Chameleon by Otto Gramm (new reading .TXT) 📕

– Was your decision mutual? – Empath asked.

– I didn’t even persuade him...

– And how exactly did you set forth your position? – Shad’s questions, like bullets of a sniper, hit the very target.

– I had to provoke him, but only for a visual demonstration. I can’t grasp the whole nature of his abilities... Because of his erased memory, I have a too narrow range for searches. And I still have to deal with his long life.

– What about the blood test? – Linda asked.

– No metabolic interventions.

– But you can restrain him at the next breakdown, can’t you? – Came Will’s question.

Kyle shrugged. A wave of surprise and indignation rippled around the crew. Only empath still looked steadily out the window.

– The thing is only about his memory? – He finally turned his face to captain.

The latter slightly nodded.

– How come you can’t restore it? – Vivy asked in a low voice.

– His memories are like a moth-eaten carpet. The general picture is erased because some pieces are missing. And the biggest gap begins with the Vietnam War. Behind it, I see nothing.

– You wanna say that he has part of brain removed? – Diego asked, astonished. – Is he some kind of cyborg?

– Or a clone. – Mitch chuckled skeptically.

– Sent out as a saboteur to the battlefield in order to tip the scale in favor of the United States. – Linda cynically concluded. – The last hope of zealous democrats of Kennedy and Johnson.

– One burnt village is not such a great feat. – Will replied with the same doubt.

– And who says it’s the only one? – She glanced at him from below.

Kyle and Shad both looked at the woman. Another random arrow of Linda hit the target again.

– Skorvi, examine that explosion. – Kyle said in a serious voice. – We need as much information as possible, down to ground and air composition at the time when the Allies arrived.

– It will be difficult! – The hacker puzzled, almost slithered down of the bookcase, he was leaning on. – If such information exists, then only among the classified files.

– Here you will find a couple of loopholes. – Captain threw him across the room the metal bracelet with which he had stolen the information from the soldier.

– Got it! – Mitch looked at the subject and contentedly beamed. The upcoming work sparked his excitement. – Will I have to find similar cases?

– Don’t waste time for the whole war. Study the early seventies. It may be that the Easter offensive had its secret motives.

– Cool!

– Do you think he was prepared as a weapon? – Shad asked, turning his torso to the crew.

– I can’t say anything clear for now. – Captain replied, his narrowed gaze fixed at the window. New scenarios and ideas unfolded in his head one by one. But he did not hurry to expound them.

– Ok, and what must we do? – Will asked.

– Don’t mention Alex’s abilities in his presence.

The whole team looked at each other questioningly.

– Did you erase his memory? – Linda asked in astonishment.

– Yes.

– Wasn’t that too extreme, Cap? – Diego wandered.

– You got into his head, even though he was already with the serum! – Will stepped into the middle of the room. – Do you know that you have violated your main rule – to keep the mental space of the crew?

– I know that, Will. But his mind is not so simple. – Kyle’s voice sounded calm as usual. – He easily recognizes illusions and sees further and deeper than any of you does... Except you, Shad. With the memories chain, he can easily restore his original state and remove the block by himself.

Empath again turned to the window without uttering a word.

– It’s only for a while. – Captain sighed. – It would be vexing if he inadvertently destroys the ship in the middle of the cosmos.

The folks exchanged glances for the second time and reluctantly nodded.

– Don’t make it too long. – With his hands clasped on his chest, Will walked slowly to the exit. – Diego and I have just seen Alex, and we both can say that it didn’t help him much so far.

– It’s not up to me. – Kyle replied.

– But to all of us. – MacNeil finished his words, as he stood at the doorway. – Well, we’ll do our best, Cap.

The others slowly followed him. Mitch stopped at the door:

– So, do you still need us?

– No, Mitch. You can be free.

The girls came out last.

– You’re starting a risky game, Kylas. – The empath’s voice cut through the silence of an empty room like a sword. – Alex is really not used to human relations and I don’t advise you to make enemies with him at the dawn of your acquaintance.

– I’m not intended to.

– That’s why you used his fear? Are you afraid of him yourself?

– It’s not just some fear. – Captain’s eyes opalesced with a blue light. – He looked at me as his executioner and he didn’t realize that. But I’m more concerned not with his feelings, but with the fact that they opened up to me.

– I agree, this emotion is very unusual. – Softened, Shad turned to his side. – You’re like a nightmare to him, which he had forgotten at dawn.

Kyle wearily fell into a massive chair and put the cat on the table.

– Maybe we’ve met before? Though, I would remember him.

– Or maybe he was sent to our crew as a saboteur? – Shad suggested jokingly, but captain’s serious look let him know that he didn’t exclude even that hypothesis. – Do you really admit this? Even after Danae’s words?

– I don’t know what to think. Too much of versions. – Captain rubbed his temples. – Maybe I’m overtired and getting too suspicious? Maybe Alex is just a poor soul in distress and I complicate things?

– In rational terms, your concerns are well-founded: indeed, everything is difficult. For his long reclusion, he hasn’t aged a day, his memory is wiped that even you can’t restore it, his spontaneous abilities and now this subconscious fear. We’ve got piles of mosaic pieces. And no picture at all.

– Hmm! And I was hoping that your reproach would dissuade me.

– I’m not maintaining that you did the right thing.

– What’s your advice then?

– To me it’s easier to follow your decision. – Shad sighed and pressed his forehead to the glass. – Hope you know what you’re doing. – He turned and headed for the exit, but stopped at the door. – I’m surprised Alex agreed to erase his memory.

– He didn’t. – Kyle said quietly.

Deani closed his eyes and contritely bowed his head.

– You promised that you wouldn’t torment neither his body nor his wounded mind.

– His mind is wounded but clear. He’ll understand my motives when the time comes...

– You lay too much on time! – Empath interrupted him. – But as you can see, sometimes it’s not enough. Will still drops tears over an old wooden piece with a portrait of his wife and a rag that his daughter once embroidered, Diego lights a candle for the peace of the soul of the Totonaki woman he loved, Nicky can’t control her rampage when she hears harsh noises, and Lin... – Shad waved his hand. – Whom am I telling? You have even bigger wounds that are not skinned over yet.

– In any case, we can rely only on the Alex’s morality. If he accepts us, there will be no risk.

– Nice words. Hope your block won’t spoil it.

– Watch him closely.

– Well, for now, he’s slumbering and when he wakes up, he’ll probably get down to cleaning...

– You know what I mean, Shad.

– I know, my captain. – Empath gave a soft hem. He opened the door and paused. – Will’s right, don’t make it too long with the block.

After a long and laborious cleaning Alex, wrapped in a warm blanket, soundly slept in the hammock that he had stretched between the supports. It was the first time for many years when he fell asleep without any interference and without assistance; he was giving himself to a strong and sweet oblivion until a ray of light stubbornly broke through his eyelids, vanishing his dream. Alex muttered few grumbling words and crawled under the blanket and the next moment he threw it aside.

– Is it morning already? – He rubbed his eyes, remembering what had happened the day before.

All the loft bathed in a pleasant sunshine, behind the glass dome there was a clear sky, half closed by some huge structure.

– We’ve arrived! – Alex exclaimed gaily, putting on his shoes.

He totally forgot about the healing plasticine and, grabbing the jacket that he had found in Spaniard’s bag, rushed out of the loft, flew down the stairs and ran out into the hall. There was empty. Without stopping, Alex went to the cockpit, but he also found none of the crew.

– Weird. – He muttered. Back in the corridor, he knocked at Kyle’s room. No one answered. He opened the door and peered inside.

– Cap? – No answer. Alex paused for a moment, dazedly staring at the impeccable order in the chamber.

The other rooms were locked, which made the newcomer astounded. He walked along the corridor and decided to look into the technical compartment. There he met multitude of motors, massive instruments and other blinking stuff; some were sticking out of the walls, others hung in half-rings from the ceiling, others emerged from the floor like whales’ backs.

– Will! – Silence. – Where the hell did they all go?

Alex came back into the lobby at the end of the corridor. In addition to the entrance to the technical section, there were four more doors. The one on the left was open. The one through which the captain once had invited him. The faint light that filled the second corridor said that the external gateway was also not locked, which meant that the crew... Alex resolutely walked to the light. The door was ajar: bright rays pierced through a narrow slit. After some hesitation, he flung it open. White light struck Alex in the eyes. Squinting, he slowly and hesitantly took a few steps forward. As he descended almost to the end of the ladder, he stopped. “That’s one small step for a man”, Alex smiled, looking at the surface of the new planet at his feet. “Sorry, Neil, but your record is broken long time ago!” And the alien from Earth strode off the ladder.

As Alex looked around, he found himself inside an immense hangar. Cyclopean walls rose up and closed in a giant curved arch. Elegant and graceful half-columns adorned them, branching like huge trees under the ceiling. In the depths of the hangar, where daylight could not reach, they emitted a tender glow. The structure was so large that Alex involuntarily felt like a midget in the land of giants; to