Abductees

by Alan Brickett

  “And you are so modest too.” Ormond couldn’t help the sarcasm, still the old defensive reaction.

  “Your attempt at humor is understood but will not be reciprocated.”

  “Uh, that’s fascinating,” Marc muttered.

  “Hold on to your excitement there, mate. This is about all five of us, and I want to know if we can do anything else, like go home, to Earth, back to our lives.” Ormond leaned forward eagerly for the answer.

  “Yes, you can be returned to Earth. For all intents and purposes, I will be able to return you to the exact moment before you left. However, I would put forward the supposition that you would not entirely wish to, nor would you accept abandoning this situation, when taking into consideration your own comparative lives.”

  “Hunh?” Ormond was still sorting through what SAI had said.

  When Connor asked his question, he seemed quite calm about it. “What do you mean we’d prefer to stay? Why did you choose us?”

  The display around them changed, blanking out before a rotating view of Earth appeared. The perspective was from out in space, so a lot of the planet was visible to the five humans in their floating chairs.

  SAI began to speak while the image was changed.

  “At the time of your selection, there were over seven billion inhabitants on Earth. The mission variables considered this the most likely time to find early progenitors of humans with the necessary skills and innate capabilities required for the mission.”

  The planet was being covered in a swarm of colored icons, many in North America, many more in India and China, and spreading over Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Russia, and even the Antarctic.

  “There were millions of variables considered within degrees of importance to the success of the mission and related to the makeup of a final team grouping. This vessel could take on and support five humans in optimal capacity and taking into account the future possibility of damage or other extremes.”

  “Within these variables was a primary consideration that whoever was selected would be willing to carry on the mission once all the information was made available to them,” SAI finished.

  There was another moment of silence while the humans watched the earth rotating past, the billions of glimmering points collapsing into only thousands, marking people shining up from under the realistically rendered clouds.

  “So, your analysis concluded that we would want to be here and help you?” It was Connor again. “Perhaps you should explain why, and start with me?”

  “Agreed, Connor. Your tone and biological response shows that you are most congruent with understanding what I have inferred. You are a good place to start.”

  SAI changed the display. Earth disappeared, and what replaced it were medical records, photos, and images of records on paper. A violet-tinged window border appeared, and data started to scroll through it.

  Ormond thought it looked like those scenes in movies where the top-secret service agency would show everything they knew about a person up on big screens for the audience to believe that a thorough set of research had been done.

  SAI began its narration.

  “Subject Connor, and please do not take offense. It is not meant to be impersonal, but this is the best way to describe you.”

  Connor nodded for SAI to continue.

  “Born to Wilson Ormond and Jennifer Ormond, previous maiden name Shore. Grew up in an average employment bracket and went into construction. Joined the union and worked his way up to being known as an honest and fair union representative for every job he was contracted to do. Connor earned respect and prestige while learning the ins and outs of many hands-on trades.”

  “At the age of twenty-eight, Connor was involved in his seventh regular relationship, the female counterpart registered as Lillian Wagner. During the next six years, Lillian pursued her interest, and subsequent poor choices, in a gambling fraternity, leading to large-scale debt. In this instance, ‘large-scale’ is relative to the income potential of Connor and Lillian combined.”

  “In the subsequent years, Connor engaged in underground pit fighting. His large frame and keen eye highlighted his skills. Through rigorous training and a dedicated regimen, Connor came to be an attraction in the fighting pits. The purpose of this activity was to earn money for the debt holders of Lillian.”

  “Mate? You got yourselves in debt with the mob or something?” Ormond broke in to ask, giving Connor a sympathetic look.

  Connor nodded back. “Yeah, something like that. But wait, it gets worse.”

  The pictures and photos would be highlighted, or data brought up in front of the humans for review, while SAI continued its explanation.

  “Ten months ago, relative to when you would all remember your last time on Earth, Connor was involved in an accident at his construction site. A poorly manufactured support stanchion crumbled under the weight and toppled a portion of the building being raised onto several workers. Connor and several others were assisting the trapped people when more of the building collapsed on them.”

  “Connor sustained severe injury from falling debris to his lower back, spine, and hips. He was unconscious in hospital for three weeks after the incident, and when he awoke, the doctors informed him that there was no way they could repair the damage. His spine had been crushed, and radial damage had extended up along the cord, rendering Connor a paraplegic.”

  Meriam and Marc both gave Connor startled looks. He just shrugged in reply.

  “Both of Connor’s parents did visit him in the hospital, but Lillian did not. Through some phone calls and contacts, Connor surmised that Lillian had left him, as he was now unable to support her. She also took all of their money at the time. What Connor is not aware of is that Lillian had been working with the debtors that she owed money to, placing Connor in various fighting rings for her own gain while continuing her gambling impulses.”

  “Say what?” At this, Connor almost lurched out of his chair.

  “My apologies, Connor. Some of this information would be beyond what you know. I can keep anything sensitive for your later review if you prefer. All background information was pertinent to my mission and selection process.”

  “Oh, okay, well. No, that’s alright. You can tell us everything.”

  “Thank you, Connor, for this example of the trademark honesty and forthright attitude you displayed throughout your life. At the time you were selected for this mission, you were wasting away in a hospital bed. “

  “Your parents were doing what they could to cover the expenses, but the bills were piling up, and without any means to have your spine repaired, you were likely to die of organ failure and atrophy within the year.”

  “During that time, your parents would most likely have become destitute, and they would have lost their son only after watching him die slowly. Would this be your interpretation as well?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, it would.”

  This time, Connor didn’t look at the anguished expressions of the others.

  I guess extreme circumstances have brought us together.

  “I commandeered you from the hospital and replaced your body with a cloned replica that expired from advanced cardiac myopathy. To the hospital and your parents, you died peacefully in your sleep. On the trip to NGC 1569, I conducted the necessary repairs on your spine and nerves, restoring you to health and giving you this second chance at life.”

  The express purpose of selecting you was your need to help, your drive, and the fact that if you had stayed on Earth, you would have had a slow and miserable death.”

  “Ah, jeez mate.” Ormond was shaking his head side to side. “I can’t even imagine.”

  “It’s okay, Ormond. Thanks. I agree with SAI. This is better. And honestly, I want to help these aliens. Devourer and all.”

  “Uh, really? Why?” Marc seemed perplexed, although he did keep glancing up at the information all around them as if expecting something.

  “I’m a bit old fashioned, Marc. First, I owe SAI for
giving me this life. Plus, I really do want to help out. If this is why I got healed, then I want to do good with it. Besides, I think you’ll want the answer to this question too. SAI, if we get returned to Earth, it would be as we were, right?”

  Lekiso gave an indrawn breath, and Meriam cocked her head in surprise, while Marc’s expression bordered on near panic.

  Ormond just raised both eyebrows in question.

  “You are correct, Connor. To avoid any dissolution or impact on the objective timeline, I would have to return you as you were to your lives as they were. My mission priorities dictate that I cannot make any allowance for you in this regard.”

  “Uh, so what, you get to abduct us, change us, dangle all this hope in front of us, and then say you’ll take it away if we refuse?!” Marc almost jumped out of his chair, his face splotchy with anger and possibly dismay.

  “I apologize, Marc, but that is the reality you are all now faced with. My analysis indicates that the five of you, aside from being congruent with each other, are good choices within the high-degree variable of being able to accept not returning to Earth given the situations you would be returning to. I am not empowered to save any of you from the lives you had, only to provide you new lives to further the purpose of the entire human race.”

  * *

  Connor felt relieved.

  Somewhere in the back of his head, he’d been thinking that this was all a dream. Hell, it might still be, but if it was, it was a good way to go. He didn’t know the reasons the others were here, but he was really grateful to have this new chance.

  The others were fiddling or looking around, anywhere but at him, each considering why they were here and if it suited them. He didn’t know how convincing he could be, but then, maybe that was the point. If they kept everything hidden, then it would just hang around them until they decided to speak up.

  “SAI, can you please explain the reason why you chose each of the rest of us? Just leave out the sensitive parts and fill in the background that we might not know?” Connor asked, thinking this would be an excellent way to get it out into the open.

  Meriam looked up with a shocked expression, but the others varied between somewhat worried and generally fearful.

  “Come on, guys. If we get it out into the open, it’ll help. Also, with the background SAI has, you can be more informed about where your lives were going, right?”

  “I guess,” Lekiso answered, while Meriam still looked worried.

  Connor gave her a direct look and said, “Whatever it is, we can’t tell anyone else, and if you decide to go back, none of us will even know you anyway. Right, SAI?”

  “Connor is correct,” the ship artificial intelligence responded.

  Meriam looked at Connor for a few seconds and then nodded. He looked at the others: Lekiso gave a sharp nod, Ormond shrugged, and Marc held up his hands in surrender.

  “Okay, SAI, lay it on us.”

  “I will proceed in alphabetical order: Subject Marc Umber, in summary. Marc lost his mother to lupus four months ago in objective relative time to the point you were taken from Earth. The disease is genetic, and Marc inherited it. Marc resides within his mother’s apartment, having sold his own home to pay for her medical bills while she was undergoing treatment. Currently, there is still a large debt outstanding, which Marc pays for from his winnings in online gambling.”

  The display changed as SAI continued, bringing up limited details on Marc’s life.

  “What Marc does not know is that the disease was progressing quickly in his own body and would have surfaced with extreme symptoms within a year. The radiation treatment his mother received was inadequately shielded and kicked off the knock-on effect within his own biology. Also, although you were being very careful with the online gambling and your statistical programming, you played a number of sites online belonging to the same source corporation.”

  “This corporation monitors all activity amalgamated from the different portals. Your success pushed you to ever-increasing increments of value on your bets, and you recently popped up on their exception reporting. I calculated a very high probability that you were going to be approached within the next sixty days to work for this organization.”

  “They would have involved you in their criminal concern, and there was a high probability that when your illness presented itself, your value to them would have declined and you would have been cast aside. Their operating profile would have meant they would have taken over your debt and proclaimed your life under their auspices. Every projection did not prove encouraging for your quality of life over the next year and a half.”

  Ormond was watching Marc while this all came out.

  The man looked shocked at the revelations but also world-weary.

  “Marc, your personality is such that you have high empathy and a strong rational and logical mind. Usually, this puts you at odds between your thinking and your feeling. The recent loss of your mother pushed you to withdraw from the world, but essentially, you are an individual who wants to help those in need.”

  SAI paused, and the display shifted the information on Marc off to behind where they sat. The next images and records to come up were for Meriam.

  “Subject: Meriam Cleese, to outward appearances a socialite who arranges functions and parties for the rich and well-to-do.”

  “Here we go,” Ormond just barely heard Meriam whisper to herself.

  “Meriam’s actual profession is one colloquially known as a ‘fixer,’ to be contracted for a variety of requirements among the corporate world, including but not limited to industrial espionage, confidence work, cover-ups, thefts, clean-ups, and other non-lethal activities for the wealthy. In the course of her career, Meriam has conducted more than three hundred counts of unlawful actions.”

  Meriam gave a lovely sultry smile at the other four, who were looking at her incredulously.

  “A girl has to eat” was her only comment before SAI continued.

  “These activities started at the age of twenty-two, while studying in university when Meriam lost her father to an organized hit from a consortium of corporate heads. Her father had raised and helped with extracurricular education for Meriam after her mother died at childbirth. Meriam has been working to build up evidence of the activities of these corporations for years in an effort to bring the law down on them with no room for escape, as they have done in various disconnected court cases for decades.”

  This time, when they looked at Meriam, she was settled back comfortably in her chair with a knowing smile. Connor, Marc, and Lekiso looked a bit guilty at what they had been thinking, but Ormond gave her a smile.

  “The background to Meriam, however, is that she has been betrayed by various team members over time who have kept these corporations informed of her activities for great rewards. They have preferred to keep Meriam in play due to her value as an agent and her unknowing assistance in their criminal activities, which, at any time, they could counter should they wish to. The order had been given to have you killed, Meriam.”

  “What?” At this, Meriam sat up again, concern on her face.

  “I am afraid so. At the time of your extraction from the penthouse apartment where you joined the party, the cleaning staff was made up of a team of mercenaries who were going to kill you. The champagne you had sedated you. You were not going to be aware of your own demise.”

  “Shit, the bastards had me. I knew something was going on, but I was still making my plans.” Meriam sat back suddenly, the energy draining out of her at the implications.

  “I gathered your data and evidence, along with other database information, and collated it into a comprehensive file to be released within a month from our exit from Earth’s solar system. The information will be released to several international organizations and public journalism offices under your name, including the manner of your death.”

  “I replaced you with a cloned body, including the drugs to your system, so that the team would believe they had succeeded.
”

  “Oh, well, thanks, I think.” Meriam looked shocked, but Ormond expected she would recover quickly.

  The displays shifted again, pushing Meriam’s details to the back next to Marc’s and bringing up information on Lekiso.

  “Subject: Lekiso Mthembu. Recruited as a child into the army of her homeland in Africa, she was raised to be a child fighter.”

  “Not a soldier, just a fighter, in every way required to survive and bring violence,” Lekiso said bitterly, surprising them all.

  “Correct. The first twenty years of Lekiso’s life were spent in a harrowing existence meant to instill obedience and aggressiveness. She was repeatedly raped and forced to commit various acts of atrocity for the self-proclaimed general in her region.”

  The others threw sympathetic looks at Lekiso, while Ormond, for his part, gave her a knowing look, to which she responded with an expression of appreciation. She wasn’t someone who wanted sympathy; she had lived through it and survived.

  He’d seen enough of the methods used to know that anyone who could be as composed as she had been the past few days was strong, emotionally and mentally.

  “Found by the United Nations task force assigned to peacekeeping activities in that region after a particularly fierce encounter, Lekiso was taken to America along with other refugees. There, she was tested and psychologically assessed. She surprised her rescuers by volunteering to join the peacekeeping and relief workers of the United Nations. Her wish was to serve so that she could go back and provide the same help to others in her homeland.”

  “During the course of more tests and some training, she was accepted, going through all of the basic training and making it with a strong sense of discipline. Lekiso applied for and was accepted into officer’s training at the time that she was assigned as a linguist and relations officer in the African basin of the Congo.”