Mitchell's Revenge

Lucy mumbled something incoherent as the anaesthetic began to wear off. Matt sighed with relief. He was not a doctor. He had the basic first aid knowledge that all shipboard crew were required to have. They didn’t have the luxury of their own doctor. They were not a military ship or a luxury cruiser.

The instructions he was given to make the alterations to Lucy’s code meant that she had to be anaesthetised for the time it took him to access the bionics core. He had just enough room to work in the med bay, while the life support equipment monitored Lucy’s vital signs.

He hoped that the fix was good. Lucy was in a world of pain waiting for the instructions to come through from U.S.E. headquarters, as she tried to control the compulsion in her limbs. The U.S.E. primary objective written into her code had failed to take into account her own emotions and human logic. It had also failed to take into account the effect of the DNA bond with Em.

Matt thought that the developer who had written it must be one of those nerdy military types who was totally devoid of emotion, and subject to a logic uniquely their own. He had analysed the fix when it came through and added a few tweaks of his own in an attempt to lift the burden from Lucy’s body. Her muscles were taut from the effort of restraining her own limbs.

Lucy took in a deep breath and her eyes popped open. She looked up at Matt, who smiled at her. She slowly sat up on the med bay bed, easing herself up against the pillows behind her head. She shook her head and blinked her eyes. He handed her a cup of water to sip.

“You’re going to be OK now,” he said. “The mods should relieve the compulsion you’ve been experiencing. And I’ve written in a little control key for you. All you have to do is think of stroking Em’s fur and it will trigger a bit of extra “grip” if you like. It should help you manage the compulsion if it becomes overwhelming again.”

“Thank you,” said Lucy. “How long was I under for?”

“Only half an hour,” replied Matt. “I worked as fast as I could. I do know that anaesthetic’s not a great experience for anybody.” He smiled again. He took the cup and then offered his hand for her to steady herself as she pushed up from the bed and stood up.

“Wow, that feels different,” she said. “I can feel my legs much better now, and I don’t feel as if I want to run a mile any more. That’s way better. Thanks Matt.”

“If anything starts to feel weird, you let me know right away. OK?” he squeezed her hand. “We can’t have you beating up your own crew mates now, can we?”

“Not terribly helpful, I know,” she replied. “Let’s get back to the bridge, shall we?”

“Actually, I don’t think that’s such a good idea for you right now Lucy,” he said. “You’ve just woken up from an anaesthetic and you need a few hours to get over it. I’ll walk you back to your cabin. You should rest for a while longer.”

Lucy screwed up her face at him. The med bay door slid open and Em sauntered in.

“He’s right,” her voice sounded in Lucy’s mind. “You’re coming with me. Rest is what you need.”

Lucy reached down to stroke the panther’s fur, stumbling forward as she did so.

“See what I mean?” said Matt. “Come on, I’ll walk you back.”

He took Lucy’s arm and led her firmly towards her quarters. Em trotted along behind them, with her tail high in the air. When he was sure Lucy was settled on her bunk and was actually going to stay there, Matt returned to his station on the bridge. He quickly updated Jake on her condition.

As soon as he left Em squeezed alongside Lucy on the cabin’s narrow bed and kept her warm while the effects of the anaesthetic wore off. Lucy drifted back to sleep and dreamt of the accident on the pylon course. She woke some hours later, feeling exhausted. Em was now on the floor, regarding her with clear green eyes.

“You remember now, don’t you?” she asked.

“Yes,” Lucy nodded. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She wriggled her toes and stretched her legs out in front of her. The compulsion to run was completely gone. She was hungry. She stood up and looked at Em on the floor.

“Got to eat something. Need coffee,” she said. “Coming to the galley with me big cat?”

Em stood up and stretched, arching her back high as she did so. They made their way to the galley and Lucy described what she had dreamed, explaining to Em what happened that day on the pylon course.

“If it wasn’t for Jake and Universal Starship Enterprises, I wouldn’t be alive,” she concluded.

“You’re lucky he thinks so highly of you,” observed Em. The panther nudged her into the galley.

As they stepped through the doorway, Lucy was overcome by the strongest feeling that she needed to cook. She made herself some coffee, and then began gathering ingredients together for a cake, of sorts. A couple of hours later she had made a pavlova. She put it on a serving plate, and covered it with cream, reconstituted fruit and toasted nuts. She stood back to admire her handy work.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” Jake’s voice came from the doorway behind her. “We’ve been wondering where you were.”

Lucy spun on her heels and glared at him.

“First I want to run to rescue Anja, and now I want to cook,” she said. “What are you people doing to me?”

“I’d have thought cooking was better than wanting to hurt your fellow crew members!” Jake laughed. “What on earth is that anyway?” He pointed to the pavlova.

“It’s a sweet cake made with egg whites and sugar,” Lucy replied. “I’ve never made one before in my life. And I didn’t know that I knew how to. Your developers have done something to me. Or Matt did when he tweaked the fix!”

“So are we going to taste it, or what?”

“I was just about to bring it to the bridge. We can all take a sugar hit together. You grab the plates and forks and I’ll carry this.” Lucy picked up the serving plate and headed down the access way.

She was greeted by gales of laughter as she stepped through the door to the bridge carrying the pavlova in front of her. Jake and Em followed. She put the plate beside her control board and looked accusingly at Matt.

“What did you do to me?” she asked. More laughter.

“To be honest, I didn’t think it would work,” said Matt. “But obviously you now know how to make a “pav” as we call them on EQ2. Good job!”

“You’re supposed to be helping me, not introducing other stuff that I don’t know about!”

“Come on, it’s harmless,” said Matt. “Who doesn’t want to know how to bake a cake? You’ll be the most popular crew member soon! Dish it up why don’t you?”

“I’ll dish you up if you’re not careful,” Lucy said, smiling now. “Just as long as I don’t get the urge to bake a cake while we’re in the middle of rescuing Anja! Here you go then, I don’t even know if it’s edible.”

She cut through the hard outer shell and into the soft middle of the pavlova, gathering up fruit and cream with each slice. Jake handed the plates around to all the crew and put one on the floor for Em who licked at the cream and left the rest.

“Here’s to Lucy!” Jake said, raising his fork loaded with pav in the air. Henri, Matt, Fred and Irene all did the same. There was silence as they tasted Lucy’s creation. She watched their faces anxiously, looking for any small sign of approval.

“That’s delicious!” announced Henri. “You can make one of those any time you like!”

There was more laughter. They settled down to enjoy the sweet treat while they travelled towards their next inspection.