MIRATHATON The Last Colony Chapter VI

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I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X VI | Deep Look   On a daily basis, Da’ud dealt with the living and he had high hopes that this would remain so. He did not like handling the dead. The dead did not need encouragement or comfort, their time was up. He had studied the funeral rites of various religious directions, not to please the departed but to help those left behind find closure in faith, because that is what they asked for. For most of them it did not matter, what it was he believed in, as long as he knew what he was doing. If they happened to meet him on some out-of-the-way planet or stranded between the stars in a remote sector, they would ask him to perform a blessing or late ceremony to honour their deceased. They were desperate sometimes, big clans of a hundred individuals in slow, old ships that had been in search of a new home for generations. They would not turn back to find a priest, they kept going. Da’ud never claimed to be a holy man, merely an erudite, who had special services to offer. The magic of the ritual unfolded without the specific theology, he had learned. Prayers came naturally to those as well, who did not believe in gods or the next world. Actions and words mattered, so he prayed with them and for them and while doing so, he taught them to redirect their thoughts, so that they would realize their united voices were strong enough to lift themselves out of their misery.   Asári had brought him into the morgue on more than one occasion and he had expressed his reluctance with the task that he was given. He reminisced their conversation, while he was looking down at the visual stray field obscuring the body of the man, whom he was having it with.   »Why do you want to make a doctor of me so badly?« he had asked. »It feels like barb wire run through the heart.«   »Because wherever you go, you are always the adult in the 63

…room, Da’ud.« Asári had answered. »You do not enjoy it and that is why you should do it.«   »Oh friend.« he sighed now. »You knew me so well.«   Grabbing the edge of the silver screening with his fingers, he lifted it off the face for only a second, but dropped it again instantly. He had not had the sense of clamping the body’s jaw shut earlier. With his eyes closed and his hands firmly around the frame of the table he tried to steady himself as the absence, which Iniu had so accurately described, made him feel dizzy.   »Ark?« he said.   »I am here.« Ark answered.   Da’ud took a deep breath and straightened himself.   »How can I help?« Ark urged.   »Give me a screen right over here.« Da’ud said after a moment of contemplation and indicated the location. »Virtual only. Com overview.«   A holographic panel flickered into light by his right shoulder and small frames started popping up. He picked one of the monitors and magnified it to full screen.   The monitor connected him to Ethaï’s quarters, as if through a window in the upper corner. If she only raised her head from the pillow, she would be able to see him, looking down at her from a virtual screen on the wall. Maybe she had already noticed him, but did not bother to acknowledge his presence. He was checking in on her regularly like he had promised he would and she had not blocked his access, which he appreciated with gratitude. While she simply lying on her side with her arms around her and her legs bend like someone suffering from a stomach ache, Da’ud was trying to be honest with himself. He did not have the energy left to worry about what she was up to.   He became aware of a shadow moving in from the corner of the screen. A creature of the height of an eight year old child with long arms and the face of a dog, its body covered in dark short fur, approached her. Tawani walked slightly bend over on his hind legs, supporting himself occasionally with his human-like 64

hands. He approached Ethaï with caution as if asking permission in gestures only, then crouched down before her and took her hand in his, like a child clinging on to their mother. Da’ud was convinced that Tawani knew many things humans could only believe in. On the emotional level he had never underestimated this little ‘Ani.   They were an indigenous species of Edu, where they co-existed with a tribe of ancient humans. A unique prophecy that bound the people to a pledge of tolerance and protection of the irenic ‘Ani and the magnificent forests their packs inhabited defied any philosophy of ultimate power abuse. The Eduans were strong on their principles and they had banished anyone who had challenged their way of life in the past six centuries.   Twenty years ago Tawani had emerged from the woods as ‘Ani sometimes do, being a curious and fearless people. On his journey through the wilderness, he met a boy who was not expected to live long enough to make his family treat him any more presciently than they would a short term guest, and he made him his ally. The boy with no future was given or rather lend a pair of strong legs and the will to survive through his friendship with Tawani, who would carry him on his back until after a couple of years later, when the boy had grown too heavy to lift.   Iniu now walked securely on his own legs thanks to Asári. He had grown tall and strong, something he had never thought possible. When he had to leave his homeland however, it was unbearable for the friends to be separated. Tawani became the first and likely only one of his kind to ever travel to other planetary systems. One had to know him well to see that he was aware of the magnitude of this record.   Da’ud switched to another screen where he could look in on the team that had begun sweeping the ship. It would take them weeks to finish the documentation but approaching the task in the most proficient way had them so focused that they did not notice him peeking in at them from the corner.   Next, he switched to the monitor from the bridge, where 65

Canon was idling in the pilot’s chair.   Only a week prior, they had been here, travelling into the opposite direction, not knowing that not all of them would be around on their return. They had reached a safe distance from the Naxos system days ago. Warning buoys had been dropped to inform ships travelling into the opposite direction of a new, unrecorded military conflict. Word had been sent to the council with the news of the fresh civil war.   Then Mirathaton had simply dropped anchor way off the frequented travel routes. There they had assessed the damage, which was greater to the crew than to the ship and they had done their best to fix both. It was here in the vast blackness, that his friend had decided to die. Off the road, with no star to light the way and no planet to name the address, a pitiful location made of coordinates and nothing else.   They would be stuck here for some additional days, since they did not know where to go. Yet, there was a rule that someone had to be present in the cockpit at all times, even though Ark could have handled the operations on his own. They would need to review some of those regulations, now that they had sadly fallen short on crew members.   »Canon, I will start procedures shortly.« he announced without introduction. Canon turned his face up, thrown off guard by the unexpected intrusion.   »Aye.« he gasped reflexively. »Do you want me there?«   Da’ud would have liked someone there but he declined.   »No, I will send scans of the implants and their placement over to your work desk.« he said businesslike. »You can start looking at them from Nerve Centre.«   »Thank you.« Canon said sincerely.   Da’ud felt much better after exchanging these few words or at least he did not feel as lonely anymore. He flipped the screen from the body and called on Ark to open the examination menu.   He had never done an autopsy all on his own before and he had to ask Ark to run him through some of the more explicit 66

operations. Just like with most of the ordinary surgical procedures, he did not have to hold the knife himself, but had Ark perform the precision work. During a standard determination of the cause of death it was sufficient to perform a deep scan. This one did not unearth anything unexpected as far as Da’ud could tell. While the automation ran, he decided to start from the top of the list.   »Give me a model of the scene.« he ordered. Ark reproduced the room, where the body was found, from the data he had collected in the short moment between reconnecting and engaging in counter measures. A three dimensional model appeared at Da’ud’s eye level. He rotated it to an angle he found most comfortable. This was how the room had looked like maybe half a minute before he had entered it the day before, with small representations of the ones present at that time. He zoomed into one of the corners of the room to make sure it was indeed an empty template box with white lit walls, floor and ceiling. The light level was acceptable for standard settings. There was nothing strange about the level or composition of the lighting.   »Any records on his personal monitor?« Da’ud asked.   »Negative.« Ark said.   »I feared as much.«   »The monitor has not been recording since our departure from Naxos.«   »Footnote that.« Da’ud ordered. »What does the crime scene sweep say?«   »The room was cleaned at the last reorder.« Ark answered.   »Meaning right before this template was set up.« Da’ud concluded.   »Correct.«   »Show me.«   The scene model was drained of its colours and markings appeared on what now looked more like a cast made from plaster. There were spots and streaks of red, blue, green and yellow all around the three figures in the centre of the room. Tiny 67

annotations were stuck to the different layers of colour. Da’ud folded his hands with his index fingers pointing out and put them to his lips in an exerted effort of focussing on the data.   »Remove Ethaï from the model.« he said. The figure that was standing a little aside from the body vanished.   »And her correlating DNA traces, foot- and fingerprints.«   A great portion of the coloured markings disappeared.   »Now remove Iniu and all traces.« he ordered. The figure clutching the body was cut out of the overview followed by a big chunk of data.   »Can all the remaining traces be assigned to Asári?«   »Affirmative.« Ark answered.   It should not have been surprising, yet it was for Da’ud. He did not think there would have been a reason for Asári to wander the room, lean against a wall to steady himself while he was reconsidering his options, but it would have been the human thing to do. The evidence showed that Asári had entered through the doors, walked in a straight line to the centre of the room and had died there without so much as turning on his heel.   »I figure the medical examination will confirm that the time of death would be about the same time he entered the room, about the time he deactivated the surveillance.«   »That is to be expected.« Ark said. »I shall compare the information once all the procedures have been concluded.«   »I don’t suppose he just stood there on the spot wringing his hands for several hours.« Da’ud said dispiritedly.   »There are no indications that he did.« Ark said.   Da’ud nodded quietly and put his hands to the model again to zoom in on the neck of the only remaining figure.   »Do we have the specifications for this item?« he asked.   »Affirmative.«   »Reproduce.« Da’ud ordered. Within a few seconds the system had printed an exact copy of the rope that had been deleted at the scene. Da’ud picked it up and examined it with forced neutrality. According to the analysis it was made of regular fibre materials 68

that were used in construction and was 9 millimetres in diameter. There was some elaborate knotting on top of the sling and two small knots where the rope would have touched both sides of the neck.   »There was no ladder or box in the room?« Da’ud pondered as he ran the knots of the rope through his fingers.   »Negative.« Ark answered.   »Nothing he would have climbed on top of?«   »There may have been an installation.« Ark said. »But the logs do not show any activity during this time frame since the surveillance was inactive.«   »I know that.« Da’ud said. »But if there was an installation he climbed on and then deleted, he must have had access to the system from the inside of the room.«   »That is correct.« Ark said patiently.   »Any chance that records of activity have been hidden inside the isolated subroutine?«   »I will look for it.« Ark said. »It could also have been a timed deletion.«   »Then he would have needed to create an item with a timed deletion cycle.« Da’ud countered. »There must be a safe slot.«   »I will look for that as well.« Ark said. »But if I were him, I would simply have turned the gravity off and on again.«   »Of course.« Da’ud said embarrassed and a little hot under the collar, as Ark seemed to have let him run wild with speculations without restricting him sooner. »I am neither a tech expert nor have I ever thought about hanging myself. So, excuse me if I’m wasting your time.«   »My time is unlimited.«   »Well, mine is not.« Da’ud said. »I don’t try to be a bother on purpose. It is just very important to me to be thorough.«   »You requests have not been bothersome.« Ark said calmly. »Being thorough means examining all possible options even if they sound unlikely.«   At that remark Da’ud cooled his temper and let the possibility 69

sink in that this might have been the way his friend had killed himself. It was so easy, that it would only have taken him seconds to do.   »This deed was executed with precision and total lack of hesitation.« Da’ud wondered as he stared into the model of the scene, holding the rope in his hands.   »Admirably, if it had been a scientific project or a technical improvement.« Ark said.   It was not in Da’ud’s interest to scold Ark for sharing his thoughts. His assessment was, in fact, pretty defining. He squeezed one of the knots on the rope he was handling and fell silent as he thought about its purpose.   The blood flow to the brain had been interrupted, it had been done neatly and quickly. The neck was intact. The accuracy of the execution was very much what was to be expected from a man who had been a brilliant cyber-medic of universally acclaimed repute. He had known exactly where to put the pressure in order to end a life, the location of the biological light switch.   »Why?« Da’ud asked under his breath. »Like this?«   There were a hundred different ways to do it. Being a medical professional, Asári would have know how to go quietly, painlessly and peacefully. He had not talked about what had ailed him, he had not given any indication that he had thought about it. Even if he did not want them to worry, why would he choose to hang himself? This was archaic, even for someone who appreciated the ancient ways. It was the death of a criminal or a traitor, a method of execution that was not even practised anymore in the most backwards societies known to men. It did not make any sense.   To his friends, who had to see him like this, it felt like a punishment for some offence they were not aware of committing. Da’ud knew Ethaï’s reaction was more than a consequence stemming from the loss of Asári’s company. If he had just died, she would still have known, how he had loved her. But by exposing her to this sight, he had revoked their friendship as unexpectedly as a knife in the back. And she did not know why. 70

Before she could get angry, she had to find out.   »Save this model and our progress for later.« Da’ud said and returned to the examination as soon as the model was cleared.   No symptoms of disease or neurological defects, that might have explained his seemingly irrational behaviour, was found but the visual inspection showed that there was some recent bruising and superficial abrasions as well as a broken toe that had already begun healing. Those minor injuries may have been sustained during the accident a week ago. They were inconsequential and in all probability the patient had not even noticed them himself. Da’ud felt nonetheless obliged to document them.   They could have put him in suspension and set course for Wegaios and everything would have been taken care of by a team of professionals at the Academy of Science or the Temple of Health, but then there would be questions and Da’ud wanted them to be in the best position to answer them. If anyone had thought at this point that someone else had been responsible for the death, he would have quickly taken the case to the authorities. However, Asári had revoked any legislation Wegaios had over him, the moment he left their jurisdiction. Out here they had no power, even if one of their citizens had been murdered. Da’ud did them a favour as well as his duty.   To him, the thought, that one of them could possibly be a murderer, was ridiculous. Thinking himself the most dangerous person among the team, did not prevent him from at least considering it for integrity’s sake. In any case, it would take them at least fourteen days uninterrupted travel time to reach Wegaios. There was no reason to let the time go to waste, if Ethaï decided to set the course.   He was so thorough in his examinations, that hours had passed before he had even ordered the first cut to be performed. He made sure to observe every possible test, even though he would not be able to run diagnostics on all the results due to lack of time and expertise. He would let others take care of that should the need arise. 71

Medically there did not seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Considering the patient’s age, the body was in good shape. Sixty years was far from elderly but it was an age, when men of certain disposition might put on weight and become slower. It was also an age, at which the youthful pool of energy starts to drain and ambition turns into patience. Asári had fought against the beginning symptoms of this development, successfully for the most part. It had been only half a life. He would never get to share his wisdom again.   Da’ud was 15 years younger and often felt like he had neither energy nor patience left to spend. He rubbed his burning eyes, exhausted from work and staving off the thoughts of what his friends last moments must have felt like.   »Gene mapping complete.« Ark said. »Toxicology complete.«   »Let me see it.« Da’ud said and the report opened on his screen. He studied it through squinted eyes.   »Well.« he said in a beaten tone. »I have no idea what I am looking at.«   »Do you wish me to explain it to you?« Ark asked. Da’ud shook his head.   »No, I will let someone more knowledgable look into this.«   »Understood.« Ark confirmed.   Da’ud checked the time. There was really nothing more he could do to procrastinate.   »Have all the implants been catalogued?« he asked.   »They have been catalogued and the specifics have been forwarded.« Ark answered.   »Good.« Da’ud sighed. »I guess it is time to…«   »If you want me to do it, I will.« Ark interrupted. Da’ud frowned in surprise, but he hesitated.   »Do you think it will be fine?« he asked.   »Of course it will be.« Ark said. »I will act very professionally. You do not have to worry.«   »I really don’t want to see this.« Da’ud said, who felt extraordinarily worn out at last. He seemed to have synchronized 72

with Eduan philosophy that claimed, that pieces of a living soul would break away if they looked at a corpse too closely. Acknowledge without pondering, they advised. It was one of the cultural peculiarities that Da’ud thought unhealthy but not unwise. He realized that he had suffered more than his fair share of pondering already. »If you could make it fast and clean…«   »I will perform the task with the highest degree of care and efficiency.« Ark said, while he began to construct generic med-bots to aid him in the next and final procedure. »I shall begin when ordered.«   Da’ud took a step back as he watched the med-bots rising from the floor fully equipped with all kinds of terrible tools.   Lastly he looked at his friend one more time. He knew that the sight would be burned in his mind forever, so he did not linger. He turned his back and ordered Ark to proceed.   In the meantime, he chose to prepare blood samples for preservation by mixing them with plasma and sealing them into small designated containers made of unbreakable materials, while he was listening to the distinct sound of eager sonic scalpels behind his back. He could almost physically feel the pain in Asári’s stead, cut open by the sharpest knives technology had invented, muscles and sinews slit open to remove the artificial enhancements. His face would be broken apart, these sharp and animated eyes would be no more next time Da’ud dared to turn around and look. For a long time he stood idle, waiting for the moment that could not be postponed any longer.   »Extraction complete.« he heard Ark say. Da’ud turned around and sighed in relief. The body had already been wrapped up in white fabric like a human sized cocoon.   »You will never know, how grateful I am for this.« Da’ud said with a low voice.   »My pleasure.« Ark replied. Whether this response was merely rhetorical or whether Ark understood what he had spared Da’ud, was hard to tell. He had not been asked to wrap up the body, yet he had done so, like a friend would. Da’ud wondered who had 73

taught him to be so considerate.   The med-bots were standing still on each side of the table, waiting for instructions. Between them he spotted a tray with the already cleaned implants, they had extracted. He counted a dozen in number, of all shapes and sizes. Some were so small that they had been placed into suspension containers, so they would not be lost by accident. The largest was the size of a hand.   »Are those all he had?« Da’ud asked.   »These are all the implants registered in the scan.« Ark confirmed. »Did I miss any?«   »I don’t think so.« Da’ud said. He had come closer to inspect the devices, only a mere two or three of which he recognized. »Do you have the patent signature files?«   »Only five of them include a patent DSF.« Ark informed him.   »Any matches in the internal data base?« Da’ud wanted to know. »Designer logs? Blueprint archives?«   »Negative.« Ark said.   »Unusual?«   Ark seemed to have difficulties processing the question for it took him a second longer to answer it.   »It would be considered unusual in regular institutions.« he said at last.   »I assume they are all inactive.«   »Affirmative.« Ark said. »They have been deactivated.«   »Pack them up securely and transfer them to the motor room workshop. Canon will look at those once his shift ends.«   »Understood.«   The med-bots started on their new task immediately. One of them began packaging the devices in newly printed stackable boxes, while the other rebuilt itself into a transport unit. Da’ud collected the containers with the preserved blood on a tray and exited the surgery. In the office the triangular table had given way to a work desk on which a large chest stood, ready to be stacked with the items, objects and records that would be sent to Heliopolis.   »Create new ship’s internal appointment.« Da’ud said loudly. 74

»Funeral rites for Durante-Asári, Mechentis of Mirathaton.« he dictated while checking the time. »Twenty-two hours from now. Atrium.«   »All hands?«   »All hands.« he confirmed and calculated how long the sermon would take to time the bridge opening perfectly. He then notified Ark of the time and destination and asked for an energy calculation relative to the mass and size of the transferable object.   He was tired and would have liked to sleep, but he knew that he would not be able to. Though he did not feel it yet, he was shaken. He would become aware of it the moment he laid his head to rest, today and for a long time coming. 75