Yahoo!!
Supers in the Wild West! Sort of...
Here is a refresher on our cast of super characters, last seen in Harmony.
Conduit - established hero, energy absorption and reflection
Blink - trainee, teleporter
Awareness - trainee, telepath - able to sense and send images and feelings
Reset - trainee, able to send himself back in time and change his actions, healing ability - currently unavailable
Blink stared down the dusty main street as Awareness and Conduit moved up to join him. He’d been standing still since he finished his normal Portal breach protocol.
Listening.
The sun was just starting to rise behind them, the signs on the ramshackle wooden buildings just becoming visible.
Bank.
Saloon.
Undertaker.
The street was barely a city block long, becoming a rutted trail heading off into the prairies. The distant foothills barely seen through the morning haze. To their right, in the direction of the town’s railway station, a wind pump squeaked as it worked valiantly to draw water into the nearby tower. The wind was coming from the West, hot and dry. Blink could feel it on his face. But…
“It’s too quiet” he remarked.
…
Conduit nods. “It’s too too quiet.”
…
Blink quickly looked at Conduit’s face, but it betrayed nothing. Looking to Awareness, though, Blink got confirmation that Conduit had actually meant to make the deadpan joke. Fair enough, he had walked in to it.
“I can’t hear anybody,” he clarified, “Even when I ‘ported close to the Saloon. It’s eerie.”
Conduit nodded in agreement and looked to Awareness, “Any sense of the party guests?”
The party guests. Blink shook his head at that. Of all the dumb luck, this particular Portal had appeared in Calgary’s Heritage Park in the middle of a Cowboy themed wedding. Four drunken revelers had seen the Portal open and had walked straight through. Presumably thinking the frontier town on the other side of the Portal was a new section of the Park. Fortunately, cooler heads amongst the rest of the party-goers prevailed and no one else crossed the shimmering barrier. But the lost guests hadn’t returned by the time Conduit and his team had arrived.
Awareness looked puzzled. “They are nearby… but… unconscious… and… above us?”
Blink and Conduit looked to the second floor of the saloon, but Awareness clarified.
“Not quite,” shaking her head, as if to clear cobwebs, “It’s almost like they are hovering over… there…” and she waved her hand in the direction of the railway station.
Both men redirected their attention, but Blink was pretty sure he would have noticed hovering cowboys earlier.
“They’re not alone, either.” Awareness continued, “I can sense other minds around them, but I’m not picking up any clear thoughts or images from them. Just… noise.”
“Anything concrete enough for me to jump to?” Blink asked hopefully.
She just shook her head.
“Ok,” Conduit said, “We’ll start in that direction. Stay behind me.”
The three moved cautiously towards the station. The town looked deserted, but they knew to trust Awareness’ perception. Blink kept his head on a swivel, trying to stay ready for anything.
He wasn’t sure if “anything” included a bright doorway appearing in the alley ahead of them. Not in any of the buildings - the alley itself suddenly opened in to a bright corridor - as if the air itself had split open. Somewhat like a Portal, but more mechanical in appearance.
Conduit quickly stepped forward, hands out in front, as half a dozen… people(?) rushed through this new doorway at them. Blink regarded them from his new position - he’d instinctively blinked away from the group a few meters to the rear. The newcomers appeared humanoid, but with a lizard-like appearance. Scaly hands, hunched slightly forward in their stances, their faces elongated and green.
The really incongruous part, though? Two of them were wearing full cowboy regalia. As if they had just stepped off the stagecoach into an authentic Western movie. The other four… uniforms? Maybe? Black slacks, red or blue shirts, little badges on their chests.
The two cowboys and three red-shirted lizard people were brandishing some sort of futuristic looking guns. The blue shirted lizard had some sort of tablet. What followed was a lot of hissing, clicking, “woah-ing” and a ton of gesturing. Blink realized they were especially perturbed at him, and he suspected the display of his teleporting power was the cause. So he attempted to stand as quiet and still as possible. A real struggle.
He watched as Awareness slowly moved her raised hands to her temples. She was staring directly at the blue shirted lizard, and it seemed to be regarding her coolly. A moment later, its eyes widened in shock. A heartbeat passed, then it also raised a hand to its temple with a nod. It hissed and clicked to one of the cowboys who then evidently issued a command, as all the lizards lowered their weapons.
Blink could see Conduit and Awareness conferring in low tones as the lizards did the same. He resisted the urge to teleport to listen in, it seemed things were calming down.
Eventually the red shirted lizards went back through the portal, and the two cowboys set their weapons aside. Conduit waved Blink forward, wiggling his fingers in a “walk” sign.
“What the heck is happening?” Blink asked when he got close enough to whisper.
“Awareness was able to use some visual references to ‘tune’ herself to their ‘image frequency’”
“Ah… sure… that makes sense.”
“Probably? Regardless, seems to have worked, and she’s ‘conversing’ with them now.” Conduit finished.
“And… the doorway?”
“Holodeck.” Conduit replied off-handedly.
Blink nodded.
Yeah, that tracked.
…
“So… no universal translator?” he asked after a few more moments had passed.
“How would that even work? We’ve said like eight things to them so far.”
“… says the guy who can absorb energy to the man who can teleport… on a spaceship… on the other side of a magical portal.”
Conduit replied with a frustrated shrug, so Blink chose not to push it any further.
The ‘conversation’ between Awareness and the blue shirted lizard evolved from a casual staring contest, to the two of them collaborating over the tablet. Eventually the two separated and Awareness approached.
“How are the party guests?'“ Conduit asked.
“Fine.” Awareness smiled, “Fine but sedated.”
“Sedated?”
“They were…”
“Drunk.” Blink interjected.
“… difficult to reason with once they realized the other cowboys weren’t human.” She finished diplomatically.
“The other cowboys were crew-members?” Conduit asked.
“Yes, and… they were also…”
“Drunk.”
“… fully engaged in the simulation and…”
“Shot the party guests?!?”
“… reacted poorly to unexpected stimuli in an existing scenario.”
“So… ‘cover-your-ass’ is the universal language.”
Awareness simply smiled at that. “The party guests will be returned to us shortly, no harm, no memory wipe.”
“No memory wipe?” Blink asked.
“They have been in similar situations where local species have seen too much of their technology,” explained Awareness, “but I gave them the impression of our current situation with Portals, and they agreed to let us handle it our own way.”
“So what now?” Conduit asked.
“I think we leave it to the science teams. I think Pete will be super excited to talk with actual aliens.”
“Pete?”
“The linguist. The aliens actually do have a universal translator, so Pete can help them train it. Then both sides can compare notes on the Portals. Nothing else, of course.”
“Of course. Prime Directive.”
“Prime Directive.”
“Well,” Conduit stated, “that seems to button everything up.”
“Other than,” Blink inhaled, “what are the odds of a space faring alien lizard race having an Old timey Western period, AND a Portal choosing to link their re-creation of that environment to a similar re-creation in Calgary.”
“Yup. Other than that.”
This is for the Indie Ink Fund’s Week 7 Portal Prompt
I had fun writing this one, as always. But hoo boy did I go through a lot of different plot ideas. Fantasy, horror, sci-fi, sci-fi horror… probably a lot of good thoughts for future portals, so I enjoyed the exercise. Got halfway through a decent fantasy one when I realized - I couldn’t get past the “why don’t the orcs just kill the drunken party guests?” question. Funny what happens when your brain keeps working the scenario as you write.
For those who don’t know Heritage Park, it’s a fun place in Calgary where old buildings have been moved to simulate various periods of Calgary’s early history. And they do, in fact, have weddings there.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed!
Dave
(Also -
for no particular reason other than the wind pump… :))
I hereby allow any and all alien species visiting Earth the right to ignore the Prime Directive in what concerns my person. I need all the info, spill the tea, pour the void, drop the scales.
A great read, a very unique and original cast of characters. 🙏