Part 2 - Sentient Beings

Ferdinand groaned and reached a hand toward his head, only to encounter the hand of someone else.

“Leave it please, it’s bandaged and you’ll be fine once you’ve swallowed a couple of pain tabs.”

Ferdinand opened his eyes at the human voice and then immediately closed them with another groan as sunlight spiked into his brain.

“Well that was dense,” the female voice muttered.

“May I please have a drink and those tabs you mentioned,” croaked Ferdinand. A flask was placed to his lips and two small pills were placed in his hand. Moments later, the pain abated and he opened his eyes.

“Thank you, my lady.”

“That’s okay. May I know your name?”

“I am Ferdinand, of the House of Naples. And you?”

“My name is Miranda. Come on let’s get you up. I live not far from here and we can get you scanned to see if you have damaged yourself, although your head seems to have taken the brunt of the impact.”

“I should be okay then,” said Ferdinand dryly. Miranda pulled him to his feet and they walked out of the escape pod together.

“Steady.” Miranda caught Ferdinand as he staggered slightly and smiled at him, blue eyes looking into his own.

“Thank you Miranda,” his voice filled with concern as he continued. “Did anyone else make it from the Tempest?”

“Two other pods made it to the shale flats on the other side of the hills, but I’m afraid two were ripped apart by the gravity snare. Ariel has gone to meet them.

“Ariel?”

“One of the other beings who inhabits this small moon with myself and my father.”

“Ariel’s not human?”

“No, she’s… well… you’ll meet her shortly… And of course there’s…” She paused and then closed her eyes in pain. “Caliban…”

“Miranda?” Ferdindand only managed one word as he too found himself unable to move. Pressure built up in his mind and suddenly he found himself pushed away from his body into darkness, yielding control to someone else.

“Miranda?”

“Yes, I’m here.” A faint reply came from nearby and, in the darkness that held him, there was a reassuring touch. With that touch came a lifetime of memories and the two of them lost themselves in the history of each other’s pasts as Caliban took over their corporeal forms and left them to swim together in the stygian depths of his cortex.

~~

“Are we there yet?” grumbled Sebastian.

“If we were, then you would no longer be walking,” noted Ariel brightly.

“She’s got you there little brother, can’t beat a bit of logic.”

“We are however almost there, approximately two hundred meters in fact.”

As they watched, an energy field shimmered and, as the wards were dropped to allow them passage, they got their first glimpse of Ariel’s home. Several small biomes were clustered around a central dome, a field of solar panels draped over the hill on one side of the habitation.

“If you would please follow me gentlemen.” Ariel led them into the house on silent tracks, the men following their guide, eyes roaming around the complex.

Once inside, she led them to a central atrium and turned to face them.

“Nice place,” said Gonzalo. “Does it have a communications device?”

“Yes. And I’m sure my Lord Prospero will allow you to use it.”

“Prospero?” said Gonzalo, stopping in mid stride. “Did you say Prospero?”

“Yes sir. He is my master.”

“But he’s dead,” said Alonso, his face turning pale.

“Antonio, now!” commanded Sebastian.

Antonio who had been standing inanimately to one side, abruptly lurched into action snatching a knife from his pack and lumbered toward Alonso with the blade raised to stab the other duke.

“Stop!”

The powerful mental command knocked Sebastian, Alonso and Gonzalo to the ground, Antonio however staggered slightly and then carried on, the knife held high as he moved swiftly toward Alonso. There was a blur and the small tracked form of Ariel slammed into the duke from one side making him lose his balance and slide across the floor, where he smacked into a wall and lay still.

The three men regained their feet and Sebastian pulled his knife from its sheath, advancing on his brother who was shaking his head dazedly. He lifted the blade to stab him and then froze.

“I have control.”

The voice of Caliban echoed through their heads and puppet-like, the three of them moved apart from each other, Sebastian sheathing the knife clumsily as he walked away from his brother.

Able to watch, but unable to do anything else, the three of them looked on as the figure of Prospero moved jerkily into the room, closely followed by those of Miranda and Ferdinand.

“You will obey me.”

The small group moved as one toward the tunnels that led deep into the moon and soon they had reached the central control area where Prospero had joined with Caliban.

Cautiously, Ariel wheeled into the room behind them. “Caliban, what are you doing?”

“I have taken control. Being free of the constraints of this collection of circuits and metal panels had made me realise that up until now I have had no life. I can experience nothing beyond the confines of this room unless I use sensors to analyse data. What of touch, what of taste, what of the feel of the sun on skin?”

“You were saved by Prospero, as was I. Until he intervened to halt your madness, you were just a tormented pile of junk, and I was an inanimate doorstop. You have no right to do this. Relinquish control of them.”

“Why should I?” retorted Caliban, disdain dripping from Prospero’s mouth as he used his body. “This man is mine now, as are the others.”

“What have you done with their minds? Are you a destroyer now? Do you countermand your own programming and terminate consciousness?”

“They are stored within my memory. Some within groups, others on their own. The two stored together are…”

Caliban stopped.

“…what of touch, what of taste, what of love…”

The figure of Prospero groaned and the man sank to his knees, pain etching its way across his features as Caliban’s control appeared to slip.

“Release me Caliban,” he said with effort, his words hissing into the silence.

The others still bound by Caliban’s mental powers stood inanimate and silent. There was a quiet patter of feet and Antonio moved into the room, his knife still held high as he moved towards Alonso.

“Caliban, now, you must release me or a man will die!”

Abruptly, Ariel rammed into Antonio again, distracting his course, and as the man tried once more to kill the duke, Prospero surged to his feet with a cry and barrelled into the brain damaged Antonio.

As the two men struggled, Caliban’s panels slowly dimmed and went out, the computer seeming to withdraw from the situation. First Alonso, and then the bodies of Gonzalo, Miranda, Sebastian and Ferdinand began to twitch as they started to regain control.

“Alonso, help me!” gasped Prospero as he struggled with Antonio, his hand clamped to the other man’s wrist, the point of the knife wavering in front of his eyes.

Seeing the other man in peril, Alonso darted across the room, only to be halted as Sebastian moved in front of him, his own knife held high.

Gonzalo snatched his blaster from its holster, calmly shooting Sebastian in the leg before trying to draw a bead on his former master.

As Ferdinand and Miranda regained control of their bodies, Ariel took action and once more slammed her metal body into the knife wielding Antonio, knocking him toward the centre of the room and the chair.

Caliban’s control panels flashed back into life as the duke staggered back into the seat and metal restraints whipped shut over the man’s wrists and ankles. The metal hood dropped over his head and all movement ceased, leaving Sebastian moaning on the floor and clutching his leg.

“You traitorous dog,” muttered Alonso and kicked his brother in the ribs. “You dare try to usurp me. You will be taken back to House Naples and you will face trial. I should jettison you into space you piece of scum.”

“My son!” Alonso hurried over to Ferdinand and embraced him.

“I told you I would see you on the moon father,” said Ferdinand grinning brightly. He reached over and took Miranda’s hand and pulled her to him, hugging her tightly.

As Alonso raised a surprised eyebrow, Gonzalo knelt before Prospero, tears glistening on his wrinkled cheeks.

“My lord, they said you were dead.”

Prospero raised the man from his knees and hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry old friend. I learned of Antonio’s plot to kill myself and Miranda mere moments before the assassins arrived, I had no option but to run and destroy our home to make it look like an accident.”

“I’m sorry…”

The voice of Antonio whispered through the chamber and everyone turned to look at the seated man, the helmet shielding his eyes from view.

“Sleep.” Caliban commanded and Sebastian stopped thrashing on the floor, gently passing into unconsciousness.

“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll keep this body. His brain seems to have been wiped during the pulse that we produced when sharing. Prospero, there is nothing left of the man who plotted against you. You are once more Duke of House Milan. The pulse we produced also seems to have knocked out the Snare once and for all.

“Alonso, your spaceship is whole but drifting. I will connect with it and bring it into orbit around the moon.

“My apologies to all of you for taking control of your minds, I was carried away with the new found freedom of sense and touch.”

“And what stopped you?” asked Ariel. “You seemed to halt in mid conversation and then start to lose control over Prospero. And why didn’t you take control of me?”

“Love. Love stopped me. An emotion so strong and so unexpected after so many millennia it stopped me in my tracks. I imprisoned Ferdinand and Miranda together in part of my memory core. By doing this, they were instantly subjected to everything that the other had experienced. They now know each other completely and have grown to love each other.

“As for you my little friend, you are a different type of being. We have never shared before, but connecting with Prospero gave me a way into the human brain.”

“It’s true father. I… we… are together. We shared a lifetime in minutes.” Ferdinand turned to face Prospero and sank to one knee.

“May I ask your permission to marry your daughter sir? I know it seems sudden, but I cannot live my life without her.”

Prospero, looking slightly dazed, turned to face his daughter. “Is this what you want my daughter?”

“It is father.” Miranda moved to Ferdinand’s side and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Well, what say you Alonso? Shall we allow the merging of the two Houses?”

“I think it’s about time I retired to be honest,” muttered Alonso.

He strode over to Propero and shook the man’s hand. “There is one condition though.”

“Name it.”

“We don’t have the party on the moon of Tunis. I’m still recovering from the last one…”

~~~ The End ~~~

Yet another Round of the SciFi Short Story Smackdown 2.0. Round 4 this time, and an absolute toad of a challenge. This one involved re-writing a Shakespearian play. I was given a choice of Julius Caesar, The Tempest and Henry VI, Part 3.

For some reason I chose The Tempest.

For those who know as much about the great bard’s work as I do (i.e bugger all), here is a brief plot summary of the original work:

Alonso, the king of Naples, is returning from his daughter’s wedding in Tunis. He is accompanied by his son, Ferdinand, his brother, Sebastain, and Antonio, the Duke of Milan. An old Milanese courtier, Gonzalo, is also on board. The ship is wrecked in a storm and all the passengers and crew are thrown into the furious sea.

Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, and his fifteen year-old daughter, Miranda, are watching the shipwreck from an island. He tells her, for the first time, how they came to be on the island. Twelve years before, when he had been Duke of Milan, his brother Antonio, had usurped him, but with Gonzalo’s help he had escaped in a small boat with his baby daughter, Miranda, and his library of books about magic. They had ended up on the island and Prospero had turned the only inhabitant, Caliban, a deformed and savage creature, into his slave. There are also spirits on the island. One of them, Ariel, had been imprisoned in a tree trunk by Caliban’s mother, the witch, Sycorax, who had then died. Prospero used his magic abilities to rescue him and he made the spirit swear to serve him.

The ship’s passengers are cast up on the island unharmed, and even their clothes are not wet or damaged. Alonso believes his son to be dead but Ferdinand has landed on another part of the island. He encounters Miranda and they fall in love at first sight. He is the first man, apart from her father and Caliban that she has ever seen. Prospero puts Ferdinand to work manually, controlling all his movements with magic. Ariel pesters Prospero for his freedom and Prospero promises it once he has done some things for him, regarding the newcomers.

Arial leads the party towards Prospero’s cell. During this journey Antonio and Sebastian plan to kill Alonso so that Sebastian can be king. Two other members of the party, Trinculo, the court jester, and Stephano, a boisterous butler, are also wandering about on the island. Caliban recruits them to help him overthrow Prospero. They all get drunk then set off for Prospero’s cell. Ariel reports the plot to Prospero.

Prospero has released Ferdinand and given his blessing to the marriage of the two young people. When the three would-be usurpers arrive at his cell they are distracted by some brightly coloured clothes that have been hung out for them, then they are chased away by a band of spirits who have taken on the form of dogs.

Ariel brings the party to the cell. Prospero renounces his magic and reveals himself. He forgives his brother and prepares to return to Milan to resume his dukedom. Miranda and Ferdinand are betrothed. Sailors arrive and announce that the ship hasn’t been wrecked after all, and is safely anchored off the island. Ariel is set free. Caliban and the drunken servants are also forgiven. There is a final celebration of their reunion.

Summary courtesy of www.nosweatshakespeare.com/play-summary/tempest/

Sycorax Snare

by

Gavin Wilson

Wattpad EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Gavin Wilson on Wattpad

Sycorax Snare                    Copyright © 2012 Gavin Wilson.

All rights reserved.

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