Mosar (Bright Horizons Book 3)

by Wilson Harp

  Right on time, Alex heard boots hit the ground behind him and start moving. A red dot showed up on his tactical heads up display, and then another as Hendricks joined them at the bottom.

  Alex scanned the immediate area. It was a desolate and completely ruined city. The main structure of the buildings looked solid, though. A dark shadow moved along the ground at some distance.

  The dots of his men were forming up behind him as he looked at the shadow. He couldn’t see a light source that would create it or the object that was casting it.

  ||Look || Peterson texted.

  Alex turned and saw where his man pointed at the building. A small shadow drifted down the side. But it was odd, as if the shadow was hovering off the wall.

  ||Mosar?|| Fuller texted.

  Alex knew that’s what it was. Mosar had taken physical form as Jii had warned them. He motioned his men to be on alert as they waited for the rest of the team to exit the ship.

  When Jii finally descended, Alex had already seen over a dozen shadows moving around them.

  ||Which way?|| Alex texted.

  Jii looked around. A green path appeared on the ground. Not really on the ground, Alex knew, but Jii had set a plotted course and the helmet projected the path onto the visor.

  Alex took point with Fuller and Hendricks behind him. The shadows seemed to meander. Not quite random, but with no purpose Alex saw. He didn’t think they were going to work, or needed to run out to the store to get something, so he was confused as why they moved at all.

  Above him a large cloud moved, blocking light from the stars. Without any light on the surface of the planet, the stars and a crescent shape of one of Oracos’ moons cast a bright light which created a blue shimmer. The visors amplified the light and he felt like he was walking in the bright sunlight of Earth.

  The small band of soldiers escorted Jii down a broad street. Alleys and small walkways branched off at regular intervals, and larger streets could be seen ahead. Here and there, small shadows moved quickly. The largest shadows crawled along. Alex decided the rate of their movement must be tied to their size. A cloud moved across the stars again. Alex glanced up for a second before setting his eyes back on the ground. Then he stopped and looked up at the cloud again. It was a shadow, and this one searched for something. Alex knew it somehow.

  ||Gunny|| McNeill texted.

  Alex looked back at his men. Several shadows were following them. They wavered back and forth near the last few soldiers.

  ||Hold|| Alex texted.

  The men stopped. Alex thought maybe the shadows were attracted by their movement. Mosar couldn’t sense them through the suits, but they might have sensed the action or even the sound of their boots.

  One of the small shadows moved across Ford. Alex hoped the man held still. Everyone remained frozen as the shadow crossed his visor, slid back down his body, and slithered away along the ground.

  Alex exhaled softly. He motioned the men to continue down the trail.

  A sharp scream pierced the air and Alex whirled back to see Ford on the ground. Three shadows were stabbing into his body, ripping through the protective suit. Two of the men near him raised their weapons to fire. Alex wanted to yell at them to stop, but he resisted the urge. Jii had made it very clear any excessive sound would alert mosar.

  But McNeill couldn’t resist.

  “Hold fire,” he yelled just as Travis and Risner fired their tilsocs at the shadows.

  The blasts from the weapons, drove the shadows away.

  Alex saw two larger shadows dart over to the small group. He wasn’t sure if they should freeze or run for it. Hesitation cost lives, but both options were perilous. Jii stood perfectly still, though, and Alex did likewise.

  Two of the men, however stepped aside as the shadows approached. The two larger shadows split apart into a dozen or more pieces. Several stabbed at both Travis and Risner, and several enveloped McNeill.

  The small group watched in horror as the four men were ripped to shreds by the physical manifestation of mosar.

  The two which stepped away were now being sniffed at by mosar. Alex had to do something, the mission would fall apart otherwise.

  ||At my signal, run|| he texted to his team.

  He saw Williams look at him and gently shake his head. Alex dipped his hand into the satchel at his waist and took hold of a grenade. He knew he had to get it 15 meters away to avoid any shrapnel. He spotted a large shadow down one of the alleys. He popped the pin and threw the grenade in a smooth overhand motion. Several nearby shadows moved toward him. He held still as they approached, and then took off at a dash as he heard the grenade explode down the alley.

  A piercing sound assailed him as he dashed down the street. The red dots of his team followed in his wake. Alex counted them. Six. The shadows were busy with the explosion.

  ||Full run|| Jii texted.

  Alex looked ahead and saw a large domed building at the end of the street. That was the lab Jii had described.

  ||Grenades?|| Williams texted.

  Alex answered by pulling another grenade from his satchel and throwing it down a side street as he ran. The explosion from his grenade was answered by several more explosions.

  ||Keep moving|| Alex said.

  A large shadow descended from the sky. Alex lifted his tilsoc and fired into the mass. The blasts from several other tilsocs joined his and the shadow split apart, its shattered pieces fled to distant holes and crevices around them. Alex heard grenade after grenade explode as the group made its way to the lab. Finally Alex crossed under a low stone entry way. Dense shadows filled the courtyard of the building and the entry ways seemed to be solid pools of mosar.

  Alex turned back to his men and saw shadows pouring toward them.

  ||Blast through|| Jii texted.

  Alex fired into the main doorway and the screams of mosar intensified. Behind him, his men fired into the approaching shadows. Sounds of grenades told Alex the battle was fierce and his men were likely losing ground. One red dot disappeared as the shadows in the front entryway cleared.

  Jii dashed by him and into the doorway. Alex followed right behind. He swiveled his head back and forth ready to blast any shadows he saw move.

  Jii opened a panel on the wall, plugged something into it, and pointed out the doorway.

  Alex turned and saw a soft green glow filled the courtyard. Three of his men still stood, but one lay sprawled on the ground.

  ||We must continue on|| Jii texted.

  Alex motioned his remaining three men up to the building. He watched as the shadows seemed to shy back from the green glow as they approached it. Alex leaned out and looked above him. Some of the huge shadows which patrolled the sky hovered above the large structure. Whatever Jii had done had created a dome of protection around the building.

  Williams was the last to come through the door. Alex knew the other men well, and he was pierced to lose any of them, but when he saw Williams he felt some relief. Alex knew if he fell, Williams would be the one to bring back as many of the team as possible.

  ||Ramirez|| Jii texted. ||Assemble your team in the inner structure||

  Alex motioned his men to follow Jii. They worked their way toward the center of the large building. Crumbled edifices of great size and intricate design lay strewn across the large rooms along with more mundane pieces of what must have been the common furnishings of the Otina. Most was rotted and tattered, but Alex could imagine what a majestic place this must have been many millennia before.

  Jii led them into the center of the building. Alex saw a massive door blocking their progress. He was worried about any mosar, but he thought maybe the green haze which permeated everything must have destroyed any mosar it touched. He was again grateful for his suit, as contact with the haze would likely kill anyone infected.

  Jii approached the door and found a panel on the wall. He plugged in a device, like he had at the entrance, and the door opened. Not all the way, but enough for them to walk through without rub
bing against the sides. Alex motioned his men to follow Jii. He checked behind them to make sure they wouldn’t be surprised as they went through the narrow passage.

  Once he saw all of the red dots stop, he turned and entered the lab itself. Alex was a little disappointed. It seemed somewhat similar to any modern lab on Earth. Workstations along the walls with cabinets probably filled with mundane equipment. Tables large enough for an Iltia’cor to lay comfortably were scattered through the room and long dormant equipment lay under thick layers of dust.

  But the other men stared at the center of the room. Jii was working on a console before a set of massive windows. Beyond the glass was what appeared to be a large sunken room. Almost a pit. There were layers of concentric circles which narrowed until it reached bottom. There was what looked to be a platform at the bottom with enough room for maybe one large man to stand.

  The lights in the room started to come on. Layer by layer, the room lit up, until the soft glow under the floor added its light to the chamber.

  ||What is this?|| Fuller texted.

  ||The heart of my work|| replied Jii. ||The place of salvation for the galaxy||

  The console hummed to life and the windows were covered with technical readouts. There were monitors, energy level readouts, numbers changing at a steady rate, and more data than Alex thought he would ever be able to read, much less understand.

  Williams stood and looked at each panel carefully. It was clear he was not only fascinated by the data, but he knew what he was looking at.

  ||This is the crystal|| Jii texted. He placed what looked to be a three inch long glass rod into a slot on the console.

  ||I’ll make sure it is safe|| Williams replied.

  Jii nodded and headed toward the door which led into the pit. He activated a few buttons and a loud hiss erupted from the central room.

  ||Clear|| Williams texted after a few seconds.

  Jii opened the door and stepped in. Alex saw it was a very small enclosure with another door directly across. The door to the main lab shut, and there was another loud hiss.

  ||Clear|| Williams texted again.

  The door into the pit opened and Jii stepped onto the edge of the top platform. The section in front of him changed as stairs appeared. Jii reached up and took his helmet off.

  “Doctor Williams. Security team. I wish to thank you for risking so much to get me to this place. In a few minutes we will have our victory over mosar. You should feel blessed that you are able to be here to witness this grand event. Today, for the first time in thousands of years, I will breathe free again. I will never need worry about mosar taking me.”

  Jii stripped off his suit as he talked. When he had finished removing the protective clothing, he stepped down the stairs with the regal air of a king approaching his own coronation. Alex and his men stood near the windows and watched the Otina step on the bottom platform. The light intensified and a low hum started inside the chamber.

  Williams moved back and forth. He watched the figures displayed on the windows with an eager intent. Alex wondered if Williams even noticed the beatific smile on Jii’s face.

  Jii lifted his arms in triumph and let out a hearty laugh.

  The hum grew louder and the pale blue light continued to intensify. Jii’s skin seemed to droop less, his eyes twinkled, he reached higher and higher with his hands.

  And then there was a flash.

  Alex blinked as his eyes were assailed by the bright burst. Jii was gone. He wasn’t in the room.

  “Oh God,” Peterson said.

  Alex was so stunned he didn’t even care that the orders of silence were broken.

  ||Alex, I have to go in there|| Williams texted.

  ||Okay, but I don’t know if you’ll find anything|| Alex responded.

  Williams pressed several buttons on the main console. He looked over the data and seemed to mouth several sets of numbers like he did when he was deep into his work.

  Alex stared into the pit. There was nothing left of Jii. His suit sat at the top of the steps which led down to the center.

  Williams moved to the door, opened it, and stepped inside.

  ||I hope you know what you’re doing|| Alex texted.

  The door shut and there was a loud hiss. Williams opened the door into the pit and walked through. He looked down at Jii’s suit. Alex pulled up the schematic for their return to the ship. With the data crystal, they would at least be able to get Jii’s work into the hands of someone who might be able to understand it.

  “Doctor Williams!” cried Peterson.

  “No!” Fuller added to the cry.

  Alex looked up at the startled shouts. Williams had unfastened his helmet and was working it off.

  “Carl, don’t take that helmet off!” Alex said.

  Williams twisted and rolled his head. He smiled and breathed deep.

  “Sorry, Alex,” he said. “I have to test this.”

  “Get out of there, now!”

  Carl started taking off his suit. “This is what Jii and I agreed to, Alex. This has to be tested. He said there was a chance it wouldn’t work on an Otina because the most recent data came from mosar’s interactions with humans. So, if something happened, I needed to test it.”

  “We have the crystal, Williams. We can take it back and study it.”

  “If this works, we will have the solution. We can adjust it for other races once we have a successful trial.”

  “This isn’t a trial, this is your life!”

  “I know my duty, Alex. I know it. And you know yours. That crystal is everything. We have to get it back to the Inado. If we don’t, it doesn’t matter what happens, it will all have been in vain.”

  “I don’t… I don’t even know how to remove it from the console,” Alex said.

  Williams laughed. “Just pull it out. I’ll do it when I suit back up. Don’t worry, Alex. It will work. You just worry about us getting back to the ship.”

  Alex looked around at all of the displays. “What do I do?”

  “Nothing,” said Williams. “I’ve got it all set.”

  He walked down the stairs to the center of the pit.

  “Let’s kick mosar in the teeth,” he said and stepped onto the glowing blue floor.

  The light intensified as the low hum started. Carl held still but had a smile on his face. As the light increased, the smile grew larger. He looked relaxed and happy, completely opposite of how Alex felt.

  The light and hum intensified even more than with Jii. The hum was so loud the building seemed to shake.

  There was a burst of light and Alex’s eyes snapped shut.

  Chapter 20

  Alex stared into the test chamber. His friend was gone. Just like that, one of the finest men Alex had ever known was gone.

  “What do we do, Gunny?” asked Fuller.

  “Back to the ship,” said Alex. “We have the data. We need to get this back to Earth.”

  Alex pulled the data crystal from the control board and put it into a pocket on his suit. He turned to make sure both Peterson and Fuller looked at him. “See this? This is the most important thing. If I fall, one of you has to get it to the ship. We will need this data.”

  “Why? We can’t beat mosar.” Peterson said.

  “You never win every battle, but can still win the war,” Alex said. “Now let’s move, I’ve lost enough men already.”

  The three marines left the central lab and entered the outer room. The shielding Jii had activated held back the hideous shapes mosar had adapted. Several shapes looked humanoid, but Alex couldn’t tell if it was just his imagination, or maybe it was the shell of those mosar had completely taken millennia before.

  “Which way, Gunny?”

  “That way,” Alex said. “Less than a mile in a straight shot. We can make it if we are quick.”

  “It will be like trying to swim in an ocean without getting wet,” Peterson said.

  “Just be fast and nimble. It can’t see that well, or at least not clearly. H
ow many grenades do you have left?”

  “I have three,” Fuller said.

  “Four here,” said Peterson.

  “I’m down to two,” Alex said.

  He looked around and saw Hendrick’s body. He reached into the dead man’s satchel and pulled out four more grenades. “I hope this will be enough, but let’s not be stingy with them.”

  “We should decoy over there,” Peterson said as he pointed to a far door. “Drop one out that way and draw them away.”

  Alex shook his head. “Won’t work. I don’t know how I know, but I do. I think that’s what mosar wants us to do, because it was my first thought as well.”

  “What then?”

  “I’ll throw one about twenty meters ahead and run toward it. Fuller, you drop one to the left. Peterson, go right. Stay on my heels.”

  Alex cradled his weapon in his left arm, pulled a grenade from his satchel and ran toward the doorway which led back to Earth. He threw the Grenade in a fast low arc and slung his weapon into position to fire in one fluid motion. Blasts from his rifle slammed into the closest shapes as the grenade exploded.

  Horrible waves of sound emanated from the injured figures of mosar, but Alex rushed by them. He was sure he could feel the residual effects of the grenade as he sprinted through the blast point, but whatever he felt wouldn’t slow him down.

  He heard his men right behind him as two more blasts ripped apart the shadows which had gathered to kill them. The two red dots followed him. He thought they might have a chance.

  Alex saw dark shapes moving in the air above them, he motioned to the left to a building with an overhang. The marines raced for cover and waited. Three large shapes slowly moved over where they had been. Two turned and went back towards the lab, and the other drifted out of view.

  || How far?|| Fuller texted.

  Alex signaled they were about a third of the way to the ship. More vestiges of mosar appeared from around another building and Alex knew they needed to keep moving. He motioned for his men to follow him and hugged the building at a quick, but smooth pace.