Petrow briefly looked at the floor and mumbled, »Commander, I’d like to suggest we advance with the Shenzhou. We could surprise the Globuster, put a special unit on the surface and pick up our people!«
Day understood Petrow’s reluctance. A crew needed to back up its leader. Day sympathized, but reason had to prevail.
»Listen to me, Petrow. Ivanova, Davis, and the rest knew the danger. You won’t be able to do anything against the Globuster. You’re endangering the ship and the remaining personnel on Triton. Return and assist with the evacuation.«
»They’re already dead to you, Commander!« hissed Petrow.
»I’m not writing them off, Petrow. If the Globuster attacks them, the team will have their hands full, but I’ve every confidence in the experience and abilities of your commander and Major Davis. And may I remind you, those are her orders. She’ll have your ass if you disobey!«
Fear for Maya Ivanova was still written in Petrow’s face. Then he answered calmly, »Acknowledged, Commander. We’re coming back.«
Remote control
Maya Ivanova and Banoma Tanomo cautiously passed through the new tunnel entrance only to find the wall had already partially regenerated. The ‘circuitry’ along the station walls evidently, continually, diverted streams of energy to the edges of the injured wall, in an attempt to heal the breach.
»Look at this, Tanomo! Our entrance is closing. The others need to hurry up!«
The Maasai had exited the tunnel first and helped the commander through the slowly closing gap and then into the tunnel to the surface.
»We gotta hustle, I still can’t establish connection with Gonzales,« the commander said urgently.
The radio connection to Davis was heavily distorted.
»If you can hear me, Major, move it, the tunnel is closing on you!« Ivanova urged.
»… ot … tand … ssage … rep …t,« was Davis’ garbled reply.
»Davis, get out of there! The entrance is closing!« Maya Ivanova yelled into her helmet microphone, as she bent over and ran through the connecting tunnel toward the surface.
When they reached the exit, Ivanova saw the slagged Hawk.
»One ship is destroyed! The second Hawk is missing!« she shouted in a high pitched voice.
Tanomo pulled her around and pointed to the chain of hills close by. They saw the black, lens-shaped Globustership in the distance, as it slowly descended.
She grabbed Tanomo’s arm.
»Tanomo, your lion has entered the village!«
The commander could barely see through Tanomo’s visor, but she made out his emotionless face, highlighted with just a hint of fear. His helmet began to fog up from the inside and beads of sweat collected on his skin.
»Tanomo, it’s now or never! We have to stop that beast no matter what! It will not enter the cave, kill our crew or disarm the bombs!«
The Maasai lifted his heavy weapon and pointed it toward the ship’s landing site.
»One Hawk is missing. Gonzales must have made it.«
Ivanova checked the clip in the Globusterfist … the only clip she had available. She cursed having left the other ones behind on the tractor.
»Five rounds, Tanomo! Pray the weapon works and we’re actually lucky enough to land some hits!«
They raced toward the Globustership, taking any available cover en route.
»We need to get closer. Let’s put some distance between the ship and the tunnel entrance before the Globuster leaves its ship,« Tanomo suggested.
The commander ran toward the next piece of cover. She wanted to reach a small hill where she could see the alien ship better.
Ivanova was very physically fit; Tanomo had difficulties keeping up with her, even under these low gravity conditions.
Before they could get there, a bizarre, disgusting looking being, moving with rigid motions, appeared on top of the hill in front of them.
Ivanova and Tanomo hit the dirt and didn’t dare move.
»Allah Akbar, Allah Kherim … it’s horrible! It’ll kill us all!« Tanomo breathed at the sight of the Globuster.
With trembling hands and racing heart, Ivanova aimed her Globusterfist at the alien. The Globuster was less than fifty meters away.
What’s on its mind? the commander thought. Why is it not moving?
She could hear Tanomo’s heavy breathing through her radio receiver. She hoped he’d quickly overcome the shock of the first encounter.
»Tanomo, you’re the warrior! What do you think it is going to do?«
The commander didn’t really expect an answer. She only wanted to divert Tanomo’s attention.
»It’s looking for us, Commander,« he replied hesitantly. »It can’t see us and is using its other senses. It acts like a lion and knows it has us exactly where it wants us. The Globuster doesn’t need to hide. As soon as we move, it’ll attack and kill us.«
A cold shiver ran across Ivanova’s back.
»Listen up! I’m going to fire a single round. We’ll run like hell to that rock over there, without waiting to see what happens,« she ordered, pointing to a two meter high rock to their right.
Tanomo nodded.
»Ready?«
He nodded again.
Ivanova squeezed the trigger. The round left the barrel without recoil. The low-speed explosive bullet’s ballistic path was clearly visible.
Just before the small grenade-like bullet hit, the Globuster turned. The projectile just grazed its arm. There was an instant flash of bright light and the Globuster was thrown to the ground from the round’s impact.
Immediately, Ivanova and Tanomo ran like crazy to the sheltering rock.
Davis, Pi, and Necolett moved quickly through the tunnel. The detonators were synchronized and set. Pi had moved through several sections of the alien installation and collected as much data as possible. The entrance had almost completely sealed itself. A thin energy field already flickered over the remaining gap.
»Damn! It’s nearly complete!« cursed Davis.
Spontaneously, Pi leaped and flew headfirst through the rapidly shrinking opening. Davis and Necolett could see the specialist wince in pain.
»Necolett, you’re next! Go!«
Necolett did as he was told, and jumped. He screamed in pain as he landed near Lai outside the field. Immediately, Davis followed and slammed hard onto the ground. The Major couldn’t breathe for a moment and thought his heart had almost stopped. Stinging pain swept through his body and paralyzed him for a couple of seconds.
»Close!« he wheezed and writhed in pain.
Necolett had difficulty getting up.
»Mon Dieu … what was that?« he said with a sigh.
Davis slowly pushed himself up and looked back. He barely caught sight of the energy field as it became as dense and sealed as the other entrance.
»This entrance is closed. You were right, Pi. This damn place is alive!«
An utterly alien construct, he thought. In a way, far more so, than the Globuster. Half artificial, half organic: utterly strange. It probably even has some kind of consciousness.
Necolett tapped Davis on the side. Silently, the specialist pointed at the remote detonator controller, which Davis had dropped on the ground after his leap from the tunnel. The display glowed in a pulsating red.
Davis gnashed his teeth.
»The remote has lost the link to the bombs!«
Lai straightened.
»So? What’s that mean? Can’t we still blow them up?« he asked.
Necolett slowly shook his head while he stared at the tunnel’s sealed entrance.
»Just the opposite, Pi!« Necolett almost screamed. »If the remote initiator loses the comm-link to the bombs, the emergency program automatically activates. Plan B, n’est pas? The bombs will go off in twenty minutes, no matter what we do!«
Lai jumped to his feet and silently backed away from the Globuster station.
»What’re we waiting for, then? Let’s get away from here!«
»How far
can you run on foot?« Necolett asked.
»We’re waiting for the commander to contact us,« answered Davis calmly, shaking his head at Necollet. »I haven’t received a radio signal from either Gonzales, the commander or Tanomo. Have you heard anything?«
Globuster receives a hit
Ivanova immediately connected her fiber-optic cable with Banoma Tanomo’s helmet comm-jack after they had reached the cover of the rock. This made communication awkward, but she sure didn’t want the Globuster finding them by detecting their transmissions.
By now, Ivanova was positive that the Globuster couldn’t see them within their own normal light spectrum. Their suits perfectly insulated their body heat. She remained worried about the residual nozzle heat of her improvised weapon. She tried to compensate by hiding the weapon underneath her body. If the thing actually dropped the Globuster in its tracks, she’d have the Shenzhou's weapons tech incorporate a heat shield into this prototype. The weapon obviously produced a great deal of heat when fired.
Tanomo kept watch where the Globuster had been seen last. There was only the edge of the hill, silhouetted against the cold stars.
»I think you got the bastard! It disappeared lightning-fast.«
»Horrible creature! A walking nightmare. Did you see if the round penetrated the shield?« asked the commander with trembling lips.
»Couldn’t tell. The Globuster was obviously surprised. At the last moment, it tried to dodge the projectile.«
»I think its movement was purely coincidental. There is no way it could have seen the projectile.«
Ivanova checked the Globusterfist and made some adjustments.
»What are you doing?« asked Tanomo while he kept surveying the hill where the Globuster had disappeared.
»I’m reducing projectile speed. The round was probably too fast to be effective against the body shield.«
Suddenly, they both had splitting headaches that overwhelmed them. It felt like a cool touch at first, then strange thoughts popped into their heads. Tanomo pressed his helmet into the ground in pain.
»Allah Akbar …, what’s that! I’m getting sick.«
Ivanova could hear Tanomo heave and cough. She felt like joining him.
»Loss of self-control … mental attacks! Watch out! The Globuster is near! It’s trying to find us with its bio-electric field!«
Suddenly, the Globuster charged directly at them from the right.
»Watch out! It comes from the right. It knows where we are! Down, Commander!«
The Maasai jerked his weapon up and shot the Globuster. A spray of deadly bullets hit the creature. Surprised by the unexpected impact the Globuster stopped its attack. Banoma screamed and emptied his clip while the alien moved slightly to the side.
»It’s useless! The damn body shield protects it!« screamed Tanomo in panic, as the creature’s mental impulses undermined his own thoughts.
Glo – bus – ter, Glo – bus – ter
»I can’t stand these mental attacks any longer!« screamed Ivanova.
She saw the Globuster turn to face them.
»It can localize us! It doesn’t need heat! Somehow, it finds us with its mental powers!« the commander shouted. She went down on her knees hard and aimed the Globusterfist right at the alien. She took a few deep breaths and steadied the crosshair sights.
The alien creature peered directly into the scope. Eye to eye with the Globuster, Ivanova’s spine turned to ice.
You can’t see me, she thought. You can’t see me!
The beast charged.
Screaming a Russian battle cry, the commander fired. The Globuster didn’t even try to get out of the way and the projectile hit dead on target.
The grenade exploded with a silent flash and the Globuster stopped in its tracks. The mental abuse seemed to weaken. Tanomo took advantage of the break and pulled the commander to her feet.
»Come quickly, Commander! While it hesitates! We need to move!«
The Maasai dragged the commander with him and stumbled with her to the nearest rock that could be considered cover. He winced when the mental attack began again.
»I can’t concentrate … I can’t … I …,« Ivanova said, choking.
Tanomo looked around, confused. The specialist had lost his orientation and couldn’t remember where the attack had originated.
Then he saw the monster! The alien creature appeared in the exact spot they’d just been a moment ago. The Globuster’s head swayed back and forth as if it was searching or trying to catch a scent in the airless environment.
Trying to sense us, Maya Ivanova thought.
She adjusted nozzle speed on the ‘fist’ a third time – this time to minimum speed. Groaning she lifted the Globusterfist and aimed. She fired the third round without hesitation.
The projectile hit and exploded on the Globuster’s shoulder. Instantly, the mental torture subsided. The Globuster’s shield seemed to light up internally. The beast had undoubtedly been hurt by the explosion.
Tanomo stood up, breathing heavily.
»Take that, you bastard! It worked! That damn grenade really hurt it!«
Maya and Tanomo both held their breath as they stared at the Globuster. Then they saw a thick, yellow secretion run down the creature’s upper arm which hung as if paralyzed. The Globuster opened its snout wide, grimaced in pain and then stormed away.
The commander screamed triumphantly.
»That damn beast is bleeding! We can kill it!«
She stood up, shaking.
»I have two rounds left. The next one has to hit precisely.« She drew a deep breath. »We need to let it get closer to us!«
Tanomo just nodded.
»If that is what it takes!«
Saving Triton
Pi, Necolett, and Davis carefully checked the surroundings before they stepped from the tunnel opening. Davis made sure the helmet fiber-optic cables were plugged in to allow them to communicate without using the radio.
»One Hawk is destroyed,« warned Davis. »Looks like Gonzales escaped. Let’s hope she made it.«
»Let’s hope for the best. The alternative is we’ll be dead in about fifteen minutes!« remarked Necolett, dryly.
»That doesn’t matter anymore,« replied Pi. »The commander and Tanomo are missing, probably killed by the alien.«
»You really think the Globuster has killed both of them?« Necolett asked in a disturbed tone.
Lai didn’t offer an answer. Before anyone else could, a short call sounded in their radio receivers.
»They’re transmitting like they’re alone on this God-forsaken planetoid. What the fuck are they thinking, betraying their location?«
»Watch your language, Lai. You’re talking to your commanding officer,« Ivanova’s voice came, dryly.
»Commander, you’re alright! Where are you?« Maya’s voice echoed through their radios.
»We’ve maintained radio silence and are now two-hundred meters to your left! The Globuster is near and presumably really pissed. We were able to injure the damn thing with the fist.«
Davis looked around carefully.
»I’m afraid that’s not all that’s happening right now. This part of the planetoid will evaporate in less than fifteen minutes. The automatic timer was activated when we lost the data link,« Davis anxiously told Maya.
– Silence –
»Come over to us,« Ivanova broke the silence, calmly. »We’ll try to intercept the Globuster in the clear area in front of us and somehow prevent it from entering the cave.«
Davis understood. They had to do it – even at the cost of their lives. The three disconnected their cables and made for Ivanova’s position.
Maya and Tanomo were kneeling, watching their surroundings carefully.
»Do you feel it, Tanomo?« Ivanova asked.
The Maasai listened intensely for a few seconds, then shook his head.
»No, I can’t feel anything. Maybe it returned to its ship.«
»The Globuster’s intelligent. It ju
st thinks differently than we do. I’ll bet it’s cooking up a new strategy. It didn’t expect resistance and now realizes it underestimated us,« Davis added.
»I was hoping it was just a wuss who can dish out pain but can’t take it,« muttered Tanomo.
Suddenly, the creature appeared on the opposite side of the clearing. It had circled around its opponents.
Davis, Necolett and Pi all noticed the creature simultaneously, sought cover, aimed their weapons and fired.
The area surrounding the Globuster was saturated with intense fire as Davis, Necolett and Lai blanketed the beast with a barrage of bullets.
The commander and Tanomo ran as fast as they could in their attempt to get closer to the Globuster, all the while trying to avoid the flying bullets, but keeping an eye on the beast.
»Commander!« screamed Tanomo in sudden terror.
»I feel it, too, Tanomo! The Globuster is ‘trolling’ for us! It knows we’re the only ones who pose any danger. It’s not concerned about the others.«
The Globuster’s bio-electrical impulses were overwhelming the team members’ minds. The Globuster’s projected thoughts drowned Human thoughts as it tried to paralyze them.
Ivanova turned and, without looking back, ran to Davis, Necolett, and Lai. Tanomo followed her. Ivanova suddenly glimpsed a quick movement out of the corner of her eye.
The Globuster attacked as quickly as lighting; it seemed to know exactly where its targets were.
The commander turned, faced the monster and quickly aimed her weapon. She saw the creature bearing down on them. Suddenly, utterly calm and controlled, Ivanova, breathing shallowly, steadied her aim with the Globusterfist. There would be no escape this time; the Globuster knew exactly where they were.
»Come on you bastard! Come on, come and get me!« she screamed in anger.
»Commander!« yelled Davis. »Shoot! Why the hell are you waiting!?«
The bullets from four automatic weapons hit the Globuster’s body shield, but did not even scratch it. Ivanova steadily pulled the Globusterfist’s trigger when the creature was closer than ten meters.
There was a bright flash and then an explosion right on the creature’s chest. The Globuster stopped as if it had run into a brick wall.
NEBULAR Collection 1 - The Triton Base: Episodes 1 - 5 Page 14
