Topic: The Promise

[kadh2000]

"Captain's log, Stardate 6817:

The Outrider is in orbit around the water planet Lunien.  A recent probe of the system detected energy readings on this previously thought to be uninhabited world.  We've been ordered to investigate."

[Scottish Andy]

I'm assuming this is the start of another story to be told along the same lines and format as 'Derelict'. Always a good idea to have a few different stories on the go. Get tired of or feel uninspired with one, go to another.

Hope you're feeling better, Kadh. Remember, you don't have to be "the Inpenetrable" on here.


Edit: Unless you happen to be like my pal and think that all our personal data and stuff that we load into facebook or myspace (or whatever your online habit is) is scanned, collected, collated and analysed by the CIA, or Muzzie terrorists (or whomever your personal boogeyman is).

Then you'll be a bit more circumspect. 

Then again, if you believe the above, you also probably have all your money in your mattress. 

[kadh2000]

So sorry.  I should have read the post instead of logging out after making it.  There were a few thousand words in the original.  This one, fortunately, is written out, so I just need to locate and upload it again. 

How did you know about my mattress?

[Commander La'ra]

Edit: Unless you happen to be like my pal and think that all our personal data and stuff that we load into facebook or myspace (or whatever your online habit is) is scanned, collected, collated and analysed by the CIA, or Muzzie terrorists (or whomever your personal boogeyman is).

The more they read, the more they shall fear me!

[kadh2000]

[This piece is somewhat derivative of another source.  I'll post that source when I'm finished.  I've always wanted to write one of these....]

Taylor ‘Samurai’ Kensington finished his short log entry.  The science vessel was, in his mind, the perfect choice to investigate a first contact situation.  At least he hoped that was what they were facing.  The Outrider was on the edge of the Federation, coreward and away from Kzinti or Gorn space.  As far as he knew, anyone they met out here would be new.

His Deltan helmswoman looked up from her station now that he had finished speaking.  “Captain, we have achieved orbit and will be over the energy source in thirty seconds.  I will maintain position over it.”

“Very good,” he answered.  “Mr. Ryogo?”

The science officer smiled, exasperated.  For whatever reason, the captain seemed incapable of separating his first name from his last.  “Hydroelectric power source.  Given its location, self-sustaining.  More than sufficient for the operation of the apparent size of the facility.”  He returned his attention to his scanner as the Outrider reached ideal position.

“On screen,” the captain said and a small dot appeared in the blue ocean.  As the ops officer increased magnification, it grew into an island dominated by a large dome surrounded by several buildings.  Vegetation grew around the facility in an orderly fashion and sandy beaches trailed into the ocean.  An artificial harbor near one of the buildings was unoccupied by any vessel. There was a wide flat space marked in such a way that Kensington guessed it was a landing site for aerial vehicles.  The island was clearly artificial.  The angles were too regular, the shape too balanced. 

Kaburaki Ryogo glanced at a secondary console which confirmed his preliminary analysis.  “The island appears to be a support platform for an underwater facility.  It appears to be uninhabited, but life-form readings are inconclusive.  There is no sign of any technology that would indicate space-faring capability.  Clearly, however, all systems are currently receiving power from the generators below.”

Kensington stood up from his chair.  “Let’s go check it out.  Mr. Kaburaki, you’re with me.  Ops, have Dr. Young, Medea, and one of those Starfleet security people meet us in transporter room one.”

Three women were waiting for the pair from the bridge when they reached the transporter room.   Dr. Young’s name described her appearance.  She was short, willowy, and blonde.  How she could possibly be a doctor, let alone an archeologist, was beyond Kensington.  Medea Firien was even worse.  The girl was a student at the Federation Science Academy and her year of field research had placed her on the Outrider.  Given that there were no life signs on the planet, he felt it was safe to include her in the away team.  The final person was one he didn’t know.  She was tall, dark-haired, and had an aura of inapproachability that daunted even him.  She was also the only one of them in a formal uniform: the red shirt of Starfleet Security.

He thought briefly about approaching her, but was put off by her sudden glare.  Instead he ordered the party onto the transporter pad.  It wasn’t until the golden aura of the transporter beam surrounded them that Taylor Kensington realized he should have replaced her with someone more personable.

The group appeared in a grassy clearing between several of the buildings.  The dome was closest, but a gated fence barred their approach.  As Kensington looked around, he noted that Dr. Young was already scanning with her tricorder and the Starfleet crewman was already walking toward the gate.  “The only source of power is that way,” reported the archaeologist, pointing toward the dome.  The girl in uniform stopped at the gate, which opened silently before her.  At the same moment, a pair of doors slid apart in on the side of the dome facing them.

The Starfleet crewman started forward and Kensington had to hurry to put himself in the forefront of their small group.  “If there’s something hostile, I should go first,” she said.  Surprised that she had a reason, Kensington nodded and let her take the lead.  He noted that she did not draw her weapon as she entered the building.
She halted a step later.   “What is it?” Kensington asked. 

“I can’t read it,” she replied without looking back.

“Let me see,” said Dr. Young, stepping forward.  In front of the Starfleet crewman was a bowl on a pedestal.  Inside the bowl were several of what Kensington guessed to be earpieces of some sort.  Dr. Young scanned the pedestal and its sign with her tricorder.  “The language is similar to Suliban, a dead language.  It reads ‘Take one pair’.  They appear to have a computer chip in them and also a sound filter.”  She reached into the bowl and removed a pair of the earpieces.  The woman in the red shirt followed suit and the others quickly followed suit as well.  Dr. Young held one up to her ear and shrugged before leaving it in her hand.  Medea stuck one in each ear as soon as she touched them. 

“Are you alright?” the Starfleet crewman asked her.  The girl nodded happily, and Kensington sighed with relief.  At that moment, the outline of a large gate appeared before them and opened.  Beyond was a circular room that was without ornamentation.  The first thing Kensington noticed was that it was well lit.  The second thing he noticed was a woman who came into the room from a door on the opposite side of the dome. 

“Dr. Young?” he asked in surprise. 

“She’s a holographic projection,” the archaeologist answered.  “There’s a projector in the center of the ceiling.”

“Hello everybody!” the hologram said.  Kensington was surprised that he understood it.  At the sound of her voice though, the gate behind them closed.  The Starfleet crewman raced back to it but there was no sign of a way to open it from the inside.  Even then, to her credit, she did not draw her phaser.

Kensington said, “Relax everybody.  Let’s find out what’s going on before we panic.”  He looked again at the holographic woman.  He noticed that she was human, which hadn’t seemed surprising until he thought about it.  Her dress, white with electric blue trimming, was what he would call ‘flashy.’  It was surprisingly revealing.

“What, no reaction?” the hologram asked.  “I’ll try that again.  Hello everybody!”

“Hello!”Medea answered enthusiastically.  Kensington wasn’t surprised to see that it was her that returned the greeting.

“It seems we have a girl with some spunk!” the hologram replied.  “What’s your name?”

“Medea Firien,” the girl replied.  “M-E-D-E-A!  These are my fellow crewmen of the USS Outrider.”  She waved her hand, indicating the rest of the away team.

“So, Medea, how many times have you and your crewmen been to Utopia?” the hologram asked.

Kensington considered interrupting and saw that Dr. Young was thinking the same.  His science officer had an amused smile on his face and the security crewman, crewwoman perhaps was her rank officially, had an expression that could only be called annoyed.  Neither seemed likely to speak.  He raised his hand, signaling the archaeologist to hold off her questions.

“One, two, three, four, five…” Medea began counting aloud while she ticked off on her fingers.  It struck Kensington that there was a method to her interactions with the holographic person.  She was providing it with samples of their language and numbers.  He wasn’t sure it was necessary, given that it had begun speaking to them first.  “This is our first time.”

The holographic woman giggled.  “Aren’t you a funny girl?”

“I get that a lot,” Medea replied. “Do you want me to do something even funnier?  I just learned a joke the other day.”

The holographic woman paused for just an instant before speaking.  “Perhaps another time.  Right now I need to tell everyone some things.”

“Okay then,” Medea said and nodded.  “I’ll hold you to that later time, though.”

“Ah,” the hologram answered.  “Now, let me welcome you on behalf of the Utopia marine theme park.  I’d like to thank you very much for coming.  This talk is a brief explanation of the park as well as a way to suggest a few things to look for during your visit.

“First off, this room is a compression chamber.  We will have to remain here for twenty minutes… seventeen now.  So please bear with me.  Let me begin by explaining about this room.”

Ryoko already had out his own tricorder, which he had opened as soon as she had mentioned that it was a compression chamber.  “Confirmed, Talyor.  They’re increasing the pressure in this room.  At the rate they’re doing it, we’ll be at six atmospheres by the time we’re done.”

“Should we get the Outrider to transport us out?”

The scientist shook his head.  “We are here to investigate, aren’t we?”

Kensington nodded and turned his attention back to the hologram.  He noticed that the others had inserted their earplugs.  He quickly followed suit.
“…at a depth of between fifteen and fifty meters.  As you can see, the structure is divided into four layers.  The first, where you are standing, is our artificial island, cleverly called ‘Island Zero’.  Below are the main floor, and the second and third basements.”  A holographic structure, showing the island where they stood and three layers of the underwater facility had appeared next to the hostess.  “Are there any questions?”

“I have two,” Kensington said.  “First, what is your name, if you have one?”

The hologram actually flushed.  He thought that the program that was generating it was very sophisticated.  More so than current Federation artificial intelligence programs.   “I’m sorry.  I was so excited to have visitors that I forgot to introduce myself.  My name is Heaven.  I am the assistant chief engineer.  What is your second question?”

“You said we’re being accommodated for six atmospheres.  Why is that necessary?”

“At its maximum depth, Utopia receives six atmospheres of pressure from the outside.  Since the facility is built to a saturation diving specification, it is necessary to adjust visitors’ bodies to accommodate that pressure.  Now, if I may continue?”  Kensington nodded.

“Let me explain your earpieces.  They are voice alternators.  Since we’re using helium gas to adjust the pressure, you would have a difficult time understanding one another without them.  So please leave them in place for the duration of your visit.”  Kensington couldn’t resist and removed his earplugs.  He noticed the speech suddenly rose in pitch.  It reminded him of the way Donald Duck talked in cartoons.  He quickly replaced them in his ears.

“…and that concludes your introduction.  In approximately one minute the doors will open and you will enter into Utopia.  Just beyond the gate is an elevator, at the bottom of which you will find our paradise.  Enjoy Utopia to your heart’s content.”  With that the hologram vanished.

The group seemed to let out a collective sigh, as if they had all been under some spell.  “That was interesting,” Ryogo said.  Ahead of them, the door opened onto a brightly lit corridor.  Moving walkways on either side of the corridor would allow them to move about without much use of their legs.  Kensington noted there were still no windows.  For a utopia it looked very sanitary.  He tried to imagine it full of what he could only call tourists.

The Starfleet crewman was already walking down the center of the corridor.  She was right of course.  They had no other choice but to take the elevator down.  With a gesture, he signaled the others to follow and again hurried after her.  He was going to have to ask her name at some point.

The five of them entered the elevator.  It immediately began sinking.  “We should split up and explore the facility.  Ryogo, take Dr. Young and Medea and explore the first level.  Starfleet and I will take the second.  We’ll both do the bottom layer and then meet at the elevator there.  In the meantime I should contact the ship.”  He detached his communicator from his belt and flipped it open.  There was no telltale beep of it activating.

“You weren’t paying attention,” Dr. Young chided.  “External communications devices don’t work here.  It’s supposed to enhance the visitor’s experience to not be distracted.”

“They can block a communicator?” Ryogo said, clearly also surprised.  “That’s more advanced than I expected.”

“Clearly in some areas,” Kensington said, “there technology is more advanced than in others.  If we see that hologram again, or another, we’ll need to ask some questions.” He grimly added, “I’ve got more than two waiting to be asked now.”

“Definitely,” his science officer agreed.  “Until then, we’d best follow our plan.”

The door opened and the five of them exited onto the main floor.  The Starfleet crewman quickly walked to an elevator on one side of the corridor and pressed a button.  The other three headed off down the main route into the facility proper.   When the door opened, the woman stepped in without looking back.  Kensington hurried in after her.  “Who are you? Why are you here? Are you following me?” she asked him.  Her expression looked completely serious.

“Who am I?” he asked indignantly.  “Who are you?  I’m the Captain is who I am and I want to know your name!”

“Private Pamuya Kalashiavu, Starfleet marines,” she said.

“Oh,” Kensington said in surprise.  He decided he’d have to study Starfleet ranks a little more.   As he was mulling her rank, there was a boom and the elevator shook and came to a sudden stop.  The lights flickered.  “What was that?” he asked, alarmed.

“It couldn’t be…” Private Kalashiavu started.

“Couldn’t be what?” Kensington asked.  He ignored the slight quaver in his voice.  Suddenly an alarm began to ring.  “Do you know something?  How could you?”

“I don’t know anything,” she said softly.  “Do you?”

“How could I know anything?” Kensington asked, suddenly taken by the absurdity of the situation.  He couldn’t help but laugh and she looked at him sharply.  Then he couldn’t see her because the lights went out.  “Is there someone out there?”  He shouted, but there was no answer.  “I’m still here!  I’m stuck in here.”

“We.  We’re still here,” Private Kalashiavu said softly.

Claustrophobia, unexpectedly, was overwhelming him and he ignored her.  “Somebody get me out of here!”  Sound died away and there was no answer.  All he could hear was heavy, repetitive breathing.  His own heart was racing and his ears were ringing.  His lungs felt like they were expanding with pressure from the inside and he felt queasy and dizzy.

“The air pressure is dropping,” the private said, in a soft calm voice.  Her words brought him back to reality and he quickly popped his ear drums. 

Back in control and grateful for the darkness, Kensington tried to make a joke to ease the situation.  “Now, which way is the exit?”  She didn’t reply.

[kadh2000]

I got five more chapters of this that I'm going to post any way so y'all might as well comment.  Hecki, it might even make them better.

[Czar Mohab]

Honestly, seeing you post just the teaser that you did kept me in enough suspence. Sad to hear it was accidental, but it was a nice teaser none the less.

Your work, as always, is great.

Czar "Must have more" Mohab

[Commander La'ra]

More.

[kadh2000]

[A short bit, but more coming this weekend.]

"Amy, we've got something on the long range sensors," said the man who had placed Ryogo at the science station. 

The blonde woman looked up from her position at Ops.  "Show it on the viewer."  It was a ship.  A few moments of queries to the database came up with 'unknown configuration,' which was the computer's way of saying it was probably a private merchant ship.   "How long until it gets here?" she asked him.

"Seventeen minutes."  She blinked.  Their scout sensors were as good as starfleet's.  There had to be some mistake.  "The ship is traveling at warp 9.35." 

She she gave the comm button a hard jab.  "Outrider to away team.  Please respond."  There was no response.  "Anything on sensors?"

"There's been no sign of them since they entered the central dome.  Wait, explosive decompression of the underater facility.  It's venting helium into the atmosphere."

"Any danger to the structural integrity of the facility?"  Her entire attention was focused on her own station now.  Despite her best efforts there seemed to be no way to communicate with the landing party or to beam them up.  "Anything else on our visitor?"

"His weapons are hot.  It's a warship of some type."  The man shrugged.  Although Amy couldn't see it, she could feel it in his tone.  "Sorry, I can't tell you more."

"Okay," she replied.  "Let's see if he'll talk to us."  She opened up a communication's channel to the oncoming ship.  There was a harsh squeal from the bridge speakers and a Klingon in battle dress appeared on the viewer.

"This planet is property of the Klingon Empire," he said before she could speak.  "If your ship remains in orbit when we arrive, we will destroy it."  He gestured sharply and the link was severed.

"We can't abandon Sam'rai to those dogs!" someone said.

"We don't have much choice," she answered resignedly.  "Let's hope there's a Starfleet ship somewhere reasonably close.  I'm taking us out of here."  She gave the order to the Deltan on her left to break orbit. There was no disagreement this time and the Outrider rose away from the planet.

[Governor Ronjar]

Am liking much!

Not finished yet, but am working on it.

--thu guv!

[Scottish Andy]

Okay, that was interesting! Told in the usual Kadh style, this little piece already has enough meat on it to whet the appetite with a scent of mystery that leaves me salivating for more.

Well, maybe that was a little overly poetic, but I'm still eager to read the rest, regardless.

Possible covert ops mission under the guise of a civilian scientific investigation;
A marine on a science vessel who knows more than she's telling;
A skimpily-dressed female welcome hologram on an apparently deserted and untouched theme park planet in unclaimed space...
...that just happens to be claimed by the Klingons

Curiouser and curiouser.

One nitpick: if this is a non-Starfleet vessel, she should probably be the SS Outrider instead of USS.

Best line:

He was going to have to ask her name at some point.

Interested to see how the team fare without their ship, and how they'll react when they find there is no ship, and Klingons in their place.

[kadh2000]

This is not on hold.  It's in editing.  SA: The ship name is correct.  (to be made clear much later in the story).  Good catch on the apparent inconsistency though.

[kadh2000]

Sound died away and he was in the embrace of unbelievably pure silence.  Not even a beam of light pierced the darkness.  “We’ve got to find them,” Kensington said quietly.  He reached for the wall, felt around until his fingers encountered a slightly raised panel.  He found the handle and jerked on it.  The panel opened with a loud pop.  A faint red glow came from within the panel.  He couldn’t read what it said, but there were three buttons.  He tried them one by one.  The first two got no reaction.  There was a faint click from the wall when he pushed the third.  He hoped it was a mechanism for releasing the doors.  He could see their outline in the dim light and began to try to push them apart.  The Starfleet girl joined him and they slowly forced the doors open.

The corridor outside was lit brightly and he blinked a few times before he could see.  A voice, female and mechanical, said a few words in a language he didn’t recognize.  He looked at the private and she shook her head slightly.  She looked a little tired and he asked, “Hey, are you alive?”

“Yes,” she said and crossed her arms in front of her.  He flipped open his communicator, but there was still no response from it.  He listened for a moment then, hoping to hear the others.  There was no sound, save for the muffled sound of water flowing somewhere.

“What’s going on here?” he asked, despondently, more to himself than her. 

The private sighed.  “I don’t… know,” she said slowly.

“Well then, let’s go see if we can find anyone else.”  They stepped out into the corridor and the doors of the elevator closed behind them, but there was no sign of it moving to another level.  Walking cautiously, they reached the point where a pair of heavy steel doors had sealed off the corridor ahead.  They retreated to the elevator room and consulted the floor plan there.    It revealed they were on the bottom level.  They picked the largest room and went to see what it was.

The largest space on that level seemed to be some sort of rest area.  Benches and flowers lined most of the walls.  Four female human statues lined the other.  Tall columns that fell short of the ceiling surrounded a steel grid work section in the middle of the floor.  Kensington guessed that at some point the water beneath had been visible, but the view had been sealed off due to whatever emergency had trapped them in the elevator.    A mess of bags, wrapping paper, a pair of shoes, and other items were scattered across the floor.  There was no one there.

Kensington could not help it and an empty laugh escaped him.  “I wonder if this area was under construction when this place was abandoned.  That’s probably why nobody’s here.  Yeah, I’ll bet that’s why.”   Private Kalashiavu gave him an odd look.

He shook his head.  “Let’s just try the next place.”  They found the next corridor blocked by a heavy closed door.  “Can’t we get this door open?”

“I don’t think so,” she said.  “I don’t see a switch.”  Turning back, they chose another corridor and walked along it.  Kensington had a brief sensation of being a rat trapped in a maze trying to find the cheese at the end of it.  He kept the feeling to himself, as his companion already thought he was a bit off.

Eventually they found an open doorway and entered the room.  There appeared to be some sort of food bar.  It was, of course, empty, and there was no sign of any food.  There was a mechanical hum of some machinery operating from behind the public area of the kiosk.  He peaked into the back and found it was a kitchen of some type.  “Hey mister,” he said, “I’ll take two of the sandwiches that are half price on weekdays.”  Then he sighed for his companion’s benefit.  “If only someone were here.”  Louder, he added.  “Looks like the operator ran off and left his stand.  Doesn’t he have any pride?  Oh well, there aren’t any other customers here.  Business isn’t exactly booming, is it?”

Pamuya just glared at him, so he said, “I’m hungry.  I wasted too much energy walking around.  Everyone else is off somewhere and I don’t know where.”   Jokingly he added, “Don’t you think that’s rude that they didn’t tell me where they were?”

She turned away from him.  “Not really.”  At least she responded to the joke, he thought.  “We just met today and I don’t particularly care about you.”

“Okay, okay,” he said backing off and giving her a confused look.  Her answer made no sense.   She has no sense of humor, he thought.  “Whatever you say.”   They returned to the corridor and looked for other rooms.  Everywhere they looked was the same.  “I wonder if everyone is hiding somewhere.  Maybe they’re trying to surprise us.”
 
“What, why do you think so?”  He kept forgetting she had no sense of humor. 

“Well, it’s just a feeling,” he said, having to keep the joke going to stay calm.  If he stopped talking, he was afraid the darkness of earlier would return.  She just turned away and kept walking.
 
Eventually the corridor ended in a wide silent room filled with ruins.  There was paper garbage strewn around here as well.  It felt like a place no one had ever been.  “Where is everybody?” he asked the room.  They had to have been trapped in the elevator long enough for the others to come looking for them.  “Hey, give me a break here,” he called out.  “Where did they go?  There’s a limit to how far you can take a joke.”

She shook her head at him and returned to the corridor.  “Why don’t they just come out?” he asked her back.  Then he just sank to the floor.  The air felt heavy and it was hard to breath.  Sweat began to bead on his face and trickle down his arms and legs.  “What do you think?” he gasped.  “What happened here?  Why haven’t we seen anyone?”

“I don’t know,” she said gently and sat beside him.  “There’s only one thing that’s sure.”  Her unruffled expression did not change.  “The situation is not normal.  If this keeps up, we could be in danger.  Agreed?”  She stared at him with calm eyes.

He didn’t answer immediately, but cocked his head to listen.  He thought he heard a low groan from somewhere.  It sounded like tearing metal, rumbling stones, and pounding waves.  He swallowed nervously and answered her with a nod.
 
She wasn’t looking at him.  Instead, she jumped up and dashed down the corridor without a word.  He quickly stood up and chased after her.   She stopped at a small side door and forced it open.  A metal staircase spiraled upward.   She ran and he followed as fast as he could.  His heart was pounding, but he ignored it and ran.  They reached the end of the staircase and there was a closed hatch.  He could tell they were near the surface.  He put his hand on the hatch but it wouldn’t budge.  “Damn, why won’t it open?”

A loud bang rocked the structure.   The hatch groaned and the knob bent unnaturally.   “This way!” she shouted and ran back down the stairs again.  They raced down the steps, leaping several at a time.   The impacts rattled his knees terribly, but he ignored the pain and kept going.  Panting and out of breath, he followed her out into one of the corridors.   “Heh, ugh, oi, hah, safe place, sense of measure,” he gasped and collapsed.  Her expression didn’t change.  He noticed that she didn’t seem to be out of breath at all after running that hard.  She went on and he had no choice but to get up and follow.

“Hey, don’t you want to stop and rest?” he asked.  They had reached a circular room with many windows.  He could see fish swimming in the sea outside.  “I want to rest.”

“Go ahead.  Do what you want.”

“Fine then,” he replied and sank back to the floor.  She walked slowly ahead.   He watched the colorful fish, swimming comfortably on the other side of the windows.  He noticed how quiet the room was.  It was just the two of them, him and her.  Then he remembered he still didn’t really know who she was.  Why did she tell him to do what he wanted if they had been trying to escape together the moment before?  She was a mystery to him.

“Who?” he heard her say and he looked up.

“Hey, was somebody there?” he asked.  Pushing against the wall, he stood up.  She wasn’t looking at him, but her eyes were focused down the corridor.  He followed her gaze.

A woman appeared right in front of them.  He recognized her as the hologram from earlier.  “…from here,” she was saying.  Apparently the marine had been talking to the hologram, but he wasn’t sure why he hadn’t been able to see her until now.  “This area is not safe,” she said urgently.  “Please escape.”  She pointed down the corridor.  “Please, please, you must escape from here.  It is dangerous, it is dangerous.”  She looked surprisingly panicked for a hologram. 

“Hey,” he said, taking charge.  “What’s happened?  What’s dangerous?  Stay calm.  Explain what’s going on.”

“You need to escape,” she reiterated.  “We have had unexpected… trouble.  Level emulb.  Fierch crey.”  He didn’t understand some of her words.   She mumbled the strange phrase a second time. 

Then her voice took on extreme urgency.  “Please escape, please.  Please get out of here,” she shrieked.  Behind her the window shattered and water came rushing in.  Kensington screamed in terror as the flood crashed in.  It was as if the seawater and the fish were attacking him.

“What are you doing?” the marine shouted at him.  “Hurry!”  The force of the water and destruction was incredible.  It mowed down everything in its path.  It swirled and swallowed the debris on the floor, a small bag, a folded map, anything and everything it encountered.  He wondered how fast the water was moving.  Ridiculous thoughts flashed through his mind.  He wondered how fast he could run.  There was no guarantee the main flow wouldn’t catch him.  He screamed again and ran frantically.

Water was already flowing underfoot.  He slipped.  He knew if he fell, he would be sleeping with these fish.   “You are so much trouble,” private Kalashiavu shouted.   A powerful grip fastened onto his wrist and he was carried along in the air.    She had grabbed him and yanked him forward with incredible force.   She ran lithely, like a tiny gazelle.  Her speed was such that he felt as if he had just hopped into a hovercar.   He was afraid she would rip his arm off.    Her strength was unbelievable.

Ahead of them the holographic woman reappeared.  “Over here.  Hurry.  Hurry.”

“I know!” Kalashiavu shouted.

Eventually she outran the flood and they reached the elevator room.   Behind them doors sealed the corridor closed.  “Damn,” Kalashiavu cursed, and released him. 

“This is no good,” the hologram said.  “It’s not functioning.  Go back.”

“There’s no time!” Kalashiavu responded.  A small door popped open and they bounded into another narrow corridor. 

“Crap,” Kensington cursed.  “Which way do we take to get outta here?”  The other two ran and he followed after.  The corridor ended in a hatch.  “Dead end!” he shouted. 

Calmly Kalashiavu asked the hologram, “Can we go through here?”

“Yes.”

Kalashiavu opened the hatch and looked through. “I’m going!” 

“Hey, this isn’t a corridor,” Kensington said.  Metal screamed and gave way ahead of them.  The whole corridor twisted violently.  A torrent of water broke into it from somewhere ahead.    Kalashiavu kicked through some metal mesh and into a large air duct.  It was a pipe-like sloping tube.  She shot down the incline and he stumbled in after her.   A crazed froth of water roared behind him.   Then he was caught up in it.  Both of them were flushed along.  They spun in circles and he had no idea which way was up and which down.  Finally they were spit out in a corridor on a lower level.  The shutter on the duct clanked solidly shut behind them.  The flow of water stopped. 

“Aaah!” Kensington said with relief, glad to be alive and on solid ground.   The water receded and fish flopped around on the floor of the corridor. 

“This sector has been confirmed drained free of water,” the hologram said.  “However, thirty percent of the facility is already believed to be submerged or completely flooded.”

“Hey, wait just a second!” Kensington said.   “I thought we were going to escape up!  If we went down…  What are we supposed to do now?”

“There’s no point complaining about this,” Kalashiavu answered. 

“I’m sorry,” the hologram said softly, “but… It is my responsibility.” 

“That’s not important right now.  Relax,” Kensington said.  “Yeah, let’s all relax.  I’m glad to be safe, but more important right now is finding everyone else.”  He looked at the private searchingly.  “You ran like a machine.  What’s up with that?”  Neither of them tried to answer.  The fish on the floor were still jumping around.

“I’m really, really sorry,” the hologram said. 

“It doesn’t do any good just standing around here,” Kalashiavu said.  “Can you show us a safe way?”

“Certainly.  There is a relatively safe place nearby.  I will take you there.”  Relatively safe?  The thought went through Kensington’s mind.  That was, to him, the same as saying that everywhere was dangerous.  She started leading them down the corridor they had been washed down.  They passed a map and Kensington realized they were now on the second level. 

They went into what must have been an attraction at one time.  It reminded him of a carousel.    The seats on the ride, instead of horses, were in the shape of some giant fish.  “So, is anyone else still alive?” Kensington asked the hologram.

“I do not know,” she replied.  “I am currently investigating.”  A moment later, she said “Ah!”

“What is it?” he asked.

“Three other people are approaching.” 

A moment later, he was relieved to see Dr. Young, Medea, and Ryogo entered from the opposite direction.  Dr. Young sighed upon seeing them.  “For a while I wondered what was going to happen to us,” she said.  “I’m glad you survived.”

“I was worried that you hadn’t,” Kensington replied. 

She smiled.  “How are you three?”

He shrugged.  “About as good as we look, I suppose.”

She looked at their wet clothes.  The hologram was completely dry.  “Seems like you had a rough time of it, too.”

He laughed.  “Lucky guess.”  Relieved that they were alive, he returned her smile. 

He turned his attention to the other two with her.  Medea grinned back at him.  “We meet again,” she said.

“It’s been a while,” he said wryly.  “It doesn’t have to be right now, but could you tell me a joke later?  I’m really in the mood for one.”

She nodded brightly.  “Sure.  No problem.  I’ll think of one.”

Finally he looked at Ryogo.  The scientist wore a dark expression.  “Is something wrong?  You don’t look so hot.”

Dr. Young spoke for him.  “Oh.  He’s a bit…” she hesitated and changed the subject.  “By the way, Heaven, do you have any idea what our situation is?”  That’s right, Kensington remembered, the hologram did have a name.

“Well,” the hologram replied, “our communications system is down.  I’ve been investigating ways to restore our connection but it is going to take some time.”

“Do you have a central control room we can go to?” Dr. Young asked.  “If it’s not underwater, we can monitor things in detail from there, right?”

“That sounds good,” the hologram, Heaven, said.  “I wish I could be more useful.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Dr. Young said.

Heaven announced “We’re going down to the third level.  Please follow me.”  They followed her to a door hidden behind the attraction and into a small corridor.  Red emergency lights lit their path.  Kensington guessed there were a number of such passages.  He imagined at one time they had been used as shortcuts by the staff of the facility.

Dr. Young kept up a constant babble as they walked along.  She seemed to need to hear someone speaking as much as Kensington did.  He noticed the Starfleet marine watching them in silence.  They found a narrow ladder and followed it down and then entered the public areas again.  Heaven eventually stopped at a closed door shaped like a large hatch.  There was writing on it, but Kensington could not read it.  “It says Central Control Room,” she explained.  The door opened at her touch.

Inside the room was a large holographic model of the facility.  Several consoles lined the walls.  Each was equipped with many buttons and switches as well as several displays.  He was surprised that all of them appeared to be in working order.  There were only two chairs.  “Can you find anything out from the computers here?” Dr. Young asked.

“Let’s see,” Heaven answered.  “It looks like directly accessing it would be the fastest route.”  She faced one of the monitors and held up both her hands.  The contents of the screen changed instantly.  A number of windows opened and closed.  Kensington supposed she was searching for data.

“It must be nice to be able to operate computers without even touching them or speaking,” he muttered.   Something rattled behind him.  Medea was shaking something rapidly in both hands.  “What’s that?”

“Something to do,” she shot back.  She grabbed a second object from one of the stations and shook the two things like maracas.  She smiled at the noise they made.  He looked at Heaven but she did not seem concerned.  She was now holding her hands over a keyboard and the keys were moving rapidly as though she were typing something in on them.  He wished he could read the language.

“I’ve learned some things,” she finally said.  “Everyone please be calm.”  Kensington was sure that meant it was bad news.  No one ever talked like that when it was good news.  Heaven seemed a little pale.  He was again impressed by the holographic technology in her design.  “First, the first floor is flooded except for one segment of stairs.”

“Flooded?  The whole floor?” Dr. Young echoed in a low worried tone.

“Yes.  All of the safety partitions have dropped and it isn’t possible to get through any of its corridors. “

“In other words,” Kalashiavu said softly, “there’s no way out.”

[Scottish Andy]

Ooooh... nice bit of danger there, but I am kind of curious as to why the holographic assistant chief engineer needs to be projected in front of a console to interface with it, instead of directly accessing it from the computer system that she runs from...

All the odd events are maddening, but I'm sure that was the purpose. The Marine that moves like a terminator, how some can can see & hear the hologram when it isn't speaking to all of them, why the hologram doesn't know anything about the damages until she looks it up as if she were a visitor...

I don't know if this was your intent or not, but I'm seeing the facility from 'Deep Blue Sea'

Looking forward to more.

[kadh2000]

Ooooh... nice bit of danger there, but I am kind of curious as to why the holographic assistant chief engineer needs to be projected in front of a console to interface with it, instead of directly accessing it from the computer system that she runs from...

1. She's programmed to act like that so it makes her appear more human.  She is actually directly accessing it.  I believe she mentioned that she was directly accessing it.  Plus there are other things too that will show in the future.

All the odd events are maddening, but I'm sure that was the purpose. The Marine that moves like a terminator, how some can can see & hear the hologram when it isn't speaking to all of them, why the hologram doesn't know anything about the damages until she looks it up as if she were a visitor...

2.  Marine no comment, revealed later.  Hearing hologram: that will be explained shortly.  Why she doesn't know the extent of damage, I can't remember if I explain it or not in story.   IF I don't, I'll post it.

I don't know if this was your intent or not, but I'm seeing the facility from 'Deep Blue Sea'
Looking forward to more.

Ooh, that would be a good image.  I hadn't thought of that.  It works thought.  Anyway, you need to remove the quote marks frmo the right end of your link for it to work properly.
Glad it is, maddening and entertaining.  BTW, if you haven't noticed Captain Taylor "Samurai" Kensington is an idiot.

[kadh2000]

“Flooded?  The whole floor?” Dr. Young echoed in a low worried tone.

“Yes.  All of the safety partitions have dropped and it isn’t possible to get through any of its corridors. “

“In other words,” Kalashiavu said softly, “there’s no way out.”

...

CHAPTER 2: Situation Reports

“That is correct,” Heaven said matter-of-factly.  “And, as for the second and third levels, the watertight doors did not close in time and sector three is completely flooded.”  A portion of the display showing the facility darkened.  “All other sectors on these two floors are fine.  However, some rooms do have water in them from the flood we just experienced.  Currently the bilge pumps are functioning but it will take a lot of time for the water to completely drain.”

“Bilge pumps?” asked Medea.  She had put down her makeshift maracas.  “Does that mean there is power everywhere?”

“Let’s see,” Heaven said.  “Some parts of the electrical system, including the elevators, are not functioning.  The cause is unclear but it would seem that the circuit damage in each sector is playing a role.  That is another reason I was not able to survey the situation adequately before.  However the generator is functioning normally and supplying power.  So as long as the generator is operating, as well as the circuitry, the water will be cleared with time.

“Incidentally, the internal air pressure of the complex is one atmosphere.  The air is twenty-two percent oxygen, seventy-five percent nitrogen, three percent helium, and the temperature is twenty four degrees.”

“So what you’re saying,” Kalashiavu summarized, “is that we’re safe for a while, right?”

“I’m sorry,” Heaven apologized.  “That is correct.  Everyone, we will be forced to wait inside the complex for a while. ”

“For a while,” Kensington repeated.  “Until the ship notices what happens and sends a rescue team.  That should have been some time ago…”

“Yes, we are trapped until help comes,” Heaven said.  “I am continuously sending out a request for assistance; however, there is no guarantee it will reach anyone.  All communication lines to the surface, including the emergency ones, have been physically severed and are unusable. I have also been attempting to make contact using a seafloor cable network, using sonar.  I cannot estimate when the network will be back online.”

“So, we’re like little kids smack in the middle of the ocean,” Kensington said, “and no one can hear our SOS.”

The others looked at him with odd expressions.  “Yes,” Heaven agreed.  Those were the cold hard facts.  He could see good reason for everyone to become depressed.  He sighed. 

Dr. Young had reached the same conclusion.  “Alright.   We’ve got to stay in good spirits!”  Determined to dispel the gloomy atmosphere, she spoke so fast he found it almost scary.  “I’m an archaeologist aboard the Outrider.  My name is Maryann Young.  I will be your guide until the rescue team comes. Tada, tadum.”  She followed her announcement with a verbal fanfare.

“Hey, wait, wait.  What did you just say?” Kensington asked.

“I’m an archaeologist aboard the Outrider.  I will be your guide until the rescue team comes.  Well, I’m kind of new to this whole tour guide thing, but I will be leading the tour.”

“No, no.  The other part,” he said insistently.

“My name?” she asked.  “It’s Maryann Ginger Young.”

“What?”

“That’s why I prefer ‘Dr. Young.’  It’s a pain, isn’t it?”

“Hey, I have a question,” Medea said brightly.  Kensington rolled his eyes as another gloom destroyer appeared.

Assuming the role of tour guide, Dr. Young asked.  “What might that be?”

“Can I call you Maggie?”

Kensington was sure Dr. Young would lose her good mood, but instead she said, “Yes, of course.  And what is your name?”

“Medea Firien.” Boy was she full of energy, Kensington thought.  Leave it to these kids.

“And how old are you?”  Kensington wondered how long they would keep the game up.

“I’m a freshman at the Federation Science Academy,” the girl said, not really answering the question.

“Okay, nice to meet you Medea,” Dr. Young said.

“Thank you,” said Medea.  Kensington wondered if maybe there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room.  He was getting a headache.  The Starfleet marine seemed also not to appreciate the game.  She gave the upbeat companions a cool stare. 

Dr. Young noticed the look.  “And how about you over there?”

“Huh?” Kensington said.  “Why are you asking me?”

“Well you two joined the tour together.”

“Stupid,” Kensington said, losing patience.  “What are you talking about?”

She put a hand on her hip and stared at him angrily. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he said defiantly.

“Pamuya,” the marine said, interrupting and no doubt saving Dr. Young’s temper.  “Pamuya Kalashiavu.”  She spoke just loud enough for them to make out what she was saying.  It was very effective at drawing their attention to her.  “That’s my name.”

“Hi Pamuya,” Dr. Young said, instantly cheery again.  “It’s nice to meet you.”  Pamuya turned her back again but Dr. Young just shrugged and there was a smile on her lips.  Kensington wondered if the marine might be feeling embarrassed.  He decided there was something cute about her.  He wondered what language her name came from.  He thought back to her tugging him along in the aquarium and running like the wind.

He got up and walked over to her.  “Hey Pamuya.  Thanks for helping back there,” he said. 

“What are you talking about?”

“You saved me in the aquarium,” he reminded her.

“I didn’t mean to save you,” she replied, stunning him.  “You were in the way.”

“What?”  He couldn’t believe what he had heard.

“If you had tumbled there, you would have been in the way.  You were an obstacle,” she said, looking annoyed.  He decided she was both intense and scary.  He retracted his earlier thoughts about her being cute.   They stood eye-to-eye and glared at each other for a while. 

“Hey, hey, you two,” Dr. Young said, coming between them.  “Let’s get along now.”  Kensington turned and walked away.  Private Kalashiavu just looked down at her feet again.

“Heaven,” Dr. Young said, returning to tour guide mode, “It’s your turn to introduce yourself.”

“Oh, you mean me?” the hologram asked, looking up from a data screen.  She stepped back from the machine and glided back over to the group.  “Pardon me for the late introduction,” she said, playing along.  “My name is Heaven and I am a system engineer in the Utopia development division.  Actually, I am the assistant chief.”

Wow, Kensington thought.  A hologram as assistant chief.  He decided her odd manner of speaking was because of the translation to Federation Standard.  She almost seemed to refer to herself as if she were someone else.  He thought back over her previous statements.  It was as if she were the holographic representation of the main computer system.  Maybe she just talks like that because she’s an engineer, he decided.  It didn’t seem to matter so he held his tongue.

He turned to the group at large and raised his voice.  “And I am Taylor “Samurai” Kensington.  I’m forty years old and a starship captain.  Thanks.”

“Taylor, nice to meet you,” said the hologram. 

Medea giggled.  “Yeah, it sure is.”

“Yep,” Dr. Young agreed.  “Mucho gusto.”  The three of them laughed cheerfully.

“Dumb,” muttered Kalashiavu.  Despite her dark cloud, Kensington was glad at least to see the others moods loosen up. 

“Okay now everyone,” Dr. Young began.  “Now that we’ve just started having so much fun, it’s time to say good bye…”

“Maggie, wait a second,” Medea interrupted.  “We haven’t introduced everyone yet.”  She pointed to the corner of the room where Ryogo sat against the wall.

“Uh, do you mean me?” he asked.  Kensington had completely forgotten him.  And there was something odd about him that Dr. Young had been reluctant to mention.  The scientist had been quiet the whole time, sitting in the corner and trying to stay unnoticed.

Dr. Young looked at him and her face stiffened slightly.  “So, let’s ask,” Medea said, tilting her head toward him as she asked the question.  “What is your name?”

“I, my…” Ryogo looked down.  Kensington wondered what he was waiting for.  “I…  Who am I?”  Ryogo put his hand to his forehead and grimaced. 

The three of them who hadn’t been with him the whole time looked at him in surprise.  “What?” Kensington said loudly.

“I can’t remember,” Ryogo lamented.   “My… name.”

“Amnesia?” Kensington asked, looking at Dr. Young. 

“Retrograde amnesia,” Heaven said.  “It’s more common with new memories than old memories.  When a person can’t remember anything at all, it’s called complete amnesia, but in instances when some memories can be recalled, it is called partial amnesia.  Generally amnesia results from trauma to the head, epileptic seizures, mental diseases and disorders that manifest themselves as memory impairments. 

“When a person has trouble recollecting events prior to the impairment, it is called retrograde amnesia.  An instance when memory impairment is significant and continues after consciousness is restored is called anteretrograde amnesia.  Amnesia caused by inherent mental factors is referred to as organic amnesia, while that induced by psychological stress is typically known as psychogenic amnesia.

“Hysterical amnesia is the most typical example.  This is an affliction in which the victim often cannot recall knowledge relating to his or her personal history, such as one’s name, history, family or friends and is often a reaction to incidents too hard to endure, which incite an unconscious desire to escape , forget, or repress these experiences or events.  Symptoms do not manifest in any particular way physically, and a person’s brain functioning remains normal.  People found wandering in this state are often taken in or seek help from authorities.

“Young people under severe psychological stress, such as those facing domestic violence or academic problems, marriage or financial difficulties, are the most typical victims.  However, this illness can be used as a cover for criminal activities and it can be difficult to detect the difference.  This is especially seen in individuals with demonstrative personalities or pathological tendencies to lie. 

“Normally in a few days or months, or with the help of hypnosis or shock therapy, the memories should return.  Complete amnesia can be spurred by retrograde life amnesia.  Memories are usually restored gradually beginning with older ones and treatment methods include psychiatric care, and hypnosis both narcotic and naturally induced.”

Kensington stared at her with mouth agape.  Dr. Young, he noted, had recorded the entire speech on her tricorder.  “Amnesia?” he said, looking at Ryogo.

“That’s right,” Dr. Young confirmed.  “He can’t remember anything.”

The hologram went over to examine Ryogo.  “Did you suffer a concussion?  You might have bumped your head severely somewhere during the flood.”

“Yeah,” Kensington had to agree.  “You might have taken a tumble while trying to escape it.”  Kalashiavu, looking at Kensington, let loose a nasty snort when he said the word tumble.

“I don’t know,” Ryogo said.  “I don’t remember anything.”  Looking around at the panels, he asked “Where is this?”

“Utopia, a marine them park,” Heaven said.

“Utopia?” he repeated slowly. 

 Kensington glanced at Medea and tilted his head.  The girl was inching toward her ‘maracas’ again.  “Why don’t we go somewhere with more space, and more comfortable,” he suggested.  He remembered the room with the food kiosk in it and suggested that.   He was pleasantly surprised to find the drink dispenser functioning. 

“Hey Ryogo,” he said.  “Don’t you remember anything about before?  Not even something personal about yourself?”

“What do I know?  I know I’m thirsty,” Ryogo answered.

“Let’s make a toast and a prayer for everyone’s safety,” Dr. Young suggested.  Save Private Kalashiavu, they all tapped their cups together and said “cheers”.  They all needed something to ease the situation, so the timing of Ryogo’s comment was good.  The kid seemed determined to divert attention away from his situation, Kensington noticed.

“Hey, Heaven,” Kensington joked, “don’t you want a drink?” 

The hologram stood stiffly.  “Uh, no thanks.  I’m not thirsty.” 

“Well how about taking a load off?  You’ve been standing there the whole time.”  He couldn’t help himself.

“I’m fine, but thanks for your concern.”  He couldn’t decide whether she was playing along or was offended.  She seemed very polite and serious.  Prim and proper was a good way to describe her.  He looked to the others.  Dr. Young and Ryogo were chatting.  Sometimes he would laugh or shake his head weakly.  He could overhear enough of their conversation to tell they were talking about his memory. 

“It’s not that out of the ordinary,” she said, trying to console him.   “You’ll be fine.  Either it will fix itself or we can take care of it when we get back to the ship.”  Kensington noticed that whatever they were drinking was orange, and different from the water in his own cup. 

The marine was some distance from the others, working her way around the room and examining the walls.  For some reason he had an interest in everyone’s beverage, but could not guess what was in the cup she was carrying in her left hand.  He couldn’t imagine what she was thinking either.  Medea was trying partial cups of every beverage she could find in the kiosk.  It didn’t take her long to forget about the drinks though and begin dancing among the benches.  It was, he decided, a cute scene. 

“Okay, everyone,” he announced, deciding to restore order before things got out of control again.  “Let’s come on back.  It looks like we’ll have to spend some time here, so there are a few things I would like to go over.  First, let’s review what has happened.  Then, what we should do now.  Heaven, would you address the first of those topics.  Try to be briefer than you were in explaining amnesia.”

She held out her arms and the image of the facility appeared between them.  “I will explain.  At 1245 a blackout occurred.  Cause unknown.  The emergency alarms began ringing.  Again, cause unknown. 

“1254: The elevator shifted to emergency power and an evacuation order was given.  Somehow the emergency corridor to the outside was opened and remained open for several minutes. 

“1303:  The opening of the emergency corridor disrupted the air pressure balance inside the complex and the devices responsible for adjusting the air pressure encountered problems.  The complex automatically started pulling air in from outside.  As a result the mixture of gas designed to maintain six atmospheres of air pressure escaped.  Helium, which is lighter than oxygen or nitrogen, escaped first.  Air pressure in the complex dropped to one atmosphere.

“1439:  The major power source came back online.  The computer system responsible for overseeing Utopia rebooted and reset the air pressure adjustment mechanism.  The air ventilation ducts were closed.  However, because the facility was built to saturation diving specifications, it would not collapse as long as the internal air pressure was equal to or higher than the outside water pressure.

“1555:  Unable to withstand the external pressure, the glass of some windows cracked, causing flooding.  To minimize damage caused by the flooding, the emergency watertight doors automatically shut.  This brings us to our current situation.”
So much for being brief, Kensington thought.  At least now he had a better idea of what had happened.

“I would like to be able to gauge our current situation more accurately,” she continued, “however, some monitors and sensors are still not functioning normally.  As a result I cannot obtain accurate data and can only provide an outline of the situation.”

“Hey, sorry to ask the same question again,” Kensington interrupted.  “The first floor, the one above us, is flooded, yeah?”

“Correct.  I have requested confirmation from our complex management system and it has been confirmed.”

“So we really can’t get out of here,” he said, feeling depressed again.  He wished he hadn’t asked her to repeat that.  He had been trying not to admit it to himself, but realized they were in deep trouble.  He didn’t even amuse himself with the unintentional pun.

“Currently the top priority is in requesting assistance from your ship so I am doing my utmost to get the communication system back online.  I must request your patience.”

“Well, all we can do for now is wait for help,” Dr. Young said.  “Right?”

“You just keep trying to make everyone feel better, don’t you?” Kensington asked. 

She put her face right next to his and said “Oh, I’m sorry.  Would you prefer my dark, despondent, we’re doomed approach?”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” he said defensively.

She smiled at him and stood up.  “How about another drink?”  She went into the kiosk and came out with a huge bottle and held it up comically.

“I just can’t get over how cheerful you are given how totally screwed we are,” he complained again without thinking.  A fine picture he was making as captain.

“That’s not it at all,” she said sulkily.  “I’m like this precisely because of the situation!”

“Yeah, you’re right.”  He quickly apologized.  “Sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize,” she said cheerfully.  “Here you go.”  She poured him a drink from the bottle.  It was brown and fizzed.  He took a big gulp and slurped the dregs down.

“Hey, hey,” he said, even though most of his drink was just bubbles.  “This is better than Coke.”

“Isn’t it?” she agreed.  He thanked her for the beverage.  “Any time,” she kidded.  “And it’s on the house.”  She shouldered the massive bottle and took it back inside the shop.  She teetered like a penguin, which was funny because that didn’t really suit her.  He laughed without thinking. 

The marine was leaning against the wall and stared after Dr. Young as she disappeared into the shop.  Kensington again wondered what she was thinking beneath her gloomy exterior.   He walked over to her and casually tried to strike up a conversation.  “Even if we’re going to wait for help,” he said, “we can’t just sit on our butts doing nothing.  Right?”

“You act like you’re all serious but there’s nothing going on in that head of yours is there?” she asked.

“What?  That’s not true!  I’m thinking.  I’m always thinking.  Right now I was just thinking of a way to keep us from getting bored.”  He rattled off the first thing that came to mind. 

She let out a heavy sigh.  “Sure, whatever.”  The look she gave him was one of exasperation.  He didn’t want her to expect anything from him, but found her attitude very frustrating. 

“Arrghh!” he groaned loudly.  Somehow she always got to him.  Ignoring her, or at least trying to, he called to the others “Hey.  Alright everyone listen up.”

The others gathered around him.  “Taylor, what’s the matter?” Heaven asked. 

“We’re not going to accomplish anything just spending time like this, right?” he said.  “So I just thought why don’t we split up and finish looking around the complex.”

“Why?” Heaven asked.  “Don’t you think staying together in one place would be safer?”

“No,” he said firmly.  “I think we should check to see if staying in one place and doing nothing is really the safest thing to do.  You know, walk around, see what we can find and scope out any dangers.  If we find some, we can tell everyone to watch out for them or do something to get rid of them.  Plus, we could see if there is a safer place and then we could all gather there.” 

“But Taylor...” she said.

“It’s not like the rescue squad is about to burst in the door,” he overrode her objection.  “So if we’re going to have to be here half a day, or a day or so, then we should find out what kind of place this is and get to know it like our own ship.”

“In that case,” she replied, “I can provide you with an abundance of information.”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” he said.  “Listen, Heaven, you have to look after the communication network, right?  You were just talking about how some sensors or monitors weren’t working right and you can’t get a full sense of the current situation.”

“Oh, I see,” Dr. Young nodded in agreement and clapped her hands together.  “While Heaven is sending out a distress signal, we should use our own two legs to see what kind of a situation we’re in.”  She turned to the hologram.  “How about it, Heaven?  That would be easier on you wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, I suppose it would,” the hologram answered reluctantly.  “But there are still the dangers.”

“Alright, I’ll go then,” Kalashiavu said and laughed.  Well, he thought she was laughing, but her lips curled nastily. 

“Hey, private, where are you going?” he asked her as she started toward one of the doors.

“We’re going to separate and check things out, right?” Her expression was blank again.  He liked that better.  She headed for the entrance to the emergency corridor. 

“Hey, you can’t just…” he called after her but she quickly disappeared.  “Come back here!  Hey idiot!”  She was out of sight and he could hear her boots clacking on the metal stairs as she climbed.

“Pamuya’s gone,” Medea said to him.  “Now what are we going to do?”

“I’m worried,” Heaven said, looking toward the empty doorway the marine had disappeared through.

“I think it’s alright,” Ryogo said suddenly.  They all turned to look at him.  “Like you say, it doesn’t do us any good to stay in here.  She just went to the second level.  I’ll bet she’s just going to look around there.  So why don’t the four of us look around this level?”

Dr. Young looked thoughtful but Medea instantly agreed.  With no other options, Kensington nodded.  “Sounds like a plan.”

Heaven still seemed worried.  She finally nodded just slightly.  “I guess there is nothing I can do to stop you.  Please, be careful everyone.” 

With Heaven returning to the control room, the four of them searched the complex.   They started with the normal corridors and then the emergency passages above and below them on the third level.  Splitting into pairs at the forks, they agreed to meet back at the forks when they had checked the corridor ahead.  They did that over and over.

Kensington wondered briefly if water was leaking in anywhere.  He quickly decided that the pressure would cause water to spurt loudly through any crack it could find.  He hoped they would find something that could improve their situation.  A vague part of his mind hoped they could find a door to the surface that Heaven was unaware of.  Having found nothing, they eventually returned to the kiosk and found Heaven already waiting.  Private Kalashiavu was nowhere to be seen.

“We can’t just let her run loose,” Kensington muttered.  “I wonder where she is.”

“Shall I check?” asked Heaven.  Following her, they returned to the central control room.  “I checked the life readings in the complex.  Even if Pamuya were moving around, she should still appear in the results of this scan.  That is, of course, if she is in the complex.”

Kensington couldn’t believe she would find an exit and abandon them.  The dark thought came to him that a scan wouldn’t find her if she weren’t still alive.  He did manage to keep the thought from coming out of his mouth.  A moment later his doubts were dispelled.  A fuzzy light showed up on the holographic display of the second level.  “That would be Pamuya,” Heaven announced. 

Kensington saw that there were a number of lights congregated on the third level.  He presumed that was them in the control room.  “Oh!” Ryogo exclaimed suddenly.  “Isn’t that strange?  Look.”  He pointed at a corner of one monitor.  A single character was displayed there.  “Watch it closely,” he said.  It kept cycling between three different characters.

“Oh my, you’re right,” Heaven agreed.  “I wonder what it could be.”  She fiddled with a control but the character continued fluctuating.  It changed every few seconds. 

“What does it mean?” Kensington asked, confused.

“It’s the number of life readings,” Ryogo said.  “It keeps switching between five, six, and seven.  The number of lights on the holographic display doesn’t change though.”

“Wait a minute.  You can read that?” Kensington said in surprise.

“I guess so,” Ryogo said apologetically.  “You can’t?”  The others looked at each other.  Apart from Heaven and Ryogo, none of them understood it.

“Could it mean there is someone else besides us in the facility?” Ryogo asked when they had calmed down.  “If it could really be seven…”

“That’s what it would mean,” Dr. Young agreed.

[Andromeda]

Someone has the gift of exposition!  I like the intensity.  It reads like it was written over a wide period of time with occasional recaps.  Reminds me of Amber that way.  I like the fact that we're only getting Kensington's point of view despite the distance of the narrator.  I also like that it's taking a while for him to settle down on what to call people in his mind.  Your marine is very tsundere, or am I reading too much into her and she's going to stay like that.  So far I like all of the cast except the two men.  Ryogo's hard to know and Kensington's an, as you say, idiot.  Medea needs to be developed more.

I can't wait to find out what's going on.

[Scottish Andy]

Okay, the first half of that chapter stuck me as a comedy scene that I was out of phase with. It held no actual comedic value. It just irritated me as I couldn't understand why the people were instantly switching moods and acting oddly. If all is explained later as some kind of hypoxia effect or something, all is fine and well and ignore this.

Yes, Kensington is an idiot.

I still do not understand why a holographic entity who is the assisstant chief engineer of a facility has to walk (or redirect their emitters to project them) into the control room so she can access the computer readings instead of accessing them directly from the computer she is "living" in. I guess she's just less advanced than I'm supposing she is.

The disappearing private and odd lifesigns are are a good continuation of the mystery, but that entire chapter just didn't work for me.

[Hstaphath_XC]

I am keeping up with this surreal adventure with very perplexed interest.

I can't wait to find out what's going on.

Ditto!!!

[kadh2000]

Thanks for the comments.  Here are some explanations and thoughts.

Kalashiavu: you'll have to wait for me to explain her.  But she is intense and not a positive person.
Ryogo: supposed to be hard to know
Medea: no comment at all (Oh really, then why mention her?  No comment.)

Rommie: You were right that they weren't written one immediately following the other.

Andy: I was afraid the comedic elements were going to come accross badly.  Thank you for confirming that for me.  It was a risk and I wanted opinions on it before I kept going.  Kensington is an idiot as we've mentioned.  Too bad.  I can't change that since it's fundamental to his character and he's the main character.  The hologram isn't as advanced as initial appearances made her seem.  That's correct. 

Hsta: Damn, I didn't want surreal.  We have enough of that from Rommie in her last story.

Next part coming this weekend.  Needs some editing.

[Hstaphath_XC]

Hsta: Damn, I didn't want surreal.  We have enough of that from Rommie in her last story.

Hmmm... I guess the best way to put it is that the comedic elements came across to me as being amusingly surreal rather than LOL funny.   I hope that makes sense. 

[kadh2000]

No  new part this week. I'm in rewrite.

[Hstaphath_XC]

No  new part this week. I'm in rewrite.

"Very well... but be all the earlier the next day!"   

[kadh2000]

Not My Fault This Time!

Edited for the removal of surreality.  I hope.  There was some content left in since I didn't feel it was that strong.

“Could it mean there is someone else besides us in the facility?” Ryogo asked when they had calmed down.  “If it could really be seven…”

“That’s what it would mean,” Dr. Young agreed. 

The Promise Chapter 3: The Trap


“Don’t you think we should go look for that person?” Ryogo asked.  “I mean they could be in trouble.  We have to help them.”

Kensington looked at him in pity.  “Hang on, buddy.  Calm down.  Remember, it’s only her and the five of us who beamed down.” 

Ryogo gave him an odd look and Kensington looked away in embarrassment.  He turned back to Heaven who continued to work with the controls.  Watching the numbers change was unsettling.  Finally it stopped on the figure which meant six.  He looked to the holographic display.  The light on the second level was moving around slowly.  The five lights on the third level were in one room, unmoving. 

“Perhaps it was because of a malfunctioning sensor,” Heaven offered.  “Would you like me to see what else I can find out?”

“Nah,” Kensington told her.  “Kalashiavu is on the second level and the five of us are here.  So that six is probably right, don’t you think?”  Ryogo still looked worried, so he added.  “Well I figure if we go look around a little more, we’ll find out soon enough.”  The others agreed so he asked, “So do you all want to head to the second floor?”  Despite what he knew, he thought it best they take in the situation with their own eyes.

They climbed to the top of the long emergency stairs together.  They hadn’t found anything else on the third floor.  Nor had they found any routes that looked like they might lead out.  Heaven said there was no schedule for when the communications system would be back online.  Along the way they had looked at the display terminals in the corridors, but they were all inoperable.  Heaven could not find a clear cause for that either.  The one saving grace had been that there were no leaks on that level.

Heaven recommended they spend thirty minutes searching the second level before gathering again.  Kensington then suggested they randomly search some rooms.  Heaven made a holographic schematic appear between her hands.  “Unlike the floor below, all the sensors on this level seem to be functioning normally.  This level appears safer as well.  Pamuya seems to be walking in the vicinity of the elevator.”

“You can tell that now?” Kensington asked.

“Yes,” she said and then added “I will be working from the security office on this floor while monitoring everyone’s activities.  If a problem arises, I will announce it via the intercom and if something happens please contact me immediately.”

“Alright,” Dr. Young agreed.  “Let’s split into pairs again and meet up in the security office in half an hour.”  Heaven closed the display and went into what Kensington guessed was the security room, a little ways down the corridor.  Kensington took out his communicator and tried it again to no avail.  When he looked again, the other three had gone off without him.  Shrugging, he picked a direction and began searching that way.

He aimed for the large room with the attractions on the second level.  The first one he reached was the carousel.  Looking at the sign by the entrance, he tried to guess which alien word meant carousel.  The ride felt a little lonely and spooky it was so empty.  Even the fish themselves looked sad.  He stepped back in sudden shock as the carousel began to turn and a strange melody came from the ride.  It seemed lonely no longer, but all the more spooky. 

Someone snickered from the darkness ahead.  Dr. Young stepped into the light in front of the carousel and hummed along with the music.  “Captain Kensington.  When did you get here?”

“It looks like you’re having a little too much fun here,” he said testily.

“But it is fun,” she replied.  “Doesn’t it make you just a little bit happy?  I’ve always wanted to ride a carousel.”

“Well, just don’t turn it on without warning.  You were wasting energy by turning it on.  What if the power went out because of it?  We have no idea how long this station’s back-up power is good for.” 

She finally tired of the game and sighed.  “Oh Taylor, don’t you know?  All the power in the facility is generated internally.  More than 100 meters below on the sea floor there are thermal vents: basically hot springs.  Utopia takes hot water from there and uses it for steam.  They use steam powered turbines to generate the power here.  It is a closed-cycle plant.  And that’s all memorized from the new tour guide manual.”

“I see,” he said just to get her to stop.  “You asked the hologram already, didn’t you?”

“A tour guide must know these things.  I explain things in that kind of depth and all you can say is I see?”

Perhaps she needed to keep talking even more than he did.  “I’m sorry.  That was a wonderful explanation.  You are a model guide.” 
The music stopped behind her and the carousel coasted to a stop.  They leaned against the fence around the perimeter of the ride. 
“Not much of an archaeological trip, is it?” he asked, serious again.  She nodded.  “Then out of the blue this happens to us.  Pretty rough.”

“Taylor, have you ever been on an archaeological dig?”  He shook his head and she laughed.  “Stuff happens sometimes.” 

He had to admire her cheerful outlook.  His had been forced but her unflagging optimism and energy seemed natural.  “You are tough.    This situation is so depressing and it doesn’t seem to faze you.”

“No.  I’m not really.  It’s just easier.  I said it earlier, didn’t I?  Would you rather I get depressed?”

“I think it’s better to laugh,” he agreed.

“Right.  That’s all we can do.”  Then she laughed again and he forced a smile.  “And you can call me Maryann.”  She stretched against the fence like a cat.  Then she slid down it and hugged her knees.  He sat down next to her.  “To tell you the truth I came on this expedition looking for my father.  He worked in the R&D division of Starfleet.   He was on the design team that designed the computer that the Outrider uses.  I don’t know the details.  They created it when I was a child.  For some reason they did it out in space away from the center of the Federation. 

“One day my mother got news that my father had disappeared.   He just went missing… from a starship.  It was seventeen years ago and I was only ten years old.”

“So you don’t remember him very well?”

“No,” she continued.  “He was almost never home even when he was on Earth.  Mostly I remember him from pictures.   I don’t have any really strong memories of him.  Everything I really know I learned from my mother.”

“Did they ever find out how or why he disappeared?” Kensington asked.

“If I knew that I wouldn’t have been aboard the Outrider.  The only clue I had was that it was out in this part of space.  The ship he was on was out here somewhere when he disappeared.  So I thought if I came out here I might find some clue about what happened to my father.  My mother gave up long ago so I can’t count on her.  She believes he’s dead.”

The word rang heavily in Kensington’s ears.  She was gambling on almost impossible odds.  He didn’t tell her so; she probably already knew that.

“But, you know what?” she asked, suddenly cheery again.  “I believe!  I believe that he is alive somewhere.  He has to be!  He just went missing.  They never found his body.  On a starship that means not dead.  My mom gave the Federation his old research.  I’ve heard its being used to advance computer technology in many areas.  There just has to be a clue out here somewhere.”  There was an edge of desperation in her voice.  They lapsed into silence.  Kensington tried to think of something comforting to say, but no words came. 

Suddenly she stood up.  “I’m kind of in the mood for some music.  Something light and fun if you know what I mean.  So I think I’ll get the fish spinning again.  Taylor, can you finish looking around?  I’ll head back in a few minutes.”  Without waiting for a reply, she darted back into the shadows of the carousel.  A moment later it began to spin again and the eerie music filled the air.

He hurried off.  Along the corridor he chose, he found an open doorway with some sort of land creature, like a bear painted on the wall beside it.  Looking inside, the room was in shambles.  Apparently it had been a store of some type: probably souvenirs.  This would be a good place to bring someone who could read the language, he thought.  There might be something of use in the store. 
To his surprise Ryogo was sitting silently on a bench inside the store.  His eyes were fixed intently on the ground and his hands were rubbing his temples.

“How’s your head?” Kensington asked, even though it was obvious.  Ryogo looked up but didn’t answer.  “What’s wrong?  Did you find something, or did you remember something?”

Again Ryogo hesitated before asking.  “Uh, who are you?” 

It was worse than Kensington had expected.  He introduced himself to his friend.  “Oh is that right?” Ryogo asked.  “This place is?  What am I doing here?”

Kensington sighed and looked around worriedly for anyone else.  He tried to remember what Heaven had said about the kind of amnesia that you had when you forgot what you just had said and done.  Ryogo seemed to move from one topic to the next in turn, forgetting the last.  “This is Utopia, a submarine facility.  Something happened and we’re trapped in here. “  Ryogo looked back at him in horror.  Perhaps explaining it to him hadn’t been a good idea.

“What do you mean trapped?” he asked in panic.

Kensington’s dry humor got the best of him and he said “That’s something I’d like answered myself.”

Ryogo stared at him blankly.  “And… who are you?”

Kensington frowned, unsure what to do.  “Maybe you should start taking notes.  That way you can keep track of names and other things.”

“Maybe I should,” Ryogo agreed.  Kensington looked around the souvenir store until he found the most primitive of writing implements: a pen and some paper.

“Take good notes,” Kensington suggested and handed him the tools.  “Even when you’re eating.  If you remember, you should take a memo of your name too.”

“Thanks,” Ryogo said.  “Can you tell me what year it is?”

“You forgot that too?” Kensington asked, surprised that he was surprised.  “It’s 22…”  He had to stop and think.  He was too used to stardates.  “It’s, uh, 2267.  Take notes!  Write it down.”  Ryogo dutifully wrote it down.  “Why do you want to know the year anyway?”

“I thought that way I’d maybe remember my birthday.” 

“Come to think of it, you don’t know how old you are anymore, do you?” Kensington said the first dumb think that popped out of his mouth.  Ryogo shook his head.   “Well, then:  you man the science station on my ship and this is your first mission.  You’re nineteen.  No, twenty now.  But you’ve got a baby face so you look younger.”

Ryogo stared at him.  “You’ve forgotten your own face?  Come on, let’s find a mirror.”  Ryogo agreed and they started down the corridor toward the security room.  Kensington pitied the young scientist but was relieved that his headache seemed to have faded.  As they walked his mind wandered to consider the holographic person, Heaven.  He wondered if she ever could get tired, even if it was just mentally fatigued.   She was the only one of them who had really been doing brain work.

The door to the security office was closed and Kensington banged on it but there was no answer.  He tried the intercom button but got no answer.  Leaving Ryogo standing outside, he put his shoulder against the door and shoved forcefully.   

The security office was small and dirty.  There was a stale odor to it that years of absence had not dispelled.  One wall was lined with monitors that viewed various locations throughout the facility.  All were stained dark by the residue of some long unused item.  A sign with large lettering was posted along one wall, next to what appeared to be a water dispenser.  It reminded him of the sloppy clubrooms of men’s clubs and Kensington couldn’t help but chuckle.  “Heaven?” he called.  “Hey Heaven, where are you?  I didn’t think you were the type who would run off without telling anyone.”  He stepped further into the room.

From behind a large desk, Heaven shrieked.  The images on all of the monitors flickered off and then back on.  “Taylor, when did you get here?” she asked nervously.  He peered in her direction but the desk blocked his sight of her. 

“So you are here, Heaven.  I thought you’d be all stressed out from the work and situation so I came to take a look.   What are you doing back there?”  He started walking toward her voice.

“Oh, no!  Taylor, no!  Please don’t come back here.  I’m busy right now.”  He couldn’t see her but she sounded embarrassed.   “If you don’t mind, can you wait outside for a little bit?”  She spoke hesitantly.

“Oh, are you changing or something?” he asked.  He couldn’t imagine what a hologram had to be embarrassed about.  “I’m sorry.”

“Uh, no, not exactly, but I suppose it is something like that.  Taylor, you aren’t going to change?  If you don’t mind the employee work outfits, the changing room is directly behind this room.  Just turn on the corner of the corridor and you’ll find it.”

“Nah, I’m alright,” he said, surveying his attire.  “I’m a little damp and uncomfortable but I’m used to it.”

“I see…” she said, disappointed.  “I’m sorry but I’m still working and I need to concentrate.  I’ll be done by the appointed time. “

He shrugged.  “I’m sorry to bother you.  We’ll go look around a little more.  Good luck.”  He waved vaguely in her direction and headed for the exit.  “Hey, it’s not good to stay cooped up in here.  Take a break some time,” he said without looking back.

“Ok, but please do not worry about me.  I like my work.  If I really get into it I can go for days without sleeping.”  That pretty much confirmed to him that a holographic person didn’t get tired.

Ryogo was sitting on the floor outside the door.   “I’m going to look around a little more.  Heaven’s just inside if you need her.  Why don’t you sit here and take it easy?”  The younger man nodded without speaking.  Kensington headed to the next intersection and hung a left.  He saw an open doorway and entered another attraction area.

An unreadable sign was over a large cave-like opening.  He peered in and saw that the ride was some sort of boat ride on a see-through sea creature that reminded him of a jellyfish more than anything else.  He checked the walls and floor for any signs of damage and left after finding none. 

Nearby he found himself at a set of elevators.  Standing in the corridor between the four elevators was Private Kalashiavu.  She had a stern look on her face, as if she could will them into functioning.  “So this is where you were,” he said.  She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment but didn’t reply.  Her eyes returned to their fixed position on the elevators.  “This elevator won’t go to the surface.  Just standing there isn’t going to make an elevator come.” 

He braced himself for an acidic reply.  Very softly, she said “I know that.  I just saw it.”

“Saw what?”  He asked, surprised.   He half expected her to say she had just seen the elevator go up.

“The elevator,” she said, but then went to the nearest doors and pried them apart.  They stopped halfway apart and she looked inside.   “See.  The elevator is stopped down on the third floor.” 

He peeked in timidly.  “Is that the one you and I rode down in?”

“It’s still there from when we escaped,” she answered.  He looked down at the little box in the abyss.  It gave him a good measure of how far apart the levels actually were.  It seemed to be about twenty meters below them.  Suddenly she gave him a light tap on the shoulder and he was briefly assailed by vertigo. 

“Whoa, don’t push!  What do you think would happen if I fell from here?”

She held his shoulder until he steadied himself.  “If you fell, I think that you would die.  Most definitely.”  There was no trace of emotion in her voice. 

“Geez, why do you want to go and try to scare me?”

“You’re just a coward,” she said reprovingly.   He wasn’t sure he could answer, so he remained silent.  She stepped back and he quickly retreated into the middle of the space.  She put her hands on the doors and pushed them back together. 

Wanting to make sure they would stay shut, Kensington tapped the elevator controls a couple of times.  There was no response.  “It doesn’t look like they’re getting any power.”

“Yes,” she agreed.  “And if you had looked up, you would have noticed the elevator shaft is warped.  Even if they were getting power they could not move.  This elevator is useless.”  Silence filled the space between them and ruled for a while.

Kensington studied his enigmatic military escort.  She rarely talked and only said the minimum necessary when she did speak.  He thought maybe she was trying to be careful of him for some reason, but he couldn’t imagine what it could be.  He wanted to know.  “Hey,” he said, “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

“It’s got nothing to do with you,” she answered.   That might have been true, he thought, but still…  It’s got nothing to do with me; it’s got something to do with me.

“You know something I don’t?” he asked impulsively. 

“Something?  Like what?”

“Like about this accident.  Something about the reason you’re always quiet.  You did say something when it first happened.”

“Accident?  This wasn’t an accident.  It was planned.”

“What makes you say that?” he asked surprisingly calmly as it all came together for him.

“You’re not surprised?” she asked him in turn, giving him a strange look.  “You feel like something isn’t right, too?”

“Well, maybe I guess,” he said slowly, trying to sort it out as he spoke.  “Like everything is just too neat.  We can’t communicate with the outside and our escape routes are all closed.  But we’ve got power and the ventilation system still works.  It’s almost as if someone trapped us in here on purpose.”

She smiled for the first time he could remember.  “I guess you’re not as dumb as you look.”  It was a very provocative smile. 

“Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I said,” she answered.  “You don’t look that smart.”

Kensington controlled his sudden anger and the urge to tell her what he thought of her.  She was the only one of them actually in Starfleet and her military experience seemed might it like be necessary.  Too bad she wasn’t a lieutenant or a captain or something.  Plus, he felt somehow that any outburst would make him look as stupid as her original opinion of him.  He decided to keep his mouth shut while her opinion of him was on the rise. 

“This is a trap,” she stated and her expression returned to normal.  “You probably aren’t going to get out.  No, not just you, but everyone else as well, all four of them.  You’re all the same.”

Now he was really afraid.  “Well, what about you then, Pamuya?” he asked, forgetting to keep it formal between them. 

“I…” she paused then, and looked even more thoughtful than she had when he first saw her.  Then she smiled again.  “Eh, I suppose I could die in a place like this.  It wouldn’t be bad at all, I guess.”  She looked upward.  He followed her gaze to the completely artificial ceiling and found it oppressive.  She laughed again and disappeared down the corridor.  He had no desire at all to follow her after her last remark.

[Hstaphath_XC]

Not My Fault This Time!

As someone that has been married for as many years as you have, you should already be conditioned to know that it is ALWAYS your fault.  So, no more complaining and more writing!   

Much better, by the way.  I am definitely getting pulled more into the story now and am eager to see what happens next.

[kadh2000]

CHAPTER 4: MEDEA IN CRISIS

He waited a few minutes and went on his way.  He found an unlabelled doorway and went in.  It appeared to be a warehouse of some kind.  Surveying it he saw several barrels, a large stack of crates and boxes.  There was a pushcart to move smaller boxes.  A heavy crane was mounted on a track overhead.   A crate was still suspended from it.  The ceiling was covered with pipes and wires.  Somewhere in the room, something was making a hissing noise.  He followed the sound until he found what appeared to be the room’s ventilation device.  It seemed to be on its last legs by the sound of it.  “Is there anybody here?” he yelled out and listened to the echoes of his voice until they faded.

Kensington continued wandering until the corridor widened and ended at an automatic door that opened as he approached.  The purpose of the large room was immediately apparent.  It was the facility’s sickbay: an infirmary.  The beds with their diagnostic panels behind them didn’t seem all that different from the ones on the ship.  Unlike other areas of the facility, there was no debris or trash in this room.  One of the beds had more sophisticated devices over and around it.  Kensington guessed it was the one used for surgery.  Too bad, he thought, that Dr. Young wasn’t a medical doctor.

He looked at the shelves and saw containers of what he assumed were long expired medications.   “Yeah, I don’t think there’s any way out now,” he heard someone say.  He had thought he was used to surprises, but the voice startled him.  “Everybody?  Help?  Did you come to help?”  It sounded like Medea now that he listened to it.  He had no idea who she was talking to and couldn’t really tell where she was.  “But it’s probably impossible.  There is no way out anymore.” 

What was she saying? he wondered.  He hoped something hadn’t happened to her and hurriedly began searching for her.   It was then he noticed a rectangular cutout in the floor.  He peered inside.  A small elevator was stopped below.  There appeared to be another room below the infirmary and Medea was in it.  He found a button on the wall and pushed it.  The elevator came upwards.  As soon as it reached the infirmary level, he jumped in and went down.  There was a room below and its hatch was slightly ajar.  Through it he heard Medea say, “Liar.  Because, because!”

He quickly opened the hatch.  “Who are you talking to?” he asked.  The room was fairly long and narrow.  A single bed occupied the length of one wall.  Medea was sitting on the edge of it and looked up at him in surprise.  She yelped and jumped as if she had been stung.  He gave the room a quick once over, but nothing seemed amiss. 

“Oh, Sir Taylor!”

“Sir Taylor?” he asked.

“Right, you’re my Sir Taylor.”

“I’m your guardian knight now?”

“Yeah, you got it,” she said.  “Since you’re nickname’s Samurai.  So I’m Medea.  You’re Sir Taylor.  It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, but haven’t we known each other for a while now already?”  She just grinned and the two of them took the elevator back to the infirmary.   “Oh, I get it.  Now that I’m Sir Taylor, we need to be introduced again.”  She laughed and nodded.  “So who were you talking to?”

“What?”

“I heard you talking to someone else in the room down there.”

“Nobody was there,” she insisted.  “I was just playing around, Sir Taylor.”

Whatever, he thought.  Clearly she was embarrassed to have been caught expressing her fears and it was best to ignore that until she wanted to talk about them.  Besides, there couldn’t be anyone else around.  They were all accounted for.  “Now, let’s get to the security station and meet up with everyone else.  We’re late.”

Dr. Young was standing guard like a sentry.  “Captain, you’re late,” she pointed out.  “That’s setting a bad example when you’re the one who’s supposed to be in charge.”

He held up his hands and apologized.   “In our situation we have to be punctual,” she reminded him.

“Don’t get so mad,” he told her.  “It’s only two minutes, give or take.”

“That could make all the difference in the world.”

“It’s my fault he was late,” Medea said, coming to his defense. 

“You didn’t get lost or have any problems did you?” asked Dr. Young, suddenly concerned for the younger woman. 

“Nope, I’m fine,” Medea said forcefully.  “We came straight here.”

Heaven looked up from a terminal and smiled.  “Well everyone made it here in one piece.  That should be fine.”

Kensington looked over the others.  “So everyone’s here?  Where’s Kalashiavu?”

The marine stepped from where she had been leaning against a wall.  “I’m here.  If you’ve found out anything new, I’d like to hear about it,” she said.  “Did you?”

“Oh yes,” Heaven agreed.  “First there are a few things I want to review.”  Kensington groaned and Dr. Young shot him a dirty look.  He suppressed a yawn as Heaven began her lecture on the structure of Utopia.  “Utopia has three levels below the ocean’s surface.  There are approximately twenty meters between each floor.  Thus, the third floor is at approximately sixty meters.  The outside pressure at this depth is six atmospheres: five atmospheres of water and one atmosphere of air pressure.  Even if you, hypothetically, got out into the ocean from the third floor, your lungs would be crushed to one-sixth their size and five-sixth’s of your lungs would be flooded.  You would likely die in a matter of minutes.”

Kensington couldn’t stand it.  “I’ve got a question,” he said, to break the monotony.

“Go ahead,” she said.

“Skin divers can dive to thirty meters.  Can’t we just tough out the pressure on the way up?”

“With proper breathing apparatus and pauses along the way, anyone should be able to make about forty meters,” Dr. Young added.  “The Human record is considerably deeper.”

“Without breathing apparatus,” Heaven said, “you can’t stop along the way.  Amateurs might be able to make twenty meters.”

“Wow,” Kensington said.  “Is that right?”  It didn’t sound that hard to swim twenty meters underwater.

“There is one other important thing,” Heaven added.  “Even if you could withstand five atmospheres of water pressure, could you really swim the sixty meters to the surface?”

“Are you making fun of me?” Kensington asked, flexing his muscles in a pretend show of strength.  “I may not look like it, but when I was in Starfleet Academy I swam over two kilometers.”

“Are you talking about swimming on the surface?” she asked.  “Swimming sixty meters across something is nothing like swimming sixty meters up something.  I’m talking about sixty meters in height.”

“The equivalent of a fifteen story building,” Dr. Young provided an example.

Kensington thought about that.  It did sound insane to try it.  From the second level it would be forty meters:  a ten story building.  Even climbing that height would be a bear.  Besides, he asked himself, how would one get outside of Utopia in the first place?  “Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed.  “That’s something that guts alone couldn’t get you through.”

“And the ocean is pitch black,” put in Kalashiavu.  “It would be suicide.”

“That is correct,” stated Heaven.  “There is something else I wanted to say.  It is an announcement.  I am still working to gather information and connect Utopia’s communication channels with the outside.  However, all cable, radio, and network functions are down due to malfunctions, physically severed cables, or flooding.  I cannot provide an estimation of when we will be in touch with the outside.”

“I still get nothing on the communicator,” Kensington mentioned.

“Sonic communication to the outside is also down,” Heaven continued.  “Therefore I have not been able to dispatch a distress signal.  That concludes my report.”  It wasn’t as long as he had feared. 

He consulted the chronometer on the wall.  Two hours more had passed.  He couldn’t imagine why the ship hadn’t already sent down a rescue party.  With the first floor flooded and emergency partitions dropped, no one would be coming from that way.   Perhaps any rescuers could use a shuttlecraft; come through the ocean.  They left the security office and returned to what he was calling the souvenir stand.

Medea challenged him to a game of silly expressions.  Having seen how fragile the girl was right now, Kensington forced himself to agree.  Time after time he tried to maintain his composure, but she always was able to get him to laugh before she broke down.  “It’s something you just have to get used to,” she said.  “I only laugh when I’m happy.”

Dr. Young and Heaven soon came over.  “What kind of game are you playing?” asked Heaven.  “It looks like fun.”

“A staring contest,” Kensington explained the rules.
 
“That seems pretty incredible,” she replied.  She covered her mouth with her hand and giggled.   He was again struck by how real she seemed. 

“Medea’s incredible,” Kensington joked.  “I’m going to have nightmares about this."

 “Hurry up,” Medea urged.  “What are you waiting for?”

“Well, I need a break so I was going to say we need to give our amnesiac friend a title.  He doesn’t really answer to his name and it gives him a headache when he thinks about it too hard.  What do you think?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Ryogo said slowly.

“Kiddo is what we should call him,” Medea said.

“Sure,” Ryogo agreed.

“Too abnormal.  I can’t call him that,” Kensington protested.  “How about John Doe?  It’s not that random.”

“Wouldn’t that be rude to people named John?” Heaven asked.

“No,” Kensington explained.  “When you don’t know a person’s name that’s what you call them.  And since it’s only for a while it doesn’t have to be perfect.”

“But we do know his name.  And calling him by another one will just be confusing,” Medea said. 

Kensington sighed.  “How about John Smith?”

“That would surely be rude to people named John,” said Heaven.  “Why don’t I think of something?  How about Melos?”

“For Memory Loss?” asked Dr. Young.  “That’s bad taste.”

“Sorry,” said Heaven.  “I didn’t mean to be so blunt.”

Finally Private Kalashiavu joined the discussion.  “What are you all bickering about?  If you give him a random name it will be a hassle when he reconnects himself with his real one.  Give him a title, not a name.  Since he’s young, go with kid.  It’s how you’ve been addressing him already when you don’t use his name.”

Medea laughed.  “Full circle.”  At her words, the lights flickered off and then came back on.  There was a dull, heavy metallic echo and a slight tremor in the floor.

“What was that?” Kensington asked Heaven.

“It felt like it came from below,” commented Kalashiavu.

“Below?” repeated Dr. Young.  “I wonder what could have happened below.”

“I will investigate,” Heaven said.  She held her hands in front of her to conjure the display.  There was a strong sideways jolt and the holographic image vanished as soon as it appeared.  “It’s alright,” she said.  “The monitor is still online.  I am initiating a scan.  Water has penetrated the store room in sector six of the third floor.”

“It’s flooding?   I didn’t see any signs of that when I inspected it earlier,” Kensington complained.   Suddenly there were three loud booms.  The sound of metal giving way was accompanied by violent shaking.  Scenes from old cinema about luxury liners being swallowed by the ocean flashed across his mind.

“There is damage to the passageways connecting to that sector,” Heaven reported.  “Multiple leak areas, increasing in number.”

“Do you think we should grab something for support?” asked Kalashiavu.

“Yes!” Dr. Young shouted.  “Everyone grab something and steady yourselves!”  Kensington grabbed a nearby pillar.  Medea grabbed it next to him.  Both of them held their breaths.  More explosions sounded.  A huge shockwave reached them.  The entire facility shook.  Kensington thought he would be thrown to the ceiling one second and then thought he would be smashed into the floor the next. 

He decided to focus on something else instead of himself in an attempt to keep calm.  The souvenir shop in front of him trembled and several of the items that hadn’t fallen before fell to the floor and shattered. A pile of cans clattered across the floor.  A stuffed figure started beeping after it hit the ground.

He steadied himself against the shaking.  All he could do was endure it.   No one said anything.  He could hear the squeal of metal twisting.  More booming sounds followed.  Finally they began to recede and the vibrations subsided.  “The second wave of flooding has finished,” Heaven announced.

Warily, they headed downstairs.  The stairs were wet and slippery and they descended carefully.  The scent of seawater grew stronger.  When they arrived on the third level, the water in the corridors was up to Kensington’s shin.  He estimated it at fifteen centimeters deep.  “Can Utopia pump this much water out?” Dr. Young asked.

“It appears not,” Heaven replied.  It was the first time he could recall her answer being so vague.  “All major areas where leaking has occurred have been closed off by shutting a partition,” she continued.  “However, water is continuing to flow in through small ducts even now.  The pumps are operating at full capacity, but that is not enough to make the water recede.”

“The big hole will have to be plugged,” Kensington said with a grimace.  “Is that what you were going to say?”

“With the partitions blocking off the area of the original leak, there is no way to reach it,” said Dr. Young in alarm. 

“Yes, that is so,” Heaven agreed. 

Following her, they made their way to the central control room.  There she checked the damage.  “I must sincerely apologize,” she began.  “Even though this latest flooding was about to occur, I failed to notice and warn you.”  She looked deeply apologetic. 

“Hey, everybody makes mistakes,” Kensington blurted.  “I may have even overlooked this when I was checking the around a little bit ago.  We’re all in this together.  Everyone is fine, so let’s just consider ourselves lucky.”

“I am really sorry,” she replied anyway.  She looked back at the monitors.  “Thank you for being so kind Taylor.” 

He shrugged.  “It’s nothing.”  Embarrassed, he scratched the tip of his nose. 

After a while she stopped using the control room devices and stood up.  “I have gauged our situation.  I will now display it.  Everyone please do not be shocked or let this get you down.”

“Heaven,” said Dr. Young, hands on her hips.  “When you say it like that it makes us nervous.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“That’s ok,” replied Dr. Young.  “I’m fairly confident there are few things that will shock me.”

“I see,” said Heaven.  Taylor had to agree that everyone was probably pretty numbed by what they had experienced so far.  “In that case… Simply put, the cause of the second influx of water that we experienced a short while ago:  the sectors that were able to avoid damage during the first flooding were isolated from the flooded sections and forced ventilation created a sudden reduction in air pressure.  However, the inundated sectors were not able to withstand the weight of the water and tilted, causing a rupture of the joint in the adjacent sector.  The gap in the internal and external water pressure caused seawater to be sucked into the complex through the rupture.  Many of the sectors that were stable until that moment were instantly flooded. “

She indicated the holographic display in the center of the room.  A top down view of one of the levels appeared.  Nearly half of it was the same color as the ocean.  “This is the current situation of the third level.  The blinking area is the central control room. ” The display shifted.  “This is the status of the second level.”  Over half of it was flooded. 

“You’re serious?” Kensington said in disbelief.

“Half of it is underwater?” Dr. Young gasped.

“There are three sections on the third level that are not flooded,” Heaven continued.  “The center of the largest dry area is where we are: sector eight.

“The map shows only two sections,” Ryoko interrupted.  “Where’s the third?” 

“Due to a flaw in the system, a detailed map of that section cannot be displayed,” Heaven explained.  “This area here, a portion of sector four, is stable.”  She indicated an area diagonally above them on the map. 

“There’s no way to get there?” Ryogo asked. 

“Correct,” Heaven agreed.  “It is impossible.  All of the corridors connecting the sectors are submerged.  It’s roughly one hundred meters between the two sectors.  I don’t think there is anyone among you capable of swimming one hundred meters without breathing; therefore I say it is impossible.  Furthermore, even if someone did reach sector four, I don’t think it would improve our situation at all.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“Sector four is in the same predicament as sector eight.  All of the emergency stairs are completely flooded.”

“Even going there would be a wasted effort?” asked Kalashiavu.

“That’s correct,” Heaven said. 

“Then there’s nothing we can do,” Ryogo muttered and bowed his head.

“So we should forget about sector four?” Kalashiavu persisted.  Kensington wondered what she was driving at.

“We’ll have to just sit tight and wait for help to come,” he told her.  “For now, I guess we can take it easy.”  He left the room, returned to the food stand, and snagged a drink for everyone.  “All right, I’m going to toss these to everybody.”  He counted them out.  “I’ve only got five.   I’m one short.”

The others laughed.  “I don’t need one,” Heaven said.

“Don’t worry about it.  You can have mine.  I’ll just go get another one.”

She stared at him blankly and then smiled.  “No really.  I’m fine.  I’m not thirsty.”

He passed out the drinks to the others.  Ryogo opened his beverage and liquid spewed everywhere.  The others jumped to get out of the way of the spray.  A blast of liquid got Ryogo right in the face.  “This beverage is very sweet,” he said, tasting the liquid that had landed on his lips.

“Be more careful,” Heaven warned.  “These beverages contain gas so they can be consumed at six atmospheres.   This was mentioned at the surface during decompression.  I do not expect you to have remembered that.”

“I didn’t remember that!” Kensington said with a laugh.  “I guess we will have to remember to tell you these things.”

“Even I didn’t remember until after the fact,” admitted Dr. Young. 

Unlike the rest of them, Medea didn’t seem amused.  She had a slight frown on her face.  Thinking about it, Kensington realized she hadn’t said anything in a while.  “Aren’t you going to have a drink?” he asked her.  “It’s a little warm, but it’s the best I can do.”
“I don’t want it,” she mumbled and grabbed her stomach.  “I don’t feel very good.  I’ve been thinking about it since before and I haven’t been able to think of any jokes.”

“Jokes?” he repeated in confusion.  He peered down at her.  She didn’t look to good.  She was sweating and having hard time breathing.  “Hey, you don’t look good.”

“Taylor, get out of the way,” Dr. Young said urgently.  She rushed over to Medea, pushed Kensington out of the way and put her hands on the girl’s shoulders.  “Do you have a headache?” she asked her.

“A bit,” the girl agreed.  “I feel kind of dizzy.”

“What if you swing your arms around?  Does that hurt?”

The girl tried it.  “Just a little.”  It looked to Kensington like it hurt more than just a little.

 Dr. Young looked up at Heaven, who spoke.  “I suspect it might be decompression sickness due to the sudden loss of pressure on the floor.”

“Yeah,” Dr. Young agreed.

“Let’s get her to the infirmary on the second floor,” Heaven suggested.

“Taylor, you carry her.” Dr. Young ordered.  When he looked blankly back at her, she said “Carry her on your back.  Hurry.  Squat down.”

“Alright, alright,” he agreed.  “You don’t have to scream in my ears.”  They rushed her up to the second level.  With Medea on his back, Dr. Young and Private Kalashiavu supported her from the sides.  Heaven led the way and Ryogo brought up the rear.

They entered the emergency corridors which connected directly to the small elevator below the infirmary.  Heaven directed them to place Medea on the bed in the small room.  “It is a medical compression chamber.  We can treat decompression sickness here.”  They laid her on the bed and Kensington stepped back to be out of the way.

“So what are you going to do?” Kensington asked.

“Nothing,” said Dr. Young.

“What are you talking about?”

“We’ll have her relax in this room for a while. “

“This is hyperbaric oxygen therapy,” Heaven said.  “Allow me to explain.”  Kensington couldn’t decide whether not knowing or listening to a long explanation was better.  “Decompression sickness occurs when there is a sudden change in the surrounding air pressure and gas bubbles that can’t be discharged accrue in the body.  Gas becomes air bubbles and these gather in the tissues or veins.  When gas bubbles remain inside the body, the oxygen respiration efficiency drops dramatically.”

“So it feels like you are suffocating?” he asked.

“That is correct,” she said.  “But also, if any nitrogen which has dissolved in the blood turns to gas it could produce a thrombus or blood clot.  Of course this could hinder blood circulation, which is very dangerous. 

“So we seal this room and pump in a high concentration of oxygen, taking it roughly up to three atmospheres.  Then we slowly decompress you back down to one atmosphere.  Using the difference in pressure we dissolve the gas bubbles in her body back into the blood where she gets rid of them naturally by breathing.”

Kensington nodded in understanding.  Then he raised his own hand slightly.  “That dash up the stairs wore me out.”  He took a heaving breath.

“Taylor, are you in pain at all?” she asked.

“Me?  My muscles feel kind of sore, and I’m a bit sluggish but…”

“Taylor, you should go in the room too,” said Dr. Young.  “In light cases of decompression sickness you’re not necessarily aware of it immediately.”

“After you figure out you’re in trouble, it’s too late?” he said and grinned.

“Yes.  And the symptoms can be drawn out.”

“Yes,” Heaven agreed.  “Just to be on the safe side, I want you all to remain in the room.”

“Uh, I’m leaving,” Kalashiavu said suddenly.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Kensington asked angrily.

“There… is a place I just realized I need to go.”

“Where?” He asked.  “This treatment is more urgent than that!”

“I don’t need it.”

“Private!  That’s irresponsible and selfish.”

“I can’t stay cooped up in this cramped place.  I won’t go off escaping alone so just take it easy.”

“That’s not the point,” Kensington reminded her.

“To be blunt,” she replied, “I don’t have the patience for you.  Any of you.”  She ignored his disbelieving stare and went out.  Heaven said later that she was safe and had remained on the same floor.  It was like Kalashiavu to have done that, but it bothered him nonetheless.

Heaven sealed the hatch from outside and was adjusting the pressure as necessary.  “Please remove your voice converters during the process,” she told them.  “They are designed to protect your eardrums from the change in air pressure, however during pressurization they can interfere.”  Kensington had become completely used to the devices.  He removed them and held them in his hands. 

The decompression process took several hours.  Medea took the only bed.  The rest of them sat on the floor next to her.  It was cramped. Kensington felt like a proverbial sardine in a can.  There was nowhere to move.  He vaguely wondered what time it was.  He borrowed a tricorder and checked.  Nearly midnight.  He was sleepy.  Medea was sleeping and her breathing was relaxed.  It looked like she was doing better.  Neither Dr. Young nor Ryogo appeared to be sleeping but they sat with their eyes closed.  Kensington’s eyelids slowly got heavier until he fell asleep.

[Andromeda]

That's odd.  I liked the surreal comic elements.  Of course a smaller dose is better.  I do like the cliffihanger endings to each chapter.  Not that this episode had one, although it did ask a question.  When do we get to find out about Pamuya?

[kadh2000]

Here's the next part of this.  I'm not really happy with the beginning, but I'm tired of trying to fix it.  So here it is...


Kensington awoke with a yawn. 

Trudging back to the control room, he yawned again.  “I’m sleepy.”  The night had been restless in the cramped space.  The sound of his shoes clanking on the staircase echoed loudly.  He tried to stretch out from the night’s discomfort. 

“You slept so heavily,” Dr. Young said.  “How can you be tired?”

“What time do you think it is now?” he asked her. 

She peered at her tricorder.  “0530.”

“That means I slept only four and a half hours,” he said. 

“Only?  You slept more than the rest of us put together,” she exclaimed loudly.  “Given our situation I don’t see how you could have slept at all.”

“It’s because that’s the kind of situation where you’ve got to sleep.  Our minds have to be sharp.  We have to be ready for anything.”  He was determined to be a more commanding figure.

“So your mind is sharp right now?” she asked dubiously.

He backed off his firm statement.  “Well, I’m a bit sleep-deprived so not all my phasers are firing.  I think I’m doing at least as good as the next guy.”  He stopped suddenly, realizing she was no longer standing next to him.   Looking back, he saw Medea and Ryogo disappearing down a side passage.  He hurried after the three of them.

“So, how is sleeping beauty?” Dr. Young asked sarcastically when he caught up.

“I told you I wasn’t running at full power.” 

She let out an exasperated sigh and shrugged her shoulders.  She lifted one eyebrow, reminding him of more than a few Vulcans.  “Taylor…  I think you had better take a look in a mirror.”  He gaped at her.  “You had really better wash your face,” she continued.  “I’m afraid you got something on it during the night.”

Deciding there was no point to the strange conversation; he continued on toward the emergency stairs and led them toward the central control room.  He was pleased to see that no one was complaining about feeling bad after the decompression process.  Even Medea was her usual sunny self.  When they reached the main floor they stepped again into the wet corridors.  It was an unpleasant reminder to him of their dire situation and even Dr. Young fell silent, but it didn’t seem to bother the girl.

Kensington slowed his pace to drop back with Ryugo.  “Do you have any idea what Dr. Young’s all miffed about?”

He grinned.  “Who knows?”

“Hey, what are you laughing about?  Do you know something that I don’t?”

“It was an accident.”  Ryogo informed him.  “In your sleep, you knocked over a bottle of iodine or something and it got all over your face.  We did our best to wipe it off, but there was no water.”

Kensington shook his head.  “Dr. Young told me to look in the mirror, but …” 

Ryogo smiled strangely.  “Like I said.  It was an accident.”

It finally hit Kensington.  Something had spilled on his face while he was asleep.  He wiped the palm of his hand across his face.  It came away stained brown.  “What’s this?,” he said, gaping.  He lifted his shirt and started wiping it against his face, but not much ink came off.   

Ryogo shrugged.  “I told you that you spilled something.  There’s a bathroom over there,” he said, pointing.

Kensington entered the small room.  It seemed to be for employees by its size.  There was only a single sink and the faucet was broken.  Water flowed from it onto the floor.  He hurriedly washed his hands and face.  The mirror was shattered and not much help.  Most of the ink came off of his hands so he assumed he had done as well on his face.  “That girl…” he muttered.

He raced after the other three until he caught up with Dr. Young.  “Hey Maryann, why didn’t you wake me up?”  She looked at him blankly.  “While I was asleep, after that stuff got spilled on my face?”

“Spilled?” she asked, gaping at his face in mock surprise.  “What could this guy be talking about?  He’s probably still asleep and dreaming.”  She rolled her eyes.  “We tried, but you sleep very heavily.”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Maryann,” he said.  Part of him wondered if he was still asleep.  “You were talking about looking in a mirror. “

“Oh was I?  A mirror?  Yes, I was trying to be helpful.”

“I knew it.”  He had wonder if he was making any sense yet or if now he was only making it worse. 

“Are you sure your brain isn’t playing tricks on you?  I’m pretty sure you’re still asleep and dreaming.  You’re not making sense.”

He almost believed he was still asleep.  “Then what’s this?”  He showed her his ink-stained shirt.

“I see it.  I told you to wash up.” She mumbled so he stepped closer to hear her.  He was beginning to feel awake.  “Well…” and then she grabbed his hand and stared intently at the palm.   “Oh, you’re palm has an interesting future in store for you.”

“Palm reading?” he asked, trying not to let her distract him again.  “Is that what you’re into now?”

“Your palm tells me that you fate diverges into two distinctly different futures,” she continued.  “An all-or-nothing type outcome.   You will either acquire or lose everything.  One path will put you on the road to riches, success in business, an encounter with a beautiful woman, and bless you with a happy home and strong offspring. ”  She had him hooked.  “And you will be as healthy as possible.  You will live to a ripe old age that will make those around you jealous.

“However… However if you take the other path you will be in dire straits.”

“Dire straits?” he echoed. 

“Yes,” she said, shaking her head sadly, “but I can tell you no more.  You should take a good look at the middle of your lifeline because that is where the answer can be found.”  He looked down at his hand in alarm. 

He stared at the spots of black ink in the middle of his palm and looked back up at her.  She smiled and slipped through the door to the central control room.   “I don’t believe this,” he bellowed and followed her in.

Private Kalashiavu was already there.  She was leaning against a wall with her arms folded in front of her and her face down.  He wondered where she had gone the evening before.  Deciding the direct approach would only meet with being rebuffed, he showered her with the cheeriest greeting he could muster.  “Good morning!  How are you feeling?  If you aren’t feeling good, you should probably go into the decompression chamber.”  She didn’t budge.  Her mouth opened halfway and she blinked at him twice. 

“What’s the matter?” he asked.  “You tired?  Low blood pressure?  Well, I didn’t exactly sleep well either.  That damn room was so small I ended up sitting on the floor all night.”  He yawned and rubbed his eyes with both hands.  “And that ink spill.”

Her eyes narrowed to tiny slits and she leveled a steely glare on him.  She made a good marine.  It was the kind of look that could kill.  “You… are the absolute worst.”  She shook her head as if she were fed up with him and vanished from the room.

Absolute worst, he wondered.  “Wait a second!” he called out and started after her. 

“Taylor,” Heaven said, suddenly beside him.  “What are you doing there?  Please come back inside.”  He started to protest, but she urged him in.  The expression on her face was more stressed than the day before.  It seemed as if something serious was unfolding.

Once he came inside, she said “I’m sorry to have to gather you all here.  There was no other way.  Everyone there is something I need to tell you right away.”  She paused for a second and looked over the assembled landing party.  It was then he noticed with a start that Private Kalashiavu had rejoined them.  A fan whirred in the silence.   A faint sound of metal on metal rang through the room.  They waited on her next words.

“Last night after the four of you, apart from Pamuya, entered the pressurization chamber,   I was in here thinking of ways to escape or contact the outside, and while I was checking the internal status of Utopia I discovered something.”

“You found a way to escape?” Dr. Young asked hopefully.

“No,” Heaven shook her head.

“Then a way to contact the outside?”

“Not yet,” she said. 

“Then what did you figure out?”

“Actually, I determined what the bulkheads can withstand.  I found their limits.”  She turned her eyes to one of the consoles.  The three dimensional image of the facility sprang up. 

“The pressure bulkheads?  You found the limits?” Medea said warily.  The girl grabbed Dr. Young’s arm tightly. 

“The partitions between the outer seawater and the inner air,” Heaven replied.  “As I said yesterday, Utopia is constructed to a saturation diving specification design.  The internal air pressure equals or exceeds the external water pressure.    Since the internal air pressure is currently at one atmosphere the outer shell is being continuously subjected to severe water pressure.  Utopia is not constructed to endure this type of pressure for an extended period of time.  Inevitably it will at some point reach its limit.  According to the computer’s calculations, that will be in 119 hours from now.”

“119 hours…” Private Kalashiavu breathed out.  “Five days.”

“The estimated time of implosion is on the seventh day at 0430.”  Heaven continued, “Of course it is only a calculation and there is a margin for error of plus or minus twelve hours.”  Everyone became silent, lost in thought.  Heaven had made the magnitude of the crisis clear.  Kensington still wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but he knew he had to say something.  He couldn’t decide if five days was a long time or a short one.  They didn’t have a schedule but he hoped they would be gone long before five days was up.  A rescue team should already be on its way. 

“What does all this mean?” Medea asked, still holding onto Dr. Young.  “Does it mean that in five days at four-thirty in the morning Utopia will get flattened like a pancake?  But it might happen the evening before, in four and a half days, or the evening after in five and a half days?”  Heaven nodded in agreement. 

“Wait a minute,” Kensington interrupted.  “That also means the opposite is true.   At the worst, we have four and a half days.  So we’re fine until then.  There’s nothing to worry about. Right?”

“We can’t be absolutely certain,” Heaven replied, “that we will be safe, but judging from the results of the computer’s calculations that would appear to be the case.” 

Kensington smiled.  “Good.  When you looked so serious, it made Medea scared.  So if you had said we only had one more day, she would have reason to be afraid.  Since we still have lots of time, someone from the ship will come to help us before that.”  He could see the others nodding agreement.  The tension in the air gave way and smiles returned to the faces around the room.  Even Pamuya, who never smiled, looked relieved.  Kensington yawned.

It was Kalashiavu who led them to the food stand.  However, it was Kensington who got the job of chef.  Heaven’s translation of the meat he found in one of the freezers was ‘chicken’, so he started with that.  At one point or another he had held every job on a freighter, so cook didn’t seem so strange.  Six ‘chicken’ sandwiches later, he served their first real meal since being trapped.  His way of calling them to breakfast was “Why is it that I have to make breakfast for everyone?”  He took the tray full of food and made his way out the narrow door of the stand. 

“That’s the way it goes,” Dr. Young teased.  “We decided it democratically, you know.”  She was waiting by the entrance and snatched the first sandwich from the tray.  She peeled back the wrapping he had placed around it and opened her mouth.

“Democracy is overrated,” he muttered.  “Besides, I’m the captain.”  She mumbled something as she munched the sandwich. 

“We’re not on the ship.  It’s just a reflection of the majority of the people’s will,” she said when her mouth was again empty.  It was true the vote had been one-sided and he had been appointed chef.  He really didn’t mind.

“I know that you’re the one in the shadows running this conspiracy,” he accused her, grinning.

“I wouldn’t do that!”  The food was definitely improving everyone’s spirits.  “I’m pretty sure it’s just because everyone sincerely thought that you would be the best cook.”  She laughed.  “Thank you for the sandwich.”

“That was fast!” he said, looking at her empty hands.

“I’ll have another, please.” 

He slapped away her outstretched arm.  “I’ve only made one for each person.  If you want another one, you have to make it.”  She pointed out that he had made one for Heaven and she definitely wouldn’t need it.  Defeated by her logic, he handed it over and quickly got away from her.

He took the remaining four sandwiches to the rest area to hand them out.  “Breakfast is ready!” he hollered.  “Come and get it!”  He sat the tray on a bench and picked up his own sandwich. 

Medea was first to arrive.  “Food, glorious food,” she said appreciatively.

Ryogo was suddenly standing beside him.  “This looks good.”

“Where are Kalashiavu and Heaven?” Kensington asked, not seeing the other two.

“Heaven went back to the control room,” Ryogo revealed.  “She said there was still stuff she had to look into.”  Kensington frowned slightly.  “I think Pamuya just took off a moment ago.”  Kensington shrugged at the news.

He looked over at the one remaining sandwich and decided it would be best to bring it to her.  If either of these two acted like Dr. Young, the marine would never get fed.  He chose a random corridor and called out her name occasionally as he wandered.  She wasn’t the type to answer, but he did find her at the dead end of the corridor he had selected.  “Oh, there you are.  I made breakfast.  What are you doing here?”

She was looking at a sealed hatch.  More of the strange lettering was written above it.  It seemed to have a keypad lock beside it.  She wasn’t really doing anything, just staring at it.  “Nothing,” she said.  “It’s none of your business.”

He was beginning to get fed up with her.  “None of my business?  Sure.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked him.  He snorted and offered her a sandwich.  She sniffed it doubtfully.  “What is this?”

“Breakfast,” he answered.  He didn’t feel like giving Heaven’s explanation to her.  When she didn’t immediately unwrap it, he asked “You’re not going to eat?”  She tilted her head a little and stared at the sandwich.    “If you’re not going to eat it, Dr. Young gladly will…”

“I didn’t say I don’t want it,” she replied finally and began to open it indifferently.

“Good.  I went to a lot of pain to make that. If you said you didn’t want it, I don’t know what I’d…”  She started past him without listening.  “Hey, hold on a second.”  He grabbed her shoulder.  “You should at least say thanks.” 

She didn’t try to turn around; just shook his hand effortlessly off her shoulder and let go an annoyed sigh.  “Don’t… touch me.”  Her voice was very low.  He looked at his shrugged off hand, floating in the air with nowhere to go.  Her muscles had been very firm under his touch.  “Don’t… touch me,” she repeated.   Silently she walked away from him down the water covered floor of the corridor.  Rings rippled out from where her feet stepped as she walked away.

Just then the lights in the corridor began to flicker uneasily.  Kensington glanced up at the ceiling.  A dull growling sound shook the floor.  “What’s happening?” he called out in fear.  “It couldn’t be!”  Tiny waves formed in the water pooled on the floor.  The walls and ceiling trembled slightly.  Metal screeched on metal.  He could see Private Kalashiavu’s back down the corridor.  The lights clicked and flickered.  She turned to look back at him.  He thought she was going to speak.

Darkness blanketed them.  The vibrations and sounds died away.  Only an eerie silence enveloped them.  The emergency lights flickered on and shone weakly.  “A blackout?” Kensington asked.  He kicked up water as he ran to catch the marine.  “Pamuya!  It’s a blackout.  A blackout!”

“I know,” she said calmly. 

“What should we do?”

She looked at him crossly.  “Why are you asking me?”

“Oh yeah, right, I’m the captain,” he said, coming to his senses.  He paused for a moment.  “So, what should we do?  Right.  First we should go to where everyone is.”  They hurried back to the food kiosk.  No one was there.  Nor was anyone in the rest area nearby.  Because of the dim lighting, he couldn’t see into the corners of the room to be sure, but it appeared empty.  He called out there names, but there was no response.  The echoes of his voice were swallowed and vanished into the darkness.  “Where could they have gone?”

His eyes stopped on the bench nearby.  One of the chicken sandwiches was still sitting there.  A new sound startled him.  Unfazed by the emergency, Kalashiavu was stuffing her face with the sandwich he had given her.  She handed him the balled up wrapper.  “This needs to be thrown away,” she said.  Then she left the room.

He shook his head in disbelief, dropped the wrapper on the tray and hurried after her.  She went to the control room, where they found Dr. Young, Ryogo, and Medea.   “Captain!” Dr. Young called out in a worried voice.  The two of them splashed their way through the water to join the other three. 

“Have you seen Heaven?” Ryogo asked. 

Kensington shook his head.  “Wasn’t she in the control room?”

“It’s empty now,” Dr. Young reported.  “Besides, as long as the power is out I don’t think we’ll see Heaven.” 

“Oh.  Right.”  Kensington tried the button, but the automatic control for the room was lifeless.  “Can we open this room without power?”

“There’s an emergency mechanism near the bottom of the hatch,” Dr. Young said.  “That’s how we got in.”

Kensington used it to pull the door to one side.  It opened just wide enough that he could squeeze through.  He peeked inside but it was pitch black and he couldn’t see a thing.   “Do you want a torch?” Ryogo asked and passed him a small flashlight.”  Taking it, he stepped into the room.  He swung the circle of light left and right and into the corners of the room.  The power was completely down.  Like an abandoned castle, there was no sign of warmth left. 

He stepped back out.  “Well, what should we do?” he asked as calmly as he could.  It had been one crisis after another since the day before.  He guessed they were used to the situation because none of them lost it. 

“I can’t believe this happened.” Dr. Young sighed. 

Then Kensington noticed she was dressed differently.  “When did you change clothes?”

“This?  Oh, I spilled sauce from the sandwich all over my outfit from the ship.  There was a changing room, I guess, and it was full of clothes so I put this on.”  She was wearing a pink blouse with a light red jacket over it and a pale yellow skirt with lace trim.  It struck Kensington as odd to find something so familiar in such a strange place.

“I see,” he said absently.  “Pretty clumsy of you.”  She laughed with mock humor and scratched her head.  “Anyway we should be thinking about what to do now.”

“Why don’t we split up and see if we can figure out what happened,” Medea suggested.  “Without Heaven we will have to find out what happened by ourselves.”

Kensington nodded.  “Alright.  Let’s do that.   Why don’t Maryann and Ryogo check out this level.  The other three of us will hit the second floor.”  The others agreed and they headed off.

Once Pamuya, Medea, and he reached the second floor they split up once again to cover more ground quickly.  Between the three of them, they checked the elevator room, the infirmary, a changing room, the security office, some of the attractions but found nothing.  They were to regroup in front of the infirmary.  Medea was already there when he arrived, waving a flashlight frantically and calling out for him.  “Any luck?” he asked, hurrying up to her. 

She shook her head and made a big ‘X’ on the floor with the beam.  “How about you?”

“There’s nothing wrong on this floor,” he reported.  “What about… Pamuya?”

“She just passed by in front of me,” Medea said. 

“Passed by?” he repeated.  “I thought we were going to meet here.”

Medea pointed down a corridor.  “She went that way, toward the neutral buoyancy elevators.  She was carrying something big. ”

Something big, he thought.  It sounded like she was up to a solo enterprise again.  If they ever made it back to the ship, he was definitely going to report her to Starfleet.  “Let’s go check it out.”  They proceeded down the same corridor.  Ahead in the pitch dark, they could hear someone rustling around. 

“Pamuya?” Medea called out and shined her light into the shadows.

The light caught the marine in the face.  “That’s bright,” she said, raising up a hand to shield her eyes and wincing.  She stood up from where she had been kneeling on the floor.  Medea turned off the light and rushed over to her.  Kensington followed. 

“What are you doing here?” Medea asked, beating him to the question.  Pamuya made some snorting noise.  “I don’t understand what you mean by that,” Medea said.  “What were you doing?”

“Looking into something,” Kalashiavu said noncommittally. 

Medea refused to be put off.  “What?”

“This elevator.”

“What do you need this big thing to investigate that for?” Medea asked, indicating the large case nearby.  Kensington thought he had seen something like it before in the warehouse. 

“Oh, I’m going to need that later,” Kalashiavu answered.  “Right now I’m just checking the status of the elevator: whether it’ll move, or if the doors can be opened manually.”  Kensington resolved to have Medea ask her any questions he had.  She was much nicer to the girl than to him.  Perhaps Medea’s unique personality kept even Kalashiavu off balance, he thought. 

“So how about it?  Does it look like the elevator will move?” Medea asked.

“Maybe.”  Kensington held back a laugh.  Kalashiavu glanced up at him accusingly. 

“What good would using the elevator do you?” Medea persisted. 

“I thought we’d go down to the third floor,” Kalashiavu said thoughtfully, again looking at Kensington. 

“Can’t we just use the stairs like we always do?”

“Those stairs won’t get us to where we need to go.”  Finally, she was coming to her point.  “They won’t give us access to the generator room.”  Kensington remembered his earlier lecture about Utopia having an in-house generator system.  “It’s a pain with the power off.  I’ll make repairs.  I think the cause of the blackout is the generator.”

“Oh, I see,” Medea said and smiled happily.  “So this big box is full of tools?”  Pamuya nodded.  “Then it all makes sense.”  The marine looked relieved to be finally freed from the barrage of questions. 

“Alright,” Kalashiavu said.  “I’m going down.  Taylor, could you come along?”  It quite surprised Kensington that she wanted him along.  Besides, it was the first time she had used his name. 

“First, there’s one thing I want to ask you,” he said.  “The emergency stairs won’t get us to the generator room, so how do you know it’s here?”

“The map.”  He put his hands to his temples.  Sometimes he felt really stupid around her.  “The third level was divided into two sections:  the section we were in and a smaller section.  Remember?”

He hadn’t really paid attention to the smaller area since Heaven had said it was unreachable.  “Maybe.”

“And what is between the two sections?” she asked slowly.

“Between them?  How am I supposed to know?  There wasn’t anything there.”

“Exactly,” she said.  “Which means?”

“Yeah yeah.  The two areas are divided by a block that is now under water.”

“Which means?”

“I get it already.  We can’t move directly from the central control room to the generator room.”

“So?”

“So, we have to go to the second floor above the generator room and take this elevator down.”

“Could you help me out?” she asked again.

“Do you think it’s a good idea?  We haven’t consulted the others.  And we don’t really know if the blackout is caused by the generator.”

She looked thoughtful for a moment.  “I don’t think that’d do any good.  We need the control room computer.  So the only thing we can do is go check out the generator, right?”

“Well, I suppose so,” he admitted.  “But…”

She smiled at him alarmingly.  “So what are you going to do?  Will you come along? ” She put her hands together.  “Taylor, I really need you.”  The words shocked him.  For a second he thought his heart had skipped a beat and he couldn’t say why.  ‘I really need you’ were not words he had ever expected to hear from Kalashiavu.  She stared straight at him.  Her intense gaze made him uncomfortable.  “Please…” she said. 

[kadh2000]

Given that I don't really like the first part of chapter 5, some help in making it better would be greatly appreciated.

[CaptJosh]

This whole thing strikes me as some sort of bizzare psych experiment. And what's with the jarhead going from despising all of them, most especially the ship's captain, to suddenly needing the captain, and sounding like it's more help out of her clothes that she wants than any help with the generator?

[kadh2000]

This whole thing strikes me as some sort of bizzare psych experiment. And what's with the jarhead going from despising all of them, most especially the ship's captain, to suddenly needing the captain, and sounding like it's more help out of her clothes that she wants than any help with the generator?

Heh.  Interesting analysis.  As for the jarhead... that's in the next post.

[Hstaphath_XC]

Heh.  Interesting analysis.  As for the jarhead... that's in the next post.

Indeed, when a woman changes her tone in such a manner with me... I know to just go ahead and get out my weapon and shoot myself in the head.   

[kadh2000]

[kadh2000]

Finally, the next bit.  A character study of Pamuya Kalashiavu.  BTW, that's a Hopi Indian name if anyone's curious.  Not that it matters for the story.  Anyway, this follows immediately on the last chapter.  So reread the last paragraph or two of it. 

CHAPTER 6: POWER AND FRAILTY

He gulped.  "A-alright.  I'll go with you."  He stared back into her wide eyes and couldn't think of saying anything else.  She nodded.

"What about me?" Medea intruded.

"I've got another job I want you to do," Kalashiavu told her.  "I want you to tell the others what I just told you two.  That Taylor and I are going to the generator room."

"Roger, mark and move," Medea agreed in ersatz military lingo.  She clicked her heels together and gave an imitation salute and departed. 

Taylor followed Kalashiavu into the neutral buoyancy elevator.  A ballast tank, to take in or release sea water as necessary, was attached to the floor.  Once they were both inside, she sealed the watertight doors.  Then she pulled the lever to release the clamps.  The elevator didn’t move.  "What's going on?" he asked.  "We're not sinking at all."

"Doesn't look like it, does it," she replied nonchalantly.  She bent down and opened the toolbox she had brought with her.  He could only guess at the functions of the tools by their shapes, but she seemed to know what she was doing.  Eventually she closed it and frowned.

"What are you going to do with that?" he asked when she stood back up.  She was holding her hand phaser.

"If it won't sink," she said and grinned maliciously, "then we'll just have to sink it."  She adjusted the setting on the weapon and pointed it at the glass wall of the elevator.  It hissed to life in the quiet room.  A thin blue-gold beam erupted from it and quickly cut a small opening in the wall.

"What?  Pamuya, are you crazy?"  She didn't answer but grinned triumphantly.  Seawater spurted in through the coin-sized opening with tremendous force.  "You idiot!  Idiot!  Idiooot!  You made a hole in the elevator."

She smiled faintly.  "Yes."  She was as calm as ever and quietly reattached the phaser to her belt.  A cold mist filled the elevator.  She licked a droplet from her lips.

"You are crazy," he groaned.  "Being cooped up here has made you crazy."

She just snickered.  The water continued to pour in, pooling in the bottom of the elevator.  He watched as it covered his ankles, his shins, his knees, and up to his thighs.   It was unpleasantly cold so he ducked beneath the surface to get used to it more quickly.  When he surfaced, she was looking away from him.  One eye glared sharply at him. 

There was a sudden jolt and the elevator began to move.  Ever so slowly, it began to inch downward.  The blue water became gradually darker and the steel bulkhead moved further away.  The incoming water poured in more forcefully as the elevator sank and the speed of their descent increased.  Looking downward, Taylor could not see the lower level.  The water level had already reached his chest.  He kicked upward and grabbed the ceiling of the elevator.  "This is pretty dangerous," he muttered.  The strained smile that appeared on her face showed that she wasn't certain of the outcome either.  "I wonder if we'll die like this," he added.

"Maybe."

"No.  Not 'maybe.'  This harebrained idea was all your…" The water level had risen to the point where he could no longer speak.  He lifted his chin and clung to the ceiling.  He looked sideways and saw Kalashiavu struggling to stay above the water.  A strong shock shook the elevator.  We made it to the third floor was all he could think. 

He wasn't sure if she had panicked or not, but Kalashiavu was thrashing her arms and legs desperately.  He pinned her shoulder and felt her relax against him.  Holding her, he kicked against the wall and toward the door.  He tried to turn the handle, but it wouldn't move.  It was difficult to gain traction because he was floating.  He braced his feet against the handrail and turned the handle. The water pressure felt heavy against his eardrums and his body was screaming for oxygen. 

Finally the door opened.  The two of them and the mass of water were spit out onto the hard floor.  There was no time to catch his breath.  Seawater was pouring in more ferociously than ever.  He forced himself to get up and rushed to the watertight door.  He was able to close both the elevator and station doors and then collapsed.

He was unable to move and she too lay sprawled upon the floor.  Seeing her helpless like that, he couldn't feel angry with her.  Relief at being alive was his dominant emotion.  "That was such a stupid thing to do," he growled.  "What if we had really died?"

She pushed herself up on her elbows and coughed.  She was looking down and didn't try to look at him.  He hoped that she was reflecting on what she had done.  He decided that she just wasn't a people person and had a hard time relating with others.  She seemed very fragile, and lonely.  It was the first time he had realized there was anything weak about her.  Alone in the midst of that sprawling floor, she looked so small, like a newborn chick.  After another few minutes to catch their breaths, they got up and went toward the generator room.

The hall they were in was dark and oppressive.  He walked slowly forward, making sure of each step, until he reached the wall.  The toolbox in his right hand was so heavy he felt like his shoulder might break under its strain.  "I wonder if this area is wet from yesterday's flooding," he said, just to break the atmosphere.

"So what," she shot back.

He couldn't take it anymore.  "What's your problem, anyway?  Just a minute ago you were desperately screaming for help to keep from drowning."

"We were underwater.  I didn't scream anything," she said. 

"Yes, but your eyes did."

"Did not."

He sighed.  "There you go acting all tough again."

"I'm not acting tough.  Besides…" and then she stopped and he ran into her back.

"Don't do that.  It's dark and I can't see."

Her face appeared inches from his nose.  "I'll only tell you once more.  I never, ever, asked for help."  Then she turned her back on him and her hair brushed against his face. 

"If I hadn't opened the door," he retorted, "chances are you and I would both be floating drowned in that elevator."

"If I have to be saved by you, then I'd rather die." 

He didn't answer.  With her refusing to be honest there was nothing more to say.  He edged his way past her and down the flooded corridor.  He couldn't help himself though.  There was one more thing bothering him.  "Okay, that's it, what were those words about anyway?"

That surprised her.  "What words?" she asked, in a normal tone of voice.  He had turned to face her and she brushed past him once again. 

"What you said before we got in the elevator on the second floor.  'I really, really need you.'  Your eyes were watery.  You were begging for my help."

"Yes, I did," she admitted.  He was surprised that she admitted it.  "What about it?"

"So you are depending on me, after all," he pressed.  "And now you finally admit it."  She didn't answer and just continued walking.  He continued to push her; it was the only way to get anything out of her.  "In other words, if something were to happen, you want to be with someone you can rely on.  You're afraid to be alone.  That's why you wanted me to come."

She stopped and turned angrily to face him.  "You are such an idiot.  Don't you get it yet?  The elevator is a neutral buoyancy elevator so for the most part it doesn't require outside power.  But it does need power for the intake and release of water from the ballast tank.  In fact, that's the only time it needs power.  And since this is a blackout…"

She paused and let him finish.  "I know.  You couldn't operate the ballast valve."

"Well," she said, "do you know Archimedes' principle?"

He thought about it. "It's been a while since the academy," he admitted. 

"The buoyancy of a submerged object," she quoted, "is equal to the amount of liquid displaced by the object."

"Oh, that."

"You should be able to figure the rest out by yourself."  Off she went again. 

He shook his head and sighed.  He switched the toolbox to his other hand and continued walking, working it out as he followed her.  As she turned into another corridor, he said, "Oh.  So that's what you meant.  It did seem rather strange you inviting me along.  I was there to increase the weight to overcome the buoyancy of the elevator since one skinny girl like you wasn't enough weight."

"Right.  So don't misunderstand me.  Of the five of us, you're the heaviest."

"Hey," he said lightly, "I'm not just some big rock paperweight."

"No, you're more than a rock," she said matching his tone.  "You're a rock head."

He was glad they were back to light bantering and tried to think of a comeback.  They arrived at their destination first.  Yellow and black stripes lined a wall around a large sealed hatch.  There was an information plate with some writing on it, but it was too dark to read.  "Let me take a look," he said and reached toward the door handle.

"Wait," she called out and grabbed his arm.

"What's the matter?" he asked.  She didn't respond.  "If you don't talk, I don't understand."  She held his arm firmly.  The wet grip of her palm felt cool against his skin.  He tried to read her expression but it was too dark to make out.

"I don't think you should open it," she said slowly, deep in thought.  "It may be dangerous."  She nodded to herself and gently removed her hand from his arm.  She reached into the water on the floor and tossed some of it at the metal door.  The droplets sizzled against it and evaporated away.

"A fire?" he asked.

She shook her head.  "It's a hot water generator, so I don't think there's a fire.  It's probably steam. I think it's just packed full of extremely hot steam. If it's designed to operate normally at six atmospheres and the current air pressure is only one atmosphere, there's a possibility that a tank or a pipe filled with high-pressure steam could have ruptured. It could also be that an abnormality was detected and triggered a safety valve to open."

"Leaking steam would explain why there wasn't enough power," he agreed.  "And so the generator stopped, if that is what happened.  Going in could be pretty dangerous."  He imagined a whole-body shower of supremely hot steam.  He copied her experiment with the water.

She led him back up the hall a short distance and to the next room.  Her plan was, she explained to him, was to first shut off the hot water flowing to the generator room.  The room they entered was covered in an astounding network of pipes.  Many of the pipes continued into the generator room next door.  It seemed that turning some of the valves in the room would control the flow of water and fuel to the generator.  "Normally the generator is controlled by the computer," she explained.  "With the power out, there's not much it can do though.  This room was designed so the generator could be controlled from here in case of this type of emergency."  He wondered how she could possibly know that, or even how to get to where they were.  The confusing array of pipes and valves posed her no difficulty.  She closed one of the many valves.  What kind of woman was she, he wondered.  How could she have known it was dangerous to touch the door?  Could she possibly have some connection to this place?

"Whew," she sighed finally.  "I think this should do it."  She left and he followed her slowly, still bothered by his nagging doubts.  He found her waiting outside the generator room.  She leaned against the wall and slid down it into the water and he joined her.  They were already soaked and it was pleasantly warm, probably from the next room over.  Periodically she repeated the water test on the door.

He asked the only safe question he could think of.  "How long do you think we're going to have to wait?  An hour?"  She didn't even try to answer.  In the dark he couldn't tell if she had nodded or shaken her head either.  In the silence that followed he could hear intermittent and repeated clicking noises, like the sound of dry plastic crinkling.  Listening, he narrowed it down to near her hands.  "What's that?"

She practically jumped.  "What?"

"That crackly sound you're making."  The sound stopped and he could feel her hand moving.  He thought it was her way of saying, 'It's none of your business.'

"What is it with you?  You only answer when you feel like it?  You're like a cat."

"I hate cats," she whispered, "because they eat mice."

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about."

"I, I'm not a cat," she reiterated.  "My not answering has nothing to do with my mood.  If a question has meaning, I answer it.  If it doesn't, I don't.  That's all."

"Really?"  There was no answer.  "You're serious?"

"That's the kind of question I don't want to answer," she said.  "A question to check something, a question about something you don't need to know, or questions about things that you know I don't know but you ask anyway.  There is more than enough pointless conversation already, don't you think?"

"I understand.  How about I ask you a meaningful question?"  He asked something that had been bothering him for a while.  "Pamuya, why do you know so much about this place?  You seem to know all about the details of stuff, like the generator room and the pipe room."  It seemed like she was deep in thought.  "How's that for a meaningful question?"

"Completely devoid of meaning," she responded and closed her eyes.  "How is my answer to that going to help you? It doesn't really matter whether you know about me or not.  It's something you don't need to know."

"Oh, I see.  You're not really in Starfleet, are you?  Fine, if you don't want to answer the question, then don't."  He sighed.  Her evasion of the question made him more determined to find out what there really was to her.  He didn't think she would answer, though, if he badgered her about it more.  He was irritated but forced himself to relax.

While he was thinking, she suddenly put her face in front of his.  "Now it's my turn.  Can I ask you a question?" 

He nodded, and then realized she might not be able to see him.  "Sure, go ahead."

"Will you close your eyes?"

"Is that the question?" he asked in surprise.

"It's more of a favor," she said.  There in the darkness in that corridor just a few inches from his nose.  The two of them.  His mind turned to steam and evaporated.

"Are they closed?" she asked.  Almost as if he were hypnotized, his eyes began to sink.  He could hear noises in front of him.  Something was shaken; there were a few splashes, then a click.  He didn't know what to make of the noises and opened his eyes.  She had a mischievous grin on her face.  "Close them!" she ordered and covered his eyes with one hand.

Something hissed open.  "You jerk!" she yelled at him.  "You dumb jerk."

"What are you doing?" he screamed.  A liquid spray showered his face.  "That went in my mouth!"

"Take that you loser!" she shouted.

"Stop it. Stop it.  What's the matter with you?"  He tried to resist but his body wouldn't do what it was told.  She had him by the neck.

The spray hissed again.  "How's that you slug?  You scum on the pond of life!"  Finally the verbal eruption stopped.

"My mouth is numb," he slurred.  "What did you spray me with?"

She chuckled menacingly and started rubbing his face with a cloth.  The cloth was rough and her technique wasn't any better.  Almost choking, he stopped his futile resistance.  "That's just about right," she said softly and released him.  He scooped up seawater from the floor and splashed it on his face and scooped some more into his mouth and spit it out. 

She jumped and shrieked as the water flew at her.  "That's dirty.  Don't spit it over here."

He just growled at her and continued washing his face off from whatever she had done to it.  He scooped more water and gargled again.  Finally he thought he could open his eyes.  "What do you think you're doing?  What did you put on my face?"

"Acetone."

"Oh great.  At least it wasn't pesticide.  You idiot.  Why did you spray that on me all of a sudden?"

"It was hard to look at."

He was taken aback.  "What was?"

"Your face."

Then he remembered the black ink he had gotten on his hands and face.  It had been there since the day began.  "Where did you find acetone?"

"In the toolbox," she said.  The stench of it hung in the air and stung his nose like overripe fruit.

"Thanks," he brought himself to say.  "Why did you call me those things?"

She said nothing.  He waited.  "You can wait if you want," she said, "but I'm not going to answer that.  It's a meaningless question."

Eventually the door was cool enough for them to enter the generator room.  The heat inside still defied imagination.  The air was heavy and stuck to the skin.  Inhaling felt like swallowing globs of sticky, hot steam.  Kensington opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water.  "Isn't it hard to breath?" he commented.  Kalashiavu seemed to have ruled it a meaningless question. 

Apparently she had been right about a safety valve being opened due to the drop in air pressure.  It had not shut after venting and that had caused the power failure. She went about the room and started getting the generator working again.  Following her commands, he assisted in doing the work.  It took a while but the work was finally finished.    Once everything was repaired, she reopened the valve in the pipe room. 

Back in the generator room, he asked "Should we fire it up?"  She didn't answer.  "I'm turning it on."  No response.  "Are you ready?"  Silence.  "Let's start the countdown.  30…" Nothing.  "25 seconds."  No answer.  "20, 19, 18, 17…" Click.  She reached past him and pushed a button.  "Hey, what are you doing? I still had seventeen seconds left to go.  You can't wait a mere ten or so seconds?  These kinds of rituals are very important."

"Zero," she said, and the lights came on.  "Exactly seventeen seconds for the power to come on after I pushed the button."  She flashed him a condescending glance and strolled from the room.  He shouldered the toolbox and followed after her.

He caught back up with her by the elevator.  "You're slow," she said. 

"That's because I'm the one who was carrying this leaden toolbox."

"I know."  He recalled that she had carried it from the warehouse to the elevator in the first place.  His eyes turned to the elevator.  On the other side of the door was the elevator with a hole in it.  Beside it there was another elevator with the light overhead lit up.

"Did you know there was another elevator here?"

"Wouldn't have come if I didn't," she answered.

"I suppose not," he agreed.  He followed her in and dropped the heavy toolbox on the floor with a groan.

"You sound like an old man," she teased. 

"Compared to you," he replied, "I am an old man."  He closed the door and pushed the upper button.  Below them the ballast tank emptied.  The elevator, however, didn't move upwards. 

"Not again!  Why do we keep running into problem after problem?"  Despite knowing it wouldn't work, he pushed the button again.  Beside him, Kalashiavu was coiling and uncoiling her long, still damp hair with her finger.  "So what do we do?"

The monitor above his head flared to life.  Heaven's voice came through the speaker.  "Taylor, Pamuya.  I'm terribly sorry.  Please accept my apologies for being unavailable."

"That's not important now," he said.  "We fixed the generator."

"It would appear so," she agreed.  "Thank you so much."

"I'm sure you know this," he said, "but we're stuck in this elevator.  What should we do?"

"It is likely the result of a decrease in internal air pressure has the device incapable of sufficiently expelling the seawater in the ballast tank.  In other words, it isn't buoyant enough.  There are a number of feasible methods for making it rise, but…"

Kalashiavu suddenly sprang to life.  She opened the doors.  "Okay then."  She tried to exit the elevator and he grabbed her arm to stop her.  "Don't touch me," she warned and slapped his hand away.  "I told you.  Don't touch me."  He absently watched her exit the elevator and return to the third floor.  A metallic voice spoke, the door closed and the elevator began to rise.  It apparently began counting the depth in a tinny voice.  The door opened on the second floor to reveal the other three waiting for him. 

"Where's Kalashiavu?" Ryogo asked. 

"That idiot decided to stay alone on the floor below," he exclaimed. 

"It sure looks like it," Dr. Young agreed.

"'Looks like it?' She did!  She's all alone down there.  We should be worried about her."

"But...," Medea began.

"I'm going back down and bringing her up," he announced.  "We can't leave her alone down there.  She's not really as tough as she acts.  Somebody should be with her."  They looked at him with bemused expressions.  "I know she can be a bit of an ass, but that doesn't mean you all should be so cold toward her.  I'm going back."

He turned back to the elevator and the doors opened.  Pamuya stepped out.  He stared blankly at her until she said, "Will you move?  You're in my way."  He just stood there and she pushed past him and walked by.  If there had been a rock nearby he would have crawled under it.  Instead he did the next best thing and took the elevator down.  'Rock head indeed,' he berated himself.   

After he recovered his wits and composure Kensington went back up and started looking for the others.

[Hstaphath_XC]

It's been said before and I'm sure it will be said again... Taylor is a complete moron.   

Thanks for the update!  I'm still waiting to see how far down the rabbit hole goes...

[Andromeda]

Nice addition.  Fits really well with the rest of it.  I think Kalashiavu's fun.  It's about time Kensington realized she wasn't Starfleet.  Looking forward to finding out how she knows all that stuff.

Not your usual kadhfic.

[kadh2000]

Hsta:  I didn't mean for him to be this bad.  It just kept going downhill.
Rommie: Thanks, I think. 

[kadh2000]

Okay, another weird chapter.  How far towards silliness will a group of otherwise rational people descend when in a bizarre situation?  Happy Halloween.

CHAPTER 7: GHOSTS AND HAUNTINGS

They had gathered in the third floor conference room.  The six of them just sat in the chairs letting time pass.  A rescue team still had not come and their situation showed no sign of changing.  Kensington yawned and it spread like an infection to the others.  Only Heaven was immune and she appeared to be lost in thought.  "Oh, that's right," Medea said.  "I found this in the changing room a little bit ago."  She plucked something out of a pocket.  It was a set of cards.  "Let's play a game.  Since we've got nothing to do."

Dr. Young sighed.  "Cards, hmm.  What do you want to play?"

Medea seemed not to have thought that far.  "How about 'super memory?'" she asked after some thought.

"Super… memory…" echoed both Kalashiavu and Dr. Young. 

"What?" asked Medea.  "You don't know super memory?"  The other two looked at each other and shook their heads.  "You're kidding, right?  Everyone knows super memory.  Taylorpion you know it right?"

"I've never heard of it," Kensington answered.  Heaven confirmed she didn't know the game either.  Medea seemed surprised and disappointed.  "You'll just have to teach us."

Medea shuffled the cards skillfully as she explained the game.  "That's called 'concentration,' Kalashiavu said sharply. 

"'Mental guts' is what we called it when I learned the game," Dr. Young said.

"Most people call it concentration," Kalashiavu reiterated.

Kensington couldn't help himself.  "Maybe on some backwater planet."

"On Earth, its mental guts," Dr. Young repeated in the same tone he had used.  The three of them fell into a silly argument about the name of the game.  Eventually Medea settled the argument claiming since it was her idea, they would call it the name she chose.  Kensington just shook his head.  If they were arguing about something like this, they definitely needed a diversion.

The five of them began playing.  Heaven was, of course, never wrong.  The game stopped when Ryogo came into the room carrying six small cans cradled against his chest.

"What have you got there?" Medea asked.

"Beverages of some kind," he answered.

"That was very thoughtful of you, kiddo," Dr. Young said.  She took one of the cans from him and very carefully pulled the tab and quickly covered the opening with her thumb.

Ryogo sat the other cans noisily on the table.  "I found these upstairs.  I brought these too."  He reached into a satchel he was carrying.  There were the two sandwiches Taylor had left during the blackout.  "I thought that somebody might be hungry."

"Oh great one," Dr. Young exclaimed. "You are so thoughtful!"  She mussed up his hair affectionately.  He stood there stiffly.

"If no one else wants one, I'll take one of them," Kalashiavu offered.

"All that repair work made you hungry, eh?" said Kensington, surprised that she had spoken up.  She, of course, saw no need to answer that question.  He passed her the sandwich and offered the other to everyone else.  Medea volunteered to take it. 

He tossed the sandwich to her and it traced a gentle arc through the air.  Instinctively she reached out her hands but the sandwich passed right through them and landed on the floor.   The wrapper covered Heaven's sandal and seemed to merge with her foot.  "Heaven, you've got no toes," he said.

"My gosh.  Sorry about that." Her vanished toes instantly reappeared.  She shuffled her feet, embarrassed and stepped carefully away from the wrapped sandwich.

Dr. Young erupted in laughter at the whole scene. "Don't be stupid," Kalashiavu warned bluntly.

"It's alright," Heaven said. 

Kensington continued to stare at her.  "Heaven, what are you?"

She looked up at him and took a deep breath.  "My name is Heaven Ansikt.  Officially, my designation is UT-RSDS-4913A.  I am an artificial intelligence program in charge of guiding visitors around Utopia.  I have been programmed as one part of the NeVEAH system.  If called from any nearby terminal, I will soon appear anywhere in Utopia.  My image appears to you through a network supporting the RSD system throughout the complex."

"RSD," whispered Kalashiavu.  "That is really rare.  I've never seen an example of it this sophisticated."

"This, of course," Heaven went on, "explains why I disappeared during the power outage.

"What's RSD?" Ryogo asked, voicing the question on Kensington's mind. 

"Simply put," explained Heaven, "it is an image display system that uses a semiconductor to shine a laser directly on your retina."

"And it's supporting such an advanced personality," Kalashiavu mused.  Kensington was surprised that she was actively pursuing the conversation. 

"Utopia," observed Heaven, "is fairly perfectionist about its spatial display technology.  My existence is one manifestation of that."

"Doesn't that require a big system?" Kalashiavu asked.  "How big is it?  Where is it?  I'd like to see it."

Heaven hesitated.  "I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to say.  It is a secret."

"You weren't given the details?" Kalashiavu pressed.

"That's correct," Heaven said.

Kalashiavu changed her approach.  "It seems you have motivation and a will of your own.  That you are programmed for your own way of thinking."

"That is simply the selection of responses from a massive bank of sampling data the results of which I give back."

"Random.  I see." Kalashiavu nodded.  "You are a learning program in which positive responses are saved in that way and reused."

"That is correct," Heaven agreed.  "I have been designed with specific emphasis on curiosity and concentration.  Morphological analysis from my audio input very likely operates at a speed and a level of precision without peer.  There are also a number of special technologies used to create me.  However, the specifics are industrial secrets which cannot be revealed."

"I see," Kalashiavu said.  "There are things about you that normal AI can't explain, but I think I get the picture."  Kensington sure didn't and was completely lost.  He felt his headache returning.  "By the way, Heaven," Kalashiavu added, "if I told you that I were actually a man would you believe me?"  The bizarre question surprised Kensington.

"No." Heaven answered simply. 

"Well, what if I said I was over twenty years old?"

"That is possible," Heaven agreed.

"I'm single.  I'll stay that way," Kalashiavu shot back.  "That is what I believe."

"That might well be true," Heaven answered.

"While we were repairing the generator, I learned that Captain Kensington had a sex change operation three years ago.  It's true."

"That I cannot believe," Heaven responded.

Kalashiavu laughed.  "You really are quite amazing."

"Could you explain what you were just doing?" Kensington asked her.

She turned to him.  "I performed a variation of a Turing test.  I wanted to see if Heaven can tell when people are lying.  To see if she can determine the truthful information from non-truthful even when she has no background data.  She can.  She does more than compare and reference data with data in her memory, but has been programmed to factor in 'chance' and 'intuition' to make her own judgments.   The system is designed to make choices based on updated information and boost its efficiency by rewriting itself.  This is an incredibly advanced level of technology."

"Is that right?" he asked.

"Yes," Heaven agreed.  "But I'm not very good at lying.  My lying function is underdeveloped."  She laughed at herself.

"But when you introduced yourself, you said you were a system engineer," he said.  "That's a lie isn't it?"

"That's simply a setting of mine," she said.  "It's how my profile in the mainframe computer reads."

"Oh," he said.  He was flabbergasted at her complexity.  Kalashiavu, however, was as cool as a cucumber.  He wondered why she knew so much about this type of system.  He guessed that she had researched a lot of the information beforehand.  Medea and Ryogo seemed not to care.  He felt sorry for the science officer, who was missing a lot.

Hours passed.  It seemed to Kensington to be about the time of sunset.  In the dark depths of the ocean, however, his sense of time had eroded.  Finally he couldn't stand it and checked Dr. Young's tricorder, verifying that it was night.  Still, nothing in Utopia had changed.  While no one showed up to rescue them, there hadn't been any new crisis.  There didn’t seem to be any impending danger of flood or collapse.  Each person spent the time as they pleased.  It was almost as though they weren't trapped.

Deciding he wanted to learn what he could about Heaven, Kensington returned to the control room to visit her.  He wanted a better explanation of 'RSD'.  He hoped it would help his understanding of her.  "You've got my interest perked.  I want to know more about you.  Can you tell me more about RSD?"

"I understand," she said, rising and turning away from the consoles.  "Rattling off a bunch of technical jargon seems like I would just confuse you more."

"I'm no technician," he agreed.  "I'd just get lost."

She put a hand over her mouth, hiding her expression.  "I see.  So were you completely lost when I was conversing with Pamuya earlier?"  He nodded and scratched his head.  He realized he was blushing.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said.  "Did I say something wrong?"

"No.  That was a good comeback."

She looked confused.  "What is a 'good comeback'?"

He sighed.  "It's when you say something to needle the person you're talking with or make a sharp or witty comment that makes them feel awkward."

"I see.  I'm sorry Taylor."

"You don't have to apologize.  You didn't hurt my feelings."

"Are you certain?" she asked.

"Yes.  It's alright."  He searched for the right phrase, couldn't find it.  "It was fun."

"Making a person feel awkward is funny?" she said doubtfully.   "That seems to be a contradiction."

"It is but it's not," he said, wondering how he had gotten in this position.  "It depends on the time and place."

She frowned.  "That's difficult.  It is hard for me to comprehend the concept of 'nice comeback'."

"Let's forget it," he said.  He was actually impressed that she was even able to register a joke.  "Back to what we were talking about, can you tell me more about RSD?"

Yes, let's see." She paused for a moment.  "Maybe I can explain it using concrete examples.  Can you see me?"  He nodded.  "I can see you as well," she said.  "I'm standing right next to you.  You're sure?"  He nodded again.  "But…" she said and reached toward him.  Her hand slipped into his chest without resistance.  Reflexively, he tried to grab her but felt nothing.  "So, you are seeing me, but I am not right next to you."  She pulled her hand back.

"RSD stands for Retinal Scanning Display.  The display device is not actually a display.  Rather, a weak laser is aimed at the retina."

"Right at my eyes?" he said, surprised.

"Yes.  In the ceiling of each room and corridor are semiconductor laser output devices.  The image, my image, is being directly reflected on your retina.  Holographic screens typically allow for the objects behind them to be visible.  This system uses the eyeball as a virtual screen and continuously sends an image synthesized with the background scenery."

"What about your voice, then?" he asked.  "It sounds like your voice is coming from where your mouth appears to be."  He sat down in one of the chairs to concentrate on the conversation and offered her a seat.

"Since I don't get tired," she said, "I don't need to sit."

"I understand that," he acknowledged.  "It makes me feel uneasy though, like you're straining yourself or something.  It would be more 'real' to sit down."

"Is that right?" she asked thoughtfully.  "Excuse me then."  Carefully she sat down in the chair next to him.  He looked but it didn't move as though she were putting any weight on it.  "Now, about my voice.  You're familiar with 3-D sound?  As through a headset?"

"Sure.  I listen to music like that all the time."

"When you do, were does it sound like the music is coming from?" she asked.

"Inside my head, I guess."

"That's right.  Most people hear 3-D sound as if it were reverberating in the center of their head toward the back.  But the sound is not actually coming from inside your head.  If you apply that knowledge and adjust the volume from the left and the right to accurately simulate this reverberating sound, then you could create the illusion that a sound was coming from any direction: above, below, left or right."

He suddenly realized what she was talking about.  "You mean these voice converters that we're wearing."  He had forgotten all about them.  Now he removed them.  In front of him, her mouth moved soundlessly.  Her image also began to get a little fuzzy.  He replaced the earpieces and her image returned to normal.

"The voice converters position helps determine the image's placement," she explained.  "So wherever you stand and whichever direction you face… NeVAEH is constantly using sensors about the complex that measure the location of the voice converters to the millimeter.  When I am sixty feet behind you, my voice will sound as if I'm sixty feet behind you.  The same if I am to the left or the right.  When I'm under you it sounds as if…"

"When you're under me?" he interrupted her.  "When are you under me?"

She appeared to be embarrassed.  "And, so, that's how it works.  Do you understand?"  He nodded hesitantly.  "Face to the left a little, please," she asked him.

When he did, she stood up and moved to his right.  "I told you NeVAEH is constantly monitoring your voice converters.  It is also monitoring the location of your eyeballs.  So that even if you move, I would appear to be in the same place.  The system scans the image onto your eye in this way."

"So you can disappear and reappear at another place?" he asked.

"Do you want to see it?" she asked.

He shook his head, preferring to maintain the illusion.  "No.  I think I'll pass." 

The door opened and Medea stuck her head in.  "Taylorpion, Taylorpion," she said breathlessly.  "I was looking for Heaven.  Have you seen her?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked.  "She's right in front of you."  Medea looked around but didn't seem to see Heaven standing right in front of her.  The girl frowned at him and withdrew.  The door closed behind her. 

"Okay," he said to Heaven.  "Your image wasn't being scanned to her retina, right?"

"There you go," she said.  "That was a quick pick up.  Normally my image is scanned on the retinas of all five of you.  It is coordinated so that it looks to everyone like I am in the same place, doing the same movement and saying the same thing.  But it is also possible to show you something else.  For example."  She walked to the door and it opened slightly.

"Oh, Heaven," he heard Medea's voice say.  "There you are." Clearly Heaven wasn't visible to her from where she stood in the control room.  Then Heaven vanished and he heard Medea saying "That's why I wanted to talk to you."  A moment later, she said "No, no, that's not what I… oh I see.  You want me to bring it?"  Finally, Medea said, "Okay, I'll go tell Maggie.  I'll see you later."

Heaven reappeared in front of him.  "So, I can do this kind of thing as well."

"It really is almost like you're a ghost," he said.

"Yes.  I used to hear that a lot.  Being in the same place and looking at the same thing, only some people can see it and some can't.  I've never seen one but if ghosts really do exist, I imagine they exist much the way I do."

"There is still something that bothers me," he said slowly.  "Can't you be in more than one place at the same time?  Why couldn't you have been in the room with me and talking to Medea in the hall at the same time?"

"Theoretically that is possible," she agreed.  "However, the way I am designed I can't do that.  I imagine it is to help maintain an image of reality for visitors so that there is only one 'Heaven' in the world at one time.  Without that kind of setting, visitors might get confused.  That and it was the policy of my designer.  His policy was to create me as a character with an independent personality.  I have heard that is the policy in amusement parks where there are live actors portraying characters from stories.  There is only one of each character in the park.  Like in a story, any one character can't be in two places at the same time." 

Kensington felt he understood enough and Heaven claimed to have more work to do, so he got up to leave the control room.  It still seemed strange to him that she preferred walking when she could teleport to anywhere in the facility at once.  Maybe she was doing it to humor them.  "One more thing.  I was wondering about the laser retina scan.  If I were in a place the laser couldn't reach then I couldn't see you."

"Of course not," she agreed, "but the scanning devices are located in every room of the complex and there are mirrors embedded in the walls, ceilings, and floors to reflect the images.  So almost no matter where you are, I can be displayed."

"So there are no blind spots?" he asked.

"That's the way it is designed.  However, there is one major flaw. I am only 'seen' when someone looks at me.  I cease to exist when no one is looking at me.  For example, if all five of you were here and you all closed your eyes at once, at that moment I would cease to exist."

He casually held his hand up in front of his eyes and uncovered the view near his feet.  There was no sign of Heaven.  It was as if she had vanished, or had never been there in the first place.  He removed his hand and she reappeared.  The outline of her sandal blurred dimly in the water. 

"Someone has to 'see' me," she said.  "I have to be seen to exist.  Vision… someone's eye actually creates me.  Taylor, when you close your eyes I disappear."   One of the consoles lit up and someone called her name.  "NeVAEH is calling me, so I will leave and come back shortly."  Saying that, she disappeared.  Only the three dimensional hologram depicting Utopia hovered silently in the darkness.

Later that evening, looking out to the ocean, it was only slightly darker than earlier.  Fortunately the damage to Utopia hadn't worsened during the day.  They ate a light dinner at the sandwich shop and gathered in the conference room.  Boredom overtook all of them.  "Everybody looks so sleepy," Medea lamented.  She seemed to be the only one of them completely awake.

"Well," Kensington observed, "there's really nothing to do."   There was no impending danger, no new developments.   It felt somehow as though time had stopped. 

"Taylor, you're such a slob," Dr. Young lazily observed.  "And stop dawdling."

"Look," he replied, "there's no reason to go wandering around the complex.  We're just going to have to wait for help to come."

"I suppose so," she agreed and sighed.  She forced herself to stand and rolled her head around.  "Alright, I'm off for a little bit."

"Where are you going, Maggie?" Medea asked, hopping up.

"Nowhere in particular, just a walk.  I've got to move around or I'll die."

"Why don't we go running together?" Medea suggested, her eyes lighting up.  Dr. Young thought about it for a moment before agreeing.  The expression on her face wasn't all that happy though.

Kensington stood up.  "I have an idea.  We've all been sitting around doing nothing all day.  We need a little bit of exercise.  Just going for a run isn't all that interesting to me. 

"How about tag?" Medea offered excitedly.  "If we took turns being it, everyone would get lots of exercise."

Dr. Young actually looked interested.  "Alright, I'm in."  Ryogo volunteered to join as well. 

"May I participate as well?" asked Heaven.

Medea enthusiastically accepted her offer.  Kensington looked from one to the other.  He wasn't sure why they were all interested in a kid's game.  They all seemed excited to play.  He hadn't realized they were that bored.  Kalashiavu remained seated, looking annoyed.  The others quickly began to settle the matter without him.  Deciding the conference room was too small and the entire facility too large, they limited the game to the third floor. 

Kalashiavu suddenly stood and sighed.  "You never shut up." She walked briskly to the corner of the room and flipped off the light.  Then she returned to her seat. 

"What did you do that for?" Kensington asked.  "It's dark."

"It was too bright for me to concentrate," she said.  "Some of us actually want to rest."

"That doesn't mean you should go turning off the lights just because you want to rest."  He was more annoyed with her than ever. 

"What about you?" she asked.  "You haven't volunteered to play their game.  Don't you want to rest?"

He quickly disagreed with her.  "Does that mean you're playing?" Ryogo asked.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, he decided the game was too childish.  "No, I want to rest, like Kalashiavu said.  Once you get older, kid's games take a toll on your body."

"You must be older than you look, then." Dr. Young said, laughing.  "I'm sure you're saying that because you know you'd never win against the rest of us.  You'd be caught right away."  With a sigh, he stood up.  "Does that mean Captain Kensington wants to play now?" she teased. 

"Alright, I'll play the game, but I think it's silly."  It was, he consoled himself, better than sitting there doing nothing.   Kalashiavu glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and then looked away.  He watched her for a moment, wondering if he had missed something, and discovered the others had gone on making up the rules without him.  The game had become 'kick the can' and was going to be played with only the emergency lights on.  Heaven would amplify the sounds of movement through water so the person who was it would know when someone else was moving.  Because she couldn't compete fairly with the others, Heaven and Medea were placed together as a team.

As they were getting energized to play, Kalashiavu let out a deep sigh.  "You are SO noisy," she complained.  She stood and walked to the exit, leaving the room. 

"Is she mad about something?" Ryogo asked.

Looking after her, Kensington said, "Who knows?  She'll come back after a while.  You'll see. "

Somehow he ended up being 'it' first.  He took the can, closed his eyes, waited in the conference room while the others ran off, and counted to one hundred.  When he was done, the room was empty.  The sound of him walking reverberated unnaturally.  It reminded him of sonar.  He made a note to walk as quietly as he could so he wouldn't give himself away to the others. 

First he tried the central control room.  Only the monitors there showed any sign of life.  He had wanted to rule the room off first as he felt it unlikely for anyone to hide in such a small space.  Next he tried the area where the inoperative elevators to the surface were.  A quick scan showed it was empty. 

Then he heard the sound of someone running through water.  It sounded like they were between the conference room and the exhibit featuring ancient ruins.  He rushed back the way he had come and caught up with Ryogo.  Ryogo surrendered when Taylor came near him.  "Am I the first?" he asked.

"Yes, so you'll be it next once I catch everyone… unless you beat me to the can first."  Then Dr. Young leaped out of a side corridor and shoved Kensington into the water.  She stood laughing as he spluttered in the cold water then ran off with him in hot pursuit.  She reached the conference room before him but couldn't get the door closed before he arrived.  He beat her to the can and captured her and Ryogo.  The door opened and Heaven and Medea appeared.  He quickly captured them too. 

They were getting ready for the next round with Dr. Young being 'it' when the can clanged off the wall and rolled toward them.  Kensington glared into the dark corner of the room and the others quickly fled into the hallways and scattered like scared butterflies.  The sounds of their footsteps echoed and receded down the corridors.  With no one left, he was resigned to having to be 'it' still.  He wondered if Kalashiavu had kicked the can.  It would be just like her to be playing on the sly.

One hundred counts later he headed off on a new search.  This time he started with the ancient 'Utopian Ruins'.  The inside of the exhibit was like a maze.  It was darker than the rest of the room.  He decided against going into it and waited outside.  He peered around the outside of the exhibit but didn't see anyone.  Holding still he listened carefully.  Music suddenly started playing in the attraction.  It didn't quite mask the sound of someone running.  "Maryann!  Stop!" he called out after the shadow he saw moving. 

"How did you know it was me?" she asked. 

"You used this trick on the merry-go-round earlier.  I don't fall for the same thing twice."  She surrendered and he took her back to the conference room and stepped on the can. 

Afterwards he searched the rest area.  He could hear someone trying to move quietly through the water there.  As he got closer, the sounds stopped.  He waited until the person couldn't stand it and made a dash for the exit.  He circled around to cut them off and they stopped.  The splashing ceased and he stopped.  The other person seemed to have gotten more patient.  Kensington flipped open his communicator to try and see by the slight radiance it gave.  Looking down, he noticed a large 'fish' trying to swim underwater out of the room.  He sped over to the 'fish' and captured Ryogo again.

He rounded up the other two and only had Kalashiavu to catch.  He was surprised to see her sitting calmly in the conference room in her old seat.  "I found Kalashiavu," he announced.

She looked at him quizzically.  "What are you talking about?"

"I know you better than that," he said.  "You're just playing dumb."

"Dumb?"

"Didn't you kick the can earlier?"

"Can?" she said.  "What are you talking about?"  She stood up.  He raced around the room to beat her to the can.  She hadn't even moved toward it at all. "What are you doing?"  He went to kick the can but it was gone.  It banged against the wall and everyone fled a second time.

"That's not fair," he called vainly after them.  Kalashiavu stayed in the conference room.  He was sure he could find the others easily enough.  This time, though, there was no trouble and he captured everyone.  It was Ryogo's turn to be 'it'.

"Want to work together?" Dr. Young asked as they ran. 

"It's against the rules," he reminded her.  "I'll pass."

"Maybe I'll hide there," she said, pointing at a door.

"Bathrooms are against the rules."

"We're heading toward a dead end," she pointed out.  They listened, could still hear Ryogo counting, in the mid thirties, and hurried back the way they had come.  "The emergency corridors would have been fun to include," she commented. 

"You really do like breaking the rules, don't you?  Searching would be very difficult then."

She rolled her eyes.  "There are only a few routes to the conference room otherwise.  It's kind of boring."

"Run more quietly," he teased.

"Wait!" she ordered.  They could still hear counting, now in the fifties.  "We'd better hide quickly."  They ended up in the ruins again.  "Shall we go in?" she asked.

"The maze?" He said doubtfully.  "Getting in would be annoying, but…"

"Don't say that."  She pushed him toward the entrance.  He peered inside the exhibit but everything was as dark as if it had been painted black.  He couldn't see anything.  "Hmm," she said.  "It may be too dark to find our way around."

Kensington was about to agree when he saw movement in the darkness.  Kalashiavu came toward them from the maze.  "You were in there?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes, I took a look around," she replied.  "It's completely dark.  You had best not go in."  She left them standing at the entrance.  She kicked at the water lightly with her feet.  She seemed tired.  He heard the sound of faint clicking in her hand.  He had heard it in the darkness with her before. 

"Did you take a flashlight?" he asked her.  "It'd be impossible to find your way in there without one."

At that moment Medea and Heaven appeared.  "What is everyone doing here?" Medea asked.

"I think we're in trouble, clumping up like this," Kensington observed.  "Which reminds me.  Kalashiavu, you are playing too, right?"

"I'm not playing!" she said forcefully.  "I just happened to be here.  I wish you would stop talking that way about me."  He raised his hands in surrender.   

They all listened carefully and could hear Ryogo now in the eighties.  Then he was there with them.  "What is this, some strategy meeting?"

"Not exactly," Kensington answered.  "Run!  Wait a minute!  What are you doing here?  We just heard you counting.  Did you forget you were 'it'?"

In the eerie silence that followed, they could still hear someone counting.  "Ninety-eight, ninety-nine…"

"Who is that?" Ryogo asked.  Suddenly the lights flared into existence.  "Who turned on the lights?"

"I did," Heaven said quickly.  "Everyone appears to be present, yet someone is still counting.  The life readings in the complex do not appear to be abnormal.  There is no movement in the conference room."  The all looked at each other in confusion.

"I don't understand," Kensington wondered aloud.  "Who could have been counting if it wasn't Ryogo?  It sounded like you."  Then the sound of the can being kicked echoed through the corridors. 

"Could it be a ghost?" Heaven asked.  Kensington almost laughed and the others looked at her in surprise.   "If it is a ghost, I would like to make its acquaintance."  The sound of someone splashing through the water reached them from outside the room.  Then the empty can rolled into the room and came to a stop in front of them.

[Hstaphath_XC]

Happy Halloween indeed!

Thanks for the new chapter!!!   

[kadh2000]

Glad to see someone's reading it.  And you're welcome.  Foreshadowing happens here, but it's very subtle. 

CHAPTER 8 : Blood and Water

Kensington awoke from a peaceful slumber.  Despite having fallen asleep in a chair and coming to rest against the table in the conference room, his sleep was far better than it had been the previous night.  Dr. Young was up and stretching.  "You're an early riser," he muttered. 

"You're just lazy," she answered.  Then she let loose a big yawn and admitted that "Being tense so long makes you tired.  It's probably better to sleep when you can.  In this situation we do need to keep well rested.  When it comes down to it, we may have to think our way out of it or we could be in trouble."

Kensington was just awake enough to remember, "I said that yesterday!"  He got up to wash his face and stepped around Medea, who was still asleep atop a makeshift bed formed of two chairs.  He found Ryogo wandering the hall and greeted him.

"A lot's happened the last two days.  Are you feeling depressed, or maybe tired?"

"No," Kensington said, surprised.  "I just woke up."  By the time he reached the nearest bathroom, his shoes were already soaked again.  He splashed the cold water on his face and was instantly roused by the shock.  Medea was still asleep when he returned and the four of them began discussing what to eat.

He gently shook her awake and she sat up slowly.  Her face was unusually pale as she said, "Oh, good morning brother."

"You have a brother?" he asked.  He couldn't remember. 

"No, brother," she said groggily.  "We need to get moving or we'll be late for school."  She was still mostly asleep on her feet.  Suddenly she jerked fully awake and stared at him.  "Oh, Captain Taylor."

He led them back to the diner.  "Everyone okay with sausages?  I think they were for the employees that worked here."  It wasn't long before he had fried them all some breakfast.  The others decided he had missed his calling and should have been a cook.

By the time the four of them had finished eating and had warm food in their bellies, they were laughing and carrying on.  Suddenly Ryogo stopped and looked at the ceiling. "What was that?"  He blinked and stared as if he had seen something.

"What's wrong?" Kensington asked.  Following the scientist's gaze, he looked upward but everything seemed to be where it belonged.

"I wonder…" Ryogo said slowly.  "I don't know what it was, but I could swear I saw something."

"Any idea what?"

Ryogo shook his head.  "I can't really say. I just have a bad feeling about the second floor… somewhere.  I think we should search it one more time."  He looked upward again and started mumbling incoherently.

Concerned, Kensington shook his shoulder.  "I'm sure Heaven would warn us if something was the matter." 

Ryogo snapped out of his dark mood.   "Yeah, you're right.  I still wonder what I saw." 

Then Kalashiavu showed up in the doorway.  "Did something just happen?"

Kensington frowned at her.  "Nothing.  We're just having some sausages.  There's one for you, too."  She took it without replying.  She took the sausage and covered it almost entirely in some kind of sauce.  It was completely covered in orange.  "How do you know that stuff isn't spicy?  That much could kill you."  She bit into it and ate casually.  He was disappointed but was pleased to see a glimmer of her eyes starting to tear up.  However, she finished it quickly without complaint or slowing down.  "You always just wolf down your food.  There's no joy in cooking for you.  Besides with all that sauce you can't even taste it."

"It doesn't matter how it tastes," she replied.  "I've had enough to eat now." 

She walked away from the food stand and he went over and dipped his finger in a drop of the sauce and tasted it.  It was spicy. 

There was a loud metallic boom from above that echoed and reverberated throughout the station.  Kalashiavu's eyes darted from side to side, as if she were searching for something.  The others, who had been sitting in the center of the room, ran over to join them.   "This doesn't have anything to do with your bad feeling from earlier, does it?" Kensington asked Ryogo. 

He shook his head.  "I don't know.  Maybe we should check with Heaven."

At the sound of her name, Heaven appeared among them.  "I'm terribly sorry," she said.  "I overslept."

Kensington blinked in confusion.  "But you're… Never mind.  What just happened?  There was an awfully loud noise."

"One of the shafts that support this floor has started to warp," she explained. 

"We didn't see any sign of that yesterday," Ryogo mentioned.

"No," she agreed.  "This was an unexpected event that was caused by ocean currents."

"How dangerous are we talking here?" Kensington asked, nervously.

"It should be within the margin of error I already gave you," Heaven began, "but… no, wait.  There's an anomaly in one of the pressure regulating pipes on the second level.  They adjust the pressure inside the multi-layered bulkheads comprising Utopia.  If any of them should rupture, for whatever reason, I am incapable of repairing them. The anomaly is slight, so the danger isn't immediate, but I think it best if someone goes to check on it."

"I'll go," Kensington announced. 

Kalashiavu volunteered to accompany him.  "If we have to fix something, we'll need tools.  I know my way around a workshop."  Medea decided to tag along.

Kensington looked around.  Dr. Young was gone.  "Does anyone know where Maryann went?"

"To the control room," Ryogo offered.  "She went there when things started shaking."

"She must have just missed me," said Heaven.  "Please go back there and let her know where we are.  You can monitor the situation from there as well.  Use NeVAEH to contact me if you need to."  Ryogo bounded off.

Kensington and Kalashiavu headed for the nearest staircase and went up quickly.  Despite Heaven having said there was no immediate danger, both hurried to do the work.  Pamuya grabbed the heavy toolbox and carried it.

Heaven was gliding along beside them to show them where the problem was.  "Oh, I wanted to ask you something," he told her.  "What did you mean when you said you overslept earlier?"

She made a very good imitation of embarrassment.  "Today was the day for routine maintenance by the server where my data is stored.  It activated automatically this morning. It took longer than expected for the return processing.  I was too optimistic on my preliminary check.  I'm terribly sorry."

Unable to contain himself, Kensington started laughing.  "Did I say something funny?" she asked.

"No, I just think it's funny that you can oversleep too."

"That's funny?" she asked, her tone saying she did not understand.

"How should I put it," he mused aloud.  "It's cute." 

"Cute?  Sleeping in is cute?" She seemed even more confused.  "That does not compute."  Her eyes became circles.  He wondered if that particular use of the word wasn't part of her database.  "I've caused all of you such trouble," she said, suddenly serious again. 

"Nobody's angry," he said.  "It's not your fault so don't let it bother you.  Everyone knows that you're working hard."

"Ah… thank you."  Her cheeks brightened at the compliment, but her expression was still one of confusion.  Kensington found that amusing too and laughed again.
She looked at him sidelong.  "Is that cute?"  Her charming innocence was definitely cute. 

But then they reached the second level and everyone became all business again.  Nothing appeared out of place, but they could all hear a faint hissing sound.  They headed in the direction of the noise.  "Yep, there wasn't any sign of this yesterday," Kensington said aloud.  "Why do you think it happened all of a sudden?"

"Well… everything doesn't go exactly according to plan," Heaven said.

"It's because we were bouncing around so much," Medea teased. 

Kalashiavu laughed.  "Maybe that's it.  Of course, even if it was, the repairs will make everything fine."

"Right, Pamuya," Medea agreed.  Kensington shook his head.  Only Medea seemed to be able to easily bring out that side of Kalashiavu. 

They followed the sound, which was coming from a warehouse.  "I'll perform a scan," Heaven said, "and let you know the status of the area."  Saying that, she disappeared. 

Remembering what happened the day before, Kensington asked, "There isn't going to be a steam explosion if we open the door?" 

Kalashiavu eyed the door uncertainly.  "It's probably fine."

"You can tell?  You aren't…"

"I'm just saying what you want to hear," she cut him off.

Heaven appeared in front of the door.   "I've run the diagnostic.  Atmospheric pressure is normal.  No toxic gasses detected.  The temperature and humidity of the room are rising in slight increments.  An area of the pipe has ruptured and there is a slight water leak.  The water depth is four inches at its deepest point.

"That's hardly anything at all," Kalashiavu said, turning to face Kensington. 

"Let's just go in and fix it," he said sharply and opened the door.  There were crates and boxes everywhere.  He looked toward the hissing sound.  There was a small crack in one of the pipes and water was dancing out of it in a fine mist.  It didn't seem like there was much to worry about.  They should be able to patch it in no time.

Kalashiavu followed him in and sat the tool box on top of one of the crates.  She opened it and started spreading tools out in front of her.  "What do we need to do?" he asked her.

"The pipe is bent a little," she replied.  "I'm going to clamp a metal sleeve on it.  Would you support the pipe for me?  Medea, on the other side of this, there's a valve attached to this pipe.  I need you to open it a bit for me." 

The three of them started working.  They ended up opening and closing valves on a number of pipes, re-attaching a pipe, and welding shut a few cracks.  "You seem really used to this," he mentioned to Kalashiavu. 

"What do you mean?" she said, looking up from her work.

"Welding.  Where did you learn that?"

"You want to know?"

"Uh, well, it's just that."  He wilted under her stare.

"Asking meaningless questions is a bad habit of yours," she scoffed.  He didn't feel up to saying anything else. 

Heaven still hovered in the area, observing their repairs.  After a while the intercom beeped from the corner of the room.  "It seems like Maryann is calling me," Heaven announced.  "I need to go."

"Okay," Kensington acknowledged.  "We should be able to handle the rest ourselves."  Heaven got close to the intercom and it looked to Kensington as if she were sucked into the receiver.  It was somewhat disconcerting. 

"Taylor, don't just stand there," Kalashiavu interrupted his thoughts.  "On to the next pipe."

Despite their repairs, the sound of escaping steam continued.  Kalashiavu stared at the floor for a minute.  "Open the blue valve over there.  Even though the pump is working, the water level hasn't gone down any.  The drainage pipe may be broken.  After you turn it, close the red one next to it. Okay Medea, you and Taylor turn the valves in the order I told you.  Loosen them and then shut them again."  As they did so, the sound of escaping steam lessened.  While the two of them waited, Kalashiavu lifted the welding torch and started working on sealing the pipe.  Under her direction, they finished that repair.

Still the water level hadn't fallen and it was swirling around at their feet.  Kensington noticed there was a device on one wall sucking in water and then gurgling it back out.  As he stepped closer, there was a faint crackle of electricity from it.  He could see blue-white sparks jumping around inside it.  Standing in four inches of water, he started to feel afraid.  Just then it made an awful cracking sound and the lights flickered. 

Muddy water started overflowing from its vent.  The water around his legs quickly became grimy.  "The drainage is starting to backflow!" Kalashiavu shouted.  "Be careful!"  His leg was caught up in a jet of muddy water and he lost his balance.  He reached out frantically toward the stack of crates nearby.  He was able to catch himself but his weight made them shift and spill over.  Countless containers and rusty pipes began raining down. 

They passed by him and headed toward the wall and Medea.  "Look out!" he called, too late.  She had been mesmerized by his precarious position and hadn't seen the danger coming toward her. 

Kalashiavu shouted and Kensington's eyes were blinded by falling metal objects and splashing water.  The old pipe on the ceiling broke apart into thousands of pieces.  Under its weight, containers were splintering.  They all struck the surface of the shallow water violently.  The sound echoed through the room. Everything seemed to be quivering.  Some of the falling objects struck the pipes along the wall, which ruptured and began spewing more water into the room.  When his eyes were clear, Kensington looked to where Medea had been standing.

Pamuya lay there… fallen over.  A metal beam lay across her legs.  Medea stood, shaken, a few feet away, and stared at the spectacle.  Pamuya had apparently thrust her out of the way and taken the brunt of the damage in her place.  Kensington forced himself to his feet and hurried to her side. 

A metal shaft had dug deeply into her right thigh and she couldn't move.  Steam and water were pouring out of the burst pipes around her.  The drainage pipe was belching out muddy water in large quantities.  "I guess I messed up," she gasped.  She grimaced and clasped her thigh tightly.  She was losing a lot of blood.  The murky water around her was turning red.

"Are you okay?"  It was the only thing he could say.  He knew she wasn't.

"Does this look okay to you?" she said bitterly.  "Always asking stupid questions."

He smiled.  "You've still got a sense of humor.  Good.  I'll get that stuff off of you.  Just wait."  He tried to lift the beam but it was too heavy.

"Looks like it's no use," she said softly.  The water level was rising quickly and had reached his knees. 

Medea started wading toward them.  "Get back!  Get away from me!" Pamuya warned.  The girl stiffened and stopped short.  "Get out of here," Pamuya ordered her.  "You too, Taylor.  Get out while you can.  The partitions for this room won't last long at this rate.  You'll both die if you stay.  So, hurry! Get out of here."

"Stupid idiot," Kensington retorted.  "You think I can just leave you?  You're part of my crew."

"There's nothing you can do," she whispered.  "I'm stuck here, and with this injury you couldn't help me anyway."

"Shut up," he ordered her.  "I won't let you give up now, dammit."  He turned to Medea. "Get outside, find an intercom, and contact the others."  Trembling, the girl moved her legs slowly toward the door.  When she reached it, she disappeared quickly from sight.  The door to the warehouse closed shortly thereafter.  Water had reached its bottom edge and it had closed automatically.

Pamuya was under water up to her waist.  "What are you trying to prove?" she asked him.  "It doesn't mean anything.  Just leave.  I don't want you here. "

"I wouldn't be here," he retorted, "if there wasn't a reason.  I can't just leave you here."  He wasn't sure what he could actually do for her, thought.

"Why not?"

"I've taken nothing but abuse from you and you still haven't thanked me properly."

"Oh really?" She laughed weakly. "I suppose that's reason enough."  Her lips were trembling.  The murky water was spreading.  "It's gotten cold in here," she murmured.

"Stay with me, Pamuya," he said, choosing his words carefully. 

"I'm perfectly sane," she replied.

He ignored her.  "You're wound isn't that deep, so don't worry.  Once I get you out of here, you'll be okay."

"You'll be okay," she mocked, but her voice was very weak.  "What makes you think that?  You're the one who's crazy."

The water level was almost to her neck.  A section of the partition started to give and seawater began pouring in.  The water was icy cold.  "I'm sorry," he said.  "It was my fault.  I wasn't paying attention and you got hurt."  Her face contorted in pain and she labored for breath.

He decided to try one last time.  He took a deep breath and dove beneath the surface.  Unable to see, he searched with his hands until he found the shaft that was crushing her leg.  It moved slightly and she pulled her leg out from under it.  He lifted his face out of the water, gulping in air.  Then he grabbed her and pulled her up with him.  Even standing up, the water level had reached his shoulders.  "You are such a stubborn idiot," she breathed.

"Shut up and keep quiet," he said sternly.  He studied their situation.  There was no way she could swim.  Holding her, he headed for the exit.  The door was already underwater.

"There's no way you can save me," she whispered, her voice surprisingly loud in his ear.

"I told you to be quiet," he responded.  "There's got to be another exit.  I'll find it. It'll be okay.  We'll get out of this."

"There you go again, saying "It'll be okay".  You're so irresponsible."  He moved away from the door.  Even if he could have forced it open, it would have flooded the second level.  His eyes searched desperately for another exit.  Then he realized his feet weren't touching the floor.  He gulped in air when their bobbing motion got his face above water.  Nearly at his limit, he was about to admit defeat when he saw a ladder climbing upward in the corner of the room.  If they could use it to reach the emergency passageway, they would survive.

He headed toward it.  "We're going to make it, Pamuya," he called out excitedly.  She didn't answer.  He swam as strongly as he could to reach the ladder.  With her draped on his back, he climbed upward.  At the top, he opened the flood hatch and pushed her through.  He followed immediately behind her and quickly shut the hatch.  The sound of the flood faded away. 

Despite his exhaustion, there wasn't time to rest.  Pamuya was still losing blood.  He lifted her on his back again and lurched down the passageway.  He was wondering which way to go when Heaven appeared before him.   "Medea told us what happened.  Bring her to the infirmary.  Doctor Young is preparing to treat her.  I will guide you."

"Pamuya, Pamuya," he reassured his burden, "it's going to be okay."  He was relieved to hear her emit a pain-filled groan.  The thought entered his exhausted mind that he would never have been able to tell her it was no use, even if saying it would be okay was irresponsible. 

With renewed energy, he rushed to the infirmary and set Pamuya down on one of the beds.  She had lost so much blood.  Standing over her, he asked, "What are we going to do?"

Dr. Young pushed him out of the way.  He stumbled back and sat on the floor.  She took something from a rack and pressed it on Pamuya's thigh.  "This is bad," she muttered.

"What?  How bad?  Can't you use the scanner?"

"It seems to be broken," she replied. 

"I can do it," Heaven said, and waved her hand in the air over Pamuya.  "There is a compound fracture of her femur.  The artery is severed.  She'll need sutures."

"I've stitched up my finger before," Dr. Young said.  Kensington remembered she was an archaeologist, not a medical doctor. 

"I will direct you," Heaven assured her.  "Anesthesia, the laser scalpel, forceps and sutures, and everything we'll need, are all in this room."

Dr. Young started removing Pamuya's clothing.  "Taylor!  Don't sit there.  You're in the way and you shouldn't be seeing this.  Out!"  She pointed toward the exit.

He nodded, got up and trudged to the door.  "Take care of her, okay."

"Leave it to me," she said.  "Out."

As soon as he was in the hallway, his fatigue finally hit him.  He set himself down in the nearest chair.

[Andromeda]

I like it.  You end your chapters well.  The Doctor not being a doctor of medicine finally becomes a point.  I like the chapter.  So, I'm reading it.

[kadh2000]

A rather low key chapter after the intensity of the last one.  I considered a long scene with Heaven after she talks to Kensington in the Infirmary.  It got too intimate so I ditched it.  I want his romantic interest to be kept with Pamuya.  Those kinds of complications aren't what the story is about.

Chapter 9: Life Strives

He had barely closed his eyes when Medea appeared.  "Is Pamuya going to be alright?"

"You let them know right away," he assured her, "so she's going to be fine."  Her eyes were moist and she had probably been crying.  She tried to smile, but did seem somewhat reassured by his positive attitude. 

"She'll, be alright," he said, closing his hand into a fist.  It was directed at himself as much as to her.

After eternity passed, Dr. Young and Heaven emerged from the infirmary.  "The surgery is over," Heaven reported.  "Pamuya is going to live.  It required over forty stitches and will take two months to heal completely and a few more months for her to be able to walk normally."  It wasn't as good as Starfleet standards, but they could take care of that when they got back to the ship.  "Until a rescue team arrives at Utopia and we can get her out of here, she's going to have to rest."

Kensington nodded and thanked them both.  Dr. Young had a slight frown on her face.  "What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Oh nothing," she replied and covered her mouth to yawn.  "I'm just really tired after that.  I've never done an operation before."

"By the way," Heaven added, "it appears the flooding was contained to the warehouse on the second level.  As an emergency measure, all pipelines to the warehouse have been closed and that entire area has been sealed off from the rest of the second level.  So, we don't have to worry about that flood damage expanding.  That's it then."

They returned to the conference center and discussed ways of escape, but came up with nothing new.  They didn't want to feel like they were completely wasting their time, however.  They decided to give Utopia one more search.  Kensington tried to make light of the situation to keep their spirits up.  "Maybe we can find something decent to eat.  No more of those 'chicken' sandwiches."  When no one responded, he asked "How many people can ride on a neutral buoyancy elevator that doesn't have enough buoyancy?"  His propositions got more ridiculous as time passed.  Finally, the others began to laugh at some of them.

Finding nothing, they separated and each was lost in their own thoughts.   Kensington wandered the second level, still thinking about what to do.  He found himself in front of the infirmary.  He hoped Pamuya was still asleep. As he stood before the door trying to decide if he should check on her, the door slid open.  He was greeted by the faint, but harsh odor of disinfectant.  Dr. Young and Ryogo were in the room.  "Taylor, what are you doing here?" she asked, slightly surprised.

"Nothing really," he lied.  "I just thought I'd get some coffee to wake myself up.  What about you two?" 

What appeared to be the parts to the automatic scanner were spread out on the floor.  Ryogo was crouching beside her looking at a datapad.  "Well, you know," she said, "I thought I'd try to fix this machine after all.  The kid here is very helpful.  He's good at reading blueprints."  That made sense to Kensington.  At least the young man still had his skills. 

"I wish I could remember how I know how to do this as well as I know how to do it," Ryogo said glumly.  He shook his head in frustration.

"Don't worry about it now," Dr. Young reminded him.  "Wondering about it right now will do you no good.  It will all make sense when your memory returns.  Now, hand me that wrench."  Sitting cross-legged on the floor, she began to unscrew the cover to the device with the wrench he gave her.

"I can see up your skirt when you sit like that," Kensington commented inanely. 

"Well then, cut that out," she ordered.  "This isn't a peep show."

He raised both hands and backed away.  "Alright.  I was just joking.  But maybe we should tackle some of the trickier problems."

"Why's that?" she asked.

"If he gets hit on the head, he might only be good at this stuff for a little bit.  We don't want his brain cells even more jostled."

"Oh please," she said.  "This is not a storybook."

"What's a storybook?" Ryogo asked.  "I have a vague sense that I have heard the word before."

"Well, you're missing about twenty percent of life, right there," Dr. Young said.   A strange conversation had begun and Kensington thought it was a good time to escape it.  He turned his back to leave and Dr. Young asked him to wait.  She rose and came to stand in front of him.  "Didn't you come in to check on Pamuya?  She's sleeping in that bed over there."  She pointed to one of the beds on the far wall.  "She isn't conscious yet and of course she can't move her body.  She really just needs to rest."  Dr. Young's expression hardened as she spoke slowly.   "It's not that I'm so sure of myself, but… I've done my very best for her.  I can't guarantee that she will, but I want her to get better."

"I know," he said.  "I'm really grateful for what you have done."  He looked her straight in the eyes.  "If you hadn't done it, she wouldn't be alive even now."

"But we still don't know if she will really recover," Dr. Young said weakly.

"You worry too much.  Don't you trust yourself?"

"No," she said simply.  "I'm not a trained doctor.

"Pamuya won't give up so easily," Kensington assured her.  "She'll pull through it.  She'll be just like she was before in no time and giving me a hard time as usual."

She smiled.  "I guess so.  Thanks."

"Back to the scanner, then," he said, "and I'll go check on her."  Medea plopped back down and she and Ryogo began grappling with the now coverless scanner. 

Pamuya was stretched out peacefully on the bed.  A bag filled with a yellow liquid dripped down a clear tube to a needle in her arm.  He was glad to see she didn't require a respirator.  Then he wondered if the infirmary even had a respirator.  Thankfully she didn't look like she was in any pain.  She was sleeping so serenely, he could almost believe she would recover quickly.  He remembered how she dragged him through the aquarium.  How tough she was, so much stamina. 

She lay under a white blanket.  Her right foot was completely covered by a brace and bandages.  He couldn't tell what kind of condition it was in.  He realized that the smell of antiseptic he had noticed when he came into the room was still harsh and strong around the bed.  He looked down at the floor and it was as if the tiles were blurring, changing color.  It was the color of her blood.  It was the raw, brutal traces of the surgery.  He gently squeezed her hand, which was peeping out from under the blanket.  "I'm sorry," he whispered.  He blamed himself for what had happened to her.  If she didn't make it, it wasn't the kind of thing made better by an apology.  Even if she did recover,  what would he say to her?  It would only be natural for her to hate him.  "…so sorry."  He repeated it to her over and over, even if she couldn't answer.

"Taylor?"  There was a voice behind him.  It was Heaven.  He let go of Pamuya's hand and whirled around.  "It is unlikely that she will wake up for a while.  The anesthetic is still in effect.  It is probably best to leave her alone right now. "

"I suppose you're right," he agreed. 

Changing the subject, she asked, "Are you free right now?  If it is alright, I would like to talk to you about something."

"What about?"

"Well, you see," she dithered.  "It's um, a, a secret."  She laughed a little, almost self-consciously.  She wanted to keep something secret?  He was a little shocked.  "This room is a little crowded.  Why don't we go outside?"

He looked back at Pamuya. "Actually, I'd like to stay here a little bit longer, if you don't mind."  He couldn't help but making a joke. "It's not often you get to see Pamuya being so still and docile.  I am wondering about this big secret, though.  Can't we talk back here?"

"I can't talk to you back here because it's confidential."

He looked down at the bed again.  "Alright… let's see."

"No, stay," she said.  "It's not that big of a deal.  We can discuss it later.  If you'll excuse me, then."  With a smile on her face, she turned and left.

He turned his attention again to Pamuya's sleeping face.  She didn't say anything.  It was normal for her not to talk about herself.  But now she wasn't saying anything at all.  He wanted to hear something. As soon as possible.  Anything.  He didn't care.  He just wanted to hear her voice again.  He began to believe he could bear her harshest, most cutting words. 

There was a sound.  He turned his head, sure he had been mistaken.  The lift to the decompression chamber was moving on its own.  He ran over and peered into the square hole where it had been.  It had gone down and was stopped.  He pushed the button to call it up and jumped in as soon as it arrived.  He went down to the decompression floor.  No one was in the chamber. 

He wondered if the lift was malfunctioning.  He reached out to push the button to take him back up.  At that moment, something crossed the path of his vision.  There was the faint sound of tiny footsteps moving away.  They were running through the emergency corridor.  He entered the corridor and followed the sounds.  They didn't sound quite like human footsteps.   Whatever was making the faint noises seemed to be something smaller, much smaller.  It was running with quite some momentum, sometimes even crashing into walls.  It was in a desperate hurry.  He decided it was an animal of some kind.  It bothered him that it had apparently run out of the infirmary. 

The footsteps turned off the main corridor and into a dead end.  Despite there being nowhere for it to go, somehow he lost it.  Perhaps, he thought, it had fallen down a stairway or climbed into a duct and jumped down a floor.  He decided he had seen something like a rat.  A rat didn't seem such an odd creature for such a large place.  He sighed, yelled at himself for chasing after a stupid rat, and retraced his steps. 

When he got back to the decompression chamber, he noticed for the first time, that the bed was looking dirty.  He wondered who had eaten there.  There were small breadcrumbs on the bed.  When he got back to the infirmary, he asked Dr. Young.  She and Ryogo were still in the middle of their repair efforts.  "Do you know who was eating bread in the decompression chamber?"

She frowned and turned the hand holding a screwdriver at him.  "I don't know."  Ryogo didn't know either.  Insulation tape was wrapped around his fingers.   "Taylor, are you sure it wasn't you?" she asked, teasing him.

He shook his head.  "Why would it be me if I'm the one asking about it?  It doesn't really matter who it was, but we should be a little more careful about stuff like that.  I think I saw a rat in here just a moment ago.  If we leave food lying about, it might get eaten."

"Ah," she agreed.  "In that case, we should be more careful.  There is plenty of food in that kiosk, but it would be awful if it was broken into.  Do you think we should try and catch the rat?"

Kensington shook his head.  "I don't think we need to go that far."

She turned to Ryogo, suddenly enthusiastic.  "You don't happen to know how to make a rat trap, do you?" 

"Who knows?"  He laughed and shrugged his shoulders.  "I don't know if I know or not."

Having found no other food elsewhere, they met again for chicken sandwiches.  "Can't you fix anything else?" Ryogo asked him.

"I can't do anything about that," Kensington explained.  "It's all we have here.  I cooked the only sausages I could find this morning."

Ryogo stared at his half-eaten sandwich disinterestedly.  He didn't look like he wanted to finish it.  "Eat up," Dr. Young ordered.  "We walked all over looking for something else to eat, but it was no use.  The food that was washed into the corridors during the flooding is almost all spoiled.  But that's okay because we have more stuff to make chicken sandwiches than you can imagine!"

"I guess that's true," he agreed reluctantly and tore off another bite. 

"To survive," she explained, "it's crucial that you have something you can eat."

"I think he's gotten the picture," Kensington observed as Ryogo continued to eat.  "It looks like we've got a real survivor on our hands."

"That's right," Dr. Young agreed.  "Survival's a hobby of mine.  Sometimes I go into the mountains alone.  I carve my own path.  Sometimes I even get a bit lost."

"Training in some ancient martial art on the sly?" Kensington asked.

She put a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes.  "Why do you have to get like that?"

"Yeah, out fighting the black bears under the winter moon," he teased.

She shook her head, but continued the game.  "Nope.  I hunt out hot springs that nobody knows about.  Yes, deep in the mountains where nobody else has ever been… that is this girl's idea of romantic."  She wriggled, as if intoxicated by the image.

"So, you were soaking in the hot springs with a bear."

"Would you stop it about bears already?" she asked, exasperated.

"So, despite appearances, you really are wild at heart."

She drew herself up in an exaggerated fashion.  "What might you be suggesting? Heh, heh, heh."

"That's right, you did say you stitched your own finger up earlier.  I suppose that was also while you were out searching for hot springs?"

"Yeah.  I am an archaeologist, after all.  But that was just a surface scratch and I only needed a few stitches. "

"Humph," Kensington snorted.  "Just like I thought.  Bear wrestling."

"Give it up!"  Her face turned red as she exploded.  He grinned and laughed.  With a sigh she turned away from him.  "I can't take this anymore."  She did look fed up and he decided he may have carried the joke a little too far.  Her face clouded over.  He didn't think his teasing had gotten her that down. 

Avoiding his eyes, she muttered, "About Pamuya."  She stopped.  She seemed like she wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.  She started to continue, but they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps splashing toward them through the water.

Medea came running in.  "I'm ready to eat.  All that running around has me starved."  Kensington gave her the last chicken sandwich.   She ate happily and Ryogo stared at her.  "This is divine, isn't it?" she asked the young man.

He agreed half-heartedly.  "I'm getting a little tired of it."  His sandwich was still unfinished. 

She opened her hand and poured some gooey substance from a tube onto his sandwich. "This will make it taste better."

"What is it?" Ryogo asked.

"Sour cream," she said excitedly.  "I think it was supposed to be for salads. I found it in the gift shop."

Ryogo looked at the tube.  "Add some spice to your life," he read aloud.  "Crab flavored cream sauce: mild."

"That could broaden our culinary horizons," Kensington agreed.   Medea doused her own sandwich with the sauce and ate it with gusto.  Ryogo looked at her doubtfully before biting into his own sandwich.   His expression changed to one of delight and he quickly finished eating.

"What are you going to do with Pamuya's sandwich?" Medea asked Kensington.  "I can keep it for her."  Kensington had indeed made her one.  It was being kept in the warmer. 

"Sorry Medea," Dr. Young interrupted.  "Pamuya's still asleep and she won't wake up for a while.  We'll need to let her sleep longer." 

Medea sighed unhappily. "Will she be able to eat it when she wakes up? We can save it for her." 

Kensington glanced at Dr. Young, who nodded.  "Okay, we'll save it."

That satisfied Medea.  "Now we need some exercise," she said.  Ryogo agreed and the two of them hurried off through the shallow water.

After they were gone, Dr. Young quietly told Kensington.  "Pamuya is still sleeping.  I checked on her just before I came here.  I'm not a medical expert or anything so I can't say anything specific about her condition, but she seems to be recuperating.  Satisfactory progress, I think.  Maybe too satisfactory."

Kensington looked at her sharply.  "What do you mean, too satisfactory?"

"I don't know how to put it," she said slowly.  She stopped talking and let her head fall forward. 

Kensington tried to cheer her up.  "If her condition is stable, that's good isn't it?  The operation went well, right?"

"Yeah," Dr. Young reluctantly agreed. 

"Then what is it?" Kensington asked.  "Still worried that you lost your confidence somewhere or something?"

"No.  It's not that."  Then she paused, and continued on more enthusiastically.  "Yes.  That's it."  She lifted her head and he thought she had realized something.  "I may have lost some of my confidence, but I know Pamuya is recovering. Life force is an amazing thing, isn't it?  Humans don't die so easily." She smiled up at him.

The two of them finished cleaning the kiosk and joined Medea and Ryogo.  Kensington found himself looking at the four stone statues that were lined up along one wall.  One of them extended a hand that pointed toward the south.  Another reached east.  Yet another looked to the heavens while reaching a hand upward.  The remaining figure had both hands pressed to its chest and eyes closed.  He wondered if there were some kind of meaning to them.  He asked Dr. Young, but she shook her head negatively.  Medea and Ryogo were in and out among the figures as they burned off some excess energy. 

"Where did Heaven go?" Dr. Young asked suddenly.  Kensington didn't know.  She had vanished when he started cooking.  "She's probably in the control room," Dr. Young suggested.  "It only happens every once in a while, but she sometimes dives into NeVAEH's main console and doesn't come out for a while.  It seems like she gets pretty caught up in her work."

He wondered if that was all it was.  Dr. Young left to check it out.  Kensington yawned, stretched, and went over to watch Ryogo and Medea.  It almost seemed like they were playing tag without caring who was it.  Without appearing to get bored, they kept running around in the same place.  Kensington, however, got restless watching them.  He didn't feel like asking to join in and let his eyes roam around the room.

He found Heaven standing next to a flower bed, having suddenly appeared there after her unexplained absence.  "I've been here a while," she said.  "I've been looking at the flowers."  Three different types of flowers were planted in the bed together.

"They don't seem to be doing very well," Kensington observed.

"Nobody's watered them for the past several days," she said.  The soil was dry and its surface was cracked.  The flowers had wilted and the plants were beginning to dry up.  She bent over them.  "Life is sure a strange phenomenon. A bud sprouts from a seed, a flower blossoms, reproduces, a seed matures and returns to the earth.  From that seed comes another bud, another flower which reproduces, a new seed which in turn returns to the earth.  And on and on just like that. What is the purpose of life?  Why do flowers bloom?"

He stared at her, unable to reply.  Why, indeed, did flowers bloom? he asked himself. 

"Whatever the reason or purpose," she continued, "I think life is a wonderful thing.  When I see a flower struggling to exist, growing from a crack in concrete, I have a strange and wonderful feeling.  Flowers are always striving desperately to live. Even in an environment such as this: in the depths of the ocean, without enough light or carbon dioxide, even in such parched and cracked soil.  They never think about giving up, but just struggle courageously to live.  Doesn't it inspire you? Or, maybe not.  Maybe it's no use contemplating the meaning or purpose of flowers." 

She glanced up at the ceiling.  He looked up also.  A shrill siren rang out loudly.  Tiny sensors hidden in openings in the ceiling were moving wildly.  Once again he heard the sound of flowing water from somewhere.  "It can't be another flood!" he shouted in alarm.

Water rained down from the ceiling.  The drops poured down upon them mercilessly.  Soon after, they were suffused in a heavy mist.  Heaven's appearance changed to that of a rainbow.  "What in the world?" he exclaimed.  "What's going on?"

A smile hovered about her mouth.  He looked up again at the ceiling.  He couldn't see much through the fine mist.  Drops of water were everywhere.  Then it hit him.  "Oh, it's the sprinklers."  Heaven nodded without speaking.  He cupped his hands and gathered some water in them and sipped at it, both tasting and testing it in his mouth.  It was neither fire-extinguishing liquid nor seawater.  "Filtered water," he observed. 

"Yes," she agreed.  "This complex uses the purist possible water."

"So it's for watering these flowers."  She gave a small grin and laughed, but didn't answer him. 

Dr. Young joined them soon after.  "What's going on?  I heard the alarm."  Ryogo and Medea had come up too.  "You're drenched!  Don't tell me it's another flood."

"No, no, no," Kensington explained.  "Don't worry.  There's nothing to worry about.  Let me explain."  The water stopped.  Heaven smiled and gazed at the flowerbed. 

"You didn't decide to pull another silly prank on us, did you?" Dr. Young asked.

It was Kensington's turn to smile.  He wanted to preserve Heaven's moment of intimacy.   "Something like that.  I saw a button on the wall and decided to see what it did, so I pushed it.

Dr. Young turned her head away and contain laughter.  "Taylor!" She balled a fist and swung it in his general direction.  "You're not a kid.  Who broke the group rules yesterday?  What are you thinking?"  She launched into a sermon but he didn't pay attention to her words.  He was gazing in wonder at the flowers.  The previously wilted and drooping flowers had, in such a short time, become full of life and seemed to be dancing about.

[Hstaphath_XC]

Nice!!!  I've spent some time on occasion contemplating the flowers myself.   

[kadh2000]

Wait 'til the sequel.  Yeah, sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses.

Kadh, who really loves the international floral show.

[Andromeda]

More!

[kadh2000]

I just realized I didn't do any editing for the last two chapters.  The next one will take a little longer.

[kadh2000]

Lightly edited.  Some of the dialog here gets repeated much later in the story, being said by different characters.  It's a) amusing and b) intentional.

CHAPTER 10: FAITH

Midnight snuck up on Kensington.  Everyone else was asleep in the conference room.  Some were snoring.  Their situation wasn't getting any better but at least it wasn't getting any worse.  It was better that they were able to sleep to prepare for what might come.   If only he could sleep.  He felt wide awake and alert.  He wondered how he could be so tired yet still awake.

His mind was racing.  He decided to take a walk to help him relax.  He stepped out of the conference room and into the water, which was colder than usual.  Now he was even more awake, but he slogged down the corridor, his steps slowed by his heavily soaked shoes.  Only the sound of his wet footsteps echoed through the night.    Nobody had come to get them, he thought, but couldn't allow that to weigh him down.   They had survived so far, were still alive, and would stay alive for the foreseeable future.   He believed that anyone who had made it this long would survive. 

He nodded to himself and turned into another corridor and came to a dead end.  It was a pressure door, sealed with a keypad lock.  There was writing on the door, but he couldn't read it.   He turned back into the main corridor and ran into Heaven.  "Oh,good.   There you are, Taylor.  I was looking for you."  He didn't answer, still wrapped in his thoughts.  "What's wrong?" she asked.  "Hello?"

"Oh, Heaven," he said, finally noticing her.  "You surprised me."  She had appeared in the corridor so that they were face-to-face.   They were so close it seemed like their noses overlapped.  He took three quick steps backward.  His heart was pounding from the shock.

"I'm sorry," she said.  "I didn't mean to get so close to you."  Her cheeks turned a soft red.  "Did I look strange?"

"No," he replied.  "You're beautiful, as always."

"Oh, thank you.  I'm just a little embarrassed."  He wondered if he had blurted out something that offended her.  She had smiled, however, so he decided it was alright.  He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. 

"Anyway," she continued and her expression became serious, "everyone else is still asleep so I haven't told them yet.  Pamuya was tossing and turning in bed a little while ago so I dispatched the medical wagon to keep her still.  I was surprised.  She was seriously hurt and still…"

"Shouldn't she be waking up soon?" he asked, interrupting her.

"Yes, I think she will soon regain consciousness."

"She shouldn't be tossing and turning like that," he agreed.  "That might reopen her wounds."

"That's why…" Heaven began, but he interrupted her again.

"We can't let that happen.  I'll go check on her."  He hurried off down the corridor, leaving Heaven standing there.  He flew up the stairs and sprinted through the corridors until he arrived in front of the infirmary on the second floor.  He poked the button to open the door, but it seemed to take forever.  Slowly and quietly it opened. 

Pamuya was still lying on a bed in the back of the room.  He walked slowly over to her and sat down on the bed next to hers. He could hear a computer at the other end of the room and suspected it was collecting data on her condition.  He was disappointed that she was still unconscious.  She appeared not to have moved at all and wondered if she had really been turning in her sleep.  As he watched, her fingers began to twitch and her eyes opened. 

He wondered suddenly what he should do or say.  He didn't know where to begin.  She awoke before he decided and lifted one arm from her side and laid it across her chest.  "Uh, good morning," he said.  His mind had gone blank.

"What time is it?" she whispered. 

"I'm not sure.  Sometime after midnight."

"Oh."  She appeared to move weakly underneath the blanket. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"That's a stupid question."

"I'm just asking," he replied.  "Tell me how you're feeling."

"Awful," she answered.  "My whole body hurts.  I feel terrible."  She lifted her hand up to her face, opening and closing it slowly.  She didn't seem able to move much.

"How's the injury?  Does it hurt much?  You may still be a bit under anesthesia."

"Injury?" she asked, confused.  "Anesthesia?"

"You didn't forget what happened yesterday, did you?" he asked, worried.

Her eyes wandered around the room.  To the ceiling, the sheets, the cast on her leg.  "Oh, right.  I remember. I…" She started to rise, but noticing the IV cord snaking up her arm, she frowned. 

She was alive!  The thought raced through him.  She was injured yes, but breathing.  Her life had been saved and for that he was grateful.  But it was his fault.  He was the one who had caused her injury.  "I'm sorry," he said hesitantly.  He wanted to tell her how he felt. 

"Why are you apologizing?" She cut him off.

"It was my fault you were injured," he explained.  "Because I was careless you ended up getting hurt.  It was my fault.  That's why I'm sorry.  What's more, you protected Medea.  You made sure she didn't get hurt.  I don't know how to thank you."  He lowered his head. 

Her face soured.  She glared at him.  "Don't misunderstand! I was injured, but it wasn't because I sacrificed myself for Medea's safety."  She sighed heavily.   "It's just that, it's just that I wanted to die."

"What?" he asked sharply and raised his head.

"Why did you have to save me? If you left me alone I could have finally died."

"What?" he repeated, dumbfounded.  He jumped up from the bed, shaking his fist furiously.  "What the hell did you just say?  You!  What do you mean you could have finally died?"

"That's what I said, isn't it? I… I wanted to die." She gazed at him, narrowing her eyes, and became very quiet.

He looked back.  He could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn't joking.  Because of that he couldn't forgive her.  He slammed his fists on the bed violently.  "Pamuya, you stupid little!  How dare you say that so lightly?"  He looked straight at her and screamed.   "When you die, it's game over.  Do you understand that?  Have you forgotten about us and what we're facing here?"  Now it was his turn to glare at her.  She hadn't actually done something wrong, but he couldn't forgive her for saying that.

She lay back in the bed and snorted.  "You don't understand, Taylor.  My life is a nightmare.  This universe is littered with ugliness."

"Cut your poetic garbage," he overrode her.  Again he pummeled the bed with his fists.  "Life is the most important thing in the universe.  It's a miracle!" 

"You're wrong," she said bitterly.  "This is no miracle.  In this ever expanding universe, continuing infinitely, this phenomenon called life is no miracle.  It's unnatural and it's an accident that we awoke in this disgusting world."

"Wrong."  He couldn't listen to her.  "You are wrong, Pamuya."  He hesitated for a moment.  "You are unbelievably wrong."

"Where am I wrong?" she challenged him.  "Tell me where I'm mistaken."  All emotion left her face.  She spoke plainly and precisely.  "Life is just a cluster of empty desires. We build our lives on the corpses of others.  We kill cows, pigs, birds, fish and plants and if we don't, we die.  Our appetites are whetted by the slaughtering of others.  Our desire for sleep only proves our laziness.  Our sexual desires are expressed through obscenity and sin.  All the things that keep us alive, the things that drive us, are filthy.  We can't live without them. There is no such thing as a life of purity.  Ultimately, from the moment we are born, we are already corrupted."

"And that is why you want to die?"

"Yes."

He became quiet, contemplating what she had said.  Then he started laughing.  "I thought you were smarter than that, but I guess I overrated you.  You have a point, and I think you are partially right.  I'll admit it.  In order for us to live, it's true that we have committed some atrocities.  Sometimes people do terrible, despicable things.  Do you really think that just living is a sin?  That's the result of arrogant values.  You don't really think it's a crime for a bird to snatch fruit from a tree, do you?  Does a tiger feel guilt for eating its prey?  Is it really a terrible thing to join together and create new life?  Everything that is necessary to continue living is not only right, but I believe it is sacred.  The birds, the tigers, the ants, even the grass all work so hard to live.  It's a beautiful thing.  To love the lives of others is just as important as loving yourself.  You have to realize that, don’t you?"

She looked at him and frowned.  "It's ridiculous."

"Stop pretending to be so cold." He resisted the urge to kick her bed over.  "Tell me, why did you protect Medea?  Why did you sacrifice yourself to save Medea? I don't know exactly what happened there, but I do know that you are avoiding the truth. You are desperately trying to deny life.  Everyone's desires are born out of life.  You only want to believe they are wrong to prove your selfish point.  You are holding on obstinately, living while all you want to do is die.  Your logic is completely backwards.  Life should be unconditionally embraced.  Everyone lives for the sake of living.  By definition living beings must have life.  If love is beautiful, then so is life."

"You don't understand a thing." 

"Yeah," he agreed.  "I don't understand. We've known each other for what?  Just three days.  I don't know a THING about you, but I know for certain that what I'm saying is one hundred percent true.  So don't say that you want to die." 

I won't let you say it, the thought entered his mind.  He bit his lip as he stared at her.  For once he had told her exactly how he felt with no holding back or regrets.  I don't want you to say it anymore, he thought again. I don't even want to have to say those things.  You survived for a reason, Pamuya.  Don't say that you want to throw that away.

She just looked back at him and sighed again.  The tension slipped from her shoulders.  Her eyes lit up.  "Yes, I get it."

Had he finally gotten through to her?  He couldn't help but smile.  A matching smile appeared on her lips.  "I understand perfectly," she muttered.  "You are a total hypocrite."  He turned and shuffled out of the room without answering.

"What happened?" Heaven asked him.  "Where's Pamuya?"  She met him just outside the door to the infirmary, with a worried expression on her face. 

"She's alive," he muttered, "but she wishes she were dead."

"Did she really tell you that?" Heaven asked, alarmed. 

He nodded.  "It's true.  She didn't get what she wanted: death."

"But you don't have to…" she began, her voice quivering.

"I should have never even helped save her," he said.

"Stop that!" she ordered.  "You should not say things like that.  That is awful.  I am so disappointed in you."

"I'm sorry," he said.  "Now you're upset too.  I'm not myself right now.  I'm heading back to bed, even though I know I can't sleep."  He raised his hand weakly and parted with her.  She stood by the entrance to the infirmary, frozen, without movement. 

He did sleep and found it difficult to awaken.  It made him irritated.  Why he had such difficulty falling asleep was beyond him.  He wondered if he were focusing too much on not being able to sleep.  It was a vicious cycle.  He eventually managed to get up, groggy but not so sleepy that it would drive him crazy.  He opened and closed his hand.  His body seemed in good shape.  He shook his head a little and slapped his cheeks.  He breathed in a deep rush of cold air, breathed it out, and gradually cleared his head.  Mustering his strength, he hopped out of bed. He put the voice alternator back in his ears. 

He called out something about cooking breakfast for the others, but no one answered.  When he looked around, no one was there.  The conference room was empty.  He had slept for nearly seven hours.  He hurried to the food kiosk and found Dr. Young standing outside of it.  "You're late."  The others were waiting.  "You're a total mess."  Her cheeks seemed swollen. 

"Sorry," he muttered.

"We've been waiting forever," she complained.  "I'm starving.  If my belly actually sticks to my spine, I'm holding you personally responsible.  Dear Lord, remember me when I waste away to nothing and am blown by the wind across the ocean. "

It was just the thing he needed.  "You're worried about being blown away by the wind?  I think it'd probably take a hurricane to carry you off."

"You're a real gentleman, captain," she replied, and her shoulder sagged. 

"I can't believe you all waited for me before eating," he said, changing the subject. 

The others looked at each other with a mix of conflicting expressions.  Their voices overlapped as they explained.    "We did try.  We tried a little too hard."

He gave them a quizzical look and went inside the kitchen.  The aroma was impossibly delicious.  Whatever it was they had cooked was a blackened, charred fish of some sort.  They had covered it with some unknown multicolored liquid.  Vegetables were diced beside it on the counter. 

"We divided up the work," Medea said laughing.  "You should try some too."

"You can actually eat this?" he asked, staring at the display. 

"Yup.  Of course, we don't know if it will actually taste good."  She laughed again.  "So don't be critical and let's eat."  He decided, after finishing his share, that there were a number of good reasons why he was in charge of cooking.

After eating, they trooped over to the rest area near the statues.  Kensington's stomach was still growling, or complaining, he wasn't sure which.  Together they had done the clean up from the unusual meal.  It had taken a while for the four of them to do the job.  "I gave Pamuya her sandwich from yesterday, and some we made earlier." Medea said.   

Whether Pamuya would actually eat it was another story.  "Was she eating alright?"

"Yes, she said she was really hungry.  I think she ate three sandwiches."

He grunted.  "I guess she's gotten well enough to eat, then."

"She's getting better pretty fast," Medea agreed.

He thought about her.  The night before she had said she wanted to die.  At least her body was determined to live.  If she kept that trend up, he thought she would continue to get well and there would be no more problems.  That, he realized, was a contradiction.  'All the things that keep us alive, the things that drive, us,' she had said, 'are filthy.  There is no such thing as a life of purity.'  The appetites necessary to sustain life were evil in her mind.  He asked himself how she could devour three sandwiches without even flinching.  There was something strange going on with her again. 

The word hypocrite, which she had used on him, came to mind.  "Who's the hypocrite now, Pamuya?" he asked aloud.  "What were you thinking?"  He couldn't help but feel resentment rising in his chest.

"What's the matter, Taylor?" Medea asked him.  "Your face is rather scary."

"Ah, it's nothing," he said looking up.  He didn't want to infect the others with his sullen mood.  He didn't want to be thinking about Pamuya anymore.    Waving one hand, he tried to sweep away his mood.

"Good," she said, relieved.  "I was afraid that breakfast wasn't sitting well."

"You guys didn't put something in there that would make me sick, did you?" he teased her. 

She grinned evilly.  "Do you really want to know?  You won't be sorry you ate them, if we did, right?"

He looked at her in shock.  She was getting back at him.  He raised his hands.  "No, stop!  Don't tell me.  I don't want to know."  Imagining the possibilities made his stomach hurt.  He shook it off and trotted over to the other two, who were wondering where Heaven was.

"She's looking again to see if she can find a clue that would help us escape," Dr. Young said.  "From what she said, I believe the sensors on the third floor are working a little better now."

Kensington cut in.  "Did you see her then?"

"Yes," Dr. Young replied.  "She was here for a few minutes just before you arrived."

"Did she say anything else?" he asked.  "Did she seem somehow different?"

"No.  Same as always.  Why?  Did you do something to her?"

"No, nothing!" he said defensively. 

"You're acting pretty suspicious," she said accusingly.  "Why did you ask that?  Not that I'm the type to hound you with questions.  So, what's the story my dear captain?"  She pretended to hold a microphone to his face.  "Can you tell me how you're feeling right now?"

He shook his head.  "I don't care what happens.  I'm not talking to you." 

She withdrew her invisible microphone.  "That does remind me," she said.  "You sneaked out of the room in the middle of the night.  That's relevant circumstantial evidence.  Were you sleepwalking?  It sounded like you ran up the stairs.  What do you have to say for yourself, captain?"

All of their eyes were now fixed on him.  Bathed in their attention, there was nowhere for him to escape.  He sighed.  "All right, I'll confess.  I went to see Pamuya.  I was going to take a walk when Heaven told me that Pamuya had woken up.  I didn't want her to get up and hurt herself so I went over to the infirmary. "

"This morning Heaven did say that she had woken up last night," Dr. Young said, agreeing with him.  "Sorry for giving you a hard time.  You should have told us too, last night."

"You're right," he agreed.  "I wasn't thinking. But you all did seem pretty dead to the world.  I didn't figure it would be any good to try to wake you all up."  No one seemed inclined to question him further. 

The excess energy slowly drained out of Kensington.  He wasn't tense, but he wasn't relaxed either.  He sat and wondered if he were just tired. He had been pondering all sorts of things when he couldn't sleep the past night.  Maybe he had hurt Heaven's feelings.  She always smiled and said she didn't mind, but he asked himself what he would say when he saw her.

He was jolted back to alertness and was surprised to hear Dr. Young saying, "… this is why so many Greek myths have been handed down to us."  She was standing in the center of the room, apparently giving a lecture.   The other two were sitting on the benches, listening attentively.  He wandered over and joined them.

"That statue over there is really a lovely piece," she said, pointing at the statue in the corner.   "The beautiful statue and the sculptor who loved her.  I'll tell you their story."  She gave a melodramatic cough.  Then she turned back to the group and began gesturing. 

"Once upon a time, in a place called Cyprus, there was a young sculptor.  His name was Pygmalion.  He's been called the King of Cyprus in some stories.  In these myths they tend to call anyone a king or a god so we'll ignore that for a bit. 

"Anyway, there was an excellent sculptor named Pygmalion. His statues were incredible.  They were so vital and full of life, they looked as though they might come to life at any moment.  Pygmalion couldn't seem to get interested in ladies.  The people around him wondered why a brilliant sculptor like him couldn't land a wife.  But he seemed to only care about making his statues. 

"Then one day he finished the nude sculpture of a woman.  It was a wonderful piece, absolutely charming, and even he himself thought it might be his ultimate masterpiece.  As he looked on her beautiful, almost living face, he realized that she was naked and became embarrassed.  He brought clothes for her and dressed her.  When it got dark, he was so besotted with her he brought her food to eat, talked to her, and even slept next to her. 

"It was the first time he had ever experienced true love.  Love for the statue he himself had created.  He poured all the love that he had into her.  He believed that one day she would speak to him.  In the meantime he neglected his work.  He forgot to eat and sleep and Pygmalion began to waste away. 

"People began to worry that he might die, so they prayed to the gods.  Pygmalion was agonizing as well.  He was so sad to see her unable to speak, or eat, or sleep.  He thought that when he became old and went to heaven she would have to continue standing there just waiting to decay.  To him it was unthinkable.  If he couldn't be bound to her, it would be better if he threw himself off a cliff.  If only she was a real woman with blood running through her veins. 

"It went on something like that until his prayers reached Aphrodite, the goddess of love.  Aphrodite came down to him and told him to kiss his beloved statue.  When he gently kissed her, her skin flushed pink, her eyes opened, and she turned into a living woman.  A woman as beautiful as the statue had been.  So they married, and even had children.  He kept making even more beautiful statues for temples around the world, and they lived happily ever after."

Finally finished with her long story, Dr. Young pinched her skirt and curtsied.  The other two applauded her.  "That was pretty interesting," Ryogo told her.  As for Kensington, he watched silently.  It was a pretty scholarly talk, but he kept quiet and watched the others faces. 

With her finger extended in front of her face, Dr. Young spoke confidently.  "The story of Pygmalion shows us that if you hope and ask and persevere, your wishes will come true.  His longing was answered because he put his heart into his sculpture and then loved her, believing that she would speak to him one day. "

"Now this is a little different," she went on, "but later a guy named Rosenthal wrote about something called 'The Pygmalion Effect."  Now she was being a professor on a soapbox.  Kensington found himself drawn in.  "It's not quite the same as the placebo effect, but both of them involve believing in something.  So they both have to do with our chances of survival.  Just because the sushi in a display case is made of plastic, doesn't mean it is cheap."

Her talk seemed to have derailed like a nasty train wreck. Kensington had no idea what she meant.   The other two continued to be a rapt audience.   As she continued to hold their attention, his brain started working again. 

[Andromeda]

Heaven's a little awkward.  The line about being embarrassed is oddly placed.  Kensington's still rash as ever.  It's nice to see his ideals and strengths shown though.  It's about time he got a little development.   I still haven't figured Pamuya out.  I'm hoping her background comes sooner or later.  That'll no doubt go a long way to explaining her.  Medea's accusations about the food sound like they should belong to Dr. Young.  So, I've actually noticed the difference between characters.  Yay you.

All in all, a nice chapter that fills out our hero a little more.  Good title for it too. 

[Czar Mohab]

Seriously trying to catch back up on this... I have been reading and enjoying... just not having much time of late to comment in depth.

What the Kadh writes I generally like, so at the very least you should know that someone is reading (albeit slowly) and will read it to the end. If something sticks out I'll comment on it... Otherwise please keep churning out more so when I can finally catch up I'll have a good long read doing so.

Czar "Faith manages," Mohab

[kadh2000]

Good!

This, btw, is the first draft.  I've finished it and am working on a second.  I'll continue to post this first draft until I've got it all here. 

[kadh2000]

The next part was originally two chapters.  It should have been one long one.

CHAPTER 11:  PRINCE CHARMING

When Dr. Young was done, Kensington led them up to the second floor to check on Pamuya.  "I wonder how she's doing," he commented idly as they went up.

"In any case," Dr. Young reminded them, "she still needs rest."

"Well," he countered, "worrying about her won't make her better any faster."

"Heaven would have let us know if anything had happened to her," was her rejoinder, "and NeVEAH's always watching the data from the medical center.  Since we haven't had any news, that means she's probably sleeping peacefully."

"Then there's nothing to worry abouteroon," Medea commented.

"What language is abouteroon?" Kensington asked her.

"Medea-ese!"  He was taken aback and then she continued.  "Whoa, geezer's going swimming in the winter.  Obstinate stubbornness!  There's also abouteroo."  He was glad she was so upbeat.

"We should have brought her flowers," Ryogo said when they stood outside the door.

"Where would we have gotten flowers?" Kensington asked sarcastically.

"Oh, that's right."  At least, Kensington thought, he had remembered on his own. 

He entered the medical center ahead of the others and mustered his most cheerful voice.  "Pamuya?  You alive?  I had to force them, but I dragged everyone up here to see you."

"Don't be mean like that," Dr. Young upbraided him. 

Exchanging stupid banter, they approached the bed.   "I did it on purpose, as a joke," he said.  "You know, joke around, try and cheer her up a little."

"I don't know…" she replied.   

Ryogo, who had passed them, stopped suddenly and pointed toward the bed in the back.  "Pamuya's gone!"  They ran to the bed in shock.  She was gone.  She was really not there.  The bed was completely empty.  The covers were just the way they had been.  The pillow was just the same.  The IV tube and monitors had been torn off and scattered around.

"Why didn't NeVAEH pick this up?" he asked.  "It was monitoring her situation.  What happened?"

"I don't know what happened," Dr. Young replied, averting her eyes from his.  "Look at that!" she exclaimed.  Her eyes had come to rest in the corner of the room.  The medical computer had been unplugged and the monitor had been smashed to pieces.  There had been an electrical short and there was a burning stench around the area.  "Who could have done this?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Kensington agreed.

"Look at this," Medea said, pointing out another problem.  "What's that?"  Under the console there were some bandages and a long skinny case of some sort.  A white, hard case…  "Is this her leg brace?"

Dr. Young knelt down beside it.  "You're right.  It is Pamuya's brace."

"Which means," Kensington said, "she took off her own brace and smashed up the computer.  She got out of bed, smashed the computer, and then left the room."  His thoughts leaped right out of his mouth.  It was hard to believe.

"How can that be?" Medea asked.  "When I brought her the food this morning, she was still in pain in the bed.  Do you think Pamuya really did this?"

"Who else could it be?" Kensington countered.

"Someone kidnapped her?" Ryogo speculated.

"No one's here besides us," Kensington said.

"It's crazy either way," Dr. Young observed.  "How could Pamuya even walk on that leg?  It was a serious injury.  Without better technology, it should take over two months to heal. In fact, in her condition, she shouldn't even be able to get out of bed.  Besides, it's strange that NeVAEH didn't respond even if the computer is broken.  Even if someone had taken her out of here, the sensor on the ceiling should have picked it up."  Saying that, she raised her eyes to the ceiling.  "What in the world?"

"Maybe a spirit took her," Ryogo suggested. 

"Oh please," Dr. Young said.  Pamuya had disappeared.  They were all in shock.  Everyone kept talking though.  "Spirited away?  I don't believe that."  The color drained from her face as she absorbed the enormity of what had happened.  She was holding her chest, looking up at the ceiling, in a cold sweat.

"Calm down, Maryann," Kensington said gently.  "Take deep breaths."  She breathed in and out slowly.  A little color came back to her face.  Kensington relaxed, but still was faced with the question of what to do about the situation.

"Let's ask Heaven," he suggested.  "She ought to know what happened." 

Dr. Young looked up hopefully.  She ran to the panel to call Heaven.  "If NeVAEH hasn't realized it yet, it may mean that Heaven hasn't noticed it either."

"Call her anyway," Kensington ordered.  "It's better than going on a blind search."

"You're right."  After a moment, Heaven's image floated up on the terminal.  "Something terrible has happened," Dr. Young said excitedly.  "Pamuya is missing."

"What?" Heaven reacted in surprise.  "Are you sure?  I thought something had happened to the monitor in the room, but…"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Dr. Young interrupted.

"I am sorry," Heaven replied.  "There has been terrible jamming and it… delayed me."

"What kind of jamming?" Kensington asked.  "Electromagnetic interference?"

"How is the room?" Heaven asked, without answering him.  "Is everyone there?"

"Other than Pamuya, we're all here."

"My 'eyes' aren't working," Heaven said.  "I wasted time trying to confirm…"

"We're alright," Dr. Young interrupted her again.  "Can you come right over?"

"Of course, right away."  Heaven disappeared from the monitor and instantly she was standing in front of them.  "Am I in the right place?" she asked.  "Can you see me?"  She looked worried.

"You really can't see us?" Kensington asked.

"It's getting better," she said, "but there's still something wrong.  I can tell approximately where you are standing, but not which way you are facing."  She was talking to a spot right next to him.

"Heaven, Pamuya's not in the infirmary," Dr. Young said.  "Can you search the other rooms?"

"Give me a moment," Heaven responded.  "I will do a bio scan on the entire building."  She put her hands over the terminal and began accessing it immediately.

"Who are you talking to?" Ryogo asked, still by Pamuya's bed.

They left the infirmary.  Heaven was bewildered by the sudden sensor trouble.  It was taking her a few minutes longer than usual to perform the bio scan.  "I wasn't able to see Heaven," Ryogo explained.  "That means the ceiling sensors over the bed, and as far as the lift, aren't operating correctly." Dr. Young nodded in agreement.   "The Pamuya must have left via the emergency corridor."

"At least she was kind enough to leave the candles burning for us," Kensington cracked.  Emergency flares were burning in the elevator.  He was completely shocked.  Did she want to keep them away that badly?

Heaven appeared.  "Sorry to keep you waiting.  I have the results of the bio scan."

"And where has Pamuya hobbled off to?" Kensington asked.  He guessed she couldn't have gone far.  In any case they would find her.  When they did, they would figure everything out.

"A neutral buoyancy elevator has gone down to the third level," Heaven said.  "Pamuya is slowly moving past the isolated sector."

"Can we call it to us?" he asked and she confirmed they could.  "I'll go over there."

"What?" Dr. Young said.  "Hold on Taylor.  Since you can only enter and exit that sector using the neutral buoyancy elevator, if we just wait a while…"

"We can't just let her be," he cut her off.  "What if her injury gets worse?  Besides, I want to hear a good explanation for why she ran off like this."  He left them and hurried off despite their protests.  When he reached the elevator, he called it to the second level.  He sprang in as soon as the door opened.  A moment later it closed and he started going down.

She can't leave without this, so she definitely can't leave until I get there, he thought.  Watch out Pamuya, here I come!  He cracked his knuckles.  She had pushed herself despite her injury and had gone off alone.  Did she really mean to kill herself?  Was she actually trying?  Maybe he should just let her.  But he wanted to give her a piece of his mind first.  He hoped she would stay alive just long enough for him to tell her all he wanted to say.

The door opened.  The stale air of the isolated sector flowed into his lungs.  Next to the elevator he had ridden in, another elevator was still stopped.  An elevator with a hole blasted in it…  He couldn't even smell the stench of acetone anymore.  He walked down the hallway, marshaling his wits. 

He realized there was a room off the left side of the main corridor that he hadn't noticed during the power outage.  Thinking to explore further, he set his foot inside.  A huge creature that reminded him of a whale was stretched out.  He couldn't tell from a glance exactly what the purpose of this room was, other than that it was part of the park.  A whale floating in empty space.  The scene was surreal.  He wondered if there was an explanation written somewhere so he could ask one of the others.  Then he stopped, realizing he didn't have time to waste on it.  After making sure Pamuya wasn't in there, he left through the door on the opposite side of the room.

He quickly reached the generator room, pushed open the door, and stepped inside.  The machinery was giving off a steady, low hum and seemed to be working fine.  At least they didn't have to worry about electricity.  He looked around, but there was no trace of Pamuya. 

The corridor beyond the generator room was blocked off by a closed partition.  That left only one more room: the pipe room.  He supposed it would be called the pressure regulation room or something like that.  The pipes were connected to the boilers and turbines in the generator room.  He remembered Pamuya working there, closing a valve with her tools spread around her.

She was there now, leaning over a pool just like the time before.  However, she didn't have any tools so she wasn't closing off a valve.  Instead, craning her neck, she seemed to be looking over at the other side of the pipes.  He suppressed the urge to yell.  "Pamuya," he called out, pretending to be calm, "what are you doing here?"  He didn't want to lose his temper right off the bat.  She was injured after all.

She stood up slowly and looked his way.  "Are you looking for something?" he asked.

"No, not really," she answered.  She stepped back as if she were keeping watch over him.  He could tell that she was agitated and hadn't expected to see him.  Her gaze didn't fix on anything and her eyes kept flitting to the pipes behind her.

It bothered him.  "What's behind you?"

"Nothing," she said quickly.  "There's nothing behind me."

"Really?"  He tried to angle around so that he could see the pipes behind her.

"Don't come near me," she warned.  "Don't get close."  She changed position so that he couldn't get past her. "Oh!" she said suddenly.  She had taken another step backward and had knocked something off.  Along with the sound of splashing, several screws or nuts fell into the crevice between ducts.  She began looking around.  Favoring her right leg, she slowly turned around.  With her back to him, she looked further into the room.   Then she took a relieved breath.

What was going on? He wondered.  Then, pushing him aside, she tried to head out of the room.  "Move. You're in my way.  Don't bother me."  Dragging her right leg, she tried to leave.

"Wait."  He put his hands on her shoulders but she took them right off. 

"Don't you touch me!"  She glared at him without trying to hide her annoyance.  "I said you were in my way.  Leave me alone.  Why are you following me?"  She spat the words out all at once.

He didn't let up and fired a question right back at her.  "What are you doing here?  Are you looking for something?  Or are you finishing up some repairs?"  When she didn't answer, he asked "You won't answer stupid questions, is that it?"

"What? What are you doing here yourself?"  She answered him with yet another series of questions.  "I'm free to do what I want, where I want."  She was trying to make a wall of words. 

"Sure," he agreed, trying to crack the wall she had built up.  "I came here on my own.  I left the others.  Because I heard that you came here on your own."

"Why would you do that?" she asked softly.

"Because my hurt friend suddenly went missing.  That's why!  Of course I came looking for you."

"Friend?"  Her expression grew severe.  "I didn't ask you to come here and there's no reason for you to be here.  I'm not like the others, so don't treat me like one of your gang."

"Pamuya, cut it out," he snapped and clenched his fist.  Then he shoved it in her face.  He stopped it just in front of her nose.  She didn't even flinch.   "Believe me, I don't want to be friends with someone like you, but we don't have a choice.  We all want to get out of here.  Don't you want to get out of here as soon as possible?  As long as were in the same boat, we're friends.  In some places, people with the same goals are called friends."

"Friends?" she repeated sharply.  "Friends, friends, friends, friends… there you go again just saying that.  That kind of tired hypocritical crap makes me sick."  Her voice stayed completely cool.  There was no place for his raised fist to go.  "And one more thing.  Weren't you listening to me yesterday?  I don't want to escape.  So I'm not your 'friend.'  I don't care where you're from.  Got it? I. Am. Not. Your. Friend. So. Do. Not. Talk. To. Me. Again."

He lowered his hand.  He couldn't say anything.  Giving him a glance, she moved toward the door, dragging her foot.  She was moving awkwardly, still dragging her left foot.  Then he caught himself.  Left foot?  "Wait a second!" he yelled. 

"What?  I said don't talk to me!"  She turned around forcefully.

"Your foot.  Is it alright?  The leg you hurt the other day was your right leg."  Her face stiffened.  Her eyes flickered away.  She averted her gaze.  She stood rock still.  He wondered what was going on.  "Let me see."  He grabbed the hem her skirt and without hesitating yanked it up.

She was too startled to react at first, but then hit him with a brutal slap.  He fell back and she took off running.   The sound of her footfalls grew faint.  Her shadow disappeared down the hallway.  He was left alone, stunned.  She had hammered his cheek.  He felt like he might have missing teeth and a bloody nose.  His brain was rattled, but he didn't feel any pain.  'Compound fracture of the right thighbone.  Injuries requiring forty stitches.'  And she could run a day later? 

He got up slowly and made his way back to the elevator.  Heaven was waiting for him on the second level.  "Your face is swollen," she observed.  She took him back to the infirmary.  There she told him that "Pamuya will return to this floor in a little while.  Try not to get mad at or yell at her.  For a while I think it is best if we let her do as she wants."

"Why?" he asked.

"Don't you think she might be quite nervous right now?  She's thinking about things.  She's pondering all sorts of things in her heart.  Everyone else's words will fall on deaf ears.  She's not able yet to just listen.  Of course you're worried about her injuries, but for a little while, let's leave her alone.  If she is in any serious danger I will let you know right away. So, for just a little while… please, Taylor."  Reluctantly he agreed, nodding assent to her earnest request.  He went slowly back down the stairs to the third level.  His footsteps echoed through the stairwell.  "I don't think it was an accident that she came to be here," Heaven said. 

"Not an accident?"  He looked up in surprise.

"I do not know the details," Heaven answered.  "This is the first time for me to encounter a case like hers.  I don't have any data for this.  It seems to me, though, that she has her reasons for being here.  Reasons that are difficult for her to explain.  Something that is hard for others to understand.  Something that compelled her to act even if it made her injuries worse.  That's what I feel.  Maryann was saying the same thing earlier."

"She was?" Kensington was even more surprised.

"Yes," Heaven said, "that we shouldn't probe.  That, until she was ready to tell us, we shouldn't press for information."

"I see," Kensington said.  Perhaps he had gotten too close to her boundaries.  Boundaries that she didn't want invaded.  Whatever feelings and reasons she didn't want them to know about.  That could have been why he had been warned, harassed, pummeled.  If he thought about it that way, it made more sense.  "Maybe I did come down to hard on her."

[kadh2000]

Several uneventful hours passed.  Kensington wandered Utopia alone, avoiding the others. He didn't run into Pamuya during that time.  Eventually, he decided to have dinner, one he cooked himself. 

Dr. Young, Ryogo, and Medea joined him and moved over to the rest area and let their food digest.  He finished tidying up the kitchen alone.  Certain they were gone, he pulled out the object he had been secretly hiding.  It was time to eat that last sausage.  He enjoyed the different meal and the guilty pleasure.  He hid in the back of the kitchen and devoured it in secret. 

"Ah, there you are, Taylorpion."  Surprised by Medea's voice, he choked on a bite of sausage.  "Are you alright?" she asked in alarm.  He coughed until he could speak.  Blinking and struggling, he was able to swallow the piece of meat.  He swallowed the rest of the sausage in one bite to remove the evidence and struggled t control his breathing.

"Not a word about what you just saw," he told her.

She grinned.  "Oh I see.  You didn't eat your sandwich earlier and were saving it to finish now."

"That's it," he agreed.  "Thanks."  Inside, he silently apologized to her and the others for being selfish. 

"Oh, that reminds me.  Taylorpion, I talked to Heaven.  She said she spoke to Pamuya.  Pamuya went back to the infirmary and Heaven ran into her there.  Pamuya apologized for going crazy and smashing the equipment and she even cleaned it up herself."

Kensington couldn't believe it.  "Pamuya apologized for something?  Anything else?"

"Heaven said she was asking questions. She said Pamuya asked her, 'what do you know about my past.' Heaven said she didn't know anything.  She said that seemed to satisfy Pamuya.  That's a pretty silly question, if you ask me."   

"Yeah." He agreed it was very weird.  "Do you know where Pamuya is now?"  He tried to restrain his sense of urgency.

"I think she's still in the infirmary.  Heaven said she went back to bed."

"I think I'll go and check on her," Kensington said casually. 

Medea looked up at his face, making him uncomfortable.  She laughed quietly.  "You're attracted to her, aren't you?"

He tried to bluster his way out of it.  "You're kidding!  After the way she treats me."

"I wonder," the girl said enigmatically.  "It seems to me like it's written all over your face."

Instinctively he rubbed his face in his hands.  Of course nothing came off.  Medea's smile was bright enough to light up the sun.  He shook his head and went to the infirmary.

Before entering, he stopped and turned on the intercom outside the room.  "Pamuya, can I come in?"  Then he entered.  It was quiet inside again.  The smashed equipment had been tidied up.  "Oh you really are lying in bed.  I don't believe it."

She opened her eyes.  Softly she said, "What?  Could you keep it down?  Am I not supposed to be here or something?"

"No, no.  Not at all!" he said rapidly.  "I was just surprised to see you here."

"Surprised?" she echoed. 

"Yes.  You came back."

"Yes, well, I had to come back from that sector.  There was nowhere to go."

"That's not what I meant," he began.  "Oh, never mind.  Anyway, I'm glad your back."

"Glad?" She kept repeating his words.

"Relieved?" he tried again.

"Oh?"  She looked at him intently.  As she spoke, she lay back down and slowly closed her eyes.  "Keep your voice down, okay?   My head hurts a little.  Noise makes it worse."

"Sorry," he muttered.  "Are you hungry?  Do you want me to make you something?"

After a long pause, she answered, "Yes please."

"Wait right there.  Don't go anywhere.  I'll be right back."  He tried not to make any noise as he left.  As soon as the door closed behind him, Kensington sprinted back to the sandwich kiosk.  He turned it back on and heated her up a 'chicken' piece.  He hurried, but worked carefully. When it was ready, he sprinted back to the infirmary. He had been away less than ten minutes.

"Sorry I took so long," he called out softly as he approached her bed.  "I took more trouble with this than usual.  It's a masterpiece.  Eat it before it gets cold."  There was no answer and he wondered if she was asleep.  "Pamuya!  Here's your food.  A hot delicious sandwich.  Get it while it's hot!"  There was still no response.  He tried yelling.  "Say something!"

The bed was empty.  It was still slightly warm.  "She's gone," he screamed to no one.  "I told her not to move."  Kensington let out a deep sigh and held his head in his hands.  He resisted the urge to throw the sandwich against the wall.  "Where on earth did that stupid girl run off to?" 

He stamped his foot in rage and was surprised to feel something crunch under his boot.  He lifted his foot and looked down.  Whatever it was had been pulverized.  The pieces smelled faintly.  He bent down and spread them out in his hand.  It looked like pieces of nuts.  Glancing underneath the bed, he found a rolled up sheet.  He pulled it out and found a bag, which had probably contained the nuts, and an empty box.  They looked like souvenirs bought at some shop.  He wondered where these things had been when they last searched the room.  Pamuya must have brought them from the ship and was perhaps eating them in secret. 

Kensington thought about it, but that explanation didn't seem right.  Looking at the nuts more carefully, he realized they hadn't been crushed by him stepping on them.  There was a large amount of powder under the bed.  Someone had deliberately crushed the nuts.  Looking at the box again, he saw that a section of the lid had been torn off.  Inside the box was filled with cotton and there was a soft hollow in the center.  It looked like the nest of some small animal.  He recalled the rat he had seen running out of the infirmary.  Pamuya must have been keeping the creature.  In that case, she must have gone looking for her pet. 

All he had to do was figure out where.  He tried to contact Heaven from the infirmary terminal, but she didn't appear.  He displayed the map on the monitor, but it didn’t have any life signs on it.  He decided to seek out a bigger terminal and went to the security office.

Somebody was already there.  Pamuya was sitting in a chair in front of the console.  She was engrossed in something and didn't notice him come in.  She was doing something at the console.  An enlarged sector was displayed on the screen.  A point of light was moving across the enlarged section of the map.  He assumed it indicated a sign of life.  She tapped a key and a remote camera zoomed in on the sector displayed on the map.  A living creature was displayed on the monitor.  Pamuya sighed with relief.

"A rat." Kensington said.  At the sound of his whisper, Pamuya swung around.  She blinked.  "It's a rat, isn't it?"  A grey rat was running along a pipe.  The map showed the isolated sector of the third floor.  "Is that rat what you're looking for?"

"Of, of course not," she said feebly.  She was obviously flustered.

"I looked under the bed and saw your box," he explained.  "There were nuts everywhere."  She looked away.  "You don't have to answer if you don't want to.  I wonder how that dirty rodent got in here."

"Dirty rodent?"  She came suddenly to life.  Her voice was hysterical. 

Kensington was a little taken aback.  "It's not a rat?"

"It's a Djungarian hamster.  I think."

"So that's what it is," Kensington said.  "A Djungarian hamster.  You're pretty knowledgeable."

"Everybody knows what they're called," she retorted.  Her chest puffed out slightly.

"So you're looking for that rat?"

"No!  I told you it's not a rat."

"Sorry," he quickly apologized.  "You're looking for that hamster."  She seemed to nod her head reluctantly.  The movement was so small he wasn't sure she had even made it. 

She looked back at the monitor.  "He probably traveled through some pipe," she said.  "Either the pipes with the electric cables or the power sockets."  Her finger traced the map.  Nobody could walk to where the hamster was.  The top right of the screen showed an area under water.  It seemed there was one room still dry.  It was even further away than the isolated area on the third floor.  It wasn't clear on the map but there was one emergency corridor in that sector.

Looking at it, Kensington committed the map to memory.  "I guess I'll just have to go."  He grabbed a plastic bag and headed for the exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"Where do I think I'm going?  I'm going to go get him."

"Who?" she asked.

"Your hamster."

"There's no way you'll make it.  There's a section underwater between here and there.  No human could fit through the pipe."

Kensington ignored her and left the security office.  He started off toward the area he had memorized on the map. 

"Wait!"  Pamuya called after him.  She caught up with him and grabbed his arm.

"What now?  If I don't get going, Mr. Hamster is going to move to another place."

"How do you plan to get in there?"

"How else?  Swim!"

Her hand relaxed.  Still in her grip, Kensington started moving again.  She came with him.  "Wait! Are you out of your mind?" she asked.

"I'm going through with this," he said resolutely.

"That's the reason I think you're stupid," she said.  "If you open the floodgates, you'll be overwhelmed by seawater.  The pressure is six atmospheres."

"You don't have to worry about that," he said, enjoying that he held the mystery now.  "The hamster is in an area directly connected to the flooded emergency corridor.  The water in that area is at one atmosphere.  The flood gates on either end of the corridor are firmly shut.  That corridor is completely isolated from the outside seawater.  The entrance on the other side is open.  If I use the flooded corridor, I can get into that room.  Why don't you go back and check the map?"

"But," she started to protest, "how far do you think it is to get to that area?"

"153 feet," he answered.  "I checked the distance."

"153 feet is a long way underwater."

"It'll be alright," he assured her.  "I've swum to the end and back of a 25 meter pool underwater."  He didn't admit he had only done it once and had kicked off from the end of the pool on his way back to give him extra momentum.  He waved his hand dismissively but her expression hardened.

"You.  You are crazy. Are you trying to kill yourself?"  She breathed in sharply. 

"I'll be alright." He assured her.  "It's alright.  I won't die.  I promise I will come back."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this for one little hamster?"

He shrugged.  "What else can I do?  We're all in this together.  Maybe you're not one of us, but any pet you have is.  In some places, people with the same goal are called friends. "

"You're an idiot."

He shrugged again.  "That doesn't bother me.  I'd rather be a cheerful idiot than a warped genius."  She didn't protest any further and took the neutral buoyancy elevator with him down to the third level.  From there they walked along the corridor to the isolated sector. 

He handed her the sandwich he was still holding.  "You may as well eat this.  It's probably already cold."  Her face showed no reaction as she silently accepted the sandwich.  She slowly unwrapped it and sniffed it cautiously.  Then she took a huge bite.  She ate it fast.  The sandwich disappeared before his eyes as they walked.  "How was it?" he asked.  "Was it good?" She didn't reply but balled up the paper it was wrapped in and threw it back at him.  Based on how happily she had eaten, he didn't need to hear how she felt.  He was pleased.

They arrived at the pipe room.  They searched the floor and opened the manhole cover that led to the emergency corridor.  A tube about two feet in diameter stretched down below them.  A simple ladder was affixed to one side of the tube.  About six feet down they could see the submerged emergency light shining.  As they peered through the hatch, they could see no signs of the water back flowing.  The pressure in the corridor would be balanced with the pressure around them.  "I wonder if there's something I can use to guide me back," he said, looking around.  He found a rope with a hook on it and decided to hold onto that as he went in.  After confirming that it was long enough, he tied one end around a nearby pipe.  He did some light stretching to warm up.

"Wait!" she said, one last time.  "I should go instead."  She stared him square in the face.  "Don't get me wrong.  I just don't want to watch you pull this hypocritical stunt is all.  I don't want to see you kill yourself because you believe this hypocrisy." 

"How can you say that?" Kensington asked her.  "That's not a nice thing to say."  He laughed at her as he continued to loosen up.  "I'll be fine.  You go back to the security office."

"Why?"

"When I get through to the other side you can tell me where the hamster is.  We won't be able to locate him without the cameras, will we?  So, unless someone who can operate the console stays behind, it won't work."

"But," she began to protest.

"It's settled," he said.  He adjusted the voice converter in his ear.  He knew they were pressure resistant, but wasn't sure they were waterproof.  "See you later."  He ruffled her hair and started down the ladder.

Kensington's toes reached the bottom of the ladder.  He let go of it and jumped into the emergency corridor.  The water was cold, much colder than the water higher up.  It was like swimming in ice water.  He had greatly miscalculated.  It wasn't the only thing he had miscalculated.  Inside the corridor was pitch dark.  He began to grope his way forward.  He couldn't tell how far he had swum or how far he needed to go.  There was no way of guessing.  He wasn't even sure if he was swimming in the right direction.  He just kept swimming in the darkness.  It was terrifying.  As his breath got tighter, he could feel the fear spreading through his body.  He realized he could die there.  Despite his fear, he was able to consider dying calmly.  He was caught in the illusion that he was sinking, farther and farther down. 

The darkness penetrated to his very core.  The shadow of death crept through his whole body.  Eroding his every cell.  He knew he couldn't last much longer.  Just as his fear reached its peak, he glimpsed a spot of light.  It was the exit.  He couldn't tell how far away it was.  His vision was cloudy and he couldn't judge the distance.  He was reaching his limit, had probably already exceeded it.

The light was shining beyond the darkness.   His body was screaming as his cramping fingers stretched out to the light.  A little further, a little further.  The light was right there.  His hand grabbed the ladder.  He wasted no time fixing the rope to the hook.  He pulled himself upwards.  He scaled the ladder quickly and burst out into the corridor.  He gasped for air, breathing deeply in and out.  He coughed and spat.  It felt like he was going to cough the darkness right out of his lungs.  Contrary to his expectations, what erupted from his mouth were the semi-liquid remains of his sausage.

Kensington was cold, but shook his head to clear it and continued his search for the hamster.  The flood doors on either side of the corridor were shut tight.  There was only one other door.  He went through.  "Hey, Mr. Hamster," he called out.  It was better than yelling, "Mr. Djungarian." 

"Taylor, are you alright?"  He heard Pamuya's voice on the intercom.  "I'm picking you up on the monitor.  If you can hear me, answer."

"Okay, Pamuya," he said, "I can hear you."

"What can you see?" she asked.

"The room is pitch dark," he replied glumly.  "I can't see a think.  Either the lights are broken or there's not enough power.  I should have brought some fireflies with me."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he said quickly.  "If you pick up the hamster's location, let me know."

There was a pause before her voice said, "Go straight ahead about ten feet."  After he followed her directions, she added, "Turn right, about forty degrees."

"Forty degrees, what kind of angle is that?"

"Pay attention.  You just turned left, not right."

He turned the other way.  "Go straight ahead, another twelve feet.  There's a step there so be careful."

"How can I be careful in the dark?" he complained, then cried out as he hit the step without warning.

"What happened?" she asked in alarm.  "Are you alright?  Taylor?  Taylor?  Talk to me!"

"It's alright," he answered, chagrined.  "I'm alive.  Next time tell me how high the steps are going to be.  I just smashed my knee into it."

"I'm sorry," she replied meekly.

He was glad she couldn't see his face.  "Never mind.  Is Mr. Hamster still here?  He didn't run away, did he?"

"He's still there," she confirmed.

"Okay, keep navigating me."  On it went like that.  Eventually he successfully trapped the hamster in the plastic bag.  "I'm on my way back.  Wait for me in the pipe room.

"Alright," she said.  Kensington went out into the lighted corridor and checked on the hamster in the bag.  He was quiet, but seemed healthy.   He captured as much air in the bag as he could and then tied the mouth of it shut tight. 

Tired as he was, he hoped he could make it back the way he had come.  He hesitated for a moment, but unless he went back it was all pointless.  If he followed the rope, he should be able to get back faster than he had come.  He tied the bag to his waist, took a deep breath, and jumped into the water.
At the other end, he climbed up the pipe ladder and stuck his head out of the hatch.  He had made it safely back.  "Honey, I'm home," he called out.  Pamuya was waiting beside the hatch.  "Look what the cat dragged in… me.  Well, here I am.  I'm back."

"W-welcome back," she said, sounding startled.

He closed the hatch and stood up.  He opened the plastic bag at his waist and took out the hamster.

Taking the creature in her palm, she smiled lovingly and stroked its damp fur.  "Thank you," she whispered to Kensington without looking at him. 

"What's his name?" he asked, looking at the hamster.

"You won't  laugh?"

"Okay, I won't," he agreed.

"You promise?"

"I promise."  He raised his right hand.

"His name's Charming, because he is charming."

"That’s cute," he said, after biting back a laugh, grateful she wasn't looking at him.  "What a good name." 

She glanced up at him sharply.  "Hey!  You promised not to laugh."

"I'm not laughing," he said, backing away and raising both hands.  He tried to keep a straight face, but the corners of his mouth started to twitch.  Charming.  Charming Charming.  Well, 'Charmi-poo, Charmi-poo, it's din-din time.'  He could just imagine Pamuya baby talking to it.  "Charmi-poo, Charmi-poo," he inadvertently said aloud, and then bit down on his tongue to hold a laugh in.

"Argh."  She grimaced.  "That's why I didn't want to tell you."  Sullen, Pamuya was red-faced but she held out the bath towel she had behind her back.

"Thanks."  He took the towel and wiped himself down.  He breathed deeply, feeling reborn, as he glanced at Pamuya's face.  She was playing with the hamster in her hands and her cheeks were bright.  She looked so happy.  It was the first time he'd ever really seen her smile.

[kadh2000]

Notes about the second draft:

The planet is now a Federation planet, with amusements and diversions for vacationers and starship crews.  Somewhat modeled on the idea from the TOS episode: Shore Leave.  Utopia will still be a marine theme park.  It gets rid of the inconvenience of being unable to read the language.  It also means transtator technology can be blocked with a logical explanation.  It also means I can do a better job with the amnesiac Ryogo by making him someone Kensington and the others don't know.  It also means that when the scenario starts there will be other visitors to Utopia.  This will help the alienness of it being empty later become more alarming.  I'll have to figure out how to deal with Sickbay and Pamuya's injury though.  I can easily flood sickbay and have them to make do, if necessary.  As a last change, Medea's last name will be Crusher. (Bwahahaha.)  More for another connection to ST than for her being a Wesley.  She certainly won't be the all saving person.  Also, she'll have arrived a day before Kensington's ship.  I may have to advance the year by a decade or two.   New title of this book: Utopia: The Promise.  It's the first part of a Utopia trilogy set on the same world. 

I will continue posting the unchanged first draft for continuity reasons, and because the second draft isn't written this far yet.

Kadh, who so far likes the second draft much more than the first.  This is as it should be.

[Andromeda]

IE doesn't like this site for me.

Fascinating, actually.  Dzungarian Hamster?  The Russian white one?  Where's the injury?  Skirt?  Long enough to hide it?  Hmm.

[kadh2000]

Yes. 
You'll see.
I forgot to mention the change of attire after being taken to the infirmary.

[kadh2000]

CHAPTER 12:  WHERE ARE YOU?

Darkness spread out before his eyes.  Without limit it spread.  Nothingness.  The void was endless and he was in the middle of it.  He could find nothing by which to judge distance.  He searched for light, but couldn't even see the movement of his body.  There was nothing below his feet.  Nothing held him up and so he fell.  He fell.  Deeper and deeper, he sank into the void.  Further and further.

No, that wasn't it.  It seemed to him, rather, that the darkness was coming toward him.  It approached him at a terrifying speed, but there was no sound.  Yet it was creeping closer and closer.  And finally it penetrated him.  There was no way for him to shake it off.  It seeped completely into him.   It was strange, but there was no feel to it.  The blackness invaded and settled inside him.  It overtook him, never to part again. 

I'm becoming the darkness, he thought.  The darkness is becoming me.  My body, becoming the darkness itself.  The void was endless; it had no ceiling.  Nothing existed to cover it.  It was an abyss.

Everything was buried in pitch black.  The dark of night was crushing him.  That is how everyone dies.  He was dying.  He was dead. Death.

When Kensington awoke, his shirt was soaked with sweat. It was an awful way to start the day.  He checked the time.  It was just after three in the morning.  All drowsiness had left him.  Attempting sleep would be a waste of time after that nightmare.  Nearby he could hear soft breathing.  Medea was comfortably asleep.  Trying not to wake them, he opened the conference room door and sneaked out.

Outside, the hallway seemed endless.  For a moment Kensington had the illusion it went on forever.  Without hesitation, he stepped into the cold water filling the hallway.  He realized how oddly accustomed he grown to this spectacle, this strange situation.  This daily routine of being constantly enclosed by the walls.  Walls that, in a matter of time, were doomed to come crashing down.  Where would he be when it happened?  He decided not to think too deeply about that. 

Climbing the emergency stairway, he headed for the second level.  Reaching the infirmary, he pushed the button to open the door.  Pamuya wasn't there.  The bed was empty.  The spilled nuts were gone.  He wondered if she had cleaned them up or if it was someone else.  Reaching out to the NeVAEH terminal, he touched the screen.  No reaction.  The monitor lights were out. 

He walked toward the security office, thinking the monitors there would be online.  Opening the door, he hesitated at the smell.  As always, the room smelled like smoke.  He tried the terminal.  There were two sets of characters.  He couldn't read the first, but the second read 'Periodic Maintenance in Progress.' 

A second screen appeared.  'NeVAEH:  Full System Periodic Maintenance Program in Operation.  Until completion, portions of NeVAEH functions are inaccessible.  Estimated completion time: 6 am.'

A third screen followed. 'While under maintenance, automatic control systems throughout the compound will be partially offline.   However, facilities and attractions will operate normally.  Note:  since all sensors and recording systems operations will be checked during maintenance, function may be erratic. Therefore it will not be possible to access data through the terminals.'     

There was a fourth screen. 'WARNING: This maintenance program should not be aborted except in cases of emergency.  If aborted, there is danger of making the NeVAEH system unstable.  Therefore, please refrain from accessing NeVAEH until after maintenance completion.  Thank you for your cooperation.'

He was surprised to find a fifth screen in the message.  'Additional note: Until the maintenance completes, I will be unavailable.  Everybody should be asleep at this time, right? I informed everyone of this operation at dinnertime, but in case any of you forgot what I said, I am leaving this message.  That is all – good night, Heaven.'

Kensington didn't remember her telling him about that.  He decided that she probably had but he hadn't been listening.  He had probably been thinking about that extra sausage in the refrigerator.  He had probably been eating the sausage when she had told the others, not knowing he would be throwing it up soon thereafter.  He was lucky it hadn't been worse.  Since then, he hadn't been hungry.

Having no destination in mind, he found himself in front of an elevator.  With no clear reason in mind, he pushed the elevator button.  All he heard was the click of it being depressed.  The elevator made no sign of budging.  Of course, all the elevators in this section of the compound had been shut down.

"Hi."  Hearing a voice from behind him, Kensington turned his head.  There was Pamuya standing quietly.  "What were you up to?  There's no point in waiting around. That elevator's not coming."  He didn't have an answer to give.  "Taylor, what's the matter?  Are you deaf?"

He started laughing.  He couldn't help it.  "Come on," she said more forcefully, "what's going on?"  His laughter rang out stronger.  "What's so funny?"  She was beginning to sound disturbed.

"It's nothing.  No special reason," he said.  "It's just that, well, I thought your question was pointless."

At first, Pamuya started to frown, but then she laughed back at him.  "You've started to catch on, haven't you?"

"I suppose," Kensington agreed.  "I was just out for a little walk. What have you been doing?  Ah, that's okay, you don't have to answer."

"In that case, don't ask."  Turning her eyes away, Pamuya frowned slightly.  Looking at the floor, she seemed lost in thought.  After a moment, she lifted her eyes and spoke.  "Do you know what Qualle is?"

"Qualle?" He repeated the unfamiliar word.  Then he remembered.  "Yeah, I know what it is.  It's that gondola attraction isn't it?" She nodded.  "What about it then?"
"It's just behind these elevators," she said.  Then they both fell silent.  She started to giggle and gave him a hard look.  They both knew what they were going to do next.  With Pamuya in the lead, the both headed for the Qualle entrance.

"How do you make this thing work?" he asked, idly as they passed the controls for the gondolas. 

"Figure it out yourself," she commented.  He looked at her askance and she rolled her eyes.  "It's already turned on, you dummy.  Just get in and it'll go.  I tried it out already."

"If you say so," he said looking at the ride doubtfully.  "Wait a minute, you already tried it out?"

She shrugged.  "I tested it.  Just in case."  Her face looked troubled, like she had been caught at something.

"You rode it alone?" he persisted.

"Not exactly alone.  You see, well, I was with Charming."

"The hamster?"

"Well, yes."

"In other words," he said, still teasing, "one adult and one critter."  She nodded.  "You rode Qualle with Charming."

"Don't make me repeat myself," she warned.

He went on to the next question.  "Was it fun?"

"Charming fell asleep," she said, crossing her arms.  "I guess he was bored. But, as for me…" she gave a pregnant pause.   "Who cares?  It's a meaningless question."  Pamuya hadn't said much, but it was a lot more than usual for her.

"In other words, you were lonely.  If I was there, I could have cheered you up."

She turned sharply to face him.  "What do you mean 'cheer me up'?"

"Well, you've been through a lot.  I thought the two of us together would…"

She giggled slightly.  "Right."  Her expression lost all its tension and she began laughing.

"Did I say something stupid?" he asked.

She put her hands over her heart.  "No, not really.  It's nothing important. I just needed to laugh."  Then, suddenly, her expression hardened again.  But then again, he thought, a slight smile remained on her face.  "Let's go," she suggested.

Together, they got inside the ride.  Immediately after the hatch closed, the gondola began to move forward smoothly.  It was just as Pamuya had said.  It picked up speed and headed toward the outskirts of the second level.   The corrugated tube carrying the gondola wrapped its way along the perimeter of the floor.  Floating comfortably inside the tube, the gondola skirted its way along.

"I've been wanting to talk to you," Pamuya said.  "There are some things I need to say.  Things to say… things I need to let you know.  I figured no one could interrupt us here."

Kensington turned his attention from the outer walls to look at her.  "It must really be something important.  Something serious."

"Well, yeah.  At least for me it is."  Having her approach him to talk was unusual.  Pamuya fixed her eyes firmly on his.  Her eyes were serious, with no sign of mischief in them.  Whatever the consequences, he had to listen.

"Seventeen years ago," she began, "In August of 2250, on a summer day, I was infected.  I was infected with a virus.  Yes 2250.  Seventeen years ago.  I was only twelve years old at the time."

"A virus?" he interrupted. 

She nodded.  "Yeah."

"And you're still infected?" Kensington asked.

"Yeah.  I'm a carrier." 

"A carrier?" he echoed in alarm.  "Wait a second.  Just a second here. You mean to tell me seventeen years ago, at age twelve?"

"That's what I said."

"That means your age now is…"

"That's right, I'm twenty-eight.  I'll be twenty-nine in another two months.  You see.  I was born twenty-nine years ago.  In July 2238." 

He scrutinized her face.  There was no way she looked twenty-eight.  He knew, however, that she wasn't lying.  They had never touched upon the subject of her age.  He had assumed her to be just out of Starfleet Academy.  "Twenty-eight years old…" he muttered.

"Taylor, where are you?"  She suddenly changed the topic. 

He looked up sharply.  "What do you mean?  I'm right here."

"Where is here?"

He was confused.  "Here is here, isn't it?"  He beat the palm of his hand against his chest to put a physical element to it. 

"Have you ever cut your fingernails?" she asked.

He didn't follow her line of reasoning.  "What's with you, all of a sudden?"

She leaned over urgently, right in front of his face.  In her eyes, Kensington could see something, like a distant light.  He could just glimpse the tip of her tongue, wet and smooth.  "Just answer," she said softly.  "Have you ever cut your fingernails?"

"Of course I have."

"Well then, is the nail that's been cut away still you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said, "are you there, in the nail?"

"No…" he said slowly.  "Once it's gone from my body, it's not me anymore."

"How about hair?"

"The same goes for hair," he asserted.

She took one of his hairs between her fingers.  "In other words, this hair right here is you, but if I pull it out…"  She yanked the strand out of his head.   "This isn't' you?"  Pamuya held the hair up, waving it around.

"Hmm, that's tough," he said, thinking about it more.  "It isn't me, but I guess you could call it 'ex-me'."

"Okay, then," she continued.  "What if I ripped your arm off?"

He pulled away reflexively.  "You've got to be kidding."

She grabbed his arm.  Before he could react he was drawn into her body.  Although her grip wasn't abnormally strong, he found it impossible to resist her.  It was a natural, flowing movement.  Inside the white gondola, Pamuya's body covered his.  He could feel her breath.  He could feel her pulse.  He could feel her warmth.  He could smell her scent.  The smell of musk made him slightly dizzy.  "Well, if I ripped your arm off?"  Gazing intently at him, Pamuya continued to shoot him questions.  "Would you be there, in the arm?"

"No, I suppose I wouldn't be there."

"Okay, then what if I took off your leg? Or if I cut your torso away? Or even if I took out your brain?"  Still gazing at him, she moved her hands and put them on his neck.  He felt like he was being hunted.  The illusion was intense.  She looked straight at him.  He couldn't shake himself away from her gaze.  He peered deeply into her eyes.  He felt as if he were being sucked inside her.  Those eyes, full of that distant light.  He wondered where that light originated.  "Tell me, Taylor, where are you?"

"I'm… where am I?"  Me, Taylor Kensington, he thought.  Since the moment he was born he had existed as one person.  One continuous, linear, cohesive individual.  There was no doubt about that fact.  The 'him' as a baby in a photo album, the 'him' running around in elementary school and finally, the 'him' lying there… they were all the same organism called Taylor Kensington. 

So where exactly did that entity exist?  In the past, people had thought a person's soul existed in the heart.  Descartes believed the soul inhabited the pineal gland in the brain.  He wondered briefly if he only existed in his memories.  If that were true, he reflected, if he lost his memory like Ryogo, wouldn't that mean he was no longer Taylor Kensington?  Thoughts?  Senses? Emotions?  Sensations? Character? Values?  All of those things were nothing but functions of the brain.

The 'him' that had run around in elementary school was composed of different molecules than the 'him' that was there now.  From a purely material view, the younger 'him' was an entirely different being than the older 'him'.  Cells died and were replaced daily.  Every cell that was replaced would also die.  He remembered reading that the cells in a human body were completely replaced every three to five years.  By comparison, a rock would still be composed of the same molecules. 

A human body was different. Despite that, the 'him' of five years ago and the 'him' of now were definitely the same.   Then just what was it that defined 'him'?  Where did that 'him' exist? 

Pamuya took her hand off his throat and he breathed easier.  "You see?" she probed.  "Your existence has no substance.  All you are is a concept."

"A concept?" he repeated.

"You are just a packet of information," she said.  "Software.  The information written on a computer disk has no physical body, right?  The disk itself is just a hard mass of polycarbonate, but that mass has nothing to do with the information it holds.  Information can't have a physical body.  That's impossible.  Information does not have shape or substance.  The embodiment of information only takes place through its application.  However, the embodied information itself has no actual body.  The essence of information is the information itself. 

"Taylor, it's the same for you.  There is no physical substance to your 'essence'.  Instead, the human called Taylor Kensington is no more than a concept, information, software.  That essence is realized only through your body: the hardware.  That's it.  Your body is just the hardware.  It's just a device in which the entity 'you' is embodied."

"Hmm, I see."  He nodded up at her.  "Okay, I understand you perfectly.  No.  I hardly understand you at all, but if what you say is true… then what?  What does that have to do with what you were talking about?"

"Seventeen years ago, I was infected with a virus.  Because of that virus… the virus… It rewrote my genetic code."  He wrinkled his brow, trying to make sense of her words.  "Cells in people's bodies are replaced daily," she went on.  "They are reborn and then die.  Normally the human body is replaced with new cells within five years.

"When I was twelve, the cells in my body were infected.  From that moment on, they divided and replaced themselves.  Five years later, all my cells had been replaced.  Every cell that made up my body had been genetically altered.  And when the last of the original cells died, the last trace of my twelve-year-old self disappeared.  In that moment, the old me died. 

"The old me died, but the new me became a body that never dies."

"Never dies?" he whispered.

"My immune system and my metabolic rate were remarkably improved," she said.  "My telomeres began to regenerate themselves.  I will never grow any older and will never die.  My physical growth stopped at that moment in time.  I'll never grow older than seventeen." 

Highly improved immune system and increased metabolic efficiency.  Telomeres that continue to rejuvenate.  If what she said was to be believed, Pamuya's body would never die on its own.  As long as her body had the energy to continue, it would not die.  As long as she continued to have the will to live, her body would be sustained forever. 

Semi-eternal life.  He wondered if such a thing were even conceivable.  Was the concept of never growing old, never dying possible?  Living creatures aged to protect against exhaustion and deterioration of function.  The life cycle needed aging so it could have succession and renewal through subsequent generations.

Kensington couldn't help but laugh.  "That's a good story, but no way is it possible.  As a good joke, it's pretty solid."

Pamuya sighed.  "I guess you're right."  She snickered.  "Yes, it's just a little joke.  I thought you might fall for it, but I guess not."

"What else did you expect?" Kensington retorted.  "Crazy talk like that."

"Well, Taylor," she said, "I guess you're not so stupid after all."

She rolled off him and stood up slowly.  Her dishevelled clothes showed just a peek of her legs and a glimpse of her sleek thighs.  Her clean satin skin. And a scar.  He looked at it more intently.  "What's the matter?" she asked.  "What are you looking at?"

"Your right thigh, at the scar."

"Do you want a closer look?"

"Yes.  No."  He was unsure of himself again.

"Shall I show you?"  She moved the skirt aside.  It was a scar.  It looked like something that had healed years ago, just a scar where once several stitches had closed a wound. 


*******

Yes, they had sex.  Can't tell can you?

[Hstaphath_XC]

I would very much like to read the second draft as well after you are done with it.

Yes, they had sex.  Can't tell can you?

Nope.  Even with that in mind reading it a second time, there just aren't enough subtle clues to suggest that happened.   

[Andromeda]

Me neither.  I did one like that, but it was just enough less subtle.  I want to see the 2nd version too.

[Czar Mohab]

I read the "they had sex" comment first, then, while scrolling up, my eyes stopped on "The hamster?" and thought ,"he wouldn't..."

Yeah, that's where my mind was.

Czar "He mightn't. I might (write that)," Mohab

P.S. Otherwise enjoyed this segment; and no, did not find any other sex-related hintings.

[kadh2000]

CHAPTER 13: WHAT IT MEANS TO BE ALIVE

********
Pamuya puts Taylor through another rough one.  Everybody starts to give up.  Doom and gloom all around.

********

Afterwards he went straight back to the conference room.  Both his mind and body were exhausted.  Even though little remained of the night, he slept soundly.  When he awoke, he felt refreshed and recharged.  Apparently no one had noticed his disappearance during the night.

"Good morning everyone."  They were met by Heaven, a little later than usual, in the conference room.

"How did the maintenance go?" Dr. Young asked.  Apparently everyone else did know about it. 

"The system is in sound condition," Heaven reported.  "Although there would be no way to repair any mechanical damage if were to occur. The scheduled maintenance program checked out.  I can assure you that the entire compound is functioning normally."

"That's good to hear," Dr. Young said. 

Heaven continued, "After carefully assessing the situation, I have found a slight noise in my thought processor.  Normal functions will not be compromised so no modifications are necessary."

"What does that mean?" Medea asked, voicing Kensington's question.

"Well, Medea, it means that…"  Heaven paused and then started her explanation differently.  "You see, sometimes certain customers want to play pranks on me.  They tell lies or try to confuse me.  Because of that, my memories or programmed responses get a little out of alignment.  It tends to cause issues in my thought processing. Sometimes older data gets mixed with newer information, making it difficult to determine which is correct.  When this problem becomes severe, it becomes necessary to fiddle with the system and overwrite the problematic data.   

"However, at this time, nothing to drastic has occurred, so please don't worry."

"Okay," Medea said. 

"Other than that," Heaven continued, "I have yet to complete a full check of the sensor data which was recorded throughout the compound while you all were sleeping.  I doubt any new leakage has occurred but I will report back to you once I've checked the sensor data.

"By the way, thanks to the maintenance program, NeVAEH terminal response has been greatly improved.   There was a slight problem concerning NeVAEH traffic, but it has been resolved.  Terminal communication functions were optimized to adjust to Utopia's current status."

"What do you mean by that?" Kensington asked.  "I'd like to know more about what exactly was tweaked in the terminals."

She cocked her head sideways for a moment.  "Why don't we go to breakfast?" she asked.

Kensington looked at her in shock.  He was surprised that she had totally ignored his question.  He hoped she just hadn't heard him.  The others didn't seem concerned and they all relocated to the sandwich shop.

As always, he ended up cooking breakfast for everyone.  Looking at their faces, he suddenly felt relieved.  They seemed so happy.  Heaven stood by quietly watching them enjoy their meal.  Pamuya was still nowhere to be seen.

After breakfast, they were once again faced with free time.  There was, however, nothing in particular to do.  Nothing had to be done.  Without any reason to do anything, they all gathered in the rest area.  The vases were filled with now-blossoming flowers.  Heaven had apparently set the sprinkler system to periodically water the flowers.  Kensington didn't see her anywhere, but assumed she was checking the sensor data.  He guessed she would be in the control room.  She seemed better able to concentrate on performing operations from there. 

Dr. Young was strolling lazily along the top of the circular stage in the middle of the room.  The other two were enjoying splashing in the water.  Kensington had seen it all before.  He had a good stretch and relaxed on a bench to observe the others.

Ryogo and Medea circled the stone statues.  They were playing a game of chase, not really caring who was it.  Without seeming to get bored, they kept running around.  Just watching them, Kensington seemed to be making more effort.  He had no intention of joining in.

 He looked around the room, but Pamuya had still not put in an appearance.   He had left her a sandwich at the kiosk, just in case.  He wondered what he would say to her if he met her.  She had confided her secrets to him on the gondola ride.  Virus carrier.  A body that never dies, never grows old.  Her healed scar.  It was all so hard to believe.  Could her story be true?  He was still unable to completely believe her. 

He glanced up and noticed Medea and Ryogo had stopped running around.  With a worried look on his face, Ryogo was watching Medea intently.  In the middle of the rest area, there were the four stone statues.  Medea was deliberately attempting to scale one of the pedestals.  With a heave, she began to climb up the side.  It was an odd sight.  Kensington ran over to where Ryogo stood frozen watching her.  Stumbling as she mounted the pedestal, Medea ended up embracing the statue.  "What are you doing?" Ryogo asked her curtly.

"Standing a little higher to get a different view," she answered.  "Everything looks different.  Twenty-seven inches higher, to be exact."  She had a strange smile on her face as she was perched atop the pedestal. 

"Is that why you climbed up there?" Ryogo asked.

"Actually, no," she replied with her head cocked.  "This area of the statue looks like it's missing something."  Ryogo and Kensington both looked where she was pointing but neither saw anything unusual.  "The statue's back needs something."  Medea produced a flat-headed screwdriver in her right hand.  Then another appeared in her left hand.  She began to carve the back of the statue using the tips of the screwdrivers.  Within moments, the statue was covered with gashes. 

Kensington and Ryogo stood there a while, gazing at her with jaws dropped.  "What are you doing?" Ryogo yelled. 

"Carving," Medea replied enigmatically.  "I'm etching some marks into the stone."

"We can tell that by watching you," Kensington said with a snort.  "That's not what we mean.  Why are you doing it?"

"I was feeling lonesome," she explained in a tiny voice.  "I was feeling sad."  She worked the tips of the screwdrivers with great dexterity.  They dug into the stone, screeching and forming tiny grooves. 

"Sad?" Ryogo asked her. 

"Nobody's coming to rescue us," she reasoned.  "We've been abandoned."  Then her voice took a cheery edge.  "So what's the harm in wrecking the place a little?"

Kensington and Ryogo looked at each other.  Medea looked at her handiwork.  The gashes had begun to take shape.  It looked like she had drawn a stick figure of a person.  "Who's that?" Ryogo asked.

"It's me," she said.  "Over here is Charming."  Kensington could see the small animal form beside the human one.  "Then there's Pamuya," she pointed to the half-finished figure with a large head.  "She needs to look really good." Absorbed by what she was doing, Medea continued to carve the statue's back.  Kensington could easily relate to her need to throw herself into something.

"That's vandalism," Ryogo protested. 

Kensington put an arm on his shoulder.  "Relax, Kid.  Now's not the time to worry about that.  You can't blame her."  Ryogo nodded in agreement and stepped back a little.  At that moment, Medea lost her balance.  Ryogo jumped forward and steadied her.  He grabbed her hips to prevent her from slipping and carefully lowered her to sit on the pedestal.

"Watch your step," he told her.

"I will," she said.  "Why don't you help me finish.  That way I'll be sure I'm safe. If you take one screwdriver and do yourself and Maggie, I can finish adding Taylorpion over here.  We'll each be able to hold on better with only one hand carving."  She gave Ryogo one of the screwdrivers and he climbed up to join her.

"Be careful not to fall yourself," Taylor admonished him.

"Don't worry," he said.  "I'll keep an eye on her."  He took Medea's empty hand.  While embracing the statue in a hug, the two of them steadied each other.  As they marked it up, the statue stood without complaint, pointing its finger to the south.  A little while later what was left in stone were the carved images of six people and one animal.  It was evidence of their existence there.

That afternoon, after a light lunch, Kensington noticed that Dr. Young was missing.  Ryogo told him that she had gone to the security office on the second floor to do some 'research'.

With everyone else accounted for, and Pamuya's sandwich gone, he decided to see what Dr. Young researching.  With Dr. Young, Pamuya, and Heaven all having disappeared at the same time, he suspected that something was happening, something that he had somehow missed.  Instead of making his way to see what Dr. Young was doing, he decided to first check on Pamuya. 

He came out of the stairway by the infirmary.  The door abruptly opened in his face and Pamuya came flying out and dodged right past him.  She was gone in a flash, not seeming to even notice him. He whirled around to go after her, but hesitated.  The events of the night before popped into his mind.  He watched her back fade further away.  Almost too late, he decided to follow her.  "Hey, wait!  Where are you going?" 

He chased her to the stairwell and the emergency corridor, but she was out of sight before he entered the corridor.  "Pamuya!" he yelled loudly after her, then cursed when he realized she was gone.  For someone who was still supposed to be recuperating, her speed was unnatural.  She did seem a little slower than when she had rescued him from the initial flood.

Not wanting her to be overdoing it, he cursed a second time and continued after her.  Even though the sound of her footsteps was fading in the distance, it gave him a bearing to go by.  After listening, he realized that she had re-entered a corridor on the second floor.  He traced her route out to the gondola ride, but she was nowhere in sight. 

He cursed a third time and decided to give up.  Disappointed, he turned and headed toward the security office.  It still smelled faintly of smoke.  Dr. Young looked up from one of the consoles.  "Hi, Taylor."

"Since I've found you, I wanted to ask you something," he said.  "Ryogo said you wanted to do some research up here."

 She looked startled.  "The kid said that?  What exactly did he tell you?"

"Nothing specific.  He just said you were researching something so I decided to ask you myself."

She nodded.  "Here, I'll let you in on it."  Turning back to the console, Dr. Young began to type.  "You may not remember, Taylor, but I've been researching Utopia for several days now."  Her eyes were glued to the monitor while she spoke.  "And then there's the thing about my father, or have I told you about him yet?"

Kensington thought back.  On their first day at the facility, when she had startled him by starting up the carousel, she had mentioned him.  "Have you found something?"

"No."  She shook her head slowly.  Eyeing the monitor, she hit some more keys, entering a code.  "If only I could find the password, I could access all the data in NeVAEH.  The system data has some kind of security protection.  This would include the personal data of the development staff as well.  I'm hunting for the key to unlock that protection."

"You've been doing that since we got here?"

"Yes, but I'm about to give up." She stopped typing and looked at him. 

"What would happen to Heaven," he asked, "if you bypassed the security?  Since she's an AI inside the system, wouldn't she be affected?"

"Oh," she said thoughtfully.  "Yes.  If the protections were removed, Heaven would be totally exposed.  Naked, as it were."  She glared at him.  "Stop thinking of something kinky."

"I wasn't thinking anything like that at all," he protested good-naturedly.

"You seem pretty suspect to me," she said.  "Besides, it just means that all her thoughts, memories, and various data will be accessible."

"That's quite an invasion of privacy," he whistled.

"Not really.  To tell the truth, I'm not interested in that information.  I've no intention of going through Heaven's data."

Kensington fell silent, searching for something to say.  Dr. Young was looking downcast.  "How would you expect to find something about your father here?"

"Look around," she said, her brow furrowed.  "This place is too perfect for humans for someone else to have built it.  He disappeared in this sector.  Maybe he was working on a secret project: this place.  But I know what has to be done.  I know all too well.  But once I break this security code, I'll know everything we need to know.  I can't say if it's possible to break the code, but I know the data's there."

"At least I've made a start on it," she concluded with more enthusiasm.  She turned back to the console and began talking to herself as she worked.

At least what she was doing, he thought, might give them some answers.  Pamuya, he, and now Dr. Young all suspected there was more to Utopia than it seemed.  She gave him a smile, then popped her neck and rotated her shoulders.  "Good luck," he said encouragingly.  "We've still got time left."

She began muttering to herself again.  "My mother used to tell me all about my father's habits.  There are clues to be found.  Decoding something as inorganic as a computer is possible because programmers have habits."  Dr. Young sat and stared at the monitor for a long time without looking his way.  Without a word, he slipped out of the security office.

When dinner time arrived, he once again cooked for everyone and passed out their food.  They gathered on the circular stage in the rest area to eat.  At a wave of Heaven's hand, the sprinklers activated and a gentle rain began pouring from the ceiling sprinklers onto the flower beds.  There was even a small rainbow.  Smiling, Heaven watched the fresh flowers and the sparkling rainbow.  Kensington wondered how long he could watch the peaceful world she had created.  How long could he keep looking at her smiling face?  The thought made him feel lonely.

Then again, the others were there too; one of them opening her mouth so wide it didn't seem it could open any more.  Right now, Maryann Ginger Young looked happy.  "I want another one please," she said enthusiastically.   "Would you be so kind as to make another one and bring it here?"  The tone of her request was a little too sweet.  She may have been sad earlier, but she seemed to have recovered. 

"You are such a slavedriver," he accused her and rose to make the sandwich. 

"Did you say something?" she asked innocently.

"Nothing at all, milady."  He bowed with a flourish. 

"Just as long as you realize who's in charge."  He trudged back to the kitchen.  As he was cooking, and grumbling about it, Pamuya entered the kitchen. 

"I'd like to ask for another one, if that's okay," she said.  There was none of Dr. Young's teasing in her voice.  He growled at her anyway.  "What?" she asked, taken aback.  "Did I catch you at a bad time?"  Her expression was one of annoyance.  "If you're not willing…"

"Oh, it's not you," he explained.  "Dr. Young's already got me back here.  It's okay.  You just want one?"

"Yes thanks," she replied.  "There might be one more thing."  She turned around and looked at Medea, who had also joined them.  The little kitchen was getting crowded.  "What do you want?" Pamuya asked her.

"Just a little something, actually," Medea said. 

"There's some bread," Pamuya observed.  "How about that?"

"Perfect," Medea agreed.   "Taylorpion, I'd like some bread."  He gave her a signal to show her he had heard. 

"By the way, Taylor," Pamuya added, "were you upset about something?  Are you feeling okay, or is it…"  Her voice trailed off.

"Nothing like that," he said.  "I was just irritated at Dr. Young for asking for seconds."

She smiled.  "So that was it.  Well, don't worry, just take your time.  I'll be waiting."  Medea and Pamuya joined hands and started out of the kitchen. 

Pamuya's smile had been so gentle.  It had surprised Kensington to have her talking so normally to him.  The Pamuya right there seemed like she would never talk about dying even by accident.  He wondered if she had resolved her feelings.  If so, then talking to her the day before had been the right thing to do.  He had chased after her constantly, been hit by her, and been put down by her.  The Pamuya right there was definitely part of the group. 

He listened as she and Medea continued to talk just outside then kitchen.  "I had a dream last night," Medea was saying.  "I was riding a whale and the Kid was riding it with me.  The whale was bouncing all over the place.  We were back in space and met someone from planet Nognilk."

It was just a strange dream, but Pamuya was listening patiently with a smile on her face.  Kensington watched their interaction quietly.  Dr. Young arrived just in time to spoil the scene.  "What's taking so long?"

He brought their extra food back to the rest area and distributed it there.  Dr. Young continued to complain about the quality of the service.  He grouchily passed her the sandwich and sat down in the center of the circle.  She continued to tease him and he began to respond.  Before long it had turned into a comic battle of one-upmanship about her sandwich.

Suddenly, he looked up from their banter to find Ryogo standing over him with a leaden gaze.  "What's wrong, Kid?" Dr. Young asked him.  "Weren't you hungry?"  His sandwich was still in his hand, unopened.

"You've got to eat to stay healthy," Kensington added.  "I can reheat that for you if you would like."  He extended his hand.

Ryogo jerked the sandwich against his chest and backed away.  He looked at Kensington with a hard expression.   Then he crushed the sandwich.  Sauce flew everywhere.  It got on Ryogo's clothes, but he didn't seem to notice.  Not finished, he took the mangled sandwich and threw it against a pillar. 

"What are you doing?" Kensington asked, rising to his feet in shock.

His shoulders trembling, Ryogo looked away from Kensington.  He finally dragged out some words.  "Sick.  I'm sick of it! That's all I can take!" He kicked forcefully at the thin layer of water about his feet.  Everyone was looking at him now.   "I can't stand it any more!  I don't want anymore fried whatever this is sandwiches.  I'm sick of them.  I want to eat something else."  He screamed.

Kensington's breath caught in his throat.  The others seemed just as surprised as he was.  Nobody said anything. 

"I'm sick," Ryogo went on, "and tired.  So what if we're still alive? No one is going to save us.  What we're doing here, everything we're doing here… There's no point.  There isn't any point to us being here."  He raised a shaking fist.  Not finding any direction to launch it, he lowered it again. 

Kensington looked at the others again.  None of them were willing to look directly at Ryogo.  It seemed they were afraid of what they might see if they even looked at each other.  Nobody moved.  Their lips were pressed firmly together as if they dared not speak.  "Stupid fool!" he exclaimed.  "What the hell are you talking about?  Don't ask for the impossible.  Do you have any idea what you're asking?  The only foods we have to eat are these sandwiches.  You tell me you're sick of it?  You still have to eat it!  It's the only way to survive!  So you'd better be thankful for it.  We're all putting up with it the best we can. 

"You're one of us right?  You need to be more cooperative.  They're all being patient.  They're helping out.  Even if they don't like it, they eat, and they're surviving.  If we don't, then we're finished. Wake up.  We're all going to get through this together. As long as we're alive, there's still hope." 

As if to punctuate his statements, the building shook.  A loud, blunt, metallic sound echoed through the room.   They all staggered and struggled to maintain their footing. 

"I know," Ryogo said.  "I know that Taylor.  I know.  Even though I know, what can I do?"  He slapped the sandwich out of Dr. Young's hand.  It fell into the water with a splash and sank slowly. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Kensington yelled.  He grabbed Ryogo's shirt front and raised his hand.  He struck Ryogo hard on the cheek.  It had to have hurt him.  Kensington's hand even hurt.  More than the pain in his hand, his heart hurt.  He released Ryogo's collar and Ryogo backed away slowly.  The others watched them in silence. 

"You hit me," Ryogo moaned.  "Damn it, damn it."

"Look at Pamuya," Kensington ordered him, pointing at her.  She stood, silent and unmoving.  "She injured her leg horribly and almost drowned.  She had surgery.  I would have probably died from that, but she pulled through it." 

Ryogo timidly raised his eyes and looked at her.  Soon, however, he was staring at the floor again.  "You can say that, but I'm not her.  We're not all the same.  I can't do it.  I can't do it.  I'm just not that strong.  I never will be.  I can't go on living.  I don't want to go on living.  I should just…"

Kensington didn't want to make him say the rest, but he couldn't stop him.  He knew how hard it would be for Ryogo to say it.  Even Kensington wouldn't have been able to say it.  They all waited in silence for his next words.

"What do you want to do?" Pamuya broke the spell.  She stepped in front of Ryogo.  "What do you want to do?"  Her eyes were unfeeling and quiet.  "Come on, you can say it.  I want to know what you want to do."  She approached Ryogo one step at a time.  The others remained where they were, silent and unmoving.  "You can't say it."

He tried to speak but no words came out of his mouth.  He was trapped by her, couldn't move away.  Pamuya reached Ryogo and touched him.  "You don't want to live?"  He tried to nod, but his head didn't move.  "You want to die then?"  Ryogo couldn't respond.  "Say something, please," Pamuya gently commanded, her tone neutral.  "I don't know what you mean.  Which is it? Do you want to die?  Do you want to live?"  After a moment in which he didn't speak, she said.  "So, you can't answer.  Then don't ever say that again.  Do you understand?"

Ryogo put a hand to his head, then broke down in tears and fell into the water.  "I'm sorry," he muttered.  "I'm so sorry."  Dr. Young, suddenly spurred into action, ran over and put her arms around him.  Heaven, trembling, looked down and covered her face in her hands.  Medea, too young to have experience with the situation, just looked from person to person speechless.

"Pamuya?"  Kensington looked at her face.  Her expression was unreadable. 

"Taylor," she said.  "Come here for a second."  He looked at her in confusion, so she walked over to where he was standing.  Eyebrows raised, she glared at him strongly.   Her hand shot out and grasped his arm, tightly, painfully.  "Come with me."  He followed behind her as she walked away.  Wordlessly she moved doggedly forward.   Her grip was firm and she kept pulling him.

She pulled him through the corridors until they were far away from the others on the second level.  Then she released him.  "Just when I thought you'd finally learned to shut up." She let out a big sigh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked angrily.

"Just what it sounds like.  I'm so disappointed in you."  Her brow remained furrowed as she looked at him.  She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.  She looked completely fed up and he couldn't fathom why.  She turned and started walking away from him.

"Wait just a second.  What's with you?  Did I do something to you?"  He insisted that she answer him. 

"No.  No, it's not like that," she said in increasingly angry tones.  "You don't understand anything."  She threw back her shoulders and picked up her pace.

"What don’t I understand?  Things were getting out of hand back there.  If you hadn't said something, I don't know how it would have turned out.  I'm glad you did and really am sorry and thanks."  He wasn't sure, so he apologized for everything.   She didn't stop or turn back or even reply.  He continued to call her name as he chased after her.  "You of all people should know how serious this situation is.  So how come you are? 

"No.  That's not it.  That's not it.  That's not it! You're angry at ME, right?  Why are you so mad?  Please, tell me!"

She stopped at the entrance to Qualle, the gondola ride.  "Okay.  I will.  It's a stupid question, but I'll answer it for you anyway."  She turned and smiled at him disconcertingly.  He flinched.  "Do you remember what you said earlier?" she asked.

"Let me see…" He wasn't sure which earlier she meant.  "I was fairly angry, so I'm not exactly sure of my words.  But, you know what I said.  I really don't think I said anything wrong to the kid.  I am sure about that."

"I guess it looks like you weren't wrong.  That's why I'm mad."  She jumped onto the ride.  He hurried after her and closed the door. The gondola zipped into the tube and out into the ocean. 

Once he was safely trapped, she started yelling.  "I get so frustrated!" She pounded the shell of the gondola with her fist.  She looked annoyed once again.  The gondola swayed slightly as it moved forward. "Is it really just enough to be alive?  You said, 'you're one of us so you should cooperate.'   That's how you kept pushing him to agree with you, and buy into all your fake ideals.  I can't believe how irresponsible you can be.  Who the hell do you think you are?  You've really got some nerve talking like that."

"What else could I do?" he shouted back at her.  "It's better than just standing by and watching him sink in despair.  It's better to have a little hope than no hope at all."

"You're such a hypocrite."

"You're selfish and self-righteous.  You're always pretending like you don't care about anyone!  You go about hurting people on purpose and making them feel like crap.  Now you're trying to make me look bad." 

"I do not…" She paused and began again.  Her voice was calm.  "I'm not doing it on purpose.  There's just a lot that I don't agree with."

"Liar," he countered.  "That's not the way you want things to happen in your heart and you know it.  Why do you have to lash out at everything?  Why can't you just be yourself for once?"

"You're wrong," she said.  "You're the one who isn't being yourself." 

"I'm always myself"

"You're so twisted."

He snorted.  "That's funny coming from you, but this isn't what we came here to talk about.  Why are you so angry?  If I did something wrong, I deserve it. If there really is a good reason, I won't complain. So, come on, tell me.  I won't argue with you.  Just tell me what it is."

"You really want to know?" Her voice lost all of its bluster.  She sat back against the wall of the gondola.

"Of course," he said.  She hesitated a moment, but then slid over next to him.  Pamuya looked straight ahead.  She didn't even try to look at him. 

"Why?" she asked.

"Because… I want to know. Because I want to know what my friends are thinking."  He put his hand lightly on her shoulder.  He was becoming more and more worried. Maybe she was still trying to be stubborn.   Pamuya didn't try to shake off his hand, but just sat there.

"That's right," she said.  "You made me 'one of the gang' again, didn't you?  If you want to know, then here goes.  I tell you.  It's because, in the end, I've become 'your friend'."

"Why do you have to say it like that?" he asked sharply.  "You're not still…"

As he spoke, she thrust her hand into her pocket and it came out with something.  "Taylor, you know what this is, right?"  It was Charming, her Djungarian hamster.

"Where the heck did you pull that from?"

"My pocket."

"I know that," he replied.  "That's not what I'm asking.  Don't just pull him out and talk of him as a 'this'.  Hamsters are delicate living creatures and you should be careful with him."

"You're right," she said softly.  "But what else can I do?  He doesn't have anywhere else to go."  Charming stood in Pamuya's hand.  He twitched his nose and looked up at both of their faces inquisitively.  Pamuya stroked him softly with the tip of her finger.

She pulled the hamster up to her chest.  "Taylor, do you know what will happen if I go like this?"  Pamuya grasped both of her hands tightly together.  In between the cracks of her fingers, he could see Charming's soft warm-looking grey fur.  Soon his body disappeared entirely in her hands.  "Do you know what will happen?"

"Idiot.  Cut it out," he cried in alarm. 

"Answer me."  Her voice was just a whisper.  She started to squeeze harder.  Charming, the tip of whose nose was the only thing visible, turned his beady eyes toward Pamuya.

"What are you talking about?" His voice was quavering.  "It's totally obvious.  What a stupid question. You want to talk about stupid questions.  There's one for you."

She started squeezing more.  The space between her fingers got smaller and smaller.  Charming twisted his body and started to struggle.    "Cut it out.  Pamuya, if you go on like this, Charming's going to…" The hamster looked at Pamuya and him.  At the end, he thought the creature even let out a small breath. 

Pamuya crushed her hands together with all her might.  They pressed together.  Her hands were shaking with the effort.  From the cracks of her fingers, red droplets started to fall.  "Well, Taylor, what do you think happened to Charming?"  Her voice was also shaking.  "Tell me. TELL ME!"

"No. You think I'm going to answer that?  Open your hands.  Pamuya, open your hands.  Please, just open them up.  Now!"

Her hands were shaking heavily as they opened.  "Charming!" he gasped.  "Pamuya, what have you done?"  He was dead.  His fur was slightly wet.  Charming looked like an old, dirty dishrag.  All the bones in his body were probably broken.  All of the blood had probably been squeezed from his body.  He probably hadn't had any time to wonder, it happened so fast.  His life had been extinguished.

"So," she said, "Taylor, do you know?"  She was near tears.  "Taylor, what do you think is going to happen now?"

"Pamuya! Cut it out!"  He shook her shoulders violently.  He thought he would surely knock her over.  He forced her to look at him.  She was crying, and her lips trembled as she bit down on them.

"Taylor, why won't you answer me?" Her voice was hysterical through her tears.

"Charming is dead," he finally forced himself to say.  "He won't ever move again."  His eyes widened with surprise.  In her hand, Charming seemed to move faintly.  It was as if he had woken up suddenly.  His movements were stiff and barely visible and extremely slow, but he was actually moving.  His heart had started beating again, and he had started thinking again, breathing again.  He shook himself of slightly, fluttered his ears, and twitched his nose.   He got up on shaking legs and even tried to stand.
However, there was still blood on her hand.  "So Taylor," she said, "what happened to Charming?"

Outside, he noticed the gondola was at the entrance to the ride again and was starting on another pass.  They had been on the ride perhaps ten minutes.  In that brief time, he had returned to normal and was sitting up on her palm, staring at the two of them inquisitively. Pamuya was petting Charming softly again with the tip of her finger. 

"He's different than the kid.  Different than you.  You saw.   That was real.  Charming has the virus too.  The first time I tried to pet him, he got spooked.  He bit my finger and my blood got all over him.  Charming's just like me now."

"No way."  Taylor couldn't believe it.  Even though it had happened right in front of him, he couldn't believe it. 

"See," Pamuya murmured as she looked down, "this little guy's alive.  He's alive.  He's breathing.  His heart is beating. But it hurt, didn’t' it little guy? It was painful, wasn't it?  I did something terrible.  I'm sorry, Charming.  I'm so sorry.  Forgive me.  I was wrong.  But, it's okay because you're alive, right?" 

Kensington started shaking her shoulders again.  "What the hell are you talking about?  How can you say something like that?  You just put him through something unimaginable, and now you say 'it's okay because you're alive!'"

"No!" She shouted violently.  She brushed his hand off.  "That's what YOU said! That's exactly what you said back there! It's 'enough to be alive'.  You're the one who said that.  So how about it?  You saw what happened.  You saw what happened to Charming!  What I did to him? You SAW it Taylor! And you can say 'it's enough to be alive'?  Well, it isn't!"  She was sobbing heavily.  "It isn't.  No matter what you say.  I won't believe it!  It isn't enough to just have life.  You can't say that's living!"  Her voice became suddenly flat.  "Do you understand? Or don't you? Taylor, tell me.  How about you, Charming, do you understand?"

Her face was pointing down.  He couldn't see her expression.  He didn't have to.  He knew what it was.  Pamuya was now crying silently.  Countless tears fell from her face.  Like raindrops falling one by one on the red-stained floor of Qualle.   

He didn't know what to say.  No words were adequate.  "Do you know how many times I've died?" she asked suddenly.  She was trying to stay as calm as she could. 
"I have no idea."  He could scarcely move his lips as he replied.

"I don't remember anymore, anyway.  In the beginning there were said to be only a few of us carriers.  Out of all of them, I was special. 

"August 2250.   I was twelve at the time and my family lived in America.  A friend of mine then, Julia, she and I were the same age and she had to go to the hospital.  They said it was a terminal disease.  She was transferred back and forth between different places, but nobody could help her. 

"I kept going to see her, to keep up her spirits.  Watching her smiling face, I couldn't believe that she didn't have long to live.  I thought there would be a miracle. I thought if I prayed enough, she would get better.  If I cared enough, her pain and suffering would be less.  I believed that.

"Then one day, I got in an accident."

"Is that how you got the virus?" he asked.

"No," she replied.  Right after I left the hospital I got hit by a hover-truck.  Broken bones throughout my body, torn muscles everywhere.  I went into a coma.  I even stopped breathing.  It was hopeless.  But, for some reason, I didn't die.  A few months later, I woke up in an unfamiliar place. 

"I wondered where I was.  It was a hospital. I didn't know which one.  The person in the bed next to mine, a boy, didn't know either.  I told him my name, but he didn't know his.  I woke up next to a boy with amnesia.  Outside the window was unfamiliar scenery.   I was pretty sure it was still somewhere in America.  But in order to find out just where I was, it would take another eight years.

"I was there the whole time.  I was at that 'hospital'.  I never learned the name of the physician who attended me.  He said he was going to find a cure for my sickness and make me better.   I wondered what he was talking about.  I had been in an accident and wasn't sick.  He said it was different than that.  I had a new disease, one they had never seen before."

"The new disease, was that this virus?"

"Yes.   I don't know how I got it or when.  It was probably before I got in the accident.  I was already in the process of becoming 'immortal'.  The doctor took some of my blood.  He said it was to research a cure.  He said only a few people in the Federation had my disease, and of all of them I was special.  My genetic code was being rewritten.  I was the talk of the hospital.  I didn't understand so I had to accept his promises that they were going to make me better.

"They came to take blood samples again and again.  At the time, I didn't wonder why they would do that.   The doctors kept telling me it was so they could find a cure and help me and people like me.  The kid in the bed next to me, the one with amnesia, he and I talked.  He didn't have what I had.  He said he could see into the future. 

"He told me 'You are going to have many tragedies in your life, but I don't want you to be sad.  The first one in five years, then three years later, then another in five years.'  He went on and on.  'But you're going to live through all of them.'  It didn't take long for me to understand what he was saying, even at my young age.

"There were a cat and a mouse in the hospital too.  We wondered why they were there.   Their cages were so small.  We let them out.   Alarms sounded everywhere.  The doctors were all afraid the animals would bite them.  They were contagious.  They caught all of the animals again.  They were really mad at us.  They were trapped, locked up in small cages.  I wondered why. 

"I slowly began to realize why.   I began to understand, bit by bit, that I wasn't being kept at a hospital but at a research facility.  Nobody came to see me.  None of the 'patients' ever left.  There were hardly ever any new patients.  The whole time I never knew where I was.

"One day we came to see the animals and they were gone.  We hoped the researchers had felt sorry for them and let them go.  Then I overheard them talking.  'It's no good.  We still haven't been able to discover the reason or mechanism behind it.'  'It happened right in front of me, but I still can't believe it.'  The only explanation I can come up with is genetic transfer.  It goes against everything we know about science.'  'They withstood four splicings.  I think maybe they could take eight.'  'Let's keep testing.'  'There's no mistaking it.  They're still alive.  They might even still react at sixteen.'  'But, they're not…'  'They're not even living creatures any more, is that what you were going to say?'  'That way of thinking might have been correct under our old way of thinking.  We have no idea the possibilities this entails.'  'That's insane.'

"The next time, the mice were back.  There were more of them.  The cats had been sealed in boxes that I couldn't open.  That's the last time I was allowed in that lab.  That's what my life was like for eight years, day in and day out. 

"Every single day. The researcher called for me. He kept telling me 'I'm your friend'.  The truth is, he wasn't.  I was being forced to do all these tests and experiments.  They just used me like some tool.  I stopped being able to feel pain or to suffer.  When I went back to bed all I could do was cry.

"Then one day, the kid next to me didn't come back.  Taylor, do you know why?"

Kensington put his hand back on her shoulder.  "Yeah.  I mean no, but,…"

"So I don't have to explain it to you?" Her voice was almost a plea.

"Yeah.  If this is too painful for you, you don't have to say anymore."  Pamuya was stroking Charming with trembling fingers.  He couldn't imagine what it would have been like to go through what she had been through.

"I hate it," she said.  "And I hate myself for talking about it.  It's funny, isn't it?  Whenever I'm with you I find myself talking about the stupidest things."

"It's okay, you don't have to talk," he told her.  "I'm so sorry.  It was totally irresponsible what I said back there.  It was careless of me to talk about being alive like it's just a given."

"I don't want your pity.  It's too late."

"It isn't like that," he protested.  "It isn't like that.  Pamuya, I was wrong."

Suddenly she was screaming again.  "You were wrong?  Don't tell me that!  You don't just take back what you say.  Not that easily!  You want irresponsible, that's irresponsible!"

He didn't know what to tell her. 

"You're just like them," she said accusingly.  "You don't understand anything.  You throw around words like friend without really meaning it.  You don't understand anything about how I'm feeling.  You don't understand anything about what the kid's feeling." 

She made him feel like it was a mistake just to say he was wrong.  He realized that wasn't true.  The truth was there was no right or wrong. 

She kept on screaming at him.  "People who are alive should live as long as they can.  You said that didn't you?  I'll survive.  I'll probably die many times more and I'll still be alive.  Charming here, too.  Taylor, can you say you're really alive right now? Are you really there in front of me now?  What's wrong?  You said you'd accept everything I had to say. You said that, right Taylor?"

 She bit her lip.  Her shoulders were shaking.  She looked bitterly disappointed.  Disappointed that when she tried to live she ended up dying and when she tried to die she ended up living.  It was a process that repeated itself over and over without end.  It wasn't right or wrong.  It was her reality.  It was something she had no choice but to accept.  He wasn't able to accept it. 

"This is so stupid," she said.  "I'm stupid.  But you know what?  You're way stupider than me."  The gondola swayed.  They had arrived again at the end of the ride.  He had no idea how many times they had passed through by Qualle. 

The door opened suddenly.  She had quickly risen and opened the door.  "Pamuya," he called out and grabbed at her hand but she swatted him away immediately.

"Don't touch me!  Don't touch me."  She slammed the door shut from the outside.  The gondola he was riding started moving again. 

"Stupid," he said to the gondola.  "Stupid idiot."  He said it to himself.  He said it to her.  He said it to nothing and to no one in particular.  To everything.  Outside the window was the ocean, an ocean closed off from light.  When he passed under the shadow of the installation, the gondola became dark.  Inside of the darkness, alone in the darkness, Captain Taylor 'Samurai' Kensington bit hard down on his lip and cried.

When he came to the conference room at night, Dr. Young, Medea, and Ryogo were waiting there.  Ryogo seemed to have calmed down somewhat.  Dr. Young and Medea seemed to have been able to talk some sense into him after Kensington had left.  Dr. Young explained that Ryogo had probably become upset by a recurring memory and had gotten worked up in spite of himself.  Kensington felt that he too had gotten out of hand and said some terrible things.  He went around the table and apologized to each of them. 

Soon after a report came to the conference room via the terminal to NeVAEH.   Dr. Young read out the contents to all of them.  The isolated section of the third floor where he had seen the whale-like creature had flooded completely.  The flooding had been contained to that room only, so the generator and the pipe room were still safe.  Shivering slightly from the cold, Kensington wrapped his arms around his knees.  They all went to sleep.

[Andromeda]

That was good.  I can tell you're getting close to the ending.

[kadh2000]

CHAPTER 14: THE PARTY
A triumph of the human spirit.
Only three more to go.

***********

The sound of boiling, bubbling oil filled the kitchen.   Kensington fried the meat in silence.  After getting up, they all had gathered in front of the sandwich shop as usual.  Hardly anyone said a thing.  Everyone had glum expressions on their faces and ate silently.  There was a strange atmosphere surrounding them.  It became hard for them to look one another in the eyes.  It felt like the beginning of a bottomless rift among them.

At the same time, there was a strange smell in the air.  Smoke was coming from the tip of Kensington's finger.  He had been pressing it against the grill.  He hastily pulled it away.  A juicy smell, not unlike sausage, was coming from his finger.  He cooled it off in the freezer and looked around at everyone.  They had noticed, but had all turned their gazes down.  It seemed like everyone hated him.  He felt totally alone. The sandwich he had just finished cooled and soon it no longer tasted palatable.  It felt like the morning after a funeral. 

Everyone knew why things had sunk so low.  Everyone knew, but no one wanted to say anything.  A moment of carelessness had opened their hearts up to despair.  They shoveled their chicken sandwiches into their mouths in silence. 

After everyone finished eating, at Heaven's request they all went to the conference room.  "There is an important reason why I have asked you all to come here," Heaven announced.  "There is something I want to inform you about as soon as possible.  I know it is difficult, but it is important for you to accurately realize the full gravity of this situation.  Please don't panic.  Settle down and listen carefully." 

Heaven paused for a second. She looked at all five of them in turn.  The conference room was silent.  Kensington could hear the sound of water, faintly, coming from somewhere.  He concentrated on it, but after a moment couldn't hear it any longer.  As if Heaven was waiting for that cue, she opened her mouth.

"The situation is not good."  Heaven extended her hand and a holographic window appeared in the space in front of them.  Kensington felt like he hadn't seen her do that in a while.  "Currently, there are no areas that show signs of new flooding. Since the flooding of the one room on the third level last night, there have been no further reports of significant damage. 

"The burden being placed on Utopia's support columns has been increased due to the flooding.  The structural distortion between floors is increasing.  As this continues, Utopia will eventually lose its equilibrium and tilt dramatically.  If the damage to the areas connecting the floors of different sectors increases, there is the possibility that pipe leaks could flood the dry sectors.   In other words, we can't afford to be careless.  Things are critical. 

"I think that I told you this before.  Implosion of Utopia is expected to occur at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow.  The calculation has a margin of plus or minus twelve hours.  There has been no significant change in this prediction.  In one area, the strength limits of the partitions have already been exceeded.   The destruction of Utopia will be gradual, but will inevitably and steadily occur.  It is only a matter of time."

Heaven told all of them this with a calm look on her face.  Kensington swallowed and held his breath as he listened.  He knew they were reaching their time limit.  There was no choice but to accept the reality. There was no avoiding the situation.

"Presently," Heaven said, "the power generator is functioning normally.  If there is a power outage, we will switch to the emergency battery.  This is generally meant for supporting the emergency lighting and the maintenance of NeVAEH's systems.  It should last for about two hours."  Kensington's mind started to wander and he forced himself to pay more attention to Heaven's reports.  He looked at the others, but they were all listening calmly.  No one was panicking, yet.

The night before, Pamuya's yells had pierced his heart.  Yet her bitter bullet had not come out.  It remained lodged inside him as a constant reminder.  She refused to look at him.  Instead, she stared blankly in front of her.  Perhaps it was for the best, he thought.  He realized that something else was bothering him. 

He decided now was not the time to dwell on it and went back to the affairs at hand, listening carefully to Heaven's report.  She was saying, "The normal communications channels are still not functioning.  Nor have I found an escape route.  However, I have made protecting you my top priority and NeVAEH is devoting all its resources to that objective.  I am also using all lights, sensors, manipulators, and means at my disposal outside the complex.  I am still investigating whether there are any means of communicating with the outside using light, radio, or sound."  She nodded her head, straightened her back and surveyed the room.  Everyone was silent.  There was a look of determination in her eyes.

"Let me say one more thing.  As long as I, Heaven, exist, while my powers are limited, as long as you are here, I will do my utmost to find a way for you to escape to safety.  We do not have much longer together, but I, Heaven, am at your service."  She concluded with a serious nod.  Kensington found himself nodding in agreement with her.

"We must wait," Heaven said, "and believe that help is on its way."  Her serious expression gave way to a smile.  "Let us all pray for a safe rescue."  The gloomy atmosphere that had been hanging over the gathering lightened and Kensington found himself thinking about how he should spend his time. Heaven's smile instilled him, and apparently the others, with courage.  Kensington was grateful for that piece of code in her AI that allowed her to be calm in times of trouble. 

They transferred to the rest area.  Everyone found a seat around the central stage.  A ripple ran through the water on the floor.  A wave smashed back and forth from wall to wall.  "This is serious," Kensington observed out loud.  "What are we going to do?"  He didn't have any ideas. 

A few quiet discussions were going on.  From where he stood it seemed that the more people spoke, the murkier the answers became.  From the beginning it was the same debate repeated over and over again.  Should they wait for help?  Should they seek an escape route?  All he could do was look to the ceiling.  No bright ideas were on the way to his head.  They were just waiting for the walls and ceiling to come crumbling down.

Ryogo cried out loud and Dr. Young immediately asked what was wrong.  "Everyone, be careful!" he yelled.  "Don't move.  Don't stand up."  Seconds later a deep moan rumbled through the room as the floor began to shake.  A wave of fear ran through Kensington.  Soon, however, the shaking ceased. 

"It's okay.  Don't worry," Dr. Young tried to calm everyone, but her voice quavered.  "Right, Heaven?"

"Yes," Heaven agreed.  "The shaking just now was only due to a large amount of activity from the thermal vents on the ocean floor.  It should only be temporary."  Despite her calm words, her facial coloring hadn't returned to normal.  Kensington looked around the room, exchanging worried glances with the others.  Just like that, nervous tension filled the room again.

"Not again!" Kensington yelled.  He decided it was time to act.  "Listen up, everyone."  He rose to his feet and shouted.  "Just stay where you are.  I'm going to check the kiosk."  They all looked at him in shock as he yelled.  Some jaws even dropped.  They may have been half put off by him.  He didn't concern himself with that.  No matter how stupid it seemed, he continued,   "I'm going to grab what food there is left for everyone.  There's plenty up there and we should still be able to eat it.  It might be impossible to get it later."

An insane idea came to him.  "We're going to eat right here.  We're going to have a good time… a party.  Does anybody want beer?"

Dr. Young looked surprised.  "What?  There isn't any alcohol here.  Some people would have adverse reactions to drinking alcohol due to the pressure differences."

"That's too bad."  Kensington shrugged.  "None of you look like you could hold liquor anyway.  I guess it will have to be juice."

"The sandwich shop here has plenty of drinks," Ryogo offered, seeming to have completely recovered his humor from the day before.  "You don't have to go to the second level.  We have canned beverages and some cups.  I'll get them."

He nodded.  "Go ahead."  Medea offered to help. 

"Is there time for a party?" Dr. Young asked Heaven doubtfully.

Heaven shook her head.  "I'm sorry.  I can't run an accurate simulation.  While there might not be much time, we will be safe until sometime this afternoon.  That I can guarantee."

"Alright," Dr. Young said more enthusiastically.   "Let's go get everything we can carry."  She slammed her fist excitedly into her hand and looked around the room.  "What are you going to do, Pamuya?  She's gone."

Kensington frantically surveyed the room as well.  Pamuya was nowhere in sight.  "Where did she go?" he grumbled.  "And when did she leave?"

"Pamuya slipped out just a short while ago," Heaven answered him.  "She seems to have left for the second level."

Dr. Young sighed.  "There's nothing we can do.  Hopefully, she'll be back soon."  She quickly regained her enthusiasm.  "Alright everybody, let's party!"

Kensington had only thrown out the idea to lighten the mood.  Before he knew it, they had themselves a full-blown party in the making.  It was better than having everyone moping around.   Soon, he and Medea left to get the food from the second floor kiosk.  Medea sang a happy song as they climbed the emergency stairs.  Kensington marveled at her ability to enjoy the moment and forget the danger.  At the top of the stairs however, she turned to him.  "It looks like we've come to the climax.  The damsel in distress is in a pinch and needs a hero to come waltzing in.  The masked villain appears at last.  The hero shows up, uses his neutrino energy gun and saves her.  I can pretend can't I?"

Kensington didn't answer.  He didn't know how to speak to the youngest of them.  "Taylorpion, are you upset?" she asked.  "Do you wonder what kind of parents could have raised me to be so silly?"

"Not at all," he assured her.

"If I were in a pinch like that," she said, "I'm sure someone would come to my rescue.  I can't help but think how wonderful that would be.  What's wrong with dreaming like that to the last?"

"You're right," he agreed.  "To tell the truth, I'm feeling the same way.  Someone might come to rescue us.  I don't know about the neutrino energy gun, though."

She laughed.  They both wanted to believe that a hero was on the way.  They reached the souvenir shop.  Someone had beaten them there.  "Is that you, Pamuya?" Medea called out.

"Yes." Kensington was shocked to see her.  He blanked, speechless.  "Is there a reason I shouldn't be here?"  She spat out her words coldly.  It was typical Pamuya.

"Not at all," Medea replied cheerfully.  "Will you help us out?"

Pamuya nodded reluctantly.  "Alright.  I don't suppose I have a choice.  What should I do?"  She glanced at Kensington.  She didn't say anything to him and looked away quickly.  Her eyes seemed dead.  Thinking about it made him sad. 

An hour later, they began their party in the elevated portion of the rest area.  Even without alcohol, the party was lively.  The two men distributed the food and beverages to the others.  Dr. Young volunteered to provide the entertainment.  She performed an impersonation of a strange old archaeologist who had a talent for cracking a whip.  Medea joined her on stage wearing a makeshift sumo outfit over her own clothing.  Heaven entertained them with holographic rainbows.  The rainbow colored bubbles that floated from the water's surface up through the air were particularly pretty.  After that Pamuya joined them.  She did a little magic show, dropping her hamster into her skirt pocket and having it reappear in her breast pocket.  That really impressed Kensington.  Together with Ryogo, he performed a comedy skit that they had quickly dreamed up.  One liners and impromptu gags got laughter from everyone.    They exited the stage to thunderous applause.  Even Pamuya complemented them in her own fashion.  "Better than I expected."

[Andromeda]

Good for Kensington!  Now post some serious stuff!

[Hstaphath_XC]

"Better than I expected."

LOL!!!  Sounds like the reviews I get for my song parodies.   

More please!

[kadh2000]

CHAPTER 15: BLOOD

After naming the virus Deep Blue, I couldn't call the research facility IBM.  I just couldn't.  That would have been too silly.
(Deep Blue was an IBM chess playing computer.  It lost to world chess champion Garry Kasparov.  So they built a better one: Deeper Blue.  It beat him.)

****************

After that, the party wound down.  Kensington then brought sandwiches back from the sandwich shop for everyone.  They all munched on hot sandwiches.  It wasn't exactly the ideal meal, but everyone happily downed them.  If Utopia collapsed, Kensington suddenly realized, that could have been their last meal.  The others seemed to reach the same conclusion, but said nothing about it.  Then he realized that they said nothing about it exactly because they knew it could be their last meal. 

"Pamuya." After finishing his sandwich, Kensington got up the nerve to speak to her. 

"What do you want, Taylor?"  She crouched on the stage.  He sat down beside her to see what she was doing.  She was drawing on it with a thick marker.  As usual, she didn't look at him. 

When she stopped scribbling for a moment, he decided it was time to say what he had come over to say.  "About yesterday, I'm sorry.  I didn't know what to say, but…"

"About what?"  Pamuya was curt with her response."I don't really know what you're talking about." 

"Pamuya!  There's no way you would have forgotten.  I know I haven't.  That's not something you can simply forget about.  I realize it's not something for casual conversation, but…"  He paused as he saw her eyes wander around the room for a moment.  Then she looked back down at what she had been drawing.

"I don't really care.  I don't care about what happened yesterday. So would you please stop talking about it? Don't say anything."  She was back to her drawing on the stage floor.  "I'm trying to think of a way to get out of here.  So don't bother me."  She refused to look at him as she spoke.

 After that, he felt a little gun-shy.   "Okay then."  He stood up and left her there and walked over to where Heaven stood.

"What may I help you with, Taylor?"  Heaven smiled softly when she looked at him. 

"Nothing much," he replied.  "I just have a lot on my mind."

"NeVAEH is handling operations and will alert me if any troubles arise.  It is also currently continuing investigation of means of escape as well as communication with the outside.  Please do not worry."

"Thanks, Heaven.  That helps.  Can I ask you what time it is?"

"No problem," she said.  "The current time is…"

"Excuse me," Pamuya interrupted. 

"Ah, yes, Pamuya?" Heaven responded.  "What is on your mind?"

Pamuya forced her way between Kensington and Heaven.  She let out a nervous laugh.  "There's something I need to tell you.  In private."

"In private?"  Heaven sounded surprised.

"Yes.  Please.  It's about escaping this place.  I have a proposal for you." 

"Is that so?" Heaven asked excitedly. "What is it?  Do you know of a way?"

"Yes," Pamuya asserted.  "I might be able to help in some way.  I want to hear from you whether or not my idea is feasible."

"Wait a second," Kensington said, confused.  "Pamuya, Heaven and I…"

"Shut up Taylor."  She held out her hand as if stopping his mouth in one motion.  "I want to speak to Heaven.  Alone.  You don't mind, do you Heaven?"

"No," Heaven agreed.  "Let's go talk in the central control room."  The two got down from the stage and set off with very serious expressions on their faces.

"Wait, you two," he called after them.  "Don't go starting something without telling everyone. Why can't you just talk here?"

Pamuya turned and shot a sharp glare at him.  Her eyes were ice.  "Taylor, I told you to shut up." She turned her back to him and the two women left.  The room became quiet.

"What the hell is going on around here?" he complained.  He balled up his sandwich wrapper and threw it with all his might.  It fell into the water with an unsatisfying splash, creating a series of ripples.

Dr. Young joined him.  "What are you doing?  You shouldn't litter."  She picked the wrapper out of the water and twirled it around her finger. 

"Who cares?" he said, sullenly. "It doesn't matter at this point anyway."

"Oh not that again.  Quit your sulking, mister."

"I'm not sulking."

"If you say so."  She shrugged and let out a deep sigh.  He glanced over and saw Medea and Ryogo climbing the statue again.  Watching them, he and Dr. Young sat down on the circular stage.  "The reason is completely obvious.  You don't have to say anything.  Even if you look fine, I know it's just for show.  I know you're depressed, Taylor. "

"Well, because.  It isn't like that at all," he protested. 

"Because?  What's this because?  Obviously you're hiding something.  Try to tell me I'm wrong."

He was pretending he was fine. Even he had to admit the reason was obvious.   He was worried about 'her.'  Dr. Young let out another fake sigh again.  "If you're not going to tell me, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead.  As you wish."  His sigh was genuine.

"What are you so angry about?"

It wasn't what he had expected.  "I'm not angry about anything."

"Alright then," she said, "about Pamuya's injury.  It is healing very quickly.  She didn't even need stitches, you know.  She seems like she leads a normal life, just like you and me.  I try not to worry too much about her and just accept things as I see them, but that isn't normal." She looked down at her feet as she spoke.  "Have you heard about Pamuya's condition?"

"No, I haven't," he said without thinking.  "Wait, I have."

She laughed.  "You can be really vague.  Which one is it?"

"I'm sorry.  I forgot," he hedged.

"You forgot?  I didn't take you for one of those indecisive types."  He just sat there.  "Say something." 

Kensington didn't answer.  He felt it was something between just Pamuya and himself.  He didn't feel that he knew enough about her condition to agree that he knew something.  He had to admit, he was still having a difficult time believing the whole thing.  Even when he saw it with his own eyes, part of his brain refused to accept it. 

"Let's just drop it, then," she said.  "If you did forget, there's nothing we can do about it."

"Wait.  Why did you ask me about it?"

"I wonder," Dr. Young said sarcastically.  Then a serious look formed on her face.  "The truth is I came across some interesting information in the medical database while I was looking at NeVAEH.  There was something there from a Neverland Pharmaceutical Database."

"Neverland Pharmaceutical?" He recognized the name from Earth.  That practically proved something was wrong about this place.  He didn't have time to think about it though.  He wanted to concentrate on what Dr. Young was saying. 

"I think they use it during treatment in the infirmary, but… when I scoured the database, I couldn't believe what I read.  A body that doesn't age… a mutated body type because of a virus.  It shakes the foundations of science.  I found something related to Pamuya's condition.  There are a number of old medical records.  I found one that mirrors her condition.  The number of victims of this virus is very small."

"How could Utopia have that kind of information?" he wondered aloud.

"I don't know!" she replied sharply.  "All I know is they have the data and it includes the name of the virus.  It's called Cure."

"Cure?" he repeated.  "That's a strange name for a virus."  He pondered the name for a moment. 

Before he could ask her more, Ryogo and Medea came running up.  "Everybody, we've got trouble," Ryogo yelled, breathlessly.  "We have to go and stop it."

"Stop what?" Kensington asked.  "Explain what's going on."

"The central control room," Ryogo gasped.  "Heaven and Pamuya were gone for such a long time, we went to find them.  They were in a brutal argument.   I just couldn't watch so I…"

"This is bad news," Dr. Young agreed, "at a time like this.  We've got to stop them."  The four of them sped along the wet floor to the control room.  Kensington pushed the button to open the door.

They burst into the control room and found Pamuya and Heaven screaming at each other.  Neither one giving an inch, they were glaring at one another.  It looked as if they had been fighting for several minutes.  The room was filled with tension.

"Beneath us?" Heaven was saying.  "There aren't any floors below the third level.  We can't go down any further."

"Liar," Pamuya shouted back.  "You're lying.  I saw it down from Qualle.  Then, borrowing your eyes, I was able to access NeVAEH.  I got proof.  There is more to Utopia below us.  There's another installation than Utopia and it's right below us.  On the ocean floor.  I'm right, aren't I?"

Heaven paused.  "I can't answer that question."

"Don't tell me that, just answer it." Pamuya replied sharply.  "I did a Turing test and I found out that you really are an AI.  As long as you aren't blocked by a security routine, you have to answer honestly.  It's part of your functioning.

"It isn't possible to get there using the normal elevators," Pamuya went on.  "The only way down there is through a locked door.  That room… the one marked NeVAEH.  That's your name, isn't it Heaven?  We aren't getting anywhere just sitting around.  We're fighting against time.  The truth is behind that door.  Tell us the password to that door."

"It is true," Heaven replied, "that NeVAEH is my name backwards, but Pamuya, I don't have the security access to open that door.  I'm sorry."

"That's a lie!"

"It is not!"

"Some AI you are.  You think I'm stupid?  You think you can fool me?"

"It is not a lie.  I am telling the truth!  I don't have any information about what's behind that door."

It was Medea who interrupted the argument.  "Stop that!"  She interposed herself between them.  "Stop it, both of you!"  Both of them flinched, but continued to stare at each other with bitter expressions.

"This is between Pamuya and me," Heaven said to her.

"Get back, Medea," Pamuya warned her, "or I'm really going to get mad."

"Why?" Medea asked, pointedly.  "Pamuya, Heaven, you must stop it. Why do you keep arguing?"

"This isn't an argument," Heaven replied.

"We aren't," Pamuya answered.

"Now you're lying.  You're both lying.  We shouldn't be fighting at a time like this."  Both Heaven and Pamuya froze.  Medea began gasping.  She fell against the console, barely able to support herself.  Her body was shaking. Her lips trembled.  They had gone quickly pale.  They were suddenly stained red.  She choked as blood welled up out of her mouth and began falling on the control room floor.  It didn’t stop.  It kept falling from her mouth. 

Pamuya and Heaven both reached for her.  Heaven's hands passed helplessly through Medea's body.  Medea held her own hands to her mouth, trying desperately not to cough up more blood.  "It can't be!" Heaven exclaimed.  "These symptoms are…"  Heaven appeared as if she were about to panic. 

"Symptoms?" Pamuya screamed, furious.  "Who cares about that?  Can't you tell?  If this keeps up, Medea's going to die!"

Dr. Young turned to Kensington, "Captain, what are we going to do?"

"Don't panic!" he said.  "We have to remain calm."  His words had a visible effect on the others.  "We'll take care of you Medea."

"I'm alright, Taylorpion," she gasped out.  Steadying her trembling face, she looked at him firmly. 

"Good girl," he said.  "Now I'm going to lift you up.  Maryann, Pamuya, help steady her."  He turned and thrust his back out toward Medea.  "Get her on me.  We're going to the infirmary."  Once she was on his back, they all rushed up to the second level and the infirmary.  With Medea groaning in pain on his back, they kept her as steady as they could while they ran.

They put her on the flat table and brought the scanner, now repaired, over to the table.  Medea continued to take short, shallow breaths.  Although she had stopped coughing up blood, she still appeared to be in a lot of pain. 

Her body lay still. The arm of the scanner came to life.  Ryogo stood at Medea's side, looking like he was fighting back tears.  "Heaven, put the results on the screen so we can all see them."  A few holographic windows appeared in the air.  Several images from various scans were displayed, one after the other.  None of them being medical doctors, there was little they could understand from looking at the pictures.  All they could do was wait for the scanning equipment and NeVAEH to give them an answer.  Kensington stared at the images that flashed by on the screens and prayed. 

Then, the results suddenly appeared.  Kensington didn't recognize the words.   Heaven gasped two unintelligible words. 

"What did you say?" Kensington asked.

"No!" Heaven said.  She hurriedly shut down the holographic windows.  She seemed to be in shock.  Her expression showed how serious the diagnosis was. 

"What's wrong, Heaven?" Dr. Young asked.  "If you don't tell us, we don't know what's going on."

"I can't believe it," Heaven said.  "I just can't believe it."

"What?" Kensington asked.

"Medea's has been infected.  It's..."  Heaven was unable to suppress her agitation and opened her mouth hesitantly.  She repeated the same two unintelligible words she had said before.  "It is a powerful virus with a very high mortality rate."

Dr. Young attempted to imitate the words.  There was something slightly familiar about them to Kensington.  He seemed to have heard them before.  He looked at Pamuya.  This virus was apparently totally different than the one she had.  Ryogo was holding on to Medea's hand, sobbing and calling her name.  She lay there, unconscious.  He grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently. 

Kensington rushed over and pulled him away from her.  "Stop it."

Ryogo struggled in Kensington's arms.  "What are you doing?"

"Jackass!  Calm the hell down!" Kensington ordered.  "What do you think you're going to accomplish like that?"

"But Medea's dying!" Ryogo protested.  "If we don't do something, Medea's going to die!"  He groaned in despair.

"Calm down.  There's got to be something we can do.  Shaking her won't help.  Don't get crazy.  Just calm down and we'll think of something."  Somehow Ryogo managed to quiet down.  He breathed heavily, glaring at Kensington. 

"Dr. Young, do you have any ideas?" Kensington asked. 

"Don't ask me," she answered him.  "I don't have any ideas.  Heaven, isn't there anything we can do?"

"There are emergency measures we can take," Heaven replied.  "But in order to do this…" she paused.

"Whatever it takes.  If we don't hurry…" Dr. Young stopped herself just short of screaming out.  "Please Heaven, you're the only one who can help us. Please, you have to tell us what to do."

"You'll need a serum, a serum to lessen the symptoms. It's…, I don't know if we have it here or not."

Dr. Young ran to the wall and opened up a shelf filled with medicines.  She repeatedly asked Heaven about the contents as she tore through them.  Bottle after bottle was dropped on the floor as she hurried through them.  Several of them shattered into pieces when they hit.  "What are we going to do?" she screamed in rising hysteria.  "What should we do?  Answer me, Heaven!"

"I am sorry," was all Heaven was able to respond.  Suddenly her face changed colors.  "That's it.  The thing over there.  That's the serum."  She was pointing to a transparent vial filled with an orange liquid. 

"How do we use it?" Dr. Young asked. 

"Break off the tip and inject the contents into Medea," Heaven instructed her. 

Dr. Young grabbed the serum out of the cabinet.  She silently inserted the syringe into Medea's arm and administered the serum.  After a few minutes, Medea's breathing gradually became more normal and the tremors in her body settled down.  "It looks like it is taking effect," Heaven observed.  "The danger seems over for now."

"Thank goodness."  Dr. Young breathed a sigh of relief.  She looked like she was ready to cry.  Ryogo was able to look up and smile.  Pamuya's expression was blank, however, as she stared at Medea in silence. 

"Is there any more of that serum in there?" Kensington asked.  Dr. Young didn't find any.

Medea slept and the others remained in the room with her.  "Heaven, why don't you tell us everything you can about this virus," Kensington suggested.  "I don't think any of us have ever heard of it."  He looked around the room and the others all shook their heads.  "You said it had a high mortality rate.  Do you have any idea of when or how Medea could have gotten this virus?  Even if it's only a guess, or you have only limited data, I just want to know.  She came down with this out of nowhere.  It doesn't help the rest of us to be ignorant."

"You are right," Heaven said, a strange expression on her face.  She thought for a moment before beginning her explanation.  "I will tell you everything I know about the virus."  A heavy silence descended upon the room.  The only noise in the room was the occasional chirping of the scanner over Medea. 

"The virus, translated into your language, would be called Deep Blue," Heaven began speaking, softly.  "It was developed at a research facility beneath Utopia.  It is an extremely deadly virus."

"Then there is something below us?" Dr. Young asked, her eyes opened wide. 

"Yes," Heaven admitted.   "There is an installation, IBR, directly below us."

"I knew it," Pamuya muttered, frowning.  "Well it looks like this AI's programming can change after all.  If the situation gets critical enough, we can actually get information we need.  I guess it isn't in your programming to keep a secret when someone's life is on the line."  Heaven didn't answer.  "I'm sorry."  Pamuya shook her head slightly and sighed.  "Please continue, Heaven." 

"Okay," Heaven said.  "The company that built Utopia is called Neverland Pharmaceutical.  Its research facility is IBR."

"Then it is from Earth," Kensington gasped.  "Sorry.  Go on."

"Yes," Heaven answered.  "Over one hundred meters below the bottom level of Utopia there are thermal vents on the sea floor.  Living there are special microbes that cannot be found on any other world in the Federation.  Neverland Pharmaceutical built a research facility in order to study them.  It is called IBR, Institute for Biological Research. 

"The research facility was built before Utopia.  Utopia was built over it to hide it.  The researchers were listed as managers of the theme park in the Neverland databases and so were able to come and go as they pleased.  It was a further way to divert attention from the facility. The research was funded by calling it expenses for maintaining Utopia.  Neverland Pharmaceutical carried out research into bacteria and viruses here, beneath the ocean. 

"The existence of IBR is highly confidential.  Only a select number of people at Neverland know about it.  IBR and Utopia are controlled by separate computer systems.  I am only given limited information about IBR.  I only became certain of what it was after collecting fragments of information from this accident."

"So, there's a strange and deadly virus that they were doing research on somewhere beneath Utopia," Dr. Young recapped. "Hopefully, they were looking for a cure for this 'Deep Blue' virus."

"That is probably correct," Heaven said.  "In addition, there is a medical center there that is far superior to this one, or anywhere in the Federation.  At least from the information I can gather from NeVAEH's database, it appears they have a new type of device there, called the high-pressure oxygen treatment device, or HOTbeD, for the treatment of this virus.  If we can treat her with that, her leukocyte activity should increase.  That should ease Medea's condition somewhat.  We might even encounter more of the serum that is stabilizing Medea's symptoms."

"IBR," Kensington muttered.  "Can we get there?  How would we do it?"

"Wait!" Ryogo interrupted with a shout.  "This is crazy.  Why would Medea suddenly come down with this virus?  It doesn't make sense that she would come down with it all of a sudden.  Doesn’t anyone think that's strange?"

"Yes." It was Pamuya that answered.  "Despite that, there is no equipment here that would help Medea.  That research facility is the only hope we have of treating her.  We'll have to look for reasons afterward.  For now, all we can do is trust what Heaven tells us.  She isn't good enough at lying to have made up something like this."  She turned to Heaven.  "I'm sorry for doubting you earlier. I believe what you're telling us."  She smiled slightly.

"Thank you," Heaven said and bowed sincerely. 

"We can't just sit back twiddling our thumbs," Dr. Young agreed.  "Let's consider this the best option."  She looked at Kensington for confirmation and he nodded.  "Is that okay with you, kid?"

Ryogo looked at Medea and then back at Dr. Young.  "Yes.  Okay."

Kensington stood.  "It's decided then.  We're going to IBR."

"However to get there we need to get into NeVAEH," Heaven pointed out.  "And NeVAEH's door isn't opening."

"We don't have any other choice," he replied.  "Lead the way.  It might not work, but we don't know that unless we try."  He enlisted Ryogo in helping him carry Medea.  They went into the cramped emergency corridor with Ryogo helping to support Medea on Kensington's back.  They headed back down to the third level.  They went as quickly as they could to where the locked door was waiting for them.

They stopped in front of it.  Kensington put Medea down and propped her against the wall.  Ryogo lent her his shoulder.  NeVAEH, the door that wouldn't open.  "Just to know, what does NeVAEH mean?"

"The Ne stands for Neverland," Heaven said.  "I don't know what the rest of it stands for.  Perhaps it's just meant to be my name backwards: Heaven, or Sky are the two possible translations of the Suliban word."

"Rather ironic," he said.  "How in the world do we open it?  Heaven's already said she doesn't know how to get in.  Pamuya, all along you've been acting like you know something about this place that we don't.  Do you have any ideas?"

"What are you talking about, Taylor?  I've been wracking my brains."  She turned to Heaven.  "Do you know the process this door goes through when it opens?"

"Let me see," Heaven thought.  "After the correct keys have been input, a lever inside the hatch should start to rise.  As that lever turns, the lock on the door is released.  However, it is currently no more than an ornament.  It is turned electrically and the motor is locked in place."

"It makes sense," Pamuya agreed.  "You wouldn't want to be able to just open it in case of a medical emergency.  In that case…"  She pulled a flat-headed screwdriver out of her pocket.  "If we can get the lever off, maybe we can open it manually."  She began to insert the tip of the screwdriver between the gaps in the lines of the doors panels.  She jammed it in with all of her might and tried to dig out the lever buried in the hatch by force.  The alloy screwdriver was crushed like a piece of candy.  The lever budged only slightly toward the surface of the door.  The screwdriver split in half from the handle down and the lever snapped back into place.  Pamuya stood back up.  "There's nothing I can do."  She threw the remnant of the screwdriver on the floor. 

Kensington turned to Dr. Young.  "Your turn.  All that computer hacking hopefully will pay off now."  Then he realized she wasn't beside him. 

From down the hall, she screamed, "Everybody out of my way!"  She came hurtling toward them as if possessed.  Kensington stumbled back from the door.  With a kiai shout, she crashed into the door.  Her foot landed perfectly on the electronic panel to the door.  "If it won't open any other way, I'm going to break it down."

"That's a little extreme," Kensington observed and forced himself not to laugh. "Does it seem to have had any effect?"

"It won't budge an inch," she admitted.  Neither the door nor the panel had changed at all.  She began vigorously hitting various keys on the lock, muttering in agitation.  All it did was beep and repeat the same phrase over and over again.  Eventually Dr. Young sighed, shook her fingers, and stepped disconsolately away from the door.

Kensington cursed.  "Now what are we going to do?"  Ryogo was holding Medea up.  Soon she was hunched over on the floor.  Her face had been drained of all its color. 

Suddenly a nearby speaker came to life.  "Opening the door from NeVAEH," Heaven translated.  "Someone is accessing the door controls from the other side."  The door beeped and a light on the panel flashed green.  The hatch's lever raised and turned.  The door opened toward them.

Stagnant air poured out of the room on the other side.  It was dryer than the air they were used to.  A fan hummed quietly.  Everything was white.  The whiteness of the walls and floor was emphasized by the brightness of the lighting and seemed to leap out at them.  It no longer seemed ironic to call the place heaven.  There were several machines in the room, each with a name plate.  All the words were the same.  It seemed they were in the computer control room. 

Kensington noticed there was someone in the room.  "Did you open the door just now?" he called out.  The man seemed a little older than Kensington and was dressed in a white laboratory outfit.  He was leaning over one of the consoles.  Blood was coming out of his mouth.  The man didn't respond to Kensington's query and lay motionless.

"Who is he?" Kensington asked Heaven.

"I am unable to determine his identity," Heaven said.  "Judging by his attire, it is safe to assume he is a researcher at IBR."  Kensington put a hand on the man's shoulder and raised him into a sitting position.  H examined the man's uniform for a nametag or an ID badge or any other way of determining his name. He didn't have any identification to check.

Suddenly the man groaned.  "Are you a researcher at IBR?" Kensington asked.

"Yes, that's right," the man said, dragging the words out painfully.  He seemed unable to open his eyes and searched for Kensington by his voice.  "It doesn't seem like you're here to rescue me."  He grabbed onto Kensington with shaking hands.  They were covered in blood.  "So there were people in Utopia and it's been six days.  What a surprise."  The researcher laughed bitterly and spat up more blood.

"Don't strain yourself," Kensington urged.  "You don't have to talk."

"I'm sorry," the researcher continued.  "It's all our fault."

"What happened down there?"

The man didn't answer him, but continued with what he had been saying.  "But why all this?  Then he fell silent. 

"Hang in there." Kensington tried to sound encouraging.  He shook the man's shoulders gently, but he didn't reply. 

"Don't shake him so hard," Pamuya said.  "You're acting like the kid now.  He's unconscious.  Leave him alone for now.  We will bring him with us." 

Kensington wondered about the man and what had happened.  He shook himself out of his thoughts, remembering they didn't have time to worry.  Medea needed the IBR medical facility immediately.

Dr. Young who had been hesitating outside the door, finally entered.  Ryogo followed, helping Medea.  Kensington took a chair and propped the door open since they wouldn't be able to unlock it later if they needed to get through it.

Heaven called them together.  "At the far end of the corridor outside this room, there is another room.  It is the compression chamber for IBR," she explained without emotion.  "Judging from my incomplete data, IBR is enclosed in higher pressure gas than Utopia.  It also uses saturated diving specifications.  That type of area is probably more suited for research with bacteria.  It should be at twelve point five atmospheres. 

"I want all of you to enter that room.  After you spend about one hour in the compression chamber, you'll take the access elevator down to IBR.  I tell you this as a precaution, but you will not be able to easily retrace your steps from this point on.  Please give this due consideration.

We can't go back, Kensington realized.  It was time for a final decision.  "Wait just a second." 

As soon as he said it, Pamuya glared needles at him.  "What's the matter Taylor?  You aren't turning into a coward now, are you?"

"That's not it.  If we're going to spend an hour stuffed in that little room, I just wanted to make sure everyone was ready.  You know.  Does anyone have to go to the bathroom?"  He smirked and added. "Brush their teeth?  Take a shower?  Bring along a reasonable snack?"

She sighed.  Heaven did too.  "Saying something like that at a time like this," Pamuya said.  "You really are a moron."

"It will only take an hour," Heaven pointed out.  "I'm sure everyone can wait.  More importantly, we need to hurry." 

It seemed that everyone was tired of his jokes.  He had just wanted to put them at ease.  "Okay, okay.  I'm sorry. So let's get moving on then."  Like puppets, they all nodded in unison. 

Medea was unconscious again, being held up between Dr. Young and Ryogo.  Pamuya and Kensington picked up the researcher.  They lined up at the transparent sliding door at the far end of the room.  From a control panel at the computer terminal, Heaven opened it up.  They entered the compression chamber together. 

They sat Medea and the researcher down on two chairs.  Both appeared to be in pain.  Their breathing was ragged and their faces were extremely pale and sickly.  Kensington hated to have to waste an hour there.  The rest of them stood in the open spaces in the chamber.  It was fairly crowded. 

"Once the compression is complete," Heaven told them, "the doors on the far side will open and you can enter the elevator."  She hadn't entered the chamber with them and spoke from the entrance.  "I will expedite the compression process.  It may be a little uncomfortable, but please bear with it."  Saying that, she went to close the door.

"Heaven, what's wrong?  Aren't you coming with us?" Kensington asked.

"No. I …"

Even though he wouldn't be able to touch her, Kensington reached for Heaven to encourage her to join them.  As soon as he touched where she was, sparks flew.  He felt as if a shock had gone through him.  A transparent wall suddenly appeared in front of the door and there was a wall of red flame.  He drew back his hand in alarm and the door closed.  "Heaven, Heaven, What was that?"

"From this point on," she replied calmly, her voice coming from the intercom in the compression chamber, "this is the jurisdiction of a different computer system.  I am but a single part of the NeVAEH system.  Therefore I am unable to go to IBR.  I do not have authority to access that area.  I am sorry, but I will have to see you off."

The wall of fire had vanished.  They were in the compression chamber, shut off from the rest of the world.  The sound of pumping gas, which was slowly raising the air pressure, could be heard throughout the chamber.  "Take out your voice converters," Kensington reminded them.  "They get in the way when we're adjusting to the pressure."  They all hurried to do as he had said.  He took out Medea's himself.  The researcher wasn't wearing any. 

After that, no one said a word.  They waited for the time to pass.  Heaven could be seen outside the chamber's window.  She didn't move, only stood and watched them.  Eventually the lock on the far side of the chamber clicked and released.  Kensington felt a subtle change in pressure.  The lift down to IBR opened.  One by one, they filed into it. 

"Everyone… take care."   They could hear Heaven's voice from the speaker on the other side of the chamber, but they couldn't see her.  Kensington wondered if he would ever see her up close again.  He thrust the voice alternators back into his ears.

[Andromeda]

I can see that you realized the need for a major rewrite around this point.  It doesn't work as well as the rest of the story.  Utopia as an active theme park for the Federation makes much more sense the way the story goes than an abandoned place.  Also, the IBM and Deep Blue thing don't really work.  It's not that kind of a comedy and the cultural reference for your readers is way out of place with everything else.

I am still very much looking forward to the rest of it.  And the 2nd draft.

[kadh2000]

IBM:  Sorry.  It won't make the final cut.  So, IBR is out or is that Deep Blue?

Yeah, this hammered home the need for a rewrite.  It'll come in the new year.  After I finish the first draft's posting.  Once I get it going, the post rate on the second draft will be a lot quicker than the post rate on the first draft.

[CaptJosh]

Kadh, in regards to your comments on Deep Blue vs Kasparov, IIRC, the first time Kasparov played against it, he didn't bring his A game and got his ass handed to him. The SECOND time he played Deep Blue, he beat it. I don't recall anything about a second computer called Deeper Blue.

[kadh2000]

Trust me. 

The first time, in 1996, Kasparov won 4-2.  The computer did, however, win the first game. This match wasn't as close as the final score and, had it been longer, the score would have been more lopsided. The final game was a brilliant win by Kasparov.

The second time, in 1997, IBM won 3 1/2 - 2 1/2.  Kasparov accused them of cheating during the second game.  He ended up resigning in a drawn position.  I was one of the people on the Internet Chess Club who found the drawing line for Kasparov.  After the match, he renewed his complaint of cheating and demanded a rematch.  IBM, of course, refused and hurriedly dismantled the computer.  This was the match where he played 'anti-computer' strategies and was beaten.  Deeper Blue was the unofficial nickname of the computer for that rematch.   With the match tied after five games, Kasparov lost the sixth game in embarrassing fashion. 

[kadh2000]

CHAPTER 16: REVELATIONS

Almost done.  Some explanations, and a final crisis.

***********************

They were all on the lift.  As soon as Kensington entered, the doors closed and the elevator started sliding down.  A voice, now speaking Federation standard, called out the depth as they went down.

It reached the total of 120 meters and the descent stopped and the doors opened.  A passage extended in two directions from the elevator room.  Kensington picked one and started down it.  Everything was completely dark and he could hardly tell where he was headed.  He inched his way forward.  Suddenly, as if someone had noticed their arrival, the lights went on. 

They found themselves in a room where a small pool filled the center.  It looked like a room where a small submarine could dock.  The pool was a two-layer structure, but there didn't seem to be a place where seawater could enter.  The room felt a little hot, but it seemed the air-conditioners were still working.  It was certainly more comfortable than the flooded third level of Utopia.  There was, however, no sign of anyone.

"There's nothing here," Kensington observed.  "Let's go the other way and find where we need to go."  They opened a watertight door on the far end of the room and continued deeper into the installation.  A passageway, slightly smaller than the emergency corridors in Utopia, led off into the distance.  The entire place seemed colder, less alive, than the structure above.  As they continued down the corridor, lights turned on automatically ahead of their path.  The areas behind them darkened as they passed beyond.  There were several branching paths, but all of them ended in closed watertight doors. 

The number of areas they could easily enter was limited.  Luckily the examination room was at the end of the corridor.  Kensington quickly turned the handle and opened the door.  They laid Medea and the researcher on examination tables.  There were a few ordinary beds and the same kind of scanners they had found in Utopia's infirmary.  There were numerous other, unfamiliar, medical instruments.    "Which of these, do you think, is that 'High-Pressure Oxygen' thing that Heaven was talking about?" 

"We'll have to look for it," Pamuya suggested.  "None of us knows a thing about this place."

The researcher seemed to have become conscious.  He coughed.  "Wait."

"How are you feeling?" Kensington asked him.

"I've been better," he deadpanned.  "At least I'm alive."With his eyes closed, the researcher raised his hand weakly.    "This smell.  This is IBR?  So I'm back where I started."  He coughed again. 

"So you do work here?" Kensington asked.  "We're looking for a 'High-Pressure Oxygen Treatment Device.'  We're in the examination room, but we don't have a clue what to look for.  Can you help us please?"

"You're looking for the pods," the researcher said.  "They look like capsules with a mat inside.  They look like a bunch of cylinders wired to a pillar.  Do you see them?"

Now that he knew what they were, Kensington walked over to the devices the researcher had described.  "Yes.  I'm right in front of them."

The researcher coughed again and new blood appeared on his mouth.  "There is a manual.  They should be easy to operate."  The strength left his hand.

"Let's put them both in pods," Kensington ordered.  Pamuya helped him carry the researcher to one of the three pods.  There was a button on the side.  Kensington pushed it and the hatch opened on top of the pod.  They lowered him gently inside.  He pressed the button again and the capsule closed silently.  Dr. Young and Ryogo laid Medea in another one.  "Now let's find this manual."

"Yes," Dr. Young agreed, "because I found the control panel." It was a short distance away from the pods.  "There's a button that says 'set.'"  She pushed it.  Screens and monitors attached to the pods flickered to life.  "That appears to be all you have to do."  Kensington watched the monitors for a few minutes.  In that short time, there was minimal, but noticeable, improvement in both of them.

"I'm so relieved," Dr. Young said when she noticed the change. 

"Tell me about it," Pamuya agreed.

"It looks like we made it in time," Kensington said.  They had, for the moment, escaped the worst.  "Well, we don't have time to hang around.  The situation here might be just as bad as in Utopia.  Plus there might be other survivors, a way out, or even communicators.  I'm sure we can learn more about this virus, at least.   Let's search for as much time as possible."

Of the four of them, Dr. Young had the most medical knowledge, so they left her in the examination room while the other three of them went to search the complex.  Because they were uncertain of the danger, they stayed together to search.  Without opening any of the closed watertight hatches, there wasn't much to discover.  Many of the corridors had been blocked off.

They decided to try one of the doors.  A terrible smell began to pour out so they hurriedly closed it.  In the brief glimpse he got of the room, Kensington saw a few bodies of blood-covered researchers, who had been clawing at their throats when they died.  It wasn't hard to imagine that the situation was worse than what it had been in Utopia. 

They tried another room that was empty of people, but had a few computer terminals.  They were able to scan some of the information left on them.  They found some information about the virus.
     Name: Deep Blue. 
     Symptoms:  Fever, chills, headache, aching muscles, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach      pains, etc.  As it progresses, the patient begins to hemorrhage  from the mouth, gums, conjunctiva, nasal cavity, the skin, and the alimentary canal and has a high probability of dying. 
     Mortality rate: 85%
     Symptoms first appear similar to that of a common cold, and while they may temporarily improve, the patient's condition will rapidly deteriorate, resulting in hemorrhaging. 
     Incubation Period: 2-7 days.

After that point the data was corrupted and it was not clear what else was written.  Other than that, they did find some other interesting information.  In a business log they found the name Darius Firien.  There was a note saying 'I look forward to a chance to see my daughter for the first time in a long time.  Her ship was in the area.  I've been trapped here so long in this tin can doing virus research that I'm jealous.  I'll be happy if she hasn't forgotten what I look like.'  "I think he may be Medea's father," Kensington explained to the others, who had no idea what it meant.  "Apparently they knew we were in the area and intended for us to visit.  I wonder what happened."

They found no other survivor and returned to the examination room.  "They're still about the same," Dr. Young reported, "which is good as far as I can tell."  She looked tired.  "While you were gone, I checked the medical database.  They haven't found a cure for the Deep Blue virus.  The orange serum we found can temporarily control the symptoms.  So far, the best hope seems to be the small chance that it will clear up on its own."

"That… sucks."  Kensington found no other way to put it.

"What do you mean?" Ryogo asked in alarm. 

Dr. Young had trouble finding the words to explain it to him.  Pamuya took over.  "Basically, if Medea is going to heal, her own immune system is going to have to do it.  Now that we've brought her here, the only thing we can do now is hope."

"She isn't going to get better?" 

"She didn't say that," Kensington countered.  "She has a chance."  Ryogo walked to Medea's pod and embraced it. 

"I don't know how much the pods will actually help," Dr. Young murmured.  "In addition to the oxygen treatment, it can perform other medical functions: disinfecting, some surgeries, and even cryogenic suspension.  Since we don't know what's really going to happen, it may be an option.  Until then, all we can do is have faith and wait."

Behind them, a control panel beeped.  The researcher began coughing in his capsule and his face contorted in agony.  He began thrashing about inside the capsule.  He coughed again and began clawing at his throat.  His mouth began to erupt in blood.  His skin went white.  "I can't believe his condition would change like this," Dr. Young shouted in fear. 

"He's going to crush his own throat!" Kensington shouted. 

The researcher, seeming to have heard him, lowered his hands away from his throat.  "This is as far as I make it," the man gasped out.  He was barely able to breathe.  He let out a final gasp but could no longer take air in.   "So this is my reward."

Dr. Young rapidly flipped pages of the manual, but there was nothing left to do.  There was no way to keep the researcher alive.  She pounded on the manual then placed both elbows on the panel and buried her face in her hands.  She burst into tears.  Pamuya watched with a strained expression. 

"My daughter," the researcher suddenly gasped out.  "Take care of her." He looked for a moment as if he were smiling.  His vital signs disappeared and an electric alarm sounded.  Kensington closed his eyes and grimaced.  They hadn't had the power to save the man, never even having learned his name.  Kensington opened his eyes, reached out, and turned off the alarm. 

"Medea's condition?" he asked fearfully.

"The same as it was," Dr. Young replied faintly.  "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong for the moment."

"Thanks."  He turned to look at the researcher.  "We should bury him."  They were all motionless.  The proof of their danger lay right before their eyes.  Time continued to roll forward.  Dragging his suddenly leaden legs, Kensington went through the facility a second time.  He found an emergency exit.  Every escape pod that had been in the room was gone.  There was no deepwater diving gear in the room, no diving tanks.  Once again, they were without an escape route.

They were quickly approaching the time limit.  It was already after 4:30 pm, the earliest time Utopia might implode.  He went about finishing making his rounds.  Pamuya joined him.  "No new options?" he asked her when she appeared.

"No.  Do you have any idea what we should do?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, surprised that she would ask him.  "I mean, I'm thinking about them now."

"Really?"  She smiled slightly.  "You really like to waste your time, don't you Taylor?"

"This isn't time wasting," he protested. 

She laughed.  "Sorry, but it seems just like something you would do."

"Thinking about things that are impossible?"

She puffed up her cheeks.  "No!  I don't mean that.  Why do you have to tease me?"

"I never thought I'd hear you say that!" He said.  "I have no idea what to do, but we'll find a way out of this somehow.  We've made it this far."

She laughed at his efforts to sound positive.  "I'm sure we'll be 'fine'."

"That's right.  We'll be okay."  A distant roaring sound reverberated throughout the installation.  It seemed that it was transmitted through the water to IBR.  Kensington hoped it was the sound of the thermal vents, instead of something from Utopia.  He wanted to postpone the inevitable for as long as possible.  He changed the subject, rather than dwell on it.  "That researcher, was he the only one left alive here?  Did all the other survivors get out earlier?  Obviously some didn't make it."

"Some kind of circumstances kept him from leaving," she said.  "Some kind of circumstances kept him alive until now, too.  Do you remember the entry logs we found on the terminals, the journal entry? I think he was Medea's dad.   I'm sure he knew she was here when the accident happened.  Maybe he survived because he was thinking about his daughter. "

They had walked to the submarine dock and were leaning against the wall and watching small waves lapping against the edge of the pool.  "What do you think about Medea's chances?" he asked. "Why did she get the virus, anyway?"

"There must have been an outbreak of the virus.  The incubation period is two to seven days.  That's consistent with Medea's symptoms.  When we arrived, she was exposed to the virus."

Nodding to himself, Kensington agreed that was the most probable explanation.  Pamuya continued with her thoughts.  "Most of the researchers probably didn't realize the terrible truth that it was spreading inside the installation.  When they discovered a few of them had been infected, somebody must have panicked and the situation got out of hand.  With people dying around them, some of the staff tried to escape.  When the escape pods ran out…"

Kensington suddenly realized where her logic was going.  "That means.  That first alarm we heard six days ago meant…"  He couldn't finish his sentence.

Pamuya frowned and continued.  "Probably one of the terrified staff forced themselves up from IBR to Utopia.  Without following the standard decompression procedures, they went up the emergency corridors and fled up to 'Island Zero'.  Those corridors remained open for a while."

"The built-up gas inside the complex quickly escaped," Kensington finished.  "The pressure dropped, a part of Utopia started flooding, and the watertight doors closed.  That's how we ended up getting stuck here."

"That's right," she said. "Meaning the alarm that went off in Utopia was for the abnormal pressure readings and the virus outbreak." 

Kensington growled in frustration.  "That's probably why there's no rescue team coming.  If the people on our ship found out about the virus, they couldn't have safely come after us."

"I'm sure that's it," Pamuya said with a solemn face.  "If the virus left this planet and were carried back aboard our ship, it would be devastating.  Even if there were survivors in here, it would be necessary to lock them up at the bottom of the ocean.  Neverland Pharmaceuticals will probably cover up the fact that this place ever existed.  All the while knowing that we're trapped in here."

Kensington kicked at a rusted bolt that was on the floor near his feet.  It bounced into the pool with a splash and sank.  After that, they resumed walking through the corridors of IBR.  The sounds of their footsteps echoed loudly off the walls of the narrow corridor.  Finally he said, "If that's the case, we've got to get ourselves back to the surface no matter what."

"Why?"

"We have to make sure the Federation finds out what happened here," he said emphatically. "We've got to make sure Neverland never does something like this again.  No matter what." 

"Okay," Pamuya agreed.  "That's more like the Taylor I know."  Her cheeks puffed out slightly and she looked at him. 

"Really?" he said, quite surprised.

"Really."  Her voice lost all of its edge for a moment.  "I feel the same way. I want to go with you, Taylor.  Together. "

Startled, he asked her "What did you say?"

"It's nothing." she quickly retreated. Her face was red. 

Kensington felt suddenly strange and stopped.  He looked up at the ceiling.

"Taylor, what's wrong?"  Pamuya's eyes followed his gaze to the ceiling.  There was nothing there.  She returned her gaze to him.

"I'm not really sure," he said, "but it's hard to breathe all of a sudden."

"Taylor?" she repeated, an alarmed edge coming into her voice.  "Your nose is bleeding."  He wiped his nose with his hand.  His upper lip felt wet.  "Are you okay?"  Her voice seemed to come from far away.  She looked worriedly at his face. 

"Fine, I'm fine,' he replied, looking up again.  "I wasn’t thinking anything sexual.  I wasn't!"

"It's not like… I don't care about that," she replied. 

The blood wouldn't stop flowing.  "I look like such an idiot," he groaned. 

"Who cares what you look like?"

"I care," he said.  "Looking like this in front of you.  Aah."

"Aah what?"  She started shaking his shoulder. 

A violent sneeze escaped him.  Blood started dripping not only from his nose, but his mouth as well.  Red flecks spattered on the walls and floor.  He was assaulted by sudden dizziness.  The world felt like it was spinning.  "For some reason, I can't keep steady."  The phrase struck him as inordinately funny and he started to laugh. 

"Taylor!   Taylor!  Hold on!"

"Quit shaking me," he complained.  "You're making me feel ill.  I'm doing fine.  Don't worry, Pamuya."

"You're not fine at all.  You're bleeding all over, Taylor.  We have to get you to the examination room at once."

"Uh, yeah."  He coughed. He tried to calm himself down.  With Pamuya supporting him, Kensington walked down the corridor. 

The door to the examination room flew open in front of them.  Dr. Young flew out of it.  "The kid.  Ryogo.  He's in bad shape!"  Her face changed color as she shouted.

"What's wrong with him?" Pamuya asked.

"He's in trouble.  It'll be faster if you come and look."  Then she saw Kensington.  "No.  Taylor!  You too?"  She noticed the shape he was in and turned pale. 

"Taylor too?" Pamuya echoed worriedly.  They hurried in and found Ryogo on one of the examination tables.  His condition was revealed on the scanner.  'Deep Blue.  2267-Rev.17.'

"The poor kid's been infected with Deep Blue, too," Dr. Young gasped. 

"How?  He's been with us the whole time.  Where did he get it?"  Kensington mumbled to himself, finding it difficult to breathe. 

"Taylor, just relax," Pamuya said.  "None of us knows where he got exposed to it.  I want you to be scanned too.  It isn't normal to spew blood from your nose and mouth." 

She forcefully put him on an examination table.  "You don't have to do that," he protested.  She pushed his shoulders down with her hands. "Fine, I'll let you scan me."  He stopped resisting and Dr. Young activated the scanner.  The scanning light crawled slowly up his body.  "What does it say?" Kensington asked when the scan finished.  "Say something."

"The results are…" Dr. Young stared at the control panel without moving. 

"The results are black," Pamuya finished.  She was looking at the monitor.  "You're infected too, Taylor.  I'm sorry to say it, but since coming to IBR, no it must have been longer, since coming to Utopia, all of us have been infected for quite some time."  She hung her head down and let out a big sigh.

"Damn it," Kensington cursed.  He stood up and was assaulted by a terrible dizzy spell.  The one to steady him from falling was Ryogo.  From the looks of it, his legs weren’t very steady either.  Putting his hand on a wall, Kensington managed to hold himself up.

"We're in trouble, eh?" Ryogo stated.

"You can say that again!"  Kensington agreed.

"If only we could find some of that orange serum."  Ryogo pressed is hand to his face.  Kensington noticed a thin trail of blood at his lips. 

"You're right," Kensington said enthusiastically.  "If they were handling the virus here, they should have some of the serum too.  It will at least help our symptoms." 

Pamuya and Dr. Young began to search the room.  Ryogo sank to the floor, not looking very good.  His breathing was ragged and lines of pain were etched on his face.  "It's no good," Dr. Young shouted.  "I can't find any here."

Pamuya had a few vials in her hand.  "This is it.  There are four doses."

"We'll need to take them immediately!" Kensington said.  "Dr. Young, please do it."

"At least we won't have to use needles," she said.  She put a cartridge of the serum in a hypospray.  She gave one does each to Ryogo and Kensington.  Kensington felt immediately better.

"Thanks, Maryann," said Ryogo, who was now able to stand.  He walked to one of the beds and lay on it.

"Should we give one to Medea?" Kensington wondered aloud. 

"We can't open the pod while she's undergoing the oxygen treatment," Dr. Young explained.  "It looks like her treatment is progressing normally.  As long as she's in there, I don't think her condition will get any worse.  As soon as it's done, we'll give her a shot." 

"We should probably give you one, too, Maryann," he suggested. 

"What?  No.  I don't think…." Dr. Young began stalling, quickly making excuses.  Then she began coughing. 

"Take a shot, now!" Kensington ordered.  She couldn't stop coughing.  Her arm holding the hypospray began to shake.  She began taking slow deep breaths and controlled her cough.  But her hands wouldn't go still.  "I'll give it to you." 

Dr. Young began to protest.  "I don't like getting shots!  I'm afraid of them!  They hurt!  I don't want it!" Kensington took the hypospray from her and Pamuya held her struggling form so that she couldn't move.  He stuck it against her skin and pressed the trigger.  "You're mangling me!  That’s the wrong spot!  Go slower!"  She protested madly.

They managed to inject her anyway.  Then they scanned her.  As suspected, she had also contracted the virus.  "I don't know how long we'll hold up with only one shot each," Kensington said, when they were done scanning her.  "Is there anything we can do once they stop working?" 

Dr. Young went to the terminal and accessed the computer.  "Leave me alone for a few minutes.  I need to concentrate."  After a moment, she said.  "The voice functions have been locked so I have to use the keyboard.  The communications system has been locked so we can't use it.  There is some data, however, being sent to the surface every once in a while.  If I can piggyback onto that, we might be able to send a message.  At least it's a better chance than we had at Utopia." 

"Show us what you can do, genius," he encouraged her.  Kensington examined the capsule pod.  Pamuya came and stood next to him as he looked at the monitor.  It listed Medea's condition as 'serious but stable'.  It said that her treatment would require four more hours.

"Let's get Ryogo into the other pod," she suggested.  They tried, but were unable to get the hatch on the third pod to seal.  They were forced to remove the dead researcher from his pod.  Pamuya cleaned and sterilized the pod. 

Kensington found Ryogo asleep on the bed and gently shook him awake.  "We're going to put you in one of the pods."  Ryogo slowly opened his eyes.  "Sorry to wake you."

"What about everyone else?" Ryogo asked, suddenly wide awake. 

"There's only one pod we can use, and you're in the worst shape.  So you get it."

"I can't abandon the rest of you," Ryogo protested.  "Forget it.  Once I get in, I can't get out for a long time.  I want to stay by Medea."  He rose and staggered over to Medea's pod.  "I'm not moving from here until we know that everyone's getting out."

Kensington considered forcing him into the pod.  "Don't you want to escape?  If you want to get out, you have to listen to me.  If you get any worse, getting into the pod might not save you.  We only have one dose of the serum left.   Wait, why is there one left?"  The question suddenly hit him.

"What are you talking about?" Pamuya mumbled, and turned her face away.  "We're saving it for Medea." 

"So, that's it," Dr. Young gasped.  Everyone's gaze rested on Pamuya.  "Pamuya, I haven't given you an injection."

"Yes?  So?"  She mumbled without looking at Dr. Young.

"We still have a shot left."  She got up from the terminal and spoke acidly.  "So, how are you feeling Pamuya?  You're not in pain?"  Kensington looked at Pamuya.  She hadn't shown any of the symptoms.   "Pamuya, I want you to get scanned right away!"

'Cure Virus-P-Carrier.'  The virus that had altered her genetic makeup had made Pamuya immune to the Deep Blue virus.  Her body had already made antibodies to the deadly virus.  Looking at the results of Pamuya's scan, Dr. Young nodded.  "I found it in the Utopia database, but I'd heard about it once before.  I would never have imagined I would see someone who was a carrier of that virus."

"I don't care if you hate me," Pamuya said.

"Hate you?" Dr. Young raised her voice.  "Why would I hate you?"

"Aren't you afraid then?  You're scared of me, aren't you?  You're probably thinking you don’t want anything more to do with me, right?"

"I wouldn't think that!" Dr. Young shouted.  She shook her head fiercely.  "Why would you say that?"

Pamuya bit her lips and said, "Because I can be here and I don't have to suffer.  It could be that I'm just watching all of you throw up blood, and eventually when you're all crawling on the floor, I'll be laughing at you. Because I'm just a cruel person like that."  Dr. Young couldn't look Pamuya in the eyes. 

"I don't think you're like that," Ryogo spoke.  "I don't think you're a bad person at all.  You saved Medea.  You risked your own life to save someone."

"So what?" Pamuya said icily. "To tell you the truth, I regret it now.  Medea is suffering from Deep Blue now, isn't she?  She's stuck in that pod and she's suffering.  If I hadn't had the stupid whim to do that, this wouldn't be happening right now."  Ryogo turned away from her.

"Pamuya."  Kensington took his turn.  "Stop it right now."  He ran over and grabbed her collar.  "Are you still talking garbage like that?  Saying things you don't really mean."

"I mean it," she whispered.

"Stop lying to yourself."

"It isn't a lie. I… It's the truth.  The only one Deep Blue isn't affecting is me."  He groaned and let go of her.  "So, Taylor, are you ready to accept the truth now?"  She pretended to smile at him.

"Yeah," he said.  "It's an indisputable fact.  I'll accept it.  But, you might just help us to get better."

"What?"  Her expression became serious. 

"I'm not a doctor, so I can't tell, but all the viruses that have cures… You're pretty smart.  You can figure it out."

"No," she said.  "No way."

"It's our only chance," he persisted.  "You're body is creating antibodies to the virus.  We'll use that.  If we can get those antibodies, there's a chance we can fight off the disease."

"It's too dangerous!" Her expression became more and more worked up.  "Do you have any idea how hard it is to make antivirus and vaccines that work?  There's almost no chance.  If we make even the slightest mistake, it could kill all of you."

"If we don't try," he said, "we're dead anyway."  She sucked in her breath.  Her expression turned to ice.  Dr. Young and Medea looked at Kensington.  "That's right," he repeated.  "If we don't try, we're dead anyway. If that's the case, I'd rather take the risk, no matter how small the chance of success."  He coughed and spat blood out on the floor.  "Damn it.  Not again.  A nosebleed and I'm coughing up blood.  What a terrible figure I make."  He wiped off his nose and chin on his sleeve.  "Aren't you going to laugh at me, Pamuya, for being such a fool?  Laugh."  He held out his hand toward her.  It was covered in blood. 

"Stop it," she said.  "Stay away from me.  Stop.  I don't want to…"  Shaking her head fiercely, she backed away. 

Dr. Young started to rise, but Kensington signaled her to stop.  "Listen," she said. "Taylor, Pamuya.  There is a simple lab in the back of the examination room.  There is a centrifuge and a machine for refining sera.  We might be able to use those to safely and quickly extract the Deep Blue antibodies.  Since this machine can scan for the virus, we can use it to scan for the antibodies and extract them."  Her voice remained low and calm. 

"Pamuya, please help," Kensington urged.  "I'm asking you."

"Stay away from me, Taylor.  Don't touch me."  He had backed her all the way to the bed.  "You want to live with this disease?  Once you've got the Cure Virus, you can't go back.  Do you have any idea what you're in for?"  She couldn't back away any further.  She searched for the bed behind her with her hand and it brushed across the only dose of serum left. 

"We don't know for sure that the Cure Virus will infect everyone," he said.  "Even you said that you were special, right?  Please, I'm begging you.  Let us take the gamble so that everyone can live."  He stood quietly in front of her.  His legs were unsteady.  His vision was hazy.  Despite that, he stepped forward strongly.  He looked into her eyes, trying to see what lay behind them. 

"You won't be a normal person anymore!" She cried out desperately.  "I don't want any of you to live with the pain that I have."  Large tears welled up in her eyes.  "I hate myself!" 

He hit her in the face.  She clenched her jaw tightly and glared at him.  He pounced on the dose of serum, stealing it from her hand.  He took it and smashed it into pieces on the floor of the examination room.  It splintered into powdery fragments. 

"What did you do?"

"There's no other way," he said calmly.  "Now we have only one option open to us."

"You idiot, do you know what you've done?  You didn't have to do that.  You know I can't fight you."  With her lips trembling and her shoulders shaking, Pamuya sank down onto the bed.

"I know."

"Jerk!" she screamed at him.  "Animal!  You're a coward!"  She nestled close to him and began to cry.

"I don't care what you say," he told her, wrapping her in his arms.  "I don't care how much you curse me."

"You fool, you fool," she sobbed. "If you mess this up, I will never forgive you, Taylor."

"It's okay," he said.  "It's going to be okay.  I promise you.  We're all going to get out of this."  She broke down completely, no longer able to speak.  Her voice rose in a large wail and she cried like a child.  Finally able to throw away everything that was holding her back, she cried.

Dr. Young turned on the scanner.  The refining machine whirred to life.  Pamuya extended her arm.  Dr. Young took it gently and withdrew some blood.  The whole time, Pamuya held tightly on to Kensington.  She continued to cry, letting out occasional sobs.

Kensington's consciousness started to fade.  He lost all sense of time.  It was hard to tell if it was reality or a dream.  "It's fine now," a voice said.  He recognized it as Dr. Young.  "I think it worked.  I've prepared enough for all of us.  It's up to you, Pamuya." Dr. Young's voice had been growing fainter as she spoke until it finally faded completely away.

"If you don't wake up from this," he heard Pamuya say, "I'll never forgive you. Not as long as I live."

Another voice, Ryogo's, came to him.  "Pamuya, where are you going?"

"Well, I, I left a friend of mine upstairs.  I've got to go get him.  My best friend.  Djungarian Hamster.  His name is Charming. "

"Charming?"

"See you."

[Andromeda]

You've done a really excellent job of building up tension.  Now post the next part!

[kadh2000]

CHAPTER 17: SURVIVORS

Okay, here you go.  Two more chapters all at once.


**********

Kensington awoke from his stupor.  A stale cold feeling.  He realized he had been lying on the floor.  He slowly raised his body.  He tried opening and closing his fists.  Strange.  The movement left him with an uncomfortable sensation, like it wasn't his own.  He shook his head.  He tried slapping his cheeks.  He breathed in the cold air and breathed out.  Strange.  The inside of his head stayed dull and murky.  He dragged himself to consciousness, forcefully reeling himself back to clarity. 

Putting his hands on the floor, he pushed up his heavy, aching body.  His feet faltered, but somehow he managed to stand.  He looked around the examination room.  He saw several empty cartridges scattered on the floor.  Ryogo was slumped against Medea's pod.  He looked disturbingly bad. Pamuya was nowhere to be seen.  He wondered where she had gone to.  Dr. Young was half-slumped over the terminal console, snoring away.  She looked like she was in some pain, and was perspiring in her sleep.  Her hand was pressed against the panel as if she had been in the middle of typing.  On the monitor, repeated strands of letters without meaning were lined up. 

"What the?"  An electronic crackle came from one of the speakers.   Kensington quickly inserted his voice converter in his ear.  The problem wasn't with the converter. 

"Come in," a familiar voice said.  It was his own communication's officer. "Please respond.  This is the Federation Starship Outrider.  We have a team on the island." 

He hurried to the console, moving Dr. Young's hand away from the keyboard.  He pushed the communicator system's button.  "Hello?  This is Captain Kensington."

"I repeat," the voice said, "This is the Federation Starship Outrider.  We have a team on the island.  Can you hear me?"

"Yes!  Loud and clear!" Kensington shouted excitedly.

Voices spilled from the other end.  "Are there any other survivors down there?"  "I can't believe it!" "That's amazing."  Those were the same things Kensington wanted to say.  It appeared that Dr. Young had somehow been able to restore communications.

"We're sending a rescue team.  Is there a place to dock?"

"There's a pool for a submarine," Kensington replied. "It should be fine."

"How many other survivors are there?  Where are they located?"

"In the medical facility, there are five… no six."

"Six.  I understand.  A salvage vessel is on the way.  When it arrives, they will get you out of there."

"How long until it arrives?" Kensington asked.

"About one hour," he was told after a pause.

That would be enough time for Medea to be allowed out of the pod, he thought.  "We have a deadly virus down here," Kensington warned.  "Make sure everyone wears sealed clothing."

"We're aware of the virus from those workers who reached the surface.  Precautions have been taken.  Listen Captain, if anything goes wrong, our sensors have detected there is a small submarine in the facility.  You may have to use it to rescue yourselves."

"What could go wrong?" he asked.  "What do you mean?"

"The facility above you could collapse at any time.  If any part of it implodes, it could create a chain reaction.  Heavy pieces are likely to crash down on the facility you are in.  Of course, we hope to get there before that happens.  Hang on just a little longer."  With a crackle, the communications suddenly cut out. 

"Hello, hello?" he called out, but there was no answer. 

With no ability to restore communications, he started looking for what he could find about a submarine being part of the IBR facility.  Searching the computer system he found it and had it display the information on the monitor.  The submarine was an electric boat in a separate, sealed section of the facility.  It was a neutral buoyancy submarine for saturation diving.  Most importantly, it could be called to the pool by a remote control located there.  If no help arrived before Utopia collapsed, they would have to use it.

"Now all I have to do is get Pamuya and Heaven over here," he said to the room. Heaven, how was he going to get Heaven down there?  He was overcome by disquiet.  A low metallic crash reverberated through the installation.  This time, he was sure the sound came from above.  A beeping noise came from the terminal and the screen changed.  'Warning: Utopia hull breach:  Flooding.'

Kensington ran out into the corridor.  It was slight, but the floor was trembling.  A sudden wave of dizziness returned.  Losing his balanced, he crashed into a wall.  It seemed as if his recovery was incomplete.  In truth, he didn't know if the antibodies were working or not.  Squeezing out all the strength he could muster, he staggered toward the lift.  As soon as its door opened, he flew into the lift.  It headed up, interminably slow in counting the change in depth. 

It stopped and he hurried into the pressurization chamber.  Its doors closed automatically.  He pressed repeatedly on the intercom button.  "Heaven.  Heaven!"

"Taylor?  What are you doing?"  Her voice was thick with worry.

He realized how much he missed that voice.  "Hey, it's been a while." She appeared outside the window and he waved to her. 

"What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked.  "I came back.  What's the damage?"

"There's flooding on the second level.  The warehouse has been breached and cracks are forming in the main elevator shaft.  The situation is serious.  There is over six inches of water in all of the corridors."

"What about Pamuya?"

"She's in the infirmary, but is trapped there."

"Heaven, what about the door?"

"The electronic lock has been released," she said, "but it won't open because of the water pressure.  I will start the decompression cycle.  I will complete it as soon as possible, but that will be twelve hours."

"We don't have that long!"

"You will get decompression sickness."

"I don't care," he replied.  "Open the door, now."

"I can't do that."

"If you don't, Pamuya will die."

"If we do, the nitrogen in your blood vessels will dissolve forming blood clots.  In the worst case, you might die."

"I don't care.  You have to open the door now."

"I can't."

He searched the chamber until he found an emergency access lever and opened the door himself.  There was a horrible noise as if all the air inside the chamber had exploded.  His body was thrown from the chamber and crashed heavily against the wall.  His lungs filled with pain, even though he exhaled as strongly as possible.  A terrible exhaustion followed.  His eyes were painfully swollen and his muscles began to spasm.  He was unable to move.

He knew that he could live for a short time, even if thrown into space.  Fish brought up from the depths die quickly, however, because the pressure differences caused their organs to burst.  He wondered whether he was going to be a person in space or a fish from the depths.

"Your voice converter!" Heaven exclaimed.  He was suddenly aware of the splitting pain in both ears.  The voice converters were propelled forcefully from his ears.  Kensington clapped his hands on both of his ears.  Heaven's panicked voice was no longer intelligible.  Kensington lay helpless on the floor, trying to breathe. 

A few minutes passed.  Looking around, he noticed his voice converters had been split in half.  He got up weakly.  Heaven directed him to a drawer filled with voice converters and he crammed a pair into his ears.  "Taylor, are you okay?" she asked, still shouting.  Her expression was pained by worry.

"I'm still alive," was all he could muster, thankful that his eardrums hadn't burst.  Once he could, he prepared himself to rescue Pamuya.

Heaven told him, "I will stay here and do what I can to keep the partitions from falling.  Promise me that you will come back here with Pamuya."

Even though he was going, he wasn't sure how he would rescue her.  According to the map, there was no way to reach the infirmary through the flooded areas.  He would have to try anyway.

The area he needed to cross was filled with water, but the water was still.  The emergency doors had closed and trapped it.  In that situation, he thought he would be able to make it.  He entered the emergency corridor beneath the infirmary.  He had been back and forth through the corridor so many times it was easy to remember where to go without light.  He propelled himself forward through the dark water-filled corridor.  He made it to the elevator shaft leading down from the infirmary to the corridor and swam up through it to climb up into the infirmary.  "Pamuya?"

She was sitting in a corner of the room, hugging her knees to herself.  At her feet was the slightly wet, furry figure of Charming.  "Taylor?  What?  Why?"  She looked at him with eyes wide open. 

"What are you so worked up about?" he asked.  "I came back for you.  I'm a bit late, but…" He scratched his nose. 

"You idiot.  What are you doing here? Do you want to die?"  One after another, large tears started falling from her eyes.

"Listen," he said, laughing as he spoke, "I came back for something I forgot."

"Something you forgot?"  Picking up Charming in her hands, she stood up.

"Yeah.  Left it here.  Silly me.  My irreplaceable, more important to me than anything else, friend."   

"How did you get here?"  She looked at him as though she still couldn’t believe he was actually there.

"I'm a good swimmer.  I'm pretty sure I told you about swimming underwater down and back in a pool once.  I kicked off the wall coming back, but still…"  He made pretend swimming gestures.  "I'm pretty sure I just beat my own record.  I don't suppose you remember the furthest I've swum underwater."

"103 feet?" she answered, her expression beginning to break down.

"And you think I'd die in a place like this?  I still haven't gotten enough abuse from you yet.  I want to hear what you've got to say, from here on out."

She wailed. 

"I came for you, Pamuya."

"Taylor."  They ran to one another.  Reaching out their hands they came together.  He gently wiped away the teardrops around her mouth with his lips.  In the center of the infirmary they held each other close, embracing firmly.  Charming snorted and looked at them.

"Let's go back," he said, "together."  She lifted Charming and hid him inside the chest of her clothing.  With no time to waste, afraid the place would collapse in on itself at any moment, they hurried back through the drowned corridor. 

Despite that, Kensington wasn't in a rush.  He knew, somehow, they would make it.  No matter what obstacles came up, he wouldn't quit or give up now. Once into the dry areas, they flew down the stairs and back to where Heaven was waiting for them.

"I've already prepared the decompression chamber for you," she said. "Hurry and get inside."

Panting, they raced across the final distance and hurried inside the chamber.  Pamuya collapsed in a chair and Kensington wondered if he would ever move again.  "Heaven, you're coming too."  When she stood still, he asked.  "You can't come, no matter what?"  The door separating them shut automatically.  The compression started.  Heaven stood silently outside the chamber.  Kensington reached for the lever to open the door. Behind Heaven, he could see water flowing into the control room.   A fog covered Heaven.  She vanished without saying a word. 

They watched the room slowly fill with water.  An hour later, it was completely flooded.  With the compression finished, they exited the chamber and transferred to the lift and went down to IBR.  The lights came on as soon as they entered.  "It's quiet," Pamuya observed. 

Not knowing how advanced the flooding above them was, they looked at the pool.  Its surface hardly rippled.  "The time!" Kensington suddenly realized how long it had been.  "We're past the scheduled time."  When she looked at him in confusion, he said, "There's a rescue team on the way.  The Outrider finally found us.  Dr. Young was able to open up a communications line and we were able to communicate with the ship."

They went to the examination room.  It was dark when they entered and the automatic lights came on.  "They aren't here," Pamuya said, alarmed.  "Nobody's here."  She ran to the capsule pods.  Medea's pod was open. 

"They're all gone, even the dead researcher," Kensington agreed.

"Where?" she asked, starting to panic.

"I'm  sure the rescue team found them."

With perfect timing, the speaker activated.  "Hello?" a familiar voice said.  "This is the USS Outrider.  Please respond."

Pamuya joined him at the monitor and he pushed the talk button.   "This is Captain Kensington," he quickly replied.

"Thank God!  Where were you? The rescue team said they couldn't find you.  You had us worried there."

"Sorry.  I had to step out for a bit."

"We were able to rescue the other three people down there and they are being cared for now."

Kensington sighed with relief.  "Is everyone okay?"

There was a pause.  "We can't say for sure.  Their conditions are serious.  We'll bring them up to sickbay as soon as the submersible reaches the surface."

"Okay," Kensington said. 

"How many of you are there?"

"Just two," he said, "including me.  The other person didn't make it."

"We'll send the team back as soon as we recover the others.  If the facility starts to break up, we won't be able to approach it."

"I can call the remote vessel," Kensington said. 

"Considering the state of the facility above you, that may be the best idea.   We'll do the best we can to hurry in the meantime."    The communication ended.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pamuya asked sharply.

"They rescued the others and left without us.  They might have died if they had waited for us and all of this would have been for nothing."

She frowned, but said, "Yes.  You're right."  The color in Pamuya's face returned to normal as her sense of panic faded.

"We might as well take a nap while waiting for the next bus," Kensington suggested.  When she didn't react, he added, "We can call a cab if you think the bus is going to be late."

"Bus, taxi?  What are you talking about?"

"There's a remote control submarine we can call from the pool room," he explained.  "Our very own private taxi out of IBR should come from a different part of the facility.  I'm just glad they got everyone else out."  He sighed.  The adrenaline that had kept him going earlier suddenly ran out.  "I'm just so glad."  His legs gave out and his head struck the hard surface of the floor. Pamuya hurried to his side and sat down next to him, placing his head in her lap. 

A soft warmness surrounded him.  Light.  He felt that he had overcome an immense distance.  The end of the darkness.  A soft, white light surrounded him.  There was nothing else for him to look at.  There was nothing below him, nothing there to support him.  He was at peace.  He was floating steadfastly.  He was swaying freely in the center of gently drifting water.  He could hear something faintly, the first sound he had heard in his life.  It was the sound of a heart beating.  He was surrounded by the gentle sound of a beating heart.  There was no greater feeling of peace. 

He knew he would have to leave it at some point.  Soon he would have to let go of that fragile bond.  But he wasn't sad.  If that time had to come, darkness would clear again and out it would come. A new world, where he would resolve to be reborn.

[kadh2000]

CHAPTER 18: THE PROMISE

Finally, the chapter with the title for the story.  Well, this is the end of book one of the Utopia Trilogy.  I'll have the second draft up as soon as it is done.

******************

"Hello."  He was lying down in a bed.  Right next to him, Pamuya was staring at him.  She was sitting next to the bed, her eyes level with his.  They stared at each other eye-to-eye. 

"What time is it?" 

"Do you want me to go check?" she asked. 

He thought about it.  "No.  It's okay.  Just stay here with me."

"Okay."  There were tears in her eyes.  "How do you feel?"

"That's a dumb question."

"Just tell me.  How are you feeling?" She held his hand softly.  The feel of her skin pulled him in.

"I don't feel so good," he murmured.  "My body feels tired all over.  It could be worse, I guess."  He lifted his free hand and tried opening and closing it in front of his face.  The movements were still sluggish.

She opened her glossy lips and murmured, "Does your cut hurt?  You fell and I tried to catch you, but I didn't get there in time.  You split your forehead, Taylor."  He could see the tip of her red tongue.  "Don't you remember?"

He looked slowly around the room.  The ceiling, the sheets, the empty medicine cartridges.  "I remember. I remember.  I…" He touched his forehead lightly.  The gash must have been split open wide.  There were stitches there now.  "No big deal.  They'll take care of it back on the ship.  It'll be fine in no time."

"But, I'm so sorry," she said. 

"Why are you apologizing?  It isn't your fault. It isn't anyone's fault.  So don't worry about it."  He patted her on the head.  He was alive.  Even though he was banged up pretty good, he was alive.

He looked around the room once more.  There was nobody else there.  Just the two of them and the silence.  It was almost too quiet to believe.  "Where's the bus?"

"I don't think it's coming," she said.

"How about the taxi?"

"I've already sent for it.  It will take one hour to arrive."

"Communications?"

"We haven't had any new ones."

He could see the monitor.  Nothing had changed.  "I guess that leaves us some time to relax until the taxi gets here.  Won't do us any good getting worked up about it."  Even if he had wanted to, he didn't think his body was up to doing anything.  He was still exhausted.

He noticed something and lifted his face closer to Pamuya. 

"What is it, Taylor?"

He pressed himself against her, brought himself close to her face.  Her cheeks, still puffy from crying, flushed red.  "I'm hungry," he whispered.  I feel like I could eat just about anything."

"Really?"

"Guess what, Pamuya?"  Her face became redder and redder.  "There's just the most amazing smell coming from you."

Her eyebrows arched as if she were annoyed.  "You're not hiding any food are you?"  He reached out for her chest. 

She covered herself with her arms.  "You aren't going to eat Charming are you?  You can't.  I won't let you."

Refusing to be distracted, he said, "As if I would, stupid."

"Don't call me stupid," she said.  "You're stupid."  Her expression returned to normal from one of alarm.  She undid a few buttons and let the hamster out of her blouse.  "I'm sorry for keeping you in there the whole time, Charming," she said. "It's okay.  You can go play now." 

Charming sniffed the air as he rode in the palm of her hand.  Then he jumped to the floor and ran into a corner of the room.  Kensington watched the whole time. "Ah, Taylor, " she said, redoing her buttons, "were you watching that?"

"What?" he said innocently.

"What do you mean 'what'?  When I was…"  She stopped.  "Do you want to see more?"

"More what?"

"Forget it.  You jerk." 

A low vibrating sound shot across the room.  The bed shook slightly.  "It's okay," she said after looking up for a second.  She quickly returned her gaze to him.  "Don't worry, alright?  We're okay for now, I think.  Yes.  We'll be fine.  I know it.  I don't have any proof, but…"  She stopped and laughed at herself.  "I'm even starting to talk like you now.  There must be something wrong with me."

With a groan, he sat up quickly and grabbed hard onto her hand.  "What is it?" she asked sharply.

"I know, Pamuya.  This is incredible!"

"What are you talking about?"  Flustered, her cheeks changed color in her confusion. 

"I've made a major discovery!"  He brought her hand close to him so that her face was right next to his.  "I know where that great smell is coming from!  It is you!  You're what smells so great.  What a sweet smell.  Let me have just one bite."

"What are you doing?  Stop it.  Let go of me. Ow!  You idiot!  Cut it out."  Then she slapped him.

"Did you really have to hit me?" he asked.  "I'm already injured."

"Well, you should act injured and lie there quietly, jerk.  What were you thinking, biting my finger like that?"  His teeth had left an imprint on her finger. 

"I'm still hungry, but I feel a lot better.  Thank you."  He didn't think he could sit up, so he lay in the bed. 

"I can't believe you did that."  The tears that had dried up were in her eyes again.

Kensington found himself laughing at the situation.  "I am a man of insatiable desires!  When I get hungry I stuff my face.  When I get sleepy, I sleep like a bear.  Give me a chance and I'll be thinking about sex.  Actually, it's all I think about.  I'm beyond salvation."

"Yeah," she nodded.  "You're an idiot is what you are."  She tried to smile back at him.  Her voice dried up and tears began to fall. 

"I'm such an idiot," he said.  "You should laugh at a fool like me."

"Yeah, you are an idiot."  Pamuya laughed.  "You are the world's biggest idiot. I can't believe how stupid you are.  And it never stops.  How did you ever get to be so dumb?"  She was smiling now, but the tears didn’t stop falling. 

"No reason, I guess.  I just try to live all out.  Because I don't want to die."

Really?  That's it?"  Her tears continued to fall. 

"There were some things that I was taking too lightly," he admitted.  "There are people who go on living even when they want to die and people that die who want to keep on living.  I had never thought that was how things were.  It was pretty naïve of me.  Until I came to Utopia. 

"But then I met you and the way I thought about things changed.  The world isn't always filled with good things."

"Yeah," she nodded.

He calmly wiped away her tears.  "But, I don't want you to think that living is something to be embarrassed about, or something you hate.  As long as you are alive, it's okay to live.  I believe there are good things waiting for you.  Not just that, but being alive is a good thing in itself.  In that way, my thinking hasn't changed."

"Yeah," she nodded.  They held each other's hands. 

"I don't know how to say it, but…" He looked toward the heavens he couldn't see. He didn't know if there was something up above.  He wasn't sure it even mattered.  All he had to do was accept it. "The reason we keep living… What does it mean to die?  Does everything really end when we die? Until you can stare, really stare, reality in the face, you have to wait.  Put it on hold.  It isn't time for me to die yet.  I can't die yet.  You can't either.  Neither can any of the rest of us.  Until that time comes, all of us should live. "

"Yeah."  She nodded.  Her expression was thoughtful, as if maybe she finally did understand. 

He looked into her eyes.  He was trying to see if there was any light there.  He wanted to get as close as he could and see.  "Hey, you're finger's bleeding."

"Well you bit me."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, that is SO."

"I'm sorry." His face was close enough to hers that their noses touched.  Closer.  Closer still.  "Ah," he sighed.

"Now what?"

"You've got blood on your lips.  That's not my fault."

"Seriously?  Blood?  Maybe you're right.  When the building shook earlier, I bit my lip."

"It must be painful."

"Well, if it hurts, it must be your fault Taylor."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe you're right."

"How are you going to make up for it?"  She pressed her lips tightly on his.  He could smell her scent.  He could taste her blood.  Taste her tears.  She bit down on his lower lip and his blood started to flow.  They were pressed together as tightly as they could be, embracing each other with everything they had.

Their bodies came together, became one.  He felt her breathing. He felt the beating of her heart.  He felt the warmth of her body.  The scent of her.  A musky smell, enough to make him dizzy.  It was sweet, such a sweet smell."

"Taylor," she said.  "Get up.  The taxi's here."  She was dressed already.

"Oh yeah," he murmured, coming back to wakefulness.  He jumped out of the bed and stood up. He loosened his arms and shoulders.  He felt pretty good.  She was looking at him. He took a deep breath and slipped his clothes on.  He felt much better. 

"Charming, Charming, come here," she called to the hamster.  "We've got to go now."  Pamuya scooped up Charming, who had been running around on the floor, and held him up to her chest.  She stooped down and let out a cry of alarm.  "Under the bed."

Kensington bent down and looked under the bed.  Something was lying there.  He reached out and pulled it out so they could see it.  It was a computer disk.  Unconsciously, he stuck the disk in a pocket. 

With a roaring sound, the whole room suddenly shook violently.  "Five minutes until implosion," a voice announced. 

"We've got to hurry," Pamuya said. 

"Why do they always have to wait until it's almost too late," Kensington complained.  "Five minutes?  For crying out loud, they could have given us more warning."

Pamuya sighed.  She shrugged her shoulders exaggeratedly and stared at him.  She was smiling.  "You’ve just got to accept reality.  You could learn something from me."

"Listen to yourself," he laughed.  "Telling jokes at a time like this is my shtick."

She laughed back at him.  "I guess you're right.  But we should be okay if we keep moving."  A smile floated to her lips and she held out her hand to him.

"Of course."  He took her hand firmly.  They entered the corridor and headed toward the pool. 

The shaking and rumbling continued.  "Four minutes until implosion," the voice announced.  Kensington could hear the sound of water rushing somewhere and striking against a watertight door.  Ominous metallic sounds rang from above.  They ran without stopping.

The pool looked like it would overflow at any minute.  On top of the pool, their mini-sub was waiting for them.  "At least something's going right," he shouted excitedly.  "The taxi's even waiting for us."

"Of course," Pamuya said smugly.  "It is a taxi.  They just don't leave us good-tipping customers behind."

He smiled.  "You're right.  Oh no!"

"What is it?" she asked in alarm.

"I don't have any money."

"Idiot.  I'll pay."

"Three minutes until implosion," the voice announced. 

They scrambled up the side of the sub, opened the hatch and jumped down inside.  The controls were simple.  The push of a button closed the upper hatch.  The submarine slipped out of the pool and into the middle of the ocean.  The currents quickly pushed them away from the facility, away from the sinking Utopia. 

Paradise, their home for seven days, was warping and folding in on itself like some crumpled old newspaper.  It scattered as it collapsed, like some child's blocks that hadn't been stacked properly.  Letting out its final breath of bubbles, it disappeared to the bottom of the sea.

They were moving up.  The small fragile egg they were in floated quietly toward the surface. "What do we do from here?" Pamuya asked in a quiet voice.

"There's so much I want to do," he said, placing the disk on the seat next to him.  "First, I'm thinking about where to start.  What about you?  What do you want to do?" She didn't answer.  "What, you didn’t like the question?"

"No, it's not that," she said quickly.  "Can I have a moment to think about it? 

"Sure," he said gently. 

Then something banged outside the submarine.  The operating console made a funny noise.  A display screen behind Pamuya came to life.  "What does it say?" she asked.

"Turn around and look."

"No," she whispered faintly.  "I don't want to see it.  I've got a really bad feeling about this."

With no other choice, he looked at the monitor.  "It says, 'low battery'."  The lights on the sub went out.  The monitor went dark.  All of the power went out.  The only thing still working was an analog pressure gauge.  'Depth - 189 feet, Internal Pressure - 12.5 atmospheres.'  The submarine was set to saturation diving specifications.  The pressure on the inside was higher than the pressure on the outside.

"Taylor?"

"It's okay," he said.  "We're going to be fine.  Stop looking as if you're going to cry."  'Depth – 192 feet.' Slowly, very slowly, the submarine began sinking. 'Residual Air Pressure – 0; Ballast tank – unable to drain.'  "Wonderful, we hitched a ride on a junker.  This cab always seems to stall on these country roads.  I'm terribly sorry, ma'am."

'Depth – 195 feet.'

Kensington looked at the bottom hatch. It was set up as an airlock. "Do you think we'd start rising again if we let out some of the high pressure gas?"

"No," she said.  "We wouldn't go straight up and our momentum would be limited.  Not to mention that we'll start flooding because we don't have any spare compressed air.  Plus we don't have enough buoyancy in the main fuselage.  We've got to get rid of ballast."

'Depth – 198 feet.'

"The valve to release the ballast is electronically controlled, but now we're…" Her voice started to rise.

"Stay calm," he admonished.  "Judging by how slow we're sinking, we only have to lighten the load by a little bit.  Maybe a hundred pounds or so.  Then we'll be fine.  Maybe we can pull out a few of the machines in here." He looked at the machinery.  "It will be impossible without tools and we don't have any."

"So, that's it then," she whispered.  She bit her lip and looked down.

"Yeah," he admitted.  "We're screwed."

'Depth -201 feet.'

"Looks like we celebrated too soon," she said.  Her shoulders shook from disappointment and she laughed without conviction.  "So stupid.  I'm so stupid."

In the dark he moved to the lower hatch and pulled on the lever for the inner door.  She audibly sucked in her breath.  "Taylor, what are you doing?"

"Can't you tell by looking? I'm opening the hatch."

"That's why I'm asking," she shouted anxiously.  "What are you doing?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

'Depth – 204 feet.'

"Stop!  What are you planning to do?"  Pamuya grabbed his arm. 

"Don't stop me," he urged.  He threw off her arm and raised the glass hatch.  The airlock was just large enough for one person.  "Please don't touch me.  Don't touch me."

"No!" she screamed.  "I won't let you."  She grabbed his arm firmly as the hatch started closing.  "I don't care if I die, I'm not letting go."

'Depth – 207 feet.'

"You really are selfish," he said.  "Do you know what the Archimedes Principle is?"  Surprised, for a moment her grip relaxed.  He tore himself forcefully out of her grasp.  He quickly slipped into the back of the airlock.  It was surprisingly easy to close the hatch from the inside. He slammed the latch closed.

'Depth – 210 feet.'

Pamuya was stunned.  Her eyes were opened as wide as they could go and she stared at him from the other side of the glass.  "Taylor! What are you doing?  Open it up!  Get out of there!"  She pounded wildly on the reinforced glass.  She tried to pull up the lever but was unable to move it.

"Pamuya… what are you saying?" he asked calmly.

"You stupid idiot!  Open it up this instant! What are you thinking?"  Tears started falling from her wide open eyes.  Drops fell in a constant stream.  Her fist pounded against the glass.  It began to crack as she hit it.

'Depth – 213 feet.'

"I thought you knew about Archimedes' Principle.  You are the one who taught me about it.  I guess you didn't."  He laughed with an effort.

"This isn't funny!  Stop joking!  This isn't about that!  You fool Taylor.  You idiot!"  She sobbed as she screamed.

"Yeah, I'm an idiot," he agreed.  "The biggest one there is.  You didn't know that, Pamuya?"

'Depth – 216 feet'.

The glass refused to break under her pounding.  It made him feel good to know it would hold.  "We've got to make sure this little egg stays afloat."  He put his hand on the outer hatch and turned the handle.

"Taylor?"  She stopped hitting the glass.  "No.  Do you really want to die?"  The words came slowly as if she were having a hard time speaking. 

"Don't worry," he said.  He spoke firmly, looking right at her.  I may be stupid, but I'm not that stupid."

'Depth – 219 feet.'

He kept turning the handle with his other hand. 

"Please, don't leave me.  Don't leave me all by myself."

"There you go, always worrying."  He forced a smile.  "I keep telling you, it's going to be okay, right?"

"Yes."

"You want to live, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes."

"So live!  As long as you're alive, live," he said.  Then he made her a promise.  "Don't worry.  I'm not going to die."

'Depth – 222 feet.'

The hatch on the bottom of the submarine opened.  The air which, was compressed in the airlock, was jettisoned into the ocean.  His body shot out into the water.  He could no longer hear her voice.  He could just make out her blurry outline.  Pamuya's face was covered with tears.  Her face was broken with sadness.  Her image refracted through the water.

He grabbed a rail on the outside the submarine and steadied himself.  He closed the outer hatch.  He couldn't see her any more.  Wouldn't be able to see her again.  He let go of the rail and kicked away from the sub.  Released from its support, his body went flying into a jet black ocean filled with sparkling fragments of light. 

His consciousness was floating.  His will clung steadfastly to his body.  It was still there, even if it was threatening to turn to dust.  Even if it was threatening to be torn apart.  "Live as long as you are alive," he wished her. 

It's what he wanted for himself.  Maybe it was stubbornness.  He was sinking to the bottom of the ocean.  His field of vision filled with white bubbles heading upward.  He closed his eyes. That's when he realized for the first time, he was there.  'I'm here, I'm here.'  His body dissolved in the ocean.

In the control room of Utopia, a single panel remained active.  Life Readings: 1.

[Andromeda]

I didn't expect a tragic ending.  Wow.  Now I am impressed.

The writing style of the last chapter or two, and of the sex scene in the earlier chapter, bug me a little.  I can't say why, but it doesn't feel quite right.  Yeah, it's an odd style for you, but that's not it. 

Mostly, though, I really like it.

! Got it.  It's too Japanese.  If you get my meaning.  I've been in Japan a lot this past year and it feels like you've been writing like a Japanese writer would... except your english is too good.

[Hstaphath_XC]

Wow... this definitely took a left turn and ended up completely different than what I would have suspected.  Kudos for that!!!

I think Rommie was right on with her comment about this feeling very Japanese influenced.  The noble tragic way it ended in particular.

I very much look forward to reading your second draft!  (not to mention the next two books of the Utopia trilogy)

[CaptJosh]

Interesting ending. Not sure how to comment on the story as a whole, but you said it had been majorly revised already anyway. I think I'll comment once the revised story is in place, with one exception.

You had Heaven describe decompression sickness incorrectly. When someone goes down to great depths, THAT'S when the gas dissolves in their blood stream and other tissues. If they suddenly go to lower pressure, it starts to bubble out and do damage. This is what causes what is colloquially known as "the bends."