Somewhat puzzled by my experience with the Exarosaur and the incredible vanishing gaping wound in my arm, I headed back into Port Atlantis.
I stood by the one of the walls that enclose the teleporter, just observing the actions of the traders. I figured that this was safer than going outside to where the animals were. Suddenly, a smartly dressed man stood in front of me.
"D'you wanna join my society?", he asked.
"
Er... what?"
"My society", he replied. "Do you want to join? We're about to go on a TP run."
I was still none the wiser so asked this guy to explain himself further.
"We'll take you to other teleporters", he said. "You'll be able to use more of the teleporter network as you visit more."
Now to me, for someone who grew up on repeats of Star Trek, the whole notion of teleporters was a strange one anyway. I'd seen the fiction, but had also read up on the theory of being taken apart and then re-assembled atom-by-atom and it had been described as near to impossible. Having said that, the sweating and the seemingly spontaneous healing of my arm were strange. I was in a strange place, it seemed.
"Why can't I use the teleporters anyway?", I enquired.
"You need to visit the one's that you want to travel to", was the response.
"Why is that?"
"Because there are no physical controls on these things", was the reply. "You have to use your mind, but to do that you have to see and feel the location."
Puzzled further I said nothing.
"Tell you what, mate", the man continued. "Don't worry about joining the society, just come with us anyway."
"Hmm... yeah, okay", I responded cautiously.
Several minutes later I was at the West exit with three other orange-clad new settlers, and three guys who appeared to be wearing armour and holding firearms. The man who'd offered to take me on this teleporter run, who's name I'd now discovered was Garrick, instructed the two other armour-wearing men to keep to the rear of the group, and that us "noobs" should follow him.
Garrick ran through the West exit with the rest of us trailing behind. I felt fairly safe as part of a group although I didn't enjoy wading through shallow swamp water as we passed some stables.
"We're heading for the sweat camp first, just so that you know it", Garrick barked back to us. I think he was slightly irritated because he kept having to stop so that we could catch up with him. Life on Earth had been mostly sedentary, so I wasn't as fit as I should've been and running and wading through water isn't the easiest thing to do. I witnessed Garrick shoot several Exarosaurs on route to our first stop at the sweat camp. We arrived there about five minutes after leaving Port Atlantis. The place consisted of a few buildings that resembled portacabins. And it was busy. The sweat camp was very much an appropriate name.
"Okay noobs", said Garrick. "Have you got your Data Pads with you?"
When I'd boarded the flight for Calypso several months before, I'd been issued with a New Settler Pack. As well as the hideous orange jumpsuit, this pack also contained a device that resembled a PDA.
With everyone answering in the affirmative Garrick showed each of us in turn how to use these devices. This included the map feature and how to reference my current location. With that job done, the group continued in what I could now see was a north-east direction.
As we ran behind Garrick, I could see trouble ahead. Garrick started shooting at a group of animals in front of us. They numbered probably eight or nine creatures who then turned on the group. Garrick had killed four of these animals when one of them passed him and tried to take my leg as a snack. Blood was pouring everywhere and I was panicking. This creature then squealed and fell to the ground, motionless. The men at the back of the group had finished off the whole cluster of animals, not that I cared much at this point as I was writhing in pain.
"Hold still", yelled one of the men. Through my pain, I was aware that this man was now holding a flat box. This was just as the tall man back at the North exit at Port Atlantis had done. He motioned the box towards me, and the pain was gone.
"Wha...?", I gasped.
"He just healed you", said one of the other noobs.
"How is that possible?", I asked. "He didn't even touch me".
"Anything is possible here", answered the man with the flat box. "One day, you'll own one of these, maybe one that's more powerful even."
I felt totally bemused, but at the same time had an answer to the puzzle of what happened in the moments after my first encounter with that Exarosaur back at Port Atlantis.
The rest of this part of the teleporter run, or TP run, was pretty much uneventful. More grass, more shallow swamp water, some animals that could jump five metres into the air but were quickly despatched by Garrick and his friends. Also a climb up a hill.
Twenty minutes after we'd set out, we arrived at a new settlement.
"Welcome to Billy's Spaceship Afterworld", smiled Garrick. And it was. More portacabins, a teleporter just like at Port Atlantis, what looked like a fenced off boxing ring, and dozens of smashed up spaceships.
"Get this place on your Data Pads, then try out the TP", Garrick advised. "Just stand on it and think of PA. Then when you get there, think of being here to return."
I gingerly stood on the teleporter, picturing the scene at Port Atlantis with its warm air and all its hustle and bustle. A blinding flash later and I was stood there, just about a metre from the edge of the teleporter.
"Wow", I thought. "Can this be real?"
Deciding I ought to get back to where I'd come from, I stood on the teleporter and thought of where I'd just left. It happened again - a blinding flash of light and I was back amongst the wrecked spaceships.
"Have a look around", called one of Garrick's friends, who was stood nearby. "We're gonna go and get some ammo. We'll be a few minutes."
At this point my attention was drawn to laughter coming from that structure that resembled a fenced off boxing ring. I walked over, noticing four people stood in this ring. I walked up the ramp to step in but as I did so I heard a panic-stricken voice.
"Don't go in th....."
to be continued...