It takes several minutes, longer than it took Fernando to walk to the Sex-Kitten Litter Box to get a troop transportation and escort to bring back Fernando’s prisoner back to the parking area. The prisoner is taken to the front of Fernando’s electric camper where he is stripped of his coat and personal items and then tied up spread-eagle across the front of it. Hondo examines the cane, the musket-derringer and lab-coat with the Sleeve-Gun mechanism inside it.
http://www.askaprepper.com/a-quick-draw-sleeve-gun-system-as-a-holster/ http://www.guns.com/2012/02/28/sleeve-guns-concealed-carry-with-a-trick-up-its-s
leeve/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeve_gun The Robot was on the ground in front of the Electric camper with Fernando’s foot on it.
Eventually the prisoner wakes up.
“Welcome to the world of the living, or in your case, hell.” Fernando tells him as the others watched on.
“Let Me Go! My People Will Get You All For This!” The ‘Lab Rat’* tells him.
“Your people have been trying to get you for the longest. But as long as I am in charge here, you are my guest. Despite their attempts to teleport you away, I have been jamming the signal.” Fernando tells him, “Now I warned you that if you continued to bother me that I will get vulgar on you but you decided to try to shot me. Word of advice, if you are going to shoot somebody, just do it. Your delay in just doing that to me is what got you into this mess. Now what is your name?”
“You all are going to die!” the Lab Rat tells him.
Fernando gives him a back-handed slap across his face, making him spit out blood. Then he tells him, “Wrong answer. Now what is your name.”
The Lab Rat remains silent, hoping it would buy him time to be tracked, found and teleported.
Fernando tells him, “I don’t have all day. I do have to a dinner to go to and then leave town. Now, you can stay here with the general or you can be the hood ornament to my ride. Which one you want depends on the answers you give to the questions I have. Now, let’s start over again. What is your name?”
The Lab Rat looks at Fernando and the others around him. Out-numbered and out-gunned there is not much he can do even if he was freed from his restraints. He drops his head and stares at the ground for a moment. “Roland... Roland-9.” He eventually answers.
“Well, Roland, if that is your name, let’s start with the basics.” Fernando tells him, “You got a lot of stuff in you. Looks like a Jarvik2000 heart, Cervical Disc implants, artificial finger joints, artificial bone implants in many areas of your body... I swear, you have more mechanical parts in you than your tin can friend here. Where you got them and what are you doing with
Zeti Reticuli technology?”
http://www.jarvikheart.com/products/ http://www.cervicaldisc.com/about-mobi-c/mobile-bearing http://www.houstonmethodist.org/orthopedics/where-does-it-hurt/hand/artificial-j
oint-replacement-of-the-finger/ http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/3-d-printed-bone-material-acts-real-bo
ne-custom-made-n656366 Roland just looks at him, wondering how his captor got all this information without use of fancy lab equipment he is probably used too.
“Enough of the person fact finding! Where are our people?!!” Jason lets out from the crowd. Fernando signals to Jason to come to him, which Jason does.
“Before I get to ask those questions, I need to know what he is. He is a lot more than just a name, rank and serial number. He is a person, one with rights that I will happily violate in order to get the information I want from him before I make him an example to the others not to cross the line ever again. Now one question I want answered is why was he in town collecting people?” Fernando says loud enough to be heard by all, including his prisoner.
“His kind has been plaguing the local towns and settlements for generations.” General Jastrey steps in, “Unlike a purge where whole families disappear, he or others of his kind come in at night and make individuals disappear. It is rare for them to come out during the day. Very rare indeed.”
“Hmph...” Fernando responds, adding, “So even if I let him go, he would not make it out of town, for towns folk would chase him down and kill him, and rightfully so.” He turns to Roland, “That is the most #$@!ed up situation to be in. Now, you giving me the answers I want or do I release your naked ass to these people and let them have their way you?”
“I am Roland-9*, Research Laboratory Assistant and Resources Gatherer for Hive 27-978634-A. I was sent to gather intel and bring somebody back with that intel. You seemed to have been such an appropriate target, and you did not run like the others did.” Roland explains. He then asks, “Who are the Zeti Recticuli?”
“I would dare say, the Zeta Recticuli would be your boss, those who employ you for their tasks, and gave you those things inside your body as this droid is of their technology. They have been plaguing mankind with human abductions for hundreds, if not thousands of years. To them you are just a drone, sent out to do things they do not want to do because of the danger of getting caught, like you did, Roland. Now, how far is Hive 27-978634-A?” Fernando explains and asks.
“157.5 Metric Clicks from here.” Roland answers.
“157.5 Metric Clicks? You mean Kilometers?” Fernando asks.
“If by that standard, correct.” Roland answers.
“That is 75 miles, it would make it the first town nobody goes to.” Fernando points out.
“What about the people they have abducted?” Jason shouts out.
“I hope you can read, because I’m about to throw a book at you.” Fernando tells him.
“What the hell you mean by that?!!” Jason all but shouts at Fernando.
“
Sun Tzu’s book, Art of war Part One - Laying Plans, Number 18: Know thy enemy as you know yourself. Finding those lost long ago will be impossible if you do not know who you are dealing with.” Fernando tells Jason.
“How long have they been gone?” Roland asks.
“Between five and eight years ago.” Jason leans over to Roland.
“Those who disappeared long ago were not by us or by Hive 27-978632-B. Slaver Purges were responsible for the disappearance of those you may be seeking.” Roland explains, adding, “If they are still alive.”
“Explain why they would not be alive?” Fernando asks.
“When they purge, the Slavers kill most they are purging. Only the young and females are saved for their enslavement purposes, and even then they limit those they can take because they do not have the resources to feed and house those they had captured. Lord Biggus does not keep those he cannot use or sell.” Roland explains.
“The Slaving and Purging days are over. Lord Biggus is dead.” Fernando tells Roland.
“That information is some of what I was looking for. But I need more. How it happened, when it happened, why it happened?” Roland points out.
“I am what happened to Lord Biggus. They came to purge the town and I set up a trap. It destroyed two of their airships and Lord Biggus’ command tower with him in it. And the thing is, Roland, I would have sat down and talked about peace and trade with him. But no, he wanted all the power, he wanted all the money, he let his greed get the better of him and it killed him. I and the army here only did what we had to do to defend ourselves. And defend ourselves we did. Now we are in peace with the former slavers.” Fernando explains.
“I see.” Roland says to himself.
“Let me ask you, what would happen to you if I send you back, in this condition?” Fernando asks.
“I would be debriefed and decommissioned.” Roland answers.
“Decommissioned? Why?” Fernando asks.
“Because I failed in my mission, my construct was destroyed during the mission.” Roland explains.
“I assume that they can read. You will give them a note which will say if they want peace and share in the prosperity with this town, they are to send you and only you as their representative on meetings with this towns’ leaders.” Fernando tells him.
“How can you differentiate me from any others in the hive?” Roland asks.
Fernando holds out his open hand to Roland and points out, “The hand, the fingers, even the toes on the foot, even the blood vessels in the eyes, have a unique pattern to them only to that individual. Twins, clones and drones do not have the same set of patterns, and it cannot be duplicated artificially. So every time they send a representative, they will be medically scanned to make sure it is you.”
“They may not agree to it.” Roland tells him.
“Their choice is to do as asked or end up dead like Lord Biggus and then we will make peace with those who remain.” Fernando explains.
“Let’s hope they agree.” Roland explains, “Not for me or my life, for I am just a drone and drones are expendable as our lives are short, but for all of us involved.”
“We will see about that. But before any promises are to be made and you sent back with a message to give them, just one more question.” Fernando tells him.
“Ask and I will answer truthfully to my ability.” Roland answers.
“If you know, one of our own disappeared earlier today. A female by the name of Val, mid to late 20’s in age, long reddish brown hair. What would you or the hive know of her disappearance?” Fernando asks.
“I am sorry that I cannot answer for I do not know of anybody fitting that description.” Roland says.
“How do you know he is not lying to you?” Jason tells Fernando.
“He has his ways. If he lied, he would have smacked him.” Hondo tells him.
“Then, have you or the hive noticed any strange or odd activity that could have been connected to a person’s disappearance?” Fernando asks.
“Don’t know if they are part of someone’s disappearance, but there is was an airship in the area. It was not a Slaver’s airship as those tend to be huge in size. This airship was much smaller, faster and maneuverable. I only heard that air pirates use small airships. Perhaps like me, they were looking for information about the battle you won over the slavers.” Roland explains. He then asks, “I have a question for you.”
“Ask, and I will tell you no lies.” Fernando tells him.
“How am I being kept alive?” Roland asks, adding, “Disconnecting me from the hive would have meant my destruction.”
Fernando pulls out a handful of micro-charges by their wires, “These things will not be a threat to your life anymore, which leads to the next step in identifying you - when you come to represent your hive, you will not have any more micro-charges in you. This insures that you will return and not be a danger to anyone. Putting back in those micro-charges, or sending a replacement in case of your future natural demise with embedded micro-charges will be an act of war. If they want peace, then they will comply. If they want war, then they will die.”
Roland nods at him before asking, “Can I ask for your name?”
“All you and your hive need to know is that I am ‘The Doctor.’” Fernando tells him. He then turns around and takes a few steps, telling those around him “Take him down and return to him his clothing. Give him some food or drink if he so requires it. He is my guest until we leave this place later tonight and he is sent home. Let’s hope his leaders will agree to the terms.
Fernando continues to walk away with Hondo and General Jastrey a few steps behind. Jason trots up behind to catch up to them.
“You are going to let him go just like that?” Jason demands for an answer.
“You got your answer - The Slavers got your loved ones if they did not killed them. And Slavers only keep the young and females alive, so any adult males that they purged are out there somewhere dead.” Fernando tells him.
“And how do you know he is not lying to you?” Jason demands for an answer.
“I have my ways.” Fernando tells him, adding, “Like you are not telling the truth of your loved ones disappearances. They have disappeared, but you know something you are not saying about it.”
“I told you everything. I do not have to give you the details unless you agree in helping us out.” Jason tells him.
“If you want me to help, you should have said everything truthfully. Withholding the truth is itself a lie. And that is where I got you.” Fernando tells him.
Jason stares at Fernando in anger.
“My decisions still stands, I am not going to help you.” Fernando tells him.
“Leave us alone before I tell my men to put you under arrest.” General Jastrey tells him.
Jason stands there as the three of them walk away.
“Jefe, thanks.” Hondo says.
“Thank me when it is done and over. I was just following a hunch. Nothing more.” Fernando tells him as they stop by the Treaded Tank-like vehicles - the Kharkovchanka.
“Fernando, answer me this...” General Jastrey asks, “When I met you long ago, you were crueler and more vicious than you are now. Is there something I should know?”
“Hmmm... How can I say this without upsetting the balance of the universe?” Fernando asks before he answers, “Fernando you know is from the future. I am from the past, since before the Happening. That Future Fernando lived through that, and is somewhere on Earth on this present day. I was taken from before the happening and put into this Time to help find and rescue somebody. But that Fernando from the future lived through all this, so when you saw him, he already knew what was going to happen because it happened through me. So if he was crueler and more vicious, there is a reason for it. I am more calm and understanding, but that does not say that I will kick someone’s ass if needed, because, as you seen me do, I will put somebody down to get things done and rescue people as needed. Maybe future me would have incinerated Roland into ashes but current me will think about frying someone’s ass to dust. Now, if he would have lied, your men would have been cleaning up a mess I made with his artificial bones.”
“I see. It makes sense now. He had always blamed what happened on the Texas Spirits but he also said that the course of events have to run to its natural end.” General Jastrey explains.
“The less I know, the better things will turn out.” Fernando tells the General.
“Meeting will start in less than an hour. I need to talk to the expedition leader. You two are welcomed to come join me.” General Jastrey tells them.
“We will meet after the meeting. I have some work to do.” Fernando tells her. “Let’s go, Hondo. I got to get the laptop running.”
*Notes:
‘Lab Rat’ is just a name Fernando is using for this ‘criminal.’ He is not a Rat-type wessen or mutant. He is just an augmented human person.
‘Roland-9’, Roland for short, is a clone as per the clued statements he makes.
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After Chaos (Read 185875 times)
