Where Nothing Ill Can Dwell

Chapter 31 - ARIEL

I monitored Caliban's vitals while continuing to deliver the maximum charge I could safely administer. I could not kill, but I could incapacitate.

Miranda's sobs drew my attention. She pressed her head against Ferdinand's chest as though she were searching for a pulse. When she lifted her head, I saw why.

A singed hole had formed along the side of his flight suit, and blood poured out from the opening. Ferdinand had been wounded.

Dr. Prospero appeared from her room and aimed her blaster at Caliban's head. "Tend to Ferdinand, ARIEL. I'll finish him."

I ceased firing the collar and activated my tissue-regeneration laser as commanded, but I had to remind my creator of one thing. "Remember, I am charged to protect all life, Dr. Prospero. Even his."

She cursed and switched the blaster from kill to stun, even taking a moment to verify it with me before shooting.

Combined with the shock he had received, the blast was enough to render Caliban unconscious. I verified his vitals were stable before focusing all my energy on healing Ferdinand.

My young mistress continued to cradle his face and say his name as I worked. Her worry, her concern, her grief were interesting to observe. I had never seen such emotion from her, and I wondered if it was all coming from the blood-pumping organ in her chest.

Bit by bit, Ferdinand's vitals stabilized, and by the time I had finished repairing his wound, he opened his eyes. From the way he looked at Miranda, it seemed that she was all he could see. He gazed up at her face with a pained smile on his lips. "Hey, beautiful."

A choked sound rose from my young mistress's throat—similar to a laugh yet tempered by a sob. Her tears fell even faster. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

"I could say the same thing to you." His voice was weary, and fatigue slowed his movements as he reached up to stroke her hair. "One of these days, you're going to learn to listen to what I say."

"Yeah, maybe one day, I will." She bent down to place a kiss on his forehead.

The sharp, no-nonsense voice of my creator interrupted the tender scene between the two young lovers. "ARIEL, is he stable enough for transport?"

I scanned him one more time. "Vitals are stable, but there was significant blood loss and a smaller wound—"

"I asked if he was stable enough for transport." She fixed her steely gaze on me.

"Affirmative, but only for a short distance."

"Good." She turned to Miranda. "You may take him to your room for the time being."

Miranda and Ferdinand exchanged glances of surprise, but my young mistress quickly obeyed. She draped his uninjured arm over her shoulders and helped him down the hall. But when they reached the door, my creator called for them to stop.

She ran up to them and studied Ferdinand. "You risked your life today to save my daughter."

"And I would do it again, Dr. Prospero." He looked at my young mistress with the same gentle glow with which she regarded him. "After all, I love her."

Dr. Prospero and her daughter drew in matching gasps, but for different reasons. Miranda's mouth spread into a smile of pure joy, while her mother's face grew somber.

Her plan had worked.

"I love you, too, Ferdinand," my young mistress gushed before pressing her lips to his.

Dr. Prospero gave them a few seconds to indulge in their kiss before clearing her throat. "We'll discuss this later. In the meantime, I've come to the conclusion this is no longer necessary. You have proven yourself worthy of my daughter." She reached behind his neck and unfastened his collar.

"Thank you, Mom." Miranda gave her mother a grateful smile and resumed helping Ferdinand into her room.

The door closed behind them as she was helping him into her bed, leaving me alone with my creator.

"Do you worry he will try to mate with her now that he is in her bed?" I asked.

"Why do you think I left his shoulder as it was?" she replied with a hint of her usual cool logic. "In the meantime, I have to deal with him."

"I can confine him with the others in a temporary holding cell."

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "What others?"

I described the humans I had trapped between the kitchen and the hangar, and she shook her head in exasperation. "Damn it, I knew I should've been more vigilant about Caliban. I underestimated him."

I resisted the urge to tell her that this was not the first time. She had already experienced a trying day, and I did not want to add to her suffering. Instead, I did a physical sweep of her. "You are injured, too, Dr. Prospero."

"Let's lock him up first."

I used my levitation beam to carry the unconscious Caliban to the shed that had housed Ferdinand up until now while my creator fetched the other two men. I had little doubt a blood-caked woman with a blaster would endure much resistance from them. Once she secured the door, she turned to me and asked, "Miranda keeps some of those absinthian spores on hand in her lab, doesn't she?"

"Affirmative," I replied, trying to guess the motive behind her inquiry.

"Perhaps we should spray some into that room while Caliban is still out, just to show the others how dangerous this planet can really be."

I calculated a safe dose that would not pose a threat to their lives and bobbed once. "As you command."

Even though I did not think it was the most merciful course of action, I had to obey.

"Good. And when you're finished with that, I think it's time to end my reign on this planet. I'll have new commands for you once I get my computer up and running."

"Are you going to reunite Ferdinand with his father?" The memory of Alonso's grief still troubled me. Although I was charged with preserving life, there was nothing in my code that prevented me from inflicting suffering. If given a chance—perhaps when she finally decided to free me—I would have my creator remedy that.

She gazed in the direction of Miranda's room. "Yes, I've finally achieved my goals, and I've seen the consequences of them, both good and bad."

By the time I had carried out her first order, new commands flooded my system. I analyzed them with something akin to joy and relief. Just as she had orchestrated the storm that had brought the sailors from NAPLES here, she was about to orchestrate an even more flawless reunion, and I could not wait to fulfill them.