by G J Ogden
“Kurren,” said Ethan, stress evident in his voice. “The door… it hasn’t opened. What do I…”
“Stay calm, it’s not a problem,” the commlink crackled, cutting Ethan off. “Just grab the edge of the door and force it, just as you would normally. The suit will give you the strength to open it.”
Ethan took several deep breaths and grabbed the edge of the door with his gloved left hand. Then with all his physical strength, he pulled back, and the door slowly slid open, grinding against the frame and causing it to buckle slightly. Kurren was right about the suit augmenting his strength. Words and symbols flashed up in his visor as he continue to push the door back, accompanied by a pulsing low tone.
“Easy, Ethan, easy!” said Kurren urgently. “We want you to open the door, not tear the ship in two!”
Ethan let go of the door, and the symbols slowly started to disappear, followed shortly after by the pulsing tone. “Is everything okay?” asked Ethan, worried that he’d caused some serious damage. There was a momentary silence, which felt like an eternity.
“Yes, integrity checks out okay. Just, take it easy, huh?” said the voice of the anonymous mission specialist.
“Ethan, head into the cockpit and insert the spike. Then we can get you out of there.” It was Kurren again. His steady and assured delivery, in contrast to the other man, actually made Ethan feel better. He walked through the doorway and into the cockpit. It looked identical to the simulations. He moved over to the left seat, the pilot’s seat, and found to his horror the corpse of the pilot still strapped into it. His pulse and breathing spiked, causing a concerned mission specialist to check if he was okay.
“You could have warned me there would be bodies in here!” Ethan shouted angrily into the commlink.
“We didn’t want to warn you in case it played on your mind and affected the mission.” It was Kurren speaking, sounding wholly unsympathetic and almost annoyed.
“Well, it’s playing on my mind now!” Ethan replied, irritated by Kurren’s casual dismissal.
“Just focus on the mission,” Kurren replied a moment later. “Ignore the body and insert the spike.”
Ethan studied the console, looking for the port where the spike needed to be inserted. It was exactly where it was supposed to be, surrounded by two red circles. He moved closer, trying his best not to look at the corpse beside him, and positioned the spike over the port.
“I’m going to insert the spike in three…two…one… inserting,” he said into the commlink, and then without waiting for a reply, he pushed the spike in, and turned it ninety degrees left, just as in the simulator. Then he waited. The commlink crackled in the background, but no-one spoke. After a tense few seconds the console lit up, and a few more seconds later there was a deep throbbing sound that resonated through the floor, vibrating through every inch of his suit. Lights came on in the cockpit, and then as Ethan turned to look down the length of the vessel, more lights pulsed on. The relic was coming back to life.
“It’s working,” said Kurren over the commlink, and Ethan detected some uncharacteristic excitement in his voice.
“I am receiving telemetry. I should have control in three minutes,” said the other man, more calmly this time.
Ethan could feel his body loosen. It was at this point that the simulation started coming to an end, and Kurren would tell Ethan that all he needed to do now was sit back and wait for them to bring him and the ship back to the base. In the simulation this gave him no comfort, as it wasn’t real, but this time they would have whatever equipment they needed to create their medicines to heal Maria, and everyone else. This time it mattered. Ethan moved back into the main body of the ship and looked around as he waited. He observed that various items of detritus that had been floating weightlessly in the cabin were now resting on the deck. He lifted his feet, one then the other, like some strange dance, and noticed that the sudden, tell-tale pull of magnetism as his boot approached the decking had gone. Gravity was being restored, and soon he would be on his way.
The commlink crackled in the background. He could hear voices and the strange artificial sounds that emanated from the many devices the UEC relied on. The voice grew louder and faster, but still not clear enough to hear. Ethan thought nothing of it, and just stared out at the planet, spinning silently in front of him, trying to keep his mind off the dead body, which had now slumped forward against the restraints that had bound it to the chair for over a century. Would he go back, he wondered? With or without Maria, would he go back to the planet? Would they even be able to send him back? Would Summer forgive him? The sounds and voices grew louder and more urgent, and reclaimed Ethan’s attention.
“Is everything okay?” Ethan said into the commlink, but there was no answer. He tried again; “Hey, Kurren, what’s going on?” but there was still no reply. The lack of response was starting to worry him. He looked around the ship for any dangers, such as a fire, but there was nothing obvious. So he looked out again at the spinning ball of blue and the darkness surrounding it, and this time there was something else there. Advancing directly towards the ship was a shape, now cleanly silhouetted against the vibrant backdrop of the planet, and it was growing larger.
“Ethan, get out of the ship, get out now!” It was Kurren, and for the first time since Ethan has met the man, his voice lacked composure.
“What? How? Why?” Ethan said, startled and confused.
“No questions. Go back to the hatch and jump out. Do it now!” Kurren shouted, his voice distorting uncomfortably through the commlink.
“Jump out? Are you mad?!” exclaimed Ethan, now feeling terror start to grip him.
“Just do it. We’ll retrieve you. Go now, now, now!”
Ethan maneuvered his suit towards the door of the cockpit as fast as he could. Glancing back, he saw the object pass over the top of the cockpit, so close that he could feel it. It was another spacecraft, much smaller than any of the vessels he’d seen so far, perhaps only big enough for one person.
He ran as fast as he could in the bulky suit, back down the central walkway of the ship and towards the hatchway. He was almost there when the starlight outside the hatch vanished. The entire vessel shook and jolted to one side, knocking Ethan to the floor. He tried to recover, but fell again. He had trained for the possibility of falling prone and having to recover, but faced with this unknown threat, Ethan was panicking and struggled to recall what to do. Instead, he simply flailed around on his back, unable to right himself, like an overturned cockroach. Two more jolts pulsed through the structure of the ship, and then the training finally kicked in. He managed to turn over and bring the legs of the suit up underneath him, before hoisting himself upright, breathing heavily from the exertion. He span around towards the hatch, but standing directly in front of him outlined by an array of dazzling lights was another suited figure.
“Who… who are you?” Ethan spluttered. The figure reached out and touched his suit and Ethan felt a shock run through his body, from head to toe. He tried to scream, but was paralyzed. As the pulsing stopped, he felt the weight of the suit drag him down as it lost power, and he hit the deck hard. The suited figure stepped over him and looked down. He could not see a face behind the glass, only a rim of lights surrounding the visor, leaving a dark, empty center. The suited figure looked up again, stepped over Ethan and moved swiftly down the walkway towards the cockpit. Red lights and symbols began to flash up in Ethan’s visor. He felt dizzy and weak and was unable to move. He tried to call out to Kurren and the mission specialist, but the commlink was dead. Powerful vibrations again surged through the framework of the ship, shaking Ethan’s bones, and the lights inside the vessel grew brighter. He heard a mechanical whirr and then felt a solid thud reverberate through the decking. The hatch door had closed, with him still inside.
The commlink crackled and fizzed back into life, but the voices and artificial sounds were gone. The words ‘Power Levels Critical. Emergency Life Preservation Initialized’ were spoken by a robot
ic-sounding voice, the same voice that had announced the launch warnings in the hanger pod on the planet. He felt a stabbing pain in his neck from a needle and the tell-tale hiss of something being injected into his bloodstream. His vision started to darken and his mind fogged over. He felt movement, not from his suit, but from the inertia of the great vessel surging forward. He tried again to move his neck and arms, but could not. The red lights continued to flash hypnotically in front of him as he stared blankly ahead, drifting in and out of consciousness.
After more than a century hanging in the cold, darkness of space, the arrow-shaped craft now surged forwards, cutting a path through the debris that had surrounded it for generations, breaking free from its graveyard and on through the void towards an object that was still invisible in the distance. An object as old as the ship itself – the orbiting space station belonging to Global Power Security.
Chapter 23
Ethan opened his eyes. His temples pulsed and his head felt woolly and sore. He was still wearing the UEC flight suit he’d been given before embarking on the mission, and was sitting, slightly reclined, in a large, black chair with a padded headrest, in a small, gray room, with just a strip light above. Everything about the room felt unfamiliar and Ethan felt fear start to overwhelm him as he realized he was not on the UEC moon base. This was somewhere else.
His heart began to race and adrenalin surged through his body. He remembered the mission, the intruder, and being attacked. He jolted himself upright and then froze. In front of him was a tall, thin woman with dark red hair that fell arrow-straight to shoulder level. Her thin red lips were pressed into a patient smile. She was middle-aged and dressed in a formal-looking, plain gray suit that neither flattered nor obscured her figure. She stood with her hands held together in front of her, displaying a calm serenity that was the exact opposite of Ethan’s near overwhelming anxiety.
“Hello,” she said. Her tone was warm and casual.
Ethan could hear the blood pounding in his ears. “Hello,” he replied nervously, after a short pause.
“You must be tired of waking up in strange places and being confronted by strange new people,” she said, and her smile widened. Her delivery was sociable, as if she was talking to someone she already knew.
“I suppose I’m getting used to it,” replied Ethan, honestly, heart still racing, but no longer gripped with panic. The woman did not seem a threat. He looked around again; there was no-one else in the room. He wasn’t restrained, and other than the throbbing headache, he didn’t appear to be injured. There was a door to his left, closer to him than it was to the woman, and Ethan considered making a run for it.
“There is nothing to stop you leaving, if that’s what you’re thinking,” said the woman openly.
This caught Ethan off guard. “Erm, I wasn’t, I was just…”
“It’s okay,” said the woman. “In such a situation, my first reaction would be fight or flight too. I’m just glad you’re tending more towards the ‘flight’ option.”
Ethan almost laughed at the joke, but despite the woman’s attempts to make him feel at ease, he was still far from it. “Running would be pretty pointless,” he said. “I don’t even know where I am.”
“You’re on a habitat orbiting the planet,” the woman replied without hesitation. “Long ago, it was the headquarters of Global Power Security, which you have no doubt heard of.” Curiously, it wasn’t phrased as a question, and so Ethan chose not to answer. “You are in no danger here, young planetsider, so please, relax and regain your strength.”
Ethan looked at her intently. She had remained entirely still, in the same position, smiling warmly at him. He was reminded of Archer, but there was something different about this woman’s smile, something more earnest. He began to feel more in control, and as the instinctive fear response subsided, it was replaced with a confidence, and anger. “Who are you? And why am I here? How am I here?” demanded Ethan. As he heard the words in his own ears, he was surprised at how forceful and composed he sounded. Despite the woman’s reassurances, he still felt under threat.
“My name is Diana,” the woman said. “You are here because circumstances unfortunately compelled us to act, in order to prevent you from retrieving the stranded vessel for the UEC. You arrived here on that same ship, which was recovered by one of our pilots. It was a regrettable last resort, I’m very sorry to say.”
“A last resort, what does that mean?” wondered Ethan.
“Ah...” said Diana, somberly. “To answer that question will require a little more explanation. But please, this is not an interrogation; let’s leave. We can walk and talk, okay?”
Ethan studied her face. The thin smile and high cheeks, framed by the straight red hair were certainly striking. And then he noticed her green eyes. Piercing, intelligent, sincere eyes. For some reason, this woman engendered trust, more so than anyone he had ever met, even Maria. Then he suddenly remembered Maria. He tensed up, like a coiled snake.
“I need to get back!” he said, urgently. “A friend… she’s hurt and in danger!”
He sprang to his feet and advanced quickly at the woman. Diana uncoupled her hands and stepped back a pace or two as he approached, but she remained composed and did not attempt to fend him off, or even appear frightened, even when Ethan grabbed her by the shoulders.
“They need something from that ship to cure her!” Ethan blurted out. He held her tightly. “That’s all I wanted. Keep the ship, I don’t care, but please send me back with the equipment they need. She will die!”
“It’s okay,” said Diana in a soft, hushing tone. She took Ethan’s hands, removed them from her shoulders and then held them firmly together with hers. She looked calmly and reassuringly into Ethan’s eyes. “Don’t worry about your friend, she will be fine,” she said, sounding sincere and also assured, as if the question of Maria’s safety was something she knew as fact. Ethan still looked desperately at her, and tried to plead, but she did not let him interrupt. “I know you have no reason to trust me,” continued Diana. “But, in time, hopefully I will earn that trust. For now, I promise you, on my honor – on my own life – that your friend is not going to die.”
“But, how can you know…” urged Ethan, frustrated by the cryptic response.
“I promise I will explain everything,” Diana interrupted again. “But, please, understand this… You are not a prisoner here, and I wish no harm to you, or anyone else, including your friend, despite her recent actions.”
Ethan let go of her hands and stepped back. He looked over at the door again. “I don’t think you’re lying to me,” he said, “but I can’t risk that you might be. I need to get back.” He looked over at the door again.
“If you want to leave, I won’t stop you,” said Diana. “I will even make sure you get back to the UEC base, if you so wish. But at least give me a chance to explain why we captured the ship. So far, you only have one side of the story.”
“I don’t have time!” said Ethan. “She has only a few days to live, at most.”
Diana thought for a moment, and then tried another tactic. “How long did their doctors give her exactly?”
Ethan threw up his hands. “I don’t know!” he said, exasperated. “They told me seventy-two hours, but I don’t know how long ago that was.”
Diana turned around and walked over to a worn metal cabinet that had been obscured from Ethan’s view up until now. On it was a device, which he recognized. Kurren had strapped it to his arm before he put on the EV suit. “This is your PVSM,” said Diana. “A personal vital signs monitor.” She threw it over to Ethan and he caught it. On the display was a screen, with a number that was steadily increasing. It read 21:03:02. “Just over twenty-one hours,” said Diana. “That’s how long since your mission started.”
“But I spent some time training too, I don’t know how long,” Ethan replied, trying to work out exactly when the timer had started. “It felt like days, though I know it wasn’t that long really, but it was certainly ho
urs.”
Diana nodded. “Then give me just twenty-four hours,” she said. “Twenty-four hours here, as my guest, and if you still want to leave, I will personally make sure you get back long before your seventy-two hours is up.”
Ethan considered this. “With the equipment?” he asked. “The medical device they need?”
“There is no need for any equipment,” said Diana, but before Ethan could question why, she added, “But yes, you can take anything you want from the ship.”
Diana had piqued Ethan’s curiosity. She was not threatening, and had given him no reason to distrust her, besides having someone violently abduct him. Yet, there was something about her that felt real. Something that made him want to find out more. “Okay,” he said, “twenty-four hours, and no more.”
“Thank you,” said Diana, sincerely. There was relief, also. “I say again, you are not a prisoner,” continued Diana, “so I want you to know that during your time here, there is nowhere that is off-limits.” There was heavy emphasis on ‘nowhere’. Ethan recalled how Maria had evaded the question about off-limits areas on the moon base, and he realized this was not a random statement. But if it was deliberate then why?
“I don’t trust you,” said Ethan, plainly.
“You have no reason to trust me, not yet,” Diana replied, still calm and composed.
“No, not because we’ve just met,” said Ethan, pressing the point. “Or because you abducted me and brought me here against my will...” he added pointedly, which caused Diana to raise an eyebrow. “But because you know more than you’re letting on. The mention of ‘off-limits’ areas, for example.” It was a gamble to press Diana so soon, but Ethan was fed up with playing cloak-and-dagger games. He wanted to see if he could find any chink in her intellectual armor.
