“I sense your heart is racing and blood pressure is double the norm. Do you need a beer?”
“Now you ask!” Benny shot back, before thinking it over. “But since you asked, yes, a nice dark beer, but first a cup of cold water. After our episode with the water system, I have a new appreciation for the simpler things like staying hydrated, just in case this old tub tries to go belly up on me again.”
The dispenser panel opened to reveal a cup. Benny climbed from his seat, stretching after his feet hit the deck. He took the two steps to the dispenser and retrieved the cup, drinking it in one gulp. He grimaced at the cold, but shook it off.
“Beer, please, maestro,” Benny ordered. The cup recycled and returned with the dark beer he’d grown fond of. He cradled the cup in his hands as he sipped the brew. “This gets better and better. Commit this recipe to your long-term, short-term, and no-term memory, please.”
“No-term memory, Master Benny?”
“You know what I mean. Am I supposed to look like this?” Benny asked out of the blue after seeing his reflection in the shiny steel of an equipment panel.
“You are losing muscle mass and gaining fat, Master Benny.”
“Holy crap, Eddie! You don’t drop that nuclear depth bomb on someone without warning. Wow! I don’t know what to say, besides wow. Maybe you can pull out a knife and skin me alive next time. It’ll be gentler!”
“I will always give you the facts. A fact is a fact. It is not supposition or an opinion. It is fact. Do you want to know how much muscle mass you’ve lost? I can tell you to the nearest gram.”
“No! I don’t want to know. What I do want to know is when I’ve gained it back. Workouts begin right farging now!” Benny took a drink from his beer before setting it on the deck next to him. He assumed the push-up position and started pumping them out with great vigor.
He made it all the way to thirteen before his arms started to ache. He gritted his teeth and grunted until he hit nineteen. That was when his arms failed and he flopped face first onto the deck. He crawled to his knees, then sat back against the bulkhead, beer in hand.
“I suck,” he said before taking a sip. “Can you design a workout for me that’ll get me back in shape? I used to be a mechanic, carrying a toolbox around the station, working twelve hours straight. I never cried about it! I work twelve minutes now and I’m spent. Damn, Eddie. How did we let this happen?”
“A human expression that may apply in this case is, it is what it is. The real question is, what are we going to do about it, and you’ve already taken your first step toward fixing it. Now, on your back for twenty-five crunches, then leg lifts, and then there are a few other exercises I have for your first day in your ninety-day fitness challenge.”
“Ninety days? I see the clock. We’ve been out here for seventy-five days, yet it’ll take ninety to make up lost ground?” Benny finished his crunches, rolled back to his stomach, and pulled himself to his feet. He finished his beer and put the cup back in the dispenser.
“It will take that long, by my estimate. We will reevaluate daily based on your progress.”
“I used to like you, Eddie.” Benny shook his head. His arms felt tight. Nineteen pushups, and he knew he’d be sore.
He finished his Eddie-directed workout, then stripped, throwing his coverall into the purifier as he gave himself a sponge bath. He air-dried as he always did, checking out his profile in the reflection.
No progress. His body protested sufficiently to let him know that he’d accomplished something.
Ninety days.
“Show me the trajectory and the targets that we’ll be scanning.” Benny stood, leaning on the back of the pilot’s seat as he watched the information appear as a graphic overlay of the asteroid belt’s live feed. “What do we do with the information we collect?”
“I will transmit it to the station, of course. Our signal will arrive in about forty minutes, assuming we have an unobstructed view to the station.”
“What’s the chance of that from inside the belt?”
“Not good, but I’ll put the signal on burst and repeat. It’ll get through at some point. Our data is not volatile. It’ll keep.”
“Our data. You said you could do this without me?”
“I can, but I don’t want to.”
Benny froze. He felt like cold water had been poured over him. “What do you mean you don’t want to? You’re just a computer…” Benny’s thoughts trailed off.
“Am I?” Eddie replied.
“Yes, you are, and I’m the convict you got stuck with. It’s you and me, Eddie. Whatever we are, we still have a mission, right? Let’s find us some precious metals, and then let’s find some more. Maybe someone will remember us when we’re gone, those who’ll get rich from mining what we’ve found, right, Master Edelweiss?”
“Right, Master Benny.”
“We shall endeavor to persevere. No mountain too high, no asteroid too far, no calamity too great to keep us from our calling.” Benny dug out his coverall and dressed. Even being alone, he still felt funny walking around naked. He shaved every day, brushed his teeth, and kept his hair trim by shaving it off. Bald was easiest to maintain.
“Let’s see what we get on our first target. Who knows, we could get lucky right out of the gate.”
Day 165
“Your muscle mass is zero-point-four percent greater than when you came aboard, Master Benny. Congratulations. I have programmed a maintenance regimen to prevent future excursions from good health.”
“Thanks, Eddie. Play some music from the legends of rock-and-roll, please.” Benny stripped so he could clean up while Rush’s Middletown Dreams filled the cabin.
Benny rocked to the music. Every now and then, a gentle tink sounded as a chunk of space rock bounced off the hull. They were maintaining a speed of twice the angular rotation of the belt, not fast enough to drive rocks through the hull.
At least that was what Benny thought. The ship jerked hard, slamming Benny against the bulkhead. He cracked his head and slid down as the world fogged and his vision narrowed to a pinpoint of light. The ship jerked back as Eddie deployed the thrusters in violent maneuvers.
“What’s happening,” Benny mumbled.
“Avoiding some errant asteroids that just appeared. I believe we’re through the worst of it. Master Benny?”
Benny rolled onto his back and passed out.
Day 166
Benny rolled over and a pain shot through the side of his head. He reached up to grab his head. It was wet and his hand came away covered in blood. The scab from the wound was stuck to the deck.
“What happened,” Benny stammered as he rolled around, finding his head was spinning too much to stand.
“You’ve been out for nearly a full day, Master Benny. I’m so happy that you have regained consciousness. I suspect you have a concussion, but I have no way to be certain.”
“My head hurts, Eddie. It hurts a lot.” Benny grimaced as he pulled himself upright, then staggered three steps to the toilet, where he puked until he dry-heaved. He sat down, his head pounding and his eyes spinning. He fell over and was out cold once again.
When he came to, his stomach was in knots. He suspected he hadn’t been out long.
“Try to drink some water, Master Benny,” the computer encouraged. The usually stoic voice sounded concerned.
Benny crawled across the deck and pulled himself up in front of the dispenser. He stood on shaky legs, one arm braced against the bulkhead as he pulled out the cup of water. He drank half of it before he started to salivate, signaling that he was about to throw up again.
He stood upright and took deep breaths. He was sweating although the temperature in the cabin was constant. His stomach calmed enough for him to finish the cup and return it to the dispenser. The soft hum to recycle the cup and the dispenser reopened.
Benny expected to see another cup of water, but instead, flat bread was on a small plate. He hesitated before taking it.
“To s
ettle your stomach before you drink more water.”
“Good call, my friend,” Benny mumbled. He took out the bread and sat down beneath the dispenser.
He ate slowly, but the pain in his head didn’t abate. He finished his bread, drank another cup of water, and then worked his way into the pilot’s seat. Without another word, he fell into a restless sleep as his bruised brain struggled to recover.
Day 169
Benny awoke, rolled to the side, and dry-heaved.
“I am very concerned about you, Master Benny,” Eddie said.
“That makes two of us,” Benny grumbled. He staggered to the bathroom to relieve himself. It had been days.
He tried to clean up, but standing hurt his head.
“Have we found anything yet with the latest scans?” Benny asked in an effort to take his mind off his troubles. He felt like he was going to die.
Like he did when he went without water for four days, but there, he had hope, a checklist that he was incrementally following toward the end where his reward was life.
He had no checklist to follow, only an ache that refused to get better. He could barely see. His head was filled with cotton. He tried to eat, but his stomach recoiled.
“Master Benny, I am pleased to inform you that we have found the richest vein of ore ever.”
Benny chuckled, but stopped because it hurt. “That’s crap. You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Benny mumbled.
“I state facts. I have to note that you are once again losing muscle mass, but it is not being replaced by fat. Your body is eating the muscle to survive. You must eat something, Master Benny.”
“If I didn’t know you were a computer, I’d say that you actually care about my well-being. You care about a convict. A murderer. Now I know what I put that man through. My God, Eddie. Maybe it was better that he never woke up. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, but what’s worse is that he wasn’t my enemy. I didn’t even know him!” Benny gasped and held his head.
He forced his eyes open to look at the asteroid field as tears streamed down his face. “Me and you, Edelweiss. We found the richest vein. My punishment. Their reward for giving me a chance. My redemption, just in time to space me. As soon as I have the energy, the airlock and I have an appointment. I don’t want dead me all over the inside of such a nice ship. It’s a good ship, Eddie. For the next convict to ride to the stars. Find his place in the 'verse.”
Benny’s hands rested on the floor. He could no longer lift his arms. He screamed at death, but all that escaped his throat was a dry croak. Benny’s eyes rolled back in his head and he fell over.
“Hurry!” Eddie projected through the speaker above the hatch. The airlock hatch popped and rotated open. The group of medics ran with their stretcher across the bay. They climbed into the space simulator to find Benny on the floor. They loaded him onto the stretcher and ran out. The surgeons were waiting.
A young woman stepped away from a console that sat beside the scout ship mock-up. She looked worried. One of the stretcher-bearers smiled and gave her the thumbs up. They ran between the other simulators on their way to the elevator that would take them directly to sickbay.
Someone always got hurt during the rehabilitation flights. Some even died. When convicts spaced themselves, they were allowed to believe they were in the vacuum of space. The air was removed from the pod and that was it.
Others lived long and healthy lives on board their ship, incapable of returning to humanity
“Benny?” the young woman asked softly. She sat at the side of the hospital bed. The air smelled antiseptic clean. Medical staff bustled about, doing what they did.
Benny opened his eyes slowly. The pilot’s seat felt strange. The air smelled wrong. The sounds weren’t right. A young woman looked at him. He was in a big room.
With people.
Benny closed his eyes. “Eddie! I’ve lost it, my man. I’m seeing things.”
“You are not, Master Benny,” the young woman said.
Benny opened his eyes fully. His head didn’t hurt, but he felt loopy. He lifted a hand to feel his head. A tube was taped to the inside of his arm. He followed it to an IV bag. He carefully raised his arm to feel the bandage around his head.
“Where am I?” he asked.
“Earth Station Four,” she replied matter-of-factly.
“How did we… How did we get back?”
“Edelweiss was a superhero in rocketing your ship back here, getting you to the surgeons in time. You had some serious issues with your head, a hemorrhage, a blood clot, swelling, things like that.” She shrugged as if they were nothing.
“Do you expect me to believe that?” Benny wondered, letting his eyes wander around the room. He had been stationed on Number Four, but had never been in that space.
But he hadn’t been injured like this ever before. He let his eyes linger on the young woman.
“I don’t deserve to be back. When can I go out again?”
“You won’t be. The mission was declared a success because you collected sufficient data. Six months is enough time. In your case, it was more than enough.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that you transition back into life aboard the station. I’m here to help you.”
“I don’t deserve that.”
“Of all the people here, Master Benny, you deserve it the most.”
“Thank you for saying that, but I will have to respectfully disagree. What’s your name, you, the person designated as my helper?”
“You can call me whatever makes you the most comfortable, but I prefer Eddie.”
The End
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About the Author
I’m an international bestselling author. I write mostly science fiction. I live in the back of beyond, the Sub-Arctic in Alaska. We can watch the northern lights from our driveway during the six months of winter. The summers turn my property into a lush jungle where you can’t even see our house from the road. Just the way we like it. It gives me lots of time to write, so I’m prolific as others may say. I have over two million words published. I’m retired from the U.S. Marine Corps as well as retired from a second gig as a business consultant, but both of those careers took me away from home a great deal. I stay at home now, write full time, and I love my job. I don’t ever see doing anything else. I’m also passionate about giving back to the indie publishing community. There is a lot of great talent out there that only needs the right nudge in the right direction at the right time.
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The Blood Amulet
Katherine Bogle
The Blood Amulet © Copyright 2017 Katherine Bogle
* * *
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
About The Blood Amulet
Determined to bring down the dragon overlord’s keeping her mother enslaved, Julian journeys to Warshard to find the one magical being with the power to help.
Julian has only ever known darkness. Having spent most of her life trapped in the mountains alone with her mother, Julian is more than unprepared when her mother drops a bomb on her: there may be a way out.
Entering
the six kingdoms, Julian is determined to bring down the dragon overlord’s keeping her mother enslaved. But she’ll have to face a lot more than crossing a country to find the one magical being with the power to bring down the dragons.
The Blood Amulet
Hot breath scorched Julian’s face and the scent of sulphur slid up her nostrils as she gripped the dragon’s scaled cheeks.
“Mother, why do you put yourself through this?” Her shoulders tensed as her mother heaved another breath. The exhale sent the blonde hairs around her face flying. Once the charred smell of ash passed, Julian took a breath of fresh air.
Cold clung to her cheeks while the dragon’s scales warmed her hands. Even in the dim light of the cavern, the quick rise and fall of her mother’s haunches were obvious. Days had passed since she’d last spoken to her mother. All dragons gave birth in this form. While in labor she refused to transform back.
“We need to escape before the baby is born. If you have a sole daughter this time, you won’t be able to hide her from the others like you do with me.” Julian’s heart rammed in her ears and her pulse pounded behind her eyes. She pushed against the thick scales of the serpent, begging for her to listen, just this once.
The dragon’s eyes rolled open as if they’d been hiding in the back of her head. It blinked large doubtful yellow eyes at Julian. Her mother only ever had one daughter, and Julian had come with a twin. A male twin. It was the only way her mother had hidden her from the rest of Izenfir; the last dragon city.
“Mother, please.” Her fingers balled into fists. “At least transform so we can speak.” She hated to admit it, but being with no one but a speechless dragon for days was making her anxious. Every time a rogue drop of water splashed against the rock and echoed through the tunnels, she jumped.
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