by Maxey, Phil
The alien pointed to his face. “This is a device we created with your human scientists. It allows us to communicate.”
“Great,” said Zach.
Klept briefly looked at the Ultor next to him. “This is Jogron. He will assist us on our mission.”
“Thank you for coming with us Jogron.”
Jogron bowed his head slightly.
“Are you ready to ascend?” said Klept.
“Umm you mean go through the gate?” Zach looked at those around him, who all straightened their backs.
“Yes.”
“We’re ready. When will—” Zach felt the weightlessness before his brain registered the scene in front of him had changed.
“What…” said Sam, floating and trying to absorb what was in front of them.
Zach and Fiona recognized the almost perfect symmetry of gray cubes, while the others were mostly feeling disoriented by the lack of reference of up and down.
Fiona grabbed hold of Sam who looked worse than most. “Just concentrate on the furthest point you can.”
Sam nodded then regretted moving his head.
Zach realized Klept wasn’t with them and spun around. The tall alien and his comrade were already tens of feet away, tapping away at the side of one of the cubes. He looked back to those around him. “Everyone listen up. If you don’t already realize it, you’re in space and more importantly we are in enemy territory. So stay alert.”
Michael looked at his rifle. “Will this even work up here?”
“Yeah, but without holding onto something, you will be pushed back by the same velocity as the bullet leaves,” said Sean.
Michael nodded. “Good to know.” The others looked at Sean.
“Hey I’ve been places.”
Sam took a deep breath. “I’m feeling… a little queasy.”
Zach tapped him on the shoulder. “There’s no going back, so you need to get your head straight.”
Sam nodded. “I got this.”
Zach floated over to the silent member of the group. “You okay?” He said to Aggie, she nodded and smiled. “Are you sensing any Hulathen?” He also looked back to Sean who shook his head. Aggie did the same.
“Hey that weird box has disappeared,” said Sam.
They all looked to where the Ultor’s were standing. The cube cell next to them was no longer visible.
Zach floated towards it. “No, it’s still there.”
They all followed using the cells around them to propel forward.
Klept pointed into the center of the cell and they all began to move beyond the invisible wall. As they passed over the threshold gravity took over and they each fell to the ground. Finally Klept and Jogron also moved into the cramped space.
A clanking sound rang out around them and the cube cell shuddered.
“We can see out, but those on the outside cannot see in, so do not be alarmed,” said Klept.
The scene outside the square room they were in then started to move, sliding away as the cube left its lodgings and flew down one of the open channels dividing the huge space.
“Okay this is weird, are we moving or is the outside world,” said Sam. “There’s no G-forces.”
“There is a dampening field around the cube, it cancels out any inertia,” replied Klept.
They all watched as the maze of perfectly aligned boxes flew past until they were beyond the edge of them, into a larger space. A wall, with no ending or boundaries flowed by just a few feet away.
“This is the external shell of this facility,” said Klept.
“How big is this thing?” said Sean.
“Approximately one kilometer cubed.”
Images from one of Fiona’s favorite books as a child jumped into her mind and she smiled, relaxing slightly.
“What are they? Up ahead,” said Sam.
“We are nearing the exit point, where we will enter space.”
“No I mean—” His words stopped in his throat, as columns of twelve foot high Hulathen sat motionless with their eyes closed, all attached by machinery to each other and the facility. “There’s so many of them,” said Sam.
“Do not be alarmed, they are currently in stasis,” said Klept.
Zach turned to the tall alien. “Do not be alarmed? Are these heading to earth?”
Klept looked down briefly. “Yes, I’m afraid they are, but our mission is still of vital importance.”
The cube was still flying alongside the hordes of aliens.
“The camp won’t be able to withstand that many of them!”
“Zach. If we succeed with our mission, all of these might also become infected, and therefore will be easier to defeat.”
Fiona put her hand on Zach’s shoulder. He nodded to her.
“Look!” said Sean.
An even darker space started opening up in the distance, like they were about to be swallowed.
“We are about to enter the domain of space. Prepare for a j—”
The cube whooshed through the opening, out of the facility and they emerged into the silence of space. All the human hearts missed a beat as they marveled at the myriad of points of light all around them.
“The cube will now accelerate to a sub-light speed and travel towards the anti-matter gate.”
“Do what now?” said Sam looking at Klept.
“Do not be alarmed the cube will shield us from any ill effects.”
“Okay…”
“How long until…” Before Zach could finish, he could see for himself the intense blue-white ring that was rapidly approaching them.
They all shifted their view to the direction the cube was heading.
“It’s beautiful,” said Fiona.
Energy shifted and sparked in a circular motion, leaving a starless area inside. It grew in size until they could not see its edges, but only the void they were about to enter.
“Here we go…” said Zach.
There was a slight bump.
Sam went to ask when the travel to the far off star system was going to start, but then realized the stars were once again in front of him.
The view outside then shifted around, to show another star, this one much brighter than the rest.
“From here on, we are in grave danger,” said Klept.
CHAPTER TWENTY
A shot rang out around the outpost, making everyone in the hanger shudder. Another sound soon followed, this one of something falling to the sodden ground. Footsteps sloshed through puddles outside and whimpers and sobs increased around the fifteen people remaining of the Kentucky outpost.
“Last one for now!” shouted Erin through the metal door. “Get some rest and we will continue the fun at first light!”
A woman scrambled forward through the gloom. “I’m a Cascader! Take me out of here!”
The footsteps that were receding into the distance, stopped. “I have all the Cascaders already.” Shouted Erin then continued walking away.
The woman slumped on the ground, against the front wall of the hanger.
Major Hoxted looked at the bruised face of Brad next to her. “How you holding up?”
He nodded. “Had worse beatings than this. I guess he was fond of the psychopath.”
She gently held his hand. “We’ll get through this.” She looked at the door barely visible in the failing light. “Do you think she’s ever coming back?”
“She’ll return.”
Outside in the basement of what remained of the main house, lights flickered in the basement room. Erin sat alone at the head of the long conference table, looking at one of the pieces of paper which lay scattered over it. He signed and dropped it back to the others. The screens around him laid on the ground smashed, he was sure the computers they were attached too were also useless. A parting gift from the previous residences of the room.
A noise came from the stairs and a balding man with glasses walked towards him, sitting heavily in a nearby chair.
“What’s the damage,” said Erin to Bryan T
eller.
“We lost around ninety people. Thirty-two are seriously injured and I don’t expect to last till the morning. We also lost three tanks and a number of Humvees. Mitchell won’t be happy.”
“Leave the General to me. Did we get anything useful from the wreckage of the plane?”
“Some medical supplies.”
“Good.”
Bryan swallowed as if building the courage to ask his next question. “Is the plan to execute all of those still here?”
Erin stood. “They had their chance to surrender, multiple times. Instead they chose to fight. They made their choice.”
“Then why not just kill all of them in one go and get it over with?”
Erin walked across the room and started ascending the stairs. “Because I’m waiting for someone. Get some rest. We have big day tomorrow.”
*****
Most in the cube cell were sitting, watching the Epsilon star increase in size and the Hulathen facility became clearer.
“So there’s really not much to do in space is there?” said Sam to Fiona.
She smiled, shaking her head.
Zach looked at Aggie who he was sitting next too. “How you holding up?”
She raised her hand, shaping her fingers into an ‘O’.
“Good. It’s umm pretty wild being in space.”
She smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
Zach smiled. “Oh, no big deal eh?”
She shrugged again.
He looked across to Michael. His friend was sitting apart from the rest of them, seemingly fixated on the infinity of stars outside.
Zach sighed and went to get to his feet when something blurred past them, causing the stars to blank out for a second and the cube to shudder.
“What the hell was that?” said Sean.
“That was a Hulathen craft going to the facility,” said Klept.
“I think they all just zapped themselves around with the gates or something,” said Sam.
“For extremely local, or far travel, gates are used, but for everything else craft are used. You should all get to your feet, we are approaching the facility.”
They all did as asked and watched in trepidation as the alien structure, which they were moving towards at high speed, came into full view.
A myriad of tiny points of light covered an enormous organic looking shape.
“It looks like a giant mollusk shell,” said Sam.
Even though the Hulathen facility now filled the entire region of space in front of them, they were still moving towards it.
“How big is this thing?” said Fiona.
“In earth measurements, it would be approximately sixteen hundred kilometers, from one side to the other,” said Klept.
“So pretty big then,” said Zach.
Klept then turned to all of them. “Once this cube docks and we leave its confines, we need to stay undiscovered for as long as possible, for once we are, we will need to fight.”
“You lead the way and we’ll have your back,” said Zach.
It was obvious that the cube was heading for one of the points of light across the surface of the structure, for it was now growing in size far quicker than the others around it.
Zach turned to those around him. “Game time. Everyone check your weaponry.”
They did as asked but were soon more absorbed by what was approaching them. The point of light was now rectangular in shape and they could see other objects moving in and out of it.
“We are about to enter one of the docking ports,” said Klept.
An intense light emanated from the mile wide opening and the cube cell quickly passed over the threshold. The cavernous space was full of alien craft of different shapes and sizes, as well as similar cube cells all neatly aligned and stacked. Most inside the cube cell looked on open mouthed.
“It’s like I’m in a popular weekly sci-fi TV show,” said Sam.
“Yeah one where you can die,” said Fiona.
Sam quickly pulled out an old smartphone and started taking photos. “Ha, Isaiah’s going to lose his shit when he sees this.” Zach looked at him frowning. He slipped the phone back into his pocket. “Yup, I’m focused.”
“Is there an atmosphere out there?” said Fiona to Klept. “Because I haven’t exactly got a spacesuit handy.”
“There is a human level degree of atmosphere, correct.”
“Hey look, there are beings down there,” said Michael studying the floor of the hanger hundreds of feet below.
They all strained their eyes, looking down.
“Hulathen?” said Zach.
“No, they are another alien species. Numerous species work at this facility,” said Klept.
Zach looked up at the alien. “We don’t want to make enemies of anyone else by doing this.”
“Most species fear the Hulathen as much as we all do. There is a class structure to interstellar species, and the Hulathen are at the top. Think of them as a kind of aristocracy.”
Jogron said something to Klept, which he nodded to in reply. He then walked to one side of the cell, and touched it briefly. The entire wall changed from a view of the hanger outside, to a three-dimensional schematic of the facility. Thousands of glowing dots permeated the entire scene.
Zach moved closer to the wall. “The dots I take it are life forms?”
“Yes,” said Klept touching the wall, which then zoomed into one part of the facility. “This is our location. I am going to plot a route to the organic fusion chamber. That is where the raw materials for the Hulathen hosts are brought together.” The image on the wall changed once again, this time zooming in on a large rectangular cuboid.
“That seems pretty far?” said Sean.
“Unfortunately this was as close as we could get without raising suspicions,” said Klept.
The tall alien then stepped back and touched a part of his belt. The apparatus on the lower half of his face started to change shape, increasing in size and grew into a complete helmet. Other inorganic plates grew over his lower arm, culminating in a large bracelet looking device around his right wrist. Jogron did the same.
“Umm… when do we get a space battle suit?” said Sam.
Zach held up his M4 rifle. “We got what we need.”
“The Ultor’s are not usually seen in these parts, so we need to disguise our appearance.”
The cube cell came to an abrupt halt and a jolt ran through the floor, making everyone catch their balance. Klept touched the map screen again and it reverted to its transparent version, but now on the other side was a kind of gantry, which led to a door.
Klept turned to the others. “Are you ready?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Daniel Bass sat up from his bunk. Since he learned that Zach and the others had left he couldn’t sleep, but most around him were motionless. He looked down at the scars on his leg and across his body and sighed, he wasn’t even a bit tired.
When Trow offered him the chance to become an officer, he laughed. He pointed out to her he didn’t have the qualifications, but she pointed out to him that these were extraordinary times and he had shown leadership qualities on more than one occasion and frankly they were short of officers. He wasn’t exactly in prime physical shape, so the idea of hitting the books to train for the exam they had prepared, while he recuperated seemed a good use of his time. He passed and was given the rank of Captain.
He stood up and stretched. It wasn’t long before he was back in his fatigues and walking to main operations.
The large chamber was a pale imitation of its usual hectic self, with only a few soldiers at desks monitoring the various video feeds from around the camp and communications from the bunkers.
He walked next to a portly woman, with her black hair tied back. “Hey Reid, anything happening out there?”
“All quiet, sir.”
“Are both the cube gates where they should be?”
She tapped away at her keyboard and a video feed from the dam appeared
on the huge screen at the front of the hall. The two remaining cube gates stood out as intensely black shapes amongst the slightly lighter night sky. “They’re just sitting there sir, as always.”
He nodded and looked at the back of the room, where a long table sat. “Coffee still hot?”
Reid looked at the other soldier who was seated a few rows from her. “Hey Collins, you drunk all the coffee?” The soldier didn’t reply. “Collins? You fallen asleep?”
The other soldier was listening to his headset and watching the screen at his station.
Bass walked towards him. “You can own up to drinking the coffee son, I don’t think you will get demoted for that—” Bass saw what the young private was looking at.
The soldier pulled his headset off and went to get out of his chair, when he realized Bass was right behind him. “Sir, I have multiple contacts of possible alien craft inbound.”
“Put it on the big screen.”
A few seconds later the radar image from the private’s monitor was spread large on the big screen.
“I’m seeing… five…. no… seven… no.”
Bass looked back at Reid. “Put us on general alert and wake the general!”
Even though no sirens or lights were obvious, only a few moments passed before people starting rushing into the room and taking their seats.
Bass turned to Reid. “I want eyes on all the incoming contacts. Put it up on the big screen.”
The soldier tapped away and with each keystroke another image appeared of the night sky, filled with unnatural lights that were skimming across the sky, stopping and then producing a purple light.
“Sir, I think they are—”
“The Hulathen have returned,” said Bass.
One of the double doors swung open behind and the general appeared. “What’s the situation?” She said walking to him.
“Multiple cube gates and they look as if they are dropping off the Hulathen.”
“So it’s starting again.”
“It looks that way.”
She looked around confused. “What time is it?”
“5 am ma’am,” said Reid.
Other people rushed into room, which was now throbbing with busy people.
