A fine line

ThirdEye Memory 134437: We’re standing on the beach, huddled under the thatched pagoda. Diane and I are alone. Her long black hair is wrapped round her face and lashes her mouth, as the wind rushes past us, fleeing the oncoming storm. She brushes strands from her eyes as we watch the thick, dark clouds grind towards us, and wait for the inevitable deluge. We both jump as the first crash of thunder reaches us, heralded by a forked strike of lightning out at sea. Our shelter seems to shake with the noise and heavy rain drops begin to fall. The smell of charged ozone blends with the musty wetness of the rain on the beach and nearby roads. She huddles close to me, partly from the cold, partly from fear but mostly, as she told me later, because she saw an opportunity. I tell her I love her for the first time.

“Jake. Jake!” the voice shook me from my reverie and I switched off the ThirdEye memory scanner with a thought. The beach disappeared and I was back in the bar.

“What the hell were you doing man? I swear, if you were watching that damn beach vid again, I’ll have that chip burned out of your brain.”

“Let it go Scott”, I growled. “I’m back, all right. Ready to go.”

“You’d better be. I think you’re getting worse man. The beach, the lab. It’s always one memory or the other. I’d be happier if you were hooked on stims or good old-fashioned booze.”

“Enough! I said I was good and I’m good. Peapod will be here in a few minutes, so let’s review the budget.”

Scott looked at me for a second, perhaps trying to judge if he could push it further, then pulled up the trip accounts through his ThirdEye. “We’ve already made our costs back tenfold through the sales of the electronics to the Patrovans. You can afford to go up to 10 million for this. Double that if you want to use all the profits up.”

I grunted. Scott placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m good if you want to spend it all man. I know what this means to you.”

“May not mean anything. PeaPod was cryptic about what it was bringing.”

“As always. Don’t read too much into that. But don’t get your hopes up too much either.”

“I know. But this is it Scott. I’ve spoken to every race about this, and nobody has an answer.”

“Or nobody’s willing to answer.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that. Maybe us lowly Earthers aren’t developed enough to use this tech. I’m getting sick of this ‘you’re not developed enough’ shit.”

“You’re just tired man. How long you been doing this? Three years with me, 4 or five with Stef Bowles. That’s like eight years. And it’s taking its toll. I see the stim packs and you are spending way too much time with ThirdEye.”

I pushed my hands hard into the bar, fists clenched.

“Whoa man. This is exactly what I’m talking about. What are you going to do, take a swing at me?”

“No. No, I’m good. I’m sorry. It’s just…”

I dropped back into my seat. “Godammit. It’s her 34th birthday Scott, and I still can’t help her after all this time. I think I’m done. I don’t know what else to do.”

“Allright man, it’s ok. Maybe it’s time, you know? If this doesn’t pan out then let it go. I know it’ll be hard but she wouldn’t want this. Take all that money you have and move on.”

“Maybe you’re right”. Then I cast that fake smile I can churn out on command. ‘but maybe today’s the day, right?”

“Right. Do you want me to grab you another drink before the meet?”

“OK. Usual for me. Order one of those green things PeaPod likes and get it taken to our corner table.”

“Roger that.”Scott got up and strode across the bar using that half walk, half bounce we adopt when we’re in the low gravity environment of The Diane.

ThirdEye Memory 1894289: We’re coasting towards the alien spacecraft. The scale of it is frightening. A one kilometre long spear with a fat rotating belly, like a pig on a spit. We figure gravity in that space would be about one sixth of Earths. Like the moon. Except this is artificial, and crafted by something not human. It’ll be 12 hours before images of our discovery make it back to Earth, and our claim for this ship to be registered. Amongst all this alien mystery and wonder, I feel ashamed that I can’t stop thinking that Diane and I are now the richest people in the solar system. She doesn’t know it yet, but I’m naming this alien prize after her. She’s smiling at me, as I start undressing her…

Scott returned from the bar with two beers, with a look that said “I know what you’re doing.” I dropped my head and switched off ThirdEye.

“You know man. I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but I hate your bar. I know the aliens love doing business here, but it’s got no atmosphere. And the worst thing is the smell. Or the lack of one. It doesn’t smell like beer or smoke or stim or sex. It smells like nothin’. Those damn alien machines clear up every spill, every molecule that they don’t like. It’s like being in a hospital”

I nodded. “Cleanest bar in the solar system.” I raised my glass. “Here’s to it.”

“Right you are”, Scott smiled and clinked his glass against mine. “I don’t want you living here anymore man. You know what they say about people who live in this place? They say they’ve given up. Don’t have a place back home anymore, so they just gaze out at the stars and wait for the end. That’s no way to live and it’s not for you buddy. No more after this.”

I lowered my head, trying to think of a response. Scott grabbed my shoulder.

“Here we go, boss” he said motioning toward the entrance.

The Skarn had entered. Its hulking green body slid along as its many short legs pulled him forward. Diane had named it PeaPod and that described it perfectly. As always, PeaPod was hunched over, like a crescent moon. Its thick, scaled, algae-coloured back protruded nearly a metre behind its flat head. I had no idea how it heard or smelt but the two bulbous orange eyes saw us easily. It spread its three central arms wide in greeting, like an amorous tripod. We stood and stretched our arms out in response. As it came towards us, a large box following it, gliding just above the ground.

I guessed that PeaPod had about twenty short legs motoring away underneath him. For such a big creature it moved swiftly, surprisingly well balanced. “Greetingssss Jake Benton” it said, looming over me and tilting its body slightly to the right in a gesture we interpreted as respect. I mirrored it. “Greetings” I said in return. Shall we go to our table?” The Skarn waved its central arm in assent. I nodded to Scott, who, as always, accepted his lack of acknowledgment with cheerful aplomb.

We went to the corner table. The Skarn’s drink sat in what could politely be described as a large glass, but more accurately as a bucket. I sat down on a chair, just a bit too small for the table and waited for PeaPod to settle. It didn’t sit, but did drop slightly as its legs folded underneath. It leaned forward, putting its flat face against the bucket and drank. I guessed it had a proboscis or something like that but I’d never seen it. I distracted myself from the slurping with a quiet sip from my glass, and checked that Scott had moved into position against the wall opposite the table. He could cover the door and render assistance to me if required, although the only time I’d ever needed help was when dealing with other humans.

I’d learned that the Skarn did not care for niceties in conversation. “You have something for me?”

“Yesssss”. The translator dragged the word out. The first time we met I had assumed it was an issue with the software, but learned that PeaPod liked to distinguish itself from others of his race by deliberately butchering our language. I found it somewhat endearing.

The Skarn gestured and the floating box opened. The angle was such that I was the only person who could see the contents.

“Is that…?” I began. “It looks like…Is it? But I can see inside!”

“Itsssss a Capsule.”

“No. Impossible!”

ThirdEye Memory 1923434: I’m watching Diane from outside the lab. We’re both screaming. She’s being dragged into the artefact we call The Capsule. I can’t even get the door open before she’s gone. Locked away in blackness. We can’t figure out what caused the accident. We can’t repeat it. We can’t see her. We can’t tell if she’s alive or dead. An unwilling participant in a science experiment or abstract art. There’s no way to know. It’s the last memory of her face I have.

I take a deep breath, shutting off the unwanted and unrequested memory. “Wha…what is that inside?” I could actually see a creature trapped inside this Capsule. It looked blue, although colours were hard to resolve as the air around the Capsule shimmered like a mirage. It was a metre tall, teardrop shaped. Its eyes were open, above a slit mouth. It didn’t blink or move of course, still immaculately preserved, possibly still alive. Seven or eight tentacles with long fingers at the end extended outward and one grasped a stick. Like a weapon.

“Itssss from the world you call Marsssss. We retrieved it from there.”

“No. No way. There is no life on Mars.”

“It lived 600 million of your yearssss ago.”

“600 million? How is that possible? How did you find it.”

“It wasssss buried a kilometre below the surface. We recovered it.”

“A kilometre?” I must have looked as rattled as I felt. Scott was signalling to see if I needed assistance. I waved him off. “You couldn’t have found it that deep by accident. You detected it? That’s impossible.”

No answer

“You can’t say. Ok. I understand. But you’re here for a reason. How is it I can see into the Capsule? Does it wear out? No. Not after 600 million years. So… did you do this? Oh my god. Can you turn it off?” I was aware of my voice raising in pitch.

Silence.

“Godammit” I stamped to attention, leaned on the table, fists clenched and glared at the Skarn “Why are you here? You want me to buy this? Is that what you want? How much?

“What do you want?” I whispered. “Please tell me”

“Doesss Jake recall finding my ship outside this space station and meeting usssss for the first time.”

“What? Yes of course I do. You were repairing it when we saw you. We gave you some parts. What of it?”

“I wassssss not repairing. I was preparing to detonate my drive core.”

“Detonate? Kill yourself. Why?”

“There wasssss no hope. I could not repair my craft and my atmosphere was failing. Your partsss secured my life.”

“We saved you? You’ve never mentioned this before.”

“We don’t acknowledge…until we can pay the debt. We always pay debts to friends.”

Friends? I’d never heard of any Skarn using that word before. I looked into the fishbowl eyes. Friends?

“Thissss issss not a sale. It is a debt repaid. A gift for a friend. Like for like. Hope for hope.”

I swallowed slowly. “You detected this. You know how to find and deactivate a Capsule.”

“The inssstructionssss are being communicated to you now.”

I’m still standing there with the box after PeaPod has gone. Scott came up to me.

“Are you ok man?” He looked at the box. ‘What the psycho hell is that? Jake? Jake?”

“That’s hope Scott. Hope. Even more than that. It’s a promise.” I looked at the 600 million year old Martian and wondered if it had ever been on a beach in a storm. “Now. Let me introduce you to my new best friend here.”