Cyborg Claude
Episode 15
In the previous episode, Claude knows it is time to start figuring out where his life goes next, including how to handle his past and reputation. He isn’t sure about how things will work upon taking up the leadership role. Afterall, he has shirked that position since his recovery a few years ago to remain the Mystery Man.
Cyborg Claude Main Page and Table of Contents
Claude stepped off the elevator and stopped to scan the bridge.
“Wow, you should see this belly dancer?”
Claude chuckled and shook his head. An interesting thing to hear on the bridge com.
“Well, get the camera on her.”
“Keep your pants on. I’m trying to control it over here for ya.”
The large view screen switched from the moon view to the dock area. A little more adjusting, and it shot down the short tunnel to the loading area. Thankfully, one of the two guards looked attentive to things besides the woman dancing further away. Zoom was activated to bring her up close.
“She is rather tall and pale for a pure-blooded Deserkan, don’t you think?”
Claude smirked as most of the people jumped to attention on the bridge. No one really knew him, but they knew he had authority. Rather odd, really. That would change at the meeting to happen later in the day. The screen flicked back to the moon.
“No, put it back and zoom in on her face. If she has green eyes, I want her trailed.”
A pause as everyone stared at him.
“It could be the female goek. Hop to.” He clapped his hands for emphasis.
“Right, sir.”
The picture came back to find the woman bowing and scooping up her wraps. The camera zoomed in fast, catching one glimpse of her face for the briefest moment. Then she disappeared from view as the men returned to their jobs.
“I hope that was recorded so I can see a still of her face in the close up portion.”
“Just a moment, sir.”
The recording played back in a slow reverse. It took a couple of passes on the best close up and the picture stopped on the face of the woman, revealing green eyes.
“I want someone to follow her. I want everyone else to look for any man with blue eyes and blonde hair.” He held up a hand when some muttering started. “Yes, I know we don’t know any of the Deserkan loading crew, but most of them are Deserkans. They have dark eyes and hair.”
“Right, sir.”
“We have the information down here, sir. Watching the dock loaders now.”
Claude knew he had to figure out who was who in the agency. “I’m coming down to check on things. I know this goek all too well.” He did an about face and walked toward the door.
“All right, sir. We are half loaded.”
“Good.” Claude glanced over his shoulder at the bridge occupants one last time before stepping out the door.
Claude entered his own suite noting how sparse it was as he headed to a cabinet built into one wall. Opening one set of doors revealed his gun collection. He chose one laser pistol, which he clicked into charge mode, and one old fashion nine millimeter with a full clip. He pulled out a shoulder holster and quickly slipped it on so he could place the laser pistol into it. His eyes scanned the rack to find the silencer for the nine millimeter.
He got plenty of stares as he strode down the corridor towards the loading dock elevators behind the kitchen. He twisted the silencer into place as he waited for the elevator. The laser pistol had not beeped its signal for a finished charge up yet. Modern technology did not impress him much at all. He stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button for the loading dock. The goek would meet him face to face once more, but this time on Claude’s turf.
Several dockworkers stacked crates or operated the shuttle machine that brought the crates in. Claude stepped off the elevator with his hands clasped behind his back, holding the gun out of sight even if the laser one could be seen in its holster. He received a few quizzical looks as he perused all the workers. Every one of them was a Deserkan. He watched them finish the loading and vacate the area rather hastily. The hatch closed behind them.
“Anyone have an update on where the woman went?” Claude adjusted his earpiece to make his com hands free as it crackled alive loudly in response. He caught part of the message that sounded like they were on her trail. He shook his head.
“I want to know where the man is. I know we have full surveillance of the station, so I better get an answer ASAP.”
“No one has seen him, sir.”
Claude recognized the voice of the lieutenant running the bridge. What was his name, anyway? He frowned, not liking his lack of knowing anyone.
“Computer, tell me if anyone is on this ship, you don’t recognize.”
“You have a rat in sector 3B, level two. Just entered detection close to station hookup. Shall I send duct cleaners to help block further access?”
“Yes, flush him out.”
“Duct cleaners in route, sir.”
The computer obviously relished this change of pace per the tone. He never knew what to think about artificial intelligence and the computer loved games all too well.
“I want a security crew in sector 3B, level 2 ASAP, watching for all exits from the air ducts. Computer, I want exits in 3A sealed.”
“3A sealed. Rat is still in ducts in sector 3B, level 2. First cleaner will have rat blocked in fifteen seconds. Second cleaner will be there in twenty-five seconds. The rest must move from the other side of the ship.”
“Good enough, computer. What was his entry point?”
“My sensors for objects within the ducts do not include the connection to the space station. However, he must have come that way.”
Claude tapped his foot as things fell silent. How did the man get into the ducts on the space station undetected? He scowled.
Min’s voice came on the con, “I’ll leave this one to you, Claude, but I’m listening.”
“Cleaner is following close on rat.” The computer paused. “Rat has dropped out of ducts in the public woman’s room in sector 3B, level 2. Other occupant of the room is Tonya Gruber.”
“Security to public woman’s room in sector 3B, level 2. Chance of intruder using only other occupant as a hostage shield.”
Claude cursed under his breath as he rode the elevator up to level 2. He stepped out near the kitchen and paused. There were two sets of restrooms in this sector.
“Computer, you are talking of the bathroom near the dining hall or the game room?”
“Claude, you really need a better memory chip.” The sound of a heavy sigh followed the statement. “The one near the dining hall.”
“Thank you.”
The last thing he wanted was more biotech in his body. Hopefully, the computer was just messing with him like it usually did. Maybe he should question Stephen later about all his parts.
He ran through the kitchen and caused a stir as he burst into the nearly empty dining area. He hurtled over a table, barely making it, working on the fastest path to the public corridor he could find. “Make a note that the tables in the dining hall are poorly arranged and hurdling them is not a good idea at my age.”
He scared a woman who was monitoring a mopping machine in the hall. He slid on the slick hallway floor and hit the wall hard.
“I think the wall hurt more.” The computer sounded amused.
“You know, I actually missed your running commentary.” Claude resumed running, which made him slide past the woman’s room upon trying to stop. “Where is everybody on the security team?”
“None of us were in that sector to begin with,” came the reply.
“I was in the loading dock and I am here already and I’ve got several years on you. If anyone gets hurt or this guy gets information out of here, someone is going to be fired because I hate a lax security team.”
“Yes, sir.”
Claude pushed the door open slowly with his gun at the ready. He could hear the quiet whir of the duct cleaner above, but nothing else. He let the door close behind him.
“Claude, you will not like this, but the rat is back in the duct and used Tonya as a roadblock to the cleaner there. She is still alive, but unconscious.”
Claude growled in frustration as he looked up. Tonya’s feet hanging down from the vent entrance. “Someone get a medic and a ladder here ASAP to get Tonya out of the duct and make sure she is okay.”
He flung the door open in time for two security guards to barge in. They couldn’t stop before they pushed him back against the wall.
“Computer, which way is the rat going?”
“I’m sorry to say he is staying away from another cleaner by climbing to level three in sector 3B.”
“Climb? How fast is he going?”
“Not fast at all, but he is like a spider.”
“Lovely.” Claude snorted and ran down the hallway, slipping now and then on the freshly cleaned floor. He grabbed the stairwell door to stop another slide and only shook his head as one of the security men fell flat on his back. The other darted ahead of him up the stairs.
“Why is this guy as much of a pain to me as I was to him on Goeken?”
“You don’t want my opinion about that rhetorical question.”
“I see your attitude hasn’t improved.” Claude raced up the stairs on the guard’s heels. “Talking to you while on this lovely rat chase just proves I’m still in shape.”
“And fast healing.”
The reminder of how the nanobots worked in his body triggered more desire to hunt down Stephen for answers after this.
He charged into the hallway with the guard. “Which entrance to the ducts is closest to the pipe he is climbing?”
“This way, sir.” The guard led him into the room where Hawkins stood sipping from a coffee mug and a tired-looking Salindra in uniform sat staring at a diagram on the table.
Claude glanced at the ceiling as he ran in behind the guard, noting the vent above the table. Without a pause in stride, he leapt onto the table and one handedly yanked the vent open. It clattered to the tabletop. He pulled himself into the duct. His sight went white from the flash of laser fire. He blindly aimed the gun and fired a shot. Another laser shot hit him in the shoulder, causing him to yell in pain. He returned a volley of shots to be rewarded with a scream, along with the screech of something sliding down the wall of the duct.
“He’s back on level two,” stated the computer. “Wounded man sector 3B level 3 ductwork. Name Claude Burn.” The computer over emphasized the last name.
“Oh, how funny.” Claude rolled so he could get on hands and knees to crawl along the duct. His left arm went numb. At the down duct he fired one shot, hearing it hit metal. “Sliding to level 2.” He rolled into the down shoot and landed with an echoing thud, causing another laser shot his way that thankfully bounced off the wall ten feet in front of him. He squeezed off another shot, but heard no resounding scream.
He proceeded forward, but heard the whirring of a cleaning robot in front of him. How did that thing get there? “Get the cleaning bot off me!” He scuttled backwards at least twenty feet before it stopped. He flopped back, heaving a sigh of relief.
“Rat is now in unoccupied bunkroom twenty-four.”
Claude grumbled under his breath and winced as he moved his left arm. The arm moved sluggishly in its numbness while searing pain shot through the shoulder. “Get this cleaning heap out of my way.” He kicked it in frustration. It crawled the way he wanted to go.
“The door is jammed even to manual override. We need to pry it open.”
“Sending a robot to assist. ETA two minutes.”
“Oh, brother.” Claude wished the cleaner would hurry, though he knew it would go no faster. He fought back dizziness. “What a lousy way for an early afternoon to go.”
“Rat now in the computer and…I…feel…drain…”
The hum of power ramped down until it faded completely. Obviously, the rat had some excellent computer skills. The cleaner came to a stop and shut off.
Someone had to have left a computer unlocked in the bunkroom. There would be a reprimand for that coming.
He shifted to look around the cleaner through a space between two brushes. Emergency lighting from the bunkroom bounced off the duct ceiling only five feet away.
“Lucky at love. Unlucky at cat and mouse.”
Claude shifted and gave the cleaner a solid push. He groaned with the effort, but it budged. He made some progress until he lost his breath.
Banging came from the corridor door and something blocked the light from below. It encouraged him to give the machine a mightier push that elicited a loud groan.
“Have a nice day. Standard ship designs always come in handy, as well as idiots that leave their computers unlocked.”
“You aren’t getting out of here, Conrad.”
“Going the same way I got in, and I know I won’t be detected once off your yacht. Have a nice day.”
Conrad headed down the duct, laughing.
Claude thought about that. Things had to change. Every ship connected its air system to the station’s for recycling of fresh oxygen and purification of the air. Monitors needed to detect obstructions throughout the system, not just at the internal locks of a ship or space station.
“Well, I know how to get there in the dark.”
He scurried down the duct, forcing his left arm to work while feeling the wall to the right. He tumbled when his right hand hit air instead of wall. A wave of nausea washed over him. He forced himself to continue along the passage to his right.
The odd sensation of something sewing him back up from the inside of his injured shoulder caused him to pause. The biotechnology in his system was on the job, though it came with an energy drain. How bad of a hit could it be? The drain resembled that of the hit he took only days ago on Goeken
He reached the ductwork that led to the connection with the station. He wiped sweat from his face as he looked up in the dark. A small light moved, and he heard the sounds of someone climbing the slanted path. The first fifty feet were the steepest and had no ladder for climbing. The only way to stop the man was shoot him. He fired the weapon and cursed as it ran out of bullets after two shots.
Laughter echoed through the duct.
He pulled out the laser gun, clicked the safety off, and aimed. “Eat this, buddy!” The tunnel flared with light as the laser bounced up the shaft. The curve in the ductwork made for a hard angle to shoot. He fired again..
Alarms went off. A faint sound of something running caused him to pause and determine if the ship had regained full power or if it came from the space station. He heard a countdown and then the sound of the machinery up the tunnel working.
“No, you don’t!”
Claude scrambled back toward the interior ducts that would be sealed off shortly as part of the disengaging sequence. The auxiliary power would seal the ship ducts. How far was the turn to the interior system? Nausea ripped through him again and he vomited. He forced himself on not caring what he looked or smelled like at this point. He had an excellent reason to live now and no matter what kind of freak biology lab he had become, he would live for Min.
Excited chatter came across the com, but he tuned it out to focus on his crawl to safety.
His hope rose as he turned the corner and then faded as metal grated on metal somewhere in front of him to seal the ship off.
“NO!” He threw himself forward, twisted to pull his legs in close, and landed awkwardly up against one wall as something pressed down on his shoe heel. Pain shot through his foot as he yanked it out of the shoe. He bellowed with pain as the resounding electromagnetic click of the sealing door locked home, despite the shoe. He sighed with relief because he laid in a twisted heap on the safe side of the door.
He reached down with his right hand and felt a sticky wetness. He might have lost some of his foot. Though he couldn’t see it, his imagination drew a fine enough picture, which caused him to vomit again.
He needed to find a vent, any vent. He focused on his memory of Min’s face as he used his right hand and left foot to slide himself along the duct. The computer should pinpoint his position soon.
“Claude?” Min’s voice held a timbre of fear.
He stopped moving.
I will see you again, Min.
< Episode 14 | Main Page | Episode 16 >
Update:
This was not an easy episode to edit. For one, my younger self was definitely not trained on the nuances of long form writing. That is impacting the entire serial, but I left out something very important and it dawned on me after reading it several times. All hell is breaking lose and Min is silent. She gets to say two lines, but it is enough.
This is why pantsering doesn’t always cut it other than to get the idea out of your head. Even a pantser needs to outline and track things once they hit the editing phase. I’ve grown into a combo of pantser and planner, and finding planning taking over more before I draft these days. I’m definitely not like a friend who has scene cards and full plot with character arc layout before she actually writes the story. Though I might dive more this way with next idea I start from scratch.
Share your thoughts about the episode in the comments. Thank you for reading.