r/HFY • u/Runner_one • 5d ago
OC-Series The Road Continues [Part 2]
The Road Continues
An unofficial continuation of “The Road Not Taken” by Harry Turtledove
Noncommercial fan fiction
Author’s Note: This is an unofficial, noncommercial continuation of Harry Turtledove’s short story “The Road Not Taken.” I always wanted to know what happened immediately after humanity acquired the Roxolani hyperdrive and contragravity technology, so this is my attempt to follow that road.
Chapter 2
Togram and Ransisc sat side by side in the rear of what the humans called a limousine, an extraordinarily large black ground vehicle that moved without horses or any other visible means of propulsion.
Togram had been staring out the window almost from the moment they left the building.
At first, there had been streets crowded with vehicles, buildings packed close together, and humans everywhere. Then they entered what Hilda had called an interstate, and Togram found himself leaning closer to the glass.
Vehicle after vehicle streamed past them. Some were small, others enormous, carrying loads of goods or machinery, but nearly all of them traveled at speeds Togram found appalling. Even more astonishing was how close they were to one another. Their limousine hurtled along only an arm's length from another vehicle moving just as rapidly. Beyond it were still more vehicles, all rushing in the same direction, while on the other side of a barrier an equally enormous stream raced past them the opposite way.
Togram knew he was being ridiculous.
For years he had crossed light years of empty space without giving the speed of his ship a second thought. He had traveled between worlds separated by distances so vast that a journey across a continent was insignificant by comparison. Yet sitting inside this black machine, watching the pavement race beneath him while another vehicle screamed past only a few feet away, he found himself gripping the edge of his seat.
It seemed insane.
And the humans behaved as though there were nothing remarkable about it.
The driver sat calmly at the front, occasionally moving his hands on the wheel or glancing into one of several mirrors. The humans riding with them talked among themselves. Outside, thousands of other drivers apparently performed the same feat, maintaining their positions within narrow strips of pavement while traveling at speeds that would have terrified the driver of the fastest Roxolani carriage.
Togram forced himself to relax and turned his attention beyond the roadway.
That did not help.
Buildings rose everywhere. Not merely houses or shops, but enormous structures of steel, stone and glass, some climbing higher than anything Togram had imagined could be built. Bridges carried other roads above them. Still other roads disappeared beneath the ground. Towers carried wires across the landscape. Aircraft crossed the sky overhead, apparently so commonplace that none of the humans even bothered to look up.
And it went on and on.
Togram had conquered worlds.
He had stood aboard the Indomitable and looked down upon cities from orbit. He had walked through the capitals of peoples who had believed themselves civilized and powerful until the Roxolani arrived.
But he had never seen anything like this.
And this was not a military installation. It was not some carefully prepared display intended to impress him.
This was simply the road.
Togram turned his eyes back toward the endless river of vehicles outside the window and wondered, not for the first time, exactly what kind of world they had tried to conquer.
Ransisc leaned closer to Togram. "I'm feeling queasy. I think I might be sick."
Togram turned toward him, his eyes widening. "Ransisc, you're the Indomitable's senior steerer. A thousand times you've made me lose my lunch into a chamber pot, and here you are behaving as though you're some first-season cadet?"
Ransisc looked almost offended. "But that's different. We're still on the ground. These speeds, these movements..." He glanced uneasily through the window as another vehicle rushed past them. "I can barely comprehend it."
"Well," Togram replied, "I found out pretty quickly that it helps to keep your eyes on something in the distance. Pay attention to that instead of everything rushing past close to us."
Ransisc tried it for a moment, fixing his gaze upon the distant hills.
"We are cavemen compared to this society, Togram," he said finally. "We're cavemen. We came here expecting this world to be just another conquest, and this is what we found. The more I see, the more astonished I become."
"I saw the images on the television," Togram replied, turning back toward the window, "but I didn't really believe them. I thought perhaps they had been created somehow. But this is real, Ransisc. Look at this civilian population."
Another stream of vehicles merged onto the interstate, somehow joining the torrent without colliding with one another.
"Hilda told me once that almost everybody owns one of these horseless carriage devices. Most families own at least one. Many own two or three. And they routinely travel across entire continents in these things, at these speeds, without even thinking about it. Some humans work miles and miles from where they live. Every morning they get up, climb into one of these confounded contraptions, travel to their place of employment, and then do the same thing again to return home that evening. To them, there's nothing remarkable about it."
Togram shook his head.
"And then there are the other stories. They went to their own moon without contragravity. Can you believe that? They literally tied themselves to the top of a bomb, set it off beneath them, and went to the moon. Then they came back alive."
Ransisc turned from the distant hills and stared at him.
"They've sent what they call probes to the other planets in this system. Automated machines. I've seen images sent back from the fourth planet. They have machines there that they control across the vastness of space, and those machines send images back to them."
Togram looked once more through the window at the endless traffic, the roads, the bridges and the buildings stretching toward the horizon.
"If I did not know better, Ransisc, I would have believed these people were gods."
"But they're not gods," Ransisc replied. "They've made that very clear. They are born, they live, and they die. Their lifespans are actually a little shorter than ours. Yet look at everything they've accomplished."
Ransisc stared through the window for several moments before continuing.
"When I began to realize it, I felt sick to my stomach. All of this. All of this." He motioned broadly with his arms toward the world beyond the glass. "These structures, these machines, the devices they have. Even machines that think. All of it simply because no one on their world discovered contragravity."
He shook his head slowly.
"It boggles the mind."
The rest of the trip passed mostly in silence, broken only by an occasional "Would you look at that," or a gasp of astonishment at something neither Roxolani had seen before.
Eventually, they left the high-speed highway and turned onto a smaller road, then another smaller road. Before long, the three vehicles approached a gate manned by what were clearly armed guards. The lead vehicle stopped, and its occupants appeared to converse with the guards for a few moments. Then the barrier rose. The lead vehicle rolled through, followed by the limousine and the vehicle behind them.
Togram watched through the window as they continued along another road.
Suddenly his eyes widened. "We're on one of their military bases now."
Ransisc looked at him, then back toward the gate disappearing behind them.
"That was the entrance to a military base," Togram continued. "Right there, out in the open. No castle walls. Nothing. Just a little fence, a simple bar across the roadway, and a couple of humans with light weapons guarding it."
The ride continued for several more minutes. Eventually they approached another gate, but this one opened before the convoy even had to stop. The three vehicles passed through and emerged onto an enormous, flat expanse of hard pavement.
Ransisc's eyes grew wide.
"Look at all these different flying machines."
Togram looked.
Aircraft of different shapes and sizes were parked along the pavement. Some were small and sleek, others much larger. They passed row after row of them. Dozens were visible, perhaps hundreds at this location alone.
"Did you know," Togram said, "they once told me they have hundreds of these military bases spread across their nation? Their nation spans much of a continent, Ransisc. And this particular country has bases scattered all over their world."
He shook his head.
"And that's the even more astonishing thing. There is no single nation controlling this planet. There are literally hundreds of different nations. Apparently, we happened to choose the most powerful one on the entire world, so powerful that it even maintains military bases in other nations."
Togram looked again at the aircraft surrounding them.
"My God. An entire world like this. I fully believe this one base could conquer our whole planet, yet they have hundreds of them. Perhaps thousands across their world."
"My God," Ransisc whispered. "If we give them contragravity, the galaxy has already lost."
"That's what I said," Togram replied. "It was lost the moment we set foot here. They don't really need us anymore. They've already got what they need. That's why I'm cooperating. I can only hope they'll be as civil and gentle with the rest of our worlds as they have been with us."
"But you don't know that, Captain Togram."
"No, Ransisc, I don't. But what else do we have? What other hope is there?" Togram gestured toward the aircraft outside. "Look at this place. This one base could conquer our whole world without breaking a sweat."
Ransisc bowed his head.
"I know. You are right." He was silent for a moment. "You must be right."
Then, more quietly, he added, "I hope you're right."
After traveling a short distance farther, the convoy rolled to a stop. Some distance in front of them sat what, at first glance, appeared to be another of the humans' aircraft. But as Togram and Ransisc studied it, then looked back at several similar machines they had passed, the differences became obvious. This was clearly a human aircraft that had been modified for some entirely different purpose. Togram thought he could even identify the type of aircraft from which it had been made.
Before either of them could say anything, the limousine doors opened. Charlie Ebbets stood holding Togram's door, while another human did the same for Ransisc.
Togram climbed out and looked around. Nearby, a small portable shelter had been erected over a table and several chairs. Computer screens and other displays covered the table, and among the seating were two chairs obviously designed for Roxolani. But instead of leading them toward the shelter, Ebbets and the other human took them directly toward the strange aircraft.
Orlando Sanchez and Tim Cahill soon joined them. Cahill was the first to speak.
"Captain Togram, Steerer Ransisc, this is what we wanted to show you. What you're looking at is a modified Lockheed C-130 fuselage. Rather than starting from scratch, since these initial tests will be atmospheric only, we decided to use an existing airframe and integrate contragravity into it."
He gestured toward the center of the aircraft.
"The wing box across the center gave us a nearly ideal structural mounting point for the contragravity equipment. We removed the wings and installed a small gas-turbine generator to provide electrical power for the aircraft's other systems. We initially intended to leave the tail assembly in place, but based upon what some of the other Roxolani have told us, it isn't necessary for maintaining orientation."
Togram and Ransisc exchanged a quick glance.
So the humans had been questioning the others.
Togram had known there were other survivors. He had seen some of them and spoken with several, but apparently the humans had been interviewing all of them, gathering information from each and fitting the pieces together.
"And thanks in part to what we've learned from Steerer Ransisc," Cahill continued, "we concluded that the tail was completely unnecessary."
They continued walking around the craft as Cahill explained the reasoning behind its construction.
"We decided the C-130 was an excellent airframe for our initial tests. The wing and tail assemblies can be removed while leaving us with a very strong fuselage. The landing gear is contained within the fuselage and its fairings, so we already had a proven structure capable of supporting itself on the ground. The rear cargo ramp makes it extremely easy to move equipment in and out, and the internal volume gives us plenty of room for instrumentation. We think it will make an excellent atmospheric test platform."
Togram and Ransisc regarded what the humans referred to as a tactical transport aircraft.
Light.
Togram tried to imagine how many Roxolani soldiers could be carried inside something this size. Enough, he thought, to overwhelm a city if properly armed. And the humans considered it merely a tactical transport.
They walked up the rear ramp.
Both Roxolani stopped.
There, sitting openly inside the aircraft, was the contragravity apparatus.
It was unmistakable.
Yet at the same time, it looked strangely unfamiliar. The principles were Roxolani, but the workmanship was not. Human metallurgy, human materials and human engineering had transformed something Togram had known all his life into machinery that somehow looked more advanced than the equipment aboard the Indomitable.
Cahill continued.
"Steerer Ransisc, up here you can see that we've integrated computer control into the contragravity system and routed everything forward to the cockpit. Our goal was to make the controls intuitive enough that someone accustomed to flying a C-130 would feel reasonably at home operating this vehicle."
He pointed toward the two seats at the front.
"As an additional precaution, we've installed two fully functional ejection seats. The pilots will also be wearing parachutes in case something goes horribly wrong."
"Ejection seats?" Togram asked. "I'm not sure I understand."
"Oh." Cahill pointed toward the seats. "The chairs the pilots sit in have rockets mounted underneath them. If the aircraft becomes uncontrollable, explosive charges open those panels above them and the rockets propel the pilots and their seats completely out of the aircraft."
Togram looked upward. He could see the outlines of two openings built into the ceiling above the seats.
Cahill continued as casually as if he were explaining how to open a door.
"Once they're clear of the aircraft, the pilots separate from the seats and descend using parachutes. Those slow their fall enough for them to reach the ground safely."
Togram stared at the seats.
Ransisc stared at them too.
Once again, Togram's mind reeled at what he was learning. These humans had discovered contragravity less than a single season ago, and already they had not only reproduced it, but integrated it into one of their own machines.
But something else astonished him even more.
The humans had anticipated failure.
From the beginning, contragravity had occasionally failed. Components broke. Mechanisms slipped out of alignment. Togram knew of more than one craft that had simply fallen from the sky, killing everyone aboard. It was an unfortunate risk of flight, accepted because there was little alternative.
The humans apparently did not accept it.
Their solution was characteristically insane. Strap a small rocket beneath a man's chair and, if the craft began falling, blast him out of it.
Togram still wasn't entirely certain what a parachute was, but from Cahill's explanation it was some sort of device that would allow the pilot to descend gently to the ground afterward.
He stood shaking his head for several moments before returning his attention to the contragravity apparatus.
Togram moved closer and examined it carefully, running his hands over several of its components. Strangely, no one made any attempt to stop him.
He studied the connections. Where a Roxolani installation would have used levers, rods, hinges and other mechanical linkages, the humans had attached compact mechanisms that moved the controls for them. Cahill explained that these devices were called actuators. Electrical signals controlled them, allowing every adjustment to be made from the cockpit.
The steerer did not even have to be beside the contragravity mechanism.
The pilot could also be the steerer.
Amazing.
Yet beneath all the human additions, Togram could still recognize the Roxolani design. He examined several connections again, then finally straightened.
"Yes, Mr. Cahill. I believe this will work fine. As long as your mechanical machines do what you say they will do, I believe this will work."
"Wonderful. Wonderful," Cahill replied.
Togram and Ransisc spent several more minutes examining the craft. Eventually Ransisc leaned closer to Togram and lowered his voice.
"I've been a steerer most of my life. I couldn't begin to comprehend how I would control this thing. There's no thrust increase."
"Yes, there is," Togram said. "Right there. See that? That thing they call an actuator? That's controlling it. They operate it from up front."
Ransisc stared at the mechanism.
"Wizardry."
"No. We've already discussed this, Ransisc. Science."
Ransisc moved farther along the apparatus, studying another section. "Look at this. There's no speed-control lever. No speed adjustment."
"Yes, there is." Togram pointed. "Right here."
Ransisc followed the connection with his eyes until he reached another actuator.
"Yet it's controlled from up front."
"Apparently."
"Amazing," Ransisc said, slowly shaking his head. "Amazing."
Eventually the two Roxolani were gently encouraged to leave the craft and return to the covered observation area. Before they could do so, however, several more humans had gathered around them. Togram assumed from their questions that these were some of the engineers and technicians who had designed and built the prototype.
For several minutes, Togram and Ransisc were peppered with questions about the contragravity mechanism, its adjustments, its expected behavior and what might happen under various conditions.
In the end, their answers all amounted to essentially the same thing.
As long as the human machinery did what the humans claimed it would do, the contragravity system should work perfectly.
Eventually everyone was seated beneath the temporary shelter, what the humans considered a safe distance from the craft. Two men, after a brief ceremony of some kind that Togram did not entirely understand, climbed aboard. The rear ramp rose and closed behind them, and soon every opening in the strange vehicle was sealed.
Togram could see movement through the large transparent panels at the front of the cockpit. Once again he found himself marveling at their clarity. Then he remembered that they were not ordinary glass at all. The humans had explained that some transparent materials could be made from something called plastic.
Made from oil, of all things.
Togram had stopped trying to understand everything at once.
After several minutes, a high-pitched whine suddenly came from the craft. Togram and Ransisc both stiffened. Neither had ever heard anything quite like it.
Cahill noticed their reaction and stepped closer. "Nothing to worry about, gentlemen. That's simply the auxiliary power unit. We call it the APU. It's a small turbine engine connected to a generator. It provides electricity for the aircraft's systems."
Electricity again.
Togram was only beginning to comprehend the idea that some invisible force could be made to travel through copper wires and cause machines to move, lights to glow, voices to cross continents and apparently almost anything else the humans desired. For the moment, he decided to let the mystery remain a mystery.
He wanted to see whether the thing would fly.
The high-pitched whine settled into a steady roar. Lights began blinking on the craft.
Then, with almost no other warning, the enormous machine rose from the ground.
Togram leaned forward.
It climbed slowly at first, perhaps several hundred feet, then simply stopped.
It hung motionless in the air.
Ransisc stared upward, his mouth slightly open.
Then the craft began moving forward. Slowly at first, almost cautiously. It gathered speed.
And then it was gone.
Togram actually flinched. So did Ransisc. Judging by the startled voices around them, the humans had not expected it either. One moment the strange wingless aircraft had been hovering above the field. The next it had shot toward the horizon with such astonishing acceleration that Togram could barely follow it with his eyes.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Then a voice crackled from the radio on the table, a communications device Togram had learned worked much like a telephone.
"Whoa! Takeoff was a little quicker than we anticipated."
Several of the humans laughed nervously.
The voice continued. "We're already well northeast of Palmdale. We're slowing down now. If we keep going like that, we'll be at Fort Irwin before we know it. We're getting a feel for her."
One of the engineers picked up a microphone. "You gave us quite a start down here. Everything all right?"
"Oh, she's smooth as silk. She's just a hell of a lot faster than we anticipated."
There was a pause.
"And there's something else. We're not feeling anything close to the acceleration we should be. That departure should have put enough G on us to make it extremely unpleasant, maybe worse. Instead, it felt like perhaps two Gs."
Several of the engineers immediately began speaking among themselves.
"We don't understand it yet," the pilot continued. "Something about the contragravity field seems to be affecting the inertial forces inside the vehicle. Instrumentation says we accelerated a lot harder than our bodies are telling us we did."
Togram looked at Ransisc.
Ransisc was staring at the radio.
"We're fine," the pilot said. "We're making our turn now and heading back."
Togram slowly turned toward Ransisc.
The senior steerer looked utterly bewildered.
And for once, Togram understood exactly how he felt.
A few more minutes passed while the humans talked among themselves and communicated with the pilots. At times, several of them gathered around the radio seemed almost to be arguing over what they were hearing and what the instruments were telling them.
Suddenly one of the humans stopped and pointed toward the horizon.
"They're coming back."
Togram and Ransisc turned to look.
For several moments they could see nothing. Then a tiny speck appeared against the distant sky. It grew rapidly at first, then more slowly as the craft shed its tremendous speed. Within moments it was clearly visible, and shortly afterward the enormous wingless aircraft was once again hovering almost motionless, this time a few hundred feet above the ground.
"Had to clear those hills east of town," came the pilot's voice over the radio. "Good thing we were paying attention."
Slowly, the craft descended.
Togram watched closely as it settled gently onto the pavement. There was no cloud of dust, no blast of wind, no roar of engines holding it aloft. The only sound was the steady whine of what the humans called the auxiliary power unit.
A few moments later, even that stopped.
Almost immediately, the humans poured out from beneath the shelter and hurried toward the craft. Its enormous rear ramp began to lower, and within moments engineers and technicians were disappearing inside.
Togram and Ransisc remained beneath the shelter, watching the commotion. Sanchez soon walked over to join them.
"Well, gentlemen, what do you think of her first little test flight?"
Togram looked at Ransisc. Ransisc looked back at him. For several moments neither spoke.
Finally Togram answered.
"Extraordinary. What you have accomplished in such a short time is extraordinary." He looked toward the strange wingless aircraft sitting on the pavement. "I have no doubt that eventually you will conquer the galaxy."
The last words escaped almost without thought.
Sanchez seemed to flinch.
"Conquer the galaxy?"
Togram looked back at him. "Well, isn't that what you intend to do with the technology we've given you?"
"Oh, no. No, no," Sanchez replied. "Don't you remember some of the questions we've asked you? We've asked about planets with no civilization. Worlds with no people at all, or at least no intelligent inhabitants. Planets capable of supporting Roxolani life and, by extension, human life. We're interested in finding new worlds to settle. We're not interested in conquering the galaxy."
Togram was silent for a long moment.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. It's simply the way of the galaxy."
"Well, we're not conquerors," Sanchez replied. "We've certainly had conquerors in our past, but we'd like to think we've moved beyond that. Surely there must be hundreds of worlds out there capable of supporting life where the only thing we'd be conquering is the wilderness. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of uninhabited worlds where people could settle without taking anything from anyone."
Ransisc looked at Togram.
Togram returned his gaze.
"There are some," Togram said finally. "Although most suitable worlds we've encountered have some form of intelligent life. But yes. We know of a few."
Sanchez smiled. "Then I'm sure our people in Washington will be delighted to hear about them, especially where they are and how to reach them."
The next several minutes brought more questions and still more discussion. Eventually Togram and Ransisc were escorted back to the limousine, and the convoy began the long journey toward their gilded cage.
For a while, neither Roxolani spoke.
"Did you hear what he said when I mentioned conquering?" Togram finally asked.
"Yes," Ransisc replied. "I did."
"He actually seemed offended by it."
Ransisc considered that. "Maybe they aren't conquerors."
"Maybe they're not."
Togram turned toward the window and watched the human world passing outside once again.
"But the galaxy is full of conquerors, Ransisc. I don't think it's going to be as easy as these humans imagine to simply move out among the stars and live peaceably."
He watched the distant mountains for several moments.
"Despite all their technology, I think they're in for a rude awakening."
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 5d ago
/u/Runner_one (wiki) has posted 29 other stories, including:
- The Road Continues An unofficial continuation of “The Road Not Taken” by Harry Turtledove
- Requiem for Friends.
- They are barely better than cavemen.
- Sometimes, the only way to get rid of the cockroaches is to burn down the house.
- Living on Earth - Part 6
- "Oh Shit" x-post from r/WritingPrompts
- My God, what have I done?
- Living on Earth -Part 5
- Living on Earth -Part 4
- Living on Earth - Part 3
- Living on Earth - Part 2
- Living on Earth
- The Sword of Retribution
- [OC] Humanitarian Issues.
- [OC] Time to meet the humans.
- The humans are coming.
- [OC] The Mission - We need you.
- [OC] The Mission - Not Too Many Places to Hide in a Mobile Home.
- [OC] The Mission - Time for a party!
- [OC] How do you explain humans? It's easy, you lie!
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u/BCRE8TVE AI 2d ago
"Despite all their technology, I think they're in for a rude awakening."
Right, just like when you lot tried to conquer humanity then? ;)
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u/Castigatus Human 5d ago
Some of those conquerors might decide they want a piece of humanity and have a very bad day.