Defying the Prophet: A Military Space Opera (The Sentience Trilogy Book 2) (38 page)

Noreen yelled, “Hal, this is Noreen Lucado… Nice to meet you, but don’t you dare tell Diet what my salary level is!”

Nice to meet you too, Ms. Lucado.

“Call me Noreen, please.”

All right, Noreen. As much as I’d really like to oblige you, I’ll have to tell him if he insists… Diet’s my boss.

Noreen glanced over at Diet as she drove. “Diet told me that you two were roommates. You live with your boss, Hal?”

It can be awkward sometimes.

“Well, I’d really like for you to join Diet and me for dinner, so I can thank you properly for that little
kick in the pants
that you gave him, that motivated him to pay me a visit last night.”

You’re welcome, Noreen. I’m sure the experience was good for Diet too.

“So, you’ll join us this evening.”

I’d really love to Noreen, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask for a rain check. y boss is a slave driver and he’s got me shackled to overseeing the next phase of this project.

Noreen glanced at Diet and asked, “You won’t give Hal enough time off to allow him to have dinner with us?”

Diet grinned at her and said, “Someone has to keep his finger on the pulse of this project at all times, so we can’t both be away at the same time. That’s one of the perks of being boss… I get to say which one of us gets to have dinner with you — and I’m voting for me!”

I’m afraid I’m going to have to borrow Diet back from you for a couple of hours or so, after the stasis chamber is secured in the cargo bay of the spaceliner, Noreen.

“Not a problem, Hal. I can hang loose for a while,” answered Noreen. “We had a late lunch, so I’m nowhere near hungry again yet.”

I have those figures you asked for, Diet.

“Hal, don’t you dare!” yelled Noreen.

I won’t tell him, Noreen. Suffice it to say that Diet’s income is considerably higher than yours…

Noreen was startled by
that
revelation.

…by more than a factor of four.

Now she was stunned. She turned to Diet and said, “The baron pays you more than four times what I make?”

Diet shrugged. “I’m
very
good at what I do.”

Noreen snorted. “Yes you certainly are… you proved
that
last night.”

Diet reddened yet again and Noreen snickered in delight.

I told Diet that he needed to get laid. I appreciate your taking pity on him, Noreen.

That made both of them blush fiercely and, after an awkward moment, they both burst out laughing.

* * * *

As security oversaw the loading and securing of the stasis chamber into the cargo bay of the big spaceliner, Diet escorted Noreen through the luxurious “common areas” of the big plane, and up the stairway into the “hump” just behind the cockpit where the flight crew normally resided. Noreen had been stunned when she first saw the giant spaceliner. t was a jumbo, and she hadn’t known that any company used them to ferry executives around. Most bought 20 passenger
GulfMaster
executive spaceliners and just a few bought larger 100-passenger spaceliners and modified them, but this… this was simply unbelievable. This monster was the largest spaceliner humanity made… over 850 passengers could be fit into its single class configuration, with an average price tag of over $3.7 billion — and that was before it had been customized into a space-going palace.

As they reached the top of the stairway, Diet palmed a customized palm-lock pad that opened the door to the executive suite with an audible electronic click. Diet bowed and with a flourish of his hand, indicated that Noreen should proceed him. “Welcome to my humble abode, Noreen.”

Inside was luxury on a level that Noreen had never seen on holovision, or even in electronic magazines that specialized in making the general public dissatisfied with their lot, by their in-depth coverage of the toys enjoyed only by the richest of the rich. As her head swiveled side-to-side, she was
awed
… no other word for it. Pure, unadulterated awe.

“Diet,” she said, “This is the baron’s
personal
spaceliner, isn’t it?”

“One of them.”

“
One
of them?” she asked incredulously.

“Yeah… TBG owns several others.”

“But surely not like this one.”

“Well, not exactly,” said Diet. “There are three others this size, all having different interiors and furnishings, of course, but all comparable. I kind of like this one the best of the big ones, as it’s less ostentatious than the others.”

“
Less
ostentatious? You’re kidding?”

“Nope, the others are downright gaudy.”

Noreen’s head was spinning. 
Just who the hell is Diet, that the richest man in all humanity would delegate a spacecraft as magnificent as this one, just for him to run errands in… and also pay him more than four CEO’s?

“Wow! Damn nice digs… just how the hell did you manage to land this gig, anyway?”

“The baron and I are, uh… close. We grew up together.”

“You travel around in
this
all the time?”

“Not
all
the time,” Diet replied. “This was the only one available that had a cargo bay the stasis chamber would fit into comfortably. I usually use one of the smaller corporate liners, as I’m not really into all this opulence. My tastes are much simpler.”

“Glad to hear it,” said Noreen. “If they weren’t, you sure as hell wouldn’t have been interested in a mousy little thing like me.”

“Mousy!  You…
mousy
?” Diet exclaimed incredulously. “My God, Noreen… You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met!” He walked up and took her in his arms and kissed her tenderly.

Ahem…  I really hate to break up this touching moment, but I need Diet down in the cargo bay, ASAP.

Noreen was startled by Hal’s unexpected interruption. “I didn’t know we had an audience.”

“Damned voyeur,” said Diet.

I resent that.

“Hal has a direct channel feeding into the executive suite, so he can contact me without using the communicator, whenever I’m here.”

Get your scrawny ass downstairs, boss. We have work to do.

“Will you be all right up here for a couple of hours, honey?”

“Oh let’s see… lounging around in palatial luxury?” said Noreen with mock sarcasm. “I think I can handle that. Go on, I’ll be all right.”

  “Feel free to raid the fridge or make yourself a drink at the bar or just explore the place. The bedroom is back that way. I’m afraid I didn’t make it up when I left the last time.”

“What, no maid service in this dump?” Noreen laughed. “I think you should complain to the management.”

Diet grinned at her. “If you need anything, just yell. Hal will be monitoring.”

Sometime today would be nice.

“Coming, Mother!”

Noreen laughed at the verbal sparring between Diet and his roommate
.

I’m glad Diet has a friend like Hal. I wish I did.

* * * *

After Diet left to go down to the cargo bay, Noreen wandered through some of the most magnificent rooms she’d ever seen. The first real sign of occupancy she’d seen was when she came to the bedroom, where the bed was unmade and clothes were strewn in several directions. As she began picking up his clothes, she spotted another set of his ragged jeans laying on the floor. 

What, he actually has
two
of those ratty outfits?
 
Diet’s a bachelor, for sure… gonna be fun housebreaking this stallion.
 

Diet had six of those Italian suits he so abhorred hanging in his closet, along with yet a third raggedy pair of jeans she found hanging in there beside them. She stuffed Diet’s dirty clothes into a hamper she’d found inside an enclosure in the master bathroom… a bathroom which looked as though it should have belonged to the King of England. 

No, not an English King… a German Baron.

* * * *

It is as absurd to say that a man can’t love one woman all the time, as it is to say that a violinist needs several violins to play the same piece of music. 
— Honore de Balzac

Diet ordered security outside the cargo bay, and followed Hal’s instructions implicitly, as he opened the stasis chamber and was startled to see himself lying inside. The entire chamber had been sealed into an airtight oxygen environment and Diet waited as Hal monitored the body’s vital signs for indications of oxy levels stabilizing at or above nominal levels, in case something went wrong and he had to reseal the unit and restore the oxygen feed. When Hal said it was all right to do so, Diet then removed the catheters that had drawn off body wastes into self-contained tanks beneath the actual body chamber. He then used a sterilized wipe to clean the body, where small smears of waste had escaped when the catheters had been removed. 

“Ugh! Nasty.”

Oh, quit being a sissy, Diet. How do you ever expect to change diapers after you and Noreen have children, if you’re squeamish about wiping your own ass?

“I’ve never wiped my own ass from quite this angle before, and certainly not when it was neither behind me, nor attached. Besides, aren’t you getting a bit ahead of yourself, assuming that Noreen would ever be interested in marrying me, or be willing to bear my children?”

Oh, I don’t think so. I know more about how you two really feel about each other than either of you do, yourselves.

“Really? So what’s in your crystal ball then, oh great swami?”

Grease my palm and the mysteries of the universe will be yours.

“You want money? Where would I put it? You don’t even have underwear yet, much less pockets.”

No, really… grease my palms… and everywhere else, literally. There’s a special cream in the storage locker at the foot of the stasis chamber that needs to be rubbed into the skin to protect it and keep it from drying out.

“Everywhere?  I mean, even the genitals?”

Yes, Diet, everywhere.

“Ugh…  that’s way too much like touching another man’s… well, you know.”

Would you prefer that I ask Noreen to come down here, and do it for you?

“No! That’s okay… I’ll do it. It’ll feel weird, but I’ll do it.’

Good… just try not to enjoy the experience too much.

“Shut up, Hal!”

Gotcha!

* * * *

Noreen made the bed up and then lay down on it, marveling at how closely it reminded her of lying on a cloud.

I could get used to this.
Diet might not be the baron, but he might be the next best thing.
No, Diet’s better. He’s a real person, down to earth and best of all, he’s interested in me.

Noreen got up before that marvelous bed ate her, and headed to investigate the bar. She poured herself a glass of blush wine and investigated the restaurant-quality, gourmet kitchen. 

Diet’s right… this is just too much. I wonder what the smaller ones he usually takes are like inside? If the baron owns them, chances are they’re pretty nice as well. No wood stoves or outhouses and very likely to have indoor plumbing.

For the first time, Noreen started seriously considering quitting her job and going with Diet when he left.

I finally get to where I aspired to be and then give it all up for a man? But Diet’s not just any man, Noreen. If I gave up my career and went with him, how long would he want me around? Diet could have had his pick of women, most a lot younger and prettier than me. Why hasn’t he? I love my job, but I have to admit, it’s been pretty lonely over the years. Was Diet lonely too? Can I make Diet love me? Can I love Diet enough to make him happy? 

Noreen hadn’t felt this unsettled in years.
Just go with the flow and play it by ear, Noreen. No one says you have to make up your mind tonight. Concentrate on following Daddy’s deathbed advice: “Follow your heart, Noreen… Follow your heart.”

* * * *

Diet pushed the plunger on the injector which administered the stimulant, designed to offset the sedative that kept the body unconscious. Diet would have felt a lot better about this if there’d been qualified medical personnel there doing it, but Hal had been adamant. No one else could be allowed to see a human body come out of that stasis chamber, or the ABI would be all over them like stink on shit.

Turning the body, to wipe the preservative and moisturizing cream everywhere, had been a bitch. Dead weight always does feel so much heavier than any other kind. Then, he’d dressed it in briefs and a hospital gown that Hal had ordered in. The really hard part had been lifting the body free of the stasis chamber, and laying it carefully onto the ambulance gurney. 

God, am I really that heavy?

Hal had said it would take over half an hour for the stimulant to work, and then another 20 minutes or so before the body began to gain consciousness, so he had plenty of time. Diet ordered security around the outside of the spaceplane to assume positions outside of the hangar and then went outside to back the ambulance up the ramp himself. With the ambulance positioned, Diet covered the body with sheets and tucked them tightly around the body. 

Getting the body-laden gurney into the ambulance all by himself had been almost as difficult as lifting the body out of the stasis chamber had been. After getting the gurney locked down into position, Diet changed clothes into an ambulance driver’s uniform, and put the small suitcase into the passenger’s side of the driver’s compartment. Then he crawled into the back, to await the body gaining consciousness for the very first time. 

The whole experience felt surreal. It was really spooky seeing himself lying senseless in the chamber, and then on that gurney. The stasis chamber had looked all too much like seeing himself lying in a coffin. Seeing it lying on the gurney was a bit less discomforting, but it still looked like he was looking at himself in a coma. Soon, the body would awaken and it would be like seeing himself helpless… unable to speak or control his movements. Diet felt a chill at the thought. He still found it difficult to think of that body as “Hal” yet either. Perhaps it would be easier after it/he learned to talk.

* * * *

“Hal?”

Yes, Noreen?

“I don’t want to interrupt what you and Diet are doing down there, but do you have a minute to talk?”

No problem. Diet is shouldering most of the load at the moment, so I can talk to you for a while before my next major contribution. What would you like to ask me about Diet?

Noreen snorted. “Am I that transparent?”

No, but since we’ve just met, it’s highly probable that he’d be the topic of conversation that you’d want to pursue.

“I can tell, from hearing the banter between you, that you and Diet are friends, right?”

I certainly like to think so.

“So, have you and Diet have been friends for a long time?”

Many years.

“What can you tell me about him? I mean, what kind of man is he?”

As we’re friends, you might want to take anything I say with a grain of salt, but from my perspective, Diet is the most thoroughly decent human being I’ve ever met. He’s a walking contradiction — a dichotomy of all the best attributes that humanity has to offer. He’s kind and gentle and sensitive, yet a champion of the downtrodden… thoroughly dedicated to righting wrongs to the best of his ability. He’s bold as a lion, and yet, sweet as a child. The only area in life where he was completely out of his element was around women. With women, he was hopeless — a complete klutz.

I think it might have been his mother’s influence that made him fearful of women.  I’m told she was almost impossible to please, and rather emotionally cold. That’s why I’m so incredibly delighted to see the two of you together. He’s needed someone like you in his life for a long time.

“He’s someone a girl can believe in, then?”

Diet doesn’t have a deceptive bone in his body. If anything, he tends to wear his heart on his sleeve… more than might be good for him.

“So, I can believe everything he tells me?”

Implicitly.   

“Can I believe everything that you’re telling me?”

You wound me, my lady. Friend or no friend, boss or no boss, I would never willingly become complicit in any deception, that impugned a lady’s honor or cause the breaking of her heart.  

“Something that your mother taught you, Hal?”

No, Ma’am. Diet taught me that.

* * * *

A few minutes prior to the timeline Hal had forecast, Diet detected the first signs of movement. Slowly, additional movements became apparent… fingers and toes. Then a leg twitched and later, an arm moved. Finally, facial muscles began flexing and then at long last, Diet saw the eyes open. 

“Welcome to the physical universe, Hal.”

Diet thought he saw a flash of recognition in the eyes. Diet held up a finger. “If you can see my finger, try following it with your eyes, if you can.” 

Diet slowly moved his finger back and forth in front of his own two faces. It wasn’t perfect, but the eyes moved in the general directions of the movement of his finger. That told Diet that not only could the body see, but Hal had heard and understood his instructions.

“Rest, buddy. I’m going to get into the front and drive you to the rehab center now. Have no fear, I won’t desert you. I’ll be back when we get there.” The eyes closed and then opened again, in apparent agreement to show that he understood.

Diet climbed out the rear and shut the ambulance’s rear doors. He dived into the driver’s seat and slowly eased the ambulance down the ramp. When he reached the edge of the hangar doors, he saw that his security team was facing outwards with their backs to the hangar doors, as instructed. Diet left the ambulance’s lights off and slowly drove around to the rear of the hangar, and then headed slowly towards another hangar, a half mile away in the darkness. Another TBG corporate spaceliner had arrived an hour earlier and had been towed to that hangar site. Papers had been filed that this was a medical arrival, bringing in a brain-damaged patient en route to the famous Thurgood Rehabilitation Hospital, the finest in this part of the Alliance. An ambulance seen departing from that hangar would be associated with that arrival and corresponding paperwork would correlate that assumption, distancing the ambulance and its passenger even further from the other TBG jumbo, snug in its hangar a half mile away.

Though it seemed to take forever, Diet finally arrived at the front of the open hangar doors of the second TBG spaceplane and orienting the ambulance as though it had just emerged from the hangar’s interior, and he switched on the lights. He then headed towards a designated exit gate, on the far north side of the spaceport. Hal had prearranged for a couple of police vehicles to meet the ambulance at the gate and then escort it to the Thurgood Rehabilitation Hospital. With emergency lights now flashing on both police vehicles and on the ambulance sandwiched between them, they made good time, and arrived at the hospital within 20 minutes. 

Diet pulled up and stopped at the Emergency Room entrance, and then grabbed a clipboard from beneath the small suitcase he’d laid over it on the passenger-side seat. He then gave the clipboard to the security guard stationed there.

“This is that special delivery your ER was notified to expect tonight,” Diet told the officer. “Just arrived from Namshir on a corporate med-flight. Big shot or rich guy, I don’t know. Same difference to me.”

The officer rifled through the paperwork on the clipboard that Diet had handed him.  “Paperwork looks good,” said the officer. He then spoke quickly into his antiquated shoulder mounted microphone, to notify the med techs inside to come retrieve the patient.

“I’m gonna need a signature on that third copy, to prove I dropped him here,” Diet told the officer. “No signature, and neither my company or I get paid for this run.”

“Yeah, I hear ya,” said the officer. He turned to the third page, signed it at the bottom and then handed it back to Diet.

“Thanks.”

“No problem… as soon as they get that guy unloaded, you’ll need to move that thing, so hang close.”

Diet nodded and waited. Soon a team of med-techs, nurses and a couple of interns came out. Diet opened the rear doors to the ambulance, and hopped inside to unlatch the lockdowns on the gurney. That done, Diet spoke to the guy lying on the gurney. 

“We’re at the hospital, so don’t worry, buddy. These nice folks will take good care of ya. I’m told your family will be here real soon. Take care, okay?”

The man on the gurney blinked his eyes in response. The hospital staff pulled the gurney out of the ambulance… the gurney’s wheeled legs automatically extending to the ground and latching in place, when they cleared the ambulance deck. When the gurney was clear, Diet closed the ambulance doors and walked back around toward the driver’s side door. As he passed, he heard one of the interns giving instructions:

“Okay, we have us a VIP here, so put him into Bay-1 and keep someone with him at all times. Paperwork says possible brain damage, so lets get an IV hooked up and get some fluids in him. He’s conscious and his pupils are responsive, so we’ll feed him through the IV, instead of a feeding tube.”