The Watching

In the central control tower a lone technician sat in a large black chair suspended from the ceiling by a pneumatic support system. This enabled him to move freely around the central communications room. Monitors surrounded the room that was circular. The majority of which monitored the entire complex through an extensive security camera network. The west side of the room though was solely devoted to systems, which reviewed communication with earth. In amongst these were various radar and external scanning monitors. Almost the entire room was automated through voice activation. A small central control panel was located on the arm of the controller’s chair. This was a simple touch screen console that was mainly used for maintenance and configuration of systems. Jim sat in front of the main radar screen. A man of medium builds with thinning light brown hair and deep hazel eyes. He’d been sat there for three hours and was becoming bored, but that was one of the things he had to live with. He’d joined the colony some five years hence. He believed it to be an ideal opportunity to expand his horizons. At 25 he was one of the youngest applicants to be accepted into the IMT scheme. After passing the IMT military training he spent 3 years as a tech for ITD sector. Showing a great deal of promise he soon progressed to become a senior tech. He sat watching the screen in front of him. A single blip darted to and fro like a restless cornered rabbit, the fear of being caught the only motivating factor for it’s seemingly senseless motion. As he sat alone in the communications room he began to ponder on why he had joined. He was so often alone, especially since he signed up. At the time it seemed like a good idea, he’d always enjoyed his own company. But now as he looked around the other monitors in the room he began to wonder. In the canteen, twenty or so figures sat around a circular table laughing and joking. In the corner a smaller group where busying themselves with a game of cards, further groups dotted around the room seemed engaged in idol conversation. Corridor 25 was empty, so was corridor 14. Someone was walking down corridor 10, only to stop and turn around as if they had just forgotten something. Everywhere else all seemed to be in order. Looking towards the radar panel again, he leaned back into his chair and adjusted it slightly to make himself more comfortable. Then something struck him, something weird. A shiver started from the base of his spine stopping as it reached the nape of his neck, making the hairs there stand on end. Shrugging his shoulders he passed it off as a draught. Then an even stranger sensation occurred, an unseen hand seemed to stroke him, as if trying to make him aware that someone or something was there. Thoughts, thoughts he hadn’t had for years started to flow through his mind, his past, his present and his feelings. The sense that he was being probed was something he had never felt before. A mixture of dread and enthrallment rose within him. He didn’t realize it, but his attention had been distracted. Even though he was staring at the radar screen he didn’t notice the message flashing in red before him nor did he hear a computer voice, telling, warning that a breach of air space had occurred. The blip on the radar had stopped and looked as if it was just a speck of dust, a blemish on the screen, a fragment of dirt obscuring the view of what ever lay underneath. Then as suddenly as it had occurred it stopped. The blip on the monitor moved suddenly and then it was gone. Jim’s daydream came to an abrupt end. The sound of the elevator door opening behind him made him jump. Running his hands through his hair and rubbing his eyes he turned the chair around to see who was coming. Glancing at his watch he pressed one of the buttons on the side that lit up the display. 10.00pm. Was it that time already. The figure approaching was John a fellow tech. Glancing at his watch again, 10.01pm. That time already, John was here to relieve him. Jim thought to himself, surely it’s not that time. Then again time didn’t mean much to anyone in this far off place. Day and night was just the flick of a switch. The complex being completely sealed no windows or such pleasantries, just good plain solid walls. The only way to see outside was through the outside surveillance cameras. The entire place was built like an impenetrable fortress; some would say a personal prison. Shrugging his shoulders as if it would jog his memory and erase those pessimistic thoughts he started to rise from the control chair. " Daydreaming again?" the voice was low and somewhat husky, one with which Jim had become accustomed to hearing.