Homesick
Chapter Thirty-One - The Puppet in the Web

To: UNSS KELTHY

Location: System UV-1 via Spatial Rift, Planet Currently Named New Ontario

Mission: Initial Investigation of Spatial Rift, UV-1 System and Planet New Ontario.

Nature of Notice: New Quarantine Regulations in Light of Recent EVA activity.

By Order: Doctor R. Poole

UNSS Kelthy is ordered to cease normal use of virtual reality transmission equipment, recreational facilities, and any other uses of this technology unless special approval is granted from authorized personnel or until further notice.

UNSS Kelthy is also reminded that the radio silence order previously given is still in effect and will continue to be enforced without exception. The crew is also advised that this order now extends to communication with government and military personnel. If necessary, all radio equipment is to be set on receive mode only. No further transmissions to Earth or any Earth-based sites of any national affiliation will be accepted until official authorization is given. Any attempt at such communication will be noted as a violation of international law.

Failure to comply with these ordinances can result in criminal prosecution of the perpetrator under international laws regarding treason and space piracy.

+++++++++++END OF NOTICE++++++++

The printer had engaged automatically, cranking out a paper-based version of the notice that glared in harsh letters on Sally’s console. Hard copies used up precious paper, which was not to be done lightly. Automatic printing of text transmissions only occurred with the most official Earth documents. The thought was that hard copies would convey more status and would make the messages harder to overlook. Sally crumpled the paper into a ball immediately after reading it and threw it in the direction of a waste receptacle near the window. It floated slowly through the air, hit the wall, and gradually scraped its way down. Sally stared at the identical message on the console screen a few moments longer, as if expecting some further explanation. None came. She glanced up at the painting of Tower Bridge, wishing she could be back there on the Thames.

Then she mentally shook herself. She was not the only one feeling this. What about Ian? Did his wife know he’d returned from the planet? Did she even know he went to the planet? And what about Vladimir’s daughter? Last Sally knew she was at some university in Moscow. How could she study, not knowing if her father was alive or dead? And this was to say nothing of Scott and his family! Worse, she had no idea what information had been disclosed and to whom! Did Earth even know there was a problem? She felt a knot of frustration build up in her stomach.

When the door chime rang Ian’s face greeted her in the window with an expression of mild concern and perhaps resignation. Vlad was beside him, but his attention seemed to be elsewhere.

“Scott’s waking up now,” Ian said. “Vlad thinks we’ll be able to understand him.”

“Won’t be perfect yet,” Vlad said, turning to her with a take-it-or-leave-it expression. “But you were right. It is language. Though how he knows it, I don’t __”

“Fine!” Sally said, not looking at Vlad. “Let’s go.”

Anderson hung in an upright position, the thick, white spacesuit he was bound in looking eerily like a cocoon. His arms were tied securely behind his back and his legs were strapped together. The suit itself was connected to the walls by thick elastic cords radiating equally in all four directions, adding to the illusion that he was an insect caught in a web. He wiggled uselessly against the restraint and looked at the three with confusion.

“Scott,” Sally began. “Do you understand us?”

He looked to her, surprised and relieved. “You hear? Good! You hear me! You understand now, don’t you? Did the Masters teach you?”

“No, you did. Do you know where you are?”

He reflected for a moment, searching for the words.

“You’re on the Kelthy, Scott,” Ian said. “Do you remember the Kelthy, Mate?”

“The can of beer we’ve been fermenting in since we left Earth,” Vlad mumbled.

“Do you remember Earth, Scott?” Sally asked.

His face twisted in frustration. He struggled again with his suit.

“Earth,” Sally repeated. “Your wife Carrie, your daughter Emily, your son Michael, and little Toddy. Do you remember them, Scott?”

He struggled harder, as if she were rattling off a list of tortures she’d planned for him while holding a hot poker under his chin. The veins in his neck began to stand out. He stared at Sally, suddenly wracked with pure terror. “Please, I can’t! Don’t make me, please! Home! Please send me home! Masters! Brothers of Love! Help Me! Take me back!”

“We’re going back home, Scott. We’re going home to Earth.”

“No! Please no!” He panted uncontrollably. “There!” He jerked his head towards the window. “Please, home! I miss home! Masters! Brothers and sisters!”

All three of them unconsciously took a step back, unprepared for the sheer volume of his desperate shrieking. He pulled hard at the restraint and Sally could hear it rip slightly.

“Scott!” Sally shouted. “Who are the Masters?”

His face brightened. “They protect us back home. They give us everything we need! They guide us and love us. They love us so much!” A tear escaped his eye and rolled down his cheek and his face twisted into a smile that was uglier to Sally than the gaping hole in his chest had been.

“Did you meet the Masters?” Scott asked. “They can help! They’ll help you understand! You can join us! They said you could come! Wouldn’t that be great? We could all be there! Just call to them. They’re so wise, they’ll know what to do. They could rescue us all! Please! Call them! Talk to them! They’ll make it all so much better!”

Ian, Sally, and Vlad exchanged astonished looks.

“Will you call to them? Can you? Wait! I was here before.” He looked around the room, his mind doing mental gymnastics. “I got there somehow and they rescued me. Let’s do that! Somewhere around here . . . Somewhere here there was a way to get there! It was a room somewhere . . .”

“The shuttlepod?” Ian asked. “It sounds like he’s describing the shuttlepod.”

“Yes, that’s it!” he cried. “Let’s go there! We can all go see the Masters! They can help us! Then we won’t have to wait! Yes, we can save so much time if we don’t have to wait for the Builders! We can be there today, can’t we? If we leave now, I don’t think it would take that long! Let’s go!”

“Who are the Builders?” Ian asked.

Scott grew frustrated, struggling with the suit again. “We’re wasting time! We can still get there today!”

“Who are the Builders?” Sally echoed.

“The Builders build things!” he barked, as if it were a stupid question.

“What are they doing that we’d have to wait for them?”

“We don’t have to wait for them, that’s what I’m saying! We can leave now before they have to come rescue us! We could save so much time!”

“They’re coming here?” Sally snapped to attention. “When?”

“I don’t know!” he whaled. “They’re trying. Mistress Obiiilion said they’d try! But that could take forever! They can be so slow sometimes! But, if we just go there now it won’t matter! If we just go now!”

“Scott, listen to me!” Sally commanded.

He looked confused.

“Scott! I need you to understand this.”

He shook his head in annoyance.

“Scott, listen!”

“Scott,” he repeated, as if trying to sound out the word.

“That’s you,” Ian said. “Do you know that?”

“What?”

“That’s your name,” Sally said. “Scott Anderson.”

“Look, we’re wasting time!” he growled in frustration. “The wheel! I need to go turn the wheel! Please, let’s go! If you don’t want to, just let me! Please! Why didn’t you just leave me alone in the first place?”

“You’re Scott,” Sally said. “That’s your name! Scott Anderson!”

“No it isn’t.” He motioned to his chest with his chin. “You saw my name, didn’t you? I’m *&^%&*^%^.”

Sally winced as the alien sound stabbed her ears. She looked to Vlad, who was already staring at his handheld.

“Say it again,” she said.

“*&^%&*%^. Now can we go?”

“Ahh!” Vlad shouted. “I see now. It is not a word he says. It is not a word, so the computer didn’t understand.”

“What then?”

“A number,” he said with mild interest. “Now try.”

“What’s your name?” Sally asked.

“4702!” he shouted. “My name is 4702! That’s what the Masters call me and that’s who I am! Now please! Things must be slowing down without me! The Masters!”

“Scott! 4702, whoever you think you are, listen! You don’t have to go back there. Don’t you understand? You’re free! We’re not going down to that planet ever again. We’re going back to Earth!”

“Noooooooooooo!” His screaming and wailing were quickly punctuated by convulsive struggling. His face became beat red and sweaty. With a ripping sound, his left arm broke free and swung wildly at the air. Sally dove to her supply cart and grabbed the injector she had ready. Scott seemed to know what it was and struggled violently in protest, sending his entire body into a wiggling dance. Ian grabbed his free hand in an attempt to hold him still, but instead found himself lifted from the floor and thrown in all directions like a stuffed animal.

Sally grabbed the collar of his suit, trying desperately to nullify his motions while she aimed the injector at his neck. But, even with Ian’s weight providing a buffer, she too ended up losing her balance and riding him like a bucking bronco. Finally, Vlad clung to his waist and planted his feet on the wall behind him, pushing his body taunt against the elastic cords. This provided just enough stability for Sally to regain herself. She triggered the injector with a snap. The struggling slowed and stopped almost immediately. When the three settled on the floor in various areas of the room, Anderson looked like a puppet that had been hung up hastily with no regard to the position of its hands.

Sally stared at him in disbelief.

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