The Vampires of Antyllus

by Michael E. Gonzales

  Once on the ground, they carefully made their way toward the billet and office area. There was the hum of conversation coming from one area in particular. As they passed the corridor that led to that area, they could see it was the dining room. A large number of the cadre was eating. It was possible these people were the shift change; they were getting ready to replace those currently at work.

  Kathy and Dave proceeded on. They passed through a large laboratory area, currently unmanned, where it appeared the blood was examined and classified. Beyond this, was an office area separated from the lab by a glass wall. Inside were several computers. They made a beeline for this area.

  Dave kept watch through the glass wall as Kathy searched the office.

  “Dave, have you noticed that Indra has no sensors in here?”

  “Now that you mention it, I’ve not seen a sensor or a mirror anywhere in this place.”

  Kathy then noticed access pads to the left of every computer in the room. She placed the palm of her left hand on the pad and was immediately asked for a password. She ran several algorithms simultaneously incorporating what she knew of the IIEA, Wilmington, the E'meset, and blood in general.

  At an incredible speed, she tried a wide variety of alpha-numeric combinations and words when suddenly, one stuck: "Stoker_1897."

  First thing Kathy determined was, because of the ongoing communications blackout, there was no link to Indra. Everything was now available to Kathy and she started reading through the clerical files at nearly the speed of light. She stopped on a file marked "procedural synopsis." She performed a cursory glance and decided this was what they needed, at least to start.

  "Dave, get to an access pad, go to clerical files, three, seven, one. You won’t believe this."

  Kathy began to read as she copied the files.

  IIEA procedural synopsis as reported to Board of Directors.

  File 76897

  Subjects are bound and brought into a receiving chamber where they are rendered unconscious with the aerosol drug PS 768 (see appendix A). Small amounts of blood are then drawn from each subject and tested. If any of the abnormalities listed in annex E are discovered, the subject is immediately euthanized in order to remove the subject's DNA from the gene pool. The bodies are then incinerated (see appendix B).

  Those approved are placed in a vertical constraint which is suspended from an overhead conveyor system, then subjects are moved to the harvesting chamber with a capacity of 10,000 subjects. Each subject is fed intravenously, and blood is drawn at a pace consistent with each individual's unique ability to produce replacement blood. To date, we have managed to maintain healthy subjects in a modified stasis for as long as twenty months before subject is no longer capable of producing at profitable levels. Subjects not deceased are sonically lobotomized and released. Terminal subjects are euthanized, and along with those who did not survive the procedure, are incinerated (appendix C, Spread sheets 22 thru 65).

  Blood is processed on site. Thanks to newly developed processes, four liters of blood is now rendering 44.630 cc of "nectar." (See appendix D).

  Kathy felt ill, then angry.

  "Kathy…go to MFR number 568-31" Dave whispered.

  Kathy began downloading that file, as well. She read the first document in the file.

  Memorandum for Record 568-31

  Regarding the immunity and longevity enjoyed by the anthropoid life forms on Antyllus.

  Countless experiments, studies, and analyses have been futile.

  Whatever element there is in the blood of these creatures remains a mystery. We have been able to isolate it, but we are unable to synthesize it. The chemical make-up of this blood is completely outside the scope of terrestrial knowledge and is, thus, an element unknown to us.

  Additional experimentation upon volunteer human subjects has proven conclusively that an annual dose of eight to twelve cubic centimeters (Individual's body mass will determine exact dosage) of the processed blood product known as 'nectar' will render human subjects immune from all known diseases. The very first dose will cure all existing maladies. Annual doses should provide, we estimate, about sixty years’ extension to current life expectancy.

  Signed,

  Dr. Hubert H. Carnarris, PhD.

  IIEA – Scientific section 8c

  "Well," Dave observed, "now we know what, how, and why, but we don't know who."

  "Dave," Kathy said, "Go to MFR 712-47. It's a client list! The IIEA is behind this. It's been their big secret for decades! Wilmington is their boy up here, no doubt that's why he's a SUB…they won't need to replace him for a very long time," Kathy whispered.

  As Dave reviewed the list, he remarked, "That's the purpose of all those cylinders we saw on board the Demeter. That's how they get the stuff back to Earth." Dave paused. "They have customers back there, far more than just the governing Board of the IIEA. Kathy, the leaders of the member governments are the end users."

  "That's the conclusion the general drew without knowing any of this," Kathy added.

  "This is why the IIEA has such control over the leaders of the world," Dave went on, "they're addicted to prolonged life and perfect health. The IIEA is their drug dealer; the price is power.

  "Kathy, the Demeter is up there right now waiting to take on another cargo…a cargo gained through the cruel deaths of God knows how many E'meset."

  Before Kathy could respond, both their COMdes alerted them to an incoming communication, it was Zolna. "The body of the guard has been found! I say again, the body has been found!"

  Kathy looked quickly up at Dave and, as she did, an alarm sounded.

  "Have we got enough?" Dave asked aloud.

  "It'll have to do!" They had downloaded over 2,300 files in the span of ninety seconds.

  Kathy grabbed her weapon and was about to bolt back toward the stairs in the southwest corner when Dave shouted, "Wait! I've called up a floor plan of the facility." His hand was still on the access pad, and he appeared to be studying the plan. "There are several small airlocks scattered all over this place. There's one not far from here we can reach without too much exposure. It's off a storage area in the southeast, follow me!"

  Kathy and Dave leapt up and ran back into the lab then out a door and down what at first appeared to be a long corridor, but looking up Kathy noted this was not a corridor but an alley, overhead she could see all the way to the spider web of catwalks on the ceiling of the facility. And just as they were designed for, there were guards up there who had spotted them. The guards began calling out to each other. Then, they started firing.

  There were two guards, one at their twelve o'clock, another at their six. Kathy raised her alien rifle and engaged the one to their front. Her bullet exploded about a meter in front of the man, and the subsequent burst of tiny flechettes rendered him into hamburger. Dave shot the guard to their rear, his bullet burst into a bright orange cloud near the guard's face. He grabbed his throat and staggered backward, then fell over the rail to his death.

  The sound of shouting and running feet now filled their ears. Based on the direction of the sound, their enemies were closing in on them from the other side of the wall to their left. Kathy realized the mercs had figured out where she and Dave were headed, and were trying to cut them off before they reached the airlock.

  Dave and Kathy increased their speed to a reckless pace, which caused them to run into walls as they negotiated corners. At one point, Dave hit a wall and crashed right through its sheetrock, and found himself in a room with four stunned mercenaries. Before any could react, Dave punched the nearest one in the face, breaking his jaw. As he brought his weapon up, the other three fled.

  Dave returned to the alley to find Kathy headed back his way. He waved her on, "Keep going!" he shouted and they both ran full out.

  They were receiving fire from above again. Several bullets impacted the walls and floor all around them.

  With a final burst of speed, they made it into the storage area which provided them with overhea
d cover. On the far wall, 150 meters away, they saw the lights of the airlock door control panel and headed for it as fast as they could run.

  An explosion to their immediate left caused both to veer hard to the right. A breaching charge had blown a hole in the storeroom's metal wall and mercenaries were pouring through, firing from the hip.

  Kathy and Dave took cover behind several one meter square metal boxes. They had been stopped nine meters from the airlock.

  Perhaps thirty mercs had spilled into the room and were peppering the entire area where Kathy and Dave had taken cover.

  The box behind which Kathy was hiding was hit several times. Kathy noticed a red liquid on the floor seeping out of the damaged box. She reached down and put the flat of her left hand in the stuff, then smeared it on the right side of her uniform. Once back, she reasoned, the lab coats would be able to analyze this stuff.

  "Kathy!" Dave called out. "I'll cover, you move!"

  "Moving!" She shouted back.

  Dave inched over the top of the box he was taking cover behind and opened fire with a magazine he'd loaded with a little bit of all the mysterious ammo he'd brought from the fish. As the fifty-two caliber projectiles impacted in and around the enemy, brilliant explosions erupted in a wide range of colors. Some rounds produced shrapnel, others heavy concussion. There appeared to be a gas round that caused those in proximity to start vomiting violently. Some rounds were regular old fashioned bullets. The enemy was stunned, and fell back to take cover. It was long enough for Kathy to complete her nine-meter dash to the airlock, open the door and enter.

  "Dave," she cried out, "I'll cover, you move," she then emptied a magazine into the enemy positions. All her rounds were ball ammo, regular bullets. The initial shock of Dave's attack had passed and more mercs had poured through the breach in the wall. They had very quickly placed themselves on three sides of the airlock. If Dave left his covered position now, he'd be shot to pieces.

  Kathy and Dave both realized this; Kathy's eyes grew large, her mind racing to figure out how to extract Dave from this situation.

  "Kathy—" Dave shouted, "go on, you have to get back!"

  "I've never left anyone behind!" she shouted back.

  "Baby, you ain't leaving me. I'm staying."

  "Yeah, baby, stay here with us!" one of the mercenaries called out.

  "Come on sugar pie, give up or we'll blow your sweetheart here away."

  "Kathy," Dave shouted, "think of the mission. Run!"

  Kathy fired another magazine at the enemy positions out of sheer frustration, and then with a trembling hand, she pushed the button that closed the airlock door. From her squatting position on the floor, she heard the bullets slamming into the airlock. One of the last things she heard before it closed was a merc shouting, "Throw a grenade at him!"

  Chapter 19

  Return to New Roanoke

  The outer door opened, and Kathy looked all around outside in both passive and IR vision; seeing no one, she staggered out and headed toward the pyramid. Her mind was swimming in a sea of pain.

  Dave. His image and his name were foremost in her mind. She could see his face as if he were standing in front of her. That look on his face, as the airlock door was closing. He appeared resolute, but there was sadness in his eyes. Behind her, from inside the clinic, she heard the sharp report of a hand grenade detonating.

  The explosion brought Kathy back around, and she fired up her COMde. "Dave, are you there?" she screamed.

  "Kathy, forget me, I'm—" His voice was weak, and distant, then it fell silent. Kathy dropped to her knees near a copse of trees by the ruins of some E'meset building.

  He’s gone, I've lost him.

  Kathy had suffered the loss of members of her command before, even the loss of friends, but this time…this time it was Dave, and she felt the pain of his loss greater than any previous loss.

  She knew she could not linger here; the mercs would come hauling out of the clinic any second, looking for her. She got to her feet and called to Zolna over her COMde. "Move east, fast. Will link up beyond these three hills someplace."

  "Roger," Zolna responded, "we're Oscar Mike."

  Kathy ran as fast as she could, and pushed herself for even more speed. Through her mind, all manner of ghosts, doubts, and second guessing flashed. She kept seeing Dave's face. She called out to the voice from the back of her head, Well, where are you now? But the voice remained silent.

  About two kilometers east of the valley, Kathy encountered a large rock atop a low hill on the north bank of the small river. She climbed the hill and sat at the base of the rock then notified Zolna where she could be found.

  As she sat there, she was thankful that SUBs didn’t cry. No wet cheeks, red puffy eyes, runny nose. There would be no tell-tale sign for either Zolna or Le'ha to see how much she was suffering.

  She sat looking up into a night sky that seemed darker than any she had ever known. Like an explosion, the smaller moon seemed to erupt over the horizon. Its pale silver light made the night appear even more ghastly than before. She watched as the cold orb passed over her, moving so fast that it could be mistaken for an aircraft. She watched it until it was about gone over the western horizon.

  She kept hearing Dave's voice in her head, "Kathy, think of the mission, Run! Think of the mission." Seemed that was all she ever thought of.

  From her left, she heard two people approaching fast. She knew it had to be Zolna and Le'ha.

  Kathy climbed down from the hill and called to Zolna on her COMde. They altered their course and were soon walking up to her.

  "Where's Major Mitchel?" Zolna asked.

  Kathy paused a moment then looked up at Le'ha. Her mouth opened but the words refused to form, then with an obvious effort she said softly, "He didn't make it."

  "What?" Zolna exclaimed.

  Le'ha's face fell sharply, her normally bright eyes faded, and her lips parted. She walked slowly up the hill and went behind the rock. A moment passed before Kathy and Zolna heard her wailing in grief. Her crying was relentless and profound.

  "What happened, ma'am?" Zolna asked.

  "He…stayed to give me the chance to escape."

  "Ma'am, are you hurt?" Zolna was looking at the red stain on Kathy's uniform.

  "What?" She glanced down where Zolna was pointing then just looked back at him.

  "Oh…yeah," Zolna replied in a low, embarrassed tone.

  "When we get back, this stuff needs to be tested; remember that, in case I—" Kathy stopped, pulled her knife and cut a piece of the stained material out of her uniform. She folded it in half and handed it to Zolna. "If I don't make it…you get this to the general."

  Zolna slowly took the piece of sticky cloth and zipped it into a breast pocket. "Yes, ma'am."

  "Now…give me your left hand, Private. I need to share some information with you."

  ○O○

  Dave watched as the airlock door closed. Kathy had looked panicked; he'd never seen her that way before. As the door was closing, the enemy opened mad fire on it with every gun in the place. Dave leapt to his feet and started returning fire on all three enemy positions. As he dropped down to reload, he heard a voice shout, "Throw a grenade at him!"

  Shortly, he saw the small round metal sphere hurtle over the crates headed right for him. It hit the floor and rolled right up to him where is stopped and spun…then…the world just seemed to freeze. Bullets stopped in their flight, smoke wafting through the air became still. Time, it seemed, had stopped. Dave finished slapping a fresh magazine into his weapon. He lifted his eyes and looked at the airlock door. The light was red. Kathy was on the outside now, and no doubt, running like the wind toward Zolna and Le'ha. Soon, they would be making their best possible speed toward New Roanoke.

  He glanced down at the grenade. In seconds, it would detonate and end his life. He glanced again at the airlock and his thoughts returned to Kathy. He'd never felt about anyone as he felt toward her. If I'd only been more personable…we never just
talked. Of course, she’s a very mission-oriented officer. It was the rank, Dave concluded. She's a real commissioned officer, and I'm a sergeant, made a major by circumstances. Damn this rank anyway.

  Looking down, Dave again noticed the grenade was spinning again, time was again on the move. Dave reached down and grabbed the small but powerful explosive and tossed it over his head behind him. In a millisecond, there came a bright flash of light and a puff of black smoke, the concussion was horrendous. As he rose to fire on his enemies, he saw that they had followed the grenade attack with an assault, they were rushing him en masse from three directions. He fired his weapon and watched as purple flowers of smoke bloomed at each impact. The room began to fill with purple smoke.

  Very quickly, it became impossible to see, so he engaged his IR vision. Just as he did, he saw a hundred or more of his enemies leaping over the crates and falling toward him. Despite his strength, he could not fight off this mob. Several dozen held him down as a large tattooed man with gold teeth slapped a black box on his chest. Instantly a sliding scale bar appeared in his vision. It was the indicator of the power reserves in his G-buc, his graphene-based ultracapacitor. With great speed, it began to drain down from forty percent. At twenty-two percent, he heard Kathy's voice over his COMde, "Dave, are you there?" She was screaming.

  He tried to reply, but his power was down to ten percent and falling rapidly. "Kathy, forget me, I'm—" Dave’s eyes went dark, and the world went black.

  ○O○

  Kathy could wait no longer for Le'ha. She sent Zolna to get her. Zolna was halfway up the hill when to their west, they heard a great roar. Zolna pointed in that direction and shouted down the hill to Kathy, "Ma'am, look!" Kathy was at his side in a second, looking west. There, in the dark, could be seen the lights of a V-tol, a Vertical Take Off and Landing aircraft. It had just risen from some area to their south and west, from inside or near the clinic. It was hovering now under the camouflage membrane. They watched as its running lights were turned off. Then, the nose dipped and the aircraft moved out from under the camouflage. Once it was beyond the membrane, it put on a burst of speed and headed north.