The Konichiwa Collective

The Konichiwa Collective

By

Steve Merrick

Copyright Steve Merrick 2013

Smashwords Edition

Dedicated to Lewis Carroll

FICKLE BRITTLE REALITY

I awoke, at least I think I was waking up, my mind was a mess of facts and languages, including schematics for explosives, but even with my eyes wide open I couldn't fathom how I had got here. Here was a beach, it was a smoothly silky sandy beach, that stretched above my head, with what appeared to be an ocean ahead of me. I closed my eyes and thought for a moment then remembered mothers advice about counting to ten. I tried it, opened my eyes and yes the beach still stretched over my head. Like it was trapped in a bottle, that was my first coherent thought, but then I remembered Kiesler, Hans Kiesler, my interrogator, the bribes, the torture and his threats on the Avenue Foch, then the window. That memory made me sit bolt up right and look around me. I had jumped out of that Nazi's window. Five floors, certain death, then this beach. It was a confusing cacophony of visual reality and my own memory that collided right then. I was dead. I was dead but here on this tube of a beach that defied the laws of gravity, the light was more....

Intense, my eyes were drinking in more details than I was used to. It was like going from pastels to oils and it was dizzying, so I curled into a ball. That was when I felt the bulging pouch on my hip. I grabbed at it and pulled, it sort of tore off and I held it in my hand. The string on its top undid easily and I looked at the contents. Several bits and bobs were there, but one small bottle that's label said Boire Moi. My mind kicked in and I remembered it meant Drink me. In French. So I drank it and after a few moments felt incredibly calm, relaxing I let my toes wiggle trapping fine grains of sand in between them. Then I let out a laugh and looked at my long legs, they were covered in a kind of jelly, so I shakily stood and walked into the sea water, holding the bar of soap from the pouch. So I bathed and then feeling hungry I left the water to investigate the huts nearby.

It was as I approached that I saw the people sleeping in the sand dunes, I was acutely aware of my nakedness, finding my name Nora written on one door I entered,  I looked firstly for some kind of clothing, I found shorts and knickers, braziers, and a shirt. All in a sky blue colour so I dressed and then looked through the cupboards for food. There were silver wrapped sealed packets so I experimentally tore one open, and after few sniffs ate it. It melted strangely, I had the impression that I had never eaten before, even my hands felt slightly alien to me, but seeing the camp bed by the window if lay down and with a fit of exhaustion I slept.

CONFUSED SPHERES OF INFLUENCE

You Can Really Have no notion how delightful it will be. Quiet, like a clear whisper he sang the words, When they take us out and throw us to the lobsters out at sea. Sparks flashed almost harmonically with his words as the panel in the wall was repaired, a small tabby kitten floated along with his tools as he patiently worked in the zero gravity of the central access. But the snail replied to far to far and gave a look askance, Peering into the circuits he smiled as he sang. Then he thanked the whiting kindly but he could not join the dance. Slowly he sang his voice creating the melody, echoing in the cylindrical tunnel of the central access. Would not could not would not could not would not join the dance. Glancing at the pawing kitten he smiled and with a gentle poke sent it spinning dizzily about in the flickering dim light of the malfunctioning tunnel. His voice calmly almost happily elongated the word dance as he sang. He would not could not would not could not would not join the dance.

A patchwork of silver greys in his hair reflected the iron as he soldered and fried his way through the repair. What matters it how far we go his scaly friend replied, there's another shore you know upon the other side.  The kitten had managed to right itself and then almost swimming with the grace of a feather it let out a little mew. The further off from England the nearer tis to France. Reaching out the man held the little feline and the let its claws attach themselves with the threads of his tatty jumper. So turn not pale beloved snail, but come and join the dance. Replacing the cover he collected his things together, and kissed the kitten on his shoulders head. 'Will yah won't yah will yah wont yah come and join the dance.  Pulling the delinquent kittens desperate grip from his shoulders, the man kicked away from the door noting satisfyingly that the lights had also stopped flickering, after his repair of the power conduits within the box. Will yah won't yah will yah won't yah join the dance.

WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS

After almost three days I started to explore this strange cavern, it was alarming as none of the people here, and there were over a hundred of them would speak, I myself had trouble forming words but with perseverance I was able to roughly vocalise. My entire body felt new, I was shocked at my baldness though, and a part of me missed my long hair, cursing Kiesler and his Gestapo I started to walk and swim searching my environment thoroughly. I asked them again and again where we were but they were in some sort of dream like shock and even avoided each other. It was then I found a door.

It was a circular door that I couldn't budge, in a fit of anger I threw a rock at it. It clanged metallic off it and brushed my leg painfully. Suddenly I couldn't move, I have been hurt in basic training and in the blitz but this was like pain for the first time. So for a whole day I lay in my hut wondering what it was all about and gazing at the now massive bruise. Then I saw him, sitting on the beach and looking at the dolphins jumping in the distant waters, he wore a pair of grey American combat trousers and one of their T Shirts as well, flimsy boat style shoes on his feet, and that maddening patchwork of greys that coloured his hair. I approached him and he smiled to me. Somehow that friendliness made me angry, I am or was a Special Operation Executive courier, I had most certainly parachuted into France in the summer of forty three and I was highly trained in unarmed combat, and Nazi dodging.

Nothing however could have prepared me for his utter lack of response as I wrestled him to the ground. He just lay there pliantly without any words, even the kitten he was holding bit back but he just sort of flopped, shocked in my grip. When he finally spoke it was with an utter almost disarming softness in his voice. Libra, pepper, fox, cold, september, neutral, maestro, bravo, penguin. The human mind is like a river I guess as too much information can break its banks, and I fell to the ground, memories flooded into me, children I had had children, Egypt ancient Egypt a farmers wife, the salty taste of my own blood as the Norman had his way with my Anglo Saxon mind, the Zeppelin over London dropping it bombs and my father holding me on his hips shouting Bloody Huns! Picking berries with my tribe as we moved across the plains, sleeping by a window with a book, the day my laptop got sat on by that Berk of a bus conductor, watching the sun set over the marshes of our summer nesting ground, I had had children. The ships mast pulling me under the dark and wild water, I had died before. I had lived before this. Whilst I clutched at my head he grabbed the Kitten and scarpered, looking to me only briefly as he disappeared through the circular door. Whilst I lay flooding with my lives screaming with the piercing pain of it all. My home my children where were my children......

TATTERS SCATTERS FLATTERS

I had lived 18 lives, died 18 times, loved 13 men and 3 women, I sat on the beach and for many days I tried to get to the base of all of these different lives, I was relieved I hadn't ever been a man but even with my female constant it made little or no sense. I knew that this was a space ship or a space station however, I had figured that out, I had been a scientist more than a few times. Finally I saw him in the distance, I stood looking at the small figure, he smiled, then turned and ran. There was something child like in his smile before he raced off, game like in its intensity, and on that moments thought I raced across the cylindrical beach after him. I felt an excitement like never before, fresh feverish excitement, laughing I reached the circular door, it was open.

With the caution of a gazelle I looked to the closed door ahead of it, and feeling a tickle of fear in my knotted stomach I entered this tube. With a frightening clunk the door closed tight behind me, but then the one in front opened. Nervously I scanned the corridor ahead of me, it was then that I heard him singing, slowly child like in its tone. Will you walk a little faster said a whiting to a snail. I saw his head looking at me, two hundred feet away down the tube like tunnel, just like the London Underground but brighter and emptier. His singing was daring me to chase him, this was insane. Theres a porpoise close behind us and he's treading on my tail.

My mind kicked in again with the memory of a book, Alice in Wonderland, this was the Lobster Quadrille, gazing at this grinning mock turtle I realised that I must be Alice and raced after him. See how the lobsters and the turtle all advance. There waiting on the shingle will you come and join the dance. Whenever I got within spitting distance of catching up with him he would giggle excitedly as he raced off. Will yah. My fingers glanced across his shoulder and with a rush of giggles he would accelerate. Wont yah.' At one point I was moving so fast that I ran into the wall as he turned. Sprawling about on the floor, I looked up and saw him, grinning at me wildly. Will yah, wont yah. My fears had disappeared so I sat and waited for this harmless enough creature to advance. Instead he jumped away and raced off in the distance. Wont yah join the dance." I stood and walked in circles for hours, until I saw the massive window of incredibly thick glass, the window was not the surprise but the stars were. Everywhere, twinkling, singing their way into my mind through my eyes.

It was to beautiful, I cried, sobbed 18 lives away as I sat and watched them. Somewhere in those memories I slept again, it was like I needed to sleep more here. When I awoke I found myself covered by a blanket, and next to my head were more of the foil wrapped food packages and bottle of water. As I sat up I saw him kneeling on one knee watching me, then with a nod of his head he was gone. It was like that for two days as I explored the massive ship, unsure if he was there or not. I had had 18 names that I was aware of but couldn't even decide on what to call myself, but when I heard him singing that bloody song in some distant corner of this empty ship, I finally decided on a fresh start at this 19th life with the name Alice.

On the third morning I awoke on the floor with a blanket over me and food and water, but he was stood very close by holding the kitten, he waved to me and then slid a door open, pointing into the room he was gone again. Inside it was a large bath and toilet, so I soaked for a few hours thinking about how I had reached this place, had he kidnapped us, it seemed unlikely as I didn't get that feeling from him. I have met killers in my line of work, well in one of my lines of work, but he didn't quite fit the bill, plus when I had assaulted him his lack of response didn't add up to a kidnapping criminal genius Moriarty, with a taste for 18th century nonsense rhymes. When I left the bathroom the door on the opposite side of the corridor was open. It was a bedroom and upon the bed were fresh jumpsuit's and a small touch operated computer. It had a map of the ship, the ship was called the Konichiwa, it's a greeting in Japanese I think, but I studied the map.

I decided to head for the bridge as it was the most likely spot to find the reason for my predicament. It took me three hour to find it, and as I got closer to the bridge the walls became decorated with a vivid child’s graffiti of his world. Adults seemingly dead or dying, happy sad, shots of our world, and a particularly good picture of a dolphin were crayoned into the rock of this ship. Finally I arrived and he was sat checking on a massive computer, a large robot trundled past oblivious to my presence, so I coughed. My Mock Turtle jumped noticeably and turned to me. Then picking up a Kitten from the basket of them on the bridge he handed it to me and smiled. Then looked at the floor for a long time.

This from a man that must have been thirty or forty, silence, but I found myself playing with the cats as he worked on the controls and came and went. After a few hours he returned with properly cooked food, I looked at the sausages and mash but nearly cried when I saw the cup of coffee he held. Is your head OK?

Frustratingly he chose the moment my mouth was full to ask me so I nodded, saliva licking its joys in my mouth as he smiled. So you can't talk either. He added a distracted Hmmm to the sentence and messed with the salt.

Isht Mad Spanners shtwoo twalk ith oor mouf ull. I said.

Oh good with some practice you may get the hang of it again. He smiled and tossed a sausage to the tired old sheepdog that was lying with its hands on it paws in front of us. There was a strange intimacy to the way he spoke, almost simple, but as I swallowed I said.

What is going on, is this some kind of reincarnate station or what. I said pointing my fork about as I spoke.

Oooh thats much better already.

I can talk fine its bad manners to speak with your mouthful, thats all, I need answers now please.

Ok Nine hundred and fifty odd years ago a black hole passed close to our solar system. He said smiling enthusiastically to me.It caused all the planets to go crazy in their orbits, really came that close. Do you think we will ever see a black hole?

Maybe.....

Well that was where all these Asterio ships came into it because we had to abandon ship. No actually abandon planet, and that is where the Konichiwa and the rest of the fleet came to the rescue, you see we managed to get a quarter of the population off the planet before it got unviable for life, and then we had to head off for the M class planets we had found already, and now your here.

Where is here.

3 astronomical units from Alpha Centauri but only 1.3AU from Herschel.

Where are the rest of the crew?

'Oh they died when I was a kid from a plasma leak, luckily me and Gran Mallory were out doing my shuttle pilot test when it happened or you'd all still be spinning off to gawd knows where."

How old were you. I said shocked at what I was hearing.

I was 11 my mom went out with the rest of them that night and Gran Mallory popped her clogs eighteen years ago. Which is why I am glad you can talk.

What year is this. I had to ask the question as his reply was nonsense. He had to check the date on his computer.

3239. He smiled then added. AD.

Why am I still thinking it's 1943 then?

Oh yes this will be easier if I show you, come on. He said jumping to his feet, I had gotten so used to running after him that I didn't even hesitate but I decided to keep a hold of the Kitten. His names Tatters. he said over his shoulder as he rushed us into a lift. Theres nothing more fun than a kitten in zero gravity.  For a few moments the machine clanked its way through the floors of this massive asteroid ship, We will be floating about soon its normal so don't be to alarmed at it. and with that my feet left the floor, and my stomach had the strangest tingle of fluttering butterflies in it. Taking Tatters from me he announced, Watch this. then gently launched the small feline into the air, with its clumsy paws thrust out and its huge eyes pleading to me the little cat mewed and then almost swam to use its claws on his shoulder. He laughed and I realised I didn't know his name.

'Whats your name"

I'm Calico, Navigator first class amongst other things. Then with a mild shock in his eyes he hiccuped a laugh out of himself. Sorry I haven't use my name for ages, like I said no one to talk to, plenty of movies and holographic fun but nothing real.  As the lift door opened he kicked of flying as it were down the corridor. Have you remembered your real name yet. He shouted over his shoulder.

No I have had so many, its confusing. I was trying to follow his smooth seal like movements but somehow with the absence of gravity my legs kept tripping me up, so I would spin for a while, control it and then lose it. He laughed as I spun about, which was not unpleasant at all, being laughed at or spinning, if you understand me. I was thinking of calling myself Alice. I said steadying myself to a slow roll. Actually. I added. Then. That would make you my Mock Turtle.

Ahh tis the noblest of critters a mock turtle. He smiled. I will speed on and get the lights on ahead, so when you decide to get your legs organised the door will be open. With a fluid kick he flew off into the distance humming. Beautiful soup.

After quite a while of trial and error I managed to arrive at the door, he was humming away to himself and doing something indecipherable with a electric screw driver. Give me a second and I will explain all this to you, but have a look at them. I did, a woman was frozen with a small child on her shoulder lying dormant in the elongated metal tube. Its funny, you don't remember your name but you remember Alice in wonderland, and if I ask you what that tube is you probably know the answer too, funny isn't it.

Its a Mk4 Cryogenic chamber, a people freezer,  dreaming via an elliptical quantum interface, allowing learning and dreams throughout the freeze phase.

It's actually a Mk 3 but keep on going it's always better to work out these truths on your own. He was changing the screw head as he spoke, At least I think so.

A frozen persons mind cant be shut down like the rest of the body can, so unless you want to go insane the quantum interface allows you to dream of lives, but the lives are at an increased speed of 1/6 of a normal life, hence the large number of artificial lives I have lived. You woke me with a nemonic hypnotic code, a string of random words, and that shunt gave me a start.

Yes. I would have been slower about it but you were trying to strangle me at the time.

Good point, but in my defence, my last memory was being captured by Kiesler on the Avenue Foch in Paris, he's a Gestapo bastard and I jumped out of a window to protect my secret, so sorry about that. I added feeling a little less guilty about my violent response to him.

Ooh. He said with that child like intensity. A secret. What was it?

I can't remember.

Ahh of course, but what rank are you?

I had fluffy recollections of being a sergeant in the SOE, which I was going to say but it came out as. Botanist, first class, rank lt, passed for transport aboard the Konichiwa. CRR247.

Don't you just love memory?

Watch it ensign I do out rank you! He gave me