20060719

2.1

She slept, her two concubines lying beside her, and the storms raged outside. Through all the lightning and thunder, and waves crashing against the rocks far below, the room was silent. Her chamber, sculpted entirely from the finest marble ever found by man, was a room more stunning than most had ever seen. Usually dark and cold, but now warmed by the three sweaty bodies intertwined on the bed. The east wall was made entirely of glass, one giant window, through which she could view this great anomaly of nature- the Oceanus Procellarum, the “Sea of Storms.” It covered almost fifty percent of the moon- her moon. It had been named by the ancient race that inhabited the world her moon orbited, but this was long before it was hers, long before she was born, and long before these ancient people had the capacity to reach it.

The combox beeped, and it echoed throughout the room. She awoke, and reached for her nightgown. She draped the gown around her, and crossed the room to answer the call.

“Yes.” She said into the receiver.

“Your highness, I apologize for calling so late. This is Doctor Beigh.”

“Yes,” she repeated. “What is it?” She gazed out the window and watched the never-ending storm. At night, it was mesmerizing, the flash of the distant lightning illuminating the room for split seconds at a time.

“We have a new batch. The tests are complete.” He tried to keep a steady voice, but it was obvious he was both tired and afraid.

“Send the video feed through.” She turned on the vidscreen mounted in the north wall.

“Yes, your highness.” A few moments later, a screen flickered, and then the feed came through. It was a medical examination room. Three young girls, no more than ten or eleven lay on metal tables. Each had metal helmets covering their heads and faces. Lights flashed across the helmets, and each were connected to a large machine in the center of the room. Numerous diodes were attached to their bodies, monitoring the functions of all of their organs. Another doctor mulled around in the back of the room, reading charts and turning dials. The only sound was the shuffling of his feet, and the synchronized beeps of their heart monitors.

“They’re better than we expected,” doctor Beigh continued. “with very little kidney and liver degeneration. Much less than any of the other recent batches. They’re up to specification, however we still think we can improve in the future.”

“Very good,” she said. “These will be fine.”

“Your highness, if I may suggest, given another two weeks we could-“

“Doctor Beigh,” she interjected. He fell immediately silent. “These will be fine.”

“Yes, your highness.” She hung up the receiver. She watched on the vidscreen. The other doctor in the background stopped, and put his finger up to his ear. He looked past the camera, through the glass where doctor Beigh would be sitting. He nodded, and left the room. She turned off the vidscreen, disrobed, and climbed back into bed.

* * *

Three hundred feet below, doctor Beigh sat behind glass, staring at a computer screen. He entered a series of commands into the terminal, and looked up at the three young girls. The lights on the helmets went dim. The door behind Beigh opened, and doctor Theria, the mad who had been on the vidscreen, entered the room.

“I thought we had another two weeks!” He sounded upset. “What are you doing?”

“Direct orders from the Baroness.” Beigh replied. The room fell silent, save for the beeps of the heart monitors. After a couple of minutes, they were silent too.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home