“It does matter. You are still young, and you’ve been conditioned to think the way you do. Your actions may not be entirely your fault,” explained Al.
“I do not think your trial will find me innocent.”
“No,” Al said honestly, “It looks like you might have caused the death of a twelve-year-old child, and endangered many more people. There will be those that want someone punished. If you didn’t tamper with the sleep circuits, I don’t think death will be the price.”
Tammy seem confused, “I was told you killed those you labeled terrorists with great fanfare, showing your justice to the world as warnings to the other Earth First members.”
“You can’t always believe everything you’re told. You have to use your head.”
He thought for a second and then asked, “Have you been seen by someone that just wanted to talk?”
“Miss Emily has been by several times and she likes to talk. She has gotten my whole life’s story out of me. She seems nice. Is she a psychiatrist?”
“She is your friend Tammy. Remember that because she can help you. Are you ready to go? We’re kind of on a schedule.”
His officers unlocked the jail door, fastened the restraints, and escorted her to the shuttle. Al followed thoughtfully behind them.
****
Al Clark had a homecoming party to attend. It was also a party to celebrate Chris’s eighteenth birthday, and the first time he and his friends had been able to get together since coming to Camelot. Most of them lived in single unit habitat modules, so they met at the almost finished community center.
Made from large native timbers and Dura-Steel, the octagonal construction was a big building; large enough to hold nearly all the colonists at the same time. The building was so large that its conical roof, when completed, would furnish enough rainwater; stored in tanks underground, to last for weeks. It was a lot more room than the small group needed, but it was available, and it was empty.
Al and Chris met on the path and walked there together. They met with Ana and Kayla just outside the entrance, and as a group walked in together. They found Robot Nine waiting patiently. He had prepared a large round table and loaded it with food and drink. Lit with led work lights, it was a surreal setting in the center of the dark auditorium. Al thought it fitting to be in Camelot gathered around a round table.
Liz’s footsteps echoed off the walls as she entered the room.
“I hear there’s a party here. Somebody pass me a drink; I think I deserve it.”
“Rough day Mom?” asked Chris.
“Not really, but I still think I deserve a drink.”
Her son saw an opportunity and said, “You do realize that I too have been working real hard…and it’s my birthday. I think I deserve a drink too.”
“Well let’s see, you think he’s old enough Al?”
“Maybe a drink or two will quench his curiosity,” Al suggested.
Chris grabbed a glass and exclaimed, “All right—let's party!”
When Cody arrived the group was complete, and they ate, drank, talked, and just relaxed. It was a pleasant gathering, long delayed, that reminded Al of the importance of friends. Sometime during the evening, Al decided he needed to tell them his secret.
He had been contemplating telling them for some time, and this party seemed the perfect opportunity. There may not be another chance where they were all gathered together in private anytime soon. Each and every one of them had asked questions about his mysterious surgery, and—he was tired of lying.
“I have found out something about myself,” Al declared, “I’m a human being…in a robotic body.”
Silence took the room, and his friends peered at him as if he had gone crazy, wondering what kind of joke this was. When he did not smile, they began to think he might be serious. Al told them everything. Cody and Robot Nine, of course, already knew, but there were details even they did not know.
“I have been told I was the victim of an accident, leaving me without the use of my arms and legs. They offered me a chance to participate in an experiment where they would place my brain in a robotic body and then become a member of the Excalibur expedition—and I took it.
“I was brought aboard at the last minute, to be the secret backup alarm clock to awaken everybody upon arrival at Avalon, which obviously failed. Someone tampered with both the computer revival systems and my specially designed hibernation pod, leaving us orbiting the planet until, believe it or not,…a meteoroid landed in my head.
His friends were still speechless and stared at him in disbelief.
“The tiny meteoroid seems to have taken my memories, but it woke me up and saved us all from being a ship of ghosts. The emergency operation was to remove the meteoroid that was causing me some additional problems.”
Another piece of information they might find important occurred to him, “My name is not Al Clark. The roboticist’s assistants liked to call me ‘Alarm Clock’ as an inside joke and placed the label on my door. When I woke up, the label was so old, all I could get from it was Al Clark. Funny…huh?”
When he finished, his closest friends did not move or speak for several more seconds. Cody lowered his head, and Robot Nine refilled the ice buckets. Cody was not sure if Al’s revealing himself was a good idea, but he had decided to back Al no matter what happened.
“Is that how you were able to get from one side of the camp to the other in a matter of minutes?” Liz asked.
“Yes.”
“And the fire in the power room?”
“I don’t seem to need a lot of air. To tell the truth, it was not that hard.”
“Are you like…superhuman?” Chris wanted to know.
“I certainly don’t think so. For the time being my body is only slightly better than ordinary human beings.”
Al’s revelation was still sinking in for Ana and Kayla, who were totally taken by surprise. Kayla picked up on how he started his last question and wanted to know more.
“Why do you say for the time being?”
“Because I have another mode. An enhanced mode.”
“What are you like in enhanced mode?” pressed Ana.
“I don’t know. I haven’t tried it yet.”
“Why not?” asked Chris.
“I’m not sure I’m ready yet.”
Liz thought about all they’d been through together. “How come you haven’t told us before now?”
“I wasn’t sure you were ready.”
Al explained his need to tell Doctor Cody after his injury returning from the native’s caves, of his need to include the roboticist Doctor Florida, and how Robot Nine knew all along.
Chris asked the robot, “Why didn’t you say something?”
“No one ever asked, sir. If someone were to ask, I would have had to answer. I am pleased no one did because I did not want to cause Chief Clark any trouble.”
The party was becoming too serious for an eighteenth birthday celebration, so Al laughed and said, “O…kay, now you are all members of my secret society. I will need all of you to help me figure out all this craziness. I think we should call it the Al Clark secret society and we should all have to take an oath of silence. All in favor, say aye.”
One by one they acknowledged their vow until it came to Robot Nine. “I will not tell if no one asks. That is the best I can do, sir.”
They laughed and toasted the pact, then tried to act like nothing had changed. But it had. None of them would ever look at Al the same way again.
****
The trial would begin in two weeks, and psychiatrist Emily Saxton was still trying to understand her patient. The girl claimed to know nothing of the sabotage done to the revival circuits that stranded them in orbit but stated she would sacrifice herself to stop them from inhabiting Avalon. She seemed smart enough, but there were doubts even she could not recognize.
Sitting at the table in Tammy’s makeshift jail, Emily was trying to get her to open up.
“Your foster parents
were part of the Earth First group?”
“As long as I can remember they were. They were very proud of it.”
“How old are you?”
“I’ll be eighteen in December. Merry Christmas to me.”
“It must be nice to be born around Christmas.”
“My parents didn’t celebrate Christmas…or my birthday. They said Christmas was a pagan holiday, and I did not deserve a party to celebrate my birth.”
Emily frowned and answered, “That is entirely wrong. Everyone should be allowed to enjoy Christmas in their own way—you mean you’ve never had a birthday party?”
“I have them for myself. I give myself chocolate. Happy Birthday!”
“Would you like a birthday party?”
“I used to, but I won’t live to see another birthday.”
“And you won’t, with that attitude. You should try to be more positive.”
“I can’t, it’s never worked for me before.”
“If we can win this trial, your life could be much better.”
“I don’t believe you, but I will try. The more I think about it, the more I don’t want to die.”
Emily’s evaluation stopped as Al walked into the room. He closed the door and stepped over to the table. Addressing Emily, he said, “Can we talk outside for a minute?”
She followed him outside where he asked, “Well, is she crazy?”
“Depends on your definition of crazy Mister Clark.”
“Is she sane enough to stand trial?”
“I think so if we can get her adoptive parents out of her head. They are the ghosts she lives with. Highly radicalized; they have molded her to their beliefs.”
“Is there a chance she can change?”
“Maybe in time, if we can keep her alive,” the psychiatrist said.
“Well, I have to tell you, Emily, I think putting people to death is not the best way to start a colony on an alien world—it’s against our best interests.”
****
Chris’ mind was not on the trial just yet. He had been working to complete his duties at the village power plant, hoping to make some excuse to get up to the ship and talk to the roboticist. Chris was intrigued and thinking about the potential capabilities of Al Clark made him, even more, curious. A human mind in a robot’s body?
How fast can he go…really?
How strong are his legs? Can he jump like the Hulk, the angry comic book hero? The more he considered Al’s revelation, the more respect he had for his friend. The things that must have been going through his mind since waking up in that box Chris could only imagine.
Are his eyes capable of infra-red? Can he zoom in on distant objects?…Can he bend steel with his bare hands?
The questions were driving him crazy. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it with the security chief, but Doctor Florida had the manual—the book of Al. The good doctor probably knew more about Al than Al did.
His mother noticed Chris acting differently, as mothers do, and suspected he was up to something, so she sat him down and they talked. It didn’t take long before he was spilling his guts.
“So you want to talk to the roboticist? Hey, I need someone to bring down some supplies from the ship. Would you like to volunteer?” Liz suggested.
“I would be happy to get your supplies for you, mother.”
“All right…but you have to tell me everything Doctor Florida says. I want a full report.”
Mother and son, in league together, for the betterment of Al.
Chris caught a ride with the morning shuttle and arrived outside the robot shop just before lunch time. He opened the door and walked in to find the scientist sitting at a table, looking thoughtful. Music was playing in the background that he had heard before, old music, recorded before his time. The doctor appeared to be just the way Al had described, an older man, short, with wild hair and a relaxed attitude.
“Are you Doctor Florida?” Chris guessed.
“Hi, son. You must be Al’s friend Chris, am I right?”
“Yes sir, I’m Al’s friend. If you don’t mind, I have a couple questions for you.”
Edward Florida smiled and said, “Only a couple?”
Chris looked a little guilty and continued, “Al told us his incredible secret. A human with a robotic body, and I do have more than a couple questions. The first one is, what music are you listening to?”
Edward Florida reached over and turned the music down, “Oh…that. I have a fondness for Beatles music. They were a four man group from the nineteen sixties. I like other groups from that era, but they are my favorite. They made a song for every mood.”
“I thought they sounded familiar…anyway, what do you think of our friend Al?”
Doctor Florida had considered this question. It would, in the future, be a question he expected to be asked again and again.
“Al Clark is a remarkable person, with unique capabilities. He can do a lot to help protect us on this dangerous planet…and I like him.”
“Um…what is he exactly?”
This question involved the scientist’s field. He had thought about something like this since before he started his career, so his answer was simple.
“Al is a cybernetic construct. A human brain with complete control of a very sophisticated transport machine. He has a titanium chassis, made mobile by class five motors and actuators. His skin is a remarkable Tru-Skin covering that can heal itself, and his power pack will last for twenty years. I didn’t even know this was possible.”
“Who was he actually…before the accident?”
“Don’t know. There is no mention of a name in the book, only references to a subject fourteen. According to the book, the volunteer was educated, intelligent, and active before the accident. The book does not give a name to that person.
Chris asked another question, “He told us he has a second mode, what’s that like?”
“Everything changes when he is in enhanced mode. I don’t yet understand all of what the notebook implies, but the changes are substantial. Doctor Hawthorn, the man that designed his body, was a genius. Way ahead of his time, he was the leading expert on integration between the human brain and highly adaptive robotics.”
“What is Al capable of?”
“That’s the thing. The book makes estimates, but there wasn’t time for many tests before they put him into hibernation in time for the trip. Nobody knows what he is capable of.”
An idea had been germinating in Chris’s head for the last couple days that might give them a chance to help Al find out what his enhanced mode offered.
“Don’t you think we should run some tests?”
“That is an excellent idea Chris, but how? I don’t have the equipment to test him properly.”
“What does it take to change the mode?”
“He has to be here to change it permanently, although Doctor Hawthorn did not recommend changing from normal to enhanced until Al was fully adjusted.” Edward hesitated, and then continued, “But there is an override. It’s a temporary override, triggered by a phrase, which I believe lasts about an hour.”
“Can we do the basic tests here, like hand and leg strength?”
“My tests would be limited. This place is not equipped to handle something like Al.”
It occurred to the scientist that he had just referred to Al as a thing, and he would have to be more careful in the future how he referred to his friend.
Chris suggested, maybe a little too eagerly, “We could run some monitored tests down on the planet, maybe time some runs, or break some branches. What do you think?”
“Once again, we have to remember the consequences of his powers being discovered. We will have to do all our testing in total secrecy.”
“How about we take a shuttle to another part of the planet? I know just who can pilot it. It would be you, me, Al, and the captain. I’ll be the coach. Okay?”
“Wait a minute son, we’ll have to talk this over with Captain Effinger and Mister
Clark. I’ll tell you what, you talk to Al, and I’ll talk to the captain. Then we’ll all get together and discuss the possibilities. How about that?”
This suggestion was pretty close to what Chris was picturing in his mind. A Field trip to put a Superman through his paces. His friend being the superman.
Chapter Seventeen
They landed just after dawn; after sneaking away in the dark. The captain picked them up on the outskirts of the settlement shortly before dawn and spirited them away to test Al’s potential in private. He flew them to an isolated spot with giant trees, rolling hills, rushing water, and plenty of open ground.
As discussed, the party consisted of Chris, Al, the roboticist Edward Florida, and the captain. When Al informed the rest of his conspirators, they had all wanted to come. To minimize suspicion he had to tell them, “Not this time. We have to be discrete.” They were disappointed but understood the risk. The group was small for a good reason.
Al was ready to get started. “Okay—how do you want to do this?”
Edward explained, “Slowly and carefully Al. Chris has devised a series of tests with my recommendations, starting with your legs and working from there. These will be informal tests that will give us a general idea as to your capabilities. We can refine them as we go. For the time being, I will be the record keeper.”
Tobias Effinger, as captain, felt he needed to say something to the group. He retrieved some folding chairs from the shuttle and urged everyone to sit down.
“Slow and careful are the key words here. I don’t want anyone getting hurt because we rushed things. Remember this is a potentially dangerous experiment, and I want all of you to remain cautious, especially you Al. Please—take your time.”
“I will do my best Tobias, after all, part of my job is safety. You can count on it.”
The robot specialist moved his chair directly in front of Al to look him in the eyes as he spoke, “There is a phrase I will say to you. You will repeat the phrase exactly as I say it, and you will begin to feel a transition. Give yourself a few minutes to get used to it before you try and stand up. I believe the change will take some getting used to.”
AL CLARK (A Sci-Fi Adventure)(Book One) Page 14