Readyworld
fiction by michael werneburg
"Vacation," Hu said, and I saw his eyes lose focus as he went into his OHUD. The man caught on quick.
"Sounds fair," the Major said. He then turned to one of his flunkies and made some quick comments that I didn't catch. Alain Hu sidled over to where I stood next to the chunk of glass I'd inspected. He and I had never worked together, of course, and were little more than nodding acquaintances. He had a look like he wanted to say something, but he didn't get his chance.
With a beckoning gesture in our direction, Mead turned and left the room at a fair clip. I glanced at Hu, scooped up my bag, and went after the officer. With Hu right behind me, I got out to the corridor just as four big soldiers in full battle gear arrived. The giant men—none of them less than a meter taller than me—were wearing the distinctive matte body armor that a materials freak like me would love to study. I knew that the armor could be made completely absorptive of electro-magnetic radiation. Such 'black box' materials were one of the holy grails of my field; finding a cheaper or better version than whatever was currently on the market would have an enormous payoff. I hadn't found anything that big in my career, but the day was young!
Needless to say, they were also armed to teeth and cocooned in their own environments within those suits. A soldier like this could withstand exposure to the hard rads and the vacuum of space, arctic extremes deep ocean environments, and just anything short of actually being dipped in molten metal or thrown into a star. I'd seen soldiers like this a couple of times on Yotoyo's Sphere, usually coming or going to the front. They were extremely intimidating up close.
One of the soldiers handed a smaller set of armor to the officer, and he quickly strapped it on. His was a much smaller affair, more like a bulky vest. But once on, the half-suit seemed to liquefy, becoming a seamless blob of matte grey material around his torso. It then started spreading, covering his neck, his arms, and his legs. Within seconds he was almost completely covered from head to toe; only his face was uncovered. I wondered what exactly he was expecting in the Big Room.
I found myself led down the corridor by the officer. Alain Hu was beside me, perhaps still working on his sudden vacation plans. The soldiers came along behind me. I glanced at Hu. I asked him, "Is there anything you'll need before we hit the Big Room?"
He frowned, and said, "Yes, I suppose I'll need my field kit."
The platform we'd stepped onto began to silently descend. I looked at the soldiers around me, in their faceless armor suits with their weapons in hand. None of them had so much as made a peep since we'd met up. I turned to Mead, but he had that faraway look that told me he was engaged in a sub-vocal conversation. I turned back to Hu and shrugged.
"Why did you ask for me?" the exobiologist asked.
"Well, if the physical conditions in the Big Room are evolving, and it was designed as a... Well, I don't know, some sort of artificial womb?" I replied, with a shrug.
"An incubator? Well, the presence of some sort of nutritive matrix-"
"Doctor," said Mead all of a sudden.
We both looked at him expectantly.
"Your field kit will be waiting for you once the hatch opens. We should make haste for the Big Room as you call it. Circumstances seem to be evolving, at various points around the planet."
"How so?" asked Hu, sounding alarmed.