Approaching Oblivion (Jezebel's Ladder Book 4)

by Scott Rhine

  Rachael nodded her agreement. “Go survey team.”

  “So what’s the Top Secret find you made that you couldn’t tell me about last night?” Yvette asked.

  Mercy raised her eyebrows at this casual comment and nudged Lou. Her husband snickered.

  Yvette blushed. “He was working late, and I was inquiring after his health.”

  Smirking, Red said, “The news is big but not appropriate for a wedding reception. This is Yuki’s day.”

  “I don’t mind,” Yuki replied. “We’re all here. Tell us. At least someone is making progress.”

  Toby said, “The rover encountered its first aborigine.”

  Returning, Park said, “I suppose that red-letter day will make remembering my anniversary easier. Did it see the rover?”

  Red shook her head. “There was no thermal activity because the native was long dead. Even so, we’ve limited the periods without a human operator to eight hours in the wilderness and four hours in the jungle. I’ve increased sensitivity on the detectors that request crew intervention.”

  “We uncovered a skeletal arm holding a crude spear. There were five long fingers and a small, opposable thumb,” Toby explained with glee. “The close-range, fine-grain sensors picked out dozens more bodies of the same density and pattern in the area. The equipment is lighter weight than ground-penetrating radar, but the resolution isn’t high enough to make out a complete skeleton.”

  “A Stone Age graveyard?” asked Yvette.

  “A mass grave that dates to sometime in the last fifty years,” Toby said.

  Zeiss said, “Our focus should be the Stone Age technology rating, which gives us many more options for pages we can offer them.”

  “How did they die?” asked Yvette, placing her hand over her heart.

  Eager for interaction with her, Toby replied, “They appear to have been caught in an avalanche on a narrow section of trail. Not only does this tell us we’re near a population center, but this site is a treasure trove of xeno-anatomy and anthropology. I can hardly wait to procure a specimen in person, though I was hoping for a fresher corpse.” Suddenly embarrassed, he paused when people stared at him as if he were a ghoul. “Perhaps this wasn’t appropriate for a social event.”

  “It’s okay, Toby,” Yuki said, before he sank into depression. She tried to smile reassuringly, but part of her wondered, Is this grave site an omen for my marriage? “We asked, and you were honest. My fault. Have some more cake. No one has touched the coconut half yet.”

  Yvette mouthed a “thank you” to Yuki. Toby still had to be led from the party to recover, but at least it wouldn’t cause him a setback.

  Auckland muttered, “I told him this was a bad idea, but he has some misguided notion that if a woman lets you see her naked, you’re obligated to attend her wedding.”

  Changing the subject, Yuki noted the computer pad in Woo Jin’s hand. “We agreed no work or computer games today. People first, then things.”

  Her new husband smiled. “This is for you. It is what Nadia broke my computer to destroy—one of my most treasured memories.”

  She pushed the play button on a video. It was a low-resolution phone video of a circus arena. An eighteen-year-old Asian girl, in a bodysuit that clung to her like wet paint, climbed a silk banner as a man announced her stage name, Cora De Lisse. The outfit revealed more of her flexing muscles than it concealed, and her gyrations on the spinning silk made her look like she was flying. The billowing, white fabric behind her took on the shape of wings.

  “Is that porn?” asked Mercy.

  “My God, she has phenomenal muscle control,” Yvette said from the other side.

  Yuki covered the screen and blushed. Sojiro laughed and tried to move her hand out of the way to see. “I want to see how she stretches this tease to ten minutes.”

  Grabbing the pad to her chest, Yuki said, “It’s private.” Her left index finger tapped a rhythm on the back of the case.

  Park said, “The first performance I saw was a charity event for my sister’s hospital. I went to four of her performances in all. I filmed the last one when I heard she was quitting the circus.” His gaze settled on his wife. “She captivated me even then.”

  Wide mouthed, Mercy shouted, “That’s Yuki? I knew she was an acrobat, but wow. I thought she wore clothes.”

  “The act inspired me to study aeronautics,” Park continued.

  “And her treasure house of anatomical wonders,” Lou quipped, making fun of Toby’s earlier comment.

  “I think I’ll put this pad in a safe place,” Yuki said, standing.

  Park put an arm on hers. “I can delete this if it offends you. I don’t need the movie when I have the real thing.”

  “Then why show it?” Yuki asked, the tremor in her hand calming.

  “To prove how long I have wanted this day, and how seeing your performance led me to this place . . . to you.”

  As the bride and groom left early, Lou muttered, “I bet I know what name he shouts tonight.”

  Chapter 23 – Pandemonium

  Weeks passed with the same reports from each project: no progress with shimmer armor, the satellite showed a few potential base camps, and the rover began a long stretch of lush jungle. The morning Mercy’s countdown badge read, ‘T minus three days,’ Zeiss ordered an all-hands meeting in the storage room.

  Trapped in her floating wheelchair, Mercy waited impatiently for everyone to arrive. The room was always roasting with this many people. Toby rocked on the first bench, grinning like a fool. Yuki paced, checking her hair in a small, hand-held mirror. Zeiss’ uniform had been pressed, and Red sat next to him watching something on her computer pad.

  Walking into the room, Yvette took one look and blurted, “You’ve seen a live aborigine.”

  Everyone started asking questions at once. Sojiro activated the video camera. Zeiss stood and ordered, “Quiet!” People obeyed but remained standing. “I wanted to wait for everyone to arrive, but I’ll broadcast over the net so Nadia can see this, too. I’m going to let the technician on duty report her findings—Specialist Park.”

  At first Yuki didn’t seem to know who he was referring to. Then, she approached the podium and flashed a dazzling, news-anchor smile. “Early this morning, I reviewed the video feeds from Cerberus for the last half L day. If you’ll all be seated, I’ll put everything I’ve gathered on the screen.” Her delivery sounded like she’d been running. When they turned, she displayed a view of the omnipresent river. “Dr. Baatjies has identified the short plants in the background as a bamboo analogue. The rover was investigating a hot springs when movement in this area triggered its attention.” The camera zoomed on a black dot in the distance. Blurry, the short film showed a dark-furred humanoid waddling on bowed rear legs. It stretched up to grab a leafy branch. As it ambled, the long arms occasionally brushed the ground. After flicking at something in the air over its head with the branch, it chewed the end like a celery stalk. Then the alien disappeared into the tall vegetation. “Ten seconds was all we captured, but I’ve retasked the satellite to sweep this area in another six hours. Until then, the rover is hiding from sight—the hand must not be seen. A human operator must monitor the audio and visual feeds at all times from now on. We’ve rigged Cerberus for self-destruct at the push of our button or if something picks it up.

  “We digitally enhanced the image the best we could and invited Dr. Baatjies to share his observations.”

  As the ten-second clip played again in slow motion, Toby said, “This is what they look like with their skin on. Heh. Even if this is a lazy specimen, gait analysis predicts that a human can outrun one of these creatures, but they out-mass us almost two to one. Females reach 110 kilograms, and males can be 135. Not all of that is fat. The branch he snapped off to swat at flies is about three centimeters thick, which says his arms and jaws are more powerful than ours.” The head had brown fur all over, and the wide face sported a narrow mane around the cheeks and chin. The ears on the side were rounded an
d flicked in irritation at the insects. When the mouth opened, the formidable fangs made Yvette gasp. The eyes on either size of the wide nose were slitted cat style and masked by darker circles of fur like a raccoon. “Though it can eat plants, the ability of the eyes and ears to triangulate distance, as well as the dentition, indicate a carnivore.”

  When Toby froze the best full-face picture, Mercy cooed, “I love pandas! They’re so cute.”

  Herk glanced at the picture again to make sure they were looking at the same alien. “This is a predator.”

  Jumping on the bandwagon, Toby asserted, “He’s right. This isn’t My Little Pony planet. These guys could chew your freaking hand off at the wrist.”

  Lou held out his hands. “Easy. Opinions are fine as long as we express them in a civilized manner. Some of us have excess hormones right now, and I wouldn’t want any of you gents getting hurt.”

  “It’s a pity we didn’t name the planet after Quan be—” Mercy halted mid-word.

  “Mercy?” Lou called. She was panting from the pain, and Lou wrapped his arm around her tightly.

  Auckland dashed to Mercy’s side. “Contractions, real ones.”

  Lou said, “Yeah, even I could tell.”

  “I’m sorry, what were we talking about?” Mercy asked a moment later, blinking in confusion. The pain had transported her elsewhere, making her see dizzying starscapes.

  Pale, Yvette bent over double with sympathy pains.

  “You just whispered that it was a pity we didn’t name the planet after Quan,” Lou repeated. “Why?”

  “Because then we could name the aborigines quandas,” Mercy joked. “We could still go with the Hell theme and rename the world Pandemonium.”

  Lou laughed until tears formed.

  With a weaker linkage to the Collective Unconscious, Toby didn’t wince in pain like the others. “Nurse, I’ll push the patient’s chair to sick bay. You prep the operating room while the doctor scrubs.”

  ****

  Lou held baby Stu in his arms, glowing with happiness. “I can see him. He’s made of little blue clouds, but whatever I touch looks solid. Lord, he’s got long hair. Are you sure Johnny’s not the father?” He joked, referring to the shaggy cook.

  Still groggy from the C-section, and too sore to sit up without help from the cushion behind her, Mercy said, “The hair is blond and curly, and he can melt a girl’s heart with a bat of his long eyelashes.”

  “Well then, tell me all about him.”

  “He’s gazing at you with pale, blue eyes now, and he’s as plump as a cherub. His birthday is January twentieth.”

  Yvette and Toby watched the couple coo over their newborn. The nurse basked in the family moment, while the nanobiologist felt compelled to correct a misconception. “The hair will likely darken as he ages. Likewise, the eye color may be a simple lack of melanin. The iris should darken with exposure to UV light and stabilize within the next six months.”

  “He’s perfect,” the nurse said. “You two make gorgeous children.”

  A few moments after hugging Dad and rooting unsuccessfully at his nipple, Stu screwed up his face and bleated like a goat. Mercy held out her arms. “Give him back. He’s hungry.”

  “How can you tell?”

  Laughing lightly, Yvette said, “You’ll learn. Give the woman her bonding time. She’s earned it. Out with you too, Toby.”

  “Why?” Toby began. However, when Mercy whipped up her muumuu to expose her right side from thigh to breast, he turned away. “Bye.”

  On their way out, Lou said, “Thank you, Tobias Baatjies. You can help me hand out the beers.”

  Once the men were gone, Yvette helped position the baby and gave breastfeeding instructions.

  Mercy chatted while Stu fed. “It must be coming out chocolate the way he’s going to town.”

  “Colostrum is thicker and more nutritious than mature milk,” Yvette explained.

  Mercy said, “I itch all over from that anesthesia.”

  “That’s actually a normal reaction.”

  “We made it. No more medicine!”

  “Well . . . you have about six weeks before the scar heals completely. You’ll feel it every time you cough, sneeze, or laugh. Don’t even think about showering the first time without help. After this, we’ll do some deep breathing exercises for your lungs and stroll around a bit.”

  “I’ve missed walking,” Mercy complained.

  “Yes. When we go out to see the others, you’ll stay in the chair until I remove the sutures in a few days. Any other side effects other than the gas?” asked the nurse.

  Mercy furrowed her brow. “I had some hallucinations when the pain hit me.”

  “Such as?”

  “Sort of like when Lou held my hand in the stasis chamber after Yuki brought the saucer to help me.”

  “On the mountaintop?” Yvette asked cautiously.

  “Yeah, and again when the contractions started.”

  “Sometimes extreme pain can accentuate your talents, especially when you’re in contact with your bond-mate. I suppose the child could be an amplifier also if it inherited your senses. What exactly did you see?”

  “Picture Van Gogh’s painting of Starry Night. I could see swirls deep beneath, almost as if—”

  “Stop,” said Snowflake’s voice. “We would speak to Mother Mercy alone.”

  Yvette said, “I can’t leave her alone with the child in case she has another seizure.”

  “Take Brother Stewart with you, Yvette-friend.”

  “When he’s done feeding,” the nurse chided.

  “Zeiss-spouse-of-Index has commanded cooperation in this.” Red was the Index, the person with the original instructions on how to reach Sanctuary. The Magi viewed her as the human in charge of the test.

  Yvette said, “You can’t order a baby around, no matter who are.”

  “Then he feeds with no talking.”

  During this argument, Mercy thought furiously. Clearly, she was about to reveal something about the hand of the Magi. The hallucination about a zero-gravity zone inside the mountain might not have been so crazy after all. She normally couldn’t sense that deep. The artificial null-g zone stood out like burn holes in the upholstery. Following this line of reasoning, the great hollow chamber must be another control room of sorts. Since humans weren’t involved, the invisible robots had to gain entrance somehow. Anyone interested would have to search the mountain for entry tunnels. How could she communicate this to Yvette? As her firstborn fed, she hummed “The Bear Went over the Mountain to See What He Could See.”

  Unfortunately, Yvette didn’t seem to pick up on the slim clue. Too soon, Stu finished and drifted off to sleep. Her friend carried the child away saying, “I’ll show him off to everyone. They’re all dying to see. Call if you need help with the bully.”

  When Mercy was alone in sick bay, Snowflake said, “You can’t tell anyone what you saw, not until the test is over. We can’t let you leave the habitat, either. You might tell someone out there.”

  That meant she would have to heal the old-fashioned way. “What do I get in return for being your mute hostage?” Mercy said, the pain in her side making the comment sharper than she intended.

  “Nothing but the chance to stay unfrozen.”

  “If you freeze me, then you kill an innocent child. Stu has no other way to feed.”

  “We would be willing to freeze Brother Stewart as well.”

  “Not without violating the agreement,” she accused. “Stu did nothing wrong. I’m not convinced some of my symptoms aren’t the result of being in the freezer too long.”

  “I don’t like it when you are in stasis, Mother Mercy. I have no one to talk to.”

  “The crew plans to use the bulk-freeze capability fairly often to monitor the aborigines on Labyrinth. The crop techniques that Toby wishes to teach them could take years to implement and refine.”

  “Someone needs to shepherd your own crops so that the crew can eat and breathe. That person could
be you. Then we could both be happy.”

  “I might be willing to volunteer for this. I suppose I can’t ask for anything in return . . . directly, but there is a tradition in my land where an older sibling gives the younger a gift to indicate he’s willing to share their mother in peace.” This was stretching a little, but Mercy had given a Thomas the Tank Engine set to her younger sister, Mary. Although Mom had lobbied for a doll, Mercy liked the wooden track better.

  “What sort of gift?”

  “Well, we can’t complete our test until we can hide ourselves from the aborigines,” Mercy hinted.

  “The pages we have—”

  “Let me finish. We can make the armor work, but not your crazy power supply. That’s new technology. Right?”

  “Yes, but giving you that secret would exceed our limit of twenty-seven pages for you.”

  “Good. We’re getting somewhere new. We don’t have to use your power sources; rather, we only need to determine what inputs the armor is expecting. This is what we refer to as a black box.”

  “The armor is white.”

  “Black is a metaphor for not being able to see inside a piece of technology. Yuki writes code for us black-box style. She has no idea what the larger picture is.”

  “The hand is hidden.”

  “Yes. I know you use crystals in your design. We don’t have any of our own, and neither can we make them to my knowledge. We just need to know what the armor expects.”

  “Your power is called electricity. We use something similar, called mahdra. Your old crystal-radio sets were powered this way. Each shaped crystal has its own unique mahdra rating. The charges can then be combined in series or parallel like your circuits, which are ironically silicon.”

  Mercy brushed her hair as she pondered so she’d look presentable when people asked her questions. “Wait, do radio waves and silicon affect mahdra currents?” That might explain why the tests kept sputtering out. Every time the observers leaned in to check something or reported success, the experiment erupted in blue smoke.