Master Fixer

By G. Michael Smith

Master Fixer is the second book in The Forevers, featuring Jayne Wu.

Now 16 years old, Jayne Wu is working as a fixer on Biome 3, a thoroughly inhospitable environment. She is just starting to feel she can serve her world through advancing in her chosen profession. Her friend, Poppy Greenway, has kept her safe but that is all about to change. The Consortium crime syndicate is plotting to abduct her.

Jayne Wu is a young woman alone in a cold society that is preoccupied with developing tech to escape the approaching Swarm meteor field. Danger seems to find her, and death is no stranger to those around her. Is she lucky - or jinxed? How long can she evade the Forevers?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Agio Publishing House
• Release date: May 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370844241

G. Michael Smith

G. Michael Smith has been writing books prodigiously since retiring. Besides The Forevers, he has begun the Beechwood Adventures series for young teens and a volume of poetry. He lives in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island on Canada's west coast.

Book preview

The Swarm would arrive in 89 years. This was not a lot of time to complete the biome ships and send the best of mankind to the stars.

Technology was accelerating. Much progress had been made. Much more was needed to escape the wall of rocks that was rushing inexorably toward the solar system. Earth would not survive. That was a given. But perhaps, with a lot of work and a lot of luck, the human race might live and grow on other planets in the galaxy.

It was a year ago today that Jayne Wu arrived on Biome 3. A drop of sweat rolled down her forehead and onto her nose. It hung there and swelled to an almost impossible size. She could not wipe it away. She was inside a protective suit that isolated her from the potential nastiness in the jungles of Biome 3. Jayne shook her head and the drop of sweat flew from the end of her nose, splattered on the faceplate of her protective suit and was unceremoniously sucked away by the suit systems. She sniffed and snapped shut the moss-covered access panel in which she had been working. She heard a sucking sound as the panel door sealed itself against any foreign matter that might harm the inner workings. Jayne’s repairs were simple. Locate the designated access panel, set the repair tent over the panel, enter the tent, open the panel and complete the required repairs. She had completed the task and was about to remove the sealed tent when she felt a shiver run up her spine. Something was out there watching her.

She breathed slowly and listened. The feeling that flooded her mind grew stronger and more ominous. The repair tent wouldn’t provide a lot of protection from the dangerous creatures of Biome 3 but it should have alerted her of any potential dangers. The tent’s systems should have identified any dangerous flora or fauna in the vicinity.

Jayne paused and then shrugged her shoulders and pressed the button next to the tent door. With a zipping sound the tent retracted into a small package. Jayne looked around for the source of her feelings but could see nothing. She bent down on one knee, glanced quickly down at the tent package, picked it up and slipped it into her pouch, all the while scanning the path for movement. There was nothing.

Jayne spoke into her suit recorder, Repair completed. Replaced damaged IC component. Returning to Biome Central.

She returned the way she had come, along a small path to the point where she had parked the floater. It was a small transportation unit fitted with an anti-gravity device. It could float about a metre from the ground and travel 10 to 15 km/hr. It was an indispensible fixer tool.

She removed the tent and a few tools from her pouch and placed them in the floater tool compartment. She touched her helmet and the faceplate retracted. The sterile air of the suit was replaced by the humid jungle air. She breathed deep. She climbed aboard, initiated propulsion and headed down the path. Her feelings of imminent danger dissipated as she zipped along. She looked ahead through breaks in the jungle foliage. She was 20 metres from where the path widened and joined a larger and busier tract. She pressed the accelerator on the floater. It jumped forward. At the same moment a crackling sound and the smell of ozone filled the air.

A shimmering ball of yellow and orange static electricity spontaneously appeared, hovering over the floater’s rear drive compartment. The whirr of air that usually accompanied a skimming floater, abruptly stopped.

Suddenly powerless, the floater dropped nose first in front of a rotting log that lay across the path. Jayne was tossed, head over heels, off the floater. She landed flat on her back with her legs from knees to feet draped over the log. The faceplate automatically snapped closed with the jar of the landing.

As Jayne mentally scanned herself for injury, dread filled her. She realized that this was not a log but one of the most dangerous creatures of Biome 3. It was a roller.

In an instant the creature rolled away from her and then rolled quickly back over her legs, pinning them to the ground. Almost immediately she felt the pressure. The roller began to flatten out, pressing her lower legs firmly to the ground as a million root-like tendrils sought an entrance into her suit. As it flattened, the roller slowly slithered up past her knees, locking her legs in place.

A roller resembled a dead log across a path. It waited for its prey to step on it. The roller was so named because it would roll away from its prey and then quickly roll back over and press whatever creature it had captured into the ground. A roller’s needle-like tendrils are tipped with a tranquilizer and a digestive acid. Once drugged, its prey typically would calmly wait for the beast to suck out their juices until all that was left were bones and hair. But Jayne was not typical.

Jayne look around the small clearing. She could not believe she had been trapped by a roller. During her training she was taught how to set a roller off by jumping onto it and then jumping quickly to the side. A roller took a long time to reset. It would flatten itself to the ground while its needle-like suckers searched for the prey it hoped it had caught.

She scanned the edge of the jungle. She could see nothing but she could feel a presence. She heard a rustle of foliage behind her. She twisted her head trying to see who it was.

Help me, please! called Jayne. There was another rustle and then nothing. She was not sure anyone had been there. She knew the fixer suit would protect her, but only for a short time. The roller crept up her legs and Jayne instinctively put her unprotected hands on the moving edge. The pain was searing and she pulled her hands away. The tips of her fingers and part of her palms oozed blood from a thousand stings. The pain quickly began to fade as the tranquilizing venom took effect.

The roller, sensing a source of food after it tasted blood, flattened faster and moved up Jayne’s thighs. She touched the communicator on the jaw of her helmet leaving a smear of blood behind. It was a mayday signal that would set off an alarm in Biome Central and would alert them of her peril.

She spoke calmly, I am pinned by a roller. I figure I have about 8 minutes. My hands have been… she paused looking for the right word. Compromised. Once it reaches my chest it may be able to press all the air out of my lungs or failing that, crush the faceplate of my helmet. Please hurry. The roller venom was making her head swim.

Jayne held her arms straight up from her body. As she felt the blood on her hands trickle down her wrists, she reflected on her training. She had gotten sloppy. Gloves were to be worn at all times. The problem with the gloves was the size. Even the smallest were too big for her hands. She could not work with them on and she had forgotten to replace them after completing the repair. She tried to move her hips but the movement was sensed by the roller and it clamped even harder on her legs and oozed inexorably upwards.

Biome Central crackled in her helmet, It will take us 12 minutes to get to you. If you wiggle the roller will move faster. I know this is hard advice to accept in your situation but please relax and be a still as you can. We are on our way.

Jayne slowly filled her lungs and slowly exhaled through her nose. She had not felt this afraid for a very long time. The fear was opening old memories of imminent death. Jayne remembered what she felt when the old woman, Dr. Winter Bancroft, had tried to take over Jayne’s mind and rewrite Jayne’s thoughts and memories with her own. She remembered ‘the push’ that would slow time so she could search the eternal list of possibilities and find the answer. Once found she would push the chosen potential action until it reached the probability of one; until it was real.

Jayne searched now, but the swirl of possibilities was filled with mist and smoke. The venom the roller had injected into her hands had muddled her brain. She started to smile and fade as the roller pressed down on her ribs. She filled her lungs and tried to hold the air inside. Her head was spinning.

She threw her hands back over her head as far as she could. Her ribcage slipped from the roller’s grip and she sucked in air. At the same time she felt her feet come free of the roller’s grip. It had reached the maximum spread, releasing her feet to move up over her ribs. Jayne instinctively wiggled her feet; a little at first and then harder and faster. She felt the roller’s grip on her chest ease and it moved back to her feet and locked them in place once again. Jayne breathed and held her feet as still as possible. Once again the roller released her feet and moved over her chest, restricting her breathing. Once again Jayne wiggled and twisted her feet as violently as she could. The cycle continued as the roller oozed down and locked her feet in place while Jayne filled her lungs with air.

She did not know how many times she had teased the roller to allow her to breathe. She knew she would be rescued if she could just keep the cycle going.

Her feet came free once again but the venom injected into her hands had done its work. She forgot the importance of kicking her feet. She forgot she needed to breathe.

Her mind drifted to thoughts of GravBall and the HUB. She mumbled, Pass me the ball. Pass me the ball, and raised her hands over her head.

At the moment she lost consciousness, Jayne was vaguely aware of somebody or something grabbing her wrists.

Chapter 2: Roller Venom is Nasty Stuff

The flora and fauna of the biomes was developed to mimic what might be encountered on the planets the biome ships were destined to colonize. The developers embraced a highly contentious philosophy. This philosophy created very dangerous creatures on the biomes. The developers considered the probable destination planet habitat and the gravity in the development of these plants and animals. They wished to prepare the biome inhabitants for the scope and degree of dangers they would surely encounter. The omies would need to have a highly developed sense of caution.

Jayne woke. She opened her eyes but she could see nothing in the complete darkness. She felt something over her face and instinctively reached up to touch it but her hands felt like boxing gloves. The right one touched her face before she expected it to and pain pounded in her hand. She wiggled her fingers and quickly realized that was a bad idea as the pain swelled from her hand, up her arm and crashed in waves across her torso. She moaned and froze with her hand held perfectly still above her body. She was afraid to move any part of her body in case the pain came again.

She breathed slowly—as the pain in her hand faded, the rapid pounding in her head increased in intensity. She heard footsteps and her heart rate jumped until it was beating in unison with the throbbing in her head.

She slurred the question, Who’s there? Her lips would not move so her words were annunciated with her tongue in a parched mouth.

Don’t talk and please don’t try to move, spoke a soft and consoling voice. You are at the medical center of Biome Central. We are preparing you for transport. You received a massive dose of roller poison. The antidote has made your eyes extremely light sensitive, hence the light mask. Your hands received quite a dose of digestive acid from the roller. We have fitted you with leach gloves to stimulate regeneration of your finger tips. Here, sip this.

Jayne felt a tube in the corner of her mouth and instinctively sipped water. She held it in her mouth and let it slowly trickle down her throat. She sipped more and as the liquid slipped down her throat it seemed to carry away some of the throbbing pain in her head.

She tentatively filled her lungs with air and as she exhaled the words followed, Where are you taking me?

Oh, you are heading planet side. It seems you are more important than you look. You are headed for… the voice paused, …some specialized medical center on the west coast. I’ve never heard of it. But we omies of Biome 3 are seldom privy to much that happens on the planet.

Jayne moved her hand and moaned.

The medication I just gave you will help with the pain. I am going to remove the light mask. Most of the sensitivity will have dissipated by now. Keep your eyes closed.

Jayne felt the mask being removed from her face. The air cooled her moist cheeks. Her eyelids were being swabbed. Can I open them now? she asked.

Yes. But slowly. If you feel any sharp pain just close them again and it will fade. Let light in a little at a time, she ordered. I see from your chart that you are a tetrachromat. You may see more than the rest of us but the downside is that you are also more sensitive to light and after a dose of roller poison I imagine the pain would be excruciating.

Jayne slowly opened her eyes to blurs of color. The pain was sharp but she pushed it aside and blinked rapidly trying to clear her vision.

A smiling face slowly coalesced to a sharp focus. It was a face typical of the omies of Biome 3. This biome had been designed to expedite human evolution and enhance survival on the destination planet. One of the genetic modifications was intended to improve the immune system. Alligator genes were used to take advantage of one of the most powerful immune systems on planet Earth. Some unforeseen side effects of these gene splices resulted in changes in the dermis of the natives of Biome 3. Their skin was smooth and translucent. There were scale-like formations visible under the epidermis. These were clustered mostly around the eyes, nose and mouth. When a Biome 3 omie smiled, these scale-like formations took on a phosphorescent quality and glowed with a light of their own. Jayne stared at shifting pinks and greens around this omie’s eyes. It was startlingly beautiful.

May I have my VID (Visual Identity Designator)? asked Jayne. I think it was in my pouch.

Everything had to go through sterilization. I will see if your VID survived but there is no way you can use it, said the omie pointing at Jayne’s hands. She turned and exited the room.

Jayne’s vision was much improved and she scanned the small room. It was a typical emergency medical service room equipped with a single bed and some electronic monitoring equipment. Jayne’s eyes came to rest on her hands. It looked like she was wearing gauze boxing gloves. They throbbed. She did not move her arms or fingers, fearing a new wave of pain. She was wearing a hospital gown and was covered with a white sheet tucked tightly under the mattress. She tried to move her legs but the sheets seemed to hold them firmly in place. She tried to wiggle her toes as she stared down at the sheet that covered them. Nothing moved.

She tried to move her legs again and realized she could not feel anything below her waist. Fear welled up in her and she inadvertently moved her arms and fingers. The pain that triggered was a screaming banshee in her brain and everything went dark.

When Jayne opened her eyes she knew immediately that she was no longer in the medical center on Biome 3. The gravity was different. The gravity was now Earth normal. Her eyes were the only part of her that she risked moving. She did not want to experience the monster pain that had caused her to blackout.

She scanned and saw, what she assumed, was a medipod. She was in a medipod. The room beyond was in semi-darkness and slightly distorted at the edge of her vision where the transparent cover curved over her. The medipod was illuminated from the inside. Anyone in the room could see her perfectly.

Jayne took stock of her situation. She breathed a ragged breath and felt a tube in her nose. She gagged a little. The tube went to her stomach. She tried to lick her lips but her tongue was dry and swollen. She tried to move her head slowly from side to side but it was either locked in place or she could no longer move it.

She remembered the last moment in the medical center on the biome. She had tried to move her legs and they were paralyzed. She tried to move her arms now and willed herself to lift them up into her line of vision. Nothing happened. She could not move them. Panic flicked its tongue and she felt her heart begin to pound in her ears. She tried to breathe but even the air seemed to fight her and the panic reached a crescendo.

Was she was going to die in a medipod? How ironic, she mused, retreating into her mind. That ironic thought triggered a bubble she had left unexplored since her last encounter with the Forevers. It was forming now and she relaxed into it. Time slowed. The microseconds between the mad pounding of her heart stretched out to near infinity. Jayne had the time to search the possibilities. The foam of possibilities churned and occasionally one would escape the melee and Jayne would study it. She would nudge it to see where it would carry the moment if it were real. She did not know what she was looking for but she did know why she was looking. She did not want to die and if she did nothing she was sure she would die in this medipod, completely paralyzed with a tube up her nose. She was looking for a way out. She saw something that shouted out to her. It said, I’m the one. Pick me. Push me.

She nudged it. She inspected it and smiled at her stupidity. She wanted to chastise herself but the smile in her head told her it was pointless. She pushed the possibility into existence. The bubble shrank and disappeared. The possibility she had chosen said, Relax, you are not going to die. Someone will come soon.

Jayne’s heart slowed and the pressure in her ears faded. She could hear the alarm sounding outside the medipod. A few moments later the room was filled with medical personnel. The medipod lid opened. The nose tube was removed. A straw was placed in her mouth.

Sip slowly, a voice commanded.

Jayne sipped and tried to speak. But all that came out was a rasp.

The voice understood and said, Don’t speak. I will tell you all that has happened as soon as we are finished. Relax. Breathe.

Jayne concentrated and the tension ebbed from her body. Many hands were reaching into the medipod from both sides. She could not see what they were doing. She realized that she could not feel what the hands were doing. The panic swelled but she pushed it aside and waited. She closed her eyes and waited.

The two minutes that passed seemed like a century. Jayne’s mind drifted back to the roller and to before the roller. She had found the bad circuit and replaced it. She had run the required diagnostics and all had checked out perfectly. She remembered the feeling of being watched. Someone had been watching her. She remembered getting on the flier and heading down the path. She remembered the smell of ozone. She remembered seeing an orange ball of electricity form over the floater engine. It was a high static pulse. The realization of what had happened bloomed in her mind. It was an EM pulsar.

Someone had deliberately disabled her floater with an EM pulsar while she was travelling down the small path. She remembered the rustle of jungle behind her. Someone wanted to take her. She wondered if the roller was part of the plan. She doubted anyone could plan for the roller to do what it did. No, she decided, the roller was not part of the plan, if fact the roller had foiled the plan. But who would do this? Why would they do it? Jayne considered the Forevers. They had not bothered her for nearly two and a half years. She had completed her apprenticeship and requested an assignment to Biome 3. Everything since had been exquisitely predictable and relaxingly simple. She had chosen not to spy for the Sentinels and Professor Greenway, aka Poppy, and he had respected her wishes and run interference. She would chat with Poppy as long as the Forevers and the Sentinels were not on the agenda. She had spent all her free time preparing for the masters exams. She had written them the previous month and had just this week completed the oral and the practical sections. She had done as well as she was able. She was expecting to pass. When she did she could, pretty much, write her own ticket. She could go and do anything she wanted. She had her eye on working planet side on the development of the new propulsion designs for the biomes. She had some ideas she wanted to run in simulation. To do that she needed access to a Big Blue Cray. This was the latest quantum system computing network developed in the HUB where she had first studied to become a fixer.

Jayne felt all the hands let her go. She opened her eyes. She whispered at the blur of faces looking down at her, Will someone please tell me something. Please. Am I paralyzed? Am I going to die?

She blinked her eyes rapidly to improve the focus. The faces looking down at her were smiling.

You are not going to die. The paralysis is temporary. You got a huge dose of roller venom. You are very lucky to have survived, said a mask-covered face.

A different face spoke, The fixers who rescued you had to use a high voltage charge to get the roller to release you. That exacerbated the effect of the poison. We decided to keep you unconscious so you did not have to endure any more pain than necessary.

Welcome back, said the first voice. We were going to move you before you woke up so as not to cause you any avoidable discomfort. We will move you now if you think you can stand a little jostling.

When will I be able to feel my legs? asked Jayne.

You should be up and about in a couple of days but your hands will take at least a few months to heal, said the first voice as she slipped the mask off of her face. The woman smiled at Jayne. My name is Dr. Hashimoto. I will drop in on you a little later and see how you are feeling.

The doctor left and Jayne heard a whirring sound as the medipod cover retracted and it became a glorified gurney. She was pushed down a hallway and into a hospital room with a single bed. The attendants lifted her from the gurney and into the bed. They fussed over her for a few minutes as Jayne drifted into a fitful sleep.

Chapter 3: Taken

The science behind connectome scans was constantly expanding. It now took a Super Quantum Cray just to analyze, organize and coordinate the masses of data that represented the human mind. The concepts of long- and short-term memory were expanded to arrays that were at least 1,000 levels deep. The constructs held in that bit of gray matter were also constantly changing as a person developed and experienced the world. Connectomes were constantly changing and so the scans had to be constantly updated. Their purpose was often contentious. Many scientists were of the mind that these scans were of little use. Only occasionally did a person suffer from an injury that required their mind pattern to be updated or replaced. Most of the time an injury to the brain was so severe it made a connectome scan useless. That did not stop the extremely affluent few from embracing any science that might increase their life span.

Just one more bite, coaxed the attendant. He held a forkful of food in front of Jayne’s face and waved it back and forth.

Jayne was sitting with her forearms propping her bandaged hands upright on the table in front of her. The plate between her elbows was still full of food. I don’t want anymore, thank you, she said as sweetly as she could muster. If the attendant could have read her mind he would not have been happy. Jayne was thinking very nasty thoughts with the attendant as the prime focus.

You have to eat. Doctor’s orders. That venom took a lot out of you and you have to get your strength back. Just 5 more bites, he said in a singsong voice as he waved the forkful of food from side to side.

Jayne could no longer hold her anger at bay. She spoke slowly and harshly, I am a fully fledged master fixer. I am not a child. Please put the fracking fork down and go away.

Jayne stood up and walked over to her bed. She held forearms and hands vertical in front of her. She backed up to the bed, jumped up, landed on the bed and quickly twisted into a lying position. Her hands were still held vertical in front of her. She reached up to hook each bandage to the hanging support bar. Now she could relax her arms.

Jayne stared at the ceiling.

I’ll bring you some dessert a little later, said the attendant calmly.

He did not seem bothered in the least with Jayne’s behavior. He gathered up the dishes, placed them on cart and wheeled it out of the room.

Jayne continued to stare at the ceiling. The plaster was old and stained. She looked for faces in the shapes to stop from feeling like she would go insane. She found a dinosaur with a huge head and shadow teeth. Her eyes followed the tail that morphed into a snake with the head of a clown. The clown had a gigantic nose. Jayne stared at the nose. There was a small shiny nostril. Jayne stared at the small shiny nostril of the make-believe clown in the plaster. She quickly looked away and her pulse rate jumped. Someone was watching her.

The shiny bit was only a few millimetres in diameter and Jayne knew it was the lens of a camera. Someone was spying on her. No one had paid her any attention ever since all the nanobots had been removed from her system. That was more than three years ago. She thought of the silver star that had injected her with nanobots designed to spy on her and control her. She thought of the Forevers. They had left her alone ever since the death of Dr. Winter Bancroft. She was the old woman who tried to destroy Jayne’s mind and replace it with her own. Jayne knew there were still bits of the old woman effectively quarantined in her head. She had not looked at them for over a year. Now someone was spying on her and she wanted to know who was behind the secreted camera.

Maybe the memories the old woman left in her head would give her a clue. Jayne breathed deep and relaxed her body. Any tension left in her arms faded as they sagged from the bar hanging in front of her. She slowly opened the part of her mind that held the thoughts and memories that did not belong to her. She was cautious, half expecting a spring-loaded monster to jump out and take over her mind. She took precautions. She built a wall around the existing walls that held those alien thoughts. She opened the door. The box seemed empty. She looked into the cracks and crannies. Suddenly words exploded in her head. YOU LITTLE BITCH! reverberated in her mind.

Jayne quickly slammed the door shut, involuntarily jerking her hands down. The bandage tore and her body started to spasm with pain and fear. A part of the old woman was still waiting; waiting in her head; waiting to pounce and continue where she left off before her banishment. Jayne puffed out air and as the pain faded from her hands an odd smile crept over her face. She had confronted the monster and won. Again she had won. Jayne knew she needed to do more than confront. She knew she needed to control. When she was in control she could safely explore and use the monster in her head. Exactly how to do this was not clear. Jayne smiled again. She knew an answer would present itself. It always had. It always would. After all she was lucky. She was very lucky.

Jayne slipped off of the bed, holding her throbbing hands out in front of her. With her elbow she pressed the emergency button on the wall near the head of her bed. She leaned back against her bed and waited. Her hands throbbed.

The door burst open and the attendant rushed in. Are you alright? Are you in pain? he asked.

No and yes, Jayne said quietly. I accidentally banged my hands and I need something for the pain.

The attendant looked at his VID. It is nearly time for your evening meds. I will get them for you. Do you want anything else while I am out? Some food perhaps? I saw some chocolate cake in the kitchen. I could bring you a piece.

No food but I would like my stuff. Have they sent it down from the biome yet? I really want to get out of this silly nightgown and into some proper clothes, said Jayne. Her encounter with the thoughts of the old woman made her think of the Sergio Partelli. It was a suit of suits. It could become anything from an evening gown to a space suit. It had saved her from the Forevers once and she was sure it would come in handy if the shiny spot on the clown’s nose turned out to be a malevolent spy camera.

I will see what I can do. No guarantees, he answered. He finished re-bandaging her hands and exited the room.

Jayne sighed and impatiently awaited his return.