Andrew Summers: Traveller                                  
The Pilot                                  
Written by Chaser9                                  
 
May 29, 1997:  Thursday 8:00 p.m.
 
     "It doesn't make sense.  Any of it.  I can't figure out why it happened.  I want my old life
back.  The sound of Meggan's voice waking me up in the morning was the sweetest thing I could
ever hear and now it's gone."
 
     [Andrew, you know there was nothing you could do.  The accident that occurred in your
quantum designate would have claimed your life as well if you had not become a Traveller.]
 
     "It doesn't make it any easier, DALIUS.  I lost everyone I loved that day that comet hit
'my Earth .  I can travel from parallel world to parallel world, but none of them will ever be home
to me."
 
     [I am sorry for your loss, but the past is the past.  You must embrace your destiny.  There
are millions of quantum designates you have not dreamed of.]
 
     "If only you weren't a highly advanced, artificially intelligent, smart ass computer."
 
     [I resent your remarks, Andrew.  I am not a smart ass.  For I am not and intelligent
donkey or fool.  Unless you are referring to the slang of the term?]
 
     "DALIUS.  Off."
 
[Shutting down, Andrew.]
 
END LOG:Thursday 5/29/97, 8:11p.m. (Quantum Designate: Limbo Sector / In Transit)
 
ANDREW SUMMERS:  TRAVELLER
"The Pilot"
 
     Andrew awoke from his sleep screaming.  It had been this way for almost a year, ever
since he returned home to his quantum designate only to discover that a comet had destroyed
everyone and everything he held dear.  All of his hopes and dreams died that day, as did a piece of
his heart.
 
     Andrew rose out of the bed and spoke, "DALIUS.  Time please."  [The time is 4:47 a.m.
central time.  Do you wish to view any of the broadcasts from the designate we are close to?]
"No DALIUS.  What is the closest designate?"  [Earth-Delta 429.  we have not visited this
designate before.]  "How long before we can leave Limbo?  [It will be another 37 minutes and 43
seconds, Andrew.]  "Fine.  Lock onto the quantum designate and begin exit procedures.  I'm
going to take a shower and eat something.  So hold the fort down, DALIUS."  [Andrew?  What
fort are you referring to?]  Andrew shook his head.  "It's a figure of speech.  It means make sure
nothing goes wrong around here."  [I will endeavor to please, Andrew.]  "I know you will
DALIUS, I know you will."
 
     The very fabric of time and space seemed to shudder as a large diamond shaped object
slowly rippled into the scenery.  A piece of the device seemed to vanish as a young man  stepped
from the opening that its disappearance had caused.  He raised his wrist to his mouth and spoke
into the device on his wrist. "DALIUS, stealth mode."   [Activating stealth mode.]  The device
began to slowly vanish until it was no longer visible.
 
     Andrew began to explore his surroundings.  He had found it quite odd that DALIUS had
no records of this particular Earth.  For that matter, DALIUS had been unable to receive any
transmissions from this Earth.  Andrew was flying blind on this one.
 
     Andrew made his way into town and stopped at a local store.  Everything looked normal.
No blue apples or three-eyed fish or anything like that, but something was missing from the
selection of food items.  There were no bananas.  Maybe this world didn't have them.  The
puzzled look on Andrew's face drew the attention of a store clerk.  "Can I help you sir?"  Andrew
figured there was no harm in asking about the bananas, after all on every world he'd been to there
hadn't been any laws about asking about a particular type of food.  "Do you have any bananas?"
The clerk looked at him with fear in his eyes.  "Shh.  They'll hear you."  "What?  Look buddy,
bananas.  They're shaped like this."  Andrew did a small crescent shape with his hands.  "and
they're usually yellow, sometimes if they're not ripe they're green."  The clerk was freaking out,
trying to keep Andrew quiet.  A woman had placed her hands over her child's ears.  Andrew
continued, "Monkeys eat them.  You know, oh-oh-ah-ah."  The clerk freaked, "I tried to get you to
stop, but you wouldn't listen!  They'll get you for sure now!"  Andrew shook his head.  "You are
psycho, dude."  Andrew turned around to leave, but ran into something or was it someone?  He
wasn't sure because he suddenly felt something hit his head and he fell to the ground, but he could
have sworn he saw two 6'3" gorillas wearing riot gear standing over him before he passed out.
 
     "My dear Summers.  I find it humorous to see you in this position."  As Andrew began to
regain his senses he noticed this voice was familiar.  His eyes began to focus and he saw a 6'1"
pale skinned being with pointed ears and solid black eyes. He knew instantly who it was.
"Nimbus.  I see they got you too."  The figure known as Nimbus chuckled then replied, "No.
HEBZABA was monitoring the transmissions of this designate and informed me of your plight.  It
never ceases to amaze me the trouble you get into on these travels of yours."  Andrew looked at
his surroundings. It appeared as if he were in a normal jail cell, but his last thoughts wee of
gorillas.  That couldn't be right?  Could it.  "If you're so smart, Nimbus, why don't you explain to
me why I'm here."  Once again Nimbus chuckled at Andrew's remarks. "My dear Summers.  You
have committed two of this designates gravest offenses. First, you inquired to their rulers favorite
delicacy, bananas.  Secondly, you made a fool of yourself by impersonating their all-powerful
rulers."  "Then I didn't imagine the gorillas.  Apes rule this world.  Why didn't DALIUS pick up
on this?"  "Probably because that outdated Traveller unit you call friend was affected by the
dampening field around this designate.  Of course, HEBZABA is the state of the art model.  She
detected this anomaly regardless of the dampening field, but my time here has grown boring.  Try
not to get yourself killed, oh wait you already have invoked their death penalty . . . it's been nice
knowing you Summers.  HEBZABA, initiate transfer to Alpha Quarters."  The mechanized female
voice came from Nimbus's wrist-link. [Beginning transfer.]  With those words Nimbus vanished
and Andrew was left to contemplate his fate.
 
     He paced around his cell.  He was the only one in this jail except fro some raving lunatic
named Taylor who kept screaming "It's a madhouse!  A madhouse!"  For some reason that
seemed real familiar to Andrew, but he couldn't place where it had come from.  He raised his wrist
link to his mouth and spoke, "DALIUS."  [Andrew.  I have learned of your situation.  Shall I
dispatch a distress signal to another Traveller.  Perhaps that nice Wells we met on
Earth-Omicron-419?]  "That's okay DALIUS.  Two things.  One, I need an escape route out of
here.  See if you can't find a map of this building in this world's databases.  Secondly, remind me
to have transference technology upgraded into your system on the first world we visit that has it."
[I will make a note of it Andrew.  Also, I will try to find the information you seek.]  "Thanks
DALIUS."
 
     The gorillas entered and took Taylor away.  They joked about his claim that he wasn't of
this world and that everything was wrong, then one of the gorillas turned to Andrew and spoke,
"You must be real special.  Lord Cyrus wants an audience with you."  "Great," Andrew thought,
"he probably wants to kill me himself to make an example to the masses."
 
     It was fifteen minutes later when the gorillas returned to take Andrew to their leader.
They escorted him out of the jail to a van.  As the two were trying to get him into the van, he
nudged his elbow into one and kicked the other.  A risky gambit, but he had to try to escape.  His
hands still cuffed he began trying to escape.  He ran down the street adjacent to the jail
occasionally looking behind him to see if the apes were catching up with him.  He turned a corner
and was instantly grabbed by a hand and dragged inside an abandoned store.  He looked up and
saw the beautiful face of Meggan Chandellor.  "Meggan?" no matter how many times he
encountered her doubles it still wasn't any easier, especially when he had never fully recovered
from her loss.  "You can't be Andrew. He's dead.  He was hit by a car right in front of my eyes.
This is a trick by those damn apes to infiltrate the  resistance isn't it?  Well, I suppose I'll just let
David deal with you."
 
     She dragged Andrew down a flight of stairs to the basement and threw him at the feet of
some people standing in front of a board going over a detailed layout of Cyrus's stronghold.  "I
got him David.  It kills me to think those bastards put Andrew's face on some damn ape-lover."
This was definitely not his Meggan.  She was colder and more harsh than his had ever been, but
she still had that fire in her eyes that "his" Meggan had had.  "I can explain," Andrew said.  A tall,
dark-haired man looked at Andrew and spoke, "I doubt that."  "Really, I'm Andrew Summers, just
not the Andrew Summers you know.  I'm an inter-dimensional traveler."  "And I'm the sixth
Beatle and Meggan's the Queen of Prussia.  Sorry ape-lover, you're going to die."  The man called
David pulled a gun from his coat pocket and held it to Andrew's forehead.  "At least I'll be with
Meggan and my family now," Andrew thought to himself.  Before David could pull the trigger,
he was gunned down from behind by gorilla solders who had followed Andrew and Meggan.
Andrew dropped to the ground and watched as Meggan and the others were brutally gunned
down.  The pain swelled inside of him.  It hurt so much to watch her die.  The tears filled his eyes
and he was lifted off of the ground by the gorillas who began to beat him senseless.
 
     Andrew was lying in front of a throne.  He assumed this must have been Cyrus's throne
room or something like that.  He felt cold water on him and heard the high-pitched laughter of
what sounded like chimps.  He looked up to see a short, pointed-eared, blue monkey standing
over him.  "Greetings hairless one.  I am Raja, the blue space monkey.  I am here to entertain my
master Cyrus so get ready for pie in the face."  Andrew was pelted by pie after pie.  He was
exhausted and beaten.  Raja began spraying him with seltzer then he proceeded to do a tap dance
on Andrew's back.  The deafening sounds of laughter began to hurt Andrew's ears.  "Why don't
they just kill me?"  he thought to himself.  He heard his wrist-link beep and DALIUS began to
speak.  [Andrew.  Andrew.  I know you are still alive.  Can you answer me?]  Andrew couldn't
respond but Raja grabbed the link and spoke, "Hello there.  Your friend can't come to the phone
right now, but if you leave a message after the beep I'm sure he'll get back to you eventually."
DALIUS did not reply.  Andrew assumed he had left this designate to get help or to return to
Traveller Central.  He only knew that the pain was so unbearable that he had to pass out.
 
    Andrew awoke to the sound of a deep, gruff voice.  "How is it that you live Andrew
Summers?"  Andrew's eyes focused to see a grayish gorilla wearing an outfit somewhat similar to
a prime minister or foreign diplomat.  "I'm not this world's Andrew Summers."  Cyrus replied, "I
know.  You are a Traveller. As was I before I conquered this world.  It was so easy to use the
technologies I had acquired from other designates to advance these apes to the superiors of the
human race.  Except for Raja, he was a space monkey I picked up on a designate before I came
here.  I only keep him around because he makes me laugh."  Andrew spoke groggily, "Why?"
"Why?  Do you realize how many designates are run by you humans?  Billions.  There are only a
handful of worlds where the other species on the planet Earth rose up and conquered the
evolutionary ladder.  I was content to deal with that, until I came here to a world where apes were
used for slave labor, for medical experimentation, they even put apes in cars and drove the into
walls to see how an 'almost human' subject would deal with the outcome.  I had to act.  I had
to free my kin.  And so I evolved them and conquered this world, all the while using my ALDO
unit to broadcast a dampening field so no Travellers would discover what I had done."  Andrew
laughed on the inside.  Nimbus's HEBZABA unit had detected the anomaly.  It was only a matter
of time before the MTS(Multiversal Traveller Society) discovered what Cyrus had done.  Of
course, by then Andrew would probably be dead.  "Any last words before I destroy you?"  Cyrus
raised a gun and aimed.  Andrew felt a weird tingling and his surroundings began to vanish.
"What is going on here?!" Cyrus screamed as Andrew vanished from his sight.
 
     Andrew found himself in a setting similar to his DALIUS unit, but slightly more advanced.
"I believe a 'thank you for saving my life Nimbus' is in order young Mr. Summers."  Nimbus
looked at Andrew with a smile on his face that revealed his large canine teeth that resembled
fangs.
"Thank you Nimbus, but why?"  Nimbus replied, "Cyrus and I go back a bit.  Never cared for him
that much.  He always felt that because on his designate that apes were the rulers that it made all
other species inferior to him.  So, coming from a designate where bats became the dominant
humanoids, we constantly clashed.  Besides, we played poker once.  He still owes me fifty credits.
Now relax.  I'm going to transfer you to DALIUS, then I have a surprise for Cyrus.  And
remember Mr. Summers . . .  you are now in debt to me.  I will collect on this someday."  With those
words Andrew felt the familiar tingling sensation and was back aboard DALIUS.
 
     "DALIUS.  Quick, I need you to get us into limbo as soon as possible. I have a feeling it's
about to get crowded around here soon."
 
     Cyrus stepped behind the curtain in his throne room that lead to his ALDO unit.  He was
still furious over what had happened with Andrew.  He began to fiddle with the controls on his
unit and the power systems began to go down.  "What is going on here?"  Cyrus looked down a
to one of the screens to see a note:
 
          Dreadfully sorry Cyrus, but your unit has been how shall I say  . . .  tampered with. You are    
trapped, your dampening field has been shut down and the MTS Enforcement Squad will
     be there any moment.  I believe the term is 'you are screwed.'
                Your "old chum"
                     NIMBUS
 
     Cyrus screamed in rage.  He knew it would all be over soon and onboard HEBZABA
Nimbus laughed hysterically.