Inherited War 1: Retribution (3 page)

5

“Oh
God turn off the lights, my friggen head’s gonna explode! Jesus who took a shit in my mouth, it tastes like ass.  Someone bring me a toothbrush for Christ’s sake.  Hey, why am I restrained? Can someone answer me please!” The brief sounds of struggle from the gurney stopped after a moment.  “I can hear you breathing over there smart guy, let me up.”  No response.  More struggling.  “Okay, okay, what do you want from me? Come on, what’s the point of letting me lay here? I have rights you know, even if I’m locked up in this crappy hospital.  NURSE, GODDAMN IT, I WANT A FUCKING DOCTOR!”

He heard someone get up from a chair and start walking towards him.  They stopped just outside of his view. 
“Please calm yourself, we are about to start the final phase of treatment, and I needed to be sure you were fully awake and cognizant of your surroundings.  Now please try to lay still and relax, this will all be over soon.”  The voice he heard was soft and almost sounded like it had a slight purring undertone.

“P
rocedure, what procedure?” He said as he tried craning his neck to see the speaker.  She was just outside the circle of light he was in the middle of, and all he could see was a vague outline of someone tall and slender.  Then he felt the fire ball explode in his brain.  He now knew what it must feel like to have a bonfire raging inside his head.  He thrashed around as much as the physical restraints allowed him, and let out a soul rending shriek that went on it seemed forever.  After an eternity, it seemed, of the torturous fire ripping his brain apart slowly from the top down, the feeling started to change.  It now felt like someone was pouring a slow moving cup of cool water over his brain.  As the fire in his brain slowly extinguished, the world crept back into focus and his brain started processing again. He could feel the table beneath him and smell the stink of his unwashed body.  The lights came glaring back at, well, the speed of light. He whipped his head to the side, clenching his eyes to shut out the light.  It was all too much for his system to handle.  He could feel himself overloading, but the worst feeling of all was the taste in his mouth.  As he lost consciousness, his last thought was that he would kill for a breath mint.

She collapsed back into her chair after his monitors showed he had rebounded into the green and all his systems were functioning at normal capacity.  She had been worried for a moment
, when he had shut down.  All his vitals had dropped away but before she could try to revive him, he took a shuddering deep breath and all functions shot back into normal range.  She should have anticipated that the heightened senses all coming back at once, to a brain not used to processing that much information, would knock him out.  It seemed he was dealing with it well now.  She would keep him unconscious for as long as she could, to let him recover as much strength as possible, so he was ready to fight back with her before they could take him away.  A few days, and one way or another, this would all be over for her.  Dead or saved.

“I’m
telling you Captain that Doctor Bitch is stalling for some reason.  She ain’t done anything to him for three days now. She just watches him sleep and keeps us as far from him as possible.  I’m thinking she’s done and doesn’t want us to know it.”

“Oh really
, you get paid to think now do you?” Said Feng. “The second I make the mistake of letting you do my thinking for me is the second I toss your butt out the airlock.  We ain’t paying you to think about anything.  We’re paying you to bore yourself to death watching to make sure the experiment doesn’t move off that gurney or touch anything he is not supposed to.   Now get your ass outta my cabin before I do something you may regret.”  The guard scurried out through the Captain’s cabin door faster than he had ever moved in his life.  Feng blew out a long breath and fought to control his rage.  His instincts that had helped him live a long and profitable life were screaming that something was wrong.  It had been almost a standard month since his last conversation with the Admiral and he had left a message two days ago with no response, as of yet.  If he didn’t get those coordinates soon the experiment would be ready to go and he wouldn’t have anywhere to take him.  The longer he was here on the ship, the better chance for someone to screw up and send the whole mission down the crapper.  True, though the Doc said fifteen days minimum to finish up, he wasn’t begrudging her the extra time to do the job right.  But damn it, the Admiral never took this long to get back to him before.  Now that he had done some digging of his own, he had the beginnings of an idea of what they were gonna use the human for…and he was impatient to see the end of this.  But no coordinates meant he had zero chance of taking this guy to where he could do, whatever the hell he was supposed to do.  Of all the rotten times for the Admiral to be called away this was the worst.  He reached for his comm light. “Bridge, I want all power shifted to the array again and lay in an emergency, short, fast plot to get us to the core systems, specifically to Capitol system in Sector 1.  We may be moving out in a day or two and I want to be ready, Captain out.”  With a snarl he slapped the comm light off and waited for the light to go green on his call to the boss.

Two more damn days and still nothing from the
Admiral, or any of his aides, and when he just called in there was no answer even in the messaging system.  Something had to have gone wrong, really wrong.  He had finally ordered the ship to move back to the core sectors, but instead of going all the way to Sector 1, he adjusted his course to an outlying area he could use to tap into the news net to see if he could find out what was going on.  To top it off, Doc was going to wake up the experiment today, something about atrophy and said he needed to move around.  The Doctor assured Feng that the experiment wouldn’t be able to take control of any of the ships systems.  He had doubled the guard anyway and issued stun sticks just in case.  He was not a damn doctor, how was he supposed to make these judgment calls on his own? The damn experiment was supposed to be off his ship already.  He was thirty minutes or so from getting the info he needed from a galactic relay satellite parked off Nix Prime, and an hour or so from the Doc waking up the experiment.  And he had no clue what to do now.  Life sucked sometimes. At least he got his pay in advance.

An hour later
, the Captain’s cabin was being cleaned out by the crew.   The Captain had destroyed everything in it with his bare hands.  He was in the infirmary now dosed with a light sedative and the crew medic was patching his shredded hands and feet up.  “Get me that damn techie team down here right now. And the first mate. On the double.”  A few moments later with tech team and mate standing in the infirmary in silence, the Captain looked up.  “After reading the downloads from the news net I have found out that a team of Esii assassins along with an entire battle fleet of Roche have wiped out the capitol system of sector 1.  All life terminated.  The last reported heading of the battle fleet was towards an unknown quadrant of the galaxy which happens to be where the experiments home world was located.  I am assuming that after they get through sterilizing Earth they are going to come looking for us.  Also, we have zero contact with the Admiral. I’m assuming he died in the attack.  We also have had no interaction with any of my other contacts. This message was left for anyone who came snooping around, DO NOT HARBOR PURE STRAINS, OR THEIR TECHNOLOGY, ANY FOUND DOING SO WILL BE STERILIZED.  Someone ratted us out and the Boss and his organization paid for it, along with a lot of other beings.  Suggestions?” He looked at his mate and tech team.

“Space him
, Sir,” said the mate

“
Oh, just trash over 20 standard years of work right out the air lock huh.  Imbeciles, that’s what he gave me to work with. Guard get over here. Take Mr. ‘Space him’, and shoot him in the head.” Growled the Kerr.

“Wait, wait, I guess we could try and use him like the boss wanted to, and get our hands on the pure tech.”  Squeaked the mate.

“Now
you’re using your head.”  He waived the guard away.  “I have a feeling I know what the Boss wanted with the human, the problem is finding the coordinates we need to get ourselves there.  That’s where you come in.”  He pointed to the tech team. “I need you to unbind the AI so you can have it crack the locked files on this ship to see if the location is stored here on board.   Only the AI can do it and do it fast.  But be damn careful that it doesn’t get loose on us, it’s an ancient pure strain AI.”

“And if the AI can’t crack the locked files or there
are no locations?” Asked the team leader.  “Then we are going to Sector 1 to see if there is anything salvageable in the wreckage.  I believe the Admiral found an ancient Pure Strain Fleet and I intend to make it mine.”  He said the last with a smile.

6

Something was
wrong, she had expected fifteen days from arrival in the outer disc to finish up the work on the savior.  It has been twenty days now by her reckoning.  Not that she didn’t mind the extra time, but she hadn’t seen the Captain for days, and the guards all had orders not to talk to her.  She didn’t squander the extra time, she pushed hard to make sure she had done everything she could to give her an edge.  But she needed to wake him up and get him moving to be sure everything worked.  Just then she heard the bypass chime on the decon room.  She turned to yell at whatever idiot thought he could just bring any old contaminant into her sterile med bay, it was Captain Feng. 

Feng walked into the room without saying anything and went ri
ght to the observation window.  “He is getting bigger, isn’t he?” asked Feng

“Very perceptive
, Captain.” Replied Dr. Sky.  The Captain’s hand whipped out, striking Dr. Sky’s face square on.  Feng had a lot of strength and he put a lot into that hit.  Dr.Sky went up and backwards, impacting the rear wall with a grunt and lay for a moment stunned on the ground.  Blood began to trickle out one side of her nose.  She leaned forward onto her hands and knees before shakily starting to rise to her feet.  She grabbed a cloth from one of the medical supply drawers to staunch the flow of blood from her nose, a purple bruise already starting to puff up in the middle of her face.  She slowly moved back towards the observation window.

“The rules have changed Doctor.  From now on I demand total
obedience, and if not respect, at least fear from you.  I am the only thing keeping you alive now.”  He never stopped looking at the man on the other side of the window.  “It is time to wake him up Doctor, and for your sake he better be ready.”

“Give me a few hours…”

Feng interrupted, “Not a few hours, now, Doctor. I want him up and awake in as little time as possible.  But he stays on the gurney and fully restrained.”  Dr. Sky slowly moved to a portable med cabinet and slowly pushed it toward the door to the OR.  She hit the door release and wheeled it into the room, Feng followed her.  She took out a large injector gun, dialed up the dosage and medicine she wanted.  She then walked calmly to the table, held the injector up to his neck and hit the firing stud.  Within seconds the human began responding to the stimulants.  “Good.” Said Feng as he turned to a guard and barked out orders. “Go to the bridge, tell the first mate to launch the probe. Tell him to set the distance to four hundred meters and reorient the probes view so that the ship is visible.”  The guard turned and exited the med bay without a word.

“I understand
that the experiment last believed that he was not in his right mind, that he was hallucinating all of this, and was actually in a human hospital still on Earth.”

“Yes
Captain, that was his belief when I woke him the last time.”

“Good
, he will soon learn the truth about his whereabouts and we’ll find out if your procedure worked.”  Just then the comm chime sounded and the mate’s voice came over the speaker.  “Captain, probe is at specified distance and orientation.”

The
Captain reached into his pocket and pulled out a metallic bar no more than three inches long, cylindrical, with two flat ends.  He rolled it around in his palm looking at the human who was still in the process of regaining consciousness.  The doctor hit the controls on the gurney and it shifted position so Cole was in an upright position.  Cole slowly raised his head and opened his eyes.

The first person he saw was the Captain.  “Jesus what the hell are you supposed to be?” he said.  Then he saw the doctor. “Okay, you I can handle, but not freak show over there.”  He glanced back to the Captain. 

The
Captain stalked forward and leaned in close to Cole.  “Insolence will not be tolerated. I am the Captain of this vessel and the one who decides if you’re worth keeping alive.”

“Well
, the love boat this isn’t, and Captain Stubing, you ain’t pal.  So show some hospitality and lemme’ down okay?”  He shifted as much as his restraints would allow.  “I could use a bite to eat and drink.  Oh, can I grab a toothbrush too? My mouth still tastes like shit.”  The Captain’s hand snaked out almost faster than Cole could see, and grabbed him by his throat.

“Watch your mouth
filth, you don’t need teeth to do your job.”  He released Cole’s neck and took a step back.  He grabbed Cole’s hand and forced open his fingers and said. “Now be a good experiment and close your eyes.”  Cole sighed and slowly closed his eyes.  “Hold open your hand.”  Cole did.  Feng placed the metallic cylinder into Cole’s open hand. 

S
uddenly Cole was in two places at once.  He could feel his body still very firmly bound to the gurney but his eyes were telling him he was currently floating a good distance away from what appeared to be a big space ship floating in, well, space.  Before he could react he felt something pried from his hand and his conscious slammed back into his body.  “What the hell was that?”  He shouted “I was floating in space in front of this kickass space ship.”

“Quiet
.” Snapped the Captain.  “So you were there in the probe.  Could you feel anything? Could you move around, change perspective?”

“
God yes, that was awesome.  I could see out of something and I had the weirdest feeling that I had an enormous amount of force trying to freeze and pull me apart at the same time.”  Cole thought for a second. “Something seemed to be telling me that all my systems were fine but I didn’t have time to really do anything other than stare.  Do that again and I’ll see about the rest.”

“No
. I know what I need to know, Doctor put him back to sleep. I shall inform you when I need him again.”

“But
Captain now that he is awake he really needs to be allowed to stay that way, in fact he needs some freedom to move a bit.  It might be vital in fact.  Humans seem to have delicate muscle and bone structures and need to be constantly moved and exercised to avoid health problems.”  The Doctor said adamantly.  “His systems need time to acclimate to the new conditions, I’m sure we could find a suitable spot somewhere on the ship to keep him where he could cause no trouble.”  She was almost pleading. 

Feng snorted
, “Guard take him to the aft air lock and open the outer door, but keep the shielding up and if he tries anything or somehow gains access to the ships systems, space him.  Get him some clothes and food, but nothing else. Double his guard and only I give permission on who can enter.  Do I make myself clear?”  The guard nodded his head yes.  “Good, now make it so.” Feng turned to the Doctor.

“
Doctor, you will sedate him until he is secured in the air lock.  I assume that will be enough room for his current needs?” She nods in agreement.  “Good, you are still in charge of his health and welfare but you will contact me before entering his new accommodations.”  Feng stared at the Human for a moment then, turned and walked out of the med bay and headed for the exit lift leaving two guards behind to keep an eye on the doctor and patient.

“I’m sorry
.” Dr. Sky whispered in Cole’s ear as she leaned forward to administer the sedative.  “I have tried my best to ensure your health and safety, but I am a poor hero I think.”  But Cole was already out.  She gave a soft whimper as she turned to the guards.  “You heard the Captain.  Take him to the aft air lock, I’ll be along shortly with some clothes and food.

7

Cole
awoke and sucked in a lung full of air.  He frantically scrabbled backwards in a crab walk to get away from the door that seemed to open up into space.  He didn’t stop until he backed up against the farthest wall from the opening.  He could do little but stare at the awesome blackness and pinpoints of stars that dominated his view.  After gathering his wits he noticed that he finally had clothes on and there was a plate of, well, a plate of something on the floor.  No utensils and it kind of looked like pudding.  He was hungry and one of the first lessons he had learned in the Army was eat and sleep when you can because you never know if it will be the last time you do either.  He picked up the plate and moved as close as he dared to the opening.  He sat down cross-legged and started scooping the tasteless gruel into his mouth.  “Well it’s better than Army grits anyway.” He said out loud.  After his last bite he looked at his plate then at the emptiness in front of him.  He drew his arm back and whipped the plate forward like a Frisbee.  As it hit the openings threshold there was a sharp crackle and then the plate sailed through.  Cole swallowed and shuffled back a few steps from the edge.  Cole took stock of his surroundings.  He was in what looked like a ten by ten foot room, with smooth walls to the sides and a wall with what looked like the kind of door you would find on a ship, a hatch he thought, that’s what they were called.  Then of course the missing wall, not much, but better than trapped on the gurney as long as the force field or whatever held up.  Now to take inventory of himself.  He looked down at himself.  Crap I’m ripped he thought, as he slowly admired his new muscles.  Jesus I think I’m taller to.  All he had on was a skin tight suit that kind of felt like spandex but thinner, if you could believe it.  He tried taking it off but it felt like it was bonded to his skin.  Oh well he thought, better than being naked.

“It’s called second skin or just skin for short.” 
Came a voice from the direction of the door.  A small section on the door itself had slid open to reveal a speaker.  He looked up at the window in the door and saw the face of the person, thing, which the Captain had referred to as the doctor.  “It is quite comfortable and will protect its wearer from all kinds of hostile situations.  Even for a short time in a vacuum, if you have the helmet that goes with it that is.  My name is Doctor Sky, by the way, but you can just call me Sky.  The Captain has given me permission to talk to you for a brief period and allowed me to explain some things to you.  But he has deactivated your ability to respond so I’m afraid you can ask no questions.”  She took a deep breath then began.

“This is the place you have been disappearing to all those times throughout the
years, we have been doing medical experiments on you since you were in your mother’s womb, preparing you for a special job.   We are currently over one hundred and fifty light years off the galactic disk your people call the Milky Way.  I cannot tell what they are going to use you for, because I am as much a prisoner on this ship as you are.  Just know that there is no going back, and to live you must cooperate.  Your body has been altered greatly in order for you to perform your job.  You are now as perfect as my skills can make you, and for all of that I am truly sorry.  If I could change anything that has happened here, to save you from this fate, know that I would have.   I will always regret how I treated you.”  She released the comm button on her side, and on his the speaker hatch slid closed.  They looked at each other for a few moments then she turned and walked away. 

Cole
spent the next few hours pacing around, what he now thought of as his prison cell, thinking about what the good doctor had told him.  It sounded like she had no choice about what they made her do to him, so he felt no ill will towards her at all.  The rest of them though, somehow they were going to pay for what they did to him.  He stopped and banged his fist into the bulkhead.  Ouch that hurt, he forgot he actually had some power behind his punches now.  Come to think of it, he never would have made that crack about the Love Boat before either.  He had changed and not just on the outside.  He, for the first time in his life, felt confident in himself.  He liked the feeling.  Now if he could just find a way out of this cell other than taking a walk in vacuum.  He hadn’t been given any more food yet so he didn’t know what the process of getting food to him entailed.  Maybe he could overpower a guard or something if they gave him the chance.  He was starting to get bored, fast, so he decided to put his new muscles through their paces.

Captain
Feng was on the bridge looking at all the data the tech team had drudged up, so far.  Not very promising to say the least.  He needed to find something that pointed the way to the coordinates of the, assuming he was right, last fleet the humans ever built.  His comm chimed.  “Sir this is tech team reporting, they have finally cracked the security containing the AI.  We have limited access but, well it wants to talk to you Sir, and we can’t let it into the comm system without letting it get into the general systems.  So we need you, umm I mean, we would ask if you can come down to the AI core, please, Sir.”

Feng thought for a
moment and said, “I will be right there.”

Cole
had fallen asleep after his work out and when he had awakened there was a plate of that green slop just inside the inner door.  He had slept through his chance to see how the guards brought him his food.  Of course they just may wait till he was asleep to bring it every time.  Oh well, he had worked up an appetite earlier and this time they brought a bag he hoped contained water.  Suddenly, half way through eating his meal, the inner door slid open and both guards stalked in aiming the meanest looking rifles Cole had ever seen.  Nice hardware he thought.  Though I wish it was pointed somewhere else, if they shot me with those there wouldn’t be much left of me.  “Hi ya guys, what can I do ya for? “ He asked.  “Strong silent types, I get it.  How about some names? No?  Okay well you kind of look like lizards to me so I’ll call ya…” Cole was interrupted before he could finish.