Category: Action/Thriller ISBN-10: 147505842X
Pages: 203
Copyright: August 3, 2012
John's amnesia left him puzzled about the inconsistencies in his life, but never expected he was born on another planet. Jorxt watched John's problems with interest, but didn't know a mere human would cause him any problems.
John woke up in the hospital with amnesia, but others knew who he was. He had an identity, including a job and an apartment. But his interactions with the people who knew him didn’t seem right. He wondered why he didn’t have a relationship with his attractive colleague Cara, since they both obviously wanted one. The life they told him he lived didn’t seem like the life he thought would be natural for him.
Everyone told him that Arthur was his best friend, but Arthur was out of the country. He received a phone message from Arthur that made him more curious about his lost past.
The message came in a language John couldn’t name. At least he didn’t know the name in English. He could visualize words in an alphabet that he couldn’t identify. The speaker had a strong accent, but was understandable.
“Zhexp,” it started. John knew that Zhexp was a name. “They said you have amnesia. You will find you have acted in a way that is not natural to you. You will wonder why. Just remember that you made the decision to act the way you did based on more complete information than you have now.”
John was eager to see Arthur and get an explanation, but then Arthur’s plane crashed.
Jorxt was happy about John’s situation, because it proved profitable to him. He couldn’t imagine having trouble with humans, but he never met Arthur’s daughter Linda. Jorxt knew all about John. He was a human, a species obviously inferior to the Plict. Fortunately, John knew his inferiority and would never create problems for Jorxt. At least that was what Jorxt believed.
Excerpt
Jorxt hated being interrupted when he was budding. Admittedly, he just started, but any fool could see what he was doing. A package with material to implant a catheter was open, but untouched, within reach. He was naked, had an IV in, and the remains of a huge meal were on a tray on the counter. A tube of flesh with a knob on the end projected out from his side. The knob would first enlarge and then take the form of a biped. It wasn’t really a Plict, because Buds were different. They weren’t true Plict, and didn’t have full Plict rights, which was proper.
Jorxt-Bud VIII should have seen the situation, apologized, and left, ideally taking the tray away. Instead, the idiot signed that he needed to communicate in writing.
Scratch that thought, he’s not an idiot. He has my brain, at least, as it was a year ago. Not my looks though. Buds lacked mouths and many internal organs. The Bud’s face with the missing lower jaw looked inferior to Jorxt. Jorxt-Bud VIII did have a beautiful gray complexion, a well-placed blowhole, and lovely pink eyes. Jorxt was immensely proud of his pink eyes, because most Plict had orange or purple eyes.
Jorxt-Bud VIII handed him a slate with the words, “Recordings from Earth you must see. Hernandez is out of control.”
“Later,” Jorxt said. “It’s too early in the Budding process.”
Jorxt-Bud VIII left, showing a proper amount of servility. Jorxt knew the servility was an act, because his Bud wanted to leave permanently, which is why Jorxt was budding so soon. He had to admire Jorxt-Bud VIII’s negotiating skill. He knew exactly how much he could push. He told Jorxt that he would stay a full year and a week, to allow Jorxt to bud again, but Jorxt’s share of his future earnings would be one-fifth, not one-fourth. It was worth it, because hiring someone else’s Bud never worked out as well. Buds I through VII were out there, earning money.
Jorxt was smart enough to realize he must keep his skills current to make his Buds able to earn more, but he was tired of the work that took. A devoted Bud’s presence made the work more bearable and Jorxt was getting lazy. He was more tempted by short-term gain than he was when he was younger. It would be nice to have enough money so he wouldn’t have to worry about the future. The only real way he saw for that to happen was if the bets on that human Hernandez paid off.
For the next hour, Jorxt concentrated on budding. After a point, it became automatic, but the beginning took effort to get right. Eventually, Jorxt-Bud VIII came in and silently handed him the remote. Jorxt usually read during the passive part of budding, but this would be entertainment enough.
The first segment was a series of news stories from Earth about the bombing of a school. There were subtitles in Vigintees, and the heroism of John Graham was mentioned. Well, surprise, surprise. Zhexp was being noble. So what else was new? Jorxt-Bud VIII shouldn’t have interrupted him for that.
Jorxt was mentally composing an insulting speech to his Bud when the recording from Hernandez’ implanted camera came on. There was little sound at first, but enough showed that identified Hernandez placing the bomb in the school. How many deaths were there? He backtracked to the newscast to get the number. Eighteen, he thought with excitement. He started calculating the totals. He would earn, one thousand credits for the first murder, two thousand for the second, that’s three thousand. Three thousand for the third, that’s six thousand. He realized that was too much to do a running total in his head while budding, and resolved to figure it out afterward. But it would be a satisfying total, which he predicted before Hernandez was born. Eleven thousand credits was a huge amount of money to bet, but when he looked at Hernandez’ genome, he was sure Hernandez would be a killer.
He went back to where he left off and saw an edited version of Hernandez’ bringing Katrine to a restaurant near the school. What was Hernandez thinking? Katrine shouldn’t be on Earth. Her immune system wasn’t good enough.
Jorxt-Bud VIII mercifully left out the boring details. Hernandez gave her a phone, told her how to use it, and dialed a number. Katrine spoke about being alone and afraid and how she needed John to help her. Hernandez returned to a spot where John would pass, allowing him to detonate the bomb just before John came by the school.
Then there was a replay of the number of deaths and a calculation, giving 171,000 credits. Not bad, almost three year’s income. Of course, he would have to pay taxes on it, but he couldn’t risk making his bets at places that didn’t report taxes. They might not pay up.
Next came a recording of the kidnapping of Arthur Saunders. Jorxt was unhappy about that; Saunders was a Plict citizen, even if he was from an inferior species. They shouldn’t have risked Saunders. Actually, they shouldn’t have kidnapped Saunders to begin with, but Hernandez probably was unaware of the legal technicalities. Would this mean that Hernandez wouldn’t earn him any more money on bets for future actions?
A subtitled news story from Earth came next. Jorxt subtracted one from the report of the deaths, because presumably Saunders was still alive. Hernandez was sure to be stopped after this. But wait, each of his successive Buds had worse handwriting, because Jorxt only used the cumbersome print that the computer could read so his Buds would be able to program. He would have his new Bud write a report, and Saxant would have trouble reading it. The delay might give Hernandez time. Nevertheless, the calculations that came on the screen showing a total of more than eight million credits were very satisfying.
He finished the budding process several hours later, lost in the pleasant thought of all the money he would have. He was no longer worried about problems with collecting the money. They would use it as advertising and others would make long-term bets, just on the remote possibility that they would become rich in the future.
His Bud, Jorxt-Bud IX, finally disconnected and stood up shakily. Both the Bud and his progenitor were the same size, adding up to what Jorxt was before. Fortunately, neither was too thin, since thin Buds didn’t live as long, and too thin progenitors often had health problems.
The two of them implanted the catheter, which would keep the Bud alive for another forty years or more, if he was lucky. He felt sorry for his Bud. He would never feel the pleasure of eating or of sex. Twice a day, he would connect to a machine, which would both feed him and clean his blood. Buds were inferior to mouthed Plict, even if they had the brains of them. Something about being a Bud changed them.
When the task was done, Jorxt-Bud IX found a tablet and wrote, “Congratulations on your successful bets. What a wonderful day for me to start my life as a Bud.”
His handwriting was as bad as Jorxt hoped.
Professional Reviews
Entertaining and fresh!
I enjoyed reading "Lost Past" tremendously. The plot was intriguing, and you never knew where it was going to take you, including to another planet and into the depths of a completely different society of aliens - some malevolent, some benevolent. John's struggle to figure out who he is/was after waking up with amnesia brings a dynamic mystery to the story. He knows a language from another world, but can't remember any of his close associates. It was good to read something entertaining with a fresh perspective regarding the setting, the characters, and the conflicts involved.
Admiral Robert Sheppard and his starship, the Phoenix, are back for their latest interplanetary adventure. Mysteries, new alien civilizations, and danger await the intrepid Star Knight and his loyal allies.
