ORICHALCUM UNIVERSE Sidebar: The Coming of the Crystallects - Page 2

Johnny1A.2 · 05-02-2017, 12:16 AM

ORICHALCUM UNIVERSE Sidebar: The Coming of the Crystallects continued...

As it happened, however, events were now proceeding rapidly and there were factors in play unsuspected by any Crystallect, either on the sailship or on Mercury. One of those factors was the Malignium. Another such factor was a different spacecraft, constructed by very different beings and hailing from a world incomprehensibly far from either Mercury or Earth.

The Crystallect sailship had been orbiting Luna for about two Terran years, or four Mercurian years, waiting for the arrival of the rescue craft. This was even then under construction on Mercury, but the construction of the sailships was a slow, delicate process, and the process was slowed by the 'political' tensions in play. Still, they had plenty of energy from their converted sails. Now that they were orbiting Luna, they were close enough to the Sun to make is simple for the converted mirrors to concentrate sunlight to Mercurian intensities. Food was conserved by the crew of Crystallects limited activity, entering a sort of 'sleep trance' much of the time to conserve supplies.

Another two Terran years would have seen rescue arrive, possibly even somewhat less than two years would have been enough. They had plentiful energy, and probably just enough storied nutrients to make it that far, on 'iron rations' and with careful limitation of activity.

Unfortunately for the crew, what they did not have was the time itself.

The first sign of trouble caught the near-somnolent completely by surprise, not that it would have made very much difference if they had been awake and ready. Their ESP and other senses did perceive it, but before they had time to do more than come halfway back to full consciousness, the other spacecraft had approached close enough to use laser beams to cut the remnants of the sailship apart. Some of the crystallect crew were thrown free of the structure, and were never heard from again.

(In fact, they found themselves in decaying orbits that eventually smashed them into the surface of the Moon, but they were dead long before that.)

Others of the crew were captured by small rocket-propelled devices that emerged from the larger vessel, and drawn inside the mysterious spacecraft that had (apparently) come out of nowhere.

(In fact, it had simply taken advantage of their somnolent state. Had they b been awake, they would have detected it many hours earlier, when it first emerged from the atmosphere of the Earth.)

The spacecraft in question was like nothing ever built on Mercury, indeed, it was like nothing the Mercurians had ever imagined. A long streamlined cylinder, with bulging rings around the cylinder and tapering ends, it was propelled by rocket motors mounted on the rings, and also by something else that was totally outside the experience of the Crystallects.

The spacecraft was perhaps fifty meters long and a fourth of that across, give or take, and far more heavily constructed than anything ever even considered on Mercury. It was made of solid metal alloys rather than frail sailship frame, and it was also clearly damaged.

This last was quite clear to the surviving Crystallects, when they regained full consciousness and found themselves trapped in a metallic cubical within the vessel. They could remember what they perceived when they were half-awake, and now they could analyze it, and though they had no idea what sort of vessel had captured them, or how it worked, it was clear enough that it was not in proper working order.

Some of the external structure was warped and twisted, there were gaps that had clearly been blasted through the hull. The vessel was still functional, however, and the prisoners had no idea what had captured them, why, or what was about to happen to them now.

The spacecraft spent another forty hours or so returning to Earth, applying enormous amounts of rocket thrust to slow itself to the point that it could gently enter the atmosphere, and slowly descend. In its damaged state, aerobraking of any sort would certainly have been out of the question.

The ship, had there been anyone there to see, would have been observed to descend through the atmosphere from east to west, flying across what would one day be called the Isthmus of Panama, descending gradually in a long arc across the Pacific Ocean, before finally coming to rest amid that chain of islands that would in a future time be known as Indonesia.

Once the spacecraft came to rest, or more precisely, entered the water and settled onto the shallow sea floor near one of those islands, a doorway opened in the chamber containing the captive Crystallects, and they got a first clear perception of one of the entities that had captured them.

It was like nothing in their experience, nothing on Mercury had ever been remotely similar to the thing that now slithered into the large metal chamber. It was long, and sinuous, perhaps ten meters in length and a third of that in width at the thickest part of the body. It was made of a soft, flexible material, with a semi-transparent covering over the entire body, and a cluster of small tentacles emerged from the posterior end, while much larger and thicker clusters of tentacles emerged in triple clusters on either side of the tick forebody. A large ellipsoidal structure of some sort was located at the front of the creature, and for all its size, it moved with remarkable rapidity.

As the prisoners 'watched' this thing in shock and fear, one of the thick side-tentacles reached toward the clustered Crystallects.

To be continued...

D10 · 05-02-2017, 11:46 AM

What a cliffhanger!

When was this happening relative to earth's history ?

Johnny1A.2 · 05-02-2017, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D10

What a cliffhanger!

When was this happening relative to earth's history ?

Around 1100 A.D.

BTW, you've met this creature before. :grin:

Jasonft · 05-02-2017, 08:55 PM

Is this the thing under a pacific island Unity met?

Johnny1A.2 · 05-02-2017, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jasonft

Is this the thing under a pacific island Unity met?

Yes. This is the same creature that Karl Jurgensen will encounter in the 20th Century, though that's still centuries in the future at this stage.

D10 · 05-02-2017, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

Around 1100 A.D.

BTW, you've met this creature before. :grin:

My theory is that its nemesis mini-me

warellis · 05-04-2017, 05:29 PM

Sounds like a cthuloid of some type. Or a Nemesis mini-me.

05-02-2017, 12:16 AM	#11
Johnny1A.2 Join Date: Feb 2007	Re: ORICHALCUM UNIVERSE Sidebar: The Coming of the Crystallects ORICHALCUM UNIVERSE Sidebar: The Coming of the Crystallects continued... As it happened, however, events were now proceeding rapidly and there were factors in play unsuspected by any Crystallect, either on the sailship or on Mercury. One of those factors was the Malignium. Another such factor was a different spacecraft, constructed by very different beings and hailing from a world incomprehensibly far from either Mercury or Earth. The Crystallect sailship had been orbiting Luna for about two Terran years, or four Mercurian years, waiting for the arrival of the rescue craft. This was even then under construction on Mercury, but the construction of the sailships was a slow, delicate process, and the process was slowed by the 'political' tensions in play. Still, they had plenty of energy from their converted sails. Now that they were orbiting Luna, they were close enough to the Sun to make is simple for the converted mirrors to concentrate sunlight to Mercurian intensities. Food was conserved by the crew of Crystallects limited activity, entering a sort of 'sleep trance' much of the time to conserve supplies. Another two Terran years would have seen rescue arrive, possibly even somewhat less than two years would have been enough. They had plentiful energy, and probably just enough storied nutrients to make it that far, on 'iron rations' and with careful limitation of activity. Unfortunately for the crew, what they did not have was the time itself. The first sign of trouble caught the near-somnolent completely by surprise, not that it would have made very much difference if they had been awake and ready. Their ESP and other senses did perceive it, but before they had time to do more than come halfway back to full consciousness, the other spacecraft had approached close enough to use laser beams to cut the remnants of the sailship apart. Some of the crystallect crew were thrown free of the structure, and were never heard from again. (In fact, they found themselves in decaying orbits that eventually smashed them into the surface of the Moon, but they were dead long before that.) Others of the crew were captured by small rocket-propelled devices that emerged from the larger vessel, and drawn inside the mysterious spacecraft that had (apparently) come out of nowhere. (In fact, it had simply taken advantage of their somnolent state. Had they b been awake, they would have detected it many hours earlier, when it first emerged from the atmosphere of the Earth.) The spacecraft in question was like nothing ever built on Mercury, indeed, it was like nothing the Mercurians had ever imagined. A long streamlined cylinder, with bulging rings around the cylinder and tapering ends, it was propelled by rocket motors mounted on the rings, and also by something else that was totally outside the experience of the Crystallects. The spacecraft was perhaps fifty meters long and a fourth of that across, give or take, and far more heavily constructed than anything ever even considered on Mercury. It was made of solid metal alloys rather than frail sailship frame, and it was also clearly damaged. This last was quite clear to the surviving Crystallects, when they regained full consciousness and found themselves trapped in a metallic cubical within the vessel. They could remember what they perceived when they were half-awake, and now they could analyze it, and though they had no idea what sort of vessel had captured them, or how it worked, it was clear enough that it was not in proper working order. Some of the external structure was warped and twisted, there were gaps that had clearly been blasted through the hull. The vessel was still functional, however, and the prisoners had no idea what had captured them, why, or what was about to happen to them now. The spacecraft spent another forty hours or so returning to Earth, applying enormous amounts of rocket thrust to slow itself to the point that it could gently enter the atmosphere, and slowly descend. In its damaged state, aerobraking of any sort would certainly have been out of the question. The ship, had there been anyone there to see, would have been observed to descend through the atmosphere from east to west, flying across what would one day be called the Isthmus of Panama, descending gradually in a long arc across the Pacific Ocean, before finally coming to rest amid that chain of islands that would in a future time be known as Indonesia. Once the spacecraft came to rest, or more precisely, entered the water and settled onto the shallow sea floor near one of those islands, a doorway opened in the chamber containing the captive Crystallects, and they got a first clear perception of one of the entities that had captured them. It was like nothing in their experience, nothing on Mercury had ever been remotely similar to the thing that now slithered into the large metal chamber. It was long, and sinuous, perhaps ten meters in length and a third of that in width at the thickest part of the body. It was made of a soft, flexible material, with a semi-transparent covering over the entire body, and a cluster of small tentacles emerged from the posterior end, while much larger and thicker clusters of tentacles emerged in triple clusters on either side of the tick forebody. A large ellipsoidal structure of some sort was located at the front of the creature, and for all its size, it moved with remarkable rapidity. As the prisoners 'watched' this thing in shock and fear, one of the thick side-tentacles reached toward the clustered Crystallects. To be continued... __________________ HMS Overflow-For conversations off topic here. Last edited by Johnny1A.2; 05-02-2017 at 08:04 PM.

05-02-2017, 11:46 AM	#12
D10 Join Date: May 2009 Location: In Rio de Janeiro, where it was cyberpunk before it was cool.	Re: ORICHALCUM UNIVERSE Sidebar: The Coming of the Crystallects What a cliffhanger! When was this happening relative to earth's history ?

05-02-2017, 08:55 PM	#14
Jasonft Join Date: Aug 2008	Re: ORICHALCUM UNIVERSE Sidebar: The Coming of the Crystallects Is this the thing under a pacific island Unity met?

05-04-2017, 05:29 PM	#17
warellis Join Date: Jan 2014	Re: ORICHALCUM UNIVERSE Sidebar: The Coming of the Crystallects Sounds like a cthuloid of some type. Or a Nemesis mini-me. Last edited by warellis; 05-04-2017 at 07:05 PM.