The Otherlings and the Crystal Amulet

by S V Hurn

  Hans nodded his head in agreement. “Yes. I want you to proceed to the facility in Arizona and gather intelligence. So far, we have been unable to discover patents, or, in fact, any intellectual property related to the methodology of this medical procedure, worldwide. We cannot wait much longer. Acquire the information we need for this project using whatever means necessary to achieve our goal. This must be done quickly and quietly. Contact me when you are finished in Arizona.”

  The screen went blank.

  CHAPTER 14

  A few years back a Russian scientist, while performing the menial task of examining and cataloging ancient fossils and Neanderthal bone fragments, made an astonishing find. The discovery was made due to the fact that he was qualified for and had held a much higher position, but as the result of an indiscretion with the daughter of a security official of the Russian President, he found himself reappointed, buried underground beneath the stark, frozen landscape in a laboratory that was seldom visited by anyone of importance.

  Dimitri Astana had, at one time, been a tall, handsome man with a strong, husky build. In his former years as a scientist he had first been a member of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities searching for ancient extraterrestrial life by examining materials being brought back from asteroid mining operations. But one ancient relic had set itself apart. It had been unearthed many years prior and was believed to have come from a privately funded mission to Antarctica.

  His involvement, which led to the discovery of code buried deep within our DNA, resulted in an offer of a prestigious appointment as head of a research team of experts in the field of cryptology. The assignment was to decipher the un-coded portion of human DNA. During this period of his life, he had rock-star status among his peers, throwing exorbitant parties to align himself with the Russian hierarchy.

  Women had always been at his disposal, but when he unwittingly approached and, with much finessing, deflowered the young daughter of a high-ranking presidential appointee, life as he knew it suddenly took a turn for the worse. The only women he encountered now were either round and robust with little resemblance to what he remembered of the female species, or ancient and long dead bones from the previous occupants of this frozen hell he now called home.

  One night, and it didn’t matter what time of the day it was, for it was all the same in his small, dark space heavy with the scent of mildew and oppressive with the cold dampness of constant winter, Dimitri had finished his ration of vodka and was studying a sample marked unknown. When he placed it under a microscope, he discovered something peculiar and decided to put it aside for further study. He had ordered new, upgraded equipment and it was due to arrive soon enough.

  He had been asking for more sensitive radiocarbon dating equipment and a new electron microscope, in addition to other supplies, so he might be able to accurately perform a standard microarray experiment. He said to himself, as he was slowly becoming his own best company. Those Moscow pigs must have put it all on the dog sled, including my fucking vodka. When the hell am I going to be released from this goddamned hellhole? No woman is worth all this shit.”

  A few days had passed and while asleep with his feet propped on his desk, fur hat pulled down over his eyes, and arms crossed to hold in his body heat, he was startled awake by someone bursting through the door. He accidently kicked his bottle of vodka to the floor where it landed and exploded, shards of glass mixing with his precious liquid, the only glue keeping him from falling apart at the seams—the only thing helping him retain what remained of his sanity.

  Dimitri screamed at the middle-aged woman who had kicked open the door. Her arms held boxes stacked up to her double chin, and only her round, red nose and plump cheeks were peeking out from beneath a huge, hooded parka, the fur trim framing her full face. “Fucking stupid piz’da, you better have brought me my equipment!”

  Crunching over the broken glass on the floor with her heavy, frost-covered boots, she dropped the boxes on the worktable and knocked over a tray of specimens which fell to the floor. She yelled back to him, “You stupid, arrogant pig, if not for me you would never get any of your fucking shit down here. Maybe next time you better keep your little ‘khu i’ in your pants.”

  Dimitri’s head hurt too much to argue with her. He remembered that the last time they bickered she had cold-cocked him, which had rendered him unconscious, and she left him lying in the freezing snow only to be awakened by a sled dog pissing on his face.

  Dimitri barked again, “Where is the rest of this shit equipment?”

  The woman, having had enough of him, yelled back, “How the hell should I know? Maybe you should call them and ask them yourself, mu’dak!” The woman slammed the door behind her and stomped up the stairs, back into the freezing cold.

  Kicking his desk chair in frustration and nearly falling over in the process, he decided to clean up the mess on the floor by knocking the large glass shards under his desk— then unpacked his boxes of equipment. He swore if he were ever able to leave this place, he would never talk to another woman again, unless a young one with big tits and firm ass were to approach him . . . then maybe.

  Winter was approaching and the days grew short. Dimitri finally received all the needed supplies, including the case of vodka he kept outside in a snowbank, retrieving a bottle as needed, and was finally going to get his wish.

  Now with all the equipment set up he could get to work. He remembered the specimen that looked odd, but he needed to find it since it had been dumped onto the floor with all the other pieces he had been examining. Dimitri swore under his breath, “Stupid whore, messed up my work.”

  He looked everywhere but could not find that particular relic. He had a sense that perhaps that one artifact may hold the key to his release, if only he could find it.

  Dimitri had returned one evening from a local watering hole that catered to a unique array of visiting explorers and scientists that came to study this remote region of permafrost. He had stumbled home drunk after a heated disagreement with one of the many who came and went, fell down the stairs and slid across the floor, hitting his head hard against a worktable which was resting against the wall. Jarring the table dislodged the artifact that had been wedged between it and the wall. It had bounced from the table and hit him in the face. He picked it up and carefully placed it on the table while he prepared his equipment in order to study it.

  It took only a short time to realize the impact this discovery would make, and he screamed with joy because he knew his days in exile were now numbered. Moscow would overlook his indiscretion and reward him by reinstating him to his former position. He could finally go back to his old life, back to the parties and women.

  So, he thought.

  Chapter 15

  After an exhausting week of work and dealing with the meeting of delegates, Dorathy decided to call it a day. She was pleased that the construction of her new bathroom and closet finally had been wrapped up. Living with Alex was a joy—living with his clutter, well that was up for debate . . . but that was an easy fix and she couldn’t wait to soak in her new tub with him He gave the best back rubs.

  Trying to relax away the stresses of the day with bubbles up to her chin, a nice glass of cabernet and a foot rub from the man she loved, Dorathy was ready to discuss the day’s events. “Oh God, Alex, I had the most bizarre meeting today. As you know the delegates came to check on our progress. Hugo and I took them over to assembly and all they really seemed interested in was the cryogenic process. We all know that since the recent developments in this new age of space travel, the global scientific community has been aggressively seeking to develop a means of transporting a team to a distant planet for possible colonization. I get that part; the part I don’t get is the urgency they are projecting not only for pushing the mission to the forefront, but to have cryogenics for the purpose of transporting humans to deep space. If this new technology is going to work the way we’ve been intending for it to work, traveling thr
ough space will be almost in an instant. But the thing is, we are a long way from that and that’s where I’m at a loss. Why the urgency, and why cryogenics?”

  Alex contemplated what Dorathy had just told him while rubbing her toes with one hand and taking a sip of wine with the other. “Perhaps the importance of pushing the mission forward hinges on another aspect that, for whatever reason, is not being divulged at this time. As far as cryogenically freezing individuals for a trip to a known, or perhaps unknown destination, it’s a better option than not using it for means of space travel. Over the years scientists have been studying methods of cryosleep or some method of hibernation for a long journey through space, but we all know that the time duration required for a such a long period, wasn’t conducive to that type of technology, and freezing people for a mission wasn’t either, due to the fact that the freezing process was too involved.”

  “True. The perfect example would be the Mars mission. There were so many factors to ensuring that humans would travel to Mars successfully. The biggest obstacles were humans, so the next best thing was to augment or enhance their DNA in order to make the long trip possible. But the unforeseen consequence of that mission was a tragic end for those poor bastards.”

  Dorathy spun around in the tub to encourage Alex to provide a back and shoulder rub and said, “I honestly don’t know what they are up to, but I have faith in Hugo that he will get to the bottom of this intrigue.”

  Alex started to kiss the back of Dorathy’s neck. “I’m sure he will, I would not want to cross him. By the way, have I told you lately that I adore you?”

  “Yes, I think so, but tell me again.”

  Alex wrapped his arms around Dorathy and held her close. “I think we should go to your little strip of sand when the project is ready for testing. I think that would be a great time to get away, because it sounds like after the test phase is complete it will move to the next level quickly and we won’t have the opportunity to get away.”

  Dorathy thought for a moment. “You know what? You’re right, as usual. I think that sounds great.”

  Alex was enthusiastic. “Leave all the details to me, and I’ll take care of it. Soon as the project looks like it’s ready for launch and a date has been set, we’ll take off, even if it’s only for a few days.”

  Dorathy sighed, “That sounds heavenly.”

  Alex shifted and pulled her to his side and gave her a long passionate kiss. “I think we should break in this new tub properly.”

  They were both silent, reveling in the quiet and the intimacy they shared; the love and respect they had for one another was profound. When the water grew cold, they were so exhausted they could barely dry off and crawled into bed clinging together as if they would never be parted, that no one or nothing could ever part them. But time was creeping up on them.

  CHAPTER 16

  Life had become mundane over the last year in this top-secret laboratory. The smell of biomolecular compound had begun to nauseate Henry Tinmen, but he had been chosen for this classified project for a few reasons other than that he was the top scientist in his field of study.

  These reasons seemed a violation of his humanity, forced upon him by the powers that be. Ultimately, it wouldn’t make a damned bit of difference to him. But as the end drew nearer, he thought of his demise and wondered if he would recall any of this life and his life as he knew it, or would he go on trapped in a soulless body forever, never knowing the peace that came with death.

  Henry watched the bioprinting material being layered slowly and meticulously by the 3D printer and wondered about his consciousness inhabiting the new body being formed before his eyes. Deep in thought, he was startled when Brenda walked in, in her characteristic stealthy manner and put her arm around him. “Good morning, sunshine, how ya doin’ today?”

  “Oh Christ, you trying to give me a heart attack?”

  “No baby, but I suppose you might be okay with that. You look tired today, didn’t sleep last night?”

  “Shit,” Henry said with a yawn, “I never sleep anymore.”

  Brenda, always chipper, crooned, “I’m so sorry, baby, can I give you something that will help calm your nerves?”

  Henry looked at her with a blank expression that showed the effects of his decline and his body’s increasing deterioration. “Tell me how you are handling this so well?”

  “I don’t know, I just am. We all have to die sometime.”

  “For Christ’s sake, Brenda. There isn’t anything wrong with you, and you’re just going along with it?”

  “Yep. I get a brand-new body without all the imperfections.”

  Henry shook his head. “So, what about our souls, do you even think about that?”

  “Oh, come on, Henry, you still harping on that old story? Get over it and put on your big boy pants. Think about the mission, our mission, and all of us have to be on board with this project, so get over yourself.”

  Henry harped, “Blah, blah, blah, the damn mission. Screw the mission, I’m sick of hearing about this mission. What if the mission is a big blunder, and what we are setting out to find is nothing but a bunch of bullshit?”

  “Honey, look at it this way, if you’re worried about where your soul has gone, then maybe you can find it somewhere out there . . .”

  Henry cut her off. “Yeah, I know—the discovery of all things. I just hope these bastards get it right and we aren’t lost in space with this soulless mission.”

  “Baby, the way I see it, it’s another chance at life, a great adventure into the final frontier.”

  Henry recoiled. “Part of me thinks being dead might be better.”

  Brenda put her hands on her hips. “I should give you a pill for that bad attitude.”

  Henry snapped back, “You know if you weren’t my best friend . . .”

  “Your only friend,” she added.

  “I’d deck you.”

  “Oh, you don’t have the strength for that.” He knew she was right.

  Henry sat down, rubbing his neck and rotating his stiff shoulders, and declared, “I feel like shit.”

  Brenda lightly touched the top of his head on her way out to check on things and said, “I know baby, you’re dying.”

  “There you go again, stating the obvious,” he said with very little reflection on the truth of her statement.

  Henry caught sight of his blurred reflection in a highly polished stainless steel cabinet. Staring back at him was not the person that had once been a strong, attractive man in his late forties, it was a face that had lost all muscle tone, had bags and dark circles under his eyes and was suffering from red burnt skin that was sloughing off in patches, producing open sores that covered his frail build. He sighed, feeling beaten down, while he rubbed his bald head, peering at this stranger through half-blind and bloodshot eyes. Henry could no longer hold on to his emotions and began to weep. His life had passed him by, consumed by his work, no family to love him, no one to miss him. He would depart this Earth soon, one way or another.

  Brenda entered the area of the lab where the final stages of transplantation were being prepared. This was a cold, sterile environment that reeked of the harsh truth of what they were about to do to this handful of scientists who had signed up for the procedure willingly, to avoid lives being held captive for crimes in their pasts.

  Not one of the team members had family of any kind and all connections to the outside world had been severed. Anyone who had known them thought they had died of some sudden illness or by deadly accident. A high price to pay for a shot at immortality.

  Brenda walked into the next room where another team member was sitting reading over a new memo that had been dropped off. This small space had become their comfort zone for discussing the future. A future that was a mystery, an unknown path into darkness that blurred a reality that only one’s imagination could hold and bind together.

  Brenda pulled a chair out from the round table which, for all intents and purposes, was the place intended for them
to meet and discuss daily events, and to report to the team how the different stages of development were proceeding in their field of expertise. But no one had ever come to check on them; simple, straightforward memoranda were dropped off in the middle of the night.

  “Well, I just had a visit with Henry. He doesn’t have much time left; fortunately, his SELF is almost ready for transplantation. Poor baby, he’s still having second thoughts about the whole damn thing. I don’t get it, though; he’s going to die, regardless, and having an opportunity for a whole new life—he should be elated.”

  Magnus, being the optimistic one of the group, leaned back in his chair, muscles flexing beneath a thin, fitted shirt. With a compassionate expression, he said in his South London accent, “Look, I know how he feels. All of us here believe one thing or another when it comes to death and the afterlife. But what we are seeking here, the true nature of this mission and what it has become, is to find the truth of our existence and protect that truth at all costs. My lady, the proof is in the pudding.”

  Magnus Connery was the kind of positive person that one could either relate to or pass off as being unrealistic. He could be a sanctimonious ass whose beliefs were sometimes very hard to swallow. He had managed to join this group of explorers due to his expertise as ‘an international computer science intrusions engineer,’ as he liked to call himself. He had become a member of the Federation of American Scientists while serving in his former position at MI6 Headquarters. During his time there, he managed a very lucrative hobby of hacking into the offshore bank accounts of some very wealthy, yet seedy, individuals. Most of whom were a colorful assortment of politicians. When he was caught red-handed, his justification was that the money he stole came from a corrupt government and that they needed to pay for their dishonesty by being relieved of their misguided attempts at power through wealth.