The Edge and Beyond

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By Andrew Montgomery

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The room was dark and filled with neatly packaged scrap. Pillar after pillar stood, row upon row, filling a chamber as big as a football stadium or two. In one of the pillars, one soul reached out to it's battered and broken body. It's silent cry however reached that which seemed denied to him. There was no energy in his body, nothing to fuel his muscles, but yet they moved.



Alarms were sounded as metal was heard to groan under the pressure of his force. Slowly the dura-plex stretched and gave way to his hand. Once outside, his hand clenched into a fist, that which was a symbol of strength and defiance.



Commander Tarl was large, even for his own species. He had heard of the human race and the rumours that the Shi'ar had initiated contact with them as a direct breach of the Alliance Imperatives.



Commander Tarl stormed out of his personal quarters when he heard the alarms sound. Tarl slung his gun-belt around his waist and hit a communications panel in the hall. "Tarl here! What's the problem?"he demanded.



"Sensors indicate there is audio stimulus in the Cargo area. All hands have reported and there are no authorized personnel in the area. Sensors cannot however identify any unauthorized personnel or erroneous power source."



"I'm on my way." Growled the lizard-like alien. His long, powerful legs ate up the distance in short order.



Tarl stormed through the decks and entered the storage bay. His sharp eyes scanned each pillar until he found the small hand sticking out of the pillar. Barking some orders he waited impatiently until the salvage crew arrived to take the pillar to the labs.



When the small robotic form was laid out, the head of the salvage team announced that though there were definite signs of Shi'ar technology, there was a sophistication that was unseen so far in the lower echelons of the Alliance. Tarl, examining the readouts, suspected the technology to be comparable to some of the more senior members. The salvage crew, upon orders from Tarl began to assemble the machine.



Whoever had taken the machine apart had taken great pride in their work. The Salvage crew however had the skills to match their job. The skeletal structure was, for the most part, repaired, but there were several pieces missing.



"Commander Tarl," began the master salvage engineer. "It appears that the unit has a nanite repair system that will begin upon a systems re-activation command. In addition there appear to be several systems that were unable to be accessed by the systems mainframe with out a key of sorts, so we have bypassed the lockout altogether to allow full access."



"So?" inquired Tarl impatiently. "What is the hold up?"



"One of the universal guide lines are that you cannot create nothing from something. It is impossible. His nanites will turn to the surrounding objects and even life forms to assimilate the necessary materials to exist."



Tarl grinned. Life was full of risks, and he was a full hearted gambler in such matters. Pulling out his pistol, he aimed it at the master salvage engineer and bared his teeth in his own version of a grin.



"Activate systems now or you can die." Tarl seemed calm and determined. Not one person on the ship, not even the captain was fool enough to contradict him in times such as this.



The engineer trembled as he walked over to the wall and activated the process that would bring life to the metallic skeleton.



Slowly at first, but soon energy was flowing into the machine like a river running to an ocean. Tarl's eyes followed the climb of the voltage meter as the readout climbed.



A small body huddled close to Tarl's leg. Looking down he saw that it was his mates young. She tilted her head and quietly called his name to know who it was she had clung to. Tarl's long powerful tail wrapped around her and squeezed her painfully for a moment before it relaxed enough to merely guide her about.



The pain was accepted as punishment for leaving her quarters and for entering a forbidden section. When she returned to her rooms, she would be punished more, but Tarl was excited. The machine's body was gaining more power, which translated directly to how fast the body sought out and converted the surrounding environment to fit it's needs to repair.



One of the workers stood too close and a section of his leg was dissolved much to his agony.

The rust coloured skin, the blood, it was all used in the body. Artificial blood packs were established, the skin was processed and the body soon became covered in skin.



The injured crewman was shot by Tarls own gun, for no other reason than his cries of agony were detracting from the mood.



The body was finished in all of five minutes. The power was automatically disengaged and Tarl looked upon his new possession which blinked at the bright light above him.



Rising with a groan, he looked at his body and found found himself covered in a light coating of a rapidly browning nanite solution.



"I am Jack Cade." said the machine with a hesitant voice. "Who-where-what is going on?"



"You were given up for scrap and I have claimed you. You will serve me here on this ship."



Jack looked at him with an incredulous look. "I am a free man and am a servant of no one but myself. I will work to clear my debt, but I will not be owned."



Tarl sneered. "You are in no position to argue. You will serve me or you will be jettisoned. You have cost us a great deal of resources. But I give you my word that if you serve well, you will be set free when you have worked off your debt. Plus there are more ways than one to earn your freedom. Until then you will be my bond servant are we clear?"



One of the engineers leaned over to Jack. "Do as he says and chances are you will not be destroyed outright. But if you say no, you will be destroyed without a thought. He craves power, but for the most part he keeps his word."



Jack took a breath and let it out slowly, almost in a hiss. "We will see how things go, for now. I will serve on your word that I will be set free when my time is done."



Jack spent that first month in maintenance. His hand blasters were focussed to welding torches and with his creativity he proved himself to be quite a valuable tool.



He rarely saw Commander Tarl, and when he did, it was always brief and Tarl was needed elsewhere.



Finally, during the ships down time, when he was allowed to do as he desired, Jack pressed the pad next to Tarls private quarters. The door opened and it was not Tarl who stood there but one of his mates.



Jack looked at her and though she appeared to be human, something didn't quite feel right. No. Not human, but something physically close.



"Can I help you?" she asked softly.



Jack realized that he had been staring and apologized. "Sorry about that. Uh- I was looking for Commander Tarl... You wouldn't know where he would be would you?"



"One moment." With that the door closed and Jack could barely make out the sound of a yelp of pain. When the door opened again, Jack saw the woman on the floor with a red mark across her face.



The towering lizard tried to cow the young man before him, but Jack simply stared back at him and got back to business. "You said that I could earn my way free faster. How?"

The smile made a shiver run up Jack's back, but he hid it well. "The reward is matched by the risk, are you sure?"



"Try me." Tarl grudgingly allowed a moment of respect to pass between them. This machine had spunk. But a moment was all it lasted.



"Very well, meet me here in one hour. I'll show you what it will take."