Bepergian pulled the tool back out of his pocket. It was small and oval, flat like a coin but smooth on one side. It fit neatly into the cupped palm of his hand. He examined the small buttons. There were three. One was red, one green and one yellow. In the middle of the buttons was a small display screen. On the outer edge of the device was a small gray button. He could see a on/off symbol on that button. He switched the tool on. All three buttons lit up momentarily before giving way to the green button. The small screen displayed Adventravias logo and then disappeared. Next it displayed the user screen.

An eerie message blink at Bepergian from the small screen. “Last destination: Earth 1099, England.”

Startled, he nearly dropped the tool. The green button began to pulse and a small beeping eminated from it. The display flashed a warning message:

“To cancel time travel mode please enter your security code.”

Bepergan clicked the grey button to turn the device off, but the screen again flashed another message. “Poweroff override disabled. Security code required.”

A digital countdown began to flash 59 ... 58 ... 57... Bepergian looked around at the world he was supposed to be studying. The dead ruins, the lifeless air. He looked back at the device 35 ... 34 ... 33. Well, he thought to himself, I did think life was getting dull.

The device began to flash red then yellow. The countdown was at 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... The device began to flash green and then ...

Anthropologist (cont'd)

The next bit in the journey of the Anthropologist ....

Where was the Faro? Bepergian took his mini torch from a pocket in his vest. It was still dusk and light from the set sun still illuminated the ruins, however it would get dark quickly. A light breeze began to sweep through the ruins, alleviating some of the stuffiness of the day. Bepergian scanned the perimeter of the ruins looking for the hat the Faro wore. Most chose a uniform style attire, but this particular Faro preferred to blend with the scenery rather than stand out, so he wore drab earth color attire.

Dunia Bepergian had worked with this Faro for many years now, even so he still thought of his Faro new. His name was Garnach. Bepergian rarely used his name and simply called him Faro. In fact as detailed as he could be about a site, he couldn’t describe Faro Garnach because they never interacted much beyond the requirements of their jobs. Garnach was extremely silent. Bepergian could not recall a sentence from him longer than two words.

The Dunia slipped off his perch and carefully picked his way along ground littered with debris from the crumbling structure. He moved carefully to the insertion point. He inspected the portal where he and the Faro had entered from their base world. The portal had been set to hibernation mode and therefore remained invisible. The only way Bepergian knew it was there was the small electronic marker Garnach had planted into the ground. A few feet from the marker were the two rucksacks with their gear and equipment. The dusty ground was scuffed with their footprints. Bepergian located his tracks as they led up the slight incline to the pillar he was sitting on. Faro’s tracks led north from the marker.

Bepergian followed Faros tracks a short way and then had to turn on the small torch he had been carrying. As he followed the tracks he swept the light from side to side. The light flashed on something metallic off to the right of the path Faro had made.

He bent over to examine the object and discovered a small tool. He knew it was Faros as it had the company’s logo on it. The Dunia examined the tool. It appeared to be a manual tool. Most tools were electronic, but the Faro’s had all sorts of devices, therefore Bepergian did not wonder long on the use of the tool.

He placed the tool in his pocket and looked for the tracks. After a brief search of the vicinity, Bepergian realized the tracks ended where he found the tool. It was if Garnach stepped through another portal.

Anthropologist

I saw a picture of some ruins in Greece and this short little bit grew from that picture.

The landscape shimmered in the heat of the late afternoon. The ruins of a once formidable city sat atop the gentle rise behind him. He sat on a broken pillar, knees drawn up and cradled in his arms. His floppy hat shaded his eyes from the sun which was sinking toward the horizon. Despite the foliage which had taken over the ruins the land seemed dead or dormant. No breeze disturbed the foliage. Birds did not call to each other in the dense woods which surrounded the ruins. Insects did not crawl, buzz or chirp in the secret shade created by the dense growth.

He sighed. Traveling among worlds was getting old. He had been traveling for so many years he hardly knew anyone that could remember back as far as he could. Even some of his exploits were legendary among the younger travelers.

His name was Dunia Bepergian. It was not his birth name. That name was discarded long ago when he became a Multiverse Anthropologist. He and a friend joined Adventravia, a private company with government funding, which touted multiverse travel. His friend Faro Duncan, became a Multiverse Enforcer. Basically his job was to see that the travelers followed protocol, and protect them as they ventured unknown realms.

All the Faro’s had to withstand rigorous physical training and then a complicated course on technology associated with their jobs, before they were allowed to become multiverse travelers.

All Adventravia recruits went through basic testing and training. As old as he was Bepergian never forgot his initial recruitment and the training he went through. Many in his class washed out. There were no second chances either. Adventravias credo included a simple passage, “You only get one chance at life. If you are unwilling to make the most of it, you will not fulfill your life’s journey.”

Bepergian took that to heart and excelled in his training. In time he became the leading multiverse anthropologist adventravia had.

Now, after thirty or more years, he sat on this dead looking world in the ruins of some ancient city, wondering if there was more to life. His Faro was off somewhere securing the perimeter of his “site”, so that the Dunia could begin his research.

Bepergian, closed his eyes to the scenery. He had seen many worlds that looked like this one. He felt he could do his investigation from his perch on the broken pillar with his eyes closed. The soil looked dead. The foliage looked dead. The ruins were certainly dead. He sighed. The sun had but moments before it sank below the horizon. Bepergian was ready to go home. He wondered if home was still there or if it too sat in ruins like this city.

Final installment

This is the remainder of what I have composed of Samuels Journal ... clearly it is unfinished. However check back ... by posting this blog I have become inspired to continue my writing and I truly would like to finish what I have started here...

Samuel J. Rawl

9 December 2104

Today, despite the appointment of Ms. Bush as Science Division Director, we have begun the next phase of our research. Our first viable embryos have been implanted. Some implanted in synthetic eggs and some in cats. Gestational period is unknown at this time. Hope is tenuous.

So far, Ms Bush has remained aloof from our studies and has not offered any interference. Hope is tenuous on this front as well…

Samuel J. Rawl

10 February 2105

These past weeks have been the most disastrous and disappointing on all fronts! Ms. Bush toured our facilities two weeks ago. In tow was her usual brigade of ladder climbing leeches. They poked their noses in all manners of our research. Nothing in our facility was sacred. My wife intimated that when Ms. Bush and her entourage descended upon the infectious disease research facility, they declined a tour of the infectious disease containment unit. My wife and her colleagues had anticipated this and all of them placed their more sensitive work in the storage area of the containment unit. Taking a cue from my wife, I made a similar suggestion to Werner, the commander of our research facility. My purpose was two-fold. I was still uneasy about Werner. I was unsure of where his loyalties truly lay. I felt that if I made such a suggestion I was placing myself out on a limb. However, I also felt that for our movement to further, a man in Werner’s position was key to our success. As a back-up, those of us deeply involved in the movement did hide our most sensitive research in an innocuous broom closet. My wife had also mentioned that Ms. Bush also had difficulty noticing that which she considered inferior to her. Including a janitors broom closet. My trusted associates and I transformed one such closet into a hi-tech storage room with the aid of colleagues from the tech facilities.

As a side, note … Just as an observation of our society. We have automated so much; Jobs, tasks, processes, transportation and at times thinking, that I am amused that we still have people who provide manual labor right here in the very corridors of our scientific community.

At any rate, Ms Bush’s visit was still fraught with uncomfortable change and unreasonable directives, which resulted in one of the junior researchers breaking down in a panic attack and stressing out several of the in Vitro cats causing them to miscarry.

An ancient saying states, “Out of the darkness light will shine.” It makes no mention of the strength of the light, but a light did indeed shine this day. We lost several of our foeti, but we gained anonymity as Ms Bush deemed our project worthy but still in the drawing board stage. A reprieve on having to produce viable results in the near future, we received the gift of time.

As for Werner and my trust? I must say he gleefully acknowledged the need for hiding our work, but I still cannot fathom his purpose. That rock I will continue to chip.

Samuel J. Rawl

13 April 2105

Our first test cat gave birth today, in a manner of speaking. We have been monitoring the pregnancies via thermo graphic imagers. Therefore, it was a complete surprise when the cat went into labor. According to the imagers, the embryos were not yet viable. However, we are 55 days over normal cat gestation period and 35 for lizard. So rather, than arrest the labor and true to our scientific natures … we watched and took notes. What we could not detect on the imagers or what we misinterpreted as a placenta were in fact egg shells. The cat laid four eggs. As egg laying is not normal for a cat we did have to remove the cat. She was distressed that she was unable to remove the shell by licking and before we could stop her she broke one egg open. What a mess. Therefore, we only have 3 eggs left.

The eggs are smaller than chicken eggs, and slightly larger than snake eggs. They are somewhat tough and leathery like the reptile eggs. After about an hour however, the shells harden and have a glasslike quality. The initial brownish color deepens to rusty red. If we didn’t know what they were, we would think they were polished rocks.

AT this point, there was some discussion on how to incubate the eggs. We decided that the cat would probably not bond with the eggs and therefore did not reintroduce her to the eggs. We set up the incubation chamber to reflect a reptilian method rather than avian. Generally incubation for a reptile is anywhere from thirty to ninety days. I just found out that Werner had been experimenting with the samples and had included Platypus DNA. That incubation period is only 10 days from birth. While it is disturbing that he would do this without consulting other members of our team, it has proven to be a good move. He gave me his notes on the platypus research. As usual, Werner’s brilliance shines. He said the problems we’d had with multi-specie DNA integration cleared up with the introduction of the platypus DNA. He believes the unique nature of the platypus having both mammalian and reptilian characteristics causes its DNA to bridge the gaps in the combined DNA.

I did ask Werner why he did not discuss this with the rest of us. It is after all a very important part of our research. True to his character, he blustered a bit and then told me he wanted to test the viability before admitting to his testing. Typical Werner, he cannot appear less than the genius he is.

I still have doubts as to his loyalty or rather where his loyalty lies.

Samuel J. Rawl

3 July 2105

“ … Scales seemed to make the specimen more durable to the environment. More able to defend itself, even though it’s speed and reflexes were always unmatched even in its predecessor. The Catazard has been our best mutation to date.

Samuel J. Rawl

Log of the Rebellion

Earth Date 2122, November 17

It’s official. We have voted unanimously to self exile from Earth if we have any hope of surviving as humans were truly meant to do. We have over used Earth to a point where it cannot continue to sustain the population levels it now holds. Greed and self sustenance are the desired traits for survival. Love and compassion are luxuries most cannot afford. The Kingdom of Commerce has taken over the major governments in the world and now rule from one central location. Taxation has become the income for the wealthy. Jobs are scarce, as automation has replaced the majority of the work force in all fields. Tasks automation can’t do, indentured humans are used perform. The Kingdom has replaced bankrupt governments in all parts of the Earth…