The Stream

by Mark White

  'It was not just us though, there has been a general trend to not stay in education as long as was traditional in our society. Many Castors, especially those more deeply immersed, have been dropping out of continual education voluntarily. They take up less valued positions in society, such as police officers and journalists. The general education level of our population is gradually decreasing. Society is changing, and not for the better.'

  I shook my head disapprovingly. His words were distracting me horribly from the difficultly I was having eating the food.

  'We Drys though became the underclass of society, tolerated but ignored wherever possible. Many gave up. Many committed suicide, something otherwise largely unknown before. Others grouped together, forming Dry support cadres, trying to survive and help each other as we adapted to a changing world.'

  'With my links to the normal world through Olamma, I became a de facto leader of my local Dry cadre. We largely don't achieve anything, but it helps to get together and share stories and problems. We rant and complain, but have no way of changing anything. We know the Drys will die out over time, but given our relative longevity, we're going to be here for a while. We do not wish to go quietly. Why has the Confluvium done this to the Castors? How can we help fight this inequality in our society? Geraldine said there may be hope. What is that hope?'

  He was getting more and more animated as he spoke, but with a pleading tone in his voice.

  I swallowed my mouthful, and considered what to say. I needed a short break from eating to let that digest anyway. I think full disclosure is required. I am shocked and saddened by the damage we have caused to the Castors; taking their stable, egalitarian society, and creating a social underclass of those that couldn't be influenced and controlled. Raj has a lot to answer for, and the reckoning needs to start now on this planet.

  'I will tell you everything I know, Kaori. I will hide nothing. You will be angry with humanity, and rightly so. But I am here to start to put right the damage that has been done to you. Geraldine is doing the same on Earth. We must not fail,' I said, trying to copy Geraldine's inspirational way with words, although probably failing.

  I described to him everything I could think of; the state of humanity before the Flood, which shocked him greatly; our Flood day and the deaths after; how our society changed ostensibly for the better; what really happened when we met the Safirans, which angered him when he found out what we were doing to them; what HOME deaths were, and how they were caused, which worried him over his family; and finally who the true culprit was, and how he influenced people through the Stream.

  'Raj Tamboli is alive? He is the one responsible for all of this?' he shouted once I finished.

  'We believe so, yes. It explains everything that is happening,' I said.

  'So what can we do about it?' he demanded.

  'We believe it will be possible to trigger the Tap to fail via a broadcast command. This will in effect turn everyone Dry. The method is being worked on by the Safirans on our behalf. I am in contact regularly with their representative,' I said.

  'Do you believe this will work?' he asked.

  'I trust the Safirans. They will make it work if it is possible. Geraldine is organising how to deploy this on Earth, but we must be ready to deploy this here also. Your group will need to work out how it can be broadcast locally here without being stopped. Can you do that?' I asked.

  He stopped and thought. 'It will be hard, and will need to be done in great secrecy. There are others in my cadre who have partners who will help. We can contact cadres in other cities also. I will go now and discuss it with my local group.'

  'Thank you,' I said. 'Please take care.'

  'I will,' he replied. 'I will only discuss it at first with my closest allies, and then we will engage with a wider group once we have consensus. Please, finish your food, and rest. There is no need for you to do more until tomorrow. I will report back to you in the morning once you are awake.'

  He went to leave, but once he reached the door he turned back and said, 'You are right, I am angry with humanity for what they have done. I am disgusted at what humanity used to be. But I thank you, Geraldine and the Safirans for attempting to right these wrongs. We must not let this opportunity fail.' With that he turned and left.

  I finished eating as much as I could. It wasn't that bad once I got used to the taste, and I felt full enough once I finished. I decided to take his advice and rest.

  I awoke after a short while when I received a message from Safira. It looks like she's back, so it's time to drop into the Kubrick room.

  Safira was sat there on the bed waiting, but that wasn't the only thing that that was unusual about the room this time. There was one additional item there. Between the bottom of the bed and the opposite wall there was a large black slab, somehow standing upright. It wasn't very thick, certainly less than a metre wide, but reached most of the way to the ceiling. It was eerily black, as if light could not escape from its surface. I could see no reflection, no kind of surface texture.

  'What's that?' I asked. 'What's it for?'

  'Hello Kofi, I am glad you are OK,' she said, concentrating on the pleasantries. I looked down and remember that in this virtual word I was uninjured.

  'I'm pretty shaken up in the real world,' I said. 'I believe I have a broken arm, and am covered in bruises. I'll survive, I have been treated well by Kaori. Now please may I refer you to my previous questions.'

  'I am sorry, but I am glad you are in contact with Kaori,' she said. 'Do you like our monolith?'

  'I've no idea to make of it. What's it for?' I said, getting a little annoyed.

  'You can think of it as an insurance policy. We've been working on ways to keep you safe if you are discovered. We have been working on, what you might call, a backup plan. I'd rather not go over the details right now until we are sure it can work, but our previous attempts have failed on the way here. We needed to modify this environment slightly to be able to make it work. This monolith is the visual representation of it, we thought it was appropriate,' she said, smiling.

  'You should have been one of our old-style politicians. You managed to talk a lot without saying anything of use. So you're not going to explain?' I said tersely.

  'I will shortly. First, a quick update. We have a route ahead now to create a Tap killer command. With Geraldine's help, we believe we will be able to progress this now. So your efforts are crucial if we wish to deploy this here,' she said.

  'Good. We must help them. We have damaged their society irreparably, and we must make amends. Kaori is currently talking to his trusted local Dry cadre members, and we will discuss the next steps tomorrow,' I said.

  'That is good Kofi. I am glad you have made a useful contact here,' she said.

  'I'm sorry Safira, but I am very tired after my landing. I need to sleep and give my body time to heal. Would you mind if we cut this short tonight?' I asked.

  'No problem Kofi. I will report back to Geraldine that you landed OK and have made contact with Kaori. Before I go, could you do one thing for me please?' she asked.

  'What?' I said.

  'Could you walk forward until you are in front of the monolith please. Then reach out and touch it with both hands,' she said.

  'Are you going to tell me why?' I asked.

  'Trust me. As I say, if it works, it may be a useful insurance policy,' she replied.

  I sighed. I did as she asked, and positioned myself in front of it. Even up close, I could see no surface at all. It was just black. I reached forward to touch it, interested to see what it would feel like. There was a bright flash, and I descended into a white pit of light.

  Plog: Kofi Albus - 24th Sextilis 227PD

  I heard a distant noise. It sounded familiar.

  'Kofi. Wake up. Kofi Manu Albus, you must wake up,' said the familiar voice. It seemed so far away. The world was shaking though, what was happening?

  'Kofi,' said the voice, more loudly this time. 'What is wrong? What should I do? I do no
t know how to help you wake up.' I recognised it, and realised it was Kaori, who was also shaking me by both arms. I then felt the pain and opened my eyes.

  'At last,' he said. 'It is mid-morning. You have been asleep since yesterday evening, and we could not wake you. Are you OK?'

  'I am sorry,' I said. 'The landing obviously took more out of me than I was expecting.' More likely Safira did something to me with that bloody monolith. I must find out what she did. For now though, let's get on with the day. The fog in my brain was slowly clearing.

  'Quickly,' he said. 'If you are able, you should eat some breakfast.' He gestured to the new food on the table. 'Then we must go and meet my cadre members. They wish to question you in person, but they are very excited. We need to discuss our options, and I arranged a meeting expecting you to be awake earlier than this.'

  'I am sorry, yes that's fine. Hold on, I'll just eat something quickly, then I am ready.'

  I quickly pulled on my clothes, it looked as if they were freshly laundered. The breakfast food was no less spicy, but I was coming to enjoy it. I gulped down some more of the drink.

  'OK I'm ready,' I said, and followed him down the stairs. I'm definitely feeling more mobile today.

  Just as we reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a banging on what I assumed was the street door. A voice outside shouted.

  'Yerawien Lothassi Kaori, open the door. This is the constabulary. I am Constable Jaekor Uloamos Faurd.'

  'Quick, hide in there with my family,' he hissed, pointing me to a door to the right. 'I'll try to get rid of them quickly'

  I slipped quickly into the room, where I could see his family sat around a table, looking scared. I didn't know what to do, so I closed the door and listened. I could hear the voice outside clearly as Kaori opened the door.

  'Yerawien Lothassi Kaori, you are under arrest. You are guilty of sedition, conspiracy and harbouring an illegal immigrant. You must accompany me to the judiciary to be sentenced. Please follow me.'

  Fuck. What should I do? How can I help him. Do they know I'm here? I heard Kaori acquiesce and leave with the constable.

  I started to relax, until after a few seconds the handle on the door started to turn slowly, and the door was suddenly pushed open wide. One human figure walked in. I stared, dumbstruck. He closed the door behind him.

  'Hello Kofi,' said Damon. 'It's good to see you again. No EMP lined up in this house I think.' He had a gun pointed towards me.

  'How did you find me?' I asked.

  'Hold on, there's a few details I need to attend to.' He blinked. Kaori's family all collapsed, their heads falling forward onto the table, a lifeless expression on their faces.

  'You bastard. Don't think you're going to get away with it. Are they dead?' I shouted.

  'Unfortunately yes. You're making a lot of loose ends for me to tidy up,' he said. 'This is on your hands.'

  'Don't you dare blame anyone but yourself. You will be stopped. If not by me, by Geraldine,' I ranted at him, while wracking my brains over what to do.

  'Yes, Geraldine is an inconvenience,' he said. 'She didn't cover your tracks very well though, it was easy to work out what drone ship you used. So once I was up and running again, I just followed you. I'm a bit more sturdily designed than you, so could take a more aggressive route here. With my Lictor authority, I could easy bend the local constabulary to my needs. The Dry cadres, which is where I thought you'd be heading, are all closely monitored. Once Kaori told his tale, I knew where you were. Don't think you have any options left, Kofi.'

  'Before I'm finished with you though, I need to pick your brains about Geraldine and where she is. Let's follow my Castor colleague to the judiciary where we can talk in more comfort without these bodies distracting us,' he said. The callous bastard. I still don't know what to do.

  'Let me check first though,' he said, pulling out a portable scanner. He waved it in my direction. 'Ah that's interesting, a lot of activity from that device on your wrist. Give it to me.'

  'No,' I said panicking. 'This is a personal heirloom.' Yes, I know that was lame.

  He looked at me with disappointment. He pointed the gun at my wrist. Fu…

  [Logging force terminated]

  Pool: Constable Jaekor Uloamos Faurd - 24th Sextilis 227PD

  It has been a strange day. I was dragged out of bed early this morning by a message from my Sergeant. I was not happy. She said there was a Lictor from Earth ordering her about, and I was needed. Always interfering, these fucking Earth civil servants. They should stick to their own planet.

  She told me there was a problem with the local Dry cadre, and I needed to contact the undercover agent that I had placed with them. So I did, as dutifully as ever.

  What I heard was unexpected. Apparently there was an illegal immigrant from Earth staying with Kaori. More Earthmen causing trouble. I thought Kaori was trustworthy, despite his infliction, but clearly he is a traitor to his own kind. My agent sent me the evidence against him, and it was compelling. His kind sickens me, betraying us like this. He was conspiring with the immigrant to try to damage the Confluvium. Some of the details sounded very farfetched, but clearly he was guilty. I logged the agent's testimony with the duty judge, and had Kaori convicted.

  Within the hour, I was at Kaori's house, closely followed by the fucking Lictor. He told me the immigrant was in the house too. I would arrest Kaori, and he would take this man into custody to question him.

  While I was placing Kaori in the car after his arrest, I left the Lictor, alone in the house. I heard a shot. I rushed in and found Kaori's family dead. The immigrant was bleeding from a gun wound in his arm. The Lictor asked for help to treat the wound and take him to the judiciary for questioning. He accused him of murdering Kaori's family.

  This makes no sense. The Lictor has authority over me, but I do not trust him. He wishes to question the immigrant alone. I will however observe him. This crime is against a Castor and I should be involved. Earth men are not to be trusted, whether immigrants or not.

  The records say the immigrant is called Kofi Manu Albus, and the Lictor is Damon Gates. Only two names? How strange these Earth people are, so barbaric. They have been allocated conference room aleph, I will watch them on the monitor.

  Unusual, the automatic interrogation recording has been disabled. That goes against all standing orders; as I expected, this Lictor cannot be trusted. I will enable it and watch.

  Kofi is sat in the chair behind the desk, in fact he is tied to it. I am not that familiar with human physiology, but I can see that he is very unwell. One arm has a plaster cast on the lower part. The other arm is bandaged where he was shot by Damon, but there is blood leaking through the bandage. His upper torso is bare, other than more bandages wrapped round him. His face is covered in bruises, and his nose appears broken. I am sure his face was uninjured when we bought him in. He is sobbing, and muttering inaudibly under his breath. I then notice his hands, which are tied tightly together. Several fingers are dripping with blood. A couple are missing finger nails, which are on the table in front of him. Others have small spikes protruding from under them. He is in great pain. This is not right. I do not believe Earth laws allow for torture, ours certainly do not. I must record this for evidence before intervening.

  I see Lictor Damon putting a blood covered implement into his pocket. Is this enough evidence? I then notice a strange apparition appearing behind Kofi. It is as if a form is trying to appear out of thin air, a smoky grey wisp, swirling into being.

  Lictor Damon speaks. 'You may not interfere, Safirans. Watch as your plans come to naught. This is what happens to the traitors who aid your deception.'

  He waves his hands, and the apparition disappears. Was that a ghost? A Safiran? I have heard of them, but didn't expect to ever see one.

  Kofi attempts to shout, but it just comes out as a croak. 'Safira, Geraldine must succeed. I will not betray her. Tell her I regret nothing. Especially meeting you.' He looks up at Lictor Damon. 'Do your worst Damon. I w
ill tell you nothing. You may as well kill me now.'

  'How touching,' said Lictor Damon with a snarl. 'Safira? What an unimaginative name. No I will not kill you yet. I will make one more attempt to get the information I need before I give you your relief. I do apologise for the crudity of my interrogation, I came somewhat unprepared so I am improvising with the tools I have to hand. You are made of sterner stuff than I was expecting though, especially for a meek historian. So much for stereotypes. Out of interest, do you know who I work for?'

  'We call your group the Fount,' spat Kofi.

  'The Fount? What an amusing name. I feel you deserve to know the truth before you die. The Fount is Raj Tamboli, he cannot be stopped. He must not be stopped.'

  Raj Tamboli? I thought he was a myth. What has he to do with this?

  Kofi looked up at him and snarled, 'Raj Tamboli? How ironic. How does it feel to use the techniques of fascism to win? Raj fought against it all his life, and now you're the worse fascists in history.'

  Lictor Damon's eyes flashed with anger. Even I could tell that Kofi had annoyed him. 'How dare you. You do not understand. We are doing this to preserve humanity. Without us, we would have destroyed ourselves. Raj is humanity's saviour, and without his guidance we would slide back into darkness and depravity.'

  'We are a disgrace under his guidance. Raj is no longer human. The real Raj Tamboli would be ashamed of this. You all disgust me,' Kofi said.

  'No more. You will tell me what Geraldine is doing, and where I can find her,' Lictor Damon said. He pressed a finger into a spot on the inside of his left forearm. The skin split open for a length of about ten centimetres. What? It must be a false arm. He pulls out two thin wires, and attaches them to Kofi's hands. Kofi struggles but cannot resist, so tightly is he tied to the chair. His body starts convulsing. I realise he is being electrocuted. I have enough evidence, I must stop this.

  I ran down the corridor to conference room aleph, and threw open the door. Kofi is semi-conscious, but still looking at Lictor Damon defiantly.