T Southwell - Prophecy

Tallyn stood in the gloom at the back of the ship's bridge and watched the girl with growing concern. The officer who monitored the surface conditions informed him that the temperature approached freezing point, since the thick clouds dispersed at dusk to release the heat trapped under them. This planet's peculiar weather grew stranger every day, and the changing atmospheric conditions led to some pretty weird aberrations, such as hail storms on a warm day or heat waves on a cold one.

The girl suffered from the cold, and he considered the various ways in which he might help her. He could transfer a blanket down to her, but, with her suspicious nature, she would probably not use it. The same would apply to a heating unit, so the only real option was to bring her aboard. As yet, he had not informed anyone that she was their target, but the surveillance and concern for her welfare should have made that obvious by now. He glanced at Marcon, who stood nearby, an ear cocked for orders.

"Deploy the transfer Net. Put her into the quarantine section under deep sleep inducement."

Marcon nodded and took his station to send orders to the various crew members who would be required to perform their particular function. Crystals twinkled in the gloom as the locator beam was sent out. Using the spy-cam as a guide, the particle beam locked onto its living cargo and sent back her precise location. The Net deployed next, surrounding the girl in a nimbus of golden light as it coalesced into a shell of pure energy.

The transfer Net's technology had always fascinated Tallyn, although its use was limited by the amount of power it devoured when the ship was not linked to the energy dimension, like now. This single transfer would use enough power to run the star ship for a month. The transfer Net worked in a similar fashion to the way in which the ship moved through space, but its ability to work at a distance complicated it. The ovoid of energy, once formed into a tangible shell, changed the frequency of its wave form, and by doing so, side slipped through time and space.

Essentially, the shell transferred itself into a dimension of pure energy, where distance, matter and time did not exist. Without these laws, all that remained was to force the energy shell to re-emerge at a predetermined point, in this case, the ship's hospital. To do this, the programmed instructions of the initial beam forced the shell to change its wave form again, whereupon the energy dimension ejected it, and it emerged at the time and place contained in its original instructions. Within the energy shell, the cargo, even when awake, was unaware of anything other than the golden glow, followed by a change of venue.

Many scientists had argued against the Net's safety, challenging its inventors to prove that living cargo could not be destroyed, should the shell break down in the energy dimension. The ensuing experiments had gone on for years, but the closest anyone had come to losing a cargo was a small animal that vanished into the energy dimension for seven years, but re-emerged unharmed at its point of origin. This had caused serious consternation, since the laboratory had, in the meantime, been torn down, and the Net had returned in an office block.

The animal, when caught, had proven to be in excellent health, since no time had passed for it. After that, the Net was deemed to be safe, although by then it had already been in use for several years. Essentially, the conclusion was that the shell could not break down in the energy dimension simply because it was kept intact by the one thing that abounded there. Energy. The beast's loss had been due only to its sender failing to encode any return instructions into the initial beam, and even then it had eventually returned, unharmed.

The wave form of the Net changed, and the shell and its cargo vanished from the spy-cam’s screen. The spy-cam, confused, spun as it searched for its target, but a new set of instructions halted its frantic revolutions.

Tallyn left the bridge and walked along the corridors that led to the ship's hospital, his feet silent on the thick moss carpet. Going over to the shimmering stress field that surrounded the bed where she lay, he gazed down at her. The doctor, clad in a sealed suit, tended the wounds in her legs. He glanced up and waved before returning to his work.

Tallyn studied the girl, his conviction that she was his quarry growing stronger. Her perfection cried out for notice, almost impossible in the revolting atmosphere in which she lived. Her skin had no sun blemishes at all, which, even if she had lived all her life in a cave, was amazing. His hair stood up as he moved closer to the stress screen, and he stepped back, unwilling to be touched by its unpleasant aura.

The screen, unlike the Net, used hardly any energy at all, but created a barrier by changing the polarity of the air molecules in a series of alternating layers. This created a tangible barrier through which air could not circulate, for the stressed molecules were static, held in position by the field's slight energy. Its effect on flesh was startling and violent, deadly if a person tried to penetrate it. Fortunately, its hair-raising properties and the shimmer of its stressed particles were warning enough to keep most people away.

The agony it imparted upon entry would also enforce a speedy withdrawal. Stress screens were used in prison ships and bank vaults, and as yet, no one had found a way through one without a door stasis switch. The screen's effect on metal armour was even more dramatic than flesh, resulting in atomisation and the instant death of its occupant. An air-cleaning unit stood beside the girl's bed, providing her with fresh air. The doctor, his task finished, switched off a door in the screen and exited, approaching Tallyn.

"She's the one, isn't she? I would never have thought that such health could thrive in that putrid environment."

"Yes." Tallyn gazed at her, then turned to the doctor. "Keep her asleep until morning, then I'll have her returned."

The doctor looked perplexed. "Returned? But surely…?" He caught himself. "Yes, sir."

Rayne woke with a gasp, opened her eyes and sat up. All her senses tingled and her head spun from the speed of her movements before her metabolism had speeded up from its sleeping state. Her breath condensed before her face in the cold air, yet she was warm, the chill nipping at her fingers and nose. She had slept through the night, with no dreams or sudden awakenings caused by rats or other noises.

The dull throbbing ache in her legs was gone, and when she poked the wounds she found hard scabs where yesterday there had been bleeding sores. She was refreshed and invigorated, and a metallic taste lingered on her tongue. The peculiarities were alarming, yet harmless, and made her wonder afresh at the strong sensation of being watched. She glanced around at the dank, gloomy room in which she had spent the night, her gaze flitting over peeling walls and mildewed floor to come to rest on the ashes of her fire.

Hunger lived as a dull pain in her belly, and today she must find food. Dismissing the inexplicable oddities for the moment, she pulled her jacket closer and rose, going over to the door to peer out. Rain had fallen during the night, and she was surprised that she had slept through it, since rain was so dangerous, it usually woke her. Puddles in the road hissed as they ate into the tar, and acrid steam stung her nostrils. Leaving the room's safety, she walked down the deserted street, avoiding puddles. Finding a tap, she drank and washed her face, keeping a sharp lookout for danger. The only place she would find food was at an autocrat's store, and, although the prospect chilled her, hunger drove her on.

Rayne set off to find one, sprinting across roads and staying close to walls, where she could duck out of sight if necessary. Even vagrants were a threat to her now. Her only defence was to act like a raider, so they would think she was armed. She flitted through the city until she found a food store, but the number of guards patrolling its entrance dismayed her. The autocrat must have been raided recently, for there were four guards instead of the usual two.