by J. N. Chaney
“Well, well, well, the plot thickens.” Doctor Wong actually smiled. “Things here were starting to get boring. Sure, space travel was fun the first day, but now I’m stuck here for six weeks in a glass box.”
Stacy and I looked at each other.
“Back to the matter at hand,” I said, trying to reel the strange doctor back in. “Does tech with the ability to cloak someone exist?”
“Well, yes, of course it does. I’ve seen a cloaking mechanism before, but we don’t have one here or on the ship.” Doctor Wong studied my expression. “Or do we?”
13
I looked over at Stacy. I wasn’t sure how much of this she wanted to divulge to the doctor. He was a weirdo for sure, but he wasn’t stupid. He understood exactly what we were getting at.
“Who did you say you were again?” the doctor pushed.
“We didn’t,” Stacy answered back, going for her holo card yet again.
Man, that thing is like a magic ticket, I thought to myself.
She swiped it over Doctor Wong’s holographic-enhanced table. A decree signed by Arun, stating that we were sent by the Eternals and to be treated as officers of the ship, popped up.
“My, my, I thought I was going to nap all day again and then go out for drinks, but you have my interest piqued.” Doctor Wong rolled his head around his neck, stretching his muscles. He then waved his hand over his deck and brought up a screen and keyboard. His hand flew over the keyboard like a true professional.
“I appreciate the help,” Stacy said, taking a step back to let him do his work. “But you’re the head of Technology Advancements. Shouldn’t you be more interested in work and less sleep?”
“Trust me, I’ve been over the numbers a million times.” Doctor Wong’s eyes never left the holo-screen in front of him. “Barring a catastrophic event, we’ll make it to Kronos Five in one piece. Once we get there, we have all the tools necessary to begin a thriving colony. The fun part will be working on the fly as we encounter obstacles we never prepared for. Right now, I’ve just been bored. I spend most days napping and drinking. Ah, here we go.”
Doctor Wong pushed his spectacles up further on his nose and turned his holographic screen toward us. On the screen, there were two videos playing. One was of a woman holding what appeared to be a blanket made of some kind of translucent fabric. She placed it over herself and completely disappeared. The other screen showed a man with a heavy wristwatch. He pressed a few buttons on it and also disappeared.
“As of this moment, these are the two ways to do it,” Doctor Wong explained. “One projects images around it through thousands of tiny cameras showing what is behind the wearer. The other bends light. Of course, there is always the possibility that someone has created a third option we do not yet know about.”
“Is there any way to track it?” Stacy asked, trying to come up with a solution. “Does it leave a trace of any kind?”
“I’m afraid not.” The doctor swung his monitor around again. His fingers flew over his keyboard faster than I could track. “What I’m getting from this conversation is that there is someone on board you need to capture that has a cloaking device. I’m guessing it’s a Disciple, since they’re the ones with the strongest vendetta against the Eternals and this project.”
“We’re not at liberty to speak on the matter,” Stacy said calmly.
“Oh, a mystery.” Doctor Wong stood from his desk with a huge Cheshire cat smile. “My, my, how I do love a mystery. Sign me up.”
“Sign you up for what?” I asked.
“I’ll help,” he said as he began to pace back and forth behind his desk. “As of right now, there is no way to track someone using either type of these cloaking devices, but that doesn’t mean it would be impossible to create one. Give me a day or two, and I’ll figure it out.”
“Very good,” Stacy said, and walking forward, she extended her hand. “Thank you. My contact information is on the holo info that I downloaded into your desk computer.”
“Yes, yes.” Doctor Wong shook her hand half-heartedly. His mind was already racing with the possibilities of a new conquest. He pressed a finger of his free hand on his holo-desk. “Marcy, would you be a dear and get me some of that sniffing caffeine, please? I have a long night of work ahead of me. Thank you.”
I looked up to see Marcy the receptionist staring at us from the glass wall that divided her area from the doctor’s office. She pressed a button on her holo desk. “Yes, Doctor, right away.”
“We’ll leave you to it,” Stacy said, motioning me out of the office and down the hall.
“You feel like we can trust him?” Stacy asked.
“Well, he sniffs caffeine, and that has to mess with his head somehow, but I think he’s telling us the truth,” I said, scratching at my beard. “I think he’ll come through.”
We walked the rest of the way in silence out of the Technology Advancements level and back to the cylinder-elevator waiting for us.
“So what now?” I asked, thinking Stacy had some master plan or some kind of suit protocol to follow. I waited to hear her groundbreaking insight.
“Now we get lunch,” Stacy said as we entered the elevator. “I’m starving.”
We rode the elevator to the closest cafeteria. The door opened in front of us to a bustling sight of Transients from all walks of life waiting their turn in line for a hot meal.
The smells coming from the kitchen area were absolutely mouthwatering. I loved food in all shapes and sizes. From burritos, to burgers, and cake, I didn’t discriminate. What I smelled now was barbeque, and it made my stomach rumble with greedy anticipation.
Stacy led the way to a food carrousel on our left. There was a stack of dark blue trays along with clean plates and utensils. We grabbed ours and fell in line behind an older woman holding the hand of a young girl. The girl couldn’t have been more than two or three, but I was bad at guessing these kinds of things.
She had dark brown hair with a pink bow, a dirty purple jacket, and worn boots. She turned to look up at us with big brown eyes and a smile.
Personally, I didn’t really know how to feel about kids. I mean, they were kids, and this one was kind of cute. I smiled back. Stacy went for a full-on hand wave and laugh.
The little girl smiled back before the line moved again.
Stacy and I found an empty table. My plate was loaded with barbequed chicken and ribs, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and a big glass of water to wash it all down.
Stacy was looking at the little girl and her grandmother again, then turned around toward me.
“Man, I love kids,” she said, opening her napkin and placing it on her lap. “That’s part of the reason I do what I do. There are so many innocent lives put in harm’s way, especially children.”
“Mhm,” I said through a mouthful of potatoes.
“Do you have any kids?” Stacy asked gently, scooping up a pile of her own mashed potatoes and carefully putting it into her mouth.
“Nope, and I don’t really want to talk about it,” I said, grabbing a sauce-stricken rib and tearing into it. The meat hit my taste buds like heaven had somehow managed to enter my mouth.
“That was just a polite question,” Stacy said, clearing her throat and eyeing my hands-on approach to eating with disdain. “I read your file.”
“Good for you,” I said, taking note at how much my eating was bothering her. I may have let some mac and cheese dribble onto my beard just to mess with her. “So what are we going to do next?”
“Nope, no way,” Stacy said, eyeing me. “If you don’t want to talk about your past, I can respect that, but for better or worse, we’re working together. I want to know more about the guy who is going to have my back. You don’t want to get to know me?”
“I know you’re a good liar.” I shrugged. “You had me fooled from the time I thought I was helping you in the alley to when you tased me.”
“You’re going to have to get over that,” Stacy said with an eye roll. “I li
e to everyone, so don’t feel bad.”
Stacy lifted her glass of water to her lips and took a dainty sip.
I stuffed my mouth with as much chicken as it would hold and then took another bite.
“You should know that I take my job very seriously, and I don’t plan on failing this assignment,” Stacy said. Her tone changed, hardened for a moment. “I joined the Civil Authority ten years ago. I’ve worked hard to get where I am. I get that this is just an event for you because you’re the only one that knows what’s going on here besides me. But this is some serious business.”
“I get it,” I said, reaching for my own water. “I don’t think this is some kind of joke either. I’m going to find whoever thought it was a good idea to put a beating on me and return the favor.”
“That’s all this is to you?” Stacy asked. “Just a chance for revenge?”
I thought about her question. There definitely was the revenge aspect. I looked over at the giggling little girl and her grandmother eating beside her. I thought about what would have happened to her if the Disciple’s plan had been carried out and one of the rabid animals had found her first.
“No,” I said. “I want to find the Disciple to put them down for good so we can have a peaceful run in space before getting to the new colony.”
“Good,” Stacy said, reaching for her knife and fork. She began to cut the meat off the bone of her rib.
It was a strange event to watch. I’d never seen anyone eat as methodically and slowly as Stacy. Watching her was almost painful.
“We should—”
Stacy’s next words were cut off as she reached for the holo card in her pocket. It was vibrating ever so gently. She tapped a button, and a message appeared on her screen a moment later.
I could tell there was something very wrong by the expression on her face. She looked up at me with a stare that could have turned me to stone.
“We have a problem,” Stacy said, standing from her seat. “We need to go, now.”
14
Everything I knew of the terrorist group that called themselves the Disciples was pretty despicable. Founded on the ideology that humans were not meant to evolve past our current state, they hated everything there was to do with any kind of new technology, medicine, or tampering with DNA.
Specifically, they hated the Eternals, who had found a way to prolong their own lives through the use of advanced nanotechnology and DNA manipulation. You could imagine how they felt about traveling amongst the stars and starting a new colony on an alien planet.
Attacks had ranged from shooting and bombings, to the hacking of networks and online assassination attempts. But the message Stacy received on her holo card, if it were true, would be a new low for them.
I followed her down to a level I had only seen once before in passing. It was the garden area open to the Transient population, a place where they could go and forget they were on a ship altogether. There were fields of grass, plants, and even trees growing up from the rich soil.
The entire place smelt of the woods back on Earth. Living in the city, I could forget that we still had preserved national parks and forests, but the smells here brought all of that back.
As we exited the elevator, Iris appeared next to us in her ethereal blue glow. I nearly pissed myself. Actually, I think I did a little.
“Holy shit!” I said, balling my hands into fists. Not that I wanted to hurt her. I couldn’t if I tried. It was just my go-to reaction when I was scared. “You’ve got to give us a heads-up before you appear like that.”
“What is a heads-up?” Iris asked, tilting her head to the side.
“You know, like uh, advanced warning that you’re going to appear,” I said.
“I’ll note that down for next time.” Iris nodded.
“So what do we have here?” Stacy asked.
Iris motioned us to follow her as she took the lead down an aisle of massive planters full of wildflowers. If it weren’t for the overhanging lights and steel walls, I would have sworn I was taking a stroll in some kind of fancy park. I guess that was the point of all of this.
“I noticed an abnormality in the growth of the plants in the green room,” Iris explained quietly so she wasn’t overheard as we crossed the level. “I did not warn the workers here lest we set off a panic. If I’m right, we have a very serious problem on our hands.”
“Great,” I said, shaking my head. “Why couldn’t you have just called us over for some good news? Like you wanted to see how our day was, or you had cookies to share.”
“Ignore him,” Stacy said. “Iris, what exactly are you talking about? What abnormality did you come across?”
“Perhaps it’s better if I show you,” Iris said, motioning with an open hand to one of several large greenhouses on the opposite side of the level. There were square greenhouses all lined up together at the rear. Each one was made up of fogged glass and steel supports. The roof came to a point as it sloped up.
I breathed a heavy sigh, wondering what it could be now. I also wondered how I managed to get myself into this mess for the hundredth time. I was here now, and that was what mattered.
Images of the little girl eating with her grandmother crossed in front of my mind. Maybe I didn’t care what happened at one time. Maybe I just wanted to keep my head down, but I hated to admit that Stacy was right on some level. I couldn’t just stand and allow this Disciple terrorist to have his or her way with the ship. There were too many lives on board.
Iris paused for a moment at the door, waving her hand past a scanner. It immediately clicked open and afforded us entrance.
I walked inside the greenhouse behind Iris and Stacy.
Inside, I was surprised to find we were alone. There were troughs lined up with more rich soil and fruits and vegetables growing out of them. It looked like a chef's dream.
“Each greenhouse carries budding plants, as well as seeds we plan to use for the new colony when we arrive on Kronos Five,” Iris explained to us as she pointed to a misting system that ran just above us. “One of my tasks is to monitor the health of this food source, as it will be paramount in our key of surviving in our new home. A system warning went off, indicating the water level coming from the misters above fluctuated for a brief second.”
Iris looked at us with her crazy blue eyes as if we were supposed to know what she was talking about.
“And?” Stacy said, trying to piece together the facts that Iris assumed we would understand.
“Someone is tampering with the water supply,” Iris said, taking us even further into the room.
My boots stepped in small puddles where the water had gathered from the mist units overhead.
“I tested the water supply to make sure my findings were not unfounded,” Iris said. “There is an alien element that has been added to the system. As soon as I detected it, I ran extensive tests accelerating the effects the foreign element would have on our plants if it could continue to water them.”
Iris waved us deeper into the room, leading us to a trough of shriveled cabbage. There was a smell of rot coming from the vegetables. The vibrant green the heads of cabbage usually wore were now molding and brown. Leaves fell from the center as though it had been left out in the hot sun for days on end.
“I used the tainted water supply to test these cabbages. There was no change at first, so I increased the dosages to a more potent level. In a week, all the vegetables will look like this. The water is also unfit for human consumption or for use topically. Rashes will break out in weeks if it is used to shower. In a month’s time, organs will shut down if it is consumed.”
Stacy and I shared the same look of disbelief on our faces. I knew the Disciples were nuts, but to do this to one hundred thousand people who were just searching for a new home seemed low, even for them. Death by thirst was one way I never thought I’d go out. It would drive people mad here on the ship.
“Have you already told Elon and Arun?” Stacy asked the Cognitive. “Who else knows?�
�
“They both know, and now so do you,” Iris said, looking at the two of us. “No one else is aware. The slightest whisper could cause widespread panic. Elon and Arun are with the emergency water reserve now, ensuring that it is well-guarded with every security measure at our disposal.”
“There’s a reserve water supply?” I asked, feeling a slight sense of relief. “Iris, you’ve really got to lead with information like that next time.”
“Yes,” Iris said, opening her palm. A holo image appeared in the space above her hand. It showed a room with massive water containers on their sides. They looked big enough to float a boat, but I knew with a hundred thousand mouths to quench, the water would go quickly.
“Will it be enough to last us until we reach Kronos Five?” Stacy asked the question I couldn’t bring myself to.
“Without showers and only used for drinking...” Iris paused for the briefest moment as if she were doing some internal math. “Yes, but only if we are careful and ration it wisely.”
The tension in my shoulders relaxed, but only for a moment. I understood what we were up against better than most. Telling everyone aboard that their water was going to be rationed would cause panic and worry no matter how we positioned it.
If we told them there was a Disciple saboteur on board, there would be widespread mayhem. There was no doubt in my mind about that. Dissention would be sowed, and fingers would be pointed.
“What if this is what the Disciple wants?” Stacy asked, staring at the rotting heads of cabbage. “What if his or her mission is to just create as much chaos as possible in hopes we’ll turn on each other?”
“Then they’re going to be sadly mistaken when I get my hands on them,” I said, cracking the knuckles on both of my fists. “We’ve been chasing this person, and we’re always a step behind for the last few attacks. If I were him, I’d keep going.”
“If I already went after the animals and water, where would I be next?” Stacy asked out loud, catching on to my train of thought. “Iris, what system controls the recycled air in the Orion?”
