Deep (11 page)

Filed Under "Rescue"

Voices. Faint, distant voices were penetrating the thick darkness in her mind. Slightly curious but unafraid, Lawn let the disembodied sounds float above her.

She was tired. More than that, she no longer cared. She had cried herself into oblivion. Once the sleeping agent had forced her to succumb, she debated whether it was worth struggling anymore, to continue existing day after day. To continue on for the next God knows how many years.

"Officer Bascomb?"

Her brain automatically sparked as it recognized her name.

There was a rush of warmth. For the first time in weeksmonthsshe breathed fresher air. Her brain sparked again, and her lungs replied by drawing in the almost sweet-smelling breeze.

"Officer Bascomb?"

It was impossible to open her eyes. They were glued shut.

Her mouth was parched, her lips caked. Her whole face was a mask of concrete.

Something warm and wet wiped her eyes. Cold drops fell across her eyelids, and suddenly her eyes obeyed her command.

Lawn squinted against the pale, diffused light shining over her. The warm, wet something wiped her cheeks and lips.

The voice gently inquired, "Officer Bascomb?"

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It was a female voice. Her brain was sparking enough to recognize the timbre.

"Yes?"

Hoarse. Croaking. Her answer was in a voice that sounded nothing like her.

"Officer Bascomb, I'm Paramedic Officer Fields. You've been rescued. How do you feel?"

Back when she had come out of suspended sleep the first time, she had felt nothing like she did now. Back then she had awakened like she'd taken a long, long sleep. Awakened, somewhat groggy, but refreshed and full of energy.

She felt none of that now. She was awake and groggy, but there was no energy in her. She was not refreshed. In fact, she hurt like hell, both mentally and physically. And even more so emotionally.

Deep.

"Officer Bascomb?"

"Where?"

"You're onboard the
Marie Curie
. We're a deep space science research ship. We were working in quadrant R3B2

when we intercepted your distress call."

Lawn watched as her eyes adjusted and her vision cleared.

An older woman with a round face and friendly smile came into focus, albeit upside down.

"How...long..."

"Yes? How long what?" The woman bent closer.

"Did it...take you..."

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Officer Fields smiled as she straightened up. "It took us sixty-one days to reach you, so you've been under approximately eight and a half weeks."

Lawn started to reach for her face, but her hand wouldn't obey. The same thing happened, or didn't happen, when she tried to turn her face. Either she was firmly strapped down, or her muscles were still dormant.

Fields laid a hand on Lawn's chest and made shushing noises. "Try not to move. You're not tied down, but you probably feel like you are." A worried look crossed the woman's face. "You're under a lot of medication. Your right arm is not doing well."

"It got hit." Lawn tried to clear her throat. Thankfully Fields held up a pouch and slipped its straw between her lips.

The cool liquid did a lot to help. When she'd had enough, she released the straw. Fields removed the pouch and waited for her to continue.

"We were struck by a micrometeorite shower. One managed to punch through my suit before I could get back to the ship."

Fields nodded, lifting the pouch back toward her. "Drink some more. It's water mixed with some electrolytes. You should start feeling better pretty soon." The woman sighed.

"We were wondering how that rock got into you. The good news is it was just a bit particle of magnesium and sulphur, mixed with a little condensed ice. But it was lodged against a large ganglia of nerve endings, which is why you've lost motor functions. It'll take some time for the feeling to come 138

back to it, but we don't think there's any permanent damage." She added a smile for punctuation.

Lawn managed a small grin in reply. "Thank you. What happens next?"

"We're on a course to rendezvous with the
Von deBont
in eleven days. They'll return you to Earth."

Lawn recognized the name. It was one of the Bureau's deep space vessels used exclusively for patrolling. Another pat to her sternum drew her attention back to the paramedic.

"You need to sleep. Would you like to try on your own, or would you like for me to give you a sedative?"

Try on my own to go back to sleep?
Lawn could feel the dragging pull of her body, and she knew she could easily rest on the physical plane. Unfortunately, that wouldn't hold true for her mind.

She hadn't grieved yet. She hadn't had enough time, and she certainly wasn't at the point where she was ready for the next step in the process. She needed to find closure, and the only way Lawn could see to accomplish that would be to go to the Bureau as soon as she was released from medical care.

She would find filed communique Dee Cee Three, read it, make herself a copy of Deep's voice, and if at all possible, a copy of his holo. Once that was over she would take her payout and leave the Bureau. She was allowed that much as per her contract. The moment Deep blew himself up, her dealings with the GEB were ended.

Huge, wracking sobs tore through her chest. Lawn couldn't stop them, but neither could she hide her face from the paramedic as scalding heat and tears burned her skin. To her 139

surprise, the paramedic lifted her head and shoulders, and cradled her like a mother would. All the while making shushing noises, and patting her hair and head as she offered what comfort she could to Lawn.

"There, there, child. It's over. The horror is over. You've nothing to fear. You're safe now. All's well. And you'll be home before you know it. Just think, in a few short weeks you can forget any of this ever happened."

No, I won't.
I won't forget any of it.

Deep.

The tears continued to fall.

* * * *

140

Filed Under "Determination"

Exactly one hundred days later, Lawn emerged from the
Von deBont's
shuttle number three. She walked across the landing field, through the docking bay, and out the glass doors until she stood in the central quad where many, many months before she had stood as a green but hopeful cadet.

Overhead, the city's tropospheric dome protected the inhabitants from the damaging rays of the sun. Or, as in today's case, from the storm she could see raging in the blackish-purple clouds. The immense quad, which was the heart of the Galactic Enforcement Center, was brightly lit to make up for the gloomy day.

Gloomy. "Boy, can I can relate."

Lawn sighed loudly. Her eyes automatically searched for the huge fountain that was located near the center of the quad. No, not the fountain. For a man, a figurehead. For the person whose face she had attached to a voice, which became the ship and the pseudoman she'd fallen in love with. A man who continued to haunt her dreams and her life. The fountain was where she remembered it to be. The man, however, was not. Disappointment squeezed the breath from her lungs.

What were you expecting, Lawn? For him to be standing
there, waiting for you? You used his face to go with the voice.

That's all. They're in no way related, so quit trying to force
something you have no control over.

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A clock chimed in the distance. It was a replica of the old town clock that had been a part of the city for hundreds of years. It struck twice. Two o'clock. The sound of it gave her a mental nudge toward the long, low building in the distance.

She had known that once she landed back on Earth, she would have to go to the Bureau first before she did anything else. She had to find some sort of surcease, and that meant fulfilling Deep's last wish.

Maybe then she could sleep without the need for a pill or a shot.

Nothing was going to stop her. Once the
Von deBont
had brought her onboard, Lawn had been in almost daily contact with Captain Brune and Coordinator Millner. She had scrutinized every word and phrase in her contract, and she had asked questions about the parts that weren't clear to her.

Lawn knew what she was allowed, especially after Brune had told her the mission had been deemed a success.

Lawn stared at the man in shock. The captain returned her unspoken question with a nod. "Yes, Officer Bascomb. And congratulations!"

"How can my mission be deemed a success?" she finally managed to ask. "The Vogt is gone! I barely managed to survive!"

"Vogt Twenty Twenty-three ACE responded to the emergency with commended performance." The man smiled.

"Deep did what he had been trained to do."

"He blew himself up!" Lawn almost screamed at the man.

"And in doing so, he managed to disburse the meteorite cloud enough to where the Fourteenth Squadron was able to 142

destroy the remnants without further loss of life. If the Vogt had not done so, there's no telling how many more outposts, or ships, or planets would have been shredded to pieces, including Earth."

She ran a hand through her hair. She could use her right arm again, although it would take a little more time before the nerves in her hand would allow her to firmly grasp an object without dropping it. In the meantime, she had been teaching herself to write with her left.

"So what does this mean?" she asked the image wavering on the viewscreen before her.

The captain frowned. "In what way?"

"What happens to Deep?"

"The ship? The Vogt is being decommissioned."

Lawn started. "All of them?"

"No. Only the ACE."

"But the Vogt line will continue?" she insisted.

Brune pursed his lips. After silently conversing with someone off-camera, he reopened communications. "For the time being, the Vogt line is on hiatus."

"Even Velderman?" Lawn specifically asked about the fourth crewman due to replace her and Deep when their shift was over.

"The time line for the fourth bonded pair has been brought forward. They are scheduled to take off in twelve days. But after their year is over, and that's assuming they won't have any level of difficulty, there should be a ruling announced as to whether or not to continue the Vogt line, or to resort to another method."

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"What about the buoy? Who's protecting that area until they arrive?"

"A doubled squadron of vipers has been ordered from Outposts Nine and Four to keep that area under surveillance until the Vogt arrives. In the meantime, a new crew has already left to begin construction of a replacement buoy. They should be finished by the time Velderman arrives." Brune ran the back of his hand across his forehead. "Technically, Officer Bascomb, the information I just gave you is classified, but your current status remains as 'enlisted'."

"Once I get back to Earth and you debrief me, will my status change?"

Brune nodded. "Vogt ACE's decommissioned status will not affect your status. I can tell you your contract remains in full effect."

"And Deep and I will go down in the books as a successful mission because we did what we were trained to do," Lawn paraphrased.

The captain nodded again. "You successfully protected your assigned quadrant without further loss of life."

Lawn felt her face harden. "Deep lost his life," she coldly reminded the man.

"True, but he was just a ship."

He was just a ship.
At that moment, Lawn had never hated a man as much as she did the captain.

Staring at the front of the Bureau's main headquarters, Lawn knew she'd gotten her backbone the moment Captain Brune had summarily dismissed Deep's life as if he was a piece of machinery that had run into a glitch. A broken toy 144

that had since been relegated to the garbage can. An advanced computer the Bureau preferred to trash rather than repair.

But you can't repair a sentient ship. A ship with a brain
and a personality and a soul is as unique and one-of-a-kind
as any human being.

But that didn't mean there couldn't be another Vogt made to replace Deep.

Lawn winced. As much as she hated the idea of another ship and another sentient personality taking Deep's place, it was the captain's cold, almost nonchalant, callous, and uncaring attitude that had sealed her determination.

Reaching inside her pants pocket, Lawn gripped the tiny recorder she'd been given while aboard the
Von deBont
.

Communique Dee Cee Three.

"Let me find out what's in that communique, get a few sound bytes of Deep's voice and a few seconds of his image, and I'll be done with you," she whispered at the building. "I promise. When I leave here, I'll never have to answer to you again."

Having said it aloud, she felt better. Straightening her shoulders, Lawn continued walking toward the building.