Digital Venous

by Richard Gohl

  “He’s out cold,” said one of the Subs.

  “Charles!” said Shane again. Then he blinked, started breathing, and he was back. He struggled to stand up and said, “Sorry. I just passed out… I don’t know what happened...”

  “It’s fine, mate. You slipped, that’s all,” said Shane. “Okay. Let’s get these containers emptied out, and then we can all get out of here!”

  Then it started to happen. At first there were a few other small accidents. One guard couldn’t get off an escalator and caused a mass pile-up as others came up behind him and simply toppled over him, adding to the chaos. Napeans in general seemed slow, inattentive—more than usually so. Previous on-board routines, announcements for high-speed travel and activity rosters, were not being made.

  One morning many Napeans simply didn’t make it out of bed. Shane went across to Charles’ room. He was half out of bed—his legs were on the ground, but he was in a squat position. His head was sort of lolling to one side. He was clearly very ill.

  Shane ran in to help him back into bed.

  “No, no… no… I’m fine. Just so tired,” he stammered. “Can you put in a good word, put in an apology for me? I can’t make it today.”

  “I will. Just get into bed. You’re going to be fine.”

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Very tired…very tired…” murmured Charles. “Don’t worry. You’re not the only one—we’ve been hit with some kind of virus.”

  As Shane rushed to the stern of the ship he passed down empty Napean corridors before coming to the level 2 gateway to the bow of the ship. As he passed through this door he panicked. Back here too it was quiet. All he could think was that Ryan was sick. He rushed to room 46, scanned the door, and pushed it open.

  Alia was standing there in her underwear. She inhaled sharply and looked shocked as Shane barged in.

  “Excuse you,” said Madi, her feet up on the chair, sipping a hot drink. “Hi!” said Alia. “I was just getting dressed…”

  “I’m so sorry,” said Shane. Ryan was sitting up at the table, dressed and ready to go. “I just wanted to check if you were okay. A lot of people are sick…”

  “Huh?” said Alia, pulling on some pants. “The Napeans—lots of them are sick…”

  “What’s wrong with them?” asked Madi. “Some kind of virus. A paralysis.”

  “Really? No, we’re fine down here.,” said Alia. “You seem okay…” Shane looked across and, through the curtain, saw Sylvana lying there. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “Her?” said Madi. “She’s just lazy. Sylvana! Get up!” Sylvana groaned: “I am!”

  “Are you okay, Dad?”

  “I’m fine, buddy,” said Shane, walking across to him putting a hand on his head. “We’re both fine…” he said vaguely, thinking. “Have you seen anyone else this morning?”

  “Yeah,” said Alia, “little Adey and Kez came in earlier to get Ryan—they were fine.”

  “Okay. I’ll be back.” Shane walked from room to room checking as many Subs as he could. No one was ill.

  He returned, knocked this time, and said to Madi and Alia: “There’ll be an announcement.

  Try and keep everyone calm. It’ll be business as usual—just unsupervised. We can’t have panic.”

  “Say it’s a Napean holiday or something…” said Alia “No one’s gonna buy that,” said Madi

  “Just say,” said Alia, “Napeans are recharging or whatever you call it... special space requirement.”

  “Hey,” said Madi, “perfect time to take over the ship!” she smiled. “Now that’s helpful,” said Alia, smiling.

  ”Yeah just stay calm,” said Shane in a cautionary tone, “or we may not have a ship.” Shane left room 46 and activated ETP as he passed through the level 2 gateway and

  paced back to the outer bow levels, past quiet Napean cabins, and up to the Service quarters.

  There were no guards at the usual check points on his way up to the Service deck. Shane scanned himself in. There were two Napeans lying in Jefferies lab and another

  in Pato’s.

  “Where… have…. you been?” said Jeffery. “You’re… not sick!” said Jeffery. His speech had slowed discernibly.

  “Believe me I feel terrible,” replied Shane.

  “I can hardly walk…. and there you are…… skipping up and down corridors.” Jeffery had several scanners running but was leaning back in his chair.

  “I’ve been right through the ship,” said Shane. “Have you seen the condition that people are in? You’ve got to do something—let everyone know it’s under control, before something...”

  “We could lockdown,” said Pato.

  “Not lockdown.” answered Shane. “The ship needs to function. Let the Subs continue their work. They seem unaffected…”

  “Unaffected?” said Jeffery.

  “Make announcements: explain what’s happening; resume normality!” This was Pato’s area. Pato looked to Jeffery for confirmation. Jeffery closed his eyes and was clearly struggling to focus. Magellan said “just do it!” Pato shuffled off to the communication room.

  “So what is it? What’s wrong with us?” asked Shane. Jeffery was still fading. Magellan was in a better state. He said, “Jeffery!”

  He replied, “Excuse me..” and stumbled off into his lab. He sat on a stool with his elbows on the table rubbing his face, struggling to compose himself.

  Magellan said, “We don’t know what’s wrong. Blood nutrient levels are fine. There seems to be a slight problem with viscosity. They’re going to send through an emergency refresher signal.”

  Pato’s announcements travelled through the ship. Then a Napean message to use Telesync was announced.

  “Our little machines, our little machines…’ Jeffery was shaking his head slowly, looking forlorn. “…the synthetic nanobots…are under some form of pressure…the organic ones are at 80 percent.”

  “Is there some kind of gravitational change out there—have we come into the orbital sphere of another body?” asked Shane.

  “That’s what we have been trying to establish… but there’s absolutely nothing out there,” said Magellan. “We’re on the outskirts of one if the largest known empty spaces in the universe. I’ve looked and looked. It’s something we’ve never seen before. Some other sort of invisible astrophysical… material—sludge, permeating the ship.”

  “I thought we were protected from outside forces?” asked Shane “We are. From forces we understand.”

  Napeans underwent Telesync—digital boost juice. A dose of refresher software was downloaded. But to everyone’s horror nothing changed; Napean energy levels remained at an all time low.

  Jeffery and Pato had been screening their own blood samples all day. They could see the complete retardation of the nano-bots; the multitude of micro bodies seemed unable to release the minute traces of the chemical by which they were propelled and the delivery of which kept Napeans alive. The smallest machines on the ship, the generators of the Napean metabolism had stopped swimming.

  Despite early disasters with remote delivery of refresher software, N.E.T. had been an extremely reliable therapy—until now. The Service officials had never seen or heard of anything like this problem, and they were running out of time.

  Jeffery knew of an emergency technique that had worked in early trials of N.E.T.—a way of temporarily bypassing the therapy. He couldn’t remember it in practice, but Pato accessed historical records and found the reference they were looking for.

  In early N.E.T. trials, a small group of students undergoing the radical new therapy had become comatose after repeated failures of the enzyme activation signal. Napeans didn’t have a blood type as such, so human blood could be used as an emergency substitute, keeping them alive until the problem was solved.

  Shane did his best to appear tired and listless. He was now twice as strong as any of the other Napeans. It had not gone unnoticed. He was called up to the Service deck. Jeffery was in his lab still slu
mped back in his chair.

  “It interests me that when everyone else falls, you remain standing,” said Jeffery. “Believe me, I’m only just staying upright. I use muscle electrodes, they…”

  “If any of us are to ever get off this ship… I need blood. Wing…” said Jeffery. “Blood? Why?” interrupted Shane.

  “A child would be best. There were a number of orphans. Bring me one of those.”

  “You can’t use a child. Take an adult.”

  “I don’t want adults here,” he snapped. Jeffery seemed paralyzed, groaning in an attempt to move his weight forward. He put his elbows on the desk and turned to look at Shane. His eyes were still remarkably active.

  “There’ll be trouble if you start harming children. They’re already getting uneasy down there. I wouldn’t…” warned Shane.

  “That’s enough! This voyage is over if we do not find a solution! Need I remind you that our information system depends on the Napean brain for processing… storage… ” Jeffery’s voice was breaking up with the effort of speaking as he began wiring himself up to the venous extractor.

  Such arrogance and surety even when diminished, thought Shane.

  Jeffery sat, head resting back eyes shut as N.E.T. fluid began oozing from his arm in readiness for the transfusion. He seemed to lose consciousness.

  Shane was running on pure instinct. Yes, he thought, Jeffery had saved many lives—but had also caused great suffering. The world would be better without the megalomania of Jeffery and Pato. But what of Magellan? He was faring better than the other two. Shane turned to leave. Magellan was standing in the doorway.

  “You seem okay,” asked Shane.

  “He’s right—we have maybe ten hours. Without the three of us, there is no access to the whole of the network. Without that, no one’s going anywhere.”

  Shane had wanted them all dead many times—and here they were, dying, and he was looking at sacrificing an innocent child to save them. He checked the list. There were three children on board who had come as extras, who had been, for whatever reason, separated from their families.

  Chapter 62

  Blood

  SHANE BUZZED THE door.

  Kristina had been saved from Earth by a twist of fate and shared a cabin with her friend Marika and her family. She’d been visiting them at the time of the killings. It was awkward for her living so closely with people she hardly knew. Still, she was grateful that they had accepted her.

  “Kristina Hamil?” Shane had appeared at their door unexpectedly. His heart sank as he recognized her as Ryan’s little friend.

  “You have a rare blood type that the doctor would like to sample. You’ll be helping the Napeans…”

  “But I don’t want to help the Napeans!” Shane was taken aback for a second and tried not to show his approval.

  “Kristina, please accompany me to the Service deck.” Shane wasn’t sure how best to approach her. He wasn’t used to dealing with young females.

  “I don’t want to go.” She climbed backwards onto her bed, with her knees up for protection.

  “Everything’s going to be okay. I promise you won’t be harmed. It’s just a sample.” Kristina looked to her friend Marika, and then at the parents, for support, but they were

  terrified. A guard had never come to their cabin before, let alone summoned one of them to the Service deck.

  “Do I have to go?” Kristina had guts. The family looked at her in disbelief. “They’re waiting for you; come on, you’ll be back in an hour,” said Shane.

  Kristina knew when she was beaten. She got up, looking at her “family”—she could see they were just glad that it wasn’t one of their actual children.

  She walked just behind Shane.

  “How do they know what my blood type is?” she asked as they walked round the curved corridors and various escalators up to level 6.

  “Everyone was scanned before boarding….”

  “But I don’t like needles,” she said.

  “It will be over quickly. All the Napeans are very sick and what you’re doing will help to fix the problem.”

  As they entered the Service area, Kristina was awestruck by the broad space of the deck before her. The entire roof was transparent. The Eridani void was open, dark, and very beautiful; distant stars were visible straight above. Off to the front of the ship Sirius was almost spherical in its brightness.

  “Bring her straight in!” called Jeffery. The bed was semi-upright and Jeffery was lying there, waiting.

  Pato stood next to the empty bed, nodding slowly, waiting to begin the procedure. Kristina looked over at Shane and he gestured to go forward. As she stepped toward the bed and turned to sit, Pato, making no eye contact whatsoever, awkwardly, and rather roughly, pushed her backwards. She began to panic, noticing the size of the blood bag and that there were another two bags on stand-by.

  “I’m giving blood to him?” she said in reference to Jeffery. “I thought it was just a small sample!”

  “Relax, my dear. You’ll be finished in a second,” said Jeffery who, in anticipation, seemed to have found a new lease of energy. Pato strapped her arm to a padded rail level with the mattress and applied the tourniquet. Now that the girl was secured, Pato relaxed a little and, over-compensating in his attempt to console the girl, began patting and stroking her shoulder. As he turned around to pick up the needle, Kristina’s distress mounted. She looked out to where Shane was standing, watching; she was sensing in him her last hope. But it was too late. Pato found the vein quickly and inserted the hollow spike. Kristina’s face twisted and contorted as she looked around and saw the ruby fluid dripping into the bag. Her eyes closed and she passed out.

  The bag soon filled with blood and Jeffery wasted no time in hooking himself up and using the blood. It seemed to have an immediate effect. Pato began connecting a second bag.

  “What are you doing?” asked Shane.

  “We’re going to need five liters…” said Pato. “I’m going to need this immediately and…”

  “Five liters! That will kill her!” said Shane.

  “As predicted,” said Jeffery, “this will give us the clarity we need to solve this problem—it may take several days for us to work out a way to have N.E.T. running properly.”

  “Can’t you just take a little from a few?” asked Shane more desperately than intended. “There’s no time—she’s here now,” said Jeffery.

  It was the coldness of the statement that caused Shane to snap. He stepped across to Kristina, jagging his elbow into Pato, sending him reeling back into the bench where he lost his balance and fell sideways onto his shoulder.

  Jeffery was powerless to move and Pato was floundering around on the floor. He seemed to be having difficulty standing. Magellan, who had been in his own lab, noticed the scuffle and came in quickly.

  “Stop!” he yelled. “Wing! Stop!” Shane put his left thumb down hard where the needle was inserted on Kristina’s arm and pulled it out. He picked her up and carried her out.

  As Shane made his way around the spiraling passageways, a robotic female voice announced: “Children fourteen and under to B6-10 Service deck for vaccination... children fourteen and under to B6-10 Service deck for vaccination…”

  Shane saw doors opening and adults appearing at doorways, looking out, questioning one another. He saw some children walking around the bend toward him.

  “Go back to your cabins! There’s been a malfunction. Stay in your cabins.”

  “What’s going on?” asked a man who’d been standing there talking to a group of Subs. “Keep your children safe. Do not leave your cabins!” he repeated.

  “What’s wrong with her?” asked someone else, referring to Kristina.

  “She’s going to be fine,” said Shane. “Just stay put and everything will be okay.” Carrying Kristina, he crashed into Alia’s room and said, “Look after her,” placing her on

  the bed. “She’s had blood taken from her—keep your doors open—they may try to lock ev
erything! Jjam them open if you have to… and stay ready!” To Alia he said, “Don’t let any of the kids leave. This could be the moment you’ve been waiting for!” He scanned the room. “Wait! Where’s Ryan?”

  “Er, he went down to the gardens…” said Madi “What? Who with?”

  “He was by himself…”

  “Oh no!”

  “He was meeting some other kids down there.”

  “We have to find him.” To Alia, he said, “Stay here and look after her.”

  “Of course,” she said.

  They tore down the passageways, into the heart of the ship where it became warmer and warmer, down to the growing rooms. They passed several people on the way, breathlessly yelling at them to go back to their cabins.

  They split up. Madi looked in at the soy shelves while Shane checked the vine rooms. Nothing. “Fuuuccck!” yelled Shane.

  He yelled out to Madi, “Found him?” but his voice fell dead as the spiraling passages swallowing all sound. He went from room to room to room, calling: “Ryan? Ryan? Ryan?” Then he virtually knocked Madi over.

  “Fuck! How could you do this?” he demanded. “Do what?”

  “Lose him!”

  “Hey! You’re the one who’s s’posed to be in command, dickhead!” yelled Madi. “You keep looking,” said Shane. “I just hope he hasn’t gone up to the Service deck!”

  Shane ran all the way around to the outer levels and to the front of the ship to the Service deck, only to find the entrance locked. Looking through the small window, he saw Jeffery, with his new lease of energy, working furiously, stooped over his work bench madly trying to find a solution to save his own life.

  And there in the corner of the lab sat three young boys, waiting patiently.

  “Ryan!” Shane yelled. Noise could not penetrate the thick glass window of the steel door. Shane could see Ryan’s face. He looked completely at home. He was chatting with the other two boys. They were enjoying being in this special place. Then Jeffery turned to face them, smiling and talking, and to Shane’s horror, Ryan bounded up onto the bed.