The Kryl Queen

by Chris Burton

  While movements were obviously restricted when in the tank, it did mean the individual external oxygen suits could be deployed to more relevant personnel, particularly in engineering, where they were needed the most. This could give the crew the opportunity they needed to complete the repairs to the power generator and crucially it would give everybody extra time to allow for rescue to take place.

  The downside was numbers. There were still over a hundred and fifty crew on board.

  “We need to get to armed supplies and distribute the oxygen filters. Your guys need to have all available suits at their disposal. We should even pull out the emergency short term breathing aids. I will arrange that at my end.”

  “How will you decide who gets to go in the tank?”

  “Honestly…I don’t know how many people will be left when it comes to that. We have less than six hours air now and then we will have to start using the tanks. You need to keep me updated on progress.”

  “Are you returning to the bridge?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I am guessing you will not return. Make sure you keep the reserve suits up there. They should not be distributed. The ship needs its commander and its bridge crew. Keep safe Wesley.”

  “You too my friend.”

  Smith headed towards the main exit to engineering and to what would almost certainly be no air. The short term breathing aids was about three quarters full. He preyed it would be enough to get him back to the relative comfort of the upper decks.

  * * * *

  “The signal is getting weaker. The ion drive must be failing.”

  “Slow to half ion drive Mister Briscoe. We don’t want to miss her.”

  “Now the venting has stopped. She must be around here somewhere. Wait…now a stronger signal. Maybe she stopped for repairs and then started again. The composition suggests a slower overall velocity though.”

  Jake couldn’t help but smile. The Lieutenant was proving to be an able first officer. He was certainly growing into his role—even if he was only acting up.

  “Pursue at the same velocity. If they are in trouble, we should expect some distress beacons or some micro comms. Spread the scanning to a wider brief.”

  And he was certainly growing into his role. Commanding a ship was beginning to feel second nature, even if it was only a Patrol vessel.

  Jake realized he was tired. Yet again he had overstretched his shift.

  “I’m taking a few hours rest, Mister Briscoe. Let me know immediately of any changes.”

  Jake left the bridge and headed for his quarters. It had been some time since he had composed a message to Carla and while sleep was important, he wanted to let her know how he was doing; Even though he could not send it…it still felt like the right thing to do. He’d had plenty of time to assess his relationship with Carla in recent weeks and despite the unfortunate infidelity with Maria Shavenosky; he loved Carla and wanted to see her desperately, to hold her close and keep her safe. He just sat down at his comms station, when his lapel comm.link sounded.

  “Briscoe here. We have just detected a distress signal.”

  * * * *

  Wesley Smith was back in the upper half of the ship and finally breathing was a little easier. He looked at the pressure gauge on the breathing aid. Just over a quarter full. He should not need the rest for now. He checked his comm.link too and noted the ships air supply. There was still no sign of any rescue ship. Best not to think about it, he told himself as he continued along the corridor.

  He passed a main interchange, and heard coughing. It was coming from behind a closed bulkhead door just past the interchange. This was a crew recreational lounge. There would be people in here. He approached the door and pushed the manual release button. The door remained shut, so he tried again, but it remained in the closed position. He definitely heard coughing. He could not just leave them.

  Smith held his comm.pad up to the door mechanism and allowed the comms unit to interrogate the lock system. The door opened, he stepped inside and was greeted with a void. There was no air in here and he struggled to breathe almost immediately. There were two groups of five crew members huddled together to the side of the door. In one group, all were quite dead and in the other, the only life sign came from the man who had coughed. He leaned down and heard the labored breathing. This man was dying. Smith pushed the breathing aid to the man’s lips which turned blue. There was no response and the chest cavity of this man fell for the last time.

  Smith left the dead men. There was really nothing he could do for them right now and he had to start looking after those he had left. Why had a large room, so close to the top of the ship exhausted its air supply? It must be leaking somewhere.

  Thirty seconds later, he reached the bridge and was pleased to see that all was as he had left it, when he entered. Claudette Benoir though, looked like she a ghost.

  “The chief just advised that the cylinder head on the back up generator has now cracked wide open. It cannot be repaired Wesley.”

  * * * *

  Two hours later, the Patrol ship finally located the stricken Alpha Cruiser Pantheon. Jake requested the CO to attend the bridge and they both now stared at the spectacle in front of them. Jake broke the silence.

  “Okay…we need to connect the umbilical to their main portal and get a team aboard. Life signs are very weak and they are not answering our comms so I think we can assume that air may be an issue. I suggest we pump in some clean air to the Pantheon; at least to their upper decks.”

  “If they have no air; the chances they are dead already; but I agree we have to try. Assemble a team of twelve and suit up. We will hold off using up our air resources at this stage until we know what their situation is.”

  Jake asked Lieutenant Briscoe to help him and the helm projected the umbilical shoot directly at the main Pantheon access portal. The umbilical attached automatically and a small charge detonated forcing the portal open. Jake and his team gained access to the Pantheon immediately and the team split into four as they tried to determine how bad the situation was. Jake’s team headed towards the bridge.

  “This is Carter. Air is zero, repeat air is zero. We need an air pump. Repeat, we need an air pump.”

  “Okay Mister Carter. We will connect at this end. Concentrate on finding survivors.”

  They arrived at the bridge thirty seconds later and Jake used the manual override to open the bridge entrance door.

  There were four people inside. Two were clearly dead and the other two registering, but unconscious. The team quickly applied resuscitation equipment and the first started to recover. Wesley Smith sat up in disbelief as he stared at the suited humans in front of him. He slumped down again. Unbelievably they had been rescued.

  “Thank God you made it. Can you get air into the ship? How many survivors are there?”

  “Take it easy, sir. Your body is recovering; but we are not out of the woods yet. We are pumping air into the top few decks, so you should be able to breathe normally soon; but you have lost some colleagues on the bridge.”

  Smith looked up and his expression quickly saddened as he released that Claudette Benoir was amongst the dead. He tried to stand, but fell back down again, supported by Jake.

  “Steady Commander. We will take this from here. There is good air coming in now; we are up to twenty percent already. I am afraid it looks like substantial losses throughout and the ship itself looks lost. We will start to recover your survivors to our ship shortly.”

  “Check engineering.” Smith felt less groggy now.

  “You should find survivors there and in the water tanks.”

  “The water tanks…ingenious. Did you use filtration devices?”

  “Yes…I need to know whether the Chief Engineer made it. We are going to need him.”

  Jake Carter dispatched two of h
is team directly to engineering, while a fifth team boarded the Pantheon with a back up generator cable which they attached to the nearest connect point. The Pantheon now had limited power resources but unaided, she could now power up her own life support.

  Lieutenant Briscoe’s team had already located the bodies of four engineers who had been working on the back up generator and now reached the water tanks. His team climbed to the top of the first tank to be greeted by a mass of floating bodies. Beneath them, those who coped with the air filtration devices surfaced. They were the lucky ones. They had made it.

  In all thirty-five people were released alive from the water tanks, including a barely conscious Chief Engineer. All the survivors were taken to the medical facility on board the Pantheon. Of one hundred and fifty crew—who set out to reach the sanctity of the satellite moon—only fifty-six survivors were found.

  Part Two

  Chapter Nineteen

  Beneath the Ground

  Admiral Thomas Koenig was in a good mood. His Chief Scientist had briefed him on progress made in the laboratory and he just been told the news he had been waiting for, for a long time.

  “So, radiation will kill them…once and for all.”

  “My results are based on the relatively small number of Kryl tested so far. But yes; Antirillium Radiation speeds up the growth of the cancer cells in the Kryl body remarkably quickly.”

  “How quickly?”

  “On average, they go from a pre-cancerous state to advanced cancer and death in a matter of minutes.”

  “This will kill eighty to ninety percent of them?”

  “Yes, based on our research to date. We need a bigger sample to prove the theory”

  Koenig sat up, excited that their incarceration could shortly be coming to an end. “We need to start mass-producing and find a way of flooding the planet with this stuff.”

  “With respect Admiral; it is way too early for that. I need to prove against at least one thousand additional live Kryl; which is itself is a logistical nightmare down here. Second, we don’t know what the best compound or the best method of delivery is for this yet. Furthermore, it is a form of radiation and does also present a threat to humans and…I have held the best to last. It is not freely available on this planet or anywhere in the solar system. It only exists in small pockets throughout the galaxy.”

  “First you raise my hopes and then you dash them. Okay, a thousand Kryl will be difficult to secure let alone let them loose down here. We will have to find a suitably rural facility Earth side. Would I be right in assuming that this form of radiation does not have quite such a marked effect on us?”

  “Radiation is not generally good for us, but in this form it will not harm us; unless we are subjected to very high concentrations over a long period. There is also another problem though…the radiation is highly volatile and cannot be easily stored.”

  “Okay. Continue your testing. I will arrange for a secure testing facility to be set up for the sample candidates to be collected. In the meantime, I need you to pin-point where the pockets of this stuff are.”

  “Excellent Admiral. We will continue our work and will brief you when we have something further. I just wanted to reassure you. This is a breakthrough, no question. The Antirillium Radiation will kill the Kryl.”

  The Chief Scientist left and Koenig was suddenly filled with characteristic optimism which sadly lacking in recent weeks. It was proving harder for everyone than anticipated to remain confined in their subterranean super base. This may not yet be conclusive, but it was the first big step in the right direction. He intended to maintain the initiative. He paused briefly and then summoned his two most trusted colleagues to carry on the discussion.

  Admirals Kohn and Clarke joined Koenig in his office less than ten minutes later. Koenig briefed them on the content of his previous meeting and then opened the discussion up for further comment. Jonas Kohn spoke first.

  “So, the radiation is the cause of their cancer and they cure or hold back the full symptoms of the cancer by means of electrical stimuli which they obtain my murdering humans. If we boost the radiation levels it will kill them. It’s a bit paradoxical isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it certainly is. We have also learned that the alloy used by the Kryl in the ship construction contains low levels of this Antirillium radiation. The Kryl galaxy seems to have slightly higher levels; at least in the areas where our ships were deployed. Plus of course the Kryl are born with a large number of pre-cancerous cells, which when brought into contact with the Antirillium, brings about the cancer itself. It is all beginning to link together.”

  “And the concentration of Antirillium in this galaxy is much lower than it is in the Kryl galaxy. If they can keep the symptoms under control here and stay away from the radiation then as a race they will survive. You can understand now why they were so keen to get through the blue worm hole.”

  “Yes, as I say it makes sense and hopefully these findings will be born out by further testing; but in the mean time I think we have enough to start to take this forward”

  Changing tack, Koenig diverted his attention to Admiral Clarke.

  “When are you due to meet Roslyn next?”

  “I can see him at any time. I am not sure it would be wise to give him too much of this at this stage. He is a politician after all, and there have been some major leaks in recent months.”

  “Yes, I agree. Hold off for the time being. Instead I want you to concentrate on delivering these Kryl to our science team. I think we need to assume that this facility cannot house such a large number without creating a security issue; so I need you to find a way to source the crew, find a suitably remote spot for the testing to be carried out and get the science team up to the surface to allow them to test. I appreciate this may be quite a task, but we need this done and we need it done quickly.”

  “That’s fine. I have somewhere in mind. It is going to be tricky to locate and secure so many of them. They tend to keep to themselves; but we will find a way.”

  “Good. Okay…it all looks positive. As soon as I hear back from the science team, I will brief you again. Let’s get too it gentlemen. There is a real prospect that we can release ourselves from this place; that’s not something we can pass up on.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The Diplomatic Team

  Carla Stevenson felt sick to the stomach. The fact that she had actually been involved in the process that brought about the Earth Kryl Agreement and the horror which had manifested from it; disgusted her. Yet here she was again on route to commence discussions with the Kryl. Only this time, it was the Queen who requested their presence.

  The diplomatic team had been quiet since the signing of the Earth Kryl agreement. When they left the Halo 7 and she had left Jake; their shuttle had headed straight back to Alpha Two, where following a quick debriefing they had both headed for the bar to drown their sorrows. To have been so actively involved in the drafting of an agreement that would condemn the lives of millions of people, coupled with the knowledge from Carla’s perspective that she may not see Jake again for a very long time, meant the drink flowed very freely that night, the next ,and the next. With diplomatic activity now almost at a standstill and with the very existence of the team now at stake, they spent their days processing admin and their evenings drunk. With Carla fighting off Colonel Harrington’s constant advances; eventually he had her. She actually let that man touch her and she felt abhorrent. She did not find him physically attractive. He was a strong person and intellectually her equal and she found their conversations stimulating and constantly evolving, but for that brief period of time, she was not herself. She let herself down badly and now she felt incredibly guilty.

  Last night, after some weeks of avoiding him, she allowed him near her again; but she managed to stop herself from succumbing to his advances. He wasn’t happy and they had har
dly spoken since.

  Harrington was asleep; which at least allowed her to take time out. How had she allowed this to happen? She loved Jake so much and yet at the very first opportunity, she’d allowed another man into her life. She looked and felt anger build up inside her. How dare he take advantage of her? He had known her love for Jake and yet he had still exploited her and now surely Jake would never take her back. She found herself yearning for female company and to be rid of this man. She needed to be a girl once more. She found her mind drifting back to her childhood and happy teenage years, the academy and Jake and of course Steve. Her first love and Jake’s best friend who they lost to the Kryl. And yet, here she was again, ready to pacify and to pretend that all was fine with both the Kryl and Harrington.

  He stirred and Carla unclipped her restraints and moved away from the seating area towards the ventral viewing area. She gazed into free space. I know you are out there some where Jake. I need you now, more than ever. Please come back to me, please come back to me. Her private moment was interrupted as she felt two arms around her waist and his breath on her neck. She pulled away; but Harrington pulled her closer to him. This time she pulled away again and forced her elbow hard into his solar plexus. Her academy training instinctively allowing her to select the best method to defend herself.

  Harrington doubled up in pain; before recovering. Now he stood and stared at her.

  “What the hell did you do that for?”

  “I’m sorry. I told you last night I could not let it happen again. It has all been a mistake…”

  “But Carla…you know we are good together. We enjoy each others company and the sex was fantastic.”

  “No, it was not! Yes, I enjoy your company, but I don’t find you physically attractive and things have happened because of drink. I shall not be going their again and you need to respect my decision.”

  She calmed herself and continued,”I think it best if we keep our relationship strictly platonic. It will not happen again.”