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| Lpnet1-100 The Lost Planet Chapter 1: Accident with an Asteroid Chapter 2: Stranded in Space Chapter 3: Survival in Solitude Chapter 4: The Ancient Temple Chapter 5: A Virtual Reality Experience Chapter 6: The Crystal Records Chapter 7: The Knowledge of Tranqua Chapter 8: The Meta- Hydrovector Chapter 9: The Long, Hard Work Chapter 10: The Project Complete Chapter 11: The Crystal Fantasy Chapter 12: The Key of Vitreos |
The Lost Planet
Chapter 7: The Knowledge of Tranqua I sat in the air-lock cave, staring out into space, putting to order a jumble of images and information. It was in the year 2086. Tranqua existed 100 thousand years in the past. How could I exist in both simultaneously? I did not. It stood to reason that everything I had experienced, the temple, T'rwani, the video-records, and the vision of Tranqua, was a very highly advanced form of recording of the ancient past. Why was my viewpoint upon the recordings cast from the ego of Zondar? Was it because he was the High Amplek? Yes, that made sense. Zondar was not simply a king, but also a keeper of records. Judging from the variable moods of T'rwani, the girl that communed with me as Zondar, time was relative to the records. She was at once impatient, yet careful, then urgent, then passive. Perhaps the mood was all coincidental to the order of the records. That meant the crystals had a definite temporal order and sequence. Unfortunately, I did not keep them in order when they were bagged in the other cave. If they could be put back in order, it should all make more sense. Upon close study of the crystals, there was what appeared to be a tiny indentation in a corner facet at one end. Under a magnifier, it was a symbol. Each crystal had a different symbolic indentation. I recognized the symbols from the records. They had been located at the beginning of each segment of the video-records, and on the star-map, as well as in several other areas wherein information, in the Tranquan 'language' was displayed. That was another thing. Somehow, I could understand T'rwani, and much of what was displayed on the video was interpreted, however, I did not know the Tranquan language. Actually, most of it was obscure, but certain general impressions got through, and in this way I understood much of it. These symbols on the crystals appeared to be sequential, but the order of sequence was unknown. It was just a matter of accessing the information. I returned to the temple, reviewed one of the crystals, and discovered the 'order' by taking note at the beginning of each segment, and located the same order displayed on a chart of information. The orderly sequence was the same, and it wasn't just a coincidence. I had discovered the 'finite set' by which the Tranquans organized all their records and information. Then I returned to the present and used the order of those segments and information to arrange the crystals. When the crystals were in order, I realized the fantastic prospect of being able to choose any time period I wanted and go to it. It was something I had to sleep on. The war with Mars could wait. As I fell to sleep in the corner of the cavern, I hoped I'd done enough to stop the mysterious dreams. No such luck. But this dream was different, not so frightening. Apparently something had been done to overcome fear of the unknown, and I was much more at rest. This dream was more like the VR fantasy. I met with the alien female T'rwani in the temple and we got very physical. She made it obvious that she was not the enemy. I awoke with much relief and went about the regular chores of survival. Realizing that the unseen forces of space might be too strong against the anchors and cables holding the Valkon, I decided to go to it and get the last of the air, water, and food reserves, as well as a few bits of technical cargo that could be helpful. It became ever more obvious during adjustments on the radio dish that there was now no chance of a window opening in the asteroid field. Due to the extremely acute angle at which Mars was to the asteroid belt, the density of the field was impenetrable by either the telescope or the radio. In fact, there was little chance of a window opening for another 5 months, at which time the asteroid would be at a ninety-degree angle with Mars. At that point, unless alternatives were found, the water supply would be nearly exhausted. Under the circumstance, rationing of water and air, as well as food, was necessary. Time. I had much time and not enough to do with it. The chores kept me busy a few hours a day, but now it was clear that a radio-link was impossible, there seemed little sense in wasting time with the telescope or the dish. As a result, I turned to a deeper study of the ancient crystal-records of Tranqua, but I kept itching to do more. Perhaps it was perfectly natural for a man who was stranded on an asteroid in deep space. It was November, 2086, earth-time, 4 months after the crash. The water supply was nearly half-gone and I still saw no solution to that problem, short of an imperfect recycling process which simply delayed the inevitable by 3 months. In 3 or 4 months, the greenhouse would yield food, but after the water was gone, it wouldn't do much good. I considered the possibility of recycling urine, but I wasn't in any hurry to put that to the test. In time, that too might be inevitable, but I didn't look forward to it. Besides, most of the urine was utilized to water the plants in the greenhouse, since it was a waste of fresh water otherwise, and I couldn't do that. I had solved the mystery, or at least thought so. It had something to do with the crystals. The energy resonated within the temple and created electromagnetic impulses. The impulses affected my subconscious, and caused the dreams. This had been reasoned out, without exact proof, and it was enough to help retain my sanity. So be it. As for the mystery of the ancient civilization, the crystal-records had provided enough information to give an idea, at least in general, of what had happened. Now, what about water? I realized I was up against the greatest challenge of the long voyage. I spent several days flying about the asteroid with the jetpak, prospecting for ice, but found none. A few days passed and then I made another accidental discovery. While reviewing the crystals, my hand somehow accidentally turned one of the spheres, and made it move. At that very instant, the entire scene on the view-screen changed. It appeared then that the crystals contained more than one 'channel' or track. In fact, each crystal contained 6 separate channels, which meant the knowledge I'd accumulated could yet be multiplied by a factor of 6! Soon, after switching channels over in several different crystals, I came to respect the cumulative knowledge of the Tranquans as being that of an intelligent race which began over 150 thousand years ago! I studied the records for days and learned everything about Tranqua and its people. The knowledge was very enlightening. It was, in fact, far superior in many ways to Earth. During a review of Tranqua's rare-earth elements, which it had been extremely abundant, I made another surprising discovery. The Tranquans possessed a method known as Meta-Hydrovection; the ability to create water from base elements! Meta-Hydrovection was outlined in detail, with spex on the elements used and the mechanism necessary for the process. Suddenly, there seemed like a possibility that Meta-Hydrovection was the solution I needed to increase the water supply. According to the records, the Meta-Hydrovector was 15 meters high and 20 meters wide! Under the circumstances, there was no way I'd be capable of constructing such a huge machine, but maybe it could be decreased in size somehow, for my individual purposes. After all, the Tranquans probably designed it for large populations, whereas I was only one. I considered this concept and began designing it on a smaller scale, then decided to do some more prospecting outside on the surface of the asteroid. |
Chapter 13:
Contact with Mars Chapter 14: The Asteroid Miners Chapter 15: T’rwani and Tranqua Chapter 16: The Europan Pirates Chapter 17: A Clone for a Companion Chapter 18: A Skirmish in Space |
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