Embarkment 2577 Read online

  He paused and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “For all we know, you could be one of them.”

  “I’m not an alien.” This, at least, I was sure of.

  Ima broke her silence. “You’re not. Your DNA is entirely human. You could have been.”

  Blake flashed her a smile, and I could have sworn the cat woman blushed. Her tail wagged slowly behind her.

  “The planet had been under surveillance for generations, and now times were so perilous for the human race they decided to make themselves known in order to save us. With their contributions to technology, society flourished. They also helped prepare us for meeting all the other alien species that are out here. We have dozens of races on this ship alone.”

  His story caught my attention, and made me forget my own misery.

  “It didn’t take long until the aliens helped us invent the warp-drive that still powers our ships today. We’ve developed it since then, of course, but it’s still the same basic principle. You see, the ship doesn’t really move, but space moves around it, and thus it’s possible to…”

  Ima cut him off by clearing her throat, and he blinked a couple of times. “Oh yes, I get carried away. The inventor decided to name the first warp ship the Bell, to remind us both of everything that was lost and of everything that went wrong, and since then, this has always been the name of the pride of the human fleet.”

  If all this happened in my mind, I must be worse off than I thought. Maybe I was dying, and this was my feverish mind’s way of coping?

  “The Bell has two independent engines for warp speeds, and of course the interplanetary gravity drive for travel within solar systems. She could easily hold five times the number of people currently here, and she is 2.5 kilometres long from bow to stern. I’m sure Adam will take you sightseeing when you feel up to it. The promenade deck is quite spectacular with its shops and restaurants. I’m happy with it now, but I was opposed to it at first. There’s something wrong with the idea of a shopping mall on a warship.”

  The very thought of everything I would have to learn to fit into a place like this made my head spin. I might have to go to school with little kids to learn how to do the simplest of things.

  Why did everyone expect this Adam to do everything for me? Was it just because I allegedly saved him, or was there something else going on?

  All this thinking and wondering gave me a headache and I rubbed my temples. Ima bent down to look into my eyes. “Maybe you should lie down a little, sweetheart.”

  I didn’t have time to answer; the doors slid open once again, and everyone looked over in that direction. A man entered, and the expression on his face was so neutral it seemed calculated.

  He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him. Tall, but not as tall as the Captain. He had wide shoulders, dark untidy hair, and I knew his eyes would be hazel. He kept his back very straight. When he came close he took a relaxed pose with his hands on his back. “Captain, Ima. Alex, it’s good to see you awake.”

  This must be Adam.

  Up until now, I hadn’t reflected on the clothes Blake wore, but Adam’s looked the same. It must be a uniform. Black fabric with a military fit, loose enough to be comfortable and practical. Both had some form of rank insignia on the arms and collar. Definitely a uniform. Going with the space-age theme, they were probably made from some magical form of material that would be comfortable in all kinds of weather, mended all rips and tears on its own, and acted as a space suit in a pinch…

  I shrugged off the trace of recognition. The way this day was going my mind probably shaped him after some actor from TV. I couldn’t expect it to keep making new things up, could I? Even the most vivid of imaginations needed fuel.

  The explanation wasn’t perfect, but good enough. I ignored him, and the gaze he kept fixed on my face. The empty cup of tea was pretty; I liked its shade of blue. Maybe if I wanted it enough, it would refill itself and give me not just a satisfying drink, but proof my suspicions of having invented this world myself were true.

  Anya disrupted my reverie through sweeping into the room and filling it with her larger-than-life rock star aura. “Adam, it’s good to see you. Alex, you wouldn’t believe all the time he’s spent here with you while you were unconscious. He’s been reading your favourite books to you.”

  Disturbing news. I couldn’t imagine this handsome but distant man who wore such a cold expression on his face staying by my side, reading to me. Assuming all this happened in my head, it said things about my subconscious I didn’t want to know.

  He didn’t seem bothered by the revelation; he just nodded and agreed, “Yes. My research shows the human brain can register input even when a person isn’t visibly awake.”

  It might be sweet that he bothered spending time with an unconscious woman, but I found it unnerving.

  Anya crossed her arms over her chest and said in a casual voice, “Alex has a minor problem with her memory right now. We think spending some time with you will help her regain it.”

  The man nodded, still without showing even a trace of emotion. When Blake said “android” I visualized a shiny C3P0-like person, or Brent Spiner’s enactment of Data with pale skin and golden eyes. This man looked perfectly human. Human, but cold.

  He took a step closer. “Captain, if Doctor Ima considers Alex strong enough, I suggest giving her one of the guest quarters.”

  He paused and tipped his head a little to the side. A hint of a frown formed on his forehead. “Anything can happen in sickbay at any time, and having some space of her own could be beneficial.”

  Leaving the room? This very spot with the people in it was all I knew of the world, and as peculiar as Ima and Anya might seem, they were also safe. During the hour or so since I regained consciousness, the girls who frightened me so at first had become my only friends. Adam’s words implied going out to see other things, from the sound of it alone with him, and I didn’t think I wanted that.

  No one paid any attention to me, of course. Blake nodded, “Very well. I leave this up to you, Adam. Alex, I’d like to see you in a couple of days, when you feel stronger.”

  Ima gave a slight shrug. “She’s in no shape to go out for walks, but take it easy with her and she should be fine. I’ll check in on her in the morning.”

  Adam nodded. “Don’t worry, doctor. I will carry her.”

  I wanted to say I should stay where I was for now. I certainly didn’t want to be carried anywhere. No words crossed my lips, but Anya smiled and put a surprisingly solid holographic hand on my shoulder. Maybe she really did sense people’s thoughts.

  “Don’t worry, Alex. If there’s anyone you’re safe with, it’s Adam. He has been taking care of you all this time, and he’ll take care of you in the future. I’ll check in on you later tonight to see how you’re doing.”

  Her words reassured me, but I still didn’t want to go. She bent forward to glance into my eyes. “He’s right. Anything can happen here at any moment, and I think you’ve gotten enough things to assimilate for one day.”

  I didn’t get a chance to answer; Adam swept me up in his arms and carried me off as if I weighed no more than a feather. Anya called out behind me. “I’ll see you later, Alex.”

  I peeked over his shoulder and kept my eyes fixed on the little group by the bed. Then, the door shut behind us, cutting me off from everything I knew.

  We were in a long corridor with pale walls. Adam turned left and walked in silence. Should I say something? I wanted to complain about being carried. It was humiliating, and I was much too old and heavy to be toted around like a little girl.

  Just as I gathered courage to open my mouth, I saw something from a nightmare over his shoulder. All thoughts of complaining were gone. I clung to him and stared, suddenly not at all worried about my cheek pressing against his. If he’d been human my grip would probably have choked him. I couldn’t help myself; I was too weak to run on my own, and he was my only hope.

  The creature approaching the door we just lef
t was about seven feet tall. Its skin was a dark tan hide, looking almost as thick as an insect’s shell. It walked on spindly legs and had four multi-jointed limbs as arms.

  I could deal with its body, but not with its head. Multi-faceted eyes perched on long antennae, and I could see my reflection in them, hundreds of tiny me looking back. A long snout dripped ooze over constantly moving mandibles. It was easy to imagine it chomping down on a defenceless woman.

  I expected it to open up its back and show off wings, to take flight and attack us, but it didn’t.

  Adam took a few more steps to get us around a corner, out of sight, and stopped. I wanted to urge him on; we needed to hurry away from the monster. Another part of me wanted to ask if my new friends would be alright.

  He turned his head to look at me, and his nose almost touched mine. I forced myself to relax enough to get out of kissing distance.

  “Don’t worry, Alex. That’s just Lupe, one of our security officers. I saw he’s due for his monthly check-up and hoped I would get you out of there before he arrived. You’re not used to aliens. I miscalculated. I apologize.”

  My voice sounded a little faint when I mumbled, “Security, huh?”

  It was probably efficient. No one would ever want to do anything bad with the threat of someone like that coming for them.

  I wanted to ask if this Lupe was friendly, but with a species as alien as this, human concepts might not apply.

  Adam started walking again, and I tried to persuade my arms to loosen their hold on him. They did not obey. Was seeking shelter with him just instinct? A trace of a hidden memory? After leaving the unlikely girls in sickbay, he was the only thing I’d known for more than five minutes. “I can walk, you know. I’m too heavy to be carried.”

  “I’m an android, and compared to my lifting capability, you weigh a near equivalent to nothing.”

  There wasn’t much for me to say. He wouldn’t let me down, and in spite of trying to sound cocky, my legs would probably fold under me.

  We met a few people. They all looked normal, greeted him with, “Commander Adam,” and paid no attention whatsoever to me. I was clearly none of their business.

  Adam stopped in front of an unmarked door that turned out to be a talking elevator. The urge to rest my head against his shoulder was almost impossible to resist, but I forced myself to keep it upright. “Are you sure I’m not heavy?”

  A shadow of a smile flew over his face. “Yes.”

  For a few long seconds, he didn’t say anything more, but then he elaborated, “You are as heavy to me as a pen would be to you.”

  It was a strange likeness, but it made me smile, and I suspected he did it on purpose. He winked at me, and by the time we reached deck five with my new room I couldn’t remember why I’d been so worried to be alone with him.

  Chapter Three

  The door to my new home slid open, and Adam said, “It’s not perfect, but it will have to do for now.”

  He put me down on a couch in the middle of the room, and I experienced a brief but intense feeling of loss when he no longer held me. Odd. There might be a perfectly reasonable psychological explanation to it, but still… Odd.

  I glanced around to distract myself. The room was nice, but impersonal. It reminded me of a hotel in the upper price range.

  My new friend took a seat next to me, a little awkwardly as if it was difficult to find a comfortable position. “Are you hungry?”

  I probably should be, but eating was the last thing on my mind. I shook my head and fingered the sofa. The fabric under my fingers was almost familiar, but not quite. Everything was like that; just a little off, enough to be disturbing. Just like him.

  Adam looked human and felt human to touch. He was solid and warm, but didn’t really have a smell. Not until now did I realize everyone I ever knew except for him had an elusive feeling of humanity around them. Maybe it was the lack of endorphins and other things a living body would produce. Maybe all of us pick those things up all the time, without even knowing. “Are you really an android?”

  “You’ve asked me that before. Yes, I am an artificial life form. Look here.” He rolled his sleeve up, showing a perfect arm. It was slightly tanned, muscular, and covered with fine hairs, just like a human’s would be. He ran his fingers over the skin and I gaped as a hatch opened. A moment earlier, it was seamlessly attached, and now a portion of his skin and underlying whatever it might be slid to the side, revealing metal and circuits. “Wow!”

  He grinned. It was the first real smile I saw on his face, and it looked perfectly human. “That’s exactly what you said the first time I showed you.”

  How could I not remember a marvel like this? “Close it.”

  He did, and I ran my fingers over his arm, unable to see or feel the hatch. The skin under my fingers felt perfectly human. I should probably remove my hand. He didn’t seem to mind it resting on his arm, but it couldn’t stay there. I felt his eyes on me and withdrew it slowly, forcing it to lie on my lap instead. “I can’t believe I would forget someone like you.”

  “Maybe you didn’t. Maybe it will all come back. Until it does, I remember you.” He sounded a little sad. Was that even possible for an android?

  Everyone assumed he’d take care of me. Why? His spending time with me and being so interested in me didn’t make sense. “Did you really read to me?”

  “Yes. I hoped it would have a positive impact on your condition.”

  I wanted to ask why he cared, but it seemed a bit too blunt. “What, eh… What are we to each other, exactly?”

  Adam leaned back in the sofa and sighed. Was it a part of his programming, a conscious imitation of humans, or something he just did? I really needed to stop thinking so much.

  “I was away from this ship in a shuttlecraft, investigating a space anomaly. It sucked me in. There’s a 0.03 percent chance I miscalculated my distance, but I don’t think that’s what happened.”

  My imagination claimed it was nowhere near as mundane as he made it sound.

  “I was stuck in a whirlwind. The shuttle wasn’t built to take that much stress, and I crashed through the atmosphere of a planet that looked just like Earth. Only, I started out on the other side of the galaxy, and as it turned out, in another century.”

  He glanced over towards me and lifted an eyebrow. “Luckily, I crashed on the sand a hundred yards from you.”

  Had I been walking on the beach that day? I could almost feel hot shells and sand under my feet, and the smell of the ocean. It seemed very long ago, in another lifetime. “I heard you. I thought a plane was crashing, and then there was this… box standing on the sand. Black smoke. I remember black smoke.”

  Adam nodded. “I got out of the shuttle and saw you approach, and I told you to run before the antimatter pod exploded.”

  I couldn’t remember this; the flash of light in my memory’s dusty archives was gone. “Antimatter.”

  The word popped out of my mouth in a reverent tone of voice, as if he’d said something of great religious impact. He flashed a smile. “That’s just what you said last time. Anyway, by the time the shuttle exploded we were already in your car. You took me home and hid me. It was a very brave thing to do.”

  All this should be easy to remember. I tried to imagine him in my house, or in a grocery store, but my mind was blank. It did give me a mental image of him looking at things in my home with a mix of surprise and amusement, turning them over to examine the other side, but it was a figment of my imagination and not an actual memory.

  Those warm brown eyes were still fixed on me, and his gaze made me want to blush. “You bought me clothes and taught me to fit in. Without you I’d be disassembled for study right now.”

  “And…?”

  He gave a slight shrug. “Later on, you helped me break into a… secure facility… to retrieve a sonic transmitter, and we built sort of a radio with that and your laptops. Thanks to you, I could send information back through the anomaly, and instructions on how to reinforc
e a shuttle to handle the journey.”

  It wasn’t what I wanted to know, but clearly all I’d get out of him. As unbelievable as the story was, it did sound like things I’d get myself into given half a chance.

  “So… Can’t you take me back home?” I feared his answer, and telling myself it shouldn’t matter since I imagined everything anyway didn’t help.

  “It’s not there anymore. I’m sorry.”

  Tears welled up in my eyes and I blinked them away. I’d have plenty of time to bawl later. Adam made an apologetic gesture, “I would if I could. I’ve spent weeks trying to figure out a way, but I can’t.”

  I surprised myself with reaching out for his hand, and he gave my fingers a little squeeze. For a moment, I wasn’t sure who comforted who.

  “Did you like my time?” Christ, now I was saying ‘my time’ too.

  He cupped his hands around mine. “I loved it.”

  “How…” My mind was bursting with questions, but Adam got to his feet.

  “Come on, I’ll show you how everything around here works.”

  Standing up scared me; I didn’t trust my legs. Still, I would have to try sooner or later, and it might be smart to do it while someone was there to support me if I fell.

  In spite of everything, Adam made me giggle. He’d stand leaning against the wall next to some console or other, looking perfectly unemotional with his arms crossed over his chest, saying something he seemed to know would crack me up.

  Eventually, my new best friend glanced into my eyes and said, “I have to go. I have some things to tend to in engineering before my bridge duty starts.”

  What? He was leaving me alone? The rooms weren’t bad with company, but on my own they would be intimidating, big, and cold. “Please don’t go.”

  Oh, was I a needy loser! Why would I say a thing like that? Adam smirked. “I know you don’t like to be alone. Here, take this.”

  He pressed a small badge in my hand, and sounded like he was clarifying a tactical plan to an ensign. “I’ve reprogrammed this so you don’t have to know a thing about the ship’s systems to use it. Pretend it’s a phone. If you want to talk to me, press it and I’ll hear you, and press it again to hang up.”