Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Deathstalker.
Vandread belongs to Studio Gonzo.
DeathStalker belongs to Simon R Green.
I would like to dedicate this chapter to my first and so far only reviewer DarkJackel.
I was losing enthusiasm for writing but you made me want to finish this chapter and continue with the story.
Vanstalker: Part 2)
In the men's quarters Hibiki slowly made the transition from being deeply asleep to fully awake. Hibiki was still young and quite small for his age. The food pellets of Tarak provided all the necessary nutrients a human body needed to survive but not necessarily to excel, and the pellets that he had received were those issued to third class citizens, not those of the elite who reserved the best for themselves and the soldiers of the space forces. As a result Hibiki like many third class citizens was slightly undersized. The lack of good food and the long hours he was used to working in the factory on Tarak also meant that he was normally a deep sleeper. But this morning a new sound penetrated his sleep fogged brain and hastened its journey to consciousness.
He was by now used to the noises of his other two companions, Barts snoring and mumbling and Duero's quiet breathing but this morning a new sound was present.
"Shhh, Uhhhh"
"Shhh, Uhhhh"
Regular and rhythmic the sound was coming from the hall outside the cell which the men had converted into their quarters.
Now fully awake, Hibiki sat up and yawned. Glancing over he saw that Bart and Duero were still asleep, which meant the noise had to be coming from.
Sure enough the newcomer's cot was empty, although the bed looked freshly made. The sheets almost painfully straight. That was curious. I know I saw him go to sleep last night, so what happened? Did the women come to take him away? Only one way to find out.
It was a curious sight that greeted Hibiki as he exited the cell. Hanging suspended from an overhead pipe in the hallway was Tam. As Hibiki watched he could see that he was performing chin ups, gradually lifting his body towards the pipe using only his forearms and biceps. Tam looked over and saw him and gave a nod of recognition but continued in his exercises. Curious Hibiki continued to watch until he finished and dropped lightly back to the deck.
"Morning."
"Morning yourself. Why were you doing that?"
"Doing what?" Tam replied as he towelled himself off.
"Those exercises, why were you working that hard?"
Tam shrugged and draped the towel over the back of his neck. "It feels right. As soon as I woke up in the morning I felt the need to exercise. As soon as I started I just fell into a pattern."
"But why work so hard first thing in the morning?"
"It's the best time, it gets your blood pumping and keeps your body in shape and increases your ability to think and act."
"That's stupid."
"Actually he's quite right." Duero commented as he made his way out of the cell.
"At the academy morning exercises were part of our daily regime. Most of the Elite also exercise's in the mornings to maintain physical and mental health. I've dropped out of my usual routine since I found myself on this ship, would it be alright if I joined you?
Tam looked over at the doctor with a smile. "Certainly, I've pretty much finished for the day but if you wanted to join me tomorrow?"
"That would be excellent, thank you."
Tam then turned around "Hibiki would you like to join us?"
Hibiki was seething inside. At first he had thought that this newcomer would be someone he could talk to, after that handshake he had thought that he had met someone who would recognise him for what he was rather that just labelling him with the stigmata of a third class citizen. But now hearing him talking with the doctor, seeing the way he was. He'd be damned if he aped the ways of the Elite.
"No thanks I would want to take up any of the rituals that belong to the Elite."
"Exercising is hardly a ritual Hibiki, it's a way to keep fit. Judging from what you've told me you need to stay fit and alert to fight whatever enemy is out there."
" I don't need exercises to fight, as long as I have my Partner I can take on anything" Replied Hibiki Hotly.
"Your partner, oh the machine you were telling me about, the vanguard. That reminds me I've been meaning to ask you would you show it to me?"
"Why" asked the young pilot suspiciously?
"I'm curious and besides from what you have described it sounds impressive"
Hibiki seemed to consider this for a few minutes
"Alright after breakfast." Hibiki then turned and made his way towards the bathroom.
Tam remained beside Duero. "I seem to have struck a nerve."
Duero sighed as he watched Hibiki walk away. "On Tarak we are strictly segregated by our classes. It is very unusual for citizens of different levels to meet. I think he is having trouble determining how he should act here so he uses bravado as a cover for his uncertainty."
"So on Tarak people are born into a class and are expected to work within the boundaries of that class their entire lives? Lovely society you come from Duero." The last words were said scathingly belying their meaning.
Duero glanced over curiously "Your society was different?"
Tam stood there for a while staring at the way Hibiki had gone, "I still don't remember my past, but from the feeling that I get about it. There were different classes, some were more privileged than others. But I also feel that people were able to improve themselves, gain more if they had the skill and the determination to do so. But to be tied into a system unable to change your place only because that was what you had been born to."
Tam lapsed into silence and Duero felt compelled to ask "It must appear very unusual."
Tam turned to him and said softly "No Duero in a distant way it seems very familiar as if part of me remembers something similar. But whenever I try to remember what all I get is a feeling of wrongness, a feeling of… Evil."
Elsewhere on the ship other members of the crew were discussing the newcomer, but the tone was anything but flattering.
"I cannot believe that we have another man on board, at this rate there will be more of them on the ship than we are." Barnette face was flushed as she vented. She had not been able to believe it when the Boss decided to allow the three males to remain on the ship, but she had kept quiet partly out of her respect for the boss, partly because even she could see (although she would never admit it) that each of the three had skills that they would need on the trip home. But now, to have another man appear literally out of thin air, it aggravated her more than she could say. And Barnette was not noted for keeping her opinions to herself. She was about to continue when another voice cut her off.
"I don't think it's that likely that the men are going to start outnumbering us Barnette. We only have them outnumbered about a hundred to one. Or do you think that our crew can't keep control of a measly four men." Gascognue stood in the doorway leaning against the frame, her trademark "toothpick" out at a jaunty angle as she grinned.
Barnette flushed "Gascogne, no I never thought that I just don't like the idea of men running around on the ship."
"Good I'm glad you feel that way. The boss wants to put the new arrival to work on the maintenance and refuse section and I want you to supervise him."
"Me!! But I'm a Dread pilot, I need to train with the squadron, besides why the hell do I have watch over this this MAN!!"
Gascogue smile if anything widened. "First because I told you to, and as I outrank you. That would make it an order. Second because as this is our new guests first assignment and I want someone who can handle themselves to watch over him. And of all the women on this ship I can think of no one better qualified than you. That answer your question?"
Barnette signed with resignation. "Yes maam."
"Good report to Parfet in engineering. She'll give you a list of work areas that are in need of maintenance. Try and give him something challenging. The boss wants to see what he can do."
"When do I have to report to Parfet?"
"Oh now is a good time"
Gascogne watched as Barnette stormed her way out of the cafeteria.
"Are you sure that was wise, Barnette is noted for her strong views towards men. Aren't you taking a chance that she will use this as an opportunity to act on them?"
Gascognue turned to face BC.
"To be honest that's part of the reason that I sent her. That girl has a lot of potential. She could be a real leader some day, but she needs to learn to control her anger. Forcing her to have a bit more contact with men is one way to let her learn that."
"Seems a bit hard on Tamorasp though."
"Oh I don't know, something about that man tells me he can take care of himself."
By the time she reached engineering Barnette was fuming. How, how could Gascognue do this to her. Why out of all the women on the ship was she chosen to look after this man? A small voice inside her mind said that Gascognue's explanation did make sense. Barnette was one of the most martial women on the ship. In a dread, in armed or unarmed combat she had few peers. But she didn't want to listen to that voice. Men were evil, they were the enemy. Every child of Mejere was told that almost from the time they were born.
This train of thought continued until Barnette reached engineering. As usual the control room was full of orange garbed techs busily tending to the engines or repairing minor damage from the last battle. She finally found Parfet in a corner of the engine room consulting a terminal.
"Oh Barnette, what brings you down here?"
"Gascogne's assigned me to watch over the new man on his first maintenance assignment."
"Oh you've been assigned to watch over Tamorasp? That's a relief I was a little worried about sending one of my girls to watch over him."
"Why has he threatened anyone?
"Oh no no. It s not that, but it's just that in that briefing he attended I got the feeling that he could have. And he could have backed up the threat too."
"That's strange to hear from you Parfet, I thought you didn't mind the new men?"
"Well I've only really had contact with their doctor and he was interesting, but this new one there's just something about him."
Barnette waited but Parfet didn't elaborate further.
"Oh the maintenance list, right now where did I put that? Oh here it is."
Parfet passed over a dataslate which Barnette started to scroll through. "Storage rooms, light fixtures, circuit breakers. Most of this seems like pretty basic stuff Parfet?"
"Well most of it is, we've cleaned up the major damage since the last battle. All that's really left is minor repairs and bringing on line some of the areas from the men's section."
"The men's section?"
"Yes, some of those areas that came from the old colony ship look like they haven't been maintained since the founding! Most of them were barely working. We've been trying to bring some of them on line to help meet the ships requirements, but so far no luck. Like section 2-24. It's an old water recycling plant. We've been trying to get it on line so that we can increase our water supplies, but for some reason its just not working."
"What's been the main problem?"
"The smell"
"What?" Barnette looked at Parfet with an extremely puzzled look on her face
"It's a waste water recycler Barnette."
"You don't mean!"
"Yep all the water from the cooking section and the "facilities" has been pumped down there/ We wanted to reduce the strain on our own unit, after all it wasn't intended to last for deployments of this length, so we've been sending the worst of the waste to the unit in the old colony section. But as you can imagine the smell in there is indescribable. I've had my staff working in full containment suits, but even so I've had to take them off after a few hours apparently the smell just permeates through, not to mention the other stuff in there!"
"That's disgusting."
"I know but we need that section on line, if we don't then we may run out of fresh water. Well I'd better get back to it. Catch you later."
A few minutes later Barnette was wandering through the crew quarters still consulting the list trying to find something acceptable. There were a large number of jobs, but they all seemed mind numbingly boring, and she was not going to spend the entire day watching a man work! But what was she going to do about…
"Barnette"
Looking up Barnette saw Meia walking down the corridor towards her.
"I'm glad I found you. I've scheduled a squadron exercise at 1200 hrs today. We need to practise new tactics for dealing with these Cubes. Briefing starts at 1030."
Barnette responded without thinking "I'll be there leader".
Meia nodded briefly before walking away.
Immediately afterwards realisation dawned. Shit, what did I say that for how am I going to make a squadron exercise when I'm supposed to be watching this man?
I can't just leave him wandering free on the ship. If only I could lock him up for a few hours or. A thought suddenly occurred to Barnette. Quickly she scrolled through the dataslate until she found what she was looking for.
Well, if the boss wants him tested, let's see how he handles this!
Meanwhile, Hibiki and Tamorasp had made their way down to the main Hanger where Hibiki's Vanguard and the rest of the Bangata's were stored.
As they walked Tamorasp stared about him at the forms of the Bangata's. The war machines stood in long silent rows. Their cylindrical heads and single cyclopean eye's felt like they were staring down at them. Despite this Tamorasp was unimpressed. The mecha were large but chunky. They appeared awkward, and he couldn't imagine how they would be of use in a space based environment. And the other thing was.
"Are they all unarmed?" Hibiki looked up at the question.
"Yeah they're stored weapon less in case of accidents during manuvering, but the weapons are stored nearby you can see some of them over there."
Tamorasp eagerly followed Hibiki's pointing finger, this was what he was really interested in. He looked over at a large rack tucked into a corner, and nearly face faulted!
A selection of massive spears, maces, swords and other medieval style weaponry all built to Bangata scale were stored on the racks. What the hell? he thought.
"Hibiki what about ranged weaponry"
"What do you mean? Bangata's aren't equipped with ranged weapons they're close combat units?"
"What! But the women, you've told me they use these fighters, dreads that are equipped with cannons and long range missiles"
"Yeah"
"And you're empires answer to high speed attack fighters is to make close combat mecha that are optimised for combat on land?"
"Don't ask me, that's for the Elite to decide, I was just a third technician we just built the things we didn't ask why."
Tamorasp started to feel a headache coming on. He could not understand the logic of creating something like the Bangata's to counter attacks by the dreads. Furthermore something inside him some instinct screamed against the stupidity of it. To commit men to fight in these things against an opponent who would have such an advantage. Why would they do that unless they didn't have a choice? But if they didn't have a choice then how had the men stood against the women for so long? Hibiki suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
"Well, here he is, my Partner"
The kid stood proudly pointing with his hand. Tamorasp looked up.
This was more impressive. The machine in front of him looked similar to the other Bangata's but it was noticeably different. To start with this machine was in a sitting position with its hands on its knees. But the differences went much deeper than that. The mecha was much bulkier than its counterparts with a massive barrel chest and thicker arms and legs. The head was also smaller with an almost human seeming face instead of the single eye like lens of the other Bangata's. In a sheath on its back two huge blades could be seen carried in scabbards. But the machine still seemed little different to the other Bangata's.
Then he felt it. It was nothing more then a sensation, a feeling, but he felt it coming from the form of the Bangata. Latent energy, not power in itself but the potential for power. Like a vast reservoir or a battery waiting to be tapped. It hovered there at the edge of his senses and then abruptly, as if sensing his presence it was gone.
He shook himself and blinked rapidly. He tried to find the source of that feeling but it was gone. Mean while Hibiki had been blissfully describing the qualities of his partner unaware his audience was distracted. Tamorasp turned his attention back to Hibiki just in time to see the younger man freeze as a young female voice rang out.
"MR ALIEN?"
It was interesting to watch as Hibiki's face quickly changed from his previously animated expression to one of panic.
Surprised Tamorasp turned to see what could possibly have caused such an extreme reaction in his young friend.
Walking round a corridor between the rows of Bangata came a girl. Tamorasp judged her to be young, little older than Hibiki. She was wearing a pink bordered white jacket and shirt over a close fitting black tee shirt. Her long red hair went down to her calves. As he watched she called out again.
"Mr Alien!"
Tamorasp was about to ask he who she was looking for when she turned around and looked at him for the first time. With a cry of
"Oohh it's the new alien" she bounded towards him.
Tamorasp looked around him for a moment wondering what she was talking about, when he suddenly realised that as the newest arrival on the ship she was likely referring to him.
He stared at her bemused as she stopped in front of him.
"Hello new Alien, Dita welcomes you to the Nirvada."
"Thank you Dita"
"Ohh the alien said thank you to Dita. That's different, Mr Alien always runs away when Dita wants to talk."
"Mr Alien? Do you mean Hibiki?"
"Yes, that's his name but Dita always thinks of him as Mr Alien."
Tamorasp was having a bit of trouble with the way the girl always referred to herself in the third person.
"What do you want to talk to Hibiki about Dita."
"Dita wants to ask Mr Alien about where he's from and what its like to live in the alien place he comes from. But Mr Alien always runs away from Dita.
But now that the New Alien is here Dita can ask him!"
Tamorasp took a moment to realise that she meant him.
"Id like to Dita but I don't remember anything of where I come from. I can't answer your questions if I don't know myself."
The redhaired Girl appeared crestfallen at this news. Her expression moved Tamorasp to say something.
"But If I do remember I'll be willing to answer your questions."
"Really?"
"Yes if you will make me a promise."
"Dita make New Alien a promise? What kind of promise?"
"Promise to call be by my name and I'll promise to tell you what you want to know."
"But Dita doesn't know the new aliens Name"
"That's easy it's Tamorasp."
This appeared to cause a bit of trouble for the redhead.
"Tamor… Tamrasp. Ohh the new aliens name is hard to say!"
"Then you can just call me Tam."
"Ok Tam Dita promises. Now have you seen Mr Alien?"
"Well he was just here a minute ago."
"Ohh then Dita will have to hurry and catch him. Bye Tam"
And with that the likely redhead tool off again, calling out "Mr Alien?" as she ran.
Tamorasp stood shaking his head bemused by the whole encounter. Typical the only friendly girl on the ship was more than a little weird. Now, he thought looking around, where did Hibiki get to?
Suddenly Tamorasp heard a small noise coming from Hibiki's Vanguard. Slowly he moved forward to investigate. He crouched at the entrance to the cock pit and started inside. Suddenly something dropped from the ceiling of the cockpit to fall sprawled in the control seat. With an effort Tam stopped himself from jumping back as he stared down at the sprawled form of Hibiki.
The youth groaned and rubbed his back. But the first words out of his mouth were.
"Is she gone?" Tam shook his head bemused.
"Yes, she's gone. Went down the corridor looking for you. I'm impressed, you moved that fast it was almost like you teleported."
"What's Teleporting?"
"Travelling instantaneously between one space and another."
"What, you mean like how we were moved from Tarak."
"From what you've told me something similar to that yes."
"So is that how you got here, you teleported?"
"I still have no idea Hibiki, but it's as good an explanation as any."
The young man seemed to think of this for a few moments, then moved to change the subject.
"So what do you think of my Partner?"
"It's impressive" said Tam with feeling.
"Damn right he is. As long as I have my partner nothing can stop me. I take care of him and he takes care of me."
"So you repair and maintain it yourself."
"Yes, why?" A frown began to form on the young mans face. "You think it's a techs job to care for machines?"
"Far from it, I'm impressed. Your partner this Vanguard is your weapon. I've never know a true warrior to be comfortable to let others take care of their weapons."
"Hey, a warrior I like the sound of that. But Tam does that mean you knew a lot of warriors?" Hibiki looked over suddenly and saw that the older man was clutching his head wincing as if in pain. "Tam are you ok"
Tam nodded wearily and slowly put down his hands. "I'm fine just a headache. Its funny every time I say something like that I feel them. Maybe it's a sign that some of my memories are coming back."
Hibiki still looked a little worried. "Maybe we should go and see Duero, maybe he can help."
"No, its ok it's already subsiding."
Hibiki nodded reluctantly, "So what are you going to do for the rest of the day?"
"Well the captain said she was going to send someone to start me on some work, until then I guess my time is my own."
"Want to help me with my partner?"
Tam smiled at the younger man "Be happy to"
But the two had barely started to move to pick up the tools when an irate female voice rang out behind them. "There you are!"
Barnette was annoyed. Very annoyed. As soon as she had decided on her course of action she had gone to the men's quarters to collect the new arrival, only to find the quarters empty. She had wasted minutes in a futile search trying to find them before finally trying the sickbay. The doctor had suggested she try the Bangata bays and Barnette had wasted further minutes making the long trek across the ship. Now she had finally managed to track down this man that should have been waiting for her.
Barnette now looked at this new arrival. This man was plainly different from the others. At her shout tensed suddenly before stopping to look at her. Once he had seen her the tension in his body had relaxed and he had turned to face her. This irked Barnette even more, it was as if this man had sized her up and plainly decided that she wasn't a threat just by looking at her. Who did he think he was? Barnette decided that it was time to take control of the situation.
"Man. I have been assigned to take you to your work assignment for the day. I have been assigned to oversee your work so you will obey my orders." The mans only reaction was to nod his head cordially. For some reason this compliant reaction only enraged Barnette further.
"Well what are you waiting for, move!" The mans lips twitched slightly.
"Where?" Barnette stopped flustered.
"What do you mean?"
"Well you haven't told me where my work assignment for the day is, and I'm still unfamiliar with this ship, so where would you like me to go?"
Barnette reddened as she realised her mistake. Angrily she turned and started moving away.
"Just follow me she called over her shoulder."
Pausing to give Hibiki a wry smile, Tamorasp started to follow her.
Barnette stalked angrily through the corridors of the Nirvada. She could not believe that she had embarrassed herself like that, and in from of men. At least there had been no other women around to witness it but doing it in front of the men was bad enough.
Her mental tirade was interrupted by the voice of the man behind her.
"Excuse me." Barnette ignored the man. But a few moments later the voice repeated itself.
'Excuse me." Barnette whirled around and pinned the man with a glare that had all the force of her irritation behind it.
"What!" She expected the man to flinch or step back. He did neither merely returning her glare with an impassive stare before speaking.
"I just wanted to ask your name."
"Why" asked Barnette suspiciously? The man shrugged.
"Just common courtesy. And besides if we are going to be working together it would be nice to have something to call each other than Man and Woman."
Barnette flushed again as she realised that she had been so worked up she had failed to even introduce herself.
"Barnette" she ground out. The man responded by nodding his head respectfully.
"Pleased to meet you Barnette, my name is Tamorasp." Barnette ignored him and started walking again.
Behind her Tamorasp followed. Of all the women on this ship she was the most outwardly hostile of any he had met so far. He wondered if they had deliberately chosen this woman to irritate him. If so they would have to do far better than this. One thing that he remembered was that it was always best to hide your real feelings behind a mask of courtesy. It gave others no indication of what you were really thinking, and if they should choose to think you weak because you failed to respond to their insults, so much the better.
Finally Barnette stopped in front of what appeared to be their destination. They were in what appeared to be an older part of the ship. The corridors were poorly lit and the hallways were dirty and marked by age. Several times Barnette had had to refer to the dataslate she was carrying to find her way through the maze of corridors, but finally they had stopped. Tamorasp looked around interestedly beside the door was a sign. It was badly worn and streaked with grime but still legible.
"Secondary water treatment plant" he said out loud. Barnette turned to him in shock.
"How did you know that?"
He pointed. "That's what the sign says." She stared at the sign blankly.
"You can read the men's language?" He shrugged.
Barnette could barely restrain herself. This man had been nothing but courteous, even she could find no fault with his manners, unlike some of the other men. But his every little action seemed to annoy her further. It felt like he was constantly taking the advantage away from her. Well no matter she told herself. Let's see how he deals with this!
Barnette keyed the doors open and the smell flowed our. The stench was indescribable, worse than anything she had imagined. Once on Majere when she had been learning to cook a freeze unit had failed and the food inside had rotted. The smell of that had made her feel ill. This was worse, much worse. The smell, like some ungodly combination of rotten eggs, sulphur and chemicals assaulted all of her senses. It was all she could do to keep control of her stomach and stop herself from dry heaving. As it was she had to focus on breathing through her mouth in an effort to avoid the smell, even that was only partly successful. Gasping Barnette turned to see how the man was taking it. Gratifyingly even he seemed to be affected by the odour. He held one hand over his mouth as it to shield it from the smell and his normally olive skin had a distinct tinge to it that made him appear ill. So she though triumphantly, even he is affected by this.
"What in gods name is that stench?" asked Tam.
"Your assignment." The man looked at her incredulously.
"You cannot be serious."
Barnette smiled nastily and forced herself to entered the chamber that was the source of the smell. After a moment Tamorasp followed her.
The chamber within was huge. The walls of the room were dominated by pipes and large machines, broken up here and there by a panel of controls or a computer workstation. The floor of the room was dominated by a massive pool. It was from this that the stench emanated. The side of the pool were encrusted with muck in a variety of colour and hues. The water itself, if you could call it that was a uniform dark brown broken here and there with patches of algae or more solid matter in a variety of colours. The stench in here was even worse than outside, and it took a tremendous force of will for both of them to control their stomaches.
"What is this place?"
"Secondary waste water recycling plant."
Tamorasp looked around, both hands now cupped protectively over his mouth. His eyes were now starting to water from the smell. "It doesn't look like its working."
"Exactly and that's your job."
"My Job?"
"That's right, you are being put on maintenance, and it is now your job to get this plant working."
Barnette relished the slightly panicked look that was now on the man's face. "But I don't know anything about how to fix a plant like this. I'd have no idea where to start!"
"That's your problem. You volunteered to help, well this is where we need help."
Barnette could see that the man was about to protest further so she cut him off.
"Look the engineering staff have already started on the job, but we're short staffed, just carry on with the work they started." Saying this Barnette handed over the data pad she had been consulting and turned to leave.
"Hold on where are you going."
Barnette turned back hotly "It's not my job to baby-sit you all day. I'm a dread pilot, I have other duties to attend too. Oh and just so you know as you are still on probation, I'll be locking you in for the duration of this shift. You'll find tools and equipment in the storage lockers." That said Barnette exited through the doors and keyed them locked. Smiling pleased at the morning's work she started to make her way to the dread simulators. As she walked part of her wondered if she had been too harsh on the man. The smell in that room had been truly terrible, Parfet had not been joking. She had only meant to humble him a little, this might be overdoing it. Then she shook herself. Don't be stupid, this is a man he deserves everything he gets.
Back in the recycling plant Tamorasp spent a full five minutes calling down every curse he could remember and several he was inspired to make up down on Barnette' head. Until he realised that this necessitated him breathing harder an act that he felt he should limit as much as possible. Scowling at the memory of the evil bitch that had locked him in here, he looked down to consult the dataslate she had left behind. What he saw almost made him start swearing again. The information on the slate was in an unfamiliar language. He could make out the diagram of the plant, but the descriptions and directions were gibberish. How what the hell was he supposed to do. Frustrated he scrolled through the slate. Nothing, nothing, nothing. None of it made any sense. Rage built within him the more he scrolled through. And then something else started to build. In the back of his head he a felt a sense of pressure. Faintly at first but then greater and greater. Pain built with the pressure. Soon it was unbearable he screamed clutching his head, trying to relieve the building pain. Then suddenly it peaked, an explosion of pain rocked through his head. Stars seemed to wink before his eyes. The force of it drove him to his knees. Gasping he blinked his eyes to restore his vision. He was still a little unsteady but now the pain had gone. What the hell was that he wondered? Bemused he knelt down to take another look at the dataslate and started. What had once been gibberish was now clear. The symbols, the writing he could read it. This didn't make any sense. He scrolled back to the start of the instructions. It was all now perfectly clear. The symbols themselves were unfamiliar but somehow he knew what they said. How the hell did that happen? He pondered for several minutes but no explanation came. Then shrugging he settled down to read the instructions on the data slate, the smell of the room temporarily forgotten.
A couple of hour's later Barnette staggered out of her dread simulator. She felt exhausted. Meia had run all the Dread teams through simulated exercises for hours. Each team had taken turns running through defensive and offensive manoeuvres around the Nirvada. And they had continued until Meia saw satisfied that the teams could perform the manoeuvres to her satisfaction. Barnette signed, she admired Meia's dedication as a leader but sometime's she wished that she was just a little bit less business-like all the time. As if in answer to that thought Meia walked to the front of the simulator room.
"Alright everyone, that was adequate for today but we still need more work." A chorus of voices rose in protest. Meia raised her hand for silence. With an unknown enemy out there we must remain vigilant. From today onwards we will be performing daily drills to sharpen our skills. Out here our lives and the lives of everyone on this ship depend on how well we can perform our jobs. We owe it to everyone one on board to be at our best." Silence greeted this comment. All the pilots gathered there could understand that even if they might resent the extra training time. Meia looked around at the gathering. "All right then, dismissed, see you here again tomorrow."
Barnette sighed and made her way over to where Jura was waiting for here. It had felt like a long day and a bath would be welcome, preferably with Jura as company. Jura smiled at her approach and opened he mouth to speak but then.
"Jura, Dita, Barnette. Please make your way to the launch decks, I've arranged some additional practise for us." Voices were raised in protest at this Jura's the loudest.
"Huh?"
"But leader"
"MORE PRACTICE! But I'm tired I need a bath and a change of clothes."
"We need more practise. The simulators cannot yet recreate all the new capabilities of our dreads and we have not yet found out all they can do. Barnette I want you there to observe how the dreads handle and provide any observations."
The others protested but although she was quiet Meia had a resolve like iron and the four soon found themselves on the way to their dreads. Amid all this Barnette completely forgot about another duty she was neglecting.
Sweating inside the environmental suit he had found in a storage compartment, Tamorasp finished screwing a panel back into place. Sighing he picked up the dataslate and began reviewing its contents for the umpteenth time. For the past four hours he had gone through and performed all the maintenance steps that the slate had deemed necessary to bring the plant on line. He had checked cables and wires, replaced fuses and ensured that the main flow lines were open. According to the slate the recycling plant should now be working. But every time he tried to start the system he got the same message "Block in feed line". But according to the system specs all the feed lines had automated scrubbers to clear any blockage. He had just spend the last 2 hours checking each of the scrubbers and making sure that they were online, all of them had checked out so what the hell was the problem?
Signing deeply he sat back and consulted the plant diagram once more trying to find where the problem might be. Ha! Who was he kidding, he wasn't an engineer he didn't know how machines worked, so how could he expect to understand. FLASH
Suddenly he found himself in an immense space. It was filled with strange structures. They were made out of metal and crystal. They were made up of weird forms and patterns that seemed to make no logical sense. He tried to look around but discovered that he had no control over his body. That's because this isn't a body he realised, this is a memory. Suddenly his vision shifted and he found himself staring at a familiar blue steel robot, the same he had seen in his earlier vision. The robot began to speak.
"Machinery is easy to understand. Every item of machinery is built to fulfil a function. Therefore logic dictates that if you understand the function of a device and its purpose you will be able to understand how it works by following the logical progression of its progress in completing that function. Appearance can be the first key."
A voice he was startled to recognise as his own interrupted.
"But there are devices all round me whose appearance yields no clue as to their function."
"To you they appear to have no purpose my friend. Shub relies far less on ascetics than you humans do. For you, in order to fulfil a function a device often needs to be recognisable by its appearance so that it is familiar to you. We have no need for this. For us the appearance of a device is dictated by the function it needs to perform. But that is what I am trying to teach you. If successful we will be able to expand your horizons so that your ability to perceive is no longer limited by Human perceptions."
"But logic in itself is also limited by the assumptions that it is often based on." At this the robot pressed its hands together and bowed.
"This is true, that is why it is our hope that if we can help you to think in the way we do, that you will also be able to teach us some more human ways for approaching problems"
In the memory he felt himself smile at the Robot.
"I think you are already making progress in that regard my friend." The robot cocked its head in polite inquiry. "You just used the word hope." And as the vision faded Tamorasp could hear or feel the Robot laughing along with him.
FLASH: Jerked back from the vision Tamorasp contemplated what had unfolded to him. He did not doubt that it had been himself in the vision but it had still only yielded scant details about who he was. At least he now knew who or rather what the robot was. A construct used by the AI's of Shub to speak with others. He now knew that he had been friends with the AI's, that he had trusted them enough to be alone with them. And that they had in turn trusted him enough to let him on Shub, which was in effect their body. The moon where their collective consciousnesses were stored. He remembered the massive rooms and alien machinery that had abounded on that world. But he also remembered being comfortable there.
But other memories also surfaced that worried him. A memory flickered in his consciousness that linked the name Shub with the title Enemies of Humanity. But why was that? There had been no malice or evil in the AI he had talked with he was sure. But did that mean that he had also been an enemy of humanity? The thought was disquieting. Shaking himself he resolved to worry about it later. It appeared that his memories were returning, but at a very slow pace. He would wait until he remembered more before he made any decision. Until then, back to the matter at hand.
He resumed his study of the diagram, but now something was different. In his mind he could see how the plant operated. From the diagram before him his mind pieced together the workings of the plant. How the water flowed, how the scrubbers operated, how it was purified and treated and how the waste was disposed of. As he focused on the problem his mind seemed to expand further expanding and listing all the individual processes and assumptions upon which it was based. When it was finished he sat back gasping for breath. It felt like a tidal wave of information had poured through his brain. Already the feeling was receding and part of him knew that this was a precaution. He could not leave his brain operating in that way and still interact normally as a human. But it had left him with a potential solution to his problem. He looked over at the pool in the centre of the room and grimaced. He had better check the seals on the suit just to be sure.
An hour or so later Barnette stumbled out of her dread feeling utterly exhausted. Meia had put the three improved dreads through a growling series of exercises. Barnette had only been there to monitor them and offer advice but even she felt exhausted. She was just about to head over to the other hanger and find Jura when a voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Barnette, what have you been doing?"
Barnette winced, and turned. Gascognue BC and Parfet stood at the foot of the access ladder to her dread and none of them looked happy.
"Gasco, what do you mean?"
"Its Gascogne Barnette, and you should know what I mean. I ordered you to supervise Tamorasp what are you doing going out in your dread?"
Barnette flushed but replied defiantly.
"Meia ordered us to extra practise as a member of the dread teams that's my first responsibility."
"As your superior your responsibility is whatever I say it is Barnette. And as for Meia's order, did you tell her that I had assigned you to other duties. No I thought not. Now where the heck is the man? I went to check to check with Parfet when he failed to show up for shift change but she thought he was with you. Now I find that you've gone off in you dread and left him to wander the ship unsupervised."
"I didn't leave him unsupervised. I locked him in one of the work areas and left him with a dataslate of instructions."
BC suddenly interrupted.
"Barnette, we have already searched all of the work areas that Parfet gave you. There was no sign of him anywhere. Now if you can't tell me where he is we are going to have to order a ship wide search."
"I left the man in the secondary waste water treatment plant." BC and Gascogne looked at each other in puzzlement, but this was broken by a loud shout from Parfet.
"You did WHAT?"
Minutes later they were all hurrying through the corridors of the ship making their way to the treatment plant. Parfet had called for a few of her engineering assistants to join them, and BC had contacted Duero to tell him to meet them their with his emergency treatment kit. Parfet had been incredulous when Barnette has said that she had locked the man in the plant more than 6 hours ago. When she had talked to Barnette earlier she had failed to mention that extended exposure to the combination of fumes in the chamber was dangerous. He previous teams had worn environmental suits to protect them from the fumes. But the suits that had been left in the room had not been resupplied lately. There was no telling if there was enough air in them to last, or even if the man would be able to use one of the suits. Further more the intercoms in that section of the ship weren't working yet. If Tamorasp was in trouble he would have no way to call for help. This had led to the desperate race through the corridors as they struggled to reach the room in time to prevent the accidental death of their newest crew member. Barnette ran along side the rest. She didn't like the man but she had only meant to inconvenience him. She had never meant to put his life in danger. Now like the rest she hoped that they weren't too late.
Finally they reached the doors to the chamber. Duero and Parfet's two assistants were waiting there. Swiftly Barnette entered the security code and unlocked the doors. The party was immediately assaulted by the smell, but Parfet handed out hand respirators which they all quickly donned before making their way into the room to find.
An empty chamber.
The vast chamber stood silent and empty. Tamorasp was nowhere in sight.
"What the? Where is he?" blurted one of the engineers.
They all looked around confused.
"This chamber has only one exit he couldn't have gotten out any other way." Voiced Parfet.
Barnette looked over at one of the main terminals. Tools taken from the storage lockers were piled on the desk, on the floor were two containment suits and a number of oxygen bottles. The man had obviously been here, but where had he gone?
Then one of the engineers screamed. They all spun around to stare at where she was pointing. In the vast pool in the centre of the chamber something was moving. At first it was a ripple that barely disturbed the surface, but as it reached the edge of the pool by a filth encrusted ladder it suddenly started to rise, a head appeared followed by shoulders and the rest of a body. It was a containment suit. The suit was so smeared with filth from the pool that it was almost unrecognisable. Everyone was so surprised at this sight that no one commented when the suit exited the pool and made its way to a nearby terminal. The figure picked up a rag and wiped the worst of the mess from the gloves of the suit. Then it bent over the terminal and entered a command. For a moment there was the sudden throb of machinery in the room, when just as suddenly it stopped. The figure slapped the desk in irritation then strode purposely towards one of the long cylindrical machines that dominated the walls of the chamber. Upon reaching it the figure let fly with a full bodies open handed slap against the side of the machine.
Parfet started to cry out in protest at this abuse of equipment. But her protest died almost before hit had begun. Once more the room filled with the low throb of machinery. Only this time it did not stutter and die. Instead it became louder and stronger. The waters of the pool started to move sluggishly, drawing towards the intake pipes that formed the base of the cylinders around the room.
Parfet and the other engineers stared around with wonder. But Barnette and the others turned to stare at the figure in the suit, which it seemed had finally noticed them.
The figure reached up to unsnap the seal and remove the helmet portion of the suit, and Barnette found herself staring at Tamorasp's grinning face.
"Hey Barnette. Time for shift change already?"
Some time later in the briefing room Magno sat drinking a cup of tea as she reviewed the day's reports. Those concerning the newcomer were interesting. Apparently thanks to him the secondary water treatment plant was now operational. It would still take almost a week for it to clear up the accumulated mess it already contained, but according to Parfet after that it would soon be ready to be integrated into the ships systems. Once the place had been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected of course.
Gascogne had assigned Barnette to assist with the clean up crew. She thought that it would be a fitting punishment for shirking her responsibility and Magno agreed with her. Parfet had been amazed at the man's work. She had thought it would take day's to isolate the problem and get the plant running. She was requesting that the man be assigned to engineering so that the cold see what other talents he had.
That was a request that Magno was currently considering. A buzz from the intercom interrupted her train of thought.
"Boss, Tamorasp is here to see you."
"Thank you, send him in."
Looking up Magno could not conceal a smile at the sight that entered the room. Tamorasp appeared absolutely spotless. From his boots to the tips of his hair he almost shined. As well he should after the washing he received. After his little swim in the tank Gascogne and Parfet's first action was to send the man for a bath. For several baths actually. Mango could see that some of his skin was still raw from scrubbing, The two had flatly refused to let the man leave the bathing areas until they were satisfied he was clean and then they had bombarded him with a variety of scents in an effort to remove the smell they were convinced still clung to him. From where she sat Magno could pick up a faint whiff of a perfume from Majere that she recognised as one of Gascogne's favourites.
"That's an interesting scent you are wearing."
"You like it? It's a little feminine for my tastes, but I'm considering asking Gascogne for a bottle."
Mango laughed at the man's joke, weak as it had been. As things were he had handled the situation with remarkable restraint and she felt no urge to push him further.
"Sit down young man." Tamorasp complied.
"Now Tamorasp."
"Tam"
"What"
"Please, call me Tam, it's the less formal form of my name."
Magno nodded.
"So some of your memories have been returning?" Tam's expression appeared guarded.
"Some," he admitted. "But they are largely fragments with no clear links. That or I suddenly find myself with knowledge about things I wasn't aware of before."
"Like your apparent talent with machines. So is Parfet right in her supposition that you were an engineer that somehow transported yourself here?"
"I don't know about that, somehow it just doesn't feel right. Let's just say that trying to understand machines was a hobby of mine."
There was a deeper meaning behind that comment, Magno could feel it but she let it pass, now was not the time.
"Well whatever it is we could use it. Parfet has requested that you be transferred to the engineering section. I thought that I would get your impression before agreeing."
"Parfet? The brown haired girl with glasses? Yes she seems to know what she's doing, I could feel comfortable taking orders from her."
Magno sensed what was unspoken behind that statement.
"Yes on another matter I feel that I should apologise to you for the way Barnette treated you. You should not have had to endure that."
Tam nodded graciously "Accepted captain, I can't say that I enjoyed the experience but some good did come of it."
"So you won't take any action against Barnette?"
Tam shrugged.
"She disobeyed orders and she's being punished for it. As far as I am concerned the matter is settled. If she lets it be so will I."
Magno nodded. Under the circumstances that was the best she could hope for.
"Alright then, report to Parfet at the first shift tomorrow. If you have no other questions that will be all."
Tam nodded to her before standing up and leaving the room.
After he was gone Magno picked up another report and read through it for the second time. This was Duero's report after he had examined Tam following the events in the chamber. Apparently Tam has suffered no ill effects from his time in the chamber. That is what was worrying. The gasses and fumes in there had been mildly toxic. According to Parfet anyone unsuited would have been unconscious within a half hour and dead after more than one. But Tam had remained largely unsuited for the majority of the time he had spent in the chamber. There had only been enough oxygen in the remaining gas bottles to last for three hours. Tam should have been dead long before Parfet and the others had come for him. But somehow he had survived with no ill effects. Troubled Magno sat back to ponder the increasing puzzle that their new arrival represented.
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Whew that was a long chapter. And a lot of it was still to set the scene. But don't worry in the next chapter the action starts to pick up. It will be set roughly along the lines of episode 4 in the first season. Tamorasp suddenly has great incentive to rediscover his main skill and in ain't engineering.
As always reviews, criticism and advice are welcomed.
Please send to darkblade101westnet.com.au
Vandread belongs to Studio Gonzo.
DeathStalker belongs to Simon R Green.
I would like to dedicate this chapter to my first and so far only reviewer DarkJackel.
I was losing enthusiasm for writing but you made me want to finish this chapter and continue with the story.
Vanstalker: Part 2)
In the men's quarters Hibiki slowly made the transition from being deeply asleep to fully awake. Hibiki was still young and quite small for his age. The food pellets of Tarak provided all the necessary nutrients a human body needed to survive but not necessarily to excel, and the pellets that he had received were those issued to third class citizens, not those of the elite who reserved the best for themselves and the soldiers of the space forces. As a result Hibiki like many third class citizens was slightly undersized. The lack of good food and the long hours he was used to working in the factory on Tarak also meant that he was normally a deep sleeper. But this morning a new sound penetrated his sleep fogged brain and hastened its journey to consciousness.
He was by now used to the noises of his other two companions, Barts snoring and mumbling and Duero's quiet breathing but this morning a new sound was present.
"Shhh, Uhhhh"
"Shhh, Uhhhh"
Regular and rhythmic the sound was coming from the hall outside the cell which the men had converted into their quarters.
Now fully awake, Hibiki sat up and yawned. Glancing over he saw that Bart and Duero were still asleep, which meant the noise had to be coming from.
Sure enough the newcomer's cot was empty, although the bed looked freshly made. The sheets almost painfully straight. That was curious. I know I saw him go to sleep last night, so what happened? Did the women come to take him away? Only one way to find out.
It was a curious sight that greeted Hibiki as he exited the cell. Hanging suspended from an overhead pipe in the hallway was Tam. As Hibiki watched he could see that he was performing chin ups, gradually lifting his body towards the pipe using only his forearms and biceps. Tam looked over and saw him and gave a nod of recognition but continued in his exercises. Curious Hibiki continued to watch until he finished and dropped lightly back to the deck.
"Morning."
"Morning yourself. Why were you doing that?"
"Doing what?" Tam replied as he towelled himself off.
"Those exercises, why were you working that hard?"
Tam shrugged and draped the towel over the back of his neck. "It feels right. As soon as I woke up in the morning I felt the need to exercise. As soon as I started I just fell into a pattern."
"But why work so hard first thing in the morning?"
"It's the best time, it gets your blood pumping and keeps your body in shape and increases your ability to think and act."
"That's stupid."
"Actually he's quite right." Duero commented as he made his way out of the cell.
"At the academy morning exercises were part of our daily regime. Most of the Elite also exercise's in the mornings to maintain physical and mental health. I've dropped out of my usual routine since I found myself on this ship, would it be alright if I joined you?
Tam looked over at the doctor with a smile. "Certainly, I've pretty much finished for the day but if you wanted to join me tomorrow?"
"That would be excellent, thank you."
Tam then turned around "Hibiki would you like to join us?"
Hibiki was seething inside. At first he had thought that this newcomer would be someone he could talk to, after that handshake he had thought that he had met someone who would recognise him for what he was rather that just labelling him with the stigmata of a third class citizen. But now hearing him talking with the doctor, seeing the way he was. He'd be damned if he aped the ways of the Elite.
"No thanks I would want to take up any of the rituals that belong to the Elite."
"Exercising is hardly a ritual Hibiki, it's a way to keep fit. Judging from what you've told me you need to stay fit and alert to fight whatever enemy is out there."
" I don't need exercises to fight, as long as I have my Partner I can take on anything" Replied Hibiki Hotly.
"Your partner, oh the machine you were telling me about, the vanguard. That reminds me I've been meaning to ask you would you show it to me?"
"Why" asked the young pilot suspiciously?
"I'm curious and besides from what you have described it sounds impressive"
Hibiki seemed to consider this for a few minutes
"Alright after breakfast." Hibiki then turned and made his way towards the bathroom.
Tam remained beside Duero. "I seem to have struck a nerve."
Duero sighed as he watched Hibiki walk away. "On Tarak we are strictly segregated by our classes. It is very unusual for citizens of different levels to meet. I think he is having trouble determining how he should act here so he uses bravado as a cover for his uncertainty."
"So on Tarak people are born into a class and are expected to work within the boundaries of that class their entire lives? Lovely society you come from Duero." The last words were said scathingly belying their meaning.
Duero glanced over curiously "Your society was different?"
Tam stood there for a while staring at the way Hibiki had gone, "I still don't remember my past, but from the feeling that I get about it. There were different classes, some were more privileged than others. But I also feel that people were able to improve themselves, gain more if they had the skill and the determination to do so. But to be tied into a system unable to change your place only because that was what you had been born to."
Tam lapsed into silence and Duero felt compelled to ask "It must appear very unusual."
Tam turned to him and said softly "No Duero in a distant way it seems very familiar as if part of me remembers something similar. But whenever I try to remember what all I get is a feeling of wrongness, a feeling of… Evil."
Elsewhere on the ship other members of the crew were discussing the newcomer, but the tone was anything but flattering.
"I cannot believe that we have another man on board, at this rate there will be more of them on the ship than we are." Barnette face was flushed as she vented. She had not been able to believe it when the Boss decided to allow the three males to remain on the ship, but she had kept quiet partly out of her respect for the boss, partly because even she could see (although she would never admit it) that each of the three had skills that they would need on the trip home. But now, to have another man appear literally out of thin air, it aggravated her more than she could say. And Barnette was not noted for keeping her opinions to herself. She was about to continue when another voice cut her off.
"I don't think it's that likely that the men are going to start outnumbering us Barnette. We only have them outnumbered about a hundred to one. Or do you think that our crew can't keep control of a measly four men." Gascognue stood in the doorway leaning against the frame, her trademark "toothpick" out at a jaunty angle as she grinned.
Barnette flushed "Gascogne, no I never thought that I just don't like the idea of men running around on the ship."
"Good I'm glad you feel that way. The boss wants to put the new arrival to work on the maintenance and refuse section and I want you to supervise him."
"Me!! But I'm a Dread pilot, I need to train with the squadron, besides why the hell do I have watch over this this MAN!!"
Gascogue smile if anything widened. "First because I told you to, and as I outrank you. That would make it an order. Second because as this is our new guests first assignment and I want someone who can handle themselves to watch over him. And of all the women on this ship I can think of no one better qualified than you. That answer your question?"
Barnette signed with resignation. "Yes maam."
"Good report to Parfet in engineering. She'll give you a list of work areas that are in need of maintenance. Try and give him something challenging. The boss wants to see what he can do."
"When do I have to report to Parfet?"
"Oh now is a good time"
Gascogne watched as Barnette stormed her way out of the cafeteria.
"Are you sure that was wise, Barnette is noted for her strong views towards men. Aren't you taking a chance that she will use this as an opportunity to act on them?"
Gascognue turned to face BC.
"To be honest that's part of the reason that I sent her. That girl has a lot of potential. She could be a real leader some day, but she needs to learn to control her anger. Forcing her to have a bit more contact with men is one way to let her learn that."
"Seems a bit hard on Tamorasp though."
"Oh I don't know, something about that man tells me he can take care of himself."
By the time she reached engineering Barnette was fuming. How, how could Gascognue do this to her. Why out of all the women on the ship was she chosen to look after this man? A small voice inside her mind said that Gascognue's explanation did make sense. Barnette was one of the most martial women on the ship. In a dread, in armed or unarmed combat she had few peers. But she didn't want to listen to that voice. Men were evil, they were the enemy. Every child of Mejere was told that almost from the time they were born.
This train of thought continued until Barnette reached engineering. As usual the control room was full of orange garbed techs busily tending to the engines or repairing minor damage from the last battle. She finally found Parfet in a corner of the engine room consulting a terminal.
"Oh Barnette, what brings you down here?"
"Gascogne's assigned me to watch over the new man on his first maintenance assignment."
"Oh you've been assigned to watch over Tamorasp? That's a relief I was a little worried about sending one of my girls to watch over him."
"Why has he threatened anyone?
"Oh no no. It s not that, but it's just that in that briefing he attended I got the feeling that he could have. And he could have backed up the threat too."
"That's strange to hear from you Parfet, I thought you didn't mind the new men?"
"Well I've only really had contact with their doctor and he was interesting, but this new one there's just something about him."
Barnette waited but Parfet didn't elaborate further.
"Oh the maintenance list, right now where did I put that? Oh here it is."
Parfet passed over a dataslate which Barnette started to scroll through. "Storage rooms, light fixtures, circuit breakers. Most of this seems like pretty basic stuff Parfet?"
"Well most of it is, we've cleaned up the major damage since the last battle. All that's really left is minor repairs and bringing on line some of the areas from the men's section."
"The men's section?"
"Yes, some of those areas that came from the old colony ship look like they haven't been maintained since the founding! Most of them were barely working. We've been trying to bring some of them on line to help meet the ships requirements, but so far no luck. Like section 2-24. It's an old water recycling plant. We've been trying to get it on line so that we can increase our water supplies, but for some reason its just not working."
"What's been the main problem?"
"The smell"
"What?" Barnette looked at Parfet with an extremely puzzled look on her face
"It's a waste water recycler Barnette."
"You don't mean!"
"Yep all the water from the cooking section and the "facilities" has been pumped down there/ We wanted to reduce the strain on our own unit, after all it wasn't intended to last for deployments of this length, so we've been sending the worst of the waste to the unit in the old colony section. But as you can imagine the smell in there is indescribable. I've had my staff working in full containment suits, but even so I've had to take them off after a few hours apparently the smell just permeates through, not to mention the other stuff in there!"
"That's disgusting."
"I know but we need that section on line, if we don't then we may run out of fresh water. Well I'd better get back to it. Catch you later."
A few minutes later Barnette was wandering through the crew quarters still consulting the list trying to find something acceptable. There were a large number of jobs, but they all seemed mind numbingly boring, and she was not going to spend the entire day watching a man work! But what was she going to do about…
"Barnette"
Looking up Barnette saw Meia walking down the corridor towards her.
"I'm glad I found you. I've scheduled a squadron exercise at 1200 hrs today. We need to practise new tactics for dealing with these Cubes. Briefing starts at 1030."
Barnette responded without thinking "I'll be there leader".
Meia nodded briefly before walking away.
Immediately afterwards realisation dawned. Shit, what did I say that for how am I going to make a squadron exercise when I'm supposed to be watching this man?
I can't just leave him wandering free on the ship. If only I could lock him up for a few hours or. A thought suddenly occurred to Barnette. Quickly she scrolled through the dataslate until she found what she was looking for.
Well, if the boss wants him tested, let's see how he handles this!
Meanwhile, Hibiki and Tamorasp had made their way down to the main Hanger where Hibiki's Vanguard and the rest of the Bangata's were stored.
As they walked Tamorasp stared about him at the forms of the Bangata's. The war machines stood in long silent rows. Their cylindrical heads and single cyclopean eye's felt like they were staring down at them. Despite this Tamorasp was unimpressed. The mecha were large but chunky. They appeared awkward, and he couldn't imagine how they would be of use in a space based environment. And the other thing was.
"Are they all unarmed?" Hibiki looked up at the question.
"Yeah they're stored weapon less in case of accidents during manuvering, but the weapons are stored nearby you can see some of them over there."
Tamorasp eagerly followed Hibiki's pointing finger, this was what he was really interested in. He looked over at a large rack tucked into a corner, and nearly face faulted!
A selection of massive spears, maces, swords and other medieval style weaponry all built to Bangata scale were stored on the racks. What the hell? he thought.
"Hibiki what about ranged weaponry"
"What do you mean? Bangata's aren't equipped with ranged weapons they're close combat units?"
"What! But the women, you've told me they use these fighters, dreads that are equipped with cannons and long range missiles"
"Yeah"
"And you're empires answer to high speed attack fighters is to make close combat mecha that are optimised for combat on land?"
"Don't ask me, that's for the Elite to decide, I was just a third technician we just built the things we didn't ask why."
Tamorasp started to feel a headache coming on. He could not understand the logic of creating something like the Bangata's to counter attacks by the dreads. Furthermore something inside him some instinct screamed against the stupidity of it. To commit men to fight in these things against an opponent who would have such an advantage. Why would they do that unless they didn't have a choice? But if they didn't have a choice then how had the men stood against the women for so long? Hibiki suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
"Well, here he is, my Partner"
The kid stood proudly pointing with his hand. Tamorasp looked up.
This was more impressive. The machine in front of him looked similar to the other Bangata's but it was noticeably different. To start with this machine was in a sitting position with its hands on its knees. But the differences went much deeper than that. The mecha was much bulkier than its counterparts with a massive barrel chest and thicker arms and legs. The head was also smaller with an almost human seeming face instead of the single eye like lens of the other Bangata's. In a sheath on its back two huge blades could be seen carried in scabbards. But the machine still seemed little different to the other Bangata's.
Then he felt it. It was nothing more then a sensation, a feeling, but he felt it coming from the form of the Bangata. Latent energy, not power in itself but the potential for power. Like a vast reservoir or a battery waiting to be tapped. It hovered there at the edge of his senses and then abruptly, as if sensing his presence it was gone.
He shook himself and blinked rapidly. He tried to find the source of that feeling but it was gone. Mean while Hibiki had been blissfully describing the qualities of his partner unaware his audience was distracted. Tamorasp turned his attention back to Hibiki just in time to see the younger man freeze as a young female voice rang out.
"MR ALIEN?"
It was interesting to watch as Hibiki's face quickly changed from his previously animated expression to one of panic.
Surprised Tamorasp turned to see what could possibly have caused such an extreme reaction in his young friend.
Walking round a corridor between the rows of Bangata came a girl. Tamorasp judged her to be young, little older than Hibiki. She was wearing a pink bordered white jacket and shirt over a close fitting black tee shirt. Her long red hair went down to her calves. As he watched she called out again.
"Mr Alien!"
Tamorasp was about to ask he who she was looking for when she turned around and looked at him for the first time. With a cry of
"Oohh it's the new alien" she bounded towards him.
Tamorasp looked around him for a moment wondering what she was talking about, when he suddenly realised that as the newest arrival on the ship she was likely referring to him.
He stared at her bemused as she stopped in front of him.
"Hello new Alien, Dita welcomes you to the Nirvada."
"Thank you Dita"
"Ohh the alien said thank you to Dita. That's different, Mr Alien always runs away when Dita wants to talk."
"Mr Alien? Do you mean Hibiki?"
"Yes, that's his name but Dita always thinks of him as Mr Alien."
Tamorasp was having a bit of trouble with the way the girl always referred to herself in the third person.
"What do you want to talk to Hibiki about Dita."
"Dita wants to ask Mr Alien about where he's from and what its like to live in the alien place he comes from. But Mr Alien always runs away from Dita.
But now that the New Alien is here Dita can ask him!"
Tamorasp took a moment to realise that she meant him.
"Id like to Dita but I don't remember anything of where I come from. I can't answer your questions if I don't know myself."
The redhaired Girl appeared crestfallen at this news. Her expression moved Tamorasp to say something.
"But If I do remember I'll be willing to answer your questions."
"Really?"
"Yes if you will make me a promise."
"Dita make New Alien a promise? What kind of promise?"
"Promise to call be by my name and I'll promise to tell you what you want to know."
"But Dita doesn't know the new aliens Name"
"That's easy it's Tamorasp."
This appeared to cause a bit of trouble for the redhead.
"Tamor… Tamrasp. Ohh the new aliens name is hard to say!"
"Then you can just call me Tam."
"Ok Tam Dita promises. Now have you seen Mr Alien?"
"Well he was just here a minute ago."
"Ohh then Dita will have to hurry and catch him. Bye Tam"
And with that the likely redhead tool off again, calling out "Mr Alien?" as she ran.
Tamorasp stood shaking his head bemused by the whole encounter. Typical the only friendly girl on the ship was more than a little weird. Now, he thought looking around, where did Hibiki get to?
Suddenly Tamorasp heard a small noise coming from Hibiki's Vanguard. Slowly he moved forward to investigate. He crouched at the entrance to the cock pit and started inside. Suddenly something dropped from the ceiling of the cockpit to fall sprawled in the control seat. With an effort Tam stopped himself from jumping back as he stared down at the sprawled form of Hibiki.
The youth groaned and rubbed his back. But the first words out of his mouth were.
"Is she gone?" Tam shook his head bemused.
"Yes, she's gone. Went down the corridor looking for you. I'm impressed, you moved that fast it was almost like you teleported."
"What's Teleporting?"
"Travelling instantaneously between one space and another."
"What, you mean like how we were moved from Tarak."
"From what you've told me something similar to that yes."
"So is that how you got here, you teleported?"
"I still have no idea Hibiki, but it's as good an explanation as any."
The young man seemed to think of this for a few moments, then moved to change the subject.
"So what do you think of my Partner?"
"It's impressive" said Tam with feeling.
"Damn right he is. As long as I have my partner nothing can stop me. I take care of him and he takes care of me."
"So you repair and maintain it yourself."
"Yes, why?" A frown began to form on the young mans face. "You think it's a techs job to care for machines?"
"Far from it, I'm impressed. Your partner this Vanguard is your weapon. I've never know a true warrior to be comfortable to let others take care of their weapons."
"Hey, a warrior I like the sound of that. But Tam does that mean you knew a lot of warriors?" Hibiki looked over suddenly and saw that the older man was clutching his head wincing as if in pain. "Tam are you ok"
Tam nodded wearily and slowly put down his hands. "I'm fine just a headache. Its funny every time I say something like that I feel them. Maybe it's a sign that some of my memories are coming back."
Hibiki still looked a little worried. "Maybe we should go and see Duero, maybe he can help."
"No, its ok it's already subsiding."
Hibiki nodded reluctantly, "So what are you going to do for the rest of the day?"
"Well the captain said she was going to send someone to start me on some work, until then I guess my time is my own."
"Want to help me with my partner?"
Tam smiled at the younger man "Be happy to"
But the two had barely started to move to pick up the tools when an irate female voice rang out behind them. "There you are!"
Barnette was annoyed. Very annoyed. As soon as she had decided on her course of action she had gone to the men's quarters to collect the new arrival, only to find the quarters empty. She had wasted minutes in a futile search trying to find them before finally trying the sickbay. The doctor had suggested she try the Bangata bays and Barnette had wasted further minutes making the long trek across the ship. Now she had finally managed to track down this man that should have been waiting for her.
Barnette now looked at this new arrival. This man was plainly different from the others. At her shout tensed suddenly before stopping to look at her. Once he had seen her the tension in his body had relaxed and he had turned to face her. This irked Barnette even more, it was as if this man had sized her up and plainly decided that she wasn't a threat just by looking at her. Who did he think he was? Barnette decided that it was time to take control of the situation.
"Man. I have been assigned to take you to your work assignment for the day. I have been assigned to oversee your work so you will obey my orders." The mans only reaction was to nod his head cordially. For some reason this compliant reaction only enraged Barnette further.
"Well what are you waiting for, move!" The mans lips twitched slightly.
"Where?" Barnette stopped flustered.
"What do you mean?"
"Well you haven't told me where my work assignment for the day is, and I'm still unfamiliar with this ship, so where would you like me to go?"
Barnette reddened as she realised her mistake. Angrily she turned and started moving away.
"Just follow me she called over her shoulder."
Pausing to give Hibiki a wry smile, Tamorasp started to follow her.
Barnette stalked angrily through the corridors of the Nirvada. She could not believe that she had embarrassed herself like that, and in from of men. At least there had been no other women around to witness it but doing it in front of the men was bad enough.
Her mental tirade was interrupted by the voice of the man behind her.
"Excuse me." Barnette ignored the man. But a few moments later the voice repeated itself.
'Excuse me." Barnette whirled around and pinned the man with a glare that had all the force of her irritation behind it.
"What!" She expected the man to flinch or step back. He did neither merely returning her glare with an impassive stare before speaking.
"I just wanted to ask your name."
"Why" asked Barnette suspiciously? The man shrugged.
"Just common courtesy. And besides if we are going to be working together it would be nice to have something to call each other than Man and Woman."
Barnette flushed again as she realised that she had been so worked up she had failed to even introduce herself.
"Barnette" she ground out. The man responded by nodding his head respectfully.
"Pleased to meet you Barnette, my name is Tamorasp." Barnette ignored him and started walking again.
Behind her Tamorasp followed. Of all the women on this ship she was the most outwardly hostile of any he had met so far. He wondered if they had deliberately chosen this woman to irritate him. If so they would have to do far better than this. One thing that he remembered was that it was always best to hide your real feelings behind a mask of courtesy. It gave others no indication of what you were really thinking, and if they should choose to think you weak because you failed to respond to their insults, so much the better.
Finally Barnette stopped in front of what appeared to be their destination. They were in what appeared to be an older part of the ship. The corridors were poorly lit and the hallways were dirty and marked by age. Several times Barnette had had to refer to the dataslate she was carrying to find her way through the maze of corridors, but finally they had stopped. Tamorasp looked around interestedly beside the door was a sign. It was badly worn and streaked with grime but still legible.
"Secondary water treatment plant" he said out loud. Barnette turned to him in shock.
"How did you know that?"
He pointed. "That's what the sign says." She stared at the sign blankly.
"You can read the men's language?" He shrugged.
Barnette could barely restrain herself. This man had been nothing but courteous, even she could find no fault with his manners, unlike some of the other men. But his every little action seemed to annoy her further. It felt like he was constantly taking the advantage away from her. Well no matter she told herself. Let's see how he deals with this!
Barnette keyed the doors open and the smell flowed our. The stench was indescribable, worse than anything she had imagined. Once on Majere when she had been learning to cook a freeze unit had failed and the food inside had rotted. The smell of that had made her feel ill. This was worse, much worse. The smell, like some ungodly combination of rotten eggs, sulphur and chemicals assaulted all of her senses. It was all she could do to keep control of her stomach and stop herself from dry heaving. As it was she had to focus on breathing through her mouth in an effort to avoid the smell, even that was only partly successful. Gasping Barnette turned to see how the man was taking it. Gratifyingly even he seemed to be affected by the odour. He held one hand over his mouth as it to shield it from the smell and his normally olive skin had a distinct tinge to it that made him appear ill. So she though triumphantly, even he is affected by this.
"What in gods name is that stench?" asked Tam.
"Your assignment." The man looked at her incredulously.
"You cannot be serious."
Barnette smiled nastily and forced herself to entered the chamber that was the source of the smell. After a moment Tamorasp followed her.
The chamber within was huge. The walls of the room were dominated by pipes and large machines, broken up here and there by a panel of controls or a computer workstation. The floor of the room was dominated by a massive pool. It was from this that the stench emanated. The side of the pool were encrusted with muck in a variety of colour and hues. The water itself, if you could call it that was a uniform dark brown broken here and there with patches of algae or more solid matter in a variety of colours. The stench in here was even worse than outside, and it took a tremendous force of will for both of them to control their stomaches.
"What is this place?"
"Secondary waste water recycling plant."
Tamorasp looked around, both hands now cupped protectively over his mouth. His eyes were now starting to water from the smell. "It doesn't look like its working."
"Exactly and that's your job."
"My Job?"
"That's right, you are being put on maintenance, and it is now your job to get this plant working."
Barnette relished the slightly panicked look that was now on the man's face. "But I don't know anything about how to fix a plant like this. I'd have no idea where to start!"
"That's your problem. You volunteered to help, well this is where we need help."
Barnette could see that the man was about to protest further so she cut him off.
"Look the engineering staff have already started on the job, but we're short staffed, just carry on with the work they started." Saying this Barnette handed over the data pad she had been consulting and turned to leave.
"Hold on where are you going."
Barnette turned back hotly "It's not my job to baby-sit you all day. I'm a dread pilot, I have other duties to attend too. Oh and just so you know as you are still on probation, I'll be locking you in for the duration of this shift. You'll find tools and equipment in the storage lockers." That said Barnette exited through the doors and keyed them locked. Smiling pleased at the morning's work she started to make her way to the dread simulators. As she walked part of her wondered if she had been too harsh on the man. The smell in that room had been truly terrible, Parfet had not been joking. She had only meant to humble him a little, this might be overdoing it. Then she shook herself. Don't be stupid, this is a man he deserves everything he gets.
Back in the recycling plant Tamorasp spent a full five minutes calling down every curse he could remember and several he was inspired to make up down on Barnette' head. Until he realised that this necessitated him breathing harder an act that he felt he should limit as much as possible. Scowling at the memory of the evil bitch that had locked him in here, he looked down to consult the dataslate she had left behind. What he saw almost made him start swearing again. The information on the slate was in an unfamiliar language. He could make out the diagram of the plant, but the descriptions and directions were gibberish. How what the hell was he supposed to do. Frustrated he scrolled through the slate. Nothing, nothing, nothing. None of it made any sense. Rage built within him the more he scrolled through. And then something else started to build. In the back of his head he a felt a sense of pressure. Faintly at first but then greater and greater. Pain built with the pressure. Soon it was unbearable he screamed clutching his head, trying to relieve the building pain. Then suddenly it peaked, an explosion of pain rocked through his head. Stars seemed to wink before his eyes. The force of it drove him to his knees. Gasping he blinked his eyes to restore his vision. He was still a little unsteady but now the pain had gone. What the hell was that he wondered? Bemused he knelt down to take another look at the dataslate and started. What had once been gibberish was now clear. The symbols, the writing he could read it. This didn't make any sense. He scrolled back to the start of the instructions. It was all now perfectly clear. The symbols themselves were unfamiliar but somehow he knew what they said. How the hell did that happen? He pondered for several minutes but no explanation came. Then shrugging he settled down to read the instructions on the data slate, the smell of the room temporarily forgotten.
A couple of hour's later Barnette staggered out of her dread simulator. She felt exhausted. Meia had run all the Dread teams through simulated exercises for hours. Each team had taken turns running through defensive and offensive manoeuvres around the Nirvada. And they had continued until Meia saw satisfied that the teams could perform the manoeuvres to her satisfaction. Barnette signed, she admired Meia's dedication as a leader but sometime's she wished that she was just a little bit less business-like all the time. As if in answer to that thought Meia walked to the front of the simulator room.
"Alright everyone, that was adequate for today but we still need more work." A chorus of voices rose in protest. Meia raised her hand for silence. With an unknown enemy out there we must remain vigilant. From today onwards we will be performing daily drills to sharpen our skills. Out here our lives and the lives of everyone on this ship depend on how well we can perform our jobs. We owe it to everyone one on board to be at our best." Silence greeted this comment. All the pilots gathered there could understand that even if they might resent the extra training time. Meia looked around at the gathering. "All right then, dismissed, see you here again tomorrow."
Barnette sighed and made her way over to where Jura was waiting for here. It had felt like a long day and a bath would be welcome, preferably with Jura as company. Jura smiled at her approach and opened he mouth to speak but then.
"Jura, Dita, Barnette. Please make your way to the launch decks, I've arranged some additional practise for us." Voices were raised in protest at this Jura's the loudest.
"Huh?"
"But leader"
"MORE PRACTICE! But I'm tired I need a bath and a change of clothes."
"We need more practise. The simulators cannot yet recreate all the new capabilities of our dreads and we have not yet found out all they can do. Barnette I want you there to observe how the dreads handle and provide any observations."
The others protested but although she was quiet Meia had a resolve like iron and the four soon found themselves on the way to their dreads. Amid all this Barnette completely forgot about another duty she was neglecting.
Sweating inside the environmental suit he had found in a storage compartment, Tamorasp finished screwing a panel back into place. Sighing he picked up the dataslate and began reviewing its contents for the umpteenth time. For the past four hours he had gone through and performed all the maintenance steps that the slate had deemed necessary to bring the plant on line. He had checked cables and wires, replaced fuses and ensured that the main flow lines were open. According to the slate the recycling plant should now be working. But every time he tried to start the system he got the same message "Block in feed line". But according to the system specs all the feed lines had automated scrubbers to clear any blockage. He had just spend the last 2 hours checking each of the scrubbers and making sure that they were online, all of them had checked out so what the hell was the problem?
Signing deeply he sat back and consulted the plant diagram once more trying to find where the problem might be. Ha! Who was he kidding, he wasn't an engineer he didn't know how machines worked, so how could he expect to understand. FLASH
Suddenly he found himself in an immense space. It was filled with strange structures. They were made out of metal and crystal. They were made up of weird forms and patterns that seemed to make no logical sense. He tried to look around but discovered that he had no control over his body. That's because this isn't a body he realised, this is a memory. Suddenly his vision shifted and he found himself staring at a familiar blue steel robot, the same he had seen in his earlier vision. The robot began to speak.
"Machinery is easy to understand. Every item of machinery is built to fulfil a function. Therefore logic dictates that if you understand the function of a device and its purpose you will be able to understand how it works by following the logical progression of its progress in completing that function. Appearance can be the first key."
A voice he was startled to recognise as his own interrupted.
"But there are devices all round me whose appearance yields no clue as to their function."
"To you they appear to have no purpose my friend. Shub relies far less on ascetics than you humans do. For you, in order to fulfil a function a device often needs to be recognisable by its appearance so that it is familiar to you. We have no need for this. For us the appearance of a device is dictated by the function it needs to perform. But that is what I am trying to teach you. If successful we will be able to expand your horizons so that your ability to perceive is no longer limited by Human perceptions."
"But logic in itself is also limited by the assumptions that it is often based on." At this the robot pressed its hands together and bowed.
"This is true, that is why it is our hope that if we can help you to think in the way we do, that you will also be able to teach us some more human ways for approaching problems"
In the memory he felt himself smile at the Robot.
"I think you are already making progress in that regard my friend." The robot cocked its head in polite inquiry. "You just used the word hope." And as the vision faded Tamorasp could hear or feel the Robot laughing along with him.
FLASH: Jerked back from the vision Tamorasp contemplated what had unfolded to him. He did not doubt that it had been himself in the vision but it had still only yielded scant details about who he was. At least he now knew who or rather what the robot was. A construct used by the AI's of Shub to speak with others. He now knew that he had been friends with the AI's, that he had trusted them enough to be alone with them. And that they had in turn trusted him enough to let him on Shub, which was in effect their body. The moon where their collective consciousnesses were stored. He remembered the massive rooms and alien machinery that had abounded on that world. But he also remembered being comfortable there.
But other memories also surfaced that worried him. A memory flickered in his consciousness that linked the name Shub with the title Enemies of Humanity. But why was that? There had been no malice or evil in the AI he had talked with he was sure. But did that mean that he had also been an enemy of humanity? The thought was disquieting. Shaking himself he resolved to worry about it later. It appeared that his memories were returning, but at a very slow pace. He would wait until he remembered more before he made any decision. Until then, back to the matter at hand.
He resumed his study of the diagram, but now something was different. In his mind he could see how the plant operated. From the diagram before him his mind pieced together the workings of the plant. How the water flowed, how the scrubbers operated, how it was purified and treated and how the waste was disposed of. As he focused on the problem his mind seemed to expand further expanding and listing all the individual processes and assumptions upon which it was based. When it was finished he sat back gasping for breath. It felt like a tidal wave of information had poured through his brain. Already the feeling was receding and part of him knew that this was a precaution. He could not leave his brain operating in that way and still interact normally as a human. But it had left him with a potential solution to his problem. He looked over at the pool in the centre of the room and grimaced. He had better check the seals on the suit just to be sure.
An hour or so later Barnette stumbled out of her dread feeling utterly exhausted. Meia had put the three improved dreads through a growling series of exercises. Barnette had only been there to monitor them and offer advice but even she felt exhausted. She was just about to head over to the other hanger and find Jura when a voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Barnette, what have you been doing?"
Barnette winced, and turned. Gascognue BC and Parfet stood at the foot of the access ladder to her dread and none of them looked happy.
"Gasco, what do you mean?"
"Its Gascogne Barnette, and you should know what I mean. I ordered you to supervise Tamorasp what are you doing going out in your dread?"
Barnette flushed but replied defiantly.
"Meia ordered us to extra practise as a member of the dread teams that's my first responsibility."
"As your superior your responsibility is whatever I say it is Barnette. And as for Meia's order, did you tell her that I had assigned you to other duties. No I thought not. Now where the heck is the man? I went to check to check with Parfet when he failed to show up for shift change but she thought he was with you. Now I find that you've gone off in you dread and left him to wander the ship unsupervised."
"I didn't leave him unsupervised. I locked him in one of the work areas and left him with a dataslate of instructions."
BC suddenly interrupted.
"Barnette, we have already searched all of the work areas that Parfet gave you. There was no sign of him anywhere. Now if you can't tell me where he is we are going to have to order a ship wide search."
"I left the man in the secondary waste water treatment plant." BC and Gascogne looked at each other in puzzlement, but this was broken by a loud shout from Parfet.
"You did WHAT?"
Minutes later they were all hurrying through the corridors of the ship making their way to the treatment plant. Parfet had called for a few of her engineering assistants to join them, and BC had contacted Duero to tell him to meet them their with his emergency treatment kit. Parfet had been incredulous when Barnette has said that she had locked the man in the plant more than 6 hours ago. When she had talked to Barnette earlier she had failed to mention that extended exposure to the combination of fumes in the chamber was dangerous. He previous teams had worn environmental suits to protect them from the fumes. But the suits that had been left in the room had not been resupplied lately. There was no telling if there was enough air in them to last, or even if the man would be able to use one of the suits. Further more the intercoms in that section of the ship weren't working yet. If Tamorasp was in trouble he would have no way to call for help. This had led to the desperate race through the corridors as they struggled to reach the room in time to prevent the accidental death of their newest crew member. Barnette ran along side the rest. She didn't like the man but she had only meant to inconvenience him. She had never meant to put his life in danger. Now like the rest she hoped that they weren't too late.
Finally they reached the doors to the chamber. Duero and Parfet's two assistants were waiting there. Swiftly Barnette entered the security code and unlocked the doors. The party was immediately assaulted by the smell, but Parfet handed out hand respirators which they all quickly donned before making their way into the room to find.
An empty chamber.
The vast chamber stood silent and empty. Tamorasp was nowhere in sight.
"What the? Where is he?" blurted one of the engineers.
They all looked around confused.
"This chamber has only one exit he couldn't have gotten out any other way." Voiced Parfet.
Barnette looked over at one of the main terminals. Tools taken from the storage lockers were piled on the desk, on the floor were two containment suits and a number of oxygen bottles. The man had obviously been here, but where had he gone?
Then one of the engineers screamed. They all spun around to stare at where she was pointing. In the vast pool in the centre of the chamber something was moving. At first it was a ripple that barely disturbed the surface, but as it reached the edge of the pool by a filth encrusted ladder it suddenly started to rise, a head appeared followed by shoulders and the rest of a body. It was a containment suit. The suit was so smeared with filth from the pool that it was almost unrecognisable. Everyone was so surprised at this sight that no one commented when the suit exited the pool and made its way to a nearby terminal. The figure picked up a rag and wiped the worst of the mess from the gloves of the suit. Then it bent over the terminal and entered a command. For a moment there was the sudden throb of machinery in the room, when just as suddenly it stopped. The figure slapped the desk in irritation then strode purposely towards one of the long cylindrical machines that dominated the walls of the chamber. Upon reaching it the figure let fly with a full bodies open handed slap against the side of the machine.
Parfet started to cry out in protest at this abuse of equipment. But her protest died almost before hit had begun. Once more the room filled with the low throb of machinery. Only this time it did not stutter and die. Instead it became louder and stronger. The waters of the pool started to move sluggishly, drawing towards the intake pipes that formed the base of the cylinders around the room.
Parfet and the other engineers stared around with wonder. But Barnette and the others turned to stare at the figure in the suit, which it seemed had finally noticed them.
The figure reached up to unsnap the seal and remove the helmet portion of the suit, and Barnette found herself staring at Tamorasp's grinning face.
"Hey Barnette. Time for shift change already?"
Some time later in the briefing room Magno sat drinking a cup of tea as she reviewed the day's reports. Those concerning the newcomer were interesting. Apparently thanks to him the secondary water treatment plant was now operational. It would still take almost a week for it to clear up the accumulated mess it already contained, but according to Parfet after that it would soon be ready to be integrated into the ships systems. Once the place had been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected of course.
Gascogne had assigned Barnette to assist with the clean up crew. She thought that it would be a fitting punishment for shirking her responsibility and Magno agreed with her. Parfet had been amazed at the man's work. She had thought it would take day's to isolate the problem and get the plant running. She was requesting that the man be assigned to engineering so that the cold see what other talents he had.
That was a request that Magno was currently considering. A buzz from the intercom interrupted her train of thought.
"Boss, Tamorasp is here to see you."
"Thank you, send him in."
Looking up Magno could not conceal a smile at the sight that entered the room. Tamorasp appeared absolutely spotless. From his boots to the tips of his hair he almost shined. As well he should after the washing he received. After his little swim in the tank Gascogne and Parfet's first action was to send the man for a bath. For several baths actually. Mango could see that some of his skin was still raw from scrubbing, The two had flatly refused to let the man leave the bathing areas until they were satisfied he was clean and then they had bombarded him with a variety of scents in an effort to remove the smell they were convinced still clung to him. From where she sat Magno could pick up a faint whiff of a perfume from Majere that she recognised as one of Gascogne's favourites.
"That's an interesting scent you are wearing."
"You like it? It's a little feminine for my tastes, but I'm considering asking Gascogne for a bottle."
Mango laughed at the man's joke, weak as it had been. As things were he had handled the situation with remarkable restraint and she felt no urge to push him further.
"Sit down young man." Tamorasp complied.
"Now Tamorasp."
"Tam"
"What"
"Please, call me Tam, it's the less formal form of my name."
Magno nodded.
"So some of your memories have been returning?" Tam's expression appeared guarded.
"Some," he admitted. "But they are largely fragments with no clear links. That or I suddenly find myself with knowledge about things I wasn't aware of before."
"Like your apparent talent with machines. So is Parfet right in her supposition that you were an engineer that somehow transported yourself here?"
"I don't know about that, somehow it just doesn't feel right. Let's just say that trying to understand machines was a hobby of mine."
There was a deeper meaning behind that comment, Magno could feel it but she let it pass, now was not the time.
"Well whatever it is we could use it. Parfet has requested that you be transferred to the engineering section. I thought that I would get your impression before agreeing."
"Parfet? The brown haired girl with glasses? Yes she seems to know what she's doing, I could feel comfortable taking orders from her."
Magno sensed what was unspoken behind that statement.
"Yes on another matter I feel that I should apologise to you for the way Barnette treated you. You should not have had to endure that."
Tam nodded graciously "Accepted captain, I can't say that I enjoyed the experience but some good did come of it."
"So you won't take any action against Barnette?"
Tam shrugged.
"She disobeyed orders and she's being punished for it. As far as I am concerned the matter is settled. If she lets it be so will I."
Magno nodded. Under the circumstances that was the best she could hope for.
"Alright then, report to Parfet at the first shift tomorrow. If you have no other questions that will be all."
Tam nodded to her before standing up and leaving the room.
After he was gone Magno picked up another report and read through it for the second time. This was Duero's report after he had examined Tam following the events in the chamber. Apparently Tam has suffered no ill effects from his time in the chamber. That is what was worrying. The gasses and fumes in there had been mildly toxic. According to Parfet anyone unsuited would have been unconscious within a half hour and dead after more than one. But Tam had remained largely unsuited for the majority of the time he had spent in the chamber. There had only been enough oxygen in the remaining gas bottles to last for three hours. Tam should have been dead long before Parfet and the others had come for him. But somehow he had survived with no ill effects. Troubled Magno sat back to ponder the increasing puzzle that their new arrival represented.
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Whew that was a long chapter. And a lot of it was still to set the scene. But don't worry in the next chapter the action starts to pick up. It will be set roughly along the lines of episode 4 in the first season. Tamorasp suddenly has great incentive to rediscover his main skill and in ain't engineering.
As always reviews, criticism and advice are welcomed.
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