UNISCAPE

(Photo Credit as shown)

CHAPTER ONE.

“GENESIS.”

“This way Sue!” panted John, pointing to a gap in the trees. Hurriedly he ushered their pet Labrador Sam through the narrow divide, and Sue followed. Behind them was the haunting sound of running feet and shouts: Sue’s family in hot pursuit! For John and Sue had decided to elope to Gretna and get married! And Sue’s folks were having none of it! The couple had taken a short cut towards John’s parked car, but their pursuers were gaining fast, so now was the time for a quick diversion! Into the wood they went.

Suddenly John, Sue and Sam were surrounded by bright white light! They were no longer outdoors! And there, standing before them, was the strangest couple they’d ever seen! Sam cowered and growled as his owners just blinked in astonishment. The most “normal” thing about these “aliens” was that they wore spacesuits with their helmets removed. From the groups’ perspective, the alien on the right was a dog smoking a pipe! And to the left was a cat! Both were standing on their hind legs, like humans!  The dog stood about five foot nine inches tall, and the cat about five foot five.

Removing his pipe, the dog spoke: “The individuals who are following you, are they hunting you?”

“Yes, in a way they are,” replied John hesitantly.

“Doors Closed! Engage Cloak Vanessa!” commanded the dog.

Sue glanced back to see a panel slide closed behind them. They were evidently inside some type of spacecraft!

“Please relax and make yourself at home,” continued the dog, “I think we need to talk! I’m Denver, Chief Scientist of this expedition. As you can see, I’m a canine. My assistant here Lena is a feline. Who are you?”

Oddly, all his words were directed at Sam the Labrador, who now spoke in reply!

“Watch yourselves! I bite hard!” yelled Sam.

“Good God!” gasped John, “Sam’s speaking!”   

Denver and Lena turned to John in astonishment.

Lena was the first to find some words: “What did you say human?”

“My dog, he’s speaking! What the hell’s going on here?” rasped John.

“My!” sighed Lena, “You have quite a vocabulary for a human! What is going on?”

“I defend my pack!” shouted Sam at the top of his voice.

“No need to be aggressive my brother!” replied Denver, “We come in Peace, as time travellers, from a million years in your future!”

“Back Off Stranger!” yelled Sam.

“Please listen to reason my friend, we mean you no harm,” continued Denver.

“He doesn’t seem to understand you,” pointed out Lena, “even with the Universal Translator.”

“Universal Translator?” asked John, “What’s this? Star Trek?”

Lena: “Star Trek?”

Susan: “It’s a science fiction programme of ours.”

“Science fiction?” smiled Denver, “Well, please forgive us, this is very much science fiction to us! Canine, what is your name?”

“Keep away!” yelled Sam.

Denver: “Don’t you understand me sir?”

Sam: “Keep back!”

“Quiet Sam!” interjected Sue, “Denver did you say? A million years from the future? Well I’m Susan and this here is my boyfriend John. As you can see, Sam is our pet dog.”

Denver: “Dog? What’s a dog? Don’t take this badly, but Sam here is a miniature canine. One of the smallest I’ve ever seen if you must know! Did you say pet? We keep humans for pets but never canines, no matter how small! And while we’re at it, why is he on all fours?

John: “What is this, ‘Planet of The Apes’? That’s not a clever disguise you’re wearing is it? We’ve never seen dogs and cats as big as you two.”

Denver: “I assure you sir we are every bit as real as you. What’s a ‘cat’?

Sue: “You seem to call them ‘felines’. We keep them as pets too. Well, the really tiny ones.

Denver: “Please excuse me, but this is most shocking! Canines and felines as pets!”

Sam: “Watch it!”

Lena: “Quiet canine, if you’ve nothing better to say!”

Denver: “No Lena. I hate to admit it. His vocabulary is very limited. You two though, you are amazing! I hate to say this but all the humans, and apes we’ve ever encountered talk just like Sam here. You though talk just like us!”

“Very well,” replied Sue, “but what are you going to do with us?”

Denver: “That’s entirely up to you my friend. You are welcome guests here for as long as you wish.”

Sue: “On this spaceship?”

Lena: “She’s a prototype ‘Uniscape’ actually. Can take us anywhere and anywhen, in space and time! We’re honoured to be the first to ‘fly’ her!”

Sue: “Like a ‘TARDIS’! Hum, more science fiction, sorry. So, could you take us to Gretna today?”

Denver: “Where’s that?”

John: “About a hundred miles north of here.”

Denver: “We can take you now if you wish!”

John: “That’d be fine by me. Could collect my car after the honeymoon. How about you Sue?”

Sue: “Well yes. Bit sudden, but beats meeting my family again!”

Denver: “Good. Please forgive me. I forgot to introduce you to our ship’s computer! See that pink console over there… Vanessa, please introduce yourself!”

Vanessa: “Welcome aboard John, Sue\Susan, and, hem, Sam! A pleasure to meet you. Do you wish to depart one hundred of your hem ‘miles’ north now?

John\Sue: “Yes Please!”

Vanessa: “Compliance!”

Nothing happened!

Sue: “When will we move? Don’t we have to strap ourselves in or something?”

Denver: “No need Sue. We are there! It’s instantaneous.”

Vanessa: “Sorry to interrupt Sir but we have a problem.”

Denver: “Problem?”

Vanessa: “Yes I’m afraid so! When I engaged my navigation function I received a signal from ‘Control’ which scrambled everything. All I can tell you, in terms you may understand, is that we have entered another ‘Realm’ – another Universe. We have not travelled through time. Nor, strictly speaking through space! More, through dimensions!”

Denver: “So, we just need to return to ‘The World’, yes?”

Vanessa: “Sorry Sir, We Cannot, for I am totally Lost! In fact, Sir, current evidence suggests that an Unknown individual or group at base has Sabotaged this mission!”

A long, stunned Silence.

Then Sue dashed over to John, and they both threw their arms round one another in a great hug for mutual comfort!

Lena: “It must be your Canine friends who’ve done this Denver! I always knew we couldn’t trust them!”

Denver: “Are you sure it’s not you felines, hey?”

They argued for a while on these lines before Sue cut in: “This will get us nowhere! What are we going to do about it?”

Vanessa: “If I may interject crew members! Some positive news. While you have been, hum discussing our situation, I have been monitoring this planet’s radio stations. Ladies and gentlemen, if I may address you so, I am pleased to announce that we have, hum, ‘landed’ on a ‘World’ or ‘Earth’ type planet which many of the inhabitants call ‘Circra’! At least we have arrived in what seems to be a hospitable location, in temperate weather. Would you like to View?”

Denver: “Yes please, Vanessa”.

One of the “walls” of the room lit up to reveal a “televised” view of, another wood! Nevertheless it was clearly a different wood: rather sub-tropical in appearance: many varieties of trees and shrubs, punctuated by several palm-like trees. The “camera” panned round to confirm they were completely blanketed by foliage.

Lena: “At least your safety programme is working properly Vanessa. This looks the perfect landing site.”

Vanessa: “Yes mistress. A small wood like this keeps us hidden from any danger. I estimate that the nearest habitation is three minutes walk from here. And, crew members, my analysis of the local media suggests the people here are relatively benign. ”

Denver: “Very good Vanessa. I think it’s time to prepare ourselves: to meet the natives!”

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(Photo by Corbis)

CHAPTER TWO.

“EXODUS.”

Lena: “Here Sue, put this ‘watch’ on. It will link you with Vanessa. And it includes a ‘Universal Translator’.”

Sue duly took the watch and put it on.

Lena: “See the red button?  Press that and Vanessa will transport you back onto the ship!”

Vanessa: “Excuse the interruption mistresses. Yes Sue, I would indeed ‘beam’ you back here, just as they do in your fiction programme, ‘Star Trek’! I must warn you, however: I cannot do this if your signal is blocked! For example, if you are in a lead bank vault or a highly metallic building, I will probably be unable to transport you!”

Lena: “Thank you Vanessa. We’ll take that under advisement.”

“Are you females ready yet?” shouted Denver through the door.

Lena: “Yes Sir!”

Denver: “Then it’s time to go meet our new neighbours.”

By now they were all in local costume: functional looking garbs and shoes. Some minor “cosmetic surgery”, apparently done at molecular level in the impressive medical suite, had added that final touch of “realism” to their disguises. According to Vanessa the “natives” were essentially hybrid or crossbreed humanoids. The crew were confident they could pass themselves off as native Circrans. Apparently the locals were technologically more advanced than our twenty first century Earth, but way behind that of Denver and Lena’s civilisation. Blending in here would not be too difficult.

Amidst all the excitement, John and Sue soon accepted that the “ship” was indeed something of a “TARDIS”! The place was a vast labyrinth of floors, rooms and corridors. Like “The Enterprise” on “Star Trek” the ship had a complex system of “lifts”, stairways, “access tubes” and so forth. John, Sue and Sam were each allocated an en suite room. Again like “Star Trek”, many rooms contained food replicators. All rather awesome really. Interestingly it soon became clear that Vanessa saw herself as being “the ship”. This reminded John of another science fiction series: “Andromeda”! That was about a spaceship run by a female, holographic computer. Thing was, this ship, this “Uniscape”, Vanessa, Denver, and Lena were all science fact!

Vanessa had formulated a Plan! First step was to find at least one hospitable planet and make themselves “at home”. The second step would be to travel far into the future in search of a super-advanced race who would hopefully help them find a way back to good old Earth. As explorers, Denver and Lena were very keen to make the most of all Contacts with new civilisations and races. They could hardly wait to make “First Contact” with their first “aliens” of another “realm”. For safety reasons, Sam the Labrador would stay in his room throughout their initial foray into the unknown. Ironically Denver and Lena had required much more cosmetic surgery for this mission than John and Sue! In fact the human couple were rather shocked when the other two emerged from surgery looking almost human themselves!

Still, it had been a full day of shocks for everyone, so a few more surprises would be par for the course. Bravely the four of them went out into the woods. They soon found a gap in the undergrowth and emerged into the open.

Within minutes Sue had spotted a “tarmac” road running right past the copse. Actually the surface of this highway looked like some sort of dark concrete, and even had a white line painted down the centre. The obvious thing to do was follow this route across the grassland plains, as directed by Vanessa. The group duly set off on a brisk hike.

Very soon they found themselves approaching the suburbs of a very modern city. The road took them through a vast “car park” filled with hundreds of empty vehicles of all shapes and sizes. And presently they were confronted by a twenty foot high concrete wall which seemed to completely encircle the city! Denver led them to what was evidently a sliding doorway wide enough for them to enter in single file only. Just one problem: the thing was closed!

However, as Denver placed himself directly in front of a keypad adjacent to the door, a voice boomed out.

“Welcome to Grassland City!” bellowed the voice, “Please insert your identity card and enter your pin number.”

Thankfully Denver had anticipated this and quickly produced a “credit card” provided earlier by Vanessa. By reading his “watch” he soon entered the required number. The door duly slid open and allowed Denver into the city. Each of the group entered in the same manner, with Lena taking up the rear. Vanessa had actually issued each one of them with a card for the purpose of purchasing goods! She had also given them some local notes and coins, although all sources suggested such currency was seldom used for the past forty or so of our years. (The Circran year lasted about fourteen of our months apparently).

Presently the group found themselves standing on the “other” side of the door, on a street in a suburban housing estate. One or two citizens were going about their business, but none of them took any notice of our friends.  

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John and Sue  were sitting comfortably in a “cafe” next to the community library. Through the windows they had a panoramic view of the main shopping street.

“Nice drink!” remarked Sue, “ Not quite coffee but it’ll do me.”

John: “Look at those coppers! That’s three people they’ve done for illegal parking now! They’ve completely ignored those guys with the bags!”

Sue: “Yes, that shop there must be full of them by now.”

At this point Denver and Lena strolled in.

John: “Hiya! How’s it going bro?”

Denver: “Mission accomplished John! Vanessa’s got just about all their computer database now. I tell you, though, I’ve never seen so many pop-ups! Update your virus-guard, buy this, buy that, get a faster connection...! Still, we got there! People, we have landed in the free democratic state of Belandra. ”

Lena: “’Scuse me Denver! Sorry folks, but we’ve got another mission now! See that “DVD” shop over there?”

John: “Yeh! About fifty people have taken funny rucksacks in!”

Sue: “Don’t exaggerate John!”

Lena: “Well, according to Vanessa there’s a terrorist cell there! They’re stock-piling bomb making chemicals!”

After a “pregnant pause”, John turned to Lena and snapped, “What the hell’s that got to do with us?”

“We must stop them!” retorted Lena.

“Why?” challenged John, “Haven’t you people got a Prime Directive or something? Surely we shouldn’t interfere!”

Sue: “This isn’t Star Trek John! (To Lena) He’s right though! What’s it to do with us?”

Denver: “We’ve already Emailed the police and they’ve replied they’ll deal with it. But Vanessa says they’ve put it on the back burner, so to speak. They’re behind on their targets, so their priority is to concentrate on petty crimes first.”

John: “Like illegal parking!”

Lena: “Precisely! So it’s down to us! Tomorrow they’re going to blow up lots of innocent people, including children, unless we destroy those bombs! All we have to do is sneak round the back of that shop...”

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(Picture from Frosty)

“This way!” breathed Lena, as the group shuffled towards the DVD-shop warehouse. Needless to say she had won the “discussion”! Presently they crept into the store, and sure enough they found a huge stash of deadly chemicals.

“Here!” whispered Denver hoarsely, “A garbage disposal unit. Pour it all down here!”

And they did.    

Mission accomplished, they crept back along the corridor. Exhausted but relieved.

“Halt! Halt or I shoot! Put your hands on your heads! Now! Lie face down! Lie down or you die!”

Horrible shock! They were caught! Soon they might be dead!

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“Lying Infidel!” shouted the apparent leader of the terrorists, (according to the universal translator), “By our Great God Hiaro, The One True God, our Jihad will be completed. You will be tortured for seven days and then beheaded! Belandran scum! We are El Jadda warriors, from the ancient land of Requadron! Long Live Hiaro!”

His ranting was directed at Denver, who looked terrified! The whole group were laid facing upward, arms and legs tied with thick rope. Then the leader turned to John.

“So you think this petty sabotage will stop us? By Hiaro, nothing will! We will get new supplies, and then all my brothers and sisters will be glorious martyrs!”

John: “Suicide bombers?”

Leader: “Of course, Unbeliever! What planet have you been on this year?”

John: “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Lena: “We come from a very remote province...”

Leader: “Silence Woman! (To John and Denver) Cannot you control your mistresses?”

Denver: “So you would kill us and yourselves for your noble cause? Where I come from that is unacceptable. The only weapons we use are stun-guns. We never kill!”

John: “Is that so, Denver?”

Denver: “Yes John. Surely you are the same.”

John: “Not in my province to be honest. But we don’t use bombers either. Only our terrorists do!”

Leader: “I’ve never heard of anywhere where there is no killing! (To Denver) Your people are as soft as s..t!

Denver: “But what happens to you when you die this way?”

Leader: “We meet Hiaro in Heaven, where we enjoy all the wealth and glory we want.”

John: “I’ve heard something like this before. How do you know it’s true?”

Leader: “How dare you Belandran wimp! Your ‘Unnamed One’ as you call Him, is a false God. Who are you to question the word of Hiaro?”

John: “ I too believe in ‘God’, as we call Him, but ours is a God of Love, not War!”

Denver: “Me too! Though to be honest most of us are ‘Agnostic’.(To the leader) My friend, if I was you I’d seriously reconsider your position. Nobody I know can prove with certainty that you will meet your god in heaven as you’ve described. Personally I’d never risk it.”

Leader: “You really are an Unbeliever! I ought to cut your head off right now! But no! I’ll make you wait, as instructed by Our Lord.”

With that the leader ushered his troops out of the door, which was slammed closed and locked.

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(Picture by Trevor Poole)

Hours later the group lay quietly. Much had been said and discussed, but the one thing that was missing was hope! None of them felt ready to die and many a tear was shed. Something was clearly blocking the signal from their watches to Vanessa, so that they could not “beam” back to the sanctuary of the “ship”. And their attempts at reasoning with their captors seemed just to make things worse!

Suddenly John sat up with a shout! Standing before them was a beautiful Belandran soldier-girl!

“Sorry folks,” she smiled, “Didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Vanessa. Yes, your Vanessa! How do you like my android makeover? If you’ll all hold still I’ll cut your ropes.”

Vanessa held what turned out to be a laser, and promptly freed them.

“I trust you approve of my actions,” she continued, “Belandra now has a new special military unit! (To John and Sue) Rather like your S.A.S. Twelve Belandran androids. They’ll simply hand in the terrorists to the local military and leave for their ‘secret’ base!”

Vanessa smiled wryly, and added, “And all women! Those sexists have really had their arses kicked! We must be swift though. Please turn your heads away. Thank you. You may look now.”

The group collectively turned to find a massive new box before them. There was a wide hole in the top, revealing a staired entrance into a familiar looking “basement”.

Vanessa (from within the box): “Please enter!”

Sue (smiling): “Back into our box everyone!”

Visibly relieved, they were soon assembled in the “control room”.

Vanessa: “Prepare for transition everyone! Our next destination will be Sapphetria, another democratic nation to the south of Belandra. In my humble view as a computer, this land is even more hospitable for your good selves. Again I will land discretely in a small wood, just outside the small town of Angellaira. Please Prepare.”

Again the group felt nothing, but the viewscreen came to life, showing a transparent wall of palm-like trees. And through all those hanging fronds they could clearly see a beautiful, sun-drenched beach!

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(Picture by Coleraine Borough Council)

CHAPTER THREE.

“SAPPHETRIA.”

In a dark, stark interview-room, two policemen cum soldiers sat behind an imposing table. Before them stood an empty chair. To their left, on the wall, was a big cinema screen. Presently one of them flicked a switch on the back wall, and spoke into a microphone: “Bring in the prisoner!”

Without delay, a door opened, and some guards ushered in Denver!

First officer: “Please be seated.”

Denver complied.

Second Officer: “How are you, my friend?”

Denver: “Okay.”

Second Officer: “I trust my colleagues have treated you courteously.”

Denver: “Yeah.”

Second Officer: “Good. So let me ask you again. Do you know of any terrorist presence or activity in our nation, Sapphetria?”

Denver: “None at all, I assure you.”

First Officer: “And can you also assure us that you would report any such incursion to us?”

Denver: “You have my word.”

First Officer: “Am I to take you to mean yes then?”

Denver: “Yes.”

Second Officer: “Good. Please look at the screen. We have something that may interest you. Recently one of our spies returned from a mission in Grassland City, Belandra. He has successfully infiltrated an El Jadda cell there. This is a secret film he recorded with a hidden camera.”

The screen lit up, and immediately Denver was watching himself and his friends being interrogated by the terrorist leader. Then the footage cut to the chaos of Vanessa and her “squad” rescuing the foursome with liberal use of stun-guns! The evidence against Denver and company was quite conclusive. Fortunately it did not include their full reunion with Vanessa! Much to Denver’s relief the screen went dark.

First Officer: “I must admit, my friend, that hit-squad of yours is most impressive. You so-called civilians played your parts too. And nobody was killed!”

Denver: “In my province we only kill as a last resort.”

First Officer: “Very civilised! And so professional! If you bump into them you must quote me on this. Better still, ask them if they would like to join us!”

Denver: “They were only formed for a short term commission, to deal with a period of crisis.”

First Officer: “Well, my friend the offer remains open: just tell us the minute you change your mind.”

Denver: “We won’t.”

Second Officer: “Yet we must ask you one more time: do you know of any current or pending terrorist activity in this country of ours?”

Denver: “No.”

Second Officer: “All I can do then, is ask you to promise us you will inform us the moment you spot any terrorists or hear of any plots.”

Denver: “I so promise. Look, we are on the same side here you know. I’d much rather you dealt with them rather than us having to.”

First Officer: (smiling) “So we are in agreement then. Good. Well, welcome to Angellaira, arguably the surfing capital of Sapphetria. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here. You are free to go! We will release your associates as soon as we’ve debriefed them.”

With a look of astonishment Denver walked through into the “police station” foyer. Before long he was joined by the others. Relieved, they returned to their apartments.

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(C) Paul Butters 2007. (Project: novel).