Shedding the Demon (9 page)

And,
he thought,
not even a believer that I might
be able to influence.
He realized right then that he would have to take
care of these details himself. He knew he could not rely on Avelina’s help
because she would never understand the true implications.

Avelina finished her speech, but further discussion was
prevented by an urgent message on her screen. She picked it up and her eyes
grew wide, followed by her smile. “Oh, Reverend, it’s really true, it’s really
going to happen; we’ve got a volunteer!”

Renard smiled at her child-like excitement, but couldn’t
help the knot of fear that grew in his gut.

 

Damon was actually excited about his
decision, and he felt that Andrea would agree if she truly understood what was
happening.
We just didn’t have enough time to discuss it properly. She’d
back me up on this if she knew all the details.
He didn’t feel the
conviction of his own thoughts however.

Colonel Tashus was nearly bubbling with excitement, and
Captain Remmen was clearly pleased as well. Damon had come to like these two
during the few days they spent together, but trust did not come easily. The
memory of Melanie’s betrayal was still a raw and festering wound that made him
unwilling to trust anyone.

The air in the room was charged with tension as they
discussed the protection agreement.

“I’m trusting you with this information; we’re talking about
my Family and the only home I’ve ever known,” he looked directly into the eyes
of Captain Remmen as he spoke, “and don’t forget, they’re making me into a
super-soldier. If I find out that you lied to me, I
will
come back.”
Damon felt satisfaction at the slight widening of the captain’s eyes as he made
his point clear.

“Demon, you don’t need to threaten me, I understand you
perfectly. I personally do not kill innocents or non-combatants. I’m a man of
my word.”

Damon was satisfied with the answer, but couldn’t help the
nauseous feeling he got when he described the location of 4C. It took him more
than ten minutes to properly describe the perimeter and its defenses, and the
captain took notes throughout the conversation. Damon felt sick and slightly
dizzy when he was done, but he masked it as best he could and turned to face
the colonel.

“I’m ready to go,” he stated simply. If she noticed his
paleness, she did not comment on it.

“I’m glad,” she said softly, placing a hand on his arm and
leading him to the waiting spacecraft.

After they left, Jeffrey Allen entered from another room. “Nice
work, captain,” he said. “You will take care of the rest, correct?”

“Yes sir, Mr. Allen, I’ll take care of it.”

“Good,” Jeffrey smiled as he finished, never taking his eyes
off the captain, “because if I hear that things are left unfinished,
I
will
be the one coming back for you!” With the threat hanging in the air, he turned
and exited to his ship.

“
Kyndra’s tears
, Captain, what are you going to do?”
the captain’s aide had been present for both exchanges, although she remained
silent until they were alone. “You can’t kill those innocent people
. . .”

He stopped her with a glare, and said “I am a man of my
duty
,
but also a man of my word.”

 

**** ****

 

Standing at the window on the
observation deck, Damon looked down on the planet that was his home. With the
vast panorama spread out below him, he could do nothing but gape in awe at the
size and scope of the planet, and his own ignorance. Living in the Ruins with
the Family, he had very little contact with the outside world. His rare trips
into the City were carefully sheltered, and he knew very little about the world
where he lived. He’d heard stories about other cities and the empty lands in
between, but he never really believed them.

Now, however, the truth was right in front of his face. He
was alone in the room, and he guiltily thought that the crew was avoiding him
due to his incessant questioning. But he couldn’t help it. There was so much he
did not know that it boggled his mind.

Not only did he have to come to grips with finding out the
stories of other cities were in fact true; he also had to try to grasp the idea
that there were thousands of planets just like his! He looked past the planet
to the stars beyond, and could not believe that each was another sun, and many
held planets with more and more people on them.

His thoughts drifted back to the Family and Andrea. He
missed them terribly already, and the feeling of loss settled in his chest as a
physical ache. He continued to struggle with his decision, even though it was
now too late to change anything.
Was it right? Did I do the right thing?
He asked himself again and again, but there was no one to answer.

Colonel Tashus came up beside him. She stood silently,
gazing out at the planet and stars.

After another moment of silence, Damon said in close to a
whisper, “I really can’t believe how stupid I’ve been.”

“Not stupid,” she replied, “just uninformed. You had no way
of knowing the truth.”

Damon noticed that they were moving away from the planet,
and the view changed all around him.

“Let’s take a walk, Demon, everything outside will just be
black once we hit the tunnel.”

“Can I ask you some more questions?”

She laughed and put her hand on his back, directing him out
of the room. “I don’t think I can take any more questions, but I will introduce
you to the ship’s library.”

Colonel Tashus led him to a large common room filled with
chairs, tables, and various types of game tables. Currently, the room was
nearly empty, but Damon had seen it nearly filled with crew members previously.

“Where is everyone?” he wondered out loud.

“Well, right now, by ship’s time, it’s the middle of a
shift, so people are either at their stations on duty, or they’re sleeping. It
will get busier in a couple more hours when we get closer to shift-change.”

She sat him down in a comfortable chair and handed him a
clear plastic screen. “Have you seen one of these?” she asked.

“Sure,” he replied, “everyone seems to carry one.”

“But have you used one before?”

“Oh no, never have.”

She proceeded to show him the basics of screen manipulation,
and guided him through a few of its basic setup functions. Most importantly,
she gave him a crash course on research. Once he learned how to ask it his
questions, and he saw how much information came back, he was hooked.

His appetite for information was voracious, and he barely
noticed the shift change and then the subsequent dearth of activity in the next
mid-shift. Finally, he realized he was exhausted. His screen told him it was
23:45, but that meant nothing to him in relation to his normal sleep cycle. He
decided that it didn’t matter, he would go by his body instead of the clock.

Using one of his new skills, he asked the screen to show him
to his room,
I mean cabin
, he thought, trying to pick up the shipboard
jargon.

Once in his room, he pulled out the bed, stripped and laid
down. He was asleep in no time, despite the overwhelming excitement of the
long, long day. That night he dreamed of Andrea.

The next day he was up early feeling anxious and excited
since they would be arriving at their destination. He stopped by the kitchen—
mess
deck—
he corrected himself, before settling back into the chair with his
screen. The day passed quickly as he learned about everything from farming to
interstellar travel.

During a shift change that evening, ship time, when the room
was filled with crew members, the colonel appeared before him dressed in regular
casual clothes.

“Whoa, Colonel,” he said involuntarily. He hadn’t realized
before just how cute she would be out of uniform.

“Thanks, I think, and you can call me Joann when I’m not in
uniform.” She sounded and acted differently as a civilian.

“Join me in the mess, and we can talk some more,” she said,
leading him back to the mess deck.

Once they were settled at a table, she told her story. “The
military rank is honorary. I’m actually a bioelectrical engineer. I took the
position with SecForce because it paid well.
Much
to the dismay of my
friends and family.”

They sat across from each other and talked about many different
things, allowing the conversation to meander pleasantly from subject to subject.
After a long, casual meal, Joann got down to business.

“Demon, we will be arriving sometime tonight. Tomorrow I’ll
be delivering you to Dr. Avelina Baksa to begin the procedure. I’m going to try
and stick around as long as possible because I’m interested in this project,
and because I want to weasel my way onto Dr. Baksa’s team if possible.”

“Why do you want to be on her team?” Damon asked.

“Well, there are a number of reasons, but most of all I just
want to work with the doctor. She is THE premier mind of our times, and
association with her would launch my career in ways I can’t even imagine.” She
paused to finish off her coffee. “Besides, now I’m interested in seeing how you
turn out.”

Damon wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but he definitely
enjoyed the company of Joann the civilian. They continued to talk well into the
night, and Damon had no idea what time it was when he went back to his room.

 

**** ****

 

Dr. Baksa paced across the entrance
to the pad, awaiting the arrival of her volunteer. She sat down, but was up and
pacing again in less than a minute.

Renard was there, talking quietly with Jeffrey,
Of course
,
she thought, irritated for no good reason. Somehow Renard had kept the rest of
the Council in the dark about the arrival, and possibly even the existence, of
their volunteer.

Finally, she felt the subtle sloshing in her stomach as the
wormhole energy from the Kline drive ran through her body, signaling the
arrival of the shuttle. She faced the door, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

The man that entered was shocking in size. She estimated his
height at nearly two meters, and his shoulders were proportionally broad with
well-defined musculature. He seemed to fill the doorway as he entered. Behind
him came a smaller woman, although judging size next to him was difficult, and
Avelina had no attention to spare on others. The giant stopped just inside the
doorway and his gaze flicked around the room apparently assessing the
situation. He looked down at the other woman as she stepped in front of him to
approach Avelina.

Dragging her attention away from the volunteer, Avelina
realized that woman was addressing her.

“Dr. Baksa, it is my distinct pleasure to meet you. I’ve
been following your work since . . .”

Avelina made non-committal acknowledgment sounds and brushed
past the woman to approach the man.

“
Kyndra’s promise,
” she said with an awe-filled
voice, reaching up to place her hand on his arm, “you’re magnificent.”

“Avelina! Don’t be vulgar!” Renard replied loudly as he approached.

The man was blushing, which was incongruent with his size
and stature, and he tried to break the nervous atmosphere with, “Um, thank you?”

Embarrassed, Avelina removed her hand quickly and turned
toward Renard. “Reverend, please forgive me; Kyndra forgive me,” and she made
the ritual motion followed by a small curtsy toward Renard. Then she turned
toward the woman and said, “Please forgive me for my rudeness, Dr
. . . ?”

“Tashus, Dr. Joann Tashus, I’m sure you haven’t heard of me—”

“I’m sorry, I don’t recognize the name,” before Joann could
reply, Avelina turned to Damon.

“And you, my wonderful man, what is your name?”

Still flustered, Damon could only answer simply, “Demon.”

Slightly surprised, Avelina forged ahead, “Welcome to the
program, Demon.”

“Ha!” Renard exclaimed, surprising everyone. “Jeffrey, we
finally have a good name for this Human Implantation whatever—the Demon
Program!”

 

**** ****

 

The next few weeks were filled with
briefings, meetings, testing, and physical conditioning. Damon had little
trouble with it all, despite the frantic pace. The only real problem came when
Dr. Baksa tried to explain the surgical procedures in detail and Damon started
to get nauseous. After that, medical details were quietly omitted from the
training.

Damon was glad to see that Joann was added to the staff at
the lab, but only after a few heated discussions between Renard and Dr. Baksa.
Damon himself had spoken on her behalf, but it was clear that he was the test
subject, not a member of the development team, and no one cared for his
opinion.

He thought the information was interesting though
overwhelming, and he found himself longing for the procedures to begin. He knew
that he would be asleep for nearly six weeks while weapons and D-SAP armor were
implanted. Dr. Baksa tried to explain the D-SAP scales, but the material
science was too much for him to grasp. He was satisfied with her summary,
however: it’s hard but flexible, and nearly indestructible.

Indestructible,
he rolled the word around in his
thoughts, it sounded too good to be true.
Could be a trap,
his training
told him, but he dismissed it. He had come to trust Dr. Baksa, although he did
not like her obeisance to Reverend Trueblood. In fact, he didn’t like the
reverend or his sidekick, but they rarely came to the lab these days. He’d
learned that Reverend Trueblood was the leader of the Council, and the Council
ruled the Consensus, which was the name of the empire of the star systems. He
learned about Kyndra Dickson in that context and how she had formed the
Consensus. Despite her effort, Dr. Baksa could not convince Damon of Kyndra’s
deity. She played an ancient video for him where he saw Kyndra Dickson making
her most famous speech. However, he only remembered a single line: