by Unknown
“I can take you there, but…in return, you have to agree to let me go.”
“Is that all?”
“And not report me of course...Leave me out of all your reports, of course…”
“Like you do not exist at all, huh?”
“Yes...that is the condition. That is the price you pay if you want to find out what that is. Otherwise, you might as well take that gun out and shoot me. I would be as good as dead anyway, you know that.”
The doctor knew he had a deal before Val said 'okay'.
…
They flew more than 10 miles east, offshore, at the point where no land can be seen. Suddenly they stopped and start hovering around the spot which to Val appeared to be no different than any other part of the dark blue sea. But as they slowly descended down, the blue painted submarine suddenly emerged from the water, and opened its three feet wide top.
“I guess it makes a perfect sense. If you are going to hide, might as well do it where no radar can detect you. I guess that is where you were rushing when they picked you off the marina.”
“Yes...I should have used a jetter, but they draw a lot of attention. So I have a boat in marina that can take me out to the sea where I can get on this submarine.”
“I bet this is all illegal…”
“Well…It actually descends all 2000 yards down to the sea floor. There I can always work in peace.” Doctor Lija opened the main door and let Val through.
“How long do you have this place?” Val asked surprised to see its newly polished interiors..
“I've been perfecting it for the last 20 years.”
“We do not need to go down, all the way to the seabed...all I need are the answers, and then I will leave you alone to yourself like I promised.”
“Okay, then come this way,” the doctor said and lead him to the stairs which opened to an enormous lab underneath.
“Can I have the sample you showed me?” As Val passed it over, doctor placed it inside the glass container that slid into oversized two feet long scanner.
It took few moments for the whole machine to power up.
“The process might take anywhere from few minutes to hours to be able to recognize its generic code.”
Suddenly a thought appeared inside Val's head. It was just a thought, but extremely disturbing one.
What if I never come out of this alive...he thought as he stared at the doctor with his finger making sure the gun was right where it should be.
The doctor is more than meets the eye...certainly is crazy. He held his thought as he looked around.
Would he trust me with his secret? Would I trust myself with it? He is one crazy guy, trusts nobody...
“Doctor, what exactly is that?” Val asked a doctor who turned around and looked at Val's finger pointing to a seven feet tall metal capsule connected with inches thick cables to his work desk.
“This is where I make them. “ He said.
This man is sick, seriously sick thought Val.
“I bet you can make anything you want in there?”
“Yes, pretty much,” he said. “As long as it is engineered properly and I have all the plans…I have a farm of Rashwin seaweeds on a seabed. When that is processed, it almost perfectly can mimic human skin. Actually, the sea gives me all the organic material to print any humanoid I want. I never have to look for parts anywhere else.
“Before you were born, thousand years ago, there were thousands of these machines. But they were all so complex and would require constant upkeep. More simple models were created that were more efficient, the ones that you've probably have seen yourself since you were part of the Modern Revolution...Yes, the Modern Revolution, the one that outlawed thousands of innovations and their machines, the one that standardized how humans should look like and how they have to behave.”
“Were you part of the resistance?”
“If I was, would that change anything?” ...doctor suddenly got very careful with the words,
“No, I guess it would not...So tell me doctor, how long does it take to make a humanoid?
“Two hours or so for the whole body with about an hour for uploading the memories.
“I understand that of course.
“Only two hours?” Val was ever impressed, shook his head affirmatively, watching doctor's every move. “That is very impressive...my last body took over 10 years to grow and then a whole month to transfer my memories to it.
“You understand that the humanoid has only the limited capacity to think, answer questions, function normally to a degree, but it is not a replica of you. It cannot do mental work on the same level as you. And also, it is not telepathically connected with you…”
“I understand how they work perfectly. Actually, if I was you, there are a few things I would change about their design…” Val had to stop himself
“When was the last time you used the machine?” he asked after a while of examining its wiring.
“I rather not answer that. But it does work. I guarantee it.”
“This material that you gave me…Well, initial analysis says that it says it is organic, its pattern reveals that it is irregular, imperfect, so no machine can do this…this is naturally created material.”
Val sharply turned his head to the right. The noise that started to creep behind the closed door sounded inhuman, scratching, breathing. He didn’t even realize but the gun was already out in his hand following the sound…
“What is that?”
“That…that you don’t need to worry about. This is what you need to worry about…” the doctor answered pointing at the picture.
“What in the name of darkspace is that?”
“That being…it says its full name is Siritus Lixus…it says it has been extinct for over 2 thousand years. The last live sample was removed from a private zoo some 1500 years ago…It originated from the planet of Daritttis, on the edge of our empire. It seems they were highly intelligent creatures which enjoyed eating anything made of protein and…weirdly, their favorite food was actually considered to be a human flash.
“Crap! What the hell were they doing on that ship?”
“That I can’t answer you. I do not know.”
Val was getting more and more nervous by every moment as the sound behind the closed door grew louder and louder. He couldn’t concentrate.
“Could you duplicate one of those?”
“If I had a full schematics of it, maybe…but it would take me years to do so…and naturally, they would only be androids, not a real thing…that’s my hobby, you understand…” the doctor said as he understood what Val was asking, “I can only make androids, not a full breathing beings, you understand the difference? “
“Of course…”
What, what the hell is going on? Val’s head started to split with pain.
“Where…where do you think I can find them…actually, can you give me a list of places that had last samples of these creatures?”
“That may be harder and take some time. It would take me a long time to go over old records and find references for them.” Doctor started to get more talkative, speaking fast, but then a loud bang shook the door violently, almost bringing it down.
“Just calm down, just calm down! I can explain everything!” the doctor yelled, panicking as he saw Val ready to shoot.
“This is just my pet…” the doctor said as he opened the door and let a huge furry ball that ran on four feet, not taller than Val’s knees, come through. He jumped on the doctor with his long wet tongue sticking out
“That is my ‘Emperor’. He is just my pet.” Doctor tried to explain as the happy animal waved its tail, jumped again on the doctor and started to lick his hands, and face as the doctor bended over to hug him.
“What do you call that thing?”
“It is just a dog…Emferos dog, that is all it is.”
Val, watching how Emperor was jumping and licking doctor’s face, felt strangely relieved and decided to take his finger off th
e trigger. That much love that an animal shows to his keeper might be sick, but sure can’t be dangerous.
“You are one crazy spacer, doctor!”
Emperor went to Val and with a friendly gesture, sniffed his hand before licking it. Val could not even see dog’s eyes, but felt a strange connection with the animal.
“He is adorable, isn’t he?”
“You are full of surprises…Did you make it?”
“No, no, of course not! This is a living being, not a machine. It’s one of a kind…”
Val patted furry head the way he saw the doctor do it. Then he turned his whole concentration back to the doctor.
“Well, doc, this is all great. But before I go, I have just one more thing to ask from you...”
Chapter 17 Planet Pluk
Whatever you do, do not look back, do not look down…don’t even think about it, don’t even…just stare at the point in front of you. That is that…you can make it, just stare at that point and think how light you are, like a feather in the wind. Mikka was saying to herself, trying to calm herself down.
What was around her caused a feeling of terror to echo throughout her body, cramping her muscles, making her heart race. She was walking on an iron bean that once served as a construction backbone to a glamorously tall glass building. Now it was all half ruined, half to be ruined very soon. It was slippery, and suddenly very unstable. The wind was ready to pick her up and send her to her death hundreds of feet below.
Ten feet to the back of her were 3 men who were eager to get their hands on her. They were actually looking forward to get their teeth into her, eat her, raw or cooked, probably didn’t matter to them. She was sure of that. She saw them eat some other fellow, turning him over a spit like he was a hog or a sheep. not even waiting for the roast to be finished, eating most of the body half raw.
No worry about being raped there…she thought as she saw their bloodied mouth below their crazy burning looking eyes.
She really didn’t want to disturb them. But she was attracted by a promise of the warmth of a burning fire. And she was careless to get too close to be noticed. Ten of them raced after her as soon as she was spotted.
She dropped the two fastest by sticking a shaft into their thoughts. The other two, who followed behind had weapons, long sharpened pieces of wood. But she danced around them, broke the neck of one, the hand of the other, and decided to put their sticks into two other cannibals running after her.
She knew she was left all to herself. Nobody could help her. If she was to live, she would have to kill them all.
So she raced into ruins, and started to climb up.
Higher, higher she thought as she climbed. She was a cat, and climbing came easy.
Seeing her pursuers being all separated, she remembered why her instinct pushed her to climb up. She was a cat, a lizard, a spider. She would not fall down. Each new step of hers was more secure than the last one. Here, she could fight them all one by one.
One of the man climbed almost as good as she did, maybe even better. She was just a hand reach away. As she slowed down, he pulled on the same bean, and with a crazy grin on his face thought he finally had her.
He is really not much of a man, Mikka thought as she looked at him, more a beast with the lunatic shine in his eyes, human blood on a wild beard, marks of the human flash he consumed. In a twisted rage, the man opened his mouth, and let out a cry of victory. A few of the teeth he had in there seemed sharpened, pointing.
She ran to him, jumped up and held for a split of a second on a bean above before landing a leg kick to the man’s head, knocking him off. The man screamed inhumanly all the way down.
The next best climbers met her boots as soon as they reached the height which guaranteed a death to anyone who fell to the ground. But as they died, their dying screams made others cautious.
What part of her would they have first? She thought of it, but instead of an answer, she decided that the time for playing was over.
She was soaked by the rain and trembled in the wind, and suddenly not so sure of herself. Did she go to high? Why didn’t she just kill them all below?
What if there were 30, 40 of them? Maybe even hundred. If she had a sword, that would present no problem. Should have got myself a better weapon as soon as I landed, not just a shaft, she thought in regret.
But no more time for thinking. Just act.
The three which were after her seemed much more capable of planning things out. They tried to circle her, attack her at once. So that was the plan, she thought.
She emptied her mind of feelings, thought about jump kicking the one that was behind her, how she would fly through the air and have her hands grab the beam ten feet below. She did just that.
She started to climb down. It was much slower than going up. That was always more difficult. But the two that were still not ready to give up followed even slower, and she knew she could lose them if she wanted to. But that would just not do. She waited for them to get on the same beam with them. As they thought to keep their balance, it was easy for her to slam into their legs and knees, knocking them down.
After she came down to the ground, she felt tired. The bodies that fell down were all without life. One of them had something that could even pass as a knife. She took it.
Not much of a weapon was there on those men. So, she decided to take all the shanks she could get her hands on. If nothing else, they would be good to make a spear.
At that time, the sweetest voice she had ever heard made her turn around.
“You need to hide, the others are coming,” the voice said.
A little girl was standing next to a sewage shaft, half covered in dirt, half covered by long hair which once might have been blond color. -Hundreds of them, armed. The girl continued not really understanding why Mikka was not ready to move.
So, Mikka decided to follow her. In the shaft they went, to the sewage of what was once a great city. She followed her going through the tunnels until they finally got out on a bank of a river
“Who were those men?” Mikka asked the girl for the first time.
“Those were wolferines…they like human flash. You must be new here.”
“Yes, they released me a day ago.” A flashback of the day past rushed inside her head. 40 of them were there in that police transporter. Before it could even touch the ground, a police captain who stood header taller than her, picked her up and threw her out. It was the same guy who tried to rape her just an hour before. She kicked him then with her head, braking his nose. She would bid into his throat and ripped it out if he didn’t slammed his stunner into her right away, then kicked her to the point of her losing consciousness.
“No, leave her here by herself, Leave her as a prize for Wiskas. We’ll drop the others elsewhere.” The bastard with the broken nose yelled hoping that Mikka broke a few bones on her fall down.
As the chopper left, her electrical cuffs which immobilized her whole body suddenly fell off.
“Who is Wiskas?” Mikka asked the little girl.
“He is wolferines’ leader. He likes women I think…You won’t last long when they come. They have better weapons.”
“Listen, I need to get out of this place.”
“Nobody gets off Pluk. People only come, get eaten…nobody leaves.”
“We’ll see about that…Where are your parents, who is taking care of you?”
The girl eyes well to the floor, would not answer, and Mikka understood all too well.
“I’m alone,” she said in the end, “I’ve seen you how you killed those men. You killed over 15 of them. I wish I could do that. I bet my dad could have killed them all, if…”
“Are prisoner drops always random? Do they drop here prisoners everywhere?”
“Yes, everywhere…”
They said they left me there as a prize for Wiskas…that means there is contacts between them.
“And there is nothing to eat?”
“You can eat berries, and a fish if
you catch it. If you go and dig gold, you can sell it, and buy other food.”
Okay, so that means that trading is taking place, and if it is gold, that means they eventually do go to the certain place and land down.
“We need to go where they sell gold. Do you know the place?”
“Yes…I can take you there, but…”
Suddenly the girl got very quiet.
Smart girl, Mikka said. “Okay, what do you want?” Mikka asked but she knew before she did what it meant.
“You teach me how to fight like you.: The answer surprised Mikka. She expected something completely else.
“I thought you would ask to be taken out of here.”
“Why? So I can be a victim elsewhere. I have nowhere to go. But if I could kill like you can….”
That is smart, Mikka admitted with the approval.
“I can do that,” she said and liked the idea instantly. She didn’t think about responsibility of it, just that she liked the idea.
“What is your name?”
“They called me Silent.”
“Nice to meet you Silent. I am Mikka. Now which way do we go?” Mikka bended toward the water, smelled it, then decided to drink some. She took a round stone, and started to sharpen her knife.
“This way…” Silent said pointing up the river.
They walked quietly next to the water, Silent leading the way and Mikka constantly looking around for possible threats. Everything seemed unnaturally quiet and peaceful, and that made Mikka nervous.
“We are here in the open, left for everyone to see. We better move into those woods, and continue walking there. They should provide good cover.” Just as soon as she said that, a horrific distant human screams made Silent tremble.
Mikka took her hand. “They cannot hurt you now,” she said with the voice she never knew could be so soft.
Mikka knew that the police ship that dropped them down wasn’t going straight back in space. Sure they were under the orders never to land, but obviously they were landing, and trading, and…she remembered something else.
