a second. "Piper, are you seeing this?"

It took a second for the image to show up on her monitors, then she saw what Thompberry was indicating.

"I see the saucer, and what appears to be another of those green monoliths in the next crater over... and there's something else is down there, right in the middle of the monolith's crater. I can't make out from here what, other than I'm pretty sure it's not a ship. But the scanners are picking up something unusual. Can you make it out on the telescope?"

"No, I'm afraid we're too low and moving too fast. All I can make out is a large blur. But I do concur, Piper dearest, it isn't a ship."

As they passed over, Piper surveyed the area and other than the anomalous readings, she was satisfied with what she saw.

"The crater itself is quite shallow, and I can put her down pretty much anywhere we like."

"The apparent monolith and unknown anomaly are almost exactly 1 kilometer apart." Thompberry suggested. "It should be safe enough somewhere in between. But not directly in between, just in case."

"I hate agreeing with you, Thing," Piper growled. "But agreed. Setting landing coordinates for our next pass. ETA about 25 minutes."

The next orbit passed quickly, and Piper did her best to tune everyone out and focus on what she had to do, and just how difficult it might prove. She didn't want to panic the others, but if her computations where correct, they might.... might... have just enough fuel to land without crashing. But it would require her best timing, and before she knew it, she was counting down...

"Three seconds to vertical burn... two... one.... burn!"

"Steady... steady...." Piper watched the speed indicators and temperature gauges, hoping she wouldn't overheat the radiators in this suicide landing. "Steady...... All engines stop! Disengaging Viper engines. Engaging all on-board R/W units... rotating nose down 90 degrees... Engaging horizontal thrusters... now!"

Once the Pandora was horizontal, Thompberry was able to pivot the belly camera over and verify they had, in fact, found another green monolith.

Then Thompberry focused on the source of the unknown readings, and was intrigued to see it was a monstrously large boulder, or perhaps even the remains of an impacted asteroid!

"That's unexpected." he exclaimed. "Piper, my dear, have a look at this."

"Woah," Kerenna gasped. "Is it magic?"

"No... no, I don't believe so." Thompberry answered. "I'm not seeing any of the colored veins.... however.... I am starting to pick up something on the gravioli readers. And from this distance... fascinating. Piper, dear, for your own safety, I would land at least 500 meters from it."

"Agreed.... dear...." Piper growled. But next to her Kerenna laughed, and Piper couldn't help but chuckle a little as she brought the Pandora to a safe, but somewhat harrowing, landing, with just scant gallons of fuel to spare.

"OK, everyone," Kuzzter called out from the back, "We only have about an hour of light left, and if Thompberry is right, we should be safe enough for now. But this also means we'll have to do a lot of work in the dark, so best we get started. It's a sure thing that saucer saw us land, and knows we're here, and that this is all a trap. So be it, the best way to beat a trap is first knowing it exists.... then trap the trapper. But for now we must act completely innocent, and not let it know that we're onto it."

Kuzzter paused a moment, wondering how much, or little, he should say over the speakers. Could that saucer pick them up from here? Best be safe....

"Captain Piper, you have your ship to attend to. And I don't have to be up front to know the sound of a starving engine, so I assume we're in need of re-fueling? Miss Frannie, I believe this is your department. Will you require assistance?"

"No, but thank you." Frannie answered, a little charmed by the roguish pirate. "The system is quite automatic. But we'll need time."

"Understood," Kuzzter replied. "If I'm right, we have... what... about 22-23 hours of darkness, plus time to recharge. So I'm guessing about 24 hours?"

"Very good," Thompberry chuckled. "Taking into account the crater walls I estimate 24-25 hours at the very most. Frannie Kerman, can you have us refueled by then?"

"I haven't seen this actual drill set-up in action," Frannie said as she frantically ran the numbers through her head. "But if the specs are right, then I think so, yes."

"Excellent," Kuzzter smiled. "Chuck and I will start assembling the base and chem-cam rover. Once those are complete we should be able to get our first close up scan of these green monoliths. Madam Rocklady, we could use your expertise once the data comes in. And yours, Thompberry."

"Of course." Thompberry answered.

"Yes, certainly," the Rocklady replied. "Piper, dear, I know you have this ship to look after, and I'm thinking you might want some alone time. Perhaps Kerenna could assist Thompberry and I, if that would be alright?"

"Yes.... YES!" Piper sighed, relieved at the thought of not hearing Thompberry for a while... maybe even catching a much needed nap! "Please.... I have to inspect the ship, and then I really do need to unwind. I'll be fine up here."

 "All right then," Kuzzter laughed. "Let's do this."

And with that everyone began their assignments. First off Chuck, with Kuzzter's assistance, began assembling a temporary base. Kuzzter might not have been an actual engineer, but responded that it doesn't take a degree to haul boxes or turn a screwdriver, and helped save valuable time and effort.

"OK, don't tell him I said so," Chuck grinned. "This guy Angelo is quite the genius. I can't believe everything fits into the ship."

"Agreed," Kuzzter replied as he brought over a large, but lightweight and retracting light pole and began to assemble it. "I am truly impressed."

And before they knew it, the base was finished. But as Chuck looked off to the south, he saw a brief, but bright, flash on the crater rim, like a brightly flashing star, but just for a second.

"Hey, guys.... I just saw something."

"I have it," Thompberry replied. "That's just what I was hoping for. Everyone smile pretty... we're about to be scanned."

It only lasted a second, but to Thompberry, who knew just what to look for, the distant saucer glowed like a small supernova, then vanished.

"Perfect... even if it has been altered, this is how it's core programming was designed to act. We should be safe." Thompberry laughed. "But those of you that have fingers, keep them crossed."

Now that the saucer had spied them and gone, Chuck and Kuzzter began assembling a small rover from parts also stored in the rear compartment of the ship.

Like the inflatable base, the rover parts were modular and interlocking, and it took very little time to assemble. But then the tricky part.... removing the chem-cam from the Pandora and assembling it to the little rover. The light was fading beyond the crater wall, but Chuck and Kuzzter took their time, and with great skill removed the camera without damaging it, and then carefully attached it to the rover.

Once secure, they just needed to carefully add some more science equipment, and an antenna, and use the last remaining sunlight to charge the small battery before sending it off to explore the green monolith.

At first everything seemed normal enough, but when the chem-cam's laser hit the monolith, there was a brilliant flash of light, and the small rover was thrown back several meters. 

Luckily the rover remained upright, and was still apparently intact, but back at the Pandora, Thompberry was totally bewildered with the incoming data.

"Chuck Kerman, Captain Kuzzter," Thompberry radioed out to the two, who were now putting up what seemed to be a series of large, but incredibly lightweight satellite dishes. "Gentlekerbs, with respect, are you sure you wired the chemical camera correctly?"

"Absolutely," Chuck replied as he hoisted a folding girder into place. "All the wiring is modular, the plugs only fit one way. Unless it's built wrong at the factory, there's no way it can be assembled incorrectly."

"Affirmative." Thompberry drifted off, still puzzled. If the rover was correct... but no... it was all... backwards! And impossible. Not in a positive, physical universe... it just wasn't possible by any law of physics. Granted, they already knew the black monoliths were apparently composed of... bizarre as it all seemed... solid neutronium. But this.... no.... it couldn't be.....

Anti-neutronium?  

No.... the instruments had to be wrong. How could something like that even exist in this universe without exploding, and likely taking out half the Kerbol system with it? 

"Thompberry?" Kerenna called out to him, breaking his concentration. "The Rocklady and I are in the lab. How should we proceed?"

 

"What? Oh, yes... my apologies, Kerenna Kerman. The data from the monolith is... conflicting... and I will require some time to process it. In the mean time, why don't we examine this fascinating rock?" And with that he remotely guided the chem-cam up to the huge, silent boulder.

But before the rover even got close, Thompberry recognized something familiar about the massive chunk of rock... something remarkable familiar indeed.

"No....." he whispered, "This is... fascinating!"

Then the laser shot out, the camera began to examine the results, and Thompberry felt a sudden thrill of revelation surging thru his processors!

"Quickly, Kerenna, take control of the rover," Thompberry called out excitedly. "Scan the surrounding boulders... I need to watch this... I... I believe we've found something!"

Unsure what was actually happening, but hearing the thrill in his weird voice, Kerenna quickly maneuvered the small rover to several surrounding boulders and scanned them. And each time Thompberry got quieter and quieter...

"Yes... of course... yes!

Across from Kerenna in the lab, the Rocklady was also watching the incoming flux of data, and while she was no-where as fast as Thompberry's semi-computerized brain, she also now saw a pattern, and gasped out loud.

"It's.... it's dead..... That's... it's a dead magic boulder, isn't it?"

"Yes," Thompberry was equally horrified at what he was seeing. "I believe so. The readings are faint, but they do match those gathered from Emiko's magic boulder. I believe this.... thing... is what originally formed this crater. And these surrounding rocks... they're all fragments, probably broken off from the impact. It's astounding the entire thing didn't disintegrate. And... there's more. I believe..."

"Yes?" Kerenna asked quietly, trying to absorb all she was hearing.

"These fragment boulders... they're all half buried... the surrounding dirt and dust is holding them down.... Kerenna Kerman, they should all be floating!"

"Wait.... hold on..." Kerenna wondered if she actually said it out loud, ans the full impact of what Thompberry hit her like a... well... like a Magic Boulder impacting the Mun... or Kerbin.... and shattering into... "The floating boulders... the ones we keep seeing..... are you suggesting they're... what, fragments? From a Magic Boulder that smashed into the Mun..... or dear god.... into Kerbin itself?"

"Yes, Kerenna Kerman," Thompberry replied slowly, also awed at the implications. "Thousands, perhaps even millions of years ago, one, or perhaps many, magic boulders smashed into the Mun, and the remains of the colossal impacts must have created what we know call the floating boulders, or magic rocks... Isn't it ironic how quite by accident they even have similar names? This explains a lot, Kerenna Kerman, and is an important discovery."

"I'll say it is," Kerenna was still trying to wrap her brain around the whole idea, but then she realized who was missing all this, and switched on the intercom.

"Piper, hey, Piper, get up here, sister. You have to see this!"

Nothing... silence..... 

"Piper????  Piper, answer me!" Kerenna shouted, but there was no reply.

"Piper Kerman... reply please..." Thompberry was also starting to become alarmed. "Piper?"

"PIPER!!!  ANSWER ME!!!"

"OMG...." It wasn't like Piper not to keep an open line, even if she was taking a nap, and Kerenna was now starting to panic. "Chuck, Captain Kuzzter, is Piper there with you?"

"No, ma'am." Chuck answered back.

"Is there a problem, lass?" Kuzzter followed.

"I'm not sure," Kerenna tried to keep her voice steady. "She's not answering, will one of you go take a look?"

But before either could reply, Frannie cut in.

"I think I see her..."

"You think..." Kerenna wasn't sure why, but she really scared now. "She's not with you?"

"No, ma'am... she's way off yonder." Frannie answered back innocently. She had been too busy with the refueling, and hadn't heard what had just been discovered.... 

"Looks like she's headed towards that big rock."

Inside the lab, Kerenna felt her blood turn to ice, and she wanted to scream, but in her dread couldn't move.....

Instead Thompberry screamed for her...

"WHAT????  NOOO!!!  PIPER!!!!  All of you... MOVE!!!! Get her away from that thing... NOW!!!!!"

 

 

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

Go to Chapter 76
Return to Index

Edited December 7, 2019 by Just Jim

[KAL 9000]

Piper'll be fine! I didn't make her a Perry the Platypus-style theme song for nothing! She's BadS!

[adsii1970]

What's Piper up to? Hmmm... Makes me wonder if she has seen something that no one else noticed OR if maybe she has fallen under the control of some entity yet to be identified? Maybe she's under the control of the green monolith...

I love the interior shots of the Pandora!

[DualDesertEagle]

Ok, my turn!

 

DUN DUN DUUUUN!

[KAL 9000]

RIP Magic Boulder

[UNKNOWN] - [UNKNOWN] 

"Maybe I shouldn't have crashed into the Mün at an incredibly high velocity."

[The solid fuel chemist]

Kuzzter! Chuck! Somebody! Quick, check her eyes!

[KAL 9000]

2 hours ago, The solid fuel chemist said:

Kuzzter! Chuck! Somebody! Quick, check her eyes!

I still see pupils. She's OK.

[DarkOwl57]

SHE'S MIND-CONTROLLED! QUICK! POUR SOME COLD WA- Oh wait it's the Mün...... uh..... SLAP HER OUT OF IT!

[Alchemist]

20 hours ago, Just Jim said:

"All the wiring is modular, the plugs only fit one way. Unless it's built wrong at the factory, there's no way it can be assembled incorrectly."

unless the engineer assembling it makes an adapter to plug it the way he thinks right (actually happened with Energia rocket)

Yeah, never underestimate a truly Kerbal engineer

[Angelo Kerman]

Uh oh, Piper, come back!

[Readerty2007]

@Just Jim, for epic writing in the face of debilitating injury and demanding fans, I hereby award you the medal of Kerbal Heroism!

 

[Just Jim]

3 hours ago, Readerty2007 said:

@Just Jim, for epic writing in the face of debilitating injury and demanding fans, I hereby award you the medal of Kerbal Heroism!

 

Thank you!

But all kidding aside, I have the greatest fans ever!!!  

[obney kerman]

26 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Thank you!

But all kidding aside, I have the greatest fans ever!!!  

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Emperor of the Titan Squid]

Uh-oh. This is a very well-written mystery.