Station Chronicles II - Heller and beyond by Simon Kattenhorn

[Reviews - 0]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer

- Text Size +

Station Chronicles: Heller and Beyond
by Simon Kattenhorn

Chapter Four

"Goodness, Julia, is that any way to speak to the woman who gave you life?"

Julia harumphed at that remark as she struggled to regain her composure, her hands opening and closing into fists at her side.

"So give you, so shall you control?" Julia shot at the woman whom she had not seen for close on four years. Their last encounter had hardly been a paragon of mother-daughter bonding either.

The woman- Julia's mother- considered her daughter for a moment with a sad expression. Another mother might have seen love in that expression. Julia did not. The woman closed the distance between them and Julia tolerated, but did not respond to, a brief embrace.

"Julia." Her mother clasped both her shoulders and leaned back to take in the view of her daughter. "It has been far, far too long."

Julia freed herself from her mother's grasp and walked around the examination table that stood near the center of the room. She was beside Blalock now, who had been taking in the scene with a sense of amusement.

"Why don't you just tell me what's going on here, Blalock, hmm?" Julia said evenly. She glanced at her mother, who had remained on the other side of the examination table, now showing a blank expression. The time for tenderness had obviously passed already, Julia decided.

"Why don't you ask your mother," he smiled complacently. "She commands jurisprudence here. It is an ISA matter after all."

"What does he mean?" Julia twirled and demanded of her mother. "What do you know of the ISA?"

Her mother cast her gaze down at the floor as she spoke softly. "I'm sorry, Julia."

The truth hit home. Her mother was *part* of the ISA. And she had never told her daughter. It had been bad enough that Julia had to contend with her mother being on the Council's Board of Regents. Julia had spent her entire life trying to escape from beneath the expanse of *that* shadow. And now to find out that her mother was a member of the ISA! The very organization trying to put an end to the only means Julia had ever found for a final chance at escape from the shadow that had always threatened to overwhelm her. Julia felt the camel's back snap.

"Sorry? You're *sorry*?! Is that supposed to mean something to me? Do you really think I give a *damn* that you're sorry?" Julia could feel the tears of anger welling in her eyes. "You *lied* to me all these years. What right do you have to expect me to accept this?"

Julia could not have cared less any longer that Blalock was bearing witness to this. The truth was, Blalock himself was starting feel rather uncomfortable at this display of mother-daughter angst. Blalock had always been a loner, without the trappings of familial squabbles. This did nothing but reaffirm his gratefulness of that fact.

"You have no choice," her mother responded wearily. "The truth is what it is."

Julia had started to pace back and forth. She had not expected to have to deal with her mother again before leaving the stations. Instead she was being dealt a larger blow than she felt able to confront right now. Truth be told, Julia had *never* been able to deal with her mother's standing in the Council. How could she ever compete?

"Dison, why don't you ask Dr. Raftopoulos to bring the transponder?" the elder Heller suggested to Blalock, who was only too happy to oblige. He left the room hurriedly, grateful for something else to do than listen to a personal altercation involving one of the Board of Regents.

Julia hardly even noticed the brief interaction between them, or Blalock's subsequent exit.

"The truth?" she continued the shouting match between them. "You have the gall to talk about truth?"

"Julia, please..."

"No, mother," Julia cut back in. "Don't you *dare* to talk to me about truth. All you know are lies. Lies, lies, lies! One after another, year after year, that's all you knew how to give."

Julia could feel years of pent-up hostility starting to surface. For the first time in her life, she realized she was not afraid to tell her mother exactly how she felt. She continued.

"As if the chromo-tilting weren't bad enough, you had to interfere with every single aspect of my life, didn't you? Who I knew, who I worked for, my friends, my enemies."

Julia could feel a throbbing in her temple that heralded an oncoming headache. She rubbed at it gently with her fingertips as she turned away from her mother.

"I'm finally doing something *I* want," Julia near whispered. "I can't believe you have your fingers on the buttons this time too."

Julia did not see her mother grimace at the realization of the pain she had caused her daughter. She had never considered that anything she had done would alienate her child like this.

"I only ever did what I thought was right, Julia. I wanted to give you all the opportunities *I* never had. I did what I thought was best for you..."

Julia turned and her mother could see the hint of tears beginning to well.

"And what about love, mother? Did it ever occur to you that a child needs love? I can make my *own* opportunities."

"I always loved you," her mother said softly.

Julia couldn't help uttering a sad laugh.

"No mother. It was always the Council that had your love. The Council always came first. Even father stopped trying to compete. How could he ever win?"

The comment stabbed to her mother's heart but her face remained coldly passive. She would not allow her own daughter to provide an analysis of her marriage too.

"Your father was loyal to the Council until the day he died," she spat at her daughter. "He always understood the importance of our mission. What we could achieve for mankind. We have never been an enemy to the people, Julia. I thought you understood..."

At that moment, Blalock reappeared in the doorway, followed closely by one of the doctors. He paused briefly, waiting for some indication from the older of the women whether to proceed. Receiving no indication one way or the other, he continued into the room and took up a standing position alongside the examination table. The doctor nodded a greeting at Regent Heller and began removing various medical items from the cabinets and trays beside the examination table. At one point he scowled at Blalock, who moved out of the doctor's way and sat down on a small chair against one of the walls of the room.

Julia took in the actions of the doctor for a few moments and began feeling a sense of unease that she was about to find out something pertaining to her mission that she was not quite ready for. The hairs on the back of her neck were still standing up as a result of the altercation with her mother, who had returned to passive mode.

"Would someone care to let me in on the secret?" she demanded.

"You need some way to communicate with your contact on the planet," Blalock replied.

"And?" Julia asked. "What kind of device are we talking about here?"

"Don't worry, Julia, it is completely harmless to the body. The device has been tested fully," her mother attempted to sound reassuring. Julia responded with a sidelong unconvinced glance.

"Actually, it's quite a marvel of modern technology, " Dr. Raftopoulos chimed in. "You wouldn't believe the troubles it caused us during the cryo-freeze stasis initially."

"Some sort of implant?" Julia wondered as she scrutinized the small, capsule-like device the doctor was holding.

"Not quite," the doctor responded. "It's imbibed."

Julia blanched at the thought of swallowing the thing that the doctor had been fingering, and which suddenly seemed three times as big as when she had first looked at it.

"You want me to swallow that thing?" she asked incredulously. "It had *better* taste like chocolate."

Dr. Raftopoulos let out a small chuckle. "Actually it's a complex carbonpolysilicate," he explained. "It releases a dermal adhesive as soon as it encounters the stomach acids and essentially welds itself to the wall of the stomach. Quite ingenious, really."

Julia *was* impressed. She took the device from the doctor and began examining it herself. The capsule contained a barely perceptible seam along which it could presumably be pulled apart. Pulling slightly from either end, her suspicion was confirmed as the capsule broke into two, revealing an illuminated internal miniature communication device that was obviously designed as an attachment for a V.R. gear headset.

"Very impressive!" she remarked. Then, thinking back to the doctor's comment about cryo-stasis, she asked, "how does the device remain attached to the stomach so long without producing internal injury?"

"An excellent question," replied the doctor. Julia was beginning to realize that Dr. Raftopoulos probably had a made fair contribution to the design of the device. His pride was evident. "The adhesive is completely chemically inert. The capsule can remain adhered to the stomach for hundreds of years without interacting with the biological system in any way. But the key is temperature. Previous designs couldn't circumvent the problems caused by a cryogenic state. Penetrative ulcers, stomach ruptures, you name it. But this device *needs* the cryogenic temperatures to remain effective. You need to be in cryo-sleep within seven days of swallowing the device and the adhesive begins to fail within two weeks of cryo-recovery."

Julia did a quick mental calculation and decided that seven days was cutting it rather tightly. If all went according to plan, she should be in cryo-suspension within six, maybe seven days. It was the "all according to plan" part that worried her.

"How is the device removed?" she asked.

"It's quite simple actually," Raftopoulos smiled. "As soon as the adhesive fails and the capsule disengages the stomach wall, the device begins to emit a perceptible vibration to let you know it should be removed from the system immediately. Alternatively, if your planet counterpart tries to contact you earlier than that, the communication alone will activate the device and set off the vibration, which will be enough to loosen the adhesive. Either way, you'll need to remove the device."

Julia stared at the doctor with a frown. "Remove it how?"

The doctor made the gesture of sticking a finger down his throat and Julia suddenly understood.

"Oh," was all she said.

At this point, Blalock became re-animated and jumped up to his feet.

"I'm sure I don't need to remind you, Citizen, that discretion is imperative. The V.R. environment can be risky. Be aware of that when you make contact."

Julia's mother had been taking in the proceedings with quiet aplomb. Inside, her heart ached at the thought of potentially never seeing her daughter again, but at the same time, she felt a pride greater than any other before that her daughter- *her* daughter- would be the one to carry out the Council's most important current assignment. No matter what Julia thought, she had raised her daughter well, she was certain of that.

"Julia, I know you cannot understand everything about why you were not informed about the ISA connection," her mother began, "but try to understand how important this mission is for our future. This is an entirely new planet waiting to be colonized, with the highest habitability rating of any before. It is imperative- for *mankind*- that it not be turned over into the hands of breakaway factions. There is no end to the trouble it will cause for humanity's survival out there. Without the Council, there will only be avarice, and destruction, and war. It is all mankind knows without the Council. Look what became of Earth. For all our sakes, help us give Earth Two a chance."

Julia looked at her mother intently, searching for clues in her facial expressions that might betray her. But she found none. Her mother truly believed that what she was saying was the truth. She honestly believed that G889 would enter on a destructive path without the Council's leadership. Thinking of Earth, and the struggle for survival that it offered, Julia realized that deep down, she believed it too. Life *had* become easier for mankind on the stations, and the Council had a major role to play in that. Despite all of Devon Adair's best intentions, the truth was that she had no control on the development of G889. After her would come others, and then more and more again, and before not too long, Devon Adair's slice of paradise would be ready to collapse in on itself. It could spell doom for all the generations of Syndrome children to come. There was no doubt about it. A Council presence was necessary.

"I will serve the Council to the best of my ability," Julia directed at her mother. "But I want you to understand one thing. I am doing this for *me*- out of my own beliefs. *Not* for you."

Her mother's expression revealed nothing, although her eyes almost seemed to dim slightly at that remark. Julia became suddenly aware of the wrinkled creases around her mother's eyes, and the perceptible traces of grey in her hair. She studied her mother's face for a few seconds, and attempted to reconcile a sense of regret she could not fathom that it would be the last time that face would be there for her to see.

"Whatever your reasons," her mother responded, "be sure to serve the Council well, just as it has always served you."

Her mother clasped Julia's hands in hers for an instant, and then she was gone. Julia stared at the open doorway, where her mother had disappeared, as she realized it was the only good-bye they would ever have.

"Here is the capsule you must swallow," said Dr. Raftopoulos, handing Julia a second device- this one cleanly wrapped in a plastic container. "If you have any questions, feel free to contact me," he said as he too exited the room.

Julia was left standing in the room with Blalock.

He stared at her expectantly.

"Well, Citizen?"

"Well what?" Julia responded.

"Aren't you going to swallow the capsule?" he motioned to the container in her hand.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Blalock," Julia sneered as she ripped open the container and somehow managed to slide the capsule lengthwise down her throat. It was not the most comfortable experience, but at least it would get Blalock off her back.

"Very good," he said. "I guess you're all set. We look forward to hearing your reports from the planet."

"What's his name?" Julia almost sounded bored.

"Who?"

"The *contact*, Blalock," Julia shook her head in dismay.

"Oh. Reilly. An old friend of my father's, actually. He has a high standing in the Council, Citizen. Keep that in mind at all times."

Julia began walking towards the door, and stopped briefly.

"You know Blalock, the one good thing that'll go through my mind as I'm sending in my reports is the fact that in all good likelihood, you'll be long dead by then."

Blalock looked perplexed.

"I'm only forty-three years old, doctor. I'm sure even you can do the math."

"Who said anything about natural causes?" Julia shot back over her shoulder as she strode out of both the room, and the presence of Dison Blalock, forever.

The next morning, Julia sat looking through the personnel files of the Advance crew who would be involved in the setup of the New Pacifica colony, and for whose medical well-being she would be partly responsible. Preferring to familiarize herself with the new surroundings, Julia had chosen to spend the night aboard her quarters on the Advance vessel, rather than her bleak apartment on the station. The bunk aboard the ship was not quite as comfortable as in her apartment, but considering the fact that it would get minimal use before and after the cold-sleep stasis in the cryo-units, it hardly mattered.

In fact, Julia had found the whole process of quarter assignments aboard the ship as rather an overkill. In her opinion, a larger, more general living quarters shared by everyone would have sufficed, in which case, the number of persons aboard the Advance vessel could have been increased significantly. One of her main concerns with the Eden Project had been the limited number of crew assigned to the Advance portion of the mission. It wasn't a hell of a lot of bodies to handle the inception of an entire colony. Julia had never quite been able to figure out what might be on the Adair agenda for her to have chosen to proceed this way. It didn't make a whole lot of sense as far as she was concerned.

Julia sat at the small metal desk with the folders spread before her, as she sipped at her morning orange juice and nibbled on an oatmeal bar. She silently spoke the names of the New Pacifica Advance team inside her head, trying to familiarize herself with the medical histories of each- something that time had not allowed her the luxury of doing prior to now.

Devon Adair. Julia skimmed through the details and nodded at the recognition of some of the names of doctors who had treated Devon throughout her life. Some pretty influential people, Julia realized. Money could afford families such as the Adairs such perquisites. As for her medical history, Devon Adair was probably the most physically healthy member of the entire team.

Ulysses Adair. This was a medical history that required little in-depth analysis. It was little more than a repetition of countless others Julia had encountered in her work with Syndrome children of affluent families. The personal attention was obvious in comparison to the average Syndrome child languishing in a ward full of similarly afflicted children. Julia attempted to control her disdain- it was hardly the child's fault, after all. She had met Ulysses Adair briefly during one of his visits to Dr. Vasquez, and he seemed similarly adjusted as any other Syndrome child who had spent their entire brief existence dealing with the prospect of death. Uly, as he seemed to be preferentially called, *did* however seem to exhibit something extra- a gleam in his eyes that bespoke the hope that had undoubtedly been planted there by his mother's promise of a new life on a planet far away.

Julia's concentration was broken by the sound of someone clattering around in one of the panels outside her door. Probably one of the Ops crew, she decided. She had met one of them late the previous evening, apparently working on some wiring re-routing along the hallway ceiling access hatches. He had introduced himself gruffly as John Danziger and gone back to what he was doing when Julia did not make any attempt to venture further conversation. In fact, Julia's mind had been entirely preoccupied with the unfolding of events at the Colonnade, and she had been momentarily startled by the presence of the foreboding crewman right outside her quarters. Sensing the opportunity for conversation had passed, she entered her quarters and decided he was probably working on a deadline anyway. There were less than sixty hours until launch, after all.

Julia noticed there was no medical file for a John Danziger in front of her, which meant he was not part of the New Pacifica landing party. There appeared to be a number of Ops crew aboard who were slated to return with the vessel after delivery at G889, judging from the limited number of folders before Julia, in comparison to the Advance vessel's compliment of thirty-five. At least she wouldn't have to tolerate the smugness of the ship's pilot once they had gone down to the planet, Julia realized. He had been one of the first people she had met aboard the ship earlier in the week, and his Lothario attitude had grated on the doctor immediately.

Returning her focus to the medical folders, Julia examined the details of some of the other soon-to-be colony settlers.

Broderick O'Neill. A fairly densely packed file, to say the least. The man had seen more military combat injuries than he deserved to be around to talk about. It was lucky for him that the medical compliment of the military had been so well prepared before the Faith wars.

Morgan Martin. Julia hadn't met the man yet, but had already felt the disappointment of discovering that a government liaison would be watching over everything they do during colony setup. Julia envisioned an argument or two with the man, no matter how charming he may turn out to be. His medical history was mostly uneventful.

Not so the file of his spouse. Bess Martin had grown up planetside, and the list of medical procedures she had encountered were both surprising and esoteric. Nothing too serious- the usual bouts with lung aggravations and ear, nose and throat infections so common on the planet. However, the documentation of the treatments left Julia wide-eyed. It was incredible what archaic alternatives Earther doctors utilized when the most efficient treatments weren't immediately available to them. Julia silently thanked her lucky stars that she had had the luxury of experiencing the medical environment of the station hospitals. She couldn't imagine being stuck on a planet in the middle of nowhere, trying to treat people without the necessary supplies. Thank goodness she would never have to- the colony hospital at New Pacifica was designed to be state of the art, once construction was complete.

Julia finished her breakfast as she skimmed through some of the remaining files. The names were mostly unfamiliar to her- Eben Synge, Larry Stidd, Terence Walman...the names became a blur. There were twenty-two in total, including herself and Dr. Vasquez. Twenty-two settlers, twenty-two light years away. For some reason, the thought sent a shiver of excitement through Julia's body. Then Julia realized something. There was one file missing.

"The cyborg!" Julia exclaimed out loud. "What was his name?" Julia thought back to her meeting with the kindly tutor of the Adair child a few days previously. "Ah! Yale!"

Julia shuffled through the pile of folders once again, thinking she had perhaps overlooked it, but it was definitely not there. She chewed slightly on her lower lip as she considered the possible reasons. Having never encountered a cyborg before- it was a program that had been dismantled years ago- Julia had never been privy to the medical histories of such a person. A pity, she decided. It would have been interesting to see.

Feeling the desire to get up and move around, Julia abandoned the medical files and headed towards the door of her quarters. The door slid open and she stepped out into the hallway. Whoever had been working out there only minutes earlier was gone now. Julia shrugged her shoulders, and headed along the corridor.

You must login (register) to review.