After taking a rest there wasn't much left to do. Passing through the corridors and halls the place seemed more like a hospital in space. But it was the time to head back to Omicrons, apparently her attention will be required in Alpha yet again. Anje couldn't shake the feeling it had something to do with 101st and Gabe.
Returning to hangar she found Doc there and several others. Apparently he was already debriefing Med.Force crew, senior staff and guards. And by the looks of it he made the decision. The decision they probably didn't like at all. Anje observed him and the group for a little while before slowly approaching them. Doc was somewhat tired, it would seem his night was spent in contemplations and deliberations, plus surgical extraction of the 'black box' had its toll as well. Yet there he was, determined to follow into the eye of the storm on the far end of Sirius. Anje wondered if he truly realizes this might be a one-way ticket for him. Others have noticed her approach, some were visibly worried, exchanging concerned glances, some tried to avoid eye contact altogether while ridged headed mutants followed her with a heavy sight.
"Morning, John. Are you ready?" - Anje spoke when he finished talking to his crew. "Take a small ship - we travel light and fast to be there in time."
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Doc noticed Anje patiently waiting. He had gotten his affairs in order before hand and took only a medical bag with him. Before he went to meet Anje, he stopped to chat with his chief resident. As they spoke, he handed him an envelope.
"Take this, Edward," he explained as he handed it to him, "I suspect I'll be fine but should the worse happen, this is my will."
Edward looked up from behind his glasses, "John are you sure you know what you're doing?"
Doc nodded, "I am. This is a chance I won't pass up."
There was a pause before Edward spoke, "How does Midori feel about this?"
"To her, it's another medical trip," he answered calmly and surely.
Edward wasn't satisfied with his answers but realized he had no say or choice in the matter.
"Whatever it is you seek, John, be careful and may Eris guide you," he said giving his boss a handshake, "I'll delight in shredding this envelope when you return."
Doc then stepped away from his friend and walked beside Anje, his bag in hand, "I am ready and have a fighter waiting for me."
As soon as the two have launched from Med.Force.One Doc received transmission with route waypoints. The path went through Bretonia and Magellan by jumpholes and into Kansas system where the next waypoints were missing due to navigation systems reporting errors in database. Kansas remains a desolate system on the fringe of Liberty space and most tend to avoid it.
"What do you expect of this meeting?" - Anje opened comm channel to Doc's fighter. "It's been a long time since anyone was invited, but don't let it get over your head. There were many before you, yes, but times have changed and not for the better I'm afraid. In the early days there was even a part of their city specifically made to be inhabited by humans. It had artificial gravity, breathable atmosphere, and the architecture like you've never seen before, it was truly a marvel to gaze upon. It's all gone now along with the times when we, people like me, honestly thought of making a better way, filled with hopes of finding a new path... not unlike you in fact."
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Only once had Doc been to Kansas and he remembered nothing of it. He was a bit weary but otherwise OK. He brought a few stimulants with him should he need them.
He listened as Anje spoke. It sounded wonderful at first, a time when Nomad and human co-existed. He started referencing history in his mind. Humans coming to Sirius, invading space held by the Nomads. His historical reference was of Sol, of a time when no man in Sirius existed. He remembered "white man" pushing the Indian off of their lands, promises made and broken. Yes, he understood. He also knew he had little to offer.
For Doc, he had to succeed but he couldn't do it alone. People would kill him for suspected nomad activities. He pretty much knew it was no return at this point.
"We can't fail," he told her, "I feel that we feel the same on this. We aren't people of double tongues. I feel that for me to fail would be my end. May fortune favor the foolish I guess."
"Freeport 4. We'll dock here. One last stop, and the last human settlement you'll see for a while. Four hours should be sufficient enough to get everything done, you should get some rest and then we'll be moving on."
When Doc got out of his ship Anje was already at docking bay and arguing with another man, a Liberty official. Doc couldn't hear what the two were having an argument about. Eventually the man had enough too and left the hangar. Emissary approached John and told him to meet at main hall in three and half hours.
Later at designated time Doc found Anje at the main hall and they walked to hangar bay. Doc wondered if they have a culture, what it would be and how it is important in diplomatic affairs he is accustomed to in his own experience.
"Their culture is unlike ours, their values are very different. There are countless meanings we do not understand because there is nothing in our experience we can relate them to, no words in our languages exist to express. Best you forget what you know about human diplomacy, I know it will fail you there. If you want my advice: be who you really are, John, and not whom you're trying to be. It's hard to explain but you'll understand what I'm talking about. They are dangerous and for all their propaganda it's one thing Order got right. Dangerous, yes, but not beyond reason, except it's not ours and that's what most can neither figure out nor accept. I've been among them for many years and still it's all very alien. I do not know what you'll see there and how it'll end - it's different for everyone. Perhaps you'll even find more about yourself than you ever knew."
The ships left Freeport 4 and set course to Kansas jumphole. Although the system was discovered a long time ago there weren't many attempts to colonize it. From that time they found abandoned small base or what's left of it after presumably junkers took it apart, leaving only scrap behind. Anje set destination point straight at the dense cloud behind green gas giant.
"Stay close, it will mess up with your navigation systems." - Anje warned Doc. Indeed, Turtle Creek nebula had a lot of interference making navigation difficult, a pilot entering it could be flying blind and ion storms only increased as they went deeper. Somehow Anje knew exactly where to go to. Except for asteroids and periodic lighting storms there wasn't anything interesting, dull as it can be. Eventually Anje ship stopped and Doc halted engines too. As he was about to ask why they stopped the lighting struck on background and for a brief moment Doc saw a large object ahead of them. In that moment he instantly recognized silhouette - the unmistakeable shape of the Nomad jumpgate he had seen before in Coronado system. Anje's Sabre flew straight to the jumpgate and Doc followed. He tried to get navigation system lock on the object, but the ship's computer stubbornly refused to notice there was anything in front of them. Approaching it closer he noticed the gate was damaged, parts missing and one segment had its 'guts' exposed. Going through alien jumpgates was dangerous as it is, but going through damaged alien jumpgates was plain suicide for any sane explorer.
"The system on the other side had its local star ran dry not so (static) ago. There'll be a massive asteroid field right ahea- (static) -from a drop point. Once we emerge on the other side you'll stick to manual flight control, hit cruise engines instantly and follow. Re-route all non-essent- (static) -engines and just keep life support systems on. Navigation and communication systems will not work there at all. Turn on automatic repairs because it's going to be quite a miracle for this hunk of trash you fly to come through in one piece. Your only instrument will be your eyes. (static) -will be enough to send us both through but not for any- (static) -one-way path. So keep focused, stay close to me and you might make it through."
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Doc passed through the gate...somehow... He didn't remember Kansas. Only once had he been there and it was long, long ago. He had heard stories but nothing more.
There was Anje before him. As soon as she hit her cruise engines, he too hit his.
She was right. His navigation computer was erratic so he shut it down. He channeled the energy from it to automatic repairs as the radiation in the system got more dangerous by the kilometer. Auto repair and life support were it. As they flew, he started to get scared. "I hope this is worth it, John Henry" he asked of himself.
He followed her into an asteroid field. He was having a hard enough time flying through the heavy rads let alone dodging rocks but somehow, he was doing it. Ahead of him was a station. "Was this it?" he thought to himself. As he got closer, Anje disappeared from view.
"Anje! Anje!" he screamed but there would be no answer. He had no communications, no navigation and considering the amount of wrecked ships he had passed, he felt doomed. He only hoped that the station could dock him. To his luck and astonishment, it did.
When he got out, he realized how lucky he was. His Hawk had spots of skin missing. Strangely enough, the station was working. Life support was normal but he saw no one. He walked quietly, looking, wondering who may be around, a hand on his gun.
He saw glyphs and runes about the place, evidence that someone....or something... was here before but still he saw no one. A large room had a window looking out. The large window looking out gave him another chance to see what he had flown through to get here. It was then he realized that he would be there for awhile. Not being much of a technician and not having any communications, he prepared to stay a bit. Returning to his burned up ship, he grabbed his bag, a blanket and some provisions and brought them to a small room, possibly a crewman's quarters.
With the lighting still working, Doc took some food and had a meal as he lay on the bed he had created from what he had. As he ate, he began contemplating his fate. "What if I die here?" he thought, "No one knows I'm here." The only goods he had were what he had with him. At best he had 5 days worth of supplies.
He wanted to try and fix the com array but fatigue was getting the better of him.
"Tomorrow," he said, "tomorrow I will try it." Within a few minutes, Doc would be asleep.
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Day Two
Doc awoke. For whatever reason, he slept well. Still, he felt a it weary. Before venturing off to further explore his surroundings, he ate another ration. Without coffee, he was groggy. Still, he needed to figure out where he was and what to do next. One thing was clear, he was entirely alone.
He made a quick recording on his datapad:
Day two, somewhere in Kansas. It seems my host has disappeared. My ship is burned up from the heavy radiation of the system and I'm stuck here. I saw the remains of those who tried returning in system. I'm a doctor, not an engineer so this will be interesting. Hopefully this isn't heard if my skeletal remains are one day found here many years from now.
Doc made his way into the hallway. As he looked around, he noticed pads, many of them, in various places in the hallway. He noticed that as he got closer he "stuck" better to the floor. The further away, he felt lighter.
"Gravity pads," he said to himself aloud, "old school."
He noticed shortly afterward a deep chasm between where he was and where he wanted to go. He tested his theory. He took a running start and jumped, "floating" across the chasm. Losing his balance and equilibrium, he landed on the floor, sprawling about it. But, the landing wasn't so painful as he was lighter. Getting back to his feet, he walked slowly. Going between a gravity environment and a light gravity environment made walking slow and difficult.
At the next chasm, he again tested the gravity pads as they were close to and numerous at the chasms and their walls. He found he could walk firmly near them and, as he was now finding out, he would float gently down the chasm to the next "floor." Normal gravity in such a fall would result in certain death. But as he sat looking up, he realized that he couldn't get back up. The anti-grav was enough to float down to safety but not jump up and there was nothing to climb on.
"Damn," he said, "my food....my medical gear...it's all up there. All I now have is my datapad." He sighed, "Maybe I can find my way back."
He rounded a corner finding another room, much like the one he spent the night before in. It looked as if someone was there before...but when? On a corner table he found what appeared to be some toys from a child. A girl's doll, a hair comb and some items for the doll were there. Some clothes also hung in a nearby closet. Much of the room was untouched, as if whoever was here left in a hurry. He took pictures on his datapad of what he found as he kept a running record.
On a desk he found hand drawn pictures, pictures he couldn't explain. It looked like Nomads but also of humans. Again, he took pictures.
As he explored the station, he found himself more lost with each step. He could only go down and not up. He found items from humans long gone, logging each finding. From an explorer's point of view, it was spectacular but for Doc himself, desperation began to set in. He couldn't get to his supplies nor was he finding anything. By days end, he was hungry but had no food. He had no clue as to where he was. His datapad told him it was somewhere after dinner time. Going into a large chamber, he decided to save his strength and rest as he was exhausted. He ended the day the way he began it, with a log entry on his datapad:
Well, I'm lost and hopelessly so. I have no food, no supplies, only my guns and datapad. This station is weird. I find pictures of Nomads and of humans but find neither in reality. I just know that without water, I won't last but a couple of days here. I really don't want to leave Midori a widow with three kids."
He was too tired to realize that where he would sleep was a shrine of some sort. The many glyphs on the walls would show this.....if he could understand them.
Doc woke up to the beeping sound of his datapad. An external connection communication request?! Could it be the emissary made to the station too? Accepting the transmission datapad screen flickered a few times. The image and voice came through.
Ah, a lost visitor. Well, you've made your way into the humble abode. That is good. But now you must continue further, your supplies will not last long. There might be complications along the way, so you'll need a bit of help there given your dire situation.
Before Doc could ask anything the connection was terminated by the other side. Few moments later he received a map of the Shrine, albeit incomplete. The place looked like a twisted insane maze with paths intersecting, deep chasms and absolutely no sense of where is up and down. The map conveniently had a marker showing Doc's current location and his destination, but the path ahead was difficult - several areas had danger markers, perhaps indicating hazards to avoid. Others had motion markers indicating some kind of gravitation currents in the tunnels below. Doc would have to plan carefully to reach the core of the structure. Is there someone alive at this station after all? A glimpse hope however had a setback when Doc saw the 'sent' date marker at the message: apparently it was made about twelve years ago.
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Doc was confused. The map was, well, weird, but it was better than nothing. Doc was cranky and was developing a mild headache as he had no food or water. Making it worse, his med bag was far away and unreachable. He sighed in total frustration, "Try to remind me, Eris, that I did this to help humanity." Sitting wasn't an option so he found his feet and began following the map as best he could.
"Let's hope nothing has changed in twelve years," he muttered.
So he followed the map. The gravity pads he got to know well. It seemed the low gravity was helpful as he didn't have to exert himself as much. Dangerous obstacles he did well to identify and avoid save his encounter with a very large and still operating ventilation fan. He was able to get away from it's pulling but had to rest afterwards.
"Still working," he panted, after all this time."
Collecting himself, he continued.
By day's end he was as lost as he was before.....probably more so.
Frustrated, tired, hungry, thirsty and increasingly desperate, he remembered what his old friend, Malaclypse, taught him. He sat indian style on a floor, closed his eyes and concentrated. Pleasant thoughts filled his mind. Midori and their three kids. He smiled at the thought as he thought of them all playing together. To her, his being gone was typical as he worked so much.
He thought of Baffin and TAZ. Old friends, past and present. Yes, his mind was easing.
For how long? Days? Weeks? May be even longer. His memory was like the ship with holes sinking to the bottom of the sea. A prison cell was all he had seen for the time he could remember. Pain is all he felt in this captivity. Pain and constant struggle to remember things, any things, but as he tried to catch them they'd slip through his fingers and moments later he would forget. Just as he forgot how he ended up in this cell, what this place is and what was before. He has lost and caught his own name a few times already, but for everyone else he'd try to recall there were just distant whispers and the words were too quiet to hear. With each day passing it's a losing fight for the little things he could still remember. John. He inscribed it once at his shirt to make sure he would remember at least his own name, but then his captors put him into new prison uniform.
Doc woke up as he was dragged and forced to walk down across the corridor. His hands were tied and body ached at every step he was forced to make as the two guards held him by the arms. A painful and lengthy walk through dim lit corridors. The moment he'd slow down one of the guards would twist his arm and the pain forced to keep going. There was barely any strength to shuffle broken legs, any moment he could have collapsed. And all he could remember for now is the dark solitary prison cell, anything before that or how he ended up were clouded, cut off. Doc has already lost sense of time along with many other things, like a fleeting thought there was someone important to him, someone he cared about. Just shattered fragments of far memories echoing in a distance. Disjointed moments, momentary flashbacks. Names, places and events were wiped clean. As they passed through another corridor he saw a door - once in a while he'd be taken into the room behind it where they'd torture him. But they never asked a question even, never spoke a word, just methodically, clinically inflicting pain until he'd lose consciousness. But today they walked past it. Another corridor and finally they reached the destination: entrance into main hall. Approaching hall doors he could hear a large crowd behind them shouting. The doors slowly slides sideways and he is dragged into the large room. The crowed exploded loudly.
Traitor!
Betrayer!!
Abomination!!!
"Silence! Order!" - in response to public outcry someone at the far end of the room slammed the desk several times before the crowd finally calmed down. It took some time for John's eyes to adapt to the blindly bright lit room until he could see he's in an improvised court room. The hall was overcrowded, there had to be somewhere closer to a hundred packed tightly. And everyone had their eyes piercing him with sheer hate and grimaces full of despise.