Virtual

by S A Pavli

  Leslie’s eyes were fixed on the two men and her expression was inscrutable as they finished their suiting up and locked the clamps of their helmets. They checked each other’s suits carefully before taking their places in the AG vehicle. Leslie returned to the shuttle’s flight deck and switched the screens to monitor the output of the two men’s helmet cameras as she had been shown. One of the screens was monitoring the Bounty Hunter’s science room where ZAC the robot could be seen gazing blankly at the wall.

  “Hullo Bounty Hunter, Mark and Peter are preparing to return to the building now,” she said. There was a pause and the view from the Bounty Hunter switched to the ship’s lounge area where Jo and Anja could be seen with drinks in their hands.

  “Hey Leslie, we’re just taking a break,” said Josephine. “We’ll be back in the science room in a couple of minutes.”

  “No rush, nothing much to report at present,” said Leslie. “They are preparing to set off now”

  The walk to the tall building at the head of the square was a short one for Mark and Peter. It’s amazing how a scene can become familiar, almost commonplace, thought Mark as he trudged across the alien square. The enigmatic metallic arch cast a long shadow across their path. It had seemed reasonable that the ‘octopoids’ library would be somewhere under or close to the arch but close examination had revealed no hidden compartments. It’s a big building he mused. If we have to search it all….?

  They made their way to the rear entrance and continued deeper into the building, the torches lighting the grimy interior and reflecting off furniture and sooty unrecognisable machinery.

  “We’ve explored this floor and the next level thoroughly, let’s take the stairs to the third,” said Mark. The stairs were dark and dusty but easy to negotiate. The third level foyer had just one set of double doors, fortunately wide open. Through the doors the room was huge, seemingly taking up the whole floor. Their lights reflected off rows of tall narrow cabinets. Closer examination revealed small slender cartridges in the cabinets. “These look like storage cartridges. Could it be a library?” Mark’s voice had a hopeful tone. Peter was examining one carefully . His gloved hands fumbled with a cartridge.

  “It’s a case… I thinks there’s a small disc inside. It may be a DVD library.”

  “DVD’s? Surely not?” questioned Mark . “We replaced them with solid state devices hundreds of years ago.”

  “I could be wrong,” said Peter, still fumbling to open the cartridge. “It may be solid state.”

  “Whatever the case, it’s a hopeful sign. What better place to hide the repository than in a library?” Mark was casting around with his lights. “Let’s look around.”

  “OK.” Peter gave up his attempt to open the cartridge and placed it carefully inside a pocket. “I’ll take this one back for closer examination.” They split up, moving in opposite direction around the periphery of the big room. Peter found the grimy windows and an open area which contained no cabinets. A large coffin like box was in the centre of the open area, just a few feet from the windows, which were opaque with the grime of years. Peter turned his lights full on the box, at the same time trying to remember the description of the repository given to them by ZAC. There was a recession in the top with what appeared to be a screen and a selection of buttons and keys. Oh yes my little beauty Peter grinned to himself.

  “Look no further Captain Alexander; I think I have it.”

  “What’s that? Peter…?” Mark’s tone was disbelieving.

  “If you want anything found… alien repositories… um… the fabled golden fleece… er...” Peter paused, trying to think of some other lost ancient treasure and then gave up. “… and stuff. Just ask Major Pete!” Mark’s lights appeared coming around the room from the other direction and he joined Peter in examining the object.

  “Sure looks like it,” he agreed. “You are indeed the proud discoverer Major. It will go down on the record.”

  “Do I get a reward?”

  “No, you get to carry it back to the ship.” The Major gave it a few experimental tugs and pushes but was unable to budge it.

  “We may need assistance,” he concluded.

  “There’s a winch in the hover car,” suggested Mark

  “How do we get the hover car up the stairs?” There was a pause while they both considered the problem.

  “We bring it in through the window?” suggested Mark.

  “Mmm. Looks big enough,” agreed Peter. “How do we knock it out?”

  “Just drive the car through it.”

  “You are well named,” said the Major.

  “Excuse me?” Mark’s voice was questioning.

  “Alexander the Great and the legend of the Gordian knot…?”

  “Ah right…” Mark chuckled. “Leslie, are you there?” The intercom hissed as Leslie replied.

  “Yes Captain?”

  “Take the hover car and bring over to the tall building across the square. We’ll be waiting for you outside.”

  “On my way Captain.” Mark made his way back down the stairs to direct Leslie, while the Major began scraping handfuls of soot off the target window to identify it from the outside. Outside, Mark waited patiently for the hover car to arrive. He saw it exit from the shuttle air lock and turned his attention back to the building. On the third floor, the Major had cleared enough soot off the target window to identify it.

  “We see the window Major,” reported Mark. “Stand back and I will take over the controls of the hover.” Mark had his attention on the window, but a mental warning from his new extended senses suddenly intruded. He whirled around just in time to see the hover car bearing down on him at speed. “Leslie….! He cried, and hurled himself to one side with desperate force. The brow of the hover car caught him a heavy blow and catapulted him through the air. He landed heavily and lay gasping in pain while the hover car hurtled on to stop with a heavy thump up against the building.

  “What the hell is going on?” The Majors voice was loud and urgent. “Captain , are you OK? Leslie, speak to me?” There were more voices on the intercom from the listening crew on both starships, demanding information, but nothing from Leslie. “Quiet!” The Major’s voice cut through the babble of voices. “I’m going down to have a look now.”

  “Mark, are you OK?” Melanie’s voice was full of shocked concern.

  “I’m OK… I think..” Mark’s strained voice broke the following silence after a few seconds. “I think Leslie lost control of the hover car. She nearly ran me down.” There was a shocked silence.

  “Are you hurt?” Melanie’s voice was strained.

  “Uh… not seriously,” replied Mark. “I think…” he added.

  “Mark don’t move until I examine you. I’ll be with you in a few seconds.” The Major could be heard panting as he ran down the stairs.

  “Right Major...” Mark lay back and examined the sky. It was a beautiful deep blue and he could see the building housing the repository blocking out half the sky. He moved his head and could just make out the stalled hover car but no sign of activity. He reached out with his mind and found Leslie, a tight ball of malevolence, devoid of intelligence. He withdrew, shocked to his very core. “Leslie…!”

  “Very commendable of you to think of others Captain.” The Major’s head blocked out another patch of the sky. “But let’s look at you first.” Mark grunted and said nothing. What could have happened to Leslie? Despite his pain , the memory of that poisonous entity still burned in his mind. The Major’s expert hands moved over his body , pulling and pushing, probing gently.

  “Let me know where it hurts.”

  “Have no fear, I will.” Mark confirmed that with a grunt of pain as the Major prodded his ribs. The examination was thorough and in the end the Major gave Mark permission to move and then stand, which he did with little difficulty.

  “You will have some bruises, but nothing seems to be broken.”

  “Yeah, I feel OK,” agreed Mark. “But I think Leslie may not be.”


  “What do you mean Mark?” Melanie detected the odd note in Mark’s voice.

  “I just tried to check her out… er… mentally,” said Mark cautiously. “She seems to be very unwell. I mean, mentally unwell. I don’t know how she is physically.” The two men made their way to the stranded hover car. The air lock was closed. “Alden, can you cycle the air lock on the hover car?” The AI confirmed and the airlock whirred and then slid open. The men stepped inside and once the external door had closed and the air cycled the internal door opened and they stepped into the cargo hatch of the hover car. Leslie was at the front, slumped forward in the pilot’s seat. They removed their helmets and went forward quickly. Mark allowed the Major to examine her. Her eyes were open but glazed and unseeing.

  “Her pulse is fine,” announced the Major, “and she seems conscious, but in some sort of …well… hypnotic trance.”

  “Try to communicate with her mentally Major,” Mark suggested. There was a few moments pause before the Major exclaimed.

  “Oh my God….! What’s happened to her?”

  “You noticed it as well?” asked Mark.

  “Noticed? You can hardly miss it. What’s happened to the poor girl?”

  “She seems to have fallen into some sort of catatonic state. Not that I would know…” said Mark, shaking his head helplessly.

  “We had better get her back to the ship and see what we can do for her,” said the Major. “You too Captain. We need to X-Ray you and attend to your injuries.”

  “Right,” said Mark. “We’ll have to come back for the Data Repository later.”

  Chapter 39

  They had a crew meeting in the lounge of the Bounty Hunter. Leslie remained unconscious and under mild sedation in the ship’s surgery. Given that the ship’s doctor was out of action, Peter and Jimmy had done the best they could with their first aid training to attend to Mark’s injuries, which they tentatively pronounced to be just bruising and a strained shoulder . Melanie took the floor.

  “Before we discuss the .. .accident.. and what we can do about it, I want to bring you up to date with events on Adelphi and Earth. First , there was a bit of a panic on Earth….” She went on to describe the events at Santa Cruz. The death of the civilization on Sunrise, and the possibility that it could have happened on Earth, had created an unstoppable sensation. This had been further exacerbated by Professor Chan’s hasty actions over the Santa Cruz event, which proved to be just a local power and communications breakdown and not an invasion of alien life forms. This had created a furore across all the human planets of the Federation. A chastened and embarrassed Professor Chan and Doctor Sobell had appeared on all the interplanetary media to explain and apologise for the false alarm . All further research into TransGate technology had ceased for now.

  “Old Professor Chan must be well peeved,” muttered LeBlanc.

  “He was right to do what he did,” said Melanie. “It was just bad luck that there was a power failure at that time.”

  “Or good luck,” pointed out LeBlanc . “Power failure or alien invasion? Yeah, good luck I think!” Melanie smiled at LeBlanc’s irrepressible humour.

  “Good luck indeed. But let’s move on to the next bit of news; A scientific expedition has left Adelphi , the cruiser Hyperion and the frigate Good Intentions, transporting military personnel and a large scientific team, and a bunch of media types. They will be taking over here. Our job is to hand over operations to the Federation’s Exploration and Development Office, (FEDO). They have overall control of the scientific team on the expedition. We have been asked to stand off planet until they arrive.” There were shouts of protest and disagreement from the others and Melanie held up her hands to quell the protests.

  “I agree with you,” she said. “There’s no way we are going to sit on our hands until they arrive. But I want everyone’s backing before I tell them so.” This was greeted by nods and cries of agreement from everyone.

  “I think that’s a yes from everyone,” said Mark. “Just a point though; what’s the legal position here? Alden, do you have any information on this?” There was a pause before the AI answered.

  “This expedition has official recognition, but FEDO can pre-empt local arrangements. But there are no previous judgements or precedents.”

  “Mmmm. Then we are about to make one,” said Melanie. “But, it gets worse,” she looked around at the others quizzically. “The planet is to be quarantined. And so are we.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Mark.

  “We are to be confined to our ships. No contact between us and the expedition except within a controlled environment. They have a mass of equipment , probably familiar to Ray, which they are going to use to investigate the Virtuals.”

  “Bollocks to that! If they think that they’re going to turn me into a lab animal they can think again.” LeBlanc scowled.

  “You’re already a bit of a lab animal Ray. No one would notice the difference.” James Walters grinned at his fellow scientist. LeBlanc growled in response.

  “We’re all with Ray on that,” said Andy Baross. “But some of us have not been infected with the Virtual. Me, Jo and Jimmy.”

  “That’ll probably cut no ice with them Andy. You’ve been here with the Virtuals so they will treat you the same.” Melanie said. “Look, we can submit ourselves for testing, but there is no point in quarantining us in our ships. I will put it to them that there is no harm in us continuing with our work until they arrive and we can then come an arrangement that satisfies their desire for security without locking us up.”

  “Make sure they understand we are all behind you on this,” said Mark

  “OK, that’s agreed.” Melanie paused for a moment before continuing. “Now, the subject of Leslie. She’s our doctor and she is sick. I’m afraid we’re stuck. All we can do is wait for the expedition ships to arrive. They have a couple of medics on board.”

  “Can I make a contribution on this?” Alden’s polite tones interrupted Melanie.

  “Of course Alden.”

  “I have carried out an examination of the instrument records prior to Leslie’s crash.”

  “Go on Alden, what did you find?”

  “Leslie was conscious prior to the crash and as far as I can determine, she steered the air car towards Mark.” There were concerted gasps around the room.

  “Surely not Alden. You must be mistaken.” Melanie’s tones were incredulous.

  “I have studied the records in detail. There is no mistake. Leslie steered the car towards Mark, then made no effort to avoid him. She was not strapped in and was thrown forward when the air car stopped violently to avoid crashing into the building. But she suffered only minor bruises. There would seem to be no reason for her unconsciousness.”

  “Did she have a clear view of me?” asked Mark.

  “Yes, the car was low to the ground and you were clearly visible, replied Alden.”

  “Can I say that I have been detecting some disturbing emotions from Leslie recently,” said Anja. “She’s been trying to hide them but I think I’m more sensitive than anyone else.”

  “What sort of disturbing emotions?” asked Mark.

  “Well, I would say intense jealousy, hatred, anger. Very unpleasant.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything about this Anja?”

  “Spying on people’s emotions? It’s not something you would want to admit to.”

  “But you weren’t spying. It’s just unavoidable detection,” pointed out Mark.

  “What happened to her?” asked Peter. “I mean, she always struck me as a happy friendly sort of girl.”

  “Wait a minute, what are we saying here? That she purposely tried to kill Mark? Why would she do that?” It was James Walters who asked the question that was on all their minds. In the silence that followed, Mark and Melanie exchanged glances. Melanie gave a small nod as her eyes met Marks. He cleared his throat to attract attention before continuing.

  “I should tell you that there was an�
�� unfortunate incident between myself and Leslie that may have caused her some distress.”

  “Mark, if you mean that you and Leslie had ‘une petite affaire’, come on man, we all knew that.” It was LeBlanc who spoke up in his usual direct manner. “This is the twenty-sixth century; Leslie was too mature to hold a grudge and carry it to such extremes.”

  “Didn’t know you spoke French Ray,” said James.

  “Il y a beaucoup de choses vous n'êtes pas au courant de moi,” ( there are many things you don’t know about me) responded his friend.

  “You old dog,” said James admiringly. The exchange lightened the mood and Mark visibly relaxed.

  “I have a theory…,” began LeBlanc. “It’s to do with these Virtual things. Maybe not all Virtuals are the same. Perhaps Leslie has a bad one.”

  “Bad in what sense?” asked Melanie.

  “Well, we know that they enhance our abilities in some areas. Memory for one. But we are also able to sense each other’s thoughts and feelings. It’s still not too strong, but getting stronger all the time. I believe this is due to the physical nature of the Virtuals. They are not distinct individuals, they all somehow merge into a universal substrate. It’s through that universal substrate that we can communicate and sense each other. I believe it may be something like dark matter. But the Virtual also seems to enhance our perceptions and emotions. It provides a sort of feedback loop for the brain which intensifies everything. Maybe Leslie’s Virtual was not fully cleared by the de-fib shock. Random electrical activity left behind would do unpredictable things to the mind.”

  “If that’s the case then administering a de-fib shock should initialise the Virtual and bring her back to normal,” suggested Mark.

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” agreed LeBlanc.

  “Is that a harmless thing to do?” asked Melanie. “I mean, is there any risk to her?” As the only individuals with any medical training, everyone looked at Peter and Jimmy. They exchanged vague looks. It was Peter who answered.

  “A de-fib is normally used to re-start the heart or re-sync an irregular heart beat. It’s not supposed to be used on a normal heart. The danger is it will stop her heart. But…,” he shrugged. “Those of us who were infected by the Virtuals have already been through this without mishap. Including Leslie, so there’s no reason why she shouldn’t be able to handle it again.”