Time to talk

Posted on Sat Aug 31st, 2024 @ 8:55pm by Commander Kevin Lance
Edited on on Tue Sep 3rd, 2024 @ 4:24am

Mission: Deep freeze
Location: SB Neva
Timeline: Current

on:
{Faereyjar, 1100 AD}

"Mira, what are you doing out of bed?" Zimia asked her

Mira frowned. "KeVin is no longer in it, so why should I be?" she shook her head at the question.

Zimia hummed. "That's not how a meant the question. You have been hurt and abused. You should be in bed resting. "

Mira nodded, looking away. " I asked KeVin about the winter preparations. And he said we need to get on it. Besides, the snowstorms will be upon us soon, and if we do not get things done. We will starve."

Zimia frowned. Even this version of Mira has to do everything on her own. "Kolar is playing with Venus. Awal and Dianna are watching over them. When they come in, I'll take care of Kolar."

"Thank you, Zimia. I will be back before evening meal. Sooner if we got enough meat. Have Jesup check in with the fisherman. Make sure they are smoking the fish. Is Beck handling making the sausage?"

Zimia nodded. "There should be a large amount this year."

"Good, it will go wonderful with the potatoes. " Mira smiled and kissed Zimia's cheek before leaving the kitchen. Zimia frowned at least she would have hunters with her. She turned back to the grain she was grinding.

It didn't take her long to know she wasn't alone in the room. Looking at the doorway, she frowned at seeing Kevin. "The lady Mira has gone hunting my lord."

"Against the better advice of both of us," Kevin pointed out, "I intend to check the outer nets in the fjord. Normally, I would have Lady Mira accompany me, but as she is busy, the task falls to you."

Zimia was taken aback by his request. Kevin had always done his best to avoid contact with her, but now he was actively seeking to get her alone? She remembered his behavior towards Sheridan in the mines and another on the water world and wondered if he was planning the same treatment for her. If he was, she would claw his eyes out.

"The children need someone to look after them," Zimia protested.

"I have arranged for Dana to attend to Kolar and Venus," Kevin said.

The dumpy armswoman? Zimia was surprised. The children would be safe enough in her charge but were liable to be feral by the time she returned.

"I am asking politely," Kevin continued sternly, "but I will make it a command from your Lord if you so desire."

"No, my Lord," Zimia answered resignedly, "I will attend you." She grabbed a heavy cloak and followed Kevin down to the docks. He kept a respectful distance from her and mostly ignored her presence as they walked in silence, their footsteps muffled by the snow. His performance of feigning disinterest in her was excellent, and few would believe her stories of being assaulted by Kevin. Zimia hoped that Mira would be amongst those who did.

They continued in silence as Kevin pushed the fishing boat into the water and rowed out into the fjord. Zimia sat in the back with the extra netting, eyeing him warily as her hand fidgeted close to her dagger. They were well away from the shore, far enough for their words to be unheard when he spoke.

"Tell me what you know of Chuck Norris."

Zimia eyes widened she had never been good at what they called a poker face. Had he taken her out here to drown her? Fine, she thought! "The actor or the ship. my lord?" She emphasized the my lord part. Since they weren't here to attend the nets, she dropped them.

"The ship," Kevin answered without missing a stroke of the oars, "I remember serving as Executive Officer under Captain Rodale, but how we got into our current prBedicament i have no recollection."

"Oh," she gave a little sigh, so that's who she was dealing with now. "We were taken by 'the masters'
We are all being tested to see who each one of our races will respond before they either destroy that race as being to much trouble or take them over and turn them into ....." she searched for the right word. "battery's to power thier ships" she looked around. "Right now, they are testing to see what environment would provide them with the most energy and keep us docile. This is my 6th test that I remember. There could be more. Right now, we are tucked way in cryo chambers. This all isn't real. We aren't here."

"So a simulation but not a mechanical one," Kevin mused, "Would explain not finding boundaries or interfaces. And you think that we have gone through tests in six different environments? How long do you think it has been?"

Zimia frowned. "Over six months..... Mira had almost gone through...." she looked away, then frowned."Her pregnancy."

Kevin was taken aback by the revelation. Clearly Mira's contraception wasn't working if she had gotten pregnant. He wondered if his was but was too embarrassed to discuss his personal life with a junior officer. Instead, he covered with another question

"You mentioned they are looking for a balance between output and compliance. What caused them to change test environments? Any common themes in the previous five attempts?"

Zimia rubbed her forehead. "Main players dying. People going crazy and attacking. Us not being able to deal with that environment. The desert was bad, the water one was too hard. Plus they add these horrible things to test our strength. The water one had our enemy be people that lived in the water. Desert had worms. the cavern had you."

"What do you mean 'the cavern had me'?"

"It was two resets ago," Zimia looked away out over the fjord, "The crew was forced to work in mines and you were an Overseer, doing the Masters' bidding. You were cruel, brutal and tortured people." She turned back to him and fixed him with an icy gaze, "Me especially."

Now, it was Kevin's turn to look away. He was capable of acts of great cruelly but he felt that he was mostly kind. To Mira, to Kolar, and the crew. Well, he was strict but fair with the crew. Certainly not cruel. But given what he had done to Cravis and Saeihr, maybe brutal and cruel was his true self.

She sighed. "Mira has been killed a few times, but each one is very clear to me. If we get out of this their are going to be a few problems with you and at least 3 female crewmen. " she folded her arms and frowned at him.

The comment was odd. "Why would there be problems?" Kevin asked.

Zimia frowned. "You slept with them.!" She looked angry. "How do you think Mira is going to deal with that as she walks down the corridor of the ship. oh, look, there was the first one. second, third, and those are only the ones I know of. " She shook her head. "Sheridan doesn't remember yet."

"You said three," he said, "Who else besides Sheridan?"

"Bryne and Throne," Zimia practically spat the names out.

Kevin wanted to bury his face in his hands but he couldn't let go of the oars. A blonde, a red-head and a raven-haired. Along with Mira's brown tresses, he was becoming quite the collector, he though cynically.

They were silent for a minute then Kevin ventured to say, "I have no memory of what I did but I can't imagine that I would have cheated if I was in full possession of my facilities."

Zimia frowned but adjusted in her seat. "Ok there was times Mira didn't remember you too not at first. On the desert planet, both of you were in different tribes. There was a battle with swords. Somehow, the two of you came face to face on the battle field. She had defeated you but before she made the killing blow she recognized you and stopped. I remember freezing thinking things would work out some how. We had found her but Mira was run through and died in your arms. By some woman that seemed to know you." she shook her head " The water planet was when she was pregnant. " She wiped tears from her eyes. "just be good to her ok." Her voice broke "what else do you need to know. I have really lost track of time but i am going by Kolar's changes in size. She was far along in the pregnancy." Zimia frowned "we were on that water world 6 months or at least it seemed that long. The baby was kicking. I remember laughing with her about it." She sighed "I am rambling. Sorry commander. It's just been a long time since I have talked about all or this."

Having arrived at the outer fishing nets, Kevin shipped the oars and with Zimia's assistance, pulled in the nets. All the while, he thought about what she had said about Mira's pregnancy.

Kevin knew the weight carried by Mira over the loss of her pregnancy with her first husband Kolar and how it had colored her relationship, for both good and bad, with their genetic child. Now, with the loss of a second pregnancy, albeit under unusual circumstances, he wondered how she would react, assuming they escaped and remembered anything in the simulation. Zimia's retained memories indicated that was a possibility but she might be a special case.

Kevin had considered asking Mira about adding to their family but with her promotion to Captain it seemed impractical. This Mira certainly seemed receptive to the idea but with the threat of reset by the Masters was it really a good idea?

And there was also the question of how events in the simulation affected their bodies in the real universe. If they had a child here, would that child exist in reality? Would the loss of a child born in the simulation be any easier to bare than the loss of a pregnancy? It was all giving him a headache.

The nets collected, Kevin turned the boat back towards the village. "On the water world," he said as he rowed, "when Mira was pregnant. Was I the father?"

Zimia nodded, "you had your memories but she did not. All the air breathing people lived on raft villages. Our group had gone to trade when you saw her. Of course you had to fight someone to win her but after spending some time with you she was happy you did. And before you ask no she was not upset you fought for her. She just didn't know you."

It seemed that Kevin had done a lot of fighting. Was that what provided the power that the Masters desired? "You said that Mira was six-months into the pregnancy when the Masters reset," he asked thoughtfully, "What was happening during those months and what changed just before the reset?"

Zimia frowned and looked away "Mira was killed in and attack. Our little village was attacked and ..... " She sighed "We tried to keep her safe and hide her. Reluctantly she agreed and hid but one of Nemous' men found her and pulled her off the raft. She drowned. I catch her watching the water warily then before she loved it. On the other resets....." Zimia frowned "I wasn't in the area of the mined. Did she get killed in the fight? If so then she is the reset. It would make sense as our leader they set it to her."

"I don't remember the mines," Kevin replied, "but what you are saying makes sense. Like the Masters benefit from the conflict around Mira and when their golden goose dies, they need to reset."

Zimia frowned "Mira isn't a goose. " Then she thought about the earth childhood stories "ya the prize. So we keep her safe and no more resets!" she looked happy but her smile turned into a frown "but that also means we can get home."

Kevin nodded, "Based on what you remember and what I was able to...coax...from Cravis, this isn't a physical simulation that we can escape from. It is more like our consciousnesses are interconnected in a computer matrix. I don't know how we can escape without outside assistance. Maybe search for inconsistencies." It seemed hopeless to Kevin. Best that they could hope for was to keep Mira alive and safe until they could be rescued.

They were close to the shore and Kevin told Zimia, "I need you to keep what you know to yourself. Kronnelti and Trace seem to know but as much as we can keep the reality of what is happening from those who have their memories suppressed, then better our chances of avoiding a reset."

Zimia gave Kevin a sour look and was about to speak when Kevin continued, "Yes, I know what I am asking. I don't like denying Mira her true self either. But for the moment, it is the most likely way to prevent an unexpected reset."

"I told her somethings already other wise you wouldn't have know to ask me. I wasn't going to talk to you. But fine what's Mira always say 'ignorance is bliss' I hope she thinks that when this is over. If she gets made at me. I am tossing you under the ship." Zimia told him but let him help her onto the dock.

:off

Commander Kevin Lance
Executive Officer
USS Chuck Norris