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IV

Kidnapped

At 0900 the next morning, I arrived at the Khorchan ship, as promised. (This was a subtle dig at the Khorcha concerning what they did at Tonojen.) Dreydos seemed truly delighted that I had kept my promise. I reminded him that Admiral Yamashita had, more or less, ordered me to cooperate with them. (No need to tell him that Admiral Yamashita had made it an official order last night.) I also informed him that I am honor bound by being an officer in the ITN, as well as by the Interstellar Terran Military Justice Code, to follow the Admiral's orders as long as they were legal, and, to the best of my knowledge, assisting him and Rokshesan was not, at this time, illegal. We entered the ship and he gave me a complete tour. He told me a bit about the ship and what would be expected of me. As we took the tour, I kept my eyes open for information about Khorcha war craft that could be used in the future against them, if necessary. This particular ship was a scout ship that normally had four Khorcha crew members. Dreydos told me that, because of the sensitive nature of their mission, he and Rokshesan were the only passengers on board. He also assured me that the ship, as was true of all Khorcha scout ships, was unarmed. I had a hard time believing that any Khorchan ship was unarmed, but I also knew that every time a Terran ship had encountered one of these scout ships, it always turned and ran as fast as it could toward Khorchan controlled space. During this tour, I noticed something that seemed out of place, something about the engine. I was hoping that I would be able to snoop through the ship a second time and, hopefully, verify what I thought I saw was true, or untrue. After the tour, we met with Rokshesan and she also seemed genuinely pleased that I had returned. "Welcome back, Commander. I was not certain that you would return." "Dreydos said the same thing, Rokshesan. As I told him, I obey orders. I still don't like this, but I am under indirect orders to cooperate. Now, what do you wish to learn?" Dreydos spoke up. "What we would like to do is listen to your memories." I answered in a shocked voice, "Listen to my memories!? How in the name of all that is holy on Terra and Khorcha do you intend to do that!?" Dreydos was very amused at my reaction. "The Khorcha have a machine that can pick up brain waves, sort out the memory waves and broadcast them over a speaker system. It is similar to the way your radios pick up signals and broadcast them over speakers." "How do I know that you won't use this machine to steal classified information from me? After all, if the machine can pick up brain waves and sort them out, it could pick up any and all brain waves, including those brain waves that include secret information." Rokshesan answered this time. I believe she is the more scientifically inclined of the two. "You do not need to worry, Commander. The machine is programmable to refuse to accept information that is considered sensitive to the subject." "And who would set the parameters as to what is considered sensitive." "The subject sets the parameters, Commander. Are you concerned that we would hear information that you would consider sensitive?" "Well, Rokshesan, we humans do have certain memories that we would prefer to not have broadcast to just anybody, if you know what I mean." "Are you referring to sexual proclivities or activities?" "That isn't what I was thinking, Rokshesan. It was the military secrets to which I referred earlier. However, no intelligent species would want sexual proclivities and activities broadcast to just anybody. After all, that would be considered secret to them. Don't you agree?" "Yes, you make a valid point, Commander. The inventor of this machine, a scientist named Kuzei (KOO-zeh-ee), feared that the machine would be used to reveal these proclivities and, surreptitiously, included the secrecy program and insured that the machine would not run properly without the program. There are rumors that Kuzei had strange sexual proclivities and wished to keep them secret just in case he fell out of favor with the Zahr-Khohr. When the Zahr-Khohr heard what Kuzei did, he became irate and ordered Kuzei executed without the typical interrogation. Unfortunately for the Zahr-Khohr, as a result of his execution, Kuzei took the secret of the program to his grave because he destroyed all of his notes as soon as he completed the Memory Enhancer." I was still a bit skeptical and I let it be known in my attitude. "Then tell me how it works. Because what you are saying, if it is possible, sounds more than a little dangerous to the one that it is being used upon, even with the safeguard of protecting secret information." Dreydos replied, "It is really beyond my ability to totally understand. But I will try to explain. As you probably already know, your subconscious mind never really sleeps. This is where your most important memories are held in your brain. It is, as I understand it, also where your dreams originate. The dreams are supposed to be an interpretation of memories. "What I mean concerning your memories is the memories that make you who you are, for the most part, are learned when you are very young and 'forgotten.' However, they become so intertwined with how you act and think that you don't even realize it. It is sort of like the way your lungs breathe and your heart beats. You don't think about breathing or your heart beating, your body does it automatically. Your personality, your, uh, instinct, is the same way. This machine merely picks up and separates these thoughts from your normal conscious thoughts." "I see. Now answer this question. Can, or will, my memories, conscious and/or subconscious be affected by this machine?" Rokshesan answered, almost too quickly to suit me, as if she expected me to ask that question, "No, that cannot happen. When the machine was first invented on Khorcha, many there feared just such a thing happening. They made their fears known to the Zahr-Khohr and he decreed that this machine must never interfere with the normal functioning of the brain of any species on which it may be used." There was something about this statement that bothered me. It didn't make sense when I thought about Dreydos saying that the needs of the Khorchan military superseded the wants of the civilian population. I was thinking to myself, "Why would the Zahr-Khohr be concerned with the fears of the general population about anything that might have military usage?" However, I decided to keep this thought to myself. Perhaps it was a bit of racial prejudice that caused this thought to cross my mind, but, Rokshesan's statement this morning definitely contradicted what Dreydos had said last night. I said to Dreydos, "Would you mind easing the fears of a simple human?" "How can I do that?" "Show me how the machine works." "Of course. I would be happy to do that. But, who shall we use as the subject?" "How about using Rokshesan as the test subject? If you get her subconscious memories and she doesn't lose them and she isn't harmed in any way, then I will consider allowing you to use the machine on me." Rokshesan didn't hesitate. As strange as it may sound, her unhesitating willingness to be the test subject only caused my fears to become stronger. She walked to the machine and sat in the chair. I must describe this machine for you. It looked almost exactly like photos of the old form of execution known as the electric chair that was used in the United States of America in the Twentieth Century. Naturally, this only added to my fears. The main difference between this chair and the old electric chair was the fact that this chair was heavily padded. The chair had straps for the wrists and ankles. At the top of the chair was a metallic "dome" about thirty centimeters in diameter. This dome could be raised or lowered as necessary to reach the top of the subject's cranium. To the top of this dome three wires were attached in a design that looked like an equilateral triangle, one wire just above the center of the forehead and the other two near the ears. At a height of about fifteen cm above the dome, the wires were twisted together and went into a machine that looked like something out of a 500-year-old horror movie. The machine is a rectangular box. It's about two hundred fifty centimeters tall by three hundred centimeters wide by one hundred centimeters deep. On the front of the machine are all types of dials, switches and gauges. The dials were numbered from zero to one hundred in increments of five. The dials and switches were between eye and hand level to a Khorcha. The gauges were in rows with large gauges in the top and bottom rows and getting progressively smaller toward the center of the face of the machine. Each row was about five centimeters apart as were the gauges. I almost laughed when I saw it. It was that ridiculous looking. Rokshesan sat in the chair, which was plenty big enough to comfortably hold a Terran gorilla AND chimpanzee sitting side by side. Dreydos strapped her wrists and ankles to the chair and adjusted the cap to her cranium. When I asked why she was strapped in, he replied that occasionally the subject would flinch so hard that he would cause himself injury. The straps would prevent that. Dreydos walked over to the machine and pressed a button and a low hum could be heard in the room. Dreydos was watching a dial that was near the center of the face of the machine near eye level for a human and, when the needle read seventy-five, he stepped over to a switch that looked like three strong humans couldn't move it and pushed it up as if it were a feather. (Damn, these Khorcha are a strong species.) He then stepped over to another dial and, when it read fifty, he turned a knob that looked like a radio volume control until the lone mark on the knob was pointing straight up. The next thing I knew I was hearing Rokshesan's voice coming out of a speaker just to Dreydos's left. Rokshesan's voice, which sounded like she was either drunk or drugged due to being somewhat monotone, was telling about how her "childhood" was formed by her parents almost from the second that she hatched out of her egg. She was the runt of the clutch, and, naturally, her parents showed no compassion for her. It seems that on Khorcha only the strong are allowed to survive, which is why the Khorcha have no respect for humans who care for the sick and weak of our species. Rokshesan "said" that she was going to be the most important Khorcha that ever lived. She stole food from her clutch mates at every opportunity. She even tried to steal food from her parents once. She got caught and was commended for her ingenuity. But, she was also severely punished, not for stealing, but for getting caught. Theft is less of a sin among the Khorcha than getting caught doing it. As a result of this food stealing, in a short amount of time, she was no longer the runt. As a matter of fact, between the extra food she consumed and her ingenuity and intelligence, very quickly she became the dominate chick in her clutch. After this last bit of information, Dreydos shut the machine down, which was done in reverse order of what was described above. After the machine was completely shut down, he tenderly released Rokshesan. I never even remotely thought of the Khorcha as being tender. But, I guess that love can make any creature tender towards the loved one. "There, Commander," he said, "As you can see, the machine is completely harmless." My response was, "She hasn't spoken since you released her. I'm still not convinced it's completely harmless." "Give her a short while. It takes several moments to regain your composure after exposure to the Memory Enhancer." Rokshesan's pupils were slightly dilated and her breathing was a bit labored. But, physically, she did seem none the worse for wear. Dreydos almost lovingly assisted Rokshesan to a couch for her to lie down. More and more of my prejudices were being struck down the longer I stayed in the presence of these two. But, the prejudices that were being struck down were no different than when it was discovered that crocodile and alligator females were protective of their young. My prejudices about the sneakiness of the Khorcha were only enhanced by what was revealed from Rokshesan's memories. After a minute or so, Rokshesan looked at me and said, "Now are you convinced, Commander? As you can see, except for the obvious physical changes, I am the same as I was before I entered the Memory Enhancer." "I'm still a bit skeptical. But, if Dreydos was willing to put you through all that, especially after seeing how he treated you afterward, then I guess I can go through it as well. When do you wish to start?" "I am afraid it will have to wait until tomorrow, Commander. The machine uses so much energy that it can only be used once every twelve to eighteen hours on a ship this size and then only for ten minutes at the most. The reason for the time limit is due to the potential of harming the subject." Despite what Dreydos said, this statement did nothing to convince me of their concern for my safety. If the intent was to harm me, then Dreydos was doing a good job at concealing it. Despite all that I had seen, I was still worried and skeptical. But, I put up a good front and said, "Very well, Dreydos. I'll wait until tomorrow. I'd like very much to have you show me more of your ship, if you don't mind. While we humans have captured several Khorchan scout ships, I, personally, have never had the opportunity to see one up close." "I would be delighted, Commander." I had an ulterior motive for the second tour of the ship. On the tour when I first arrived, I was shown the engine room and something didn't seem right about their Hyper-drive engine. It looked more advanced that I would have expected. I wanted a second look to confirm or deny my concerns. Terran Hyper-drive engines can propel a ship a distance of two light years every twenty-four hours. This one looked like it was substantially faster than that. If that was the case, then future battles could be lost due to this fact. Unfortunately, this tour did not include the engine room. I wondered if Dreydos had noticed my interest in the Hyper-drive engine the night before. I knew I needed to find out if the Hyper-drive engine was as advanced as I feared. But, at the same time, I didn't want to alarm Dreydos and Rokshesan with my suspicions. However, I didn't want to go to Admiral Yamashita with my suspicions until I had definite proof. Admiral Yamashita is a good man, but he is, like most command officers, a politician as well. If I told him of my suspicions without proof, he would not do anything for fear of causing an interstellar incident, as if an interstellar war wasn't a big enough interstellar incident. The whole time I was aboard was about three hours. It was now 1200 which meant that eighteen hours later would be 0600 tomorrow. That would give the ship enough time to recharge whatever needed to be recharged to allow the Memory Enhancer to operate by the time I arrived tomorrow. I was starting to get hungry. Dreydos and Rokshesan had begged me to stay and have lunch with them because there were so many questions that they wanted to ask me. But, the fear of being the "guest of honor" at lunch reared its ugly head once again and I said that I had already made plans to have lunch with and spend the afternoon with friends. I promised that I would once again be at their ship no later than 0900. I had lunch with a few friends and spent the afternoon at the beach in St. Petersburg. Despite the scenery, which would have normally kept me interested all afternoon and well into the night, my mind kept wandering back to the Hyper-drive engine on the Khorchan scout ship. There was something about it that bothered me. I couldn't put my finger on it other than the thought that it had to be substantially faster than Terran Hyper-drives. I spent the rest of the day and half the night thinking about the Khorchan Hyper-drive engine.

At 0900 the next day, I returned to the Khorchan ship as I had promised I would do. Dreydos welcomed me, but not quite as warmly as yesterday. He looked at me extremely suspiciously. I was a little curious as to why; but, I decided to play it cool. "How are you doing today, Dreydos? Is Rokshesan doing all right? She looked a little worn out when you released her from the Memory Enhancer yesterday." "Rokshe is fine, Commander. We spent the night talking." "Really? About what?" "We talked about you, Commander, and your curiosity concerning our ship." Uh-oh. This could mean trouble. I needed to think quickly and try to allay any fears they may be having about my curiosity. "Well, Dreydos, it would only be natural to be curious about your ship. After all, I did tell you that I had never been inside a Khorchan ship before. Are you worried that I may have learned anything that I could transfer to other pilots in the ITN? If so, your fears are quite unfounded. Everything I saw I already knew about." "You were especially curious about our power plant. May I ask why?" Oops. Perhaps I wasn't quite as cool and collected as I thought as I studied the Hyper-drive engine. More thinking on my feet will be necessary. "I am a pilot, Dreydos. Power plants would interest me." "I see. You seem to have an answer for every one of my questions. One might think that you had rehearsed these answers just in case you were asked them." Perhaps being a bit aggressive would help to deter this line of questioning. I replied, "Look, Mr. Ambassador, you selected me for this experiment. I didn't volunteer. If you have a problem with natural curiosity, then, perhaps you should find another test subject." About this time, everything went black. Pinpoints of white light, light bright enough to hurt my eyes punctuated the blackness. "What happened?" crossed my mind as I sensed I was being moved. "What is happening to me?" I thought. Even though I was unconscious, I could hear quite plainly. The Khorcha were speaking their native language, which sounded a lot like clicks, grunts, hisses, and growls. Fortunately for me, I had learned to speak Khorchan while I was at the Academy just before the war began. I did this because I, among others, had fears back then that we were on the verge of going to war with the Khorchan Empire. "Rokshe, did you have to hit him so hard? Remember, these humans are a lot more fragile than we are." "Drey, he knows the truth, and if he does not, he suspects the truth. I had to do something. Otherwise, he would have reported it to Admiral Yamashita." "But, what if you killed him? How will we be able to explain that to Admiral Yamashita? I hear that these humans perform what is called an autopsy if one of their people dies without an explanation to try to find out how they died. I also hear that these human forensics experts, as they are called, are said to be able to figure out exactly how someone has been killed as well as where." "Do not worry, Drey. We will think of something. I will think of something." "You have to think quickly. If we get caught with his body on this ship, the Terrans will destroy this ship and our plans." There was a short pause and I could feel Dreydos's hot breath on my face. He said, "Look! He is still breathing! You did not kill him after all. But, what can we do? Why did you have to agree so quickly to allow yourself to be memory enhanced?" "I did not think the whole truth about my chick-hood would come out. You were supposed to stop the recording before it was revealed that we are punished for getting caught, not doing, something wrong." "We have to get rid of his body. He also has to die. He learned too much about our experimental power plant. If he lives, and tells Admiral Yamashita, it will neutralize our newfound advantage." "I know! First of all, we need to do the memory enhancement and allow the side effect of memory loss to take place. Then, we will take him to Tashoo. We can let the Mory take care of him for us. You know how they feel about humans. They will kill him and there will be nothing to implicate us. But, if, for some reason, they do not kill him and the Terrans rescue him, he will not know anything that could cause us trouble with his memory erased. If Admiral Yamashita asks about him, we will just say that he mistrusted us so completely that he disobeyed orders and left. We have no idea where he could be." "I do not know, Rokshe. After all, did he not tell us several times that a good Terran military man, especially their officers, obeys all legal orders and he did not think that Admiral Yamashita's orders to assist us in our experiments were illegal? That explanation might not work." There was a short pause before he continued. "I know. Why do we not just say that he wanted to see how fast a Khorchan scout ship was and asked us to take him for a ride on the ship? We will need to leave Terra to take him to Tashoo anyway. We could then tell Admiral Yamashita that the natives of the planet we visited attacked us unexpectedly and in numbers too great to repel. As a result, Commander Watson was captured and most likely killed. We can also say the natives of this planet have been known to eat any enemy they kill to honor the enemy's strength. Does that not sound plausible?" "Possibly. But, it would sound more plausible if Commander Watson told the Admiral himself." Slightly panicked, Dreydos said, "How can he do that? He is unconscious." "How long do I have to put up with your lack of intelligence, Drey? We have Commander Watson on video and speaking. All we need to do is to have the computer create a plausible video of Commander Watson informing the Admiral of his desires and the Admiral will most likely agree. Then we can take off, go to Tashoo, drop off the Commander and return with our story." "That is a good idea. Oh! We have to hurry. He seems to be awakening." The two of them took me to the Memory Enhancer, strapped me in and adjusted the cranium cap. Just about this time, I came fully awake, although I feigned unconsciousness. I watched Dreydos as he prepared the machine. Something didn't seem quite right this time. All of a sudden, Dreydos, who had been looking in my direction, whispered something to Rokshesan; she looked at me and nodded. She walked over to me and said, "Welcome back to the land of the living, Commander. Prepare to have your memories enhanced." Then, she laughed that horrible Khorchan laugh that brings fear to the heart of the most stout-hearted of men. I watched as Dreydos performed the enhancement procedure. But, to my horror, I noticed that he wasn't doing it the same way he did with Rokshesan. Dreydos was watching the aforementioned dial at human eye level. This time he waited until the needle on the first dial read 95 before he pushed the lever up. I felt a painfully strong current running through my head. An involuntary grunt from the pain escaped from my lips, but I couldn't anything else due to a paralysis that gripped me. Dreydos stepped over to the second dial and waited until it read 95 as well, then he turned a different switch than the previous one. As Dreydos turned this switch, he turned and looked at me. Even though I have already said the face of a reptile is difficult to read, I most definitely understood the look on his face. It was a look of malignant glee. This time, instead of hearing my memories being played on the radio speaker, I felt all my memories disappearing until, finally, I was unconscious. The last thing I heard before unconsciousness swept over me was a long, drawn out moaning scream.