Lost Ar

Author's note:

This is the fourth and final chapter of Lost Ark, a sort of sequel to Lost Colony (previously published) but which may be read as a standalone story. The characters and setting are new, with only the Lost Colony backstory tying them together. It is also more science-fictiony than most of Lost Colony.

All characters are over the age of eighteen. Thank you for reading!

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-Kyle-

The scene brought Danton more than a touch of envy.

Skye, the voluptuous and exotic clone, lay on her back on the bed, her skull and eyes obscured by the cranial harness. Lissa leaned over her protectively, holding Skye's hand and whispering soothing words. Not that Skye understood. The clone had been programmed with the earliest, most limited cognitive build. After sex with Danton two days earlier she had lapsed into a nearly comatose state. She might be comforted by the soothing tones in Lissa's voice, but would never respond.

Unless she was reprogrammed.

Lissa tightened the straps that would hold Skye in place during the reprogramming. Danton's envy arose from the easy and intense bond that Lissa and a different Skye had shared just a day earlier. If the reprogramming worked as they hoped, Lissa and Skye would, in a very unconventional sense, be reunited. Danton would remain alone.

With a nod from Lissa, Danton activated the reprogramming sequence. At once, Skye stiffened. She twisted against the straps, her fingers and toes wriggling as if grasping at some invisible object. Her hips strained up, relaxed, and rose again. Soft lips parted and began to move as if speaking, but no sound emerged.

"Kyle, I don't know," Lissa said. She tried to hold Skye's hand but the clone was clenching and unclenching her fists too rapidly.

"We knew it wouldn't be gentle? Genius or madman, Nkosi must have found some way to reset the stem and lower, more fundamental parts of the brain. The nearest equivalent would be restarting the heart with a defibrillator."

"Hardly comforting," Lissa muttered, but said nothing more.

Danton, too, felt uncomfortable. Skye had been naked when Lissa found her and had remained so. Watching her ripe body twist against the restraints was arousing. With her lips parted, Skye might have been in the grip of a powerful orgasm - one that lasted for several minutes.

A timer on the screen counted down. With three minutes remaining Skye's straining against the straps eased. At two minutes she began to whisper small sounds, just too faint to make out. When the timer crept under the one-minute mark, she began to speak first individual words, then sentence fragments. Clenching fists became wriggling fingers, then more subtle movements. As the sequence ended Skye lay still, breathing gently. Danton and Lissa removed the headset and goggles.

Danton stepped back. It seemed right that the first person Skye saw should be Lissa.

"Hi," Lissa said as soon as Skye's eyes flitted open. She stroked the brunette's cheek.

"Hello," Skye said. Her voice was little more than a whisper. "I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep."

"It's okay," Lissa assured her. "I'm Lissa."

"Hi Lissa," Skye said, before adding, "you're pretty. Oh, I'm Skye."

"And you're sweet," Lissa said. "Let me get you out of these straps."

Once Skye was free she let Lissa help her from the bed to the floor, their hands remaining entwined a touch longer than necessary. Danton coughed politely.

"Oh," Skye said, seeming to notice Danton for the first time.

"Skye, this is Kyle," Lissa explained.

"Hi, Kyle!" Skye said, then with no subtlety, added, "He's cute!"

Danton laughed. "Nice to meet you, too, Skye."

The clone swept her eyes around the room, her brow furrowing. "This room is boring though," she said, "not a good place for either beauty or bed."

It was Lissa's turn to laugh. "You're right, Skye. Let's find you some clothes and get out of here."

While Danton re-packed his datapad and interface kit, Lissa and Skye hustled off to find clothing. When they returned, Skye was dressed beguilingly in a cream floral kimono which flattered her warm skin. The trio turned back toward the exit but was interrupted once more by Sheen's call.

"Lissa, Kyle, you there?" Sheen sounded no less stressed than she had during their last call when she had explained about the shuttle's faulty fuel indicator.

"We're here," Lissa answered. "Any news?"

"Nothing great," Sheen replied. "The indicator is still twitchy, even after I thumped it. That usually helps."

"So where do we stand?"

Sheen's anger could be felt over the remote connection. "Sanz is saying I can't risk it, wants me to turn back at the next burn."

"Oh, god," Lissa said, her voice no more than a whisper.

"But fuck that," Sheen said. "I got you guys there and I'll bring you back. Sanz can take that order and stick it up-"

"Wait," Danton cut in. "Hold on."

"Kyle, what?" Lissa's eyes were wide with confusion.

Danton ignored her. "Sheen, how long until the next burn? How long do you have before you need to commit?"

"Forty minutes give or take, why?"

"Give me thirty," Kyle said. "Can you do that?"

"Sure," Sheen said. "But why, if you don't mind me asking? What's going to change in half an hour?"

"Maybe everything," Kyle said. "Give me thirty."

"Kyle, what the hell?" Lissa looked wretched. She was clutching Skye's hand tightly but staring at Danton.

"Lissa, trust me, please. I think... I'm not sure but I think we have another solution. We need to be quick though."

"I'm not spending two years out here, Kyle. I'm not going to die getting sick on four-hundred-year-old food or torn apart by the drug-addicted clones."

"We won't." Danton was already heading back toward the airlock. "Give me thirty minutes. If I'm wrong, well, Sheen can make the call."

The small group headed back toward the previous habitat segment, Danton leading the way while a worried Lissa followed. Skye, confused but amiable, fell in behind them. Once they reached the previous segment Danton triple-checked the airtight door then led them back toward the ladder. Their brief excursion to the previous segment, the one they had first visited days earlier, was complete. They were now back in the odd, narrow segment where Bauer had passed the final, tortured months of his life.

When she realized Danton meant to climb the ladder once more Lissa spoke up. "Kyle, please, whatever you have in mind we're going the wrong way. We should be headed back to the first segment, to the airlock."

Danton paused. Lissa, he knew, was beset by fears that they would be stranded. He was just as distraught, but now the possibility of saving them without risking Sheen's life or theirs had taken hold. "Lissa, I know. Look, like I said, give me half an hour. I just need a bit more time to check something. If it doesn't work, and if Sheen decides to risk getting us, then we'll have more than enough time to reach the airlock. If what I have in mind does work, then we may not need to take that risk, period."

The ladder soared overhead. With no time to waste Danton once again ascended, this time bypassing the side rooms. At the top he settled into one of the contoured chairs and immersed himself in the terminal's complex array of menus, commands, and screens.

"Will you at least tell me what you found?" Lissa asked as she and Skye joined him in the top room.

Although distracted, Danton found the time to manage a terse dialog. "Did you ever wonder," he asked, "how Bauer planned to move his operation to the surface?"

"They had the escape pod. Is there another one on this segment?"

"No." For a moment Danton was quiet as he found the screen he had been searching for. His eyes swept over the controls shown.

"Perhaps they had planned to ask for a ride from the colonists."

"That's certainly a possibility," Danton said, nodding both at Lissa's suggestion and something he had found on the screen. "I believe they did, in fact, plan to coordinate with the colonists once the time was right. They'd need to know where the main settlements had been established so they could set up nearby."

"So that was Bauer's plan?"

"Part of it, but there's still a huge chunk missing; what about all of their gear?"

Lissa chewed on her lip. "Right. The tanks, fluid, computers, nutrients, programming equipment..."

"Mmm-hmm." Danton explored a few final menus, now certain that he was right about the segment's purpose.

"Shit!" Lissa cried out. "It's all stored here. The rooms we passed either side of the ladder: Pharma, Compute, Tanks, everything they needed was here in this segment."

'Yep," Danton said. He smiled. "Except this isn't a segment."

"Mmm, what?"

Danton was about to explain when a warning light flashed on the screen.

"What's that?"

"An open door," Danton replied. He looked carefully at the alert. "The pressure door between here and segment two. Someone opened it."

"Shit," Lissa said in a whisper. "It has to be either Jade or Lance. Or both."

"Yeah." Dread shot through Danton. It was exactly how Bauer had lost control. Four hundred years earlier a different Jade and Lance, both already hooked on Juice, had found their way into Bauer's hiding place, restrained him, and fucked him relentlessly just to feed their addiction. Now, identical clones were again closing in.

"Kyle, Kyle!" Lissa yelled, pulling Danton out of his tortured reverie. "They're not addicted yet. This Jade and Lance..." she continued, "only Jade got a single dose of Juice, and Lance didn't get any at all. It isn't like with Bauer."

She was right, Danton realized. Both Lance and Jade had been placid enough. Their programming conditioned them to look for Juice, but Ford had described the drug's concentration of narcotics as minimal. It would take quite a few doses to establish addiction.

"I have to see," Danton said. "And either way I have to close that door."

"What's so important about the door?" Lissa asked, but Danton was already starting down the ladder.

Danton descended as swiftly as he could without risking a fall. A confrontation, if it came to that, would be easier to manage on the floor below. He got there just in time; as soon as Danton dropped from the ladder he learned who had come through the door. He would have to deal with both Jade and Lance.

Not that they looked threatening. If anything the pair appeared tentative, staring at their surroundings as if the featureless hallway was a novelty. Lance was still shirtless, his lean torso smudged here and there with traces of oil. Jade had pulled her bikini bottoms back on and wrapped herself in a striking red kimono.

"Kyle!" Jade gasped. She dashed forward to embrace him. "I missed you," she said, pressing her face against his chest. Silk brushed against Danton's skin.

Behind her, Lance spoke up. "I've finished stripping and reassembling the drives and thresher assemblies, sir. I'm pleased to report that they're in excellent working condition."

There was, Danton realized, no danger. Lance was dutifully reporting on the task he had been given the day before, and Jade simply missed him. If Danton's plan worked, both clones could be rescued along with Skye.

"Wait here," Danton said, prying Jade loose. "I'll be back in just a minute."

There were less than fifteen minutes until his check-in with Sheen. Danton went to the end of the corridor and descended the stairs. As expected, the door to the reclamation ring was hanging open, a waft of frigid air pouring in. Danton closed and secured it, then scrambled back up the stairs. The excursion had only taken him minutes, but he had few to spare.

"This way," Danton called to the clones. Before Jade could wrap him in another inconvenient embrace he began once more to climb the ladder. Lance and Jade happily followed him. When they reached the room labeled 'Office', Danton guided them inside. "Here," he said, indicating the chairs. "Strap yourselves in, like this." Jade kissed him, but otherwise the pair put up no objections, allowing Danton to strap them securely into the contoured chairs. "Just hold tight," he added before leaving them.

"Kyle, what is going on?" Lissa demanded as Danton returned to the top room. "Who was it?"

"Jade and Lance." Once more Danton seated himself at the terminal. This time he fastened the harness around his hips and shoulders. "Strap in, Lissa, and help Skye."

"Kyle, what the fuck?"

"Do it, Lissa!" Danton was in a near panic, weighing what he had yet to do against the few minutes remaining. "Strap yourself and Skye in. I'll explain in a sec."

"G'dammit," Lissa muttered, but did as Danton had asked.

Skye was scowling at the plain, dark ceiling panels. "I'd decorate these," she said.

Danton's hands flew across the screen, peeling back its final secrets. Once he was confident that there would be enough time, he resumed his earlier conversation with Lissa.

"Remember I said this isn't a segment?"

"Sure," Lissa said. "But I don't get it. We're obviously in a segment. It's even narrow toward the center."

Danton nodded. "You were right earlier when you realized that everything Bauer's team needed was stored here, but how did he intend to get them from here to the surface?"

"I don't know. Maybe send up shuttles to haul it down?"

"No," Danton said, "That would have left them at the mercy of the colonists. What if bringing down several shipments worth of sex clone labs didn't register as high priority?"

"Kyle, for the love," Lissa groaned. "I'm tired and worried. Could you stop being so fucking mysterious and just tell me? Please?"

"Okay, okay." Danton felt a stab of guilt over hoarding the secret for so long. He touched a control, activating a sequence. "Lissa, what we at first thought was the final segment isn't a segment at all; it's a ship."

As if to confirm its secret identity, the room gave a sudden jolt.

"What is happening? Fuck, Kyle!"

"It's okay," Danton tried to assure her. "Lissa, hear me out. The entire purpose of this final segment was to hold a lander stocked with everything Bauer's team would need. Rather than rely on the colonists to come get them, they had all of their gear ready to go. Bauer's plan was to wait until he was satisfied with their 'product', the clones, then depart in this lander."

"Shit! This whole thing is a spaceship? Like Sheen's shuttle?"

"Not exactly," Danton acknowledged. "It has limited range, and nowhere near enough power to lift off from the surface. It's more like the Space Shuttle from centuries ago. Once we detach from Ark I we'll have enough power to maneuver and land on Kaybe, but not much more."

"Wait," Lissa said. She squeezed her features together in concentration. "Bauer would have planned on landing from orbit. We're more than a day out. Do we have the range?"

"Yes," Danton assured her, although in truth he wasn't certain. The lander had more fuel than it needed to maneuver and land, but would it be enough to reach Kaybe first? "At the very least we'll have enough fuel to rendezvous with Sheen. She can meet us part way without risking flying her shuttle beyond its fuel limit."

Lissa opened her mouth to voice a question or objection but the floor shook with a sudden vibration. The sequence Danton had started, one which would culminate in the lander detaching from Ark I, was proceeding without difficulty.

"This is fun!" Skye said.

Understanding dawned on Lissa's face. "That's why you were so worried about securing the doors."

"Yes. Once we detach, those will become open to space. Kinda important that they're closed."

"And the flex duct you pointed out, the connections between this segment -the lander- and the neighboring segments... that just rips away?"

"Right again," Danton said. On-screen the next step was approaching. "Lissa, Skye," he said, "lay back in your chairs. We're about to get thrown around a bit."

All three were pressed to their left as, with a metallic shriek, the rotation of the habitat ring began to slow. As close as they were to the central shaft of Ark I the sound seemed to be everywhere, bouncing and reverberating around the cabin. All three occupants pressed hands against their ears as best they could manage. Danton could only hope that Jade and Lance had followed his instructions.

"What was that?" Lissa gasped as the sensation and noise began to ease.

"The ring has to stop spinning before we can detach," Danton explained. "The outer braces that run the length of the ship? If we hit one of those it's going to be the shortest escape of all time."

Danton was about to explain something else but Lissa got there ahead of him. "Back to zero gravity then."

"I think we're already there," Danton said.

"I feel funny," Skye giggled. She reached to loosen her harness.

"Not quite yet," Danton cautioned. "One more step."

Loud popping sounds reverberated left and right. The first pair came from well behind them, a second pair a touch closer. Another set, then a fourth and fifth echoed, each closer. When the final pair of pops sounded through the cabin the room shook once more.

"Here we go."

A faint streak of light fell across the left roof panel, then another. Danton's kit, which he had neglected to secure, floated through the cabin, just beyond his reach. More streaks of light, harsh in contrast to the black, seeped around the panels. The lander was slipping away from its mooring, allowing more and more of K2-136's unfiltered glare to slip between it and the massive cavity it was leaving behind.

"Those were windows, fuck!" Lissa was staring forward, a smile broad on her face.

"Pretty!" Skye said. "I told you to decorate them."

More and more light found its way into the gap between the lander and its abandoned mooring bay. As the lander slipped free they were treated first to views of the frame that had held the ship in place, the opening that it retreated from, then Ark I itself. A small cloud of wiring harnesses, bolts, flex-duct, and scrap chased them into space, the detritus of their exit.

Ark I lay before them, static and spare. Days earlier Danton had seen it for the first time in person, the hulk that had carried not just the habitat ring, but all of the supplies the original colonists had needed. Its sprawling, skeletal form receded reluctantly, giving way to the majesty of space.

Danton gave the spectacle a final look. "Goodbye, Ark I."

***

-Lissa-

How long had she been holding her breath? The last two hours had been non-stop. The search for Skye and the act of reprogramming her had gone well. The process itself had been difficult to watch, but it had worked; Skye had emerged with a much more complete cognitive and emotional development. She was the Skye from the spa, not the one-dimensional fucktoy that Bauer had first created.

Then had come the troubling news from Sheen, the rush back to the final segment, and Kyle's investigation of the intruders. To learn that the oddly configured segment was a ship, then experience its separation from Ark I was too much. Sloane had to take several deep breaths to steady herself.

"Kyle, you know..." Sloane said wearily, "you could simply have told me it was a ship."

"I'm sorry," Kyle said, but his eyes told a different story. Deciphering the mysteries of the habitat ring had for him been every bit the puzzle as understanding Bauer's journey had been for Sloane. "I wasn't sure I could activate the lander, or undock from the habitat ring."

"Well, don't do it again. I've had enough surprises."

Kyle chuckled before turning back to the ship's controls. "Okay, I promise that next time I extract us from a nightmare ship of ravenous clones by activating a hidden escape lander I'll break the news to you slowly."

"Fuck you," Sloane said, laughing. "Yeah, if you want to surprise me, bring me a cake on my birthday or something."