Chapter Ten:
Nathan finished his report and forwarded it to the Commander. He also prepared a second report to forward to the resistance leaders when the opportunity presented itself. What he had found out was quite startling. When he had been stationed on Earth sixteen years ago he had organized a resistance cell with the intention of advancing Earth’s technology. They had taken over an orphanage and every child under five years of age had been put through the advanced learning simulations. After a year they had given up, as it appeared that the people from Earth lacked the ability to understand their technology.
He thought that they had carefully erased the memories of the children who had undergone the enhanced learning program, but now his research indicated otherwise. He had hacked into the huge data bases on Earth looking for clues that other’s like Celestia had retained their memories of the information and to his surprise over seventy five percent of the big technological advances made on Earth were done by children who had undergone the learning program.
Fortunately other than Celestia less than one percent of their improvements resembled the technology of his world. If he understood the data correctly ninety percent of the children who had undergone the training had retained some of the knowledge. And in every single one of them approximately ten years after receiving the training they suddenly began to develop new technology. If they had realized that it took time for the Earthlings to grasp the concept he would have never closed the resistance cell there. If he had realized that it took time he would have left them there to continue educating the children. In sixteen years that would have produced thousands of people on Earth capable of furthering their technology.
He had to get this critical information to the resistance. They needed to know that other races adapted differently to the enhanced learning. If they could organize cells to start education programs and to continue them on other worlds that hadn’t been conquered yet, it could mean the difference between failure and success. So far they hadn’t been able to save a single world from being taken over. Sometimes Nathan wondered why he even bothered trying to save less developed worlds. At their current rate of taking over, even if a world became advanced enough to resist, his people’s Empire would be to strong for it to make a difference. Unless something happened soon to tip the balance of power, everything he and the other’s had done would have been a useless gesture.
Nathan turned off his computer as he had finished with the report. He sent a request to the Commander to have Celestia brought to him for questioning. He wanted to present her with a technological problem to see how well she understood it. If he understood her programs correctly, he was positive she would be able to fix the problem. He was fairly certain the Commander would allow it as he had explained in his report how her knowledge could be quite useful.
Jason didn’t even realize that he had dozed off until someone shaking his shoulder woke him up. He opened his eyes to find Jared leaning over him. Jason pulled away so quickly he banged his head painfully on the wall next to the bed. Jared laughed and motioned to two aliens standing by the door. Quickly they came over and pulled Jason up off the bed. Once again they bound his hands behind him as Jared walked over to the door. They then forced him to follow Jared through the ship. After a while they entered a room that to Jason looked like some type of computer lab. There was an older alien with gray hair waiting for them.
“Nathan,” Jared said, “Crystal has ordered that Celestia needs more time to recover from the interrogation. Our good doctor said that from the biological data she obtained that although humans are quite sturdy, they heal more slowly and need more time to recover than you or I would. So the Commander wants you to determine if this one has knowledge we can use. Celestia will be sent to you later after the doctor feels she is ready.”
Nathan bowed slightly to Jared. “Understood Sub-Commander. I’ll get to work on this one immediately.”
Jared smiled and said, “I’ll be leaving these two here to make sure he doesn’t give you any trouble.” Jared walked over until he was mere inches from Jason. He reached up with his right hand and gently ran his fingers through Jason’s hair until his hand was behind his head. He firmly grabbed Jason’s hair and leaned forward. Instinctively Jason tried to pull away but Jared’s grip was too strong.
Jared leaned forward until his lips were almost touching Jason’s left ear and whispered, “Keep in mind what I said about cooperating.” Jared stepped back and let go of Jason’s hair. He walked behind Jason and removed the bonds. Then he handed the restraints to one of the guards and left. Uncertain, Jason just stood there, not knowing what to do.
“Come over here and have a seat,” Nathan said indicating a chair in front of a computer console. Jason walked over and sat down. He watched as Nathan did something that changed the input screen to look like a regular keyboard, it also switched the language displayed on the monitor to English. Nathan turned to face Jason and said, “I want you to take some tests. Input your answer for every question that comes up. Simply hit the next button at the bottom of the screen when you have finished answering the question. I’ve seen your programming work so I also want you to be specific in explaining what doesn’t make any sense to you as it will better help me to asses you level of understanding.”
Jason hesitated, as he was not sure what to expect from Nathan. He seemed to be kinder than Jared but he was still feeling uneasy and he had yet to see Celestia since the whole mess started. He didn’t want to even think about the possibility of Jared bothering her.
Nathan sighed inwardly at Jason’s hesitation. He was pretty sure from watching him that Jared frightened him. Nathan sighed again, he would never understand anyone like that, personally he was glad he himself wasn’t Jared’s type as he was not the type to take no for an answer. It didn’t help that other than the Commander no one else outranked him. And the Commander seemed to find Jared amusing so she never stopped him from doing what he wanted. If it wasn’t for the fact that Jared was one hundred percent dedicated to his duties, even to the point that he never let his personal desires come first, Nathan was certain he would have been kicked out of the military permanently.
He knew that other Commanders would have loved to find an excuse to be rid of Jared, but he was too good at what he did. Sandra had recognized his talents and requested him to serve as her second in command. Nathan hated to admit it but he had since then proved his talent and skills at commanding many times over. No one ever tried to have him dismissed any more. And those who had thought Sandra was foolish for giving him such power wisely kept quiet. Nathan decided to take a more direct approach; he just hoped Jason would trust him.
“I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself,” Nathan said. “You could say that I’m the ships scientist as I write and maintain the ships computer programs. I am not a formal member of the military even though I serve aboard this ship. Please believe me when I say I have your best interests in mind.” Nathan paused for a moment and then continued, “There is nothing I can do that will protect you from Jared, but I can tell you that your friend Celestia is safe,” Nathan paused as he searched for the right way to phrase it before continuing, “Let’s just say that he has no interest in women, so it’s highly unlikely he will do anything to her. Other than the usual interrogation techniques if she were to refuse to cooperate.” Once again Nathan paused as he watched Jason to gauge his reaction to what he was telling him. It was obvious he was struggling to keep his expression neutral.
Nathan continued, “Believe me when I tell you that it’s in your best interests to fully cooperate. If I can prove that you are useful to the commander, it will at least protect you a little from Jared. Trust me, you don’t want to know how he likes to entertain himself.” Nathan grimaced a little. “I hope you believe me when I say this but I’m truly sorry that you have caught his interest. Take my advice, no matter what happens, don’t make him angry. No matter what he has done, if you anger him, you will wish you were dead.”
Jason felt cold all over from what Nathan had told him. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt that Nathan was telling him the truth. Part of him was relived that Jared wasn’t interested in Celestia and the other part was terrified of what Jared had in mind for him.
“I understand,” Jason replied. “Thank you for telling me.”
Jason turned to the computer console to start the test but Nathan spoke again saying, “One other thing to keep in mind.” Jason turned to face Nathan again. “Do not try to make Celestia’s safety a condition for your cooperation, and if you get the chance, make sure she doesn’t try to make your safety a condition for her to cooperate either. Trust me on this; you don’t want Jared using your concern for each other to his advantage. He will use it anyway, but if you force the issue in any way, you will both wish you were dead.” Jason simply nodded and then turned to start the test.
