Aubade: Chapter 8
Hello You — who clicked on this link and isn’t quite sure if you want to keep reading. Read a little bit more!
The first serial I ever read was published in a Swedish version of a Ladies’ Home Journal type magazine. I loved the idea of having to wait a while for the next chapter of the story. There was that mystery aspect to it, almost like waiting for a letter to arrive. If you’re looking for something fun to read this summer, hop onboard Aubade — my sci-fi serial. It has a bit of everything, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. And yes, there’s a mystery and futuristic tech and yes, there’s romance too! All you need, right? Here you can read more about how it all began and the why.
Premise:
You’re a woman who’s woken up out of stasis and you find yourself onboard the spaceship Aubade escaping Earth. Forever. Last thing you remember is going to bed. On Earth.
In this chapter of Aubade, a sci-fi serial:
Sara finds herself awakening from a mysterious and seemingly painless death. However, she quickly realizes that something is amiss when she detects a foul stench and discovers that she is still alive. Confined to a bed, Sara overhears conversations and learns that she has undergone a restoration process. As she recovers, she learns that her actions have earned her the respect and admiration of the crew. Sara engages in a conversation with Stapleton, revealing that both of them are not on suppressants.
The Awakening
A painless death is the most desirable death I could ever wish for, she hummed to herself. It wasn't painful at all, but what she had not expected was the stench. An awful, organic and burned stench wouldn't leave her alone. So, it will keep me in one form of agony since the other one did not occur. I am not even afraid at all. She drifted off and fell asleep.
The next time she woke up it smelled like human body odor, and she began to suspect she wasn't dead. Death would smell worse. It was dark, and she was lying on something soft.
She heard two voices coming from another room. It felt like her own bed, but the awful odor could not come from her, could it? She lifted her arm and took a whiff, it was her. Great, body odor worse than death.
She began to check her arms and legs to see if they were still there, but even the slightest movement made her groan aloud. It was as if she had run for hours and was drained of every ounce of energy. Her muscles barely complied. Her eyes were adjusting to the lack of light and she tried to focus on the voices, wanting to hear who it was and what was being said.
How long could it have been since they pulled her out? She could remember everything, almost, up until the moment she lay down on the sliding mat. She tried to raise her arms up in the air. They fell down on the pillow above her head and she could feel her hair. It felt so short. Her fingers inspected the curls of hair, and she found much less than usual. She had to get up and find out what was going on. Someone had cut her hair!
"Sir! She tried to walk to the bathroom and fell."
Jack carried her back to the bed as Stapleton watched from the door.
"Renni said the restoration wouldn't take longer than 36 hours. Should we call him again?"
She wanted to tell them they needed to check her file for the exact amounts of homeostasis boosters and nutrition, but only managed to exclaim:
"I need a shower!"
"Believe us we know," laughed Jack, "but I don't think you'll want either of our assistance, and until you're strong enough you'll just have to live with it."
"Welcome back, Sara. Renni gave us the directions for a cocktail that
should restore you. It's taking a bit longer than we hoped. How do you feel?"
Stapleton was wearing his off duty activewear, and it made him look much less severe.
"I need 16 % glucose and there is something else I can't remember, you need to check my file." If she only could get up and look at her file herself. Now both of them would see all her vitals and it would even further lower her status. So she decided to give it a try:
"Give me my notebook, I'll look it up for you." Agonizingly she raised herself up to a half seated position. Her body was shivering and her nerves were tugging in all directions.
"It's at the bottom of my bag."
Stapleton walked over to the foot of the bed where he began digging through a duffel bag. He handed over her notebook, and she realized she had forgotten the new password!
"Give me a second, I need to remember something."
"All right, let us know when you have the data."
When she finally remembered the password her hands were trembling so much that she couldn't enter it.
"Stapleton. Vince?" She could barely whisper but he came over.
"You have to do it, I can't keep my hands still, look!" she whispered and held out her violently trembling hand to him so he could hold it still. He didn't say anything but quickly pressed her palm still on the notepad screen so the data could be accessed.
A sound from the other room interrupted them and Jack called out:
"Captain's calling!"
"I'll be right back." Stapleton put the notebook on the bed next to her and left the room. She could hear him open up the channel with Meadows and an update ensued. Jack came over and peeked in.
"Funny that such a strength should have such a downside."
"Everything comes with a price."
"Did you find out what you needed from your med file?" He was glancing at her notebook page which was still open.
It was clear he was skimming through everything. She saw him stop for a moment and glance over at her, and then take another look at the file.
"What?" What had he seen? Could he have figured it out? If he knew what to look for he could glean a lot from her file. He could see what no one else had seen.
"These charts are really detailed, I should have a look at my own. Kind of creepy, if I may be honest. Bloody creepy!" He took one last glance at the charts and gave her a smile.
"I have no idea of what it all means but it looks nice!" He tried to be funny.
"Thanks, that was helpful, but take a look at the glucose levels and the numbers below it. That's what we're looking for."
"OK, here, 16% glucose and you will also need an amino acid injection, it seems..." he was obviously trying his best to interpret the complicated tables and graphs. "I'll let Vince know." He walked to the other room.
The next time she woke up it didn't hurt anymore. She decided to get over to the bathroom as soon as possible before her muscles gave up again. She didn't have to struggle. She must have accumulated lots of shower minutes over this time and smiled when she saw that her code worked in Stapleton's shower. She threw her clothes in the washer and took a ten minute shower.
Her hair had been cut down so it barely reached her shoulders. A look in the mirror told her this was definitely the job of an amateur. She would have to fix it herself, if she could get hold of a pair of scissors. At least it was long enough so she could tie it up. In her duffel bag she was glad to find an extra set of clothes she had thought of packing, and put them on. She needed food. Perhaps the Defense quarters had an all hours cantina? It was absolutely quiet in the front room which also served as Commander's quarters and meeting room.
"Where are you heading?" He was lying on the couch with his legs kicked up on the armrest. His notebook was propped on his chest. He looked as if he'd been nodding off.
"I'm hungry."
"Look over there on the counter," he was pointing to the small counter near the door, "drink it."
She smelled the drink. Not bad, almost fruity. Must be one of those secret flavor codes. It didn't taste bad either. She sat down on the chair next to the couch.
"They made a bet about you, whether you would live or die."
"Did you make a bet too?"
He didn't answer.
"They all want to see you now, my men. You've become a hero to them. They call you their Amazona."
"Hm, last time I checked I still had both my breasts intact."
Stapleton chuckled and gave her a quick glance.
"... so what did Stormare and Jack bet?"
"You'll have to ask them."
"What did Meadows say?'
"He is very impressed. And he is still up in his protective space cocoon while we're doing the dirty work. But keep that one between you and I."
"Who cut my hair off?"
"Jack, it was that or your head, it got stuck and we had to cut it off right then."
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Two days and nights. That is one damned muscular metabolism you have. Never seen anything like it." He sounded genuinely impressed.
"I have. Most of the people I grew up with had the same gene. It just happens very rarely that the muscles give up to such an extent. Especially if I keep up the nutritional level during activity I can last a long time." She should perhaps not tell him everything about her strength and how she once walked for nine hours without interruption. He just nodded.
"So does it work?" she asked.
"Yes, Stormare immediately tested it and it's up and running. "I'd like to thank you on behalf of all my crew. What you did was impeccable." Stapleton sat up and closed his notebook.
"When can I go back?"
"Day after tomorrow at the earliest. There's a meeting, a recap if you will, tomorrow, and you're required to attend."
Even in the middle of the night he kept himself formal and demanding. Off duty clothes apparently didn't soften him at all.
"But everything was recorded, the Captain's been updated, what else is there to go over? You can see every split second and action that I made and you just told me the results are impeccable."
"It's mostly formalities, but still required. Everyone who took part in the mission will be there."
"Fine."
She was glad she had brought a heavy sweater with her because the temperature at the station was much lower than at the civilian. Stapleton's quarters were the largest personal quarters she had seen in the colony. Of course, it acted as a meeting room as well, but even his sleeping quarters were large enough for two. This was after all a colony. The designer had planned ahead.
No signs of personal belongings or memorabilia were displayed in the room. She had seen a few smaller items in the civilian colony, but most people had saved all memories on holos in their notebooks. Apparently personal items were heavily restricted. Sara had not found any of her personal belongings, and it was clear that none existed. Every item in her room was foreign to her but they now belonged to her.
Stapleton had again picked up his notebook and was absentmindedly entering something on it. She had to give it a try.
"Where did you grow up?"
He looked up at her, clearly not expecting any personal conversation. He seemed to carefully think about it before answering.
"Scotland, you?" He kept looking at her and she knew she had to maintain the momentum.
"New York, I never got a chance to visit Scotland. Heard a lot about it."
"Few visitors, it's not exactly a tourist paradise," he said dryly.
"Did you stay there your entire life until...?"
"No, just my youth. I've been stationed everywhere." Good, he was volunteering information. Now keep it up, she thought to herself.
"Which place did you like the best?"
"The Coast." To hide her surprise she pretended to pick something up from the floor so she could regain composure.
"Did you stay there long?"
"About a year. It reminded me of a less rainy Scotland. Amazing people, some of my most dependable men were Coast people."
"Was this during the Border Unrest?" She couldn't help asking. He stopped looking at his notebook and began looking at her. She kept her expression steady and neutral.
"Ah, that's right, you're a Historian," he almost muttered to himself, "Yes, I commanded the resistance at the southern border."
"And you became good friends with the people?"
"As I said, some of the best people left on that pile of dirt, well you know what I mean, used to be..."
"The Coast was still holding up when we left."
"That's damned right. And if it hadn't blown up they'd still be there holding it up."
There was a pride in his voice, and she was bursting with curiosity to find out who exactly he knew. He must have known Peter and his family. Everyone on the Coast knew them. But the likelihood of her and Stapleton finding themselves on the same starship and knowing the same person was slim. Unless, of course, Peter had violated the regulations and kidnapped her and put her on this ship.
No one cared about the Coast anymore, it was considered a leftover relic from centuries ago. None of her friends ever understood why she had chosen to go there with Professor Trent, and they were appalled at her stories afterward. She had quickly learned to keep that part of her life to herself. But then there was Pandora, and it was impossible to completely hide the fact that she was a biological child. A perversity by any modern standard. But still a common practice on the Coast.
"I agree," she finally said, "they are amazing people, and I believe if there had been more of their kind we might still be back home."
He leaned forward.
"And what exactly do you know about them? Please tell me."
By God, he was really getting defensive. She decided not to reveal any personal connections.
"They've managed to survive over 200 years without suppressants or genetic altering while earning the respect, or at least enough respect, of the World Council, to leave them alone." Most educated people would know the same facts, but it was the best she could spit out at the moment.
"Suppressants, I thought it was considered perverse and unlawful not to be on them."
"It is unlawful not to be on suppressants, but not on the Coast," she corrected him, "and, while I'm not yet entirely clear on the punishment here on the colony for not taking suppressants, I do know it is expected and controlled on a weekly basis. I mean, all of us are tested. All your weekly blood work screens every little corner of your body, and when Dr. Renni sees the red light flashing he'll send Evelydia or Paulon with a quick injection."
This was going to be interesting. A long and tense pause ensued.
"Then how do you avoid getting injected?"
Well, there was no doubt now that both of them were not on suppressants. She had suspected it, guessed it, but it still caused a rush in her.
"How do you?" She couldn't help a nervous smile.
"I have a special permit, due to my military position," he hastily added. She burst out in laughter and he rolled his eyes.
It was such a long time ago she last had a chance to laugh with anyone, especially with a man. Stapleton looked amazed for a second before he also burst out into laughter.
"Aren't you glad I was the one pulling you out instead of Stormare?" They both laughed.
"But seriously," he cleared his throat, "how do you do it?"
"Nothing."
"So you are on suppressants then, I was almost sure you weren't."
She gave him a weak grin.
"I don't react to them, I never have, my body immediately metabolizes or rejects the hormones and expels them. All I feel is a short period of tranquility and that's it!"
He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You're kidding me! So what, you've been living like that all these years, among, among suppressed people?" This sounded almost too perverse to him she could tell.
"Yes, all these years, alone, unsuppressed." She smiled a matter-of-fact smile and shrugged her shoulders.
"So, have you ever met anyone like yourself before?"
"I've traveled," she said and glanced at him.
"But you never made it to Scotland, eh?"
"No, never made it there."
"Shame, damn shame."
At this point they both stood up in rapid search of a distraction. The conversation had become too personal, inappropriate even, and they both knew that their relationship now had been slightly altered. Stapleton's long frame looked gigantic on the couch. The couch was too short for him and she could see he had attempted to create a bed there. He didn't look too comfortable and made a face as he rubbed his lower back.
"Let's switch. Here, let me just put new sheets on for you." She was walking to the bedroom before he had a chance to disagree. She ripped off the sheets and made a face. There must be a vacuum seal for this room, like the one she had. She found it and turned it on for a few seconds. It improved the air quality instantly. Stapleton was standing in the doorway speechless and too embarrassed to do anything but watch. She found new sheets under the bed in the storage compartment.
"There, enjoy!" She took a short step back and spread out her right arm and smiled before she walked past him and into the other room. She felt a grasp around her arm. He immediately loosened the grip and instead held her by her shoulder.
She knew what kind of grip this was. It was not new to her. She knew what this meant, when a man held a woman's shoulder like he did to her right now. His face had softened, and he looked almost tired. Then he sank his head so close to her ear that she could feel his breath. While she held her own breath he said:
"My notebook’s there on the table. I disabled the password. Enjoy."
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I love it, a wry reminder that even in the future we will need our creature comforts to feel right :)