Conspiracy Unleashed

by L. Danvers

  “We had to keep the weight of the ship as minimal as possible,” Agent Taylor replied.

  She continued pointing out various components of the spacecraft, including the crew’s sleeping quarters, which had the most basic of necessities. Next, there was the med bay, which Britt asked a million questions about. Then there was the telepad room. Agent Taylor explained that to keep the ship from being detected, they had it docked far away, hidden in the depths of space. When the time came for the crew to begin their mission, they would teleport to the Stellix. Cal found this confusing and had so many questions, but Commander Ahmadi, whose eyes were bugging out while examining the main cabin, beat her with a question of his own.

  “What is that?” he asked, pointing to a box floating in front of what would be his chair.

  “Ah. I’m glad you asked,” Agent Taylor said, and for the first time a brief smile swept across her face. “This is the cube.”

  “The cube?” Flynn asked.

  “Yes. The cube, Mr. O’Boyle. Here. Let me show you.”

  She disabled the projection of the Stellix and pulled up an HP of the cube itself. The six sides were solid white until activated, she explained. Since touching the HP wouldn’t do any good, she pulled up another projection of what the cube looked like when activated. Gold liquid oozed through a network of clear bubbles until each was filled, emitting a radiant light.

  “This is how you steer the ship,” Agent Taylor said. “Once activated, the cube can be rotated and turned in any direction, the same way the Stellix can be. It’s surrounded by an energy field so you can twist and turn it in flight without having to touch the cube itself. It’s quite the technological achievement.”

  Commander Ahmadi drew his bushy eyebrows together, confused as to how the cube worked.

  “Don’t worry,” she continued. “There will be extensive training, I assure you.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Agent Taylor wasn’t kidding when she had said there would be extensive training. The crew spent months doing everything from drill exercises in the pool, learning mind-numbing details about how the systems of the Stellix worked and studying languages—it was improbable that another intelligent species would speak English. They learned first aid, basic survival skills and so much more.

  It was springtime before Agent Taylor decided they were ready to take their training to the next level. It had started out a morning like any other. Britt and Cal were training together in the gym, racing each other on the treadmills, while the men lifted weights. Cal was impressed with how far Flynn had come. He was no longer that boy who couldn’t catch a ball. There was no doubt he wasn’t as strong as Commander Ahmadi or Sam, but he was strong nonetheless.

  Their workout was interrupted by Agent Taylor’s voice booming over the speaker system, instructing them to meet her in the briefing room. Once there and seated, she pulled up a three-dimensional holographic image of a planet encompassing the entire hexagonal table.

  “This is rd-Prixine,” she said. “This is the first planet you will explore.”

  Cal’s heart skipped a beat. She trembled with nerves. The training, to her at least, had been hypothetical to this point. But to see a new planet there before her made it real.

  It reminded her of a scoop of cotton candy ice cream. Pink and blue swirls circled the sphere, which was splattered with wisps of white and purple. Two sparkling interlocking rings surrounded the diagram of the alien world.

  Agent Taylor explained she and the other agents believed there to be water on rd-Prixine, or Prixine as she now called it for simplicity’s sake. “This planet is in the habitable zone. As you can see, we have reason to believe large bodies of water are present, a good sign that life may exist there.”

  Agent Taylor went into extensive detail about every bit of information they knew about Prixine. Cal was overwhelmed by the information, yet she was fascinated. She felt a rush of adrenaline at the thought of being one of the first humans to see this spectacular planet in person. If only Quinn could have seen this.

  When the excitement settled, Agent Taylor told them it was time for the real training to begin. Cal wondered what that meant. Had they not spent the last few months doing real training?

  Agent Taylor once again led them to the pool, where Agent Scott was waiting next to a rack. But the rack didn’t hold swimsuits, like it had on the first day of training.

  He wasted no time getting to business. “These here are your new uniforms, which you will wear on both land and sea. They’re waterproof, so Commander Ahmadi, you won’t have to use the cover for your left leg when you’re suited up. Agent Hendrix designed these himself. He designed the Stellix, too, you know. He had hoped to be the one to show you how these suits work, but he’s tied up tinkering with some new invention of his and asked me to do it instead.”

  Agent Scott held up a suit. It was black, covered in a web-like pattern and lined with gold. “These suits have been designed specifically for each of you and will fit like an extension of your own skin. This top black layer is made of a protective material, but don’t get cocky. You’re not superheroes. You can get hurt. The layer underneath is a plant-based material that produces oxygen so that you don’t have to lug tanks around when you’re out there exploring. Underneath that is wiring—that’s what this gold lining is. The sensors run diagnostics on you, alerting you if oxygen levels are low, your blood pressure is too high and so on. They account for fluctuations in gravity, too. That lining around the neckline? This baby also has sensors that know when you’re nearing a body of water. When you do, a retractable helmet will emerge. So will webbed flippers for your feet. The sensors are off now, of course. And finally, the bottommost layer is a cushy material that helps absorb shock—and makes these things dang comfortable, if I do say so myself. Of course there’s a utility belt, too, to hold your tools, gadgets and weapons.”

  Cal’s stomach felt like it had been wrung out like a wet cloth. She was questioning what she’d signed up for. She thought they were going to be exploring. But protective material, weapons... it hadn’t hit her until this moment that she could have to fight an alien. In her head, making contact with an intelligent species wouldn’t be that big of a deal. They would introduce themselves, learn about their way of life and report back to Agent Taylor. She’d been so caught up in keeping up with training that it hadn’t occurred to her what they were training for. There was a chance, a reasonable chance, that an encounter may not go as planned. And the crewmembers had to be prepared to defend themselves, if needed.

  Agent Scott tossed each of them their respective uniforms to let them have a look. Cal held the suit in her hands, running her fingers along the unusual fabric. It wasn’t as heavy as she expected. She noticed the familiar gold insignia across the chest, a rendering of the Stellix, underneath which in tiny print read Fortune Favors the Brave.

  “I assume each of you has had the optical injection, correct?” Cal’s and Flynn’s eyes met. Neither of them had gotten the injection, nor did they have any interest in doing so. Agent Scott, reading their faces, sighed. He pulled two syringes from a briefcase beside him and said, “Over here. Brush your hair aside so I can get a clear visual.”

  “Why do we need the injections?” Cal said, shaking.

  “For training. We use them to run virtual reality simulations.”

  Flynn adjusted his glasses. “Yeah,” he said. “I’d prefer not to get poked in the eye. Any chance we can use the lenses instead?”

  “Please?” Cal added, batting her precious eyes at the agent.

  “Sissies,” Agent Scott mumbled under his breath. He pressed his finger against his wristband. Moments later, a blue light flashed. “Someone will bring two sets of lenses down here in a bit. Ah. I see neither of you have the xfone, either. Geez. What’s with you people?” He huffed. “No matter. We’ll transmit the audio through your helmet. Why don’t you go ahead and grab your boots and get suited up?”

  The five of them changed into their one-pi
ece uniforms. Cal was relieved the fabric was more forgiving than Agent Scott had implied. When he said it would fit like an extension of her skin, a superficial part of her brain worried it would accentuate her imperfections, like the pudge around her stomach she couldn’t get rid of no matter how much she exercised. It was such a stupid thing to worry about, but she was thankful it was all for naught anyway. The suit, while fitted, had enough padding to smooth things out. It made her feel better seeing Britt checking herself out in the mirror, sticking each leg out to the side to see how the uniform hugged her hips.

  “I suppose it could be worse,” Britt said.

  She and Cal secured their utility belts around their waists and, with that, they returned to the pool where the others were waiting.

  Agent Scott handed Cal her computerized lenses and watched her put them in. He clasped his hands together behind his back and paced along the slippery edge of the pool while he spoke.

  “From here on out, any time you put on these suits you are to activate them. See that design over your chest? The Stellix? Press it to turn the suit on.” Cal did as he instructed, and the suit hummed with an initial buzz of energy. There was a swoosh, and a helmet encompassed her head, giving out a gush as it suctioned itself in place. Agent Scott pulled a FlexTab from his pocket and swiped his finger across it a few times. “I will activate the virtual reality simulation. We will control your audio and visual, giving you the opportunity to gain as close to real life practice as possible without putting you in harm’s way. The sensors in your suit will be tied into the simulation, so everything will feel real.”

  The pool sounded like it was boiling. Cal craned her head to the side to look around Agent Scott, and sure enough, the water was bubbling up from the center. He paced once more, obstructing Cal’s view.

  “Wait, what is it that we’re doing?” Flynn asked.

  “You’ve played virtual reality games before, I assume?”

  “Of course.”

  “Think of this as a game. See that pool there? While we’ve been standing here chatting, the virtual reality simulation has transformed it into an underwater alien world. Your helmets are wirelessly connected to one another. That means each of you can be heard by and communicate with the other members of the group. If you glance up, you will find a small dot at the top center of the helmet. That’s a smart light. The deeper you go and the darker your surroundings become, the brighter your light will shine. It should give you a good twenty feet of visibility. I think that about covers the basics.”

  Agent Scott held out his hand, and a glowing white ball hovered above it. Cal blinked a few times, trying to determine if the object was part of the simulation. It looked so real.

  “Your mission in this exercise is to work as a team to find the orb that matches this one. Use whatever means necessary to secure the orb and return it to the surface. Treat what you see as reality. There’s no half-assing here. It looks like a game, but this is training. You need to perform in training as you would in real life. Understood?”

  That’s it? He had to give them more of an explanation than that.

  Cal gulped. Agent Scott sensed her hesitation.

  “You may find yourself wondering how you are to recover an object with so little information to go on. Allow me to remind you that the five of you will be on an alien planet. Alone. There will be no one to hold your hand, explain to you what you’re about to be up against or tell you when you’re doing something wrong. That’s why we do these training exercises. To train you to the best of our abilities here before sending you up there. So. Who is going in first?”

  Without thinking, Cal stepped forward. She nodded at Agent Scott and gave a quick glance at the other four members of her crew. Out of pure instinct, despite wearing a helmet, she held her breath and dived into the bubbling water, which had turned deep blue. Warm water displaced around her as the rest of the group jumped in after her.

  Cal took a few practice breaths to get used to the helmet. Breathing underwater felt no different than how she would normally breathe. It was the mental side of it that was getting to her, the thought of a thin helmet being the only thing keeping her from drowning. The notion of descending deep into murky, unfamiliar waters protected only by glass was unsettling.

  The light at the top of her helmet brightened, and she was able to get a better look at her surroundings. It was rich with life, or artificial life, as it were. Algae extended up from the depths, and there were schools of fish bubbling past.

  “Check this out.” Britt’s voice echoed within Cal’s helmet.

  Following the voice, Cal scanned the area and spotted a figure swimming toward a structure. It was too far to make out its exact details, but even from a distance she could get a sense of how massive it was. She and the rest of the group followed close behind the commander, who led the way. They came upon an opening, a hole large enough for each of them to fit through the rocky exterior, and they realized the structure situated before them was a cave.

  Commander Ahmadi was the first to enter, and upon being satisfied it was safe, he motioned for the rest of them to follow. Cal brushed her fingers against the pointy rocks that lined either side of her. She passed the artificial images, twitching as she distorted the simulation. She had no gloves, and therefore no sensors on her hands. But as she kicked to propel herself forward, her leg snagged against one of the projected rocks, sending the sensation of pain rippling through her calf.

  She caught up with the rest of the crew. There was a decision to be made. They had come upon two tunnels leading in opposite directions. Despite the combined light from their helmets, the two paths were dark.

  “This way,” Commander Ahmadi said, thrusting his body toward the tunnel on the right. He sounded confident in his choice, but Cal had a funny feeling he was winging it.

  Deeper and deeper they swam. It was dark as night, and the further they descended in the cave, the warmer the waters around them felt. Cal was sweating, if that was possible underwater.

  “We’re getting close,” Sam said.

  There was an intense rumble before Cal had a chance to ponder what it was that they were getting close to. She pleaded with her heart to stop pounding as she and the others came upon a glowing light.

  “The orb.” Britt gasped.

  But she was wrong. So wrong.

  A creature the size of a car emerged from the shadows. The monster was covered in slimy green scales, and it had ten or more tentacles—it was hard to tell with them thrashing so wildly—and six glowing eyes as large as baseballs.

  A screech pierced Cal’s eardrums. She cupped her hands to the side of her head, but her reflex was obstructed by her helmet. The monster flashed three rows of long pointy teeth, snapping first at Flynn and then at Britt.

  Cal wanted to scream, but it wouldn't come. She tried to gulp, but her saliva had run dry.

  The monstrous creature whipped its tentacles toward the group. Commander Ahmadi grabbed the knife from his utility belt and sliced into the beast.

  “Go, go!” he screamed to the others. He had no intention of going with them, though. It was apparent he feared the beast would follow if everyone fled. Cal knew this was a simulation. A test. But the adrenaline coursing through her veins urged otherwise.

  Obeying their commander’s orders, she and the others swam in the direction from which they came. But something made Cal stop. What was she fleeing from, anyway? This wasn’t real. There was no reason not to stay and fight. There had to be something she could do to get Commander Ahmadi away from the simulated monster so he could join them on the remainder of the training exercise.

  While she treaded water contemplating her next move, Commander Ahmadi angered the virtual beast more by carving another of its tentacles. Defying his orders, Cal swam toward the side of the monster. She grabbed the knife from her utility belt and held it tight in her fist, but before she knew it, one of the creature’s tentacles struck her stomach, sending a shock of pain through every muscle. Sh
e was slammed against the rocks. The knife fell from her grasp.

  Screeches echoed throughout the cave, so much so that the cave itself rattled. Commander Ahmadi was grunting and gasping as he fought the beast. Cal extended her hand, but she remembered the knife had slipped from her grasp when she was thrashed against the wall. By now, it had found its way to the bottom of the pool.

  She ignored the pain, reminding herself it wasn’t real. She spotted her commander in the shadows, face to face with the monster. It had a tentacle wrapped around his arm, causing it to convulse from the stimulus of pain. Cal swam up behind him, dodging flailing tentacles with each stroke. She took the knife from his trapped hand and pulled away in time to escape the beast’s bite. Commander Ahmadi distracted the creature by trying to evade its grasp. Cal swam around it and dug the knife into its artificial flesh. It gave out a sharp cry. Silence fell upon the waters as the tentacles went limp.

  The light from the beast’s glowing eyes dimmed. Cal swam around the creature and found Commander Ahmadi staring her down. He unclenched his jaw, and his expression softened.

  “Thank you,” he said. Speaking to the others, he continued, “It is clear. We are heading in your direction.”

  Cal followed as he swam through the tunnel and out of the cave. The rest of the crew cheered them on as they approached, having been listening to their audio feed the entire time.

  “You killed that thing?” Flynn asked, amazed.

  “Good thing Cal stayed back to save you, huh?” Sam teased Commander Ahmadi, who didn’t appreciate his taunting.

  “While you two were keeping the monster busy,” Britt said, “we think we may have located the orb.”

  “Show us, Ridley,” Commander Ahmadi said.

  Britt led the way further down into the dark depths of the pool until they came upon a vibrant reef. Even though Cal hadn’t seen a coral reef in person, she knew enough about them to know the creatures that inhabited this one were not reminiscent of ones of this world. Some were square-shaped and made clucking sounds as they fluttered by, while others imploded into a thousand tiny bits when they sensed danger.