Peter Prellwitz - Shards Book One

He walked to the top of my bed and spoke to the wall,? Increase nutrients by thirteen percent and restoration fluid by twenty-one percent, Doctor Philip Barrett authorization 4699NRF.? Again I felt the surge and cool tingle in my arm that washed over my whole body then disappeared like a flash flood into the desert sand. And again I was left with a feeling of strength.

And this time I also saw the ceiling. For a moment, my vision returned. It was very blurry and lasted only briefly. But it was enough to see the lighting directly above me and a instrumentation panel on my left. I saw a blur walk back to my right side, and it took everything I had to not turn my head. But for one second of time, I was certain I could have turned it had I wished to. Then the second was gone and I was blind and helpless again.

"That should continue easing the Healer's Sleep. Not too fast, though. From my examination just now and the readings from last night, it appears you'll be ready no sooner than tomorrow night. That is a longer time than usual, but still within norms. Sorry if I got your hopes up. In the meantime, please take advantage of this time to heal and adjust to this impossible situation. I can't stress enough how important it is that you trust me, at least until you've oriented yourself to our culture.? I could almost sense his smile.? I am your doctor, after all. Well, get some sleep. We'll talk again this evening."

As he left-I still couldn't place the door, but his footsteps seemed to indicate it was located on my right-I thought, Yeah, we'll talk again this evening. And never again, if I get my way.

The morning and afternoon passed at a snail's pace. There was nothing I could do but continue to work out an escape plan. But first, I had to rouse myself out of this Healer's Sleep. Dr. Barrett had made an allusion to the dangers of being brought out too soon, but I was nearing the final stages, and in any event, I wasn't fond of the thought of staying in this helpless state any longer. If they had to suddenly bug out, I didn't particularly relish the idea of being hauled around like so much inert cargo, nor being left behind.

He'd told me there would be no legal repercussions, but it wouldn't look good, getting caught during treatment at an illegal medical facility.

Since it would be pointless to make plans if I couldn't carry them out, the first order of business was to see if I could wake myself. I stared into the darkness and visualized the ceiling. I pictured burning through the black to the light fixture above me. At the same time, I tightened my muscles to raise my right arm to that light. I didn't fool with my left arm because it was attached somehow to the nutrient machine and I didn't want to set off an alarm.

I failed miserably. If anything, the darkness became pitch, and my arm seemed completely detached. I felt like crying with frustration. Brute force wasn't going to do it. I fought back the sense of failure rising in me and calmed myself.

I had tried to force myself awake, but that seemed to deepen the effect. Logically, the reverse action would give the reverse effect. That would seem to fit with earlier experience, when I had nodded without thinking. Perhaps that was the key. Relaxing, I tried to drift into a state of idle interest in what the ceiling looked like. I knew what I expected to see, so I just glanced at it, expecting to see it again.

And there it was. The light looked like it had a heavy screen over it, and not much light was coming from it to begin with, but I still saw it. I reached up to brush away the screen and I felt my right hand twitch and raise slightly. I was so excited by this sudden success that I eagerly reached my hand to my face. It fell limp again. This was going to take some time.

And I had plenty of it. I worked for about two hours. By the end of that time, the light looked semi-bright, I had flexed my toes, lifted my right hand about six inches, and even turned my head a fraction of an inch. The whole thing left me weak but satisfied. And I didn't want to accomplish too much, too soon. It was pretty certain that illegal though they may be, this outfit still had equipment good enough to determine a conscious and unconscious state in Healer's Sleep. I'd have bet a week's pay it could tell if the Sleep had worn off entirely. It suited me that it didn't wear off until after Dr. Barrett's evening visit. So I eased off on my attempts and began to work out the logistics of my upcoming escape.

I must have tired myself out a little more than I thought, for I suddenly woke up. The nurse had returned and was performing her duties. No sponge bath this time, but I didn't mind. Though I didn't seem excited about her touching me anymore, I didn't want to put it to the test. Instead, I lay quietly, hoping she'd finish and leave, which she did. I was hoping she'd increase my nutrients, but no, I was apparently at the point they wanted me at. I was disappointed. I'd have to hope the good doctor would increase them.

Unfortunately, since I'd fallen asleep, I had no idea what time it was. I worked out the final details of my actions-there weren't many-and decided to sleep again. With luck, I'd be awake all night tonight, making my way to someplace else.

Dr. Barrett showed up, but he was all business this time. His visit was brisk, his examination perfunctory, both fine with me. He talked little, except to assure me that I was right on schedule and could expect to be awake late the following morning. He pulled the sheets up, wished me good night, and left. He seemed to have a lot on his mind. Again, that was fine with me. If he was busy with other things, he'd take his mind off his helpless patient.

I wanted to wait about twenty minutes to be sure he hadn't forgotten anything and return unexpectedly, but I cut that off after ten. I had no idea when the nurse would return for her nocturnal visit, but I knew I couldn't risk even a pulse taking if I wanted to be fully awake. I had to act now. The doctor had not increased my nutrients, so I would have to try. I relaxed again and absently thought about the ceiling light.

I caught my breath as it turned from a broad white haze into a soft glob then into a blurry object with half seen edges. I then spent the next hour reciting over and over exactly what I wanted to say. It was critically important that I could say it without thinking.

I reached the point where I could say it in my sleep, then casually mentioned out loud, more as an afterthought,? Increase nutrients by nineteen point five percent and restoration fluid by twenty-eight percent, Doctor Philip Barrett authorization 4699NRF.? I'd made a mental note of the increases and authorization number and hoped it was the right dosage and was not voice coded.

I felt a wonderful chill in my left arm that felt like icicles in my muscles. It poured into my whole body and made me shiver involuntary. That shiver was like a magic key. Suddenly, even as the chill faded, I felt the real me come to life. It was incredible. Until now, I could feel when touched, but now I could just plain feel. The light above my head came sharply into focus, though it stayed dim. Night lighting, I assumed. I stretched my legs slightly and they felt just the way they should. I brought up my right hand and looked at it. Relief washed over me as I recognized it as my hand. I'd half expected a withered claw, but no, it was just as I'd left it a couple of centuries ago, give or take a hundred years. I quietly thanked the inventor of suspended animation.

Now it was time to take care of my left hand, the one hooked up to the feeding machine. I was now tempted by a couple of things. First, I very much wanted to completely disconnect myself, but doubted the authorization code I had would work: the three letters in the code were an acronym of nutrients/restoration fluids. I didn't want to chance misusing the code unless the risk warranted it. Second, I was also tempted to just stay on the machine for at least another hour or two. I had no idea if I could weather the sudden shut down of nutrients; I might just turn into a rag doll when I hit the off button, and have a lot of explaining to do when they found me later that night during bed check. I could avoid the explaining if I was gone, though, so unlike the first risk, this one I had to take.