Starship Genesis

by Linda M. Miller

  “Sir,” SSG Michael relays. “SSG Lightfoot is Navajo and has extensive tracking and hunting experience.”

  “Really? Get him in here right away.”

  “Sir, Yes, Sir.”

  Lightfoot shows up with SSG Michaels.

  “Sir, Staff Sergeant Lightfoot reporting.”

  “Sergeant, SSG Michaels says you are a Navajo tracker.”

  “Yes, Sir. I’ve previously tracked Grizzlies up in Alaska. I can tell you how old it is, its weight and estimate its height as well.”

  “Very well. You will guide this team, and the team will protect you. I want you to start where the two men were found dead.”

  “Sir, Yes, Sir.” They prep and leave for the operation at once.

  Mark and Cliff listen by radio at the command center.

  “Okay, we’ve found the creatures’ trail.” Lightfoot states. “There’s something familiar with these tracks. I’ve seen these in Alaska and Washington State. These creatures usually hide from man up there. But here it appears they hunt for man...Look,” Lightfoot notes. “The creatures are attempting to cover their tracks. But their tracks are just too big to cover.”

  The remote chopper pilot picks up some large objects moving 300 meters ahead of the team. “There’s eight of them just ahead of you. They seem to be positioning themselves for an ambush.”

  Next, the APPS alarm system flags the team. Each team member wears an eyepiece.

  “We see them.” Another relays.

  “There appears to be three large creatures approaching you from the rear. They’re almost on top of you!”

  “Everyone form a circle and fire at will!” They open fire on the creatures. You can see the red tracers since its night time. A team member is picked up and thrown at the rest of the team by one of the creatures. After he’s clear, they all fire at the beast and it drops to the ground.

  “These creatures are tough! A single round would have taken out a grizzly!” One comments.

  The two other beasts continue coming in. Another man is thrown through the air. Thus far, they have only killed one of the beasts.

  “They come in on us fast, yet quietly.” If not for the APPS system the beasts would have wiped out the entire team in just seconds.”

  “Pilot to operators, more targets coming in ahead of you. Get ready!”

  Lightfoot sees the beasts approaching and yells, “Just who is hunting who here? Don’t under estimate them boys! Shoot to kill!”

  Again they form a circle and fire.

  Four SOAR men get beat up a bit. One of the men gets thrown and lands in the bushes, which softens his impact. Two of the other team members are unconscious, but their helmets have protected them.

  The chopper pilot descends in front of the team and attacks the oncoming beasts using a side mounted 50 cal. The pilot relays back, “That’s all of them for now. But there’s probably more of them out there.”

  ”Good thing we have the silent chopper!” chimes Lightfoot. “Even with the APPS system, there is no way we could have withstood another attack from eight more of those creatures.” Another four teams are put in place and armed around the complex with similar gear. Two helicopters are assigned in shifts to patrol the perimeter.

  Lightfoot and the others report to the command center to debrief.

  “Sir, those creatures were trying to drive the team towards eight beasts waiting 300 yards ahead of them! They were hunting us like humans would, sir.” During the night a silent chopper continues to pursue the beasts.

  “Command, it appears that the beasts occupy a small area similar to a nest.”

  “Target them.” Mark replies.

  “Targeting, Sir.” The chopper takes up position and picks its targets.

  “Fire at will.” Mark commands. Beasts begin falling to the ground. Within five minutes every thermal image has been targeted and shot down.”

  The chopper scans the area and locates several more a little ways from the area, all within a 400 meter radius. He takes them out and continues to scan the area for the next hour.

  “Sir, it appears the threat is now removed.”

  “Well, done. Return to base.” Altogether, 42 of the beasts have been sighted and killed.

  “Sir,” Michaels advises, “The men have flown the remains of one of the beasts back to the command center for analysis. He’s at least nine feet tall.”

  “Very good, Michaels. Please go wake Dr. Vaughan.”

  “Sir, yes, Sir.”

  A SCARY ASSESSMENT

  I’m finally sleeping well, and SSG Michaels wakes me.

  “Sir, Come with me,” he tells me. “Mark Valentine needs you now.”

  On the way he begins to enlighten me about the visitors. “They’re not human. They’re similar to what is called a ‘Yeti.’”

  “A ‘Yeti’? In South America?” I ask.

  We enter the command center. I notice at least six men lifting a hairy beast onto the table for observation. I hear radio operations in the background.

  “Mark, what’s going on?” I ask.

  “This beast and others like it killed two of our men over night. Our special ops have been tracking and hunting them down all night and have killed 41 more beasts just like this one. There was a whole nest of them according to the pilots.” He adds. “It appears we have taken all of them down.”

  “I take it you couldn’t catch one of them alive?” I ask.

  “Matt, they drove our men like raptors.” Mark states.

  I’m astonished. “I’ve always thought they existed up in the north and in the Himalayas. But in South America? Well, let’s have Donna and Dwayne do an autopsy on this critter and see what he’s made of.” I suggest.

  “I have to say, Mark. Our dig is what, 50 miles from here? We’ve never encountered anything like this. They probably die like every other creature does. There’s no remains to indicate they even exist.”

  Photos are taken around the area documenting the extermination of the beasts’ camp. The next day, a team is sent out to carefully verify their extermination. They are covered by the chopper and then return to the base camp.

  Four hours later Donna and Dwayne report to Mark, Cliff, and I on the creature.

  “So what are we looking at?” Mark asks. “Why are they not seen elsewhere? Why did they remain isolated on this mountain?”

  Dwayne answers, “The creatures must be the product of one of the alien life generators. There’s no indication that they migrated here.”

  “Who knows what else is on this mountain that the life generators have created?” Cliff responds.

  “Due to damage from the environment associated with the ancient crash, it’s possible that genetic patterns could have been modified or impaired, giving us creatures such as these.” Donna suggests.

  “There’s more, Matt. Dwayne adds. ”Each of these creatures is estimated to be approximately one thousand years old. The youngest was estimated to be 700 years old. One female was found pregnant. The gestation period of the female is estimated to be 100 years.”

  “No wonder there were so few of them!” Mark says. “There are probably other creatures out there waiting to be discovered. Going forward, all personnel are now required to use the buddy system.” Mark states. “Pass that on to all personnel, SSG Michaels. And the silent chopper will continue to patrol other areas of the mountain, just in case there are any more “Guygores” or whatever out there.”

  “Sir, yes, Sir.” SSG Michael answers.

  GLACIERS AMONG OTHER THINGS

  08:00. 48 hours later than scheduled.

  “I’m ready to go! Let’s get on with the hike,” Peter chimes.

  “We’re not hiking, Peter.” Leesa advises.

  “What? But how are we....?”

  “Didn’t you hear about the ‘Yeti’s’?” Leesa interrupts.

  “Yeti’s?” Frank asks. “What about Yeti’s? This is South America, not Nepal...”

  Donna explains. “Well, they shot and killed 4
2 of them because they were attacking the post.”

  “Crazy!” Peter goes on. “I thought the weather was going to be an issue all this time.”

  “They killed two soldiers, Peter.” Donna adds.

  “They killed all of them? What about Harry and the Hendersons?”

  “I assure you, Peter, these were not Harry and the Hendersons.” Mark answers. “Your attention, everyone.” Mark continues. “At this point, Command has decided that climbing through the forested areas may be too dangerous. The choppers will drop all of us off just above the forest area instead.” We grab our backpacks and head over to the temporary helicopter pad. The ascent team is composed of our group, two physicists, two engineers, Mark, and 14 SOAR rangers.

  “This ought to be a fun ride, Matt.” Peter comments.

  “So you’ve never been in a helicopter, I take it. You’ll see more of the terrain now.”

  Mark boards the first helicopter with a team of SOAR men and they head up the mountain to establish a security network. The chopper returns and we board along with two more SOAR man. The chopper lands us in a clearing next to a stream that is sourced by the Glacier above.

  “Nice grassy meadow land.” I say.

  “Yeah, but it’s just barely large enough to be used as an acceptable landing zone.” Ray comments. From this point, we begin our hike up to the glacier.

  “Everyone, we’re supposed to keep an eye out for any crash items from the ship. It’s even possible there are more bio generators out there. So please be on your guard.” Mark advises.

  We mostly hike up by the drainage area below the glacier, which is like a small rift valley that goes up the side of the mountain, winding its way up.

  “So far, I believe there are no artifacts,” Frank assesses.

  “It’s pretty bright up here; even with sunglasses.” Leesa complains. The sun reflects off the glacier in front of us. “We’ll probably all get sunburnt today.”

  “How high up would you say we are, Matt?” Peter asks.

  “It has to at least be 10,000 feet. But the glacier field is pretty large.” I respond. The air is thin and crisp, and the sky is deep blue. The saddle ahead is flanked on either side by two tall mountain peaks. Thick cumulus clouds cover the valley floor below.

  “The base camp is supposed to get heavy rains tonight and all day tomorrow,” Ray tells me. He is glad to be up here, and comfortable versus down below where it’s hot, sweltering, and wet.

  I stare out away from the mountain. There are other mountains below and all around us with valleys filled with dense fog and vegetation, each separating the slopes of the mountains from each other. Boulders are strewn about the landscape: some small, while others are larger than a house.

  “Look guys, a sandbar. Probably created by one year’s spring runoff.” The large stream, which runs from the foot of the glacier, looks as if it has shifted its course quite often.

  “As far as anyone knows, no man has ever set foot here before. There have been no known expeditions recorded. So this area we are approaching should be untouched.” Peter comments.

  “All except for little green men.” Frank adds.

  “Seriously, Frank. You’ve got to be dying to know what’s up there.” Peter chimes.

  “Well, from the bio generators we’ve found, it is very exciting that it’s alien technology.” Frank responds.

  “Yeah, it makes our theory of evolution sound archaic. A single cell in a pool of slime means nothing now.”

  “Remember, Frank, the stones slime everything when they are processing, like it’s giving birth. To think that our entire biosphere has been planted on this world. Will we ever discover the ’“Who done it?”’ and ‘“Why did they do it?”’ Peter rattles. When strings of human genetic code were identified on the metal plate, everyone in the lab went into shock and disbelief. That means the aliens are most likely human, I wonder.

  “They must have been perpetuating the human race from their planet?” Leesa butts in.

  “So far nothing, and we’ve just about reached the glacier. Everyone put on your crampons.” Mark instructs.

  “Just in time for the ski season!” Dwayne claims.

  We begin to traverse the glacier. The saddle is approximately 4,000 feet above us and approximately two miles away, trail-wise as I judge it.

  “How long before we reach the top? Can we just go straight up the glacier? It might be easier.” Frank suggests.

  “Frank. It’s steeper than it looks. See that one outgrowth up there? It will probably take six more hours to get to that. That’s probably where we’ll camp tonight.” Ray advises. “The boulders are going to be a problem. It’s going to be like navigating a video game maze trying to get to the other side.”

  After hours of winding to the left and the right around obstacles following the path previously chosen by SAT/GPS, the glacier gets incredibly thicker the higher we go.

  “I see what you meant, Ray.” Frank replies. The glacier is covered with huge mounds of gravel and boulders which have been pushed slowly down the saddle by the ice. From the middle of the glacier a large stream flows, exiting a long dark glacial cavern. Smaller streams exit the glacier to either side, but soon join into the larger one way below.

  “It is beautiful up here.” Leesa states as she snaps a picture of the crew with the peaks in the background. We rest momentarily and dine on biscuits.

  “Everyone drink plenty of water.” I advise. Afterwards, we push on making our ascent.

  “I believe we can assume that if any alien artifacts can be found intact, they’ll be found above the head of the glacier. Anything that has been consumed by the glacier will be totally destroyed by the constant internal stresses due to shifting ice as it advances down the mountain.” I tell Mark.

  “Seems to be so.” Mark replies. I’m looking across the face of the glacier for a safe way to get to the top. That face almost goes straight up vertically, for approximately 100 feet, and it is fractured with crevices and fissures. A direct attempt to climb the face would be perilous.”

  A thunderous explosion pierces the air from behind us. Upon turning around, we’re startled to see a huge portion of the glacier face fall over onto the ground at the spot we had taken a break a few minutes earlier.

  The glacial ice breaks up as it shatters on the rocks. Clouds of white powder, snow and ice crystals billow for a hundred yards in all directions.

  “That was a little close.” Ray informs me.

  “Yeah, Matt. We’re still alive.” Leesa adds.

  “Looks like it’s actually hit and miss under the present conditions.” We find ourselves at the juncture of the glacier and the mountain side, on the north side of the glacial valley.

  “I wonder if our cell phones work up this high.” Frank comments.

  Dwayne begins to theorize that the bio generators were enabled to design an entire biosphere according to the climate they are planted in.

  “Since many of the life-forms produced in the labs have previously been extinct, we could potentially be dealing with other extinct or previously unknown life forms.”

  “Seriously?” Leesa interjects. “Matt? What do you say?”

  “Well, it would explain the guygores we encountered below. And they were all aged around 1,000 years.” I answer.

  Mark adjusts his sunglasses and activates the GPS trail guide. A trail now appears ahead of him in his sunglasses. He monitors the area with relative ease. “Matt, take a look through my sunglasses.”

  I put his sunglasses on. “Whoa. That’s pretty high-tech.” I reply. As I stare through the sunglasses, an orange trail lights up the path we need to climb. Thanks to the resolution of the GPS/SAR data, Mark can instantly zoom in on any part of the terrain through the glasses just like using a pair of binoculars at any magnification up to 100 times.

  “You can see the actual trail overlaid with surface intel from the GPS/SAR data collected by the Bird. Notice the altitude reading above sea level, and there’s a com
pass heading displayed at various points along the trail. Also, temperature and wind speed are displayed.”

  “Amazing.”

  The wind picks up. Walking over the glacier surface is more challenging than I thought. There are hidden crevasses everywhere and there’s no straight path. Mark’s GPS/SAR glasses literally guide the team through the obstacles without a hitch.

  A whistling-whooshing sound is heard as something passes by Darren and Peter who are almost last in line. Two SOAR men follow behind them with M16’s.