Steel Beneath the Skin (6 page)

‘An instability has been detected in the primary reactor. Power has been cut back until this can be resolved.’

‘A prolonged gap in conditioning may result in greater reinforcement of negative thought patterns. Resistance may increase during future sessions.’

‘Power will be restored in eight point three cycles.’

There was actually a tone of annoyance in the reply. ‘Unacceptable. Have the subject placed in stasis until we can resume.’

‘Initiating system shutdown.’

Aneka was about to say something when everything went black.

FScV Garnet Hyde, 14.6.523 FSC.

‘So the reactor failure stopped them from completing the conditioning they had planned,’ Gilroy said. They were gathered around the mess room table again. Aneka was perched on a chair with her knees pulled up under her chin.

‘Apparently. I assume their “instability” was a little more serious than they thought.’

‘Well, that’s good, isn’t it?’ Ella said, sounding uncertain, but cautiously enthusiastic.

‘I guess,’ Aneka replied. ‘I remember a lot more. Not everything, I think. There are big gaps. Well, I think there are big gaps. They used my team as lab rats to test human limits. Considering what they did to me, I can’t imagine the others had a nice death. I’m guessing the drug they gave me was to avoid me dying from shock while they chopped me into parts. I’m guessing they killed one of us too quickly before they got to me.’ She felt exhausted, even though she knew she could not be. Her gaze shifted to Patton who looked almost the way she felt. The young pilot was gripping Drake’s arm as though she was frightened to let go.

‘They cut you up,’ Patton breathed, ‘while you were alive?’

‘That is
so
not fridgy,’ Ella breathed.

‘Yeah, but don’t go trusting me too much yet. Their conditioning may have worked better than they thought. I could be lying…’

Patton shook her head. ‘It didn’t, you’re not.’ She got to her feet. ‘Excuse me, I have to… go and throw up.’

‘Shannon has some mild psionic talents,’ Drake said when his lieutenant had gone. ‘She was cool toward you, as much as anything, because she wasn’t getting any feeling from you. She still isn’t, of course, but her talent has made her quite a good psychologist and she clearly believes you. She has quite a vivid, empathic imagination too…’

‘If I’d known I’d have thought noisier things.’

Drake chuckled. ‘You may have a human mind in there, but it’s still a digital emulation of one. She couldn’t hear you if she wanted to. And, frankly, she doesn’t really want to with most people, but she can’t stop it.’

‘She told me I’m like having a really noisy neighbour in the apartment next door,’ Ella said. ‘I’ve tried being quieter, but…’

‘You’re a very open person, Ella,’ Gilroy said. ‘It’s part of your charm.’ Her attention returned to Aneka. ‘Now that you have some idea of who you are, I think we should start concentrating on teaching you where
you are
now,
and perhaps we can start some interviews about the environment you lived in back then. We have very little information on Old Earth, especially pre-spaceflight.’

Aneka nodded. ‘Sure, Doc. I need to start fitting in sooner or later.’

15.6.523 FSC.

Aneka sagged onto Ella’s bunk with a sigh. Ella was over on the xinti ship, working with Bashford and Monkey, so there was time for a break without the worry that the little nympho would turn up and turn rest into recreation. Not that Aneka minded the sex, she had gone without for a thousand years so she figured she had some catching up to do, but after several hours of “socialisation” Aneka was feeling as though she had just been through an SAS training course.

They had gone through some fairly basic history first. How the Lorenti Federation had been founded by the Jenlay, Herosians, and Torem in an attempt to ensure that nothing like the Xinti War ever happened again. A League of Nations or United Nations, except with alien races and spread over dozens of star systems, and about as effective. The Federation was based primarily on trade and cultural exchange, and named for the jenlay colony which happened to be at the junction between the three races’ respective areas and so was selected for the treaty signing, Lorenti IV. In five hundred and twenty-odd years, the cultural exchange part had gone from a high-minded ideal to something which happened when individuals wanted it. The mutual protection agreement still existed, but the Federal Navy was largely staffed by jenlay; the other races kept their own ships and policed their own stars. The one main thing which kept the Federation going was trade and the fear that if they broke up there would be a war which would end everyone.

There were only the three known, advanced, races in the galaxy. Somehow she had expected more, but Gilroy had explained that complex life was just not that common. There were huge numbers of worlds with life. Pretty much anywhere where life
could
evolve, it did. Far fewer worlds had something larger than a microbe, and very few of those had truly complex life. The conditions which produced intelligent species were just too rare. You needed an odd combination of stability and disruption which happened in relatively few places. Of course, there had been a fourth race, the Xinti, and there was some evidence of other species reaching the stars in the past, but they were believed to all be extinct. The Herosians, in particular spent as much resource as they could spare ensuring that the Xinti remained part of history, and a poorly understood one at that.

Humans had evolved over the last millennium, they really did deserve a new name, and Aneka was not entirely sure how she was going to fit into the society they had created. There were worlds where things had changed less, in fact Ella had grown up on one, but in the core regions the Jenlay had been manipulating their genomes and weeding out weaknesses for generations. Genetic defects were unheard of, anti-social psychological traits were almost non-existent. People lived to be two hundred years old easily, often almost three hundred, so various social norms from Aneka’s time were far less common. Marriages were a thing of the past because they just did not last for that length of time usually. People would share their lives with someone and part when the relationship became stale. The majority of people could get whatever they wanted, so crime was far less common. You worked at what you were good at for as long as you wished, and could get training to do something else without anyone thinking less of you. Not wanting to do
anything
was frowned upon, but changing careers was a given. Even politicians came to the role due to having an aptitude for diplomacy and administration; there were no elections, for which Aneka was thankful. With diseases a mild irritation, pregnancy a purely optional condition, and marriage a historic footnote, sex had become something people did for recreation, which explained Ella a lot.

Aneka was just not sure she would have qualified as one of the jenlay, even if she had still had her original body. And, while there was a military, she was essentially useless to it. She would need years of training to join, and she was not sure she really wanted to do so anyway. She was going to need a job and she really had no aptitude for anything, as far as she could see.

Her ruminations were disturbed by the arrival of a tired looking Ella. The redhead walked in and began undressing immediately, and Aneka wondered whether she should strip too to save time. Ella, however, had other things on her mind.

‘I need a shower,’ she moaned as she stepped out of her suit. ‘I feel like my entire body is covered in slime.’

‘It’s not.’

Ella padded into the shower cubicle and the water started running. ‘How did you do with Gillian?’

Aneka rolled off the bed and moved over to the chair so that she could talk easier. ‘I think I’ve got future shock or something. It’s a lot to take in. I think I understand some of it better, but I doubt I’ll really get it until I’m doing it.’

Ella’s giggle sounded as though it had bubbles in it. ‘I’ve got fifteen minutes before lunch, we can practice.’

Aneka grinned, even if Ella could not see it. ‘Not that kind of “do it.” Not that I’d mind the stress relief. But what am I going to do for a job? I’ve got to do something for money, and anyway I’ll go nuts sitting around doing nothing. I’m an active person.’

The water stopped and Ella emerged from the shower. She crossed the space to Aneka and pushed her small, high breasts into Aneka’s face. ‘Lick the water off,’ she commanded. Aneka giggled, but she started licking. ‘Mmm. Bash said he might, oh, be able to find you work.’

‘Bash did?’

‘Yes, keep li- oh yes…’

~~~

‘I suspect your training should be adaptable to being a facilitator,’ Bashford said. ‘The basic remit is getting people in safely, assisting with the physical aspects of the operation, security, and extraction. You’ll need to get caught up on the technology, of course, but it’s not as hard as all that and you do have a significant advantage.’

‘I do?’ Aneka replied. She took a drink of what she had been told was orange juice, though it tasted like banana.

‘Yes. We’re half way through a two-hundred parsec trip to an archaeological site Gillian wants to investigate. The ship woke us up from cold-sleep when it detected the derelict and we’ll be going back to sleep when we’ve finished here. If you stay awake, that gives you a hundred days to catch up and do the qualification exam.’

‘Okay,’ Aneka said, nodding. ‘A hundred days on my own studying technology and procedures. I can do that.’

‘You won’t be alone,’ Drake said. ‘Regulations require one registered crew member be awake when any passenger is awake. And someone would have my head anyway if they heard I’d let a xinti combat robot walk around here alone. We’ll take shifts.’

Bashford nodded. ‘I’ll take the first, get you started on the courses.’

‘I’ve also taken the liberty of sorting out a virtual reality education program,’ Gilroy said, ‘which should be able to catch you up on technology, social law, that kind of thing. It can operate while you’re sleeping, or off-line, or whatever the term should be, to maximise your education time.’

‘Right,’ Aneka said. ‘So, a hundred days of learning so hard my head will explode. Sounds like fun.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Ella said. ‘It’ll be fun. I’ll do a shift and…’

‘Oh no,’ Bashford said. ‘If you’re awake and alone with her she’ll get no work done at all.’

Ella pouted.

19.6.523 FSC.

It was the first time Aneka had been up on the flight deck and she was rather pleased that Drake and Patton trusted her enough to let her in there. Everyone was there, actually, since it was the best way to watch the arrival of the Federation Recovery Vehicle Argent Sky. Aneka had to admit it was worth seeing.

The thing was huge, an enormous, open structure designed to surround a stricken vessel, lock onto it, and then move it at speed. It had overrated engines to handle the extra load. It could actually warp space better than the Garnet Hyde since it was designed to be used for emergencies. Aneka did not understand the whole “warping space” thing, but she could get behind the idea that the Argent Sky was faster.

As they watched, the vast ship slid into place around the xinti ship and extended grappling arms to lock it in place. Bashford and Monkey, with Aneka helping, had spent the last day fitting a more permanent seal over the hull breach to ready it for transport. Everything was ready to go and tomorrow most of the crew would be going into cold-sleep. Before that, however, a couple of the crew from the Argent Sky were coming over for a visit.

Aneka heard the sound of laughter from the mess as she approached the door. The whole “you won’t be allowed to walk around alone” thing had sort of died a death since Patton had proclaimed her safe too. Actually, the entire crew seemed to trust her a lot more, and more easily than she had expected. The only person who viewed her with any degree of distrust was Monkey, and that had an odd sort of hint to it. She caught him looking at her with pretty obvious desire in his eyes, but he always looked away quickly when he noticed she had seen him, and he did not talk to her much unless he had to. He was, at least, no longer actively distrustful.

Apparently their visitors were known to the crew. Her eyes flicked around the room as she stepped in, her computer highlighting and recording the new faces. The computer had been making itself known more since she had regained her memory of her capture and the augmented reality system was one of the things it did. When she got names to go with the faces the computer would connect the two and, if she met them again, remind her who they were.

Standing near Drake was a tall, attractive woman who looked a little older than him, but was still lithe and fit. She filled out her ship-suit very well, had dark brown eyes and short, auburn hair, and had the bearing of someone used to giving commands and having them obeyed. Aneka took in the way she was standing closer to Drake than was necessary, the casual way that he rested a hand on her shoulder; they had past history.

The second newcomer was a very handsome man with wild, black hair and rugged features. His body was all long muscle and there was a distinctly large bulge in his ship-suit, which might have explained why Ella was almost hanging around his shoulders, but there seemed to be familiarity there too.
An ex maybe? She certainly wants him.

Drake looked up with a smile. ‘Aneka, this is Captain Janice Beltran of the FReV Argent Sky. They brought over some replacement supplies for the ones we used surveying the ship, and some rather nice brandy, if you’d like a glass.’ He indicated a bottle in the middle of the table which still had a glass beside it.
Well, what the hell.
Aneka decided she would have a drink, but there were formalities to take care of. She walked around the table and offered her hand to Beltran.

‘Captain. Pleased to meet you.’

The woman took her hand and shook it firmly, but there was just a hint of hesitancy about the action. ‘Miss Jansen. I’ve been hearing about you. Doctor Gilroy seems to think you’re going to be the greatest pre-history reference anyone’s ever found.’