~
The ship was cozier than Tuck remembered. The crew was readying for takeoff; five men total not including the general and his two servants. His associate from the other day, Trane, was also on board accompanied by his entourage. His party was seated in modestly padded benches next to the windows.
“V, are you prepped yet?” the general spoke into the air.
“Yes sir,” came the reply.
“Good, then I’ll turn control over to Captain Hollack here. You will work with him.”
“As you wish sir.”
Captain Hollack gave some orders, but they were more for the passengers than for flight. The ship, or V, seemed like she could fly herself almost unassisted. Tuck moved near one of the bay windows watching the ground get smaller and smaller.
“Do you think this thing could reach the Moon?” Avers stood next to him.
He looked at her curiously. “Are you feeling better?”
She clenched her fists, but said nothing.
“Something I would like to say…”
“I,” she cut him off, “I didn’t mean what I said about Citra,” she said through her teeth. “She’s not as bad as she seems.”
“Would either of you like a pill to calm your nerves,” Munix appeared behind them holding a tray with white pills and shot glasses of water.
“No thanks,” Tuck said.
She turned to Avers.
“Me neither.”
“Will you come with me?” Munix asked Tuck. “I want to show you something.”
“Sure,” Avers said.
“No, just Tuck.”
“Wait,” Avers grabbed his hand. “Give us a minute. Go on ahead.”
Munix bowed leaving to ask other passengers if they were interested in soothing their stomachs.
“She’s trying to kills us. Those pills are poison. I know it. She is going to take you to some room in the back and bash your brains in. I’ve seen it before.”
“You have not. I don’t think that is how she plans to do it. What would happen if I didn’t come back? Wouldn’t you get suspicious? No, there is some other plan.”
“Don’t do it Tuck. Stay with me.”
The stubborn mule of a woman he met a few short weeks ago looked as if her dried tears were about to reassert themselves. He walked over to Munix who bowed again and led him down a corridor. After going down two twisting flights of narrow stairs they went down another long hall.
“What’s so special you can only show me?”
She did not smile nor did she speak. She released the hatch to a door and stepped inside.
“Wait here,” she said.
On the far side of the room was another door. She opened that hatch too and disappeared through it. After five minutes she reappeared motioning for him to follow.
“This is the only room in the ship we are safe to talk. Over there,” she pointed to a metal tank lying on the ground with hundreds of hoses coming out of it, “There a low level EMP barrier. I can’t pass through, but you can. Open the tank and take me out.”
Her hands were fidgety. Eyes unfocused. What was in that thing?
“Go,” she shoved him forward.
Take me out?
A control box was attached to the side of the tank. Simple enough to operate he pressed a button opening the lid. A cloud of cold gas depressurized seeping from under the lid. When it cleared he saw a glass box surrounded by orange liquid. Within the box was a brain with electrodes that led to all those hoses.
“Do you see?” Munix asked just above a whisper.
“What is it?”
“That’s me. That’s us.”
“What?”
“Don’t take me out. Not yet anyways. Put the lid back on.”
Confused, Tuck did as she said. Maybe she wasn’t going to kill me after all.
“Here, take this,” she kicked her leg up onto a box. A drawer in her leg mechanically opened. She pulled out a pistol and stuck it in his hand. “I want you to kill General Cavalcade when you get the chance. If you don’t he’s going to kill you. Kill him and take me out of my box.” She looked to the opened the hatch, “We should return to the control deck. We’ve been gone too long.”
The narrow stairwell was no place to be when turbulence struck. The ship jostled them around. Tuck tightly squeezed the railing until it passed.
“Is that normal?”
“We must be passing through the Jetstream. Sometimes it positions itself over Talion. Keep going. It should lessen as we continue our ascent.”
He turned to her, “Why don’t you just kill him?”
“Shish! You can’t say that here.” Then she whispered, “I have governors regulating my behavior. Even my thoughts sometimes. That box you saw not only keeps me alive, but it splits my emotions, my thoughts. It distributes only actions the general has ordered. Except when I am in the room with the box. In there I must have freedom to work.”
“If that brain…is your brain then what is inside you?”
Another tremble shook the ship.
“Go.”
When they reached the control deck General Cavalcade had already ordered everyone into ionosuits.
“Here,” Avers handed one to Tuck. “Glad to see you’re not dead.”
He looked it over before putting it on.
“Did he notice we were gone?”
“He didn’t go to the bathroom. So, I don’t think he needed anyone to wipe.”
The suit had conveniently placed instructions on the inside. Right foot first. Then left. Arms. What was after arms? Most of the way into his suit he couldn’t read them anymore.
“So, what did you two discuss that needed to be so private?”
“You won’t believe it.”
He fumbled around in his suit trying to reach the zipper in the back.
“Turn around,” Avers pulled the fabric tight then paused. “Oh,” she said.
“What is it?
He felt a finger on his shoulder. The wheel. He sighed. Slowly, she zipped him tight.
“I’m glad you’re here Tuck.”
Another pocket of disturbance. This one, however, was a rough rumble that lasted for a full minute. Munix passed by, “That one was not normal.”
Hollack was on the intercom shouting orders. Munix, Catalpa and the small crew were busy managing the controls. V spoke too. The crew must have overridden her controls.
She must be operating in a support role.
“These suits aren’t so bad,” Avers said. “Like a low tech version of your mecha suit.”
“Just mine?”
She nodded. “I’ve worn standard issue before. TIGERS are generations ahead.”
“Why did the general put us in these? If we crash we’re pretty much toast aren’t we?”
“I’m guessing they don’t use the ship that often. Not at extreme altitudes like we are now anyways. She probably has some pressurization issues.”
A violent force pressed on the ship. Everyone unsecured fell to the ground. Those that were buckled in felt the full effect of 4 g-forces slamming into them.
“But maybe not,” Avers clung tightly to a nearby rail.
When the seizure had passed Munix made her way over.
“Both of you, please,” she motioned for them to follow her. “We’re going down. Put your helmets on.”
“What!” They said together.
She led them down the stairs Tuck had just taken stopping on the first floor instead of the second.
“Tuck this room is yours. Ivory, please secure yourself into the pod in the next.”
“Wait, what is going on?” Tuck asked.
&nb
sp; “The pods in your rooms will protect you in case we crash.”
“You mean when we crash,” Avers said.
Munix bowed, but narrowed her eyes.
“Ivory, this way please.”
“Wait, what are you going to do?” Tuck asked.
“I’m going to ensure that the ship lands as gracefully as possible.”
The room was excruciatingly small. Padding lined every surface. Tuck squeezed between the pads and strapped himself in. “God,” he prayed out loud, “not like this. Not buckled down waiting to die like a coward. Give me an honorable death; a hero’s welcome. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
A gruesome shock moved the ship. He felt like puking. If it wasn’t for the padding and the helmet he would have hit his head so hard his skull would have split. More convulsions came. The lights went out. The g-forces accelerated. Then suddenly nothing…
The Miserable Planet #4 Page 6