PROTOTYPE 05
By "Heck"



Comments to heck@petermeyer.go-plus.net

CHAPTER FIVE

"So, she's awake?"

The chubby features of Charles Bouvier greeted us as we stepped out into the
lab. Mike and I nodded in unison, confirming that she was.

"She's actually asleep, at the moment", Mike corrected. "But it's normal
sleep. She's out of the coma, and there doesn't seem to be any impairment of
function".

"This is excellent news", Bouvier smiled. "We must speak to her without
delay".

"Aye, you could". I held up an interrupting hand. "But what's your hurry. It's
your project, of course, but Lucy's only just come out of a coma that, as far
as we know, might have lasted sixty-four years. At the very least, she's
disorientated and must have a tonne of questions that she has the right to
have answered. I just think you could hold off a while until she feels back to
normal".

"Normal?" Bouvier lost his smile and became dead serious. "Dr Cameron, if your
theories and findings are correct, normal is something she will never be.
However." He gave a deep sigh. "Professor, do you concur with your colleague?"

"I do", Mike said without hesitation. "It could really screw her up, to put
her under too much pressure right away. She needs time to adjust. I'd say at
least a week".

Bouvier's frustration was apparent as he stared at us with pursed lips. He
turned to look with a raised eyebrow at Santana and Jackson. I never saw a
flicker on either of their faces, but something must have passed between them.

"Very well", he said at last. He walked to the table and picked up his attaché
case. "One week. But that is all, gentlemen. In seven days, I expect Miss
Radovic to be ready to receive visitors".

He didn't even say goodbye. He turned on his heel and strode from the room
before we had a chance to agree or not, the other two right behind him. We
followed them to the elevator, and were left just staring at the doors as they
slid closed.

"Well", Mike said finally. "I don't think Uncle Charles is exactly in charge
of this project, know'm'sayin'?"

"Aye. He had to look for permission before he gave us our week. That says a
lot".

"It says a mouthful", Mike agreed. "Who do you think gave him the nod?"

"Dunno. Santana, maybe. Or Jackson".

"I don't think it was Jackson. Just a feeling. I think it was Santana".

"Me too. I have a bad feeling about this".

There was a little 'ping' as the facility's intercom system came to life.

"Sean? Mike?" There was urgency in Rob's voice. "Get your asses back here,
dudes!"

*

We were amazed.

Just a few minutes ago Lucy had gone out like a light and, to judge from her
fatigue, should have been asleep for hours.

Mike and I burst into the lab to find Rob grinning and nodding like Bill and
Ted on bad acid. In response to our query, he just pointed toward the dome.

Lucy was pacing up and down like a caged tiger, all signs of weariness gone.
The pulse/BP monitor had been stripped from her finger and the gurney
carelessly pushed to one side. Her beautiful face was distorted by a scowl of
fear and confusion, and she clutched the sheet to hide her nakedness.

"Look, I don't know who you are", she was saying to Rob. "Or why you're
keeping me here, but I have rights. I'm an American citizen, goddamnit! You
can't just lock me up!"

At a nod from Mike, I approached the dome and thumbed the intercom, pasting my
best non-threatening smile on my face.

"Hello, Lucy. Remember me?"

"No", Her eyebrows climbed up her forehead and she eyed me warily. "I mean,
yes. Maybe. I think. I seem to remember your face, but." She backed over to
the gurney and leaned on it. "Where are my clothes? Why am I locked in here?
Why am I a prisoner?" Her face fell, and for a moment, it seemed like she
might cry.

"I can get you some clothes, no bother". I glanced at Rob who, giving a
thumbs-up, left to get some of the clothing we had ready for her. "As to why
you're locked in, it's for your own safety. You're not a prisoner. You've.had
an experience, and we're not sure yet if you have immunity to contamination".
I didn't add that we weren't sure she wouldn't contaminate us.

"That's ridiculous! I feel fine. In fact, physically? I feel great. Never
better. What the hell is going on here?"

"Lucy, calm down. Do you remember talking to me? Sean?"

"Sean? No. I'm not sure. I think so, but you were in some kind of ... space suit?"

"An anti-contamination suit", I corrected her. "We were trying to protect
you".

A look of horror smoothed out her frown and opened her eyes wide.

"I remember!" Her hands flew to her mouth, which opened in a wide 'O'. She
stepped away from the gurney and up to the plexiglass, her face inches from
mine. "Ohmigod, I remember! The shuttle going up. An orange cloud. A black
shape!" Tears welled in her eyes as the memory reformed in her mind. "John!
Steve! All gone! And you". She pointed an accusing finger. "You were standing
over me when I woke up". She looked wildly at Mike. "You, too! You were
there". He expression turned quizzical. "Did you guys rescue me, or
something?"

"Not exactly. And not us, personally. We've just been looking after you since
you.came back".

"You're doctors? Is this a hospital? No, I remember you said it wasn't". Her
from returned. "You're not doctors either. Are you? Not medical doctors. Where
is this place? Why won't you let me out?"

Mike came to stand beside me, towering over us both.

"Lucy, we have a lot to tell you, and a lot of questions for you. There's
quite a bit happened since the accident, and we have to explore it together,
know'm'sayin'? But for now, we think it'd be best for you to stay inside the
dome".

"No!" The fear in her was tainted by anger, now. "Damnit, I'm a free woman!
Let me out! Let me out!"

On her last word, she pounded her fist against the plexiglass.

Each panel of that plexiglass was about thirty centimetres square and six
thick, secured to the aluminium frame with an epoxy sealant that bonds hard.
It was tough and, we thought, unbreakable.

Her single blow smashed the pane from the frame. It struck me flat-on in the
chest, and knocked me back several metres. Mike instinctively leapt away and
Lucy, our words about contamination fresh in her mind, instantly held her
breath and clamped a hand over her nose and mouth. She watched our reaction
with surprise.

We hadn't moved. We stared at her disbelievingly. We already knew she was
going to be strong, but hadn't been prepared for that kind of casual power.

Apparently deciding that it was too late to worry about contamination, Lucy
peeled her hand from her face and took a deep breath. When she didn't die she
relaxed a little, but still regarded us with caution.

"Shoddy workmanship". She indicated the missing panel. "And what's with you
guys? You almost seem to be afraid of me".

"Not afraid", I said, rubbing my sore chest as I moved closer. "Just taken by
surprise, is all".

"Well, there's no point it keeping me cooped up for my own protection any
more. And if the rest of this dome is built to the same standard, I can
probably tear it apart with my bare hands. So, why don't you let me out?"

The dome, I knew, was built to very high specifications, was extremely robust,
virtually impenetrable, and yes, judging by the display she had unwittingly
put on, she probably could tear it apart with her bare hands.

I looked at Mike. He looked at me, and simultaneously we both shrugged.

"Why not?" Mike said, and keyed the pad. The airlocks hissed open, and Lucy
Radovic stepped out, not without trepidation.

"Don't be afraid, we aren't going to hurt you", I told her, pointing to the
table. "Have a seat. Would you like a drink of water?"

She wandered over to the table and sat down nervously. The tubular steel chair
groaned under her weight, but she appeared not to notice.

"Yes, please. And can I have something to eat? I'm starved".

"Of course. Just a little, to begin with, and nothing too rich. You stomach
needs time to adjust".

I went to the cooler for some water. Mike sat down opposite her and I joined
him, handing her the plastic cup. She drained it at a single draught.

"MMmm! That's good. I don't remember water tasting so good".

"More?"

"In a while". She still seemed apprehensive but then, I wasn't surprised. I
would be, if I woke up in a plastic dome after sixty odd years.

The door opened, and Rob entered bearing an armful of clothes. A goofy grin
split his features when he saw Lucy among us.

"Lucy! Good to see you out, man!" Her held out a palm for her to slap, but she
just stared at it. Just as well; she might have broken his hand. Introductions
were in order.

"Lucy", I said. "This is Rob. He's been helping us take care of you. Rob,
Lucy".

"Hi", she said, waggling her fingers at him. "Nice to meet you. I hope".

"Right back atcha, Babe". The sight of Rob trying to be charming was so
ludicrous I had to hide my face. He turned a chair and straddled it, leaning
his chin on the back, trying to look cool.

"Rob, Lucy is feeling hungry", Mike said. "Would you get her something to eat?
Nothing spicy, and something nice and light, know'm'sayin'?"

"Food? Oh, sure, Dude. No problem. Anything you don't like?"

"Not really. I could go for a cheese sandwich on rye, if that's OK".

"Our kitchen facilities are a little limited", Mike explained. "I don't think
we have any rye bread. But the cheese, we can do".

"Oh, any kind of bread will do, thanks". She seemed to have calmed down a
little, more than I would have expected, and had apparently decided that we
weren't going to kill her right off. We lowered the blinds on the dome and she
stepped inside to get dressed in the jeans and sweatshirt we gave her. I never
saw jeans and sweatshirt look so good. Then she sat at the table with arms and
legs crossed, a closed posture that, if I am any judge of body language said
'OK. I'm playing along for the moment, but I don't trust you, yet'.

"There's a lot to talk about", Mike opened. "We have a lot of questions to ask
you, but I'm sure you have plenty for us, know'm'sayin'?" So, you go first.
Ask us anything you want, and we'll try to answer as honestly as we can".

"Okaaay". She pondered for a moment. "All right, first up, who are you guys?
And I don't mean just your names".

"This is Dr Sean Cameron", Mike replied. "He works for SETI, of which you
probably know. He's a biologist, of sorts, and he's here as a specialist in
his field". He didn't elaborate further. One step at a time. "I'm Professor
Michelangelo DeLuca. I'm a physician, and it's my job to make sure you're
well. Rob works for SETI as a technician".

"SETI", Lucy frowned. "Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence?" I nodded,
and she continued. "That leads to a totally fresh set of questions. Later.
Tell me what happened to Europa? I know she was destroyed, but how? Was it a
meteorite?"

"That's what we thought, at first, but." I shot a look at Mike and got a nod
in reply, indicating that I should go on.

I told Lucy everything we knew. How the shuttle was lost, and how it was
thought that all the crew had been killed. I explained our theory about the
alien ship and her rescue by it, and how she had been found floating in the
exact spot Europa had vanished from.

"Wait a minute", she interrupted. "What's the date, today?"

It was time to exchange glances again. By silent consent, I drew the short
straw.

"Today is October fourth, twenty sixty-eight", I said shortly, and left it to
sink in. It didn't take long. She stood up quickly, not noticing that her
movement hurled her chair clear across the room.

"What? You have got to be kidding me! That's sixty-four years! I would be
ninety-six years old! Look at me! Do I look ninety-six?"

"No, you don't", Mike said in his deep, placid voice. "You don't at all.
That's one of the thing's that've been puzzling us, know'm'sayin'? We have
theories about wormholes, hyperspace, FTL travel, and like that, but we don't
really know. It's one of the things we hoped you could help us with".

"Oh, this has to be a joke!" She began to pace the room, gesturing with her
arms. "Aliens? Wormholes? Sixty-four years? What the hell?"

"Listen, come with us to the common room. That'll be OK, won't it?" I directed
the last at Mike, who shrugged in a 'guess so' gesture. "We'll turn on the TV
and you'll see. Come on".

She looked hesitant, but finally agreed. We walked the corridor to the
comfortable lounge, picking up Rob with her sandwich on the way.

"Sit down", I said. "Make yourself comfortable".

She sat, but as for making herself comfortable, well, if perching on the very
edge of the couch was comfortable, she did. Rob placed her sandwich on the low
table before her, and I spoke to the plasma screen inset into one wall.

"It turns on just because you tell it to?"

"Yes, it does. TV, find CNN. Run today's news". A suave anchorman appeared on
the screen.

"This is CNN, and I'm Dave Bartlett bringing you world-wide news for today,
October fourth, two thousand sixty-eight. At the Whitehouse today, President
Jennifer Lydon welcomed Herr Karl Schmidt, president of the United States of
Europe. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss free trade between the USA,
USE, and the Mid-East alliance, comprising Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and
others. More after these messages".

"TV off". I turned to watch Lucy's reaction. She was stunned, and sat with her
hands folded in her lap and her mouth hanging open. "Convinced?"

She didn't reply right away, and when she did it was in a tiny, trembling
voice. Tears glistened on her cheek.

"Twenty sixty-eight? All my family, all my friends. Are they all gone, then?"

"Lucy, we did some research. Your cousin Emily is still alive, and so are her
children. Emily is ninety-three and lives in a retirement home. Both Lewis and
Catherine are married, and have grown up children and grandchildren of their
own". I left it at that, letting her draw her own conclusions.

"Mom? Dad?" The tears overflowed and coursed down her flawless cheeks. I laid
my hand over hers, lending silent support. "Oh, no. And they died thinking I
had been killed in an accident?"

"I think we better take a break", Mike put in. "We'll leave you alone for a
few minutes, Lucy. Come on, guys".

*

We gave her half an hour. When we went back, it was obvious that she had been
crying, hard. Her face was streaked and her eyes were rimmed with red. The
sandwich still lay untouched.

"How do you feel?" Mike asked.

"How do you think?" There was a slight catch in her voice but it was otherwise
steady. "I just found out my folks're dead, and my whole world doesn't exist
any more. I feel like shit".

"Much of it is still here", I volunteered, sitting down opposite her. "You'll
be surprised how much of it you'll recognise".

"But it won't be my world", she insisted. "Not the way it was". She brushed
her hair away from her face with both hands, sniffed, and took a deep breath.
"OK. What else have you got to tell me? What other bombshells have you got to
drop? Might as well get them all out of the way at once, huh?"

"Well, there's the question of how you survived all these years". I explained
our findings as far as her improvements were concerned, and our theories
regarding the science behind them.

"Oh, this just gets better and better!" She leaned back and covered her face
with her hands, muffling her voice a little. "Not only am I the only remaining
crew member of Europa, not only have I lost the last sixty-four years, not
only are my parents dead, but now you tell me I'm some kind of one hundred
seventy-one kilo freak! And what's with the kilos, anyway? You guys didn't go
metric, did you? What's that in English?"

"Not a freak", I hurriedly reassured her. "Not a freak at all, Just different.
Better, in fact. And it's about two hundred and seventy-five pounds".

"What? And you say I'm not a freak? I know I don't look two seventy-five
pounds!"

"Hey, Lucy!" Rob had got up and moved to the sideboard, where he had picked up
an apple. "Catch!"

He threw it like a pitcher, straight at her face. Her reflexes were so fast
that nobody saw her hand move. It just appeared in plenty of time to pluck the
fruit out of the air.

"Now squeeze it".

It was a hard apple, one of those green ones, I forget the name, that taste
very sweet but play merry hell with your teeth when you try to bite them.
Without any apparent effort, it exploded under the enormous pressure of her
fingers.

"Yeah!" Rob punched the air. "Now, was that cool, or was that cool?"

Lucy stared at her hand in amazement and disbelief. Bits of yellowish flesh
clung to her fingers, and sticky juice splattered the front of her shirt.