Passage

by Thorby Rudbek

  “Do you think it can figure his body out?” Karen asked as she watched the flickering lights around the edge of the panel.

  “I don’t know what else we can do.” Richard gave her back the handgun as they watched the equipment. “With Citadel out of action, this is the best Medic system available.”

  “I hope he doesn’t die,” Karen said after they stood in thoughtful silence for a while. “I’m getting very curious about the whole bunch of things that must have happened after my parents left to go to Earth.

  “It doesn’t look too–” Richard stopped as a short message appeared on the central screen of the console: ‘Patient functional at lower limits of parameters. Life support initiated.’ The bordering lights started to flicker with a faint green glow.

  “Good,” Karen sighed. “Let’s find out what else there is that still works.” They walked back towards the entrance area, where the Spaceways Shipping terminal was, and Karen took the seat once more. “How about some information on what happened here?”

  “Good idea.” Richard watched as she accessed the shipping records.

  “Here we go.” Karen quickly found the last entry in the record system. “‘Twelve three-oh-eight AL, all ships and Spaceways operations personnel recalled to home world, Heptoon and Shoona, due to unexplained loss of Scout Craft Two, Seven, Eight and Twelve.’”

  “That’s, ah, Fourteen thirty-one AD, right?”

  Karen nodded. “There’s more. ‘Transports Thirty-seven and Fifty-three arrived just before the smaller ships were due to leave, and loaded all outpost personnel, as well as nearly all the most up-to-date equipment, and all the animals.”‘ Karen started to skip through the rather wordy record. “Then the base was left on automatic, and… that’s it! There’s nothing else!”

  “We could tell them what happened to Scout Craft Seven, but there’s still the others…” He stopped, deep in thought.

  “They must have concluded some kind of hostile action prevented the other three from returning,” Karen surmised.

  “After our initial meeting with our friends in the Arrowhead craft, and the ones still lying out there in that green thing on Citadel, not to mention the wonderful specimen in the ‘coffin’, I think they figured it out just right.”

  “I can’t find anything else about it. They must have been in a real rush – they just packed up and left,” she repeated in frustration.

  “We’ll just have to ask the ‘specimen’, when it recovers.”

  “What next?” She grinned as Richard’s immediate response reached her without words, and started to search for the living quarters. A moment later the map reappeared, this time with a series of blue dots scattered over much of its surface. They got up and, taking the access corridor that ran the length of the building, walked the impressively long distance out through the rear of the structure and across to a narrower and even taller one with a curved roof which gleamed in the late afternoon sunshine. Karen took his hand as she thought of her destination, and the familiar shimmering effect took them through the entrance and into a spacious and comfortable room with a panoramic view over a large part of the Outpost and the devastated wilderness of sweltering rock outside the Shell Field.

  “The penthouse suite, huh?” Richard surmised as he looked around at the luxurious fittings, and above his head at the grey blue sky high above the invisible Shell Field.

  “I thought we should try the best; no one is here to mind!”

  Some time later, after they had eaten and cleaned up in the adjoining Pool Rooms, and Karen had managed to persuade the slightly simpler and older clothing synthesiser to make her an unpretentious but flattering light brown robe to replace her form-fitting blue outfit, they lounged side by side on a section of padded cushions and watched the changing colours as the sun went down.

  “Even this abused planet looks beautiful, sometimes,” Karen said softly as the brilliant reds started to fade.

  “Lean back,” Richard suggested. They both relaxed and studied the stars becoming visible through the curved section of transparent roof that extended from the wall upwards over the top of the building to the far side. As seconds turned to minutes, the sunset faded into memory, and the stars grew brighter. Richard tried to find some patterns, like those used for navigation on Earth in past ages, but nothing seemed to jump out at him from the blazing stars. “There are a lot more stars here.”

  “Yes, we’re nearer the Galactic Centre,” Karen responded. “I think we should check out the maintenance sections tomorrow. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a ship we can use, or else the Scout Craft facility will be stocked well enough to fix ours. I don’t know what–” Karen stopped as she turned her head slightly and noticed that Richard was already asleep. That’s a good idea! She located the room controls and set the lights to fade gradually off, and as the artificial brightness lessened she quickly confirmed her knowledge of the location of Ed’s gun, then tinted the lower section of the domed window to prevent the morning sun from waking them. Then she lay down beside her fiancé and loosened the gun in its holster, putting the leather so that the weapon was where she could reach it quickly if she needed to. In a moment she, too, was asleep, and gradually her slow, even breathing synchronised with his.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Fear without a reason does not last long – Idahnian

  Richard awoke to find himself looking at a single dim spot of light hanging low on the horizon beyond the window. He sat up, trying to recall where he was. As he did so, Karen touched him gently on the arm and whispered:

  “Look at me.” He turned at her request and saw her face in the pale light; she had rested her head on one hand as she had lain patiently, watching him sleep.

  While he studied her now-familiar features and lost himself in her deep-blue eyes, their thoughts blended without further physical contact, and hopes and dreams they had in common were shared in a timeless moment of pure peace.

  Sensors had detected their movement and initiated an automatic, slow release of the tinted effect, allowing the full glory of the morning sunshine to fill the room with brilliant light. Karen closed her eyes as the brightness reached its maximum, and the feeling of oneness faded away.

  “We’ll have to do something about that, just as soon as we get to Arshonna,” she smiled shyly. “I want to share everything with you.” She turned a little abruptly and looked out over the empty buildings of the outpost.

  Richard briefly stroked her hair, opening up the channel of thought completely once more. “It’s better this way,” he assured her as he lowered his hand to the cushions. He pointed out over the buildings, where the windows reflected back the morning sunshine in a blaze of light. “The view’s pretty good out there, too.” He got up and helped her to her feet, grinning as she blushed again, and they hugged each other for a long time.

  “There’s got to be a way to censor this,” Karen murmured as they walked over to the Pool Rooms and tried to think of breakfast and the work they had immediately ahead of them, instead of their future life together.

  About an hour later, Richard and Karen were dressed in the functional and reasonably comfortable jumpsuits that were so good for the walking, climbing and general exploring that they were planning to do, and had moved back down to ground level. As they walked back into the second of the hangars that they had entered the previous day, they looked for and found the back entrance to the cavernous main chamber. Karen located a computer terminal near the small entrance, and after a few seconds she managed to find the controls for the lights. The full size of the facility became apparent as the far corners were revealed by the lights mounted high above them. They moved further in, more than a little awed by the scale of the interior, now no longer cloaked in darkness.

  “Did they take everything from in here, too?” Richard exclaimed as he looked across the impressive width of the deserted storage and maintenance area.

  “Oh, that reminds me, I forgot the gun,” Karen said with a hint of frustrati
on, after they had walked some distance into the hangar.

  “Stay right there, I’ll be back before you know it!” Richard rushed back out, leaving Karen alone in the vast emptiness.

  We should have checked on the alien, she thought, suddenly worried he might materialise before her and grab her with his monstrous hands once more. He might have regained consciousness. Uncomfortable with her exposed position, Karen moved slowly towards the centre of the vast chamber, turning around every few moments to check that she was truly alone in it. Something quite small down near the front end on the far side caught her attention. She spun around as she heard the sound of someone walking behind her, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was just Richard.

  “Sorry, I shouldn’t have left you alone,” he responded to her thoughts. “Let’s go and check out the prisoner.” He slapped the weapon against his thigh significantly.

  “Okay, but then we should come right back and check out that.” She pointed at the distant and unrecognisable object.

  Richard looked for a moment, straining to identify it, then smiled. “So they didn’t take everything!”

  They walked back into the access corridor that ran the length of the building and began the long trip towards the front part of the structure. A few minutes later, they stepped quietly into the emergency room. The displays over the unit containing the alien showed the same readings, as far as Richard could recall, as they had the previous day. “It will take him a long time to recover, if he ever does.”

  Karen leaned against the instrument panel and stared off at something far beyond the confines of the room, her eyes greying as she concentrated. “Yes, I can just detect some thoughts; well, really there’s only the most basic of emotions present. He’s fighting to live, for revenge and for hate.”

  “Powerful stuff,” Richard said quietly.

  “But not the most… “

  Richard smiled in agreement as they walked back out.

  “Wait!” Karen said. “Let’s take the stretcher; it’s a long walk to find that it’s just junk they didn’t bother to take with them.”

  Richard climbed on and touched the control rod. “I guess it probably has enough power to –” he stopped as the unit rose smartly from the floor, and he glanced at Karen with an expression of pleasant surprise on his face.

  I was hoping that would happen, she thought at him as she got on behind. I think it has something to do with how the energy is stored. The same thing happened with the Anti-Gravity Sled used by my parents.

  Oh, yes! Richard put the gun on his lap, pulled slowly out of the emergency room and cautiously negotiated the twists and turns until he came out into the hangar proper. Then he accelerated rapidly and the distance across the width and length of the building seemed to melt away.

  Stopping near the wall, which seemed to tower over them as it curved up to become the roof, they got off to look at their find. As the dust from their rapid passage settled, they saw a yellow and black striped vehicle about the size of a 1960s style, full-sized station wagon, but wheel-less and far more streamlined, resting on the floor under a thick layer of the same fine dust. Richard stepped closer and touched it hesitantly, afraid, in some nonsensical way, that it would crumble away to nothing if he were not supremely cautious.

  When his fingers made contact, however, a low hum started to emanate from the vehicle and a moment later a large door swung up slowly, swirling the dust into intricate patterns before they subsided to the floor.

  Karen waited until the dust cleared, then climbed in eagerly and started to power up the Aircar (for that was obviously what it was) and initiate system checks. “Let’s hope this runs on something better than the Energy Tank in that thing.” She gestured at the stretcher device with disdain, then glanced back at Richard as if to say ‘what are you waiting for?’

  “The city maintenance trucks in Boston had a sticker on them which reminded the work crew to walk around the vehicle before driving off, so…” He turned and started going around the back of the car, but stopped when he got to the far side. “Hey! Come and see this!”

  Karen walked around and joined him. Together they looked in amused disbelief at what lay there. It looked like a tiny copy of the Aircar. It was painted in the same colour scheme as the first one, but was about half its length. Richard smiled as he touched it in turn. A much smaller door creaked up, revealing a compartment big enough for just one person, but the front end of the little car was jammed into the wall, and a series of orange warning lights could be seen glowing feebly in the dim interior.

  “Let’s go in the other one,” Richard said, “I don’t think this one is in good enough condition, and we wouldn’t both fit.”

  It might be cosy, Karen thought as she winked at him. This time, it was Richard who blushed as he followed her back around to the door into the larger Aircar.

  Karen reached to activate the door closure, then looked around anxiously. “Where’s the gun?”

  “Oh, sorry.” Richard climbed out and retrieved the weapon from the driver’s seat of the stretcher unit. The door closed smoothly behind him as he passed Ed Baynes’ pistol to her.

  Karen slipped it into the holster which still hung from her waist, eagerly grasped the yellow and black chequered ball which appeared before her, and powered up the brilliant forward lights, cutting a laser-like swathe of illumination through the now comparatively gloomy-looking interior. She chuckled with relief:

  “This ‘bird’ has a smaller version of an Eliminator to power it. The beryllium storage is fifty five percent full.”

  “That should last a fair while.”

  “I’d agree with that conclusion. Hold on,” she said with a grin as she pushed forward at the same time as lifting the floating sphere, and the Aircar slid off the ground and up into the air, dust flowing off behind like a vapour trail from a high-flying jet. She accelerated rapidly towards the exit and burst out into the sunshine at well over a hundred kilometres per hour. Continuing to climb and gain speed, she banked and shot off towards the crash site. A final steep bank and the Aircar landed next to the wreckage, settling gently to the ground.

  “Wow!” Richard said appreciatively. “You’re a natural pilot; I should have had you land Citadel, you would have got her down without even putting a dent in the landing site.”

  “I don’t think so, flying Citadel at the end there was like trying to fly a brick, or a rhinoceros; flying this is like a… Seagull! It’s that easy,” she replied modestly as they climbed out.

  Richard walked up to the elevated Control Sphere and looked up at the boarding bubble high above his head. “Now that you’ve landed your ‘Seagull’, I’m going to ask you to fly it–”

  “Her! Please!” Karen interrupted with exaggerated offence in her voice.

  “All right,” he grinned. “Her up to the bubble and see if we can figure out a way in.”

  They got back in and Karen raised the Seagull and moved it closer until it was hovering only inches from the strange translucent material of which the alien bubble was made.

  “Take it closer,” Richard urged, “I’ve got to figure out a way into it, and without the laser to cut through this tough stuff, that’s not going to be easy.

  “Just how tough is it, anyway?” Karen moved the Seagull closer until it made contact.

  “Push a bit, you’ll see; it’s designed to be extremely resilient, so that it will survive the collision with the vessel which they are going to board and adapt to its irregularities to make a perfect seal.”

  Karen followed his advice and moved the yellow and black control forward slightly. There was a squeak, then an explosive bang, like that when a pin contacts a balloon, and bits of translucent material went flying in all directions. She hastily stopped the Seagull, but it had moved forward several feet in the interim. They looked out in amazement. Scout Craft Seven was free of the growth-like attachment and the damage done by the nuclear weapon that they had surmised had been used was visible once more.


  “It must go brittle after a while… ” Karen murmured, looking down at the scattered fragments as they hit the ground below in quick succession.

  Richard shivered as he looked long and hard at the previously enveloped surface. A jagged hole reaching over eight feet into what he thought of as the interior of the Control Centre stretched sideways around the curved surface, diminishing to nothing at a diameter of twenty feet from the detonation point, but the only thing that he could see was the black, rock-like material, continuing without variation down into the crater. There was no hollow interior. If we had stayed in there a moment longer… He shuddered and felt a coldness creep over him.

  Karen put her arm around him, trying to calm the emotional response. “We are okay,” she insisted.

  Richard nodded. There was a long silence, then he finally continued. “We’ll have to move it back to the maintenance area, assuming there is one for Scout Craft; there’s nothing we can do here.”

  Karen moved the Seagull sideways slightly; she looked down at the bigger fragments of the boarding vessel on the ground below. This time it was her turn to shudder.

  Richard caught her horrified thought easily and looked down. Amongst the broken pieces were the bodies of the dead aliens, stacked up in unnatural positions like discarded dolls. He also saw the long black form of a laser rifle. “Take us down,” he said, struggling to cope with his own feelings. “You don’t need to look; I’m just going to collect those weapons – for safekeeping.”

  Karen did as he said, but she had not anticipated the smell from the bodies as the door opened and Richard got out. Gulping to keep her bile down, she urged him mentally to hurry. As soon as he got back in and put the weapons behind their bench seat, she moved them a few yards up-wind until the smell dissipated. Once there and free of the stench, she closed the door in an attempt to shut out the hideous aftermath of their battle in space. So this is war… She closed her eyes, too, and tried unsuccessfully to purge the vivid scene from her mind.