Iceman

by Michele deBes

Nerves hot and buzzing, wired out fine to stretch beyond limitless, reaching for the point of convergence. Axis growing closer, looming to a monolith of light. Rush in to key with the brilliant mesh.

Docking at Wayling5 Complete. said a soft voice in her ear.

Drawing in the threads, sliding towards the centre of self and a name.

Dina. it’s time to Rehydrate and prepare for gravity. The voice again, insistent this time.

Sensation returned. Bones under muscle under taught skin, vacuumed into her skeleton rider.

Continue Ariel. she said.

Ease open the paths, expand to fulfilment, gauze of life swelling to completion.

Dina, you are ready to exit the rider. Any side effects?

No Ariel, it went well. I’ll get ready and go now. Look after the ship.

I am the ship and I’m not going anywhere without you.

Hold that thought Ariel. I’ll stay in contact.

Clicking heels echoed down the long corridor. Dina slowed the rhythm to an even purposeful tempo. She fought the hyperventilation, the desire to feel all the sensations in a rush. She’d been riding uninterrupted for a long time and it felt good to feel some flesh around her bones. Doubts about having to meet this client in person evaporated.

Bruce Stretton took her to his personal vault, a large room crowded with collectables.

I want you to find a human body for me. he said, a flicker of a wry smile on his grey face.

She groaned inwardly. There are big agencies that do ancestor recovery work. I don’t usually contract in this area any more. You led me to believe it was a scientific curio you were after.

It was quite a curio in its time. he said, handing her a page. This is dated to 2001. It’s a piece of paper made from the pulp of trees. Origin Earth. The image is a printout of a scan of a photograph. All ancient methods of imaging. The original photo is dated 1934.

She shifted uncomfortably. Earth meant early history. I’m not familiar with your dating system.

Oh sorry, around 24 T years old. he said and keenly watched her expression.

She placed the page gently on the desk. She’d never touched any human article so old before, even in her business.

Shouldn’t that be sealed? she asked.

You are hard to impress. he said and laughed. You are the only other person who has touched it in a Millennia. I though to highlight the importance of our meeting with this small gesture.

I am impressed. she said, and gazed at the odd grey image with its pattern of fading down two sides. Her finger was drawn to feel the edge.

It’s been a solitary search up until now, and I can see that I may never find it alone. I need one person making discreet enquires on my behalf, and you come highly recommended.

Thankyou, can you give me an overview?

The photograph was taken in London England where the accident happened, but the man in the ice was born in Hzing province China. He was Oliver Hong, known as the Ice-man. I want the whole specimen intact, but if it has been tampered with, then genetic material would still satisfy the terms of the contract. I’ll send all the data I’ve collected on Hong to your ship and start payments immediately if you accept the contract.

Back down the corridor, there was a new skip in the rhythm. So it was a body job but he hadn’t questioned her rates at all. If the ice-man existed then she’d find him. This client had time and money. Ariel had received Stretton’s data and credit by the time she returned, and she headed offworld. Not far, just a quite back water with a view of a nice nebula. She opened Ariel’s ears to the subether net and started her search.

She put off dehydrating and left the gravity on. Gave herself a chance to enjoy her body, exercise, tone the muscles, and carry on like she imagined normal people do. Ariel came back with some interesting leads and she got down to some serious searching. (Some of the leads turned out to be fake. A writers group in 2001 had chosen the photo randomly as the subject of a story exercise. The pasts and futures they created for the ice-man were quite believable and she lost many minutes following dead ends. It wasn’t until she found their website she realised what was happening. Oddly enough one of the stories, written by someone with an eye for historical realism, contained information that started the trail again.)

It took two days to track it down, but actually finding a real object at the end of a data trail was not a given.

Ten days later, the ice cube was in the hold and she was heading back to Wayling5.

She was quietly confident, contemplating the upward slant of her bank balance when there was a crisis in the Hong Unit. She sent a mayday to the nearest cryo facility and it took them in.

Faulty filters on the unit, but you acted promptly with minimal damage sustained. Dina stood with the Med, their breaths fogging the chamber.

Sheer ice surfaces held the man suspended within and she moved closer.

Calm face lost in a hypothermia trance as the temperature fell. Barely alive when the mains burst and the air raid shelter began filling with water, last heart beats stretching out as the numb limbs floated free, drifting slowly to frozen equilibrium.

We have stabilised the decay ratio but it’s not good for the genetic material to remain in this state. said the Med.

What are the options? She asked.

One. Discorporate the specimen for full scanning. The most cost effective method. Although there is some gene damage and the process is irreversible.

I understand. she said quietly, gazing into the disarmingly clear ice.

Or two. Oliver Hong can be Restored.

You can do that here? she asked.

It’s one of our specialty services and of course, has a high cost factor.

So I’ve heard. I’m lucky I have a rich client. Do it.

On her way again. This time she had a companion. Oliver was disoriented and didn’t talk at first, so he required little maintenance. He ate everything she gave him politely but Dina hated playing the host. Once he learnt the recipe program he had Ariel whipping up all sorts of dishes. In fact, he soon got on better with the ship, but that suited Dina. She could leave him to wander around and talk to Ariel while she relaxed at her search centre. She wondered why Mongol genes were so special and she soon found out why. The warrior factor. Bred out of the gene pool by so much well intentioned tampering over time. Worth a fortune on any market.

Oliver came to sit beside her and returned her smile with a small one of his own. His broad face was calm. His faulty vision would be treated later, so he still wore the glasses. They looked like a pair of retro visors and with the flight suit, he looked quiet the space farer.

His solemn almond eyes gazed at the display.

I’m just doing some research. These were your ancestors, or an artistic representation of them. she said

A painting. Do you have any photos of my recent family? he asked, voice soft and polite.

Photos? Photographs. Oh, no, sorry. I do have your family tree. She leant to the controls. She was encouraged by his interest and quickly expanded the report to fill the space.

You are a direct descendent of the ... Mongol Dynasty. You carry the only Mongol genes in existence. She’d been feeding him information, even if she knew he might not understand.

Oliver gazed up at the names for a long time.

I know many of them from back in China, he said. My great aunts ... mother, father ... my grandfather and I lived in London. I’m there at the bottom, alone.

Consoling Restorees was not high on her list of accomplishments.

You can talk to me about them if you like, and about your past. The Med said it helps with the orientation.

Orien ... Sorry? His shy smile broke through and she was glad his curiosity was returning.

Orientation. Help you recover, feel better to start a new life.

I think ‘orientation’ will take a long time. he said, rose quietly and moved away.

She returned to the images of the Mongol warriors. The facial similarities were striking but Oliver just didn’t fit in to the images of rampant blood lust and carnage. She shook her head smiling. Who knew what rogue genes lurked in the young man.

The day came when Oliver had reached the end of his first stage of physical adaptation and he was ready for interstellar flight.

Dina put the call through to Stretton that she had been putting off, feeling guilty about the expense blowout. The surprise of receiving a Restoree should smooth over any problems.

I’ve got good news. she told Stretton.

Excellent. When can you deliver the specimen.

I’m about a week out.

Your final payment will be here on delivery.

Thankyou. she said and cut the connection.

Specimen! she said frowning and looked over at Oliver. He sat cross legged before a small shrine he had made for himself in a corner. He’d asked for candles but she didn’t know what they were. So he contented himself with a bowl of water and a biscuit on a plate which he carefully arranged on a folded tshirt.

Oliver. she said, but had to say it again louder. He rose slowly, stretching in a graceful dance she had noticed him doing before. He turned and padded over. His smile filled his face and his eyes folded to black sparkling curves. She felt her smile respond naturally to his warmth.

I was remembering my May Lei. he said. I took her to a very nice restaurant and asked her to marry me.

Sorry? Marry?

It is ... was a custom and a law, to join two people in love and if they wanted to start a family. We planned a dynasty of our own.

Oh, I see. she said, His gentle irony was not lost on her, and she realised he understood more than she granted him. The immensity of his loss finally found a way through to her and her eyes pricked with imminent tears. She’d heard Oliver crying quietly at night but never in front of her, and she admired his bravery.

His smile relaxed to a reassuring grin. I’m finding joy in the memories. He said kindly. Don’t be sad for me.

She couldn’t return his smile this time.

Oliver, I haven’t told you everything yet.

You can tell me now.

I was waiting till you were ready and, it’s very complicated and, not very pleasant.

I think I am beyond being dismayed by anything you can tell me. he said, then read the look on her face. What troubles you Dina?

In two hours they were installed in the bridge and heading away from Wayling5 and Stretton as fast as Ariel could go.

Share the reflexes, tugging on the lines, light pulse escape speed, and more for the joy of it. Merge and extend, the three point arrow sent flying.