THE PLANET THAT LOVED PEOPLE (standard:science fiction, 2858 words) [18/18] show all parts
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Mar 05 2016	Views/Reads: 1540/1163	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
PART 1 - LAST CHAPTER

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

“Well that wraps up this brief session,” said Tyler. “Enjoy your
diversions this afternoon and tonight. Tomorrow you rise at 9am.” 

He nodded at them and Talis joined him as he was leaving. 

“Hey, haven't you forgotten something?” Sinto called. 

Tyler turned back to them and frowned. “What? What have I forgotten?” 

Sinto grinned at him. “The rewards, Commander. The rewards for going on
this fucking mission.” 

“Oh yes,” said Tyler and strolled back over to the desk. He glanced
round at them all. “If the mission is successful and any of you happen 
to make it back you will each be rewarded with the following : One – 
You will be de-cloned; Two – Your sentence will be annulled; Three – 
You will be transported to any planet you wish but you can't stay on 
Earth; Four – You will receive one million UniCredits which is enough 
money to start a new life or in your cases, new lives of crime.” 

“How do we know we'll get them?” a suspicious Sinto asked. 

“My dear Sinto,” Tyler replied, beaming at him. “You have my word.” 

The prisoners weren't impressed. 

“I really wouldn't worry about the rewards, gentlemen,” Tyler said,
heading for the door again. He turned and stared hard at them. “To be 
blunt with you, I think you've as much chance of collecting them as I 
have of keeping my promise.” 

******* 

Kane walked slowly along the length of the wall in the briefing room,
tracing their route on the giant map. The others were off in their 
rooms with their various diversions and Tyler had given him permission 
to have one last session on his own. He'd gone over the route so many 
times he knew it by heart but he carefully examined it again, wondering 
if they'd chosen the best route to the Black Hole. 

The easiest way and the quickest still contained zigzags and curves so
they could avoid the areas where Earth's and the Fleet's influence 
wasn't taken all that seriously. He was thinking about some of the 
problem areas Tyler had mentioned when the door slid open and someone 
came in. It was Talis and she nodded to him and strolled over and 
studied the map along with him. 

“The route's already logged on the Falcon's main Computer,” he said to
her, “but I wanted one last look.” 

“I've gone over it myself several times,” she said. “Considering Tyler
wants us there as quickly as possible, I think this is the best route.” 


Kane glanced sideways at her as she studied it. She had untied her long,
black, shining hair and it cascaded down over her shoulders. The tan on 
her face and neck was a light golden brown which contrasted nicely with 
the jet blackness of her hair. She was still wearing her dark blue 
Pilot's outfit and it hugged her tightly, accentuating her figure. 

With an effort Kane dragged his eyes away from her and walked over to
the desk. He sat in a chair and flicked a button on a small control 
panel on the desk and the mock-up of the Corridor came on and the room 
lights dimmed. In silence they watched the Ship travelling along it 
till it was destroyed by the gigantic lightning bolt. 

Talis came over and sat on the edge of the desk. “How do you rate our
chances?” she asked. 

Kane shrugged. “Not good,” he answered. “Knowing all the facts, I
wouldn't send a Ship there if I was the Fleet Commander.” 

“And you really don't want me along either, do you?” she asked, staring
at him with her dark eyes. 

Kane held her gaze but said nothing. He flicked off the mock-up and the
room lights came back on. “We're up early,” he said to her, standing up 
and heading for the door. “Best get some rest.” 

She walked over and stood close to him. So close he could smell her
perfume. 

“I know you don't want me along,” she said, “and I can understand that
but I've earned my place. You were in the Fleet so you know how 
difficult it is to become a Pilot. I can do a good job for you on this 
mission – you don't have to like me.” 

She left the room and Kane stared at her as she strolled up the
corridor. 

‘That's the problem,' he thought. ‘I do.' 

***** 

Muslik peered through his magnifying goggles and made the final
adjustments to the circuit then fitted it into the tiny black box. He 
clamped the top on, removed his goggles and laid the box on the table. 

Kane had agreed – a few alterations to the processor inside the tiny box
and the Ship's main computer would have a mind of its own....well 
almost. While still fulfilling its function as the main computer it 
would respond differently to them all which would make the journey 
slightly more interesting. 

Muslik smiled and stared out the window at the darkening sky. A mind of
its own! He'd always been intrigued by the mind, especially his own and 
where it led him, only the last time it had unfortunately led him to 
Sirene. He shook his head ruefully and his thoughts drifted back to 
what had taken him to that bloody awful planet. 

Despite his gifts as a two-way telepath, he had decided to study
medicine and he had commenced his training as a doctor at one of 
Earth's finest medical schools where he'd progressed with flying 
colours, easily leading his class. Studying came easy to him which 
meant he had lots of free time to pursue the real reason he was 
studying medicine. 

As he was determined to replace the human brain with one he'd designed
and manufactured himself, he needed the in-depth anatomical knowledge 
and the surgical techniques the medical degree offered him. 

He started off with animals and once he'd perfected his technique on
rats he decided to replace the brain of the most challenging subject he 
could find. He chose a lion! The work had gone so well to begin with. 
Sure there were a few ‘problems' when a couple of his lab assistants 
had been killed. That was the acceptable risk of pushing through the 
boundaries of science. Then he perfected things. Not only did he 
replace a lion's brain, he reprogrammed it! 

He had a lion which was as gentle as a lamb! As playful as a kitten! As
loyal as a dog! There was a high demand for his lion pets and he made a 
fortune. Until things started to go wrong.  A slight processor 
malfunction. The lions went on the rampage and there were scores of 
deaths. 

He was expelled from medical school and spent two years in prison on
Earth. On his release he moved to another planet, Floren, where he set 
up his own laboratory and commenced the next stage of his work – 
replacing the human brain, tiny part by tiny part, at the same time 
retaining the human body. Then things had gone wrong. Again. Well, just 
a bit. 

The man had come to him having heard rumours of what he was doing,
requesting to be a volunteer. He held a fairly high position in the 
Executive Branch of The Inner Council but wasn't satisfied. He wanted 
to move further up the ladder and maybe if Muslik made a few 
‘alterations', his increased intellect would help realize his 
ambitions. 

Muslik had agreed and the man had come to him at the beginning of an
extended holiday so nobody would miss him. Although the work was still 
in its early stages, the replacement surgery was successful. Afterwards 
the man stayed for a week while Muslik subjected him to vigorous mental 
workouts. He came through them all effortlessly and Muslik released 
him. 

He came back from time to time for ‘adjustments' and with each visit
there was news of further promotion. He laughed at the way his 
colleagues were astonished at his highly improved intellect. 
Successfully he spread the story that his entire family had been late 
developers. 

He now held a position in Section One, the second most powerful body
next to The Inner Council. They monitored all activity in the known 
Universe, weighing up the pros and cons about what moves Earth should 
make in matters of finance, wars, investments and mining. The Inner 
Council often deferred making decisions until they'd received advice 
from Section One. 

It was during an important debate on investments in platinum mining on
the planet Arlass that the trouble started. Muslik's protégé had risen 
to make a few points then without warning he began doing cart-wheels 
round the table. Then he dived on to it and started making swimming 
motions with his arms and legs, reeling off names of planets, their 
populations and their capitals. 

Muslik hadn't really understood want all the fuss was about. It was
simply a matter of a very slight malfunction in one of the man's 
micro-chips. A matter of an hour to repair it. 

The Inner Council had been stunned. That Section One had contained and
Muslik grimaced at the word, a ‘robot', as one of its members for all 
this time! And the others in the Section had known nothing about it! 

The repercussions had been enormous. Section One had been temporarily
disbanded, all members placed under strict arrest whilst they underwent 
stringent medical examinations to see if any more ‘robots' could be 
detected. 

The Inner Council voluntarily submitted themselves to the tests and then
every Section, every Department, everyone working in any capacity at 
all whose decisions could affect Earth was tested. Even Diplomats and 
Governors on other planets were recalled one by one and examined. 

The whole affair left its mark on the Earth hierarchy. Even today if
someone makes an unusual decision or behaves out of character, his 
colleagues start wondering about him, discuss him in muted tones, wait 
to see if he too will start cart-wheeling around the room or swim up 
the table. 

At the start of the investigations, Muslik decided that moving to
another quieter planet might enable him to continue his work without 
another prison stretch. 

They found him eventually. It took them eight months but they tracked
him to the remote planet Hyrut. The trial had been short and the media 
weren't invited. His work had been halted prematurely when they dumped 
him on Sirene. 

Muslik sighed and poured himself a small nightcap. There was a look of
sadness on his face, not out of pity for himself but because his work 
had been so prematurely ended. Still, they never did find out about the 
ruler of the planet Svendlar, the man who'd come to him on Hyrut. The 
one who was giving Section One such a hard time over mining rights for 
gold. Muslik smiled and took his nightcap over to bed. 

He flicked out the light, set his nightcap on a table and lay on top of
the bed, hands clasped behind his head. As he always did before he 
slept, he emptied his mind, concentrated on someone and tuned into what 
they were thinking about. Earlier he had wondered what the others would 
be doing on their last night on Earth then had dismissed it as being 
too predictable but now his curiosity took over. 

Miller must have worked his way through the last of that Janad weed
Sinto had given him because he was imagining he was away on the other 
side of the giant planet Rayness. Exploring. For what, Muslik wondered? 
A patient wait while Miller was distracted by a tumbling waterfall 
brought the answer – he was searching for silicon. Earth owed him a lot 
for the discoveries he was making. Muslik smiled and left him to his 
explorations. 

He rested his mind while considering Sinto. This was equally
predictable. The only variable factor was the number of women. Three, 
he guessed then closed his eyes and concentrated. Wrong – four. 

‘You're really making the most of your last night, aren't you?' Muslik
thought to himself. 

Nothing much was going on in Sinto's mind. He was having a drink and
talking to one of the women. Muslik started barking like a dog inside 
his head. 

Sinto leapt up suddenly, spilling his drink and knocking one woman to
the floor. She curled up there and went back to sleep. He looked round 
– nobody in the room could have made that sort of noise. In his 
semi-drunken state it took him a minute to work out what had happened 
then he grinned. 

“Muslik you bastard!” he roared. “Get out of my head!” He fell back on
the bed laughing. 

Muslik smiled and left him. 

Blaze and Corthan were together, playing a computer wall game. Muslik
concentrated. It was the inter-planetary war between Izal and Dranex 
which Izal had won. Blaze was Dranex. 

‘How'd you like to beat Izal?' Muslik asked Blaze. 

Blaze lost his concentration for a moment and Corthan wiped out another
of his Battle Cruisers. 

‘Okay Muslik,' Blaze thought. ‘Play for me.' 

‘Explain the game,' Muslik said to him. 

Blaze did then started following Muslik's instructions. Ten minutes
later the Dranex Fleet was almost destroyed, the remainder fighting a 
rear-guard action. 

Corthan looked suspiciously over at Blaze who kept turning away, trying
to control his laughter. Corthan reached over and pulled him round and 
Blaze dissolved into fits of wild giggling. He dematerialized round the 
room a few times then explained to Corthan what he and Muslik had done. 


Muslik left them. He liked Blaze. The boy had a curious mind. Pity they
hadn't met before – he could have taught him so much. 

He tried reaching Kane but couldn't get into his head. “He's wearing a
mind-blocker,” he muttered to himself and allowed himself to relax 
again. 

He slipped into bed and sipped his nightcap. Having examined everyone
else's mind, he examined his own – how was he feeling about the 
mission? Well their chances of getting from Earth to the Black Hole 
were pretty good but after that? If the other Ships couldn't get 
through the Corridor why should they? But supposing they did on the 
much smaller Falcon, supposing they made it through – what was going to 
be on the other side of it? 

Whatever it revealed it could be pretty damned interesting. Possibly an
entire unexplored Universe. How fantastic would that be!? Lots of new 
planets to explore. Lots of new discoveries to make. Perhaps he 
wouldn't come back. He flicked off the light and sipped his drink in 
the darkness, speculating on what the new Universe might hold. 


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