Dr Morgan

by Terry M. West

  The silent and elegant cat took the spot he had claimed at the fire. It stared at him calmly.

  "Morgan." Its emerald eyes glowed in the flames.

  A soft voice repeated itself in the quiet of his room. "Morgan."

  He opened his eyes and Vivian stood over him. She wore a sleep gown and was smiling.

  Dr. Morgan sat up. He was confused. "Vivian, what are you doing here?"

  Vivian dropped her robe. Dr. Morgan examined her nude body in the low light. She reached over and pulled his sheet away.

  "It-it isn't allowed," Dr. Morgan stammered.

  "So stop me. You're much stronger than I."

  Vivian climbed on top of him. She bent down and kissed him. Her hot mouth tasted like coffee and mint. She ran her hands down his scarred chest.

  "We could be harshly reprimanded for this." But Dr. Morgan had already melted into her.

  "After all we spoke of earlier, the punishment for this is the thing you fear? I am your doctor. Your breeding license was added to your file a few hours ago," she assured him.

  She tugged his boxers down and lowered herself onto him. He gasped, having never felt the moist clutch of a woman before.

  He came very quickly, tears sneaking from the corners of his eyes. It was glorious. But he had invested enough in holoporn to know the length it normally went.

  "I am sorry…"

  "Shhh," she whispered, perched on him as his seed continued to spill into her in periodic shudders. "I'd be insulted if you took longer, considering this is your first time. I'll expect more from you with experience."

  She reached down to her robe and pulled a hand scanner to the bed. "Morgan, do you trust me?"

  "Yes. Very much."

  "I need to show you things. It'll be easier and safer to communicate through your inhibitor."

  "What do you want to show me, Vivian?" Dr. Morgan said.

  "What you are really fighting for," she said. "I want to show you the truth."

  Dr. Morgan began to question the point of her visit. "Is this why you've seduced me? I have feelings for you, but this a heartbreaking and treacherous thing you've done."

  Vivian set the scanner aside and grasped his cheeks. "I have wanted you since the day you came out of the pod, Dr. Morgan. Couldn't you see that? I came to you tonight because I may not have another chance to make love to you after tomorrow. Do you want to know why?"

  Dr. Morgan peered into her eyes, a place his soul belonged, and he gave her a soft answer. "Yes."

  "Then pick up your head. We have a lot to discuss."

  Dr. Morgan lifted his head from the pillow. Vivian waved the scanner over his inhibitor.

  He lowered his head back to the pillow. Vivian stood and put her robe back on.

  Dr. Morgan stared at her. He was confused. "What is to happen, Vivian?"

  "It has happened. You are now asleep. This is a dream. I am speaking to you through your inhibitor. You may not be aware, but it is possible to converse through it. That's another secret I've held from the Chancellor."

  She pulled his pants and shirt from a chair and threw them to him. "Put these on and follow me."

  Dr. Morgan dressed quickly and Vivian led him out of his quarters, to the dark and empty hall. She took him, by his hand, to where the Sleepers were stored. The electronic doors parted for them, and they went to the observation room. Inside, a huge window looked out over the cryogenic coffins. Fog had frozen the windows on each unit, obscuring the quiet faces that slumbered within.

  "Look at this." Vivian turned on a monitor. Green lines arced and danced.

  "What is it?" Dr. Morgan asked.

  "It's their brainwaves."

  Dr. Morgan looked back to the Sleepers. He shook his head in frightened denial. "No, that's not possible. The Sleepers in the Cold do not dream."

  "It's a lie, Morgan. One I've lived with for a very long time," Vivian said.

  "We were told the Sleepers were just meat. That there was no brain or soul in them," Dr. Morgan said, growing ill. "The ritual of the last supper, eating a fallen brother. That is an agreement made between soldiers. But this. Growing these people and slaughtering them for a meal. It's disgusting."

  "When the 45th first took to the bunkers, many of them had Sleepers. They were important people who went into the cold. Many were dead or had incurable ailments. They paid fortunes to be frozen until such time that they could be resuscitated and cured. After the war, there wasn't much that the survivors could eat that wasn't deadly from the radiation. So they ate the Sleepers. And the 45th used cells of the Sleepers to grow more. They are what you came from, Morgan. There weren't many of the 45th left after the war. They turned to the Sleepers to build an army and feed themselves."

  "But why not purge the brains? Like they insist their scientists do."

  "The Engineered and the Sleepers are created by the same science. The process isn't adaptable. Not with our limited resources. The 45th decided it was better to let the people believe the lie. And honestly, I think the elite find perverse pleasure in it."

  "How do you know about this? All of the history of the 45th was destroyed in the library," Dr. Morgan asked.

  "I've seen records. Reports. They are buried in our main network. Cloaked, so that the Chancellor does not find them. There are many bred who have known the atrocities of the 45th for a very long time. We know, and we want to put an end to it all."

  Vivian pressed her hand against Dr. Morgan's cheek. "Brace yourself. I am uploading the records to your inhibitor now."

  Dr. Morgan gasped as images rushed through his head. He saw all of it. The news reports. The videos. He saw how the 45th dismantled freedom and turned the world against itself. He saw the rockets launching. The wreckage of humans scattered among burned cities. He saw reporters spreading the truth and being assassinated, live on video, by soldiers. Great masses of people who prayed toward their holiest city were marched into death camps. The oceans were blackened by fossil fuel. Glaciers melted and drowned a good portion of the world.

  When he came out of it, Dr. Morgan sat in a tech chair and gripped his head. "This is a nightmare. All of it."

  "The cataclysm had nothing to do with God," Vivian confided. "It was about greed. It's always been about greed. The 45th wasn't a prophet. He was a narcissistic fascist who plundered first our country and then our world for all he could. He let industrialists pollute the air, land, and water. He let people grow sick and die while he and his affluent cabal grew wealthier. He used hate. And he used it well. He encouraged people to despise and fear each other solely on creed and color. He set brother against brother, state against state, nation against nation. Until it was all undone. He was a monster."

  Vivian knelt and touched his knees. "I know this is much to absorb. But you have to listen, Morgan. You have to hear it all. A violent upheaval and protest is going to occur in hours. And you need to be prepared for it."

  "And how do you intend to fight the Chancellor and the Red Guard?" Dr. Morgan asked.

  "Many of the naturally bred are armed and ready to move. Doctors, scientists, teachers."

  "Those you have convinced to join this suicide mission won't have a chance against the Red Guard. There are at least a thousand soldiers in this bunker."

  "I can shut every Engineered down with a button. I'll overtax their inhibitors. They won't be able to do more than piss themselves and die."

  The landscape of the dream shifted. He and Vivian stood in the large quarters where hundreds of the Red Guard were bunked for the night.

  Vivian held up a trigger box. "I've put a shield on your frequency, so this won't harm you. Watch." She pressed a button.

  The sleeping forms of the Red Guard shook, as if caught in intense seizures. When she released the button, they stilled. Some leaked smoke from their ears.

  Dr. Morgan stared stoically at this barrack turned morgue. "These were my brothers. Comrades."

  "There was no other way to clear them from the chessboard," Vivian said. "I am s
orry."

  "Maybe this is a kindness," Dr. Morgan said. "At least they went in their sleep."

  The dream setting flipped back to the cryogenics lab.

  "You've eliminated the Red Guard. But what about the Elite Guard? They aren't many, but they are skilled and ruthless."

  "The topsiders will be helping. I've told them about the hatch you saw. They plan on attacking at dawn."

  "You've conspired with the enemy?"

  "You've heard of the server that has been shutting down non-essential programs?"

  Morgan nodded. "Yes. I heard on the news."

  "We've been using it to communicate with them. Taima's people. There is something else you need to know, Morgan. I have been weakening your inhibitor for some time."

  Dr. Morgan gave her an incredulous look. "What? Why?"

  "I saw something in your waves. A deviation in the prefontal cortex. When Taima found you, it was because I had led him. He contacted me when his daughter fell ill. I told him about you. That you were in the capitol. I wanted you to see the topsiders. Hear them. Decide for yourself if they were the demons you had thought them. It was important that you understand. Unfortunately, I underestimated the Red Guard. I didn't think they could track your weak signal in the storm. It is my fault Taima is dead."

  "You're going to be responsible for more death than that. What's the point of all of this, Vivian? What is your goal?"

  She motioned to the Sleepers. "They are. The Sleepers have no lifebrand or inhibitor installed. They're pure. Clean. And there are many out there in bunkers. The resistance is joining the topsiders and we are going to wake them up, Morgan. The topsiders will make the world healthy again. They have had success in growing edible food, and they'll share it. So we don't have to eat each other. The atmosphere is not nearly as deadly as it was. We'll need our masks when the storms come, but not for as long as you think. We'll take care of the world, this time. We will heal it until it welcomes us back up top without a hazard suit. Think of it. No one to tell us when or if we can breed. No more lifebrands or inhibitors. We can make our own choices. We can fix it all."

  Dr. Morgan liked the sound of it. Even if he hadn't, he still would have followed this woman who he completely adored. Dying for her had much more honor attached it. "What do you want me to do?"

  "General Workman must die. The Chancellor must be brought here, to the Sleepers. He is the only who has the code to wake them. To truly wake them. They'll trust you in the melee. They may even want a medic close. Kill whoever protects them."

  "My inhibitor, even at its lowest ebb, won't allow the murder of my superiors."

  "When this message is over, I am going to quietly shut it down. I could have done it at any time."

  Dr. Morgan ran it all in his head. He'd rather die than be stuck there. If the 45th were willing to erect monuments to the murderous buffoon he had seen in the files, he wanted no part of them. "I'll attempt it. And if we fail, I hope there is a paradise that will pardon us for this."

  Vivian smiled and hugged him.

  "When you wake, look under your bed."

  Her voice melted in the darkness and sleep overtook his mind.

  ***

  Dr. Morgan was dressed for the fall, and he stood on a mountain top. Yellow and red foliage expanded as far as his eyes could reach. He had an ax perched on his right shoulder, and a pile of kindling was collected near him.

  Morgan.

  It was the woman's voice again. He turned but no one was there. He shook it off and went back to his view.

  A gentle hand took his arm. He looked and it was Vivian. She wore a dress and sweater. Her large belly held their child. Behind them, smoke coughed from the brick chimney of their modest cabin.

  "Did you call my name a second ago?" he asked his wife.

  "No," Vivian said.

  They kissed and returned their eyes to the scenery.

  "Isn't it glorious?" Vivian asked.

  "Yes," he agreed.

  "It's like looking God in the face," Vivian said, tucking in closer to him.

  Alarms woke him. He heard thunderous footfalls in the main walkway. Gunfire rang outside his door.

  Dr. Morgan looked under his mattress. A steel weapon case rested there. He pulled it out and opened it. An assault rifle and semi-automatic hand gun waited for him. Both were loaded and eager.

  His door opened. He lifted the rifle upward. Phillip stopped, his eyes bulging, and he raised his arms.

  "Dr. Morgan! Please!"

  Dr. Morgan lowered the weapon and looked for his pants.

  "Sir, it's complete bedlam out there!" Phillip's skinny body quaked with panic. "The civilians and staff are shooting at the Elite Guard! The topsiders have breached the bunker at its very end and are advancing at us! Communication between departments and to the other outposts has been disabled. What is happening?"

  "It's called a coup, Phillip," Dr. Morgan explained calmly. "The Chancellor has many enemies within."

  Phillip watched as Dr. Morgan picked the rifle back up. "Are you even capable of using that?"

  "Yes I am. My inhibitor is gone. And my lifebrand was loose fitting to begin with."

  "I'm surprised the Red Guard hasn't come bursting out of the tram yet. They'll make quick work of this uprising," Phillip said.

  "The Red Guard have been rendered useless Phillip. Their inhibitors have fried their brains. They won't be showing," Dr. Morgan informed him.

  Phillip's face twisted with added dread. "Then we are done, aren't we?"

  Dr. Morgan walked over and stood directly in front of his aide. "We've been betrayed. All of us. The mission of the 45th isn't a holy one. I've seen the proof."

  Phillip recoiled, as if he had been slapped. "That's not possible. Look at all of the great work we've done out there."

  "The Sleepers in the Cold dream, Phillip," Dr. Morgan said.

  Phillip looked at him in fright and confusion. "What do you mean they dream? They haven't got brains. We all know that."

  "It's a lie. They are our kin. Body and soul. And the Chancellor has always been aware."

  Phillip looked like he might faint. Dr. Morgan picked up the handgun and stuffed it in the front of his pants.

  "I know it isn't easy having your faith shattered. My recommendation would be to stay in here, out of harm's way. If you come out there, you will probably die."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "I am going to find the Chancellor and make him wake the Sleepers. Then everyone will know."

  Phillip struggled with it. But then he spoke, "I am coming with you. As hostage or ally, I'm not yet sure."

  Dr. Morgan offered him the handgun. "Take it. And kill me now if you think I am the enemy."

  Phillip took the gun and stared at it. His eyes drifted up. "I've no desire to kill you, Dr. Morgan. I have always thought you an honorable and honest man. I need to see the Sleepers wake."

  Dr. Morgan nodded and they moved to the door.

  "I've never been in battle, sir," Phillip said as Dr. Morgan gripped the knob. "Any advice?"

  "Stay close. And try not to die." Dr. Morgan flung the door open and rushed into the main hall.

  Dr. Morgan stepped out into the middle of extensive slaughter. The Elite Guard, one hundred strong by the look of it, were firing into the civilians. The rebels pressed into the offices and hallways of the medical plaza. The mutineers, from all areas of civilian service, returned fire. But they were clumsy with the weapons and weren't hitting their marks. The Chancellor's naturally-bred assassins stood their ground, picking them off as the rebels popped up to fire a shot.

  It made sense that the resistance would engage the Elite Guard there and try to thin their numbers. The main corridor narrowed just beyond the plaza. It was the only way for the topsiders to come, and the Elite Guard could easily murder hundreds of them before they broke through.

  The Elite Guard didn't see Dr. Morgan. He was behind them. The sirens were deafening. Dr. Morgan looked behind. The main corridor
was empty. He noticed a tram station that would never see another car. He motioned for Phillip to seek refuge behind it.

  Dr. Morgan had never fired a weapon before, but his brothers had taken him through all of their motions. He aimed and squeezed off several rounds at the cocky pricks. At least a dozen fell.

  They broke and sought shelter. Dr. Morgan turned and ran toward the tram station. Their bullets chased him as he leapt over and ducked. Phillip panted like a madman.

  Dr. Morgan peered around and was met with a shower of slugs. They rang off of the metal barricade. When they thinned, he peeked out to see the civilians firing back on the Elite Guard. Their attention was now diverted between the tram station and medical plaza. It squared things more fairly.

  He wondered if Vivian was in the complex. It worried him and he wanted to advance on it. But the Chancellor's quarters were in the other direction. He couldn't let his concern keep him from performing his duty to the resistance. Besides, the topsiders would be emerging from the distance at any moment to help. He prayed for Vivian and decided to move.

  "Come on," Dr. Morgan said.

  Phillip followed, staying low.

  It was quiet in the other direction. The mass of the Elite Guard were keeping an advance away. Though they would fall to overwhelming numbers eventually, Dr. Morgan was sure. Before they made the bend of the steel main through, Dr. Morgan hoisted his weapon onto Phillip's shoulder.

  "If they see that in my hands, it'll cause questions," Dr. Morgan explained.

  In the short distance, he heard Workman giving loud orders.

  When he and Phillip turned the corner, two dozen of the Elite Guards pointed their weapons at them.

  "At ease!" Workman shouted. He had traded his dress uniform for fatigues. He was much larger than Dr. Morgan had realized. "He's a medic. And that little weasel is his aide!"

  Dr. Morgan walked to the general, who was busy on a digital walkie. "Where are the Red Guard, dammit!" he shouted into it. "We're being overtaken!"

  Dr. Morgan took it from the Workman's words that he wasn't aware that the Red Guard had fallen to their inhibitors.

  The little box hissed. "Helms!" Workman shouted at it. "Helms, where the hell are you?"