III
The Muse of Mischief was already in the clearing when Brzko arrived. “Hey there slowpoke, so you saw a person or being of some kind?”
“I had the camera looking straight down in the rocks and I saw the top of someone’s head. But only for a second, then it was gone. But that doesn’t make sense, there’s nowhere for anyone to go, it’s an open area.”
“Now I’m really curious. Let’s go!” She headed east toward to the rocky outcropping.
They were close, so it didn’t take long to get to the rocks; they had walked all around each outcropping and hadn’t seen any indication of an inhabitant. M and Brzko were able to communicate with looks and hand gestures while searching. They needed to maintain the element of surprise. They began working their way back the way they came.
As they rounded the edge of a large outcropping, something caught Brzko’s eye. He stopped short.
“What, what do you see?” M asked quietly as she turned in the direction he was looking.
“Do you see that shimmer? Well not quite a shimmer but that boulder doesn’t quite look right. It almost doesn’t look solid.”
“I see what you mean.” M said as they both began to walk toward the boulder.
As soon as they were within ten inches of the surface they could feel air moving toward them. But how could air be rushing out of stone? Stone is a solid surface. It looked like a rocky surface, but at the same time it didn’t look solid. Brzko took a tiny step forward and reached toward the stone. His hand passed through the surface, the facade disappeared, they could see into a large cave or room. The back was sloped as if it went deep into the hillside. They were still trying to process what they were currently seeing, as well as no longer seeing, when they heard an awful high pitched screeching sound.
“Heeeeeee!!!!! Heeeeeeeeee!!!!! Heeeeeeeeeee!!!!!” Suddenly there was someone or something rushing toward them. It was all happening so quickly their reactions were automatic. M dove down in front of the creature, throwing her right shoulder into it as she connected. This knocked the wind out of it at the same time she stopped its movement and toppled it. Brzko was already above the being, holding it in place. Having strength, superior to that of Earthlings allowed him to easily subdue the being while it writhed around flailing. It was moving so quickly they couldn’t quite make out what it was. It looked humanoid with white hair and black eyes.
“We aren’t going to hurt you. Can you understand me? We will not hurt you. We just want to talk to you.” Brzko repeated these phrases a few times, his calm patient voice and energy seemed to calm the being and it stopped struggling. Brzko had learned to project his calming energy to others whenever they were in a sticky situation. It always helped to defuse the situation.
“No hurt.” said the being with white hair.
“No, we will not hurt you, I promise. If I let you get up will you stay calm and talk to us?” asked Brzko.
“Yas, yas, calm. Rogsaar calm.”
Brzko moved to the side and took a knee next to the being. He took his hand and helped Rogsaar sit up. The Muse of Mischief knelt down beside them, on the other side of their new friend.
“Rogsaar, is that your name?” she asked. “Yas, Rogsaar.”
“I’m the Muse of Mischief and this is Agent Brzko. We just want to talk to you. Are you ok, do you need anything?” asked M.
“No no hurt. Yas, want go home.” “Where is home Rogsaar?” asked Brzko.
“Rogsaar here since small, no remember exactly where from. Think home called Myaad.”
“How did you get here?” asked M.
“In that” he said as he pointed to the boulder that wasn’t really a boulder.
“Is that a ship?” asked Brzko.
“Yas, yas ship of Rogsaars. The older Rogsaar bring me here when small. We watch funny species called… human.” He said with a slight sneer. “The ship broked, cannot control ship to leave so stuck here.”
“Was the older Rogsaar your parent?” asked Brzko.
“No, yas, a little, Rogsaars from hive, older ones care for younger ones. All in my group are Rogsaar. Older Rogsaar fell from cliff, slide all the way to bottom, not survive. I try to regenerate in stasis compartment but no work. Come I show you.” in a flash Rogsaar was on his feet heading toward the rocky outcropping that wasn’t really there.
Brzko and M fell in step behind him. But when they came to what appeared to be the surface of the stone, Rogsaar walked into it and disappeared. M and Brzko both came to a dead stop.
Rogsaar stepped back out and looked them up and down,
“Ah, know what is. No, nothing here to hurt you, could lower the facade but no like. What if sky camera take image that minute?”
“Sky camera?” asked Brzko.
“I think he might mean satellites.” suggested the Muse of Mischief.
Rogsaar stepped back into the facade, M and Brzko both stepped right up to the edge and leaned the upper half of their bodies past the facade. It was amazing; they were in the doorway of a large ship. The room was a triangular shape with a center structure that went from what seemed to be floor to ceiling. It contained multiple displays, some looked like the LED displays used on Earth, while others were made up of a series of lights and buttons. The lights were different colors, some flashing some solid. There were also several things that looked like switches, and knobs. The center structure was surrounded by a track or groove in the floor. There was something that looked like a stool mounted in the track. M wondered how Rogsaar could possibly reach the upper consoles; even standing on the stool wouldn’t make him tall enough to reach them. After taking a few moments to absorb the interior of Rogsaar’s ship, both M and Brzko were reasonably comfortable and stepped in.
“Welcome.” said Rogsaar. He seemed much more comfortable now that he was sure M and Brzko had not arrived to hurt him. M estimated that Rogsaar was about six feet tall. He had stark white hair and black eyes. He appeared humanoid with the exception of the length of his fingers, and his eyes.
“Thank you Rogsaar. Your ship is quite impressive; we haven’t seen a ship like this before. How long ago did you arrive on Earth?”
“Rogsaar small when arrive, here almost 200 rotations of Earth.” he answered.
“So you’re more than 200 years old?” asked M.
“Yas, yas, Rogsaars live very long time, maybe 300 of Earth rotations.”
M continued the casual interrogation “Why did you come to Earth?”
“Myaad send out many Rogsaar ships. Watch planets, look for species can learn from, maybe trade. But humans no ready, still ride horses when Rogsaars arrive. Want desire go home but ship broked, try to repair but older Rogsaar perish. This his ship, not know to repair, try to use flashport for go home but something not work. Send things but not know if things getting to Myaad, not know where they go.”
“We might know where the “flashport” is sending things. Tell us about some of the things you have sent.” said Brzko.
“Things Rogsaar find in forest, belongings of juvenile human, something called Kitchen Aid, small machine, chair. Why humans bring things and leave piles in forest? It make this planet ugly.”
“Yes it does. Some humans seem to like dumping trash far from their homes. We don’t understand why they do this. There is a proper place to dispose of unwanted items. And on a planet that thrives on excess, there is much to dispose of.” M said, shaking her head in disgust.
“Last item in flashport is sign say “Scorchbrooke”, when trapped on this planet, older Rogsaar call this place Scorchbrooke. Make sign.” he said with a shrug. “If I send home maybe they know where to find me.”
“Can you show us where the flashport is, how it works?” asked Brzko.
“Yas, what send?” asked Rogsaar as he sat in stool near the center console.
“You can send this.” M said as she removed her scarf.
“Place on spot there.” said Rogsaar pointing to a slightly darkened area on the floor about six feet from the center console. M followed his instructions and placed the scarf on the dark area of the floor.
The stool that Rogsaar sat on raised at least five feet to allow access to an upper control panel. Then it came down a few feet and slid through the track to the backside of the console. They could hear a humming sound coming from beneath them. A clear tube like structure came out of the floor and surrounded the scarf. The tube protruded from the floor until it met the ceiling. The walls of the tube seemed to be solid but not rigid. It looked like they could form themselves around larger items if needed.
“Ready to flash” said Rogsaar, as his stool moved along the track, returning to the original position. There was a brief flash of light and the scarf was gone. There was an audible beep, beep, beep… signal, as though the scarf were being tracked. Rogsaar was intently watching one of the control panels with flashing lights. The beeping stopped.
Clearly let down, Rogsaar turned to them and said “Another item send don’t know where.”
“It’s OK Rogsaar. We’re going to help you get home to Myaad. We just need a little time to work out the details. It could take a few days, will you be OK here? Or would you like to stay with us?” asked Agent Brzko.
“Scorchbrooke my home, here.”
“One of us will come back and check on you. You can use this to contact us in an emergency.” M said as she handed him an earcom link. “Just place it in your ear so you can hear us, press this button, and speak. We will be able to hear you.”
“Yas, yas, press talk.”
“Do you need anything? Do you have enough food?” asked Brzko.
“No, no need sustenance. Ship can still make.” answered Rogsaar.
“OK, one of us will be back to check on you tomorrow.” said M. She and Brzko stepped out of the ship, back into the light of the afternoon.
They walked a short ways from the facade before speaking. “When I get back to the Jeep I’ll contact Emperor Bartala and give him an update.” said M.
“Zri, have you heard of Myaad?” Brzko asked.
They heard his answer in their earpieces, “I’ve heard the name but I am not personally familiar with it, I will query our databases.”
“Thank you Zri,” Brzko said. “I’ll contact Lelelu and get
her started on researching Myaad. Zri, will you please keep an eye on our new friend? We wouldn’t want anything to happen to him before we can get him home.”
“Yes, of course Agent Brzko. We’ve started monitoring
the area for any activity.”
“I’ll see you at home then M.”
“OK Brzko, enjoy the drive, I know I will.”
The Muse of Mischief 