by Ralph Prince
“Now you’re having doubts?” Will asked as the last Tant fell just meters away. “Where were they when I was trying to talk you out of this?”
“I should have listened,” she admitted, recalling the dozens of Tants they had left unconscious in their wake. “I’m sorry I got you into this.”
“To tell the truth,” he confessed, “I didn’t think we would make it this far. We might even pull this rescue off. I’m going to have to program this scenario into my game; Invasion Z has nothing like—”
“Look out!” Jackie cried as another of the hallway’s many doors opened, and three of the creatures emerged. Firing skillfully, she downed all three in rapid succession. “This isn’t a game,” she scolded, warily awaiting further arrivals. “Stay alert.”
“Wait,” Will said, placing his hand on her forearm and turning back toward the way they had come. “I thought I heard something back there.”
Nearly twenty Tants sprawled about in the smoky hallway, which was dimly lit by flickering torches stuck into the walls. Even the light amplification properties of their goggles were limited by the haze. At the far end, a large shadow moved slowly toward them. Will raised his blaster and took careful aim as it approached.
“Jackie, Will,” a voice called. It was Karen’s voice.
“Karen,” Will called back, rushing toward her with Jackie and Victor close behind.
As they neared, they saw Karen with her arm around Don, supporting him as they walked. He looked up weakly.
“Don!” Jackie exclaimed as she saw his face. Sweat poured from his pain-contorted features. “What happened?”
“He was stabbed by a Tant,” Karen explained, as Will moved to the captain’s side to assist her. “He’s hurt bad.”
“I’m fine,” Don protested weakly, nearly falling as his weight was shifted to Will’s shoulder.
“You’re not fine,” Jackie disputed sharply. “Set him down so I can get a look at him.”
“Gladly,” Will said, as he and Karen lowered him to the floor. “He’s heavy. How did you carry him by yourself?”
Kneeling over him, Jackie removed her goggles and pulled aside the sticky fabric of his flight suit and examined the wound with the medical scanner strapped to her forearm, while Karen looked on fearfully.
“Damn!” she said, looking toward Karen. “It’s deep, and there’s probably a lot of internal damage. The bleeding has to be stopped.”
“Can’t you use the stuff you used on Stanton?” Will asked.
Victor stared at the captain’s wound in wide-eyed silence.
“I used most of it on Stanton; I don’t have enough left to seal a wound this severe,” she said. “I need something else to slow the bleeding,” she continued, looking for anything she could use. She spotted the torn shoulder of Karen’s flight suit. “Karen, I need your sleeve.”
Tearing it the rest of the way off without question, Karen handed Jackie the length of material.
“Before there were laser cauterizers or quick-seal gel,” she explained, rolling the sleeve into a small bundle and pressing it into the wound, “they used to apply pressure to prevent blood flow. I’m not sure it will work in this case, but I can’t perform surgery here. I’ll have to treat the wound for infection later.”
After fashioning a crude bandage from the piece of garment and Don’s belt, Jackie looked helplessly at the other three.
“The bleeding is slowing, but I can’t do anything more for him here,” she said. “Unless we can get him back to the ship soon, I don’t think he’s going to make it.”
“I’ll call Iva,” Will said, tapping the temple of his goggles. “Oops. I forgot; we used the communicators to get past the Tants.”
“As much as I hate to move him in this condition,” Jackie said sullenly, “we have no choice. Will, you and Karen help him, I’ll watch out for Tants.”
With Jackie in the lead, they cautiously made their way to the stairway and began their descent amid the stunned bodies of their foes. Victor continued wordlessly following at Jackie’s heels, as though they were in no danger.
“We can’t keep this up much longer,” Will said after descending several flights of stairs. “He’s too heavy.”
“I’m fine,” Don insisted weakly. He was on the verge of unconsciousness.
“We’ll rest,” Jackie decided, not caring much for the idea of stopping on the stairs. The enemy would be almost upon them before they could get a straight line of fire.
As they rested, they heard rapidly approaching footsteps from below. The first Tant rounded the corner, and was immediately gunned down by Jackie, falling back into the arms of its two companions. After two more swift shots, the Tants no longer posed a threat.
“We had better get moving,” she urged, making a quick inspection of the captain. His labored breathing was encouraging only in that it verified he was still alive. “Those blasts will attract everything in the area.”
Pressing ever downward, with an ever-increasing number of encounters, the party finally reached the ground level. Though uninjured, apart from the commander, they were weary, and doubtful they would make it much further.
They emerged from the structure just as the first light of day touched the parched surface of the ruined city streets. A short distance away, the Tants who had been stunned by the hypersonic signal were beginning to stir.
“Oh, swell,” Will moaned. “So much for recovering the communicators. We’ll never get the captain to the ship now.”
A series of loud howls sounded from above them. Looking upward, they saw a Tant leaning out one of the building’s windows, pointing toward them.
“Hurry,” Jackie said, firing a shot toward the creature. It ducked back inside as the blast impacted next to the opening.
Fleeing as fast as their burden and the broken terrain beneath their feet would allow, they could hear an uprising of shouts, shrieks, and howls closing in behind them. Casting a quick glance back, Jackie saw a large number of the creatures in pursuit.
Will and Karen were near the point of exhaustion, but stopping would mean certain death for them all. Jackie aided them as best she could between firing random shots into the advancing Tants.
“We’re not going to make it,” Will said as he stumbled, losing his grip on the captain.
“Donald!” Karen cried, dropping to her knees beside him and trying to lift him by herself. “Get up! Please, Donald!”
“Leave me,” he moaned, his unfocused eyes blinking in the brilliant sun. “Save yourselves.”
“No,” Karen pleaded, caressing his pale, sweat beaded face. “I won’t leave you. I love you.”
“Sorry captain,” Will said, grabbing his commander’s arm and hefting him to his feet once again. The weight almost caused his knees to buckle. “But we’ve come too far to leave you now.”
Jackie fired several more shots into the closing ranks of howling Tants, dropping a few, but having no substantial effect. There were too many of them, and not enough time.
“Forget it, Will,” Jackie said, lowering the weapon. The weight of despair fell heavily upon her, crushing all thought of success. “It’s hopeless. Nothing short of a miracle can save us now.”
CHAPTER 13: Saved
Karen knelt, holding Don’s head to her bosom. Tears streamed from her eyes, falling softly into his sweat matted hair. Her low sobs were lost in the war cries of hundreds of battle-crazed Tants.
Jackie and Will regarded each other in silent regret over losing what might have been. They each had felt something toward the other, but would never have time to explore those feelings.
Victor seemed oblivious to the advancing Tants. He sat on the ground, watching the other four humans as though nothing out of the ordinary were happening. Perhaps it was his autism that prevented him from realizing the atrocities about to unfold, or perhaps it was the strength the captain had sensed in him.
“Will,” Jackie said softly, her voice trembling. “I don’t want to die like this.”
Will watched in horror as she reset the intensity of her photon blaster to full power.
“No, Jackie,” he said, placing his hand over hers. His eyes spoke volumes his voice never could.
“I have to, Will,” she said, gazing toward Don and Karen. “Don would want it this way.”
“There must be some other way,” he pleaded, unable to fathom what it could be. The expression in her eyes stilled his tongue; she was right. Silently, he nodded in agreement.
The Tants were nearly upon them as Jackie leveled her blaster at the captain and Karen, reaching deep within herself for the strength to pull the trigger. She couldn’t find it. She was a healer, not a killer. Her resolve weakened and she began to falter, when Don’s eyes opened and met hers. They held no fear, but seemed oddly tranquil in the face of certain death. He nodded in assurance; giving her the fortitude to do what she knew must be done. Drawing a deep breath, her finger tensed on the trigger, as tears welled in her eyes.
There was a flash of blue-white energy, accompanied by the surprised yelps of dozens of Tants. They began scattering in confusion, retreating toward the towers in fear. Jackie lowered the weapon with a sigh of relief as the Nova circled for another pass.
“Yahoo!” yelled Will as the second shot threw a shower of soil and debris into the air. “Give ’em hell, Iva.”
“Didn’t I tell you I would be all right?” Don asked weakly, reaching up and touching Karen lightly on the cheek. A feeble smile crossed his lips before he once again lapsed into unconsciousness.
Not a Tant was to be seen as the Nova settled softly into a level clearing not far away. Lifting the commander once again, the crew and the two Underdwellers rushed toward the open air lock.
“Glad to see you again,” Iva’s voice greeted them over the airlock speaker unit as they stepped aboard. “I had my doubts for a short time there.”
“Thanks for the assist,” Will said, waiting impatiently for the decontamination process to run its course. “If you hadn’t shown up when you did—”
“You would be dead,” Iva concluded for him. “Is the captain seriously injured? His vital signs seem substandard for a human.”
“Yes,” snapped Jackie, as the inner doors slid open. “Get him to his cabin. I’ll get a surgical kit and meet you there.”
Jackie ran ahead as Will and Karen carried the captain from the air lock. Victor did his best to keep out of the way.
Making Don as comfortable as possible, everyone stepped back as Jackie sat next to him on the bed and began removing tools from a large satchel.
“It would be better if the rest of you left,” she said, pulling open the front of the captain’s flight suit. “I don’t need help and I don’t want an audience. I’ll let you know how he is as soon as I can.”
“Come on, Karen,” Will urged, gently leading her toward the door. “He’ll be all right now. He has the best doctor on the ship.”
“Will he die?” Victor asked, drawing Jackie’s attention from the captain.
“I’m not sure,” she replied, as she began removing the crude bandage from the wound. “I’ll do what I can.”
Nodding, the boy joined Will and Karen at the doorway.
With minimal resistance, Karen followed Will’s lead from the room and to the bridge. Urging her to his chair, facing Iva’s control panel, the young lieutenant tried to find comforting words that would ease her mind; he failed.
“Don’t worry,” he said, trying to conceal his own concern. “The captain’s too stubborn to die. Besides, he would never leave you.”
“Dillon’s dead,” she said sadly, recalling once again the events leading to her brother’s demise. “He said he would never leave me. Now Donald’s going to die, and it’s my fault. He was trying to protect me when he was hurt.”
“He would have risked his life for any of us,” Will said, offering solace. He recalled Jackie saying the same thing of the commander. “You can’t blame yourself; that’s just the way he is. He has the most noble, self-sacrificing spirit I have ever known. In a way, I envy him.”
“He’s all I have now,” she sobbed softly. “I don’t know what I would do without him.”
“Karen,” said Iva, her synthesized voice displaying a quality of compassion that many humans were incapable of expressing, “It may be of great comfort to you to know that Captain Garris is capable of surviving much that would kill a normal man. I’m certain he will pull through.”
“Even if he doesn’t,” Will added, feeling it was best not to raise her hopes too high, “you still have all of us.”
“Thank you, Will,” she said, pulling Victor up into her lap. “Thank you everyone. I’m just so worried about Donald.”
“Put your mind at ease,” Iva said soothingly. “Lieutenant Monet is highly skilled, and the ship is well stocked with medical supplies. Don is in capable hands. Besides, he is well constructed for a human.”
“Well constructed?” Will grimaced. “You make it sound as though he were built in a laboratory.” His mind conjured images of something Jackie had said about the scientist who created life by reanimating dead tissue. Was it possible the Dr. Frankenstein she had spoken of was successful, and the captain was the result of his experiments?
“He was,” Karen said, recalling what Donald had told her in the Tant’s tower. She had no inkling of what a laboratory was. “He called it genetic manipulation.”
“Karen is correct to an extent,” Iva affirmed. “The captain is a top-secret military project. I don’t see how it could hurt to tell you now, as Don has apparently already told Karen.”
“The acronym,” Will realized, somewhat relieved that the man he had come to respect wasn’t a lump of reanimated flesh. “Genetically Altered—”
“Not quite,” Iva interrupted. “He is a Genetically Augmented Recombinant Reactionary Isomorphic Soldier; or simply, a G.A.R.R.I.S. Before genetic patching was fully developed, he was part of the Zarathustra Project. Several of his kind were created in a laboratory from a specialized selection of chromosome patterns, and were gestated in chemically balanced artificial wombs. Of the twenty-nine that came to fruition, he is the last survivor. He is quite unique among humans, just as I am unique among life forms. We have much in common.”
“I just hope he’s all right,” Karen said, casting a glance toward the hallway, as if expecting him to enter.
“We all feel that way,” assured Will.
“Perhaps if we were to continue your reading lesson,” Iva offered, “it would help take your mind off the captain.”
“Yes,” Will agreed, hoping it would relieve her distress. “That sounds like a great idea.”
“No,” Karen declined, gazing down at the now sleeping Victor. “I’m kind of tired, and would like to lay down for a while.”
“Sure,” Will said, realizing how tired she must be after her trying ordeal with the Tants. He, himself was near the point of collapse. “You can sleep in my cabin,” he continued. “There are extra beds. You and Victor make yourselves at home.”
“Thanks again, Will,” she said, lifting the child and carrying him from the bridge.
As she passed from sight, Will heard a low sob, which wrenched at his heart. It pained him deeply to see someone who, despite her background, had been so full of joy, suffering as she was.
CHAPTER 14: Growth and Evolution
Jackie wearily made her way toward the bridge. Her hours of tending to the captain, on top of two virtually sleepless nights and the escapades of the entire previous week, had left her physically and emotionally depleted. There was, however, one more task to perform before there would be any hope of sleep.
She saw no sign of Karen on the bridge, but Will dozed peacefully at his station while Iva played soft, soothing music. She regretted having to wake him, but she knew he would want to hear what she had to say.
“Will,” she called softly, causing him to stir and mumble. “Wake up. It’s me, Jackie.”
“Jackie,” he yawned
, as he looked sleepily up at her. “I had the strangest dream. Maybe it wasn’t a dream. Do you remember anything about dancing girls?”
“No,” she replied, her voice devoid of emotion.
“Then it must have been a dream,” he said, leaning forward and shaking the sleepiness from his head. “How’s the captain?”
“Not good,” she answered, rubbing her tired eyes. “I’ve done all I can for him. The wound was deep and jagged; there is a lot of internal damage. It’s a miracle he even survived the trip to the ship in his condition.”
“You mean he’s going to…” he choked on the words and was unable to finish.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, grasping his hand in search of comfort. “I patched the wounds, and injected him with as much bio-mend as I safely could. It’s just too early to tell. It seems to be keeping him stable, but it isn’t repairing the damage. Unless there’s some change soon, the best we can hope for is to keep him alive until we run out of bio-mend.”
“Damn!” he exclaimed, slamming his fist on the arm of the chair. “This is going to crush Karen.”
“It would seem,” Iva said, “I was premature in telling Karen he would be all right. I fear I may have done more harm than good.”
“Where is she,” Jackie asked. “I’ve been trying to find a way to break it to her, but there just isn’t a good way to do it.”
“I’ll do it,” Will volunteered. “She was tired, so I let her sleep in my cabin. There’s no sense in waking her for this. You get some rest, and when she wakes up, I’ll tell her.”
“Are you sure?” Jackie asked, somewhat relieved at not having to break the news to Karen. “You don’t have to.”
“You need the rest,” he said, gently squeezing her hand. “Everything is secure here. The power level is rising steadily, and all systems check out normal. We put enough of a scare into the Tants to keep them under control for a while, but Iva’s keeping an eye on them just in case. So far, they seem content to stay in their part of the city. Go get some sleep, you’ve earned it.”
