ice.
“You really don’t remember?”
“Nup.”
“Pity. We were part of a team investigating a
small saucer downed in the middle of nowhere, Russia. Should have
been a piece of cake. Big Teeth saw something on the ground
and went down to have a look. You joined him, then everything went
white and we hit the ground. The explosion was so large that they
saw it from space. Big Teeth didn’t survive, and you barely
did. Is any of this ringing any bells?”
It wasn’t.
“ Never Lies was furious with herself.
She kept saying that she should have seen it coming, but I don’t
know how she could have. Things got pretty hairy after that when a
pair of jellybergs flanked us, and by the time we got to you there
was no sign of any saucer.”
I don’t remember any of that. Bad Day hands me a tablet loaded with games and then leaves. I play the
games for a few minutes, but I’m finding it hard to
concentrate.
My next visitor is Small Talk . He sits
by my bed for an hour without saying anything, then pats me on the
shoulder as he leaves. Were we in his hometown, at some point? Does
he have kids?
Three days pass; I heal quickly, so whatever
drugs they keep injecting into me must be working. One of my legs
is still in a cast, but otherwise I’m fine. Everyone seems
surprised that I’m still alive, yet I’m feeling pretty good.
“How is this possible?” I ask the nurse.
“We were prepared, and we have a lot of
experience when it comes to this stuff. And you’ve been in here a
lot, so we had a home team advantage of sorts. Besides, Got
Greedy is incredible at using the alien tech for healing. He’s
always pushing the limit of what’s possible.”
“I don’t know how I feel about being a lab
rat,” I admit.
“You’d be dead otherwise. We had to use every
trick in the book to keep you alive last time. You have a couple
metal bones now, by the way.”
“Which ones?” I ask, shocked.
“Um… your legs and arms, mostly. A few ribs,
that sort of thing. A piece of skull. Your fingers. Don’t worry
about it.”
I can’t help but worry about it.
“And there are no long-term effects?”
“No one has lived long enough to find out.
Except Past Prime , maybe.”
No one had lived long enough to find out?
That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
I’m out of bed the next day. A trio of
physios help get me walking again. I try to strike up a
conversation, but they answer in grunts. The nurses are far more
talkative, and I learn a lot about the ship from them.
“Visitor,” says the younger nurse.
It’s Past Prime .
“You remind me of myself at your age,” he
tells me.
“Ah… thanks?”
“It’s not a compliment. Have you thought
about my offer?”
“I have. I want to keep fighting.”
Past Prime shakes his head and leaves
me to my fractured body and mind.
I only have one more visitor, a steward. He’s
a stern man with short white hair and a professional manner. I
wonder if he was a soldier in the past, and if he considers this a
step up or a step down.
“Follow me, please,” he asks.
I swing myself out of bed without any
difficulty. I was bored with all that inactivity, anyway. There are
only so many times I can read a tactics manual before I commit the
whole thing to memory.
“Yup… where are we going?”
“Follow.”
He leads me down a series of stairs, deep
into the belly of the Cerberus . We walk along corridors of
doors that might be crew rooms. The Cerberus only carries a
small navy crew and a smaller group of operators, so most of the
rooms aren’t being used. We walk down a final set of stairs and
turn to a double door. The large sign above it reads ‘Weapons
Research Laboratory.’ Underneath that, in smaller letters, is a
yellow sign: ‘No Smoking, Running or Electronic Equipment Allowed
Past This Point.’
“I’m not allowed any further than this. Good
luck,” the steward tells me.
I walk through the doors and find a second
pair, much heavier than the last. A
“You really don’t remember?”
“Nup.”
“Pity. We were part of a team investigating a
small saucer downed in the middle of nowhere, Russia. Should have
been a piece of cake. Big Teeth saw something on the ground
and went down to have a look. You joined him, then everything went
white and we hit the ground. The explosion was so large that they
saw it from space. Big Teeth didn’t survive, and you barely
did. Is any of this ringing any bells?”
It wasn’t.
“ Never Lies was furious with herself.
She kept saying that she should have seen it coming, but I don’t
know how she could have. Things got pretty hairy after that when a
pair of jellybergs flanked us, and by the time we got to you there
was no sign of any saucer.”
I don’t remember any of that. Bad Day hands me a tablet loaded with games and then leaves. I play the
games for a few minutes, but I’m finding it hard to
concentrate.
My next visitor is Small Talk . He sits
by my bed for an hour without saying anything, then pats me on the
shoulder as he leaves. Were we in his hometown, at some point? Does
he have kids?
Three days pass; I heal quickly, so whatever
drugs they keep injecting into me must be working. One of my legs
is still in a cast, but otherwise I’m fine. Everyone seems
surprised that I’m still alive, yet I’m feeling pretty good.
“How is this possible?” I ask the nurse.
“We were prepared, and we have a lot of
experience when it comes to this stuff. And you’ve been in here a
lot, so we had a home team advantage of sorts. Besides, Got
Greedy is incredible at using the alien tech for healing. He’s
always pushing the limit of what’s possible.”
“I don’t know how I feel about being a lab
rat,” I admit.
“You’d be dead otherwise. We had to use every
trick in the book to keep you alive last time. You have a couple
metal bones now, by the way.”
“Which ones?” I ask, shocked.
“Um… your legs and arms, mostly. A few ribs,
that sort of thing. A piece of skull. Your fingers. Don’t worry
about it.”
I can’t help but worry about it.
“And there are no long-term effects?”
“No one has lived long enough to find out.
Except Past Prime , maybe.”
No one had lived long enough to find out?
That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
I’m out of bed the next day. A trio of
physios help get me walking again. I try to strike up a
conversation, but they answer in grunts. The nurses are far more
talkative, and I learn a lot about the ship from them.
“Visitor,” says the younger nurse.
It’s Past Prime .
“You remind me of myself at your age,” he
tells me.
“Ah… thanks?”
“It’s not a compliment. Have you thought
about my offer?”
“I have. I want to keep fighting.”
Past Prime shakes his head and leaves
me to my fractured body and mind.
I only have one more visitor, a steward. He’s
a stern man with short white hair and a professional manner. I
wonder if he was a soldier in the past, and if he considers this a
step up or a step down.
“Follow me, please,” he asks.
I swing myself out of bed without any
difficulty. I was bored with all that inactivity, anyway. There are
only so many times I can read a tactics manual before I commit the
whole thing to memory.
“Yup… where are we going?”
“Follow.”
He leads me down a series of stairs, deep
into the belly of the Cerberus . We walk along corridors of
doors that might be crew rooms. The Cerberus only carries a
small navy crew and a smaller group of operators, so most of the
rooms aren’t being used. We walk down a final set of stairs and
turn to a double door. The large sign above it reads ‘Weapons
Research Laboratory.’ Underneath that, in smaller letters, is a
yellow sign: ‘No Smoking, Running or Electronic Equipment Allowed
Past This Point.’
“I’m not allowed any further than this. Good
luck,” the steward tells me.
I walk through the doors and find a second
pair, much heavier than the last. A
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