EPSODE 3 – A TASTE OF FREEDOM
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FUTURE IMPERFECT SHARON VANDER MEER
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Exceptions apply if used for book review purposes. Cover images used by permission: clipart.com. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. This is version two of a previously published book of the same title with revisions and corrections. Copyright © 2019 Sharon Vander Meer All rights reserved Published by: One Roof Publishing –❦❦❦❦–
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EPISODE 3 – A TASTE OF FREEDOM
Perspiration poured over her, yet she shivered. Don’t breathe. Don’t make a sound. Suddenly the dimly lit corridor went soul-draining dark. She quaked with terror. This time she thought she would make it, that this would be the day she escaped. “I gots ye.” But she was wrong. Bony fingers clamped onto her shoulder. A fetid stench filled her nostrils. She jerked away. Lasker yanked her back and chittered a laugh. “I tells ye, little rock-chicken, be nice, be nice.” Despite the darkness, she knew the look on his face, a rubbery-lipped leer, hot, red-rimmed eyes staring. She hated him even more than she feared him. “Get your hands off me!” “‘S’ no way to talk to the man who cud snap yer life out, LIKE THAT!” He snapped his fingers and laughed. “Where is Stiller?” “Far away. It’s me and ye alone.” His hand slid under the flimsy chemise and grasped her breast. She twisted violently and moved out of his reach. “Get back here! Got nowheres to go, ye don’t. He lets ye think ye’ll get away, but it’s a game; like watchin’ beetles. Tests to see for smarts.” 3
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The voice in the darkness was conspiratorial. He was giving her this gift of information but would expect something in return. “Now, I’m being nice, be nice to me. Ole’ Kaz, he’s more man ‘n ye’ll meet up wif again.” “Lasker.” Stiller’s voice snaked through the darkness, all the more menacing for its icy control. “F-f-found ‘er.” Lasker’s breathing labored to get past the clutch of fear spreading through his chest. Dim lights came on and bled dirty yellow illumination into the corridor. Stiller stood less than ten feet away. “What are you doing, Lasker? Frightening our guest?” Hana shivered. “I get her, don’t I?” Lasker’s voice wobbled. “Return to your room!” “Found ‘er! Ye said punishment done if Kaz find ‘er first!” “This is new punishment,” Stiller said softly. Lasker slunk into the darkness. In the silence that followed, Stiller turned his gaze on Hana. Time was growing short. He must get the blood drawn and put her back to sleep, but for this moment he wanted to simply look at her. She was so lovely. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?” His voice caressed her like dark velvet. “How long have you been here?” Hana couldn’t control the tremor in her voice. “Long enough.” “Was he telling the truth, about the game?” Stiller walked to where she stood, and leaned against the wall beside her. “Would you believe me if I said no?” She shrugged. Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! Screamed inside her head. “Then let us leave it at that. Do you wish to return to IDS on your own, or do you want me to escort you?” “I can find my way back.” “Yes, I’m sure you can, but don’t deviate from the path. As our friend said, there is no place for you to go.” 4
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He trailed cold fingers down the side of her neck, and along her bare arm. “If you would only cooperate, you and I could go a long way together.” “Tell me why I’m here.” The request slipped out. She hated to ask him for anything. He brushed her silken hair back from her forehead. “Go along, now, I’ll join you shortly.” Stiller watched the sway of her hips and the length of her slender legs as she strode away. She was a small woman, but powerfully built. When she was outside the life tube, she spent hours exercising. The twicemonthly drawing of blood required she be alert and chemical free. Her memory loss when she first awoke was an unexpected bonus. She was most dangerous during her awake times. She struggled against imprisonment and her unremembered past. This was the third time she had escaped, not counting the day she had been taken topside by that meddling fool Emilo Walker! Stiller closed his eyes and willed himself to serenity, aided by a tiny tablet of zoner on his tongue. His task was to synthesize the catalyst. When that was done, he could do something permanent about Hana Evans. It pained him to think about it but there was no other choice. ΔΔΔ The guardian uniform hung on Lasker like a rag. It had to be someone’s cast off. Lasker wasn’t a member of the Guard and shouldn’t have been wearing a uniform at all, one of the many infractions of the law Stone was forced to ignore. Lasker’s present occupation consisted of cleaning his grimy fingernails with the six-inch blade of a lethal-looking knife. “Nope, says I,” Lasker spoke without looking up. “Ye no gets in.” Stone’s jaw popped with tension. He thrust a document under Lasker’s nose. “Do you read?” Lasker swiped at this nose with the sleeve of his uniform. “Yeah, I read, if I wuz wantin’ to.” “This is from Controller Anadra. I suggest you make the effort.” Lasker gnawed at his lip and then scratched his nose with the hilt of the 5
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knife. He squinted at the paper and handed it back. “Ye read it. It be no job of mine.” It gave Stone no satisfaction to know Lasker couldn’t read. It saddened him. “Entrance to IDS approved for Stone Walker,” he read. “Override all previous orders. Authorization Anadra, Z2408.” “Fer sure? May be you wrote it, put her okay on it.” Stone shook his head in exasperation. “Only you would be fool enough to try something that stupid.” Lasker twitched his nose, sure he’d been insulted. Didn’t matter. He had to stall the uppity Guard standing in front of him, all spiffed up and proud-like. He’d activated an alarm and his communicator the second Stone Walker showed up. Stiller was listening to every word. Hisself’d show up or not, don’t make no never mind to me nohow. Lasker told himself that, but the imposing figure of Stone Walker was hard to ignore. But he had to do what Stiller said. He didn’t need any more punishment. “Director Stiller’s busy. You no git in, says I.” Stiller listened to the exchange with growing alarm. There was no way he could keep Walker away from IDS without raising questions from Eirene. More important was making sure Hana didn’t remember her time in IDS and all the events surrounding her arrival in the habitat should she be removed from his control. The time was rapidly approaching when he would have to be rid of the Evans problem forever. The DACS memory altering implant would work. It had to. First, he had to upload the memories that were to be suppressed. That would take time, but he could manage. He had recorded everything the three said and did from the time they arrived in IDS. The device had a glitch or two but it worked. He had tried it out on two Guardians with admirable results. He’d been able to suppress their true histories and create new identities for them. Of course, they had been under his complete control and he could feed the altered information to them a little at a time. In Hana’s case, all he could hope for was to suppress her memories, at least those he had been able to record. He had to believe the behavior caused by the DACS device would be enough to keep her under his 6
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supervision or drive her to return should Eirene’s foolish plan be executed. His gaze turned to Hana. She paced the room like a caged cat. The slightest of chills made his scalp tingle. ΔΔΔ Stone’s eyes remained on the woman in the cubicle. If he looked at Stiller he would tear into him regardless of consequences. “Why isn’t she dressed?” “She is wearing a garment, Commander.” “An undergarment and not much of one at that.” “How noble you are, but you should not concern yourself over such a trifle. IDS subjects often wear nothing at all.” “Subject? As in experimental subjects?” The lines around Stiller’s mouth deepened and his left eye twitched, but his answer was smooth and cold. “Come, come, Commander Walker, both you and I know running unauthorized experiments is illegal. I wouldn’t invite investigation by committing such a crime. Now, tell me, what brings you to IDS?” Stone quickly shared what he’d decided to tell Stiller. “I tried to let you know before I went to the Controller,” he concluded, “but Lasker wouldn’t allow me to see you. He did let you know I was here?” “Of course, I intended to contact you today.” “I had no choice but to notify Controller Anadra immediately after I received the disk about the woman’s unauthorized status. The Controller wanted me to verify her condition first hand.” “Well, as you can see, she is in good health.” Stiller waved a dismissive hand in the direction of the white room. “However, I am wondering how you came to have this information.” Stone shrugged. “We haven’t been able to learn who brought it to Security Central, but given that someone knows about her being here,” Stone tilted his head toward the woman, “it won’t be long before word spreads. Controller Anadara wishes to forestall problems by getting her authorized.” “Authorized? Based on what?” 7
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“She is to be given a traceable identity. Apparently, she is NormStat since she has been inside the habitat for nearly a year and shows no signs to infection.” “Eirene wants to remove her from IDS? That’s foolish! She would be found out in no time!” “Found out?” Stiller folded his lips in to keep from sputtering, and then continued. “Her unfamiliarity with the Habitat would become evident almost immediately.” “The controller is adamant. She wants the woman out of IDS and with her.” “Impossible! I cannot allow it!” A pulse at Claude’s temple throbbed. “It is out of your hands. And now, I would like to speak to her.” Stiller curbed his temper. He’d gotten where he was by staying in control. He would be a fool to jeopardize it all now. “Of course, Commander, and so you shall, but at least let her get dressed, since her present state is distasteful to you.” Stiller’s agreement punched acid into his stomach, which was quite delicate anyway. All this stress simply was not good for him. “I am sure when you do speak to her you will agree she is in no condition to leave my protection. Her mental state is precarious at best. Just look at her.” The woman prowled the cubicle, stopping periodically to stroke the walls as if searching for something. When she wasn’t doing that she was jogging in place or talking to herself. Stone nodded toward the woman. “How long?” Stiller’s eyes darkened with anger, but he didn’t press further. “One hour.” Stone did not like being put off, but one hour wasn’t worth arguing over. What could Stiller do in an hour that he hadn’t already done? Stiller’s relief to see the back of Walker was short-lived. His attention focused on Hana who had stopped pacing. She stood with her head cocked to one side as though she could hear voices. It was unsettling. Stiller had to remind himself she was under his control. He keyed on the audio. “Please listen carefully.” His voice coming out of nowhere startled Hana, but she seemed to know 8
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right where he was standing. She stared at him, chin jutted defiantly. “Get dressed and sit down.” A shattered laugh rang inside the cubicle. The laugh cut out and she swallowed. “I won’t put it on!” The refusal was nothing more than bravado. He knew it. She knew it. “Don’t be childish. Put your gown back on and get in the chair. Or do you like parading around half-clad? This is a side of you I never expected.” Shame washed over her. She snatched up the gown and jerked it over her head, furious that she’d let his words manipulate her, yet unable to fight their influence. “Thank you. Please, sit down.” Instead of going to the chair, she sat on the floor with her back against the wall. Stiller clucked like a reproachful parent, tapped a key on the control panel and sent a harmless but powerful sedative mist into the room. Regrettably it would mean no drawing of blood this day. A sullen Kaz Lasker entered through an open panel, aware Stiller was watching. He did nothing that would bring punishment, but oh, how he wanted to stroke that soft, soft skin. The hand-held monitor he clutched in his hand, beeped. The woman was unconscious. He returned the monitor to his utility pack, picked her up, and placed her in the chair. The chair silently tilted and reconfigured into a bed. Tubes snaked out and mechanical arms went into action with precise movements. Gleaming metal fingers probed Hana inside and out. When the unit was finished its evaluation, she was hooked into a system that would provide nutrients, liquefy and drain off waste, and monitor every breath she took or move she made, the same services it had always performed. This time instead of leaving her in virtual hibernation, Stiller inserted below the skin on her right temple a tiny DACS device, undetectable by any but the most sophisticated of equipment. ΔΔΔ 9
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The door stood open. Bits and pieces of memory drifted beyond her reach. A slight ache throbbed in her right temple, but it was quickly forgotten when she realized she was dressed in loose-fitting pants and an over-blouse of some gauzy material. The blouse neckline slipped off one shoulder. She tugged it up, but the other side slid down. She rubbed her forehead with trembling fingers, stood and took one step, then another and another, one hand up, palm out, expecting to be stopped at any second. “Come, my dear.” She jerked her hands to her belly and stumbled back. “Come. I am Claude Stiller. You don’t remember me?” The speaker had white-blonde hair, a waxy complexion and compelling blue eyes. Her lips trembled. She fought the urge to cry out or just plain cry. “No, no I . . . I don’t know . . .” A look of confusion clouded her hazel eyes, turning them emerald, shiny with unshed tears. A great void yawned where her memories should be. Stiller allowed a moment of silent celebration. The device was working. “No matter. Be assured, I mean you no harm.” After a moment, she stepped through the door. The room was large. Blocky gray devices with mechanical arms moved about on treads, rolling from one place to another performing tasks that made no sense to her. The room was utilitarian and cold, but garish by comparison to the white room. The man motioned for her to sit. She did so perching gingerly on the edge of a chair. “What do you remember?” Her teeth worried at her upper lip. “I can’t seem to . . .” “Not to worry, give yourself time.” An image flashed inside her head of a woman, slender as an aspen trembling with life. Paralyzing pain struck. She cradled her head in her hands. Tears blurred her vision. “Hurts!” Stiller leaned forward and extended a comforting hand, but she shrank away. “Where am I? How did I get here?” The pain receded but hovered at the 10
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edge of her consciousness. She wiped tears away with the back of one hand. “Director?” She went still. The raspy voice coming out of nowhere, scraped down her spine. “Stiller here.” “He baa-ack!” The way the voice pulled the word apart and dropped it at the end made her insides contract sending shivers of loathing through her. “I’ll be right there.” His calm delivery belied the gathering knot of anxiety in his stomach. “I must leave you for a moment,” he said, gentling his voice. “There is someone who wants to see you. Please return to your room.” The woman lifted one hand in an unconscious plea. Stiller hesitated a moment then took her hand in his. “I shall return as soon as I can.” She jerked out of his grasp and wiped her hand on the flimsy blouse. Pure rage flashed in his eyes but was quickly gone. Steller stepped back and gestured toward the opening. Reluctantly Hana walked into the cubicle dreading the hiss of the door closing behind her. When it did, panic struck. She lunged at the white surface and beat at it with knotted fists. Her shouts reverberated in the small space, but no one came. She slumped against the wall with her eyes close. No tears! No giving up! When she opened them, a small table and chair stood where the big chair had been. A mirror and brush atop the table beckoned her closer. Fear erupted from her belly. She hurried to the table and sat down, eyes shut tight. When she opened them, and looked at her image, would she immediately remember? Building her courage was like stacking rocks to build a fence; if you didn’t level up, the whole thing would collapse. Her brow furrowed. Where did that come from? She shook off the question. A more important issue was at hand. The image looking back from the mirror was that of a stranger. She turned to see if someone stood behind her, a person to go with the over-large dusky green eyes, short straight nose and frowning mouth. But the turn made the fall of chestnut hair she’d seen reflected in the mirror shift around her shoulders. She was the stranger in the mirror. 11
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She struggled to put a name with the face. Self-consciously she touched her mouth, her nose, and finely arched brows. She stood at the sound of the door sliding open. Fear and anticipation made her mouth go dry. Stiller stood in the opening. Her eyes went to the stranger standing next to him. Warm brown eyes studied her intently. “Commander Walker wishes to ascertain your health.” Stiller’s manner was stiff, the words mechanical. The man scrutinized her as if she were a curiosity presented for display. Her skin grew hot. “Are you all right?” His question was brusque, quite as though he had better things to do. As for being all right, she could put it into one word – no – but she was incapable of speaking. “Can’t you see she is overwrought?” Stiller said. “She could easily have a relapse. She can’t even tell you her name.” “Overwrought?” The word barely squeezed past the wad of emotion lodged in her throat. “Do not become agitated.” Stiller’s soothing tone was no comfort against the squeezed fist gripping her insides. “We will leave you to your rest.” The very idea of being left, perhaps to never see another human, made her knees weak. She whimpered, a sound that unnerved her and made her angry and panicky. “You are ill; what I am doing is for your protection. You are safe here. Trust me.” She shook her head wanting to say something, anything but fear held her mute. “She is unprepared for questioning, Commander. Don’t you agree? She can’t even give basic responses. I won’t have her further disturbed; I can’t predict the consequences.” She saw a flash of something unsettling in the way the man looked at Stiller. She sensed conflicting forces at work, but had no chance to turn it to her advantage. The door closed cutting off opportunity. 12
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“I do know my name!” she shouted at the blank wall. Anxiety surged as she frantically searched for her elusive identity. Suddenly, it was there inside her head. “Hana Evans, do you hear me!” Pain exploded. “Hana Evans!” She went to her knees and screamed. ΔΔΔ Stiller hurried Walker away from the room. If Hana Evans was behaving true to form she was creating quite a lot of noise that he did not want Walker to overhear, although that was unlikely. IDS was heavily soundproofed. “Controller Anadra is insistent that the woman be released to her custody and protection,” Stone said. “You can’t be serious. You saw for yourself; she needs IDS protection.” “If you have a problem, take it up with Controller Anadra. I’ll be back to take custody of her . . .” “She is waking from a very long sleep. She is confused and seems to have no memory.” “Then learning a new identity shouldn’t be a problem since she doesn’t have one of her own.” Stiller grabbed Stone’s arm. “Don’t be a fool! Discourage Eirene from this course of action. She trusts you more than any of her advisors, including that twit Cecile Greve.” Stone looked from Stiller’s clutching fingers and back into his eyes. He didn’t speak until Stiller released him and stepped back, his normally controlled features drawn tight and the flesh on his eggshell white neck a bright crimson. “I have my orders.” “It is better if I keep her here. She is… unpredictable.” Claude was feeling desperate, not a position he liked to be in, but he couldn’t allow Evans to leave IDS. “You have seen her in a passive state. She is not always so docile.” He hesitated as though weighing what he was about to say. “The woman has come out of her unconscious state before. Her previous awake times have been brief intervals during which she was, by turns, raging and despondent. She is mentally disturbed. Whoever let her presence be known made a grave error. She needs isolation. Treatment.” 13
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Stone half listened to Stiller’s threats against the unnamed informer and to further reasons why Hana Evans could not be released from his care, and concentrated on his surroundings. The absence of sound was unnerving, considering the amount of activity going on. Two humanoid DACS sat behind consoles. Stiller had designed them to look like him, changing only the hair color, no doubt, to assure there would be no question about who was who. Behind the DACS was a wall of darkened glass. Several non-humanoid DACS carried out mysterious tasks, blocky bodies positioned here and there in front of monitors and keypads. Behind the glass were separate cubicles, each containing a behavioral study in progress, everything from sleep deprivation to mind control. Only his position on the Council, and more importantly his relationship to the Controller, made it possible for Stiller to do as he wished. His subjects were usually animals but sometimes he used Friends down on their luck and in need of the markers he paid to willing guinea pigs. Stone didn’t think the woman fit into that category but he couldn’t be sure. In another time, IDS would have been called by its true name – a research laboratory. Since the Plague War such facilities had been banned and were only allowed under order of habitat councils. Even so, they were not called laboratories, they were called Inquiry and Development Sectors. Stone had attended several of the monitoring sessions, in this sector and others. Stiller’s IDS always passed scrutiny, which begged the question, why bother with inspections? Although Stiller wasn’t interfering with nature and creating another Davnol, he was meddling with human minds. Had the woman been a research project? If so when did it start, recently or a year ago, right after she was found, or before? Had she been subjected to one of Stiller’s tests and managed to escape only to be brought back by Stone himself? An unsettling thought. “It would be foolhardy and detrimental to the young woman if she is taken from my supervision,” Stiller said, pulling Stone’s thoughts back to the matter at hand. “She is unstable. I am depending on you to tell Eirene that she must remain here. Need I remind you that you are as much at risk as I for not reporting her from the beginning.” Lasker, who lurked by door looking like a hungry stray, opened it at their approach and watched as Stone stepped through. 14
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“I kept silent at your request,” Stone said. He had the satisfaction of seeing Stiller’s neck flush crimson. “But most relevant to this discussion, the decision is not up to me or you.” “But your report will have influence and given the circumstances you know she will be safer here than in the Habitat.” “No one is safe in these times.” Stiller’s smile was cold. “And this from one of our hired protectors.” The smiled disappeared. “What do you plan to tell Eirene?” “I will convey your concerns.” Stone gave a curt nod and strode away giving Stiller no time to comment. Stiller’s insistence on keeping the woman in IDS strengthened Stone’s resolve to get her out. ΔΔΔ Hana turned this way and that to get a better look at her image, but the mirror was too small. In a restless surge of energy, she prowled the room mentally talking down growing anxiety. She went over the encounter with Stiller and the stranger. Should the man show up again she wanted to assure him she was anything but unstable. Acting as though she were bouncing off the walls wouldn’t help. Hana bowed her head, weighted down by the uncertainties surrounding her and the frightening blank page that was her past. It took every ounce of will to return to the mirror and the task of making herself presentable. She picked up the hairbrush, its ornate silver handle heavy and difficult to manage. Fortunately, her hair was all one length and seemed unwilling to do anything more than hang there. She parted it on the left and brushed it to the right, then hooked it behind her ears. Her eyes and dark eyebrows were stark against the whiteness of her face. Thinking her mouth too wide and eyes too big, she pinched her cheeks for color, made a face and placed the mirror on the table just as the door opened. Stiller entered. For the briefest moment, she thought she knew him, not from when she saw him earlier, but from another time. A niggling pain in her head took the thought away. “You look lovely,” he said with a faint smile. A twinge of apprehension touched the small of her back and spread. She blushed under his scrutiny and 15
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walked out of the cubicle and into the larger space. Activity went on without pause. Strange devices rolled around on treads and two men who looked like Stiller sat at workstations. She touched a tabletop and ran her fingertips across the fabric of a chair. “What is this place?” Stiller smiled, but gave no response. She resumed her deliberate exploration of the room. Nothing she saw looked familiar. An uncanny disquiet kept her wondering just when everything – Stiller, the room, her clothes – would disappear and she would go back to the nothingness she had come from. “How long have I been here?” Stiller took her hands in his. She pulled away quickly and placed her hands behind her. Stiller’s face was impassive, but she sensed his anger. “Recovery of your emotional and mental health is still unknown. You must see the need to remain in my care until an evaluation can be made.” Hana crossed her arms and kneaded them with her fingers, a tactile, silent reminder that she wasn’t dreaming. “I want to know how I got here. Is there something wrong with me? Am I sick?” “This may not be the best time to talk. I sense you are becoming over stimulated.” “Over stimulated? I’m terrified! Other than knowing my name is Hana Evans, I don’t know anything.” She hugged her arms tighter to her chest. “How did I get here? Where did I come from? Why am I locked up?” Stiller hid his alarm. Her name, an important memory, had gotten past the DACS suppressor. “You are not locked up. You are here for your own protection.” “How . . .” her voice cracked. She swallowed to clear her throat. “How long have I been here?” She held her breath, fearful of knowing and terrified of not knowing. “A little over twelve months.” “But I only woke up yesterday!” A surge of fragmented memories erupted. “No, not yesterday, the day before. That is, I think . . .” 16
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“Not all your time was spent in that room.” “What do you mean?” “I don’t believe it is in your best interest to discuss this now.” Her nervous hands had picked up a large piece of faceted glass from the desk. Without thinking she whirled and flung it at his head. “TELL ME WHY I’M HERE!” The glass thudded against the wall and fell without breaking. It hadn’t come anywhere close, but Stiller ducked anyway. Shocked by an act of fury that seemed foreign to her, she stuttered out an apology. “I don’t know why I did that. It’s just… I have to know.” Stiller expelled a sigh of resignation. “Very well. You are in the Inquiry and Development Sector of Habitat 3.” She nodded, although the words had no meaning for her. “You came from topside. You had no identification on your person. There is no evidence you had ever been in this region until you were found.” With every word, her brain throbbed. It was if millions of memory moths were trying to get past a solid wall of icy darkness and into her conscious mind. Suddenly, there, inside her head, a flash of memory–a man and woman. Pain struck with mind-shattering force. She swayed and felt herself sliding into a pit. “Hana?” She was dazed with pain and could scarcely move. She shrugged off Stiller’s attempt to embrace her and widened the distance between them. “My dear, your illness has been distressing for all of us who have cared for you. You have been awake before, but this is the first time you were aware of what was going on around you.” She stared at her hands. Moments passed in silence before she looked up. Her eyes tracked activity in the room, sliding past the devices rolling from one spot to another and the Stiller look-alikes. They’re not human, they’re DACS. Pain accompanied this startling thought, but she didn’t allow it to stop her next words. “I don’t believe you.” Stiller’s eyes flickered. “I don’t believe you.” A powerful sense of her misty, yet-to-be-remembered 17
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past flooded into her head. The details were out of reach, but she knew Stiller was lying. “You are in grave danger. I am protecting you. You don’t want to hear this, but you are psychologically unbalanced.” Hana swallowed a sob. “Why do you keep saying that?” Stiller stroked her cheek with cool fingers. “Control yourself, trust me. I can help you.” “Director Stiller…” The raspy voice sounded a warning. The imperious more forceful “Claude!” snapped across the room like a whiplash. Stiller flinched. Three people stood just inside the doorway. A tall woman with the bearing of one accustomed to command, a twitchy man in a shabby uniform and the third in a similar uniform but with military bearing and knife-sharp creases in his field jacket and pants. The latter was built like a well-rooted tree, his square, pugnacious face highlighted by piercing intelligent eyes. The woman’s silverblonde hair was bound with an intricate weaving of ribbons and pearls. Her high-collared gown hid a long, aristocratic neck. Planes and angles of bone and skin were welded into a strong face: sharp nose, high cheekbones, large square eyes the color of flint with slashes of blonde eyebrows riding high on her smooth forehead. Behind them, the scrawny figure in the ill-fitting uniform vibrated like he was attached to a lightening charge. A flood of separate, unpleasant memories exploded into Hana’s mind. “Lasker! You imbecile! Brain dead idiot! You have power over her! YOU have control.” “You sed watch the scanner. When she took the sensor shift off, the thang dint know what wuz goin on.” “Watch her! That means visual as well as sensory scans. Do not let this happen again!” The memory blanked. The pain that had begun to sizzle at its inception burned like fire. What remained of the memory was the sound of Stiller’s voice. She lunged at him with no specific intent. A strong arm looped around her waist and hauled her back then released her. “I told you, she can be violent!” Stiller shrank back from the young woman’s 18
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fury. Hana quickly distanced herself from Stiller, shaking her head in denial. She bumped into the solid block of man standing next to the regal woman. His grim countenance didn’t invite comment or apology. She sidled away and stood with her back against the wall. “As I tried to explain to Walker when he was here, she should be kept in isolation until I can control her.” Hana shook her head defiantly. She wouldn’t be controlled! She wouldn’t! “You don’t know how I have tried to help her but she is beyond help. She resists every attempt at treatment.” Stiller sounded so certain, Hana was sure the woman would believe him. He smiled at Hana with what could be interpreted as genuine concern, but she knew it was false, like everything about him. He wasn’t even a real scientist not like Jason. Shards of pain pierced her temple and she cried out. “Look! Look at her, Eirene. She is struggling with psychological uncertainty, terror. Behavior modification didn’t work, she is not malleable.” “Malleable is a word better suited to inanimate objects, hardly a worthy description of this young woman. When exactly did you plan to tell me you had an illegal in custody? For that matter, when did you conduct all these treatments?” From beyond the pain Hana saw Stiller’s lips thin. The skin around his nostrils turned dead white. She shriveled inside. This could be bad. When he got like that… Her cry of anguish brought everyone’s gaze to her. She slid down the wall and huddled there, arms wrapped around her head in a poor attempt to protect herself from pain. “See to her, Sergeant Fuller,” the woman ordered. The big man hadn’t needed to be told. He crouched in front of Hana touched her hand gingerly. “I wanted to show positive, long-term results.” Stiller said. He dared not allow his panic to reveal itself. “Getting her memory back will require my assistance. You can see there is obviously something wrong with her. I was disappointed, of course when our environmental exchange experiment didn’t stimulate memory.” “Claude. Enough.” 19
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“Surely you agree that she must remain here, under my care.” With Fuller’s help Hana had gotten to her feet. Her future was being determined and she had no say in the matter. “She is out of your hands,” the woman said. “Surely you don’t plan to take her into the Habitat? Putting her into the current political climate could be disastrous. Are you going to announce to one and all she is an illegal? That would not put you in a good light with the council or with your handlers for the senate seat.” “You are hardly one to talk. I suspect you have been conducting unauthorized testing. I should report you to Council and be done with it. I trust if I elect to do so, you will have satisfactory answers to all their questions, as well as any inquiries about the delay in reporting this young woman’s entrance into Habitat 3. My sources tell me she has been here for some time. I have done everything I can to protect you, Claude, but this time you have gone too far!” “Then leave her here. It will be protection for you and me.” The woman turned to Hana without further acknowledging Stiller. “Come,” she said, and walked through the open door. Hana needed no encouragement. Fuller fell in behind her, but just as she neared the pathway to freedom, recent events and nearly unbearable pain stopped her. There was too much happening too fast and too soon. I’m safe here. I don’t know what is out there. She shivered and turned. Stiller was watching her, his expression unreadable. “Come on,” her escort said in a gruff command softened by the gentleness of his touch. “The Controller has much to do and will only be able to spare a brief time for you.” “You will return to me,” Claude Stiller said. She knew in that instant that she wasn’t safe here. Would she be safe anywhere? __________________________ Thanks for subscribing. If you enjoy this series and would like to share the fun, send this link to your friends. https://wp.me/p1IcOU-2re. Thanks! 20
FUTURE IMPERFECT
Sharon Vander Meer is an author and professional writer. Her work is available through online retailers. Vander Meer Books is an eclectic foray into what the author finds interesting, quirky and fun. She has written five novels, one book of inspirational readings, and two chap books of poetry.
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