OZYMANDIAS

© copyright 2000 by Karen Vertigan

Previously published material.  May not be reproduced without the written permission from the author.

Kay Four opened the navigational files to double-check, for the seventeenth time, the flitter's heading.  The retrospective film she watched for entertainment the previous evening came to mind.  "This ain't like dusting crops, boy."  She grinned to herself as she made the proper adjustment to North Star Delta Scout's directional computers.   

"Not like dusting crops, at all."  Her voice didn't echo at all in the close confines of the flitter's control center.   

"Please repeat the command, Kay Four."  The computer's voice was animated and sounded like a real male person. 

"Scout, that was not a command."  The new user friendly version of the computer was irritating because it assumed that every comment was directed to it.  Kay longed for the days when you had to use the computer's name, first when issuing a voice command. 

"Huh?"  Oliver Tango bawled over her shoulder.  He thrust his head into the control center only because there was no room for the rest of his body.  "What did you say?"  There was too much boyish exuberance oozing from his every pore to suit her tastes. 

"I wasn't talking to you either, Tang."  Her voice was devoid of any emotion, kept carefully so.  She didn't want him to know how much he annoyed her.  Both of her companions tended to interrupt her solitude.  In many ways, the days when she traveled strictly alone into the fringes were much better. Kay Four was a person who very much valued her solitude.   

For many years, the company allowed explorers to travel alone, but after several explorers decided to steal their space crafts and head deep into the galaxy without authorization, the company changed their policy and refused to allow even the most seasoned veteran into deep space by themselves.   

Kay Four resented the restrictions and her brand new companion.  She thought to herself, maybe I should stop jolting across the galaxy and retire.  

She turned to give Oliver an authoritative glare.  "Don't you have something to do?" 

Tang affected that superior posture that particularly irritated her.  "Yes.  My job classification on this expedition is maintenance engineer, and research coordinator.  There is nothing to fix or clean or research, so I am to wait for instructions from my commanding officer.  That is you." 

She breathed a heavy sigh and said, "Tang, shut down or go away.  Preferably both."  Kay didn't turn her head to see if he followed her instructions.  Rather, she returned her attention to the business of flying the spacecraft. 

Before she could settle into her own thoughts, again, Scout flagged her.  "Attention, Kay Four!  My sensors have detected some gravitational anomalies in the region at coordinates 234, 22.88, 192.1, 45, 67, 26.9."  She could almost see Scout smiling smugly in her direction, as if computers had the ability to smile. 

"I see it, Scout.  It is merely a red giant."  And why won't you stop nagging me?  My navigational skills are at least equal to yours, you mechanical beast.  She didn't say the last part of the sentence aloud because she knew the computer would not understand her request.   

As the flitter passed the gravity well of a red giant star, she made the adjustment to compensate for the drag on their course.  The flitter, the nickname for the Faster Than Light Frigate that was propelled by gravity sails in the hyperspace region, was a sturdy little craft.  Kay enjoyed the easy way it slipped around giant stars and black holes.  It was smaller than the Corvette she was used to navigating, but was far more maneuverable.  Her commander promised her it would be so.  North Star Delta Scout was worthy of her talents, she decided, as she avoided the tricky gravitational forces created by a double star system. 

Tang interrupted her navigating, again.  "Hey, Four, when do we get to System RK7594?"  He tucked his head between his knees and did a roll, mid air, in the zero gravity. 

"At least three hours," she explained with the patience that one would show an exasperating child. 

Scout interjected with, "Three hours fourteen minutes twenty seven seconds, provided of course, that the Little Dipper Beta Explorer has submitted the proper coordinates and our flight speed remains unchanged." 

"Scout!  Be quiet!"  Kay often felt like a mother with two kids. 

Oliver grinned at her attempt to silence the computer.  Wisely, he made no comments about that.  Rather he said, "What do you think we will find there?  The Little Dipper Beta Explorer said there was evidence of a civilization on one of RK7594's outer planet's moons."  He poked his head impossibly deeper into the control cubicle. 

"Well, Tang, let me think.  Perhaps we will find evidence of a civilization."  Kay didn't move her eyes from the constant stream of data that flowed across her monitor.  She knew Scout would tell her if there was anything unusual he detected, but she still trusted her years of experience much more than a mere contrivance. 

Her abrupt manner or her sarcasm didn't dissuade him.  "I know that.  But, what kind of civilization will we find?  Don't you even like to speculate on the possibilities?" 

Kay thought to herself, "By the stars, I was never that young and enthusiastic?"  Aloud, she said to her young traveling companion, "We will just have to wait until we get there to find out what kind of civilization the Explorer found.  That is our job.  We are to follow up on any of the leads transmitted to the Martian Space Command Center by the automated Explorer class crafts.  The Little Dipper Beta Explorer gave us no details."   

She glanced at him.  He looked no older than fourteen, although she knew he would not be shipped out unless he was at least twenty-five.  His hair was fine and wispy blonde and his eyes pale blue.  There was almost no color to his skin, a certain indicator of life away from Earth and sunshine.  His frame was devoid of any excess fat and she could see his clavicles through the fabric of his flight suit. 

He was in complete contrast to her.  Although her hair was still dark, it was much grayer than she liked.  Her eyes were darker than her hair.  Blue veins were clearly visible under her milky skin, another certain sign of life in space.  Exposure to sunlight after all her years in space would likely melt her skin away.  Well into middle age, Kay Four had grown plump in the middle.  Being weightless for repeated extended periods of time created the "space figure," meaning she had a collection of fat around her waist and hips.   

Oliver Tango refused to leave her cubicle.  She glanced in his general direction. "Is this your first trip into the fringes?" she asked him, positive the answer would be in the affirmative. 

"By the stars, no.  This is my fifth.  How many trips for you?"  He did another roll in the space behind the control center. 

She gave him a slight sad smile.  "After the first two hundred assignments, I stopped counting."  Kay Four had never been excited enough about anything to risk injury from executing acrobatic rolls in the small confines of a flitter. 

Scout answered the question.  "Kay Four's Martian Explorer employment records indicate there have been seventy three missions to her credit." 

"Seventy three?  By the stars, you must have seen everything."  There was a very childish quality to his voice.  She decided that perhaps the child could be an adequate traveling companion, especially if the company were going to insist she take someone with her every time she ventured into the stars.   

"I have seen enough that it takes a supernova to get me excited, these days." 

"According to records, Kay Four has never been in the vicinity of an actual supernova."  Kay glared at the speaker where Scout's voice apparently originated.  She decided that the computer was more like a husband because it continually corrected her.   

A mechanical husband and a full grown child was a lot to get used to in a single mission, after thirty years of solo flights. 

By the stars, she thought, the child is actually beaming.  Oliver said, "Maybe this time we will find something that will get you excited." 

"It's unlikely, Tang.  RK7594's star already went supernova.  There is still an expanding gas cloud we are going to have to deal with just to get the North Star into the star system." 

"It is my function to assist with the navigational duties."  Scout replied. 

"Oh, shut up, Scout.  If I need you, I will tell you," she snapped. 

Kay checked her navigational computers, again.  "Look.  There is the first stationary buoy dropped by the Explorer .  We are almost there.  Oliver, Get into your seat so I can fly this flitter without distraction. Scout, stay silent." 

Approach to the system was easy, compared to some of the approaches she had made in the past.  She found a break in the expanding gas cloud and guided the North Star Delta Scout between the gravity bands, without Scout's help.  There was barely a jostle when she folded the sails and dropped out of hyperspace.   

The second orbiting beacon showed her the way to the dark moon where the remainders of the civilization were supposed to be located.  She guided the North Star into an approach pattern and set the craft gently on the surface of the moon that orbited the only surviving planet in the system.  The only part of the planet that survived the nova was the iron core of a terrestrial planet that would have been on the outer reaches of the solar system.  The moon that orbited the planet was as large as the planet, itself. 

"Yahoo!"  Tang shouted, when she shut down the flight engines.  "Very nicely done.  The best approach I have ever seen."   

She ignored his exuberance as she wiggled out of her restraints.  You have only seen five, she thought to herself. 

"Scout, turn off the lights." Kay instructed, to better get a look at the surface of the moon.  All she could see was the blue reflections of her displays and monitors on the plasglass screen.  She requested the lights on, again. 

"Suit up, Tang.  We are going for a walk.  Scout, hold down the fort while we are outside," she instructed. 

"I assume you are requesting that I keep all on board systems functioning properly in your absence."   

"Yes, Scout, that is precisely what I am requesting." 

"It sure is dark out there," Tang commented as he dealt with the closures on his environmental suit.  He reminded her of a small child who wanted to be the first one outside to play in the snow. 

"Don't forget your floods, or we won't be able to see the North Star once we step onto the surface.  I am going to activate the frigate's exterior lights.  That should help a bit.  At least we are near enough to galactic center to have a lot of starlight on which we can rely."  Kay removed her own environmental suit from its closet.   

She remembered a time when it was easy to wiggle into the environment suit. Kay kept her middle-aged grunts to a minimum.  The cocoon felt cozy as she tugged the closures.   

As soon as she pulled on her helmet and locked it down, her nose started to itch.  "I wish someone would invent an environment suit with an automated nose scratcher.  That would be the greatest human accomplishment since the discovery of hyperspace and FTL flight.  That would surely get me excited." 

Tang chuckled while he listened to her.  "The suit's transmitters are working perfectly, Four." 

"Message received," Scout added. 

"All right, boys.  Let's get this done."  Kay told her companions. 

She depressurized the interior of the flitter and opened the hatchway.  As protocol dictated, she exited the craft first.  She hopped down the seven stair steps to the surface of the scorched moon.  The gravity was slight, but enough to make walking comfortable.  Kay Four walked a few steps from the frigate before signaling to Oliver Tango to join her on the surface. 

The lights from the flitter showed a blackened surface that reminded her of the bottom of her Dad's antiquated charcoal grill from her childhood.  The charred rock under her feet crunched when she walked. Kay experienced a feeling of utter finality as she surveyed their immediate surroundings. 

She looked at the PDU on her wrist to get her bearings and located the directional beacon dropped by the Little Dipper Beta Explorer's robotic investigator.  "We landed nearly on top of whatever it is we are supposed to see.  It is about a quarter of a mile away.  Let's go.  We only have three hours of oxygen before we have to return to the flitter.  Scout, make certain we don't stray from our course out here."   

Both replied, "Affirmative," at the same time. 

Kay walked toward the beacon, trusting Tang to follow her. 

The lights from the frigate quickly became ineffective and she turned on her floods to compensate.  Tang added his lights to hers and they provided enough illumination to prevent a fatal fall onto a sword sharp cinder.   

Kay was concentrating so much on where to put her feet to avoid stepping on a ragged stone that she was startled when Tang let out a gasp of surprise. 

She stopped short when she looked in the direction of his flood.  "Scout, record everything Oliver and I see."   

"Affirmative," the computer replied.  She heard a tiny click as her helmet camera was activated. 

There was a gigantic head lying on its side.  There was an obscene quality about the grotesque angle at which it lay.  A quick glance at her PDU told her it was 124.67 meters long and 99.04 meters tall.  The substance it was made from was unidentifiable with the first initial scan.   

The face was human. 

There were two eyes set on either side of a broad nose.  The lips were full and the cheekbones were prominent.  It looked to be a portrait rather than a stylized face.  The features were slightly irregular, just like a real person.  It wore a close fitting, ornately carved helmet that covered any hair on the head. 

Beyond the head, the remainder of the statue was strewn about.  The torso was intact with one arm still attached.  There were five fingers on each hand. The legs were broken into several pieces each, and the base the statue had once stood upon was still erect.  The statue was so large, it was hard to comprehend the size.  "According to my PDU, the statue would have been 590.6 meters in height and that is without the 22.7 meter tall base.  The base is a solid cube.  It is a perfect cube."  Kay was clinical in her description.  Even the presence of a human colossus that was 2793 light-years from earth was not enough to excite Kay Four. 

"Ozymandias," Tang said, breathless. 

"What did you say?" Kay asked him. 

"Ozymandias was a poem written by Percy Shelly, from Earth, Old Calendar, mid 1800's.  It was about a statue that was found in the desert.  It had fallen over and broken.  ".And on the pedestal these words appear:/ "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:/ Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!..."  I remember reading it while I was in school.  It has stuck in my mind all these years.  You don't suppose his name is Ozymandias, do you?" 

"It is very unlikely,"  Kay told him. 

They both aimed their floods at the colossal base.  Kay allowed her PDU to record the inscriptions on the surface that was marred by cracks and pock marks.  For the next hour, they circled the statue and recorded every part of the fallen giant.   

Kay Four and Oliver Tango returned to the North Star Delta Scout , with their PDU's filled with all available data and a visual record created by Scout.  Oliver was practically bouncing around the inside of the craft as he analyzed the data collected on the surface.  He would periodically shout information to Kay, "The substance it's made of is highly compressed titanium.  How did they accomplish that?  Only compressed titanium could withstand a supernova explosion."  And, "Kay Four, the onboards are translating the inscriptions!  By the stars, it is a language that could have easily been the root language of the Babylonians.  These people probably settled Earth thousands of years ago." 

He burst into her cubicle with a partial translation printed on a filmy.  He thrust the filmy at her and said, "Read this, Kay Four!  It is amazing!  These are the largest of the inscribed words.  He is Ozymandias." 

The words on the filmy were, "I am the Guide.  Follow me to the greatest civilization in the Galaxy.  I am Shadrazzar.  Follow me and I will bring you home."   

Tang was wiggling in his excitement.  "There is a history on the base, too.  The computer is still translating parts of it.  Apparently the statue was built so space travelers could find their way back to the system.  There is a directional beacon in his head that operated like a lighthouse that guided ancient mariners on Earth."   

"By the stars!" Kay Four shouted.  "This can't be right.  Let me check the figures again. Tang, this is fantastic."  Oliver Tango watched Kay Four's trembling hands as she ran a translation of the data from her PDU a second time. 

"You seem excited, Kay." 

"Yes," Scout added.  "Your physiological responses indicate an increased anxiety level." 

"I am excited!  For the first time in years, there is a discovery that is worth getting excited about.  But, I wonder what this civilization did that was so bad that they had to be sacrificed.  I wonder what crime they committed that was so terrible they had to die."  She looked at the screen of her monitor.  "Yes!  It is confirmed.  The time is correct.  The location is correct, taking into consideration the distance this system has traveled in the past 5586 years. It took a few minutes for me to get it.  On Earth, if the Old Calendar were still in effect, it would be the year 2793.  This star went nova 5586 years ago.  It would take 2793 years for the light to reach earth." 

Tang's brow creased for a moment. "So, what you are saying is, the light from this supernova would have been visible on Earth in the year 1 on the Old Calendar.  I don't understand why you would get excited about that."  His brows were knit together in puzzlement. 

Kay gazed for several minutes out of her cubicle's window toward the dark remnants of the exploded star.   

Finally, she said, as she wiped tears from her face.  "I wonder what Shadrazzar's civilization did that was so bad they had to be sacrificed so that a star could shine in the east, over a little town called Bethlehem."