by Maksim Malik
The stretcher raised a little higher from the ground—it seemed about one and a half meters above the ground. It followed Dr. Fukuhara as he walked toward the docks, gliding effortlessly next to him. Nadani saw the ceiling and Dr. Fukuhara and nothing else as they traveled. She heard sounds of people as they neared and her heart beat faster each time thinking of the possibility the group was CAAI.
I believe we are safe for now, Adan said. We’re almost to the ship. Saying so, it produced a map over Nadani’s vision showing their location and the ship’s.
Okay, almost there, Nadani thought. What about CAAI? Can we figure out how they knew? she asked.
I’ve been scouring the Exanet for any incriminating information. Of course, I’ve found information about you, your trading records, and even the fact you’re zeus, Adan said, the latter surprising her. Being zeus meant she was open to xenosexual activities and sex without emotional attachment. Nothing implicating you with any AI as of yet, and I doubt I’ll find anything at this rate.
So people can look up my sexual habits, she thought, feeling awkward at the idea.
I wouldn’t worry about it. I had to dig fairly deep to find it, Adan said. It is better people find out about you being zeus than merging with an AI.
Yeah, I suppose you’re right, she said after she paused to think about it. Some people won’t be happy finding out I’m zeus, but they can sod off.
Right, Adan said, chuckling.
They reached Astromancer without incident.
Keep the ship doors closed for the moment, Nadani said.
Sure, Adan replied.
Nadani arranged herself into a sitting position on the stretcher. Her legs dangled over the edge; the hovering stretcher was too far above the ground.
“What are you doing?” Dr. Fukuhara said.
“I’m not riding this thing into my own ship,” Nadani said. There’s no way she wanted to ride inside on a stretcher unless she needed to.
“Very well,” the doctor said, sighing, and the stretcher lowered until Nadani’s feet connected with the floor comfortably.
“Thanks,” she said, truly appreciative. She wouldn’t budge on the matter and was happy Dr. Fukuhara did not want to argue. He did hold a hand out to her to help her stand which she took gladly. The pain she felt spiked, but she could deal with it. Her nanobots blocked most of the pain for her which made her wonder with a morbid fascination how much it would hurt otherwise. Adan anticipated her and opened the doors to the outer and inner airlock when she stood upright. Nadani led Dr. Fukuhara into the ship.
“Welcome to Astromancer,” Nadani said in a pained voice.
Dr. Tysgan must have waited for the sound of the doors to open since he already walked down the corridor toward Nadani with a puzzled look on his face. He gave Dr. Fukuhara a quizzical glance when he neared.
“What has happened? There is a large contusion on your face.”
“Miss Jagi has three broken ribs and one cracked rib.”
“Oh!” Dr. Tysgan exclaimed. “Was there a fight?”
“I brought dessert,” Nadani said and held out the arm holding the bag of desserts. “Surprise?”
“Dessert! Excellent,” Dr. Tysgan said, taking the package from Nadani, seemingly unperturbed.
“I’m Dr. Fukuhara,” the doctor said.
“I got attacked by a group of people,” Nadani said nonchalantly.
Adan, could you send Dr. Tysgan a message through Park describing what happened? And let him know it was a group of CAAI who attacked, she said to Adan. It’s probably better that he finds out sooner rather than later. Then we can talk about it once the doctor is gone.
On it, Adan said. You better get to the MediScan though. Fukuhara looks a little impatient now.
“The MediScan is this way,” Nadani said, prompting Dr. Tysgan to turn around and lead the way down the corridor.
They stopped at what Nadani thought of as the bathroom, although it was more than a simple bathroom.
“MediScan,” she said when she entered, Fukuhara on her heels. The shower withdrew into the ceiling and the MediScan emerged from the far wall.
“Remove your top and bra and lie down on the bed please,” Dr. Fukuhara said. “Let me have a look at this device.”
Nadani removed the requested clothes then laid down. She turned her head and saw Dr. Tysgan hovering at the small room’s entrance, watching quietly. Dr. Tysgan’s visage was difficult to read. He had a crease on his forehead, but neither his eyes, nor the rest of his face betrayed any emotion.
The MediScan is up to date, Adan said.
I guess he wouldn’t just take my word for it though, Nadani replied.
After about five minutes the doctor spoke.
“This MediScan seems fine,” Dr. Fukuhara said. “I’m making sure it receives the proper instructions instead of relying on only the autoscan. Please relax, keep your arms above your head, and try not to move.”
A long, thin robotic arm extended from the wall with a lengthy needle at the end of it.
And how am I supposed to relax? she asked as she folded her hands beneath her head, getting a good look at the needle. She had been tortured with needles in the past by the Fengwa lady who nicknamed herself after the implements she had such a fondness of using, so needles were not exactly her favorite thing in the universe.
The robotic arm arced over her body until the needle pointed at her left side. It sprayed some liquid in a wide area which went numb. The needle darted forward after about ten seconds of letting the liquid take effect, and punctured her side.
Nadani sighed with relief when the needle and arm withdrew, having not felt even the tiniest of pinches.
“Now lie there for half an hour,” Dr. Fukuhara instructed. “If you try to move too much then the MediScan will try to restrain you.”
“I can’t get up?” Nadani asked dejectedly. “What if I have to go to the bathroom?”
“Do you need to? We can have the MediScan set up a catheter if—”
“No, I’m fine,” Nadani said hastily. “I think I’ll be fine for half an hour.”
I still don’t get how this works, Nadani thought.
You’ve been injected with a large dose of specialized programmable nanobots, Adan said. These will work together with your own colony of nanobots to move ribs back into place and then seal them back together. The specialized nanobots turn into the sealant in between the ribs—it is a fascinating process which I will be observing to the best of my abilities through monitoring your nanobots. After a half hour you’ll be good as new.
Wonderful, she thought. I’m going to take a shower for these bruises and a nap after all this.
“Make sure she eats well after this is over,” Dr. Fukuhara said to the Dr. Tysgan at the room’s entrance. Her system will be losing and creating more nanobots at a much faster rate than normal, so she’ll need the energy to help recover.
“These are nanobots type CFX-03, are they not?” Dr. Tysgan said to Fukuhara.
“Ah, yes, I believe that’s correct,” Fukuhara replied.
“Faster they can go if introducing type Q-BEX as well,” Dr. Tysgan said. “And stronger result.”
“I don’t know about that. There are studies, but it hasn’t made it through to basic MediScan procedures,” Dr. Fukuhara said.
“I am nanobot specialist from Jengi-Shun R&D. I will instruct the machine how to synthesize this,” Dr. Tysgan sounded quite excited.
“I’m not sure,” Dr. Fukuhara said. “If the patient consents then this is her ship after all. I don’t have any sway here to be technical.”
“I consent,” Nadani said right away. She trusted the diminutive doctor implicitly when it came to his field of research.
I agree, Adan said. Dr. Tysgan knows what he’s talking about and with Park I’m sure they can remember the smallest detail about any project they’ve ever been involved with.
“Good, good,” Dr. Tysgan said and clapped his hands together. “MediScan has so much
potential, but little of it is used. A shame, really.”
“I admit I’m curious to see the result,” Dr. Fukuhara said. “Is it all right if I stay aboard until the bones are sealed? I could then request trials at my clinic for Q-BEX.”
“That’s fine with me,” Nadani said.
“Wait time should reduce to eight minutes, at the most,” Dr. Tysgan said as he strutted forward to the MediScan display and entry panels. “Perhaps two minutes to set up nanobots, so ten minutes total.” Dr. Tysgan turned his full attention to the MediScan.
“Two minutes to synthesize and program a different type of nanobot? Who are you?” Dr. Fukuhara’s voice filled with amazement.
“That’s Dr. Tysgan, one of the top nanobot researchers in Gershan space,” Nadani said when Dr. Tysgan didn’t respond. It appeared he had become involved with his work.
“What’s he doing here?” Fukuhara asked.
I don’t think the truth would be suitable for an answer here, Adan said before Nadani could speak.
“We’re headed to JUSCCHQ,” Nadani said, refraining from adding the reason why. “We had to make a stop here for repairs though.”
Too much of the truth? Nadani asked Adan.
No, it was enough to sate his curiosity most likely, Adan said.
Before two minutes passed, Dr. Tysgan took a step back from the MediScan.
“Finished!” he exclaimed, beaming brightly at Nadani.
The robotic arm returned to inject her side. It sprayed her beforehand and injected the new type of nanobot into her.
“So how do we know it’s finished?” Nadani asked.
“In eight minutes do a general scan,” Dr. Fukuhara said. “If it says your ribs aren’t broken then it worked. Simple as that.”
“Yes, yes, it will work,” Dr. Tysgan said. “Tried on humans, tetchnans, partons—surprising results. All peer-reviewed. Bureaucracy holding it back from markets, not lack of trials or information.”
“That’s the way of it,” Dr. Fukuhara said.
The room grew silent. Dr. Tysgan seemed content standing with his arms crossed and humming to himself, although Dr. Fukuhara seemed eager for conversation yet unable to start one himself.
The eight minutes felt like forever for Nadani. She had a counter ticking down on her visual overlay and her thoughts focused more on the present as soon as it ticked to one minute remaining. Thirty seconds remaining. Twenty.
Ten.
3, 2, 1, blast-off, she thought when the counter reached the end.
“Okay, time’s up,” Dr. Tysgan said and stepped forward, engaging the MediScan to cause it to do a full body scan.
“Let’s see,” Dr. Fukuhara said and stepped next to Dr. Tysgan to view the results on the displays. He paused a few seconds while he went over the data. “Remarkable. It was successful, and the bond does look stronger than the typical CFX-03 bond.”
“I will send the schemata through Exanet,” Dr. Tysgan said. “Then you can install in your machines.”
“Oh!” Fukuhara’s surprise looked genuine. “That would be remarkable. Thank you! You have no idea how many broken bones I deal with here,” he said.
“Can I get up now?” Nadani asked, feeling awkward, for she felt like she interrupted the two others.
“Yes, of course,” Dr. Fukuhara said.
Nadani stood and felt her side with her hand. It felt odd since it still had the effect of numbness from the spray. She picked her shirt from the ground, ignoring her bra, and put it back on.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to take a shower,” she said to the two men as politely as she could.
“Oh, yes, yes,” Dr. Tysgan said, turning and leaving the room.
“Remember to eat well after the shower,” Dr. Fukuhara said.
“I will,” Nadani said as he turned around. “And thank you.”
He gave a small wave as he exited the room. Nadani let the door close finally and swapped the MediScan back for the shower. The MediScan retreated into the wall, and the shower descended from the ceiling. The shower had healing properties as well. She wanted to use a cycle setup to reduce bruising. When the shower secured itself, she stepped in and felt a cold lump of fear develop in her stomach.
Would CAAI come after her again?
Lady Shirui Higu
Bernard Feckwell. Where have you gone? Annabella Summerlin thought. The Exanet yielded no traces of the professor since his disappearance as far as she could tell. She sat in high orbit around Septiva IX, staying within Exanet range like a giant target while she decided where to go next.
Where can someone go without leaving any trace of themselves on the Exanet? she wondered. She refused to believe he was dead. People didn’t vanish unless they were spaced, and there was no indication Feckwell was going on any sort of journey before he disappeared. In fact, he had been involved with his pet project at the time, so she doubted he wanted to be far from it at all.
Perhaps illegal slavery, or kidnapping? Well, kidnapping is likely not it since there has been no ransom. Unless, something dawned on her. Unless it was Fengwa. The Syndicate can make people disappear. Fengwa, although they had many legitimate businesses, was a massive criminal syndicate. They were the puppeteers behind the politicians in several JUS states while being openly in control of others as well as having their own space independent of the Joined Union Systems.
She sent a q-com message to a trusted contact in the Syndicate asking for any information on Dr. Bernard Feckwell. It was only 11am GST so she expected a swift response—Suneeti Teresi knew Annabella’s identity and would offer the respect she deserved. Annabella waited a mere five minutes for a reply.
She skipped through the salutations—yes, “most venerable Lady,” of course—there: Bernard Feckwell was imprisoned on planet Gebel in the Vibhuti system for failure to pay owed creds to Fengwa Syndicate. Her joy soared, causing her to shiver with pleasure. She sent a genuinely thankful reply to Suneeti and set her foldspace system to a spot in high orbit around Gebel. It would take roughly a sol of travel.
The FSS spooled up in two minutes and twelve seconds before she was on her way.
#
“I’m sorry, civilian ships aren’t allowed to dock here,” the docking master said over the com.
“This is Lady Shirui Higu, and I will dock where I please,” she said dropping the false name for now. She was in Fengwa territory and would need all her sway to do what she wanted.
“L-Lady Higu! Of course, docking permission allowed! Take docking pad zero-four, if it please you.” She smiled at the response. Oh, how she loved making citizens speak as though they were slaves.
“Thank you,” Annabella said with genuine happiness. No, here she was not Annabella but Lady Shirui Higu, known as Needles amongst Fengwa and beyond. Finally, she received some respect and recognition.
After docking and standing from the pilot’s pit she wondered if she ought to change into something more formal. She decided against it. Through her career she was known to wear her plugsuit most of the time, so plugsuit it was. The planet’s gray sky, brown grass, and musky-scented air were the first things she noticed upon stepping outside. She was greeted by a group of three men and one woman, all wearing standard Fengwa uniforms, one of which was a higher rank than the others—likely the docking master.
“Lady Shirui Higu,” said the highest-ranked one, the female. “Welcome to Gebel Incarceration Center. May I ask what we can assist you with?”
“Yes, yes, you can,” she answered. “Take me to one Bernard Feckwell. He is a prisoner here.”
“Ah, yes,” the woman said, Haydee Lamarre according to her ident. “That’s rather unusual.”
“And?” Lady Shirui said, quirking an eyebrow.
“And there’s no problem! Of course, we can,” Lamarre said. Shirui saw the others nodding their heads.
All too easy, she thought.
“I will arrange a car to take us down into the prison immediately,” Lamarre continued.
“A
car?” Shirui asked.
“Yes, it’s quite a long way otherwise,” Lamarre said, nodding her head once. “If you would please follow me.”
Haydee Lamarre led her away from the ship and toward the general walkway of the docking area. It was a drab, boring docking port compared to most others she had ever seen. There were, of course, many guards walking patrols and maintaining positions, but not much other traffic besides Lady Shirui herself. The walk out of the starport didn’t take long.
“The planet is in its autumnal season,” Lamarre explained as they walked to the side of the road where a large, luxurious car awaited them. “It is quite stunning in spring and summer.”
“I’m sure it is,” Shirui responded offhandedly. She did not give a damn about the planet’s beauty in the long run, for there was a singular purpose she was here: acquire Bernard Feckwell, and in so doing keep him under her thumb. Lamarre rushed a few steps ahead to hold the activate the door on the near side of the car, awaiting Shirui. Shirui kept her pace the same, walking languidly as if she was in no hurry. Once Shirui sat on the plush seat and pulled her legs into the car, Lamarre let the door slide shut, ran around to the other side of the car, and sat in the opposite side of the seat. Lady Shirui would have preferred her to sit up front and leave the comfort of the back to only herself but said nothing. A few months ago, she would have raised a fury about it but now she needed Lamarre’s cooperation, so she pretended to pay it no mind.
“Care for a drink, my lady?” Lamarre said, opening a refrigerator in front of her in the center of the car. The bottle she held up was one of Fengwa’s brands, and a result of one of their legitimate businesses, koorax. Arguably similar to champagne, it differed in taste and in alcohol content. The drink tasted airier and lighter than champagne. Shirui had a fondness for the drink particularly since she owned a substantial share in the company producing it.
“Yes, that’ll do,” Shirui answered again with a tone of disinterest. It would not do to let the lower classes feel like they could get close to the higher.
Lamarre poured a drink as the car traveled down the highway. Shirui couldn’t tell how fast they went for certain, but they obviously had priority as other automated cars moved to the side as they went past. Shirui took the proffered flute from Lamarre and sipped it. The temperature perfect, she sighed with contentment. It had been a while—the destruction of her dreadnought—since she had a glass of koorax. Lamarre reached to the refrigerator to put the bottle away.