The Colony Ship Eschaton: The entire ten book series, page 65
She slid nearly half way to the bottom of the ramp before she rolled over and stood up. Jamie wiped the dust off her hands, face, and clothing. She wished for some foam sanitizer, an idea she had not had since coming to the colony ship. The dust on her hands bothered her. Jamie squatted down and looked at the clean swipe her dive had made. The floor had once had bright yellow painted stripes across the slightly rippled permalloy ramp, but the paint was faded and only visible where Jamie’s body had wiped the dust away. No one had been down this ramp for a long while before these events. She could see the small footprints of Tamar in the dust, and the larger footprints of Shammai. The ramp completed its noisy descent and lay flat again in the floor as Jamie made it to the bottom. The area was lit by some electrical lights from recessed places in the ceiling. The area reminded Jamie of a vehicle garage in Dome 17. This place was nowhere near as dusty or dry as one of the vehicle garages which opened outward from the dome, but it had the same kind of feel. She looked around at the hexagonal storage bins, the permalloy cargo crates, and the tarp covered machinery, but there were no obvious vehicles. She had half expected to see a desert crawler or other fusion powered vehicle here. On her several adventures to inspect other domes of the dying Earth she had driven those vehicles, and she was reminded of the radiation absorbing materials, goggles, and other gear she would have worn to keep safe from the dangers of Earth. She thought of those vehicles which had been assembled by the AIs of the dome for use exclusively outside. They would never enter Dome 17 itself. The outside gear would have been incinerated as she passed through the elaborate procedure to reenter the dome. It puzzled her a bit as to why the memories of adventures in the toxic dust of Earth were now so vivid in her mind. 'Maybe it was sliding down that dust?’ she thought to herself. Bringing her attention back to the present she looked for Shammai and Tamar. No one was visible. But there were many hiding places in this large garage.
Suddenly The Voice said in loud and clear tones, “Want to play a game?”
25 Round one of the games
Jamie halted. She immediately recognized The Voice and knew something bad was coming. She had experienced this kind of game before, and a chill went down her back. She stepped behind a large crate and looked around to watch for what was coming.
Shammai had no idea where, or who The Voice was and replied, “Who is there? I am Shammai, and am here to claim my wife.”
Jamie looked around the edge of the crate. From his speaking, she now knew roughly where Shammai was located, but she could not see him.
“There are two test subjects in this game. Subject A is the male. Subject B is the female. This game will employ stimulus and response situations to help establish a baseline for a behavioral phenotype. Subsequent to these games, advancement and refinement of test subjects will take place,” said The Voice.
“Where is the female?” Shammai yelled out. That was about the only part of what The Voice had said which he understood. “Whoever you are, bring her to me immediately.”
The entire area went completely dark.
Jamie squatted down and made herself as small as possible, not knowing what was coming next. Shammai on the other hand started to billow in rage. “This darkness is unacceptable!” His tones were creaking in fear. “Return my wife to me, and I will leave without doing you any harm.”
“Test subjects will proceed to the illuminated corner of the testing arena,” The Voice said. A small light popped on in a distant corner.
Jamie crept slowly around the crate to see if she could catch sight of Shammai. She still knew roughly where he was from his yelling. But her mind was also pondering what The Voice had said. It had said there were two test subjects, a male and female. ‘So where is Tamar? Is she the female? Or am I?’
A loud blaring sound reverberated through the area, then quit. “Test subjects have ten seconds to reach the lighted area or aversive stimulus will be applied. Proceed now to the lighted corner of the testing arena.”
“Who are you?” Shammai yelled out. He had put the sling away and had pulled out his rod of correction. He was holding it before him and turning around in quick circles looking for the maker of the words he was hearing. But there was no physicality to The Voice. “Show yourself! You coward!”
“You have five seconds to reach lighted corner of testing arena, to avoid aversive stimulus,” The Voice stated.
Jamie did not like the sound of ‘aversive stimulus’ after her previous encounters with The Voice. But she wanted to get the drop on Shammai. She sidled along the sides of crates and the covered-over machinery working her way toward where it sounded like Shammai was located. She rounded a corner and could just make out in the dimness what she thought was the figure of Shammai.
“Test subjects have failed to comply with instructions. Aversive stimulus level one applied.”
Both Jamie and Shammai screamed out in agony.
An electrical shock surged through them. They collapsed to the floor in separate heaps. The rod of discipline rolled out of the quivering fingers of Shammai. The electro shock only lasted a brief moment, but the pain was intense.
As soon as Jamie’s hands felt like they were working again, she wiped the blood from her mouth. She had bitten her tongue when the shock hit her. There was not excessive blood, but it hurt significantly.
“Test subjects will now immediately proceed to the lighted corner of the testing area. Aversive stimulus will be applied at increasing levels until compliance is achieved,” The Voice stated in its cold artificial manner.
Shammai got to his feet quickly and stumbled toward the lighted corner. He did not think about the lost rod of discipline. His heart was pounding in fear, because in his mind he was in the clutches of a demon!
It took Jamie a bit longer to get to her feet. She knew somewhat more what she was dealing with, and still wanted to see where Shammai was. She saw him heading for the light and followed down between rows of crates. Shammai entered the lighted corner, and stood looking around.
“I am here! Where is my wife!” Shammai yelled out. “Tamar, come over here or the demon will strike me again!”
Jamie stepped forward and called out to Shammai, “I don’t think Tamar is here. But I am.”
26 Let the games begin: Round one
“You!" Shammai yelled and reached onto his belt for his rod of discipline. It was gone. He looked down and then remembered it had been lost when he was shocked. Jamie made her move while he was glancing away.
She rushed forward and swung a hard kick toward Shammai’s knees. He looked up just in time to leap out of the way by twirling sideways. He then pulled the bone knife from its sheath and glared at Jamie who was crouched and facing him.
“I told you what would happen when we met again," Jamie said. She was remembering all the times Shammai had hurt people she knew, especially the boys Jacob and Joel. “There is nowhere for you to escape now. And I am no little boy for you to bully around."
Shammai held the knife before him, and replied, “Abhorrent woman! You have no weapons, and you do not have a man to shield you from my wrath this time. Now is the time to purge your evil from my life!"
“Halt!" The Voice cried with overly loud intensity. “Test subjects cannot harm each other. That is a violation of the parameters of this game. Immediately cease hostilities.”
Both Jamie and Shammai stepped back a bit.
“What are you?” Shammai asked, not taking his eyes off of Jamie.
“You will drop the weapon immediately or face expulsion from the game,” The Voice stated.
“I said, what are you? Are you demon?” Shammai’s hand was beginning to shake as he held the knife.
“Yea, it's a demon and you will be possessed!” Jamie said in a low mocking voice.
“Aversion stimulus will be applied to both test subjects if the weapon is not discarded immediately,” The Voice said. That was followed by a very loud screeching sound. It was painful to hear.
Shammai threw the knife to the metal floor. “Well it is clear you do not control this demon.”
“Neither do you. This is not over!” Jamie snarled at Shammai. Jamie and Shammai glared at each other in mutual dislike.
“Test subjects will now begin forced swimming game.”
The lights went off in the garage area. A large door opened in the wall, and orange light flooded out. Inside was a chamber where the floor gently sloped downward into a long rectangular pool of water. There were numerous hoses and pipes and fixtures projecting from the walls. To Jamie it looked like a place where vehicles might have been sanitized, but she was surprised to see the large pool of water. It was several paces wide and at least a few dozen paces long. The orange illumination from the ceilings reflected off the water’s dark surface. At the far end of the pool was a platform and another door.
“Please enter the chamber and stand by edge of the water. Do not enter the water yet. Game will begin shortly.”
“Demon, where is the woman who came here?” Shammai demanded. “I must know.”
“The human has departed through tunnel 876Vc3,” The Voice replied.
“I must join her! Take me to her!” Shammai yelled. “I will not do anything but follow her.”
After a brief pause there came an answer. “An interesting tangent to this test is the question of aversion as compared to reward. You would like to join that human?” The Voice asked. “Would you like to join the human?”
“Yes!” Shammai cried. “She is mine!”
“You cannot let him get near her!” Jamie interrupted.
“Interesting conflict between test subjects over the human."
There was a long pause, but finally The Voice stated, “Adjustment to game accommodated. Whichever of you win the games, will be rewarded. I will assist the winning test subject in joining the human,” the Voice said. “But you must cooperate with the games.”
“What happens to the one who loses?” Jamie asked.
“Losing test subject will remain for further testing and refinement.”
Jamie stepped into the chamber with the pool of water. The Voice had mentioned ‘forced swimming’ and Jamie had no idea how to swim. There was never enough water in Dome 17 to waste on swimming. Shammai followed. The door sealed behind them.
“The first test subject to reach the exit door will win this section of the game. You may begin now,” The Voice stated.
Shammai rushed into the water and dove head first and began taking strong strokes with his arms. He was far ahead when Jamie waded into the water. She rushed ahead as much as possible, but was soon chest deep in the water. Walking was hard. She looked ahead and saw Shammai making steady progress forward with overhand strokes. As soon as he made it to the center of the pool, a loud mechanical sound started and the water began to flow directly at them. Jamie felt the water pushing at her and she nearly lost her footing. She waded over to the edge of the pool and grabbed hold. There was just enough of a lip on the edge for her to scoot along the edge and against the flow of water.
Shammai was stroking the water with ever increasing vigor as the water rushing at him made progress more difficult. He was still pressing ahead, but at a minimal pace. After some time, Jamie’s movement along the edge had caught her up to where Shammai was swimming. But he was nearly at the end of the pool.
Shammai reached the end of the pool and pulled himself up onto the platform. He was exhausted. Jamie reached the end a moment later, and began to climb. She was tired, but not as exhausted as Shammai. He saw her pulling herself up onto the platform and he stood as quickly as he was able. He was panting hard from the swimming, but as Jamie pulled herself out of the water, he shoved her hard and ran for the door. Jamie slipped and fell back into the pool, while Shammai reached the door and sat down against it.
Jamie floundered in the water for a bit, but the pool suddenly drained away very quickly. She was left standing in the middle of the pool, water running from her clothing.
“Test subject A completed this game. Test subject B did not. Ruling for this section of the test is that test subject A only won by inhibiting test subject B. Test subject A is declared winner of this section. Let us play more of the game.”
“No!” Shammai yelled. “I have won this game of yours; now take me to my wife.”
“Ruling is final. Testing will continue until game is completed,” The Voice replied.
A small door in the wall slid open and a silver automacube came rolling outward. Its appendage was holding a metal tray with a bowl of fruit on it. Setting the fruit bowl down the automacube retreated into this storage area.
“Nourishment is provided. Please consume food for continued testing and completion of game,” The Voice stated.
Jamie walked over and took several pieces of food from the tray on the automacube. Shammai refused to get near the machines. Jamie sat down, her clothing still dripped with water, but she ate the fruit anyway.
“I will not eat from a demon’s table!” Shammai yelled. “I must find my wife to take her home!”
“Test subjects are not required to consume nourishment. But it is recommended,” The Voice stated.
27 Round Two
Jamie ate several more pieces of fruit, and her clothing, which had been manufactured by Kurat in medical, was nearly dry before The Voice again called them to the games.
Shammai had refused to eat. His homemade clothing was still soaked with water. He glared at Jamie, who never took her eyes off of him.
“The test subjects will now begin the second phase of this game." The door to the garage area opened again, and the lights were extinguished in the room with the water pool. “Proceed into the testing arena for further instructions.”
Jamie walked through the doors, while not turning her back on Shammai. He grudgingly walked in as well. The lights in the garage area were lit, but only at about half of the illumination they had had previously. There were many more shadows and dark places in the large area.
“This is the goal,” The Voice said and a spotlight lit up a round platform at one side. They could see it down the long row of crates and containers. On the platform sat an object which shimmered in the light of the spot light, casting a spectrum of multiple colors on the crates, and items around it. “The object of this game is to recover an intact rainbow stone, like the one illuminated. The rainbow stone consists of four parts: one red, one blue, one yellow, and one white. Two complete rainbow stones were disassembled for this game and the parts hidden in this testing arena. The first test subject to successfully assemble one of the hidden rainbow stones and place it with the one on the platform will win this part of the game. You may begin.”
“Wait! I am sick of these games. I am Shammai and not a child! This is belittling to me. I demand to be released!” Shammai yelled out while spinning around and gazing about. The words of The Voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
Seeing that Shammai was distracted, Jamie quickly jogged down the aisle toward the displayed rainbow stone. She wanted to know what she was looking for. It was an object about the size of her head, and indeed it was made up of four quarter sections: red, blue, yellow, and white. In some strange way they reminded her of the automacubes, but she was not sure how. Looking back down the aisle, Jamie saw that Shammai had not moved but was still turning around expecting an answer. So she darted down a dimly lit section and started her search.
‘It looks like The Voice has some control of the automacubes here, so I will assume those are what hid this rainbow stone,’ Jamie thought. ‘And they are fairly maneuverable, so...’ her mind raced with the possibilities of where the parts could be hidden. She made her way back to the place where the ramp up to the habitat was located. She would consider this as the starting point, and search outward from here. Again Jamie was reminded of the times she had been on missions to the failed domes on Earth. Those she carefully searched in methodical ways and had been successful in finding the various secrets of those domes and why they had failed. 'How much harder can finding some rainbow stone be than evaluating the death thrones of one of those domes?’
She looked, listened, felt, and even smelled for clues. After walking for a bit around several objects, one of which was a large machine with huge permalloy blades, she squatted down to think. Upon inspection of the dust on the permalloy floor, she could see the wheel marks of where an automacube had passed. She decided to follow them to the left and carefully walked along those wheel marks. Soon she saw that the dust was more disturbed in front of a large object covered over by a tarpaulin. The automacube had apparently spun about on its six wheels. By pulling the tarpaulin to the side she could see that underneath was a large engine of some kind, perhaps an old style generator. It was too dim to discern the exact function of the engine. And right on the edge of that generator was a quarter section of the rainbow stone. Pulling it out, Jamie could see it was white in color. ‘Now I know how to play’ she smiled to herself as she followed the tracks in the dust.
