( Read the previous episodes of Journey to Centauri.) |
Journey to Centauri : Episode 31 part 3 Camera D76B54 opened it shadowy narrow field of view to Captain Garland. This was a hidden eye, not known to most of the crew, trained on bales of valuable synthnetting. He saw the bales, their shadowy bulk, strangely blurred as if seen through a cataract. And then he made out a tight narrow blob of flesh, hands pulled to sides across a chest that was thin but in the strangely defocused view of the camera still had the look of tension and strength. He shook his head slightly. The man seemed bound, held by...Wires? Organic restraints...a security tool. Holding a man, naked, held in the shadows against dark wrapped bales of synthnet. And another form watched him, pacing, nervous, sometimes stepping into the light to reveal a female crew in the uniform of the security team. He caught a glimpse of her face, her eyes hardened but with a flicker of nervousness in them, like a ripple in a deep well. Garland punched the Identify panel and watched as a pale green mesh wrapped her features and then streaked and faded, ghostlike, as she moved on, the computer unable to get a feature lock. Now she stopped and watched the bound figure, staring quietly. The two seemed to speak. Garland couldn't see her face but abruptly her whole body began to slacken, her muscles loosening. She watched the bound figure, which now seemed to dominate her, sucking power and light from the rest of the room. She grew agitated, defensive, as if warding off a blow. And then, shaking with physical effort, she began to lift her weapon, turning it, slowly, toward him and then toward her self, toward her own face. Garland noticed his own hands trembling, his lungs paralyzed, trying to change events that had already passed. She pulled the trigger. He watched her jerk back from the concussion, strangely silent, over a distance of space and time he could not cross. The bound figure watched her for a moment, then moved forward, bending over her. He took a key from her and released his bonds. He stood and let out a deep breath, then walked out of the room. He seemed to hunch his shoulders, avoiding the general direction of the hidden camera. But Garland had marked him, had caught a glimpse before the man had released himself. Sheng-ji Yang.
Next episode will be posted...even sooner! |
