Overdrive (20 page)

Emerging out of
Nospace three days later, the crew and passengers of the
Debacherous Weekend
found themselves in the Raquin system. Using the Ion drive for Inter system
maneuvering, Tarquin inserted his ship into a high orbit around New Jupiter. An
hour later, Fever came into view.

Felix had seen holos
of Fever before and even experienced the VR effect of being caught in the
semi-Nova whilst in Fever’s orbit. Actually seeing it first hand was an
experience he wouldn’t have missed. Rays from Raquin’s sun glittered from a
million reflective panels on the asteroid’s surface. Felix had accessed old
footage from the disco era of Earth and so had an idea as to what a disco ball
was. Fever looked amazingly similar – just on a vastly larger scale. None of
the other passengers aboard Tarquin’s ship had ever seen it first hand and were
all suitably impressed. Walter was especially enthusiastic about visiting the
fabled tourist resort.

“One of my ancient
relatives danced with John Travolta," he gushed.

Confronted with
blank looks, Walter blushed and buried himself in his gin and tonic.

After further
maneuvering, they finally docked with the huge asteroid. Obviously, due to the
once yearly sun burst, there was no way the designers would have had external
docking, which would have damaged the symmetry and overall dramatic effect of
Fever. Instead, a giant chamber had been carved into the outer layers of the
asteroid. Disguised under reflective panels and provided with ample field
protection, the designers boasted that no ship was better protected.

As the
Debacherous
Weekend
received clearance and moved closer to the asteroid, one of the
giant panels lifted up to reveal the comforting blue glow of a field guarding
the main docking access. The ship glided through the field to find itself in a
chamber easily 6 kilometers in diameter. Directed to a bay, the ship’s AI took
over and set them down quietly with its AG.

Felix had felt
relaxed and at ease throughout the whole process. Underlying that was the
feeling of anticipation which occasionally sent a thrill running through him.
Even going through the customs process didn’t dent his good mood. It wasn’t
until he saw the robed figures that his misgivings and feeling of impending
doom returned.

“Oh for fuck’s
sake," he said aloud. “Not more religious idiot’s.”

Crystal spared him
a sharp glance before running forward and warmly embracing the leader. Felix
and the rest of the group walked up and waited while Crystal finished her
reunion. Logan, Tarquin and Felix exchanged worried glances.

Finally, after
embracing the other two robed figures – seemingly female judging by the way
they filled out their robes -, Crystal turned towards Felix.

“Felix," she
said with a happy grin, “it is my great pleasure to introduce Grand Shepherd
Mattock. Grand Shepherd, this is Felix.”

The Grand
Shepherd, a tall man with olive skin, brown eyes and dark hair streaked with
silver stepped forward and held out his hand to Felix. Felix, more by reflex
than by any conscious decision took the smiling man’s hand. It was firm and
dry. A deeper, instinctive part of Felix’s mind felt comforted and vaguely
reassured by the shepherd’s grip. Another part told him to leg it.

“Its a great
pleasure to meet you young man," said the smiling Grand Shepherd. “We’ve
heard so much about you and were deeply distressed to hear of the incident at
Nebula Inc.” His smile changed to a look of sorrow. “All those staff, yourself
included, were chosen by me you know.”

Felix was a bit
lost for a moment. “You mean to tell me," he said when he finally regained
the power of speech, “that I work for you?." He would’ve said more but his
rage and emotion overpowered him.

The Grand Shepherd
smiled reassuringly. “Not just me of course. Novelle New Zealand and the Church
of the Holy Lamb are the actual owners of Nebula Inc, and as such, your
employers.”

“You mean to say,"
Felix blurted out, “that I’ve spent the last couple of weeks being chased by
religious fascists only to discover that for the last three years of my life,
I’ve been working for a not dissimilar group?”

The Grand Shepherd
started to look concerned. “Perhaps we should continue this conversation later,"
he said. Crystal came up and took a livid Felix by the arm. “Come on sweet
thing," she said with a smile on her beautiful face. “Trust me.
Everything’s going to be all right.”

Swallowing his
fury for a moment, he allowed Crystal to lead him towards an AG lift. “I
haven’t finished with you yet," he yelled over his shoulder. Behind him,
the Grand Shepherd and his assistants were introducing themselves to his
friends.

Crystal drew Felix
into the lift next to her and ordered the doors to close. She pulled him close.
“Hey," she said. “Not a particularly good way to meet your employer for
the first time. A bit nervous in job interviews are we?," she teased.

Not getting any
response, she tried another approach. “Do you really think I’d be working for them if I knew they were dodgy?”

Felix shook his
head slowly. “No, not really. Just a bit of a shock. Do they really own Nebula
Inc?.”

Crystal nodded.
“Oh yes, you really do work for them, and yes, they developed the Overdrive.”

Felix nodded
thoughtfully. He suddenly became aware of his surroundings. “Where are we
going.”

Crystal smiled
provocatively. “There’s a suite prepared for us. They want you well rested.
Tomorrow you get to meet the big cheese.”

“The who?”

“You’ll see."

◊

In the 300 years
since Fever had been open as a tourist destination, ongoing construction had
continually enlarged and improved on the initial habitat chambers. At 3
kilometers in diameter, each chamber was designed to house and support up to
200,000 people in spacious comfort. The chambers were of a fairly standard
design with either a lake or garden dominating the middle and accommodation or
recreational facilities burrowed into the walls. Currently, Fever sported 10
such chambers with another five under construction. Each chamber had its own
disco theme or icon. The main chamber and first to be built, Studio 54, was
situated close enough to the centre of Fever to act as its administrative and
bureaucratic heart.

Logan, Tarquin,
Walter and the two transplanters, were taken there by Grand Shepherd Mattock.

Everywhere they
looked, disco abounded. The café, the people, the clothes. Logan and Tarquin
were starting to feel more relaxed with their new look. It was doubtful,
however, whether Bruce and Derek would ever look the part.

“Oh dear. You
don’t think he’s annoyed with me do you?” asked the Grand Shepherd.

“Who Felix? Nah.
I’m sure he’ll get over it,” replied Tarquin.

After being
introduced, the Grand Shepherd had guided them to an AG capsule which they used
to traverse the 25 odd kilometers to Studio 54.  Once there, he led them
through the central park. Tall oaks lined the path and small arboreal animals
could be seen leaping from tree to tree. Apart from the various colored lights
decorating every tree, Logan and Tarquin could have been back on Coleridge.
Arriving at a small café situated on the edge of the park, Mattock gestured for
the others to sit. The Grand Shepherd waited for the others to find a chair
before settling himself down. His two female assistants stood to either side of
him. They’d removed their cowls revealing, to Logans evident delight,
surprisingly beautiful female faces.

“So, you’re the
head honcho for this religious sect then?," inquired Logan.

The Grand Shepherd
smiled easily. “Oh good Lord no. That would be Ram Terry IV. Our secular head
and true leader, bless his horns.”

Mattock took a sip
of what appeared to be a Martini and looked around the group.

“I take it none of
you are too familiar with the history of Novelle New Zealand or the Church of
the Holy Lamb then?”

The Grand Shepherd
received vague murmurs and negatory shakes of the head by way of response.

“Right then, I’ll
be happy to fill you in, but first, I believe we owe you gentlemen a great debt
of gratitude. You will of course we compensated for any time and inconvenience
that this little interlude has cost you."

“Damn right,"
said the Polar Bear.

Mattock sailed on,
seemingly without noticing the interruption. “Tarquin. My thanks for the use of
your ship. You will find compensation in your account. The information that
Felix possesses is priceless. Without your assistance, I believe that data
would now be in less, shall we say, scrupulous hands.”

“Where is Felix
now?," asked Tarquin.

“Ah yes. We felt
Felix could probably use some time to come to terms with his previously unknown
employer. Fear not. He’s quite safe – in this chamber as a matter of fact –
guarded by Crystal and a few of our stouter Shepherds. Nothing untoward will
happen here. Trust me.”

“We seem to have
heard that a few too many times lately," said Logan. “Every time someone
says trust me, everything seems to go tits up."

The Grand Shepherd
was unperturbed. “Not here my son. We have everything under control.”

“Bollocks,"
Tarquin muttered under his breath.

“What was that my
son?’ enquired the Grand Shepherd.

“I was just going
to ask; how is it that its compulsory for everyone to assume disco garb, but
you lot seem to have sidestepped it somehow?”

The Grand Shepherd
settled back in his chair, crossed his legs and laced his fingers. “You really
get to wear what you want when you are a key investor in this hunk of rock.
Let’s just call it religious dispensation shall we?”

“Why not,"
said Walter, a few gin and tonics encouraging him to join the conversation.

“So what happens
now," asked Logan, taking a sip of his beer.

“Well, tomorrow,
Felix will meet with Ram Terry IV and hand over the data in a secure
environment. We have also built a prototype that we want him to look at. You
are all most welcome to meet with the Holy one tomorrow as well of course. In
fact, we would rather welcome the added security you would bring, just in case,
you understand. After that, we would hope you would all come for a visit to
Novelle New Zealand. Felix will be in no danger at this point as we would have
safely removed the Overdrive information and sent the information via well
guarded ship to our home planet.”

“Why couldn’t
Felix just have sent it to you in the first place?” asked Logan.

“He did and it was
intercepted. Besides, we haven’t got the modifications he made. That is vital
in order to make the Overdrive work.”

“And what about
those fuckers, excuse me Grand Shepherd, the Areopagites and the Watchers?,"
inquired Tarquin.

“I wouldn’t worry
about them too much. Once this technology becomes common knowledge, I believe
their Empires will crumble. Their organizational structure is far too dependent
on their current ability to navigate otherwise inaccessible Nospace.
Organizational theory dictates that…”

Derek, in no mood
to hear a discourse on how and why the Areopagite’s sucked, decided to
interrupt. “I thought you were going to tell us about Novelle New Zealand and
Ram Whatshisface," he said somewhat irritably.

“Oh yes,"
said the Grand Shepherd happily. “So I was. Perhaps another round of
refreshments first. Can I interest you gentlemen?” Not waiting for the general
assent he signaled to a scantily clad woman on roller skates who took his order
and departed.

“Now then, as you
probably know, Novelle New Zealand was colonised some 700 years ago by
explorers from New Zealand. Even by that point we were already conducting
genetic experiments on sheep, the beloved cornerstone of Earth’s New Zealand
economy. We had made great strides by that point, doubling the size of sheep
and their subsequent wool output. But it was more than that. Experiments taking
place were able to engineer intelligence into a few normal sheep, so much so,
that lamb shanks and mutton soon became a thing of the past. About time to,” he
said, his face distorting in disgust, “the concept of eating a sheep is almost
like cannibalism for us now.”

“Pity," said Derek, showing his teeth. “They’re quite tasty you know.”

The Grand Shepherd
allowed the distaste to linger on his face a little longer before continuing.

“Charming I’m
sure. But to continue: Five hundred years ago, some hundred years after these
exceptional sheep got the vote; yes, you may laugh,” he said to Logan and
Tarquin who were stifling laughter, “but by then, one in every 10 sheep born
had intelligence equivalent of your average human.

“But that’s
ridiculous," said a still smiling Logan. “You can’t engineer intelligence
with a previously stupid animal on such a grand scale.”

Grand Shepherd
Mattock smiled humorlessly. “Oh we could and we did and it certainly didn’t
seem stupid to us. As I was saying, some five hundred years ago, the first
genetic mutation appeared in a sheep – or should I say, the first unplanned
genetic mutation. That is to say, a sheep, specifically a ram, emerged that
appeared to possess a limited form of telepathy and presentiment. To whit, this
ram could read minds and see into the future.” Mattock let this sink in to the
open jawed wonder of his audience. Logan thought he was enjoying this.