Traveller - L.W. Samuelson (free e books to read online TXT) 📗

until you hang glide, Travis. You'll never want to be on a spaceship again."

Chapter 13 - Hang Gliding
Traveller had found what he was searching for, friendship. He stayed awake long after the beds were made up. Lori lay curled up in the blue sleeping bag, and he was stretched out by Jesse who was dressed in weird looking quilted underwear that looked much like the red bodysuit he had on. He sighed contentedly before nodding off to sleep.
Hours later, sunlight heated the spaceship’s hull spilling warmth and light into spacecraft. Traveller awoke to find Lori staring down at him. "Just making sure this wasn't all a dream," she said apologetically.
Traveller rolled out of the space tarps then shrugged into his spacesuit. He activated the translator. “I did not understand,” he said.
When she repeated herself, he replied, "I was thinking the same thing until I heard Jesse breathing beside me."
"It's nine o'clock. We need to get going if he's going to teach you how to hang glide," she said gently nudging her brother with a toe.
Jesse stretched before jumping out of bed to get one of the synthowafers Traveller offered. The alien had opened the door, Lori had fetched the water bottles from the van, and they now sat drinking water and eating the alien crackers. The humans could feel the energy the tasteless food provided.
"Jesse, give Traveller your coat and you take mine. I'll wrap up in the sleeping bag. We don't want our alien friend to freeze again."
"You would give me your clothing? That is most generous, but I cannot accept."
"You have to Travis. You'll freeze to death without a coat. Lori's staying in the van anyway," Jesse said throwing his green down coat to his friend before taking his sister's. "Pink, my favorite color," he said as he put it on.
"You look marvelous," Lori joked.
"I just hope no one sees me."
Lori waited until his attention was diverted before she pointed her camera and took a snap shot of the blue alien in the green coat talking to the white human in the pink coat. When they turned at the click, she hurriedly put it back inside the sleeping bag.

At the jump site, Jesse explained how to get in the harness. "Watch," he instructed. When he was ready, he ran off the ledge to become air borne. The glider sailed up until Jesse leaned left to loop back around. He landed running fifty yards to the east of them.
Traveller ran to assist his friend. They untangled Jesse and carried the glider back to the starting point. When the alien signaled ready, Jesses let go to watch the alien run south in long graceful strides and jump from the steep slope.
By the universe, this is acroluminous Traveller thought as he soared over the shale slope and then out over the forest. The smell of pungent pine coupled with the fresh mountain air bought exhiliration coupled with a sense of freedom he had never experienced before. He soared up and out into the blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds. An updraft caught the glider. Traveller rode it into the belly of a low flying cloud feeling the water particles against his face. This moment was the greatest one in his short life. It was the first time he had ever felt free.
Banking right, he flew west around Mt. Harrison. A man sat in the lookout tower watching him with a set of black eye pieces. Traveller circled the tower, waved, and then flew north. Along the northern slope of the plateau, he spied several dwellings on the lee side of the mountain. The green roofs and brown logs made them seem a natural part of the landscape.
Nestled at the bottom of the mountain was a small town. Beyond the beginning of the Sawtooths, Traveller could see squares and circles of yellow stubble. They stretched eastward across the valley for as far as he could see. Enthralled by the view, he turned west directly into the path of a bald eagle.
The gigantic bird's fierce yellow eyes locked onto the alien's as if they were brethren. The bird's yellow hooked beak sat squarely in the middle of the white majestic crown that capped its large black body. Wings stretched for several mezures on either side of it. The yellow-taloned claws of the original master hang glider hung gracefully in the air. Its effortless flight across the blue sky painted a picture of freedom that etched itself on Traveller's mind for the rest of his days. He yearned to fly without the use of artificial appendages, to soar at will over the forests and mountains, to taste the real freedom of flight. He flew alongside the king of the skies for several mezures until crowned bird banked and flew down the slope. To follow it would be impossible, if he left the ridge he would never be able to get back to Lori and Jesse. He banked south and flew back along a creek that trickled in the grey-green shrubs below. Soon he found himself flying over the ridge road. Now he could see the tiny specks that were Lori and Jesse.
He descended, circled then landed in the tracks along the rim running.
“How did you do that? That was the smoothest landing I’ve ever seen and it’s within a hundred yards of the van,” Jesse marveled.
Traveller didn’t have the translator so all he could do was reply, “Bonbon benet gokim malaki.”
They loaded the glider. When everyone was seated, Jesse turned the translator on and gave Traveller the other pair of headphones. “What did you think?” he asked.
“I think I saw an eagle. It was black with a white head. I flew alongside of it for a while. I’ve never seen such an acroluminous creature!”
“Really? I’ve never been able to get close to one.”
“I’ve never felt so free. I saw the valley to the west. A ribbon of water flowed through it. The forests and rock formations, it was the greatest experience of my life.”
“Wait till we take you to the Pilot House for some Mexican food. You will go back with us?” Jesse asked as Lori headed the van downhill.
“Back?”
“Jesse, we can’t take him back to ISU. He’s an alien.”
“Why not? He can hide in my dorm room. I’ll take him to class with me.”
“No. If he’s discovered, they’ll take him away.”
“Who?”
“The military or somebody.”
“We can disguise him. A little face powder and a hat, he’ll fit right in.”
Lori looked at Traveller, “What do you want to do?”
“I’m here to study Earthlings. I want to go with you. Take me to your leader.”
Lori laughed. “How about we take you for Mexican food and then you hide out in my apartment where no on can talk to you?”
“I trust you, Lori. You saved my life,” he said before turning. “Jesse you are my friend. I will stay with Lori and go to class with you.”
“Great. Now here’s the important question. Lori, do you have enough money to pay for our food?” Jesse asked
“You pisher. Are you broke again?”
“I’m always broke,” Jesse said.
They talked and laughed as the van bounced on the washboard road to Albion. The dust roiled behind them until they turned onto the highway and then the noise slackened and the dust cleared. Thirty minutes later, Lori turned east on the I-84 freeway. The traffic was heavy. She braked to merge then sped forward when an opening presented itself.
Cars sped around them until Lori picked up speed to flow with the traffic. Traveller was spell bound. There were hundreds of cars headed west. There were also hundreds of cars going east. Most of them had only one or two people inside. It puzzled him.
“Why do all the Earthlings have their own vehicle? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have one vehicle that everyone could ride in? Then it wouldn’t smell so bad.”
“I don’t smell anything,” said Jesse.
“You can’t smell the burned fuel?” Traveller asked.
“Not really.”
“Remember the clean fresh air of the mountains? Take a deep breath and think. What does it smell like?” Traveller asked.
Jesse breathed in. “Okay, it smells like diesel fumes, but that’s because we’re following a truck.”
Lori sped up to pass the freighter they were following. Once she was past it, she said, “We’re just used to the smell and don’t think about it, but I can smell gasoline fumes now. That means there are particles in the air emitted from the cars on the freeway.”
“Yes,” said Traveller. “Eventually those particles will build up until they trap so much heat that they will destroy your planet. That’s what happened to Lemmus.”
“You’re too serious,” Jesse accused. “What are we going to do about it? Until they have train service or something, we’ll be driving just like everybody else.”
Eventually the freeway inclined upward through a small pass and then back down again. The Snake River appeared on their left. “Look at the river!” Traveller exclaimed. He watched the blue expanse for a while and then when he looked up again, he saw two bald eagles circling in the sky.
“Look, Jesse, those are like the bird I saw.”
“Yep, they’re bald eagles alright.”
Traveller watched the river with rapt attention. It flowed through shallow canyons and as the channel narrowed the Snake flowed ever more rapidly until the water splashed and turned white.
Jesse and Lori stayed quiet also. They wanted their friend to enjoy the scenery that they took for granted. Watching his enjoyment and awe renewed their sense of appreciation.
When the river and freeway diverged, the spell was broken. "That was beautiful. I never imagined there could be something so wonderful. The ancient films of my home planet contained nothing so close to raw creation. Even if it had had scenery unmarred by Lemmings the view would have been obscured by the smoke and pollution."
"It's just a river," joked Jesse.
"Oh Jesse, never take your planet for granted. If you Earthlings don't nurture and protect it, the Earth will become a boiling mass of sand like Lemmus," Traveller admonished.
"I don't like to think about things like that. It's depressing," said Jesse.
"Maybe that's why we met Traveller, to allow us to see the world through new eyes. What was it like to be born on a spaceship?" Lori asked.
"Ship was a world of walls and sliding doors. Nothing but slabs of white day after day unless I had my VR unit on which I did most of the time. Even then, my boredom choked me into desperation. Living totally among adults was stifling. I wasn't allowed to run or play, there were no other children my age. My only friend was Porter."
"Bummer man. I'll bet the food sucked," Jessed commented.
"Unless there was fresh plant foods harvested, it did. You tasted the synthowafers. That was what I ate.”
"Your steady diet of sugared cardboard has ended," Lori said as she excited the freeway a mile west of Pocatello. She turned left on the off ramp. Minutes later, the van screeched to a halt in front of a log cabin style restaurant with a sign that said 'Pilot House Restaurant'.
"We'd better leave the translator here," Lori cautioned.
"Aw, come on! We won't be able to talk," Jesse said.
"Damn it, Jesse! We don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Look at him. Those sparkling blue eyes alone make him seem alien. Look at his body suit and shoes."
"Oh alright, Mom. Leave your machine here Travis," Jesse said. He took off his sister's pink coat. "Keep my coat on star man," he told Traveller.
Chapter 14 - Mexican Food
Traveller turned