“Staff Sergeant?” Dean asked.
“You wanted three areas,” Chavez said. “I’ve got a cell set up on the ring, a room down the corridor that was used to house the simians we fought, and then a smaller room near the grappling arms.”
“Excellent. Let’s get some water and a few more people down here. I don’t anyone working alone. Groups of three or four at all times, including whoever is left to watch the Grays we don’t take away.”
“The Heavy Armor Specialists are on their way down,” Loggins said. “But Landin is still in the infirmary on the Hannibal.”
“That’s fine,” Dean said. “We’ll make it work.”
“How do we get the door open on their cell?” Chavez said.
“One of us is going to have to go over there and open it,” Tallgrass said. “I volunteer.”
“You want those things messing with your head?” Loggins asked.
“You’re right, Private,” Chavez said. “We can’t spare a demo sergeant, but a private...”
“Hey, I’m not doing it,” Loggins declared.
“I’ll do it,” Dean said.
“That’s a bad idea, sir,” Ghost said. “It would probably be better if you weren’t involved at all.”
“Those little gray bastards have answers to this place,” Dean said. “I will get them if I have to wade through their mind games all by myself.”
“Ghost is right, Major. You know too much,” Chavez said.
“I don’t know any more than you, Staff Sergeant,” Dean declared.
“We all know that isn’t true,” Harper said with a grin.
“I think this whole damn platoon needs to double up on PT,” Chavez said, but there was a playfulness to his voice. “What I’m trying to say, Major, is that you’re the only person who knows our plans once we get to the Urgglatta system. I have no idea what the gray dwarves are capable of, but I don’t think we can take a chance that we might be able to tip off the Kroll.”
Dean was about to continue arguing when one of the Grays reached out from between the bars of his cage and made a strange wailing noise. Dean’s platoon froze, waiting to see what the little alien was up to. The wailing continued, and the Gray waved its hand. The gesture seemed harmless enough, but Dean knew he couldn’t trust the devious aliens.
“What’s it doing?” Ghost asked.
“I think it’s trying to communicate,” Tallgrass said.
“I thought they used mind control,” Loggins said.
“They utilize ESP for communication,” Harper said. “Mind control is a defense mechanism.”
“All of that is unproven conjecture,” Chavez warned. “We don’t know anything about them because they’re a secretive species.”
“Someone call for muscle?” Adkins declared as he and the other Heavy Armor Specialists arrived in the maintenance passageway that ran under the main corridor of the ring section of the harvester ship.
“Time to get some answers,” Dean said. “Tallgrass, Loggins, and Adkins are Alpha team. Ghost, Harper, and Wilson, you’ll be Bravo team. And Chavez, Carter, and Kliner are Charlie team. Swede, you’re with me on watch. We’ll keep an eye on the rest of the Grays, and I’ll monitor your progress on my TCU. Let’s get these creatures separated from the rest of the group and into their holding cells. I don’t want anyone getting violent unless you have to put the creatures down due to an attack.”
“Roger that,” Harper said.
“If you say so,” Ghost agreed.
“It’s time to get answers, people, but don’t take any chances. These are dangerous aliens—don’t forget that. And our mission is too important to jeopardize.”
“Alright, ET,” Ghost said. “Time to phone home.”
Chapter 17
To everyone’s surprise, getting the Pergantees out of their cage was easier than expected. They didn’t resist at all or even bunch together. They came slowly, one at a time, following the group of Recon Specialists away from their cage. Once in their holding cells, they sipped water from the small metal cups that were found on the Kroll ship. Dean and Heavy Armor Corporal Teller, better known to the platoon as the Swede, settled in across the corridor from the original Pergantee holding cell, careful to keep at least thirty feet away from the powerful aliens.
Dean monitored the other groups using his TCU to tap into the vid feed on their battle armor. Tallgrass was the first to reach the holding cell down the corridor, where she would question the alien in her custody. Adkins stood back and did his best to look intimidating. Loggins hung back as well, but Tallgrass was fearless.
“My name is Eleanor,” she said to the small alien, who sipped its water and looked around the holding cell as if it had never seen that part of the ship before.
The Pergantee didn’t speak, but it was communicating with Tallgrass. She switched between the platoon channel and the broadcast mode on her battle helmet. When she spoke to Dean, the alien couldn’t hear her, but it was in her head and Dean had no doubt it understood their conversation perfectly.
“Its name is Ralgath,” Tallgrass said. “It seems eager to help.”
“Ask about the Kroll,” Dean said.
There was a pause, then Tallgrass responded to Dean’s question.
“It says they were prisoners of the Kroll. Their ship was captured near Geshkon’d in the Hemming System. They have served the Kroll for a long time, sir, but they don’t appear to be disappointed that we defeated them.”
“What did they do for the Kroll?”
Another pause.
“They were responsible for maintenance on the ship,” Tallgrass said. “They expanded the structure whenever new tech was captured, integrating everything into one seamless system.”
“How did they communicate with the Kroll?”
When Tallgrass responded, Dean felt both a chill of fear and the satisfaction of knowing he was right.
“The Kroll have extrasensory abilities, sir. They gravitate to species with similar mental faculties. Their power is less direct than the Pergantees’. The Kroll have spatial awareness and a shared perception. It isn’t a hive mind—they are all autonomous with their own personalities—but they share knowledge and have an instinctual sense of direction.”
“Alright, Sergeant, get out of there,” Dean ordered.
“But sir, there’s so much more to cover.”
“And we’ve got plenty of time. I want you out of the holding cell now. Report to me ASAP.”
“Yes, sir,” Tallgrass replied.
Dean’s attention moved to Ghost, who had taken one of the aliens to a holding cell up on the main level of the ship’s ring. The Pergantee seemed docile enough, but Ghost was agitated.
“Why don’t you tell us what exactly your people were doing on a Kroll ship?” he asked.
“He’s saying they were captured,” Harper voiced on a private channel with Dean. “The Kroll threatened to kill them if they didn’t do as they were told.”
“So you helped the Kroll capture and kill humans?” Ghost asked.
“They only built and maintained the starships,” Harper relayed.
“Which the Kroll used to attack us.”
“He says the Kroll are predatory in nature. Capturing and killing is all they know. The Pergantees had no standing with the Kroll. They weren’t consulted before the Kroll attacked. The Kroll never asked for their opinion; all they wanted was to take advantage of the Pergantees’ technological abilities.”
“Ghost,” Dean spoke over the platoon channel. “Ask him how they communicated with the Kroll.”
“How did you communicate with the Kroll?”
“He says the Kroll have extrasensory abilities not unlike the Pergantees themselves. But the Kroll believe that anyone who can’t communicate with them via ESP are merely animals to be consumed as sustenance. They don’t believe humans are intelligent.”
“We have starships and weapons. How the hell could we do that if we aren’t intelligent?” Ghost asked.
“He says that the Kroll don’t consider us imbeciles—just lesser beings.”
“Alright,” Dean said. “That’s enough for now. Lock down that cell and get back down here.”
“Affirmative,” Harper replied.
Dean felt a shadow of doubt. He didn’t know how it was possible to keep the Pergantees as prisoners. They weren’t physically powerful creatures, but their invasion into the minds of the people they communicated with made Dean uneasy. It was impossible to lie to someone who could read your mind. And Dean wasn’t convinced that they didn’t plant suggestions in the minds of humans that influenced how their victims behaved. Dean had read stories about people who believed they had been abducted by the Grays. Even when questioned relentlessly, scoffed at by the media, and ridiculed by the public, they maintained their belief in what they say happened. It would only take a nudge of compassion for someone to open the door to a holding cell that would allow the Pergantees to escape captivity and cause havoc on the ship. With their knowledge of technology, they could sabotage the mission—or worse, leave the ship stranded in space with no hope of rescue.
Chavez had chosen to take the Pergantee in his charge to the room that had been used to torture the captured Recon Specialists. It was deep in the bowels of the ship, near the long, telescoping arms that were used to capture the colonists on Cymru. Chavez made the Heavy Armor Specialists Carter and Kliner wait outside, then he sat and stared at the small alien for a long time.
The Pergantee seemed unfazed at first. Dean wasn’t sure if Chavez was communicating with the alien mentally. He supposed that if the Pergantee could read his mind, Chavez could simply think of questions, but whatever the big staff sergeant was doing, it seemed to upset the Pergantee.
After a while, the small alien began to wail sadly, and then it covered its eyes and dropped to the floor. Dean wanted answers, but he didn’t want to disturb Chavez. If the alien was reading his mind, simply asking what the staff sergeant was up to would give away the big man’s intentions, so he waited. And it didn’t take long before the plaintive wail turned more aggressive. Dean decided the alien was shouting at Chavez, in its own strange way. He was about to order Chavez to leave the room when the staff sergeant moved to the door and slammed it shut.
“Staff Sergeant,” Dean said.
“Give me a few minutes, sir,” Chavez replied. “I need some distance from that little prick.”
“There isn’t anything he can use in that room to break out of our custody, is there?”
“We moved out all the tools,” Chavez said. “The exam tables are built into the floor. It should be safe enough.”
“Harper,” Dean said. “Give me two MSVs in the room Chavez has his Gray held in. Carter, you and Kliner stay down there and keep watch, but I want you both twenty-five to thirty feet away from that door.”
“Roger that,” Carter said.
A few minutes later, Chavez showed up where Dean was keeping watch on the caged Pergantees. They all looked sick or perhaps just sleeping, but Dean doubted they would give his platoon any trouble.
“What happened in there, Staff Sergeant?” Dean asked.
“They tortured our guys,” Chavez said. “They ripped them open just for kicks.”
“How can you know that?” Tallgrass asked.
“Because I saw it in that little bastard’s mind,” Chavez said angrily.
“Were you communicating with it?” Dean asked.
“No, I was just letting it sweat,” Chavez replied. “I knew it was working when the little creep started crying. Before I knew it, my mind was bombarded with all the horrible things they had done in that room. And not just to our people. The Grays aren’t prisoners on this ship. They’re willing partners.”
Dean felt a shiver just as Adkins tapped Dean on the shoulder. When he looked up, he was surprised to see that all the Pergantees left in the holding cell, nine in all, were on their feet, standing at the bars of the cage and staring out at Dean.
“Let’s go,” he ordered.
“You want me to stay on watch?” the Swede asked.
“No, Corporal. I want MSVs on station here and outside of all the holding cells.”
“I’m on it,” Loggins said.
“Then I want everyone in the command center. No exceptions.”
“The whole ship?” Adkins asked.
“No, just my platoon,” Dean said.
Dean trusted his people completely, but he knew they had all been exposed to the extrasensory powers of the Pergantees. And until he knew exactly what to do, he did not want to take any chances. If he had his way, he would blast them out of the airlock and be done with the strange creatures, but he needed intelligence from the little aliens. Only he wasn’t sure if it was safe to interrogate the Pergantees or if he was opening Pandora’s box by giving the Grays a chance to influence his platoon—and perhaps the entire crew.
Chapter 18
Dean knew by the time he reached his command center that he would put together a report including the vid footage of his platoon’s interaction with the Grays. The other senior officers would need to see and hear the Pergantees and form their own opinions about the gray-skinned aliens. A decision would have to be made very soon as to their future, and that decision would be Dean’s alone. Everyone would have opinions; his platoon had already experienced vastly different interactions with the Pergantees, and he could tell by the body language of his platoon that strong opinions had formed. Dean was suspicious of the aliens. He had seen the torture room and heard the testimony of the Recon Specialists who had died from the wounds sustained in that small chamber. It had colored his opinion of the Grays more than all of the known information about the peculiar alien race that humanity had gathered for nearly a century. Yet he would have to set his own bias aside and filter his decision through the priority of his mission and his responsibility for the safety of the ships’ crews.
“Tell us what happened,” Dean said to Chavez once they were all assembled in the command center that had been set up in one of the many holding cells on the ring section of the harvester ship.
“The Pergantees are monsters,” Chavez said. “They torture people.”
“How do you know?” Dean asked. He didn’t disbelieve his staff sergeant, but he needed to play the devil’s advocate for the sake of argument and for the rest of his platoon, who were hanging on every word of the conversation.
“I saw it. It was like I was seeing things in my mind that I had never seen before.”
“So you imagined it,” Tallgrass said; her normally unflappable calmness seemed a little stiff to Dean.
“No, I couldn’t have,” he said, his eyes pleading with the woman who was more than just a member of his platoon. She was his lover and closest companion. Dean could see that he desperately wanted Eleanor Tallgrass to believe him. “I saw things I couldn’t even imagine. Not just humans. Other creatures, too. It was…disturbing.”
“Well that throws a wrench in the yarn the other two were spinning,” Ghost said.
“It’s possible that Staff Sergeant Chavez is having delusions due to the extrasensory powers of the Pergantees,” Tallgrass said.
“I’m not,” Chavez pleaded.
“Why would they try to trick him that way?” Harper asked.
“I don’t think they did,” Tallgrass responded. “I think what the staff sergeant saw was his subconscious responding to the extrasensory prodding. It made his imagination seem realistic.”
“Eleanor,” Chavez said angrily, “I know what I saw.”
“No one is doubting that you saw things,” Tallgrass said coolly. “But we have no proof that what you saw was real. The Pergantee I questioned was gentle. There is no way it could have tortured anyone.”
“Yeah, the one we questioned said they were prisoners here,” Ghost said. “But I got the feeling he wasn’t telling us the whole story.”
“They aren’t prisoners,” Chavez argued. “They’re like parasites. They trade their technica
l skill for the chance to carry out their gristly experiments on the poor creatures caught by the harvester.”
“That’s ludicrous,” Tallgrass fired back. “The Pergantees are a vastly intelligent species.”
“They’re monsters,” Chavez said.
“The Nazis were intelligent,” Harper said. “Just look at the atrocities they took part in.”
“Sir,” Tallgrass said, turning to Dean. “We cannot mistreat the Pergantees just because the staff sergeant thinks he saw them doing something terrible. My people know the horrors of being labeled as savages. Please, don’t do anything rash. I would swear that the Pergantees on this ship are victims that are thankful for our intervention and ready to help us carry out our mission against the Kroll.”
Dean held up a hand. He felt sad at the dissension in his platoon. They were normally a very close group, which enabled them to act together with a synergy that couldn’t be taught. Perhaps it was some strange influence from the Pergantees, or maybe just the stress of their mission, but Dean could see the cracks in his platoon. Things would crumble if he let them continue on as they were.
“No one is looking to be inhumane,” Dean said. “But the Pergantees are a mysterious and secretive race. They aren’t here by accident. Even if their story of captivity is true, it’s obvious they were working hand-in-hand with the Kroll.”
“How can you know that?” Tallgrass asked.
“Because much of the work they did was outside the reach of the Kroll,” Harper said. “Think about it, Eleanor. The Kroll couldn’t have easily traversed these tunnels, not to mention the small workspaces where the pipes and wiring conduits run.”
“We know they keep other species held hostage on their ships,” Tallgrass countered. “It’s not a stretch to believe the Pergantees were held against their will.”
“No, it isn’t, but our goal is to carry out the mission against the Kroll,” Dean said. “Chances are very high that there are more of the Pergantees on the ships we’ll be trying to destroy. I doubt the Grays will be on our side in that fight, even if they hate the Kroll. And the Pergantees have powerful ESP abilities that could be used to sabotage our efforts or warn the Kroll of our intentions. Those are exceedingly worrisome details, Sergeant.”
Abyss Of Savagery Page 12
