by Eric Warren
“Is that an…ambulon?” he asked.
“Yep,” Jessika replied, looking over her shoulder. “If you read my notes you’d know that already.”
He ignored her again, keeping his eyes on the silver sleeve as Arista approached and took a seat on the reclined chair.
David picked up a scanner of some sort and ran it over her arm, though Arista couldn’t feel the sensation at all. “Interesting,” he said. “Exoscalpel?”
She nodded. “I had to take it off myself after it was shredded.”
“You did an excellent job,” he said. “Those monsters. I can’t believe they did this to you.” Whatever his tool was it could see past the sleeve. “Do you know what these were used for?” He indicated to the sleeve.
She shook her head.
David smiled and made a series of taps on the sleeve in different places. It felt as if the sleeve had gained an extra level of strength, and as she looked at the end where her elbow used to be, the end of the sleeve morphed into something that looked like a port.
“What is it?”
“It’s a battlefield bandage. Designed for soldiers who lose limbs during combat. They put the sleeve on and it will heal them while at the same time they can attach a prosthesis to it that transmits the electrical impulses to their brains. It can make a hand—or an arm in your case—work just like your regular arm.”
“So soldiers don’t have to have downtime? Doesn’t that seem barbaric?” she asked.
“Which is why we stopped using them. There must have been some left over wherever you had your surgery. I’m surprised you knew to put it on.”
Arista thought back to the very first sleeve she’d worn: right after she burned her hand off, she’d woken up in a hospital with one on. She assumed it was some machine tech she didn’t know about. But now to find out it was a human invention? What if she’d still been wearing it when Sy had come along? Would Sy still have insisted in integrating the hand directly into her? Or would she have used the sleeve?
“I’m resourceful I guess,” Arista said, staring at the flexible port at the end of her arm. “How is this possible?”
“Nanite technology. They remain dormant until activated,” Jessika said. “Looks like the sleeve is undamaged. We can attach a new arm and hand as soon as we finish producing them.
Arista jumped out of the chair. “No! No prosthesis.”
Jessika and David’s faces were pulled back with worry. “It’s okay,” David said. “It won’t hurt.”
Arista shook her head violently. “No, I’m fine. I don’t need it.”
“Just calm down,” David said, approaching her slowly. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“Don’t—” Arista said. Screw the act, they weren’t installing anything else on her arm. The next device might end up killing her. She was stupid enough to fall for that once. Never again.
“Shhh, honey, it’s okay,” David said. Jessika looked on, concern in her eyes. And were those tears?
“Someone hurt her bad, Dave,” Jessika whispered.
“Look, see, we’re not going to hurt you,” David said, still approaching. Arista continued to back up.
“No, just…just leave me alone. Don’t come any closer. I can’t—” She was losing control. What was she supposed to say? She couldn’t tell them about Sy, but she couldn’t let them touch her either. They might sedate her, and she’d wake up with a bazooka for an arm.
David stopped. “Arista. It’s okay. You can trust us. We’re not going to hurt you. We would never do anything to hurt you.”
Arista’s gaze flicked between them. “I don’t believe you,” she whispered.
“Come on now,” David said. “Would your own parents put you in harm’s way?”
Arista felt the room spin, then watched as the floor rushed up to meet her.
Sixteen
Someone moaned in the darkness. It sounded like the yowl of a cat in heat, or perhaps a sick goose. Regardless of what was making it, it was a terrible sound, and Arista wished it would stop immediately.
Something had just happened. Something horrible. Or wonderful? She couldn’t quite remember; it was all a blur. She’d been protesting…the prosthesis. And then, the man—the one she’d just met—had said…
Arista’s eyes snapped open. She was back on the same chair she’d jumped off only moments ago. Or had it been hours? She had no way of knowing how long she’d been out. She really needed the Device right now. More than ever.
To her right stood Jessika and David, both hunched over their respective terminals, studying something. Arista was almost too afraid to glance down. Had they done it? Had they attached something to her arm? Or even worse? Removed the Device from her head? She squinted and peered over, almost too afraid to look and see what they had done.
But her arm remained as it had been, still encased in the sleeve but nothing else. There were no attachments. She reached up with her left hand and felt all over her head, feeling for any missing hair or incisions. She couldn’t find any.
“Awake,” Jessika said softly. “Dave, she’s awake.”
“Arista.” He stood from his terminal. “How do you feel? The way you were moaning I thought you might have a concussion.”
“What did you mean when you said my own parents?” she whispered.
He stood beside Jessika and placed his arm around her. It didn’t escape Arista’s notice Jessika’s eyes went right to his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t you see the resemblance?” he asked. “We’re a little older now, that’s true, but look close.”
She examined them. Maybe, if she looked hard enough she could see something of a resemblance. Her own hair was the same color and thickness as his, and she had her chin and cheekbones. But it could all be another trick. Just a ploy by the humans to get her to cooperate. McCulluh or Echo could have found a couple of people who looked close enough that she might actually believe it.
Jessika shrugged off David’s hand and approached her. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. Echo said not to say anything.”
“You’re my…mother?” Arista asked. “My biological mother?” She couldn’t process the thought. It was as if the piece of information hung in the air between them, waiting for her to take it.
Jessika nodded.
“And you…?” She indicated David.
“Dad at your service,” he said with a strained smile.
“Sy told me you both died in the accident. The one that left me stranded.”
They exchanged looks. “I don’t know why she said that,” Jessika said, approaching closer. “But it’s not true.” She reached out and Arista recoiled, causing her to draw her own hand back in. “Forgive me. It’s just…I haven’t seen you in sixteen years.”
“Wait…wait. I don’t understand,” Arista said. This was a ploy. It had to be. What if the humans knew her real purpose here? What if this was all to test her loyalty? “If you guys didn’t die in the accident, then what happened? Why was I left behind?”
“There was an accident,” David said. “You never should have lost your memory. The truth is you were on that ship by yourself. Something happened, we don’t know what. But by the time we gathered enough resources to look for you, it was too late. All our attempts to find you failed. We couldn’t track your implant—not until four weeks ago. After you destroyed Charlie.”
“Are you saying Charlie was shielding me?”
“No, I don’t know why we couldn’t track you. The implants are designed to be traceable, in case of an incident like yours. But for some reason, yours just stopped working correctly.”
Jessika took a step closer, but Arista didn’t recoil this time. “I never thought I’d see you again.” She placed her hand on Arista’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”
“I bet this is strange for you. You probably thought you’d never be with so many humans at once,” David said.
They had left her out there and never tried to come back for her. Left her defenseless, with no knowl
edge of what she was supposed to do or who she even was. She glanced up. “What’s my name?” Arista asked. “My human name?”
“Miranda Thorne.” Jessika smiled.
“Well,” David said. “Or Reynolds. Or I suppose you could hyphenate. Reynolds-Thorne.”
“Wait, you two.” She pointed at one then the other. “Aren’t married?”
“Not anymore, I’m afraid,” David said. “Losing you was…tough.”
An uncomfortable silence filled the air around them. Jessika was still looking at her, with pity or compassion she couldn’t be sure which. And David had returned to his terminal. Could these people be her real parents? The ones she didn’t even know she had? For most of her life, she thought she might be the result of some kind of biological experiment, grown in a lab somewhere. But if they were telling the truth then Arista had grown up here, with them in some capacity. She had lived here.
“Would it be okay…” Jessika started. “I mean, can I hug you?”
Arista winced. She didn’t know these people, didn’t want to know them. She wanted to find her real parents and get the hell out of here. Every moment she spent here only made the pit in her stomach worse. She didn’t want to think of a prior version of herself, young and determined but not unlike the rest of these humans. Perhaps losing her memory was the best thing that had ever happened to her. What if she had been just like them before? No doubt they brought her up to hate machines. Arista didn’t want to be that person again. She needed those memories to stay buried.
“Not quite…yet,” Arista said. “I’m still processing all this.”
Jessika nodded, then turned away, lifting her glasses and wiping her eyes.
“Then should we start the procedure? It won’t take but a few minutes and I promise you won’t feel a thing,” David said, looking at her from his terminal.
“No,” Arista said, sitting up and swinging her legs over the end of the chair. “Not today. This is too much for me right now. I need some time before anyone goes rooting around in my brain.”
“But…” David began.
“Just give her some time, David, Jesus,” Jessika hissed. “Forgive him, he gets anxious sometimes. If there’s a job to be done, he has to do it right away. He can’t wait and give a person some space.”
“Hey,” David said, opening his hands. “I can give her all the space in the world. I just thought since she was down here it would save her a trip.”
“You go on back to your other project. I’ll call you if she changes her mind.” She winked at Arista.
“As you wish.” He turned to Arista. “I’m thrilled you’re back. I’m sure I’ll see you later. I’ll be happy to have a hug as soon as you feel up to it. Wouldn’t want to pressure you into anything you’re not ready for…” He stared at Jessika as he trailed off and she stared right back. Then he turned and left the alcove, passing back through the biohazard barrier.
“Asshole,” Jessika muttered. “I’m sorry about him. He’s a bit…much sometimes. Do you want to go back to your quarters? I know this is a lot.”
Arista nodded, thankful for the sudden matronly vibe she received from Jessika. The woman was practically radiating empathy. “Don’t worry about the implant, we have time on that. And if you can’t remember, that’s okay too.” She smiled again, and Arista realized they were almost the same height.
“What else is he working on?” she asked, trying to keep herself distracted. The last thing Arista needed right now was to burst into a pile of tears.
“You really want to know?”
Arista nodded.
“He’s working on a new type of Gate. He’s not even supposed to be over here. He can be a little…pushy sometimes.” She dropped her voice. “And don’t let him fool you. I didn’t leave him because of what happened to you. I left him because he’s honest-to-god insufferable sometimes.”
Arista almost smiled, then remembered her real mother was still trapped here somewhere. Connecting with this woman would be a betrayal of everything Emily had given her; that was, if the woman was even her real mother. But even as the thoughts crossed her brain, she knew it was true. It was the subtle things; the way Jessika’s eyes slid to the side when she was talking about someone she didn’t like. The way her mouth curled when she found something funny. Things Arista herself did without even thinking about them.
She needed to talk to Frees. To see if he’d made any progress.
“I think I’m ready to go back now,” she said.
Jessika’s eyes fell slightly but she nodded. “I’ll call Hudson to escort you.”
“Captain Brody, sir,” Frees said, standing at attention.
“Abrams! What in the flag-flying fuck are you doing in my room? Without authorization?”
“I was told you wanted to see me, sir,” Frees said, standing in front of Brody’s desk and tapping the off-button on the display. He had a mental photograph of all the commands, finding the off was easy, even without looking at it.
“If I wanted you in here don’t you think I would goddamn know it?” Brody yelled, spit flying from his mouth.
“I couldn’t say, sir.” This human was volatile. Frees might have to take him down, which would seriously limit his options. He hoped to avoid a confrontation at all costs.
“Are you giving me lip?” Brody stomped around the edge of his desk, so he was behind it while Frees stood in front. Frees had been right, the screen was off. He only hoped Brody hadn’t seen anything else.
“No, sir,” Frees said. “Just following orders, sir.”
“Who gave you that order?”
Frees had to scramble. “Sir, as you know I suffered a head injury in the field. Maybe I misheard my order.”
“Bullshit, Abrams. Don’t think that just because you’re mildly famous you can come into an officer’s quarters and root around. I’d have you court-martialed right now if I knew it wasn’t bad for morale.”
Frees said nothing, only continued to stare at the space above Brody’s head. He’d read it wasn’t smart to look the superior officers in the eye; they considered it a challenge to their authority.
“What the fuck were you looking for, Abrams? Don’t make me beat it out of you.”
“I’m embarrassed to say, sir.”
“You’re going to be more embarrassed when I tell laundry to deliver your pants two sizes too small. You like your balls in a vice, Abrams?”
“No, sir.” He might as well tell the truth. “I was looking for a map. I can’t quite remember how to get around.”
Brody slumped down in his seat. “Oh for—” He took a deep breath. “I want you to report to medical. And that is an order. And while you’re there get them to look at your face. You look like you might need some reconstruction.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And if you come in here again without my authorization I will shove a flagpole up your ass and plant you in the middle of the hangar bay, do we understand each other?”
Frees did his best to keep the confused look off his face. “Yes, sir.”
Just say whatever necessary to get out of here.
“Dismissed.”
Frees turned on his heel and exited the room. Now he had to go medical. How was he going to avoid that? He still hadn’t had an opportunity to begin his search. This place was massive, there was no way he’d have enough time to look everywhere. He needed to narrow the search parameters.
“Hey, Abrams!” Frees turned to see Lyman making his way through the barracks toward him. “Feel like some chow? Finally decided to get out of your room, huh?”
“Frees.” The name made him jump. He’d gotten so used to people calling him Abrams hearing his real name set him on edge. But it was only Arista in his ear.
“Uh, I can’t right now. I have to…report to medical,” Frees said.
“Want some company? I can make sure they do the reconstruction right, so you don’t end up with that ugly mug you had before.”
Frees forced a smile and turn
ed away. “No thanks. I’ve got it.” He pulled up the map in his memory. Medical was two floors above him on five. Sector Mu.
“Okay.” Lyman shrugged. “Never seen you pass up a meal before but whatever.” He headed off toward the galley.
Frees tapped the area above his ear. “Arista? Are you okay?”
“Can you come to my room?”
A shiver shot through him. She didn’t sound right. Her voice was too soft, too vulnerable. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
“Just…come here if you can,” she said.
Screw the medic. He wasn’t about to go there anyway. The first thing they would find would be polymorphic coating underneath his skin and his cover would be blown. He’d have to find some excuse for Brody, later. None of that mattered now.
“I’m on my way,” Frees said.
Seventeen
Frees took the elevator to level nine. Followed the map to Red Pi: civilian quarters. It wasn’t difficult to find as the civilian living habitats took up a large section of the colony. He wasn’t sure how he was going to find her until he started passing rooms, each of them displaying a person or family’s name on the door itself. Would they already have her name on the door? Or should he just look for the unmarked rooms?
As he made his way down the hall, scanning doors out of the corner of his vision, Frees checked his chronometer; it was close to nineteen-hundred hours. He’d adopted military time to try and help him fit in and he liked it. A twenty-four-hour clock seemed more practical to him than two twelve-hour ones.
A name to his right caught his eye. “Barnes, A.” Hopefully there weren’t two people with that name here. He tapped the door lightly and it slid open causing him to step back. He’d expected someone to answer first. But all he saw was Arista sitting on the bed, one leg drawn up underneath her and her head in her hand. She glanced up as he entered and wiped her cheeks from their obvious wetness.
“What happened?” he asked, taking another step. The door slid closed behind him.