Curious Event ( Part Eight)

This time Tay awoke surrounded by every bit of diagnostic equipment the good Doctor had been able to grab. She recognized some of it from her own drone program. She lay silent for a moment, waiting for any other strange voices to arrive. Nothing. She was still feeling grateful when half the machines started lighting up. Apparently they knew she was awake.

Doctor Reten had sealed the medbay, demanding that Tay be left to recover in peace. He may have threatened one or two people, but only in passing. He had studied the results and it was, well, not reassuring, but not appalling. ‘ Good morning Tay. Please, drink some tea before you start asking questions. Bork gets that look on his face every time he finds it cold.’

Actually she was grateful, even lukewarm it was welcome. ‘Sorry Doctor, I guess I panicked a little. It all felt so real.’ She drank deeply from her mug.

Reten nodded, ‘Well it was. They turned up exactly as you expected. Everything you heard was real, almost word-perfect, in fact. If it helps, I believe I have some answers for you.’

Tay sat up in her bay, suddenly afraid of what had been done to her. Those emotions that she refused to allow were seeping through her defenses. ‘Doctor, humans have the physic abilities of a brick. We can barely understand each other, for fucks sake. I don’t want to be listening in on people’s conversations. None of the words we have for such things are good, and they start with ‘assault’ and then they get worse’

The Doctor had thought hard about this part. Tay was done, at least on this ship. He had admired all her work, even the parts that had disturbed the Admiral, but to lie to her now would make it worse. ‘ Tay, every human on the mission, the Admiral, your old Captain, the Chief, and the Marines, they are all linked to you. The Tec tried to bond with you but your brain refused it, reaching out instead to those that you trusted and, in such a human way, loved. It is another example of the In’Tec misunderstanding humans, as I have done myself.’

Tay finished the mug of tea. ‘So it’s just the most important people in my life that I can spy on, making them distrust me or worse, fear me. Doctor, no Admiral will stand to have a Captain read his mind. No one wants that. Can you cure it? Or at least stop it? You’re my doctor, fix this!’

Reten sighed deeply. This was not his field, or at least not by choice. ‘Tay, the Tec used some kind of quantum-twinning on your brain. Effectively it tuned some parts of your mind to some parts of theirs. As far as I know, distance is not important, simply value. There is every chance that it will diminish, once your brain starts to disregard those parts or your cells regenerate, but here and now its a reality. The only solution I have found is time and distance. You cannot stay here. In fact, you cannot stay in their company, since it will pass this along to the next cells. It could become a permanent feature of your biology.’

Tay tried to work out the engineering. The Tec had re-wired her brain, she was permanently connected to those she had taken on that accursed mission. It all added up to one thing. Exile.

Reten interrupted, ‘Tay before you go any further, your mind reached out to someone else. Someone so distant that they are not tied to you like the others. You called out to Ben. He didn’t hear you, exactly, he just knew you were in trouble. I have a simple suggestion. Go home, Tay, the home that your mind chose when it was being attacked. Go to Oz, make it what you want it to be. The war is over, all your people are waiting. Go home Tay, you can only suffer here.’

Admiral Williams couldn’t help but be a little tense. Tay and the Doctor had explained the basics and he understood the mechanism, theoretically at least. Tay smiled at him, ‘And that Admiral is exactly the problem. I can only ‘hear’ you when your mind turns to me. Imagine trying to live with that? A Captain that hears every thought that passes through your mind? I knew that you were proud of me, of what I had built with your guidance, and I would prefer to let that stand. I cannot be on the same ship, I cannot even remain in your command. What happens if the next enemy of humanity takes me prisoner? Best if I leave, before it gets worse.’

The Admiral had listened to the good doctor, his theories about what would happen if they stayed close. How could he do battle with troops that felt his every emotion, his every doubt? Tay laughed sadly, ‘You see Admiral, I heard every word of that. Humanity isn’t ready for this. I will go to Oz and rebuild the People as best I can. I’m sure you can find a budget for that. A substantial one, I hope. I leave the Tec to you because, frankly, I never want to see another.’

Admiral Williams was not a man easily swayed, but he was a senior officer. ‘Captain Tay, you have suffered a battlefield injury, one that has cost you your command. I can only offer you my condolences and support. That the nature of your injury is hidden doesn’t make it less important. I am to return to Earth and assume command of the Fleet, to access the success and failures of this campaign. Lessons will be learned, including all you have brought to the fleet. You are released on permanent medical leave, with the reserve rank of Major. Your citations were awarded while you were lost to us, but please update your uniform.’ He saluted his Captain, ‘Tay, I’m going to miss you, but not as much as your crew will. I suggest you go and speak to Captain Roaden. I think he may be waiting for you. I have asked him to equip one of the Intec cruisers for you as a personal gift. We have enough of them. Peace be with you, and best of luck Tay.’

Tay returned the salute, aware that the pain she felt was passed to everyone she loved. She cursed the Tec.

Roaden was crying when she arrived. He was the longest-serving member of her little crew, the backbone of Intel-Engineering. Despite what he thought, he had built it beyond her dreams. Now it was the cutting edge of human capabilities, an idle thought now raised as a guard against an indifferent universe. She knew that few enemies would risk the sort of intelligence that humanity had extracted from the In’tec. Our next enemies will be doing the same, she thought. We better build our ships for that.

Roaden swept his hands over his eyes as her thought went straight to his brain and laughed, ‘You did it again! Now I have another problem. Sir, you will be missed. I’m sure one day I will be able to forgive you for making me a Captain. I wish you could stay. Please ignore whatever I’m thinking, the human mind is a chaos engine and come and say farewell to our frightened engineers. And Bork. He is, in his own special way, seriously pissed at you. Then come and see what we built for you, Captain.’

Bork, Olly, and Oscar were waiting for them in her office, nothing but misery on show. Tay looked sharply at them, ‘ Attention sailors, don’t I get a salute? What kind of ship am I leaving behind? What will your Captain think?’ Since he was still wiping away the tears, probably not the best line. ‘Your work here is amazing and both I and the Admiral expect it to continue. I have never been so proud of you. I don’t want to leave, but that is the cost of battle. We lose people, and our job is to make sure that we lose as few as possible. Today it was me, but I’m still walking around at least. You can find me on Oz if you want to share a beer.’

Bork leaned forward, ‘Captain, I don’t understand. I observe no injuries. Are you infectious?’

Tay nodded, ‘ Yes, in a curious way. My emotions and thoughts are now relayed to others, in a way that would threaten this command. The risks outweigh the benefits. I have taken a position that carries no risk. It is simply an unusual battle injury, nothing more.’

Bork considered it. ‘Your dance is broken? So you are dancing somewhere else? ‘

Tay nodded. Trust Bork to remember the first metaphor he ever understood, ‘Yes Bork. I will be dancing somewhere safe.’ Roaden's comms beeped discreetly. ‘Sir, please follow me.’

It was like a replay of taking command of the Curious except for the sadness. The Admiral was first to salute, then the Captains of the Fleet. Her people were waiting at her new ship, so small in her bay. Captain Roaden stepped forward, ‘Sir, we named this one for you. Welcome to the Gratitude, Sir.’ He grinned, ‘ Apparently you don’t get to name a second ship if I don’t change this one. The Curious will always carry the name you gave it Captain.’

She stepped aboard to silence, followed by Roaden. ‘Captain, technically this is somewhere between a private yacht and a reserve fleet asset. It’s weaponized so that, for instance, you don’t get grabbed on your way to a holiday. A holiday I never had, by the way. But we can’t assign crew to it. I fitted the best of our AI’s to it so it will get you where you need to go, but it’s not much for conversation. Docking fees go straight to the fleet, don’t worry about them. It’s up to you where you go.’

Tay could feel everything that was passing through Roadens mind. Every struggle, every doubt, every ugly thought as his better angels crushed his own pain. She simply hugged him and then saluted, ‘Captain, permission to disembark?’

Roaden stood back and returned the salute. ‘Aye captain, permission granted. Fly safe.’

She made herself comfortable, enjoying the silence, ‘ Ship, take me to Oz, best speed.’

The ship left the Curious silently, with many eyes watching. Then the call of duty dragged them back to work. Then, as Tay flew silently into the dark she got a surprise.

‘Captain Tay. Alert. Warning, broken unexpectedly….. with AI. There is a quantum field …interference pattern on the ship...This ship is compromised...This ship is gratitude… This ship is Gratitude. Her HUD turned to mush, so she moved to the console. Every damn thing was going offline, then switching back. At least she could kill the engines. Glad that Roaden was out of sight, she cursed him in twenty-four dimensions. Finally, the core started to reboot. A gentle hum filled the ship as systems were restored. A voice rang out in the bridge,

‘Captain? Who am I?’