Composed, she replied, “While you’re there, would you mind telling them we’re out of hand made biscuits?” Shrugging her small shoulders and looking at the biscuits on the floor, she added “It seems that we went through them more quickly than anticipated.”
He stood above her, his crimson face transformed into a deep purple. “This doesn’t end here,” he threatened, clenching his fists. His eyes remained locked with hers until he turned and stormed away.
Lowering her gaze, she put her hand to her head, taking in the mess around her. Sighing, she reached for the tattoo on her hand. A holographic control screen projected from the tattoo, letting her request a service droid to clean the mess.
“Here, let me give you a hand,” a kind voice offered.
Lena snapped her head toward the smooth voice. The deep blue eyes of a new soldier stared straight back at her. His hand extended toward her. Surprised but thankful for the small gesture of service, Lena grabbed the hand and was easily helped off the ground.
“I’m Jonah,” the tanned boy declared with a perfect grin. “And what you did was hilarious. He’s been on my nerves since we picked him up.” Running his fingers through his hair, his gorgeous face caught Lena off guard. “ He’s been trying to show everyone how much better he is than the rest of us. All because his daddy is in the Priestess’s court.”
Lena’s heart raced. Whether the Priestess’s name caused it, or the handsome boy, she felt unsure. Not responding to the chivalrous soldier, she turned toward the mess surrounding her and the service droids who were cleaning it up. Jonah still stood next to her, his hands on his hips. Thora’s warning to stay unnoticed flashed across her mind. Purposefully diverting her eyes from his gaze, Lena turned and started walking toward the kitchen.
“Most girls, when helped by a handsome soldier, respond somewhat differently,” he laughed. “At least offering a name.” His teasing voice caused flutters to form in her stomach.
She turned toward him. “Thank you kind soldier,” Lena mocked. “I don’t know what I would have done without your chivalry.” His eyes bore down upon her as he raised his lips in a smirk. Lena’s skin prickled as she turned away from him.
“Your name?” she heard him holler as she reached the kitchen doors.
Very much aware of the attention upon her, Lena looked over her small shoulder, smiled, and walked into the kitchen.
Chapter Nine
Guilt swept through Lena as she took in the incredulous look on Thora’s face.
“Oh, child, you’re going to be the death of me one of these days,” Thora fretted, shaking her head in disbelief. Shoving a tray full of fresh fruit and biscuits into Lena’s hands, she pushed her back into the servant’s halls. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here before that boy brings the cavalry down on you.”
“Thora, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“Yes, well, it is what it is. We’ll deal with what comes. In the meantime, do you think you can get those to Dorry without causing too much commotion?”
“Yes, Thora,” she whispered. Her companion’s gaze followed her out as she exited into the servants’ halls.
Lena took her time descending to the heart of the facility, where Dorry lived. Unseen to most, its pulsing lights and computer cells pumped activity into every room of the facility. Dorry ran it all, acting as the hidden soul that kept things alive and running. Between Dorry, Thora and Lena, the facility had no need for other servants. The three of them maintained it all.
“Dorry,” Lena yelled as she surveyed the room below her. From the catwalk where she entered she could see the whole room. Rows of servers filled the entire room and panels of holo screens hung from the walls and ceilings, flashing security footage from across the facility. Tubes flashing with electric currents wound their way through the ceiling, off to some mysterious location within the facility. Small paths, wide enough for a single person, provided the only walkways through the commotion on the ground floor. Lena, however, chose to walk above it on the raised catwalk to an elevated office hanging on the other end.
The door was open and Lena saw the stooping form of Dorry, who was fiddling with pliers and a grouping of wires, facing away from her.
“Dorry,” she called again.
“Yes, yes. I heard you the first time,” he responded, beckoning her to enter. Coming into the office she scanned the cluttered workroom for a place to set the tray, eventually settling on an empty stool.
Walking up behind him, she gazed over his shoulder to study his latest creation. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, just fiddling around with this and that.” Setting down some pliers he smiled upon seeing his breakfast. “Thora does know how to cook them doesn’t she?” Limping towards her, he grabbed a biscuit and started eating.
“Hey, I helped,” Her fake exasperation got Dorry chuckling.
“Of course you did, angel. I wouldn’t think otherwise. Now tell me what’s going on above ground. Are there any problems with the droids? How are the new recruits?”
“Dorry, I know you watch every little thing that goes on up there,” she laughed, glancing at the security feed projecting around the walls outside the office.
“Yes, well, if you were thinking right, you’d also have known that droid didn’t break down. That boy turned it off. I’ve taught you better than that.”
“Yes, I figured that one out a little too late.” Lena answered.
“You’re not the little girl I met so long ago. It’s going to be harder for you to stay unnoticed.”
“I won’t make the same mistake again.” Lena answered. “I’ll stay out of sight.”
“It’s probably best that you do.” Dorry paused. “Now down to business. What do you know about agency dearie?”
Dorry loved to teach her. Anytime she came down to what they both affectionately called “The Dungeon,” he’d give her a lesson of some kind or another. Dorry taught her to care for broken service droids and run other electronics. He told her it saved him the walk “upstairs,” Lena thought he just liked the company.
“Agency?” Crinkling her eyes in a questioning gaze, she walked toward a chair towering with gadgets and lifted them aside to sit.
“Yes, yes dearie. Agency. Human agency to be exact.” Walking toward her he grabbed the tray, placed it on the ground and sat on the now empty stool. Picking up one of the gadgets he started fidgeting. Impatient at the length of time it took Lena to find an answer he started talking again. “Human agency is the ability of human beings to make choices using their own intellect, and then act upon their choices.”
Taking a moment to think about it, she remembered her father speaking to her about agency. “Choosing and acting?” she replied, using words she’d heard her father speak so long ago. “I know the founders of Mir left instructions for how they wished for people to act. They felt that forcing people to act a certain way was wrong.”
“Yes.” His eyes sparkled like they did every time he taught her. “Now what would happen if that ability was taken away?”
She looked at Dorry, confused. “What do you mean?”
“What I’m getting at is what if that ability to decide and act was taken from you? Through technology.”
Lena looked at Dorry, shocked. “Is that possible? Forcing action upon someone?”
“Not only possible, but happening. I invented the technology.” He hummed and fidgeted with the wires in his wrinkled old hands.
Looking at him, she thought of all the things Dorry had taught her. Just weeks after she had arrived, she found Dorry while searching for parts to fix a service droid. He didn’t seem surprised to see her or question where she had come from. He just invited her in and answered her questions. His intelligence intrigued her right away as he patiently taught her how to fix the most common problems in the facility. But she glimpsed in an instant that his knowledge went way beyond general maintenance issues. She always wondered how someone so brilliant had ended up tending computers here.
But neither ever asked about the other’s past.
“Of course,” he continued rambling, “it’s always easier to get someone to help if they choose it themselves. Inserting that kind of technology into someone is messy, with all the nerves and brain overrides. It’s just better if they decide on their own to help you.” Putting his gadget down he grabbed some fresh fruit from the tray.
“How does it work?”
“Imagine the human brain is full of signals. Electrical-like impulses telling the body how to act, or to behave.”
“Okay.”
“Now imagine that someone can capture those impulses. Controls those impulses and even creates new impulses that can control the body. If they can control the impulses, they also can control the person. Literally, make arms move, heads move, speak the words they want them to say. The possibility for control is endless,” Dorry explained.
“That’s horrible. Trapped in a body that isn’t your own. A prisoner inside yourself.” Lena released a sorrowful sigh. “How often has this technology been used?”
“I used it only once, angel.” His eyes furrowed. “And the technology worked perfectly.” As he said it, his eyes looked sad.
Looking at him, she glimpsed a former life that held many secrets. He never talked in detail about the time before they met. An unspoken bond let their friendship flow easily and in the now. Lena knew what he told her now must be a closely guarded secret. And she wondered why he was telling her all this.
“Is it still happening? People being taken over, that is?”
“I created the technology that one other knows of. I cannot say what has been done with it outside my confines.” Getting a pensive looked in his eye, he rubbed his scruffy chin and started rambling, “To be quite honest, I don’t know why she’d need it at this point. People seem to fall readily to her feet without technology complicating things.”
Lena knew the “she” spoken of must be the Priestess. She also wondered, without asking, where Dorry had used the technology.
“Anyway, I just thought you should be aware that there are a precious few people in this world who had others’ wills forced upon them. Literally.” He paused. “The outcome is something I regretted the moment I used it,” he spoke, clearing his throat.
“You know Dorry, people can change. They can also use that same agency to turn a past life they might not be proud of into something good.”
His old eyes stared back at her, threatening to fill with tears. “I’m working on it angel. I’m working on it.” His eyes turned toward his project on the worktable. “Anyway thought someone else should know besides me and her.” Wiping his hands on his pants, he arose and limped back to his worktable.
“Things are about to change around here. I heard a new Captain is head of the facility now. He came straight from the off world battle school.”
Lena’s head shot up. “You mean the Interplanetary Military Academy?”
“The very one.”
Thoughts of Gideon screamed in her mind. That’s where his father claimed he was sending him. She wondered, not for the first time, if he ever got there. And how he was. She immediately reminded herself that Gideon had shot her, nearly killed her. He was the last person she ever wanted to remember. So why was it so hard to forget about him?
“Things should get very interesting around here quite soon,” Dorry said. Standing, he marked the end of the conversation. “Yes, things are about to change.”
Chapter Ten
Lena slipped unnoticed into the combat room. From the servants’ corridors Lena could access nearly any room, avoiding the main entrances—more importantly avoiding the new recruits, not that it mattered after curfew when recruits were ordered to remain in the barracks. Lena loved this room. Big and open, its walls were adorned with high-tech hand-to-hand combat equipment. She always looked forward to her last job of the day, cleaning the combat room.
Opening the service panel she pressed several buttons, programming the service droids to begin their cleaning. She scanned them all as they began their work, making sure none needed fixing. Then turned towards the open room.
“Now let’s have some fun.” She smiled at the hologram control dial. “Holo, can I get some tunes? Don’t let it be heard outside this room, but let’s get pumped.” She let her hair fall free from its holder until it fell in waves around her shoulders and down her back. Letting the top half of her jumpsuit hang loose at her waist, her grey tank clung close. Raising her arms above her head in a loosening stretch, she spoke.
“So what do you have for me today?” A hologram of another soldier appeared in front of her, its stoic face staring emotionlessly. Dorry had helped her program it late one evening after she’d mentioned frustration at her arm not moving as well as it used to. He programmed it to do physical therapy with her. She reprogrammed it to fight with her.
Sparring with the image always lifted her spirit. Of course if the Captain of the facility caught her, she’d be dead, but she couldn’t help herself. It made her feel alive.
Jab, front kick, side kick. The hologram acted as the perfect adversary. As she jabbed and kicked, an electric pulse provided resistance, keeping her from punching through to the other side. It also anticipated her movements, rarely missing a block. She’d much rather fight a person, but for all intents and purposes, this worked great.
She gave herself until the service holograms finished cleaning to complete her routine. While turning off the hologram, she noticed a shadowy movement on the upper balcony.
“Hello,” she yelled. Her voice echoed across the room. No one answered. Searching the balcony she saw nothing, but she felt like someone unseen watched her. Forcing air deep into her lungs, she shuddered. Hoping she was wrong, she ran the opposite way towards the servants exit.
“Excuse me for bothering you so lat,e madam.” The voice came from her side. In a reactionary twist, she thrust her hand upward, realizing too late whom the twinkling blue eye belonged to.
“Ahh, man,” Jonah groaned, clutching his face.
“Oh, Jonah. I’m so sorry. You caught me off guard. How did you get from the balcony so fast?”
“What are you talking about?” he groaned, clutching his eye. “I just walked through he door.”
“I thought...” Not finishing her sentence she looked towards the balcony opposite them, then at the soldier clutching his eye. “I’m so sorry. Soldiers aren’t supposed to be out of the barracks. What are you doing out, Recruit?”
He looked at her with a sheepish grin and held up a broken room droid. About the size of a palm, the little droids took care of small housekeeping chores. Each recruit was given a droid upon arrival. Jonah’s droid dangled from his hand in two pieces. “I heard through the grapevine that maybe you could fix it for me?” he answered, still clutching his eye.
Lena eyed her surroundings, hopeful she wouldn’t see the shadowy movement on the balcony again. Hoping more that whatever it was didn’t see the soldier and the servant. The balcony looked empty. Releasing her anxiety she laughed out loud. “What in the world would make anyone think I’d be able to fix this?” Taking it from him, she looked at the two pieces of the small droid and started fiddling around with the wires, her eyes running over its surface, already deciphering the problem.
“I can see it on your face. You know you can fix it,” Jonah said. “It’s the least you can do after giving me a black eye.”
Lena observed Jonah’s beautiful eyes, one swelling ridiculously fast “What will your Captain say when he finds you out of the barracks?” Lena said, pulling the top of her jumpsuit on and zipping it up.
Giving her a mischievous grin, he answered, “That’s the best part. Trying not to get caught.”
Lena rolled her eyes. Her attempts to make herself invisible to this soldier proved impossible. She admitted to herself that she liked the attention. After remaining unnoticed for so long, Lena ached for the friendship of another her age.
Deciding in a moment, she beckoned
her surprised guest to follow, grabbing a medi kit as she left. Leading him across the corridor through an unmarked door into a servant passageway, they turned down several halls until they came to a set of cement stairs. Climbing they emerged onto the dust blown roof of the training facility. Bright yellow lights glowed below them, lighting up the circular training fields below. Lena waved Jonah to follow.
Weaving through air ducts and chimneys, they made their way through the maze of darkness to the other side of the building where the deep black of night and twinkling stars dominated the sky.
“Wow,” Jonah gasped. “This is beautiful.”
The brightness of their small galaxy danced in the night sky. Whirling purples and reds surrounded them. Bright diamonds of purple and golds marked the nearby stars and planets. It filled Lena’s heart with happiness, sitting among such a beautiful galaxy. She often wondered if the creators of Mir had chosen this spot for the exquisite view. Breathing in the cool air, she opened the medi-kit and took out an ice pack and a flashlight. Tossing the ice pack to Jonah she asked, “So are you going to tell me how you broke this? They’re pretty hard to break you know.”
Jonah smiled, his face sheepish. “Experiment gone wrong.”
Eyeing him with curiosity, she pulled screwdrivers and wires from an oversized pocket on her jumpsuit, bit her lower lip, and started puzzling the geometric droid back together.
“Oh, did I forget to say that the honor of fixing my droid came with a price?” Jonah said with a flirty air.
Lena liked the teasing in his voice. “Yes, you did,” Lena smiled. “And the price?” She raised her eyebrows as breeze blew loose hairs across her face. She tucked them behind her ears.
“A name,” he paused, “Your name, actually,” Jonah smiled.
Her heart dropped for a mere moment as she thought about her real name spoken so long ago. “Humm, haven’t you figured it out by now? Surely the people who told you I could fix this would know my name.”
The Mir Chronicles- The Complete Series Page 5