The Oceans of Emptiness

by Tiffany Weems

  “So, John?”

  Troubalene smiled. “Yes, your husband was on the committee. If you’re curious, he voted against it.”

  Patricia smirked. “Good because I was going to have to kick his butt. When they become old enough, does it just deactivate?”

  “They are removed by our medical staff at around eighteen.”

  Patricia nodded thoughtfully. She looked around the room. The cafeteria was filling up fast. Still, John had not arrived. “He’s been working late a lot.”

  “He’s very busy. There is quite a lot to tend to with the systems until we jump.”

  Patricia turned back to Troubalene. “I’m curious, who’s the security that Lance spoke of?”

  With a grin, Troubalene took one last large bite and rose from the table. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

  Patricia wearily rose from the table and followed Troubalene out of the cafeteria. They went up to the first level. “What are you showing me?”

  “You’ll see.” With a touch of her hand, one of the secure doors on the first floor opened. Inside was a wall with images flashing across it. Some were small. The man sitting at the controls, made certain images larger and then shrunk them back down again. Opposite of the monitors were several suits hanging and a small control panel with retinal scanner.

  “What is this?” Patricia asked.

  “This is our control center. We can monitor every square inch of this ship. Well, obviously not the bathrooms.”

  “But the living quarters?” Patricia asked.

  Troubalene nodded. “Of course. Though that privilege is not taken very often.”

  “So the images shown are just a small fraction of the total cameras?”

  “Yes. There are more than three thousand cameras on board.” Troubalene had a smile plastered on her face.

  Patricia turned back to the monitors. She could make out a few angles of the cafeteria where many of the shipmates were enjoying dinner. There were a couple of the halls on the fourth and fifth floor where people entered and exited their rooms. Several cameras were monitoring the recreational rooms on the second level. Patricia was relieved to see that she didn’t recognize anyone. At least the people she associated with were not worthy of constant surveillance.

  A new screen popped up replacing one of the cafeteria images. It flashed, sounding a short high pitched ping. The man expanded the image to show Lance holding onto a wall, his face buried in his hands.

  “I’d hoped that would happen,” Troubalene said.

  “What?” Patricia asked. “He’s just standing there.”

  “All the children on board are chipped. When they go by a camera, it registers their movements. If the individual minor moves into an area that they are restricted from, such as Lance has done here, it sends an alert.” Troubalene leaned down and whispered something into the man’s ear. He then typed something into the control panel.

  Patricia tried to see what he was typing, where he was tapping, but she couldn’t see past Troubalene. “So he does this a lot?”

  “At least three times a week so far.”

  “Where is he?”

  “The bowels.”

  “Where I tried to go?”

  Troubalene turned around sternly. “He’s making it a bit further than you did.”

  “How?” Patricia asked with a glance to the monitor. “We were met immediately with a guard.”

  “I haven’t been able to figure that out yet.”

  Patricia knew Lance was incredibly intelligent, she wondered if they had searched his room for some technology he’d invented. Patricia was about to ask if someone was going to remove Lance from the area when another person entered the frame. He was shorter than Lance and lanky. He wore a glistening suit. It was very well form fitted, showing just how ill-formed the person was. “What’s he going to do? Ask Lance to leave politely?” She laughed.

  Troubalene did not. “This is normally very entertaining. Just watch.”

  Patricia, slightly taken aback, turned back to the screen and noticed how Lance’s body language had shifted. He wasn’t scared, exactly. His shoulders hunched forward slightly and his gaze was directed only at the ground. The guard was asking him some questions and the only responses he gave were nods and shakes of his head. The image faltered slightly, just for a second. Patricia was sure she had seen Lance hit his chest just moments before that.

  The guard reached out and wrapped his hand around Lance’s shoulder. He yanked Lance away from the wall and down the hall. When they were out of the camera’s view, the next camera took over. It was sometime between the fourth and fifth cameras that Lance shifted. He pulled away slightly and slammed his hand into the center of his chest. The camera wavered.

  “I’ve not seen that before,” Troubalene said.

  Patricia looked at every monitor. Lance was gone. It was as though he’d vanished. “How’d he do that?”

  Troubalene shook her head. “I have no clue.”

  The guard who had been escorting Lance looked a little shaky. He leaned against the wall and slowly slid down it.

  Troubalene immediately turned and left the room. Patricia, sure of where she was headed, sprinted after her. They ran through the hall to the nearest elevator and moved down to the bowels of the ship.

  When the doors opened, the guard was not at his post. Patricia followed Troubalene off the elevator and to the left. There were only a few doors along the walls. They weren’t like what was up on the other levels, however. Most of the doors were designed as though they were there to keep something in. Patricia was sure it was more likely to keep people out. Which could only have meant one thing: there was something worth stealing inside each of the rooms. She wondered what Lance had been after. At last they reached the guard.

  His suit was much different in person. It looked thin, but felt rough and durable. It encased him head to foot, covering his feet and hands as well. His head was almost covered. Troubalene reached down and pulled away the head cover.

  “Alexor, can you hear me?”

  The man stirred slightly.

  “Alexor, are you okay?”

  “No,” he answered. The man fluttered his eyes open. “That damn kid tried to kill me.”

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Troubalene helped him to his feet. “You don’t know what happened or you don’t remember?”

  “I don’t know what happened. What good is it to have a super suit if I can’t kick a little kid’s ass?”

  Patricia gave a soft airy laugh. But then the gravity of his statement settled in. She turned to Troubalene. “Is that really a super suit? Does it give him a different composition when worn?”

  “Who’s she?” Alexor asked.

  Troubalene smiled. “She’s with me. We’ll be headed back up now that I know you’re okay. As soon as we find out what Lance has in his possession, you will notified.”

  “Thank you,” he said in an irritated voice.

  Patricia walked with Troubalene back to the elevator.

  “So I’m going to have to ask a favor of you. Lance is in your class. You spend more time with him than his own parents.”

  Patricia shook her head. “No. If you think for one second I’ll be able to get any more out of him than you will, you are sadly mistaken.”

  “Patricia, I am afraid you are just in the right position to obtain such information. I, on the other hand, am only an outsider. You’ve built a rapport.”

  “A rapport? What rapport? He mocks me, intentionally tries to undermine my authority. There’s absolutely no respect.”

  “He knows you. That you fight your own battles. He trusts you more than you know.”

  Patricia scoffed.

  “Alright, then give him a reason to trust you. Because, really, you are the only one who will be able to find out what he has.”

  “Why don’t you search him?”

  “We’ve searched his room thrice and have done random pat downs. I do
n’t know what he has, but it can’t be good.”

  Patricia could hear the concern in Troubalene’s voice. She nodded reluctantly. “But I don’t guarantee anything. Now about those suits.”

  “It does alter his composition. It allows him to move a bit quicker and lift a bit more. It doesn’t give him anything super really. It enhances abilities that are already there by synthesizing chemicals in the body more efficiently.”

  “If I put one on, I’d be able to have enhanced abilities as well?”

  The elevator opened and the two exited onto the sixth floor. “If you were to do so, of course, but I do not anticipate any situation that would call for such measures on your part.” Then Troubalene disappeared into her room.

  Patricia did the same, waiting for John so she could tell him all about her day.

    

  The next day was a mild one. Patricia noticed how tired Lance was, but didn’t bother to fight him on his need to sleep in class. The other two worked on projects, solving problems that they could encounter when they arrived at the planet. With every day she started to get a better understanding of who would fit in which career field on the ship. She was even feeling a bit more understanding of poor Teral.

  Patricia glanced at the clock embedded in the wall. “Alright, it’s time for lunch.”

  Teral and Cubina stood up. They left the room before Lance even began to stir. He opened his eyes and sat up groggily.

  “I’d hate to disturb your nap, but you should go get some food while you have the chance.”

  He nodded half-heartedly. Then, with a slight stumble, he made his way out of the room.

  Patricia waited a few minutes to make sure he was really gone before taking a seat at his desk. He didn’t carry a bag, none of the students did. So she logged into the desk and searched through the files he had. There were homework assignments that he never submitted and empty documents. But there was nothing that shouldn’t have been there. Patricia sighed.

  She was going to have to talk to him. That was almost more than she wanted to deal with. Her shoulders slumped forward, Patricia left the classroom for the cafeteria. It wasn’t very busy. She had released them slightly early. Sitting alone, across the room, was Lance. Patricia filled a tray with a few fruits and walked over, taking a seat at his table across from him.

  “What are you doing?” he asked in a barely audible voice.

  “Just getting something to eat.”

  “There are other tables.” Lance was leaning on his hand, a bit of drool trickling from the corner of his mouth. His tray was completely full, untouched.

  “This was the first seat I saw.”

  “That’s a lie. What do you want?”

  “Nothing. Just hungry.” Patricia took a bite. “It’s kind of nice to be in here without the entire ship trying to get rations for the day.”

  He grunted.

  “The crew can get kind of annoying sometimes.”

  Lance sat passively, his eyes half shut.

  “Like how they won’t let you go where you want on this ship. I think we should be entitled to see everything. Schematics, rooms, whatever we want. We’re citizens of this ship. The settlers of an unknown world. Risking our lives for so many generations to come. I feel entitled to a bit more, don’t you?”

  Nothing. He sat there, unmoving, his eyes slowly shutting.

  Patricia sighed. “This is a waste of time.” She shoveled the rest of her food into her mouth, grabbed her tray and rose from the table.

  “Do you want to know what’s down there?”

  Patricia froze. At first she wasn’t sure she had heard Lance right. Turning around slowly, she said, “Excuse me?”

  “Level seven has more than you think. This whole ship does.”

  “And what do you know about it?”

  “I know more than most. Probably more than the captain.”

  Patricia scoffed. “That man knows more about the people on this ship that we know about ourselves. I highly doubt he doesn’t know the ship in the same manner.”

  “Believe what you want. This is a ship of secrets.”

  Patricia sat back down. “And how would you know about any of the secrets of this ship?”

  Lance didn’t raise his head. He moved his other arm toward his chest. “I have all I need right here.” Then he fell forward onto the table.

  Patricia stood very still. Was he okay? With a shaky hand she reached out and touched him. He didn’t move. “Lance?” Still nothing. She shook him. “Lance?” No response. Patricia checked for his pulse. He was alive, but his breathing was shallow. She picked him up, cradling him in her arms and escorted him from the cafeteria. She passed the table where Teral and Cubina were seated, neither of whom looked as she passed.

  Walking as fast as she could, she made her way up to the second level and to the medical bay, to Xana.

  “What happened?” Xana asked. “Lay him here.”

  Patricia laid him down on an empty cot. “He was talking and then just passed out.”

  “What was he like as he was speaking?”

  “I don’t know,” Patricia said with a shrug. “I guess he seemed really tired. He’s been kind of out of sorts for days.” She glanced over at the cot that contained Tuft. He was showing improvement, but Xana had insisted that he stay there for a few days. “You don’t think he’s got the same thing do you?”

  Xana didn’t say either way. “I’m going to need a minute with him. Why don’t you go wait in the hall?”

  Patricia gave a small nod and left the room. She watched the floor. Even when someone walked past, Patricia barely glanced up. It definitely took longer than a minute before the door finally opened again. “How is he? Is he sick?”

  Xana motioned for Patricia to enter the medical bay with her. The door slid shut before she spoke. “He is sick. From what I can tell, he’s been walking around contagious for four days now. Why didn’t you bring him in sooner?”

  Patricia shook her head. “I didn’t know he was sick. I mean, I should have seen it, but I just didn’t realize it.”

  Xana rolled her eyes. “You don’t like him. Did you let it get this far on purpose?”

  “Yeah, I thought how nice it would be to see how long he could go until he passed out, meanwhile exposing everyone on the ship that he’s come in contact with since he got sick.”

  “Alright, but that doesn’t change the fact that we may now have an epidemic on our hands.”

  Patricia glanced at the bed. He was out. “Is he going to be okay?”

  Xana nodded. “Another day or two and he might have slipped into a coma. He appears to have developed the disease far worse than Tuft did, but I think I’ll be able to have him back to normal in a week.”

  “A week without Lance,” Patricia said with a smile. “I’m not complaining.”

  The door to the room opened and Troubalene walked in. “Security called me. What happened?”

  “He’s sick.”

  The look on her face read somewhere between total disbelief and anger. “Sick? As in what Tuft has?”

  Patricia and Xana nodded.

  “Xana, I need you to run to the control room. Inform the captain of the situation and explain that beginning immediately everyone on board will report for daily screenings before their scheduled work shifts. Anyone found to have the disease will be quarantined in their rooms until further notice. We can’t let this get too far out of hand.”

  “Very well,” Xana said. Then she left the medical bay.

  Patricia started to do the same, but a strong hand grabbed her. “Do you want something?”

  Troubalene let go. “No. Did you find anything out?”

  “Of course not. He barely said three words to me before he passed out. I checked his desk as well. He’s not storing any documents on it. He’s smarter than that.”

  “Did you search him?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Did you search him?” She said each word with force.

&n
bsp; Patricia shook her head.

  Troubalene pushed past her. She patted him down.

  “Well, do you feel anything?”

  “No. I’m not sure I comprehend how he is able to manipulate the systems as he does.”

  “The last thing he said to me was he had everything he needed…” Patricia pushed past Troubalene and felt Lance’s chest. There was nothing there, nothing she could feel through his shirt. With a glance at the door, Patricia pulled his shirt up to get a closer look at his chest. He had a tattoo. It had numbers surrounding a circle. With a timid hand, she reached out and felt the tattoo. It came to life. It wasn’t a circle, it was a button. A button. It was definitely a tattoo but a functioning one. “What the hell?”

  “You need to go. You have students waiting for you on level three.”

  “I don’t understand. You can push these.” She pushed on the three and it appeared in the center button for a brief second then faded away into his skin. “But it’s a tattoo.”

  “Leave.”

  Patricia could hear the harshness in her voice. She didn’t have a choice. Her hand was barely against the door when she heard Troubalene clear her throat.

  “And Patricia,” she said with a stern look. “Don’t tell anyone about this.”

  5

  A New Earth to Study

  Nervously, Gerald walked through the crowd, just trying to catch the glimpse of the woman who was speaking. No matter how many people pushed past, however, Gerald never seemed to get close enough to see the speaker, though he did recognize her voice. There were far too many people. The only reason he could hear at all was due to the speaker system set up around the square.

  “Earthians and Capenians, our progress has proven quite fruitful,” the woman said. She sounded boisterous, happy even, as though there was some news she was excited to share. “The new settlement, Second Earth, has been completed and those of you who have signed up, may move in beginning at first light tomorrow.”

  There were some cheers, a few people clapped. Gerald could tell the others were waiting for the exciting news, just as he had been . That was old news. No, they wouldn’t have called for people to gather if they didn’t have something bigger to share. Something important.