Deep Space Dead

by Chilvers, Edward

  The colonists arrived and were immediately set to work by Jak and Gan Cuk, who had also come over, to clear the arboretum. They set about their task with gusto, amazed at the jungle that had grown up within. Jak saw Guya but only sparingly. The humanoid never sought him out or asked to meet with his and seemed entirely uninterested in what the colonists were up to. At first Jak had asked permission to make alterations to the living arrangements of the starship but Guya had always agreed in a manner which suggested he did not care at all and after a few days Jak had stopped asking him completely. The other colonists had never seen the humanoids at all. Given their resemblance to the revenants outside perhaps this was just as well, thought Jak.

  Jak was tired. It had been a long day and yet he was enthused because the arboretum was coming along so well and a huge space cleared already. The colonists coming over from the Tula IV were positive and happy and looking forward to starting their lives anew. He had just finished a call to Arianna and Ambra and was about to recline on his bed and go to sleep where there came a loud but measured knocking upon his cabin door. Jak went over to answer and was surprised to find the humanoid Guya towering above him. Jak was surprised. It was unheard of for Guya or any of the other revenants to come down to the human living quarters. Jak wondered why they hadn’t radioed him and was wary of the humanoid’s presence although he greeted Guya politely enough.

  “You have done much in the short time you have been here,” said Guya with his usual flatness, getting straight to the point as usual. “On reflection we should perhaps have realised the arboretum would need to be cleared out but we did not anticipate visitors, at least not after so many years.”

  “It must have come as a shock to see us,” said Jak conversationally, trying to lure out some humanity from beneath the humanoid’s icy veneer.

  “Not a shock, no” replied Guya. “It was more of a surprise the human race, with all its unpredictability, had managed to survive so long.”

  “Yes well,” said Jak sheepishly, intensely uncomfortable. “I daresay you called to see me for a reason?”

  “Indeed so,” replied Guya. “We have been watching you, Jak and it seems you are very much the leader of this grouping. Nonetheless the rest of your colonists seem to know what they are doing. The agricultural man, Gan Cuk, is supervising them well and your own rangers are perfectly capable of piloting the rovers. Soon, I think, your work will be obsolete. The colonists will not require a leader of your caliber.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” replied Jak guardedly. “The colonists will always look for leadership from strong men. Perhaps you have forgotten than in all your years of - evolution.”

  “Not so,” countered Guya. “You are, as you say, a strong man but in times of peace people look for stability, not strength. Soon your style of leadership will be unnecessary, Jak, for you are by nature a military man.”

  “That remains to be seen,” said Jak. “I wouldn't actually mind a long retirement.”

  “No,” said Guya simply. “I do not think you will retire. Come with me, Jak. There is something you should see. We would like to assist you.”

  Jak followed Guya down some steps deep into the bowels of the starship, in an area he had never visited before. As he walked he noticed the area seemed heavily armoured with large rivets attached to the iron walls and his heart leapt. Perhaps the humanoids had been working on a way to take down the revenants after all. Guya led him through a pair of thick doors and into a large chamber where Jak was surprised to see the rest of the humanoids were already gathered. Their large eyes stared at him blankly. Jak felt an icy chill on the back of his head, but he reassured himself the humanoids were there to help them.

  “You cannot surely want to be slaves to the revenants,” remarked Guya as he came to stand before him. “And if you relied upon us to protect you, why you would be little more than pets. You need to develop the powers to fight back, to live amongst them just as we do.”

  “Of course,” replied Jak, although he was not at all sure what Guya was trying to tell him. Suddenly Guya raised his hand and struck Jak with a hard blow against the side of his face. Jak fell to the floor; his vision blurred. Darkness descended upon his senses. All was quiet. He felt nothing.

  Jak had stopped communicating with the Tula IV. For the first three days Arianna had not been worried. Jak had missed communiques before though being too busy but never three in a row before. Instead Gan Cuk would come on the radio and tell them how Guya had told him that Jak was in some sort of training and would not be available for the foreseeable future. Arianna was instantly suspicious and demanded to speak to Guya personally and yet the humanoid never seemed to be available either. But by the fourth day Arianna’s patience was at an end. “Listen to me,” she said to Gan Cuk sternly over the radio. “You can tell Guya we won’t be sending any more rovers until I get to speak with Jak.”

  “You’re not authorised to make that decision,” protested Gan Cuk.

  “No but I am,” put in Sol. “And Arianna is quite right. It is intolerable we are unable to speak to the leader on the ground. What is this about training anyway? You do not seem to know a thing about it. And Jak certainly never mentioned it the last time we spoke to him. You’d have thought if he was going to be away for so long he would have known about it in advance and given us some sort of notice.”

  Guya was on the line within five minutes. It was almost as though he had been waiting for the ultimatum outside the door. “Everybody is working hard to settle in,” said Guya. “They are most interested in their living quarters but especially the arboretum. There is much to be done there.”

  “Can I speak to Jak?” Asked Arianna.

  “Mr Roj is kept busy with the work of settling your colonists in,” said Guya. “He cannot return your calls at present.”

  “All the same we need to see him,” snapped Arianna. “I want to come over there, see for myself what you’re up to. Unless you let me come there shall be no more colonists sent over.”

  There came a long silence. Eventually Guya’s monotone came back on the line. “Very well,” he said flatly. “Although you will arrive sooner than we would have expected. It is true there have been developments, Arianna; developments we have not yet told you about. Still, come over at your own behest, and see for yourself the future of the human race.”

  Arianna and Sol set out together early the following morning on the rover’s first run of the day. Arianna was nervous. Sol was unsettled too. It was clear he was nervous about visiting the starship; indeed this was his first time outside the Tula IV since the revenants had attacked.

  Guya may or may not have been perturbed to see Sol and Arianna but he welcomed them on board nonetheless. His expression, as usual, was unreadable. “Now you are here you must stay,” said Guya. “Come and partake of our hospitality.”

  “We’re going back,” said Arianna sternly. “If we don’t come back today no more of our people are coming over.”

  “There is no need to become aggressive,” said Guya. “Come with us and you will see everything is just fine.”

  Sol looked around in wonderment as they walked through the starship, taking everything in. “Don’t allow yourself to become overawed,” Arianna warned him. “Remember we’re here for information and nothing more.”

  “How do we know we haven’t walked into a trap?” Asked Sol. “They could easily keep us here, you know that.”

  “We’re at their mercy,” agreed Arianna. “We have to trust them whether we want to or not.”

  Thirty people from the Tula II turned out to meet Sol and Arianna, many of them children. Hari Shorr was also present. He had been one of the first over and his soft hands and increased girth indicated that he had perhaps not been working as hard as the others. “Thirty people,” said Arianna doubtfully. “Out of the hundred we have already sent over.”

  Sol stepped forward and began to question them about the others. “We don’t really have time to mix with them,” said
one of the colonists, whose name was Orcia. “To be honest we are mostly kept busy with our own tasks; decorating our quarters.”

  “Do you ever see them around the arboretum?” Asked Arianna.

  “Not really,” replied Orcia.

  “Something is very wrong here,” said Arianna, in an aside to Sol. “I want to see Jak.”

  “I have not seen Jak,” said Hari Shorr arrogantly when questioned. “And I would know if I had. Truth be told I did not even know he was here on the starship.”

  “It seems you have lost contact with many of your fellows,” stated Sol critically.

  “Maybe. For ourselves I can vouch we are most contented here,” said Hari Shorr.

  “You see how everybody is working hard,” said Guya. “Your leaders are efficient and your colonists keen. They are grateful for their salvation and work hard towards a better future. Jak is the same. He too can look forward to a bright future.”

  “I want to see him,” said Arianna with determination.

  Guya nodded. “As you wish,” he said flatly.

  Guya led Sol and Arianna down several flights of dark steps deep within the centre of the starship. Arianna was instantly uneasy, knowing she was more or less at the mercy of the humanoids. And yet the remaining crew of the Tula IV were under strict instructions that no more colonists were to be sent over until Arianna and Sol returned.

  Guya opened the door to a darkened room. Arianna squinted and saw through the gloom that the room was empty and windowless. Empty, except for a hunched up figure sitting on the floor in the far corner. “Jak!” Exclaimed Arianna.

  Jak’s hair was a mess; in certain places it appeared to be thinning. His eyes bore a vacant expression. There was no warmth in his kiss. He did not raise his arms to hold Arianna when she called his name and hurried over to embrace him. “Are you okay?” Asked Arianna. “You look sick. What is wrong?”

  “I’m sorry,” replied Jak vaguely. “I’m just tired, that’s all.”

  “What are you doing in here?” Demanded Arianna. “In the dark and all alone sitting on the floor like this?”

  “It is not as though there is much else to do,” replied Jak. “It is as Guya says. My work here is done, for the colonists have their instructions and set about their task keenly. This leaves me plenty of time to develop my own abilities.”

  Arianna looked accusingly at Guya. It was clear to her Jak was having some sort of breakdown, one that the humanoid, with his complete lack of anything resembling human compassion, appeared completely uninterested in understanding. “Come along,” said Arianna gently, placing an arm around Jak’s shoulder. “I’m taking you back to the Tula IV.”

  “I cannot come back,” said Jak. “There is so much I still need to do here.”

  “You have to come back,” said Arianna. “We need you at the Tula IV as well.”

  Arianna was somewhat surprised that Guya made no attempt to stop them leaving, which they did quickly, almost as soon as she had found Sol. In the rover Arianna attempted to engage Jak in conversation but he was distant and monosyllabic. “You look pale,” said Arianna kindly. “You should go to sleep.”

  “I don’t need to sleep,” said Jak, staring vacantly ahead of him.

  “Aren’t you even pleased to see me?”

  “Of course Arianna,” replied Jak. “I’m very pleased. I look forward to seeing Ambra too. I have missed you both very much.” He said the words flatly and without meaning.

  “The others say they have not seen you in the arboretum or anywhere else for that matter,” said Sol conversationally. “Not recently anyway.”

  “I have been engaged in the engine room,” replied Jak. “I have slept there as well. There has been a lot for me to do.”

  “Are you not even going to ask how Ambra is?” Asked Arianna.

  “If there was any problem with her you would have told me by now.”

  “What?” Arianna stared at him aghast.

  “So tell us, Jak,” said Sol conversationally. “What do you make of our prospects on the Suki II? As you know this is my first visit and so far I’m pretty encouraged. The arboretum seems to be coming on in leaps and bounds whilst the colonists are well fed and happy.”

  “I suppose they will all survive in the short term,” replied Jak without enthusiasm. “But whether they survive the rest of their lives on the ship or whether the revenants claim them is all academic. They are bound to die eventually, as are you and Arianna, Sol.”

  “He is sick,” said Arianna quickly, noting Sol’s expression of alarm. “We shall get him to the doctor as soon as we are back. Something has happened to him; he’s had some sort of breakdown, that’s all. That’s all.”

  Back on the starship Arianna and Sol whisked Jak straight off to the medical bay where Dr Palk was waiting for them. Arianna had told nobody else Jak was going to be with them when they returned. Dr Palk raised his eyes when he saw the changes in Jak. His body was lean and muscular. Arianna gasped in astonishment when he removed his shirt. “Have you been exercising much?” Asked Dr Palk in surprise.

  “Not especially,” replied Jak. “I have just been working hard.”

  “You look as if you haven’t stopped lifting heavy weights for days,” said the doctor with surprise. “You haven’t got an ounce of body fat on you.”

  “I have had a great deal on my mind,” said Jak. “I am feeling slightly sick; not my usual self.” He said the words flatly and in a way that put Arianna in mind of a very poor actor delivering lines from a script.

  “Well you’re certainly not your usual self,” agreed Dr Palk. “Why if you don’t mind me saying so I cannot quite comprehend the change that has come over you in so short a space of time, both physically and mentally.”

  “They have made him one of them,” said Arianna, her voice panicked. “I don’t know how they did it but they have.”

  “Don’t be too hasty,” warned Dr Palk. “I cannot see any bite or needle marks on him. More tests are required.”

  “There must be something you can do,” said Arianna desperately.

  “I will take some samples and x-rays,” replied Dr Palk. “But I admit I am at a loss as to what to do. I myself am not capable of splicing, or rather re-splicing, anybody’s DNA.”

  Jak’s mind was a fog. He remembered the emotions he had held for Arianna and Ambra but for some reason could no longer express him. It was as though his mind had been placed under a heavy sedative whilst keeping his senses unimpaired. He felt his muscles bulging beneath his skin and a constant electric current of energy ran through him. He appeared completely incapable of sleep. At night he would take himself off for walks up and down the starship or just stand sentry for hours staring out of the window at the revenants beyond.

  “I know I’ve lost you, Jak,” said Arianna tearfully when they were alone together one evening.

  “Still you cry,” said Jak with a shrug. “And outside the revenants stand ready to tear us all apart. Even after it all you still cry, you still care. It makes no sense to me anymore, Arianna. It is amazing, don’t you think, that we still care for all this? After all we have been through I mean. It is amazing that this happened to us and yet instead of focusing on our own survival we went back to arguing over our petty problems. After seeing so much death we continued to love and fear to lose. Would it not be better, Arianna, if we never loved in the first place? Would it not be best if we all worked together for the common good without our petty, selfish hang-ups getting in the way?”

  “A breakdown,” said Arianna firmly. “You’ve had a breakdown, that’s what it is. All this stress and the revenants coming and having to take charge; having to go out and fight those things all by yourself. You’ve had a breakdown.”

  “Breakdown or not it makes no difference,” said Jak. “Once we are all on the starship things will change completely. We will have confirmed our survival and we will be ready to go on and thrive once more.”

  “And what about us?” Demanded Arianna franticall
y. “Does what we had mean nothing to you?”

  “Go with Sol if the need takes you,” said Jak. “He is after all the father of your child.”

  Arianna was too shocked to speak.

  20

  “We need to cease contact,” declared Arianna with determination. “No more to go over. Why it makes me sick enough to realise we’ve effectively doomed those we’ve already transported but at least we’ll save who we can.”

  Sol paced up and down the room, trying to think clearly. He too was shocked at the transformation that had come over Jak but at the same time he was trying to be realistic. “Listen, Arianna,” he said at last. “Don’t think I’m doubting you here. I don’t like what has happened to Jak any more than you do. But right now the Suki II is our only lifeline. Just imagine what would happen if we suddenly announced we were ceasing all contact.”

  “How can we still let people go?” Demanded Arianna. “How can we send them to this, a fate worse than death, without telling them?”

  “There are still too many of us to survive here alone,” said Sol. “The arboretum cannot accommodate us. If we stay here our problem remains the same. We will be trapped her surrounded by revenants. We will starve to death.”

  “So you suggest we just go?” Asked Arianna. “Go and get ourselves lobotomised as they surely lobotomised Jak? Would you have it so you are no longer able to love Ambra? Or that she regards you as just another grey humanoid completely indistinct from all the others?”

  “Of course not,” snapped Sol. He though fast. “Very well,” he said eventually. “Let’s cut off contact for a while. Nobody in, nobody out. if the colonists ask why not we’ll say they need to build accommodation blocks or something, anything to distract them. All we need is a few days to come up with a working plan, see if we can get the arboretum up and running again now there are fewer of us.”