»That obviously didn’t help Amdul,« Davis hissed bitterly. »Just what is this creature? I always thought that alien intelligences would be civilized. How can they produce such technology and still act so barbaric?«
Caroline didn’t dare to move.
»It seems we need to re-assess our thoughts about other cultures.«
»Did you notice that the Globuster doesn’t wear a space suit? It can exist in space. Unbelievable! Wait! What’s it doing now?«
The Globuster suddenly raced away from the tunnel entrance in the exact direction the group had come from after the landing.
»God! It’s superior in every way, Bill. Did you see how fast it can move? We’ll never make it!«
Davis cursed aloud.
»Damn it, Caroline! Don’t talk like that. I can see what kind of creature we’re facing, but it’s not going to find dealing with us as easy as it did with Karokan! I guarantee you that!« He paused, added grimly, »What worries me the most is that the Globuster has vanished in the direction of our Hawk.«
»The ship,« whispered Caroline.
»If the Globuster discovers the ship, we’re lost!«
Carefully, Davis raised his head above the sparse cover.
»He’s gone. Probably waiting for us out there somewhere. Let’s go around the funnel, withdraw carefully and approach the Hawk from an unexpected direction. The ship’s our only chance of getting out of here!«
As Caroline checked her liquid oxygen indicator, she pulled Davis firmly by his sleeve.
»I know,« Davis said and nodded.
»Five hours of oxygen left. We’ve got to get back to the Hawk before the Globuster finds it first.«
They took advantage of every bit of little cover they could search for and were able to only slowly advance toward the Hawk. The nerves of both Humans were stressed to the limit with the knowledge that the nightmarish creature could be hiding behind each and any rock.
They had left Karokan’s remains. The Globuster may have feigned heading for their ship, and could be just waiting for them near the body, waiting for them to approach it. The barbaric presentation of the corpse may have been a trap.
The walk across the planetoid’s landscape was difficult. Only now, when every minute counted, did they realize just how far they had traveled from the landing site.
With the funnel no longer in sight, Davis asked himself again, what exactly the function of this massive object was. Base? Weapon? Burial chamber? He couldn’t come up with anything that made sense.
At least it was obvious that the small central of the Globuster wasn’t the only underground installation which was built into the planetoid by the strangers.
After nearly an hour, they reached the far side of the debris field of the platform. Quaoar’s dimly lit landscape stretched out against the black sky. A sudden movement of shadow caught Davis’ eye. At the same instant, Caroline grasped his suit sleeve and pointed. She’d seen it too – it! The Globuster!
The Globuster was viciously attacking something. Davis held his breath until he realized it was the small tractor that Karokan had left behind at the edge of the crater wall.
They watched in horror and amazement as the vicious creature tore the small track-propelled vehicle apart like it was a toy, scattering parts.
It almost seemed as if the monster was actually enjoying itself, like a puppy tearing apart a newspaper.
»It tears metal like paper,« Davis whispered, »so that’s what happened to the platform after it landed.« For Caroline’s sake, he did not add and to Karokan! The Globuster had done all that damage with just its bare hands!«
The mysterious creature ravaged and raged like a berserker, not stopping until the transporter was totally destroyed.
»Why is it doing that?« Caroline asked.
»I don’t really know. Maybe it claims Quaoar as its territory and when we appeared, it identified us as intruders.«
Caroline shivered.
»I’m afraid of it. Everything in me refuses to acknowledge that this monster could possibly be intelligent or even be the creator of this installation.«
Davis kept his eyes on the Globuster.
»I don’t think it is. It’s probably just a guard or a soldier. We don’t know anything at all about this creature.«
»We know it’s cruel and – brutal! I want it dead! It savagely killed poor Amdul and it will do the same to us if it finds us.«
The Globuster suddenly stopped and froze. It unexpectedly moved so quickly that Davis could barely keep it in sight as it jumped over the crater wall and disappeared.
»It’s all over now,« Davis said with grim calmness. »It had to have seen the heat signature from the Hawk’s engines.«
He checked his oxygen reserves.
»We have only three hours of air! The question is: do we want to hide and finally suffocate or do we – two mere Humans who landed on Quaoar – teach that Globuster a lesson it will never forget?«
Caroline drew her weapon out of its holster.
»If it comes back to the crater, then we’ll kill this beast before it kills us!«
Davis squeezed her hand. He knew this was a one-sided fight. Nevertheless, he was determined to go down fighting. Both raised their weapons and aimed where they had last seen the creature.
Globuster
A gleaming, bright light flashed, like a rapidly rising sun, across the planetoid’s surface frozen puddles of methane and ammonia evaporated instantly in the maelstrom of heat, light and force. Their automatic helmet light filters reacted and immediately dimmed their visors, preventing their immediate blindness.
Davis threw himself over Caroline in an attempt to protect her. A gigantic fireball rose over the planetoid, signaling the Hawk’s destruction.
Davis had not expected a pressure wave in the vacuum of space, but a cloud of plasma at tens of thousands of degrees Kelvin swept like a hurricane over the cratered landscape. Even through his space suit, he felt the hot breath of the fireball, as it rose rapidly from the surface, losing luminescence as it expanded above them.
Rubble, molten metal and solidified stones fused to glass rained down slowly on the planetoid.
Larger rocks, hurled away by the force of the explosion, were transformed into projectiles that flew many kilometers. Davis didn’t dare move. Only after the turmoil had ceased for several long minutes, did he raise his head to view the rocky scene.
The crater wall had nearly been obliterated; all that was left was a gap through which glowing molten rock poured.
Caroline sat up.
»So, that’s it. The Globuster has just destroyed the Hawk.«
»It didn’t even stay long enough to investigate our spaceship – it just blew it up!« Davis’ voice sounded resentful and disappointed.
»The Globuster doesn’t want to negotiate or study our technology. It just wants to kill us! I hope the damned beast got caught in the chain reaction!«
»You think it perished in the fire?«
»Had to be. Nothing survives such an explosion, not even that creature! It must have underestimated the explosive energy of the ship’s reactor and the propulsion system fuel and been incinerated in the atomic fireball!«
Had to be, Major Davis repeated to himself.
Carefully, Davis helped his girlfriend to her feet.
»Is it really dead?«
Davis heard the relief in Caroline’s words. He did not want to remind her that they had only a few hours of air left.
»I very much hope so. We still have to be careful, Caroline. We don’t know if this was the only one.«
»Something makes me feel that it was the only one!«
»Ouch! Damn … Goddamn … what is this all of a sudden?«
Suddenly, Caroline put her hands on her helmet.
Davis felt it at the same instant. Both suddenly had splitting headaches. The pain grew worse with each passing moment.
»What’s wrong? What is happening to us?«
Then they h
eard it. At first it was as if a thought was insinuating itself into their minds, soft, whispering, then it seemed to become audible as it grew louder, coming closer and closer.
Glo – bus – ter …, Glo – bus – ter …
»Caroline!« Davis yelled in alarm and disbelief. »It isn’t dead! That can’t be! «
The Globuster topped a nearby hill chain, stood silhouetted against the stars, approaching from an entirely different direction than they would have expected. It must be using a totally different sense to track them than it did before.
»Oh my God! It’s found us! It’s coming straight toward us! It has found us!«
Davis aimed his weapon and fired a long burst at the creature. The small projectiles raced toward the strange creature. Stone fragments flew up around the Globuster, but Davis was confident at least some of his projectiles hit its body.
Jaws wide open; the creature turned around and looked directly at Davis.
»Useless! I’m not hurting it!«
Davis yelled a warning at Caroline and then fired his second clip at the creature. The Globuster had now made out Davis and was charging.
»Caroline! Run! Hide somewhere! I’ll hold it off as long as I can!«
Davis’ motions seemed purely mechanic, as he hopelessly loaded the last clip. Again, he fired squarely at the creature, but the projectiles left it remained completely unfazed.
Then the Globuster was there. Centimeters in front of his face, it stopped abruptly and brutally swiped him with its clawed right arm. Davis was violently thrown down and collided with a rock. He fought for each painful gulp of air. One single strike of this creature had broken several of Davis’ ribs.
The Globuster stalked around Davis, snout twisted in a snarl. Its three-meter tall body loomed, mighty and impossibly powerful, invincible. Its claw-armed hands pointed forward.
»Caroline, I love you!« Davis yelled through his pain.
Davis pulled his combat knife from the side sheath and pointed it at the beast. The Globuster seemed to hesitate to appraise the situation with gleaming eyes. Could it really see Davis?
Davis felt sick. The induced alien thoughts of the creature seemed to mingle with his own. He felt disoriented, and couldn’t rely on his senses anymore.
I’m dead, Davis thought in resignation.
With a fast move, leaving Davis no time to react, the Globuster was over him. With one massive leg, it forcibly pinned Davis to the ground, while its head swayed, weaving from one side to the other.
Davis couldn’t breathe. He felt the pressure of the sharp claws through his space suit. His broken ribs burned and colored wheels of fire spun before his eyes.
He realized suddenly that the Globuster was searching for Caroline. The creature knew there was still another Human. Davis groaned under the creature’s weight, as it continued to press him mercilessly into the ground. Davis took a wide swing and attempted to ram his combat knife into the Globuster’s leg, but the blade couldn’t even penetrate its body.
»What are you!« Davis screamed in helpless anger. »What do you still want from us! Finish it or go back to your damn dark hole!«
Davis kept thrusting his knife at its leg until finally the blade broke. The Globuster hadn’t even seemed to have noticed his attempts.
The creature abruptly let go of Davis and moved slowly backward.
»What’s with you?« Davis yelled, fighting to keep from blacking out. »You want to play with us a little bit more?«
The Globuster turned and raced away. It leaped through the gap in the crater wall and was out of sight.
»What is …?« Davis never got to finish the sentence.
A dark shadow was cast over the planetoid’s surface, and then a bright light bathed them from above.
Caroline came out of her hiding place and threw herself into Davis’ arms.
She quickly switched on Davis’ helmet radio.
»… Triton Hawk 5 to Leader 2, have located shipwreck and possible survivors. I’m in pursuit of the unknown creature. Permission to fire?«
»… Leader 2 to Triton Hawk 5, permission granted. Fire at will.«
The Hawk hovered on its attitude jets over Davis’ location for a couple of seconds, then took off in pursuit after the fleeing Globuster. The pilot had located the Globuster with motion sensors. Thin beams sizzled through the night as he opened fire with lasers.
»Oh yeah! Get that bastard! Now the shit hits the fan!« Davis hissed.
A pair of Hawks raced out of the star field and took position above Davis and Caroline. Terrific explosions in the distance shook the planetoid. The first Hawk was using bombs!
One of the fighters landed directly beside Bill and Caroline, raising pebbles and dust with its jets. With engines running, its airlock opened, inviting the pair to climb aboard. The Hawk wasted no time lifting back into space once the pair was safely aboard.
As Davis took off his helmet, he could see that his oxygen supply was almost depleted. He looked into the brown face of a space soldier.
»That was close, Major. I’m Lt David Morgenstern. The commander has sent us to pick you up. Pleased to see you’re still alive.«
That was the last thing Davis had heard before darkness swallowed him and unconsciousness relieved him of his pain.
Alarming news
Donald Day listened to the report from the Ryan, which he had just received a few minutes ago in his cabin. »… we had to keep a minimum distance of 200,000 kilometers from Quaoar to be able to send this report or the shield would have prevented our transmission. Davis and astrophysicist O’Tubian are alive! The technician who accompanied them was actually a partner in the Mars Mining Company and was killed by an …« – a pause by the sender – »… alien. We have retrieved the corpse.«
Pause
»We were able to pursue the hostile, but, unfortunately, it managed to elude us. It appears to be a very strong lifeform.«
Pause
»Nothing we did could stop it! The creature, O’Tubian calls Globuster, disappeared into an underground installation and escaped in a small spaceship a short time later.«
Pause
»Two Hawks went after the hostile ship but weren’t able to match its acceleration rate.«
Pause
»The course vector for the hostile ship pointed at around ninety degrees against the ecliptic of the solar system. We had to cease the pursuit after a few minutes.«
Pause
»More alarming are the developments apparent on Quaoar. The Hawks discovered four gigantic, artificially created hollows on the surface of the planetoid, many hundreds of meters in diameter.«
Pause
»Our techs believe that these hollows are exhausts of a planetoid propulsion system. Shortly after the escaping ship disappeared from the screens, we monitored activities from the inside of the planetoid. The hollows began firing large plasma beams of a few seconds’ duration. The thrust forces from the plasma beams were strong enough to shift the planetoid’s orbit. O’Tubian and the other astrophysicists have extrapolated its trajectory … Sir, the new route takes it on a collision course with Triton …«
Pause
»… there is nothing left for us to do here. The Ryan has docked the Hawks again. We are now running at high speed toward the base.
Signed: David Morgenstern, Lieutenant.
On a collision course with Triton! Donald Day was very aware of the consequences and tried to imagine it. An object the size of Quaoar, in fact not much smaller than the Moon, but large enough to destroy Triton, had been steered by aliens toward the Neptune System! They actually intend to destroy our base! Donald Day couldn‘t believe it. The strangers must have been in the solar system for a long time. They must have been observing Humanity and certainly knew the Solar Union’s potential and vulnerabilities. Now, after finally making contact, the aliens’ actions seemed incomprehensible. The commander couldn’t understand their harsh reaction and their uncompromising behavior. What made them attack like thi
s? Why didn’t these … Globusters want to negotiate with Humans?
Donald Day went immediately to Triton Base Command Central and issued a full alert for all forces of the solar system. All of Humanity was threatened, but the danger would be on top of them here on Triton too quickly. Humanity had to resist this threat with all its might. This threat would take a very real form in about two hours. They must do whatever could be done to prevent Quaoar from colliding with Triton, although Donald Day didn’t have any idea what could be done.
Vanilla
Davis was in the Ryan’s sick bay when he opened his eyes. Caroline was standing beside his bed and greeted him with a smile.
»I promised you we’d wake up together one day. Didn’t know it would be this soon, though.«
Davis replied with a weak smile.
For a while, Davis thought, I didn’t know if I’d ever wake up again.
Davis took a deep breath and felt the stinging pain of his ribs.
»Hurts, doesn’t it?« said a doctor, who had just entered the sick bay. »You were lucky. The creature must have been incredibly strong.«
Davis suppressed a cough.
»You can say that again. I have never been so scared in my life, Doc. We were completely helpless. The Hawks came in at the proverbial last second.«
The doctor glanced briefly at Caroline and said, »It was the commander’s idea to use the Ryan as a carrier for the scout ships. It’s unarmed, but it could still assist in transporting the smaller ships out to Quaoar. The rest of the squadron has secured the space over Triton.«
Davis sank back into the pillows and looked at the bruises on his chest.
»So … we’ve had our first encounter with an alien race!«
A short coughing attack shook Davis for a moment.
»They’re barbaric,« Davis coughed. »Inhuman! They showed no kind of respect for our lifeform.«
»You’re absolutely correct. Lieutenant O’Tubian has given us her report while you were unconscious. Your knife was still in your hand when we took you aboard. We found microscopic traces of the creature on the blade. The samples that we could isolate were immediately examined. Analysis revealed that the molecular structure of the Globuster isn’t based on carbon, but on silicon. The creature is able to see within the infrared spectrum. Lieutenant O’Tubian told us that the underground installation was filled with chlorine gas. Presumably, this is the atmosphere the Globuster breathes.«
NEBULAR Collection 1 - The Triton Base: Episodes 1 - 5 Page 8
