Under a Starless Sky novel Chapter 90

“Clear!”

The uniform applied Defibrillator pulse. Jon gasped. Hands came up automatically to push the light out of his eyes. The light was attached to a hand. It took a moment to focus. Normal room lights filled him and saw a new reality. Medical bay. It was all so damn familiar he suspected it to be unreal. He felt his arm stretched, and a Velcro arm band secured snugly. ‘Lactic ringer’ the nurse said. Loxy was suddenly in his eyes.

“Welcome back,” Loxy said.

Jon tried to get up, but hands kept him down. Loxy touched him. “Shh, we got you. I am here.” She took his hand in hers. A mobile, doctor’s stool came to her, adjusting itself for the appropriate height, and she sat with a knowing that she wouldn’t fall. Once in under her control, she adjusted her proximity the old fashion way, pulling the chair to where she wanted. She smiled into his face, wiped tears. “Shh, breathe, we got you.”

“Are you real?” Jon asked.

“You mean really here?” Loxy asked.

“Loxy?”

“Yes, Jon,” Loxy said.

“I am not Jon,” Jon said.

“Confusion is to be expected after an event of this magnitude,” the Doctor said. The Doctor’s voice was familiar. His face was too familiar.

“Fiction…”

“The fact that I am here, or that I save you?” the Doctor said.

“House,” Loxy said.

“Seriously, the existential banter that pseudo explains my presence in his world is overplayed,” House said. “We got it, Jon. I am an admired hero in your world. Thanks for allowing me to bring you back one more time. Get some rest. Stop fucking dying on my shift.”

“Why do you keep calling me Jon?” Jon asked.

“Who do you think you are, Ion Light?” House asked.

“Maybe we should wake Jung,” Loxy said.

“He is sleeping. Most normal folks are sleeping. You should be sleeping, Jon,” House said. “We got you. The ship, the nurse, your suit’s AI, the bed’s AI, we all got you. You’re not going anywhere. Now rest.”

House walked away. He didn’t have to say, ‘notify me if there is any change.’ He said it, ‘you expect me to say it to comfort you but you should be comforted by the fact I can’t get any sleep because all these damn bells and whistles are always calling me to comfort someone, which just stupid because everyone knows my bedside manners suck, but you didn’t hire me for bedside manners…’ the door shut behind him.

Loxy smiled down at him. “You can stay here, or our quarters. Do you have a preference?”

“Are you real?” Jon asked.

“Yes, Jon,” Loxy said.

“Forever?” Jon asked.

“Yes, with caveats,” Loxy said.

Loxy’s uniform pulsed, heart badge illuminated; the chime for being notified. “Yes?” she said.

“Commander, your presence is required on the bridge.”

“Are we about to go into battle?” Loxy asked.

“No, Mam…”

“Then you got this. Loxy out,” Loxy said. A reassuring smile was offered. “See, not going anywhere.”

“It might be important,” Jon said.

“It’s always important,” Loxy said.

“I want to get up,” Jon said.

“Tomorrow,” Loxy said.

“And if there is no tomorrow?” Jon asked.

“Then we’ll do it the next day,” Loxy said. She kissed him, squeezed his hands, and he slept.

निर्मित

Recovery included bed rest. There was always someone with him, even though he didn’t need a physical person with all the AI partnerships. Loxy, Fersia, Alish, Keera, and Lester took shifts. The nurse visited him. Jung came and visited him, asking him if he had any experiences that he wanted to share. He declined sharing.

“When you’re ready, son,” Jung said, unoffended.

His memory of this life came back in stages. It was supplemented by ships logs. Simple things caused flashes, impartial memories. Their ship approaching the nebula. An object came out of the nebula- unseen by sensors. It had impacted the ship, puncturing it, and opened up like flower inside. It dumped its contents out, submerging Jon in a pile of slime. It had operated as a living things that had simply punctured the ship and vomited over him. The contents also moved as if alive, flowing faster than lava, a liquid storm that captured him in a glittery, golden, greenish slime. The outer edges of it hardened in the air. He and the command chair were completely encapsulated, like an ant stuck in amber. The reports said he was so encased for about an hour.

“Lie,” was his first thought. “I was gone for…” He couldn’t put days on it. Years. A life time. He had to resist not to fight it.

The reports also revealed that the moment Jon had been revived, the nebular dissipated and was gone. In its place was a solar system. One moonless planet orbited one star. That star, in turn, orbited a miniature black hole. Loxy caught him up on his walks.

He walked every day. Usually, he walked the continuous corridor on the saucer section. The never ending corridor, one of the few that completed an uninterrupted circuit. Others used it for the same purpose, stretch the legs, talk. The faster folks tending to be on the outer wall. A person could be a celebrity here and still walk unmolested. Here, on the ship, he held celebrity status, and he was the Commanding Officer. And he was allowed to walk in peace. They neither avoided eye contact nor made eye contact. He was treated normally. It felt surreal. He wondered if the weirdness was just being back, or that he craved attention, or he wanted to tell his story, or he wanted to test reality.

Loxy came out of his blind spot, tagging him. He stopped, closed his eyes, and shook it off with his hand. “Don’t do that.”

“Sorry,” Loxy said. “There are people on the planet.”

Jon resumed walking. Loxy accompanied him. They went a quarter of the walk without talking.

“Okay, this is weird. You’re being weird,” Loxy said.

“How so?”

“You’re not curious?” Loxy asked.

“They’re human,” Jon said.

“I was under the impression, you weren’t reading the reports,” Loxy said.

“Did we hail the planet?”

“No response.”

“You’re sending an away team?” Jon asked.

“Yeah, First Contact team has been chosen…”

“I would like to go,” Jon said.

“I bet you would. Not going to happen,” Loxy said.

“Command Staff, High Conference, please,” Jon said.

Jon surrendered his body to his suits AI, and kept walking, while mentally he arrived at the virtual conference deck, on the circle. On the circle reminded him of the Candace and the ritual. He was able to track that while the other officers and staff members were arriving. The dome afforded a view of the planet they were orbiting. There was nothing particularly noteworthy. Nothing that looked like home. Was it all a dream? It became apparent that everyone had arrived and he had their attention.

“I should go on the Away Team. I might know these people,” Shen said.

He was not bombarded with a bunch of questions. Loxy spoke for the group. “You’re going to have to give us more than that.”