Eternals Among Us: Book one

by Larry W. Miller Jr.

  “Yes, but you are one of them, albeit a bit removed.” Tina pushed. “There is little chance that they will kill you outright. It is more likely that they will lock you up until you no longer remember us. Then they will release you as if nothing ever happened. They have been exploiting you in this way for probably centuries.” Her argument was persuasive. Marshall felt his anger beginning to flare.

  “They have been manipulating me simply because I couldn’t remember them. That’s low.” He said and his eyes were slits in his concentration. “I want to be a part of this cleansing you are attempting.” He announced to the group.

  Lock had heard enough. “Well that’s just great.” He said to draw attention. “We’ve been hiding to stay away from the most powerful people the human race has ever produced, and you all decide to expose them to the general populace and believe that it will make a difference.” He said. The looks on the other faces were that of confusion. They needed an explanation. “First of all, I agree that something needs to be done. If we do not do something rather drastic, we have no future anymore. Having said that, attacking the council is not the best strategy here. It would do nothing but put brighter target lights on our heads.”

  Tina huffed. “What would you have us do then?” She asked.

  Lock pointed at her and smiled. “You know already I bet.” He challenged. Then he continued for the rest of the people in the room. “We need to do what you said, expose the council and their practices to the general public and do it in a way that cannot be discredited. We need to have people see just what they are and how they have enjoyed silent power for so long over them. People don’t like being told that they have been governed and exploited.” He explained.

  Mrs. Hull was listening but losing patience. Why can’t these kids get to the point? “So how do you intend to accomplish this?” She finally asked him.

  “We do the next best thing to an attack; we leak the information out to the news cast. The council owns the propaganda we normally see. We need get an information packet out through all that clutter.” He said.

  Tina looked shocked. “No way! I’m not going to cut into an official broadcast and commit a crime to show that I didn’t commit a crime.” She iterated.

  Lock shook his head. “It won’t be like that. We don’t need to hack any signals, or even override what they are broadcasting. What we have to do is make our information sensational enough that they want to run it.” He told them.

  Mrs. Hull rolled her eyes. “So now we’re going to put out an ad campaign for freedom?” She asked.

  Lock’s eyes lit up. “Exactly. I wouldn’t phrase it exactly that way, but the idea is sound. All we have to do is figure out what the council does to manipulate the regular people of this ship. Then, bring that particular thing out and show the people how they have been misled.” Lock explained.

  Marshall caught up with the conversation and decided to inject his input as well. “We can start out small, grab attention fairly quietly. Little things, like the price of food, water and air. We could show them how working harder or smarter does not help them personally at all. The benefits are reaped elsewhere.”

  Lock was ready to run with the idea. “I can start writing articles that we can submit anonymously to the newsreels. It’s worth a shot. If we get enough traction, we can lead up to your false accusation and the doctored video.” He pointed out for them all. “I mean, that is our goal here, right?” He added to make sure he was on the right track.

  Mrs. Hull moved over and put her hand on his shoulder. “Just start writing.” She said in support. Then she moved over to Marshall. “I know that you have memory problems, but can you remember what they did to you when you were enhanced?” She asked him.

  Marshall felt his eyebrows bunch up as he tried to remember something out of reach. “I… I remember only bits and pieces of things. Nothing specific like that. I can remember being on a table, the table was cold, and nobody listened to me trying to tell them that. I remember the IV that was hanging above my arm. The bag was clear, and the liquid inside looked like blood. It was so red. It was just some kind of serum I’m told. Drugs for enhancing us. Some concoction of chemicals that would grant us incredible powers and eternal life.” He seemed to be thinking more clearly now that he was calm again. “There was a doctor, I don’t recall his name. He was tall and he was…” Marshall stopped talking and his face twisted in shock. “It was Vincent. He was administering the bags to people.” Marshall said.

  Mrs. Hull tapped Marshall on the shoulder. “Hey, stay with me here.” She admonished and Marshall’s eyes drew back from shocked to normal.

  “I’m sorry.” He said as she backed away from him. “I thought I remembered something.” He said.

  “You did.” She replied. “There’s a lot locked up in that brain of yours if we can figure out how to access it. But it is interesting that Vincent was the one that made you an eternal. I wonder how experimental that concoction really was. It looked so much like blood you said.”

  Marshall blinked. “It smelled like blood too.” He said and everyone stopped for a second.

  Tina was the first to break the silence that followed. “I know that smell is a strong memory trigger, but are you sure?” She asked.

  “Unmistakably.” Marshall replied. “The bag smelled like blood because we were all joking about it while lying there waiting.” He added. “I don’t know how I forgot that.” He mused.

  Mrs. Hull was working through this mentally. “So, they didn’t give you drugs or some other cocktail of science, they gave you a transfusion.” She said. Then she turned to Marshall once more. “Can I have a blood sample from you?” She asked.

  Marshall seemed taken aback at the request. “You’re no doctor or nurse.” He stammered.

  “I’m guessing the evidence that we need is locked up in your blood. His pad device should be able to analyze it and tell us what we are all dealing with.” She went on to say.

  “But, what if I am not human or something?” Marshall protested.

  “You are definitely human. You have our human frailty to include your memory.” Mrs. Hull assured him.

  They carefully heated up a needle from a sewing kit and pricked Marshall’s finger. A red dot of crimson formed and bubbled on his fingertip but before they could get a slide to it, the bubble retreated, and the pinhole sealed up again. Even Marshall was surprised.

  Mrs. Hull made a sound that resembled frustration. “I’ve drawn blood for the annual blood drives and I’ve never seen that reaction. It is as if your blood doesn’t want to leave your body.” She said.

  Marshall was still shaken by the unnatural looking blood he had just witnessed. “I need it don’t I?” He asked.

  “Of course, but not all of it.” She pricked his finger again and moved the slide to it much faster. The blood smeared onto the glass and she pulled it away quickly before it could return to Marshall. Then she handed the slide to Lock. He put it in front of the sensor on his pad device.

  “Please analyze the blood sample looking for any irregularities in it.” He said to the computer.

  The program seemed to take a long time on the analysis. The little icon that showed it was processing just kept spinning and spinning. The results, when they came up, were surprising…

  Blood type – unknown

  BUN: unknown, normal 6 to 20 mg/dL (2.14 to 7.14 mmol/L)

  CO2 (carbon dioxide): unknown, normal 23 to 29 mmol/L

  Creatinine: unknown, normal 0.8 to 1.2 mg/dL (70.72 to 106.08 micromol/L)

  Glucose: unknown, normal 64 to 100 mg/dL (3.55 to 5.55 mmol/L)

  Serum chloride: unknown, normal 96 to 106 mmol/L

  Serum potassium: unknown, normal 3.7 to 5.2 mEq/L (3.7 to 5.2 mmol/L)

  Serum sodium: unknown, normal 136 to 144 mEq/L (136 to 144 mmol/L)

  Serum calcium: unknown, normal 8.5 to 10.2 mg/dL (2.13 to 2.55 millimol/L)

  “What does this mean?” Lock asked. “Your blood has nothing in it.”
r />   Marshall looked at his hands as if for the first time. “I honestly don’t know. I mean, I feel normal.”

  “Yeah, except you obviously aren’t normal.” Tina injected. “Someone changed your blood until it didn’t register as blood anymore.” She added to show that she was thinking about this, not just reacting. “So, the real question is, whose blood doesn’t look like blood. They put it into your body, and it changed your blood into it.”

  The others suddenly caught up to Tina’s line of thought. “You mean, they put someone’s blood into him to create this anomaly?” It was Mrs. Hull asking this time.

  Tina sort of half-shrugged. “It’s the only thing that makes sense here. It also has to be someone who has been here all along. The therapy relies upon this person’s blood to do this. The therapy has been available since before the ship launched. For some reason, Marshall here rejected part of that therapy causing his memory loss problems. I am guessing that someone that does a full conversion would be indistinguishable from normal, except for the blood test itself.” She concluded.

  “Are you saying we need to blood test everyone to find the culprits?” Lock asked.

  Tina rolled her eyes. “No, silly, what we need to do is to get a sample of Vincent’s blood. My guess is he’s the original. He was immeasurably wealthy before the ship was launched and that could come from an extended life cycle. My guess is that Vincent is the key to this whole thing.” She replied.

  Mrs. Hull had a strange look on her face and Tina noted it. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

  Her mother looked back as if returning to the current time and place. “Oh, nothing really. I was just thinking about my application for therapy. If I had been not been turned down, so many things would have happened to me that I don’t know who I would have been now. That is scary.” She commented.

  Lock smiled. “Life is choices. We make them all the time and wonder what would have happened if we had taken a different path, another turn. We must live with the choices we make and do the best we can with them.” He said philosophically.

  “There is more here than Meets the eye. Marshall’s blood test is far from the only thing that is going on around here. We still have the sabotaged system that closes a door. We still have Tina’s murder charges to deal with. Not to mention staying clear of the very man you want a blood sample from. Does any of this sound sane to you?” Lock asked.

  “Well no, actually.” Mrs. Hull retorted. “Most of this is way out there. Where are the days when I would just go to work, then come home to argue with Tina over homework?” She asked.

  Lock shook his head. “Life has gotten a lot more complicated recently.” He said at last.

  Tina was not yet impressed. “Oh, come on, you knew these people existed. You tried to become one. You tried to get the therapy. Of the three of us, you were the one least surprised by the current events.” She pointed out.

  “Yes dear, that is all true. But remember how cool and relaxed you were before you knew that? That sort of innocence is what I am pining for. Besides, we have a pretty heavy battle ahead of us and it is always a good idea to check that we are grounded to a fixed reality. So, no matter what happens, we can stay confident in our ability to realize what it is and that it is not our normal.” Mrs. Hull said.

  Marshall cleared his throat. “That still leaves us with a monumental task before us. That first story had better catch some interested eyes or this may be the shortest virtual offensive ever.” He said.

  Lock did not take his bait. He was still working on the article and his fingers were tapping buttons at a frenzied rate. He was on a roll. Marshall let the conversation drop to allow the kid to remain undisturbed.

  Mrs. Hull used this lull in the conversation to ask a question…

  “Do you mind if we do some diagnostic tests on you?” She asked.

  Marshall looked up, surprised by the seemingly random question. “What sort of tests did you have in mind?” He asked.

  “Oh, nothing painful, just take a heart rate and blood pressure to see how your not-quite-blood is doing its job.” She explained.

  “But you are still not a doctor, or a nurse for that matter.” He replied.

  She sighed. “We’ve gone over this. The evaluation will be digital. We just need to take the numbers and let the computer do its job.” She countered.

  “I suppose there’s no harm in it.” Marshall admitted. “I am actually getting curious anyway.” He added to explain his change of heart. He still looked nervous though.

  “Okay, this won’t hurt a bit…”

  ∆ ∆ ∆

  Vincent looked out over the main thoroughfare, tapping his foot impatiently. For someone so old and willing to wait, this delay was taking forever. He had gotten the message he had been fearing most.

  “The asset is awake.” This was the tail end of an experiment hundreds of years in the making. There had been no additional details. He didn’t know Marshall’s strengths or his memories. He didn’t know if the man was capable of reason in his new state. Marshall probably didn’t even understand what he was anymore. It was always the same with those that cannot adjust to the new body and life. A part of Vincent pitied the unfortunate eternal. The rest of him just wanted him eliminated before he could cause irreparable harm to the council and the citizenry of this ship.

  To Vincent the general populace represented very little value. He didn’t even need them as a food source. He had all that he needed without them. It was a far cry from the fields and villages of his homeland. There he had been called a monster. There he had been persecuted simply for existing. He had outlived all of them though. The final laugh had been his. His own vanity was at fault here. If he hadn’t wanted to create other eternals to break up his lonely existence, this problem would never have happened. But hindsight would not help him now. Marshall was active and had tapped at least some of his potential. If it came down to a fight, it would not be a foregone conclusion that Vincent would win. That was the most troubling part of this. Marshall had more power than he did. He had lost his memory, that was for certain, but his body had managed to assimilate the blood better than anyone Vincent had ever tried. He was unique, an enigma. That was the reason that Vincent had not had him slain when the memory problem was revealed. Marshall was valuable. If he could be studied and the memory problem corrected, then he could be the next evolutionary step for Vincent and his people.

  But where was he now? That was the question. The detective had always been good at getting around the ship even though he hadn’t been creative about it until recently. Vincent blamed those kids for that. They had taught Marshal how to get around this ship better. But his campaign to find and capture or eliminate the kids had proven ineffective. It was most likely the worst failure he had ever suffered. He had thrown a lot of credits into the search only to come up empty-handed. He had made a deal with another eternal but had lost contact with it. He had worried and fretted about so many things and gotten no relief from any source for his troubles. Vincent’s anger was on a steady burn now. He hated incompetence on any level and now he was seeing a glimpse of his own. He hated it with a passion that mortals could not begin to fathom.

  A flash hit his brain and Vincent fell to the floor. What was that? What had happened? He pressed himself back up from the carpet and felt woozy. He steadied himself on the edge of the desk and worked his way around to the chair. He sat down as his head swam. His eyes betrayed him with the world continually adjusting from just out of frame in the slightest semblance of a spin.

  “I need a status report.” He said into his intercom.

  “Sir, your search is still not finding anything, but the asset has been tracked in this vicinity.” The news was startling.

  “Why wasn’t I informed of that immediately?” He asked, trying to remain calm, but failing.

  “Sir, you left strict orders not to be disturbed. I have queued several messages for you. Would like them displayed now?” The calming voice said over the intercom
.

  “Yes, blast it.” Vincent replied as he checked the monitor. The messages began to scroll down the screen and Vincent read them all. He was up to date in no time at all.

  “I want surveillance doubled around this area. If Marshall comes here again, I want him grabbed and put in a holding cell.” He commanded.

  “As you wish sir.” The response came. It was an odd choice of words.

  After a pause, a second phrase came. “And what if they can’t handle him?”

  Vincent stood up quickly. “Call me right away! I’ll see to it that the job is done!” He shouted at the little black box. “I want tranquilizer guns on each and every person in addition to their standard sidearm. I want this man stopped and brought to me.” He ordered.

  “Of course sir.” The response came. Vincent eyed the little box and imagined the admin on the other side.

  “Who is this?” He asked directly.

  “Not who you think.” The response came and Vincent felt his blood go cold. “You?” He asked.

  Marshall’s assumed brother stepped into the room. Another eternal that had done miraculous things but was usually busy minding Marshall. “So, you know that he is activated. Good.”

  “Good? This is not good at all.” Vincent countered.

  “If you wanted to see what the next generation can do, then this is the perfect opportunity.” The figure replied.

  “You have a strange take on the disaster that is unfolding before us.” Vincent replied. “Did you give him the coordinates?” He asked, hopeful.

  “Yes, but I couldn’t get a read on whether or not he was going to follow the directions. He is an independent now with others to care for. His sense of honor will not allow him to do what you suggest. Well, he doesn’t know what you are suggesting yet. But that won’t matter much to him now. He has found someone to care for, to protect and if needed, to fight for.” He stated with finality.