Freedom's Last Gasp

by M. A. Rothman

  Evan frowned. “She’s interesting. Today’s footage is a stark difference from the video of her work yesterday at the mine. Today, she seems quite personable. It’s quite obvious she’s enjoying her time with those kids, and they’re enjoying her, even though some of what she’s talking about is well beyond them. She’s managed to engage with her audience, even though she’s not particularly aware of them in the same way I think you or I would be.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, this is only a guess, but I think that she came into that classroom expecting things to be a disaster, and because things are going relatively well, the kids are checking off all her boxes for satisfaction. She didn’t have high expectations of them, and they’re very bright. So of course she’s pleased. By contrast, had they been older, or like her co-worker in the mine, I suspect she’d have had higher expectations, and then things might have gone very differently today. More like they did yesterday. We saw how impatient this young lady can be with those who don’t meet her expectations.”

  The governor laughed aloud, causing looks of surprise on the faces of her science advisers. She turned back to the image of Priya, who was still captivating the class. “I swear to God, my friend, you’ve been reborn,” she muttered.

  “Pardon?” Evan leaned closer.

  The governor waved dismissively and tapped on the phone icon embedded into the lacquered table.

  “Operator 63, how may I help you, Madam Governor?”

  “Get me Kat Timpf.”

  “Connecting to Director Timpf…”

  After a few moments of silence, a woman’s voice came through the speakers in the ceiling. “Governor? What can I do for you?”

  “Hi, Kat. I’m assuming you’ve been watching the class?”

  “I have.”

  “What do you think? Is there a place we’d be able to use her in one of our facilities?”

  “As a teacher? A researcher?”

  “Sure, or whatever makes sense.”

  “Well, probably. But is that what she’d want?”

  The governor glanced at Evan, who shrugged. “Well, I can’t imagine she wants to be a miner. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but she can be so much more. Why don’t you give her the choice—see what happens.”

  “Okay. I’ll let you know what she says. But if she chooses to stay with the mining interns, should I—”

  “Go ahead and let her. I just would like more for her. Maybe find a place for her here on the colony.”

  “Understood, I’ll see what she has to say.”

  As Kat clicked off, a flashing light indicated an incoming call, and the governor switched lines.

  “Terry, what’s up?”

  “We’ve found the miner who went missing from Dorm Block C just after we intercepted that signal from Earth. He was caught lurking outside the third level of mine shaft number one—right outside the section where the interns were being introduced to some mining equipment. I’m heading over to the holding cell to have a talk with him.”

  The governor frowned. “Use whatever you need to learn the truth. It’s preapproved.”

  “Got it. I’ll figure out what’s going on.”

  “Thanks. Before you go, hold on a second.” She put the call on hold and turned to the psychologist. “Evan, you remember what I asked you to do back when we got that spy a few years back?”

  The old man’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded.

  “Are you still up for an extraction?” The governor hitched her thumb toward the image of Priya. “Her safety may be at stake.”

  Evan stood. “I’ll do it.”

  She took the call off hold. “Terry, I’m sending Evan to help.”

  There was silence on the line for a full five seconds before Terry said, “Understood.”

  Terry had to wait almost thirty minutes for Doctor Evan Pritchard to set things up. Evan was one of the few people who spooked the hell out of him. It was almost like the man could read minds, and with his medical background, the things he could do to people during an interrogation were the stuff of nightmares.

  The miner was a big man, around six and a half feet, two hundred fifty pounds, mostly muscle. He was strapped to a gurney and hooked up to an IV, heart monitor, pulse oximeter, and more. Most notable was the metal band around the miner’s head—some kind of magnetic resonance device that Evan had adapted for his own use.

  “Are we ready?” Terry asked.

  Evan was studying a monitor that displayed a series of squiggly lines. “He’s under mild sedation. We’ll still need to establish a baseline for him.”

  The straps didn’t look particularly sturdy. “If this guy gets pissed, he looks pretty capable of tearing out all your fine wiring.”

  “I have that covered.” The psychiatrist cleaned the injection port on the IV with an alcohol swab and plunged a syringe into it. “Sometimes the simple stuff is the best answer. That’s Quelicin—some potent stuff. It’ll completely immobilize him without knocking him out. It’ll only be about a minute before it takes effect. I’ll attach an infusion pump to the IV so that he gets a constant four milligrams per minute throughout the discussion. You tell me when you want him wiggling again, and I’ll make it happen.”

  “I’m ready when he is,” Terry said.

  The doctor attached a few more wires to the miner’s chest with some adhesive, then rolled his stool back to the monitor. He punched a button, and a bunch of wavy lines projected above the miner where Terry could see them.

  “I’ve got the EEG running for the baseline. Go ahead and wake him up.”

  They both knew that an Earth spy would be trained to resist any manual extraction methods—and would as soon die before telling him anything. But by monitoring the man’s brain waves directly, they’d bypass the guy’s training.

  Terry grabbed a capsule and broke it under the miner’s nose. The smell of ammonia permeated the air.

  “He’s conscious,” announced the doctor.

  The miner hadn’t moved even an eyelash.

  Terry leaned in close. “Mr. Gutfeld, my name is Terry Chapper, head of Chrysalis domestic security, and you’re perfectly safe. You’re being held in a state of immobility, but don’t worry about that, it’s temporary. We have a few questions for you, and if you cooperate, this will go a lot easier.”

  Terry held up one finger, which was the agreed-upon sign for when he was about to say something truthful. Just as with a standard lie detector test, they would need a few control questions to calibrate the responses. “Mr. George Gutfeld, you were born on the Chrysalis colony nearly fifty years ago.”

  Evan tapped something on the screen and nodded.

  Terry held up two fingers. A lie was coming. “Greg, your mother’s name is Georgina.”

  He continued with control questions for the next couple minutes, until Evan gave him a thumbs-up, indicating they were ready to start with the real questions.

  “George, I’m going to ask you a series of questions. I want you to think about the answers. Our equipment will pick up your conscious thoughts and translate them for us. We’ll take it from there. Are you ready?”

  “I’m afraid.” A synthesized male voice spoke in his ear. A transmission from the doctor’s gadgets that translated the man’s thoughts to a voice.

  “There’s nothing to be afraid of. Okay, first question. Have you been communicating with people on Earth via non-authorized channels?”

  “No.”

  The doctor gave a thumbs-down. A lie.

  “Listen to me, Mr. Gutfeld. That was a lie. This will go on a lot longer and make things much worse for you if you lie to me. How about we start with something simpler. You weren’t assigned to mine shaft one—so why were you lurking outside the ore processing station on level three?”

  There was a pause, and Terry watched the projected squiggles scrolling by. “I heard about a Radcliffe coming in as an intern. I wanted to see for myself.”

  “Why?”

  �
�Because she’s a Radcliffe. A descendant of one of the saviors.”

  Terry frowned. This guy knew that the Radcliffe was a she. “Is that the only reason?”

  “I also wanted to make sure she was safe.”

  “Any other reasons?”

  “No.”

  The doctor gave a thumbs-up. The miner was telling the truth.

  “Roughly three weeks ago, you left the dorms in the middle of the night and didn’t come back. Why?”

  “I’d been warned before that…”

  “Warned about what?”

  “We’re loyal to the colony and hate what’s happened to Earth.”

  Thumbs-up from the doctor.

  “Why’d you leave the dorms in the middle of the night?”

  “It’s the protocol. We know about what Dr. Holmes discovered on planet Epsilon. If an ally reaches out to one of us, we need to move. We sacrifice for the good of the Rebels, and for the colony.”

  Thumbs-up.

  “Did you mean to harm Radcliffe?”

  “No. She’s in danger. I’m supposed to protect her.”

  Thumbs-up.

  Terry’s blood turned to ice. “Protect her from what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Thumbs-up.

  “You don’t know.” Terry ground his teeth. “What was the message you received from Earth?”

  There were no changes in the brain pattern for a full five seconds. “I don’t remember.”

  The doctor flashed a thumbs-up and began typing something, the words appeared under the projected squiggles. Ask him to think about the night he received the call.

  Terry came very close to the man’s head and whispered, “I believe you. Now think really hard. Think about the night you received the call. Just keep trying to remember.”

  Lights on the metal band around the miner’s head flashed, and an image popped up next to the brain-wave monitor. It was grainy and dark. A memory yanked from the miner’s head and visualized for them via holographic projector.

  Something buzzed, and lights flickered on in the miner’s memory. He was in a dorm room, scrambling to the desk drawer and pulling out a vibrating metal object. As the miner touched it, it transformed into a communicator.

  Terry stared wide-eyed. How had this guy gotten ahold of alien tech?

  From the holographic memory, Terry heard the communicator’s message.

  “I’m sending an image of a new intern. She’s a Radcliffe. She’ll be leaving here in a few days. You know what to do.”

  Terry frowned.

  The communicator displayed a scanned image of Priya’s student ID. But it wasn’t from a mining school. The ID indicated she was a student at the David Holmes Education Campus at Cape Canaveral.

  Even Terry had heard of the David Holmes Campus. Only the best of the best attended.

  And they definitely didn’t teach mining tech.

  The interns had only one free day a week, and today was it. It was beautiful and sunny, and they all took advantage in their own ways. Some slept in, some played cards or videogames in the rec rooms, still others played basketball on the courts below.

  Priya sat in the dorm’s third-floor rec room, gazing out the window and thinking about everything that had happened so far in her short stay at the colony. Only a few days ago she’d feared she would be kicked out of the intern program and be forced to leave the colony altogether—and then, out of nowhere, the head of the colony education system asked whether she’d be interested in staying on at the colony permanently. Director Timpf said they could find a position for her that she would like better than being a mining intern.

  It was a dream offer—and one she suspected she was receiving solely because of her famous last name—but it was one she couldn’t accept.

  After all, she’d already accepted a dream offer with the military back on Earth. She wanted to be a part of the space program, and the colony couldn’t help with that. And then there was the looming threat of terrorists at the colony. She’d promised to provide intel from the mines, and she wouldn’t be able to do that if she took a position outside the intern program.

  In the end, she had no choice but to stick with the internship. Doing so had left her feeling both ungrateful and frustrated.

  Because there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, she could see clear to the horizon—which was closer here than it was on Earth. In the distance, beyond the parking lot, she spied a body of water. A lake?

  She walked out of the rec room, went downstairs, and headed for the front exit.

  “Hold up, Miss Radcliffe.” It was one of the colony security officers. “Where are you going?”

  Priya pointed north. “I saw a lake not too far off. I thought I’d take a look. Am I not allowed?”

  “Oh, you can go anywhere you please. But I’ve got an order to ensure you’ve got an escort.”

  “Why?”

  The officer shrugged. “Truthfully, I’m not sure. I just do what I’m told. But don’t worry, I’ll make it quick.” He pulled out a communicator, cupped his hand over the receiver, nodded a few times, then turned back to her. “Someone will be here in three minutes to take you wherever you want.”

  “Thanks.”

  Priya felt a little guilty that the colony was making such a fuss over her. They weren’t doing this for the other interns. Were they really concerned for her safety, as Terry had said, or were they were escorting her around for some other purpose?

  A car stopped right in front of the entrance to the dorms, and she was surprised to see Tom hop out and hurry inside.

  “Tom! I’m sorry if you got called away in the middle of something.”

  “Don’t even think twice about it.” Tom smiled and motioned toward the exit. “Shall we?”

  Moments later, they were pulling out of the parking lot.

  “Where do you want to go, Miss Radcliffe?”

  “I saw a lake to the north. Can we go there?”

  “Sure, that’s Lake Hager. Anything in particular you wanted to do there?”

  Priya shrugged. “To tell you the truth, I just wanted to see something other than the dorm and the other interns. I guess I’m not exactly a social butterfly.”

  Tom accelerated down the road. “You seem personable enough to me.”

  “Sometimes. But I can also be a real bitch.” Tom opened his mouth to say something, but Priya cut him off. “No arguing about it. It’s just who I am. Some people just really get on my nerves.”

  The security officer chuckled. “You make it sound like you’re mean on purpose. I don’t see that.”

  She smiled and shook her head. “Trust me, I have my moments.”

  In minutes they were pulling into a small parking lot about fifty yards from the lake. “Well, here we are,” Tom said.

  “It’s pretty.” Priya looked around. “What do most people do here?”

  “A few brave souls attempt to go swimming, but I wouldn’t advise it. The water’s pretty chilly.” Tom pointed at a spot near the shore. “See that ramp? That’s a boat ramp. Some people go fishing.”

  “Fishing? As in… you can go catch fish in the water and eat it?”

  Tom laughed. “Of course.”

  “How long does it take to get a pass to do that?”

  “A pass?” Tom looked at her as if she’d grown a second head. “A pass for what? To fish?”

  “To fish, to swim, whatever.”

  “No passes required here,” he said with a smile. “This isn’t Earth. You can come here whenever you want, and do pretty much whatever you want. You don’t need permission. There’s no interprecinct commission to control who goes from one colony precinct to another. We live pretty freely out here.”

  The idea felt bizarre to Priya. People could literally come and go as they pleased? Drive wherever they wanted to? That was just… weird.

  “Well,” she said, “you guys are free. I still need an escort.”

  “The higher-ups want to make sure you don’t run into any trou
ble. I can tell you don’t realize the power of your last name, but trust me, it means a lot to us here.”

  Priya turned back to the shoreline. “Would it be okay if I go over to the shore and just sit there all by myself?”

  Tom looked around. The place was deserted. “Sure. But I’ll sit here in the car, just in case.”

  Priya was surprised that she didn’t get any resistance. “Really? You sure it’s okay?”

  “Of course. I’m not trying to get in your way. I want you to enjoy yourself while you’re here.”

  Priya felt a knot forming in her throat. She put her hand on his, gave it a squeeze, and hopped out of the car.

  A gravel path led to the lakeshore, and the rocks crunched under her feet as she walked. The smells here were unlike those of the ocean. There was no salt in the air, but there was something—a marine smell that was oddly comforting. That was good, because being out here in this wide-open space, all alone… was a little unnerving. Surreal.

  She glanced back to the car. Tom waved.

  At the shore, she knelt and dipped her fingers in the water. It was more than “a little chilly.” It was freezing.

  She walked over to an oak tree, sat down at its base, and leaned her head back against the trunk. “This place is amazing,” she said aloud.

  She felt Harold climbing off her head and shoulders, and within seconds he had turned himself into a purring ball of fur.

  “Harold, could you have ever imagined a place like this?”

  The AI didn’t respond. His programming was sophisticated enough to discern a rhetorical question from a real one.

  Priya’s throat tightened once again, and she felt waves of emotion threatening to burst out of her.

  There were no curfews here.

  You didn’t need permission for off-hour transportation.

  No visas to visit relatives in other places.

  “Freedom like this is unheard of at home, Harold. Freedom’s dying or maybe even dead back on Earth. And people don’t even realize it.”

  Harold shifted and stretched. But he wasn’t just stretching—he was changing. His fur retracted back into his body, and he morphed into a rectangular picture frame. A video device.