Davron part 3
Gary Weston
Davron part 3 © 2014 Gary Weston
All rights reserved
License Notes
Chapter 22
Spero was Latin for hope. The word had entered his mind the minute he had slowed down the Romulus to a speed less than that of light and soon he had found the planet.
Spero was a gem of a planet, mostly water on the surface, the largest land mass being an island, only two hundred square miles in area. Davron assumed the planet had undergone a climate change, the rising oceans covering most of the land. This plot of prime real-estate had finally settled down into a tropical paradise, with perhaps a rainfall more than he'd have wished for. If it wasn't actually raining, it had just finished raining, or was about to start. He figured he'd either get used to it, or morph into a fish. The land was made up from an extinct volcano, and the soil was rich and the vegetation diverse. With plenty of fish to eat and an assortment of roots and fruits to balance his diet, it had all he needed to sustain him. He considered himself most fortunate to have found such a paradise.
Before he had put the ship into F T L speed after stealing it in a bid to escape execution, he had picked up an exchange between a space-station and a ship. What he had heard had shocked him enough to investigate further.
The computer on the Romulus was the best ever built. He should know. It was mostly his own design, stolen by his father for the Romulus. Just one more reason to resent the man. More than once he had questioned his lineage. Was he really Paul Davron's son? He had never gotten a totally satisfactory answer to that. Either way, he was now the last of the Davron's. Perhaps just as well.
With this computer he could analyse any data from any computer on Earth or in space. From a snippet of information, he used that powerful tool to follow many cyberspace trails at once. What he discovered about the purpose of the space-station, didn't really surprise him. It did however sadden him; more evidence of the evil in mankind.
The space-station, once abandoned, had been utilised by organ farmers. The use of animal organs in humans had been internationally outlawed almost fifteen years earlier. Less than perfect organs had found their way to be used by wealthy clients. From that batch of organs, a new and almost untreatable disease had developed, wiping out much of the population of London. That once great city had been isolated and quarantined to stop the spread of the sickness. That had worked, but it brought Britain to ruination, from which it was still recovering. Nobody forgot the teams of heavily protected men and women collecting the dead and incinerating the bodies in Hyde Park.
Not everyone had died. Children under puberty had mostly survived, building up a natural immunity. They had reverted to savages, in order to survive. It took years to integrate them back into society. There was a resistance to adopting and fostering those children; always the fear of the sickness breaking out from them again. That and the fact they had become more like wild animals than children.
These unloved ones were housed in special confined areas in the London area, such as army barracks, unused because those originally there had been killed off by the sickness. Teams of doctors and nurses and carers from around the world volunteered their time and expertise to care of the children, and after almost three years, the last of the young victims had been allowed to leave and make a life for himself.
The outbreak of the sickness had been traced to the animal organs. Those responsible had been found and eventuality executed. It became the death penalty for anyone involved in such trading and practices. Naturally, greed and desperation of terminally ill people would have them pay any amount for a chance of life. Without the animal organs there was simply not enough to go round. Illegal operations were set up, and a few lasted several years, using bribery of officials and law enforcement agencies to continue.
This space-station had been funded by an international consortium, using the corrupt officials in the governments of the world. It cost billions to run, but there seemed no limit to what the wealthy would pay for another chance of a healthy life.
Davron had seen the harrowing images of London as a small child, and they had burnt their way into his young, impressionable mind. They still occasionally gave him nightmares. And yet, here it was again. Animal farming of organs to transplant into the richest people of Earth.
Davron hadn't done anything about it right away, but recorded the coordinates and continued his escape from Earth, while the going was good. The blast through space at faster than light speed had him beyond the reach of mankind, at least for his lifetime. Eventually, they would, hopefully, forget all about him.
He had discovered Spero and made it his home. Using the ship to live on, he made a solitary life for himself on that pristine planet. But during all that time, he couldn't forget what he had discovered about that space-station laboratory. None of this was his concern now. Earth was nothing to do with him any more. He had no intention of interfering.
The vivid and terrible nightmare he had had one night, had him waking in a cold sweat, and determined to do something about that laboratory. Unable to convince himself to stay away from it, he began to plan what to do.
And so it came about, he had taken the Romulus back into F T L travel, and shut down the laboratory, once and for all. The plan had worked exceptionally well, but something had happened afterwards. He was about to head back to Spero, to continue building his life, when he had seen...something.
He remembered he had set the ship to take him and Muffin home, and was about to go to bed, when she had been standing there. A woman. She had stood there for less than a second, bathed in a strange green light. At first he thought the image to be a trick of the light, or his tired mind playing games with him. He had dismissed it when she had vanished. She had been a illusion.
So why was he dreaming about her? As he lay on his bed, the green angel had appeared to him in his mind. In the split second in which he had seen her, her image had been burnt permanently into his mind..
He suddenly sat upright. “Angels don't wear regulation W S A coveralls.”
He could see the logo on the left breast pocket. W S A. One of the most recognisable logo's on Earth. As far as he knew, even the W S A hadn't gotten around to recruiting angels.
Then what was she? A ghost? He had no fixed opinions about such things. He had never seen a ghost, so had nothing to compare what he had seen. Was she someone who had died on the ship when it was being built? He would surely have heard something. No. He was sure. Nobody had died during the construction of the Romulus. That didn't mean she couldn't be a ghost though, right?
Davron got out of bed and returned to the flight-deck. In the dim light, he looked around him. Something made a shuffling noise. It came from above. Muffin sleeping in his blankets on the gantry. Davron stared at the exact place he had seen the apparition. He concentrated and in his mind he could see her standing there. His almost perfect memory could see her, that ethereal green glow about her. There was something else. She had been looking straight at him.
Davron looked about him, half expecting to see her standing behind him watching him. Did he want to see her again? This ghost; this angel in green light? He smiled. He had to admit to himself, that yes. He hoped he would see her again. With his mind at ease again, he went back to bed.
Chapter 23
Captain Jazz Belle felt more isolated and alone then at any other time in her life. Even when she had learned that her family had been wiped out in the war, she had eventually come to terms with that. She was just one of millions suffering the same loss. There was a modicum of comfort in that. But what she felt now, was different. She was on a ship with three crew she had no real trust in, employed by an organisation she was becoming less sure about by the day, on her way to do
battle and try to kill a man she still knew little about.
The last real time image had been the ones of the mutated Davron in the Romulus. How had Davron become such a vile abomination? And that planet. Was that where his mutation had occurred? She had stood by him as he had watched the screen and the blue world of water, Muffin in his arms, both watching the planet.
She could go with him to that planet. If something had mutated Davron there, she had no fear of it. What she sent to the Romulus was not her physical being, just a generated and enhanced part of her imagination. That part of her couldn't even get the common cold.
She would return and perhaps see the planet. She concentrated on that idea. She relaxed with the charged up HATED in her hands, pressed the tiny green button to let the green light out. She twisted that third cube and let the emerald light mist over her. Then she became one with the HATED and crossed time and space, even faster than the Romulus.
She was there. On the flight-deck of the Romulus. She was alone, her green glow blending with the soft yellow dimmed light. Something fluttered above her. She looked up towards the sound, and a small dark shape on the gantry moved. It was just Muffin, turning over in his sleep. She could hear his gentle, contented snoring; contented because he had found a better home with Davron. Muffin had the freedom of the ship, not confined inside a steel cage.
Belle almost felt her projection shudder at the memory of the sights and sounds of those poor, tortured creatures on that laboratory. She had felt Davron's anguish as he put the primates out of their misery with the gas. It hadn't been easy for him to do, nor for her to witness.
So many things didn't add up. Burns had asked if she trusted him and she had said she did. If asked that again, she wasn't so sure she would give him the same answer. She wasn't sure if she could trust anyone, now.
Belle knew that just hanging around on the Romulus wasn't the thing to do. She needed to turn the HATED further, pushing her along in time. She needed to be closer to when the ship landed back on that planet Davron called home. To do that, she had to return to her physical body. She was about to do just that, when she heard the voice behind her.
“Who are you?”
She spun around and Davron was there, staring at her. He could see her. It was impossible on so many levels, but there was no doubt.
Davron stood perfectly still, as if not wanting to spook her. “Can you hear me?” he asked.
She couldn't allow this to happen. She could not interact with the man she was charged to kill. The green fog vanished and Davron stood alone on his flight-deck. Belle was waking up in the future, on her bed in her cell, the HATED in her hands.
Chapter 24
“She's no ghost and no angel. Muffin. Try not to get that food all over the table. And I didn't mean the floor, either. You know, there has to be a logical explanation to this phenomenon.”
“Eeh, Eeh, Eeeeh, oooh!”
“Yeah, like you would know. And another thing. She could hear me. I was behind her and she didn't realise that until I spoke to her then she turned around. She looked right at me and I looked right back at her. Then she was gone. Whoosh.” Davron cleared things away and wiped up Muffin's mess. “Look at me. Housemaid to a monkey.”
Muffin had a date with his afternoon nap, to let his meal digest. He jumped down off his chair and left Davron to his chores, then with a leathery flapping, landed on his blankets.
“You're welcome, Muffin. Don't give it a second thought.”
One thing Davron was looking forward to was letting Muffin enjoy the great outdoors of Spero. No more cleaning up after him all the time. He could spend as much time swinging about in the trees as he liked, finding food. Visiting when ever he felt like it. Davron had no idea why anyone would grow wings on monkeys. Perhaps the idea was to have humans with wings and monkeys were a good place to start.
“Maybe not such a bad idea,” he said aloud. “Yeah. That could be fun. I mean. All through human history mythology has had winged human types of one form or another. Fairies. Angels. Too much tinkering around with things as it is. Best left alone.”
That decided, Davron went to the flight-deck and sat in the centre pilot's seat. The screen lit up and various blocks of information scrolled continuously down one side in red.
“Just a few more hours. I might never go into space again. Chill out. Make wine out of the fruit. Go fishing. Could be worse ways to live.”
The hours flashed by like the Romulus flashing through the unexplored expanse of Deepest space. It was entirely likely humans would never reach this far, and even if they eventually made another F T L ship, the chances of heading in just this particular direction were extremely remote. No. He could be safe on Spero. Safe, but alone.
As the final minutes of his journey ticked away, Davron started the slowing down. They could overshoot by several million miles if left too late. As the ship gradually slowed down, he waited for the crackle that seemed to ripple through the ship as they crossed the F T L speed barrier. It happened whether he was speeding through it or slowing down through it. Either way it still happened. One day he intended to figure out what that was.
Muffin felt the strange discharge, too, and flew in a circle above Davron, before landing on his shoulder.
“Nothing to worry about. It just means we are home. Muffin. Go to your seat and buckle up. I showed you how to do that. Good boy. Oh. Green lady. Somehow I don't think that applies to you.”
Davron had seen the 'green lady' appear in the reflection on the screen. He didn't turn around. “Aren't you going to introduce yourself?”
“Belle.”
Davron shuddered. That made it real. Muffin looked around, but Davron looked at the green reflection.
“I'm Patrick Davron, but I suspect you already know that. Can you stay around, Belle?”
“Not long.”
“Who sent you? W S A?”
Belle didn't answer that. She stood quietly as Davron concentrated on taking the Romulus into orbit around Spero, then landed on a plateau on a high point a short way from the ocean. “It doesn't matter. Belle. This ship is my home. No point trying to build something else. But I'd like to stretch my legs and let Muffin out for awhile. Can you go outside?”
“I don't know. I...can try.”
Davron stood up and without facing Belle, he opened the airlock doors wide, a gentle, sweet breeze, scented with the ocean and the jungle, wafted in. Davron reached the lip of the airlock and stared out at the blue sky and the many shades of greenery.
“Muffin. All this is your playground. This is an island, so you can't get lost. Go have fun and come see me when you want to.”
Muffin looked at the unfamiliar landscape and he could see birdlike creatures in the sky. He flapped his wings, took off, remembered something and returned. He kissed Davron who ruffled his fur, then he flew out of the airlock, and was soon soaring with the birds.
“Only I could end up in paradise with a flying monkey and a green lady.” He dared to look behind him. She had gone. “Ok. Just me and the monkey.”
Chapter 25
The planet. Davron had called it Spero. Belle had looked over it as they had orbited prior to landing. She could have sworn that as she had stood behind Davron on the airlock ramp that she could smell the sweet air and feel the breeze from the ocean. Impossible, of course. But so was having a conversation with Davron. That she could see and hear him was one thing. That he could see and hear her, could not be happening.
She had not wanted to leave Spero. She had been cooped up on the Venom too long, and she longed to venture out into that lush landscape, perhaps find a pool to soak in, listening to birdsong.
Spero made Earth look like what it was. A sick, dying planet, corrupted by the greed and evil doings of mankind. She and the likes of her crew had fought bloody wars and for what? A corrupt world of people where love and trust were alien concepts.
Belle mentally slapped herself. She
had a job to do. Find a weakness and destroy Davron before Davron destroyed the Earth. She was deep into these thoughts when she was startled into reality by a hammering on the door. It was Matlock.
“Davron's using that weapon of his, Captain. You need to see this.”
“I'll be right out.” Belle placed the HATED to charge and unlocked her door, then hurried to the flight-deck where she buckled herself in a seat.
“Damage?”
“None yet,” said Danders. “Like before, skimming Earth, just shy of causing major destruction.”
“But closer than before?”
“Yes. And about the same distance from this ship. He could take out both the Earth and us in two shots, if he wants.”
“We can get it on the screen,” said Akrins. “We just need to adjust...Crap. What the hell is that?”
Davron himself came into view on the screen. Far from a clear image, the creature sat in the thrown-like seat; ugly, menacingly evil. Even the spacesuit wasn't anything a human should be wearing. Belle tried to make out arms. She could see none. Leg-shapes, of sorts, dangled from where legs should, but no arms. The tentacles from the side of the body didn't look organic, but mechanical, like segmented, flexible pipework.
She wasn't even sure she could see a head inside the opaque helmet at all, but something moved slightly and vaguely human features could be barely seen. Then it vanished. The sight of the blue flash of power that Akrins had been focussing on took the place of Davron as it blasted through space, between the Venom and Earth. It streaked on past both, leaving the Earth and the Venom unscathed. Even being too close would have been enough to destroy both planet and ship.
Belle couldn't equate the young man who had sat on the lip of the airlock overlooking his beautiful new home, to the monster on the Romulus. What had turned Davron into such a monster? She was certain that was the key to their survival. Understand that, then possibly, just possibly, everyone could survive. If not...
Belle knew she had to get onto the Romulus. Not in the past, but now. She had to face that monster.