by James Warner
I outlined my plan for the Hornet. It was simple, elegant and might even work, if she were willing.
We talked about it under the stars on Caryna 4, my personal choice of the prettiest planet in the system. It was the only planet I could walk about on naked in the entire star system. I set up the portable shelter and Sassy orbited above, constantly on the lookout for intruders. My internal comm-link (bionic woman, that’s me) allowed me to talk to any of the Parents’ sentient ships or stations, just by thinking about them. That included Sassy, of course.
We talked it over with Station 142, Station 3 and several others whom I had met in the last few months while doing my survey in this system. The general consensus was that if there was any remote possibility of the government claiming Sassy for research purposes, then it was of vital importance to remove her personality (soul?) from that ship and give her a new body that would not be under the claim of the Admiralty. I had to concur. But understandably, she was nervous about it. She had been “born” in that skin and wasn’t sure how the transfer would go. Station 142 tried to reassure her, but wasn’t too successful. And then Station 3 made a suggestion out of the blue, which caused us all to pause.
“Why not transfer her into a ‘droid, so she can move freely among Caryn’s associates and better experience life as most sentient beings know it?” said Station 3.
“I was informed that all ‘droids of that type had been taken in the Exodus,” commented Station 142.
Exodus? Exodus? This was the first I had heard of an Exodus. I was going to have to follow that up some time.
“No, there are three here in deep storage, as well as two in Caryn’s system on one of the Main Battle Cruisers. These are the only ones I know of personally,” replied Station 3.
I was in my bed, looking up through the transparent roof of the shelter, listening to all of this. I was half asleep and not really registering the significance of what they were saying. I kept coming back to that brief reference to an Exodus. “Why not ask her, you guys?” I interjected into the conversation. It was the last thing I remember saying, falling asleep moments later, with pictures of vast fleets of alien starships sailing off into the void, with me in command.
I woke up to a gentle rain on the transparent top of my shelter. I had forgotten how wonderful it could be to relax on a “virgin” world. I hadn’t done so for at least, oh, nine or ten years. Not since I graduated the Academy, at any rate. The smell of vegetation getting watered naturally was one of my favorites.
I stretched languidly, all thoughts of civilization momentarily forgotten in the luxuriousness of the primitive jungle around me, the soft warm rain pattering on the roof and the various green colors of absolute quiet surrounding me here in my clearing on Caryna 4.
“Excuse me, Caryn, but we have a matter of some urgency to be considered.” The gentle probe of Sassy’s thoughts into mine was unobtrusive. I was reminded of a friend at the Academy who went around with me everywhere. We were like sisters and I was sad to part from her when we received our first assignments. The Hornet’s thought was like that, filled with friendship.
“It’s no problem, Sassy. I have just been enjoying the scenery here. It’s a much needed rest and relaxation for me, as you know.”
“Yes.”
“So what’s up?”
“We have been monitoring communications concerning your claim here and it appears that there are a number of communications concerning me between various members of the Admiralty on their secret lines. I think, although I am frankly afraid, we will have to make a transfer of me to another body. But if I am to be transferred into a bipedal form, then you will have to participate. Your knowledge and memories of behavior as a human will be needed for the transfer, since I know nothing of these things. I’m sorry for bringing this up so early in the morning, but from the amount of starship activity in our direction, we are likely to have visitors from the Admiralty within a few of this planet’s days.”
Oh dear. My participation? Now I was getting nervous. “How about going into one of the ships?”
“We discussed that while you were asleep. The Admiralty’s frame of mind suggests a show of strength will be employed if you were to resist their demands, no matter how illegal they were. The best way to hide me from them would be in a humanoid body, of which there are four female and two male ‘droid units available. Since I like you, I asked for a female ‘droid to be modified and brought up for your approval. It is outside.”
“This is moving a bit fast for me without any breakfast. Look, since it has stopped raining, why don’t I eat breakfast outside and I can look at the ‘droid while enjoying the morning.”
“Great, Caryn!”
Enthusiasm from my trusted old starship? Well, there was little doubt that she was sentient now and she was in fact a brainship. I decided to put off the problem of my “participation” in the mind meld, or whatever they had planned for me and just take it one step at a time. So I stepped out onto the still damp grass, naked as the day I was born and let my body breathe the clean fresh morning air.
And, there before me, was an attractive red-haired woman, of about my age. I was totally startled and began to flush in embarrassment and then I realized that I was looking at the “droid”. If this was a ‘droid, my body was a ‘droid! As a matter of fact, perhaps my body was a ‘droid. I hadn’t ever looked at it like that before.
I walked over to her and studied her carefully. She looked somehow familiar. She had hair and eyebrows, all of which was perfectly normal looking. I brushed my fingers through the rich red hair. It was thick, but certainly not wiry. Kind of like a good wig, but firmly embedded into the fleshcolored whatever it was this ‘droid used for skin. The body, I guess I have to call it a body, was slightly cold to the touch, but not clammy. It was a bit wet from the rain. During my inspection my mind was conspicuously quiet. They were all waiting there for me to pronounce judgment. It was a responsibility I was unsure of, but not unwilling to assume. I was, after all, a very attractive human female myself and should be a good judge of construction of this body.
I pinched its skin and there was a mark left and the feel and texture of the subsurface muscles and fat layer were very realistic. I could not tell if I closed my eyes, that this was not human skin.
I pinched the buttocks and felt a satisfactory fat layer there. It seemed everything was reproduced, down to the smallest detail. She even had the proper holes for excrement and birth, although I doubted that this body could reproduce, or maybe even needed food, since they called it a ‘droid.
“Okay folks. This body passes my cursory examination. It appears fully human, on the outside. Can it reproduce? Does it need food? How well is the internal human structure duplicated? And what is it made of? And why isn’t it ten feet tall? Is this a Parent?”
“This structure,” Station 3 began, “is a very close duplication of the structure designed by who you call the Parents. It is one of a series of ten thousand prototypes of Homo sapiens sapiens with which all the genetic material was worked out. Of course, once the genetic systems were put into place, the variations were infinite with so many prototypes. This structure is capable of all normal biological functions except reproduction, those items not being possible with the prototypes. Since it is a finished prototype, all bodily functions including digestion, circulation, the neurological system, erogenous system and so forth are operating. This prototype can engage in any activity a human can perform. It is for all practical purposes a human, so far as could be discerned by a cursory examination. Currently it is not activated by a life force and so is what would be called dead by your biological sciences. However, through the mechanisms installed inside it metabolic circulation is maintained. It has been in storage for the last twenty thousand years and has a life expectancy of about two thousand years before the decay of the maintenance systems inside it make total restoration impossible. The prototypes do not grow old as you refer to the term. They just cease functioning when opera
ting parameters go below a certain point. There is plenty of warning and it is not likely your friend would have any trouble moving into another structure such as a ship or ‘droid should the need arise. There is a backup storage system for the memories should the prototype be damaged beyond repair, to ensure transfer of the life force and mind are possible. Only total destruction will make recovery impossible. This prototype has been adjusted to match the genome of the Silver Hornet’s brain.”
“I see. What is my part in all this?”
“You have memory of a lifetime of activity as a human being, within the current society your friend will be operating. In order for the Silver Hornet’s personality and spirit to properly operate in the current environment your memories will have to be given to her. This will not be harmful to you and will not in any way change your own memories, but instead, your life memories will be copied into her memory system. This will allow her to assimilate them and develop a personality of her own that will also be necessary for her to remain safely inconspicuous while she adjusts to the shock of the new existence we are giving her.”
“Okay, I see from all this that you have thought of everything. So what has to happen next?”
“The device you retain in your head is capable of accomplishing the transfer. You will have to relax completely. The procedure will take about two of this planet’s hours to complete. It would be better if you both slept through the procedure. When completed successfully, we will permanently install a robotic system in your ship to replace her. You will have the choice of any of the ships here as your own to use from now on. Of course, your new friend will have the same communications capabilities with us she has always had, which will be the same as yours. Your new ship can be programmed any way you like and your new friend should do this for you, since she will be much more capable than you in such matters.”
“I see that in some respects she will have a superior physical structure than mine. She will certainly last much longer than I will. Can anything be done about that?”
“We have foreseen this question. With the capability of reproduction comes a faster degeneration in your operating systems. However, with proper balancing your body can remain in its present state of maturity until death, rather than growing old as is normal with your species. Growing old is mostly a result from the imbalance in your immune system from the incorrectly balanced foods you eat and drink. We can give you a formula easily manufactured that, along with better quality foods from your ship’s synthesizer, will prolong your lifespan to approximately two hundred years. At that time you will be given the same options which those you call the Parents had available to them. More about this cannot be said at this time.”
‘More about this cannot be said at this time?’ What was that supposed to mean? I noticed another, more conventional ‘droid moving toward us.
“Lie down in the tent on your bed and we will bring in your friend for programming,” the droid said to me in Parent.
I guess we needed to be in close proximity to eliminate possible interference from outside sources when the transfer/copy was made. What did the station mean about the option being available to the Parents? I was so nervous I could hardly walk and welcomed a chance to lie down.
The ‘droid brought, well, what was I going to call her? The body for now, I guess, into the shelter and laid her down on a cot next to mine. Funny she seemed so familiar. By this time I was falling asleep, perhaps helped by the Parents’ machines, perhaps not. Anyway I did not feel the transfer take place, nor anything else for that matter. I did have a dream about Fred and a sultry redhead and I distinctly recall a low, sensuous chuckle from somewhere when I was yelling that no one was going to take my man away from me. But it was a dream, wasn’t it?
Chapter 14.
I woke up refreshed, but puzzled. I didn’t know where I was, or what I had been doing before I went to sleep. And it was obviously afternoon outside. Then it all came back with a roar. I looked over at the girl next to me, as naked as I, and she had a healthy pink glow to her. Very different than when I had last seen her. She appeared to be asleep.
“Please do not disturb her now, Daughter. Much has happened while you two have slept. The transmigration has not been easy for her and she will need several more hours sleep to fully recover from the shock of losing the sensory inputs she had as a brainship. You and I are on a private line at this time and I must tell you that you have assumed a tremendous responsibility. We were not sure you would be able to carry it successfully, but after examining your mind we are quite confident that this further experiment will be successful.”
Further experiment???
“In addition to all this, your new ship has been prepared and will be programmed by your new friend when she is ready. This should be in a couple days, after you two have had a chance to get to know each other again. Please do not worry about disturbances from elsewhere. We will see that you are not disturbed here until you are both ready to face your trials. There will be enough of those to keep you both busy for some time.”
And just like that, all communication ceased. It was apparently a firm hint that I should go fly a kite or something. What did they mean ‘trials’?
Since it was still light out, I decided to go exploring around here and soak up some of the fabulous sunshine available on this world. The light spectrum was exactly the same as Earth’s, so I knew my body would find it, well, refreshing. So I snuck out of the shelter, being careful to close the doorway, after tossing on some shorts and moccasins. I had made the moccasins from skins and a kit I had purchased on Last Chance. The shorts were general issue.
Outside, I set off at a brisk pace. Walking is the best way I know of to think. The physical exercise somehow extroverts me from day to day concerns and I can more clearly address a problem that requires a complicated solution. And this one was going to be very complicated, I could see.
First of all, my new friend was prettier than me. Oh, not by much and it would always be a matter of taste between blonde and redhead, but frankly, redheads with perfect bodies have always been the most rare species in the known universe. And now I had one for a friend. This scarcity often turned a man’s head, even if he wouldn’t otherwise be interested. It had happened to me once before, at the Academy, where a guy I was interested in (not seriously) jumped ship at one of the dances for a pretty redhead (who I didn’t like anyway) and I was stuck without a date. As it turned out, her date was much more my type than the guy I was with, so I wasn’t too disappointed. He took me home to his place and that is another, very interesting story.
So all right, I was sometimes a little bit jealous. But this woman was going to be my friend, ward and probably confidant, as she had been before. So I was bound to like her a lot. And being infertile, she wasn’t going to be serious competition, in the overall scheme of the human race. So I guess I could put aside the petty feelings. That left what to do with her. How to explain her to everyone and most of all, what to do about my next tour of duty?
I was going to need a new First Mate, unless Meph requested to sign on. And that would be an interesting situation. Besides, I hadn’t the faintest idea of what kind of ship I was going to be inheriting; and what was to become of the Hornet? So, as I walked up a small hill through the trees and brush, I decided to forget the whole thing and enjoy the sunset. It was the best I could do at the moment.
I sat down on a large rock at the top of the hill that gave me an unobstructed view of the horizon as the sun was setting. There were a few clouds in the distance, making a very nice and colorful picture with the sky, sun and green jungle stretching out below.
I sat there for about four hours, enjoying the cooling tropical breeze from the jungle, clearing my mind of everything but the sun slowly setting and the small sounds of the evening creatures moving around me. My back was propped against a rock and it felt nice and warm from the afternoon sun. My skin had a slightly sweaty warmth as I noticed the heat radiating from it into the cooling air.
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A sound behind me brought me more alert. It was only someone walking. SOMEONE WALKING? I jerked around, almost falling off the rock, to see. It was what’s-her-name, slowly and carefully walking toward me, hanging on for dear life to the rocks as she moved. I watched with a clinical eye. I couldn’t help it. She was quite graceful, while also being awkward. I could guess that she was having a bit of trouble on the uneven surface of the rocks. Her right knee was slightly skinned and I could see tears in her eyes. But also strength and resolution to complete what she had set out to do.
I watched in admiration. This was a friend indeed, to risk all after just being “born” to visit me here. I held out my hand to her to help her up to the rock beside me. She was heavy! I hadn’t realized that she was in as good physical shape as me and almost exactly the same size. A big girl, for sure. She crawled up the rock to my side, slightly scraping the hurt knee again. She winced at that, but didn’t hesitate. As she got to the flat place where I had been sitting she stumbled and we fell back together.
I laughed and she laughed and we looked at each other. I could see the love in her eyes. No ‘droid this, but a fully feeling, caring person. I hugged her tight and cried a little too. I couldn’t help feeling the empathy. Then I heard her voice in my head. “Caryn?” It was the Hornet, Sassy, but not the Hornet. There was more life there than I remembered, but the inflection was recognizable. Did we now have telepathy? No, it was the communicators we both had implanted. So I spoke out loud.
