Second Life of Mr. Hunt: Book 3: Failover
Page 13
“It’s the main hangar bay of that Earth battle cruiser we found earlier,” said Kat. “I thought it was just a large cruiser, but it’s actually a superclass cruiser.”
Ryan grinned. “Now you’ve got me interested in studying up on combat ships. I—”
The murmurs from the onlookers quietened when an older man and his entourage walked in. The older man sat in the center chair and waited for his entourage to take their positions before raising his hand. He waited for silence and observed Ryan and Kat for a few seconds.
“Greetings, strangers,” said the old man. “My name is Eldred, and I thank you for rescuing my son. He said you showed great bravery in the face of the night creatures.”
“I’m glad we were lucky enough to stumble upon him. My name is Ryan Hunt, and this is Dr. Katalina Winslow.”
A murmur started again, and Eldred had to raise his hand to silence everyone.
“Was it something I said?” asked Ryan.
“No…it’s just that we have long been without anyone with medical knowledge.”
“I can help if you need it,” said Kat.
“In due time. But first, why have you come here?”
“A friend of ours is missing a family member, and we tracked his trail here. He may have been following a woman. From the looks of the place, I’m guessing you don’t get many visitors. While I don’t have many details about the woman, the man had a beard, was bald, and somewhat on the stocky side. He was probably wearing a pilot’s jumpsuit. Does this sound like someone you may have seen recently?”
The men and women sitting on each side of Eldred started whispering amongst themselves.
“It does,” said Eldred.
“That’s great, said Kat. “Perhaps you can point us in his direction.”
“And explain what those creatures were that attacked us,” said Ryan.
“You will have your answers, but the night is not the time to discuss such things. Let us rest. I need to check on my son and mourn the loss of his companions.”
Ryan pursed his lips and leaned into Kat. “It doesn’t sound like we have a choice?”
“From my experience with cultures like this, we don’t.”
Ryan stepped forward. “We look forward to further discussions with you in the morning.”
Eldred waved his hand, and a middle-aged woman with black and gray hair approached. Multiple necklaces with dangling symbols hung around her neck.
“Greetings, my name is Syl. I will take you to a building where you can rest.”
“That would be great,” said Ryan.
“First, I need to know if you two are mates?” asked Syl.
Kat dived in front of Ryan before he could say anything. “Yes. Yes, we are. Long time. Very matey.”
“That is good to hear. Please follow me this way.”
Ryan shrugged with his hands up and looked at Kat.
“I’ll tell you later. Just go with it,” Kat said through gritted teeth.
They followed Syl under some overhangs to keep out of the rain, and she brought them to a metal building with a standard door, something Ryan was surprised to see. The room was dimly lit with a large bed, dresser, and bathroom area.
“Please be safe this evening under the protection of our roof. I have taken the liberty of cleaning your clothes and will leave them by the door in the morning.” Syl smiled at them and closed the door as she left.
“What the hell was that all about? Is matey even a word outside the pirate world?” asked Ryan.
“The necklaces,” said Kat.
“What about them?”
“There were about fifteen different religious symbols. This settlement is a religious commune. I stumbled across one when I first started out as an archaeologist. They are fanatic and break away from all of society and most technologies depending on the degree of their devotions. If I said we weren’t mates, we would be separated, and I would be trapped in a building with a bunch of virgin women staring at me.”
“Oh,” said Ryan. “This is going to be interesting.”
“Again, it all depends on their level of devotion. The more devoted they are, the more interesting this could get. We need to tread lightly. I have heard of some using strangers as ritual sacrifices or outright killing them to protect their secrets.”
Ryan looked at her blankly and then moved a chair in front of the door.
Kat laughed. “I think we’re safe for now. They probably would have killed us already if they had secrets. Although ritual sacrifice could still be in play.”
“Let’s not take any chances. At least the lighting in here is somewhat working.”
“Well, that at least tells us the dark cloud doesn’t suck up all power sources,” said Kat, walking over and touching the antique lighting. “They must have some q-fusion or plasma generators somewhere.”
Ryan went to the bathroom to check it out, and a dim light turned on. It was an average toilet and a makeshift shower. Nothing fancy, but it would do.
“Hey, Kat, I think—”
He froze when he stepped out and saw Kat with her top off and two half-circle pieces of cloth supporting her breasts.
“Yikes!” yelled Ryan, spinning around quickly and blushing.
“Really. You have never seen a woman with a chest support system before?”
“No…I mean, yes…whatever. At least it looks a lot more comfortable than the wired bras that clasped around the back from my day.”
“That does sound uncomfortable. This material reacts to your movements and increases or decreases support. I can demonstrate if you like,” said Kat, grinning ear to ear.
“Perhaps some other time, and thanks for the info. Now, are you going to put a shirt back on?”
“Actually, I normally sleep naked.”
Ryan could hear Kat trying to stifle a laugh at what he could feel was his flushed face. Without turning around, he reached his arm back and pulled a pillow and blanket off the bed and laid them out on the floor.
“Seriously, you’re going to sleep on the floor? We’re adults. We can sleep in the same bed without anything happening.”
“Just get into bed so I can turn around,” said Ryan.
He waited until he heard Kat slip into the bed and turned around to see her smiling back at him, her head leaning on one hand and a blanket pulled up to her neck.
“Is this better, blushing boy?”
Ryan sighed. “Yes, and thank you.”
“So, are you afraid something might happen?”
He didn’t reply and brushed his hand over a glowing circle on the wall to turn the light off. Then he attempted to make himself comfortable on the floor.
“I’m still surprised you get embarrassed easily. If you don’t mind me asking, how many women have you been with?” asked Kat.
Ryan closed his eyes. “Three.”
“That’s it?”
“Well, I wasn’t a social butterfly. Introverted geeks didn’t have many pickup lines. How about you?”
“Twenty or so…I think.”
Ryan’s eyes popped open. “Did you say twenty or more?”
“Don’t be thinking I’m some type of open door down there. I’m over a hundred and eighty years old, and we’re not as prudish as people in your time.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like that. I would never think of you that way.”
There was a long silence as the two of them lay in the darkness.
“Do you mind if I ask a personal question?” asked Ryan.
“Go for it.”
“How do you…ah…protect yourself from…you know…having children or catching a disease?”
“Straightforward question. Is there someone you’re interested in being with that you need to know this information?”
“What!” exclaimed Ry
an.
“Syl was looking at you in a certain way,” said Kat, giggling.
Ryan sighed. “I…you know—”
Kat laughed. “Fine, I’ll answer. Don’t get all tongue-tied. I can feel the heat from you blushing. My reproductive system is genetically turned off.”
“You can do that?”
“Yes, it’s turned off. You get it turned back on when you are ready to have children. I actually turned yours off when you were getting upgraded last year.”
“What do you mean turned off?” Ryan asked in a deep, concerned tone.
“Stop panicking, everything is still functional down there. What you release isn’t active. I thought…you know…being a young guy, you would be out and about socializing.”
“Ah, got it,” said Ryan. “But what about diseases?”
“Depends where you are in a relationship, but medical scans are done before being intimate.”
“Extreme, but I guess necessary with all the different alien races we are in contact with now,” said Ryan.
“That’s correct. Some species are not compatible and can pass on things. The good thing is that we are both disease-free.”
“Good to know that we are…um…both disease-free humans,” said Ryan.
“Yeah, good to know. Well, it’s getting late. Goodnight, Ryan. And if you get cold or something, you’re more than welcome to—”
“I know…pleasant dreams, Kat.”
Ryan popped up when he heard a noise at the door. The lack of windows was making it hard to figure out the time of day, and with Kat snoring away, there was no way he was falling back to sleep, so he quietly got up and stretched. He looked back at the floor and shook his head. Sleeping on the floor still sucks.
Moving the chair ever so slowly, he creaked the door open a hair to peer outside. It was definitely light enough to be morning, but a misty rain was still falling and the dark haze was blotting out the sunlight. His mood changed when he saw a pile of folded clothes and their equipment outside the door in clear storage containers.
“Ryan, what is it? Something wrong?”
He turned to see a half-asleep Kat looking at him with one eye opened.
“It’s morning, and all our stuff is out here.”
“That’s great, five more minutes,” said Kat, rolling over.
“Lazy,” Ryan said softly, and brought everything inside. He pulled the clothing out and sorted them on the bed. Seeing Kat was snoring away again, he figured it was a good time to clean up and get dressed.
Kat finally forced her eyes open and was confused about where she was. Once the cobwebs cleared, she leaned over the bed to check on Ryan and then remembered he was up earlier. Her clothes were on the bed, so she guessed he put them there for her and stepped out. Usually, Kat would have been the one up early, but that energy drain on her the day before took a lot out of her. With a yawn and a stretch, she jumped out of bed and went to clean up.
The shower was a chemical steam cleansing system, which was a quick in and out. Throwing her clothes on, she headed outside to catch up with Ryan, only to find him under the building’s awning talking to Syl about waffles.
“Waffles are delicious, trust me, but I will admit that this muffin is great. It has a complex flavor of…Oh, good morning, Kat. Syl was nice enough to bring us some food.” He pointed to a plate of muffins and juice sitting on the chair.
“Good morning, Ryan…Syl.”
“Good morning, Dr. Katalina. Please eat. You must be hungry,” said Syl. “Mr. Hunt was describing how some of our facilities and things we use are similar to things on his homeworld. Plus, a morning meal called a waffle.”
“That’s nice of him. Ryan, you should’ve woken me up.”
“You went back to sleep, so I thought I would take a walk around, but Syl found me first.”
Kat picked up a muffin and a glass of juice. She smelled the beverage and took a sip. “Nice fruity flavor.”
Ryan nodded. “To me, it’s like a cross between a mango and orange. It comes from those long oval fruits with carved faces in them placed everywhere.”
Kat looked around to take in the carved fruits randomly placed by the buildings. “They almost look like those pumpkins you carved for your Halloween party.”
“Exactly. From what Syl was describing to me, they celebrate a holiday around this time honoring the dead.”
“That is correct, Mr. Hunt. We celebrate—”
“You can call me Ryan.”
“Yes, Ryan,” said Syl, smiling at him. “We celebrate our past ancestors, but it is also a time when darkness may rise up and leave the land of the dead to haunt the world of the living. We call the carved fruits spirit guardians, and they are used to ward off evil.”
“Cultural superstitions. Do they work?” asked Kat.
Syl’s eyes tightened, and she smirked. “If you will excuse me. I need to get some other work done. When you two are finished, Eldred is in the main hall and would like to continue the discussion from last evening. The hall is down the path I am going to take. Where I turn right, you should turn left and keep walking straight.”
Ryan watched Syl pick up the tray from the chair. He tilted his head and squinted to get a better look at the line of opaque crystal circles embedded in her forearm when her sleeve slid up.
Kat waited for Syl to move away. “So, you’re on a first-name basis with her,” she said, putting a small piece of muffin in her mouth.
“Just being friendly with the locals. You never know what information they might have.”
“Well, be what it may, finish your muffin and let’s go find out what’s going on here.”
Ryan stuffed the rest of the muffin in his mouth, gulped down his juice, and grinned.
Kat shook her head, and they both headed off to meet Eldred.
Eldred and the two other town leaders stopped their conversation when they saw Ryan and Kat enter the hall and head toward them. The two men gave Eldred a nod and left to a back room.
“Good sun to each of you. I hope you were both able to rest up?” asked Eldred.
“We did, and thank you for the hospitality,” said Kat.
“You pulled my son from the grips of darkness. It’s the least I can do.”
“Speaking of your son, is he OK?” asked Ryan.
“His leg is broken, but he should be back to normal in a few months.”
“A few months…With proper equipment, I could heal that in a few minutes. Is there no medical tech or AI?” asked Kat.
“I am hesitant to answer your question until you have a little more information about our society,” said Eldred. “Please pull over two chairs and make yourselves comfortable.”
Ryan brought the chairs over and waited for Kat to sit first. He liked the change of not sitting in a hovering chair. Kat, on the other hand, was having issues getting comfortable in it.
“Now, I am sure you have questions about the people you are looking for, but let me give you some of our history to put things into perspective.”
Ryan and Kat both nodded and leaned in.
“Our ancestors were farmers, builders, and worshipers of various deities. As technology grew and AIs started doing more of the work, they sought refuge far away to get back to being one with the planets the gods created. We did not shun all technologies but preferred to live with the bare minimum and rely on our own hands to build and farm.
“With that goal in mind, they set off in a giant transport looking for a place to call home. During the journey, a wormhole accident left them stranded near this planet. Believing it to be a sign from a god, they decided this planet would be their home. The transport landed here, and it was used to make some of the town’s buildings, along with utilizing the crashed ship already here as its center.”
“You are an impatient one. I will get right to the core of our beliefs then. We frown at the fake flesh and metal creations that walk amongst society. They will lead you to darkness. So, to answer your question, there are no AIs here, and there never will be.”
Ryan leaned over to Kat. “Mental note, never bring Nora here.”
“Kind of narrow-minded, don’t you think?” said Kat.
Eldred and Kat locked stares.
“Be happy we are a hospitable group. Blasphemy like that would call for death in other societies,” replied Eldred. “What is your stance on this, Mr. Hunt?”
“I kissed an AI once and kind of liked it, but would rather not discuss it in mixed company.”
Kat brought her hand to her mouth to cover her smile.
They all sat quietly for a long few seconds.
“Now that we all know where we stand, what about the battle and all the dead soldiers out in the swamp?” asked Ryan, changing the subject.
“Yes, let us continue,” said Eldred, visibly annoyed. “From what our written history describes, they found the ruins of a great battle. Some of the remnants of that battle are used to house the structures we live and work in. Any of the remains our ancestors found in the town area were burned as per our customs.”
Ryan stood up and spun around to take in the entire meeting hall. “From the size of this place and what we have seen of your town, there must be a lot of people. Where are they all hiding? I don’t recall seeing that many.”
Eldred’s face twisted and he looked away for a few seconds. “There were thousands of us at one time. Until the dark cloud of the dead came.”
Ryan and Kat looked at each other.
“So, you know what I speak of?” asked Eldred.
“We have had some…experiences since we came here, but it might be better if you explain and fill in the gaps,” said Ryan.
“Somewhere in our past, this dark cloud started engulfing the planet. Our tech would falter and the icy grip of death could be felt. It would stay for a short duration, but as the centuries passed, the cloud returned every few decades and stayed longer each time. We began to hear voices in the wisps of the mist, and the coldness of death would come. People started disappearing. It became so bad to live here, we abandoned most of our tech and went back to more primitive means of survival.”