by Tracy Frost

Created on: October 30, 2010

The Ponderous Possible Pasts

Nigel gazed out the rimview  as the shuttle bounced across the cold barren landscape . Twice he had been here that much was certain, but at what time and day there was no true confirmation.  Still the view was far nicer groundside than it had been from above, despite the constant bouncing along what had been a fairly decent highway now littered with debris.

He wondered if this visit would be more lucrative. From what he had heard visits prior to his may have had more of  an adverse effect on the population than would had preciously been determined .  Research had never been truly clear on how public reaction would be once presentations were made, yet  it  was  exciting .   

   “Yes , this should be exciting . Wouldn’t you agree, Zondra ? “ Nigel asked almost pleadingly while gazing out the rimview .

   “Depends. On what you are looking for this time Nigel.” Came the semi-female/ mechanical response from the onboard guidance system. Nigel smiled briefly at the response, glad that they had attempted to add some female quality to the system- although it still lacked the warmness of ….humanity ?    Foolish thought he quickly admitted to himself, he was human . Therefore he had no need to worry about the thoughts, mannerisms of how a machine should be made or how it reacts.  Should he ?

  “Zondra, please take me to the highest point in this particular stretch of road and then provide the coordinates to where the last sighting had occurred.”  Nigel quietly directed the request in  a more condescending tone than he had wished , almost wincing internally at the bitterness he felt in hearing his own hollow voice within the confines of the shuttle.

“ Coordinates have uploaded , estimated time to destination three hours Nigel .”  Came a response from Zondra, that in Nigel’s opinion was more sarcastically human sounding .

Laughing to himself while  scratching the tuffle of hair that remained stubbornly on his head despite his age, Nigel had to admit that at times Zondra was quick to respond in regards to verbal battles.  

Throughout the rest of the journey, the landscape did manage to provide a change  scenery  once in a great while, surface on the highway in areas was smooth and debris free.

The shuttle moved quicker over the debris free areas of the highway, providing Nigel a better opportunity to observe things more clearly through the front observation screen than relying on the two rimview cameras situated on either side of the shuttle’s exterior.  At the rate they were traveling, they should be in the right location in the estimated three hours.

As he gazed at the structures now coming into view along the sides of the highway , Nigel found himself asking the same questions over and over again in his mind – always with the same tragic conclusion.  

Learn more about this author, Tracy Frost.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.