Lost Empire Ch. 51

"Bio-bed? I... Shelly are you ok? You weren't hurt?" A now very worried Gunter asked.

"I'm fine daddy; the see through man checked me and said I was in excellent health." Shelly said.

"The see through man? What is she talking about?" Gunter asked.

A shimmering of light appeared beside the bio-bed as Tempro appeared. With a sigh Tempro said, "I believe she is referring to me Lieutenant." Then Tempro gasp as Shelly ran her hand through his visage with a giggle.

"See daddy? The see through man!" Shelly said with another giggle.

Sighing again Tempro looked at Gunter, "Please sir, could you please get her to stop doing that? I find it quite rude!"

"Well I'll be! A holo-gram! What exactly are you?" Gunter asked.

"What you see is a holographic representation of me. I am called Tempro the living Artificial Intelligence of this ship." Tempro said with a sigh as Shelly giggled passing her hand and arm through Tempro.

"Shelly please stop passing your hand through the hologram!" Gunter told her.

Shelly suddenly stopped a strange look and light in her eyes. Turning toward Tempro she said, "You are an encoding of the light field as an interference pattern of seemingly random variations in the opacity, density, or surface profile of the photographic medium."

Tempro stopped suddenly as he looked at the young girl. "Yes I am Miss Shelly. Do you have questions?"

Still with a strange look on her face she asked, "Are you generated via lens and lasers?"

"No Miss Shelly I am a projection contained within a harmless gas. It sustains the image no matter what the light is in the room. I can be made with lens and lasers though they are crude and faulty."

Shelly was nodding as she took in everything that Tempro was telling her. "It may be possible to erect a system to provide you a way to exist outside the ship on your own while maintaining control of the ship. I fear though that with the current technology that it might not be possible for a bit."

Tempro was nodding as he was conducting a scan of the little girl. Looking over to Derrick Tempro's eyes got large. "We have to get her to shut that area of her brain off! Sire if we don't it will kill her!"

Derrick looked at the girl completely at a loss for the first time in a long time. "Please let me sir." Derrick heard from the bio-bed.

"Please if there's anything you can do!" Derrick told the worried father on the bed.

"Shelly? Shelly it's daddy. Come back to me baby girl, it's ok just come back to daddy." Gunter said.

Softly at first then they all saw the tears start from her eyes they heard. "Daddy? Daddy? DADDY!" Suddenly the little girl was running to her father as she threw her arms around him. The only sound they heard was the sobbing of Shelly on her father's chest.

Then they all heard a sigh as she fainted on him. Gently picking her up Derrick put her into another bio-bed. "I want a full analysis of her. Find out if there is a way to help her... somehow."

Another door opened as Grant walked in. "You better let his wife out soon or we're going to have a BIG problem with that little woman. She damn near took my head off!"

"She's probably still pissed about the last time you got me drunk." Gunter growled. "I am afraid that I can't leave yet."

"What exactly did she say?" Derrick asked.

Grant snapped to attention then stated, "she said and I quote. 'If another god forsaken person or thing'." Here he looked at Tempro, "sorry Tempro. 'Comes in here to tell me to relax I am either going to violently kill them or put a hole in the wall.' Unquote."

"Oh crap!" Shiloh said. "She is REAL pissed. Better let her out before she starts destroying stuff."

Derrick's eyes got large as he looked at both men. "Tempro bring her straight here. Explain you are taking her and the boys to see her husband. Close off everything, straight here."

Tempro looked at the door then nodded. "They are all on the way though she seemed to be rather distressed. Oh my! She is yelling at me to hurry!"

A moment later a rather angry Asian woman walked in with three boys. "Gunter? Shelly? WHAT IN THE HELL is going on here?" Walking to Shelly tears started then she walked to Gunter. "It happened again didn't it?"

Mika hugged Gunter as much as she could then was staring wide eyed at the medical room. Then even wider when Gunter told her that Derrick was trying to find a way to help Shelly.

Nodding to her husband she got up walking to Derrick. "Thank you sir for helping them both, I just hope it is possible. She is the only girl I have or will ever have. I damned near died having her I can never have children again." Derrick nodded as he leaned to whisper in her ear, causing another round of tears. Then she kissed Derrick's cheek telling him thank you as she went to her daughter.