Merker's Outpost

by I. Christie

  "Wow," Harriet muttered. "And this outpost would be ideal for them. It has all the modern conveniences and no one's home. So there may be more than one of them here."

  "Possibly. They breathe the same air as I have in two cities activated. The Lair and Century City, but ten of the cities can be converted to the same air mixture. I have convened a meeting of other guardians to discuss what we are going to do about these incursions by these people, which are disturbing the gates energies throughout the galaxy. We also need to speak on the Alan Fermin problem. He wants to disrupt the gates all together. My guests have been arriving for the last twenty-four stan hours, as you had noticed, Lady Harriet, when you walked into the portal's energy field. I've been rather busy bringing up the life support systems in the Lair. Most of them are staying on the tenth and eleventh levels, close to the laboratories and gate."

  "By everyone meeting here…doesn't that give Alan a tempting target?"

  "It is more of a convenience to me. I cannot travel to their planets in the state I am presently in. Your admiral has no orders for you until she arrives. I believe she said you are owed a vacation, so until otherwise notified, consider yourself on shore leave. There really is nothing for either of you to do until the others arrive."

  Laboratories…Now that is rather interesting. If he can put himself and Charles in a computer and bot…why not clone a body from either of their cells and…

  "Guardian, would you mind if I asked you a personal question?"

  "You may ask."

  "Why haven't you developed a clone from your body cells instead of putting yourself into a computer? You have the laboratories and the scientific knowledge."

  "Timing and…I will admit, the sense of power I have while in a computer is difficult to give up. With Charles, his species is rather difficult to clone but we have been nurturing it into an adult. Charles does not want to move into a child's body. Myself…I found the idea of giving up being able to tap into so much information and compile it and do all the things a computer can do so much faster than this Copac had ever imagined…" he sighed heavily. "But, it is without a doubt something I will have to consider giving up. My own cloned body is ready. Unlike Charles, a younger body is not a problem with me. Just giving up all this power is. With all the scientist arriving, I would be foolish not to take advantage of their presence to complete the melding process."

  "I guess it would be like 'dumbing down.' Seeing Charles with less color would be…different." Taking a deep breath she moved on to other things she was worried about. "Guardian, about the other cities on your outpost. Would mind if we looked them over while we're waiting for the rest to arrive?"

  "Not at all. The present small group the Vine has deployed in the City is not able to stretch themselves beyond New Century City. I have not been able to reestablish communication in the other cities so you will be on your own," Guardian cautioned, "until you bring up the systems."

  "Are there any citizens left?" Carol asked.

  "No. I do believe everyone has left. I was not in any condition to monitor the evacuation, but when my system came back on line, Maud visited them and she found no one left. But that was years ago and for the last two, we have been rather busy."

  "Well, I'm for exploration. We'll go see if you have any visitors or guests in your other cities that you don't know of and reacquire your communication links," Harriet offered. She felt jittery to be sitting around doing nothing when she knew that there was going to be a battle of wits or violence in a matter of days. That type of energy was in the air. Suddenly she turned to Carol. "That is, unless you have something else in mind."

  "I would not mind exploring, Mistress." She grinned at the grimace on Mistress' face. She had heard her hints at not using the name, but Carol was amusing herself, learning about how her body reacted to humor, laughter, making love and other emotions she may have displayed as Lord Chaney's bodyguard but not experienced.

  Harriet stuck her tongue out at Carol who grinned back.

  "Good!" Guardian returned happily. "I will prepare subliminal tapes on what you need to know about the cities. Which one do you want to visit first?"

  "I keep seeing in my mind's eye this vast amount of water with single room buildings on the various docks that circle the water."

  "Avanster, or WaterLand. I don't advise swimming in the water as it is like another's home. Uninvited guests...may not return."

  "I thought you said no one was there?" Carol remarked doubtfully.

  "The water is a living thing, though the inhabitants of the water may have left."

  "That reminds me of guardian spirits of my country. Though some of the city people do not believe in the spirit guardians they still leave alms or some sort of token of respect when they pass through or remove something from a garden, glen or cross-roads."

  "Do they? What does the token or alms do, Mistress?" Carol asked puzzled.

  "It lets the guardian know that she or he is honored and that the traveler is thanking her or him for allowing them to pass through their territory or taking a memento of their journey from their land."

  "What happens if they do not?"

  "Bad luck!" Harriet replied with a grin.

  Carol gave her an odd look, as if disbelieving, and then replaced it with a thoughtful frown, as if turning this over in her mind. Harriet wondered what memory was resurfacing that had her perplexed. Every planet had their strange superstitious customs of placating the unknown forces in their lives. Perhaps Lord Chaney never demonstrated his own practices. The Miners' colonies, which Lord Chaney had represented, were notorious for their large assortment of good luck charms.

  "Guardian, do you have some information on the culture?" Harriet went on to Guardian.

  "I'll add it to your subliminal. Unless you would like audio or a visual study?"

  "Subliminal and nap are fine."

  ***

  Harriet woke suddenly and alert. She was aware of having dreamed of Gedaliaha and something about her Dancer, but it was too vague. No nightmares. That was surprising since her latest capture and interrogation should have brought up a lot of memories to lose sleep over. Stretching, she mused that not only was she in a good mood, but her body did not feel at all like she had been through any physical abuse. Should she worry?

  Gawds, no. It's probably something to do with opening up my channels. Maybe I should be researching that. I haven't thought of the subject since childhood.

  Carol was not around so Harriet began her Chi Gung workout to wake her body up, then showered and dressed. While she ate, she mentally reviewed what information the subliminals had given her. Whatever technique Guardian used in his subliminals she noticed that the information was making its way faster to her consciousness than the first time. The Committee used a harsher method of delivering subliminal information to their troops, which incorporated drugs so that the information would be available the moment the soldier was partially conscious. Unfortunately the side effects from the drugs and perhaps something a lot more subtle, gave most nightmares and other small and nagging physical discomforts. Lives depended on it, the war board had said. However, in Collective territory, Lt. Montran found subliminals were seldom used. The soldiers were given their orders; Sergeants would have a little more information; and a CO would have more. If that was not enough then a messenger was dispatched or a call was made on a need to know basis. If someone got cut off from operations, the basic philosophy of the corps was followed and no great cluster fucks were made, such as entire villages wiped out or civilians killed in error. Lives were valued in Collective space, even the 'bad' guys. Lt. Montran wondered what they would do with someone as damaged as Alan. She was probably going to find out since the Admiral was responsible for the protection of the planet. Well, at least now she understood why this planet was so important.

  Harriet looked up as Carol walked into the room looking for her.

  "Mistress, are you getting ready to leave?"

  "Yeah. Is Captain Zohra bac
k in her room?" Harriet asked, guessing at Carol's whereabouts.

  "She is sleeping now. She was having a bad dream so I stayed with her until she went to sleep. Bach, a sandwich and quava juice, with pulp, please."

  "Hmm." Being undercover for so long with a group like the Black Rose and a sister like Lady Varina Chaney is enough to give anyone nightmares.

  Both finished their lunch in silence, deep in their own thoughts. If Alan's soldiers were loose in the unmonitored cities or the alowan was sending in more of his or her people, Lt. Montran wanted to know just where they were wandering.

  If I were infiltrating…I would…have a way to hide my life readings. Go into hypersleep? It would take a biosleep pod. Hmm. The best way to sneak a sleep pod into a city would be to hide a small ship…a larger ship for…say, a troop compliment. So where could Alan fit a ship of any size, unnoticed even by Guardian?

  The ride on the train to Avanster was faster than what it had been to Century City, but then this was not on the opposite side of the planet. When the door to the car came open, the reflection from the water mirrored on the car's ceiling. Carol stepped out first and glanced around quickly. They were on a beach below the planet's surface, and deeper than the other cities.

  Harriet stepped out slower as she was sensing something around them. There was a presence, but she could not identify it as coming from an individual or from a group. However, it was not interested in them. It could be the spirit of the water. The view through her helmet did not show any life signs other than their own. Was it the water? Had she ever felt this much life from a body of water before? Shaking her head, she reminded herself that this was her first experience as an adult with her empathic senses this enhanced. And then she wondered if the suit blunted or somehow distorted her feelings. She turned to a sound to her right. Water lapping against a pillar.

  The train had delivered them to a dock. It was the only one that did not have a small building standing on it. Numerous other docks were linked by thin walkways suspended over the water. Harriet looked into the water and could see only darkness. Since the water was a living thing, it should register something in her helmet, she reasoned. Puzzled she put the thought aside for the moment. There was not much light here, and though the helmets allowed them to see shadows and shapes, it was still dark enough for accidents to happen. Her subliminal told her that it was night and daylight was several standard hours away. There was a yellow light shinning from the top of the dome shaped ceiling of the city. Harriet took it for a replica of a moon. They were too far underground to be viewing the actual sky.

  "Let's take a look at the one over there." Harriet pointed. It was the smallest building compared to the others and it was the nearest to them. Carol nodded. Carol's body language revealed she was uneasy about something. Did she feel the presence also?

  They crossed the bridge slowly looking carefully at where they stepped. Neither wanted to find a broken spot and fall into the water below. The first building was dome shaped with a circular doorway. Nothing blocked the entrance. However, the doorway was so low that they would have to crawl on all fours in order to enter. Above it was a shadowy carving of something Harriet could not make out. There was no recognizable form, only shadows hinting at curves. Carol did not look at all happy at this. Harriet did not feel any danger though something needed watching. What was it?

  Harriet placed a small token on the ground near where they would enter. She started to go first but Carol pulled her back shaking her head. "Carol, it's better if I do go first. I can sense things you may not."

  "And that's why you should follow me, Mistress. You can observe what is happening when I enter. I feel something is here, or in this city and I would rather you observe than fall prey to it."

  Rather than argue for something she felt was a minor point at the moment she let Carol go in first.

  When Harriet's head cleared the entrance, she was able to stand up. A winding stairway led downward. Small lights lit up as they approached showing the way down.

  So, there is something that is on giving power to this structure to recognize it is inhabited and needs light on a staircase…Next question, is the light for the convenience of the visitors from the other cities or did the species that once reside here need lights too?

  Carol was waiting midway down the stairs. Neither spoke as they studied the walls that had a glass like appearance. On the other side of the glass were waving underwater plants that moved as if there were an underwater tide, or maybe they were alive and moved of their own volition.

  When the stairs ended, they could not have been more than three cubits down, with only their heads showing above the ground. The room they entered in appeared to be a storage room, for shelves that were now empty lined the circular room. There was nothing else they could see. According to the suit gauge, the room was extremely cold.

  Harriet gave the signal she had seen enough. Carol did not waste any time as she led the way back up and out. They both exchanged glances before they started towards the next place.

  The next building was larger and this time Harriet did not give Carol a chance to enter first. She placed a scented token on the outside and crawled in. The moment Harriet cleared the entrance she knew this was a different type of building. She could feel something was here. A soft light came on when she entered the room. This room was circular as the other but was larger and instead of the stairs there was a large circular pond in the center with a totem pole in the center of the pond…or so it appeared. Harriet could see the water ripple in the dim light. She motioned to Carol to follow her as she stayed close to the wall rather than venture near the pond. This culture had a household spirit that protected the residences. Her subliminal informed her that this is where the spirit was housed. Tradition had it that the household spirit moved with the family. Harriet frowned. The household guardians were spirits of past family members that were asked to comeback to protect a family for the lifetime of the person that called it. Strange culture, Harriet thought. Once she left the physical world, she did not want to come back. She shuddered. It was as bad a being turned into a metraperson.

  Moving slowly around the room both women stayed as far from the pond as they could. The opposite side of the room was their destination where there was a dark circular doorway. Silently, Harriet gave a prayer to whoever's house she was invading and pulling out a stone she found in one of the pots in their bathing room, she placed it at the second doorway as she stooped to enter.

  These people must be midgets! Wow. This probably is a workroom or office. It is airy and…it feels as if it's expansive yet, it doesn't really look that large. Shelves on three of the walls… that could be furniture in the center there, but what this other stuff is…I can't even imagine.

  Carol joined her and pressed her arm in warning as Harriet made to try one of the shadowy couches. Harriet nodded and then gave her a sign to search on one side and she would the other.

  While Harriet located the camera Carol located the small control panel located in the shelves to the right of the second doorway.

  "Mistress," Carol's voice softly called.

  Harriet moved quickly to Carol's side. The shelves were not empty, as she had thought. Looking at them closer she could see that the helmet missed the substance the contents of the shelves contained.

  "What is it?"

  "I don't know? Did you sleep for the subliminal?" she asked Carol.

  "I did, however, I was awakened before it finished."

  "Well, I think we need to contact Guardian. Above the door is one of the cameras to the mainframe. Shall we see if the on/off switch works?"

  "That is here?"

  "No. Right up there where the camera is. Sometimes the simplest solution works. We would have to first check there anyway."

  Harriet was thinking about how she was going to inspect the camera that was just a foot out of her reach when Carol offered her cupped hands.

  Harriet found the switch easily enough. It was in the off
position. Simple enough, she thought. The small light indicating it was activated did not come on.

  "Mistress, perhaps it also has a switch behind here." Carol's finger pointed to the blur on the shelf.

  Gingerly Harriet attempted to push aside the shadowy contents but they would not move.

  "No room to push. You need to remove them." Carol reached over, pulled out some of the shadowy shapes, and laid them on a table nearby. "Simple," Carol said softly, smiling at Harriet's confusion.