by John Coon
Xttra glanced over Kyra. Her eyes widened at hearing Sam’s revelation. She mashed down a button on the sleeve of her spacesuit.
“Two Earthians eluded capture and are fleeing for an Earthian ship. One’s infected by hybrid biomaterial. Do not let them reach that ship under any circumstances.”
“I’ll track them down.” Ryollo’s voice crackled across her suit’s internal communicator. “Xander and Cavac are finishing up loading the hibernation pod into a storage compartment.”
“Report back when you’ve captured them.”
Kyra peeked up at Xttra and Sam after pressing the same button a second time. She scowled. Her eyes drilled down into the Earthian.
“You put our lives at risk with your interference.”
Sam raised his eyebrows and tilted his head at her.
“Say what?”
“That infected Earthian is turning into another hybrid before our eyes. She’ll soon become like a wild animal and kill indiscriminately and without remorse.”
“How can you say that?” Sam’s voice climbed a few decibels. “Norah is the epitome of a gentle person. I shared a spaceship with her for two months. She doesn’t have a single murderous bone in her body.”
“Hybrid biomaterial changes both body and mind.” Kyra marched over to the airlock door. “It stimulates chemicals that alter a sentient brain. Rubrum scientists who first created these creatures designed it that way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hybrids produce chemicals that stimulate violence and aggression. This causes them to attack like cornered wild animals and leave a trail of massive carnage behind.”
Sam shot a concerned look at Xttra. He confirmed Kyra’s words with a slow nod.
“Oh God. We need to help Norah.”
“You can’t save her.” Xttra shook his head. A sad tone gripped his voice. “We need Rubrum bio code technology to undo the changes. None of us have access to that technology or know where to find it at this point.”
Kyra cranked the wheel and popped open the inner airlock door. She stepped through the doorway and motioned for the others to follow. Sam cast his eyes to the floor and hung his head. He stood frozen in the same spot as though he had lost the will to even move.
“I wish a better solution were possible,” Xttra said. “We don’t have a choice.”
Kyra paused outside the airlock’s outer door. She tapped the same communicator control button on her forearm.
“What’s your status?”
“This is Ryollo.” His voice popped up a second later. “I captured the Earthians outside their spaceship. Bringing them back to our ship now.”
Kyra gave an approving nod.
“Excellent work. We’ll see you in a little while.”
Xttra stepped through the outer door behind her. He surveyed the horizon. The mountains were still a silhouette against the sky. Streaks of pale morning light began to reveal themselves from behind the peaks. Operating in daylight would make it easier to explore the colony and flush out the remaining hidden hybrid. Xttra felt confident he would get the job done before a new sunset approached. The quicker he repaired this situation; the sooner Sam could honor his part of their agreement and help him return home to Calandra.
Kyra stopped and tapped on the side of her helmet. Xttra froze. He heard the same thing.
A desperate call for help from Ryollo.
“Help!” he shouted. “One of the Earthians—”
Static filled the communicator and then the sound stopped altogether. Xttra’s limbs stiffened, and his heartbeat quickened.
“What happened now?”
He jerked his head around and saw Sam finally joining them outside.
“Something bad. I’m sure of it.”
Kyra whipped out her thermal tracker. The screen showed three heat patterns near one another, south of their current position. Xttra joined her on a dead sprint toward the heat patterns. Sam struggled to match their pace and dropped back a few steps behind them. Two patterns soon moved away from the third one. Kyra and Xttra exchanged concerned glances.
Soon enough, an awful sight greeted their eyes.
A body sprawled out on the ground. Head uncovered. Their helmet, with a shattered visor, also lay on the ground a short distance away.
Kyra stopped and dropped to her knees in front of the body and brought her hands to her helmet. She cast her eyes toward Xttra and grimaced. She pinched her lips tight like she wanted to vomit even though she could not remove her helmet to do so.
His eyes trailed down to the exposed face.
Ryollo.
The Confederation officer’s eyes hung open. Blood had seeped out from the corners of his mouth and down his chin. Purplish bruises covered his throat. No doubt existed in Xttra’s mind that Norah choked every ounce of life out of Ryollo before he suffocated from exposure to the planet’s toxic atmosphere.
Sam gasped as soon as he laid eyes on the ugly scene.
“Oh no. Cliff wouldn’t do this. Norah couldn’t have done it. Could she?”
Xttra wheeled around and stared down the Earthian. He scowled and stabbed a finger at the dead body.
“Now do you believe us?”
Sam quickly turned his head away. Like Kyra, he could not stomach the sight of Ryollo’s fresh corpse on the frozen dry ground.
“This is a nightmare. What am I going to do?”
An explosive thunder shot out in all directions. Xttra and Sam were thrown to their knees, joining Kyra on the ground. The percussive blast sent out rolling soundwaves his helmet did nothing to absorb. Those vibrations permeated his body and shook him down to his bones. Dread seeped from his bones in response and joined the soundwaves in creating a rising panic.
They were too late to prevent Cliff and Norah from boarding their ship.
Xttra raised his arm and held it against his forehead. Flames from engine exhaust lit up the surrounding plain as though the bright morning sun had already arrived. Plumes of red dust shot upward and outward around the vehicle. The Earthian ship lifted off the ground and barreled toward the upper reaches of the thin Martian atmosphere.
A hand tugged on his arm. Xttra glanced upward.
“We need to go.” Kyra pointed to the sky. “We can still catch the Earthians and bring them down before they reach the upper atmosphere if we hurry.”
Their situation afforded them no time to retrieve Ryollo’s body or provide him with a proper burial rite. The shaking ground jostled his body into a more natural pose, like Ahm himself foresaw this would be Ryollo’s final resting place and the Confederation officer was making himself at home. Xttra wanted to protest Kyra’s abandonment of her comrade, but he knew he would do the same in her situation.
He had already done the same.
Xttra scrambled to his feet and joined her on another sprint—this time to their ship. He glanced back over his shoulder. Sam’s attempts to keep pace were as futile as before. Once again, he lagged several steps behind Xttra and Kyra.
“Bring our main systems online,” Kyra shouted into her communicator between heavy breaths. “Plot an intercept course for the Earthian ship.”
Their ship’s ramp started lifting off the ground once she and Xttra set foot on it. Sam had to take an unexpected hop to clear the edge of the ramp before it ascended too high. He stumbled forward a couple of steps when he landed but managed to stay on his feet.
“Wait for me.” The tone in Sam’s voice grew cross. “Don’t leave me behind.”
Xttra glanced over his shoulder and scowled.
“Then do a better job of keeping up with us.”
“Get me a better spacesuit like yours and it won’t be a problem.”
Sam mumbled his complaint. Loud enough to draw Xttra’s attention, but not loud enough to provoke a reaction from the others.
Lights embedded in the ramp switched off once it retracted and the door sealed tight against the hatch. Kyra dashed to the pilot’s chair. Xttra and Sam found seats at the back of the bridge.
“Strap in. I’m going to push this hard.”
Kyra fired the main thrusters. A loud whoosh went through the bridge and the engines whined as they sprang to life. The Thetian ship lifted off the ground and then barreled upward from the colony perimeter. Sam dug his fingernails into both armrests and pressed his back tight against his chair. His eyes widened and he started to dry heave. Xttra smirked. The Earthian clearly had no prior experience with lightning-fast launches.
Kyra snapped her head toward Cavac at navigational controls. She flashed an anxious frown.
“How long before we reach the Earthian vessel?”
Cavac’s ocular implant shifted and pulsated as he surveyed the other ship’s projected route on his main holoscreen.
“Six minutes.”
“Good. Let’s bring those setaworms down.”
Sam’s eyes darted from the main navigational holoscreen to the pilot’s chair.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “You can’t destroy that ship. That’s our only working deep-space prototype.”
“Would you rather have a murderous hybrid attacking Earth instead? Your call.”
Kyra did not bother to look back at Sam. The chill in her voice told Xttra exactly what she thought of the Earthian’s protests. Xttra hated to admit it, but she was right. Again. He also favored destroying the deep space vessel. They needed to kill the hybrid before others followed. Also, if they delayed the Earthians from striking out beyond the Aramus system for a few more years, all the better.
“How about you just cripple the engines and leave the ship adrift so we can salvage and repair it later?”
Xttra rolled his eyes and looked away from Sam. He hoped Kyra was not giving serious weight to keeping the Earthian vessel intact.
“Fine. You’ve got your wish.”
Xttra scowled and shook his head. Once again, Kyra let her desire to form an alliance with Earth cloud her judgement.
“Thank you,” Sam replied.
“Tell us where to target the wormhole generator,” Kyra tapped an index finger on the weapons holoscreen. “We’ll cook their engines and strand them in orbit around this planet.”
Twin red lines wound across the navigational holoscreen. One denoted their ship. The other one tracked the Earthian vessel. Xttra’s eyes stayed glued to the holoscreen, watching while the distance between both lines grew narrower.
Sky yielded to space. Soon, the Earthian ship came into visual range. It resembled a drum topped by a cone shaped cap. Four long thin rectangular arms filled with solar panels jutted out from the rear of the spacecraft. Xttra spotted no visible weaponry as they approached.
“What sort of weaponry does your Earthian vessel carry?” Xander glanced over his shoulder at Sam. “And how do we neutralize those weapons?”
Xttra shifted in his chair and gazed at Sam as well. Images flooded his mind of weaponry used on him and his crew during their prior expedition to this solar system. The Earthian attack vessels used tracking missiles to crash their aerorovers.
“Railguns. Missiles. Mines.”
Sam ticked each weapon he mentioned off on his fingertips. Xttra bit down on his lower lip. Some things about the Earthians never changed. Their violent natures were on display again. A prototype deep space vessel. Brimming with tools of destruction.
“You better activate some defense shields.” Xttra said, turning toward the helm. “Or else this will be a short pursuit for all the wrong reasons.”
Kyra glanced over at Xander and gave him an abrupt nod. Her assistant pilot toggled a pair of switches at his console and pushed a small lever upward. A protective energy shell enveloped the outer hull.
“Where is the wormhole generator?” Kyra asked.
A shockwave rippled through their shield. The entire bridge quaked and sent vibrations through Xttra’s chair. An alarm blared on the bridge.
“They’re firing on us,” Xander said.
Kyra frowned and unleashed an irritated sigh.
“I know. I’m not blind. Lock on their weapons and blast them with our plasma cannon.”
She wrenched her steering stick to the opposite side. The ship dipped downward. Another explosion. A second shockwave. More tremors followed. Xttra wondered why Xander was taking so long to fire back. Running the Thetian weapons systems should not carry such a high degree of difficulty.
“I can’t take much more of this.”
Sam locked his fingers into a death grip on his seat’s armrests a second time.
“Neither can our ship,” Xttra replied.
Bolts shot out from the plasma cannon. One hit a rear solar arm. A cloud of solar panel shards burst from the arm. Another bolt grazed the underside of the hull, leaving a black scorch mark.
At once, a long barrel popped out of a port on the underside of the Earthian vessel. A bolt blasted back at their ship and struck the energy shell. Ocean wave-like ripples formed in the shield and the entire shell dissipated within a matter of seconds.
Lights and holoscreens blanked and shut down across the bridge. Darkness washed over the entire ship.
Kyra slammed her fist on the helm console.
“An electromagnetic blast. We’re dead in the water.”
Everyone watched helplessly as a small wormhole formed ahead of the Earthian vessel. It shot forward into the wormhole before it closed again.
“How long before that ship reaches Earth?” Xttra asked, peering at Sam.
“The Magellan only generates stable wormholes long enough to permit long distance subluminal travel for a few minutes,” he said. “But it’s still long enough to shave a journey from Mars to Earth from several months down to a few days or less.”
A series of running lights blinked on across the bridge. Xttra unloaded a relieved sigh. The Thetians had equipped their vessel with a secondary power system shielded from electromagnetic pulses. At least, they would not remain stranded above Mars until restoring primary power.
“Secondary power is online,” Cavac said. He turned and faced the helm. “What are your orders?”
Kyra peered down at the planet’s atmosphere below the ship. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“We’re heading back to the surface,” she said, opening her eyes again. “We still haven’t accounted for the original hybrid. And I’ll feel better about pursuing the other vessel to Earth once our primary power systems are back in working order.”
Kyra pointed the nose of the ship toward the atmosphere and began their descent back to the colony. Xttra questioned if they had enough time to dispatch the hybrid still on Mars, repair this ship, and reach Earth before the infected Earthian did.
His instincts told him the odds were not going to end up in their favor.
22
If Kevin were here now, Calandra imagined how he would react to the startling information she uncovered inside the Central Archives. Her Earthian friend raised a warning voice on multiple occasions during the months prior to Xttra’s abduction. She wished she had listened instead of dismissing his words as growing out of homesickness for Earth.
Kevin grew increasingly restless after settling in Ra’ahm. Calandra first took note of his agitated state on the day she married Xttra. He shifted in his seat and his eyes darted about during their marriage rite.
Calandra noted Kevin’s discomfort in her peripheral vision. She devoted the bulk of her attention to Xttra as they knelt before opposite sides of a polished stone altar and faced each other. Staring into her soulmate’s deep blue eyes on that day brought her such deep joy. He flashed a warm smile as he clasped both of Calandra’s outstretched hands over the altar.
Kevin sought them out soon after
the rite concluded to offer his congratulations. He dug into his pocket and placed a small square box in the palm of Calandra’s artificial hand. The box was composed of senosa wood chips stitched together. She glanced down at it and flashed a bright smile at him.
“A gift? How thoughtful of you! This is wonderful.”
Kevin returned the smile.
“It’s for both of you. Open it up.”
Calandra pulled off the lid with her natural hand. A pair of gold-colored rings lay inside the box. Simple bands with no jewels.
“Back on Earth, couples exchange rings as part of their wedding ceremony. The rings symbolize two uniting as one. I know exchanging rings is not a marriage tradition here on Lathos, but I thought you’d both appreciate the symbolism.”
Xttra picked up a ring and turned it over in his hand. An appreciative smile crossed his lips.
“We’ll cherish this gift.”
“Put it on Calandra’s ring finger.” Kevin pointed to his own ring finger. “And then she takes the other one and puts it on your ring finger.”
Xttra slid the ring on Calandra’s right hand, and she mirrored his action. His arm circled her back, and he drew Calandra in to share a tender kiss. When their lips parted again, she stepped back and clasped Xttra’s hand with her natural one.
Kevin partook in the celebration following the rite. Calandra sought him out when she spotted him trying to leave the temple grounds unnoticed. His troubled body language during the rite still weighed on her mind.
Calandra flashed a joyful smile at him as she and Xttra caught up to him before he reached the walls.
“I’m so happy you could share this special day with us. You may not be part of our clan by blood, but you are a part by friendship.”
“I wish all your people were as welcoming. I can’t shake the feeling I’m being watched.”
Kevin turned and peered over his shoulder after saying these words. Calandra and Xttra exchanged puzzled glances. She raised her eyebrows in concern and gazed at their Earthian friend.
“I know how difficult it is adjusting to a new planet.” Calandra tried to adopt a reassuring tone. “Some people in Ra’ahm have never met a real alien. Don’t worry about them. Lathos will feel like home soon enough.”
