In Death's Shadow

by Robert C. James

  His feet gave way, and his vision became blurry. The last thing he remembered hearing was Doctor Tai yelling out his name as he went crashing to the floor.

  *

  Jason did his best to keep his weary head upward while the sun pushed above the horizon of the desolate world around him.

  His zillo faithfully did the bulk of the work, keeping him pointing toward the Scorpius township. Beside him on a beast of his own, Althaus appeared just as exhausted.

  The early morning workers of the colony were up tending the farmland while the waft of cooked porridge blew from the breeze of the nearby river.

  The pair made their way to the center of town and hitched their transport to a post with several of their brothers and sisters. Jason pointed past the main buildings of the settlement, and Althaus followed him down to one of the small but elaborate cabins.

  He knocked on the door and waited. After a few moments it swung open, and Tobias answered, slinging the strap of his bathrobe around his waist. “Mister Cassidy. This is unexpected.”

  “I’m sorry to wake you,” Jason said, “but we have something urgent to discuss.”

  “Please come in.” He waved them both inside and escorted them through the living area to his office, where he sat on the edge of his desk. “What can I do for you?”

  “Do you remember me asking you last night about the power?”

  “It’s hard to forget such an unusual question.”

  “It happened again overnight. In doing so, we’ve tracked down what may be the focal point of the electro-magnetic disruption.”

  Tobias’s eyes darted curiously between Jason and Althaus. “You’re saying you might’ve found the reason all this is happening?”

  Jason nodded. “If correct, it means we can leave and resume the search for my brother. Not to mention giving Doctor Tai and Doctor Erkens some help finding a cure. Eventually, we could even send a rescue ship from Earth for you and your people.”

  Tobias seemed unconvinced, but he approached his bookshelf and pulled out a large scroll from the bottom drawer. “Have you got a location for this focal point?”

  “One hundred kilometers north from the Argo’s crash site.”

  Tobias unraveled the scroll and placed it on top of his desk. It was a crude hand-drawn representation of the immediate area surrounding the Scorpius Colony.

  Jason pointed at a position to the north. “What’s this?”

  “A large rock formation—”

  “That’s it. How far?”

  Tobias checked over the key to the map. “One hundred and twenty kilometers.”

  “Sounds about right.” Jason waved his hand over the scroll. “When was the last time you were in that part of the desert?”

  “Not since this was first drawn. Only a few years after the crash.”

  Jason narrowed his eyes. “And you haven’t returned since?”

  Tobias chuckled. “Why travel to somewhere where the conditions are at their most treacherous? We built our haven here. There was little point of exploring any further.”

  “Until now,” Althaus chimed in.

  Jason pointed at the map. “How long will it take on a zillo there and back?”

  Tobias bit his bottom lip. “Four days.”

  “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I’d like a pair of zillos and any provisions you can spare us,” Jason said. “Althaus and I will check it out.”

  “You’re serious about this?” the colony’s leader asked.

  “We have to try.”

  Tobias stared at the map. “I’ll give you the animals, and we’ll load you up with everything you need. However, I won’t send you by yourselves. Not out in that.”

  “We—”

  “You don’t understand what you’re walking into. You’ll need help. Max and a few others will join you.”

  A knock at the open door interrupted them. Tai moved toward them over the threshold with a grim expression.

  Jason’s heart skipped a beat. “Marissa?”

  “Is still alive.”

  “Then what?”

  The three men followed her to the infirmary on the opposite side of the settlement. Doctor Erkens stood over another figure in the bed beside Marissa.

  “Kione…” Jason hurried to him.

  The alien’s eyes opened ever so slightly. He tried to speak, but nothing came out.

  “What happened?”

  “He collapsed a few hours ago,” Tai told him.

  “Does he—”

  “He’s contracted the disease.”

  Jason could tell she was having trouble with it all. She had after all known Kione longer than any of them.

  Jason put a reassuring hand on Kione’s and stood, ushering everyone into the lab. “How long do they have?”

  “That’s hard to—”

  “Best guess,” he cut her off. “Doctor Erkens, you saw what this did to your people twenty years ago.”

  “Miss Caldwell has three to four days. Kione perhaps not much longer,” he replied.

  Jason placed his hands on the counter. The rays of the morning sun were making the steel warm. “And a cure?”

  “I have some ideas,” Tai said. “But as I said earlier, while I can develop something here, it would be a lot quicker with my equipment on the Argo.”

  “Then keep doing what you have to here, and I’ll see to this EM field.” Jason put a hand on Tobias’s shoulder. “Wake up Max and fetch me the quickest zillos you’ve got.”

  Chapter 11

  The Sandy Desert

  Jason understood the trek would be difficult, but Tobias was right, it was much more grueling than he’d imagined. They hadn’t even traveled twenty-five kilometers, and he felt like an overcooked rotisserie chicken.

  Put a fork in me.

  He twisted around for his canteen from the back of his zillo, and a searing pain shot up his neck. Holy hell!

  He stretched the cramp out, and a few moments later the agony dissipated. Twisting the cap off the bottle, he guzzled his water down. It wasn’t his drink of choice, but out as far as they were and as hot as it was, it was just as good as a stiff bourbon.

  Max and his three men rode ahead, and while they were no doubt affected by the heat too, they weren’t showing it. Helps to grow up here, I guess.

  Jason glanced at Althaus on the zillo beside him. He looked like hell, leaning forward on the animal, gripping the reins as if his life depended on it.

  He crept toward his older comrade. “Hey, how are you doing?”

  Althaus’s eyes darted sideways. “I’m all right.”

  Jason frowned, unconvinced. “Should I have asked Kevin to come with me?”

  Althaus glared at him, and Jason smirked, grabbing the canteen from the pack behind him. It was empty.

  “Where’s the rest of your water?”

  “Somewhere back there.”

  Jason didn’t want to rummage through his personal effects. Instead, he grabbed his own drink and offered it to him. Althaus stared at him as if he were handing him poison.

  “Take it. If you collapse out here, I’m not resuscitating you.”

  Althaus swallowed his pride and downed the water.

  “Just make sure you don’t drool on it, okay?”

  Althaus ignored the quip and handed it back to Jason, giving him a begrudging nod of appreciation.

  “We can rest if you like,” Jason offered. He was about to tell Max to slow, but Althaus put a hand on his reins to stop him.

  “We keep going,” he said.

  Jason smiled, and they continued farther into the desert.

  *

  Scorpius Colony

  Kione’s eyes opened to a disconcerting blurriness. Someone reached for his hand and pressed on it.

  “Hey, Kione.”

  It was Tai. His haziness subsided to find the doctor sitting at his bedside. He tried to speak, but nothing came out, so she poured him a glass of water, and he sipped it down.

  “Slowly,” she warned hi
m. “There’s plenty more where that came from.”

  Kione took one final mouthful and handed the glass back to her. “Thank you.” His raspy throat tingled. “How long—?”

  “Have you been asleep?” Susan peered over to the cog-driven clock on the wall of Doctor Erkens’s medical practice. “Nine hours.”

  Kione’s head fell into his pillow. “I’ve never slept that long in my life.”

  “You’ve contracted nothing like this before. Any illness you caught on Earth capitulated quickly due to your phenomenal immune system.”

  “But this is something different, isn’t it?”

  “It’s one of the nastiest diseases I’ve ever seen.” She frowned. “I began tests on the locals earlier, to determine if I could devise a cure with their natural immunity…”

  She stared off into space.

  “Doctor?” Kione pressed.

  “It seems the disease has mutated from the initial outbreak. While I believe the immunity these people have will hold, there’s nothing in their physiology that can help you or Miss Caldwell.”

  Kione was never one to think about his ultimate end as most humans did, but now that he was close, he perhaps understood their obsession. There was so much in his life he hadn’t achieved. So many questions he was yet to have answered.

  “How’s Miss Caldwell?”

  Susan glanced over at her. “Worse than expected. It’s hitting her hard. I worry how much longer she can fight.”

  “Have you got any further with your research?”

  She picked up a book and flicked through it. “I’ve gone through all of Doctor Erkens’s diaries. I’ve been finding some strange discrepancies.”

  “What discrepancies?”

  She held up the journal with several pages missing. “Erkens said he likely ripped them out for scrap paper.”

  Kione knew how to read Doctor Tai after all these years. “You don’t believe him?”

  “I’m not sure.” She shook her head. “The problem is, there are full days in here with no diary entries at all.”

  “That is odd for someone who’s such an astute recordkeeper.”

  She agreed and puffed his pillow, getting him more water. “Let’s see if I can make you more comfortable.”

  *

  Zachary Tobias sat on his balcony overlooking the town center while the sun came down on another day. He blew a plume of smoke from his cigar and leaned back in his chair.

  Up in the night sky, the stars twinkled especially bright. Though Earth’s star couldn’t be seen, he often gazed up and imagined one in particular to be the sun of his home system. It was always noticeable in the early evening.

  “Didn’t your doctor ever tell you smoking was bad for your health?”

  Zachary craned his head downward. Doctor Erkens walked up the steps of his balcony and rested on the railing.

  “I was never very good at listening to him.” He took another puff and placed the cigar in the ashtray beside him.

  “How many of those have you got left?” Erkens asked.

  Zachary hadn’t done an exact count, but of the few boxes he’d brought with him on the Scorpius, he was down to his last one. “Not enough.” He gestured to the seat next to him. “What brings you here?”

  The doctor sat. “I wanted to let you know Tai is piecing it all together.”

  Zachary felt a headache coming on. “I thought you’d got rid of the evidence.”

  “I did, but that doesn’t mean she won’t figure it out. She’s very accomplished in her field. Even more brilliant than me.”

  Zachary picked up his cigar and twirled it around in his fingers. “Could she discover a cure?”

  “She’ll find it difficult without the Argo’s equipment.” Erkens leaned back in his chair. “Will Cassidy and his team locate anything up north?”

  “I’m not sure.” Zachary shrugged. “I guess when we landed here, we always assumed there was a greater force behind everything. If they unearth something to disrupt the EM field—”

  “It can only be a good thing. We could rebuild old machines and make our lives here much easier. Perhaps we’ll even have the chance to reconnect with Earth.”

  A long silence was shared between the pair.

  “Do you ever dream we’ll see Earth again?” Erkens asked.

  Zachary peered up at the yellow star he imagined to be home. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. There’d be many people happy to return.”

  “And us?”

  “You and me are never going back.” Tobias frowned. “Not after what we’ve done.”

  Chapter 12

  The Sandy Desert

  “You know if I close my eyes, I can almost imagine I’m in the Blue Mountains.”

  The weary form of Althaus looked at Jason incredulously.

  “I did say almost.” Jason got up from the ground and helped Max start a fire while everyone hydrated and organized their food. Even Althaus pepped up after getting some grub in him.

  Jason dreaded what awaited them the next day. To do it all over again would be a big ask, especially for his colleague from the Argo. While he would’ve preferred to bring Aly with him, her place was aboard the ship getting the old girl flight-worthy again. The next in line with the most expertise was Althaus.

  Maybe if I insult him the rest of the way he’ll survive out of spite.

  For the remainder of the evening, he regaled Max and the others with stories about Earth. It was ironic considering he was raised on a cargo ship. At least he’d gotten to visit his home world, unlike the other four men.

  He then moved on to some adventures they’d had on the Argo. Althaus even joined in, telling them tales of what had happened before Jason was born. Jason hadn’t heard half the events recalled and couldn’t believe the situations his father, Kevin, and Althaus had gotten into over the years.

  Everyone eventually nodded off, retreating to their sleeping bags with the cold of the night setting in. Althaus was the first to go, followed by Max’s men.

  Jason and Max continued talking for a while longer. It was Max’s turn to speak about his life growing up on the Scorpius Colony. Jason struggled to comprehend it all.

  “I knew no different,” Max said. “I assumed it was similar when you visited Earth for the first time.”

  “I guess I’ve never thought about it before. The Argo was always home even when I wanted to leave her.” Jason yawned and peeked at the map sitting near the fire. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

  Max unraveled the map and pointed at their route. “We’ll continue in this direction. Once we reach the northern plains, we can cut across here. If we move at our current pace, we’ll reach your coordinates tomorrow by nightfall.”

  Jason wanted to be there sooner. Every second that passed was another moment closer to Marissa’s and Kione’s death. “Why don’t we cross here?” He indicated on the map. “We can be there by midafternoon.”

  Max shook his head. “The dunes are treacherous. We’d lose time scaling them.”

  Jason double-checked the detailed scroll. “There’re no markings here to signify any dunes. It looks as flat as everywhere else around here.”

  “It’s an old map. Trust me, if we use that route, it’ll take us another day to arrive. That’s if our zillos don’t die on the way.”

  “Well, we don’t want that, do we?”

  The pair called it a night, and Jason placed his sleeping bag near Althaus. He immediately regretted the move. The older man’s snoring sounded like a Mark II FTL engine on its last legs.

  Jason turned over and put his pillow over his head, trying his best to block out the noise. But it was in vain. He couldn’t sleep. He lay on his back and gazed up at the stars, unable to get the last conversation with Max out of his mind. Something didn’t add up.

  He rose to check if everyone was asleep and threw his sleeping bag aside. As quietly as he could, he crept over to his zillo and woke the poor beast.

  “Sorry, old boy.” He patted hi
m on the side. “No rest for us tonight.”

  He led the animal away from their camp and climbed on top, sending him into a slow gallop. With what he remembered seeing on the map, he directed it out into the desert, straight toward the sand dunes.

  An hour passed, and the terrain was still as flat as a tack. With heavy eyelids and his zillo panting, he wondered whether he should turn back. Keep going!

  More time elapsed, and something appeared on the horizon. It wasn’t the incline he was expecting, but a long shadow in the moonlight stretched out before him.

  Am I hallucinating?

  “Do you see what I’m seeing, old boy?” he asked his furry companion.

  Dotted over a kilometer were the scraps of a massive debris field. And in the heart of it a banged-up ship, unlike any craft he’d ever seen. It was big, too. The size of a commonwealth cruiser.

  As he rode past the large chunks of golden-brown metal, there seemed to be a pattern. The wreckage was being used as barricades. He’d witnessed similar scenes during his time in the Earth-Centauri War.

  It’s a defense perimeter.

  Many handheld weapons were dispersed over the ground. From small metal bars, to longer and sharper implements. But where are the soldiers?

  Jason edged closer to the ship and found an open hatchway which he assumed was once an airlock. He climbed down from his zillo and tied its reins around a metal bar on the hull’s exterior.

  “Now don’t touch anything. I’ll be right back.” He patted the animal, wondering how he’d ever got on without one. Not bad for someone afraid of horses.

  Jason stepped through the airlock into the deathly dark interior of the ship, using his hands to guide him. At the end of the corridor, the light from the moon shone through from a crack in the ceiling.

  He continued on into a large room where the bulkhead was sliced open. The brightness of the planet’s solitary moon radiated around one of the most disturbing things he’d ever seen.

  Littered across the deck were skeletons. Completely decomposed. Dozens of them.