Helga
Where am I?
Somewhere in the nameless dark.
Waking into a new body, it was her first thought. Somewhere in Sagittarius. The autumn sky. My favorite constellation. The archer. Sagitta sp. The arrow worm. The hunter. The destination. Her mind wandered dreamlike through the expanse of a mostly-cybernetic brain.
Who am I? I am Helga Das. I am hungry. More than food, I want an attractive woman within reach. Good. It was the hallmark of a well-grown artificial body that a person woke into it craving sex. Helga knew from experience. This was her fourth.
Sensing her consciousness, the ship’s computer slowly intensified the light. Hello Baby. She tried to speak. On early missions, the crew took to calling the ship’s computer Baby, following the navigator’s lead. True, it could be like a child. It asked questions no adult would think to ask.
Hoses crisscrossed the gelatinous cylinder where she floated. Hundreds of genetically engineered cell lines had converged over a cybernetic frame to quite literally grow her in place. She heard a pump start. Through the opalescent ooze, she saw five blunt, dark fingers against the glass. It was Marius.
She felt the cylinder open. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light. Good. If that reflex didn’t work, she was screwed. A pair of superbly confident hands wiped the goo from her forehead and removed the needles from her arms.
“Rise and pull the plow, fearless leader.” intoned the high-cheek boned mahogany-colored face “You’re the last.” Marius was a Cheshire cat. Always smiling. He would smile with a gun pointed in his face. The two had a history together.
“Thanks Marius...I gather we made it in one piece.” Helga remarked as he helped her from the confines of the cylinder. She felt very naked.
“Not yet. Not for a thousand light years. This is a target of opportunity along the way. Baby says it might be the real thing.”
It took a moment for his statement to sink in. This was important. To justify slowing the ship from two-thirds the speed of light, and permanently alter the mission, the computer must have detected clear evidence of intelligent civilization.
“Go ahead and play the mail.” Helga instructed, “I’m gonna take a shower.”
