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

that somehow our people will be able to distinguish the enlightened from the apathetic.”
Traveller thought for a moment and then said, “General Battier isn’t going to stop to ask someone if they’re enlightened before he eliminates them.”
“Of course not, but I’m sure our scientists are seeking a solution to the problem. The Sanctum Just and therefore General Battier will be governed by their findings. If nothing else, we’ll use this underground bunker to save those we love. I have workers digging ever deeper to build and reinforce underground bunkers. They will be stockpiled with supplies. Water is supplied to each living space by an underground spring I’ve tapped into. Once the invasion is over, we’ll contact the mother ship.”
“That’s fine for you, but what my people?”
“Your people are my people,” Porter replied. “You’ve made some fine friends. I’m proud to be associated with them; they’ll be taken care of. I’ve made a lot of money by finding gold deposits. The Earthlings have an oil based economy. My success has allowed me to buy up oil properties and drilling rigs. As the population increases, so will the demand for oil making my purchases ever more valuable. If you or any of your friends ever need money or anything else you have but to ask.”
“Thanks Porter. I’ll remember that.”
Chapter 49 - Ship of Fools Concert

Traveller watched the clock. He had ten minutes before he was to go on stage. As he watched the minute hand orbit the numbered face of time, he thought of the tearful good-byes that had taken place a few weeks ago. Parting from the Tellez household had been bittersweet. He now had a profound appreciation for Porter and Loreto. Despite his initial reticence, they had persisted with their kindness and concern until the perverse barriers he had constructed to protect his ego had been broken down. Porter had also pulled him from the clutches of Jacki Daniels. He would be eternally thankful for that. He would liked to have stayed longer, but the band had this concert scheduled.
Traveller had also made amends with Lori. Despite Tim’s reluctance, the two of them had designed a skit based on Of Mice and Men. Working on the skit together had renewed the bond between them.
Traveller played the part of Lenny and Tim portrayed George. They were both dressed in blue coveralls with red plaid shirts. Lori would play Curley’s wife.
Before Lori and Traveller wrote the song that went with the performance, they had had a discussion about the characters. Traveller couldn’t relate to Lenny.
“But you have to play his character. You’re taller and bigger than anyone else. Lenny is supposed to be huge,” Lori had said.
“But he’s slow and dull. We never had anyone like that on Benwar,” Traveller objected.
“What do you mean? There must have been at least one slow person on your island.”
“No, our doctors would terminate the pregnancy if the baby wasn’t normal. We were living on an island; each couple could have only one child. If the fetus wasn’t healthy, it was destroyed. It was a matter of survival.”
Lori didn’t reply for a second, and then she said, “Lenny couldn’t understand the world around him. He depended on George to take care of him and explain things. Imagine being dependent on someone else for everything. How would you feel? It’s kind of like when you first met us. You didn’t know how to fit in our world because you didn’t understand it, only Lenny will never understand his.”
“That is so sad.”
“But in Lenny’s case, ignorance is bliss. As long as he had George and something to eat he was happy. So wipe all the complex thoughts from your mind and be simple. Think George and eating.”
Tim had stood by silently until now. “And George? What was he like?”
“For some reason, he felt responsible for Lenny. He took care of him. He also used him as a rationalization for why he couldn’t be successful. He had to take care of Lenny, but both of them shared a dream. It was to have a place of their own where they would be safe, where no one would bother them. Lenny loved to hear about their dream. That why I love this story so much. Everyone seeks sanctuary. Everyone wants to go back to the womb where conditions are perfect. Isn’t that what the Benwarians are seeking? ”
Lori continued, “So we’ll start with Lenny clutching a teddy bear, squeezing it so hard that the stuffing comes out of it while he’s walking with George.”
Tim will begin by singing, ‘I have a dream,
We’ll get us a place,
You’ll tend the chickens,
I’ll feed the cow.’
Then you’ll sing, ‘Yes, George. How will it be?’
Tim will sing the next set of lines, ‘won’t it be grand?
We’ll live off the land.’
Then Traveller will sing, “I’ll feed the rabbits. You feed the pigs.”
Both of you will sing the next set of lines, ‘We’ve got no family.
Gotta stick together. We’ll take care of each other.’
Then I’ll enter stage right as George exits stage left. I’ll flirt with Lenny and sing, ‘I was gonna be somebody, a star in the movies. But it didn’t happen so I married Curley.’”
And then we’ll all sing, ‘She wouldn’t leave Lenny alone, he tried to be gentle. He stroked her hair, but she started to scream. With too much strength, he ended her dream.’ Traveller will stroke my head and the try to muffle my screams.”
“When he twists my head, I’ll lay dead on the floor. At his point, Tim comes back on stage and the two of you sing, ‘We had a dream. It made everything fine. But the boss’s wife brought pain and strife.’”
At this point we’ll dim the lights and have scuffling, chasing noises. When the lights come back up, the band will sing, ‘George put the gun,
Put the gun to his head. And when he shot, Lenny was dead.’”
“Finally, we’ll put the spotlight on Tim and he’ll sing, ‘With a shot to his head, I ended his dream. Now, Lenny is dead in a world that’s obscene.’
Again we’ll dim the lights. When they brighten back in we’ll sing, ‘I’ll Get By With a Little Help From My Friends.’”

The more the band had practiced the play, the more Traveller could relate to the human condition. The Benwarians were facing a similar dilemma. They were seeking a place of safety, a place where they could survive without existential angst. He understood Lori’s appreciation for John Steinbeck.
On the final rehearsal before the concert, Traveller had taken Lori’s hand and looked into her eyes with gratitude. “Thank you so much,” he had said.
“For what?”
“For exposing me to John Steinbeck, for sticking by me, for helping me understand the world I’m in.”
He had held his hand out, and she took it. Traveller drew her to him and kissed her on the lips.
Although the alien was unaware of his effect on her, Lori felt the electric pulse of understanding and love course through her veins. Flushed, she had kissed him back. When the kiss ended, he had held her for several minutes thanking the universe that he hadn’t lost her.

Traveller’s reverie was broken by Jesse. “It’s time to go on!” he shouted knocking on the dressing room door. “The crowd’s getting restless.”
Traveller belted his black leather pants and threw on a matching fringed leather jacket on. He pulled the dark granny glasses from the dresser, put them on, adjusted them. Next, he put on a curly brown, shoulder length wig and centered it. He smiled remembering his stint as Marilyn Monroe then left the dressing room.
When he walked on stage, the band was playing the driving rhythm of Road House Blues. Traveller pulled the microphone from its stand and jumped up with one hand in the air. The crowd roared as he sang, “Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel . . .”
Next, he sang ‘Been Down So Long,’ and then ‘L.A. Woman’. After that the lights dimmed. When they came on again, Traveller was dressed in a white western shirt with a cream colored Stetson perched on his head. He was taller now in his Tony Llama cowboy boots. As a rocking Hank Williams, he sang ‘Honky Blues’, ‘Honky Tonkin’, and ‘Jambalaya’. By the time he ended the session with ‘Mind Your Own Business’, the crowd was screaming.
The lights dimmed again. When they back came on, Traveller was dressed in a white T-shirt and blue jeans with black Converse tennis shoes. The white highlighted his blue skin. Now, he sang Jacki Daniels and several of the band’s own compositions.
After several songs there was a brief intermission before ‘Of Mice and Men’ was performed followed by the songs ‘I’ll Get by With a Little Help From My Friends’ and ‘Put a Little Love in your Heart’. When the set ended the lights dimmed yet again.
The lights slowly brightened for the final portion of the concert. Now Traveller was dressed as John Kay, the lead singer of Steppenwolf. He sang ‘Magic Carpet Ride’, ‘The Pusher’, and then ‘Monster’. When he finished, the lighting technicians sent the stage into utter darkness. The crowd let out a collective moan before chanting, “Encore, encore!” Those with lighters or matches held up burning flames of protest.
This was the moment in the concert Jesse had been waiting for. He dropped his instrument and slipped under the stage. When the crowd quieted he knew Traveller was standing in the spotlight. He took the cannisters out of the packing crate and waited listening to the alien’s monologue.
“I come from a distant galaxy, from another planet. My world filled up with toxic waste until it devolved into a lifeless orb caused by the indifference and mindlessness of all those who lived there. My world suffered the same symptoms as yours, overpopulation, neglect of the planet, and ever increasing amounts of green house gases spewing into the air. There was social injustice, the uneven distribution of wealth, and the wanton use of natural resources. All these contributed to the end of the health of the planet and ultimately its death.” Traveller screamed in anguish before the band started playing and then he began his song. “The human race is dying out . . .”
Jesse waited until most of the lyrics had been sung before throwing the canisters. Traveller was singing the final chorus, “Ship of fools, ship of fools, ships of fools . . .,” as the tear gas filled the auditorium.
The crowd headed for the exits with tears in their eyes and a burning in their lungs. They were surprised at how quickly the smoke filled the room, at how stifling the searing gas was. They jostled and pushed each other in a mindless panic to survive. It was everyone for himself. Luckily, Traveller had had the foresight to station ushers at each exit. They calmed people down and guided them out of the building.
Even though no one was hurt, afterward many felt a deep sense of shame that they had abandoned friends or dates to escape from the gas. It was a palpable lesson that few in attendance that day would forget. In their panic, no one had noticed the band members putting on gas masks and slipping into the equipment van.


Chapter 50 - Porter’s Past Catches Up to Him

Dr. Mengala hadn’t been able to let go of his anger toward the so called Professor Bloomen. His investigators had discovered his real name, Porter Tellez. He knew that somehow Tellez had put a monkey’s paw infected with