by Donald Swan
“Your ship is very primitive. It’s amazing you survived your journey.” Argos peered at Nick with a suspicious squint. “How is it that a race as primitive as yours has technology that’s beyond the grasp of even the Mok’tu? The power of this weapon is almost incomprehensible.”
Nick spoke up. “It’s not a weapon…Sir. It’s only an experiment in high speed communication and space travel.”
Argos raised his voice. “You can dran well bet the Dragorans and the Mok’tu think otherwise! You ripped their biggest ships apart like telura paper. I’d like to know exactly how you did that. Unfortunately, now our enemies know you’re on this ship, and that puts this vessel in serious danger. They want this technology, and they want it badly. The power to alter the fabric of space itself would make them practically invincible. The Tac squad that attacked us was only interested in one thing. This module. Arya was right. This technology in the hands of the Mok’tu would seal the fate of the entire galaxy.”
Captain Argos stood up and paced in front of the window of his ready-room. Outside, a dark and barren planet loomed, framed in a picturesque backdrop of a brightly-colored nebula. Argos paused to look out of the window a moment, but he didn’t seem to notice the impressive view. His mind was clearly focused on the matter at hand. He took a deep breath and continued. “I am faced with a very difficult decision. Try to use this tech to our advantage and risk that it may fall into enemy hands. Or destroy any signs of the technology and risk losing everything.” Argos turned and fixed Nick with a hard gaze.
The lump in Nick’s throat returned with a vengeance. The Captain clearly referred to Nick when he said ‘destroy any signs of the technology.’ Sweat rolled off Nick’s forehead as he waited for the Captain’s next words. Argos didn’t seem interested in letting him off the hook easily. Instead, the Captain just stood there, silently staring out of the window, his hands clasped behind his back. He was an intimidating figure, strong, confident and in control. And he knew it. Nick was at a serious disadvantage. He had no say in the matter whatsoever, and that knowledge hung like an anvil around his neck.
“Or a guillotine,” he muttered under his breath.
By the corresponding twitch of Argos’ pivoting ears, Nick assumed the alien’s hearing was keener than a human’s.
Nick wasn’t stupid. The knowledge in his brain would be as dangerous as the module in the hands of those Mok’tu monsters. He knew it, and so did the Captain. As long as Nick was alive there would always be a chance the Mok’tu would extract the information from him. Especially given their level of technology. That made him a huge liability. And being a liability made Nick very uneasy.
Nick waited for what seemed like an eternity in the excruciating silence. The tension filling the room was nearly more than he could take. His fate hung by a thread. And that thread could very well snap with the Captain’s next word.
Argos turned back to Nick. “Fortunately for you, I believe the Mok’tu were able to get a fairly detailed scan of your ship. That’s why the last member of the Tac Squad bolted out of here so fast. Your module’s technology was their mission objective, not capturing this ship. That means I need you and your knowledge to even the balance.”
The blood throbbing in his ears was all Nick could hear by the time Argos had finished speaking. His heart was pounding like he’d just run a Moon Dome marathon race. This damn place was going to give him a heart attack yet. Nick slid down in the chair as the tension in his muscles relaxed a little. At least they still needed him. For the time being. Breathe, Nick. Breathe.
Argos jabbed a strong finger in the air and highlighted a few areas of the holographic model. “We have analyzed the design of your craft, but there are several key systems that are damaged beyond recognition. We have been unable to decipher their construction or function. There is no way we can replicate those missing pieces. But I have no doubt the Mok’tu are making the study of your ship their highest priority. If they’re able to reconstruct this technology first, no planet will be safe. We need to beat them to it. Will you help us?”
Nick pondered the repercussions of his next words. He had already been questioning the decisions that had led him to his current predicament. This may be the biggest decision of his life, with consequences well beyond what any man should ever have to consider. It was his fault this technology was thrust upon these people, and he had no misconceptions about what the Mok’tu would do with it. The Captain was right. No planet would be safe, not even Earth. It was looking like Nick had little choice.
“Yes. I will help you, Captain.”
Captain Argos released a noticeable sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“On one condition,” Nick added. “When this is over, you help me find my way home.”
It was the first time Nick saw Argos smile.
“Agreed. Welcome aboard the Ashok.” Captain Argos stretched out his hand.
Nick stood and reached out to shake the Captain’s hand, but the Captain grabbed Nick’s forearm in an Arisian gesture of friendship instead. Realizing his ignorance of their ways, Nick awkwardly reciprocated by clasping Argos’ forearm.
Captain Argos gave one quick shake, squeezing Nick’s arm slightly, then let go with a nod of his head. The Captain’s grasp was as formidable as his persona.
Nick’s head was pounding from the anxiety and elevated blood pressure of having his ass momentarily on the chopping block, but it seemed he would live to fight another day.
Argos tugged his uniform straight and rounded the table to sit down again. His demeanor shifted from hard-nosed Captain to one of an old friend. “I’ll have the crew set up a work area for you in the hangar immediately. We’ll try to obtain whatever supplies you require. But first, tell me more about this experiment of yours. I have already seen its potential as a weapon. Tell me how it can be used in space travel and communications.”
Over the next hour, Nick proceeded to explain how the hyperspace generator worked and the accident that had landed him in their territory. When he was finished, Argos sat quietly. Nick recognized the look on his face. It was the same look his father would get when he had a lot on his mind. Argos must have had a whole universe on his.
Argos nodded almost to himself and looked at Nick with a blank stare. “Thank you. You should get some rest. We have a lot of work to do.”
Argos stood, making it clear he needed some time to process what Nick had told him.
“Yes, Sir.” Nick abruptly stood and walked to the transport tube. As the doors closed, he watched the Captain gaze from his window into the vastness of space. It was doubtful Argos was admiring the spectacular view. Nick could only guess the depth of conversation going on inside his mind.
“This is the Captain. In order to acquire the supplies we need, I am forced to move us away from this sector and the Mok’tu’s advancing troops. I am therefore taking us into Demented Space.”
Arya looked at Karg. She was clearly uneasy. “He’s not serious, is he?”
Karg didn’t say a word. He just stared back at Arya with a peculiar look on his face.
“Demented Space?” Nick asked, watching the two’s uncomfortable stare. “What’s Demented Space?”
Arya turned toward Nick, answering reluctantly. “It’s an area of space that everyone avoids. Things don’t quite work right there. Spatial distortions cause navigation to be treacherous, and only those who are running from something venture there. Pirates, outlaws, and the like. It’s a very dangerous place. There’s really not a lot of reliable information about that region of space. Of all those that have gone there, few have returned, and their stories are…bizarre.”
“Like Queens,” Nick remarked.
Arya scrunched her nose and shook her head slightly. “What the frek is Queens?”
“Sorry. Inside joke.”
Arya looked at Nick for a long moment, her green, cat-like eyes expressing her inner thoughts, which clearly said that she wasn’t so sure about this silly creature called Nick. After only a b
rief pause, she went back to her conversation with Karg.
“At least the Mok’tu or Dragorans aren’t likely to be there. It’s not strategically important enough for them to bother with,” Karg said.
“I agree. I haven’t heard of either race having any interest in that part of space. It’s too…demented. The old star charts I’ve seen often depict Demented Space as a blacked-out area filled with the monsters of legend that are said to live there. It was said the monsters could swallow ships whole. Unfortunately, even today we don’t have any reliable charts of that area. It’s still a big unknown.”
By the tone of Arya’s voice, Nick could tell she didn’t take the monster stories seriously. “Monsters or not, I’m getting a bad feeling about this,” Nick replied.
On the Bridge, Sirok meticulously scanned the nearby star system. He watched his holo-display closely as the details of the scan came in. One gas giant and two smaller rocky planets, one of which had a breathable atmosphere. It was the first system capable of sustaining life that they had encountered since entering Demented Space. Sirok’s console beeped while a red circle flashed on the screen in front of him. Finally, something interesting. “There’s an energy reading coming from the second planet, Sir.”
“Move us in closer. Carefully. Run a full scan when in range,” Argos commanded.
“Bringing us in closer, Sir.”
The ship plunged deeper into the solar system, eventually settling into a synchronous orbit over the second planet.
“Sir, the energy reading is coming from a group of structures on the surface.”
“Life signs?”
“No life signs detected, Sir. But readings are extremely limited, due to magnetic and atmospheric distortion.”
“See if you can cut through some of the distortions and get me more detail on what’s down there. I don’t want to send a team down blind.”
Sirok turned back to his screen and punched numerous buttons on his console. “Yes, Sir. I’m working on it.”
Down in the mess hall, Karg took the last delicious bite of his meal and belched in appreciation. “Dran, that was good. Too bad that was the last karesh we had left.”
Nick stared at the remnants of food on Karg’s chin. “By the looks of it, I’d say you were stocking up until the next time, Car. How many plates did you have?”
“Six, if you don’t count desert.”
Arya swallowed a large bite of roll. “What did you just call him? Kar?”
“Yeah, you know, a….” Nick paused and grinned. Talk about weird. It was the first time he’d ever needed to explain a car. “On my planet we have these vehicles with four wheels.... Well most of them have four wheels. Anyway, we call them cars. That’s what he reminds me of,” Nick replied, nodding toward Karg.
Arya followed Nick’s gaze back to Karg. “Karg reminds you of a four wheeled vehicle?”
“No, he’s as big as one, and his name…is kind of like car. So I just call him Car.”
“Is your entire species this strange?” Arya quipped.
“Yes.” Nick squinted and then shook his head. “No. I mean….” He paused with his mouth open as he thought. “Never mind,” he sighed.
The Captain’s voice broke the conversation. “Arya, I need you to put together a landing party. We’re getting some energy readings from the surface of the planet we’re orbiting. Maybe there’s a settlement down there where we can pick up some supplies. Bring Bannon with you in case there’s something down there he can use as well.”
“Yes, Captain. We’ll be ready in twelve chronits.”
The transport pitched violently as the team pushed through the planet’s dense atmosphere. Electrical discharges fanned out in all directions, creating a spectacular lightning show in front of them. As they broke through the cloud layer, the dark, foggy surface of the planet came into view. A gloomy place if there ever was one. Nick fully expected to see Frankenstein’s castle looming out of the fog as they approached.
“There’s definitely an energy source ahead. It’s different than anything I have ever seen before,” Arya noted as she studied the cockpit display.
Karg stared at the monitor in front of him. “I still don’t see any life signs.”
As they neared the power source, Arya set the transport down just outside of what appeared to be a small town.
“Captain…do you read?” Arya turned to Karg. “Just as I thought, the atmosphere is blocking communications.”
Karg stood up and opened the weapons locker door on the back wall of the cockpit, exposing half a dozen plasma rifles. He grabbed two rifles and tossed them to Nick and Arya while loading one for himself.
Watching Karg was weird. Nick still couldn’t get over Karg’s four arms working in unison. It was so alien, so…well, cool. Talk about efficient. Nick grinned at the thought of Karg playing football or basketball. He would definitely be a first round draft pick, that’s for sure.
“We don’t know what we’re dealing with out there, so be careful.” Arya arched an eyebrow at Nick. “Especially you.”
Nick scrunched his brow. “What do you mean, especially me?” he said as he followed her to the door controls. She acted as though she didn’t hear him, but Nick knew her sensitive ears never missed a thing.
Arya reached up and pressed the release button. A slight hiss escaped from the door as the small difference in air pressure equalized. The ramp swung down, sending puffs of fog rolling away as it came to rest on the ground. The team moved out slowly. Arya held up her scanner and pointed to the hazy outline of two buildings ahead. “This way.” She led the team cautiously through the misty, tree lined path with Karg bringing up the rear.
Arya panned the area with her scanner. “I’m not getting any life signs at all. No people, not even an animal. I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this, guys.” She headed to the doorway of a nearby building and swung the heavy wooden door open. Switching on her rifle-mounted tactical light, she swept the room as she entered. As she disappeared into the dark doorway, she let out a blood-curdling scream.
Nick’s stomach lurched up into his throat as he scrambled to get to Arya. He quickly entered the doorway and stopped abruptly, almost ramming into Arya as she backed out of the room.
Also reacting to Arya’s scream, Karg ran to investigate. He bolted into the darkened doorway and slammed straight into the back of Nick. The massive force of Karg’s momentum sent Nick and Arya crashing face-first onto the floor.
Nick grunted as he hit the ground hard. Worried about the dangers lurking in the nearby darkness, he quickly opened his eyes again, automatically preparing for a fight. Only inches away, a ghostly figure stared back at him through the fog, glimmering ominously in the beam of Arya’s rifle light. His eyes strained to focus on the image so close to his nose. Who or what was on the floor next to him? As he pulled his head back, he could finally make out the fuzzy image. Startled, he clawed his way backward in fright.
Lying there, glowing eerily in the thick fog, was a corpse. The body almost appeared to move as the misty fog surrounding it danced through the light. The jaw of the corpse hung open in a terrible, silent scream―now forever frozen on its gruesome face. The alien’s stiff hands were reaching out into the inky blackness of the room as if it had been begging for its life in its final moments. From the look on its face, it had experienced a horribly painful death.
Arya stood up and checked her gun while the males surveyed the corpse. Karg circled the body, as if studying it from another angle would help explain why it was there.
“Why does he have that look on his face?” Nick asked, wincing at the sight. “I just can’t stand to look at him anymore. It gives me the creeps.” He grabbed a nearby cloth and threw it over the body. Despite his attempts to squelch it, a shiver raced along his spine and the hair on the back of his neck stood straight up. He hadn’t felt that since the night he’d hung out in the graveyard with his buddies. How old was he at the time? Fourteen, maybe? This had that same feel. Cre
epy.
Arya studied her scanner. The readings seemed to puzzle her. “This makes no sense. He’s only been dead a day, but I can’t figure out what killed him. There’s no injuries or signs of disease. It’s as if the cells of his body just stopped.”
“Could it be some kind of pathogen? A virus or something?” Nick postulated.
“No. I have checked for any sign of viral damage or poison. So far, nothing. There doesn’t seem to be any type of contagion. That’s one good sign. At least we appear to be safe here. For the moment.”
Nick looked around warily. “Yeah…right. Personally, I’ll feel better once we’re back on the ship.” Another chill ran up his spine. Something just wasn’t right. He couldn’t put his finger on it. Just a gut feeling. He hated when he got those feelings way down in his bones. They were seldom wrong. And almost always bad.
Arya checked the rest of the room. Not finding anything useful, she headed to the door. “Come on. Let’s get to that power source. Maybe we’ll find some answers there.”
As the team closed in on the energy reading, they encountered one dead body after the next, scattered throughout the town. Every corpse had the same horrific look on their face.
Nick’s heart pumped harder with each new ghastly discovery. “Yeah, I’m definitely getting a bad feeling. Let’s finish and get the hell outta here.”
Karg and Arya nodded in agreement. Eyes wide with apprehension, they cautiously made their way through the settlement, methodically homing in on the source of the emissions. The team positioned themselves outside the front door of a building in the center of town. The energy readings appeared to be emanating from within the structure.
Karg glanced toward Arya and whispered, “Ready?”
