Planet-H: The End of the Beginning

by J. T. Winterlord

  He took a little break before resuming,

  "What were your customers like?"

  The thought made him laugh like crazy. He leaned back in his chair and put his hand on his stomach.

  I stared at him bewildered and at the same time I began to laugh, probably infected by him. I asked him what was so funny.

  "Kate think a moment about your clients, especially Sammy!"

  I didn’t know what to think, I just wanted to let him know about a negative and unpleasant part of my life and he laughed uproariously, even more when he mentioned Sammy.

  I waited a few moments. I kept staring at him, stunned and bewildered by the situation. I did not know if it was me or him who was crazy.

  Valdes took a deep breath, looked at me with his bright eyes and said,

  "Think back to your professional performances," He stopped and looked me straight in the eye, "and tell me exactly how many of these were successfully concluded. In short, tell me how many customers you have satisfied. Tell me ... one? ten? a hundred? "

  "Not one," I exclaimed, slightly annoyed.

  Valdes began to laugh at this.

  "Boy, you're really an ace as a prostitute."

  This made me giggle too.

  "Stop it Valdes. How do you know anyway?"

  He straightened up in his chair trying to breath better and to be able to speak more seriously.

  "Look, Kate, all the clients you had were people who work with us, so you never had to stoop to offering professional services. We just wanted you to get by with some money that allowed you to survive until such time as we needed you."

  "What are you telling me Valdes?”I asked, puzzled. He looked so relaxed and so sweet as to make me relax too and listen to him.

  He waited a moment, as if to create a sort of suspense, before continuing.

  "Do you remember that old man who only wanted to talk and only requested a kiss on the cheek? .... That was me!"

  His eyes showed that he was remembering that moment and he chuckled.

  "... and that goaty old troglodyte that threatened you and threw money? It was only later that he realised that in his anger he had thrown eight hundred Euros! Well, that was Sammy.”

  "But that pig also got his hands on me! And I heard him grunting like a old boar as he left."

  "He didn’t touch you, he just got you to turn around. Sven was torturing him with different voices and facial expressions from a big male voice to a shrieking tone.

  When he had to say something serious Sven changed the facial expression making him do idiotic smiles. And when he was walking away laughing it was Sven that madehim grunt.

  I'm sure that Sammy got his own back that time.”

  I remained stunned by these revelations; it was I who had something to say and instead I found myself listening to a very different version of the same story.

  I asked him why.

  Valdes continued his explanation.

  "We had to prepare ourselves to pick you up. We had already marked out that idiot Kurl to get you as close as possible to N Technology. You had to be a bad investment for him, then we would have bought you.”

  "Then get me to work as a waitress or company manager or a model, no? But why ever a prostitute!?”I said, getting up from the chair that had suddenly become uncomfortable.

  "I'm sorry Kate, not everything is under our control but you were always safe. We didn’t lose sight of you for even a minute and we intervened whenever the situation degenerated into a potential danger."

  He seemed truly and sincerely sorry, to the point that his eyes became bright.

  "Now you're here, again with m ..." he stopped as if he had lost control, "with us. Don’t you remember anything about your mission?”

  I felt another blow to my fragile stability.

  "Mission? What mission are you talking about?"

  "Okay, Kate. I can’t expect you to remember now but you'll see that in the next few days things will become clearer.”

  So saying he got up, gave me a big kiss on the cheek and told me to rest because in the next few days I could expect some hard work.

  Valdes left and I found myself pacing my apartment. I was not only thoughtful but puzzled by what I had heard.

  I was accustomed to these strange turmoils in my daily life, but I was wondering how far everything that I thought was my life would be turned upside down.

  "Mission? ... I have a mission?"

  I stopped thinking, changed and finished my Alaska.

  THE FIRST MEETING

  The next morning, Sven was waiting for me in the classroom in the company of Sgrunff. after the greetings he asked me if I were any clearer on the subject of the dichotomies. He wanted to know if I felt that some of them were the key dichotomies.

  "You see Kate, there is a chance that someone has used the work that I had abandoned as useless. If you think that any pair of opposites is more present than another in guiding everyday life, please, tell me about it.”

  I thought about it and said,

  "It seems to me that some have more energy than others, such as Love - Hate, Good - Evil, then there are words that have more weight than their opposite or sometimes do not seem to have it all."

  "Exactly," Sven said "It’s just about those I would like more information.”

  So then I started with my list.

  "Well, there is something concerned with magic. Then I would say that the idea ofspirits or ghosts also has a remarkable effect. I could move on to the words Death, Consciousness, God, Truth ... "

  Sven stopped me and said, "Yes Kate, then it is just how I thought, thank you."

  He said goodbye and quickly left the classroom.

  I looked at Sgrunff curiously.

  "Why ask me those questions? What's so important? And why on earth should I be expected to know these things? Couldn’t you have answered him? Could he not have found the answers himself?"

  Sgrunff looked me over from head to foot with an amused air.

  "Great dress Kate, it really suits you.”

  I looked again and saw that I was wearing last night’s clothes.

  In the rush I hadn’t noticed how I was dressed. I thought Dammit Kate, sometimes you're just a pain!

  Sgrunff explained.

  "You are the only one of us to be connected through your Tasker to Planet H so some answers can only come from you.”

  A small light went on inside me and I had the feeling of understanding the things he was talking about but at the same time I did not understand.

  There was something I knew, but I knew also that I had a hard time remembering. It was like when you felt that you have the word on the tip of the tongue ... but that blessed word did not want to come out.

  Sgrunff asked me,

  "You really don’t remember?”

  No, I did not remember! I looked into his eyes with an expression of supplication and he remained pensive for a few moments.

  Matt came in at that moment. Sgrunff said,

  "We should find a way to learn something more - at this point I think it necessary."

  I wondered how Matt could have arrived at that precise moment. It seemed that whenever there was a need for someone they presented themselves of their own accord. Telepathy? I thought, smiling.

  "It happens sometimes!" Matt replied. He then turned to Sgrunff.

  "Let’s arrange a meeting later - sort it out with the others."

  I asked,

  "Well guys, can you explain to me what it’s all about?"

  Matt turned to me.

  "The meeting is to let you know about various things, so you can ask any questions you want and you will be answered. For now, take a walk around the company and put together all the things you want to ask. I'll see you later."

  He waved and walked out of the classroom.

  Sgrunff advised me to do as had been suggested. He handed me the control console for the big screen and went out.

  I found myself alone and thoughtful. I had bee
n given the opportunity to ask any questions I wanted and the funny thing was that I couldn’t even think of one.

  I fiddled with the console Sgrunff had given me and turned on the big screen from where you could access the Universal Library.

  I ran through a few pages randomly until I was attracted to some words.

  ‘The three universes’- what the hell are they?

  I typed the words and a large elliptical map appeared, elongated on two sides.

  In the central area there was an area bounded - it was labelled‘Free Zone.’It was not very large and I could read the names,‘Grekos I’,‘Grekos II’and I read off the words in the key.

  "Grekos, game planets of the free zone’. I looked at the rest of that strange map.

  The left side was marked‘United Confederation’while the area to the right bore the inscription 'External Federation’.

  I looked at the various names given to the planets, and read‘Fionis I'. I looked for the name in the legend. It read‘Headquarters of the External Federation’.

  Sgrunff I remembered had already mentioned the External Federation and the fact that they had madechanges to Planet H, making it Prison H.

  I shifted my gaze to the area onthe left. I saw several names, including Nordkhen, to the extreme left of the map. I scrolled down the screen quickly - I wanted to get a move on because I didn’t know if Sgrunff would agree with my curiosity.

  On the next page was a description of the various races that inhabited the region of the United Confederation: Nordik Semser, Drakn, Kratox and many others.

  I turned off the screen and I madea mental note to check later on my Pac.

  I left the classroom and went to my office. It had been a while since I had set foot in it so I decided to spend some more time there.

  I greeted Alice and chatted a few minutes with her then I sat at my desk and regarded the parking lot.

  Alice complimented me on my outfit but I was just distracted. I decided to change my clothes and quickly come back to the office.

  Then I laid my eyes on my car and I decided that on a quick spin.

  I jumped in, got out of the parking and moved off aimlessly, clutching the steering wheel firmly and driving through the country lanes. Driving relaxed me and helped me to think.

  I found myself with a thought - Silver Thunder, Silver Fireball. I had the feeling of knowing more but my mind refused to let me know what I knew.

  I stopped my thoughts and headed to the next town, found a parking lot and I slipped into it.

  I walked around for a while before entering a bar, with an appetite. I ordered a sandwich and a drink. Meanwhile I was carefully observing the people around me.

  I couldn’t understand what was different about them. I saw something in them that I had called‘normal’before. I saw them smiling, greeting and then shutting themselves into a strange shell. They seemed shrouded in a veil of sadness and disappointment, each lost in his or her own thoughts, they awoke to comply with ethical rules and stimuli and respond, "Well, thank you!" to every question "How are you? How’s it going? How's life?"

  But what would happen if each of those people had been able to tell you the truth, if they could say what they thought?

  I took a walk through the streets of that town. I had fortunately gone home to change clothes, otherwise everyone would have stared.

  I kept looking at people and I realized that I was not actually looking, but that I was observing. I had changed my way of seeing things.

  Now before I could notice details that I never suspected existed. I looked at their eyes ... they seemed switched off.

  I thought back to Matt and Sonia and Valdes - their eyes were bright, but those of the people I saw were dull. What had happened to these people?

  I could not provide an answer. I went to the parking lot and then back to my office.

  Sonia called me shortly after. The meeting was about to begin. I watched her, watched her look that was as bright as usual. She saw calm and seemed to radiate a feeling of calm and serenity.

  I tried in vain to figure out what the difference was with the people I had met in the street a few minutes before.

  I followed Sonia into the hallway and she told me that Bones was waiting for me in the infirmary.

  "Why in the infirmary?" I asked. Sonia paused for a moment, looked at me intently as if to reassure me and said,

  "You can’t participate in this meeting as Kate from Planet H. You would do it as a lieutenant first class."

  I didn’t formulate any more questions and I went to Bones who had prepared the usual couch. He gestured and said,

  “Lie down here so your body is supported and then you can go off to your meeting,"

  He smiled and motioned for me to lie down.

  "Sven is ready so when you’re comfortable we’ll start the procedure."

  I lay down, felt the usual buzzing in my head and I found myself in the room of my Tasker with Sven alongside. It was all very fast.

  "Well, Kate, come on then, they're waiting for us.”

  I followed him, realizing that I had lost a lot of the confusion swirling in my head, among other things, I knew where to go and no one needed to tell me.

  I felt only a slight sizzling in the center of the forehead, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.

  I headed for the lift and pressed a button that would lead us to our floor. Sven was watching me in silence.

  We reached a door on our floor. I touched the wall and the door opened.

  We entered and I heard someone say,

  "Officer on the bridge,"

  Some people stood up while others remained seated, but they all put their right hands over the heart in a closed fist salute.

  I raised my left hand to the shoulder in salute and the various people resumed their work.

  Sonia was waiting for us and together we headed into the adjoining room.

  Valdes, Matt and Sgrunff were there in addition to the three of us. I sat in the chair next to Valdes.

  I heard him ask,

  "Are you okay?" although he had not opened his mouth. I answered the same way.

  I found many of the things that occurred completely normal. It was obvious that I was regaining my memory of many things.

  Matt spoke.

  "To maintain the shape of our mission, we will use words for our conversation."

  So saying I felt a light mental touch of goodbye on the part of himself and Sonia.

  The touch of Valdes was longer and full of love. It seemed a long and warm caress.

  Sonia proceeded to give me some explanations.

  "Now Sven will explain a few things, but first we need you to answer a few questions in order to assess your status.”

  I said that we could proceed and Valdes opened the dance.

  "First of all, know that you will not remember everything you know because you're mentally still connected to Planet H. We cannot cut this connection because it would mean that we would have to kill off Kate and as you know we very laboriously retrieved and inserted her from the other side. Your Tasker is still in action - Sven was able to partially by-pass some circuits, so if there's something you want to know from him before you start then ask away.”

  I turned to Sven and I told him I was hearing what sounded like a sizzling sound, almost a hum, and it was located right in the middle of the forehead.

  He told me not to try and get rid of it, it was the effect of the top diffuser.

  "You would be able to delete it with the power of your mind, but if you did so we would lose the contact so you will have to put up with it until with your help I can lessen the effect.”

  Questions came almost immediately from Matt.

  "Race?”

  "I do not remember exactly, certainly from the Confederation."

  "Kate, if you don’t remember don’t strain your memory. We just want to know how far you can get in the conditions you find yourself in. Degree and qualification?"

  "Lieutena
nt first class, Captain of the Silver Thunder. Fourth officer on the Nemesis."

  "Principal mission?"

  "I don’t remember, I remember only vaguely about a signal in Planet H.”

  "Individual mission?"

  "To get captured in order to break into Planet H and provide information on how to liberate the others."

  Sonia was looking at me, smiling. She said,

  "Great Kate, even though you're still under the influence of your Tasker you're doing very well. We’ll let Sven reveal some of his discoveries and then it will be your turn to ask questions.”

  Sven couldn’t wait to begin his report and let everyone know his findings.

  "With Kate’s help I managed to find out how the alterations introduced by the Externals work. Obviously, not having a creative spirit they were limited to using my old modules.

  This is because basically their races are mired in ignorance and they find it easier to copy than to create something new.

  However, there are some circuits that I had previously developed and which operate on the basis of conflicting commands .

  They use the basic dichotomy of Create - Destroy and are made in such a way that once activated, they throw the player into doubt. In practice they work to make the individual indecisive, always unsure of whether he has done the right thing or not.

  Dichotomies essentially serve to keep individuals engaged as much as possible in that they are in a constant state of confusion.”

  This is the sixth relative truth

  The aim of dichotomies is to continually confuse individuals so they are constantly involved in actions, even useless ones, to create a plausible reason for the life they are living.