Deathship (The Outsider Series Book 1)

Deathship (The Outsider Series Book 1) Page 22

by Steven Oaks

  Athene must have noticed somehow because she said, “Michael, come to the control room. Maybe we can see something together which might help us in our search to understand the Outsiders.”

  I took a deep breath. “You are right Athene. Standing here moping isn’t going to help anyone,” I said, and once more walked to the control room. My slow steps were leaden with thoughts of how easily I surrendered my own mind to Ava.

  When I reached the room it was already lit up with the soft glow of the surrounding screens. I had to make my way carefully to the awaiting chair as it looked as if it were hanging in mid air within the hangar of the Outsiders ship. When I reached it I let myself down gently, and I sank back into its soft enfolding embrace trying to relax.

  “Athene do you think she was being honest with me when she said they won’t injure anyone?” I asked, trying to go back over the conversation with Ava.

  “Michael there is no way to know for sure. But from what I was able to tell, based upon human biology, she seemed truthful. Or at the very least believed it herself. Now of course she could be able to fool me, as there are always ways to trick lie detectors and the like. However her statements were consistent with everything said before,” she said thoughtfully.

  “Well that is somewhat of a relief. No guarantees of anything, but at the very least it seems there is no malicious intentions. However I would say if she were to enter a room of unprepared individuals she could have her way no matter what she asked for. That I would call a type of injury, though it might not be externally obvious,” I said with a bit of anger rising inside me.

  “Manipulating people is bad, but at least they will not come to physical harm,” she said gently.

  “I don’t know if that is any better. When one controls another person so adeptly that they do not even realize it, are they even the same person anymore? You destroy the personality when you do that. There is no room left for freedom, and their actions are no longer their own. That is worse than anything a human has ever done to another. Yes we have had slaves and the downtrodden. But we cannot steal another’s mind away from them. They do that to themselves. I had no desire what so ever to do anything she wanted of me, but I found I could not control even that in myself. If she does this to a wide group of people, that would become a true dictatorship. One where you could not even think of rebelling against her,” I said heatedly.

  “But she has not done so. So why worry about it?” Athene said, trying to calm me down.

  “Oh she has not has she? What about that first transmission? I felt it then. I know others did as well because I heard everyone talk about it when I returned to work the next day. Who knows who else she has gotten to? She was there at the UN meeting with Abihail. Maybe that is why everyone seemed so shaken up when they left. I don’t know what happened in there, but it seems likely she entranced them all to do her bidding. No wonder these politicians and world leaders are so enthusiastic on working with the Outsiders, even though it seems to go against the public opinion. They have lost themselves to her. And it seems it has not worn off given the time that has passed from the first meeting. I am so very lucky to have you with me otherwise I might have fallen into her grasp. Perhaps it is the main reason she is visiting with us pilots. She said she was not visiting all of us, but perhaps it is like you theorized, and some of us are being let go. Those of us that performed well will get a visit, and become good little doggies that will grovel at her beck and call,” I said with a growl. I was growing furious at the idea. I was ready to lash out violently. How dare she do this to me. I was a full grown woman! How dare she presume she could control me.

  I wanted to destroy her and everything about the Outsiders in that instant. “Athene what weapons do we have aboard? Can we blow this god-damned ship up? These people need to be exterminated immediately.” I was beginning to breath heavily and was shouting at the top of my lungs.

  “Michael you need to calm down. We have no weapons. Remember we are a peaceful transport ship. Yes we are large, but we will not be able to do any damage to them. Recall how all those nuclear missiles struck their ship and left not even a scratch?” Athene said sounding worried.

  “We are inside their accursed ship now. Don’t you think we can harm them?” I asked, pleading.

  “It might be more likely now as we are inside, but I do not show any signs of it being in anyway weaker than the outside. Much like the suit you wore when you visited Japan, it will just convert any kinetic energy into power making it even stronger. Also Michael, if we did that, and we were unsuccessful, we would probably be eliminated immediately. I could probably get us out of range if we were outside, but I do not think it would be possible to force our way out of this enclosed space,” she said gently.

  I pounded my fists on the arm rests in frustration. “I will not stand for anyone else to be brainwashed. It is immoral and evil. This is not something that can continue!” I screamed as loudly as I possibly could.

  “Michael I think perhaps you might be overreacting. Certainly your anger is justified, but you seem to be going into a uncontrollable rage,” she said in her most gentle voice.

  I just growled and began to scream incoherently. I leaped out of the chair and began kicking it in unrestrained frustration.

  Soon I felt my rage begin to burn itself out and I crumpled to the floor weeping. “It’s not fair. It’s not fair,” I said, huddling in on myself, covering my face with my hands.

  Athene let me cry for a minute before she said, “Michael it will be okay. We have a plan and we will make it work. Yes it is wrong for them to force people to do many things, but we will break them free. It may take time, and certainly some will be hurt, but remember you are strong. You were able to keep your mind intact, even if it did take a bit from me to bring you back to yourself. Return to your seat and I will make you something to drink that will calm your nerves,” she said persuasively.

  I made way back into the chair. Though I had kicked it, and it had crumpled where I had struck, it was once more whole. I slumped dejectedly into it. I felt empty and pointless. I was defeated and could not think of a way to gain control of my now depressed state.

  “Go ahead and drink this,” Athene said as another thermos exuded from the right armrest.

  Without questioning what it was I popped open the top, and tried to drain it. I could tell it was a type of tea, but it tasted fruity. While it was hot, it was not so hot that I could not gulp it down quickly. I was taking large sips and began to feel a little better. It reminded me of the Earl Grey she had served earlier, but it had a more complex flavor.

  I sighed and composed myself. “Athene what is this? It tastes good. Is it another tea or something?” I asked as my tears dried on my cheek.

  “Yes Michael. It is a mixture of Earl Grey, chamomile, and plum juice. While it should make you more alert, it also will relax you,” she said soothingly.

  I thought about my recent outburst with a bit of embarrassment. “I am sorry that I lost my cool. I just felt overwhelmed and violated. What a horrible power they possess,” I said with shame in my voice.

  “It is okay Michael. Emotions are hard to control. I think your reaction was your mind’s way of breaking away from Ava’s influence. You are probably less likely to be affected by her again. And even if you can still be I will always be with you. Just always keep your earpiece in, and I will bring you back to yourself. Even if it takes time,” she said with a calm, confident voice.

  “Thank you Athene. I do not think I have ever been in such a rage before. I am usually calm, at least externally, and try to think out appropriate responses. It seems I got a little overwhelmed. Also since when did you become an expert on emotions?” I said with a hint of curiosity.

  “While it has been a busy day, I have also have taken it upon myself to read the books you had brought. From what I have read I think
I have a better understanding of people. The Internet is a lovely place for technical view points, and of course the horror of comments, but there is nothing like the unadulterated view of individuals. I had noticed you seem to gravitate towards authors and not stories as much. You have gathered hundreds of books, but only a few authors. This has helped me try to understand the author from their multiple perspectives. I can then make a better conclusion of how a single person’s views would be reasonable to them. Your emotional outburst was not unlike several characters when faced with outrageous situations. Therefor I was able to hypothesize your reaction was a normal one,” she said with an intellectual air in her voice.

  I sat and thought about everything I had read over the years. I tended to read what I thought of as more logical writers because of my addiction to Science Fiction. For some reason I could not recall anyone going into a rage like myself, but I suppose it had to have happened.

  “Athene the reason I collect Authors, as you have put it, is because generally if I like a story by someone I trust they can make another entertaining tale. Though it is possible your perspective of gathering information about a person by reading everything they write may be true. I do feel I know certain writers better than others though. If I can get about three books out of them I have confidence I could at least grasp what they think is important. Though some seem to change drastically over the years. Without knowing why they changed, it makes them difficult to read for me. I have to start thinking of them as a new person. If I find they can still write a compelling story, I will continue buying their work,” I said.

  “That makes sense to me as well Michael,” she said calmly. Perhaps she did not feel she needed to elaborate. Or perhaps she thought starting an argument with me about why I did things would make me more stressed.

  I began looking around the Outsiders hangar and noticed how the floor seemed to flex and pulsate. “Athene, look at the floors beneath the other ships in here. They seem to be pulsing,” I said in mild wonder.

  “They are doing so. I think they are from the containers that are being taken out of us. If you look at the far wall, all movement seems to join up there. That must lead deeper into the Outsider ship,” she said, pointing out to me what seemed hardly noticeable visually.

  “Can you highlight a path for me, showing what you think are the lines of the deceased as they flow into the custody of the Outsiders?” I asked. While I could see the floors movements, I could not distinguish a pattern.

  Suddenly I saw bright green lines traced across the ground leading to a wall I thought of as the bulkhead.

  “I wonder what is behind that wall,” I thought aloud.

  “I would think it is one of two things. There is a large portion of the ship that might be used for storage, or perhaps they have a self contained area that has a portal to the other dimension the Outsiders talk of. Either way I am getting no information from beyond the wall. It seems thick and is letting no types of radiation or visual cues through,” she said.

  “Well that is some information we didn’t have before. Can you see anything else around that might be of importance?” I asked.

  “I am not sure how important it is but the entire ship seems to be pulsating as well. Not as much as the lines I drew out for us. They are just subtle shifts perhaps only a computer like myself would notice. In a solid state structure, especially in space, there would be little cause for an entire vehicle to move like this. It is most unusual. I notice none of this in myself when we are in flight, nor while we are at rest,” she said.

  “That is interesting. I wonder what it means. If a pulse is found we usually think of it as alive, at least in some fashion. The flow of nutrients from one place to another is not something a ship routinely does,” I said.

  “I would show signs of pulsating if I was constructing something throughout myself. But mostly the flow of nutrients, as you call them, are electrical in nature. That is not something one would notice even with my enhanced vision, save for the electron fields they produce. It would not be anything like what I am observing this ship doing,” she said.

  “Do you think they are building something?” I asked, worried they might be constructing weapons or warships elsewhere in their vessel.

  “There is no way to know. However if they are similar to myself, which is likely, they are indeed doing something that requires reforming their structure, at least around this area,” she said.

  “That could be anything then. Perhaps they have taken damage by running into our space debris floating around Earth. But if that is the case how come our weapons had no affect, but they do?” I said puzzled, trying to think of a benign reason.

  “I too find that unlikely. But perhaps it has something to do with space junk. Perhaps they are gathering it into themselves as more material to work with,” she said.

  “Ah, that makes more sense. But do they need to do that? I mean, if again they are like you, can’t they just take in the light from the sun and convert it into what they need?” I asked.

  “Yes they could do that. However it is easier to use matter to create denser materials. The denser or more complex the matter, the more time they would have to spend absorbing light. They are in space and are not able to use the surrounding air and power grids I have been able to tap into on Earth. Also they have a much larger ship to run. That first attack humans launched on them probably helped them in the end by giving them much needed energy,” she said.

  “Damn. Even when we wanted to get rid of them we aided their cause,” I said.

  “It does seem that way. My initial construction was done after that incident. It seems they used that power to begin making vehicles much like myself,” she said.

  “Well at least one good thing came from it.” I said, winking at the air.

  “Why thank you Michael. I like you too,” she giggled.

  Looking about the hangar once more I spotted Ava wandering between ships. I was curious what the other pilots were talking with her about, and what their days had been like. As she moved I saw her skin change from the milky white I had seen in person, to a deep brown, which reminded me of the people of Africa.

  “Athene did you just see Ava? She seems to have the ability to change her skin tone,” I said.

  “I was going to avoid discussing her, but yes I had noticed. As she approaches different ships she seems to morph her appearance. As she was walking towards us her skin had been red brown. Also she seems to change height as well. Sometimes appearing much shorter, other times she was almost as tall as you are,” she said in a hesitant voice.

  “Well we can almost assume she is something like what we wanted to have you do. A box surrounded by the same construction material you are currently made of,” I said.

  “It appears that might be the case. Though there are other things she could be. For instance a living creature whose cells act in unison to an over-mind. It would not have to be an artificial mind inside the material either. There are many unknowns,” she said with the same frustration I was feeling at not knowing more about these Outsiders.

  “Were you able to examine her close enough, while she was aboard, to tell us anything else about her?” I asked.

  “She seems human enough, although again she has a higher body temperature. I have only been able to directly observe four people. Those being yourself, Adam, Jennifer, and now Ava. I would have examined Abihail more closely, but he has never entered me. However I noticed no significant difference between you and those who have come aboard,” she said.

  “Remember we thought we could pass you off as human as well. You know your sensors are not fool proof. So both Adam and Ava have the higher body temperature, and I do not. Is that correct?” I asked.

  “Yes, that is right. I have not seen Adam change shape, but that does not mean he cannot. I have been able to
examine you the closest of the four since you are always with me. When you were poisoned I had to do some invasive examinations to divulge what the cause of your sickness might be. Had I been allowed to do so to the other two I think I could make a pretty good case for or against their humanity. We know that Ava and Abihail are Outsiders, but Adam is up in the air, though he has shown the same trait for being warmer,” she explained.

  “Well I don’t think I’m going to learn anymore by watching them move about and do the same thing while unloading. I think I’m going to just lay back here and take a nap. I am worn out by this mess of a day and sitting here worrying about it isn’t going to help anyone. Wake me up if you see anything else significant,” I said with a yawn.

  “Okay Michael, you have yourself a good little rest. I will keep my eyes out for us,” she said gently, and the chair beneath me reclined out into a bed. Soon enough I was asleep.

  When I awoke I yawned, stretched out, and found myself curled up beneath a sheet that had not been there before. I was still in the control room, and much time could not have passed as it appeared as though we were still inside the Outsiders ship.

  “Welcome back from dreamland Michael,” Athene said with a little giggle. “It looks as though we are almost done unloading here. Your first day is almost complete and you have already spent much of it asleep. What a diligent worker you are,” she said with a mixture of sarcasm and her own sense of humor.

 

‹ Prev Next ›