The Vampires of Antyllus Read online

  “You will also be vulnerable to extremes of heat and cold, though your tolerance of these conditions will far exceed anything you have ever known.

  "The biological components of your brain will be susceptible to radiation, though you will be far more resistant to it than at present. Despite being hardened against it, you can be negatively affected by an intense Electro Magnetic Pulse, or EMP.

  "You will also note an increased clarity and speed of thought; you will be able to access the vast libraries of information on the internet while here on Earth, and once you return to the Moon, from within JILL's computers."

  "I'm going back to the Moon?" Kathy asked.

  "Yes, Major, most of our SUBs are posted there. You will receive additional information about your posting later." The doctor shot a glance at one of the suits. This did not escape Kathy's notice.

  "You will become part of a new society of entities who communicate through a connection to the Ismay network, a wireless communication system that is specific to all SUBs, Bots, and AI computers. Through Ismay, you can be in instant contact with all these other entities, as well as with anyone equipped with a communications implant, as long as they are in range or inside an IIEA facility.

  "You will discover that Ismay will allow you to have conversations in seconds that would take you several minutes in a spoken language. Communications over Ismay can be conducted on several levels and in several dimensions. You will also be able to engage in several independent conversations simultaneously. You will find yourself speaking aloud only when necessary to interface with those of us who, sadly, cannot access Ismay.

  "Your new design includes a much improved and very much miniaturized communications apparatus similar to the COMde device you are accustomed to carrying. Your new COMde will be located inside your cranium. These devices must be within fifty kilometers of an Ismay antenna to be operational, unless, as on Earth and on the Moon, communications satellites are in orbit."

  "Well, where might I go where there are no communications satellites?" Kathy asked after keying in on that comment.

  The doctor again shot the suit a glance, then ignored the question altogether. "Should it become necessary, you can, of course, carry any weapon available to anyone else, however the palm of your right hand will contain an electrode that will provide an electric shock, like a stun gun, and you will be able to adjust its power output. This ability is designed to debilitate an attacker, but it can also kill. It is effective against both biologicals and SUBs.

  "Your left palm will contain sensors necessary to provide you a direct connection to any computer with an access pad, and by now, all computers on JILL have them, as does the JPL, and all of the IIEA's facilities and spacecraft. Do you have any questions?"

  "Questions? Only about a million." Kathy was impressed. "How do I use all this stuff?"

  "Once the procedure is completed, you will find an interactive tutorial within your memory. What would take us months to teach you will instantly become second nature to you."

  "What will power my body if I don't eat?"

  "Your new body will be equipped with a graphene based ultracapacitor, or G-buc, specifically designed for SUB use. You will require a recharge, on average, once every six months. Recharge stations will be available wherever you might be sent. Any further questions?"

  "I'll wait for this tutorial, then see if they are not all answered, otherwise we'd be here the rest of the day and all night."

  "Once you have access to Ismay you will be able to receive answers to any future questions, and of course, I, and the entire JPL team, will be here for your transition period."

  "When will…when do we start?"

  "First thing in the morning."

  "Can I call—"

  "No, Major," one of the suits spoke up, "you can contact no one. As of right now, your very existence is classified. One of the things that made you a prime candidate for the program is the fact that you have no living family, no personal entanglements, no one to have to explain things to."

  Kathy glanced down at her hands folded on top of the table. "That's kind of sad, isn't it?" she asked.

  "Perhaps, Major, but perfect for our needs."

  ○O○

  That evening, Kathy sat alone in her quarters contemplating the morning's procedure when her door alerted her to a visitor. She looked into her door's monitor and was surprised to see the chaplain there. She opened the door and greeted him warmly. The man was a full colonel, but like all men of the cloth in uniform, he was a chaplain first.

  "Good evening, Chaplain," Kathy greeted the officer. "Is there something I can do for you?"

  "Major, I was just going to ask you the same question."

  She thought a moment before she realized she had left him standing out in the hall. "I'm sorry Chaplain, please come in."

  They sat in Kathy's living area. "Can I get you something, sir? I was just making some hot tea."

  "A cup would be fine, thank you."

  Soon both were settled with their tea. It was uncomfortably quiet as Kathy took her first sip.

  "Major," the chaplain said, setting his cup and saucer on the table, "I have no idea whether you are a particularly religious person, but in the off-chance you are, I thought you might want to talk."

  Kathy set her cup down as well. "Chaplain, before you knocked on my door, I'd not thought much about it, but when I saw you, the thought fired across my brain like a laser.

  "Sir, I am a believer, but I'm not a church-goer. I just never found the time for it. I’ve always been a goal-oriented individual. My primary goal in life has been to become the best Air Force officer I can—you know the saying, ‘to serve a higher calling than oneself.'"

  "Yes, Major, I've heard that," the chaplain said, and smiled.

  Kathy cleared her throat and took another sip of her tea. "Well, sir, the motto of the early astronauts: ‘higher, faster, farther,’ made me want to become an astronaut. I have waded through hell, Chaplain, to get these astronaut's wings. I volunteered twice for combat duty in Oceania. The Purple Heart, two Silver Stars, a Distinguished Service Cross, and four Distinguished Flying Crosses got me to Houston, into the program, and got my request for assignment on the Moon approved.

  "Then, eighteen months after I get there, I’m hit with cancer. Cancer. Me. Well, I've spent a lot of time evaluating my life since that diagnosis, and I'm not sure I'm happy with the review. I was determined to fight this disease, but frankly, I couldn't see a positive outcome. Then the IIEA stepped in with a guarantee to save my life. That gave me hope. And sir, I was all out of hope. Now, I see a possibility to perhaps return to my old life, but Chaplain, I'm not sure I want to return to that life. Regardless, I think the IIEA has other plans for me."

  The colonel responded as one might expect a chaplain to respond. "Major, there is nothing wrong with self-examination. I know you have learned you are going to be living a very long time with the results of your decision. If you find yourself questioning that decision and not wanting to pursue the life that awaits you, well, now is the time to act."

  "I don't want to die, sir. Which leads me to the real thought that rocketed through my mind when I saw you at the door: am I about to die and my brain be used to run a robot? This whole brain emulation was explained to me, and I've read the material I was provided, but it sounds as if…whatever it is that is me, is just going to be copied and placed inside a machine. What happens to my soul, Chaplain? Does the real me die, and I wind up facing my Maker, or does this science really put me…all of me…in another body?"

  "Well, that's the question, isn't it?" the chaplain asked solemnly. "I have been asked that by several persons, both those like you awaiting the procedure, and by those who have already gone through it. I had gotten to know many of the people who preceded you into this program, and speaking to them afterward, I noticed no difference in them whatsoever, and they told me they didn't feel any different. Needless to say, all passed their psych evaluation. I saw in each
of those people the divine spark of life, true life, the intelligence only He can provide. I, and all the chaplains involved in the program, have given considerable thought, study, and prayer to the question. For my money, all that is you will be transferred. You, Kathy Selina, will continue to live, but in a new vessel."

  "What makes you so sure, Chaplain?"

  "I'm not sure. But I have faith."

  "I have always believed that the Lord helps those who help themselves. I've never been much on faith."

  ○O○

  Surgical preparation began at 05:30 local, the next morning. First, her head was shaved by a male barber who undoubtedly had no appreciation for the emotional attachment a woman has to her hair. No idea of the thousands of hours and vast sums of money a woman spends on her hair. He unceremoniously just cut it and shaved her head.

  Kathy was then given a pill and hooked up to a couple of I.V.s. She was wheeled into the O.R., where the bed's various sensors monitored her vital signs and several displays appeared as holographs around her. The top of her head was encased in a large machine called the Robotic Neurological Surgery, or cyber scalpel, colloquially.

  Then, from the shoulders up, she was enveloped in a plastic bubble. The voice of Doctor Barker seemed to emanate from all around her. "Good morning, Kathy." His voice spoke low and calm. "My sensors are telling me you are a little tense, a bit anxious. Really, there is no need to be. You will feel nothing at all, and from your perspective, it will be over in just a few minutes. When you awaken, it will be your birthday, and you will be free of cancer forever. Now please, just relax."

  Kathy could hear a hissing sound and she became drowsy as the drugs were administered to her through the I.V.s. Her eyelids became heavy and though she fought off sleep very hard, it was to no avail. Her eyes closed and the world vanished, followed instantly by a ringing in her ears, then silence.

  Kathy dreamed again of the loss of one of her pilots. She relived the strangest thing to ever happen in her experience. Captain Cris Salazar was on a mission to drop a probe into the black hole in Hohmann's Well in Mare Orientale. Master Sergeant Chuck Alistair was assisting from Mission Control in JILL.

  Kathy stood nearby listened to Captain Salazar over the COMde, his transmission broken and distorted. He calmly described the unbelievable event happening to him: "Chuck I'm being dragged—backward—my nose is at thirty degrees—moving slowly—about eighty meters from the crater's rim now, and—"

  Major Selena recalled pushing her way past two senior officers to stand next to Master Sergeant Alistair. "Hatchling, this is Mother Bird," she had said. "Come in!" The anxiety was clear in her voice. There was no response, so she shouted, as if that would aid him hearing her. "Cris, dammit, you get your ass out of that hole and back here, do you read?"

  Faint and broken, everyone heard Cris's response, "Mother Bird, sorry I lost you another Eagle—Chuck, kiss your girls for me." The transmission ended.

  "Cris, come in Cris!" Chuck continued to try. "Eagle eight-one this is Hotel Sierra, acknowledge! Over."

  "Major!" a voice behind her shouted. Angry, Kathy spun around only to find herself alone in total darkness.

  "Major? Major?" The male voice was calling to her from out of the void, at last the voice shouted, "Kathy!"

  "Who's that?" she asked. She was aware that she was conscious but she could not see, hear, feel, or smell a thing.

  "Kathy, do you know who you are?"

  "Of course, it's you I don't know."

  "This is Doctor Barker."

  "Where are you? I can't see a thing!"

  "I am near and we are close to being finished. I need you to tell me who you are."

  "Okay…I'm Major Kathrin Christine Selina, service number 7765 dash 391—"

  "That will be sufficient, thank you. You should know the operation was a complete success and you will be all better in the morning."

  "The morning? What time is it? Where am I?"

  "Go back to sleep Kathy, you really need the rest."

  ○O○

  Nightmares haunted Kathy's sleep. She saw the faces of all the men and women she had ordered out on missions who never returned. She dreamed, in vivid detail, of the time she was wounded. And she dreamed of Doctor Derevenko. "There's no good way to deliver this sort of news so I'm just going to tell you. You have cancer. It's rather advanced. It's rather advanced…advanced."

  Chapter 2

  Antyllus

  When Kathy awoke, she found herself not in a hospital bed, but in a regular bed in a BOQ. The first thing she did was grab her head. She remembered them cutting her hair and shaving her head. She was greatly relieved to find her hair fully restored. Next, she tossed the sheets off to climb out of bed. She was surprised to find herself completely naked. She rose and went to the closest to retrieve her robe. She pulled the door open and reached for the robe, but stopped when she looked into the full-length mirror attached to the inside of the door.

  What got her attention was what was missing: those hideous scars. On her second tour in Oceania, she had been shot when her air base was strafed by enemy aircraft. The bullet entered her body above her right breast and exited below her left shoulder blade. Her heart and lungs sustained serious damage. Fortunately, the base held a fully equipped hospital and her life was saved. The unfortunate part was that they had to crack her chest to repair the damage. The scarring was quite severe, but not irreparable. She was informed that with a few weeks' stay in a stateside hospital, this scarring could be replaced with 'new' skin. Kathy had made the decision not to spend weeks in the hospital for 'cosmetic' surgery. Besides, no one but she was going to see it.

  But now, as she looked at herself in the mirror, her body perfect and unblemished, she was astounded. Slowly, she ran her hand over the spot where the hard, red scars had been. She was smooth and soft.

  As the realization dawned on her that she was looking at her new prosthetic body, Kathy took a quick inventory, and was very much surprised to find she still had all the basic issue items. And on top of everything else, she looked younger than before the procedure. She smiled. I can live with that.

  Looking herself up and down in the mirror, Kathy sighed and smiled, then said aloud, "I'm cancer free…forever."

  Kathy put the robe on and considered what her next move should be. Perhaps activate her COMde and call someone?

  Just then she heard a female voice ask, "Major Selina?"

  "Who's that?"

  "I am the JPL's Advanced Virtual Acumen Computer; I am known as Beth. I am an advanced synthetic intelligence. I am prepared to entertain your questions and interface you with the mainframe."

  "How are we talking to one another? Your voice is in my head, not in my ears."

  "We are communicating over the Ismay network. Do you recall it being explained to you?"

  "Yes," Kathy replied.

  "Excellent."

  "Say…I was just inspecting my new body. I see that I have been provided with all my genitalia. Why were these sex organs included? I presume reproduction is no longer an option."

  "That is a correct conclusion, Major. As you examine your body, you will discover it to be just as you remember it, but without obvious flaws. As you were informed, your new body is virtually identical to your original body. Major, other than actual procreation, your synthetic reproduction organs are fully functional."

  "Why is that necessary?"

  "For your own mental stability. Extensive studies were conducted, and it has been determined, that sexual functionality is necessary in both genders to maintain the individual's mental health. Early bodies were designed for specific functions. The fact that whole human beings were placed into them had not been adequately considered. As a consequence, the individual could not cope with the drastic change resulting in less than optimal results and, in many cases, complete mental breakdown.

  “Psychologists suggested an easy if somewhat expensive fix: make the bodies as human, and as functional, as possible.

 
"Now, Major Selina, the time has come to connect you to the mainframe and provide you your tutorial. May I proceed?"

  "Yes, Beth, please do."

  Instantly, the lights in the room dimmed and the windows became opaque. "Major Selina, please move into your living room and sit in the chair facing the mirror attached to your wall."

  In the living room, a mirror above the sofa had turned black. Kathy sat in the office swivel chair and faced the black rectangle. In the center, a small blue light flashed.

  "Please concentrate on the light, Major."

  From the mirror, several holographic images seemed to leap out, and soon the room was filled with charts, graphs, and columns of figures. Then the blue light flashed in her face with great intensity. Before her eyes, yards and yards of code rushed past, followed by more readouts, but these seemed to possess personal information and systems status. All of this data was flashing through her mind with great speed. There were number and letter combinations that indicated the status of all her systems, hardware, software, biological components, and, to her great surprise, she fully understood each one! Like being struck by lightning, she underwent an instant epiphany, and enlightenment was hers; oddly she felt as if she had always known these things and had just been reminded.

  "Major, are you comprehending all you have been provided?" Beth asked.

  "Ah…yeah, wow, this is something."

  "Please note this temporary identifier." As Beth spoke a series of characters appeared in Kathy's field of vision: IIEA – CYB – 665 (Temp) Selina, Kathy Christine., MAJ(P). Kathy understood, as a result of her instant training, that all SUBs, Bots, and SI's possessed these identifiers that became momentarily visible upon initial visual contact. This allowed all the various entities to distinguish between one another. The SUBs, of course, had visual recognition of one another, but the Bots all looked alike, and the SI computers were little more than sensor packages and terminals. This also allowed a SUB to differentiate between a biological entity and a SUB.