The cool Caribbean breeze enveloped his body. He wished there was a way to bottle the stuff up and bring it home. If he were to stay on the beach for a while the rustling palm fronds and mildly crashing waves were relaxing enough to perhaps bring on sleep, as long as a coconut didn’t bring on the grim reaper. If he could find a way to make the sounds of the waves louder in his room, sleeping may no longer be an issue.
To his left, a dark figure was moving toward the center of the beach from the tree line. The silhouette resembled a man and possibly matched the stranger from the bench. He was at the far end of the beach and was climbing over a natural rock formation where the beach ended.
Logan instantly became more intrigued as to who the man was and what he was up to. He quickly ran in the shadow of the tree line toward the large rocks while keeping an eye on the stranger. The man reached the crest and crossed over to the other side. Logan reached the rocks a few seconds later and climbed up in the general location where he had seen the man. As he reached the apex, he did his best to stay out of view and scanned the beach. On the other side of the rock formation, the fully clothed man walked upright into the sea and disappeared. While it was an odd time for a swim, the man never took the posture of a swimmer. He simply maintained an upright position and walked on the seafloor until he was fully submerged. The entire situation was odd. Logan observed the water as the moonlight glistened off the surface. The man didn’t return to the beach or attempt to surface and get air. There was no unnatural disturbance of the water’s surface. Several minutes passed since losing sight of him. After ten minutes had elapsed, Logan considered going into the water to find the stranger. He wondered if it was a suicide attempt. Logan walked down the jetty in the direction the man was walking.
A light appeared that was not the reflection of the moon. The light source was under the water thirty yards off the shore. It was large but the shape was too distorted by the incoming waves. Whatever it was that the light radiated from was sitting at the end of the jetty. In the blink of an eye, the light darted west into open water and was gone. Logan stood up on the rocks and attempted to locate it. The speed at which the thing moved was perplexing. Did the man get on whatever it was that was lit up? Was that a submerged vessel? He looked back at the distance the man had walked and considered how long he must have held his breath before the illumination occurred. Thoughts on the evening’s conversation with the drunk began to cause Logan to give considerations to odd ideas that he didn’t want to give life to. There had to be a rational explanation for what he had just witnessed. At least the man was gone. Perhaps Ayla wouldn’t be bothered by him again.
“Ayla,” he said out loud realizing that she may truly have been the target of the strange creature. Who she was and what was going on suddenly became more important to him. ‘So, you want the truth? Are you really interested in the truth?’ he recalled her asking. “Why yes, I do!” he answered aloud. Logan needed to know more about her and why this seemingly superhuman being was following her.
He scanned the area again hoping to see an indication of the stranger. After thirty minutes there was no evidence that the man ever surfaced or returned to the shore. He wondered if the strange man drowned or had actually walked all the way to the end of the jetty and entered some underwater craft. Often the currents at the end of jetties were exceptionally strong and could easily sweep a man away. Logan walked across the rock wall attempting to get a visual on him a final time, but there was no one in the water. The situation became a little more difficult as he felt obligated to report the incident to someone. But there was no rational way to explain the light and the speed by which it traveled as it darted into open water.
“Director, the human is stirring,” Calder said excitedly as he observed three large monitors from the corner of the room. The first was a three-dimensional view of organs of an unconscious human taken from a camera that levitated and moved in circular patterns from left to right around the body. The camera passed beneath the table the patient was lying on and continuously broadcasted images undisturbed by the solid surface. The second monitor focused solely on the nervous system. The brain, brain stem and hundreds of thousands of hair-thin lines were displayed in the exact order and location mapping the body. By paying attention to the signals as they raced back and forth from the brain, Calder could pinpoint any areas of nerve damage or pain and treat it accordingly. The third monitor displayed a blown-up dimensional image of Sonia’s brain which was color-coded by activity. A dark red tone revealed the more active areas.
Artemidorus Eirar, who had preferred to simply be called Art by his close friends and associates, was the Director of SINSTER, the government agency commissioned with the policing and enforcement of laws set forth by the Universal Council as it pertained to the citizens of Viennin. These days a good portion of their efforts seemed to be more for the gathering of intel as tensions had grown over several decades between the nations that supported the Code and those who had long since lost or never truly possessed any desire for it.
Taking action wasn’t as simple as invoking penalties against violators with trade embargos, sanctions, or tariffs as it was in the beginning. Vecca and Dalarna Eirar, his parents, as part of an envoy to the planet of Aigi where the Baraza Zima, the name given to the council of the five thousand nations that were members of the United Federation of Governments, were murdered for supporting trade sanctions against the ruthless Imhas from Scyros when Artemidorus was just five. It was the beginning of hostilities between the member nations which continued to escalate over the years. Art was taken in and raised by his Uncle Olan, Vecca’s brother, in South Viennin in the city of Kahn. Nothing motivated him in life more than the stories Olan had told him about his parents. This was the reason why he joined SINSTER at a young age. In his mind, it was a way he could continue the passionate work Vecca and Dalarna were engaged in by helping to preserve and defend the planets and citizens protected by the Code. Just like the parents he hardly remembered; it had become his life’s work.
“Good, I was wondering if the female of Earth would wake anytime soon. I take it you were successful in recovering her memory?” Art asked as he moved to the corner of the room by the monitors and observed. He wasn’t as well educated on what the monitors displayed; however, the color-coded brain scan was almost self-explanatory and didn’t require any formal training to understand.
“Yes, after a scan of the brain, just as we suspected, there was an anomaly in the occipital lobe. To make a short explanation of it, when the Tisht reprogram the Earth people, their memory is compressed into a file, then is moved from the temporal lobe and is stored in the occipital lobe. We found a way to move it back and possibly restore it. But we shall not know the full capacity of her memory until the human wakes up. We also corrected the neurotransmitter deficiency. It seems that her brain was basically working at half of its normal capability. There was some manipulation there as well. I guess this was done for the sake of keeping her unable to think clearly…making her less of the threat but able to perform the most basic duties required. She was only intended to be labor and was made to be somewhat challenged on purpose. Her intelligence quotient was less than 70 based on what I could see in the brain. So, we corrected the deficiencies…basically, we restored the areas where a lack of proper native foods over the years coupled with,” Calder turned to look at Art with an expression of disgust, “purposeful manipulation left her body and brain lacking in fats, amino acids…proper nutrition. The human body is very delicate. We’ve reversed the deficiencies and hopefully have perfected the chemical balance…her brain may function in the 170 range, or better, now.”
“By Earth standards…she would be in the upper 5% in intelligence? Any particular reason why you did that? Isn’t there a chance that mental expanse could have a negative impact on her? Perhaps make her…unstable?” Art asked staring inquisitively at Calder.
“Not as long as her body regulates properly. If not, we can adjust to make certain that
it does. Consider it some sort of payback for what she has been through. She deserves all that we can do to give her every advantage possible. It costs us nothing to make this upgrade on her. Her mind will work properly by the time she leaves here,” Calder pointed to the screen displaying the nervous system, “however, we had a difficult time with making repairs in other areas.” He touched the screen and a new image of the heart and circulatory system appeared. “Thankfully, somehow, there was no damage to the heart and the cardiovascular system is fine,” Calder turned from the monitors and noted, “there is long-term irreversible damage… she will never be able to reproduce again as it seems the uterus was removed.”
“What?” the director asked shocked by the revelation, “that is extremely odd and would decrease her worth. Since the Council was established and the Code was enforced, the trafficking of all lesser species on all planets was banned. Unfortunately, the humans of all nationalities have been valued above all others as slaves. Had we not stopped the Tisht and the Yangua, they would have wiped the humans out hundreds of years ago and possibly populated Earth themselves,” he said getting temporarily lost in his thoughts. “Anyway, the end result was the opening of those horrific breeding camps. There still is no law against breeding them, only taking them by force…against their will. I have always hated this, but there is no way to stop it now without a war of the nations. It won’t be as easy as the council agreeing to new regulations, I assure you. War would be certain. Regardless, it may still come to that. In light of all things, as horrible as it sounds, she was theirs to do with as they pleased. I doubt that it was done for medical reasons for her benefit. It doesn’t make sense, but it does support what Cyperien has suggested,” Art said in an irritated tone.
“Cyperien?” he asked stopping to look at Art.
The Director was lost in thought for a second time, “Yes, Cyperien Lejon…SINSTER 9th level. He believes that there is evidence that the Tisht have resumed the trafficking of the Earth people. Cyperien is trying to get evidence, but the Deeps, the name given to agents infiltrating the worst of the offenders, have had a hard time collecting details. Gathering information has been tough for them. Some have disappeared or have gone so far under that we really have no idea what has happened to them. It seems like everything on every planet runs on telenium now. Anyway, he believes that as more planets are finding and mining it, the demand for labor, which usually means the enslavement of some group of ‘lesser’ beings, has exploded. In this, the Tisht may be one of the major partners of the Kurun--”
“Those two Super-Powers working together…not good for anyone. They are well known for their telenium. Some of the finest anywhere. In fact, the girl had an exquisite piece in her hand, it was very pure and programmed for her,” Calder said in astonishment.
Art considered the new statistics and wondered how it was possible, “From what little information has been provided by the Deeps, the increased demand has depleted the supply of male earth people. Men from Earth are being worked to death at an alarming rate and they are not able to replace them as fast as they are losing them. It takes nine months for the pregnancy cycle to be completed, so the Tisht decided to experiment and create a way to cut the time in half. It seems that this has been a disaster. The younglings were deformed…if they survived at all. Then they decided that all should bear two at a time. Again, another disaster. The females began to die or have irreversible damage. This may be why the reproductive organs are missing on this one. Their experiments were a colossal disaster. The demand provides a price they could not turn down…it’s all about the financial benefits. To hades with everyone or everything else so long as they can generate a profit off of it and that it's not being done to them.
“Since the Code was established, the population on Earth has grown to over seven billion. They think we wouldn’t notice…that we have turned our attention away from Earth.” Calder touched Art’s arm and pointed as the woman on the table began to awaken.
Sonia opened her eyes slightly and looked around the room without moving her head. Her eyes moved as far back and forth as the body would naturally allow. She desperately needed to figure out where the current location was and the situation while retaining some element of surprise if there should be a need for defense. From what was observable it was obvious that the room was large, very well lit, and comfortably warm. Not as foreboding as her last place of residency. This seemed the polar opposite. Sonia briefly considered the possibility that she had in fact not been recaptured and taken back to the home of her former master who was no longer among the living. If she had been taken back, certainly, they would have locked her in far less comfortable or hospitable accommodations than this.
The images of the most recent memories played through her mind. The former slave recalled the telenium and stabbing Tilhar in the foot. The joy she felt holding it there while watching him die and the odor of his burning organs was vivid and real. Then the man that was of her kind had flagged her to a ship. The ship lifted off and took aim at Tilhar’s transports in the bay. After destroying, what she assumed was all the vessels, the ship took off. The force of the thrusters was unexpected, but she watched as they left the planet. She had taken a shower and then fell asleep. She was now on some kind of table but had no idea why.
What was this place? Who was doing what to her? What were the dangers? It seemed that every place she had known posed a threat to her kind. Everyone wanted to imprison, own…possess her kind. They were the lowest form of beings, Tilhar was certain to make sure that there was no doubt of this in her mind. What kind of pain or torture was to follow? It was easy to resolve that she would no longer live like that no matter the cost.
The blinding light from above made it difficult to stave off the urge to lift up her hands to shield her eyes. The area was unfamiliar. She wondered if perhaps, whoever these beings were, if they were as malevolent as the Tisht or if it were possible to be worse. Instead of letting her pass into the other dimensions, as she had heard another slave say in reference to death, they must have brought her back so that they could be entertained by a torturous death. It was certain to be the kind that would bring the utmost fulfillment to the brutish observer. The woman had the presence of mind to try and maintain the advantage of appearing unconscious. She closed her eyes and considered the options.
She was awake and began to wonder how it was possible to see everything so clearly in her mind. There was a definite increase in clarity, which was immediately evident. This was strange and like a spinning wheel, she began to have a difficult time sorting through the activity in her mind. Sonia took a slow and controlled breath and relaxed. Possibility after possibility was processed. The pros and cons of every possible action and reaction piled up and were listed in a manner that was easy for her to ponder. More prospects filed in as she concentrated on the image of the room.
She was not alone; of this she was certain. Two living beings were in the room, she wasn’t sure how she knew this, but there was no doubt. Sonia could feel their presence. Twelve feet to her left. She needed to see them as a threat until they could prove otherwise. No one, but the man of her kind that helped her into the ship had ever done anything good. Then again, maybe he didn’t help her but had tricked her instead. Maybe he was one of the two beings in the room, or perhaps he was in the process of selling her. It was more likely than not that whoever was in the room was the enemy and needed to be disabled or destroyed if an escape was possible.
She recalled leaving the Erim with the metal. It was hers and had saved her before. The metal was no longer in her hands and she had no idea where it was. The metal needed to be found and recovered if survival was to be a reality. The strange metal clearly stopped the greatest of her enemies before. It was vital now.
Next to the table on a tray sat the metal implements Calder used in the surgical procedures he had performed to restore the Earthling’s quality of life. At first, the noise was so subtle that neither of them heard it. But the tray was ove
rcome by some force that made it vibrate. The tray moved rapidly back and forth, up and down. The tools of the surgical trade were increasingly noisy as they began to dance back and forth, bumping and rubbing together metal upon metal. The woman was the only one near but there was no visible influence. Both looked at each other in astonishment. Art noted that the floor and walls were absent of the effects of a possible tremor, which were very rare but not completely foreign to the region where the SINSTER headquarters was constructed. Nevertheless, it was vibrating with the aid of something unseen.
Calder retrieved a small hand-held device from the table behind him and extended his arm out pointing it at the tray and the woman. A strong frequency displayed as a blue translucent cloud could be seen enveloping the woman. Like a ghostly appendage, the frequency extended from her and consumed the table of implements causing them to vibrate. The blue hue grew darker as the vibration became more violent causing a pair of tongs to fly off the tray and land on the floor where it was once again lifeless. Art turned to Calder for an explanation. The doctor returned a confused look and began to consider what he had done to the Earth woman’s brain. Was that the source?
Sonia had the presence of mind to fully assess the situation. She could not see the tray next to the table and had no idea what the noise was. As fear and anger rose, the noise increased. Despite knowing that the two beings were on her left, she slid open one eyelid. Nothing moved in her peripheral vision. Until the time was right, she needed to fight the urge to move her hands and legs as it would give away her state of consciousness and take away any possibility of an advantage. The noise only increased her anxiety. Moving her limbs and finding them strapped or bound to the table would be a horrific turn of events and would deflate any optimism. Being as close as she seemed to freedom, only to be recaptured by the Tisht or a new enemy would be the death of her.
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