SD 06/07/03 "Attack of the Elvii" aka "MiT - Men in Trek" #5 - We're finally on our way.
To begin with, our mission now has a time limit. Captain M'Rander notifed us that there were signs of instability in the wormhole. "In about thirty hours" it will be in danger of collapsing.
"We have a long way to go, and a short time to get there." Sounds almost like a line to a song I heard once.
In any event, the van had a flat tire. Or rather, it developed one after I used the tricorder to clean out the fuel injectors, at least, I thought those were the fuel injectors. Oh well, even if not, it shouldn't matter. Being much simpler than our vehicles, they should be a lot easier to fix and be much more durable as well. Fixing the tire, however, was a chore. Melvin didn't have a spare, so we had to "borrow" a tire from the car next to us. Without a jack, Lynx and Tarra had to hold it up. When we got to the other car, they were tired, so I had to give them a break and hold that one while someone else got the tire off. About getting it off, I had some minor difficulties with the tire iron, some of which required these "band-aids" used at this time as first aid, but any more repairs should be much easier.
And with that, we were off. Ensign Ennien wanted to drive, so I let him. There were a couple jokes about "letting the blind guy drive," but that VISOR of his should allow him to see just fine, if not better than the rest of us. If my days in New California are any guide, some drivers have a way of speeding around corners, so that can be of help in the country as he can see in infared through vegetation. Unfortunetly, the Sivoan seems to have picked up attitudes much like drivers here, responding to near-misses and curses with yelling. What was that expression I once heard, road rage? That seems to describe him.
Ennien's also been singing along to the music over the radio. I'm sure this is the same music on our Earth so long ago, but they were still strange. If I recall my history files correctly, in just a few years this is just before when the music "industry" declines. They blamed it on people swiping music files over the Internet, but it was more than that. The music media never came back after the Nuclear War to what it once had been. Someone in the group blamed Vulcan influences, but I don't think so. Perhaps there was a certain energy around this time, of when we cracked the power of the atom and were able to get into space for the first time, an energy that regretably may have been a one time event that we have forgotten. Thirty hours sure doesn't give us much time to pick it up. Maybe the Nuclear Hollocost blew this energy away, made us more reserved and cautious, even in our music and culture. Or maybe the more agressive spirits died, and were no longer around to pass on their philosphies to their sons? Or perhaps something of both?
What is it about this time that makes me so philosophical?
Or maybe it's those fumes from those funny cigarettes Demian's been smoking. Smells like the ones S'Varr and R'Merr were smoking. Just what is that stuff?
*****
Addition - Even on Earth, we can't get away from the weird.
Then again, this isn't our century. So much that has been all but forgotten. It's also not our universe. Just maybe, is there some difference somewhere?
We made some good time in our cross-contry road trip. We went down major highways through Virginia, the Appalachian Moutains, and through Tennesee. It was near a city called Memphis that we had to stop for gas. We got off the highway, and headed to where the signs told us would be a fossil fuel station.
And to our surprise, the station was packed with cars, all of them topless and pink. Ennin tols us they were all 1959 model "Cadilacs." That many cars over four decades old? But the strange thing were the people. There must have been a hundred all wearing the same kind of costume, white and studded with shiny stones. Lera's response to them was "Gahhhhh, Elvii!" I guess these were people headed to some other kind of convention, but with all wearing the same kind of costume, the same kind of hairdo, singing the same kind of music, it was weird in a diferent direction.
So we got our gasoline. I'll have to hand it to these gas stations, despite the simpler technology, they pump an enormous amount of fuel from those small pumps in an amazingly short time. It seemed to be just seconds. When that was done, I had to take care of a different matter, a certain call of nature that couldn't be ignored much longer. The line to the restroom was a bit long, but I got through okay.
Unfortunetly, after I got back to the van, I noticed there was some commotion at the convienence store. A brawl had started between these "Elvii" and Demian and Tarra. Knowing Demian, he probably had something to do with starting it. But at the time, all that mattered was getting everyone out of there, and more of these "Elvii" were joining in. It was a pretty chaotic scene between us few but skilled and them numerous but unskilled. Okay, not all of us acted with skill and a few of the opposition knew how to fight. At one point, I heard a karate yell, and I saw a foot with a blue-suede shoe headed right at me. Fortunetly for me, I was able to dodge. Unfortunetly for him, his foot landed right onto a solid metal pole, taking him out of the fight. Tarra had some bad luck too, the skilled Kzin found herself taken by surprise by some hound-dog chomping onto her tail and holding on.
The place became more and more of a mess as the melee went on. The floor became slippery with fluids and junk food, and some fat Elvii fell against an asile, and they fell like domminos. Ennin drove one of the pink Cadilacs through the window at one point. With more and more Elvii joining the fight, Dammers resorted to stunning them with his phaser. I used a local fire estingusher. But what brought the fight to an end was Lynx. One of the beer cans thrown early in the fight stunned her. But once she recovered, she roared and produced her sword. That certainly had an effect on the nearest attackers, and they froze. We then took adantage of the situation to get into the van and the pink Cadilac Ennin swiped, with only the car's owner running after us. Unfortuetly, those cars must not be able to stay in "park" very well. Ennin bumped into one, and it slowly rolled to a pump. It hit it just as we got back on the road, causing an explosion, and the "Elvii" to run in all directions. Fortunetly, no one was killed.
No one got too badly hurt, but that station and a number of Cadilacs are a loss. *sigh* Our technical reason for being here is to get Brundle before he causes any dammage, and in getting to him this happens. It never ends ...
Oh well. This is probably as bad as our quest gets. What else could happen?
NARRATIVE: Brundle learns "running at angry woman with gun is BAD, gun go BOOM." Fortunetly, the Mexicans he ran into earlier are able to patch him up and give him a lift.
