Shards: Book One

by Peter Prellwitz

  Her eyes sparkled with delight. “That's exactly how it's supposed to feel! I knew you'd make it. I didn't have any proof, but I was somehow certain you'd begin to make the transition!” She seemed vastly relieved. I felt it, too.

  We passed the next twenty minutes with idle talk. Susie seemed to have passed a barrier and didn't seem as concerned about the IHAD, which in turn put me at ease. I still wasn't sure why she'd been so tense earlier, but I had a hunch that if I turned out to be a plant, she'd be the one to deal with me. I spent no time thinking about how they'd deal with me if I were a plant. Pretty abruptly, I suppose. These people didn't seem like fanatics, but they risked their lives and lived like outlaws in a cave, all for the chance to restore a person who didn't know they needed restoring. They would be willing to take extreme measures to continue their work.

  We were in the midst of planning our evening gym workout after dinner, when a knock came at the door. I jumped a bit; the heavy thoom! of an energy door was worlds different from a wooden one. Susie got up and let them in.

  I was expecting mad scientists with long robes and covered faces. They would be tall, skinny, and devoid of human compassion. One would have a huge needle, dripping some sort of mind-altering drug. I'd scream, then faint, then come to just as they jabbed the needle into my arm, making sure the barbs grabbed on firmly. At least, that's how my overactive imagination envisioned it.

  There were two of them. One was a young man, of average build, maybe twenty. He had a pleasant face and cheerful greeting. The other was a middle-aged woman. She came right up to me and pulled me from my bed, a big smile on her face.

  “Hello! I haven't had a chance to meet you yet! I'm Corporal Geher, but please, call me Betty. I'm going to be your interviewer. Nervous?” I nodded. “Good! You wouldn't be normal if you weren't at least a little frightened. Let me tell you right now, though, the interview isn't scary in the slightest."

  “Uh-huh. And you've got prime real estate in Florida to sell me, too, right?” I quipped dryly.

  She frowned, trying to figure out what I meant. She got the gist, though.

  “Nope. It's not the interview. It's the waking up.” She reached into a bag she had with her and extracted a small device, smaller than her hand. At my curious look, she handed it to me, warning me against activating it. It seemed innocent enough at first glance, which I mentioned. Betty laughed.

  “I always let the Cue look at it, but only to get the feel. No offense, but its function is probably a little beyond you at this point.” She laughed again.

  Challenged, I looked at it carefully. There was an emission area and several indicator lights. There was also a small display, maybe two centimeters by four with measurements on both axes. In the reflection of the panel, I noticed a sine wave pattern, and its markings along the y-axis seemed to measure decibels. The power supply was buried inside the casing, but the disproportionate weight in the bottom told me its location and relative strength. Though I still didn't know their energy type, the general assumption is density equals capacity. I took these observations and coupled them with the obvious function of the device—to render me helpless—added Susan's misgivings and the group's goals, and came to a logical conclusion. I handed the device back to Corporal Geher. I'd call her Betty after the interview.

  “This is a device that will render the, ah, patient, unconscious. It uses a series of pulsed electromagnetic waves concentrated on the brain's frontal lobes, the part that affects awareness. No doubt it also contains a directional subsonic wave that suppresses the subject's will and makes them open to suggestion. A kind of sonic truth serum. Very clever, undoubtedly highly effective, and probably harmless. I'll bet there're few side effects other than a headache."

  Corporal Geher was the perfect audience. She looked as though I'd used the thing on her. The man's (boy's? guy's? another quirk with my new social status: proper reference for members of the now opposite sex) expression was like he'd been sandbagged. Susie shook her head slowly, admiringly. She stepped up close and put an arm around my shoulder, leaning her mouth close to my ear.

  “Direct hit,” she whispered. I laughed.

  Corporal Geher shook off her stunned stare and looked at me shrewdly. “Ummm. Yes. Well, this is going to be an interesting interview.” She activated the device, and it gave a pitched whine that quickly climbed beyond hearing. She came close, but kept the thing at her side.

  “All right. The inducer will take about a minute to charge. I'll be placing it close to your head. Here.” She indicated a spot just behind my left temple. “When I trigger it, you'll feel an overwhelming need to fall asleep. When that happens—"

  “Shouldn't I lie down?” I interrupted.

  “No. You'll be lying down when you awaken, and we've discovered that the transition from standing to lying without realization helps the adjustment that you've been through the interview, and that what you're feeling isn't your fault. When you feel the pulse, try to relax. It won't make much difference whether you fight it or not. In fact, most Cues become totally unconscious immediately at pulse discharge. But like I mentioned, this is not the worst. The worst part is the awareness that you'll have when you wake up."

  “The awareness that I've been completely helpless? I'm getting used to that.” I noticed I was wringing my hands, giving the lie to my casual tone. I could feel myself tightening up. Susie was still holding my shoulders and sensed it.

  “Hey, easy, girl. I'll be here the whole time."

  “Yeah, but you won't help me, will you?"

  “No, she won't,” Geher said. “And that's the worst. While you're out, we will be laying your entire life open. Nothing will be left unexplored. Although you'll have no actual memory of the ordeal—and make no mistake, it is an ordeal—you will have a very clear sense of intrusion. Some say violation. I'm sorry. I wish there was another way. We hope, I hope, that it helps to be up front about this from the beginning."

  I didn't say anything. The enormity of what they were going to do weighed on me, smothering me. But I steeled myself to go through with it.

  “Very well, then. Shall we?” she asked. I nodded and chewed my lower lip. I was still wringing my hands. Geher raised the inducer up to my left temple, placing her left hand on my right temple and cheek. I felt Susie hold me tight in her arms as I waited for the

  FINAL LOCKDOWN SEQUENCE ENGAGED. ALL COMMAND PROTOCOLS HAVE BEEN DISABLED AND ACCESS RIGHTS REVOKED. THIS SYSTEM WILL SUSPEND ALL COGNITIVE OPERATIONS IN 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1....

  * * * *

  Corporal Geher triggered the inducer, and its pitch soared up and out of hearing. The young girl, eyes staring straight ahead, lower lip in her mouth, suddenly relaxed, becoming an even smaller creature than she already was. Her eyes glazed over but remained open. Her lip slipped free from her teeth as her jaw sagged. Her hands, so active with wringing, went still and fell to her sides. Geher triggered the inducer a second time, and the girl shuddered and slumped back against Susan, who was waiting for her. Holding the slight weight, she eased the completely oblivious child to her bed.

  Susan knelt beside her, lips tight with suppressed emotion. This girl had been so alive, so vibrant only moments ago. Now she lay there, little more than a dumb animal, staring sightlessly into a void. Her breathing was shallow and fluttery. She looked even younger. Susan felt a touch on the arm and looked up at Betty.

  “Susie. Remember the Fourth,” Betty said quietly. It was always “remember the Fourth". Inducing was so completely against everything they stood for, yet it was needed to perpetuate what they stood for.

  Susan wordlessly rose and moved to the other side of the bed, giving Betty access to the helpless girl. While she pulled the chair up to better talk and treat the girl, Geher's associate, PFC Ron Williams, came up to the bed and took out a tabinal that contained the information Susan had gathered on the girl. It was the final remaining record of everything that they knew about the Cue. He scrolled through the text and reached the point he was looking
for. He nodded at Geher, who placed the inducer against the comatose girl's temple and triggered it a third time.

  Susan heard the different pitch of the suppresser mode whine out of hearing, feeling her stomach churn. Every member of the interrogation team had to submit to a full IHAD before being qualified to work with Cues. Susan recalled her experience with shame and discomfort. It was just as Betty had described. She remembered absolutely nothing of the actual interview, but would never forget the feeling of nakedness, exposure, and utter vulnerability that had consumed her whole being upon waking. She looked down at the girl she had worked so hard to bring back alive and fervently wished it could be different for her. It was a hopeless wish.

  Geher triggered the suppresser a fourth and final time. The girl shivered and slowly exhaled with a whimper. Her eyes remained sightless, but misted over. Her body was now completely relaxed and almost lifeless. Her well fitting clothes looked baggy on her. Her mind, as all three had themselves experienced, was open for any and all probing, without defense or control. She was ready.

  Susan stood up and went to her dresser. As Private Williams sat beside the girl, she opened a locked drawer and pulled out her sidearm. She activated it and set the energy discharge to lethal. She then stood at the foot of the girl's bed and listened for the slightest indication that this helpless youth was a deadly threat. Susan alone would decide; the others had no say in the matter. She accepted it as the only and proper way. Better one person live with the responsibility than three. She pointed the gun at the girl's head and prepared herself to squeeze the trigger. She then lowered the gun to her side.

  “She knows a great deal more than she should.” Betty's voice, even though it was low and calm, seemed harsh in the atmosphere.

  “It's hard to believe that someone from six centuries ago would understand our technology,” Williams agreed. He said to Susan, “What can you tell us, Susan?"

  Susan had a great deal to tell them. As she conveyed all the information she had gathered since the morning, they stared down at their helpless charge. What Susan talked about seemed incredible to all three. But that was expected. Even people like they, who dealt with Cues regularly, living and if need be dying for them, never adjusted completely to the idea that anyone could have such a complete life at such a young age. It was illusion, of course. Subverted or not, this powerless, frail girl had been John Wyeth, a man of some achievement who had lived centuries before.

  Susan finished her report, and Betty spoke to her.

  “You mean that she told you all this, voluntarily? Doesn't it strike you as odd that someone who claims to have been an integral part of such a secret operation would then tell you about it?"

  Susan agreed. “It did seem odd. But keep in mind, she knew what was going to happen to her, having deduced it from what I told her. That's no surprise; that's why we tell them as much as we can. The only ones who don't understand the purpose of an IHAD are in denial. I think she told me about her past because it was obvious she didn't fit the normal rescued ripe. And I could tell she probably told me more than she wanted to, but got caught up in herself. Finally, think about it ... what did she really tell us? We have good general details, but no specific facts that would betray any confidences, even ones half a millennia old. Not even the name of this organization."

  “Maybe she is a plant, then,” Williams interjected. “She would be the ideal one. Among the oldest ripes. So many unknowns. Plausible, if fanciful, explanations."

  “All the other plants had normal backgrounds and histories,” Susan countered.

  Williams shrugged. “And they all got caught, after the first one. Maybe the tack has changed and they're trying to play our curiosity against our caution. I know I'm very curious about her.” He looked down without malice at the unconscious form.

  “I feel the same curiosity,” Betty said. “And excitement. To have rescued one of the first ripes is quite an achievement. And of course she would have a great many inconsistencies and gaps. We'd expect the first ripe to be unique. And her history and explanations would support everything we do know. But I'm sure our enemies realize that, and would know we'd risk rescuing her. Enough with speculation. Let's begin."

  “Do you think they would really do that, Betty?” Susie asked. “Make a plant look like a plant? It seems peculiar."

  “My point exactly, dear. You're using indications of guilt as proof of innocence, aren't you?” Susie remained silent. “I'm inclined to fall into the same trap. But don't forget, that's exactly what we're looking for, a trap. Sometimes it's the most clearly seen traps that are the hardest to avoid. Give the devil his due, Susan. They may be evil, perverted and soulless. But there is probably no single entity more focused and brilliant than NATech Supreme."

  * * *

  Chapter Six

  The chilled mountain air seemed to freeze the sky to a darker black, bringing the stars into sharp focus. Orion stood out bright and clear, with Betelgeuse giving off a little color. Susan glanced over to see if she could find Ursa Major and the Big Dipper buried inside it. She located the Bear through the pines, still low in the sky. Automatically, her eyes lifted to Polaris, the North Star. “Susie,” her father had told her countless times, “whenever you look at the Big Dipper, always follow the lip to the North Star. Do it every time.” Then he would sing her the ancient song of the Drinkin’ Gourd, and tell of how their ancestors of a distant time would follow Polaris north to freedom. She hummed quietly to herself the soulful melody, her heartbeat providing the song's methodical, paced, undertone.

  And waited.

  The shimmer of holoshield modulation caught the corner of her eye, and Susie watched as Betty stepped through, as though in molasses. Betty looked to her left and spotted her. She walked over and leaned against the rock face.

  “Looking at Polaris again, Susie?” She looked up at the star.

  “Yes. Daddy showed me years and years ago, and I do it every time I look at the sky whenever we're based in the northern hemisphere.” She pointed out Betelgeuse. “Do you think they're looking at it, too?"

  Betty shrugged. “I don't know. Probably not. New Germany doesn't use Polaris for navigation. But you don't mean the planet, do you?"

  “I wonder when I'll see them again."

  “Girl, if I could wish you there, I would. Well, no, I wouldn't. We need you here. But I'm sure your parents are very proud of you, even if they're light years away. And they have good reason to be proud."

  Susan pulled her eyes from the stars and looked down.

  “I'm not certain they'd be too proud of me right now.” She struck the rock with a gloved hand. “Damn! This never gets any easier!"

  “I've done it for fifteen years now, Susan, and you're right. It never does. It gets worse as NATech gets trickier and nastier with their plants. If it did get easier, then would be the time to worry."

  “I'm convinced she's the real thing. I don't care if she did work for NATech once. That was centuries ago. And the hours and hours we've spent, picking her mind. She's clean. I know it.” She ran her fingers through her thick, raven black hair and sighed heavily. “But can we risk it?"

  “You tell me."

  She didn't answer right away, but looked out over the mountains their base was burrowed into. A chilled breeze pushed through the fragrant pine needles. Closing her eyes, she breathed in deeply, loving the thin, cold air touching her lungs with feathers of icy crystal. She opened her eyes and peered at the steep slope that lay before them, disappearing into the quiet blackness of the valley several hundred feet lower. She raised her eyes to the ridge on the far side and saw the jagged spires outlined by stars. One pattern was the Drinkin’ Gourd, and she followed the lip to the North Star.

  “Yes. She's worth the risk. If she's not a plant, she may be—no, she is—the most important person we've ever rescued. Even if she doesn't have any usable NATech knowledge, just the fact that we rescued one of their own would be a coup."

  “But that's not why she's w
orth the risk, is it, Susie?” Betty prodded gently.

  “Of course not. She's worth the risk because every Cue is worth the risk. Even if there's only one chance in a thousand of a plant, we'll always risk it."

  Betty nodded. “We'll always risk it. One day, we will pay for that risk, and what we fear will become reality. It happened to the Fourth and the Fifteenth and the 226th. And one day it will happen to the Third.” She shivered, not from the chill air, and returned to the subject. “So you're recommending continuation?"

  “Yes. We'll need to keep a close eye on her, though. Her actions have been so different from past Cues that we'll have a difficult time determining safe quirks from dangerous ones."

  “We did make it difficult for everyone by messing up the poor man's sex,” she chuckled. “And sex life, I should imagine, when the time comes."

  Susie flushed. “I know. That's all my fault. I should have—"

  “Should have what, Susie?” Betty interrupted, in a slightly harsh, yet motherly, tone. “Stop punishing yourself. It's a waste of time. You did everything you knew how. I know. I was your confidant. I couldn't have done the work you did. You uncovered more than anyone ever expected or hoped. Don't blame yourself. I don't. TAU doesn't. And most important,” she motioned toward the cavern, “our sleeping angel doesn't either."

  “You don't think so?” Susie said hopefully.

  “You were with us during the entire interview. Did you hear anything that pointed to anything but an energetic, lively soul that wanted nothing so much as a chance? I talked to Kerry earlier yesterday, during one of our breaks. She was very impressed with the girl. It's not going to be easy, but she's come a long way already, and all on guts. Can you say you'd react differently, or as well, waking up as a young boy?"

  “No, I can't. I'd go nuts. I wonder how Sergeant Thawell would handle being a little girl.” She giggled at the thought and seemed cheered.

  Betty laughed, too. Making a credible effort at imitating the big man's gravel voice, she said, “'Tell her nothing and leave her in the laundry.'” She laughed again, glad to break the other woman's somber mood. “He wouldn't pop off like that if he was the one who suddenly had a different dance card."