Free Outward Borne by R. J. Weinkam Page A

sat in a
far corner behind some tables. Cabinets lined the walls, tools were
scattered around or hung from the ceiling. Much of the place was
arranged around two tables that stood in the center of the room.
Just about everything was metal or some black material that she did
not recognize.
    Her cell had a bench type mat,
some dried food and water, and two empty shelves. She was left
alone for many hours and for a long time nothing happened. She was
not bothered and received no instructions. Then a large door slid
open with a hiss, on the far side it was. A service bot came in,
one that looked like a rolling box with several arms. It was
holding Bek’s body. She had not known that Bek had been captured.
The bot slid Bek onto one of the tables and strapped her down. The
table was too narrow, Bek’s hind legs hung over the side. It moved
the equipment around the table and adjusted some lamps. The room
was dim, but Kit could see her better in the extra light. The bot
turned and left through the same door. Bek was too far away to see,
but she must have been alive since she had been strapped down. She
lay there for a long time and never moved.
    Without any warning, a
large-bodied thing came in and a great sharp irritating stink
rolled across the room. It was completely covered in a shiny gold
fabric. It had four legs and two arms, with a loose reflective
helmet covering its head. It must have been a Hag. Kit confessed
that she was afraid that it was coming for her and could not help
wishing it onto Bek. It stopped and seemed to look into her cage,
but Kit could not see its face. She kept wishing it would to go to
Bek and it did. The thing turned and bent over Bek’s body. She
could not tell what it was doing, but it worked intently, with
quick movements, leaning ever closer, reaching for one instrument
after another, and never turning to look away. Some of the
instruments moved by themselves, while the thing bent closely in,
then it suddenly stood upright, looking down, seemingly upset at
Bek. Without doing much more, it moved away, back through the same
sliding door. It had done something to Bek’s head. The lights were
focused on her, there were tubes attached to her and raw flesh was
showing. It was quiet then. Kit called to Bek to say how sorry she
was for wishing the Hag would take her, but Bek did not
answer.
    A short time later the same service bot came
in to take Bek away. It had a long scratch on its side. It put away
some of the instruments, turned off lights and grabbed Bek by the
arm to pull her onto its top. It was very rough, as if it did not
care. Kit knew then that Bek was dead.
    There was another Cathian in that
room, but Kit could hardly see her from her cage. Loft stood still
with a slack expression in the middle of a small cell, staring hour
after hour, hardly moving. Her head was tilted and twisted to her
right as if she was partially collapsed. Something was wrong with
her. She moved, but slowly, fumbled her way around. Her body had no
expression. Her self had been taken away.
    There were dull hissing and
whirring sounds from the equipment in that place, but there was
more. Scratching clicking noises came from the other side of the
wall. These were not machine noises, but moving and scratching
sounds like some animal. Twice the Hag went through a small door
and into that room. The noise got much louder and sounded angry
when that happened. Kit was certain that there was something else
alive in that room, but it was not one of us.
    It came for Kit the next day. Two
small bots, the ones with long arms, came into the room. Her cage
was opened and a dank tube was pressed against her leg. She felt a
vibration then a minute later she collapsed to the floor. She could
not move her body, but she was still awake. Those bots put her on
the table and strapped her down. She was conscious and worried. How
far was this was going to go? Would she be helpless forever or
would they just leave her there to die? She did not