Oceanus: Chapter 23
"For yet ere suppertime must I perform Much business appertaining." - The Tempest
Chapters 1-5| Chapter 6 |Chapter 7| Chapter 8| Chapter 9|Chapter 10| Chapter 11| Chapter 12|Chapter 13| Chapter 14|Chapter 15|Chapter 16| Chapter 17| Chapter 18|Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 |Chapter 21 |Chapter 22
Trin wiped another cluster of damp, sticky curls from her forehead and sighed. “I need a shower,” she complained. “A waterfall will do. I can’t stand this humidity any more.”
Anthony, lying on his side on the bed, looked across to her. “You’re not a fan of the regency look?”
“Not right now, no,” she said, exhausted. “How are you?”
“I’ve been better. I think I’m feeling better though, you know.”
She seemed relieved. “That’s good.”
There was a knock on the shuttle door followed by Owen’s head. His hair, usually a short, tight-waved display of salt and pepper, was lank and flat. “How is everyone in here?”
“Fed up.”
“Fair enough. I’m just going to check the comms system again,” he said, brushing past them to get into the cockpit. He closed the door behind him to allow for his tall frame to enter. Trin watched with keen interest as the door slid open again.
“We’re going home soon,” he said quietly.
“When?”
“There’s an ion storm coming so we have to wait another twelve hours or so but the captain is back on board and will pick us up as soon as it passes.”
“Amazing.”
“I’d better tell the others, but there’s something else.” He seemed embarrassed– nervous even. Trin looked at him searchingly. “Grab a Lisbon kit from the medical cabinet, please. We need to test.”
“It’s one of us. It must be,” suggested Ade with a gentle shrug. Tired and defeated, the doctor could have believed anything at that moment.
“This is ridiculous,” said Anthony from the doorway of the Calliope.
“I know but we won’t be able to go anywhere until we test,” Ade said. He held up his hands. “Listen, this is less than ideal but we want to go home, don’t we? The message says there are two uncategorised life forms among us. They could both be androids...” he stayed silent for a moment, looking at the troubled faces around him. “Or something else. The test will take a blood sample, a fingerprint and a retinal scan. If any one of us are synthetic, we only need to fail one of these things. If any one of us are aliens, we’ll fail all of them.” Ade forced a smile. Aliens, he thought. That would be the cherry on the cake. “It’ll be ok. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, but we can’t get back onto the Demeter unless we pass the test.”
“The doctor’s right,” Owen said, splashing his face with some water. “There is no one in this party that I don’t trust, but the Demeter detects that there could be a synthetic on the island with us and we can’t let it board if so.” He looked reassuringly at Geraint. “We’ll be back on the ship tomorrow morning… tonight, even.”
Synthetic. The word stirred up more emotions for the team than alien did, which frankly sounded a bit ridiculous. Seb couldn’t stop thinking about it. He had heard many rumours about synthetic parts on the black market, but he’d never heard of a fully functioning synthetic. On the one hand, the thought of being in the presence of one gave him sickening chills; on the other hand, he felt a rush of curiosity and excitement for what was about to happen.
“But,” Geraint held up a hand, “what if it’s someone on the island? Will we just leave them, or…”
There was a thick quietude, smothering them for a moment. Owen rubbed his chin and looked at Seb. “We will cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said with a forced smile.
“I’ll go first. I have nothing to hide,” Geraint said. Ade nodded and opened the test kit. The box clicked open, presenting the test tubes, paper and needle. Geraint held out a hand.
As the others stood around watching, Trin and Anthony– from their seated position in the doorway of the shuttle, looked at each other, “You know,” she whispered. “I would still fancy you if you weren’t human.”
“Trin, that’s not funny,” he whispered back, more seriously than he had intended. “Anyway, I saw you eyeing Indiana Jones over there.” He nodded his head in the direction of Jet, who stood with his arms folded, watching Geraint complete the test.
“What?” she half laughed. “He’s barely twenty.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“I’m thirty four, Anthony.”
“Christ, really?” he regarded her for a moment with raised eyebrows and smiled. “Maybe you’re the synthetic,” he teased, patting her knee. He winced as he felt the sharp twist of his nipple. “Sorry, sorry,” he said with his arms raised. “You can’t be, you’re right.” He rubbed his chest slightly. “A synthetic would have ripped that off.”
They giggled in the corner, covering their faces while Ade assembled the kit. “I’ve just realised something,” Anthony whispered.
“What?”
“You’ve stopped calling me sir.”
“I don’t work for you any more.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s how it has to be now,” she said, blushing and looking away. Anthony stayed silent and turned to watch the show, thinking about her words while he did so.
Seb carried a tray with the instruments while Ade prepared the needle and paper. “They know it’s not me. You can’t give one of these IV drips to an android.” Anthony smugly pointed to the needle that was secured with tape to his forearm. For as long as he was required to use the drip, he was pinned to the shuttle.
“You’re still getting the test, pal,” she said, patting him on the hand. She looked at his tired face. His eyes were heavy and sunken. “Maybe you should get some sleep, too.”
He gave a rueful grin. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
His eyes, usually protected by a semi-permanent furrowed brow or a scowl, were open and vulnerable. Trin stroked a stubbled cheek with her finger. “It’ll be all right. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
He thought of the horrors that waited for him in his dreams. His heart was growing tired of the repeated shocks, aching in his chest. “I hope so,” he said.
They watched Ade prick the tip of Geraint’s finger first. The droplet of blood fell into the glass tube of clear fluid. Ade inserted the paper and waited for a few seconds. It turned blue, as predicted. “It would stay clear if you were a synthetic,” he said, turning to look at the others. He then held the scanner to Geraint’s eyes. It hovered for thirty seconds, shining brightly, narrowing his pupils. It beeped and a green light flashed on the scanner. “Just a finger print now into this putty,” Ade said, holding out the small pad for Geraint’s finger. It encased the fingertip for a few seconds and shrank away. Geraint breathed a sigh of relief. “Congrats, you’re human!”
He did the same for Seb, Owen, Trin and then Anthony. Jet was the last to be tested before Ade.
There was an unspoken, lingering notion that if any of them were to be more than they seemed, it would have been Jet. Jet could feel the mistrust in the camp when he volunteered his own finger to Ade. There was an audible sigh of relief among the onlookers when his blood, fresh and red, turned the liquid blue like the rest of them, and his retina generated a green flash from the scanner.
When it was time for Ade to do the test, he gave the apparatus to Owen and held out his finger. Owen carefully carried out the test as instructed by the doctor. The silence grew heavier for a moment, weighing everyone down.
“Thank god for that.” Owen said. “It’s no one here.” Trin almost clapped.
Jet and Geraint exchanged a look. Jet, feeling the familiar sensation of his heart dropping through his gut and into the void, said nothing and looked away.
Chapters 1-5| Chapter 6 |Chapter 7| Chapter 8| Chapter 9|Chapter 10| Chapter 11| Chapter 12|Chapter 13| Chapter 14|Chapter 15|Chapter 16| Chapter 17| Chapter 18|Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 |Chapter 21|Chapter 22
Who is it? What is it? I need to know. Great chapter