by Craig Allen
The toad shivered at the words “Reed Entity.”
“He must have been too far away, probably in the globular cluster.” Cody looked around. “We need a viewer.”
“You think that thing can talk to us?” Galloway asked.
“It understands us,” Cody said. “You saw what it did when it heard the commander mention the Reed Entity.”
A crewman came forward with a handheld viewer. Gaston took the viewer and tapped it, and a hologlobe appeared. He set it on the ground and kicked it toward the toad. The toad didn’t react as the viewer stopped in front of it.
“Why did you attack us?” Gaston asked.
At first, the toad didn’t move. Finally, it lifted a claw and tapped a message on the holoviewer, which appeared on the viewing globe.
You arrived so you can leave.
Cody looked at Sonja, who simply shrugged.
“Fair enough.” Gaston folded his arms. “Why are you here?”
We wanted the cage but it does not talk to us.
“The cage?” Cody waved a finger around. “You mean this whole place.”
It is infested with the carrion eaters and will not respond to us.
Cody glanced at Gaston, who nodded approval. “Why do you call it a cage?”
That is its purpose.
“Says who?” Gaston asked.
The creature shivered again before tapping out a message.
The Reed.
Cody stepped closer to the transparency. “The Reed Entity told you?”
The Reed bade us find and destroy the cage.
“Why?” Cody asked.
It feared the cage.
Feared it? “So you’re here to destroy this place.”
The toad stood suddenly, and everyone with a coil gun brought it to the ready. The toad typed furiously at the viewer, so hard Cody was sure the creature would break it.
We are free of the Reed that controls all we are controlled by no one but ourselves yet the Reed is with us speaking to us urging us we do not do as it says, but it is still within us.
The toad kicked the tablet away and curled its feet underneath itself. The Reed Entity ruled Kali Prime with an iron fist. The creatures there did what the Reed Entity wanted under pain of death… and worse.
“When you went into space, you were free of its control,” Gaston said. “Why not just leave? Why come back?”
The toad hesitated.
Back?
“You’re in the interior of the Kali system. The Hive was moved here to house the fliers.” Cody gestured to the fliers behind him.
The toad froze in place, its gigantic maw open in a very humanlike gesture of shock. It held up its central claw, and the crew aimed their guns in response. But the action wasn’t an indication of attack.
“What is it?” Cody pointed at the viewer. “Tell us. What’s wrong?”
The toad gingerly stepped toward the tablet as if it would bite it. It stretched its central claw out and tapped a message.
If I am near the Reed it will take me. It will control me and manipulate me. It will take my sight and my arm and make me nothing.
“That would’ve happened by now,” Cody said. “I don’t think the Reed can get you in here.”
It will find me and use me. It is in my mind. It hurts me. It wants me. It orders me to approach. I will not. I will kill.
“Take aim.” Gaston lifted his coil pistol. “He makes one move toward us, put as many holes in him as you can.”
“No, wait. He’s just scared.” Cody started to step forward, but a petty officer pulled him back. “He’s scared of the Reed Entity.”
It tapped another message.
Hide. Hide from Reed forever. Humans betrayed us. Must destroy the—
The ground exploded all around the toad. The sound the toad made was like a whale in pain, but no one had fired a shot.
Reddish tentacles gripped the toad, pinning all five arms. One even wrapped around its massive jaw. The tentacles were completely unlike those of the Reed Entity but very much like those protruding from the wall on the other side of the Hive.
A typical toad was strong enough to pull open the hatch on a hopper, but the tentacles squeezed the toad as if it were a stuffed animal. The ground swelled then opened up. The toad vanished into the opening, along with the tentacles, then the landscape became still once more. Not even dust floated in the air.
Gaston stepped forward, and Cody followed. The ground where the toad stood was smooth, undisturbed, as if nothing had been there at all. The last message entered by the toad still hovered over the viewer.
“The hell just happened?” Gaston looked around. “What kind of place is this?”
Stripe bounded over and stared at the ground. His wings shivered, and his head bounced back and forth. Cody had learned to associate the expression with fear.
“What happened?” Cody reached for Stripe but stopped when Stripe backed away. “Have you seen this happen before?”
Stripe continued to stare at the place where the toad had been. Cody’s suit showed electromagnetism increasing. Soon, other fliers were circling then landing in the distance, rows upon rows of them. As far as Cody could tell, all the fliers aboard were there, which amounted to several thousand.
Stripe bounded toward the viewer on the ground and tapped a message on the hologlobe.
Like the wall only in the ground and it took the predator.
“Do you know why?” Gaston asked.
To protect us.
“From the toad?” Cody stepped closer. “How do you know this?”
Stripe regarded Cody with its yellow eyes for a moment before answering.
I know.
Chapter Five
“Incoming message from the bridge-sat,” the comm officer said.
That was fast. Jericho sipped his coffee before answering. “Send it to my station.”
He walked toward his station slowly, as if nothing mattered. In truth, he desperately wanted to know the answer, but he still had to give the impression that everything was happening according to plan. That was better for morale. Jericho set his coffee down and read the message.
Make no attempts to retrieve those aboard the Hive. The Hive must not be allowed to intercept the planet.
And that was it. Jericho wanted to reach through the long-distance comms and punch the person who dared give such an order. To order an officer to ignore his own people was unthinkable. The Hive and the planet were unique, of course, but he didn’t care about that. His people mattered.
Jericho forced himself to calm down and consider the situation. Every sailor knew he or she would be held accountable for following unlawful orders. Most outside the military didn’t understand that everyone had the option to disobey orders, provided they had a damn good reason. The result was that no officer would put another in that position—at least, no good ones would. That meant the situation in the higher echelons of the UEAF was worse than he thought.
That, or an officer hadn’t given those orders. A politician probably had. Whatever the case, it didn’t matter. He still had a job to do.
Jericho walked to the edge of the stairs leading down into the bridge section. “Where’s the Hive?”
“Checking, sir.” The sensor operator took a few seconds then displayed the Hive’s image on the main viewing globe. “She’s just leaving the corona now, sir.”
“See if you can hail the crew of the Olympus Mons,” Jericho said.
The comm officer sent the message then shook his head. “They’re not receiving, sir.”
“Still?” Jericho frowned. “Keep trying. If you do make contact, ask for a status report and inform me.”
“Aye, sir.” The comm officer adjusted the controls on his board as he sent the message again.
Jericho turned to his staff. “Send out every probe we have. I want every centimeter of this system scanned.”
One of his lieutenants blinked. “With all due respect, sir, our orders—”
&nb
sp; “To hell with orders. We’re here. The UET isn’t. Send out the probes. I want to know what they’ve been hiding from us.”
His staff obeyed while Jericho stood at his desk, wondering if any of his officers would regard Jericho’s orders as unlawful.
~~~
Cody sat on the ground next to Sonja in the hot, humid environment. He just hoped the Hive hadn’t duplicated the bacteria on Kali as well as the atmosphere. He probably wouldn’t survive an alien disease.
Sonja scooted closer to Cody. He suppressed the desire to take her hand. He didn’t think Gaston would mind, but maybe they had broken enough protocols regarding public displays of affection, at least for one day.
Everyone sat in a circle in a place where a firepit would’ve been, had they the materials to make one. The sky had dimmed, simulating nighttime, though Cody could still see clearly.
Fliers had gathered around them, mixing in with the humans. The crew of the Olympus Mons had taken a liking to them, especially considering the fliers had just saved the crew with their bombing raid. Someone had even hung a medal of some kind around the neck of one of the fliers. The creature periodically lifted the medal with its central claw to examine it then bounced up and down.
Stripe was nowhere to be seen, and Cody wondered what he was up to.
“So.” Gaston sat cross-legged. “How are repairs to our comm system, Ensign?”
“I’ve got Michaelson and Irving on it, Commander,” Sonja said. “The damage is worse than I initially thought, but they say they’ll have it fixed an hour from now.”
Two men near the hopper—Cody assumed they were Michaelson and Irving—gave a thumbs-up.
“Excellent.” Gaston scowled. “Now, if I only knew why the toad vanished before our eyes.”
“Hope the Hive doesn’t snatch us,” Johnson said.
The others chuckled, but Cody didn’t see what was so funny. The thought had occurred to him, too.
“Just before… before the ground took the toad,” Cody said, “he mentioned something about humans betraying him.”
“That doesn’t explain why the Hive took that toad when it did and not during the fight,” Galloway said.
“I don’t think the Hive cares about us,” Cody said. “It was like it reacted to the toad, possibly to what he was saying.”
“Because the toad knew something, maybe.” Gaston rubbed his chin. “Like the Hive didn’t want the toad revealing anything.”
“What could the toad possibly know, sir?” Sonja asked.
Gaston quickly glanced at everyone present. “I’ve been in the service thirty-five years, you know. I was a lieutenant commander when the war broke out, and then I was promoted to commander and given the Olympus Mons. She’s been mine ever since. Or she had been, rather.”
Everyone bowed their heads.
“I’m an ornery bastard.”
The crew chuckled.
“That’s why they kept me where I was, but I still know people. I hear things.”
“What kind of things, sir?” Johnson asked.
“The UEAF, for one.” Gaston sighed. “We’re some ten years past the war, and they’re still a thing.”
“Someone still thinks the Spicans are a threat,” Galloway said. “The whole point of this interstellar alliance was to fight the Spicans.”
“To fight any and all threats to humanity,” Gaston said. “That’s what the charter says specifically. But the Spicans? They fought with us side by side eight months ago. They’ve helped us, and we’ve helped them.”
“And they regret what they did to us in the war.” Cody felt everyone’s eyes on him, some seeming to indicate he didn’t have the right to speak, but Cody didn’t care. “The Spicans thought we were a threat to them. Apparently, in their mythology, there are evil creatures in the universe that resemble humans. They thought we might steal their souls.”
“That’s not us, though,” Sonja said. “They didn’t have the right to do what they did, to kill so many…” Sonja swallowed and lowered her head. Given what they had done to her husband, the fact that she could even look at the Spicans without shooting them was a miracle.
“And they regret it,” Cody said.
“Yes, they do.” Gaston rested his hands on his knees. “But the point I’m making is the Spicans are no longer a threat. So why keep the alliance together?”
A hand shot up in the back.
“Jesus, Mathews,” Gaston said. “This isn’t grade school. Speak your mind.”
Mathews looked sheepish as everyone laughed. When they quieted down, he spoke. “I’ve been wondering when the armies were going home again.”
Gaston stared at the man for a moment. “You’re from Douglas’s Star, aren’t you, son?”
“Yes, sir,” the man said. “Born and raised. My family goes back to when the colony was founded.”
Gaston nodded approvingly. “You a patriot? To your homeland, I mean.”
“Of course, sir,” the young man said. “There are a lot of patriots here, to a lot of different places.”
Everyone in the crew nodded. Cody had lived on Earth his whole life, where many people looked down on the outer worlds. Not Cody. He understood their pride. Starting life on a new planet was hard, even if it was completely terraformed. He had a lot of respect for them.
“I’m from Campbell’s World,” Gaston said. “Got a son back there who designs ships.” He pointed at the hopper. “He designed the latest versions of those hoppers and a lot more.”
As people stared at the hopper, Gaston continued, “We all got homes we want to go back to. One thing that always impressed me about this war was how everyone got along so well, even after the war, in spite of all of us being from so many different places. I’m proud to serve with all of you, but I want to serve back home.”
“Then why won’t UET let us, sir?” Johnson asked.
Gaston stared at everyone for a moment. “What I’m about to say, you probably shouldn’t know. Hell, I probably shouldn’t know it either. From what I hear in the upper ranks, among the admirals I know, the UET doesn’t want to end the alliance.”
The crew of the Olympus Mons muttered among themselves.
Someone Cody didn’t know stood. “Sir, why would they do that?”
Cody knew the answer. “It’s as old as time itself. Control. Power is like a narcotic. You want more and more.”
“I’ll try not to let command go to my head, Doc,” Gaston said.
Cody laughed, as did the crew. “With respect, Commander, the point is that people in the core like the UET. I’m an Earther myself.”
Some people groaned, though it seemed playful. Cody had suspected that most of the crew were from outer worlds. Core-world natives, especially Earthers, were considered lazy.
“I’m lucky if I bother to get out of bed in the morning.”
Everyone chuckled at Cody’s joke.
“But the feeling on Earth is that no one expects the alliance to end. If they had to vote on it, they’d vote it would never end.”
No one laughed at that.
Cody continued, “I don’t know for certain, but I think Earth and the core worlds would do anything to keep the alliance together.”
“Do you agree, Doctor?” Galloway asked.
“No, sir, I don’t,” Cody said. “If we can’t learn take care of ourselves, then we need to get our shit together.”
Everyone applauded at that. Cody kept a level expression though he hadn’t expected that reaction.
“But they expect us to protect Earth, don’t they?” Gaston shook his head. “Yeah, it’s history all over again.”
“With respect, sir,” Galloway said, “I don’t think you meant to bring politics into this, did you?”
“No, I didn’t.” Gaston addressed everyone. “The point I’m trying to make is there are things going on high up that we don’t know about. Now, the UET Council gave the UEAF orders to bring the Hive here instead of taking the fliers to the Hive at the outer edge of th
e system, where we found it. I’m wondering if there is more to the story than we understand.”
“You think someone in the UET is working with the toads?” Cody asked.
Cody had almost said “someone in the UEAF,” but he didn’t want to offend anyone.
“That’s possible,” Gaston said. “But let’s face it, we don’t know. We didn’t betray the toads, but they feel humans betrayed them. Maybe the people in this system now aren’t the only ones to have had dealings with the toads.”
“With respect, sir,” Galloway said, “it’s all speculation.”
“True enough.” Gaston stood. “But—”
“Inbound!”
Cody didn’t see who shouted, but all eyes went upward.
Above, a single flier circled around. It landed outside the circle of people then hobbled inward. It was Stripe.
“Everything all right?” Cody asked.
Stripe stared at one flier then at others. They looked at each other for several moments, communing, Cody assumed. Finally, a flier stepped forward with a viewer and a message on it.
Teacher-of-All has found something interesting by the wall with the strange ropes.
Cody knew Teacher-of-All was Stripe, their leader. “You mean those tentacles on the wall?”
Several fliers bobbed their heads affirmatively.
Cody looked at Stripe. “What’d you find?”
Stripe held out its central claw, which had been tucked under one wing. The five fingers, spread equidistant around the fleshy palm, gripped a small pinkish sphere a little bigger than a softball. It was perfectly round, had no markings, and glowed gently.
Cody stared for a moment. “You found that by the wall?”
The flier with the viewer tapped out a message.
