The Erstwhile sat amidst a field of debris over a small rise she could see over to her right and within the shell of the vessel would be the digital program in the android body who would prove company and assistance during the repair efforts. Steeling herself against her own doubts and fears, she stepped forth and began her steady progress towards the ship.
14 Man in the Machine
‘Captain?’ a young girl's voice asked, drawing him from the relative comfort of his slumbers back into reality as waves of realisation began to take hold with regard to the procedure and what had happened.
‘Captain Maddox? Can you hear me?’ asked the voice again, concern evident in the tone.
‘Yes,’ he grunted out after a few moments of concentrated effort.
‘Please do not do not try to move. It is imperative you trust me and listen,’ the voice quickly responded to his reply. ‘My name is Praia, we met earlier at the council meeting shortly before you… departure. Do you remember me?
Try to move? Who was she kidding? Even if he was not to trust her and attempt this, he had absolutely no sensation below his neck and this fact suddenly heightened his level of awareness. Whatever they had done to him may have caused paralysis. Despite his immediate concerns he managed to grunt out a confirmation that he remembered her, accompanied with a brief nod.
‘You are currently awaiting full automated processing in our medical bay and once it is determined you have survived the initial preparation process, the procedure of fully uploading your consciousness will begin. For now I have interceded and masked your raised brain-wave activity to stall the process.’
He did not quite know how to respond properly, other than to mumble out a rather reluctant ‘thank you’. After all, she was part of this community and their council who had elected to put him in this contraption in the first place.
‘I am sorry for this Captain, for the discomfort you must be feeling right at this moment, but I could not risk confronting Marcus so openly before the council earlier. I did remain to task him over your situation, but he seems adamant this is all for the best, of which I am not convinced. I just don’t think it’s right to start the act of building a bright and positive future on the death of one individual, as we should be striving to preserve life not take it willingly as it suits our needs.’
Despite the muddled thoughts rampaging through his mind and his lack of body movement, Maddox felt a sense of immense encouragement flow through him that he had a stay of execution. With intense effort he summoned up his willpower to force his eyelids to open, the harsh lights causing him to flinch under their glare as they had done previously, but he persisted in his efforts and his vision adjusted, allowing him a view of the ceiling and the light fittings which were assaulting his retinas with their bright glow. Turning his head aware from them, towards the source of the voice he saw the face of the young girl come into view, her nervous smile being one of the most pleasant things he had borne witness to in a long time.
‘I am very glad to hear you say that,’ he admitted with a smile of his own, but then it faded as his thoughts returned to the lack of feeling from his limbs. ‘Can’t feel my hands and feet, are they still there?’
Almost instinctively Praia glanced along his restrained body to his extremities before returning her gaze to his face and smiling reassuringly.
‘Yes, they are still there. All present and correct. What you will be experiencing is the effect of the Nano-Meds but I assure you that as your conscious mind is now awake their effect will nullify given a short space of time. You will regain feeling once more.’
Maddox let out a relieved snort, but his relief was short lived as concern gripped his mind.
‘Won’t your friends know you’re talking to me in here? Although I am very grateful for the reprieve aren’t you taking a huge risk interfering with the grand plan?’
‘I have reduced my link to the shared mind to that of an almost subconscious level, it is the state we are in during rest periods and as I am meant to be resting at this moment no one will suspect my absence for the time being. Like many of my friends here, we can adjust the level of our interaction with the shared mind at will,’ she explained almost causally but her mood changed as she glanced away from Maddox to the monitoring equipment near the head of the diagnostic bed and continued speaking. ‘As for me taking a huge risk and the grand plan, I have my own reservations about our whole approach to returning and therefore I deem the risk necessary.’
As he listened intently, Maddox could feel a sensation of pins and needles growing signifying the welcome return of sensation in his limbs, albeit causing him to grimace slightly as the sensation continued to grow and become decidedly unpleasant.
‘Sorry,’ he muttered as his actions interrupted her flow of speech. ‘Fingers and toes have decided to wake up and it’s a little distracting, don’t worry it’s passing now.’
Praia stared at him intently for a moment and then seemed to make a decision as she moved along the diagnostic bed and removed the restraints that were holding Maddox in place.
‘There Captain, maybe if you try moving and flexing you might be able to stave off the worst of the recovery effects?’
Maddox nodded as he took full advantage and shook his arms at first, then wiggled his legs, which seemed to shake away the discomfort.
‘Aren’t you worried that now I’m free I may harm you, or use you as a human shield in my bid to escape?’
‘Are you going to?’
‘Well, no but that’s not why I was asking.’
‘You acted with reason and compliance when you were brought here, only resorting to force when your safety was threatened by this procedure and there was no other option apparently remaining open to you. I have already explained that I do not hold with the concept of forging our new future on the death of one individual and so I hope that you and I can reach an understanding here and now. The door is over there if you wish to leave and attempt your escape, I will not attempt to raise the alarm or stop you.’
Maddox was genuinely intrigued. He propped himself up on his elbows and glanced in the direction she had indicated to the door which led out of the medical bay. Even though he quickly contemplated how far he could possibly get before they swarmed over him once more and dragged him back to complete the procedure, his mind was quite absorbed by the unassuming and nonthreatening demeanour of his young companion who stood nearby regarding him and awaiting his response. His gaze drifted from the doorway over to the expectant face beside him.
‘An understanding?’ He asked and raised his left eyebrow. ‘What sort of understanding?’
‘I believe there is something behind this drive to return to the inner worlds, something more than an altruistic desire to help our fellow citizens of earth,’ Praia answered and took a moment to compose her thoughts before pressing on with her explanation. ‘You must understand, we were growing and developing our own community before Marcus came of age and was proposed as the leader and spokesperson on the council. Some were creating beautiful artworks, some were telling tales which fired the imagination and entertained and others generated music which would fill the air with a thought provoking ambiance. We truly were developing as a community of artisans and we had a wealth of experiences to draw on, not only from those memories we shared with each other, but the ones that we contributed by the adults. Some amongst our number were much more technically minded and worked alongside the AI to further develop our network, boosting the signal strength of our connection to the most extreme beacon within the core worlds and enabling us to have a glimpse of the lives of everyone back home.’ She paused to shake her head slightly. ‘That was before the time Marcus acceded to the leadership of the council, before he began talking about rebellion against the Martians and our return to Earth in some blaze of pomp and ceremony. He caught the imagination of many within our community, the whole thought of being re-united with families and loved ones, just some of the persuasive arguments utilised to turn peo
ple and their ambitions to his purposes.’
Maddox pushed himself to an upright position as she spoke, turning around on the diagnostic bed so that his legs dangled over the side, but still slightly unwilling to take the step of sliding off the edge as his legs still felt uncertain in their movements.
‘So he swayed the popular opinion to this drive towards returning and the campaign against the Martians?’ He asked as he flexed both his arms and his legs experimentally.
‘Yes. Those of us who voiced our concerns against these actions were in a minority and decried as working against the good of the community. As a result the voices quietened and we were effectively pressured into falling into step with our peers, but that does not mean we do not harbour the same concerns and fears that we spoke of at the outset of this campaign.’
She paused for a moment to stifle her emotions and compose herself a little before continuing.
‘That was when we started testing our abilities through SOLnet. It all started out as harmless activities, just small jokes at the expense of the authorities or dignitaries intended to cause a little disruption and discord amidst the rigid system we were poking fun at, all until Marcus went a few steps further and actual real people were hurt. That’s when our concerns were realised and it was not just Martians, but others of the core worlds who suffered alongside them, Venusians, Lunarians, Mercurians. Some died and it was a direct result of the actions we undertook under his guidance,’ she said bitterly and Maddox could both hear and see that she was becoming more and more upset by her revelations as she proceeded. ‘You suggested that through our efforts to return many more will die, a fact Marcus seems to be dismissive of.’
Praia cast her gaze down to the floor of the medical bay as her voice fell silent, the concept of others dying through her own group’s actions seemingly abhorrent to her. Although he did not respond immediately as he didn’t want to further the upset or distress, Maddox realised this was the most valuable opportunity that had presented itself to try and unravel the situation he had landed in the midst of.
Wiggling his toes a few times inside his boots, he proceeded to slide gradually off the diagnostic bed so that his feet made contact with the floor. He had a more positive sensation from his lower limbs and as the act of trying to stand was undertaken he felt more and more assured that he wasn’t going to end in a crumpled heap before his young companion.
Praia noticed his efforts and moved forwards slightly to try and help by holding his right arm, but it was quite obvious to anyone who cared to regard the scene that should he topple there was no way her slight frame could bear his weight or prevent the eventual embarrassment Maddox would feel.
‘Thanks,’ he said with a smile towards her briefly and then, as he had both feet on the floor and was willing to attempt to stand on his own, he nodded to her that he was okay and she retracted slightly releasing her supportive hold upon him. Tentatively he pushed away slightly from the diagnostic bed and took his weight upon his own legs, quite joyous that his sense of balance seemed okay and he remained upright. ‘Well, I don’t think the little blighters in my head have done any permanent damage,’ he muttered to himself as he bent his knees experimentally, then proceeded to repeat the process and bounce up and down slightly.
‘The Nano-Meds were programmed to be active within your system during your unconsciousness, but now you are quite obviously awake, they are at the end of their program routine and thus have fallen dormant,’ she informed him quite casually.
‘They’re still in here, though,’ Maddox muttered at the thought of the microscopic robots within his own body, uninvited guests whom he dearly wished to be rid of. He knew from past experience that they would break down over time and his body would simply work to expel them as waste matter, but it did not help the fact that he intensely disliked the idea of them floating about unchecked within for the duration.
Turning his attention from the microscopic passengers to more pressing matters, he glanced at Praia who had been watching his movements with slight curiosity.
‘So your colony has taken the leap from artisans to cyberterrorists under the guidance of this Marcus, whom you and some of your friends do not support but seem unwilling to confront and prevent from doing any more harm. So what do you want with me then?’
‘You are outside the system. Your thoughts are your own and your actions unpredictable, by which I mean your mind cannot be read by our computer and thus it cannot pre-judge your responses. I want you to intercede, to stop the scheme as it currently stands before anyone else is hurt or killed so that we may deduce a more peaceable method of our return. Already the lives of those caught in the explosion and the crew of that Martian ship have been ended by our inability to act forcibly to end this. You may just be able to do what we cannot.’
Maddox looked away from her intensely hopeful gaze, his mind racing as to the possibilities this new development threw up not only for himself and his crew, but for the survival of those back within the core who were prospective victims for the implantation plan hinted at during the council meeting he was present for.
‘Praia,’ he said softly as he turned his head back and met her gaze. ‘You’re asking me to incite an insurrection within your own society, to cause discord and derailment of your plans. I understand your concerns, but your own people could be hurt as a result. Once these things start, they tend to be rather unpredictable and I cannot guarantee either your or your friends’ safety.’
‘I am not asking this of you without careful consideration Captain. I fully understand that any actions you may take could inadvertently cause loss of life here amidst my peers, or at the very extreme the loss of the entire colony, but our purpose has been perverted and twisted and our goal now is not in the best interests of those we wish to be reunited with. I would much rather die here and now as opposed to having the blood of any more innocents on my hands as part of this scheme.’
Shaking his head slightly, Maddox had to admit to himself that to hear these words out of such a young person was indeed encouraging at the very least, since there were people much in advance of her years who would not even conceive of being as selfless as she was being right now. However, he knew that his actions were going to impinge upon the safety of at least one person who had trusted him, ventured out into the stars with him from a less than auspicious start and now was being held captive to make him conform to their hosts’ requests.
‘Even if I do want to help you Praia, your friends are holding a member of my crew hostage to make me comply with their requests. You should know of this already, even if your own intentions are good.’
‘I do Captain, and that matter has already been resolved,’ she replied eagerly and then held her hands up in a placating gesture as Maddox’s expression expressed his sudden intense concern. ‘I freed her from her captivity earlier before I came here to attend to yourself. At present she will be making her way across the surface of the moon to your ship which is grounded not too far away, hopefully to effect repairs to make her space worthy once more.’
Maddox could not help but raise both eyebrows in surprise at the news, albeit pleasant news. The young girl he was in the company of was already deeply enmeshed in her own scheme of revolt against her own colony’s plans and already put herself on the line to ensure that both he and his crew had a shot at leaving their forced captivity should they wish to do so. He had no idea what retribution awaited her for her transgressions, but he knew for certain that he was no longer bound by a fear of what actions would be taken against his fellow captive.
‘Well, you do seem to be doing quite well without my help so far,’ he said with a beaming smile in Praia’s direction. ‘Now let’s go and see what mischief we can cause to this grand scheme shall we?’
15 The Erstwhile
Maia approached the rise she had been heading for and ascended over the peak, her eyes taking in the sight of the Erstwhile at the end of a rubble-strewn trench but not too obviously damaged from h
er present viewpoint.
The sight of the ship gave her renewed vigour and she descended quickly, making her way over the remaining rocky ground until she was close enough to lay her gloved hand on the hull plating of the downed vessel, almost gingerly as she came to a halt beside her.
‘Found you!’ She said to herself as she glanced fore and aft of her position along the lines of the ship’s hull, her present concern being how she could gain easy access. Even though she had arrived on the ship along with Ezri and Maddox, she was still technically a passenger in their little group and not a registered member of the crew with appropriate security access. ‘Not that it’s going to do either of us any good if I’m out here with no way in there,’ she muttered and quickly checked the readout on the wrist mounted display panel of the EVA suit to check her current oxygen supply.
Thankfully, her experience around the various ports on Venus had benefited her the knowledge of older model ships such as the Erstwhile, and she just hoped that despite the fastidious nature of the Ezri program there was still the possibility of the top hatch being operable under manual release.
Gauging her footing, she took hold of the external hand holds which led upwards from near her position and pulled herself higher on the hull, up towards the top of the ship. At least she hadn’t rolled when she bit the surface, otherwise Maia would have to make the trek back to the colony buildings and that was the last place she wanted to be returning to right now.
Her progress had been slowed by a very awkward release mechanism which had threatened to be stuck at first, but after repeated kicks to persuade it forcibly into releasing slightly, she had managed to turn it with great effort to release the upper hatch and lower herself through the narrow circular opening into the ship, closing the hatch above her and inspecting the panel which presented itself in the narrow confines. The system was operating on emergency power, but suitable enough to cycle the pressure to fill the chamber with air and equalise with the interior of the ship. This in itself encouraged her that there was integrity in the interior atmosphere, therefore no immediately obvious hull rupture which would prevent containment.
Children Of Earth (Tales from the 23rd Century Book 1) Page 14
