Volume II

by Ronnie Coleinger

  She spoke to the computer and asked to have Frederica join her at the door to see the cargo bay. When Frederica stepped up to the window, Jill heard the sound of Frederica’s surprise as she stared out the window. The computer program that the Bahs had input into the travel computer streamlined the outer walls of the travel membrane to provide the least possible resistance. Jill considered the computers answer for a moment and then said, “Computer, I always thought that to have airfoil resistance required atoms of gas, such as the atmosphere an airplane on planet Earth would encounter while flying at high speeds. However, open space has no air or gases to give resistance to The Empress. Computer, explain the error in my theory.” The computer began the complicated explanation, and Frederica listened carefully as the computer tried to explain the theories to Jill. Frederica finally stepped into the living area where Jill was now folding some towels and said, “Computer, may I try to explain this theory to Jill, possibly my human mind can use different words that will help Jill comprehend.” The computer said, “I am also listening to your explanation to see if my words lacked something in translation from binary to the human language of Chitter.” Frederica began, “In outer space there are very few atoms of gas as you stated Jill, but even one atom of gas at these speeds can impede our forward movement. We are traveling many multiples of light years per second and hitting even one atom of gas is like hitting a brick at one-hundred miles per hour traveling in an earthbound automobile. Also at these speed, empty space itself provides resistance. One of the great theories that the early scientists discovered was that we travel in two dimensions. Think of a flat map with arrows pointing from the very center outwards, one north, one south, one east and the last one west. Now consider that to travel forward in time you would travel north, to travel back in time, you would travel south. If you want to move through space without changing your time, you would travel east or west. Traveling east would advance your position in the universe into deeper space. Traveling west would return you back to where you began your journey until you reached the point that your journey began. Now let’s go back to the north-south direction, which depicts time. If we travel north at the speed of light we use all our energy to maintain that speed. If we wonder off the north track, even a little, we move off into the space continuum. Consider driving an automobile at full speed heading north, but you wonder off the road and onto the shoulder a little as you travel. That wondering delays the final arrival time at your destination. The more you wonder off the road onto the shoulder of the road (into space), the later you will arrive at your destination. That is why open space offers The Empress some resistance; it is not just the gas atoms we encounter, but also the inability of the travel computer to maintain a perfectly straight path. The entities of the cosmos have yet to design a travel computer that does not drive partially drunk.”

  Jill smiled at Frederica and said, “I got it, thanks.” The computer spoke to Frederica and said, “The next time you are sipping your coffee and The Empress weaves around in a drunken stupor and you spill your hot coffee into your lap, remember the comments you just made about the drunken computer.” Frederica started to giggle and then tried to smooth over the comment she made about the travel computer. I did not mean to insult you computer, I was just making a point so Jill could understand. Silence was all Frederica heard. Finally, Frederica said, “Computer,” more silence. Jill said, “Computer,” and the response was instantaneous, “Yes Jill, how may I help you.” Jill said, “Computer, would you forgive Frederica for her comments, she really did not mean to insult you, she just was stating that no known entity or machine could presently follow a perfectly straight line of flight at these incredible speeds. That is not your fault; even the Bahs have not been able to resolve the problem.” The girls heard a sound in the speakers that sounded like a sniffle, then the sound of a nose blowing. When Frederica looked at Jill, both girls mouths were hanging open. Jill spoke to the computer again, “Computer my friend, are you okay?” The computer said he was okay, but missed Trish and James and wished they could rejoin them. Jill explained that the quarantine of twenty-one days would fly by and they could all be together in the very near future. Jill said, “The mission we are flying right now is very important to the survival of the entire Dendrals race or I would not have taken on this mission and deprived you of Trish and James companionship.”

  The computer announced the arrival of The Empress into Universe Number Seven’s speck. Then the girls felt the tiny change of speed within The Empress and the computer announced that the trip to the planet of Desab would take another six hours or so. Jill began getting fidgety and soon found even the computer’s voice annoying her. Jill walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee that Frederica had just made. Frederica kept her mouth closed, and allowed Jill to work out her anger and frustrations in silence. Jill was not certain why she was so emotional, but took care that her tongue did not lash out at either Frederica or the computer. They were the cause of her anger to be sure, but Jill was not certain what was upsetting her, or how to settle herself. Jill spoke to the computer and asked if she could enter the cargo bay, and the computer said, “No, we need to offload the vaccine package before I can allow you to enter the cargo bay. Jill, in less than six hours, the cargo bay will be empty and you can work out your anxiety and anger.” Jill’s angry words began to flood from her lips, but she quickly stifled them; she shut her mouth, walked into her private quarters, shut the door and threw herself onto the bed.

  Suddenly, Jill’s anger flooded from her and she began tearing her room to pieces. Books, lamps, cloth’s and anything else not physically attached found itself becoming a projectile. Within minutes, Jill’s room was destroyed and she plopped herself down in the only chair not tipped over. Then she began to cry. Frederica spoke to the computer and asked if Jill’s tirade was over and if she was okay? The computer told Frederica, “Jill seems to have calmed herself and is not injured.” Frederica said to the computer, “Computer, if Jill needs a companion please tell me, otherwise I will leave her alone and let her settle herself.” When The Empress was in a stable orbit around the planet of Desab, it only took about six minutes for the vaccine package to make the trip from the cargo bay down to the surface of the planet. The director of Operations thanked Frederica for the delivery and said, “We will contact The Empress in the next day or so and give you an update about the epidemic and how it is progressing.” Frederica wished the entities of Desab the best, and said she would pray to her God to help them rid their planet of the virus. The computer of The Empress set its course per the directive of the IFTT and the return trip home began. The Empress was to spend the next twenty-one days in isolation over the planet of Quantum. The IFTT would teleport supplies into The Empress, but nothing could leave the vessel. The IFTT would remotely disable the teleport systems electronics aboard The Empress to insure compliance.

  As The Empress continued its trip towards Universe Number Two to begin its quarantine in orbit around the planet Quantum, Jill remained in her room. It had now been six hours since Jill’s outburst and Frederica once again asked the computer if Jill was all right. The computer told Frederica that after Jill’s tantrum, she had fallen asleep on the mattress lying in the middle of her room and her body functions were normal. The computer told Frederica that he would watch over Jill, and keep her safe. Frederica spoke to the computer and asked him if he knew what had so badly upset Jill. The computer said, “Your friend has not been sleeping well in the last few weeks. She has been having very vivid dreams when she sleeps and the dreams disturb her so badly she cannot sleep for hours afterwards.” Frederica asked if the computer knew what Jill was dreaming and if she could help Jill in any way. The computer explained that the dreams as Jill had explained them were about her own violent death, and the death of Trish and James.

  Frederica felt her heart flutter in her chest, but she pushed on and asked the computer if it knew how the three died in the dream. The computer said, “Yes, Ji
ll has told me the dream more than once.” Frederica now had to ask the next question, “Computer, would Jill mind if you told me the dream so I could comfort her and find a way for her to rid herself of these dreams?” The computer thought and finally said, “Frederica, I cannot repeat what Jill told me in confidence, but I thank you for wanting to help your friend.” Frederica then told the computer that she was going to bed, and asked him to wake if Jill needed assistance or someone to talk with.

  The computer realized that the tiny sounds its speakers had picked up were those of Jill’s voice, and it repositioned its monitor camera so it aimed towards the mattress in the center of Jill’s room where she slept. Jill was moving around on the mattress and whispering words the computer could not amplify with enough gain to understand. Suddenly, the whispers turned into screams and Jill’s body movements went from gentle to a full defensive fighting mode. Jill was actively engaged in a very vivid dream, and this time, she was up on her feet fighting her imaginary attacker.

  The objects that Jill had earlier thrown around the room were now the objects causing her injury as she fought to defend herself from the dreams mental assault. The computer quickly summoned Frederica and explained the situation in Jill’s room. Frederica quickly moved from her room into the hallway and then stood trying to enter the locked door of Jill’s quarters. Frederica spoke to the computer and the door unlocked and began to open as Frederica pushed with her shoulder. Jill had thrown a dresser against the door earlier and it was now blocking the door. Frederica repeatedly pushed on the door until the dresser moved just far enough that she could slip through the opening. Frederica yelled at the computer to turn on the fucking lights so she could see. The lights came on full brightness and it took Frederica another second or two before her eyes adjusted to the bright light.

  Frederica realized that Jill would beat her senseless if she tried to grab hold of her. Frederica decided on another approach and began screaming at Jill as loud as she could in an attempt to break the dreams hold on Jill’s mind. Jill was screaming James name and fighting with an imaginary attacker, then fell to the floor and seemed to be unconscious. Frederica screamed at Jill again and ran to her comatose body to try to find the reason she had suddenly went limp and fallen to the floor. Could she have fallen asleep, did her heart stop beating from the fear of the dream; Frederica quickly asked the computer to analyze Jill’s vitals, and then asked if Jill was still alive. In about three seconds, the computer told Frederica that Jill was very much alive and that her rapid heartbeat, her very high blood pressure and her adrenaline levels were now beginning to return to normal levels.

  Then Frederica realized that Jill was crying, even in her unconscious state, and she had tears running down her cheeks. Frederica sat quietly beside Jill and moved Jill’s hair off her face with her fingers. As she sat beside her friend wondering if she should attempt to wake her, Jill’s eyes suddenly popped open and she jumped as if badly startled. Just as quickly, she realized her cousin’s presence and her eyes showed Frederica that she was back from her dream world. Jill sat up and looked around her room, and then she looked at her hand and realized it was turning black and blue. Jill looked into Frederica’s eyes and said, “I had another dream, didn’t I?” Frederica nodded and waited for Jill to either tell her about the dreams, or dismiss them and try to act as if nothing had happened.

  Jill stood up, looked around her room and said, “This has got to stop, I need to talk to a doctor about these dreams.” Frederica said, “I think you definitely need some help, I am worried about you injuring yourself while in one of these temper tantrums or vivid dreams.” Jill said, “I cannot sleep for more than an hour a night, and sometimes not at all. I keep dreaming about the man that raped my mother and left her in the dark. I know I killed him, but he keeps coming back in my dreams to get revenge, and he now returns each night to kill Trish and James, and then he rapes and kills me. I do not understand what the dreams are trying to tell me, but I fear something bad is going to happen to Trish and James. Frederica, I think the lack of sleep is driving me insane, I have even contemplated stepping into the secure room, overriding the computer so it presses the eject button and puts an end to my life.” Jill turned her head and began to walk away, but Frederica gently put her hand on Jill’s arm and slowly pulled her back into her arms. Frederica said, “Jill, lets clean you and this room, get some food in your belly and then make a radio call to your doctor. Please Jill, will you talk to the doctor and get some help with this?” Jill began to cry but promised to talk to the doctor, and then told Frederica that she would need her help to keep her tears under control.

  It was three hours later when the travel compute moved The Empress out of hyper-flight so radio communications would work between The Empress and the planet of Quantum. As Jill talked to her doctor, Frederica sat in the copilot’s seat and carefully listened. The doctor discussed the death of the man in the secure room with Jill and made her tell him all the gory details of why she was certain the man had in fact died. Then the doctor asked Jill how the man could hurt her, Trish, or James, if he was already dead. Jill had no answer for the question, but the doctor explained that when Jill was born, the horror of her mother’s dreams had somehow transferred into her mind. How this was possible he did not know, and it mattered little. He finally told Jill, “You have killed the man that caused that fear and horror in your mother and you must find a way to convince your mind that the man is dead and cannot hurt you or your family ever again.” The doctor asked if Jill believed in ghosts coming back and haunting people, but Jill just laughed at him. The doctor said, “Then, if the man is dead, is not a ghost haunting you, then the dream has no merit, and you must dismiss it as nothing more than a dream.” The doctor asked one more question of Jill. He asked, “Do you and Trish normally sleep in the same bed?” Jill said they often did. The doctor asked if Jill had the dreams when she slept with Trish or just when she slept alone. Jill giggled, but thought for a moment and then said, “The dreams seem to only happen when I sleep alone.” The doctor asked if Jill could sleep in a bed beside Frederica until Trish returned and see if the dreams would abate. Frederica answered the question for Jill, she said, “We will rearrange the furniture when this conversation is complete.” The doctor said, “Jill, can we talk again tomorrow and we will see how tonight goes.” Jill said she would call him before noon.

  Frederica then spoke up and said, “Jill, may I ask one more question while you are talking to the doctor?” Jill said she could and Frederica took a deep breath and then said, “Doctor what is causing these horrible temper tantrums this girl goes through. She cannot continue to destroy all the furniture in her room and continue to injure her body kicking and hitting things.” Before the doctor could answer, Jill said, “I think I already know the answer to the question, and I may need the doctor’s help with that problem also.”

  Frederica and the doctor waited patiently for Jill to continue. Jill finally found the words she needed to speak and said, “I think that I have a problem in my head, I am either going completely insane, which I doubt, or I may be suffering from sleep deprivation, which is possible. Doctor, I do not think either is the root cause of my problem. I think I am having serious migraine attacks. My best-untrained guess it that these migraine headaches cause me to run from sounds, especially voices, and make me hide from light. I get so insanely upset over the noise and light that I lose control and tear my room apart trying to rid my mind of the source of my discomfort. Between my vivid dreams and my temper tantrums as Frederica put it, my quarters are taking one hell of a beating. I think stress causes the problem to become worse.”

  Jill said no more and waited for a comment from the doctor. When the doctor finally spoke, he said, “Well, the diagnosis is complete, so what medicine do you prescribe for yourself young lady?” Jill giggled and said, “I did not mean to tell you what was wrong with me doctor, I was just explaining what I thought.” The doctor laughed and said, “Jill, I understand and I will conta
ct the IFTT and teleport medicine up to The Empress to see if we can stop the next attack. Jill, have you ever given yourself an injection?” Jill answered quickly, saying she could not stick a needle into her skin. The doctor then spoke to Frederica who said, “Yes doctor I can inject Jill with the migraine medicine you send up. Will you spend just a moment and let me hear the words on the proper procedure from your lips before I have to perform the procedure. It is much better than trying to read the instructions and insuring I have interpreted the written material correctly.” The doctor explained every tiny detail and then asked Frederica to see if she could use Jill’s own hands to inject the medicine and make her feel comfortable with the procedure. The doctor said, “Jill, the needle may look as if it is 150mm long, but it in fact is only 6mm, no worse than a bee sting.” Jill said, “I think I will let Frederica do it the first time and then we will see. I am quite a baby when it comes to causing my body physical pain.” Those words struck home with Frederica and made her feel much better about the conversation over Jill killing herself earlier today.

  Within twenty minutes, the medicine arrived. It was teleported directly into the ready room instead of the cargo bay. The girls walked into the ready room and as Jill sat down she bumped her leg on a chair and was instantly pissed and swearing, then pushed the chair so hard it hit the far wall. Jill stopped, looked at the chair, sat down in the other chair at the table and thought about what she had just done. Frederica stepped up close to her and said, “Jill, does my voice piss you off right now?” Jill looked up at Frederica, and then she smiled and said, “Less right now than it did last night when I could have slapped your face every time you spoke.” Then Jill stood up, put her arms around Frederica and said, “I am sorry about the foul mood and angry outbursts, but once again I am about to jump out of my skin. When I feel this way, I lash out at anyone or anything that gets in my way or speaks to me.” Jill sat down on the chair again, but said no more.