Falik kissed me back and smiled. "I wonder if you are."
Chapter X: Upgrades
Samuel L Jackson was humming the riff from Black Sabbath's Supernaut in the reception area. I signed in, and followed Falik to the domed, spacious rooms we were in yesterday. Velis and Carpash were already there, working away at their lecterns and passing commands to the various screens. He looked up as Falik and I entered.
"Good morning! And, as I believe they say on your planet, 'welcome to the first day of the rest of your life'". We exchanged pleasantries about the festival. Yes, I had a good time. No, I didn't see anything which worried me. No, I was not too tired. Yes, we could begin right away.
"There has been some debate", explained Velis, "regarding the pace of the treatment. There are those who believe we should administer all of the work simultaneously, in order that your body receives the minimum duration of pressure. We have decided that we don't agree, and that the psychological effects can be better controlled by taking a step-by-step approach. Do you agree?"
They laid out their plan. On the lectern's screen was a diagram of my body, with the various areas highlighted for improvement. "We wish to begin with your heart. A stronger pulmonary system will aid uptake of the other treatments. Do you have any questions?"
I had many. Was this dangerous? Had they performed such procedures on any similar species before? What risks were involved? Would I feel any pain? Would the effects of the treatments be instant? How would we know if the treatment had been successful?
Velis patiently talked me through the details. A form of radiation had been developed which was able to travel down the arteries and veins of my body, excoriating from the inner surface of the tube any undesirable material. It would feel warm, and there was the possibility of pain. The procedure would take around six minutes, after which there would be the necessity to entirely change out my blood, as it would be contaminated with the loosened fats and other pollutants. A new type of blood had been developed, based closely on human examples, which could carry a greater density of cells, both red and white. The red cells had been specifically engineered for the maximum carriage of oxygen, up to the limits that the human body might ever require.
Carpash readied his equipment. "Before we begin the procedure, we need to carry out some baseline tests. This will enable us to ascertain how effective the treatments have been. Would you step over here, please? I think you will recognise this."
It was a treadmill, like you would find in any high-class gym on earth. I stepped on and Carpash attached three devices to my skin with a soft click - one on my left temple, a second over my heart and a third inside my right wrist. "How far do you believe you can run at a steady pace?"
I thought for a second. I'd not actually been running for years, but my walks in the National Park should have kept me fairly fit. "Probably three or four miles", I guessed. "But it’s been a while."
They started the machine and I accelerated to a reasonable marathon pace. Every two minutes, one or other of the doctors would ask how I was feeling. "Fine", I answered, the first time, and the second. "OK", thereafter for another ten minutes. And then, after twenty-two minutes, "I'm about ready to stop". The machine began to decelerate, and in another minute I was sitting on the white counter, getting my breath back.
Carpash perused the results streaming out of the lectern. "As we expected. You are possessed of a very good level of overall health, but compared to other species we have examined, you are somewhat short of stamina. This we intend to change."
Ten minutes were allowed for a rest, during which the two doctors left the room to confer with technicians and ensure that final preparations were complete. Falik put her arms around me. "You must not be afraid. This really will change your life for the better." She kissed me, gently. "And there will be many benefits to increased fitness, particularly for lovemaking. I look forward to tonight."
We had just finished a deep kiss when the two doctors returned. Businesslike, they had me strip and then lay on the counter. It formed, once more, a comfortable, flexible bed and I sank gratefully into it. The three donned their Oakleys and stood well back. My heart was racing, and not just from the exercise or Falik's wonderful, soft tongue on mine. I was scared.
A subtle warmth began inside me, as though I was receiving heat from some internal source. My stomach felt suddenly very comfortable and I wondered if I might lose bowel control. Thankfully, I didn’t. Instead, I had the sensation of lying under a powerful sunbed. The screens had rotated to face me and were sending out pulses of radiation which turned the air around me a slightly orange hue. I closed my eyes and tried to feel what was going on.
There was a sudden, extremely sharp pain in my chest. I yelled. Falik was there at once, her arms on my shoulders. She was saying something but I couldn't hear. There was a roaring like a gale in my ears. I found I couldn't move. My whole body tingled. The pain began to radiate out down every avenue, sending electrically-charged jolts to my toes, my fingers and my cock, which shrank back in fear. The muscles in my neck spasmed and then locked. The same with my toes, which were tensed so tightly I wondered if it was permanent. My fists were balled, my knuckles white. Fingernails dug into my skin. There was a raging fire in my chest, threatening to burn me up from within. My mouth was open and moving, shouting, incoherent. I could feel sweat cascading down my neck and chest. This, I knew, was what heretics experienced at the stake. Something had gone wrong. They were incinerating me.
Then it stopped and everything went purple, then black.
Chapter XI: Bionic Man
I woke up because someone had stuck a needle in my arm, inside my elbow, and it was sore. A deep breath. I wasn't dead. I was relieved, but also angry. These three had some fucking explaining to do.
"Are you alright?" Falik said softly in my ear, and then ran a cool cloth over my forehead. "Can you hear me?"
I managed to open my eyes, but the lights were so bright I shut them again immediately and wished I'd never woken up. "I'm alive. No thanks to you guys", I said hoarsely. My throat hurt like hell, as though I'd been shouting for hours. And I had a splitting headache. "What the fuck did you do?"
Velis approached the counter, lectern in hand. "The procedure was very successful. The discomfort, I assure you, is temporary. While you were asleep, we completed the transfusion and your body has accepted the new cells. You will begin to feel better almost immediately." She opened a metal canister with a screw-on cap and produced an ovular, blue pill. Crushing it between thumb and forefingers, she rubbed the cool contents on my forehead. In seconds, the headache was gone. Suddenly, without any warning, I felt absolutely wonderful.
"You are experiencing the same euphoric sensations experienced by mountain climbers on their return from very high altitude. Having had barely sufficient oxygen your entire life, you are now benefitting from greatly enhanced corpuscular haemoglobin levels in your blood."
I sat up. My head remained clear. I felt like a trillion dollars. "This", I offered, "is good shit."
Every fibre of my body felt packed with energy. I glowed inwardly. My skin had a rosy colour, like a suntan but somehow healthier. "I feel fucking marvellous!" The three burst into spontaneous applause. Carpash gave Velis a long hug while Falik attended to me.
"Take it easy for a moment. Let's make sure everything's OK."
Some more tests, and the doctors were satisfied. I had a 94% increase in blood oxygen carrying capacity, which ensured that every request for more resources from any part of my body would be honoured. The pathways were clear, I found, which resulted in an even greater magnitude of improvement. Then, Carpash came over, arm around Velis, with a half-litre clear plastic jar. It was filled with something that looked like mushed up alien brains.
"This", she said, pointing to the gooey substance in the jar, "was filtered from your blood after we substituted it. It is the accumulated blockage from the inside of your arteries and veins. Your heart was quite badly clogged but, as you can te
ll, is now in the rudest of health."
I stared at the jar, agog. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph", I breathed. Velis chuckled slightly.
"You may keep this, if you like." I shook my head. "In any case, we would like you back on the treadmill for the comparison test." Great, I thought. I could just fancy a nice, long run.
When I had shown absolutely no signs of slowing down after two hours, they brought the test to a conclusion. Had this been the 10,000m at the Olympics, I would have a new world record to my name. "We are impressed, of course, but not entirely surprised. In fact, your blood is now so efficient that, although a normal human would die in minutes if transported directly from sea level to the summit of your highest mountains, you could actually live and work at such altitudes indefinitely." That was what it felt like. I could do absolutely anything.
Carpash tapped at his lectern. "There are a couple of small procedures we could take care of now, before lunch, if you would like. The Optics centre is very keen to carry out the minor corrective surgery to your eyes. And then, there is the cancer to deal with."
I nodded and Carpash left to make arrangements. Velis was smiling broadly. "This has been most successful. And Dr. Falik, as ever you have been a most able assistant." Velis walked over and hugged her colleague. Eyes closed, Velis was clearly enjoying the contact. Her right hand emerged to smooth aside some loose hairs behind Falik's ear. They looked into each other's eyes and smiled. I knew what was going to happen.
Their first kiss was the most arousing thing I had ever seen. My cock became immediately hard, pulsing with my new-found health and vitality. It was brief, as Carpash was expected back almost at once, but seeing these two beautiful, capable women in such a sexual embrace set my newly-revived heart racing once more. Falik's hand lightly stroked the other woman's breast and I could barely contain myself.
"I didn't know..." I began. Then Carpash flourished back into the room.
"If you would step this way, the systems are all set up for the cancer therapy. Once you're finished there, and it should only take a moment, the Optics Centre are prepared for your surgery. We have arranged a celebratory lunch aboard a Cruiser, which I believe you will enjoy very much." Falik was beaming. This was clearly great news. I wondered what the fuck a Cruiser was.
Down the hall, below the broad dome of the building, there was a small office in which a single male doctor was waiting. I recognised him as one of the trio who had so enthusiastically welcomed the answers I gave at the original meeting with Manisti yesterday. Christ, was that only yesterday? A thousand lifetimes had passed, like I had taken some extraordinary drug.
"Good morning. This procedure will be very brief. I have all of your case history and we have reviewed your file carefully. Please take a seat".
A different style to the others, I noted, more chatty and approachable. Before I could ask about his background, he held out his hand, palm up, and offered me a small yellow capsule. "We are extremely proud of our achievements in this field, and you will benefit from of our latest enhancements of the original design. Within this pill", he gestured to the tiny yellow thing in his palm, "are a complex suite of mechanised cells, each primed to seek out and destroy specific groups of unwelcome cells in your body. In this case we have instructed them to find the cancer cells in your stomach and, effectively, eat them." I blinked for a second. It was as simple as that? "Once their mission is complete, they will pass into your urine and you will evacuate them in the normal way. You might notice a day or so of discolouration, but there will be no discomfort and the cancer will have been vanquished for good."
I swallowed the pill. He clapped me on the back and laughed. "Should have been red or blue, I know, but not all of these things are under my control, Neo!" I burst out laughing and didn't stop until another doctor, next door, shone an extremely bright light into my eyes.
"Shit! What's that about?!"
This was even quicker than the cancer treatment. "Your one dioptre of corrective surgery is complete. You will notice some blurring for an hour or two, but later today your vision will be perfect. And that will never change."
This really was something. Feeling absolutely terrific, I linked up with Falik, Velis and Carpash who were in almost as good a mood as I. We left the Institute, waving cheerfully at a walkman-crowned Samuel L Jackson, who was bopping along to some fine tunes while finishing his paperwork on the reception lectern. I'd still not asked about him, but was content to allow that mystery to prevail. Some answers might just be too weird for my poor brain to handle.
Falik virtually skipped along next to me. "I've never been on a Cruiser before! I've only ever read about them, and seen them on the news. This is going to be quite an experience."
I couldn't contain my curiosity. "Falik? What exactly is a Cruiser?" I found out a moment later. Rounding the corner and emerging onto our usual landing platform, we were greeted by an incredibly beautiful, sleek, silver ship. Two pods on either side of its back quarters housed impressive engines which even now hummed with potential and glowed a neon blue colour in the morning sunlight.
Chapter XII: Orbital Lunch
"Isn't she beautiful?" Falik gasped.
She certainly was. The pilot, a brown cloud of amorphous gas, sent thought strands to each of the four people on the landing platform. Speaking over the twenty yard distance would have been impossible in the 70mph winds, but the thought was clear. 'Welcome', he said. 'Please board at your convenience'.
We boarded the Cruiser tentatively, as though stepping on a freshly completed Mandala. Inside was surprisingly spacious, given its size, and large, bubble windows stretched down both sides of the craft, although they had been virtually invisible from outside. 'Please strap yourselves in. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this method of travel, we recommend a viewing of the onboard presentation'.
A small disc on the floor began to rotate, quicker and quicker, until it sparked yellow flames from its edges. From its centre a holographic image of a Elderly academic appeared, clothed in formal gown and mortar board, as though he'd just stepped out from the graduation ceremony at Oxford. "Good morning, travellers. As the pilot prepares for take-off, please make yourselves comfortable while I explain a little about your journey today. As you may know, recent advances in ion/graviton propulsion have produced incredible speeds, and what would have taken several hours in past years will now be a matter of forty minutes. The acceleration will be quite strong and you may well notice being pushed back into your seat. This is quite normal. The spacecraft is now ready for lift-off. Please ensure that your tray tables are..." I tuned him out and looked around the craft.
The very walls are alive with vibrations, as though the craft, and perhaps the whole universe, were one of the strings of a violin. Objects became blurred and a powerful bass roar began behind us. The engines were starting. My heart began to pound. Falik was beside herself with excitement. "Here we go!" she called as the spacecraft gently lifted off the pad, rotated 90 degrees and then tilted back until we were vertical. I grasped the arms of my seat, which seemed to be designed for that very purpose, and braced myself.
It was like being kicked in the ass by an elephant. No rollercoaster in the world came close. With vicious acceleration, we rocketed skywards so quickly that I felt I'd left my stomach on the landing platform. Through the windows, Takanli receded with alarming swiftness, its massive urban plan revealed to me for the first time, but there were scant seconds to take in the incredible view. The sky swiftly darkened, and within three minutes of liftoff, I could see stars. The outrageous rumbling from the engines ceased. All was silent.
Blue strands of thought emerged from the cockpit once more. 'We have achieved orbit. Lunch will now be served.'
The planet was beneath me, a solid carpet of greens, greys, blues and white. Virtually every square inch of the surface was organised, shaped, crafted, designed. I could discern two great cities, centred on massive concentric rings with spokes which extended thousands of miles. "That's Tak
anli", explained Velis, pointing to the largest of the ringed cities. "The institute is in the east of the centre, that large white complex." Jesus. A set of buildings so vast they were visible from space. "And that city is our neighbour, Galdram. A very beautiful city, and similar to our own in most respects, but their laws prohibit alien species from visiting. It is something of a national park for those of our species who wish to live without visitors. I have been there only once, to a conference on genetic mutation. It was most stimulating."
I privately wondered whether Velis had ever had fun in her life, but then remembered her sexy snog with Falik in the surgery. A dark horse, that one, I reasoned.
Lunch emerged from the walls on trays made from a glimmering metal which reflected everything, even thoughts. There were piles of vegetables, a whole fish that was over a foot long and had three eyes (Carpash exclaimed with glee and ate one immediately) and a host of smaller dishes including something which resembled calamari but tasted like a vehement, raw chilli. I gasped and poured myself three glasses of water, downing each in a gulp, before I noticed the others staring at me. Falik cautioned, "you might want to go easy on that." Carpash and Velis were grinning with a little dramatic irony. Shit.
"What's in it?" I asked warily, watching for any sign of ill effects.
Carpash stopped chuckling long enough to explain. "It is Gaspirian Water, a humorous drink. You will find glee in virtually everything. We normally take a shot each after lunch on Cruiser trips, just to pass re-entry with a little more laughter. With such limited hormonal systems and rather under-developed senses of humour, we find a little artificial stimulus useful from time to time."
Laughing gas, in liquid form. I sat back, filled up on the tasty vegetables, most of which looked like derivatives of the squash family, and observed the rotation of the planet as we circles at orbital velocity. Past the planet's terminator, I could see other ships in the distance, blinking with lights. "Who are they?" I asked.
Voyage Page 8
