John surprises all of them. “Coming up on Mars, disengaging sub-light engines, entering orbit.” Looking down at his console, he notices a planet like symbol, it is unlit. He has no idea what it does, but it appeared when they achieved orbit over Earth, vanished during the trip, and has reappeared again.
They all stare in awe at the scene before them. John has once again shown his piloting prowess, giving them an exceptional view of the planet. Cindy finds the view odd, almost unsettling. They are either flying upside down, or the planet is above them, either way the view is filled with the red planet, Mars.
The bridge speakers blare into life. “Someone had better come down to deck, um,” The sound of someone throwing up can be heard during the pause. “Oh, uh deck eleven, forward section.”
Cindy is both concerned and alarmed. “What’s the problem?” She demands, “And who is this?”
“This is Patrick, we met in the mess area once. You could send a medic, but there is nothing...” The voice cuts off, but not before the sounds of heaving and splashing can be heard once more.
Cindy looks around the bridge and then points to Radclyf. “Go, and get Henry. I will meet you there. I want to see what this is about.”
Even though they all hurry, it still takes fifteen minutes for them to get to Patrick. Cindy, Radclyf, and Henry, look upon the grisly scene in shock and horror. Nearby, Patrick is leaning up against a wall. He is splattered with gore, and quite pale. Cindy’s mind struggles to cope with what she is seeing. She staggers away, adds to Patrick’s contributions on the floor, and then quietly leaves.
Henry looks up at the ceiling, the walls, and then the floor. All are just smeared with a slimy red goo. Some of it drips to the floor in long disgusting tendrils. Radclyf has seen some ghastly combat scenes, but nothing he knows of could do this to a person. There is just nothing left but smudges and puddles.
Henry takes a step forward and points at one particular blob. “Look, even the bones are pulverized.”
Radclyf looks over the scene as detached as he possible can. “This is not from an explosion. Looks more like compression damage.”
“I saw something like this once.” Says Henry in surprise as he remembers a scene from his past. “A guy’s chute failed, and he impacted on an airport runway. But even then he was still mostly recognizable, mostly.”
“Look where we’re standing.” Radclyf says as he gazes downward, suddenly aware of how light he feels.
Henry looks down at the deck plates. These were installed on Earth by various welding crews. There are no alien gravity plates in this section. The hairs on the back of his neck raise. Both he and Radclyf bolt for the Gamin flooring. Radclyf looks around in alarm. “We need some answers. Find out who that is, was. I am going to the bridge. Patrick you’re with me.”
Patrick holds up a hand. “Three, there were three people with me.”
Both Radclyf and Henry look back at the bloodied area in disbelief.
On their way back to the bridge, the pair detours, allowing Patrick to grab a quick shower and some fresh clothes. Radclyf tries to do some rough calculations, then gives up, too much of the ship is missing gravity plates for him to figure anything out. Once showered, Patrick follows him silently to the bridge.
Cindy gazes at Patrick with compassion. She asks softly, “We need to know everything, so we can prevent this from happening again.” She is so glad he showered, the smell and splattered blood were way too much for her.
Patrick’s once sparkling eyes now greet her in a vacant stare as he intones. “We were all walking along. Ya have to be careful when stepping onto our own plating, sometimes ya feel normal, sometimes lighter or heavier, ya just hurry across. Once I was weightless, it’s a weird feeling.”
Cindy does not interrupt his ramblings, but rather encourages him, “Go on.”
Patrick’s stare gains some life as he recounts the ghastly event. “I dropped my tool belt, as I bent down to pick it up, I got splashed, like someone was throwing something on me. I looked up and they were gone; just gone. I was too scared to move. The stuff was just everywhere.”
Cindy feels the man’s distress. “Who were they?”
“Ya met ‘em. Ralph, Darren, and Richard, we’re welding contractors. We should not have stayed.” He shakes his head in resignation as he lowers his eyes.
An image of the men playing cards comes to her. More deaths, and these men died on my watch due to my negligence.
She thought something was odd about the gravity plating earlier, and is berating herself for not thinking it through. Something else about the gravity is really bothering her now. “George, or Joe, why is there any gravity at all on the deck plates that we installed?”
George and Joe look at each other blankly. Finally, it is John who ventures an answer. “Residual gravity effects.” He shrugs his shoulders at his guess. “There is gravity on the decks above and below. Besides, as long as there is no speed or course correction you’re fine.”
Cindy is a little confused by the answer.
John holds up his hand. “Imagine my hand is moving at a set speed. Any object on my hand will stay there. Now if I make small moves, anything in my hand will wobble. But a sudden change, and well, whatever that speed change is, will be the speed of the impact against anything in the way.”
Cindy puts a hand to her mouth. “So, those three people hit the wall at half the speed of light.”
Peter, who has been quietly listening, then adds his council. “Cindy, you can’t blame yourself for what happened.” He can see that she is deep in thought. “Don’t try to wrap your head around it either, I am sure theorists will have a field day with this. Some will undoubtedly tell us that what happened was impossible.”
“This tragedy was so avoidable, if only we had thought about it first.” Cindy states, and then pauses as she feels the responsibility of their deaths weighing even more heavily on her. “This won’t happen again. I want all of the decking that is not of Gamin design painted a bright color. I don’t care how we do this. I also want warning lights, or something installed.” She looks around the bridge firmly, her face stern.
George considers her orders. “I shall get Olaf to assist, our suits will provide us some protection. Once it’s safe enough, we can let the maintenance crews take over.”
Cindy’s mouth draws into a determined thin line. “Each time we plan to make any piloting changes I want everyone to be safe.”
Location:
Starship Terran
Mars Orbit
With the joy of arriving at Mars being overshadowed by the unexpected deaths, Cindy decides to wait for a day before scouting Earth’s nearest neighbor. She wants to offer her respects to the dead. She orders the crew to get some rest as the following days may see them quite busy.
This pause ends up being quite fortuitous for other reasons. Radclyf’s and Hayato’s combat teams have been methodically searching the ship for anything unusual. There is a lot of unused space onboard, and this extra day means that all eight of them are scouting the ship. It is Chokichi who discovers the group of stowaways hiding out in a forward section of the ship. He slinks away undetected, then reports his findings to Hayato.
Enlisting Joe’s help, Hayato and Radclyf pull up deck plans of the Terran. The stowaways have been rather clever in their choice of hideout. With nearby exits to decks above and below, and three side branches, they almost got away without being detected at all. While the combat teams discuss options, Joe surprises them with an idea of his own, and they like it.
Radclyf and Hayato debate whether or not to tell Cindy, they finally decide that she should know. Not wanting to alert anyone else of their plans, it falls on Peter to inform her.
Cindy, still sleepy from being woken up, stares groggily at Peter. She rubs her eyes and asks, “Stowaways? How many? What kind of stowaways? And what are you doing in my room?” She asks, with a raised voice.
Peter grimly replies. “The kind with weapons and the desire to
use them. We don’t know exactly how many, but quite a few according to Chokichi.”
Chewing on her lower lip for a second she suddenly stops; her eyes narrow as an unusually cruel thought comes to mind. “I would like you to interrogate any survivors.” Her voice is devoid of emotion as her eyes bore into Peter’s.
Peter is not used to witnessing this side of Cindy, the tough calculating side, he thought her to be soft. He replies with a courteous, “Yes ma’am.” His respect for her just went up another notch. She cares for her crew deeply, but oh, to be her enemy is a dour mistake.
Peter casually makes his way to the mess area, grabs a drink, then yawns and wanders off. Inwardly he smiles, the others should be in position soon, and it is time to join them. He is not sure if he is being watched, but he hopes the ruse that all is normal, works.
Laying prone on the flooring, Radclyf glances downward. He can see that the access way is clear, and gives Peter a thumbs up. With each side passage being covered by two men, it leaves the lower path as the only unprotected egress. Peter stares at his watch, and waits as the seconds tick by. The instant the minute changes, muffled gunfire can be heard from below. This is followed quickly by a bedlam of weapons fire from many directions, and many different weapons. The terrorists are firing back, and by the sounds of things, the battle is getting closer.
Radclyf snaps his head back, unclips a grenade, then counts to three. He drops the grenade to the deck below with devastating precision. The four men huddled there are all looking outward, and are caught totally off guard. The powerful blast hurls them into the walls, or onto the floor. None of them survive. The grenade’s effects wash to where Radclyf and Peter were laying just a split second before. They have already moved on.
Sporadic gunfire shoots up, then a grenade pops into the air, and bounces onto the deck. A second later, it too detonates with resounding force, but no one is hurt by the blast. Cautiously, a man enters the access way between these two levels, he fires blindly into the darkness. The bullets ricochet, cutting him to ribbons. The hatch overhead was sealed shut the second the grenade exploded.
Joe follows Radclyf’s orders and closes three more access ways, corralling the survivors downward and forward. The stowaways retreat, only to discover the previously open corridors are now closed off as well.
The two combat teams press onward as the withdrawing terrorists haphazardly return fire. Leaving a trail of bodies, they fall back until finally they are at the very end of a corridor. With all avenues of escape being denied to them, they have nowhere else to retreat.
The remaining terrorists hunker down and lay an impressive barrage of fire back the way they came. Hayato’s team is in the lead, but they do not fire back. Instead, they are waiting for the trapped men to exhaust their ammunition. Realizing their fate, one of the terrorists opens up his jacket and removes a small bottle. The swirling gasses within this sealed container are a magnificent green. With his other hand, he pulls a grenade from his belt, and mutters a few words to himself.
It is at this time that Hayato sneaks a peek around the corner. His eyes widen at the sight of the green material and the man’s crazed expression. His hesitation almost costs him his life.
Akira pulls Hayato back a split second before the wall where he was standing is pinged by numerous bullets.
Hayato grabs Akira back. “They have more of that green gas. Everyone, RUN!”
Akira’s mouth drops open, he is speechless. Radclyf catches up to the team just in time to see them all turn, and run toward him. Without asking why, he also turns and runs.
One of the terrorists shouts loudly. “Infidels, you all die now!”
Hayato tries to ignore what is behind him as he sprints for all his worth. Up ahead is another section which can be closed off. All he has to do is make it that far and he will be safe. Radclyf is already there, a hand on his microphone. Meanwhile, Joe is on the bridge listening. He has a finger poised over a control, awaiting the order to seal the section.
Hayato is still sprinting as, one by one, his men join Radclyf’s.
The explosion is colossal, much more than would be caused by a simple grenade or two. Hayato dives forward as Radclyf gives the order to seal the corridor. Joe does not hesitate, and touches the control. A wall section starts moving, narrowing the space just as Hayato’s arms cross the threshold. Friendly hands grab for him and hoist, pulling his legs clear of the fast closing wall section. The massive explosion strikes the far side of the door seconds later. Everyone can feel the floor vibrate as the force of the detonation expends itself fully against the closed off passage. Its fury vented, the team heaves a collective sigh of relief as the doorway holds.
Hayato stands, and between gasps, gives Radclyf some unnerving news. “They had that green toxin with them.”
Everyone turns their gaze to the doorway and stares at it, hoping the explosion did not damage the seal.
Joe waits for a few seconds, then hesitantly taps his communication symbol. “Radclyf?” He says questioningly, “Are you there?”
Radclyf glances around, and checks that everyone is accounted for and safe. He replies, “Joe, great work, everyone is fine. The explosion was contained, along with the toxin.”
“TOXIN! What toxin?” Joe asks in alarm.
“Hayato and I have both had dealings with this particular group. They are, well were, in possession of a deadly toxin.” Radclyf’s calm response shocks Joe.
Joe looks at his console with dread. “I did not shut down the ventilation systems for that section, I just closed the wall off….” His voice trails off as he feverishly works to shut down the vents for the sealed area. As he does so, the life support symbol starts to flash. He is too late, something has made the symbol flash. Oh, that can’t be good. He thinks fearfully.
Radclyf, and those around him, start to look at the numerous ventilation ducts. There suddenly seems to be a lot of them. “Well, you did something, or we would all be dead by now.”
Joe just stares at the Gamin console. “I did not get time to do anything effective.”
Henry, who has been listening to the exchange, slaps his forehead and says. “Oh my, I wonder? I need to check something in the medical bay.” He runs down the passageway toward his medical bay.
Radclyf is too curious to stand idle, so he follows Henry. The rest of the men break into groups as Hayato hands out assignments. The two teams have become so cohesive that even Paul and Jim follow his orders without question. Peter also walks off, he is going to report the events to Cindy.
While the teams are cautiously scouting out the surrounding area, seeking survivors, Henry gets to work. After a while, it becomes quite clear that there is not going to be a quick solution. Radclyf leaves Henry, and heads to the bridge.
Henry eventually has his answer and arrives at the bridge to find the crew all present. Cindy stands while John, Andrew, and Joe, all turn to him. Even George and Peter are there, waiting for Henry. Radclyf, with a slight nod, gives Henry the go ahead to report his findings to them all.
“Well,” Henry begins. “We can thank George, or more accurately, whoever poisoned George, for our survival.” He offers a reproachful smile. “The suit neutralized the poison, then at some point in time, updated the cure to the main life support system.”
George frowns at the explanation. “But I was poisoned in Olaf’s suit and connected to the life support systems with mine. You know, when I replaced the core air sample.”
Henry smiles back. “Then I think we can safely assume, that whenever you connect to the Gamin systems, it’s a two-way affair with updates occurring automatically.”
Cindy nods at the explanation as she considers the implications. It makes sense. “Okay then, now what about the terrorists?”
Peter looks to Radclyf, then with a shrug of his shoulders ventures. “I think we got ‘em all.”
Cindy, ever cautious, weighs the events of the last few hours. “Alright then, as we’re all wide-awake I say we go and che
ck out Mars.” The very idea brightens her spirits.
The bridge crew gazes outside at the red planet hovering above them. Each of them is deep in thought. They are the first people to visit Mars, which awes all of them.
Touchdown
John pilots the Gamin shuttle with confidence, and finds the descent through the thin atmosphere and low gravity of Mars relatively easy. Flipping open a small pad, he makes note of the prominent landing sites. Northern polar ice cap, followed by an investigation of the massive volcano, Olympus Mons, then into the Valles Mariners trench. He puts the list away; the rest of the locales are rather dull by comparison.
In the rear compartment, George and Olaf are quite busy with all kinds of equipment. They ensure soil sampling devices, atmospheric samplers, and more, are all ready for use. Both of them are wearing their Gamin bodysuits for the adventure of a lifetime. The duo are so engrossed in their work, they do not even notice they are landing until the craft bumps down.
John taps the communications symbol, “Touchdown, you guys ready?”
George and Olaf give each other a thumbs-up, and then George replies, “We’re ready.”
John seals the cockpit from the rear compartment, and then opens the ramp. The thin Martian atmosphere quickly fills the compartment.
As Olaf begins to step down the ramp. He halts suddenly, a single step from the Martian landscape and says. “Oh no. Stop!”
George quickly stops midstride. He glances around warily, and wonders what the problem is. John sits up in his chair and goes into a mild panic. His usual bravado vanishes instantly at the urgent tone in Olaf’s voice.
Olaf turns to George. “We have to toss a coin to see who sets foot on Mars first. This is history, my friend.”
George smiles, though he doubts Olaf can see him through their visors. He replies respectfully, “Olaf, you deserve to be the first to go.”
Olaf considers this for a second, as he would be the pride of his nation. Instead, he surprises George by grabbing him, and stepping off the ramp with him. “We go together, comrade.”
Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles) Page 37
