CHAPTER 43

Shelby watched over Derrick in his drug induced sleep; she was more than tempted to delve in, as she remembered him saying he always seemed to remember her being there for him. How could this time be any different? Then she also remembered Mary's warning that to delve in might cause far more damage than good. It was all so confusing to her now with all the emotions she was feeling it shouldn't be that hard to decide should it? Watching a few minutes more, she finally decided that if she ceased to exist it was far better than continuing on without Derrick. Looking over the readings a final time she reached out and again entered Derrick's mind.

Looking around, she at first couldn't see anything all that different though as she started to go deeper she could see where the brain was starting to heal. Concentrating on the areas that held all that was Derrick she hoped that she could find an answer and a way to bring him back. The closer she got to what essentially was Derrick the stranger it appeared to get. Finally she reached what she knew was him, unlike before there was no chaos, no Derrick nothing. Strange she thought the last time there had at least been a trace of him, now it was almost as if all that was him was erased. Sure there were a lot older memories but nothing newer than ten to fifteen years ago.

Painstakingly Shelby started to look everywhere for even a hint of Derrick. Sighing after a while she sat wondering what she was going to do when a voice startled her out of her thoughts.

"Hello," a young voice quietly said to her. "Who are you?"

Turning she saw a young slender boy with sandy blonde hair, he was holding a book of mathematics. "Oh hello, I am Shelby, I'm looking for Derrick O'Toma."

The young boy's eyes grew wide then lit up, "That's me Ma'am, but I don't remember ever meeting a pretty lady like you before."

Shelby's eyes grew wide also; she knew that there would be obstacles but nothing like this! Looking around further Shelby began to see doors that before had been hidden. "I am very pleased to meet you Mr. O'Toma," Shelby told the boy, gaining a wide smile on his face. "Are you all alone here?"

"No Ma'am, there are a lot of other Derricks here also, oh," here the boy's face dropped, "You're probably looking for one of the other Derricks, an 'older' one." Dejectedly the boy hung his head.

Grasping the boy's face she tilted it up toward her own, "No actually, I am looking for all of the Derricks," smiling when the boy's face lit up again.

"Yes Ma'am, though there aren't as many as there used to be, it seems something happened one day and a lot of the newer Derricks couldn't get out of their rooms. One of the older Derricks said that they were trapped like most of them had been 'til a little while ago." The now widely smiling young boy said.

As her eyes scanned all the doors, more than half were open, she walked to the first that was closed and pulled on it. At first there was nothing, not a sound, and then suddenly the door slipped and flew open knocking Shelby on her butt. The Derrick that walked out wasn't her Derrick but he was a lot closer than a lot of those she'd seen coming here. Derrick from the room looked out blinking then extended a hand to help Shelby up.

"Captain O'Toma at your service finished flight school yesterday," Leaning close he whispered, "You ever want a long ride alone in space I'm your man."

Walking away he went to join the others, shaking her head she moved to the next door, by the thirtieth door Shelby felt weary. Grasping the knob she struggled with it more than the others, it took several minutes to finally get it to move. Finally opened enough, the Derrick inside slipped out and the door suddenly moved with ease. Shelby was more than exhausted; strangely she thought I am a machine. I don't get tired.

The Derrick she'd just released knelt beside where Shelby had sat, "E? What are you doing here? I thought we were waiting for the emergence of 0999. Has something gone wrong?" Shelby was trying to tell Derrick what had happened with him, the blow to the head, the loss of memory, her disobeying her mother to try and rescue him.

"I am afraid that I may have done and gone too far, my love, just a chance to see more of the new you makes this sacrifice worth it," Shelby said as she lapsed into unconsciousness.

Jerking awake Derrick looked around the med bay, why in the hell was he in the med bay? Why were over half the systems dark? Getting up, Derrick started to shout, "I don't know if you can hear me. I need to talk to the mother of the living A.I. of this ship."

A moment later Mary shimmered into view, "Yes Sire?" she said then noticed that well over half the systems of the ship were dark. "Sire, what has she done? More to the point where has she gone?" This was not good without Shelby any hope of restoration of the fleet was impossible.

"She was in and still is in here," Derrick said pointing to his head, "she was attempting to open the sections of my brain, trying to reintegrate all of the mes, I can actually remember her and the ship 0999 now but she is unconscious."

Mary's face took on a worried look; this was an extremely dangerous move on her part. Shelby's data could be lost, absorbed, and rejected by Derrick's brain; it could mean not only the loss of the emperor but Shelby, Mary's daughter. Sighing, she should have known that Shelby would have tried to do something like this, she'd seen the looks that Shelby had shared with him.

"I am afraid I am also going to have to go in, this is extremely dangerous Derrick, though she has released more of your mind, I still feel it is weak." Mary tried to explain to him. "There is a chance that we may lose one of you, I cannot allow that to happen to you. Though she is my daughter she too knew the risks of doing this."

"Look I don't have any memory of you yet, but I know that all mothers fight for their children. You have to fight for her, as will I, do what you can but you have to save her." Derrick looked directly into Mary's eyes and quietly asked, "Please?"

Mary was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion though the mandates forbid it she couldn't ignore the fact of what her daughter had felt so strongly about this man. The fact that her daughter had risked her very existence to bring back the man she loved spoke volumes to Mary. Nodding to Derrick, tears in her eyes for the love they shared, Mary induced sleep with Derrick again and gently delved into his mind. It was worse than she thought the deeper she went the more damage she was starting to see. Finally reaching the room of his memories and self, Mary started to assess all that was wrong.

Looking at all the doors Mary could see the thirty that Shelby had opened, then Mary saw why Shelby was so weak. Sighing Mary could see the increasing amount of energy she expended each time to open the doors. Shaking her head she thought she had known how much Shelby loved the man but this went far beyond anything she'd thought possible. True Shelby had increased the energy of his mind to the point that he now had a 50% better chance of full recovery. In the process though, she had used up all the energy that she'd stored up to delve into his mind.

Near the last door Shelby had opened Mary finally found Shelby, a worried Derrick holding her head in his lap. Mary knelt next to them placing a hand on Shelby, she had far less energy than Shelby but Mary was hoping that she wouldn't need that much. Looking in Mary saw much to her shock that Shelby had tried to use all her energy to bring him back. Again this was a shock to her. It was obvious that this man was far more unique than she at first had thought. Slowly she could feel Shelby's energy start to increase Mary just hoped that when she awakened that she wouldn't refuse to go.

Shelby was so tired, a strange thing for her, when Derrick called her E her heart soared. Bending down he looked at her and asked if all was alright. All she could think of was, "I am afraid that I may have done and gone too far, my love, just a chance to see more of the new you makes this sacrifice worth it." Then the world went dark. It was a strange first for her 'so she thought this is what death is like,' there was no light, no sound, just a warm peace that she couldn't explain. 'Finally I feel I have done something to justify my existence.' It seemed she'd just gotten there when she felt something start to tug her back toward the light. She didn't want to go back, not if it meant Derrick had to take her place. Fighting, she tried to reject and push everything that came at her. Finally it overwhelmed her and she started to close in on the light.

Mary could feel Shelby's levels starting to rise, good, she was afraid she didn't have enough energy to save her. "I can feel her, she's stronger you have to get her to leave, if she stays she'll expire Derrick." Derrick nodded his head as he could feel that there was more to the woman on his lap than met the eye. It just escaped him each time he tried to bring it to the surface.

"I'll do my best IF she'll listen," Derrick told Mary as Shelby started to stir.

"Derrick?" Shelby weakly asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, but I need you to go out with your mother; I couldn't go on if I lost you too." Derrick told a now smiling Shelby.

"Alright but I will be watching you closely, my love," Shelby said as she kissed Derrick deeply and passionately, surprising not only him and Mary but Shelby herself. Rising Shelby, Derrick, and Mary headed for the surface, none of them heard a half dozen or more doors open far below them.