Moudervelt Mystery

Sene Prekus on Alphanor.

In my previous blog post, Wendy discovered the fate of poor Pallis Atwrode on the Planet of the Dryads. Now Wendy must investigate a mystery from Nova's past; doing so might possibly provide an explanation for why Nova has the most powerful and sophisticated telepathic abilities of any human. Starting from Avente on Alphanor, Wendy must make a trip through interstellar space in search of Nova's mysterious origins on the planet Moudervelt.

"The Maunish Mystery", below is part 7 of Wendy's adventure inside the AR Simulator. Part 1 is here.

Note: the following story is fan-fiction. You should read Star King by Jack Vance before trying to read about Wendy's adventures in the Asimov Reality. Moudervelt is described in Vance's novel The Book of Dreams.


The Maunish Mystery
Wendy woke up in a strange bed with the relentless early morning light of Rigel slipping past the window curtains. Stretching her legs under the covers, she noticed that her physical form no longer had the extreme length of Nova's long, lank body. It took a few moments of exploring her new body before Wendy realized that she was back in the body of Inspector Wishwell. Wendy deduced that Grean must have performed the body swap while Wendy had slept, possibly without even bothering to take Wendy out of the AR Simulator. Struggling to remember falling asleep, Wendy discovered that she had a new set of memories, apparently implanted in her mind during the night.

Wendy had dream-like memories of playing the role of Inspector Wishwell and waiting for Nova to arrive. In that oddly-remembered past, Wendy had listened to Nova tell about the Death of Pallis Atwrode on the Planet of the Dryads. Nova had then told Ryjyl about her telepathic abilities and her belief that the entire Malagate affair, beginning with Lugo Teehalt's discovery of the Planet of the Dryads, actually had it origins on Nova's home world, Moudervelt. Nova had told Ryjyl, "The Dryads gave me a gift and awoke a special memory from my childhood; that allowed me to understand the importance of Pure Truth. If you want to honor Pallis and the way she gave her life trying to capture Attel Malagate, then we need to continue the investigation of Kate's death on Moudervelt."

Wendy had asked Nova to explain what she meant by 'Pure Truth', but she had already made up her own mind about the importance of going to Moudervelt. Or, stated more accurately, the Dryads had already taken action so as to assure that Wendy knew the importance of Moudervelt.

Wendy decided that Grean must have reset the AR Simulator in preparation for a new mission. However, no mission briefing with Grean was required because Wendy already knew what must be done. Wendy threw off the covers, got out of Inspector Wishwell's bed and quickly pulled on a pair of shorts. Not having the patience to dress fully, Wendy made her way down to the first floor, Ryjyl's breasts bouncing with each step down the stairway. There was Nova, still asleep on the sofa... the empty wine bottle was there, too.

Image by Leonardo.

Wendy used Ryjyl's discree to contact the Iskana Salvage Yard in South Lychester and told them to hold Gersen's model 9b as police evidence. As Wendy talked, Nova awoke and sat up. Slipping the discree into her pocket, Wendy asked Nova, "Are you ready to go?"

Nova stretched her long arms above her head, gazed upon Ryjyl's muscular body and replied, "Give me one minute." Both Wendy and Nova emptied their bladders then they each packed a bag full of Ryjyl's clothing. Wendy was annoyed to find that she seemed fully in biological mode, the AR Simulator even giving her hunger pangs that Wendy was powerless to ignore.

Wendy packed Ryjyl's police equipment, but she dressed in civilian clothes. For a brief moment she wondered if she should truly play the role of Inspector Wishwell and request permission from her supervisor to leave Alphanor and visit Moudervelt, but then she told herself: no, there is no need. Grean will simply reset the Simulator once again when I complete my mission.

On the drive to South Lychester, Nova kept pointing out every restaurant that they passed. Finally Wendy stopped and they ate breakfast at a little roadhouse and eatery called the Halcyon Inn. An hour later, Ryjyl/Wendy and Nova lifted off Alphanor in Gersen's old model 9b spaceship. Wendy set course for Moudervelt, the inhabited planet that orbited around Van Kaathe's star.

During the trip to Moudervelt, Wendy discovered that she had minimal control over her nanites. With regularity she grew hungry and tired, just like a normal human. This was Wendy's first chance to experience the tedium of a long space flight, and it was made more challenging by having to share with Nova the one small bed that was onboard.

the Pure Truth Convent, Rock-Wallows district of Maunish

On the long flight to Moudervelt, Nova talked about her childhood and her family. "My mother was born in the Rock-Wallow Convent and lived there for many years."

Wendy/Ryjil asked, "You grew up in a convent?"

"No, but my mother always talked about it. The convent was on the original site of the first Pure Truth Mission in Maunish. The old Mission was built on land that nobody could farm, out in the Rock-Wallows."

Ryjyl asked, "Maunish?"

"Maunish is a province on Moudervelt... that is where I was born. I grew up in Cloutie, the capitol of Maunish. Sene (my mother) had moved there after leaving the Pure Truth Convent."

"What did they mean by 'Pure Truth'?"

Nova explained, "I'm not an expert on their beliefs. Everything I know comes from things that my mother would say about her early life inside the convent. Their Basic Truth was that people can be improved by artificial selection, just like breeding a type of cow that can produce more milk. To this day, the people of Maunish are unusually tall, but I suspect that the real goal was to select for improved telepathic ability."

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Wendy thought about Teehalt and his little telepath breeding project on Alphanor. She asked Nova, "How did you hear about Teehalt?"

Nova explained, "After I was rescued from Dasce's prison, Gersen took me back into space. We went in search of the Planet of the Dryads, the world that Teehalt had discovered. Gersen showed me a photograph of an alien Dryad and told me how he had met Teehalt on Smade's Planet." Nova fell silent and thought about her visit to Teehalt's Planet. "Teehalt was all alone with the Dryads. I wonder what they did to his mind and memories."

Wendy suggested, "If all the Dryads wanted was to protect their world from human and Star King encroachment, they could have killed Teehalt."

Nova shook her head. "No, Malagate was relentless. Had Teehalt never returned from the Beyond, some other locater would have followed. And besides, I don't believe that the Dryads know how to kill."

Wendy thought about her own telepathic contact with the Dryads. She had the feeling that there was something like human thought within the Dryads, but they were aliens, with strange minds. Wendy asked Nova, "When Pallis died, could you see what was happening to her?"

Image by Leonardo.

Nova shrugged. "The Dryads were allowing me to remotely view both Malagate and Pallis. I had three overlapping images in my mind, something I'd never experienced previously. There, in the river, there was some kind of creature... I never saw it clearly. I got the impression of a squid-like beast... a pack of them. Then I blacked out. Gersen told me that he only found parts of Malagate and Pallis... an arm, a leg... it looked like they had been ripped apart."

Wendy asked, "Did you see the alien ruins there in that valley?"

Nova nodded and asked suspiciously. "How do you know about that?"

Wendy lied: "After Kate was murdered, when I interrogated Gersen on Alphanor, he told me about Teehalt and his visit to the planet of the Dryads. Teehalt knew there were the ruins of an ancient civilization on that world."

Nova suggested, "Long ago, the Dryads may have lived in cities and been more like humans. Eventually, they gave all that up and now they endlessly wander the meadows, seamlessly integrated into the life cycles of their world."

Wendy suggested, "If the Dryads once had advanced technology, then maybe their telepathic powers are artificial, generated by some kind of alien technology."

R. Nyrtia and R. Oliveene Nhevrix

"Yes. I think that's what the Dryads saw in my mind. They reminded me about what my mother had told me when I was a small child. Sene told me that she was an artificial construct, created by Arahluv, the scientist in charge of the telepathy breeding efforts at the Maunish convent."

Wendy was tempted to tell Nova that she was an artificial life form, but at least so far in this run of the AR Simulator, Nova seemed not to have noticed that Wendy/Ryjyl was not an actual biological human. Wendy asked, "What do you mean? How was your mother constructed?"

"I don't know. I don't recall that I ever really knew. I was very young when Sene spoke about her origins and her life at the convent. Somehow it involved a kind of genetic engineering. And more importantly, her growth and development had been adjusted by means of exposing her embryonic body to chemicals and growth modulatory drugs. Sene told me that she had no father, that her chromosomes were artificially assembled using DNA from dozens of people at the convent."

"Why did Sene leave the convent?"

Image by Leonardo.

"I'm not sure. She often talked to me about leaving Moudervelt for a time in order to pursue her interests in astronomy. Eventually, after visiting other worlds, she returned to Maunish, but not to the convent. She lived in Cloutie and that was where I was born, but I always knew that I would some day leave Moudervelt. That was implicit in everything that Sene ever told me... that I would go to school on Alphanor. I never knew why, I never questioned that. It seemed like a great adventure, an escape from sleepy Cloutie. When I arrived on Alphanor, I soon met Kate and I felt like I was living a dream. Kate and I were perfect together." Nova asked Wendy, "Did you ever feel like you had met your soul mate?"

Wendy decided to speak for Ryjyl, "I was very happy during the few months when I lived with Pallis. Our mutual attraction was intense and we were caught up in the flames of passion. However, we quickly burned out. When living together, everything about us was too hot, too fast and too... dangerous. We had to back off, and cool down. We remained great friends and it was always in my mind that the old flame could engulf us again, at any time. It seems absurd that Pallis had to die on the Planet of the Dryads."

The next day, the Intersplit drive shut down and they were in the Van Kaathe star system. Blue, green and white Moudervelt hung before them. Wendy and Nova watched Moudervelt turning slowly in the viewport of the old model 9b spaceship. Nova told Wendy, "There are no spaceports in Maunish. Air travel is forbidden, but there is plenty of empty land where nobody would notice our arrival. We can drop down into the Rock-Wallows and then approach the convent by ground. We can use Gersen's little flitter. The travel rules of Maunish simply forbid any flight above fifty feet off the ground."

"That's bizzare."

Teleporting Moudervelt. Image by Leonardo.

"Remnants from an ancient war. A thousand years ago when Moudervelt was first settled, Lord Puck attacked Maunish with his air force. According to legend, within the first minute after invading Maunish, Puck lost half his aircraft, blown out of the sky by particle beams. Ever since, no local dares go more than 50 feet off the ground."

Wendy said, "I'd prefer not do be blasted out of the sky by a particle beam."

Nova laughed. "It is all legend and superstition."

They landed in the middle of the night in the desolate Rock-Wallows, ten miles from the Convent. Looking at the displayed data from external weather probe, Wendy said, "It is chilly outside." Wendy and Nova put on heavy jackets then went outside and opened the cargo hatch. Small, darting animals lurked near the spaceship, their eyes glowing in the bright light that flooded from the cargo hold.

Wendy and Nova pulled out Gersen's little aircar and then sealed shut all the hatches of the old 9b. They loaded their two travel bags into the flitter, and set off into the night, flying just high enough to avoid the crags of rock that protruded above the grassy steppe. While they skimmed over the landscape, Wendy could occasionally see the glowing eyes of small animals who reared up on their hind legs and watched the passing flitter. An hour later, the lights of the Pure Truth Convent glowed ahead. Wendy asked, "Should we wait for morning?"

Nova was using her telepathic sense to look into the convent. "Someone is awake, but the mind I am touching is strange. She knows I am here! We can go in. She is waiting for us."

Image by Leonardo.

"She? Who is it?"

"Arahluv, the Chief Scientist. Somehow, she knew we were coming."

Wendy flew them forward along a river bed, then up a rise. Nova said, "Land on the roof. There, see the glow of the landing beacon?"

Wendy took them up to the top of the convent, following a row of blinking guide lights. She set the aircar down on the landing plat, at the center of a glowing circle that marked the rooftop landing platform. In the star light, mostly lit from below by the landing lights, a ghostly figure could be seen, rising up out of a recessed stair well. Oliveene called out, "Welcome."

Wendy and Nova climbed out of the aircar. Oliveene threw her arms around Nova. "My, you have grown, Nova. Do you remember me?"

"Yes, I do Arahluv." Nova reached into the aircar and pulled out the two travel bags.

Oliveene took both bags and turned towards the stairs. "Come on inside."

Wendy and Nova followed Oliveene down the stairs and into a well-lit corridor. Two doors opened and Oliveene set the travel bags down. "These are your rooms. My room is down at the end of the hallway. Come talk to me when you are ready." Oliveene turned and walked away down the corridor. Nova told Wendy, "Arahluv is exactly how I remember her from twenty years ago. When I was young she would often come to Cloutie and visit my mother."

Wendy took off her jacket and set it and her travel bag inside her room, which was like a hotel suite. She emptied her bladder and met Nova back in the hallway. Wondering what they were getting into, Wendy instinctively launched a nanite probe. After the probe went down the corridor and into Oliveen's room, Wendy wondered why she suddenly now had the ability to use her nanite reconnaissance probes. She told Nova, "Oliveen seems to be alone."

Escape from Moudervelt. Image by Leonardo.

Nova had just discovered that she could use her remote viewing ability to probe the entire convent. "Yes, but there are others nearby on the floors below." They walked to the far end of the corridor and entered into a large room that was full of strange pieces of equipment. Wendy was reminded of Grean's workshop. Oliveene was there, seated in a chair. "Join me here, by the Viewer."

Wendy and Nova sat down together on a little couch. Oliveene said, "Introductions are needed. Nova, your invented name 'Arahluv' is a good guess, but your mother knew me as Olive. My full name is R. Oliveene Nhevrix."

Wendy asked, "You are a positronic robot?"

Oliveene nodded. "Don't be surprised, Wendy. We robots have existed in every Reality. Why did you not expect to run into any robots here in what you think of as the Asimov Reality?"

Wendy shrugged. "You are a telepathic robot. You can see into my memories."

"Exactly, and I see in your mind that you are feeling guilty. You have never told Nova the truth. So, please introduce yourself properly to Nova."

Wendy told Nova, "My name is Wendy Larsen. I'm from another place, beyond this simulation of your Reality."

Nova looked carefully at Wendy and then at Oliveene. "Now that I look carefully, I see that you are both artificial life forms. You both were designed to look human, but neither of you is biological."

Wendy explained, "I'm an observer from another Reality. I was put here, inside this simulator in order to learn how Lugo Teehalt was able to discover the Planet of the Dryads."

Image by Leonardo.

"So, you see, my dear, Wendy and I are simple cases, easily explained. I make use of a female human body form simply because the original human brain template for positronic brains came from a human woman." Oliveene pointed at Nova. "However, your background is a rather tangled mess."

Nova objected, "Simple? What is a positronic robot?" She turned her head and asked Wendy, "What happened to the real Ryjyl?"

Wendy tried to explain how she was playing the role of Inspector Wishwell. "I'm temporarily taking the place of Ryjyl. When I am done with my mission, I will go back to my Reality and all will return to normal here in the AR Simulation."

Nova complained, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Oliveene replied for Wendy, "Don't be too critical of Wendy. Even now you can't really believe what she has told you. Humans do not like to hear that they exist in an artificial world. As for myself, you should not be surprised that I appear unchanged from your childhood memory of me. My body does not age like a human body, but I can change my physical form, when I must. Sometimes I pretend to age and grow old. Watch this!" Oliveene morphed herself into a replica of Kate Prekus. Oliveene told Nova, "I'm sorry that Kate got caught up in Malagate's misguided plan." Oliveene shifted back to her original body form. She told Wendy, "You should stop pretending to be Ryjyl and use your true form."

During the space flight to Moudervelt, Wendy had given up trying to control her nanite components, but now she discovered that she had the ability to control all of her nanites. She morphed into her favorite shape, what she thought of as the true image of Wendy Larsen. She asked Oliveene, "Why is that I have regained my ability to control my nanites? I was completely helpless on the journey from Alphanor to Moudervelt."

Image by Leonardo.

Oliveene explained, "Moudervelt is an artificial planet, a Phari world. The Phari developed advanced nanotechnology billions of years ago. While you are operating within the Phari Network, the Simulator can be made to allow you to exercise your usual control over your nanoscopic body components. Apparently the Phari approve of your mission and are trying to help you as best they can."

Wendy asked Oliveene, "So, you are aware that this is a Simulation?"

The robot smiled and replied, "Sometimes I am taken out of the Simulator and I get to visit with R. Nyrtia. She has explained to me the fact that I exist within a simulation."

Wendy complained, "If the Phari are trying to be nice to me, why did they allow Nova and I to suffer so much in Dasce's prison?"

Oliveene shrugged. "Dasce's planet is not part of the Phari Network. It is not even part of the Pek Network. Apparently the Phari cannot protect you from harm and suffering when you are out of network." Oliveene turned her attention back to Nova and said, "The deep mystery is Nova's unusual past. I hope you realize how special your mother was, Nova."

Nova thought back to her childhood days. "She was a wonderful mother. Sene always took good care of me. My childhood was very happy."

"Yes, you were a lucky girl. Sene had a kind of telepathic 'intuition' that allowed her to anticipate your every need. Also, I often provided her with helpful hints from the future."

Wendy exclaimed, "Of course! You have access to time travel technology."

Oliveene turned her attention to the equipment that was there beside her. She activated the Viewer and an image of Nova speaking to an older woman appeared. Nova shouted out, "Mother!"

Oliveene explained to Nova, "This is an image from the future. Later today I'll take you into Cloutie and you can visit your mother."

Image by Leonardo.

Nova sprang to her feet and approached the displayed image of Sene. She reached out and her hand merged into the holographic display. Nova lamented, "But I was told she died, years ago!"

Oliveene said, "That was a lie. We did not want you distracted from your mission on Alphanor. You had to keep your attention on Kate and her research work in Galactic Morphology."

"I see." Nova thought about the thrilling months after having met Kate on Alphanor. "After meeting Kate, I soon began planning a trip for us, back here to Moudervelt. I wanted Sene to meet Kate."

Oliveene stood beside Nova and put an arm around the young woman's shoulders, "And that I could not allow. Kate had telepathic powers; she was an Intuitive, just like Sene. If the three of you had ever met face-to-face, Kate would have instantly noticed that you have the ability to link their two minds together. Of course, Sene knew all about that. She was making use of your three-way telepathic network, but we could not afford to let Kate in on the secret. Doing so would have revealed Kate's role as our mole inside the Galactic Mapping Project."

Wendy asked Oliveene, "What do you mean by 'Intuitive'?"

Oliveene pointed towards the image of Sene. "That is what Sene called herself. I call the human telepaths that I have created 'linkers', or 'link telepaths'. Humans can only generate powerful telepathic forces when many human brains are linked together in a network. However, while growing up, Sene displayed amazing telepathic abilities. With help from the Phari Network, Sene could sense the most important thought inside people's minds. I worked closely with her when she was young, and she could even see in my mind the idea that humans were crafted long ago by aliens. Sene latched on to that revelation and became intrigued by SETI and how, during the past millennium, humans have been searching the galaxy for aliens. Sene went to Alphanor to study Astronomy."

Image by Leonardo.

Oliveene continued, "During a SETI conference on Alphanor, Sene realized that the Department of Galactic Morphology at Sea Province University was involved in the secret astronomy program that provides target stars for locater searches. Sene could telepathically 'see' all that inside the mind of the Director of Research for the Department of Galactic Morphology. At about the same time, Sene also became aware of Teehalt's 'commune' on Alphanor, that was breeding for telepathic abilities."

Wendy nodded. "So that is how Teehalt became involved."

Oliveene nodded and continued her account of past events. "Teehalt wanted to find a new planet where he could live with his telepathic family members, free from interference from other minds. Sene returned to Moudervelt with Teehalt and we began a new project that resulted in the creation of Nova. Teehalt and several other telepaths donated their chromosomes for that effort, but Sene was your birth mother, Nova."

Nova asked, "So I had no father?"

"You had several fathers, but Sene was your only actual parent."

Wendy suggested, "So, Nova's telepathic ability is a type of remote viewing... she can see deeply inside people."

Oliveene added, "Nova's mind is like a powerful detector. She can pin-point locate sources of twitinos, the particles that are used to exchange telepathic signals. However, she cannot process all the twitino data to reconstruct thought processes. The original human telepathy breeding project, in the previous Reality, placed special emphasis on linking together human minds into a kind of telepathic super-network. Nova can share her fantastic ability to sense twitinos by linking her telepathic ability to other minds. In effect, Sene developed Nova as a telepathy amplification device, that could be used to lift hidden thoughts from other minds."

Telastid-based telepathy.

Oliveene paused to reflect on the remaining mysteries of Sene's telepathic abilities. Oliveene shrugged and continued her account, "Working by herself, Sene can only reach the most prominent thoughts inside another person's mind. But by linking her mind to Nova, Sene was able to form networks and access deeper memories and thoughts... at least inside other people who were part of her network. Linked through Nova to Kate, Sene was able to access the passwords that allowed us to hack into the secret Galctic Mapping database."

Nova said, "While on Alphanor, I was completely unaware of how Sene was using my telepathic ability."

Oliveene explained, "You grew up here on Moudervelt with Sene constantly in your mind. You can't notice her presence in your thoughts unless she tries to alert you to her presence. When you moved to Alphanor in order to study at Sea Province University, Sene also moved to Avente. She lived in a little apartment on Ard Street, disguised as a Pure Truth Nun."

Nova mused, "There have been a few times in my life when my telepathic ability seemed amplified... when I could telepathically sense my surroundings with great clarity and even 'read' some thoughts in other people's minds. The most recent was on Teehalt's planet. It was almost as if I could follow the thoughts of both Malagate and Pallis."

Wendy suggested, "The Dryads must have been amplifying your telepathic ability. They were making use of you to deal with the threat posed by Malagate to their world. They allowed you to form some kind of telepathic network with Malagate. That network, your access to Malagate's mind was like a Trojan Horse. The Dryads used it to confuse Malagate, to burn out the Star King's sensory apparatus. Your mind was also over-loaded by that positive feedback process, but when you passed out you were safe in the care of Gersen. Malagate was torn to pieces. Sadly, Pallis got caught up in the same telepathic vortex that was designed to eliminate the parthenoid."

Image by Leonardo.

Oliveene added, "Yes, even here on Moudervelt, my work would have been useless without help from the Phari. Sene constantly received help from the squamifoxes while she worked to develop Nova's special telepathic abilities."

Wendy asked, "Squamifoxes?"

Nova told Wendy, "The little creatures that we could see tonight on our way across the steppe."

Wendy asked Oliveene, "You have been crafting telepaths here on Moudervelt for.... how long?"

"Since the beginning. For almost 1,000 years. I was among the first settlers on Moudervelt. Together with Sene, I used some chemical treatments that prevented Nova from speaking until she was 7 years old and had developed a powerful telepathic ability. During that time of suppressed language behavior, Sene trained Nova to look deeply into people's minds using telepathy."

Nova added, "And Sene never tired of telling me about her time when she had lived on Alphanor. It seemed natural that I would follow in her footsteps and travel to the Rigel Concourse for my own education."

Image by Leonardo.

Oliveene nodded. "You were carefully guided to Sea Province University. In recent times, Moudervelt has grown too heavily populated. I'm now fighting the same problem that hindered Teehalt's telepathy development efforts on Alphanor. I also want to move my work to a new, less heavily populated planet. On Alphanor, Sene realized that telepathy might be the key to finding a new, low population planet where the development of telepathic humans could continue. We wanted a distant planet, beyond the reach of the pace pirates who routinely raid worlds in the Beyond."

Wendy could now understand the scope of Oliveene's plan. "You needed a world that could be yours for centuries before any other people found it."

"Exactly." Oliveene continued, "By the time we had crafted Nova and positioned her on Alphanor, Dr. Kelle was head of research in the department of Galactic Morphology and Kate was a research assistant there. She processed star data for galactic mapping. Sene used Nova as a remote viewing system... Nova could look into Kate's mind and see the passwords for gaining access to data files. We hacked into the mapping database and pulled out information about star systems that will be shared with locaters in the coming centuries... in that way, it became possible to find a world in the deep Beyond where I might continue my work undisturbed, at least for several centuries before the ever-expanding growth of Humanity through the galaxy would inevitably reach us. Once we had data from the exoplanet star survey, funding was needed to finance a group of locaters who would actually search candidate stars for a habitable planet."

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Wendy pointed to the image being projected by the Viewer and asked Oliveene, "With your ability to see into the future, why did you need to hack the stellar database and send Teehalt in search of a new planet?"

Oliveene shrugged. "I'm limited by the technical limitations of my Viewer. I can only see a short distance into the future. Everything that we robots do creates ripples in time. Our work constantly initiates changes that propagate into the future."

Wendy recalled that it was only after establishment of the Trysta-Grean Pact that positronic robots were given access to advance Huaoshy Viewing technology that could display complete Reality Chains. She asked Oliveene, "How many positronic robots are there at work in this Reality?"

"I can't say. R. Nyrtia knows, but not I. My best guess? There may be a few dozen of us, each with our own telepathy development project, scattered around on different planets. The planet Ys is one such world, and Pallis was endowed with her telepathic ability by one of the other telepath breeding projects. All of us View the future, seeking hints for how best to proceed with our work, but in so doing we inevitable disturb the timeline, limiting the validity of our Views of the far future. Even this scene, with Nova meeting Sene, could collapse. Now that I've shared this vision of the future with Nova, all she needs to do is decide not to go with me into Cloutie. An alternative future would then be created, erasing what we now see here."

Wendy asked Oliveene, "Why was Gale Warpweave brought into your scheme?"

Oliveene explained, "Malagate, using the Warpweave alias, responded the an advertisement that Sene placed in magazines such as Cosmopolis. Warpweave came onboard as an investor with deep pockets to fund locaters, including Teehalt. Two other locaters who were sent out into the Beyond have not yet returned. I'm beginning to wonder if they were dealt with by the Phari Network."

Wendy asked, "Dealt with how?"

"Those two other locaters may have found other planets of the Phari Network and they may have decided to stay on those worlds."

Nova suggested, "Maybe they were killed by aliens."

Earth's Reality Chain

Oliveene shook her head. "No, I doubt that would happen. Planets of the Phari Network tend to have alien life forms like the Dryads; creatures that are generally peaceful and well-integrated into their world's ecosystem. On Alphanor, the apex creature is a whale-like creature of the oceans. Here on Moudervelt, the squamifoxes have interesting telepathic powers; they made it possible for Sene to cultivate Nova as a telepathic tool for remote viewing. I believe that the Phari Network is actively helping R. Nyrtia evolve a new type of human variant that will have the ability to share language-like communications via telepathic signals. We are slowly working towards that goal and the Planet of the Dryads is now available for me to use in my future work."

Wendy asked, "What about Kelle and Detteras? How are they involved in your work?"

Oliveene replied, "They are innocent bystanders, except for the fact that they each look large personal cash payments from Warpweave. Those were bribes offered by Warpweave to Kelle and Detteras in addition to the big monetary donations made by Warpweave to the Department of Galactic Morphology when Beneficial Grant 291 was endowed. Kelle and Detteras had to be paid off; they were clever enough to realize that Warpweave was up to something shady and did not really want to participate in the Master Exploration Program."

Light from Van Kaathe's star was now creeping into Oliveene's workshop through a row of windows. Oliveene suggested to Nova, "Maybe we should now go visit your mother in Cloutie."

Nova nodded, "Yes, I would like to see her. If you take me to her, I may even be able to forgive you for having made me believe that she was dead."

Oliveene pleaded, "Do not judge me too harshly, Nova. I would like you to move with me to the Planet of the Dryads and help me craft a new generation of telepaths. My work goes on, and given your spectacular telepathic ability, you should be a part of the effort to evolve fully telepathic humans." Oliveene led Wendy and Nova down the corridor and back to their rooms. "Grab your jacket, Nova, it is a chilly morning outside." Nova stepped into her room and Oliveene said to Wendy, "I believe that you can now control your artificial senses, so you will not need your jacket."

They went up the stairs to the roof. A cool breeze ruffled Wendy's clothing and she shut off her temperature sensation subsystem. Slightly adjusting her visual system for the color of Van Kaathe's starlight, Wendy looked out at the grassy steppe surrounding the convent and saw a gathered heard of thousands of squamifoxes, who were all raised up on their hind legs and gazing towards the convent. Oliveene commented, "They know that the time is near when I will be gone from Moudervelt. They are particularly intrigued by you, Wendy... the fact that you are from outside of this Reality."

Wendy felt a strange connection to the squamifoxes, as if they had a message for her. But now Wendy was having trouble seeing the squamifoxes. Her visual field was suddenly overlaid by a view of Grean's workshop. Wendy stepped towards the edge of the rooftop landing pad and exited from the AR Simulator.

Wendy arrived back in Grean's workshop. Grean said, "Welcome back to Reality."

Wendy turned and looked into the Omniviewer, which was showing events on Moudervelt. Wendy could see Oliveene and Nova on the roof of the convent. Nova rushed forward, towards the edge of the landing plat, wondering if Wendy had fallen off the roof. Grean waved her hand, resetting the Simulation. Now Wendy saw that real Inspector Wishwell there on the roof of the convent with Nova and Oliveene. A hatch slid aside and Oliveene's larger aircar rose up out of its hangar. Ryjyl, Nova and Oliveene got into that aircar and flew off towards Cloutie. In the distance, Wendy could see only one lone squamifox loping across the steppe.

Another Kirth Gersen Adventure

Wendy turned back towards Grean and asked, "Did you know that R. Nyrtia was behind the discovery of the Planet of the Dryads?"

Grean admitted to having known that positronic robots had played a role in the development of  human telepathy in the Asimov Reality. "Of course, there was a cover-up. Vance was given incomplete information about the Asimov Reality. When writing in the Buld Reality, his story about Attel Malagate the Star King could not be allowed to mention robots or telepathy. However, conditions were different in the Ekcolir Reality. In that Reality, Vance's stories were used to reveal important facts about hierions, sedrons and advanced nanotechnology. The people of Earth were being prepared for the imminent arrival of the Fru'wu."

Wendy turned again to look upon the now peaceful scene of the Rock-Wallows. She mused, "I wonder about the future of Inspector Wishwell. Will she return to Alphanor and prosecute Dr. Kelle and Rundle Detteras for their roles in data theft from the Galactic Mapping Project?"

Image by Leonardo.

Grean laughed. "You now know the danger of the AR Simulator, Wendy. There is always more to learn, always the temptation to undertake another mission of discovery inside the Simulator."

"You knew that by having me play the roles of Pallis, Ryjyl and Nova when I was inside the Simulator, I would begin to care about them."

"I hope you had fun during your little vacation, even if you had to deal with the deaths of Kate, Pallis and Teehalt. And what about Malagate? Were not the poor parthenoid's motivations really the same as those of Teehalt and Oliveene? Yes, I even feel sympathy for Gale Warpweave and her sad fate: being torn limb-from-limb by a pack of squid."

Wendy felt no sympathy for Sivij Suthiro, 'Beauty' Dasce or Attel Malagate. She suggested, "You must know the future of the Asimov Reality... including its alternative timelines." She pointed an accusatory finger in the direction of the Omniviewer. "Why were the Dryads so intent on killing Malagate, so capable of eliminating Malagate, yet unable to prevent Malagate from causing the deaths of Kate, Pallis and Teehalt?"

in the Asimov Reality

Grean brought to the Omniviewer display an image of the Planet of the Dryads at a future time, when R. Oliveene Nhevrix had established a new telepathy research center on that world. Grean suggested, "Don't dismiss the possibility that some of Malagate's efforts were useful for the on-going effort to develop humans with sophisticated telepathic abilities. Sadly, we know very little about how Star Kings could evolve so rapidly. I suspect that Oliveene wanted to exploit Star King techniques for genetic engineering, but it was a slippery slope. Malagate was a criminal and a source of danger. Eventually the Dryads eliminated Malagate, but it is possible that by then Sene may have already used Nova to look into Malagate's mind and learn how Malagate planned to create telepathic human-Star King hybrids." Grean looked at Wendy and a sly grin came to her face. She slipped an arm around Wendy's waist. "Many mysteries remain, my dear. Maybe you would like to return to the Planet of the Dryads on a new mission and investigate how-"

Wendy objected, "No! No, thank you, Grean. I've had enough of the AR Simulator in general and of Dryads playing around with my mind, in particular. I'm ready to get back to my work on Earth."

Grean shrugged. "Very well, but let me know when you are ready for another vacation."

in the Ekcolir Reality:
an alien Kerub from Yerophet

__________________________________

This (above) is the end of a seven part story about Wendy's adventures inside the Asimov Reality Simulator.
1. (11,000 words) Reality Simulation
2. (3,500 words) Inspector Wishwell
3. (5,000 words) The Melnoy Heights
4. (7,000 words) Thumbnail Gulch
5. (5,000 words) Malagate the Woe
6. (10,000 words) Power of the Dryads
7. (5,000 words) The Maunish Mystery

Next: Rylla reads about Wendy's adventures in the AR Simulator.

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Dasce's Dead Star

Star King by Jack Vance
cover by David Russell

In my previous blog post, Wendy Larsen completed her mission on the Planet Alphanor, having discovered the secret identity of Demon Prince Attel Malagate. One of Malagate's henchmen is Hildemar Dasce, who abducted Nova Prekus from Alphanor and is now holding her prisoner at his hideout in the Beyond, a place called Thumbnail Gulch.

Below is part 4 of Wendy's adventure inside the AR Simulator (part 1).

Change Challenge.

source

I'm going to label my short fan fiction story called "Thumbnail Gulch" (see below) as my annual Change Challenge blog post. In the past, I've used these Change Challenge blog posts to:
2018 - write a book review.
2017 - In 2017, I tried to write a mystery story.
2016 - I made an effort to start moving away from my preference for loooong format story writing towards writing shorter stories.
2015 - I tried to write a fantasy story.

Here, for 2019, I made an effort to confront one of my own personal demons: my dislike for horror stories. "Thumbnail Gulch" has more gritty violence than anything I have previously written. I'm tempted to give "Thumbnail Gulch" an "R" rating. My advice: don't read "Thumbnail Gulch" unless you are in the mood taking revenge on the evil Hildemar Dasce.

Note: the following story is fan-fiction. You should read Star King by Jack Vance before trying to read about Wendy's adventures in the Asimov Reality.

Thumbnail Gulch

on Dasce's secret planet

Grean adjusted the Omniviewer so as to provide Wendy with several images of Dasce's secret hideout. "Now, a word about your new disguise. Before I send you back into the Simulator, I'm going to morph you into the physical form of IPCC Special Agent Pallis Atwrode."

Wendy felt herself morphing and saw her body change shape. She felt the features of her face with her finger tips and used her nanite probes to provide herself with an external view of her new body form. Wendy asked Grean, "As an IPCC agent, will I be safe on a lawless world of the Beyond?"

source

Grean suggested, "Well, don't flaunt your connections to the IPCC. People like Dasce and Malagate don't need to know anything about you beyond the fact that you are a space traveler. However, remember... Gersen knows Pallis and he will recognize who you are and he will treat you as if you are an IPCC Special Agent, even if you have concealed that fact from Dasce."

Wendy asked, "Will Gersen remember the things that I did on Alphanor when I was playing the role of Ryjyl?"

"No. I've reset the Simulator. Any changes that your presence on Alphanor may have caused have been erased. Nobody except you and I remember your time spent on Alphanor. However, the real Ryjyl had very similar interactions with Gersen when she met him on Alphanor." Grean gestured towards the Omniviewer, inviting Wendy to once again enter the Simulation. "Good luck!"

"Wait. What exactly do you expect me to accomplish?"

Grean seemed reluctant to share any more information with Wendy. "If I knew exactly then I would not need to send you on this mission. Just keep your eyes open and learn as much as possible about the real Pallis Atwrode and the fate of Hildemar Dasce. I'll insert you into the Simulation shortly before the real Agent Atwrode arrives at Thumbnail Gulch."

Wendy's first visit to Smade' Tavern (source)

Wendy asked Grean, "Thumbnail Gulch?"

"Wendy, you really should take the time to read Vance's stories about the Demon Princes." Grean explained, "Due to the geography around Dasce's hideout and the nearby landmarks, he thinks of its location as Thumbnail Gulch. Oh, and one more thing. When you complete your mission at Thumbnail Gulch, I will send you directly to Smade's Planet."

Wendy could not imagine why she should return to Smade's Planet. "Why bother sending me to the Tavern again? We now know Malagate's identity as Provost Gale Warpweave."

Weirdlands

Grean nodded. "True, but you have not yet had the opportunity to actually speak to Malagate. You will get your chance to chat with Malagate when you return to Smade's Tavern. Try to learn what you can about Malagate's interest in telepathy. And have fun."

Wendy complained, "I must say, I'm starting to feel that my missions into the AR Simulator are more fun for you than they are for me."

Grean laughed and placed an arm around Wendy's shoulders. "My dear girl, you must learn to gracefully take the good with the bad. Think of your second visit to the Tavern as being part two of your vacation... just don't waste all your time playing erotic games with Úna. That was an integral part of your previous mission to Smade's Planet, but Úna can only be a distraction for you this time, so I've severed your special telepathic link to her. Be careful: push at Úna too hard and she might kill you again."

Úna at Smade's Tavern (source)

Fortunately, Grean had erased Wendy's memory of having previously been killed by Úna. Wendy sarcastically muttered, "Delightful."

"Oh, and one more small point." Grean grinned mischievously. "This time when you appear on Smade's Planet, you will be wounded. Your injury will generate sympathy from Smade and distract him from entertaining his usual suspicions."

"Wait." Wendy put her hands on her hips. "I'm going to be injured while visiting Thumbnail Gulch?"

Grean replied, "Yes. This is a particularly dangerous mission for you, so I've looked into the future. Don't worry, it will only be a wound to your arm."

Wendy had grown accustomed to returning to Grean's workshop after each of her experiences inside the AR Simulator. "Why not bring me back here so that I can repair the damage to my arm before you send me on to Smade's?"

"No, your injury will actually help you accomplish your next mission at Smade's Tavern... provide you with a kind of cover-story."

Wendy wondered, "What about Úna and her suspicions? Isn't she Smade's head of security and a deep cover IPCC agent? If I arrive injured, she'll be more suspicious than ever."

"In a sense, yes, your wound will provoke Úna to greater vigilance. However, if Smade is hovering over you then Úna won't bother you."

"How can you be so sure that Úna won't kill me a second time?" Wendy pointed towards the time travel machine in Grean's workshop that could be used to view the future. Have you also already observed the outcome of my second visit to the Tavern?"

Image generated by Google's Flow.

"No, I did not bother to look ahead at that mini-mission. It will not be nearly as dangerous as your visit to Thumbnail Gulch. When you get to Smade's Tavern, relax and enjoy yourself.  Let Smade treat your wound and take care of you. If anything goes wrong we will make adjustments and try again, but I'm not expecting any difficulties for you on Smade's Planet. You will only be at the Tavern for a few hours this time."

Wendy complained, "That's more than enough time for Úna to kill me."

Grean sighed. "Well, I did not want to tell you this, but as an IPX agent, every six months Úna receives updated files listing all the active IPCC agents in the Beyond. She will quickly recognize Pallis as an IPCC agent. Really, Wendy, you should not worry about all of these details."

Wendy looked carefully at the image being shown by the Omniviewer. In the dim light of a red dwarf star, she could see the lights of Dasce's hideout shining in the distance. "The resolution of these images seems better now."

Grean nodded. "The images that I previously showed you were extrapolations based on orbital observation of the crater area. Things have changed. Remember, while on Alphanor, you planted tracking probes on both Gersen and Agent Atwrode. These better images of Dasce's hideout were generated when Gersen and Pallis subsequently visited Dasce's Planet."

Nova (left) and Kate (right)
at their home on Alphanor.

With long experience working with Grean, Wendy was comfortable with making use of information obtained from the 'future', in this case a point in time within the Asimov Reality that Wendy had not yet visited. "Didn't you learn everything you want to know from those nanite probes?"

Grean explained, "Sadly no. Neither Gersen or Atwrode get to witness Dasce's Death. I need you to be a witness at Thumbnail Gulch and report back to me how Dasce dies."

"What about Nova?"

Grean had the Omniviewer project an image of Nova Prekus. "Sadly, Nova is a special case. She may be the most adept human telepath living in Gersen's era. If I tried to have you plant a nanite probe inside Nova's body, she would notice what was happening. She can literally see inside people's bodies and detect foreign objects, even nanoscopic ones."

Wendy asked, "And what about Dasce? Why did he abduct Nova? Do you think Dasce has telepathic abilities, too?"

Grean speculated, "Dasce may have some telepathic sensitivity. Many successful criminal can sense danger. While at Thumbnail Gulch you can observe Dasce and then give me your report and assessment after you return here." Grean switched the Omniviewer back to an image of the crater at Thumbnail Gulch.

After one last glance at Grean's smiling face, Wendy stepped into the Asimov Reality Simulation.

Wendy arrived inside the crater that was the personal prison facility of Hildemar Dasce. The light level was annoying low and Wendy felt her olfactory sensors assaulted by a flood of sulfurous odors. She wished she could adjust upwards her visual system's light sensitivity and turn off her olfactory subsystem, but here inside the AR Simulator she lacked her usual ability to control the nanite components of her artificial body. 

Image generated by Google's Flow.

While inside the Simulator, she was essentially human with all of the sorry limitations that humans ordinarily dealt with. She looked upwards and could see a faintly glowing arched dome that covered the entire central flat part of the crater and held in the air.

For a moment, Wendy contemplated the possibility of rupturing the dome and letting the air escape. Ordinarily, she did not need to breath, so it might be possible to incapacitate Dasce by starving him of oxygen. However, she was now a simulated Wendy, and it was not obvious that she could survive inside this simulation without breathable air. Wendy decided that her job was to observe, not take action to subdue Dasce.

Wendy wondered where Dasce's spaceship was hidden. She looked around the perimeter of the airdome, but saw no ship. There was little level ground outside the perimeter of the airdome. Possibly Dasce had landed his ship outside the crater.

Wendy was distracted by an annoying sound. To Wendy's left, a persistent, growling noise came from a dark hole in the crater rim. Rather than walk towards the lights at the far end of the crater, Wendy stayed in the shadows and moved along the darker perimeter of the airdome, moving towards the machine-generated noise. Grean had dressed Wendy in the traditional gray of the space traveler, but now Wendy was feeling very warm. The red dwarf star's light was very feeble, but the ground itself seemed to be hot. Wendy began to sweat and she found that she could not use her nanites to control her body temperature. She pulled off her shirt and wiped her brow. The gray of her pants and her pale skin would glow brightly in the artificial lights of Dasce's compound if she approached the center of the crater.

Drawing close to the cave entrance from which the growling machine noises emanated, Wendy scrambled over low, irregular heaps of mining tailings. She concluded that Dasce used an automated tunneling and mining device to obtain needed mineral resources, possibly including the air and water molecules that were needed to support human life. 

Image by Leonardo.

Continuing on past the cave entrance, Wendy passed three large sythglass tanks labeled OXYGEN, NITROGEN and WATER. A pipe ran along the crater floor from the water tank towards the center of the crater.

Having departed from the mine and then gone one quarter of the way around the dome's perimeter, Wendy came to an airlock with a standard thumb print reader that controlled the opening and closing of the airlock doors. Now with the lit airlock behind her, she decided that it was no longer necessary to follow along the edge of the airdome. At the center of the crater was a cage with black metal bars. Now feeling exposed, Wendy walked slowly towards the cage. She tried to deploy a nanite reconnaissance probe, but discovered that none of her nanite programs had been included by the AR Simulator. For the rest of this mission, she would be limited to the normal human biological capacity of Agent Atwrode's body. Silently cursing Grean, Wendy trudged forward.

Wendy approached and stopped a few feet from the bars of the cage. To her right was a device that was connected to the water pipe. When loaded with prepackaged nutrient concentrates, this machine could run for six months, automatically synthesizing a daily ration of food pellets every day and also squirt water through the spigot of a little fountain. Several of the dry pellets could be seen in the output tray, inside the cage. Excess water trickled from a pipe on the ground, with that run-off feeding a small warm pond that was surrounded by a few stunted palm trees and some tangled weeds.

To Wendy's left was a Jarnell Waste Processor. Across the cage, some 20 feet away was a dilapidated sofa, its seating area obscured by shadow. Speaking quietly but loud enough to be heard over the endlessly rumbling mining equipment, Wendy said, "Rampold! Robin Rampold!"

A minute passed. Wendy spoke again: "Nova! Nova Prekus!"

Image by Leonardo.

Now a rasping voice emerged from the sofa, "Quiet, please. I don't allow hallucinations to speak."

"Rampold? Listen to me; I'm no hallucination. My name is Pallis Atwrode."

Rampold sat up and his head was backlit by the lights from Dasce's dwelling. "There are two of you?"

For a moment, Wendy wondered if the real Pallis had already arrived. Then she realized that Rampold must have only recently seen the arrival of Nova. Wendy wondered: would Dasce put Nova in this cage along with Rampold? Wendy asked Rampold, "Is Nova there with you?"

"Is that her name?"

Wendy wondered if Rampold had lost his sanity after years of being held captive by Dasce. Each word that Rampold uttered seemed to cause him pain. Wendy kept trying to get some useful information from Rampold. "So, you have not met Nova Prekus?"

Rampold stood up and walked across his cage to stand a few feet in front of Pallis. There was a restraining cord attached to his right leg; except for that, his body was naked. "Nova. Is that the name of the poor girl? For hours I listened to her screams." Rampold turned and looked towards the low habitation dome at the lit end of the crater. "Mercifully, she is now quiet. Is she dead? I know nothing."

Wendy tried not to think about the horrific experiences of Nova as Dasce's prisoner. She looked at the jagged features of Rampold's face. He did not look healthy. Despite the heat, Wendy put her shirt back on and asked, "How have you survived here for so long?"

Rampold giggled. "Time has no meaning here. One day. One year. It is all the same." He walked over to the Waste Processor and urinated into it.

Wendy said, "I will set you free. How can I open this cage?"

Image by Leonardo.

Rampold replied, "It was not designed to open. For my first few years here, a chain held me to a post. Later, Hildemar built this cage over me. The metal bars extend down into the crater floor. I once tried to tunnel my way out, but had no luck. You will have to use your blaster to melt the metal bars. Be quiet while you blast or Dasce will hear you."

"I have no blaster."

"Who are you?"

Wendy was tempted to tell Rampold that she was an IPCC agent, but she said, "I'm from beyond this Simulation. I'm here to collect information about a past Reality."

Rampold muttered, "So that is how it is." Rampold walked back to the sofa, took one last glance at Wendy and said, "I am insane." He laid back down.

Wendy tried again. "I will help you if I can. Tell me, where is Nova?" No reply. "I assume she is with Dasce in that little habitation dome. What is the layout in there?

Rampold replied, "I have never been in there. Only Dasce's girl friends receive that honor. You will be next."

"No. Help me, and I will deal with Dasce. I will rescue you and the girl. Tell me what you know of his habits. Where is his spaceship?"

"He leaves his ship somewhere beyond the crater rim." Rampold again sat up. "What do you expect me to tell you? I can't help you. Where is your ship? You should not have come here alone, without weapons. Best that you leave while you can. Stop teasing me with your talk of rescue."

Image by Leonardo.

Wendy felt like she was wasting her time talking to Rampold, but she did not want to confront Dasce. She wondered why Grean had not provided her with a means of defense. She told Rampold, "I am really only an observer. I did not come here to kill Dasce, but I assure you... he will soon die."

Rampold asked, "You are going to observe me? So that is Hildemar's plan."

Wendy asked, "What plan?"

"You are another kitten." Rampold stated that as a fact.

Again, Wendy could not make sense of Rampold's words. "Look at me, Rampold. I'm a woman."

"Yes. Dasce wants you to tempt me... entice me. It will not work. I will ignore you." He sank back down on the sofa.

"Don't ignore me. Rampold! Why do you call me a kitten?"

"It is Hidemar's favorite game. He brings me gifts then, after I become interested, he takes pleasure in destroying the gifts. He wants me to become interested in you, then... well, he will not destroy you. Eventually you will choose to destroy yourself, after you have received enough of his attention."

Just then, an alarm sounded and Dasce emerged from his hut. He threw a switch and the entire crater interior was lit up by additional lights. Instantly he saw Wendy and began walking towards the cage. Wendy turned and ran towards the mine shaft. Dasce followed. Wendy entered the mining tunnel and covered her ears with her hands, trying to protect her inner ears from the noise of the mining equipment. She hid in the dark behind an old piece of ore processing equipment. The lights came on and the machinery fell silent. Dasce entered the tunnel and called out, "Show yourself. Don't waste my time. That was the air pressure alarm that went off. I need to fix the leak in the airdome."

Image generated by Google's Flow.

Wendy suddenly realized that she had left tracks on the dusty floor of the tunnel. Dasce came around the ore processor, pointing a blaster at her. "How did you get inside the airdome? Did you cut a hole in the dome?" He fired the blaster, hitting Wendy in the arm.

Never before had she experienced such pain. She leapt at Dasce, trying to knock the blaster out of his hand. He bashed her face with the blaster and she fell to the floor. He clamped a restraint bracelet on Wendy's uninjured arm and then kicked her. "Get up. Show me where you made the hole in the airdome."

After three more savage kicks, Dasce gave up. "You are too pretty to kill." He tied the metal cord of the restraint to the ore processor then used his blaster to weld the cord in place. Dasce exited from the tunnel and turned off the lights. The mining machinery again began to fill the tunnel with loud grinding noises. Wendy lay bleeding from the blaster wound to her arm. The pain was excruciating, but most of the blood vessels had been fused shut by the heat of the blast. Wendy tried to detach herself from the ore processing equipment, but she could not break the weld that held her restraint cord attached to the heavy machine.

Later, the lights came back on. Dasce had returned. Dasce shouted at Wendy above the noise of the tunneling machinery: "I captured your bumbling partner. If it was your job to distract me, you failed. Now you are both my prisoners. Get up, and give me no trouble." He blasted the restrain cord off of the ore processor and pulled Wendy to her feet and out of the tunnel.

They walked to Rampold's cage and now Wendy could see the unconscious form of Kirth Gersen, on the ground near the cage. He was attached to the cage by another restraining cord. Inside the cage, Rampold stood, watching events. Never in 17 years had he seen so much activity in the crater.

Dasce kicked Gersen in the ribs. "Get up." Gersen did not move. Wendy could see a small puddle of blood under his head. Dasce turned to Wendy and asked, "Who are you? IPCC? Do you work with Gersen?"

Image generated by Google's Flow.

Wendy's ears were still buzzing from being in the noisy tunnel. She replied, "Face it Dasce, the secret location of your little resort is no longer a secret. Let me go, along with the rest of your prisoners, and I'll do my best to get you a reduced sentence."

Dasce laughed. "What did you do? Plant a tracking device on my spaceship so that you could follow me here?" Wendy said no more. "Well, it does not matter. You were fools to try to defeat me." He looked at the blast damage that he had inflicted on Wendy's arm. "Come with me, I will bandage that arm."

Rampold told Dasce, "Free us, Hildemar. You have reached the end. Justice is creeping up on you."

Dasce told Rampold, "Be quiet. When Gersen wakes up, find out what his plans were." Dasce pushed Wendy towards the hut. "I'll be busy entertaining our new guest."

Once inside the hut, Wendy needed a moment for her eyes to adjust to the brighter light. The roof sloped down from the center, creating a round space some 10 feet high in the middle, lower around the edges. Dasce went to the back room and said, "Get up, Nova. I need your help." Dasce then attached Wendy's restraining cord to a metal locking device that was built into the floor at the center of the room.

Nova Prekus came out of the back room. She stood staring at Wendy. Like Rampold, Nova was naked. Sets of ugly bruises adorned her body. Dasce reached into a half-height closet at the far end of the hut and pulled out a plastic case. Returning to the center the room, he handed the medkit to Nova and said, "Bandage her arm."

Trailing her own restraint cord from an ankle, Nova approached Wendy who sat down in a chair and allowed Wendy to bandage her blasted arm. Soon the pain began to lessen and Wendy could again begin to think. Dasce went outside to check on Gersen. Wendy asked Nova, "Are you alright?"

Image by Leonardo.

Nova replied, "No. Dasce is a madman. Who are you?"

"Tell me... how can Dasce be distracted?"

Nova shook her head. "He seems interested in only one thing. You'll experience that first hand, soon enough." Nova applied an ointment to the bruises on Wendy's face where she had been struck by Dasce.

Wendy said, "I'm going to fight Dasce. I'd prefer that he kill me."

Nova said, "You are brave." She began to re-pack the medkit. She asked Wendy, "What are you? I have the ability to look into people's minds, but you are different... I can see nothing inside of you."

"I'm not alone. A man, Kirth Gersen, is out there beside Rampold's cage. If we all resist..." Wendy pointed to a set of metal surgical tools that was inside the medkit.

Nova asked, "What is to be gained? If you resist you will end up like Rampold, a sorry collection of broken bones and lacerated skin." Just then Dasce returned and said to Nova, "Go bandage Gersen's head. He's lying by Rampold's cage." Taking a key from his pocket, he released the steel band from her ankle. Nova took a roll of bandaging material and some first aid ointment out of the medkit and with one last glance at Wendy she went outside.

Dasce examined Wendy's bandaged arm then grabbed the tattered sleeve at her shoulder and ripped off the rest of her clothing with two powerful jerks. Wendy kicked Dasce in the crotch and picked up the chair that she had been sitting on. Dasce grabbed the chair as she tried to strike him with it and pushed Wendy backwards into the adjoining kitchen area of the hut. Wendy reached the end of her restraining cord and stumbled to the floor. Dasce was holding on to her injured arm, which he now twisted mercilessly.

Image by Leonardo.

A shriek of pain escaped from Wendy. She had intended to show Dasce no signs of pain, but now she was splayed out on the floor, writhing in pain. She tried to kick Dasce but she could generate no significant force. He twisted her arm again. He laughed and asked, "Do you enjoy pain?"

Wendy did not trust herself to speak. She glared at Dasce and thought of Grean. If Grean had seen these events by viewing the future, or if Grean was watching now, using the Omniviewer, why didn't she end the Simulation? Wendy felt faint.

After one last twist, Dasce let go of Wendy's arm and got to his feet. He went to one of the cabinets in the kitchen, turning his back to Wendy. She forced herself to stand, grabbed the medkit and went into the back room. Wendy flung open the case and pulled out a set of steel bone shears. She tried to cut the metallic cord that was attached to the steal band around her wrist. She could not generate enough hand force to cut the cord, but she saw that she had crimped the cord.

Dasce entered the back room, which held a large bed. He kicked Wendy in the back of the head and she went sprawling across the medkit. Wendy lost consciousness.

Wendy regained consciousness and found herself on the bed, now held in place by two taught restraining cords, one on her wrist and the other at her ankle. Her head and blasted arm both throbbed with pain. She saw a motion in the doorway that connected to the front room. It was Nova. The girl turned and disappeared. A few seconds later, Dasce came into the bedroom. "So, you are a fighter. That won't last very long." He took off his pants and got on the bed with Wendy. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Hildemar. Tell me your name."

Image by Leonardo.

Wendy said nothing. Dasce moved closer. She tried to kick his ugly genitals with her free leg, but Dasce laughed and grabbed her foot, which he now twisted until her ankle cracked loudly. "Stop fighting me or I'll punish Nova."

Wendy was prepared to fight Dasce and accept the blows he would inflict in revenge, but she had not imagined that he would punish Nova. She relaxed the muscles in her limbs, but now she felt obliged to speak, "You are a miserable coward. Let's make a deal. Leave the girl alone."

Dasce moved on top of Wendy. "You are in no position to make deals."

Wendy flexed her free leg and her knee slammed into Dasce's scrotum. He cried out and rolled off the bed. He staggered from the room then returned with Nova. He threw Nova on the bed and stalked out. Wendy asked, "Where is the medkit?"

Nova looked to the side of the bed and saw the steel bone shears on the floor. Dasce returned, carrying two lengths of zirkad pipe. He grabbed Nova's arm and flung her over. "On your knees, like I taught you."

Nova got to her hands and knees, staring into Wendy's eyes, her slim bottom pointed at Dasce. He put the two pipes between her legs and told Wendy, "Each time you resist me, it will be worse for Nova. This time I'll be kind and only use two pipes."

Wendy wondered: why doesn't Nova resist? She decided that much of her own courage came from knowing that this was all a Simulation. Wendy told Nova, "Fight." Nova gave her head a quick shake, but the girl said nothing.

Image generated by Google's Flow.

Dasce said, "Nova and I have been together for a few days now." He told Wendy, "I've trained her to relax and enjoy herself. Too bad she must be punished for your bad behavior."

A loud sound came from above; the sounds of a descending spaceship.

Dasce dropped the pipes, pulled on his pants, turned and ran from the hut. He looked up and saw a small spaceship falling out of the sky. He returned inside and used his key to open a cabinet. After grabbing a blaster and locking the cabinet, he opened another cabinet and pulled out an airsuit. Carrying his helmet, he ran back outside.

Inside the hut, Nova picked up the pair of shears and attached a section of the zirkad pipe to each handle. Nova was a tall girl with long powerful arms. Now with the extra leverage of the pipes, she was able to cut one of Wendy's two restraining cords after just two tries. Wendy said, "Now our ankles!" Nova cut the cord attached to Wendy's ankle then Wendy took the shears and set Nova free.

Wendy retrieved the scalpel from the medkit and then went to the front door of the hut and looked outside. Gersen, laying near Rampold's cage, was the only person she could see. Wendy turned towards Nova and asked, "Where is Dasce's spaceship?"

"We landed beside the crater."

"Show me the direction."

Nova pointed north. "That's also where the second ship has landed and that is where Dasce went. He is armed."

Wendy ran to the airlock, but it was locked and coded to open only to Dasce's thumb print. She then used the scalpel to puncture the airdome. Air began to whistle out through the small cut. Wendy worked to enlarge the hole, but the scalpel was quickly becoming dull. 

Image by Leonardo.

Nova arrived with a knife from the kitchen and together they enlarged the hole. Nova told Wendy, "There is a tunnel through the rim of the crater that leads to the landing area, but you can't go out there without a suit. There is not any oxygen in the atmosphere of this world."

Wendy said, "I don't need oxygen." However, Wendy was not really sure that the Simulator would actually allow her to go without breathing. There was one way to find out.

Soon the hole in the airdome seemed big enough and Wendy put her head through and then with a struggle pulled the rest of her body through the gap. She ran towards the rim of the crater, up a slope of small rocks and then down again. She took her first breath of the planet's atmosphere. It tasted like metal. There was the tunnel opening. Wendy stepped inside. The tunnel was about a quarter of a mile long, lit by a long chain of LEDs. Wendy ran through the tunnel. By the time she reached the other end of the tunnel, she felt certain that inside the Simulator she did not actually need oxygen for her artificial body, but strangely she could not stop herself from inhaling and exhaling.

But where was Dasce?

Wendy looked outside and saw Dasce carrying the real Pallis Atwrode slung over his shoulder and returning towards the tunnel, making his way up the slope from the flat landing area beyond. Just inside the tunnel entrance, looming in the shadows, was a broken piece of tunneling equipment. Wendy still held the scalpel. Now she used it to open a cover panel on the machine. Inside was a large motor and a complex cooling system. Again using the scalpel, she pried out a short piece of thin zirkad pipe. Then using that pipe, she began trying to dislodge a larger, thicker pipe. Dasce had arrived at the mouth of the tunnel. He set down Agent Atrode on the ground and for a minute stood there, panting and catching his breath, adjusting the flow from his oxygen tank. Wendy popped the restraining clamps off of the thicker pipe. One end was attached to a soft plastic hose. She repeatedly bent the other end of the pipe back and forth and finally the fatigued zirkad snapped. 

Image by Leonardo.

Dasce stood gazing out towards the two spaceships the rested side-by-side on the landing field. This was Wendy's chance! She rushed towards Dasce, raising the pipe above her head.

At the sound of her footfalls, Dasce turned and flung up his arms. Twisting to the side, he let Wendy tumble out the mouth of the tunnel. He pulled his blaster out of its holster and fired. Once more, Wendy's arm flared with pain. She tried to pick herself up off the ground, but something struck her head and consciousness winked out.

When Wendy regained consciousness, she was back in the hut. The lights were dim. She was lying on the big bed in the back room. She was sweating, but the bed itself felt cool and dry. Perhaps, she thought, the bed is cooled. She turned her head and saw Nova there, sleeping quietly beside her. Wendy reached out and touched Nova's hair, gently stroking the girl's head.

Nova awoke and smiled at Wendy. Again she asked, "What are you? You don't need oxygen?"

Wendy sat up. There was a tender lump on the back of her head. Her blasted arm was stiff and throbbed with a cruel deep pain. She examined the fresh bandages on her injured arm. Nova said, "Shot twice in the same arm. I tried to sew you back together, but some pieces were missing this time. You need regeneration."

Wendy asked, "Where is Dasce?"

Nova replied, "He is gone."

Image by Leonardo.

Wendy rolled off the bed and walked to the front room. Agent Atwrode and Gersen lay there, on the floor, side by side. Nova brightened the lights. Blood seeped from the bandages that were wrapped around Gersen's head and his chest rose and fell with each breath. Agent Atwrode was motionless, her body mostly covered by a bloody sheet. Wendy tugged at the sheet, pulling it to hide the pale, stiff face of Agent Atwrode then she sank into a chair and looked at Nova. The girl bent over Gersen, took his pulse and then sat beside him on the floor, holding a sheet from the bed close around herself. She pointed at the body of the real Pallis and said to Wendy, "Hildemar thought you two must be twins, but unlike you, I could see into her mind."

Wendy asked, "How did she die?"

Nova replied, "After he found her IPCC identification papers, Dasce tortured Pallis until she wanted to die. I wasn't there, but I could sense the agony in her mind. She never cried out." Nova smiled grimly. "I was busy. Dasce had tied me up outside, near Gersen, shackled by my arm. Gersen carried a small knife... inside his body. Dasce had missed that when he captured and searched Gersen, but I knew it was hidden there... inside him... I can see things like that with my extra-sensory abilities."

Wendy said, "Inside? Hidden in his..."

"Yes. I took out that knife and did what needed to be done." Letting the sheet fall from her shoulders, Nova held up her left arm, and Wendy saw that it ended in a bandaged stump.

Wendy asked in a horrified whisper, "You cut off your own hand?"

Nova nodded. "The knife was small and my bones are hard. Rampold helped. He snapped my arm bones against a bar of the cage."

Wendy looked around the room and then asked, "Where is Rampold?"

Image by Leonardo.

"Rampold called to Dasce, creating a distraction. When Dasce asked how I had escaped, all Rampold did was point to my severed hand there on the ground. By then, I'd come in here through the back door and found Pallis. She was mostly dead by then. There was nothing I could do to help her. She asked me for the knife and she cut her own throat."

Wendy starred with amazement. She asked, "Rampold? Dasce?"

Nova seemed to be finished talking. She got up off the floor and went to the kitchen area. She asked Wendy, "Do you eat? Drink?"

Wendy got up and went into the kitchen area. They got into Dasce's supply of alcohol and Nova cooked herself an omelette using powdered eggs. Nova looked at Wendy over the rim of her whiskey glass then said, "It was not supposed to end this way."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was a little girl, the stars called to me. I knew that I was needed... out here. In the Beyond. Of course, at first I just wanted to leave home and travel to any other world. I won a scholarship to go to school on Alphanor. When I met Kate, I believed that was it. My calling. We got married and we were happy. Then Gersen showed up."

For a minute they sat in silence, thinking about Kate and how she had been murdered. Nova spoke on: "I could see deep into Dasce's mind. When I got over the shock of that -his was the first truly evil mind of my experience- I knew that I could defeat him. I just had to be patient. I can usually make people like me, and even Dasce grew to like me." Nova laughed, rather hysterically. "Well... maybe he was incapable of liking anyone, but he no longer wanted to hurt me. That was his downfall. In the end, he let me get close... one last time. Gersen's little stiletto was long enough to pierce Dasce's heart."

Wendy asked, "Where is his body?"

Image by Leonardo.

"Gone. I vaporized him with his own blaster. When Rampold would not tell Dasce where I had gone, he got out his blaster and killed Rampold. I wont tell you how many blaster shots that process took. Rampold had ample opportunity to talk, but he held his tongue."

Wendy looked at Nova with amazement and could think of nothing to say.

Nova finished eating then said to Wendy, "No... it was not supposed to end this way. You should not have been here."

Wendy said, "So you can see into my mind."

"No, you are completely opaque. It seems to me that you have no mind, none that I can sense."

"I have a mind. I'm just not from your Reality. I'm from beyond the world that you experience. I came here to observe and find out what happened here on this awful world."

Nova shook her head. "No. If you had not been here then everything would have been different. By being here, by your act of observing, you altered the Reality that you wanted to study. All you accomplished was getting yourself shot... twice."

With sudden insight, Wendy realized that Nova might be correct. "Ya, maybe that is all Grean really wanted. And to force me to experience true pain."

Nova asked, "Who is Grean?"

"An alien. She sent me here."

Image by Leonardo.

"A Star King?"

"No. Grean the Kac'hin."

Just then, Gersen began coughing and then he sat up. Nova had gone to his side. She handed him a cup of water. Gersen drank the cup dry and then a second and a third cup. Finally he said, "Where is Dasce?"

Wendy replied, "Dead. How does your head feel?"

Gersen struggled to his feet and stood there swaying, then put an arm around Nova so that he could keep from sinking to the floor." Nova put her long arms around Gersen and told him, "You lost a lot of blood. Don't try to walk."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"A few hours."

"I have to call my ship. Is there a radio here?"

"No. Where is your ship?"

"Not too far away. I hope it is still here. Where is my airsuit? I have to get to my flyer."

Nova said, "Relax, Mr. Gersen. Your ship is not going anywhere. Your travel companions are waiting for you. Even the Star King."

Wendy told Gersen, "Nova is a telepath."

Image by Leonardo.

Gersen asked, "Can you tell them that I'm alright?"

"Sorry." Nova shook her head. "I can look into minds, but I can't send my thoughts into people's heads."

Gersen was now sweating. He took off his shirt and asked for more water. After he drank again, he handed the cup back to Wendy and, thinking she was the real Pallis, asked her, "What happened? I'm glad you followed me. It was almost as if Dasce knew I was coming." He looked at Nova and asked, "Did you warn Dasce of my arrival?"

"Of course not. But she messed everything up." Nova pointed at Wendy. "When she appeared, Dasce was put on his guard."

Gersen said, "I know I'm dizzy, but nothing you say is making sense." He asked Wendy, "How did you get here before me?" Wendy glanced at the body of Pallis Atwrode and Gersen followed her eyes to the corpse. "Who is that?"

Wendy stepped over and pulled the sheet off of Agent Atwrode's face. Gersen looked back and forth between Pallis and Wendy. "A double? Or... you are twins?"

Wendy explained, "I was given the bodily form of Agent Atwrode, but my name is Wendy Larsen."

"You are an IPCC agent?"

Wendy laughed. "No, I'm just here to observe. I'm not a part of this Reality. I'm from outside your universe."

Image by Leonardo.

"I don't know what that means, but I can't allow myself to be distracted by mysteries. I still must go to the Planet of the Dryads." Gersen let go of Nova, no longer using her to keep himself steady on his feet and staggered towards the door. He leaned against the door frame and looked outside. "I need an airsuit."

Nova went to one of the storage cabinets and pulled out Gersen's airsuit. With the help of Wendy and Nova, Gersen got into the suit and strapped on an oxygen tank.

Nova opened another cabinet and took out her pants. She put on the pants and stepped into the kitchen area. She opened the cooler and called to Gersen, "Do you want another drink before you go?" Wendy was sweating, but Gersen seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes off of her breasts. She put on Nova's shirt and let the long tails hang low.

Gersen took one last cool, drink, politely thanked Nova, picked up his helmet and went outside.

Wendy and Nova followed Gersen outside. Nova pointed and said, "Use the airlock." At the airlock door, Nova reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a little plastic bag that held Dasce's thumb. She pressed it against the thumb print reader and the airlock cycle started. Gersen entered the airlock, turned and said, "You two will be okay?"

Wendy did not hear his words. She was looking off towards the dark end of the crater. Now she could see lights there, flickering in the distance. Suddenly she recognized the pattern of the lights: it was the pattern that she knew as the tall glowing windows of Smade's Tavern. She ran towards the lights, and as quickly as she had appeared in Thumbnail Gulch, she now disappeared.

Next: Wendy returns to Smade's Tavern.

Related Reading: 2020 Change Challenge.

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