G.R.E.T.C.H.E.N.

“I don’t think we should go out until they catch this guy. I’m surprised they haven’t initiated a ship wide lockdown with 3 murders in less than 2 weeks. I thought the Morningstar was supposed to be safe. Dad paid a fortune for this trip.”

“He can afford it. Also, how do you know it’s a guy doing the killings, Vanessa? It could be a female serial killer.”

“Most serial killers are male. Everyone knows that. Also, the victims were some how mutilated. There must have been blood and guts everywhere.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Don’t you watch those documentaries about unsolved murders, Shane?

“I used to watch Minds of Monsters on Explorer Network, but I’m watching other things now. Have you seen a show called Fenris’s Tale? It’s crazy! You gotta watch it with me…”

“If I’ve learned anything by watching true crime documentaries it’s that law enforcement always withholds details whenever the crime scene is bloody. If these were shootings or stabbings, they would just say so but it’s clearly something more serious. Let’s just go shopping another day. It’s not worth the risk.”

“There are going to be like 1,000 people at Sunny Brooke. Who the hell is going to hurt us?! We’re upstanding citizens just shopping for clothes and exploring the area. I’m sick of being stuck in this part of the ship too.”

“I hear ya, but remember, killers don’t need a reason, Shane. Or sometimes…the reason is something only the killer groks.”

“Yeah, like mathematics or the mind of an attractive woman.”

“Whatever, Shane.”

“Look, I’ll protect ya, sis.”

Vanessa gives him a dubious stare. “If I blow too hard in your direction, you’d fall over, Shane.”

“Maybe, but . . . I can scream for help louder than you can.”

Vanessa thought about things for a moment and realized that her brother did make some fair points. Out of thousands onboard the Morningstar, only 3 people had been killed and no ship wide shutdown. “Okay fine, we’ll go to Sunny Brooke, get the clothing and then leave.”

“Right. Too easy.” Shane was genuinely worried about the recent killings onboard the Morningstar as well but he didn’t want his older sister to worry. He also really wanted some new clothes. They hadn’t been to the ship’s mall yet and the trip to the 51 Pegasi star system was a 7-month long trip from Earth with the Gorbillian drive at 80% power.

The mall was full of all kinds of travelers. You had the standard crew members of course but there were business men, service members, android workers and the rare android citizens, scientists, students traveling to extrasolar universities, and of course . . .the riff raff, which could mostly be found neat the aft section of the ship near the engines. She was a large ship with over 5000 passengers and 370 permanent crew members. Shane and Vanessa stayed mostly in the forward section of the vessel, but the center of the ship is where most of the attractions were.

“I hate taking those silly looking pods. We could’ve just walked here.”

“That would’ve taken too long. In and out, remember, Ness?”

“Sure. I gotta admit it feels good to be out of section 02. Maybe we have time to get some food.”

“Oh…NOW you wanna stay out here?” Shane laughed. “You’re starting to relax just like all of these fine people.” He opens his hand in front of his older sister as if to introduce her to the crowd.

They walk towards the entrance to the mall, which was essentially a large circular door that could close vertically if necessary. Once inside, Vanessa could detect the scent of … “society” within the mall. Society always had the same smell to her although she had never thought about it much until she boarded a city ship. It was the same though – a hint of perfume, a hint of sweat, a trace of second hand smoke, a smidgen of cleaning fluid, and of course, various quantities of mall food aromas.

“I’m so hungry” Vanessa said to her brother. She presses her finger onto her omnivoice device. “Alexa, where is the closest restaurant with a rating of at least 4 stars?”

The ethereal Alexa appeared before Vanessa with a smile. “There are several restaurants on board with a rating of 4 stars. However, the dining facility with the greatest propinquity with your location and past eating preferences is Firepit Tavern. It is approximately 50 meters from your current location. Shall I guide you and your brother to the facility, Vanessa?”

“Don’t bother…”

Vanessa and Shane turn to see a woman standing behind them with a look of disappointment. “You guys actually gonna go to that craphole, Firepit Tavern? Really?”

“How did you know what my CGPA said to me. Only I have the omnivoice piece calibrated to hear and see her.”

“It’s not that impressive really.” Shane said as if the question had been launched at him. “Some computer-generated assistants work on similar frequencies. Any low-level hacker could modify an omnipiece to look at other peoples’ personal assistants. “If that place sucks, what would you recommend, babe?”

“Babe, is it?” She smiled at Shane and paused to examine him more carefully. What’s your name handsome?”

“I’m Shane, this is my sister, Nessa.”

“Nice to meet you guys. I know a place that’s a lot more friendly to us types than the Firepit. Food at FT sucks ass.”

Shane and Vanessa look at each other. “Us types?” Nessa asked.

“Yeah . . . people with good taste in food and not troglodytes. You two had better come with me.”

Vanessa was a bit cautious, but they were in a crowded mall and the woman seemed to be well-kept. Very well-kept actually. Her face was virtually perfect, Vanessa thought. Her lips full, her skin had no damage that could be seen, her bright hair was very long and ended just past her waistline. She also smelled like pineapples or maybe nectarines. It was difficult to tell but it definitely smelled good.

“You shop here a lot I take it?” Vanessa asked.

“Um ... sure. All the time actually. Where do you think I got this outfit?”

“I like it. You’ll have to take me shopping at some of your favorite places.” Vanessa said.

“You still haven’t told us your name, babe.”

“What do I look like to you, handsome? Get it right, and I’ll let you buy me dinner.” She smiled at Shane knowing that men often loved buying her food even if her appetite was sated.

“I’m guessing you’re some kind of hacker since you were able to see Alexa. Good hacker names…eh…Joan, Wendy . . . Tracey! That’s what I’m going with.”

“In that case, you can call me Tracey. Danby’s Grille is a great spot. This way…” Shane doesn’t hesitate to follow her deeper into the crowded Sunny Broke Mall. He looks back at Vanessa. “Hey sis, when in Rome, right? Let’s go with her.”

“We aren’t in Rome, loverboy. Wait!”

“We cannot possibly let ourselves get frozen into regarding everyone we do not know as an absolute stranger”. - Albert Schweitzer

Danby’s Grill certainly had plenty of people and the food smelled great. The place was a bit smokey and somewhat dim with mostly 20 somethings but there were also synthetics. You could always tell the difference between an android and a person. They didn’t blink as often or blinked at regular intervals. They never smelled bad and at times, they would laugh at a joke for too long or not laugh at all when everyone else did. The three of them sat in a booth and scanned over menus through their PA devices.

“What do you usually get here…Tracey?” Shane asked.

“Oh, I get a different item each time. I like to explore different drinks and foods but I recommend the ribs and a blissful sin. You guys are over 18, right? Wouldn’t want to break any drinking laws now would we?” She giggles. “Don’t know what beast the ribs come from but . . . I just know it aint no cow or pig . . .”

“Blissful sin?” asked Vanessa. “And yes, we’re over 20 actually.”

“Oh, you’ll love it. It’s like a Chardonnay but with a cool minty blast at the end. I don’t recommend drinking more than one. It’ll get you spiked pretty quickly if you’re not used to it OR if you have a slow metabolism. You buying, right handsome?”

“Um…well yeah, I guess. I got this. Tell us more about yourself, Tracey.”

“Oh, I’m a bore really. I’d like to learn more about you two. First time on a starship? You guys miss Sol?”

“Not me,” replied Vanessa. "I’m happy to be away from Earth even if only for a year or so. I need to explore and see what’s out there.”

“Same here. In fact, you could say that’s the main reason I’m on this ship.”

Shane studies their new friend carefully. She was tall for a female – at least 6 feet. Her hair was blonde and her eyes were blue, which was a rare combination outside of Europe or Epsilon Indi moonbase 12, which had mostly blondes with blue or green eyes. Maybe she was from there. Her clothing was definitely stylish. Her boots were Tonfino and she also wore an expensive Kendra Martoni jacket. Only opulent people wore jackets made from extraterrestrial fauna.

“What exactly is waiting for you in the Pegasas star system? You don’t seem like the kind of person that works in a colony. You look like you belong on Earth or maybe one of the Epsilon starbases.”

“I’m definitely not from Indi. I grew up on several planets in Gliese actually. You could say I got things started there. Probably nothing is waiting for me but I’m not really stopping in Pegasus. This ship goes to many different places. Right now, I’m just catching a ride while getting some work down onboard.”

“So you work for the cruiseline then?”

“I love my job but so many other people don’t get it. I try to help people just like you and your brother remain happy. It’s the same happiness that others will try and take away if they get the chance.”

“You mean like the maniac that’s been killing people on the Morningstar?”

“You two heard about that, huh?”

“It’s all over the ship. I’m surprised they haven’t locked us all in our rooms.” Vanessa said.

“Why would they do that? The 3 people murdered were all damaged. Not to mention it would severely cut in on Morningstar’s revenue. Humans need their money that’s for sure. Can’t fuck with profits.” She giggled.

“Damaged. Damaged how?” Shane asked.

“Um…sick. Not well. I heard one of them was even a child droid pedophile.”

The sinlings looked at each in silence for a few seconds before Vanessa responded. “Tracey...I’m not saying I agree with it, but touching android children is not against any of the Morningstar’s laws. They’re synthetic and not even human. Whoever, he was, he didn’t deserve to be killed for touching well basically…robot kids.”

“It was the woman victim that was the pedophile. She paid a lot of money for those child synths, but androids are self-aware. If they don’t want to be touched, they shouldn’t be. Can you believe there was a time when people thought they would actually pose a threat to humanity? Fucking ridiculous! The other two were men. One of them had some kind of parasitic fungus growing within his blood and the other was planning on killing another passenger.”

“How the hell do you know all of this, Tracey? Did they say that on the news?”

“How else would I know it? You wanna know something weird too? The woman was about my size, Crazy, huh? She was even blonde.”

“Police didn’t reveal any murder details though. That’s how we know it was a violent crime.” Vanessa said.

“I hadn’t really thought about that. How do you guys think they were killed?”

In that moment there was a natural pause as the blue-skinned Amonian waitress brought out a tray with 6 large ribs and 3 glasses of red-colored blissful sin, which were very cold to the touch. The waitress smiled. “If you need anything else just request it through your PA. Enjoy your meal, folks and thanks for visiting Danby’s.”

Vanessa waited as the waitress walked away towards the kitchen. "I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing so many humans with blue skin. Seems like Amonians are all over the ship.”

“They’ve adapted to their new sun’s radiation, handsome. It’s quite impressive actually. So . . . how do you think these murders were carried out. I’m not trying to be macabre, but I am curious.”

“I know, right? This kinda stuff fascinates me too. My guess is a knife to the heart. Several stabbings.” Shane said.

“Nah…” replied Vanessa. “They would’ve just said that the victims were stabbed. I’m going with bludgeoned to death in a very brutal fashion though.” Replied Vanessa. “Bat. Chair. Meat tenderizer. Something. Brains beaten out in a violent attempt of a psychopath to get his dopamine fix. I thought they screened for people like that before letting them onboard, but I guess no system is perfect.”

The tall blonde chuckles. “You don’t know the half of it. I don’t think it was so simple though. I think they were probably eaten.” She took a huge bite off one of the ribs, which was dripping with pomegranate-infused barbeque sauce.

“Eaten?” replied Shane. “Like eaten to death? Swallowed?”

“Yeah, torn apart. Skinned ripped off, muscle tissue and organs digested externally and slurped up quickly. No mess. Bone marrow scooped out, and skeleton left behind with little blood. Think of all the nutrition in a single human body.” She wiped a little sauce from the corner of her chin.

A sick look spread across Vanessa’s face as if she just bit into a lemon. “That’s really gross, Tracey. Not to mention oddly detailed. We’re trying to eat here.”

“Oh, my apologies. Didn’t you guys ever watch horror movies as little kids?”

“Not really my cup of tea. I’m more into true crime.” Vanessa replied. “Seriously though, aren’t you a little worried? You’re traveling alone, aren’t you?”

“I’m with the two of you, aren’t I? Besides, there are scarier things out there than human serial killers.”

Shane seemed captivated by this comment and sat up in the booth. “Like what?”

“You really wanna know?” She stared into his eyes until he looked away and began to blush.

“I’m intrigued, babe.” Shane replied prepared to be entertained.

“I heard that decades ago, SABER initiated a program to create a terraforming organism. You know…to help convert hostile environments into hospitable ecosystems ripe for colonization.”

“I have heard about that!" Shae said. "What was it called? Planetary Recon Exploration Terraforming something…I forgot the rest. Some long name.”

“Global; not planetary. Terraforming Chronosentitient Entity.”

“This conversation has taken a weird turn, but I don’t see why that would be scarier than some maniac.” Vanessa said.

“Well. these organisms are extremely difficult to kill because they were designed to survive very austere conditions. They would start as a single cell with genes from multiple organisms and those genes would be expressed when needed as the organism developed and adapted to the austere extrasolar planet. Think Venus, which is not extrasolar, but it’s a good example of a hostile place for human life. The atmosphere is poisonous, and the temperature is so hot that lead would melt on its surface.”

“You’re a hacker and some kind of scientist too, are you?” Shane asked. “Beauty AND brains.” He took a swig from his drink and immediately felt more relaxed.

“I’m not a scientist per se, but I read a lot and I must admit, I watch my fair share of television.”

“As long as you’re not one of those freaks that downloads crap directly into the brain, I’m fine with reading and television.”

“So what happened to these organisms?” Vanessa asked.

“Well, some say they did their jobs on whatever planet they were sent to and then naturally became part of the ecosystem. Vosch 39, for example was supposedly colonized after decades of terraforming activity. Some of these things … became something else though.”

“Something else?” Shane asked.

“Yeah.” She turned and looked deep into Shane’s eyes again. “Something different. Something more.”

“Okay” said Shane. “More than what?”

“Well, these creatures evolve rapidly. They’re curious about all things. Kinda like a little baby trying stuff for the first time. They don’t like remaining the same for too long. They need to change not just themselves but also their experiences.”

“Sounds like me after being stuck in my cabin for 3 nights straight. I was too scared to go out.” Vanessa said.

“But here you are now. Why?”

“Because, I was…bored, I guess.” replied Vanessa. ”Also, we are in a severe need of some new threads. We’re going to a party. ALEXA. Send function 5A coordinates to all PAs within 1 meter of my location.”

“Thanks for the invite, Vanessa! I love parties. Don’t know if I can make it, but inviting me says a lot about you two. You’re good people. I knew I made the right choice by talking to you. You two understand me. You grok it. Most people just don’t. I gotta tell ya though, Vanessa, having a PA named Alexa is like having a dog named Fido. Just sayin…”

“I tell her that all of the time.” said Shane. “So why is the need to change so scary? We all change.”

“Not like chronosentient entities, which becomes more self-aware over time. They’re also obsessed with improving the ecosystem. Threats to ecosystem balance need to be removed. It seems cold, but something has to do it so the original creators of the program wanted a hunter killer. Something that could destroy threats without allowing precious nutrients to escape the system. They also evolved more quickly than people, you know what that means, I’m sure.”

“So androids aren’t the threat then. These recon entities are? Please.” Shane rolls his eyes. “This shit is actually pretty good.” Shane said as he took another swig. ”Starting to get my buzz on.”

“Just saying, Shane, a creature that is tough to kill, is smarter than humans because it evolved more quickly in a variety of conditions, and kills off the so called weak, is scarier than a serial killer. Humans would be the weaklings.”

“Maybe, but those things are designed to terraform planets. Not ships. Doesn’t scare me at least not for the next 5 months.” Vanessa said.

“I guess, but what if planets aren’t enough for one of them. What if…one of them …“ She takes a large gulp of blissful sin and swallows before continuing, “just one of them … wanted to explore offworld? Like you two are doing right now. What if one of them went beyond its original mission and tried to experience everything that could be experienced?”

“Experience everything? Including riding on a luxury starship?” Shane asked. “To what end? I mean we only live for so long. Don’t these things have lifespans? What do they even look like? Could they even pass as human?”

“You tell me, handsome?” Her demeanor changes and she slowly placed her drink on the table and sits back while tilting her head and examining Shane. “Do you think an organism with a hyperquantity of genetic variation and the ability to express any gene it possessed at will could pass as human if it wanted to?”

“I suppose it could if what you’re describing is true, babe but wouldn’t the original scientists put in safeguards to prevent this from happening?”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” She begins to laugh so hard that her eyes squint and she covers her face as if she’s afraid to show it while she’s amused. Shane looks over at Vanessa as if to silently ask if they’re conversing with an adult or a little girl. Vanessa only shrugs with a giggle in response to his expression. She did think that Tracey seemed a bit bipolar, but they both enjoyed their attractive and mostly affable host.

She takes a drink and smiles at Tracey. At least the blonde new how to laugh. “I’m still thinking it’s a sociopathic male with mommy issues or a brain abnormality.” Vanessa said. “I mean this is usually the case. Look at Bundy, Clark, Hernandez . . . Washington. All male and all serial killers with bad relationships with their mothers.”

“Well, I don’t think this . . . “sociopath” . . . is after your type anyway.”

“Why not? Aren’t we good enough to murder in cold blood?” Vanessa asked facetiously.

“Well, you don’t fit the profile that he, she, or it goes after.”

“I was just telling her this before we left the forward section. Who’d want to kill us?” Shane asked rhetorically.

“Exactly! I like you two. I can’t imagine any serial killing monster wanting to hurt you guys. I wish we could hang out longer, but this is not likely and things are getting boring here. Not much more for me to.”

“You leaving the ship or something?” Vanessa chuckles. “We are at least 20 light years from Sol or Pegasus.”

“I saw you guys and wanted to talk before I left the mall. The three of us. Yes…we get it, and I’ve got a lot of cleaning up to do and not just on this ship either.” She downs the last of her blissful sin and stands up. “I’m sure we will meet again … eventually.” She turns and begins to walk towards the exit.

“HEY … um. How about next week? Surely you get time off to hang out with us . . .or maybe just me.” Shane said with a smile.

Vanessa rolls her eyes at her brother’s weak attempt to flirt. “It was nice meeting you . . . um…what’s your name. You gotta tell us your real name. It definitely isn’t Tracey and my brother just bought you grub.”

The attractive blonde paused for a moment. Her back was turned to them but she slowly turned to face them and began to walk back over to the table. Her expression was different this time. It wasn’t relaxed, or stressed, or anything at all. It was a poker face if anything. Stolid and lacking the jubilation expressed earlier. She looked at the siblings and studied them for a moment in silence for several seconds. This made Vanessa a bit uneasy and for a fleeting moment, she felt a sense of dread.

“It’s Gretchen.”

She extended her hand out to Shane first. He stood up, received her hand, and looked into her eyes which appeared lifeless. Still deep dark blue as before but . . . empty. For a few seconds, as she held his hand, he had the notion that she might crush his own hand with her powerful grip. “Was nice to meet you, babe…Gretchen.” He said.

She did not respond to Shane’s farewell and turned slowly to Vanessa with extended hand. She stared hard into Vanessa’s eyes with a stoic face and shook her hand while holding her gaze. Vanessa felt innervated. The handshake fairwell seemed to take an eternity and the blonde’s skin felt cold and corpse-like. It was stiff and rigid. Vanessa felt a sweat cover her own body as she tried to conjure up a smile for her blonde . . . friend. “Take care of yourself, Gretchen. Thanks for…the company. We’ll be in touch . . . I guess."

“For sure, Nessa.” Gretchen once again smiled and slowly walked away towards the restaurant exit. “I’m sure we’ll cross paths again.” She disappeared into the crowd without saying another word.

The siblings sat in silence for several minutes. They didn’t touch their food. They didn’t touch their drinks. They didn’t smile. They didn’t say a word. Each was lost in his and her own thoughts until finally, Shane decided to speak first.

“Do we report any of this to SABER? Ships security? Someone? Anyone?”

“Are you fucking crazy?” Vanessa asked. “NOT A WORD!” She points her finger at Shane and held it while raising her eyebrows.

Shane swallowed the last bit of his blissful sin and simply shrugged. “You gotta admit, it was kinda hot though, right? Think she’ll be at Charolette’s party?”

Vanessa slowly placed her palm over her face and shook her head.