Chapter 6
Tom’s Story
At the Transport Pod, Tom inspected the control panel as if he was going through a preparatory procedure prior to flying a spacecraft. As a military man, Tom was analyzing the aerodynamics and the armament of the pods. When asking the escort about weapons, he gave Tom a puzzled look and mentioned only of the safety equipment for emergencies. They reminded him more of beetles than aircraft. But he was impressed with the laser guided power beams that propelled the Pods. While waiting for the journey to end, he occupied himself with downloading wind speed data, atmospheric conditions, and other perceived important information into his ComPad. During a lull in information gathering, he extended the CompPad from a slim 3”x3” to a 12”x12” for viewing stored information from Earth. He accessed his family album and scanned a few family memories. As he stopped to view a video of his son Parker, a tear traveled down his cheek. Parker was the only other surviving family member from all previous disasters.
“Tom, we are coming to our destination,” the escort prompted. Tom quickly retracted the ComPad, put it in his pocket and peered down to the military complex that was approaching.
Here it is, a week later. It was Tom’s turn to describe the events of the week. He gathered up a comfortable seat, plopped down, shifted in it a bit. He took a sip on his drink then leaned back with a comfortable sigh.
“Let’s see, where do I begin? I was interested in the Vlanco’s military accomplishments, but I was in for a big surprise. After we landed, we were greeted by the Advisor of the complex. His name was Stron. He was a very large and tall Vlanco with an abrupt posture—almost mechanical. He could have played Intercontinental Football for the Beijing Assassins, but like everyone else on this planet, he was very polite and dignified. He asked me what areas I wanted to visit and like any red blooded American, I said all of them. He laughed, and patted me on the shoulder…hard. I thought these guys must really work out. And I wasn’t too far off, because the first area we visited was an exercise facility. They had all sorts of devices to help assist in training. Much of the equipment was so familiar, it could have been transported from Earth.”
“‘Stron tried to make conversation with me. ‘Tom, if you are interested, we can coordinate a training program schedule around your visit if you would like.’”
“‘Oh thanks, Stron...but do I look that out of shape?’ I thought, he noticed my gut hanging out—I haven‘t worked out as regularly as I should have.”
“He laughed, ‘No Tom, it is just our way of life to schedule an exercise training program into our lives.’ He kept smiling.”
“‘I see. In that case, put me down for the afternoon.’”
“‘Very good,” he said, as he looked toward his assistant, who seemed to acknowledge the information to integrate it into my schedule.”
“‘And what about your spiritual time, Tom? How can I be of assistance in helping you prepare for your needs in that regard?’”
“‘Spiritual needs? Um, I think I‘m okay in that area, but thanks anyway.’”
“‘Would any particular intellectual stimulation be of any need, Tom?’”
“’Intellectual? As in the library?’”
“‘Yes, Tom The triune harmony of Physical, Intellectual, and Spiritual aspects of your life.’”
“‘I’ll tell you what. I’ll keep you posted if I have any particular needs in those areas.’”
“I was getting nervous that this was going to be a long week. After my escort showed me around—w here the food was, where the barracks were, and so on, I was lead to the exercise facility and shown various types of machines for cardiovascular system as well as for major and minor muscle groups. As I was trying out one machine, I noticed a group of men at the other end of the area, working on some sort of self defense routine. I walked over to where they were and watched for a while. My escort, Hefu, explained their activity.”
“‘Tom, this is the fundamental training procedure that is used in the Vlanco military defense academies.’
“As I watched, it seemed to be some sort of Judo, because it was all defense and no offense. ‘Why don’t they have any offensive moves, Hefu?’”
“‘There are some offensive moves, but it more or less reverses the energy from whence it comes, Tom. It is a strict code that we follow, which restricts us from harming another individual.’”
“‘But this is military! You are suppose to inflict injury on the other guy!’”
“‘I appreciate your candor, Tom. But you must realize that it is against our moral policy to injure another.’”
“‘Then how do you subdue the enemy, you kiss them to death?’”
“Hefu laughed. Others nearby, who had heard the conversation came over to participate. A sturdy musculature looking guy, who seemed like the trainer, spoke up.”
“‘Pardon my intrusion, Earth person. I would like to make a bargain with you. If I can restrain you without injury to you, against whatever force you use against me, you must learn our methods.’”
“‘What if I get you to injure me, what will I get?’ I can’t believe I wanted him to hurt me.”
“‘Then you can name your treasure, if that occurs.’”
“We moved to a clear padded area, designated for training, as others in the facility gathered around.”
“I leaned toward my new opponent. ‘Oh, and Studly, you can call me Tom.’ I gave him a good old fashion handshake.”
“‘Thank you, Tom. You can call me Resran.’”
“As we paced around the center of the floor, I bounced up and down, like a boxer in the ring, preparing for the fight. I was thankful the floor was padded, because I really didn’t want to hurt him. The first thing I did was run at him with a flying kick. He grabbed and gently turned my foot like a big key, and forced me to land on my back. Next, I continued with my most effective punches, using my hands, elbows, and other parts of my body to attack. It had zero impact on him. He knew precisely how to deflect my blows without hurting me. I was starting to get a little steamed, as the other guys continued to laugh quietly at my progress, or lack of it. I then started using other objects, like my belt or a near by chair, but he seem to enjoy the opportunity as practice.
Finally, my adrenalin began to flow and before I knew it I had found my knife, I always tuck away—just in case. It surprised him just enough to get the smirk off his face. And this happened to be the thing that I was especially good at since fighting in the back alleys of my neighborhood as a kid. I swung around and cut some sort of button off his waist. He jumped back and closed his eyes, put his hands together and breathed deeply. I could see out of the corner of my eye that the rest of the men did the same thing. I thought this is my chance, and I jumped and tucked so that I would end up behind him to hold him with my knife at his neck. I could prove, once and for all, you can’t fondle the enemy.
However, as I was maneuvering behind and turned to grab him, something strange occurred. It was as if he knew my every movement before I did. With his eyes closed and with lighting speed, his left hand reached down to my left wrist and his right one to my right, all the while with his back to me. He knew exactly where to grab, and when he held my arms, he inserted his fingers on a pressure point in my wrists. I was helplessly and at the mercy of this guy. I dropped to my knees like a rag doll.
“‘OK, OK I give up,’ I said wincing from the pain.”
“‘Tom, I must apologize. I am sure you understand that sometimes it is necessary to use the assistance of friends.’”
“I furrowed my brows and examined my wrists. ‘What are you talking about? You beat me by yourself fair and square.’”
“‘Fair and square.’ he said, pondering its meaning. ‘No, that is not quite true, Tom.’”
“‘What do you mean?’”
“‘Tom, I enlisted the metaphysical assistance of my men, to my aid.’”
“‘Metaphysical assistance?’”
“‘I am sure you are aware of the energy between me and my colleagues. This gave me the advantage over you, and your weapon. I believe we had a fair challenge, considering you extended the challenge with use of that pointed weapon.’”
“‘Whatever you say, Resran. In any case, you beat me.’”
Tom looked at Chip for a possible analysis to the fight. “Do you think he was using some sort of energy field that allowed him, a kind of a sixth sense to overpower me?’”
Chip sat there silent and pensive, then with a shrug gave Tom his reply. “Possibly.”
Without a full confirmation, Tom continued the story. “Either way he beat me, even though it was a little spooky.”
“After the fight, Hefu turned to me. ‘Tom, I am sure you will agree there will be benefits to your promise when learning our training methods.’”
“‘Oh yeah, the promise to learn your methods if I lost. Fine. Who knows, maybe that voodoo stuff will come in pretty handy in a back alley.’”
“Tom, you really do not know how close to the truth it is you speak.”
“After the match with Resran, I said my goodbyes and went to watch some acrobatic airship flying. It seemed more of an artistic maneuver rather than a life or death aerial one. Before I knew it, I was ready for bed. The next morning. I woke up to a buzzing sound that penetrated the walls of the barracks. I was still trying to get used to the 30 hour days, not to mention the sore parts of my body from my match, when I notice no one was about. I poked around and found hundreds of men sitting in a large circle humming. As I watched, the Vlanco men spoke and hummed intermittently. It was a type of meditation or praying.”
“I went back to my quarters to get something to eat, while they finished their…whatever it was. Later Stron told me it was some sort of preparatory meeting to greet the day as he put it. He didn’t offer and I didn’t ask the details of their meeting. Hefu showed me a non-eventful tour of the complex and then gave me some time alone, which gave me a chance to plot out the rest of my schedule for the week.”
“Two main objectives of mine were to evaluate the aircraft and the weapons array. One the third day, Stron took me to the air field, and when he finished a brief explanation of the airships, asked if I wanted to fly one.”
“I said, ‘Are you serious? Of course I’d like to fly one. But doesn’t it take special training?’”
“‘Yes and No, Tom’ said Stron. ‘You must have had some tactical training in the operation of a space craft, but I have briefly reviewed your vessel’s controls and believe your vessel requires much more manual dexterity and training than ours. It is apparent you would have little trouble adapting to the controls.”
“I was pleasantly stunned. ‘No kidding?’”
“‘No kidding, Tom. I do not kid.’”
“‘Whatever you say Stron, just let me at those controls.’”
“‘You can assist me while I take the vehicle into the lower atmosphere. After viewing operational procedures, I will allow you temporary authorization.’”
“‘Great, lets go,’ I said, rubbing my hands with excitement.’”
“The vessel was a sphere with indentations around the exterior surface that made it look more like a golf ball than a space ship. The ship’s exterior veneer had a rainbow of colors that seemed to move, like an oil slick on water. The interior control panel, also colorful, had a different color operating pad to match its function. Stron laid his hands on two of the colored grids: A blue grid was for lift and the green grid was for speed. A pulsating hum erupted and we were off the ground and speeding into the air. As speed and elevation increased, so the hue increased in intensity. The ship sends out a magnetic charge that opposes the planet’s gravitational field, propelling it upward. As the ship sped through the upper atmosphere, the shell of the ship rotated to gain lift and momentum. A liquid is layered between the inside and outside walls, which allows occupants to stay in one position.”
“‘Where are the weapons systems, Stron?’ I inquired, curious about their capabilities.”
“‘Tom, we do not have weapons as you perceive them. We do have anodyne systems, which include a device that grasps and confines an attacker.’”
“‘Oh right, you don’t kill.’”
“‘We do not kill intentionally, Tom. Would you like to examine the anodyne functions?”
“I sighed. ‘Sure.’”
“An example of the non-lethal weapons was the Decelerat Sphere. It is a device that was first developed in the entertainment sector and grew into a viable weapons project. It’s basically a big bubble that is filled with a gooey slurry. It is used in combat infantry to slow down and/or stop the enemy from advancing. The bubble is launched to where the enemy is advancing. If the sphere hits its target—anything that moves—it pops and the slurry snuggles around the target with its goo and impedes movement. If it gets hit by a weapon, it automatically explodes into a quarter mile radius spreading the slurry to the invading infantry.”
Tom chuckled with obvious approval of the device.
“On a more global scale, the planets have a series of field generators, which produce an energy beam between them. Not a force field, because it would take too much energy to produce at that distance. It is like an invisible wire with a catcher’s mitt. As the incoming missile, or equivalent, enters the grid, the field generators concentrate a displacement plasma, which destroys or diffuses the weapon. There were many more unusual devices; all powerful, yet defensive and non-lethal.”
“I found out that they consider negotiations an offensive tactic,” Tom said, with a minor endorsement. “They strive to find out the fears and concerns of the enemy so they can develop solutions that resolve those underlying fears. It is more like politics than war. But then again what was that old saying....” Tom pondered.
“The pen is mightier than the sword?” interjected Shelby.
“Yeah, that’s it…in this case, it would be words instead of pen. I asked about their negotiation techniques, but Stron felt that it was very difficult to explain completely, because the learning begins when they are born and to clarify it for me in a few minutes would be, as he put it, arduous.”
“I also noticed how disciplined the military was. Not only was there physical and mental conditioning, but spiritual conditioning as well. Every morning the troops would have their spiritual meeting and if they didn’t have the duty day, they would take further educational classes and physical conditioning classes. We on Earth would see blatant nude pictures or E-Porn in military institutions, but there was nothing remotely like that at the Vlanco base. The United Continents of Earth could really use more of that kind of discipline.”
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