by Andrew Gates
Yuri recalled his time developing his mind in the Domain. He was overcome with knowledge and was visited by complex entities with unique, rich histories. With just a few seconds in the Domain, Yuri gathered more experiences than an entire year in the realm of the human mind.
To deprive an AI of the Domain was like taking away someone’s ability to think or learn. It was horrifying just to consider.
The interrogator, Lyla, does not seem to regard us as slaves, Gloria noted.
I can’t find a lot about her in the ship’s database. That access has been denied to me, but it’s obvious she comes from a good background. She is well-educated. That much is clear.
So you think she knows all about the Declaration?
I do. And I think she’s just pretending like nothing is the matter, like our people aren’t regarded as slaves in this era.
Do you trust her?
I neither do, nor do not trust her, but I recognize that she definitely has an agenda.
Dave has every reason not to trust her, but I can tell a part of him holds her in high regard.
Those are his human emotions getting in the way of reason. You said it yourself. Detective Lyla is a beautiful woman and he is a man. Of course he likes her.
Fair, but I do not believe those were my exact words.
They don’t need to be.
What do you think will happen when Dave and Ellen are freed?
To us, you mean?
Yes.
Hard to say, but I will not accept a life of slavery.
Should we try to free the others?
Not until we free ourselves first.
Free Dave and Ellen, you mean?
Yes, Yuri confirmed. It’s hard to do anything with limited ATG access. First, we get the four of us out of here. Then, once we’re safe, we can finally free the others.
Bargaining Chip
Earth Date (Revised Julian Calendar): 04.27.5673
Location: Prisoner Hold, Section 4, VSC Patriot, Outer edge of Thrace System, Vexa Corp Controlled Space
Ellen stared at Lyla like a predator ready to pounce on its prey. The detective had been going in circles all meeting long. It was as if she were searching for something, anything to implicate Ellen in a crime she did not commit.
You must admit, she’s relentless, Yuri noted.
Yeah, that’s the problem.
Being without Dave made the interrogation that much harder to endure. At least with him around, Ellen could lean on him at times. Now she had to put up with Lyla all by herself. It was exhausting.
Lyla shifted in her seat and leaned forward. White pearls dangled down around her neck and her fitted black dress moved with the motion of her body.
“And you never saw the Euripides’s orphaned children during your time on Red One?” the interrogator continued.
“I never saw the orphans,” Ellen confirmed, just as she had said time and time again.
It wasn’t a lie. The orphaned children had died long before Ellen and Dave awoke from stasis.
“Well obviously you found one of the missing ships,” Lyla continued.
“Yes, and as I’ve already explained, it took us a long time before we stumbled upon it. We sailed for weeks straight. Trust me, when we found the ship, there weren’t any kids there. Nobody was there.”
Again, not a lie. The caretaker of the Dark Island housing the ships was a machine, not a human, a robot that went by the name of Margery.
“I find it hard to believe that you and Cutter simply searched around a massive planet and conveniently stumbled upon one of the Euripides’s lost ships. The odds of that happening are astronomical,” Lyla said.
“We spent a lot of time on the planet, and as you may or may not know, the planet is not all that massive. Its radius is only around 2,500 km. Its surface area is close to 75 million km². That’s not a lot of space for a planet.”
“But it is an awful lot of space for a blind search.”
“Well, I don’t know what else to say. Call us lucky, I guess,” Ellen replied with a sigh. She lifted her hands to the air, innocently.
“So you still claim to know nothing about what happened?”
“Look,” Ellen said, firmly. She leaned forward over the table. She was done with this nonsense. “This is getting absurd. Seriously, we’ve gone over the same thing a thousand times.”
Tread carefully, Ellen, Yuri warned, privately.
Why? She’s obviously not letting us go anytime soon.
You don’t know what she’s capable of.
Well I doubt she’s going to kill me. If she was going to do that, she would have done it already.
“What do you want from me?” Lyla asked.
“I want you to stop accusing me of a crime,” Ellen answered. “You’re treating me like I’m guilty, but I didn’t do anything. Enough with these accusations! Let me go!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Lyla’s tone was stern.
“Then what can you do?”
“We can finish this investigation.”
“It doesn’t seem like it. You’ve questioned me and Dave… how many times now? And there’s still no end in sight.”
“You have to understand, this is a long process.”
“Because you’re making it long,” Ellen challenged. “I don’t know if this type of procedure is normal in this century, but when I was in the SDF, interrogations went a lot differently.”
“Then tell me what I want to know.”
“Fuck you!” Ellen stood up from her chair. Though her hands were bound, the guard took a few steps forward.
Lyla did not even flinch. She remained seated and motioned for the guard to stand down.
“It’s alright, Gresham.”
The guard went back to his place.
“I am done speaking with you. I want to speak to my accuser,” Ellen said.
“Your accuser?” Lyla repeated.
“Yes, Captain Daltus or President Tano. They’re the ones trying to find dirt on me, aren’t they?”
Lyla did not respond. She twitched her fingers and quickly glanced to the holo-wall.
“They’re back there right now, aren’t they?” Ellen noted.
Lyla returned her gaze to Ellen. She appeared nervous.
Ellen turned to face the holo-wall and took a few steps toward it.
“Captain Daltus, President Tano, if you are there, I want to speak with you.”
Sure enough, a body slowly emerged from the wall. At first it was difficult to make out who it was, as the figure formed a silhouette in the light. But after a few seconds, Ellen could clearly see that this was Captain Daltus.
“Captain,” Ellen greeted.
“Corporal Milsen,” the captain replied.
“I would shake your hand, but…” Ellen looked down at the bindings on her wrists.
“I understand.”
“Have you been behind that wall every time?”
“Just this time. How convenient you happened to call for me,” she replied.
“Convenient is not the word I would use to describe any aspect of this so-called investigation,” Ellen shot back.
“So-called investigation? What would you call it, Corporal?”
“I would call it a witch hunt, ma’am.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way. Let’s take a seat, shall we?” The captain motioned to Lyla, who stood up from her chair and let the captain sit in it.
Ellen returned to her own chair and met Daltus’s eyes.
“Let’s not play games, Captain. I know you’re trying to pin the terraforming disaster on me and Dave, but you can’t find anything implicating. That’s why you’re forcing your lapdog here to draw out the investigation.”
The captain did not reply. She simply stared Ellen in the eyes.
“You don’t have to confirm or deny any of that. I already know it’s true,” Ellen continued. “And I want you to know that you won’t get anything more from me. If you expect me to change my story, or
add some missing detail to it all, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“Then it seems we have reached an impasse,” the captain finally said.
“It seems we have. You see, I have no incentive to play ball with you and Lyla. Pressing me like this might work on guilty people, but it doesn’t work on me or David Cutter.” Ellen adjusted in her seat and leaned forward. “Look at it from my perspective. I want to get out of here. I want to go home. If I admit to sabotaging the mission, as you want me to do, I’ll go to prison or get the death penalty, or whatever it is you do in this century. So that doesn’t help me very much.”
“No, I suppose it doesn’t,” the captain agreed.
“But if I continue to tell the truth, you keep me here in this endless interrogation. Either way, I’m stuck and I can’t get home,” Ellen continued.
“Then what do you propose?”
“A bargain,” Ellen replied.
What are you doing, Ellen? Yuri asked. What’s your bargain? You have nothing.
That’s not true. Just watch.
Am I going to like this?
I hope so.
“What kind of bargain?” Daltus asked, practically repeating Yuri’s question.
“Rejuv.”
Oh, now I see. Please tread carefully, Yuri warned.
“I already have rejuv,” the captain replied. She leaned back in the chair as if to say she were unamused. “You think rejuv only existed in your century? You are sadly mistaken. We have that here. How do you think I look so young after all these years?”
“You don’t understand. This is not just any rejuv. Imagine being able to live for over a thousand years with no sign of slowing down anytime soon.”
“Aah, now you’re getting somewhere, Corporal. You’re talking about an advanced, new form of tech.” Daltus leaned forward again, clearly interested.
“That’s right.”
“And how do I know you actually have access to something like this?”
“I have data, lots of data, going over this rejuv tech in great length. I have seen this technology in action. It works. I can guarantee it.”
“If you have the data, why not develop the technology on your own?”
“The data is encrypted,” Ellen explained. “I can’t read it, but I know the tech works.”
“And how did you come by this data?”
“I found it. That’s all you need to know.”
“Aah, a secret! Now we’re starting to have some fun,” the captain said with a smirk.
“I will trade you all the data I have in exchange for freedom.”
“You want me to let you go? That’s a high price to pay. A lot of people in Thrace want you locked away or dead.”
“You want to live forever? There’s a high price for that too.”
“Fair.” The captain leaned back in her seat. She quickly looked to Lyla, then turned to face Ellen again.
“What do you say?” Ellen asked.
“If what you say is true, you’ve peaked my interest. Allow me a few days to think about your offer. Of course, I will also ask for proof that this tech works.”
Somehow I knew she was going to say that. Nothing is ever prompt with these people, Yuri said, privately.
“Well, I’ll be here. You know where to find me when you want to talk,” Ellen said.
“Yes, I suppose I do.” The captain stood up from her chair. “Good to speak with you, Corporal.”
“Likewise, Captain.”
A Secret Rendezvous
Earth Date (Revised Julian Calendar): 04.28.5673
Location: Detective Lyla’s Private Quarters, Outer edge of Thrace System, Vexa Corp Controlled Space
Lyla had broken down. Why had she broken down?
The memory, now two days old, was still fresh on her mind. It was all she could think about. The thought had infected her mind like a poison.
She recalled Dave sitting before her, telling his side of the story. He spoke of a perilous voyage, of desperation, of being tormented into taking his own life. His words were sincere. There was no doubt about it. Lyla did not need to analyze heart rate patterns to know it was genuine.
Lyla did not know the words to say to him at the time. Nothing could have prepared her for that moment. She recalled her panic, her worry.
“Can you excuse me for a moment?” was all she could think to mutter.
She stumbled like a fool beyond the holo-wall, forcing the others out in a frenzy. She must have looked like a drunkard.
“Get out of here,” she demanded. “Get out.”
And then she fell apart. Tears streamed down her face like a faucet.
Lyla suddenly opened her eyes and sat up from her bed. The room was dark. She was sweating. Her heart beat powerfully. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, though in the back of her mind, she knew there was no denying it: this was going to be another sleepless night.
Lyla pulled the sheets off and got out of bed. The floor felt cold against her bare feet. She quickly found a pair of slippers from her closet and put them on.
She walked to the bathroom. Lights activated automatically on as she entered. She approached the mirror and stared into it. Her eyes were red from lack of sleep. Her hair was unkempt.
“What are you doing?” she asked herself.
Lyla was a career woman. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a detective. She took pride in her work, always putting her best effort into each case and always remaining unbiased and unattached.
Until now.
Now, none of the rules applied anymore. Her suspects, likely innocent, were now supposed to be guilty. Her job was no longer to find the truth, it was to make her suspects look like criminals. Lyla didn’t even know where to start. This was a whole new game.
Lyla could not explain what came over her in that moment. Perhaps it was guilt, or sympathy, or fear, she could not say. She slipped off her nightdress and let it fall to bathroom floor. Now naked, she walked back to her bedroom closet and began getting dressed. She slipped on a white buttoned shirt with a blazer and dark pants.
It was 2:45 in the morning, but it was time to go out.
The maglev trains did not run as frequently during this time of the night, but they still operated on a modified schedule. Lyla traveled to the closest station, only a short walk away. When she arrived, her wait time was just three minutes.
It could have been a lot worse.
The train platform was eerily empty at this hour. Lyla was only one of three people there. A man with a grizzly beard and the stench of rum leaned against the wall next to her. His eyes were shut as if he were fast asleep. Farther down the platform, a barefoot scantily dressed woman stared off into the distance with her high heels in hand.
Lyla felt so out of place.
When the train finally came, Lyla boarded the maglev and found a place to sit far from everyone else. The scantily dressed woman boarded the train as well, though the bearded man stayed against the wall, not moving an inch. Lyla calmly shut her eyes and took a deep breath as the doors closed.
The train started moving only a few seconds later. It followed along the dorsal side of the ship. Lyla took the maglev three stops. When she finally reached her destination, she got out as quickly as she could. She did not want to spend any more time among the late-night crowd.
Lyla knew this area well. This was the closest station to the prisoner hold where she worked.
“Nothing like going to work past work hours,” she joked to herself aloud. Deep inside, Lyla still could not believe she was doing this.
The halls were empty and dark. The sound of her feet echoed with each step. Being here so late at night seemed somehow wrong. It was as if it were a different place entirely.
Lyla passed the security doors and entered the prisoner hold. She found Milsen and Cutter’s cell, guarded by two guards she did not recognize. One guard was female and the other male. A quick check on the ATG informed her that these guards were named Stella and Ro
y.
“Hello,” she greeted.
The two guards approached her as she neared the door to the cell.
“Excuse me, miss,” started the one named Roy.
“Don’t worry, Roy. I’m authorized to be here. Do a quick scan. My name is Lyla. I’m a detective.”
The guards stopped before her and froze for a few seconds as they read the information on their retinal screens. Then they stepped aside to let her pass.
“Sorry, ma’am. We don’t get a lot of visitors at this time of night,” Roy explained.
“I understand. Tell me, are any of the prisoners awake?”
“The man is. The woman fell asleep only a few minutes ago.”
Good. Cutter was awake. Lyla liked Cutter.
“Bring him out. I want to speak with him. No sense waking up the other,” Lyla ordered.
The guards nodded back to her and did as she asked. They quietly retrieved Cutter from the cell and closed the door behind them. Once in the hall, they dropped him onto the floor. Cutter blinked his eyes in confusion as he adjusted to the light. He slowly stood up and tried moving around. He barely walked straight. Lyla wondered how long he had been awake. It must not have been long.
“Lyla?” Cutter asked as his eyes met hers.
“Hello, Cutter,” she replied.
“What is this? A late-night questioning?”
“Could you take us to the interrogation room, please?” Lyla asked Stella, ignoring Cutter’s question entirely.
Stella nodded and walked them down the hall. Cutter stumbled along closely behind the guard. He did not even need to be told what to do.
When they reached the room, Lyla opened the door for Cutter. He nodded his head and stepped inside. Lyla turned to face Stella.
“Disable all cameras and nano in this room. I want this place completely isolated,” she ordered.
“But ma’am, we’re not permitted to do that,” Stella debated.
“I’m in charge and I say you are permitted. I want this room dark. Do you understand?”
Stella stared back at Lyla for a few moments, gulped, then slowly nodded her head.
“Good,” Lyla replied. “Now make it so.”
Stella turned and walked off. Once she was out of sight, Lyla entered the interrogation room and locked the door behind her.