"These tell the story of our mothers and fathers," Achieng stated, pausing to shine her light on a couple more images.
"Many centuries ago, our first mother, Josephine, escaped from the prison through the same entry that you came through. She discovered that the bilge was actually a massive space, parts of which had once been used for storage but have long been forgotten. So she made a home. Not long after, a man name Leonard escaped from prison. They made a life together and had several children. When their children grew older, three others escaped from the prison, and as far as we could tell, none of the guards could figure out how, so our many times great grandparents began to make a civilization down here, stealing food, sharing resources, and keeping our children as safe as possible."
White Rabbit gulped. Everyone down here was descended from prisoners. Images flashed in her head: a hand grabbing her arm, the request to talk, “We’re people too!” echoing through the halls.
"B… but w… weren't th… they dangerous? Th… th… the prisoners?" Her stuttering got a bit worse as she imagined prisoners hiding in the shadows.
"No. Many of the prisoners in their time were simply convicted to make space for wealthier families. So they made their own space, down here. And down here, we have our own system of laws. Then, in the third generation, Imamu came and helped us further build our civilization."
"I… I… I… see."
"Now you must answer a question for me." Achieng looked over at White Rabbit with a smile. "Why are there still wire runners? You are far too young to be one. Didn't they mostly die out when our ships went wireless?"
"N… n… no, well, y… yes, b… but," White Rabbit took a deep breath to try and stop stuttering, focusing her mind on what she knew best: the wires. "B… but the virus killed other fleets and we couldn't, couldn't stop it, so we had to go analog and… and now there are wire runners again."
"What virus is that?"
"The Otieno Virus," she answered, and then smiled a little, realizing that she hadn't stuttered that time.
"What?" Imamu's voice resounded. His form flickered in and out, and then disappeared again. "Otieno Virus?"
"Yes," she said. "Why?"
"That's…" he paused for a second and then continued, "…that's when I died. Or didn't die, rather. The Otieno virus had killed every other ship but mine…"
"Yes, every fleet but our fleet—the Paka Fleet!" White Rabbit could feel herself getting excited and noted that her stutter had vanished. She felt like she was about to learn something that no one else on the ship knew. Maybe, just maybe, she would redeem herself and be able to get back to wire running on the main decks. Or somewhere away from Logger.
"No," Imamu said, "I was in the Kiboko Fleet."
"Here," Achieng said, pointing at a junction box.
White Rabbit opened it, made sure the power cell was on, and then clipped the dead wires, almost without thinking. She was too focused on what Imamu was saying.
"The Kiboko fleet… that was the last one to go," she said. "We thought they had survived, but they didn't. They were just last."
"They died? Everyone died?" he asked, his voice suddenly filled with deep sorrow.
"Yes, they did, because they lost all their systems. They were about to enter orbit, but instead, they flew into a star."
"The next junction box is this way," Achieng said softly.
White Rabbit followed in her wake. "Imamu?"
He didn't reply.
"Imamu?"
"He has gone to rest," Achieng said quietly. "What he learned today, that would quell even the fiercest fire."
"I'm sorry," White Rabbit said, feeling a little confused but also sorry. He somehow knew those people, and she had told him that they all died. Now guilt filled her mind, in addition to the sadness. "I am sorry I told him."
Neither spoke again for a long while. Achieng led her from one junction box to the next, quietly pointing out where the wires ran. White Rabbit ran through her processes mindlessly, mulling over Imamu and all that she had learned from him today.
After a while, Achieng broke the silence.
"Where did you meet Imamu?" she asked.
"In the rudder room," White Rabbit replied. Her hands had long stopped shaking, and the flickering light of the torch made the walls of the tunnels feel warmer and more welcoming.
"He is weak in that part of the ship," Achieng said.
White Rabbit frowned. She had noticed that he never once cut out when speaking to him in the tunnels, but hadn't thought to ask why.
"Why is that?" she asked.
"We don't know. He is strongest through these tunnels, but then, in the transport room, he vanishes entirely, and is weak around it. He says there is a strong interference and that he cannot shout loud enough through it. The rudder room is directly above the transport room."
"What is the transport room?" White Rabbit asked.
"Another long forgotten part of the ship," Achieng answered. "It is where members of the crews from other fleets would arrive to meet and discuss news, tactics, and strategies during war."
"Like, a teleportation device?" she asked.
"Precisely."
"Those were outlawed when the Otieno virus hit."
"Yes, but we still have one. It is just not in use."
"Can I see it, before I go back above deck?"
"You must," Achieng said, "because the wires lead straight to it."
***
White Rabbit tried to focus on the junction boxes, but after about three more, she gave up. Each was the same: a functioning power cell, five dead wires, and one live wire. She knew, deep in the pit of her stomach, that the teleport device was still on. Why else would her instruments be reading such a high amount of power in the wires? Unless the Hippos used the power for their laundry, which it smelled like they never did, then there was no other logical reason.
So she asked Achieng to take her there, right away.
They walked rapidly through the tunnels. Achieng pointed left and right, here and there, indicating rooms, other tunnels leading to different portions of the hull, and more massive graffiti art plastered across the tunnel walls.
The Hippos had an entire civilization down here, and from what White Rabbit could see, it was strong, beautiful, and welcoming.
After a rapid-paced walk through the bilge, Achieng paused in front of a smooth white door, somehow still clean after all its years of disuse.
"This is it," Achieng stated. "It's the teleport room."
"Do you ever go in here?" White Rabbit asked. She turned and looked all around this end of the tunnel. Not too far from the white door, she noticed a ladder stretching up the side of the wall. She looked up and could see a grate. Light leaked through. That must be the exit, she thought.
"No, it's locked," Achieng replied. "We didn't want anyone from the upper levels coming down and noticing us, so we never messed around with it."
White Rabbit frowned a little and began to examine the door. The hot wire she had been following ran right through the wall, meaning that she was in the right place. The door had a handle, but a small red light indicated that it was locked. She stared at it up and down and all around. How would she open it?
"Imamu," she whispered. "How do I open the door?"
"Kkk….." he was trying to talk, but whatever was causing the interference made it impossible for her to hear him.
"Imamu?" she asked. Then she turned to Achieng. "Do you know of anyone that could help me open the door? I can stop the people from the upper decks from coming down by telling them it was me that did it, if they even notice."
"I will go find out," Achieng said.
"Kkkk…" Imamu tried again. "Kkkk….ch...ch...ch."
White Rabbit frowned. What could he be trying to say?
She looked down at her bag and began to dig around. What tools did she have that could help?
The multi-tool jumped into her hand first. She pulled out a few of the different options it offered, and
tried to jiggle them around the door handle. It didn't work. Then she tried a few different sized screwdrivers. Finally, her hand wrapped around the massive wrench Mac had given her in the prison.
She pulled it out and looked at it thoughtfully. It certainly couldn't pick the lock… but what if...
She raised it up over her head and brought it down with a huge smash. The door, made from some type of plastic, crumpled. Again she brought the wrench down. The plastic cracked. A third time opened a hole big enough for her to stick her arm through. She reached through and unlocked the door. It swung open.
***
The moment White Rabbit stepped into that room was a moment that she reflected on many times throughout the duration of her life. The scene in front of her spoke of centuries of technology built up and then torn down again in an instant. Like a scene from an old vid-deck, or a perfect replica of an old ship, this room reminded White Rabbit of every history class she had ever endured, every lecture from her father she had ever listened to, every piece of propaganda her government had ever fed her.
The main console in the center of the room hummed. The platform blinked with little green lights. The computer screens that took up every inch of wall space blinked the words: "Virus Terminated. Virus Terminated." A fine layer of dust covered every flat surface.
White Rabbit stepped forward, trying carefully to not disturb anything. She continued to look around, her eyes taking in the old-style chairs placed at the sub consoles, the strange tubing that surrounded the platform, and the massive, old-style magnets that rose up and spun around the teleportation unit.
Something had happened here. Something had been paused in mid-moment.
This was history. This was beautiful. This was forbidden.
She took another step in.
"Imamu?" she whispered.
This time there was no sound. No crackling, no whispers, no sense that he could even hear her.
Slowly, she made her way into the center of the room. The hot wire powered the console and all of the computers. When the machine was running, she bet they drew a lot more than 80 amps. More like 8,000.
In order to cut the line, she would need to turn off the equipment in this room. No explosions, Mac had said.
She stopped in front of the main console and gazed at the screen. Bright red letters flashed, "PROGRAM IN OPERATION." Below the screen were four buttons. Each read: ALLOW PROGRAM, CANCEL PROGRAM, SHUT DOWN, and PAUSE. The PAUSE button glowed green.
White Rabbit looked around the room. This seemed to be the main draw for all the power. So, closing her eyes and holding her breath, she hit the SHUT DOWN button. She froze and began to count. Ten… nine… eight… seven…
Fifteen second passed. She opened one eye. A message on the screen said, "CONSOLE CANNOT BE SHUT DOWN WHILE PROGRAM IS IN OPERATION."
She thought for a moment and then reached out and hit, "CANCEL PROGRAM."
A different message appeared on the screen. This one read, "ARRIVAL IN PROGRESS. PROGRAM CANNOT BE CANCELLED."
Only two buttons remained: PAUSE and ALLOW PROGRAM, and the PAUSE button was already blinking. That left her only one choice. Before hitting it, Rabbit looked around the room again for an emergency shut down button or a plug, but there was nothing to be seen.
Then, without thinking about it too hard, White Rabbit reached out and hit ALLOW PROGRAM.
Immediately a new message appeared on the screen: “PROGRAM ALLOWED. PROGRAM COMMENCING.” Below the message, numbers began counting down from thirty. A loud roaring filled the room as the machine fired up. White Rabbit covered her ears. Panels on the floor folded back, and all around the platform a huge glass wall rose up, creating a clear barrier. The magnets lowered and began to spin.
White Rabbit could feel her hands begin to shake again. She swallowed and began to step backwards away from the machine. She stopped as she ran into something… or someone. Behind her, Achieng stood, breathing heavily and sweating. Her wide eyes gazed up at the machine as it whirred and growled.
Behind Achieng, Hippos began to appear, slowly crowding into the room, each covering their ears and watching with intense curiosity and mild fear as the machine worked.
When White Rabbit turned back, colours and shapes swirled like a hurricane inside the glass dome. The movement was so rapid, her eyes could barely follow it and her brain, trying to comprehend what she saw, was even farther behind.
Then, for a moment, everything turned a cloudy grey and the roaring stopped.
The respite was temporary though, as another whirring started up, and the grey smoke that filled the dome was slowly sucked out.
In front of them, a man kneeled on the floor, hands covering his head, crying.
Slowly, the dome lowered. The panels moved back into place. The computer screens cleared.
White Rabbit's hands shook harder than a lamp in an earthquake. She stepped back, once again bumping into Achieng.
"Go," whispered Achieng. "Talk to him."
"I… I…" White Rabbit was so scared, she couldn't even formulate the word "No."
"Go," Achieng urged. "Go."
She gave White Rabbit a shove, and White Rabbit stumbled forward, directly into the path of his eyes as he looked up from his bent position.
Blue eyes. Deep blues, swirling like the pictures of Earth oceans, piercing like the full Moon on a clear night.
"White Rabbit?" the man whispered.
"Imamu?" she asked, shocked. She rushed forward and took his hands in hers. "Where were you?"
"Trapped," he replied. "I was trapped in the teleport, stuck for centuries. You saved me."
"You didn't know where you were."
"I didn't know where I was," he replied, tears rolling down his cheeks. "But I do now."
"Oh Great One," Achieng said reverently, stepping forward and bowing low. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
Imamu swallowed once and then stood straight up, adjusting his very old military uniform and wiping away the tears.
"First," he said, looking out at the Hippos, "I want to say thank you. You," he gestured toward Achieng, "and all of you," he gestured towards the rest of the Hippos standing there, "and all of your ancestors, are what have made my life bearable for the last few centuries. I knew you, spoke with you, watched as you lived your lives as I could not. And for that, I thank you."
"And you," he turned to White Rabbit, "have saved me from the worst prison any human can suffer. I owe you my life." He kneeled, in the old style, and kissed White Rabbit's hand, which was trembling, shaking. The Hippos began to talk and laugh and cheer.
"I… I… I…" she whispered.
Imamu laughed at her stutter, but it was a kind laugh, sympathetic to her plight. After all, he knew her better than anyone had ever known her. She had told him all of her secrets, all of her hopes and desires, all of her best and her worst thoughts. All because she thought he was a ghost.
"WHITE RABBIT," a voice roared over the noise of the Hippos. She spun around to see Mac standing there holding a flashlight and a gun. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Behind him, a cohort of soldiers marched in, aiming their weapons at the Hippos.
"Get down on the ground!" one of the officers barked.
Slowly, one by one, each of the Hippos began to kneel. White Rabbit took a step back away from Mac, and stumbled, falling into Imamu's arms. He caught her, and then looked up with feigned innocence.
"Sir! Have you received word? The Otieno Virus has been cured! My father created it," a sad look crossed his face, "but I found the code and was able to write another program to wipe out the virus! Admiral Zuri sent me here to help you fix your systems."
"Sir," the commander of the cohort stated, "Admiral Zuri died over 500 years ago."
"500 years?" Imamu exclaimed. "But I've just stepped out of the teleport! I just left the Kiboko fleet."
The commander stared at him for a moment. "Who are all these people?"
Imamu looked at them for a second and then said, "Wh
y, they are my friends… I think. My memory is very faint, but… I think they guided me here."
"Guided you?" The officer looked incredulous.
"But it was her," Imamu put White Rabbit on her feet again, "she saved me."
"Preposterous!" Mac exclaimed. "She's afraid of her own shadow."
"But she's not afraid of me," Imamu exclaimed. "Look!" He held up White Rabbit's hand. It wasn't shaking.
"Sir, can you please tell me what year it is?" the officer asked.
"It's year 2321, sir," Imamu stated firmly. "Well, I mean… it was when I left."
"I think I've seen enough," the officer said. "We need to get this man to the infirmary, as is process for anyone arriving on the teleport. Do any of you other people care to explain who you are?"
Achieng stepped forward. "My name is Achieng, and we are the Hippos. We live here, peacefully, quietly, and do no harm."
"Do no harm?" Mac interrupted. "Look at this! You've destroyed a door, used equipment that was banned centuries ago, risked the safety and well-being of an entire fleet… what if the virus had downloaded through the teleport and not just this… this person? What then?!"
White Rabbit stood watching, her hand still tightly held by Imamu's, and she suddenly remembered the thing that had been smoldering in her abdomen all day. It was a red hot, fiery burning that filled up her entire body. She looked at Mac and remembered his accusations—that she had been rude to Logger, of all things—and then thought about everything that had happened since. How she had been exiled to the bilge of the ship; how people were so afraid to live above decks that they thought it was safer to live and raise families in the bilge! How Imamu had been trapped for centuries, alone, afraid, and confused. How now they were accusing the Hippos of doing something that they didn't even play a role in! If they hadn't been here, White Rabbit still would have turned on the machine.
She stepped forward and cleared her throat. Everyone turned to look at her and she shrunk a little, but the fiery anger that burned within her straightened her backbone and forced her to speak.
"It was me," she said. "I turned on the machine because Mac ordered me to kill all live wires. I turned on the machine because Mac told me to make sure everything was turned off so it wouldn't cause any explosions. I turned on the machine because Mac exiled me to the bilge as an unreasonable punishment for something I didn't do. I turned on the machine because Mac wouldn't bother to hear my side of the story. I turned on the machine because of him."
Spectral Tales: A Ghost Story Anthology Page 12
