by Adair Hart
Evaran turned toward them as V flew into the room. “V, status?”
“They were led to a large creature. They did not survive.”
“Replay,” said Evaran, circling a finger in the air.
V projected a holographic display showing two men firing at a large shelled creature. The creature launched itself at one of the men, crushing him against the wall. It then lashed out with green tentacles through its shell, grabbing the other man. It pulled the man close and squeezed him until he went limp.
Evaran narrowed his eyes and interacted with his ARI. “A cepharus.” He tilted his head. “It would seem they were from Jerzan’s crew based on their gear, unless there is another pack of mercenaries on board we are unaware of.”
Jay faced Evaran and took a deep breath. “We’re not gonna make it, are we?”
Evaran looked at the ground with his lips turned down. He clenched his jaw in a circular motion before glancing at Jay. “I have failed Sanjay, but we will make it. I underestimated the mercenaries. That will not happen again.”
Jay shook his head and sighed. He turned and kicked the wall. “Fuck!”
Evaran sighed. “As unfortunate as that was, we still need to turn the engines on. Dr. Snowden?”
Dr. Snowden looked up at Evaran. His took off his glasses and wiped his puffy eyes. “I’m here.”
Emily looked up at Evaran. She sniffled and wiped her face. Her voice cracked. “I’m here too.”
Evaran nodded at them and interacted with his ARI. “V, display engine room layout.”
“Acknowledged.”
V projected a layout of the area they were in. It showed them as X’s in the main chamber. Hallways leading off to the right, left, and opposite end of the room were colored. They wound around several rooms and other hallways, ending in small rooms.
Evaran traced his finger along the colored hallway leading to the left. “I do not want to split us up, but for this, we will need to. Dr. Snowden, you and Emily will take this route. There will be signs on the wall leading to the control rooms. They are clearly marked, and there is also a colored line on the floor leading to them.” He traced the colored hallway leading to the right. “Jay, you and V will take the right one.” He traced the one on the opposite end of the room. “I will take this one.”
Jay guffawed. “Sanjay just got wasted, man! You don’t seem to really give a shit. Now you want to split up?”
Evaran pointed to the red beams in the center of the room. “Those red beams need to be disabled and shutting them down is a manual process. It requires at least three people per the Krotovore security protocol. I have already disabled all the security checks and door locks here, so we just need to get to the control rooms. If there was another way, we would be doing it. I cannot physically be in three places at the same time. I hate having to ask this of you, but there is no other choice. I do not like what happened to Sanjay, but we cannot change it, only try to prevent it from occurring again.”
Jay snorted. “Whatever, man.”
Dr. Snowden stood up. He crossed his arms while slightly bending forward. He agreed with Jay. He did not want to split up either. It seemed odd to him how Evaran expressed emotion, very constrained. Then again, he was an alien, so maybe it was different for him.
“V, display the unlocking panel,” said Evaran.
V projected a wall in the control room. It showed a panel cover with a screen above it. The screen had an image of three red dots in a triangle with a button in the middle with the word unlock in green on it. There was a status label under it, indicating locked.
“I have to turn it off in the main control room. When I do, the top dot will turn green. When it turns green, there is only a five-minute window to get both the others unlocked. To do that, press the button in the middle. The button will appear disabled, and the panel cover underneath it will slide back,” said Evaran.
V projected the sequence, showing the panel sliding back. A cylinder with a handle was embedded in the wall.
“The status will say pull. You will pull out the cylinder, turn it until the status on the screen says push, then push it back in. Once it is back in, the status will say ready and the button will be enabled with the word lock on it. Press the button. The panel will slide forward to close, and the red dot corresponding to your control room will turn green. When all three are green, the engines will fire,” said Evaran.
V projected the final steps.
“Everyone clear?”
Dr. Snowden’s eyes dulled and his shoulders slumped. He put out his hand toward Emily. “Sounds kinda simplistic for a ship this advanced.”
Evaran nodded. “You do not have to deal with the security checkpoints, automated scans backed by turrets, stun beams, shielded sections, biometric scans on the unlocking mechanism, or door locks. The manual process is just a backup in case the main automation system goes down. We are activating the secondary systems. Simple perhaps, but far from easy if the ship was not damaged.”
Dr. Snowden sighed and shook his head. “Doesn’t sound like we have a choice. C’mon, Emily.” She grabbed his hand and stood up.
“I will get to the main control room before you do. V will let me know when you get to yours, Jay. The time to get there should be about the same for you, Dr. Snowden. Remember to only begin the process once the top red dot is green. Okay, we meet back here once it is done. Good luck,” said Evaran.
Jay sighed. “Fine. C’mon, Blue Ball, let’s get this shit over with.”
“Acknowledged.”
Jay and V headed off to the right. Evaran walked to the opposite side of the room.
Dr. Snowden squeezed Emily’s shoulder as they walked over to the left hallway. He glanced around before they entered it. It had low lighting, and the mist seemed unusually heavy. After several minutes down the corridor, he paused at hearing the same noise from earlier. He cocked his head at Emily. “You hear that?”
Emily sniffled. “I don’t hear anything.”
He held out a hand toward Emily and stopped to listen intently. He made a few sidelong glances as he studied the sound around him. He narrowed his eyes as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. After a few moments, he exhaled sharply. “Something is trailing us.” He swallowed hard as they continued on. Whatever was making that sound was now behind them. Was it the group of small creatures Evaran mentioned?
A smattering of small footsteps echoed through the hallways. He turned and looked around again, but did not see anything. Whatever they were, they would not lay a finger on Emily, of that he was sure. It was probably some lost specimens or something. He turned back around, and they began walking down the hallway.
Dr. Snowden bent his neck back and forth trying to peer through the dimly lit hallway as they walked through it. He saw the signs on the walls with directions, but the colored line on the ground was hard to see due to the mist. The noises he heard earlier were now more distinct. It sounded like the footsteps of children intermixed with occasional banging against something. He estimated they were about a few bends away. A chill ran through him. He briefly turned while shielding his torso. He did not see anything. Were the nanobots malfunctioning? He clasped his hands together and rubbed them.
Emily walked in silence next to him. She swatted his arm, causing him to look at her. “Uncle Albert? Am I a bad person?”
He furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at her. “Why would you say that?”
Emily sighed and grimaced. “When others need compassion, I seem to fight them.”
Dr. Snowden pursed his lips. “Where’s this going?”
Emily’s chin quivered as she looked at him. “Sanjay died, and the last interaction I had with him I wasn’t nice. Same with Dad.”
He let out a measured breath. “Those are slightly different situations. You can’t control how other people are going to act. All you can do is be yourself in the moment.”
“If that’s true, then being myself is fighting others when I should be helping them,” said Emily
.
“Or that you are just headstrong,” said Dr. Snowden as he put his left arm around her and squeezed.
A chattering noise breached their discussion.
His heart skipped a beat. He scanned behind him and saw nothing. “We need to pick up the pace.”
They hustled down the various hallways and ramps and, after fifteen minutes, reached the control room. A console to the right of the door had various options, one of which was to open the door.
He pressed the open option, and the doors slid open.
They walked into the bare control room, and he pressed the close option on the inner console. A table stood in the middle surrounded by consoles lined up against the wall.
One thing that immediately stood out was that there were no loose items anywhere in the control room. Maybe that was an intentional design decision. Another possibility was that something looted the room clean. He walked up to the table and looked around for the locking panel. He found it on the wall to the left of the room’s entrance. The dot at the top was red, so he figured Evaran must not have started the process yet. Three slow knocks rang out from the door.
He froze as another three knocks rang out. Whatever it was, it was knocking, so it must have some semblance of intelligence. He walked up to the door and turned to Emily while pointing to the unlock panel. “Watch that panel.”
“What’re you gonna do?” asked Emily as she walked over to the unlock panel.
“I’m not—” he said as the door slipped open. He turned and saw a small red-skinned humanoid alien standing in the room’s entrance. He swallowed hard and jerked back. Emily gasped, her eyes wide.
The alien stood about three feet tall and had large black eyes, and its grayish hair stood upright in a frizzled pattern. The mouth was excessively large for the face. Dr. Snowden wondered why a small alien would need such a large mouth. The ears, eyes, and nose had bone-like piercings. It had on a chest piece that also looked like it was made of some type of bone. Below the chest piece was a belt with what appeared to be various other bone pieces held in place by leather strips. It reminded him of a pygmy headhunter. Maybe it was just as frightened as he was. He figured he would try to communicate with it.
“Uncle Albert! What’re those things?” said Emily.
He gulped. “I don’t know.” He approached the alien and placed his trembling left hand over his chest. “Hello. I am Dr. Snowden.”
The alien tilted its head at him and put its hand on its chest. Dr. Snowden waved his right hand in front of him, and the alien responded by waving its hand at him. This alien seemed to be sentient, as he had thought. Then he saw that there were two more behind it, gazing intently at him. Their big black eyes shined in the dim hallway. His chest tightened, and his fingers went cold. He pushed up his glasses. This did not seem right. Were they sizing him up? He would show them he was not a threat. He raised both hands up in front of him.
The aliens tilted their heads and then looked at each other. With a sharp, piercing cry, the first one turned around and lunged at him. It revealed it had a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. He sidestepped the charge. The first one slid to a stop. The second one rushed at him. He grabbed it by its hair when it was within range and slammed it against the wall. The first one jumped on the table behind him. He heard Emily scream. The third one rushed in. He ignored the third one and went for the first one. He grabbed it off the table and slung it at the second one, which was just getting up.
He glanced at the unlocking panels screen. It showed a green dot at the top. “Emily! Unlock it!”
Emily gritted her teeth and began the unlocking process.
He turned at the sound of bone scraping. A pain shot up his right leg as the third one he had ignored stabbed him. Adrenaline surged through him. His vision blurred as his face turned red. These things meant to kill. The third one faced Emily. He clenched his jaw. The third one swayed as it approached Emily. He snatched it by the hair with his right arm, pulling it back toward him. He reached around its neck with his left arm. He pulled hard to the right, snapping its neck. The smell of sweat and blood saturated the air. The first and second ones shrieked as they ganged up on him. He wheeled around and kicked the first one back down with his left leg. The second one dodged his kick and pulled out a bone knife. It positioned itself near his left leg. Stab! He howled as he fell to the ground.
“Uncle Albert! It’s set!” said Emily, trembling with wide eyes.
His breathing was ragged and his speech slurred. “Get out of the room!”
“I’m not leaving you!” shouted Emily.
He kicked out at the second one. It dodged him again. It raised its arm toward his right leg. Stab! He clenched his jaw and grunted as the bone knife lodged itself near the first wound. He tried to stand up using the table but fell back down. “Go!”
“No!” screamed Emily as she pushed the second alien away. She pulled the knife out of his right leg. The second one staggered back up. It rushed her. “No!” She stabbed it in the eye. The second one howled and fell back into the wall. The first one jumped at her. “Get away!” Tears ran down her face. She punched it midair, sending it sprawling. It hit the wall and slid down. It whimpered as it put both hands on its head. She grabbed Dr. Snowden by the arms. “C’mon!” She dragged him out of the room. She hit the close option on the console, and the doors slid shut. Thumping sounds emanated from the door. She helped him up and put her arm around him. They took off toward the main engine room.
The adrenaline was still pumping through him. He squinted his eyes and parted his lips. His chest was struggling to keep up with his breathing. He massaged the three stab wounds. They must have poisoned him. His voice slurred. “It won’t take them long to get out.”
“I know. Let them come,” said Emily with a clenched jaw and a guttural voice.
He did a double take. Emily’s face was strained. Her eyes had a look of defiance, just like Dan’s did when he was backed into a corner. He’d never seen her like this before.
It took them fifteen minutes to get back to the main engine room. When they were almost there, he heard only one alien shrieking. The second one with the stabbed eye must not have made it. He could hear the shrieks getting closer. When they reached the main engine room, he scanned it and did not see anyone else. He noted that the red beams had been disabled and the blades were whirling around. He massaged his stab wounds again. He could feel the nanobots trying to counteract the poison. These nanobots just signed a renewal contract. His vision was still blurred, and he was nauseous with a headache.
He tensed up as he heard a deep growling noise coming from the entrance to the main room. Time seemed to slow down as he turned his head and saw the krall standing in the doorway, gazing at him. His heart went ballistic as he realized just how bad the situation had become. The approaching sound of the alien’s high-pitched screaming snapped his mind back to reality.
Emily helped him toward the hallway Evaran had gone down. She called out for Evaran several times. She got Dr. Snowden about halfway there before helping him lie down. She put herself between him and the krall and adopted a defensive stance. She shot him a look filled with unbridled rage. “Don’t you dare leave me!”
The krall had moved closer to them. It was just a blob to him at this point. He heard the alien burst out of the hallway entrance. He figured this must be the end then. He could not help Emily fight the alien and the krall. They might have had a shot with the alien, but there was no way in hell they had a shot against the krall. The krall was much larger than V’s projection showed. This thing was the size of a grizzly. He turned on his back and sat up. He was going to go out fighting. He had come too far to give up. He licked his lips. Tears streamed down his face, and his head drooped. He heard the muted sound of Emily calling out to him. He had failed to protect her. His head bobbed. What would happen to Emily? His breathing slowed, and he crashed to the floor.
Twenty minutes passed, and Dr. Snowden awoke with a headache, but his vision ha
d returned. Everything was quiet around him. He jumped as Evaran spoke behind him. “It did not see you as a threat. You should be thankful for that.”
Dr. Snowden sat up and rubbed his temples. He scanned the room for Emily. He saw her over by the krall, petting it. The mangled body of the alien lay near it. “Evaran! How long have you been standing there?”
“I heard Emily’s shouts and came as fast as I could, but it looks like she had everything under control. She is more resilient than I expected. It appears you met the krall. Despite their appearance, they are quite friendly actually,” said Evaran.
Emily rushed over to Dr. Snowden and gave him a big hug. “Uncle Albert!” She helped him to his feet.
He eyed the krall, which had gone back to the dead alien and was munching on it. “I thought you said it was a dangerous creature.”
Evaran nodded. “It is a dangerous creature, if it sees you as a threat. Your humanoid form and size resembles that of a Grimlyn. It most likely figured you could help it. When it saw the aliens rushing to attack you and Emily defending you, it reacted. Emily seems to have formed a bond with it. Looks like you two were able to deactivate the beam, though,” said Evaran as he walked over to the krall and patted it on the side. The krall appeared to enjoy the contact, and its eyes relaxed.
Dr. Snowden noticed Evaran had the bone knife in his hands. “Well, those aliens stabbed me in the leg three times with a knife like that, but it appears to be healing. I think they poisoned me too. I guess the nanobots took care of that.”
Evaran’s eyes narrowed. “It would appear so. I used my ring to close your wounds, but that is only an external fix. Internally there may be some pain as it heals.” He spun the bone knife around in his hands. “This is a Grynge tribal dagger. You can tell by the decoration. That is very unusual. There should be no Grynge here.”
“Why not?”
“Let us just say that they are not a part of this reality.”
