by Arlin Fehr
'I'm well enough. We have to go down there.'
'Normally I'd agree with you, but we've lost our fighter craft. If another ship shows up and it comes down to a fight, we're at a disadvantage.' Sam said.
'If we all go down, Lenny can keep the ship at power level zero. The only thing he'll keep on is himself and his wireless systems. Unless a ship scrapes the hull, it'll be almost impossible for them to detect the Kanto.'
'Wait a minute there Dan, I don't think you're going anywhere.' Sam countered.
'Captain, there's a good chance this base will have some medical facilities. Besides, I'll pace myself.'
Samantha gave him a stern look, 'I know what you consider pacing yourself Lt. Higgins, but you might not actually get around to it. You'll have to do better than that.'
Dan grinned, 'Roger that Captain.'
Samantha turned around to leave and heard Daniel moving to follow, she stopped and looked at him, 'You stay put Lt. Higgins. I'll let you know what we decide.'
'Yes Ma'am,' he said, before gingerly laying back down on the medical bed.
Samantha stood outside the medical bay in the short hallway that connected the few rooms of the ship. She thought about their situation. Neither option was ideal in her books, but she tended to agree with Daniel, however much she didn't want to. Whoever was in that base could be in trouble but it was obvious that whoever they were, they didn't want to be found.
***
Samantha returned to the bridge.
'Anything to report Victor?'
'Jing accessed the door control panel and found an international space agency badge on the case.'
Sam frowned, 'I.S.A.? If this is one of their facilities, then this definitely should be on our charts. The U.P.N. has the locations of all government facilities.'
'There's more though, while examining the filtration system, they found another serial number. We ran it past Lenny and he said it was originally part of a Kimball Logistics bulk freighter that went missing twenty years ago.'
'Another lost ship's equipment shows up here. Pirates seems more likely.' Sam.
'Lenny thinks it's unlikely. If it was, we'd have seen some kind of activity by now. They'd either be evacuating, or trying to drive us off.'
'I've made my choice. We've got a mystery here, and it seems like it's a mystery that's some how tied to ship disappearances. We've also got a rogue Lobster pilot on the lose. We're going to investigate. John, Victor, suit up and grab weapons, we're going down to the surface.'
'All of us? What about the ship?' John asked
'Lenny is going to take it to power level zero and stay back. It'll be invisible for all intents and purposes.'
'Yeah but if someone does find it, it's a long way back to friendly space. Even longer without a ship.' John said.
'I am aware of that Lt. Cmd. Macce. Now lets go.'
CHAPTER 4
Unknown planet's surface
Daniel, Victor, John, and Sam stood on the barren surface of the planet in their pressure suits, looking up as the U.P.N. Kanto climbed away from them, disappearing in the blackness of space.
'Lenny say's he'll be fully dark in five minutes. I've instructed him to stay in range of my uplink.' said the voice of Ise over the suit comms.
'Roger that Ise. We're coming to you.' Sam said.
Everyone was gathered with pistols in hands, and tablets in pouches on their waists. Dan gripped his pistol while his other hand hugged his left side. He looked a little unsteady.
Sam walked over to him, 'Arm over my should Dan. We'll go slow.'
Daniel nodded sharply and put his arm over her shoulders, steadying himself.
The group started towards entrance building just a little ways off from them. Jing was waiting for them.
'Welcome. Let me get the door for you.'
He keyed up a command on the open panel and the door slid open. They started down the ramp way.
Reaching the second airlock, they all crammed in as Jing started it's cycle sequence. It was a tight fit. Seven people was probably more than it was designed for.
When the door opened and they stepped inside, Sam could see for herself the cages and medical instruments. Ise has placed most of the instruments out on the floor and had been consulting with Lenny as to their purpose.
Jing went to the door that lead to the rest of the complex while Sam walked over to Ise.
'Lenny have any insights?' She asked.
'It's mostly diagnostic and surgical equipment. I used one of them to check the stains in some of the cages. Most of the stains are quite old and I can't get a reading a from them. The few I could analyze came from recognizable sources.'
'Recognizable?'
'Yeah, they seem to be blood stains from animal species found on some of the colonized worlds. I can only imagine that the old stains are also animal blood.' Ise said.
'Animals... Maybe we've found a poacher den.'
'There is market for exotic animals. The stranger the better in some circles. I don't think we can rule out poachers.' Ise said.
Sam nodded and looked over the room. Victor and Jing were prying the cover off the door control panel. Sam walked over.
'I thought you said the security wasn't that strong here.' She said.
'I thought it wasn't. But there's some kind of pass code on the door. Victor's going to plug into the system and see if he can hack it,' Jing said.
They popped the cover, and Victor plugged a hand held computer into a port.
They watched in silence for a moment. Victor made a face and looked at the door with a frown.
'What's the matter Vick?' Jing asked.
'It's got an International Space Agency encryption.'
'Can you break it?'
'It's about twenty years out date, I can break it easy. I'm just wondering why they'd keep that encryption and not upload a new one. So far we've found a U.P.N. faster than light receiver, and now we have an I.S.A. door control.'
Sam looked to Jing, 'Jing, did you happen to find out who built the filtration system by any chance?'
Jing glanced over at the filtration system, 'No ma'am, but I do know it's not a government system, it was a civilian system. If it had been U.P.N. or I.S.A., it would have been unmistakable.'
'So we've got three different sources for equipment, a collection of old medical equipment just laying around, and the possibility of animals having been brought through here. The more I think about it, the less sense this place makes.' Sam said.
'It reminds me of one of the first bulk haulers I served on,' John said.
Sam turned and looked at him, 'How do you mean?'
He gestured with his arms around the room, 'A hodge podge of assorted equipment all rigged to work together. If you weren't one of the more well off ships, you had to make do with whatever you could trade for, salvage, or find for a good price. It was never pretty, but it kept working. Whoever built this place was short on money, but had plenty of intelligence to go around.'
A beep from his computer drew Sam's attention back to Victor.
'Door's ready Captain. Shall we proceed?'
'Open it Vick.'
The door opened and they stepped onto a railed walk way. It spiralled clockwise down a long deep shaft, with the occasional door way along its path at lower intervals down the shaft. They were near the top of the shaft, and above them sat a large ring of metal with a seam in it.
'This is probably the cause of that patch of disturbed dust on the planet we saw.' Sam said.
'Doesn't look like a hanger though,' Victor commented.
'Maybe it's for cargo loading. They could lower the containers down the shaft to whichever level they needed to go,' Jing said.
'How would they unload if it's just floating in the air though?' John asked.
Jing walked up to the railing and looked at a door further down the shaft. He pointed at something, 'You can see some seams in the railing and walkway down there by the door. I'm guessing there's some kind of ex
tendable platform. They could activate it, lower the cargo onto it, and then unload from there. Come on, lets go have a look at the control panel.'
'I don't think we should run off too quickly,' Dan said. He was looking better, but was favouring one side as he walked, and wincing occasionally.
'You're not going anywhere quickly,' John commented.
Dan shot him a look, 'You could always just carry me there John.'
'I don't think I'm quite that fit, but I can give you a hand at least,' John said, walking over to Dan and letting him lean against him, 'Us fly boys have to stick together.'
The group moved down the spiral walkway. As they did, a strip of lights along the wall illuminated their way. The lights followed them down the passage, turning on in front of them and turning off behind them. There was a circle of light coming from the bottom of the shaft. They reached the first door.
Jing looked along the wall, 'That's odd. There's no control panel.'
'How are we supposed to get in?' John asked.
'I'm not sure.' Jing said, 'Maybe if we can get to that wireless network and access the whatever control system runs this place.'
Sam walked to the guard rail and looked over the side, through the ring of lights at the bottom she could make out some colour, it looked like a mat of green. She looked at Ise, 'How's your strength on the wireless signal?'
'Still rather weak. If we go lower I should be able to access it.'
'I see something at the bottom of the shaft. If we don't find any door controls on the way, we'll just go right to the bottom.' Sam said.
The crew started off again. They passed another six doors as they spiralled down the shaft. On the last circuit down the shaft, the ramp continued into a larger room. The room was circular, with a dome shaped roof, from which the shaft came out of the centre The walkway arced just beneath the roof. The crew walked the rest of the way out of the shaft and onto the walkway. They stopped and looked over the railing at what was below them.
***
'Is that grass?' John asked, looking confused.
They looked intently at the unexpected find. The green Samantha had spotted up in the shaft looked to be a layer of tall grass. In the grass there was a ring of what looked like tall stones.
'What kind place is this?' Jing asked softly.
They followed along the walkway until it reached the edge of the room and angled down and allowing them to step into the room. The floor extended for a few meters before giving way to the grass. Along the floor there were scattered bits of dried grass.
Victor bent down and picked up one of the dried stalks of grass, 'This stuff has been growing here a while,' he stood up, 'And look at the stalks, some of them have gone to seed recently.'
'What, are you a farmer as well Vick?' John asked.
Victor glanced at John, 'I'm a man of many talents.'
Ise took a step out into the grass. It came up to her hips. Sam watched as she put her hands out and walked forward a few steps, her hands brushing along the tops of the stalks.
'Ise?' Sam asked.
'Just a minute. The wireless signal seems strongest near the centre of the room.' Ise said, still walking forward.
The others tentatively stepped onto the ground. Sam followed behind them. The ground was soft, and reminded Sam of her time growing up on the planet Vodea with her mother. She bent down and poked through the grass. She felt the soil, and pulled up a small patch of it. It was dark and moist, clearly maintained in some fashion. She brought her hand close and sniffed. It had a rich loamy smell that reminded her of a garden. She stood up and looked around the room again. Everyone was looking around, except for Ise, who was still walking slowly towards the centre of the room. Sam closed her eyes and held her hands out as Ise had, and started walking through the grass, feeling it brush against her palms and rustle against her legs. For a moment, she forgot where she was, and the years melted away. She breathed in deeply, and held it for a moment before exhaling again. The air was strangely rich.
She heard something and opened her eyes.
All around, the crew was walking through the grass, each moving towards Ise who now stood in the centre of the room. They seemed to be lost in their thoughts. Sam concentrated on the sound, and looked around. She looked to where it had come from, and saw the walkway retracting into the wall. She frowned at this and turned to look at her crew. Her gaze paused on one of the standing stones, as it seemed to move slightly.
'Guys, something's happening here.' She said.
No one seemed to be paying any attention to her. One by one, they walked past the circle of stones, and continued towards Ise.
***
Victor was walking through a field of wheat. He was a boy again out on his grandfathers farm. His mother and father were away on business, trying to get the papers they needed to leave Earth and start a new life among the stars. Victor didn't understand why it was so hard to leave. On a clear night, you could watch ships launching from the Kazakhstan spaceport from his grandfather's back porch.
The dour man always frowned and muttered when the ships left, but Victor watched them with delight.
Except that wasn't right. He wasn't on his grandfather's farm.
The boy Victor pushed this thought aside. It was a special night. It was the launching of another ship, this one taking colonists up to a waiting colony ship in orbit. The next ship after that to launch from the port would be the one carrying him and his parents away from earth. This would be the last time he'd get to watch a launch with his grandfather.
Soon he'd be sailing among the stars, and then his mother and father could stop worrying about everything. Space was big enough for their dreams.
The sun was setting and the launch would be soon. Though his grandfather didn't share his love of space, he had still taken Victor out to a hill in one of the fields for the best view. His grandfather knew how much young Victor loved to watch the ships, and had packed a little meal in a basket so they could watch this last launch in comfort.
The sun was setting, and Victor walked around the base of the hill in the field, his hands brushing against the top of the blades of grass.
Except, he had already left. His mother and father had gotten on board a ship and they had left. His grandfather had passed away a few years after that.
Frowning, the boy Victor looked up on the hill and saw his grandfather sitting at the top, watching him. Victor smiled and waved. The weathered old farmer smiled back and motioned Victor up. Victor turned and started up the hill.
'Get away from the rocks!' he heard distantly.
Victor frowned and looked around, there wasn't anyone else in the field. He looked back at his grandfather but he didn't give any indication of having heard anything. Victor paused, and looked out over the field again, straining to hear.
'Victor! John! Ise! Daniel! Jing! Come on, listen to me! Focus on my voice!' the voice was adamant, but still distant, though the names sounded familiar. Victor shook his head, the ship would be launching soon.
He turned and started up the hill again, except his grandfather wasn't there anymore. He was alone.
Except he wasn't, he had friends with him. They were somewhere strange.
He recognized the voice as the Captain Geer's.
A fog lifted from his mind and he saw clearly again. He was standing in a room with grass and a ring of stones in it. He was standing inside the ring of stones.
He looked at the nearest stone, it seemed to be raising up slowly. He looked around and saw the others, they seemed to be oblivious to what was happening to them. He reached for Jing and Dan, who were the closest, and shook them. They seemed startled, but quickly regained their composure.
'What happened?' Jing asked.
'I don't know, but get out of this ring of stones quickly.' Victor said, starting towards John and Ise, who were both in the middle of the ring.
The stones had risen at least a meter now, and the space between them was narrowing. Victor grabbed John
and Ise by the hands and started to pull them towards the edge of the ring. John was startled, and Ise fell, apparently not waking up. Her heavy frame jerked Victor to a stop. John shook his head and looked at Victor, 'What's going on Vick? I feel like I just woke up.'
'Help me move Ise, she's still out of it.'
John grabbed one of her arms, and Victor grabbed the other, they started to drag her, 'Out of what?'
'I don't know.' Victor said.
Sam and Jing stepped in next to them and grabbed Ise's legs. They hefted her up and walked out of the circle. She was difficult to move. Once outside the circle, they set her down.
No sooner then she was on the ground then the ring of stones snapped up out of the ground, closing together with a crash. Clods of dirt were flung about, and everyone flinched back. The stones were just the teeth of a large, brown, fleshy worm like creature. It hung upright, it's jaws clenched shut, not moving.
'Captain, maybe...' Victor stopped his question as the creature twisted and opened it's maw, pointing towards Victor. It moved slowly forward. Victor could see down it's maw, into the dark passageway to somewhere he didn't want to go.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw John slip a stylus off his suit and throw it across the room. The stylus hit a wall and clattered to the floor bordering the grass. The creature swung its head towards the sound, and snapped at the air. The noise it's closing jaws made was like a blast of thunder.
Ise began to stir. Victor bent down and saw she had opened her eyes. She was about to talk, but Victor placed a finger up to his lips, urging her to be quiet.
Everyone began to look for a way out. There was a door on the far wall, but there was no visible control panel around it.
Sam pulled out her pistol quietly and motioned of the others to do the same. She took aim, and held up a hand, palm open. Everyone waited for the signal. The creature, drawn by the shuffling sounds, began to turn towards them again.
***
Suddenly, a screeching noise filled the room. The creature opened it's jaw and let out a deep, powerful, growl that Sam felt in her boots. It started to flail and snap about violently. Everyone scrambled back against the wall. Sam looked around, and saw four ports on the ceiling slide open. Four gun turrets of some kind popped out of them. They all took aim at the creature and fired darts at the creature. Two of the darts bounded off it's rock like teeth, but two bit into it's flesh. The creature let out a shuddering growl, and slumped to the ground.
