The Off-Worlders

by George Willson

  “What gives?” a male voice said behind her. They ignored it. “Hey, come on, get out of the road! What’s wrong, are you deaf or something?”

  Michelle turned slowly with Perry to look at the man standing in the road. She looked back at the van and saw the driver had gotten out, and the passenger remained. Suddenly Perry screamed in horror as if the van were going to run him before he collapsed on the roadway. Michelle tried not to laugh, so she started screaming as well while acting like Perry had some kind of serious problem because he fainted.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” the van driver said. “Can you get him out of the road?”

  Michelle continued to act frantic, and she pretended to try and move him. She, of course, managed only to pick up his arm and put on a show in attempting to tug him out of the way but he went nowhere.

  “Come on,” the driver said with a sigh. “I’ll help you.”

  As soon as the driver touched Perry, Michelle stopped and started her freak out again over Perry being on the ground. The driver rolled his eyes and dragged Perry off the road by his wrists. Michelle tried to continue her act, but since the other guy had not ever left the vehicle, the plan was failing. He dropped Perry’s hands once he was safely on the sidewalk.

  “Now stay off the road, you freaks,” the driver said as he walked back. “And call 911 or something. God, I hate this town.”

  He got back in the van and almost peeled out as he angrily drove off. Michelle watched them leave, and Perry sat up.

  “If we did as well as I feel, we have problems,” Perry said.

  “Are you ok?” Michele asked. “He was pretty rough with you.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Perry said as he looked around. The street remained deserted. No cars were behind the van when it stopped, and no people came out to investigate the commotion. “How late is it anyway? I never get the time when we arrive places.”

  “It’s time for a new plan,” Pingrit growled. “Why didn’t the other guy ever get out?”

  “I tried,” Michelle said. “I looked like a lunatic out here, and the other guy just sat there. Poor Perry got dragged along the road.”

  “There it goes,” Pingrit said. “I need that badge to get what I need before I can leave this planet.”

  “Well, hopefully, whatever autopsy or body search is to be done will be done tomorrow,” Perry said as they turned to walk back to the warehouse to find Blake. “There is still hope to get what you need.”

  “By breaking into the station?” Michelle asked skeptically. “That hardly seems smart.”

  “We won’t have to walk through the station,” Perry said. “We just need to get to the morgue. They don’t carry bodies through the front door. They have some back entrance for that.”

  “We still have to get in said back entrance,” Pingrit said. “I can’t imagine they leave it unlocked.”

  “We may have a way of dealing with that,” Perry said. “We just have to get back to Blake, and see if he learned anything new while he wasn’t helping us.”

  They walked back to the warehouse, and once they arrived, they did not immediately find Blake. They walked around the back of the structure and found him sitting near a back corner that was closest to all the police. He looked at them as they sat next to him.

  “How’d it go?” Blake asked.

  “Not good,” Perry said. “Those coroner guys are smarter than we thought. We only managed to lure one out, and he wasn’t the gentlest of hands.”

  “So we have to find the body now, don’t we?” Blake asked.

  “I’m afraid so,” Michelle said.

  “It’ll be taken to their morgue whose location I was hoping to overhear,” Blake said. “Best I was able to determine was the county medical examiner’s office.”

  “That’s why you stayed behind?” Perry asked.

  “It was,” Blake said. “Had to make sure we had a backup plan.”

  “Did you hear anything else good here?” Pingrit asked.

  “Not really,” Blake said. “They didn’t talk about the case at all. I saw our Detective Turner again. He left shortly after the coroner van did. It’s lucky you didn’t meet him out there.”

  “That would have been awkward, yes,” Perry said.

  “That would have been catastrophic,” Blake said. “Let’s get going. I don’t think there is anything else to be gained here. They’re going to be here all night.”

  They all walked back around the warehouse to the side where they had come in, and then down the sidewalk away from the police and their investigation to Pingrit’s car.

  “So where are we going?” Perry asked.

  “Well, we need to get to the coroner’s office to root through the morgue,” Blake said. “Our best bet may be to return to the hotel for an address. I can’t imagine the average person just knowing the answer to that, and I doubt we’ll find a phone book out here.”

  They all got back into the car, and Pingrit turned it around to head back to the hotel.

  “So, Pingrit,” Blake said, “you said the criminal’s ship is in the woods right over here. Where did you leave yours?”

  “Not too far away,” Pingrit said. “Have to hide it well, so no one finds it.”

  “And the guy you’re hunting,” Blake continued, “where was he from?”

  “Oh, also Torgets,” Pingrit said. “Everyone goes home at some time, and we spotted him there. We tracked him to this system, and there is only one planet he could survive on.”

  “That does narrow it down,” Blake said. “And it took you a week to find him?”

  “About that,” Pingrit said.

  “And you happened to land in this area?” Blake asked. “Right close to where he did. That was lucky.”

  “Not really,” Pingrit said, but more slowly, as if thinking about it. “I was able to follow his descent, but once he got into the atmosphere, I lost him. His course put him in this general area, and from there, I had to try and find his ship. Once I had that, it was a matter of waiting him out.”

  “And what happens to his ship?” Blake asked. “Surely, it can’t stay on Earth. Someone will find it.”

  “There is a pickup procedure for it,” Pingrit said. “I’ve already called that in. They’ll be sending a tow ship to pick it up.”

  “Ah, that’s good,” Blake said. Pingrit seemed nervous, but he had already stated that he had made some mistakes in his procedures, and they were trying to help him clean up after himself. Beyond that, they were heading to a building of death to rifle through the pockets of a dead man. That was enough to make anyone nervous.

  CHAPTER SIX

  They arrived at the hotel and asked the attendant at the counter if there was a computer for general usage. He pointed to the office-like area to one side of the lobby where four computers sat. He indicated the login for them as being based on their room numbers, and once logged in, it only took a moment to find the address for the county coroner, which they were able to verify had the morgue as part of it. It turned out to be on the campus of the local hospital, though not in the same building. It would certainly help to explain their presence rather than parking at or near a stand alone building in the middle of nowhere.

  With this information in hand, they headed back out to Pingrit’s car and were on their way again. After a few moments, Perry leaned up on the seat behind Blake.

  “All right,” Perry said. “Spill.”

  “I’m sorry?” Blake asked.

  “Transporters,” Perry said. “Why are they illegal?”

  “How is it you all are from the Federation, and he doesn’t know that?” Pingrit asked.

  “I’m not really sure,” Blake said. “He got caught up in some Terran drama called Star Trek and obsessed over transporters or something. Didn’t have the heart to tell him it would never happen.”

  “That’s kind of sad, actually,” Pingrit said.

  “It really is,” Blake said looking annoyed with Perry. Perry shrugged.

 
“All right,” Blake sighed. “The most fundamental reason it is outlawed is because of its potential usages by criminal organization along with privacy concerns. After all, the ability to pop in and out of any place you want is an enormous security risk. With a transporter, you can get in and out of literally anywhere. That includes bank vaults, military bases, armories, underground storage bunkers - literally everywhere that security organizations don’t want you to be. Even in dealing with inanimate objects, it is problematic. Imagine being able to transport explosives into an area. You could do it in the last thirty seconds, and no one could stop it. Not only that, but no one would know who did it or where they came from. So terrorism potential is massive.

  “Another concern involves misuse of the technology when it comes to people. The way it works is you get scanned, you get disassembled, and then reassembled at the other end. But what if you skip the disassembling part? What if you only scan someone, and then reassemble them. Guess what? It’s been done. Someone had no idea they were scanned until another person came forth years later stating they were kidnapped and used as a slave for years before they escaped. However, as the original person was still around, there was no kidnapping reported, and the person essentially has a twin now.

  “That leads to the other concern, and honestly, the reason no one uses the technology. The debate over this rages to this day and will continue to rage for hundreds of years. Think about that second person for a moment. Do they exist? Do they have a soul? Are they even real? They were created by a computer system that thought it was moving someone else that was dematerialized. What happens when someone is dematerialized? Are the atoms literally converted to energy, moved, and then reassembled? Or does the system kill the person where they stand and create a perfect copy on the other end? What if you stepped into that machine and transported yourself somewhere else? Everyone around you would you get in, and you get out, but is it truly you? Does the you who stands before me legitimately remember being taken apart and reassembled? Or do you, in fact, die in the machine at that moment? And if you die, who comes out the other side? Someone just like you. Is it genuinely you? It has your voice, your clothes, your memories - everything that makes you who you are, but is it the original you? The rematerialized slaves and their source material say no. They assert that the original you is destroyed and dies. A new you with all of your memories emerges on the other end and no one is any the wiser.

  “When you consider that,” Blake said, “the idea of taking a transporter becomes a very frightening idea, don’t you think?”

  “A little, yeah,” Perry said. “Fine, I never considered that.”

  “Most people don’t,” Blake said. “The pro-transport crowd is all about how it will benefit us by advancing our access to places we can’t get today. It will save lives by pulling people out of fallen buildings and rock slides.

  “The anti-transport crowd insists that it can potentially create a race of slaves, especially if they use a single, healthy source, and that it ends the life of the user in the worst way possible. Imagine dying and never being mourned because people think you’re still alive, but it is just someone who looks like you. I’m okay never to take one.”

  “I don’t think I’ll look at Star Trek the same way again,” Michelle commented.

  “Sorry about that,” Blake said. “On the bright side, we can change the subject because we’re at the hospital.”

  Pingrit turned into the hospital complex and followed a road that appeared to circle the place.

  “According to the address,” Blake said, “it should be behind the main building in its own structure, but still on the inside of this loop. The picture on Google indicated that there was a sign.”

  “And there it is,” Perry commented as a two story building labeled “County Coroner” came into view. In order to not draw attention to themselves, they parked in a lot adjacent to the coroner’s lot. The white coroner van had parked in front, so their two guys were likely inside delivering the body.

  It took about fifteen minutes before the two men emerged from the building through a pair of automatic double doors similar to other entry ways into the hospital. The two were speaking about something no one could hear, and they paused for a short time in front of the van possibly discussing where they were going next. Eventually, they got into their vehicle, and it pulled out of the parking lot leaving it empty.

  “I say we take the easy road, to begin with,” Blake suggested as he started walking toward the building.

  “And that is?” Pingrit asked.

  “Walk in the front door and make an excuse if you’re caught,” Perry said as he followed Blake.

  “That works for you?” Pingrit asked.

  “More often than you’d think,” Blake said with a smile. Pingrit looked at Michelle who shrugged and followed the other two. Pingrit hesitated but gave in. The four of them approached the double doors like they were supposed to be there and walked right inside.

  The door pinged as they separated to allow the group to enter. Inside, there was no one. The lights were half off, the desk was empty, and the only real bright part was the hallway to the right that led into the hospital proper. They glanced at a sign on the ceiling which indicated that the morgue was downstairs. Blake pointed toward an elevator and walked over to it. He pressed the call button.

  They surveyed the area once more. The entry remained empty. Not even the sound of a janitor roaming the halls. It all seemed a bit too simple. The elevator doors opened, and they found themselves face to face with a man in a doctor coat who seemed very surprised to find four people standing outside the elevator so early in the morning.

  “Can I help you find something?” the man asked.

  “We’re meeting an old friend of ours,” Blake said. “He told me to come by, and he’d meet us here.”

  “Where?” the man asked.

  “On the second floor,” Blake said. “His office is somewhere around here. Or that’s what he said.”

  “I think you may be in the wrong part of the hospital,” the man said. “There is no one here at this time.” He stepped out of the elevator, and the doors closed behind him.

  “You’re here,” Blake said. “We’re here. I figured it’s not impossible.”

  “Who are you meeting?” the man asked.

  “Doctor … Smith,” Blake said. “Jason Smith.”

  “Jason Smith,” the man said flatly. He clearly did not believe them. “Maybe you should head back out to your car, drive around the hospital to the main front entrance, and ask them where to find your friend, Dr. Smith.”

  “He said he was going to be back here, though,” Blake insisted. “I know he did.”

  “Did he?” the man said, looking at Blake like he was an idiot. Pingrit sighed. He pressed the call button.

  “What are you doing?” the man asked. “You are not getting in this elevator.”

  “Are you actually going to stop us?” Pingrit asked as the doors opened.

  “I will contact security,” the man said. “They’ll escort you back out. You aren’t allowed in here.”

  Pingrit grabbed the man by the arms and pushed him into the elevator. He pinned him against the back wall. The three travelers looked at each other for a moment, surprised by this move.

  “Well?” Pingrit asked. “We going?”

  Blake sighed and pursed his lips, annoyed by this development. Blake picked up the man’s clipboard as they entered the elevator, and Perry pushed the button for the basement.

  “Very sorry about this, sir,” Blake said. “We really need to get in here.”

  “You are all going to jail,” the man struggled to say with his face pressed against the elevator’s back wall.

  “Well, as none of us exist,” Blake said. “That will be very difficult.”

  The doors opened in the basement hall with only a door to the morgue. They walked forward with their reluctant escort in tow. Blake tried the door, but it was locked. He turned to the man who
stood defiantly before him.

  “Well, now that we’ve got you this far,” Blake said. “You mind opening the door for us.”

  “Forget it,” the man said. Blake shook his head.

  “My friend behind you has you trapped here with us,” Blake explained. “I would rather you’d have left, but you didn’t. As such, we actually can take whatever we need from you. So either one of us reaches into your pockets to retrieve your keys, or you do it and save us some time.”

  The man did not move or respond. Blake looked to Perry. Perry patted the man down and found keys in one of his front pockets. He easily retrieved them, and there were only a few keys on the ring. Blake glanced at the lock and then the keys. It only took him two attempts to open the door. The five of them entered the morgue and turned the lights on. Blake looked at the wall of freezers and then turned to the man once more.

  “Ok, now we have a lot of choices before us,” Blake said. “You can report us a lot sooner if you tell us where you all placed the guy from tonight.”

  The man remained uncooperative. Blake turned to Perry. “Find us something we can tie him up with. We need some time to leave this place.” He turned to Michelle. “Find some files and see where they put tonight’s John Doe.”

  Perry unplugged a fan from a wall. Pingrit set the man down in a chair, and Perry tied his hands using the fan’s electrical cord. Blake grabbed some gauze off a shelf and blindfolded him.

  “This place has cameras, you know,” the man said. “Security is probably already on its way.”

  “I imagine he has a point,” Blake said. “Pingrit, I guess start checking in the units to see if you can find him. I’ll help with the paperwork side.”

  “So I watch our friend here?” Perry asked.

  “No, he’s not going anywhere,” Blake said. “Help Pingrit with checking freezers. You’re looking for one that isn’t frozen.”