Ирина Пименова – No Names, No Signs. Technology I Virus I Life (страница 1)
No Names, No Signs
Technology I Virus I Life
Irina Pimenova
© Irina Pimenova, 2026
ISBN 978-5-0069-2806-0
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
IRINA PIMENOVA
NO NAMES, NO SIGNS
Part I. Station
Chapter 1
Yaroslava was sitting on the bed. She has suffered from insomnia for a long time. The clock showed 3.12 am. More than 4 hours before the alarm clock.
Alarm clock! Long ago, she hated that little, irritating gadget. In the past life, it didn’t let her get enough sleep. Now she treated it as something useless and unnecessary. Now She doesn’t sleep anyway, and if she forgets herself with a heavy dream in the early morning, then be sure, it will be right before the alarm clock. At the station, the concept «in the morning» existed only due to earthly habits, but still…
She got up, drank a glass of water, and went to the monitor-communicator. The screen was silvery with a hazy glow. No news. The entire station was sleeping.
At such hours she had a habit to go to the library. She could just look through the books, the robot-librarian did not interfere her with his pieces of advices. The library was small and housed in one cabin, where instead of the usual furnishings, bookshelves were organized on the one side and a small table on the other. For it, perhaps most of all, Yaroslava was grateful to the captain – scarcely a sentimental person. To take books with you to the station at the time of evacuation is unthinkable! Apparently, everyone is trying to preserve his humanity in their own way.
Books! They stood in rows on the shelves, the real ones – paper books, with colorful spines, sometimes with gold embossing; somewhere they were covered with dust, somewhere they were left on a corner, as if someone carelessly left them forgotten. They still smelled that life, as if nothing had happened. They just stood and waited for a reader.
She wasn’t an avid reader. Just it brought her peace of mind.
There were huge portholes for such a room. One could see the majestically floating Earth through them. At night, it shone with megapolices, as previously. Yara sometimes played a guessing game with herself – she had to recognize a city by the outlines of light.
Sometimes Yara looked at illustrations and photos in books. To be honest, she didn’t like photography. Why is it needed? Only evidences of a lost life long ago. Everything is over; the events have sunk into oblivion. Why to stir? It is better to live the real life.
There was a communicator in every room on the station, just like in her cabin. Her dark thoughts were interrupted by its crackling.
«Wow, the end of the XXI century, and it crackles like an old museum radio» – she thought.
Chapter 2
The screen lit up, came to life, the face of the senior shift appeared. He was still sleepy. Reluctantly, she looked at her wristwatch – 6.45. It is not a «wake up time’. Something must have happened.
– You’re not sleeping again! You will be inattentive at the morning co-op! – He cleared his throat and scolded her in displeasure.
– How did you find me? – Yara asked without malice.
– You have two places for night vigils: a hut-reading room and a swimming pool. Unlike her, he did not like books, – I started from the library.
– Has something happened?
«No, just…, I can’t sleep either,» he grumbled.
The morning was close. The station, like a big anthill, slowly came to life, came out of its unsteady slumber, and, finally, taking a deep breath, began to move. Couriers, teachers, doctors, coaches scurried everywhere. The station resembled a state that has everything beginning from the army to a kindergarten.
He was right. After chronic lack of sleep, it was difficult for Yara to come to working condition. She is easy-going, optimistic and hardworking, but lack of sleep has taken its toll. He, as a senior shift, needs a vigorous staff.
Her work was not very diverse. As always, in mornings – distribute math tasks to everyone, after a preliminary warm-up and a meditation session, and then the school day will go on as usual, group by group. Kids, schoolchildren, adults.
It was more pleasant to work with children. They don’t need to be pushed too much. Even they could give odds to a beginner mind fitness trainer.
Well, having gone up to her cabin, having prepared for a working day, she jumped out for breakfast.
In the spacious dining room, which is not typical for old space stations at all, combined with a orangery, and having a transparent «ceiling» that opens temporarily – a dome, she waited for her shift. Altogether, smiling and joking on the way, they squeezed to the tables and proceeded to deliciously smelling pancakes, cheesecakes, cereals and omelets.
There was a good chef at the station. He believed that since they do not live on Earth, they should eat like at home at least. Some kind of magic always happened in his kitchen, shrouded enchanting smells.
– How are you, Yara? – a good-natured big man asked, taking the second helping of pancakes with jam; – Do you still stagger to the library at nights?
– I go there … – she answered with a mysterious smile, – don’t eat too much sweets, otherwise you won’t squeeze into the lodgment! You will need to lose the weight! – The girl reacted pugnaciously.
– Today, everything is monotonous as always, – Kate remarked boring, – first a briefing, then work, lunch, and the whole day will pass.
Kate was the youngest of them. She was tall, slender blonde with the right facial features, she wasn’t pretty, just cute. But her green eyes had always created a great impression. She had a habit to look long and researching as a psychologist, straight into the soul. It was amazing. But today she was a bit under the weather. Perhaps that’s why her transparently green eyes were covered with a deep malachite mist.
– Let’s see what’s new. They brought another two guys during the night, – Sasha replied, chewing his pancakes.
Sasha was tall, a little plumpy, a little sloppy but a very active biosurgeon. He was always full of ideas, which never gave him any peace. He always wanted to check or test something. His dark brown hair
Sasha was a tall, a bit fatty and grubby but very energetic biosurgeon. Always he was full of ideas, which didn’t give him any rest at all and he was always ready to test and check everything. His dark brown hair stuck out in different directions or due to the absence of a comb either neglecting it. His sharp, inquiring glance gave away a curious nature.
– When did you find out? It is only morning! Did you run to the arrivals area again? Kate couldn’t resist.
– Well, I’ve run … – Sasha muttered reluctantly, averting his eyes slightly.
The briefing passed cheerfully, quickly and without surprises. Everyone went to work. Yara went to school, Kate went to her study. She was a physiologist. Sasha, as always, went to the bioengineering laboratory. His world was made of spare parts of bioprosthetic arms and feet. His laboratory made an eerie impression on Yara, she did not like to come there too often.
No one else heard anything about the night guests. Even if they were brought, they will spend the next two weeks in quarantine.
Chapter 3
One boy in the younger group brought Yara out of her thoughts. He was 11 and very active. If he finished a test early then others he couldn’t sit still and wait, he started squirming, staring at Yara as if he asked «Well? When?» His results stood out. He was accurate and fast, although a little nervous and suspicious. However, who is surprised by this now? Yara thought that he should go to the next grade, despite his age, of course after visiting Kate and checking his psycho type again.
He will remain in her memory as «that boy».
Now she recalled his appearance at school.
They found him alone, «pure» – with an «unclouded» consciousness, mentally almost uncrippled. Even his nervous system was preserved almost completely. He was 8 that time. He was on the playground and didn’t want to leave. He was waiting for his parents from work. Obviously, he is still waiting for them, already here at the space station, after so many months. They were never found. Completely «pure families» were very rare. They watched him for a long time. Everything was done neatly. He was picked up not too early and not too late. Andrey was told the legend about the «accident» and the need to fly to the orbital station, where he would find many new friends, and, at the same time, he would undergo a medical examination. When he asked what ailment, he had and why it was impossible to treat him on Earth, he was simply told the truth. Children are always easier to accept the truth. This is their biggest advantage. Adults begin to cling to work, lived years, lost relatives, some property… He was told that the treatment is possible only there, and the disease, most likely, has not yet come. However, it is needed to check. He agreed… Voluntarily… But he was waiting for mom and dad. He saw something there, something he could not explain to himself. But never shared…