JonMo packed up a couple of days of supplies as well as his weapons and the invisibility belt. He then made his way down to the river. Not far from where he was, the river widened out into a narrow bay. This is where the current of the river met the rambunctious ocean. The waves were somewhat moderated in strength by the resistance of the river current. He walked down and inspected the water there; it was too deep.
He was 4 kilometers up the river before he found some rocks in a shallower part. The river was wider here and the current was a little less strong. The tide was about to change and JonMo figured that the incoming tide would further slow the river, so he waited a few hours for that.
Meanwhile, he lashed together several short logs to form a raft for his pack. He scouted the water as best he could and figured he would hold onto the raft and kick across. He could not swim and thought this was the safest way. The only lake in the kingdom was far north and he had never seen it. Certainly, the ocean never invited one to swim.
It was still chilly, but with shorts on and everything else on the raft, he set out. His starting point was a few meters upstream from where he hoped the current would take him on the other side. He shivered as he moved into the cold water, braced himself in the river behind his raft, and kicked for all he was worth. Slow was his progress, but he made it to the other side without mishap, except he was several meters farther downstream than he hoped to be. He pushed the raft upstream along the bank until there was access to scramble up. He had to throw his pack and clothes up on the bank and then move up the muddy bank. He was dirty and thankful to be out of the water when he got up the bank. He took out a cloth from his pack, tied a rope on it, and threw it in the river. It took several dips of the cloth to wash all of the mud and grime off of him, but with one more toss to wash out the cloth, he was ready to get dressed and get warm. He soon had that accomplished. Then he dismantled the raft and ruffed up the ground to remove obvious tracks before shouldering his pack and moving upstream to where this far side of the river met the ocean.
When he got there, he used his binoculars to check for the shiny glint about two kilometers north of his present position. It was still there. He moved back into the woods a few meters and began his trek within the woods to the object.
He carefully moved in the shadow of the trees. Some of the trees were very tall and unfamiliar to him. He appreciated their beauty but kept his focus on the way ahead. Every few meters he would stop and listen and check behind and to the sides. He saw some tracks that were pig hoof prints and savored the thought of a fresh meal. He could not risk a fire with a roasting pig though, so he doggedly went forward.
The afternoon was waning when he came to the location where the shiny object was. He carefully made his way to the edge of the tree line to peer with his binoculars at the object. It was a ship! It was 50 or so meters away and just barely on the sand. Waves battered it from behind. It looked derelict, but he did not want to rush forward without scouting around. In the remaining light, he made a circuit 300 meters into the woods, then arced farther north back to the beach, then diagonally to the 300-meter spot before moving back south to the beach. He then went diagonally back to the edge of the woods where the object was lying. Nothing out of the ordinary was found and no camp of the Intruders was close to where he was. No evidence of a camp either. He had periodically used his binoculars to sweep through the trees without finding anything interesting. Tired of being stealthy and moving around, he went into the now-dark woods to find a tree he could climb away from the beach. He soon found one and threw a rope to the lowest strong branch, secured it, and then pulled himself up. His pack came next. He climbed higher and found a location to set up his hammock, ate a cold meal, and went to sleep.
Before the sun was up, he was back at the edge of the woods observing. Nothing but the ship being slammed by the waves. Somehow, the ship looked familiar. He decided to creep up in the remaining darkness and have a look.
JonMo was as silent as a little crab on the beach as he carefully crept up to the bouncing ship. Just as he got to it, the clouds moved and let moonlight bathe it. He quickly got himself flat on the ground. He was sure now that this was a ship he had seen in the material B127MZ had shown him. Why was it here? He got up without brushing off the sand and approached the hatch of the ship. Maybe he could get inside and see what the story was. It was difficult with the waves crashing on the rear of the ship. He timed the waves in his mind and ran to the ship when there was a slight lull. As he got near the hatch, it abruptly opened and a mechanical arm reached out, grabbed his left arm, and pulled him in.
He was roughly put into a seat and commanded, "Buckle up, we are on the move!" JonMo quickly buckled in and looked at the robot, an apparent duplicate of B127MZ. The ship elevated a little and then moved out to sea before diving into the water. When they were what seemed a few kilometers from shore and in very deep water, the robot spoke again. "We are now at the stationary point that I was commanded to remain at 2700 years ago. After a few hundred years I began to send up little probes to test the area north of where the mountains meet the sea. Many, many probes went up and back with no new information until you were spotted climbing down the mountain. The probe scanned you and found you carried technology consistent with what my fellow travelers had before they abruptly left. I did not know what to make of you, so I came to the surface and beached this craft. You took the bait and here you are! Speak!"
JonMo looked around and said, "This place is a mess. Junk is lying everywhere. And what is your name?"
The robot responded, "I am called M237B9, continue." JonMo said, "I am a citizen of the Kingdom of Exdom, which is on the other side of the mountains. I was rescued by B127MZ at the Nebza Outpost hill. He educated and helped me with my family and preparation for this journey over the Great Mountains. We received a short message from Centerhome to be aware and go technology-passive. I was prepared and sent on a mission to cross the mountains that no one had crossed before. I am to find the Invaders and see what they are up to without engaging them in any way.
M237B9 busied himself cleaning the ship and grumbling under his breath, "What would it look like if you had been here 2700 years with no contact? A site messier and probably leaking! No thanks for keeping this ship marginally operational, harump! Then he spoke up, "I received the same message from Centerhome when I surfaced on the beach. No interstellar messaging is accessible underwater. I am not stupid!"
JonMo said, "No offense, I am just used to B127MZ and you seem somewhat different." M237B9 retorted, "Well, I am different. I am an advanced model with extra capabilities for surveillance and fighting, not to mention my superior intellect for all other functions." JonMo was perplexed by this robot's attitude, but he went on in a conciliatory way, "OK, pardon my ignorance. Would it be allowable to discuss the mission I was sent on?" M237B9 replied, "Speak."
JonMo missed B127MZ, but he focused on the mission and asked, "Can this ship do passive sensing to not alert the Intruders?" It will take some modifications to the probes which I am very capable of doing. I suppose you mean long-range sensing, but that is problematic with the present equipment. The small probes can be sent up in passive or receive-only mode. They did go past passive to scan you on the mountainside but at very low power. I will begin to make the modifications. You should also retrieve your gear. We can glide a little ways into the river so we do not deal with the waves. This ship must now stay under the water unless there is a pressing need to surface. There are water suits the Centerhome explorers used under water, but not at these depths. I will take us up the river a little and you will exit an airlock that is a level below at the back. I will give you a bag that will allow you to keep your gear dry. Come back to the ship under water to the airlock and unload your gear from the foothills. Then go back to the place where you found me and pick up your other gear. There is no reason to take chances and let the Intruders find your gear. Obscure your tracks as best you can. It will rain late this evening and that will obscure them further."
JonMo just went down to the lower level and looked in the back for the water suit. He found one and it looked to be in good condition. As he put it on he could feel the motion of the ship. He went up to the observation deck and just looked out of the front view screen. There were no windows, but the outside was projected on a large screen as if it were a window. The scene under the water was beautiful. He had no understanding of the sea other than crashing waves. Plants and these saltwater fish were new to him.
Soon they were approaching the river. "The tide is still coming in. These near planets make for complex tide patterns. I have sorted them out and if you swim with all your might, the current will not take you too far upstream. Get ready to leave as the river quickly gets too shallow for this ship. JonMo did as advised and quickly made his way down to the airlock. He locked the helmet in place and started to breathe evenly. This was another new experience that he never expected to have...as so many others. Well, there was nothing for it. He stepped into the airlock and pushed a button to have the door shut. Once it did, he began to feel the pressure change and soon water was rushing into the airlock. He maneuvered out of the lock and was gratified that the water suit also kept him relatively warm. He felt the current moving him upstream and struck to his left using his arms and legs to propel him forward. He found the left of the mountainside bank and started to climb out. He took off his helmet and started making his way up the foothill to where his stuff was concealed.
Going uphill was not too strenuous near sea level and he quickly made his way to the stash. It was undisturbed and he put his gear into the dry bag M237B9 had given him. Now he realized a minor flaw in the project. He did not know where the ship was. He carried the bag down the hill and then went back to obscure his tracks. Sure enough, dark clouds were coming in from the sea. He maybe had an hour before it started to rain. He had to be quick.
He ran with the bag on grassy surfaces until he got near the mouth of the river. Then he entered the water with the bag. He quickly realized the bag was full of air and would be near impossible to submerge, so got out and unsealed it. After wrestling with it to remove as much air as possible, he resealed it and went back into the water after he tied a short rope to it. This allowed him to get under the murky water and again be moved upstream. He almost bumped into the ship before he saw it. With careful maneuvering, he made his way to the airlock. He could not let go of the ship because the current would quickly move him upstream. He got the airlock to open and then moved in. It took a lot of might to pull the bag into the airlock. When there, he pushed another button and let the water pump out. When dry, he opened the airlock door. M237B9's voice immediately commanded, "Unload the bag and get back out as quickly as you can. The tide will shortly change. "Okay, will do,'' JonMo responded. Soon he was holding the bag on the other side of the river. He made his way again through the wood to where his pack was hidden. It too was undisturbed. Soon he was back at the river with the dry bag containing the minimal amount of air. Sure enough, the current was now changing to move downstream. It was gaining speed as moving with the natural current of the river was faster than an incoming tide. He moved upstream to where he could get down into the water and made his way in. Before he found the ship he noticed with some alarm that he was actually in the sea. He saw above
where the waves were crashing and managed to get the bag through it.
That is when he found out that the water suit had an intercom. "You missed the ship. Were you not looking? I am coming to find you." JonMo chose not to respond to the robot. Soon M237B9 had the ship under him and he made his way to the airlock. The wrestle to get the bag in was not as hard and soon he was inside the ship and removing the water suit.
Once he was again dressed for being on the ship, he went up to the observation deck. M237B9 addressed him, "Now we go to find the Intruders. It is raining very hard and your tracks will certainly be obscured. The Intruders may never come this way, but taking unnecessary chances could lead to disaster. I have modified some of the sensors that we can use to detect the Intruders.
Soon a pattern set in. They went north along the coast about a kilometer out. The range of the probes in passive receive mode was about five kilometers. They sent one up to scout that range. When they had moved north five kilometers, they retrieved the probe and analyzed its data while the second probe went up.
This was the process for five kilometers at a time. It was not until they had gone 565 kilometers that a probe picked up something new.