Tabula Rasa

by Filip Forsberg

  “What’s happened?” Malin asked while she put her arms around the terrified woman.

  The woman trembled.

  “It's a long story.”

  Malin gently cleared away a couple of curls that had fallen down in the woman's face and grabbed her hands. She could see that the woman seemed to be at the breaking point. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her hands were cold.

  Malin looked tenderly at the woman.

  “No problem. We’ll not hurt you. What’s happened?”

  The man Denver held in his arms groaned and his eyes fluttered. He seemed to be dazed. The woman turned to Malin.

  “Who are you?”

  “My name is Malin Persson and this is my colleague, Denver Mikkelsen,” she said, nodding over against Denver that held the older man's shoulders, “We are journalists and we are here to do a story on the Tabula Rasa and life here.”

  The woman's eyes seemed exhausted and welled up with tears.

  “Good god, thank you. Thank you.” As a hissing balloon, the woman collapsed on the floor next to his father and leaned against him. She put her hand gently on the older man's legs and looked up at the Malin.

  “My name is Elisabeth Snow and this is my father, Richard.” Her voice was weak.

  Malin squatted in front of Elisabeth.

  “What’s happened?” Her eyes were troubled and Elisabeth studied Malin's to see if she was honest. Elisabeth could not see anything and decided that it had to make or break. She could not flee anymore without getting help. Especially not now, when her father was about to collapse. Elisabeth was afraid that it was his heart that was on the brink of stopping. She knew that her father had been at the doctor a couple of times in the last six months. Her father had not said anything because he did not want to worry her, but she had found out about it anyway. Elisabeth shook her head.

  “It's a long story. I work at a computer lab here at Tabula Rasa and we must get help to get out from here.”

  Denver looked over at Elisabeth.

  “Out of here? What do you mean?”

  Elisabeth did not look up when she wiped away some droplets of sweat from her father's forehead.

  “Exactly what I’m saying. Away from here. My father and I must leave Tabula Rasa. We have to get out of here and we have to hurry.”

  Malin looked in suprisement at Elisabeth.

  “Why do you want to get away from here? Is there someone who is chasing you?”

  Elisabeth looked up against Malin.

  “We must get away from this elevator. Those who are chasing us are still on their way. They have not stopped. They are coming.”

  Denver interrupted.

  “Why?”

  Elisabeth's eyes flashed.

  “But don’t you hear what I’m saying? I am telling you that there’s somebody that is after us.”

  Malin decided not to push Elisabeth as she was dangerously close to the breaking point. She looked at Elisabeth and there was something about her eyes that reminded her of her best friend, Grace. She nodded softly and stood up.

  “Ok, we shall help you.”

  Denver flinched in surprise and looked toward Malin, but said nothing. Elisabeth's eyes blinked with gratitude.

  “Thank God. Thank God that we met you.”

  Malin helped Elizabeth up to her feet.

  “It’s ok.” she paused, “We'll take you to our apartment and we'll figure out the next step there, ok?”

  Elisabeth was surprised.

  “Do you have an apartment here? Weren’t you journalists?”

  Malin smiled at her.

  “Yes, we are. But we have an apartment here while we carry out our work and interviews.”

  A touch of suspiciousness slipped into Elizabeth's voice.

  “Who is it you will interview here on Tabula Rasa?”

  Malin hesitated a second before she replied.

  “John Vendrick III.”

  Elisabeth gasped.

  *

  ESA, seventy kilometers south of Paris, France.

  2048-12-29

  When you are the least prepared, the biggest surprises will come and Magdalena hated surprises. She grunted. She was an older woman with a quick temper. Her body revealed that she liked good food, and that she willingly took both a second and third time down in the restaurant. To keep the weight in check Magdalena had started spinning in the past few weeks and was now in front of Louis in too small gym clothes and with a damp forehead. She sank down in the padded chair next to Louis and said challenging.

  “Well, what's so important that I have to leave my work out?”

  A strange scent of different foods came from Magdalena and he pointed at the center screen at his control while his fingers quickly flew over the keys.

  “I sat and supervised the last part of the Lynx mission and analyzed data when I discovered an unknown object in orbit around the moon. I'm going to get the sphere’s position confirmed by Pegasus VII, it seems that the sphere is directly above Mons La Hire.”

  Magdalena looked in suprisement at him.

  “What? What are you talking about? Is there an object above Mons La Hire? Why is it positioned there?”

  Louis listened to the flow of questions but shrugged his shoulders.

  “No idea.”

  Mons La Hire was a major mountain on the lunar surface and it stretched about a kilometer and a half up. The mountain was named after Philippe La Hire, a French mathematician. Magdalena looked over Louis's shoulder on the screen in front of them.

  “How could we miss that there is a sphere in orbit around the moon? We have been observing the moon closely the last few months in connection with Lynx?”

  Before Louis could answer, the alarm went from the D-Sub system. A small red light on the side of the screen started flashing rhythmically and a sharp sound rang through the room. Louis blurted out.

  “What?”

  Magdalena leaned forward, turned off the sound and pushed a button on the keyboard.

  “Start scanning.”

  The automatic scanning program started to identify what the D-sub system responded to. The D-sub system was a monitoring system which had the task of monitoring the space around the earth for any comets, meteorites and asteroids that might collide with Earth. During the twenty years it was active, the system had detected a handful of potential objects, but none of the objects had required any further actions. Normally, all the objects passed at a safe distance from Earth. The comet last year had passed closer than seven hundred thousand kilometers had gotten the entire journalist assembly excited. For ten intense days, they had besieged ESA and demanded interviews with everyone who might have something intelligent to say about the matter. Louis blinked and tapped on the screen in front of him.

  “Here, look.” he indicated with the finger on the screen what he meant.

  “It was detected just now; the position is being confirmed now.”

  Magdalena did not seem to hear him.

  “What kind of warning did you say?” She leaned forward, her bad mood was blown away.

  “A level four.”

  “In orbit around the moon? Why does D-sub react to it?” She asked, although she knew the answer.

  Louis knew that D-sub would not react to stationary objects. The system would certainly detect it, but if it was not on a course that potentially brought it close to Earth, it would not do anything. Louis shivered. If D-sub indicated alarm it must mean that the sphere was not stationary. It must mean that it is moving towards Earth.

  Louis grimaced.

  “It actually looks like the sphere is heading towards us.”

  Magdalena did not reply. Louis looked at the screen.

  “I have asked Johnnie to realign Pegasus VII so we can confirm.”

  Magdalena stared at Louis, the screen and then back at Louis. She hastily pulled up her cell phone. While Louis watched, his system worked furiously to get different monitoring systems targeted against the sphere. ESA's monitoring systems w
as among the best in the world. There were several different monitoring systems that was active.

  * * *

  High above earth, the ESA flagship, the expensive Pegasus VII telescope, aligned itself towards the newly discovered sphere. The powerful cameras and sensors targeted the sphere and sent data down to earth for analysis. On Pegasus VII, a radio transmitter extended itself and prepared to send down large amounts of data.

  Pegasus VII was more than fifteen meters long and contained a powerful telescope that was more than four meters in diameter. The telescope consisted of a main mirror that collected light from the universe and through an ingenious system of mirrors concentrated the small amount of light. Data that was collected from the main mirror was processed through the telescope's sensors and equipment and sent it down towards the ground-based station that was in control. The telescope was equipped with large solar panels that turned toward the sun to generate maximum power and started a slow turn and placed the large telescope so that the mirror pointed straight towards the new, unknown discovered sphere.

  * * *

  During the fifteen minutes that Louis had first seen the sphere, more and more operators had taken their places. Now, a crowd of them stood behind Louis and watched with rising excitement how the sphere clearly appeared on Louis screen. Louis cried out with an excited voice into the now overcrowded control room.

  “We have confirmation! The sphere is confirmed by two more sources. Data shows that the object is a sphere and is between twenty-five and fifty meters in diameter. More analysis will give us a better indication. We have also contacted NASA and the other authorities.”

  From the crowd of people who now taken up the before so calm control room a voice came.

  “Do we have a chemical composition of the sphere? What is it made of?”

  Louis surveyed the group staring fascinated alternatively on him and the screen.

  “The initial scan is indefinite on that point. It seems to consist of a number of different materials. And because of that it takes time to break down the chemical composition.” He hesitated for a couple of seconds.

  “Yes, I know it sounds far-fetched, but the analysis seems correct so far, and it seems to be confirmed that it contains at least seven percent organic matter.”

  The group in the room fell silent and all eyes were directed at him, he swallowed hard, as on a given command the group shouted.

  “What? That can’t be correct? It can impossibly contain something organic.”

  A faint feeling of panic grew within him. He held up his hands.

  “I know, I know. We are waiting for confirmation from several sources before we can say for sure how it is.”

  The atmosphere in the room was electric. It was so tense that the hairs on his arms stood up. He did not know how to say the last bit of information he had at this time. When he said it, he did not know how they would react. He took a deep breath, motioned for silence in the excited group.

  “The sphere was not there a week ago. It seems that sometime during the past seven days it has put itself in the position it has now and it seems to come from the back side of the moon where the Tabula Rasa had its satellite. That area has been off limits for us in the past month due to suspicion of espionage, that must be the reason we haven’t discovered it before. And one more thing" he took a deep breath, “It looks like the sphere is heading towards earth.”

  The room exploded into frantic activity. Magdalena looked despairingly at the chaos that now controlled the room and frowned, she really hated surprises.

  *

  Tabula Rasa, Madagascar

  2048-12-29

  Fear can bring a human being to her knees. Malin could feel the smell of fear oozing from Elisabeth and spoke to her with a soft voice and she could see a faint spark of hope being lit in Elisabeth.

  “Thank god.”

  “Let's call the police here at Tabula Rasa, they have to help us,” Malin said to Denver, “We have to call the police and get help.”

  Elisabeth started violently waiving her arms.

  “No! No! They’ll come after us!” Malin jolted with suprisement and lifted her hands as protection against her attack. Elisabeth's hands slapped at her, but the force of the blows was feeble. Malin firmly grabbed Elisabeth's wrists and caught her eyes.

  “Calm down. Calm down.” Malin held her arms, “We won’t call the police. Don’t worry. Take it easy, we are friends.”

  Malin nodded at Denver.

  “Come. Let’s bring them to our apartment.”

  Elisabeth stared at Malin.

  “Why are we going there?” Elisabeth pulled up her shoulders and started to pull away from Malin. Elisabeth looked with fluttering eyes at Malin. Denver interrupted.

  “We have to get out of here. We can’t stay here; somebody will find us.”

  Before Elisabeth could say anything had Denver picked up Richard in his arms. Malin looked around, they were still alone in the aisle. She grabbed Elizabeth's shoulders and helped her up. Elisabeth was trembling under her touch and sobbed silently. Malin looked down in the long aisle, which led away from the elevator and began to go to their apartment. They reached the door and were almost inside it when an older couple walked by and watched in suprisement how Denver carried Richard in to the apartment.

  * * *

  Malin cursed silently when she saw the couple following them with their eyes into the apartment. She smiled at them, shrugged and went in. The door closed automatically behind her. Denver brought Richard into one of the bedrooms and gently laid him down on the bed.

  Malin placed Elisabeth on the couch, got a blanket for her and sat down next to her on the edge of the couch. She stroked Elisabeth over the forehead while her eyes started to flutter. Elisabeth tried to say something but Malin put a hand on her mouth.

  “Get some rest now. You are safe here.”

  Elisabeth struggled to keep her eyes open, but a compelling force closed them. Malin looked tenderly at her, then stood up and went over to Denver in the bedroom where Richard laid on the bed, sleeping. A lamp was lit and spread a faint light in the room.

  “How’s he doing?”

  Denver looked at Richard and saw how sweat glistened on his forehead.

  “It looks like his arm is broken. How serious it is, I don’t know but he should probably go to a doctor who can take a look at it.”

  Malin nodded.

  “I think it’s probably going to be a little difficult to find a doctor who can help us.”

  Denver did not answer. Malin looked at Richard who was twisting in his sleep as if he was beset by nightmares.

  Denver frowned.

  “It's a bit strange, he must have experienced something highly traumatic that must’ve strained him completely. The broken arm shouldn’t make him collapse like this.”

  Both Malin and Denver stood in silence for a few minutes and discussed the elderly couple who had seen them entering the apartment. Malin looked up at the door to the living room where Elizabeth was.

  “Ok, I have to go out to Elizabeth and see how she is doing.”

  Denver nodded. Malin turned around when Richard violently threw off the blanket and sat up.

  “The red one is coming! The red-haired monster is coming!”

  * * *

  A couple of hours later, a light knock on the door was heard and Malin froze. It was Lamm who had come to pick them up for dinner. Her eyes drifted toward the closed bedroom door. Behind it were the sleeping Richard and the awake Elisabeth. She had explained to Elizabeth what would happen, and it seemed that she had understood that they must be dead silent while she and Denver were away for dinner. She looked towards Denver, who was standing next to the bedroom door, wearing a suit, nodded shortly.

  “Ready?”

  She glanced over at the beautiful hallway mirror.

  “Ready.”

  She swept her hand in the air and the door slid open. Outside the door, Lamm smiled at her and before she could object, he ste
pped into the hallway. Malin smiled reflexively and tried to control her breathing. Lamm looked appreciatively at her.

  “You look particularly lovely today, my dear.”

  She blushed and she became annoyed with herself for reacting like that.

  “Thank you, that was nice of you" and continued, "Shall we go?”

  Lamm raised an eyebrow and smiled at her.

  “Are we hungry today?”

  Before she could answer, a moaning sound came from the bedroom. Malin stiffened and her stomach froze when Lamm spun around. At the same second Denver grabbed his stomach and moaned theatrically.

  “Yes, god yes, I’m really hungry.”

  Malin held her breath. A couple of seconds dragged by in silence.

  “Yes, I too, let us enjoy the exquisite dinner that is prepared for you.”

  Lamm smiled at both of them, turned around and walked out. Relived, they followed and the door closed behind them.

  * * *

  It was early in the morning and they had tried to get some sleep during the night, but it had not worked out very well. Malin and Denver had come back around midnight after the dinner with Lamm and the fatigue began to set in. But she did not think Lamm suspected anything. At least not yet.

  When they came home, Malin had been sitting with Elisabeth, who was asleep on the couch in the bedroom. Malin had put a blanket over her and wondered what kind of a nightmares she had gotten herself in to.

  Their mission to interview one of the world's most powerful men had switched to a rescue operation for a couple of people she only had known a few hours. Malin shook her head and tried to bring some order to her thoughts.

  They had placed Richard in bed and given him painkillers to help him get some sleep but it had not worked. His broken arm got worse and if he did not get to a doctor to put the broken arm right, the wound would soon develop into blood poisoning and he would end up in shock. Malin looked at Richard where he lay in bed. He looked pale and smelled of sour sweat. His arm had swollen up to double the size and small black lines had spread like a spider web over his forearm.