Death Becomes Her

Chapter 19

Jo was sitting in a conference room. She wanted answers to a lot of questions. First and foremost was what the hell had they done to her? Her hair was cut really short and she hadn't even seen a mirror yet to see just what they had done to her.

She had been given clothes to change into and that was when she had gotten a really good look at herself. Her breasts were bigger, her skin looked, mostly because it was darker now, and felt different, she was bald down there which was also new. Even her face felt different.

Then she had a real shock. She started talking to herself and she sounded different! She had attributed the sound of her voice earlier to her being in a hospital. But now she knew her voice had changed.

She was also pretty sure she had been stabbed in the back but she couldn't see it and her hands, which were also different, couldn't feel anything. Finally the door opened and in walked two people. The woman had a tray of glasses with water in them and what she was guessing were snacks. He sat down and she left.

"Ms. Beckett, I'm Doctor Hunley and I'm here to answer your questions and get you ready to be discharged before someone comes to get you and take you to your new home."

"Great. What have you done to me?" Jo meant all of her since all of her looked or felt different.

"You're in the Second Chance facility. We created Second Chance to give people outside of the Systems Alliance a chance at a new life," Hunley began to explain. "We have satellites around a number of planets that are not part of the Systems Alliance. When a person dies they have their mind, memories really, downloaded into a computer. The computer runs a number of checks on that person. If the first few are met, the person is kept. If not, then they're erased and permanently die."

"That's Impossible. First there's no such satellite and even if there was our military would know about it. And you can't just take memories out of a person's brain. So enough with the BS and tell me what you have done to me." Jo wasn't interested in this cheap SciFi crap.

"Your planet cannot, that would be correct. And your military couldn't find our satellite even if they were physically in orbit looking for it. Forgive me but your planet is too primitive to find it.

"You are Johanna Beckett, wife to Jim Beckett, and mother to Katherine Beckett who has already come and left this facility."

"Katie. Katie's here? Where's Jim?" She wanted to see them.

"Your husband is still on Earth. Kate is on the SSV Sagan far out in space and no where near this system. You are presently on the home planet of the Systems Alliance." Hunley knew and expected resistance.

"BULL!" Jo was starting to not like this person.

Hunley got up. "Please follow me." They had given up on video walls, so this time he opened a door and stepped outside onto a balcony. It overlooked the city and the habitat ring in orbit could be easily seen.

Jo followed and stopped at the door as her eyes get big and her mouth hung open. She walked slowly until her shaking hands finally touched the rail. There were flying cars, she was willing to call them. Even what looked like a flying train went past quickly. The buildings didn't look anything like the ones in New York City. And then there was this big thing in the sky that went on forever.

"Skyway and that's the habitat ring that's out in space. It goes all the way around our planet. Millions of people live on it. Save for some of the bigger cities and a few small ones, most of our planet is used for farming and animal farms to feed our people.

"Our ship building is also done on the habitat ring, one for civilian and one for the military," Hunley told her and just let her stand there and look.

"This is another planet?" Jo couldn't deny what she was seeing. She could even feel a breeze and the heat from the sun. "What's that?" She saw a ship coming down from the habitat ring.

"Cargo transport. The food is grown and mostly processed on the planet, then transported up to the habitat ring. There are deliveries all day long. There will be another one just like it soon. Followed by several more. You get used to it after a while." Most people didn't even notice. They grew up seeing it and ignored them.

"Katie was here?" Jo went back to that.

Since she looked and sounded more comfortable out there, Hunley remained standing on the balcony with her. "Second Chance gives people a chance at a life that was taken from them. Only people that were murdered or died from a disease make it past the first screening.

"That's followed by a cursory check of their memories and it's determined whether they were good people or murderers. Also if the download was complete enough. If it was then their memories are compressed and sent to a relay satellite that will take those memories and send them via FTL to a substation until eventually they reach this facility.

"Once they're here we do a far more rigorous and meticulous screening of the memories and decide if they're worthy of a Second Chance. You might think of it as we're playing God. We like to think of it as we're giving life to people that had it taken from them far too soon," Hunley told her.

"So why do I look, sound, and feel different? …Memories. You said memories and not bodies." Jo turned away from what she saw and looked at him.

"Correct. Your body, in whatever form it's in, is still on Earth. We can take memories out but we can also put memories into a body. That's all accomplished in this facility.

"We utilize members of our society that have had a sudden loss of life. We take DNA samples and create a clone of this person. We then download memories into this body.

"Your body was of a young woman who had died suddenly. You now look like her, feel like her, and sound like her, but with your own memories. You're still Johanna Beckett from Earth. You are simply now in an Angoran body," Hunley explained.

"You couldn't download her memories and give her a new body?" They could make this woman live again instead of her.

Hunley shook his head. "It's against the law. We have very strict cloning laws. At Second Chance our facilities are closely monitored. We can create the clones but the satellite or even a local system that would download her memories just a nanosecond prior to death is also outlawed.

"Only people outside of the Systems Alliance can be downloaded and placed into a tightly controlled and regulated clone body. It's one of our bottlenecks. A limited number of people qualify to be sent to this facility and a limited number of people are available to be cloned.

"Shall we go back inside?" It was more comfortable there.

oOo

"So I'm dead but not dead." Jo was catching on.

"You died on Earth, yes," Hunley confirmed.

"You said Katie had come through this place. Does that mean she died?" The very thought of that made her heart ache.

"I'm afraid so. She was downloaded into a new body and is living somewhere else now. She's fine, last I knew." Kate was out of his facility and what happened to her next was out of his control.

"Is it possible…," Jo swallowed hard, "to see her?" She desperately wanted to see and talk to her. Her daughter was even her best friend.

"As soon as your escort arrives tomorrow you'll be going with him. He'll be escorting you to her and her family." Hunley knew that much.

"Family!?" Katie had a family?

"So I'm told. I think that's enough for today. You need time to process what you've learned and we need to run a complete physical on you before you can be released. A nurse will take you back to your room." Hunley was up and leaving the room. Jo soon found herself being led by a nurse back to her room.

They fed her and mostly left her alone until the nurse came back and took her to a different doctor who gave her a complete physical and oh my, did she mean complete!

oOo

Jo answered the door and saw Hunley on the other side. "It's time to leave. I will escort you down to the lobby where your escort is waiting. Questions while we walk?"

"I'm not speaking English, am I? I had to force myself to speak English. I can also understand what's written," Jo had finally noticed.

"We have added memories, if you like. You now understand our language completely. Think of it as part of the cloning process. Your brain only knew that language so implanting that information is actually quite easy. You have to force yourself to remember your previous language. It's all still there, we didn't remove anything. That's also closely monitored to verify that we're abiding by all our laws.

"And here he is. Ms. Johanna Beckett, may I introduce Admiral James McDonald? Admiral, this is Johanna Beckett, mother to Katherine Beckett."

"A pleasure." Jim took her hand and very softly brushed his lips across it. "Thank you, Doctor." He dismissed Hunley since his job was over. "If you will come with me, please? We have a lot of shopping to do and my wife is anxious to meet you."

"Shopping?" Jo questioned.

"The only clothes you have are the ones you're wearing. It's all Second Chance is required to provide as part of their services. Everything else has to be purchased," Jim said.

"You have the same first name as my husband." Even if he didn't look anything like him.

"Lucky us." Once outside she saw what she was willing to call a car waiting for her. There was even a man in a similar uniform to his waiting at a door standing next to who Jo was betting was his wife.

"Johanna, my wife Amelia. I thought she could help. If it was left to me you might end up wearing a uniform or at least a suit," Jim joked at his own expense.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world. I get to spend someone else's money." Amelia was all smiles.

oOo

"So you're Kate's mother. I'm sure she'll be thrilled." Amelia could just imagine. "I'm the one Jim chose to pick her…engagement ring, I believe it was called." They didn't do such things here.

"Katie's engaged?" This was new and a shock.

"Captain Richard Rodgers of the ship SSV Sagan and a very good friend," Jim informed her.

"Engaged. Not married?" Jo asked.

"Not yet. I'm going to escort you all the way along with my wife and attend the ceremony before coming back. Now what you want to do is up to you," Jim told her.

"We're shopping for something called a wedding dress as well. Not sure either of you are prepared for what women wear when they join their man." Amelia leaned across and kissed her husband's cheek.

"You'll see," Jim said and grinned since his wife's had been something else all right.

oOo

Jo didn't believe this place. She also didn't believe the options in clothing and she needed everything. A problem initially was that she didn't even know her own chest size. So she got a fitting and was informed what it was now.

Then came stripping to put on her first outfit. Jo screamed. Amelia came running as Jim stopped just outside and waited.

"What is it, Jo?" Amelia had the door open. She found Jo half dressed and staring at herself in the full length mirrors that lined the room.

"I…I…I've never really seen what I look like now. I'm young! And darker all over." Jo was guessing maybe 30 at most. She was a little heavier looking than she remembered being. Her breasts were much bigger and she had really short jet black hair.

Jo was soon stretching her face and opening her mouth to look at herself.

"Second Chance. I swear, men have no clue. They think they can just put you in any body and you're happy because, well, they're happy. MEN!" Amelia felt upset for her.

"Careful, dear," Jim called out.

"They didn't tell her or even show her, Jim. You can't just do this to women. I want that man's head," Amelia yelled at him. He was an admiral after all. He had power and connections. *RHIP in spades.

"Yes, dear." Jim retreated since it wasn't anything he needed to worry about. He was sure he would get an earful later but Second Chance wasn't military. He had little to no influence on how they ran their business.

Still he did get to see what Jo tried on and decided to keep eventually.

oOo

Jo was watching as Amelia and Jim packed everything she had selected into suitcases that had suddenly appeared and they hadn't even left the store yet.

"You're sure I can afford all this?" She now had clothes, coats, shoes, and underwear of different types and sizes. She even had swimwear, two of which were bikinis that she hadn't worn in years.

"It's all Rick's money plus a little something from us," Jim assured her.

"If you say so." Jo didn't get it but she did need clothes.

"Home, please, then wait. We'll be right back out," Jim told the driver.

Jo didn't even get to go inside. She was told to wait in the car as these three carried all of her suitcases inside and were back in moments.

"More shopping. You need makeup and other things. Jim isn't coming for this. This is women's work," Amelia informed her which gave Jo a clue.

oOo

Sure enough, Jo was proven correct. She had makeup, hair products, and feminine care items that she was going to need. "Condoms?" She was married and Jim wasn't here.

"You're 30 years old. I forced it out of Jim. Women have needs and your Jim isn't here so use them or don't, but they're going with you." Amelia threw the box in with everything else. "The things are only a precaution, anyway. Medical has much better options that are almost foolproof. You've already got one of those from Second Chance." Jim had told her that, too.

oOo

This time Jo got to see where it was all going. They were on a base of sorts since there was a guard at the gate and these two had a house and wow, what a house!

"This is really nice." Jo knew her mouth was hanging open but did nothing about it while she walked around.

"Thank you. We like it. Your room for tonight is this way. Jim and I are on the opposite side so you'll be alone to do what you please." Amelia showed her to her room for just tonight. Where Jo found all of her suitcases and everything from just now got dropped.

"Dinner's in an hour. Make yourself comfortable and walk anywhere you choose." Amelia said and smiled. "After dinner we're going shopping for a wedding dress for Kate." Amelia couldn't wait for this. A woman was only ever going to have the one dress. She felt a little sad that Kate couldn't pick her own for herself. But between the two of them they would find something.

oOo

"What do you know about the Systems Alliance? Did Second Chance tell you anything?" Jim asked her while they eat what Amelia had prepared.

"Not much. I'm on a different planet which is still a little difficult to believe even after all I've seen," Jo admitted.

"Second Chance only operates on planets that are not nor ever have been part of the Alliance. It's the law so feel free to be overwhelmed.

"The Systems Alliance is made up of several planets in different systems," Jim said. "We trade with each other and provide mutual defense. We mostly get along. There are a number of alien races, none of which you've been exposed to yet, but that will chance come tomorrow so be ready. More than one may look scary to you."

"Sounds like Star Trek," Jo said. "Never mind it's an Earth TV show."

"Well, it's real now," Jim warned her.

"So Katie's on a spaceship?" Jo asked since that sounded right.

"A ship that's very far from here. You'll be on it tomorrow." He saw a look of disbelief on her face. "We have developed what we call a Mass Relay. Basically if a ship, any ship, has a jump drive onboard, they can access the Mass Relay and move from one Relay to another in an instant.

"Captain Rodgers' mission is to repair as many Relays as he can reach in a fifteen year time frame," Jim began to explain. "We lost access to a lot of them in a very long and destructive war with a race of our own making. We call them Reapers."

"Poor people." Amelia shook her head.

"Reapers are people of various races that came in contact with a contagion. It mutated their bodies and their minds. It made them aggressive in the extreme. They live only to kill, using weapons, or hand-to-hand, or even biting if necessary," Jim explained. "We lost trillions of people of all races during the war."

"It's all history to us. None of us have ever fought in that war. That war was long ago, just not long enough," Amelia added.

"The Alliance is in the beginning stages of reforming the Alliance in its entirety. That's the job of Rick and the ship he commands. As he recovers each Relay we'll send supplies and reinforcements to protect that Relay. He and his ship and crew then move on to the next Relay.

"Over the last year he has recovered two of them," Jim said should she elect to stay on the Sagan. He was betting she would because of Kate, her daughter in a previous life.

"So how many of these things are there that he has to repair from this war?" Jo queried.

"At its height there were sixty-five known Relays. Each system in this galaxy or the next closest has or had Relays. Sixty-five known systems, though not all of these systems have a habitable planet with life," Jim said and Jo opened her eyes wide.

"We have FTL – Faster Than Light – but it can take months or even a year to reach another system even in FTL. That's the reason for the Mass Relay system. With them we can get from one system to the next in an instant. The Sagan travels by FTL to reach each Relay. Fight if necessary to secure that Relay then do any necessary repairs to it.

"They're on their own until they repair it and send us a drone. Once it's working properly we can send either a few ships or if necessary an entire fleet of warships to keep it," Jim clarified since she needed to know what she was getting herself into if she chose to stay on the Sagan.

"Sounds dangerous." Jo was still going to go and stay since that was where Katie was. It sounded like she was getting married and she wasn't going to miss that.

"It is, I won't lie. The Sagan is the single largest and most powerful ship we've ever built. If necessary she can stay out there on her own for up to fifteen years. Basically she's a small town that also happens to be heavily armored and heavily armed. She can take care of herself and everyone onboard. She's truly unique. One of a kind," Jim told her.

"And there is room for you, dear," Amelia assured her. Jim nodded.

"We'll all go up to the military side of the habitat ring tomorrow for our trip out to the Relay that Rick has recently secured. Attend this wedding then Amelia and myself will come back home. What you do is up to you," Jim said and smiled at her.

"I'm staying. If Katie's there then that's where I'll be." Jo didn't care what this ship looked like. Katie was there and that was more than enough.

"Good." Amelia was happy for her. "Second Chance."

*Rank Has It's Privilege