Lottery
Chapter 8
By Mark J. Silva Jr
Mark woke, coughing. The room was filling with smoke, then the whole post shuddered once more. Alarms blared, and lights flickered on and off. Then another explosion went off, and Mark was yanked off his bed by someone. The smoked burned his eyes, and made it hard to breathe. Mark suddenly was outside on the patio and being shoved to the edge.
“Is that him?” someone said as Mark was bent down on his knees coughing then his head was yanked back hard.
“No, the one we are looking for is Asian. This one is white,” another voice said.
“Just kill him, and toss him off the patio. We need to get in deeper, and find the Asian male.”
POP!
Suddenly, Mark couldn't breathe right at all. The left side of his chest exploded, smearing his left lung all over the patio railing. Then Mark felt himself flying… then… it all stopped: the noise, the weightless feeling, the smoke… all of it was suddenly gone.
Mark cracked open his eyes. A big chunk of the post building was on fire, and sirens were blaring. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. It thumped. He was so cold! He couldn't stop shivering. Another explosion went off, somewhere, and Mark faded back out again.
Mark heard someone yelling, he tried to call out, but ended up coughing up blood to the point that he blacked out again.
Warm fuzzyness. A paw stroked his face, and Mark opened his eyes to find Tina there. Mark tried to talk but it hurt to breathe.
“Help is on the way. You just rest here, and we will keep you warm,” Tina said.
Mark opened his eyes and watched as the lights in the hallway flashed by. He was breathing in a mask. Mark tried to remove the mask and say something, when someone grabbed his hand.
“Don't fight the mask, Mark. Just try to relax.”
“Brent,” Mark gasped out. “After Brent.”
“Don't you worry about him. We need to get you into surgery.”
Mark could hear someone talking, and tried to make out just what was going on, when someone stepped into his room.
“Directly after surgery, get him prepped for stasis. He's getting moved, as soon as she lands.”
'Stasis?' Moved? What's going on?' Mark thought, then dozed off once more.
'Holy mother of everything!' thought Mark. He was in pain. He couldn't tell if the pain came from his head, or his body. He just knew that every nerve was on fire. Mark lay there whimpering, as any and every sound and movement he made, meant excruciating pain, on top of the constant pain he already felt.
A voice, someone said something about waking. Another voice said, dad?
'Dad, who?' Mark thought as the hammer beat his body again.
Someone touched him. Mark screamed out in pain, and curled up into a tighter ball.
“It's stasis sickness,” someone said.
There was a sharp pain, then his body suddenly felt like it was floating in warm water. A hand suddenly touched his cheek.
Mark was still curled up, but someone was gently coaxing him to lie on his back. As he opened his eyes, the world was filled with colors and it moved funny.
“Well, the pain is gone, for now,” said a lady to Mark's right.
“That puny man is my father?” someone said in a disgusted voice and tone.
“Shush, you! He's cute and pretty! Besides, you did inherent his eyes and brains,” said a familiar voice.
A face and then the name followed. It was Heather, but she looked different, somehow.
“Welcome back to the world of the living, Mark.”
“Whats going on?” Mark slurred as he asked.
Heather smiled and said, “You've been asleep for a long time. Relax. Let the doctors do what they do best.”
Heather moved back out of view.
“Mother, I need to get going.”
“You can miss one day of work! Damn it, Anna, he is your father! You should be excited!” someone said.
Mark thought it sound like Heather, but who was who? Someone had a daughter, but she sounded like an adult.
A new face bent over Mark and said, “Hello, Mark. I'm Doctor Renst. Can you feel this?”
There was a pinch, and Mark felt it, but oddly.
“I think I felt something,” Mark slurred once more.
“Good. We are going to lower the reducer. If the pain is too much, just say so,” the doctor said.
It was like someone had turned a dial. The pain came back, but it was slowed. When Mark started forming tears in his eyes, the doctor turn it on, just a little more.
“Okay, now, do you feel this.”
“OW!”
Someone had stabbed Mark's knee with a needle.
“I'll take that as a 'yes,' then.”
Heather returned to Mark's view, and she smiled down at him.
“Lisa is on her way. You woke a little earlier then planned, but I wanted you to meet our daughter, Anna.”
The bed shifted and a lady with light brown skin looked down at him. She had bright blue eyes.
“Hi, Dad. Nice to meet you.”
Mark looked at this lady. She was at least twenty. How could he have a twenty-year-old daughter?
“Okay. Now, Mom, I really need to get to work.”
The lady moved away, and Mark couldn't help but to start to doze off.
“So how bad is he, Doc?”
* * * *
The bed was so warm. Mark didn't want to move, but someone suddenly threw the covers off and said,
“Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty.”
“More sleep,” Mark said.
Someone shoved him over onto his back and Mark moaned in pain. The pain was still there. Mark was lifted off the bed and cradled in someones arms.
“You've been sleeping for three days.”
“A little more sleep, please. So tired,” Mark whined.
Mark leaned into whoever was carrying him. They entered a hot moist room. The moist air felt good. Then Mark was lowered into a very hot tub.
“Hot, hot, hot,” Mark said as he sank deeper into the tub.
Someone pulled his hair back and out of the water.
“Was it always this long,” someone asked.
“Yes, it was,” a voice replied.
It was familiar, and Mark cracked open his eyes. He found the room to be really bright, but after a moment, he found Lisa smiling back at him.
Mark tried to get up, but Lisa placed her hand on his chest and held him down.
“How do you feel?”
“Odd. Things hurt, all over.”
“That's to be expected. You been in stasis for a long time. Now, can you tell me what you last remember?”
Mark closed his eyes and relaxed, “They were looking for Brent.”
Lisa sat for a minute, “Did they say why they wanted Brent?”
“No. They just said they wanted 'the Asian male.'”
Lisa made a few quick mental notes.
“Okay, now, Mark. I need to tell you some bad news.”
Mark opened his eyes, and looked into Lisa face.
“First off, let me say Vicky fought to save you, tooth and claw. When you were found, she and Tina had found you. They used their own bodies to keep you warm, in the snow. But Vicky succumbed to her gunshot wounds. She died before we located you.”
Tears started forming in Mark's eyes.
“You had been hurt bad, and in an effort to protect you, we decided to harvest her good lungs, and use them to save you,” Lisa placed her hand on Mark's chest, “She is still with you, loving you, and caring for you, Mark. She is right in here!”
Mark did his best to hold back the tears and sniffled.
“What about Tina?”
This Lisa smiled for, “She healed up nicely. When we put you in stasis, we placed her in the same stasis chamber. So, for the past twenty four years, she has been at your side. But, like you, she had some problems with stasis sickness.”
“But why isn't she here?” Mark asked with pouty eyes.
Lisa could feel the effect of Mark's eyes.
“She is a pet, Mark. She needed special care, but she knows you're alive and well. She has been working extra hard so she can be here with you, as soon as possible.”
Twenty four years? It finally sank into Marks thoughts.
“Does that mean I have a daughter older then me?”
“You have a few hundred children older then you are,” answered Lisa.
The water smelt of cinnamon and roses. Then someone started cutting his hair, and Mark bolted up. His body protested the sudden movement.
“What do you think you're doing?” Mark said as he pulled his long hair away from the lady with the scissors.
Christy smiled back at Mark, “Your hair needs trimming, you have dead ends.”
“What kinds of stupid cow are you? Of course I have dead ends! All hair is dead. If anything, I need some conditioner.”
“Mark, relax. Christy isn’t a hair dresser, but she is your new caretaker. Christy may need to learn a bit more about caring for a man's hair,” Lisa said as she coaxed Mark to lay back in the tub.
“I don't need a babysitter.”
Lisa helped Christy sort Mark's hair back out, “You have always needed a caretaker, Mark. Just accept that fact and relax.”
“I never had one when I was free, and having fun.”
Lisa laughed, “Tell me, Mark, didn't you find it funny that Vicky and her family moved next door the day after I bought you?”
Mark sat there, quietly.
“Vicky was owned by me and so was her mother. At first, she was only there to watch over you. But she fell in love with you, and you know the rest.”
“She always wanted to be a pet,” Mark said, as he learned a little more about her.
“Well, she wanted to be your pet. That way, when you turned eighteen, she could stay with you forever, Mark.”
“I still don't need a babysitter. I can care for myself.”
Lisa smacked Mark's face; not hard, but hard enough to get his full attention. Mark locked eyes for a second with Lisa, and then lowered his head in submission.
“Good. You remembered your place. I decide what you need: from who will take care of you, to what you are allowed to wear. Got that, Mister?” Lisa said.
“Yes, Madam.”
“Now, before you turn into a prune, let's get you out of that tub. We still have a lot to go over.”
Mark was lifted from the water and then the lady helping him said, “I'm going to put your weight down on your feet. Let's see if you can stand, just yet.”
She lowered Mark 'till his feet were flat on the floor, then she slowly let him support his own weight. The muscles were as strong as the day he was put in stasis, but the nerves had been damaged. Mark stood there, wavering a little, but he was on his own two feet! Meanwhile, Christy dried him off, and wrapped him in a towel.
Christy and another lady stood on each side of Mark as he slowly walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.
“Very good,” said the doctor as Mark entered the bedroom.
Mark paused as everyone filtered out of the bathroom, Anna was in the bedroom and she didn't look all that happy.
“General Marshall's daughter is worse. She wants him, now,” Anna said as she stood there with her arms crossed.
Lisa walked over to Anna, “He not ready, yet. I still have to explain all that's going on. You go tell General Marshall that we can't rush Mark's recovery. Also, remind her it's her fault that he's in this bad a condition in the first place.”
Anna looked over at Mark and said, “If he's so fucking smart, why the hell are you treating him like a baby?”
The smack was loud as Anna was knocked back several feet.
“He's hurt. If you'd bother to read all the reports we gave you, you'd know it was General Marshall's screw up that put him in this state in the first place.” Anna started to leave, but Lisa ordered, “Send her a message! You stay right here, while I explain what going on to your father.”
Christy had gotten Mark over to the bed, and had helped him up and into it, while Anna and Lisa were speaking. Lisa walked over and pulled out a chair from the make up table.
“Well, I was hoping to give you a little more time to learn all that's going on; but, no matter how much I dislike General Marshall, her daughter needs your help. So, let's start with the day of the attack. We found you all shot up, and in shock. Surgery stabilized you, and I had shipped you off world. I sent you on your way to another lab. But, while you were in transit, the Under-Secretary of Naval Operations got hold of your project records. She decided, on the spot, that you were a possible threat to the safety of the Federation. She and General Marshall had your projects sealed. Since you were already in stasis, she had you boxed and attempted to have you destroyed.”
“But… but, I didn't do anything wrong!” Mark said as the world seemed to fold in on him, suddenly.
“No. You never did anything wrong at all. When I received those orders, I had you shipped off to my home. She couldn't harm you there, because you are owned and hadn't committed any crimes. But I couldn't bring you out of stasis, without disobeying a direct order.”
“So, she was going to let me rot,” Mark said as he brushed out his hair.
“Well, like many times in life, things change. A year ago another wetware wizard, this one from the Confederacy, made a virus that kills wetware. We have not been able to stop it,” Lisa said as she looked over at Anna, “The virus is delivered visually, just like your 'Puppeteer' was.”
This got Mark's undivided attention.
Keeping her eyes on Anna, “Mark, no one else can look at this thing, and not be infected and die. We need your wonderful mind and skills. While your daughter over there just doesn't get what you can do without wetware, she will soon learn how wonderful her father really is, and why I have always called you 'my blue eyed wonder.'”
“What can I do?”
“We have set up a protected lab. The issue is, no one but you can enter it at all. It has everything your old lab had, and the virus is in a protected file. I must impress on you, that no one can enter and help you. If you fall, or get sick, we cannot help you. I wanted to wait 'till you were better, but I think a lot of people are running out of time.”
“And they wanted me dead? What will happen to me, if I do this?”
“Is that him?” someone said as Mark was bent down on his knees coughing then his head was yanked back hard.
“No, the one we are looking for is Asian. This one is white,” another voice said.
“Just kill him, and toss him off the patio. We need to get in deeper, and find the Asian male.”
POP!
Suddenly, Mark couldn't breathe right at all. The left side of his chest exploded, smearing his left lung all over the patio railing. Then Mark felt himself flying… then… it all stopped: the noise, the weightless feeling, the smoke… all of it was suddenly gone.
Mark cracked open his eyes. A big chunk of the post building was on fire, and sirens were blaring. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. It thumped. He was so cold! He couldn't stop shivering. Another explosion went off, somewhere, and Mark faded back out again.
Mark heard someone yelling, he tried to call out, but ended up coughing up blood to the point that he blacked out again.
Warm fuzzyness. A paw stroked his face, and Mark opened his eyes to find Tina there. Mark tried to talk but it hurt to breathe.
“Help is on the way. You just rest here, and we will keep you warm,” Tina said.
Mark opened his eyes and watched as the lights in the hallway flashed by. He was breathing in a mask. Mark tried to remove the mask and say something, when someone grabbed his hand.
“Don't fight the mask, Mark. Just try to relax.”
“Brent,” Mark gasped out. “After Brent.”
“Don't you worry about him. We need to get you into surgery.”
Mark could hear someone talking, and tried to make out just what was going on, when someone stepped into his room.
“Directly after surgery, get him prepped for stasis. He's getting moved, as soon as she lands.”
'Stasis?' Moved? What's going on?' Mark thought, then dozed off once more.
'Holy mother of everything!' thought Mark. He was in pain. He couldn't tell if the pain came from his head, or his body. He just knew that every nerve was on fire. Mark lay there whimpering, as any and every sound and movement he made, meant excruciating pain, on top of the constant pain he already felt.
A voice, someone said something about waking. Another voice said, dad?
'Dad, who?' Mark thought as the hammer beat his body again.
Someone touched him. Mark screamed out in pain, and curled up into a tighter ball.
“It's stasis sickness,” someone said.
There was a sharp pain, then his body suddenly felt like it was floating in warm water. A hand suddenly touched his cheek.
Mark was still curled up, but someone was gently coaxing him to lie on his back. As he opened his eyes, the world was filled with colors and it moved funny.
“Well, the pain is gone, for now,” said a lady to Mark's right.
“That puny man is my father?” someone said in a disgusted voice and tone.
“Shush, you! He's cute and pretty! Besides, you did inherent his eyes and brains,” said a familiar voice.
A face and then the name followed. It was Heather, but she looked different, somehow.
“Welcome back to the world of the living, Mark.”
“Whats going on?” Mark slurred as he asked.
Heather smiled and said, “You've been asleep for a long time. Relax. Let the doctors do what they do best.”
Heather moved back out of view.
“Mother, I need to get going.”
“You can miss one day of work! Damn it, Anna, he is your father! You should be excited!” someone said.
Mark thought it sound like Heather, but who was who? Someone had a daughter, but she sounded like an adult.
A new face bent over Mark and said, “Hello, Mark. I'm Doctor Renst. Can you feel this?”
There was a pinch, and Mark felt it, but oddly.
“I think I felt something,” Mark slurred once more.
“Good. We are going to lower the reducer. If the pain is too much, just say so,” the doctor said.
It was like someone had turned a dial. The pain came back, but it was slowed. When Mark started forming tears in his eyes, the doctor turn it on, just a little more.
“Okay, now, do you feel this.”
“OW!”
Someone had stabbed Mark's knee with a needle.
“I'll take that as a 'yes,' then.”
Heather returned to Mark's view, and she smiled down at him.
“Lisa is on her way. You woke a little earlier then planned, but I wanted you to meet our daughter, Anna.”
The bed shifted and a lady with light brown skin looked down at him. She had bright blue eyes.
“Hi, Dad. Nice to meet you.”
Mark looked at this lady. She was at least twenty. How could he have a twenty-year-old daughter?
“Okay. Now, Mom, I really need to get to work.”
The lady moved away, and Mark couldn't help but to start to doze off.
“So how bad is he, Doc?”
* * * *
The bed was so warm. Mark didn't want to move, but someone suddenly threw the covers off and said,
“Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty.”
“More sleep,” Mark said.
Someone shoved him over onto his back and Mark moaned in pain. The pain was still there. Mark was lifted off the bed and cradled in someones arms.
“You've been sleeping for three days.”
“A little more sleep, please. So tired,” Mark whined.
Mark leaned into whoever was carrying him. They entered a hot moist room. The moist air felt good. Then Mark was lowered into a very hot tub.
“Hot, hot, hot,” Mark said as he sank deeper into the tub.
Someone pulled his hair back and out of the water.
“Was it always this long,” someone asked.
“Yes, it was,” a voice replied.
It was familiar, and Mark cracked open his eyes. He found the room to be really bright, but after a moment, he found Lisa smiling back at him.
Mark tried to get up, but Lisa placed her hand on his chest and held him down.
“How do you feel?”
“Odd. Things hurt, all over.”
“That's to be expected. You been in stasis for a long time. Now, can you tell me what you last remember?”
Mark closed his eyes and relaxed, “They were looking for Brent.”
Lisa sat for a minute, “Did they say why they wanted Brent?”
“No. They just said they wanted 'the Asian male.'”
Lisa made a few quick mental notes.
“Okay, now, Mark. I need to tell you some bad news.”
Mark opened his eyes, and looked into Lisa face.
“First off, let me say Vicky fought to save you, tooth and claw. When you were found, she and Tina had found you. They used their own bodies to keep you warm, in the snow. But Vicky succumbed to her gunshot wounds. She died before we located you.”
Tears started forming in Mark's eyes.
“You had been hurt bad, and in an effort to protect you, we decided to harvest her good lungs, and use them to save you,” Lisa placed her hand on Mark's chest, “She is still with you, loving you, and caring for you, Mark. She is right in here!”
Mark did his best to hold back the tears and sniffled.
“What about Tina?”
This Lisa smiled for, “She healed up nicely. When we put you in stasis, we placed her in the same stasis chamber. So, for the past twenty four years, she has been at your side. But, like you, she had some problems with stasis sickness.”
“But why isn't she here?” Mark asked with pouty eyes.
Lisa could feel the effect of Mark's eyes.
“She is a pet, Mark. She needed special care, but she knows you're alive and well. She has been working extra hard so she can be here with you, as soon as possible.”
Twenty four years? It finally sank into Marks thoughts.
“Does that mean I have a daughter older then me?”
“You have a few hundred children older then you are,” answered Lisa.
The water smelt of cinnamon and roses. Then someone started cutting his hair, and Mark bolted up. His body protested the sudden movement.
“What do you think you're doing?” Mark said as he pulled his long hair away from the lady with the scissors.
Christy smiled back at Mark, “Your hair needs trimming, you have dead ends.”
“What kinds of stupid cow are you? Of course I have dead ends! All hair is dead. If anything, I need some conditioner.”
“Mark, relax. Christy isn’t a hair dresser, but she is your new caretaker. Christy may need to learn a bit more about caring for a man's hair,” Lisa said as she coaxed Mark to lay back in the tub.
“I don't need a babysitter.”
Lisa helped Christy sort Mark's hair back out, “You have always needed a caretaker, Mark. Just accept that fact and relax.”
“I never had one when I was free, and having fun.”
Lisa laughed, “Tell me, Mark, didn't you find it funny that Vicky and her family moved next door the day after I bought you?”
Mark sat there, quietly.
“Vicky was owned by me and so was her mother. At first, she was only there to watch over you. But she fell in love with you, and you know the rest.”
“She always wanted to be a pet,” Mark said, as he learned a little more about her.
“Well, she wanted to be your pet. That way, when you turned eighteen, she could stay with you forever, Mark.”
“I still don't need a babysitter. I can care for myself.”
Lisa smacked Mark's face; not hard, but hard enough to get his full attention. Mark locked eyes for a second with Lisa, and then lowered his head in submission.
“Good. You remembered your place. I decide what you need: from who will take care of you, to what you are allowed to wear. Got that, Mister?” Lisa said.
“Yes, Madam.”
“Now, before you turn into a prune, let's get you out of that tub. We still have a lot to go over.”
Mark was lifted from the water and then the lady helping him said, “I'm going to put your weight down on your feet. Let's see if you can stand, just yet.”
She lowered Mark 'till his feet were flat on the floor, then she slowly let him support his own weight. The muscles were as strong as the day he was put in stasis, but the nerves had been damaged. Mark stood there, wavering a little, but he was on his own two feet! Meanwhile, Christy dried him off, and wrapped him in a towel.
Christy and another lady stood on each side of Mark as he slowly walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.
“Very good,” said the doctor as Mark entered the bedroom.
Mark paused as everyone filtered out of the bathroom, Anna was in the bedroom and she didn't look all that happy.
“General Marshall's daughter is worse. She wants him, now,” Anna said as she stood there with her arms crossed.
Lisa walked over to Anna, “He not ready, yet. I still have to explain all that's going on. You go tell General Marshall that we can't rush Mark's recovery. Also, remind her it's her fault that he's in this bad a condition in the first place.”
Anna looked over at Mark and said, “If he's so fucking smart, why the hell are you treating him like a baby?”
The smack was loud as Anna was knocked back several feet.
“He's hurt. If you'd bother to read all the reports we gave you, you'd know it was General Marshall's screw up that put him in this state in the first place.” Anna started to leave, but Lisa ordered, “Send her a message! You stay right here, while I explain what going on to your father.”
Christy had gotten Mark over to the bed, and had helped him up and into it, while Anna and Lisa were speaking. Lisa walked over and pulled out a chair from the make up table.
“Well, I was hoping to give you a little more time to learn all that's going on; but, no matter how much I dislike General Marshall, her daughter needs your help. So, let's start with the day of the attack. We found you all shot up, and in shock. Surgery stabilized you, and I had shipped you off world. I sent you on your way to another lab. But, while you were in transit, the Under-Secretary of Naval Operations got hold of your project records. She decided, on the spot, that you were a possible threat to the safety of the Federation. She and General Marshall had your projects sealed. Since you were already in stasis, she had you boxed and attempted to have you destroyed.”
“But… but, I didn't do anything wrong!” Mark said as the world seemed to fold in on him, suddenly.
“No. You never did anything wrong at all. When I received those orders, I had you shipped off to my home. She couldn't harm you there, because you are owned and hadn't committed any crimes. But I couldn't bring you out of stasis, without disobeying a direct order.”
“So, she was going to let me rot,” Mark said as he brushed out his hair.
“Well, like many times in life, things change. A year ago another wetware wizard, this one from the Confederacy, made a virus that kills wetware. We have not been able to stop it,” Lisa said as she looked over at Anna, “The virus is delivered visually, just like your 'Puppeteer' was.”
This got Mark's undivided attention.
Keeping her eyes on Anna, “Mark, no one else can look at this thing, and not be infected and die. We need your wonderful mind and skills. While your daughter over there just doesn't get what you can do without wetware, she will soon learn how wonderful her father really is, and why I have always called you 'my blue eyed wonder.'”
“What can I do?”
“We have set up a protected lab. The issue is, no one but you can enter it at all. It has everything your old lab had, and the virus is in a protected file. I must impress on you, that no one can enter and help you. If you fall, or get sick, we cannot help you. I wanted to wait 'till you were better, but I think a lot of people are running out of time.”
“And they wanted me dead? What will happen to me, if I do this?”