Perfect Matron

by Dave Hicks

 

Chapter 10

1

          

"Do you want me to tell you my story now?" I asked Katherine.

"I want to know about your ship."

"It's not very large but it's very fast."

"And where is it?"

"Above us. Just where I parked it. Unless it's wandered off again, for some reason known only to itself."

"How long have you had it?"

"I don't remember," I admitted. "An awfully long time, I'd imagine. He won't tell me. He's like that sometimes. He won't tell me how I got the ship either. According to him, I'm better off not knowing."

"I know I'm going to hate myself for asking this. Thankfully, the medication I've been taking has finally found a route from my stomach to my brain." She took a deep breath as if to brace herself. "Okay David. Who won't tell you?"

"The ship's computer. I call him Kim. I don't know why I call him that - he's probably not a male anyway. He runs the whole ship - everything. That's why it doesn't need a crew. It's completely automated. Kim's very intelligent. Or that's what he likes to tell me."

"Right," she smiled. "Now it all makes perfect sense. You're getting around the galaxy, in a spaceship which is run by a computer called Kim, who was made before human beings even had computers."

"Yes… Probably."

"I hate it when you use that word. It can only mean one thing."

"It's an old ship," I suggested.

"Made before the human race had spaceships?"

"Yes… Probably."

"You did it again."

She thought for a while.

"Can I tell my story now?" I asked.

"Sure," she shrugged. "Why not? What else could you possibly do to me? You've already destroyed my mind."

"Okay."

I took a sip of my wine.

"You've not going to the toilet now, are you?" she asked. "You wouldn't like to paint the house, or something, before you tell me?"

"No. I want to tell you my story."

"Okay."

"I was looking at the image of hospital about a week ago," I related, "when I noticed something interesting about the shape of the Director's Lake. Its shape struck a chord in my memory but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, for a while. When I compared it to the recreational area and I discovered they were the same shape. It had to be more than just a coincidence. So I thought about it."

Katherine picked up the picture I'd given her. "Let me look at that."

She inspected it for a few seconds. "You're right. The big part of the lake that points towards the hospital is exactly the same shape as the piece of land pushing out into the water."

"See if the shape rings a bell in your head?"

"I don't think so… Wait a minute. Is that what I think it is? Is it?"

I nodded.

"I have to check something." She rose from her chair, taking the photograph with her and headed for the bedroom. Five minutes later she returned to the living room and sat in her chair, without speaking. She took a large mouthful of wine and waited for me to say something, like a cat ready to pounce on a terrified mouse. Anything.

"It's been a secret joke with them for a while," I informed her. "And they thought we didn't know. But we're too smart for them."

"I'm going to kill them," she stated ominously. "I don't care if they make me a slave and sell me to some immortal crazy woman. I'm going to kill them. Very slowly and painfully."

"I'm glad to see you're taking it so well. It's not illegal to kill slaves by the way. But it can get expensive."

"How could they do that to me? And don't try to be humorous. I'm in no mood for it, I can assure you. Don't say another word."

"Right," I said meekly.

She glared at the picture. "Look at it. My bosom is the Matron's Play Ground."

"Park," I corrected her. "You meant to say Park."

"Shut… up… David," she whispered - very deliberately.

I shut up.

Katherine drank for a while. Half an hour later, she went to bed without saying goodnight to me. Normally, I would've expected her to treat it as a joke. I'd never seen her like this before. Perhaps it was the strain of discovering so many unexpected things about me; or becoming a deacon of the church. Could she hate her very large breasts so much? If that's the case, how does she really feel towards me for making them that large?

Later, when I joined her in bed, she was soundly asleep.

 

2

 

About midnight, something woke me. I looked beside me and Katherine was gone. I found her sitting on the veranda outside the bedroom, with a blanket around her. I made coffee and joined her. She took it from me and smiled weakly. I sat in the chair next to her.

The moon was directly above us, giving the thick mist over the lake a cloudlike appearance. It was as if the house was by itself, with nothing but the mist surrounding it. There wasn't a sound. The world felt empty and alone.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" I asked quietly.

She nodded, took a drink from the cup and gazed into the white expanse. I waited for her to talk.

She turned to me sadly. "I behaved very badly last night."

"You had a lot on your mind," I smiled gently. "It's a lot to get used to."

"I'm usually such a strong person."

"I'm sure you still are sweetheart."

She looked back at the mist. "I not sure if I'm the one for you, my love." I didn't respond. "I don't want to live forever."

I took her hand. "No human being ever does Kath. Sure, they think they do - to start off with. But they don't have the psychology for it, for some reason. It has to with the way the human mind is wired up, or something. They're not designed to have true immortality and nothing can ever change that. In the end, they'll do anything just to die. It might take a thousand years or more. But eventually, it happens. It's as if they get so very tired of life, all they want to do is stop and rest. Maybe the soul wants to go home. I don't know the reason."

"So I can die?"

"Whenever you want. I'd never stop you. But it has to be your choice alone. I don't have the right to make it for you - no matter how much it hurts me to let you go."

"But you don't die."

"That's true. I don't die."

"So how do you handle it?"

"I don't have a choice; I have to handle it. Maybe my mind is a little different in some way."

When she'd finished her coffee, I made her another and sat quietly with her again.

"Do you want to die?" I asked.

"No. I just want to know I can, if ever I want to."

"Yes you can. You always will be able to. I can't stop you. Nothing can stop you, once you decide."

"Then you'd be all alone again," she whispered sadly. "Without me. All by yourself, with your grief and your memories. After a while, even they will fade and you'll just be alone again. With no one."

"That's true."

"It's happened before. Hasn't it?"

"Yes," I nodded. "It was a very long time ago."

"Oh my poor love." Tears ran down her cheeks.

I held her close to me.

3

 

Katherine didn't talk much next morning. She was still deep in thought. Once I helped her dress, she had breakfast and went to her office. I was concerned about her but I knew it was something she had to work out for herself. There was little I could do to help, except to let her know I cared. She needed time to sort things out in her mind. But as a doctor, she would always put the welfare of her patients before her own. No doubt she'd plow herself into her work while she came to terms with what she'd learnt about me.

After she'd gone I, readied myself for work. I put on a bra, coveralls and work boots. I called Hanna and told her I wouldn't in until later. I didn't give her a reason. I entered the caverns beneath the house and proceeded through the life support and power room under the barn, to the aircraft hangar.

Two off-world aircars were resting beside each other. Aircars are very expensive and very few people can afford them. It occurred to me, I could use one of them for an ambulance.

Standing in the center of the area was a large, sleek, black, fighter craft. It was far more powerful than anything used in the Trolic war - by either side. It was fully armed and operational, and capable of both atmospheric and space flight, with a destructive power greater than any Federation warship.

I spent the next two hours carefully examining all its systems and weapons. As always, they were in perfect operational readiness. Once I had completed my work, I returned to the house and prepared myself for the rest of the day at the hospital.

 

4

 

I didn't see Katherine until lunchtime, when we met at the restaurant.

"How's it going?" I asked concernedly.

"A lot better thanks, my love," she smiled. "Sometimes, work helps me sift through things in my mind. I really wasn't traveling too well last night, was I?"

I nodded but didn't reply, hoping she would continue to talk.

"You have to admit," she smiled, placing a hand on mine across the table, "you did have one or two surprises for me to digest. I think it all became a little too much for me. It's making more sense now. I was very worried when you said you'd put an implant in me. I started to imagine all sorts of things. But I know you'd never do anything to hurt me. And it is the most sensible place to put it. I thought you would force me to live forever. I don't think I could live with something like that. I feel so sorry for you. You must be a very strong person. To deliberately blow yourself up in a reactor explosion proves that. Even if I knew I'd survive, I doubt I'd ever have the courage to do it."

"What about the play area?"

"Oh that? I haven't said a word about it to anyone. Let them go on thinking I don't know. Just as you did. It's the wisest thing to do. It's good for them to think they have a secret they can share together. Something like that will bring them closer together. We may need it in the future."

I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "And my inappropriate attempts at humor. I'm sorry. I was very concerned about you."

"I know you were my love," she smiled affectionately. "And I appreciate it very much. Grace took one look at me when I walked into the office and decided to stay out of my way for the morning. I don't like to worry her like that. She's still got a long way to go before she gets over what was done to her, poor thing. She doesn't need me adding to her issues."

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I'm fine. I'm sure I am. But wait a few days before you drop another probably on me - from a great height."

"Okay."

 

5

 

I had a talk to our doctor Ellen.

"I guess you're beginning to wonder why a simple martial arts class is starting to use weapons like needle guns.

"The thought had crossed my mind," she nodded. "But knowing what I do about the other women, before you bought them, I imagine you may want to have a few harsh words with the people responsible."

"And how do you feel about that?"

"I have no problem whatsoever," she smiled. "I do know what was done to Andrew. I would think our Director has some interesting things in mind, once we get those other people here. I'd enjoy assisting someone with Katherine's skills. It's a rare privilege."

"Have you told Katherine you know about what happened to Andrew?"

"No. I was going to mention it to her, in the next few days. I know the theater couldn't have been used for the majority of the work. I assumed she had another area somewhere. I work in the underground Lab with Paula. The only place I could think of was underground also. We've had a mining machine happily working away here for the last few days. A hospital isn't a good place to keep secrets. I also suspect, it was the reason why you moved the training area."

"And you definitely have no problem with what we're doing?"

"None at all. I want to help as much as I can. I hate slavery as much as the rest of them. And two doctors work better than one, as a rule. We could make a good team. I can learn so much from her. That's what I was going to ask Katherine about."

"Fine," I smiled. "Thanks Ellen. Even though you probably weren't so badly treated yourself, I imagined you like the idea of getting a little revenge."

"I certainly do. I can think of all sorts of things I'd like to do to those people. What a wonderful opportunity to do some original medical experiments on real human beings. Who knows what may come out of it. With Katherine's undoubted expertise, there's no limit to what we can achieve."

"Good. Why not have a talk to Katherine soon. Let her know you've already discussed it with me and I approve. She'll enjoy having someone else to work with, I'm sure."

"Thanks David," she laughed. "Sorry Matron. David for the task group isn't it, not here."

 

6

 

Only Lisa remained to inform what the task group was planning to do. I found her filling out her reports at the nurse's station between the two wards and the Intensive Care Unit.

I sat on a chair next to her.

"Hello Matron," she smiled. "Come to give us workers a hard time, have you?"

"Not at all. I always have complete faith in all my nursing staff. However, that sterilizer in pre-op needs looking at again. Please be careful when you use it."

"I've checked on that. Angela has ordered the parts for it. They'll be here in a few days. She said she'll be keeping more spares on hand for cantankerous equipment like that monster."

"I might replace it with a better one."

"Probably not a bad idea."

I paused for a moment. "As far as I can tell, you were never abuse like some of the others were."

"Definitely not like Grace and Paula, that's for sure," she nodded.

"I suppose you've worked it out, we're not just a martial arts group."

"I never thought we were."

"What did you think we were doing?"

She smiled. "I was hoping to get some revenge on those who do such awful things to slaves."

"What if I told you that's exactly what I'm planning?"

"Then, I pity those bastards. They don't even know what's coming and they don't stand a chance."

"Do you want to be part of it?" I asked carefully.

"You weren't thinking of leaving me behind, were you? Who else can use a blow gun like I can?"

"No one."

"Try and stop me," she grinned.

 

7

 

Thankfully, my concern was groundless. Both Ellen and Lisa were committed and I was confident they could do the job, when the time came.

Katherine and I met again for tea at the restaurant.

"How did it go with Lisa?" she smiled. "Ellen came to see me right after you'd talked to her. Since Lisa is the only other member of your little group who wasn't badly abused, I thought you might visit her next."

"Strange you should say that. That's exactly what I did?"

"And how did it go, for heaven's sake? Sometimes, it's like milking a rock."

"She's all in favor of it. As long as she can play with her blow gun, she's happy. Now we've got doctors and nurses wanting to kill people. What a hospital.

"A little different from most, I would think," she laughed. "I told you it was a lunatic asylum."

"Anyway. Like Ellen, she had a fair idea what's going on."

"That's wonderful. I'm certainly glad to have Ellen to help me with my part of it. Now all you've got to do is find a way of transporting your army, without attracting too much attention."

"Just how long have you been telepathic?" I shook my head and smiled. "You seem to know just what I'm thinking, sometimes."

She waited. "Well, my sweet angel? Answer me. Your spaceship might be a just a little obvious."

"You said I wasn't to tell you anything to do with objects from great heights. At least for the next few days.

"Is it one of your probably things?"

"Probably."

"Then, I don't want to know - for at least the next few days. You've probably got a warship hidden somewhere, for all I know."

I laughed. "Probably."

 

8

 

When it was dark, I took the fighter to the new task group training area. I landed silently near the assembled group, emerged and walked over to them. The door closed automatically behind me. As usual, they'd arrived by taking a fast boat kept hidden for the purpose.

"What the hell is that?" Grace asked, with a broad grin. "I can hardly make it out in the dark. But from what I can see; it looks deadly and beautiful – just like its owner.

"A fighter craft I picked up sometime ago," I smiled. "Anyone care to go for a ride?"

"Can I bring my guns?" Yvonne asked enthusiastically.

"It's just a familiarization flight," I laughed. "I thought I'd give you some idea of where the coffee machine is inside."

As we walked towards the craft, the door opened again. There were two seats at the front and another six behind them.

"May I sit next to you?" Ellen asked. "I've done a little flying but never in a fighter craft. This is fascinating."

"Sure," I nodded.

She sat in the left hand seat, I sat on the right. The others took up positions behind us. The large, multi-colored instrument panel came alive. I did nothing while Ellen studied the displays for about a minute.

"It all makes very little sense to me David," she admitted finally. "Some of the screens I can only guess at. However, from what I can work out, this thing is space capable. Is that true?"

I nodded.

"What's that mean?" called Grace.

"It means it can go into outer space," Paula told her. "Just like a space ship does."

"I've never been in space before."

"Check between your ears."

Grace glared at her.

"Without going into it too deeply at this stage," I told Ellen pointing to a duplicated screen before both of us, "that's a three dimensional map of the planet's surface in our vicinity. Next to it is the orbital trajectory track. The one directly in front of you is weapons targeting and status. Also the display which shows what's around the ship in any direction."

"And I thought what I'd flown before was complicated. It was a child's toy compared to this. I can't even read the symbols. What language is it?"

"You'll get the hang of it pretty quickly," I smiled, purposely ignoring her question. "Most functions are automatic anyway."

"They'd need to be."

"What happens when the authorities detect us?" asked Angela, our engineer.

"We have no radar reflection, heat signature, electrical or engine noise. The outer skin automatically adapts to its surrounds in color, temperature and texture."

"They can't see us," Lisa smiled.

"But we can see them," Grace chuckled.

 

9

 

I took hold of the short control sticks in the arms of the chair. We left the ground and shot quickly over a nearby hill.

"I didn't feel us move," Grace announced.

"You won't," I told her. "It has it's own gravity. I'll increase speed once we're over the desert, where it's unpopulated."

"It's like a simulation on the computer."

"Only this is very real," smiled Yvonne.

Within minutes, we were crossing into the large expanse of desert region.

"What this," I smiled.

I brought reduced altitude to fifty meters and started to accelerate. The ship weaved its way over hills and through chasms at an amazing pace.

"What speed are we doing?" Ellen asked. "You must have unbelievably short reaction times, to fly like this."

"Not really," I smiled. "The terrain following is automatic. It keeps our altitude constant. All I do is point it where I want to go."

"But how fast are we going?" Grace insisted.

"About one thousand kilometers an hour. I can take it a lot higher, but at this altitude; the disturbance we cause to the ground becomes increasingly more destructive. We've left quite a trail of debris as it is."

"Now that's what I call moving," she laughed.

 

10

 

When I arrived home, Katherine was waiting in the living room for me.

"How did it go with you commandos tonight?" she smiled, giving me a kiss.

"Fine," I smiled.

"Just fine?"

"They all seem to be able to move in the dark, without bumping into anything. The night vision glasses helped, of course. All except Grace. She managed to fall off something."

I didn't like to mislead Katherine, but I felt to mention the fighter craft would invite problems.

"Would you like coffee?"

"Any wine?

"I'll get it."

A minute later, she returned with a bottle and two glasses.

"What have you been doing sweetheart?" I asked, once she was seated again.

"I was going through the dossiers Grace has prepared on the slave abusers and others. I've only read a fraction of it. She's certainly been thorough. There are thousands of pages of it. It's amazing what she's been able to discover about them. And so many of them too. More than they know themselves I'd imagine. There's certainly no shortage of candidates for our services. I noticed the bastards who abused the original ones you bought get even greater attention"

"She certainly is a clever little computer rat. And I think we should concentrate on those who hurt our people first. Hopefully, it might lay some ghosts to rest."

"Good idea," she nodded. "Bennita suggested we might also consider those in authority who benefit from supporting such a barbaric system. She and I could have rather interesting plans for them."

"So that's what you two have been up to."

"What?" she smiled slyly.

"It proves one thing, anyway. Bennita is against slavery as much as we are."

"Definitely. The Boss Lady certainly is. Unfortunately, she can't do anything openly - even in her position. But as she said, when she first met us, she can help us in other ways."

"Like providing us with a slave machine, perhaps?" I asked casually.

"Probably," with a satisfied grin.

"There's that word again."

11

 

"Since you mentioned slave machines," Katherine remarked. "Zoe has it working now. She wants to do some more work on it. She feels, in time, she can make the conditioning we'll be doing reversible."

"What about reversing the conditioning of our people?"

"I asked her that. Sadly, it's impossible. They've gone to a lot of trouble to design them that way. But she confident she can get ours to work a little differently in time."

"Will it be as effective as the government ones?"

"More so, if Zoe has her way. She was chattering excitedly about some complicated technical theory for at least five minutes. In the end, I had to tell her to stop. I couldn't understand a word she was saying. I told her to just go ahead and do it."

I smiled. "We're fortunate to have such a good collection of people."

"It's strange. We don't seem to have anyone who worked out badly. Even Ingrid seems happy, since she changed jobs. And that's another thing I want to talk to you about." I poured us both another glass. "You know how most of our people have gone through such a hard time. And I don't just mean our original ones. Some have lost family and children when they were convicted. Others, like Ingrid could always use a little help, from time to time. Also, we have a lot of people living together here, in fairly close proximity. I'd like someone who can help in resolving any friction which might develop. She could help with the patients too."

"And you were thinking, what a wonderful idea it would be to have a psychologist for the hospital."

"How did you guess?"

"Grace already found one," I smiled. "I pick her up tomorrow. Her name is Ruth. She's forty-five years of age and never been abused - as far as Grace can tell. As usual, the authorities don't give us much information about them, but Grace has found out a little more. I'd like you to have a look at it."

She shook her head. "Well?"

"Well what sweetheart?"

"Where is the information, you silly woman?"

"Oh yes," I grinned, rising from my chair. "It's in the study. I think I'll now get it for you now, to have a look at."

"What a good idea Funny Face."

"You meant to say Honey Face."

"I know perfectly well what I meant to say."

 

12

 

Ruth didn't say much during the journey to the hospital. No doubt she was rather fearful of what might happen to her. She seemed to stare at me quite often. My looks tend to have that effect on people, until they become more used to them.

When we arrived, Katherine and Grace were there to make her feel welcome. As always during these meetings, I decided the best thing to do was to leave. I went home and changed into my uniform. I never wear my matron's attire in public. Who'd believe I could be a nurse anyway? When I arrived at my office, Bennita was waiting for me.

She smiled and shook her head. "I can't get over the way you look, every time I see you."

"That bad huh?"

"If I could get you to wear a pair of large wings and a halo, I could double the number of followers of the Karalan faith in a week."

"It's a problem," I laughed, sitting in the chair beside her. "I had two offers of work this morning. I won't tell about the other offers I received."

"I can imagine."

I made two cups of coffee and handed her one.

"I suppose you're wondering why I'm here," she smiled.

"To make my life more difficult, I expect," I answered good-naturedly.

"Perhaps not. No doubt you're exploring ways to bring certain individuals who have strayed from the true teachings of the Karalan faith here, for a heart to heart talk, some time in the future."

"I'm already doing something in that area," I nodded.

"And I suppose you'll need the assistance of others in your endeavor."

It was starting to sound a little like my conversation with Claire, about the church service and bringing the children here every month.

"I'd much prefer you simply came out and told me what you want Bennita," I shook my head. "Talking Karalan gives me a headache."

"Okay. I know of some highly trained people who could help you."

"I appreciate the offer. However, I have the people I need. I'd much prefer to keep it in the family. It's safer that way and I can trust them. I have a little military background and I'm quite capable of teaching them the skills they need."

"More than just a little military background, from what little I've been able to discover about you. In fact, that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh yes?"

"When I was sure you were Katherine's owner, I had one of my staff dig a little into your background."

"And what did you discover?"

"I found, people who check into your background get a visit from the government security section very quickly. And they didn't seem very happy either. Why would that be, do you think?"

"Perhaps they were concerned about the rather secret work I did during the Trolic War," I suggested. "I even got a nice medal for it you know."

"The Federation Star. One of only eight ever awarded."

"Yes," I laughed. "It did have a star on it - now you mention it. A purple ribbon too. Very nice."

She gave a sigh. "I'm concerned about Katherine."

"Then perhaps you should talk to her about it."

"She tells me everything is fine."

"Then it must be."

"No David," she said firmly. "And an answer like that only makes me worry all the more."

"I see."

  

  

  

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