Darkworld: Earth

2.33.

They spent one day in orbit around Venus, and Kirk worshiped his wife as though she were the goddess that the planet was named after. They danced as they orbited Mars, they made love in the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. One by one they crossed off the planets of the solar system in their two-person tour of the solar system. They skipped Pluto because neither of them could agree on whether it was a planet or not.

Neither one wore more than a bathrobe the entire time.

They didn’t call an end to the tour when the ran out of planets, however. Instead, they set sail for Sol’s nearest neighbor. It was a week long jump through hyperspace – Captain Kirk knew that he should call it warp speed but the common vernacular was that it was the hyperatomic plane, so he compromised – and they spent most of the trip either in bed or watching the fog, aurora, and lightning filled universe that existed on top of the material plane.

Lisa thought it was beautiful and romantic.

Kirk thought that he could possibly go again in ten minutes regardless of how long it had been since the last time. He constantly endeavored to prove himself correct, even to embarrassing results.

It wasn’t spoken, but it was the private goal of both of them for the trip to end with a pregnancy.

While the hyperdrive of their ship was slow compared to the forces of the ESF and the Yonohoans, it was theirs, for now, and they would enjoy every moment of the trip, one way or another.

~~~~~~~~

The boy opened his eyes. He looked around slowly, confusion on his face at the unexpected environment.

This was not how he had pictured the halls of the ancestors at all.

He tried to move, but his wrists were restrained to the bed. It was that fact that shattered the illusion and he understood.

He was not dead.

He didn’t know whether he was relieved or not. He had failed his mission. Failed humanity itself. He didn’t deserve to live, didn’t want to live as a failure.

He thought about calling out, to see who had him in custody, who was keeping him alive for questioning. He decided that there was no point in rushing to embrace whatever torture his captors had planned.

He closed his eyes and let the illusion that he was just in another hospital last a little longer.

~~~~~

“He woke up,” Trenola reported.

“How can you tell?” Olivia asked, staring at the reports of the military grade medical scanner.

“Brain activity,” the alien doctor explained, highlighting the segments to demonstrate the changes that she’d seen. Olivia examined the readouts with professional curiosity, but ultimately she despaired of adapting to the use of Yonohoan scanners. Or at least the military version of them. Once they began to integrate them into hospitals, then she would have a human continuing education program bring her up to speed on the civilian version.

“Alert the others. I’m going to go talk to him.”

That was the agreed upon plan when Eodar, or perhaps John, awoke. That they would greet him with the friendly face of one of the few people that he had bonded with during his stay on Earth. Despite having it preapproved, Olivia was subjected to a long security procedure to ensure that she wasn’t bringing the patient anything dangerous.

It was somewhat ridiculous. Either the patient remained dangerous because his weapon systems were still online, in which case there was nothing that the security forces could do to render him non-dangerous, or the decommissioning procedure had done its work and Eodar/John was as harmless as a normal child. Albeit one as physically strong as three adults, so perhaps the security check wasn’t entirely out of place.

Their was also the patient’s mental state to consider. She had to consider the events leading to his capture as a possible elaborate suicide attempt. In fact, she decided, it was easier if she framed it in those terms. Once she had, then the way in which she would address Eodar – or John, she would ask him for his name and use whatever name he gave – clicked into place.

Finally she was cleared and entered the patient’s room. The boy did not respond to her presence.

“Hello again,” she said. “They said that your memory wouldn’t be affected by the decommissioning procedure, but I think maybe it’s best if we start again afresh. My name is Doctor Olivia Nunes. I have been appointed as your medical and legal guardian. I am not certain how much you know about the laws and customs of Earth, but that means that it is my job, honor, and privilege to represent you and fight for your best interests. Would you please tell me your name?”

The boy did not respond for several moments. She waited patiently.

“John Doe,” the boy croaked. He still had the feeding tube in his nose.

“Would you like me to remove the tube from your nose, John?” she asked.

“What purpose does it serve?”

“It was put in place to give your body nutrition while you were in a coma induced by your decommissioning procedure,” she explained. “Which you activated yourself in the mistaken belief that it would end your life.”

“I should be dead.”

“Yet you are not. And many people are very happy about that fact, John. Your family included. You do have family, John, and they love you despite the fact that you have never met them.”

“If ninety thousand years have passed, then my family is dust. Their bones have been turned to dust by the Topoka and their souls walk the halls of the ancestors. I should be with them.”

“Unless you tell me to stop, I’m going to remove the feeding tube from your nose,” she informed him gently, and she began the procedure. The boy didn’t even flinch as she performed the unpleasant extraction. She took the tubing to the door and gave it to the waiting security personnel to dispose of. Then she returned and stood at John’s bedside.

“I need to explain your situation to you in terms that you can understand. I know that you are hyper-intelligent, but english is not your native language, so please ask for clarification if I use any words you do not understand. Will you cooperate with me as I try to make you understand the situation you’re in, John?”

“I will not resist,” John said, and she took his words as a win.

“At present, you are in a secure medical facility owned by … actually, I don’t know who owns the building but it’s currently leased to the Earth Space Force. You are the only patient. There guards and a nanite suppression field that is currently deactivated spanning the entire facility. The guards possess non-lethal weapons that were given to them by the Yonohoans which should disable you should you attempt to fight or escape. You are being treated for a number of conditions resulting from the decommissioning procedure. Does this information make sense, John?”

“I am being held for questioning by the ESF,” John repeated. “If I run, they will activate a nanite suppression field and shoot me.”

“Yes. The government of America is deciding whether or not to press charges against you at this time. Among the actions you are accused of taking for which charges that might be filed are the invasion of their airspace, the fight against their air force resulting in a forest fire in Washington State, acts of espionage, and two instances of resisting lawful arrest. You do not have to admit to guilt to these charges, John, you can plead innocence and--”

“I will plead guilty. I did those things. I am proud. I will not deny my actions,” John said.

“I will not say that I recommend that, John, but I will inform your legal team of your intentions. Because you are a minor, I have to inform you that a lot of the matters which would normally be in your control in a situation as serious as this are now in control of adults who are acting on your behalf. Adults like me. We have your best interests, or at least what we believe to be your best interests, at heart.”

Eodar began to laugh. “That is what the High-Command said when the locked us in the Toormonda for four years. That it was ‘in our best interest’ that we received a proper education.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you, John,” Olivia said.

“I am not. I saw the stars as they were born and as they died. I understood how small my place in the universe was and I saw how fragile my people were. I swore that I would do what I could to protect them from this cold and malevolent place until we could reach the safety of the halls of the ancestors.”

“Your people have told me some of what they know about your religious beliefs, John. I find them to be beautiful. I am sorry that your beliefs were violated and used against you by High-Command,” Olivia said.

“Did they truly do those things? Did they kill my brothers and sisters, to replicate us across the cosmos?” Eodar asked.

“Yes, John, they did. I am told that your class of Forward Scout Troops was utilized across seven thousand and eight fronts over the opening phases of the conflict that is now considered phase two of the Liberation Wars,” she answered. “And it was retrained to fill other roles throughout phase three. It was during phase four in which you and your subordinates began rising to power, and ultimately it was in phase five in which the current state of the universe was reached. The other versions of you and your scout troop were instrumental in establishing a truce between all factions. It is an uneasy truce, but it has meant millennia of peace.”

“The universe is at peace?” John asked.

“For the moment, yes,” Olivia said.

“And humanity is free from oppression?”

“So I am told.”

“Then it was all worth it. May I be alone now?” John asked.

“Okay. I’ll give you some time to process the information I’ve given you, and come check on you in an hour if that’s okay.”

“And Olivia?”

“Yes John?”

“Can I listen to the radio please?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

‎