by James Somers
“Kale, Juli, help me get these supplies to the Equinox,” said Mirah as she heaped equipment and boxes into their arms and sent them toward the access corridor.
“I should check on the girl, don’t you think, Dr. Soone?” asked Emil, glancing back down the darkened corridor toward the patient suites.
“Yes, Emil, that’s a good idea. She should still be sleeping with the sedatives I’ve given her. We’ll get these things loaded on the ship and come back to help get her ready for transport.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Mirah headed off after Kale and Juli with her own load of supplies and several totes of medical equipment slung over her shoulders, as Emil headed back toward the patient suites.
☼
The drugs Dr. Soone had given Ramah were beginning to wear off. The catatonic fog was lifting and she could remember why she was in this bed. Ramah had passed out after the escaped the fields of the Agonotti. She was hurting still, but she was glad to be free.
Ramah opened her eyes slightly, viewing the room in the very low lighting coming from the hallway beyond her room. It was odd, but not enough to stir her consciousness out of the drug induced funk her doctor had her in. She blinked slowly, not really opening her eyes beyond a slit’s width.
A shadow passed by in the hallway between the curtains over her rooms viewing window and the low lighting beyond. She supposed it must be Dr. Soone checking up on her again. She liked the doctor. She was kind and comforting to her, especially after the ordeal she had just been through as a slave to living nightmares. Now, she was safe with the rebels and the Barudii king.
The door began to creak open a little and someone was coming in. The light cast upon the figure for a second and Ramah managed to blink through the fog her mind and vision were under. She screamed as the dim light animated a nightmare pushing through the doorway. The fowl beast reared its head at her cry and returned a horrible loud screeching that terrified the girl even more.
The beast began to charge into the room in a bloodlust as Ramah grabbed for the rails of her bed but did not possess the strength to remove herself from it. She heard another scream—the scream of a man, like a battle cry, as the viewing window to her room shattered inward. A dark human figure pounced upon the creature’s left shoulder area with an energy weapon of some kind in his hand, driving it home into the beast. It thrashed its powerful head at the blow, slinging the man away into a supply cabinet across the room.
The beast continued its thrashing, trying to remove the weapon lodged in its shoulder area. It smashed into Ramah’s bed with enough force to push it back, bouncing her out as the bed slammed against the wall behind her. She was now on the ground between its thrashing head and her battered patient bed.
The man recovered almost as quickly as he landed against the supply cabinet, reaching out toward her, but too far away to grab her. The beast spotted Ramah on the floor and started to strike with terrible rows of teeth, but the bed behind her, seemingly moving by the movement of great invisible hands, rotated over top of her in a move that scooped her under and pushed her toward the wall with the bed landing on its side against her. She was protected temporarily as the creature’s strike slammed into the under framing of the bed.
An invisible force, apparently under her rescuer’s control slammed into the creature, sending it hard against the racks of medical equipment that had been monitoring her beside the bed. His weapon dislodged of its own will and bounced back to the mysterious man as he launched his self again at the monster. Several quick blows with his energy sword silenced the beast once and for all.
“Who are you and what was that thing?!” she asked frantically as the man began to lift the tortured bed frame and mattress away from her.
“It’s an aerogore; very deadly. We’ve got to get you out of here, now.”
“Thank you for saving me,” she said as he scooped her limp frame up off of the floor into his arms.
“I’m Emil. Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you, Ramah.”
Somehow, those were very comforting words. The dead beast on the floor helped to bolster that feeling that he meant every syllable of his statement. She could tell he was dark skinned even in the low lighting and handsome. He seemed quite strong for a young man and he was soon heading quickly but cautiously down the corridor with her in his arms.
“Where are we going?” asked Ramah.
“We’ve got to evacuate with the others,” said Emil. “We’ve got a ship waiting.”
She hung onto his neck, but she was still weak from the intoxicating effect of the medications. Their hold on her was beginning to take over again as she slipped in and out of consciousness while the young man carried her off into the darkness toward his ship and safety.
☼
The warrior trio, Barudii and Horva, watched ships in the main hangar leaving without them. They were able to see, but not able to get to those escaping the horrible infestation of the rebel’s Sector City base. Ships were rising off of the tarmac as fast as their crews could ready them for take-off.
“How many do you think?” asked Tiet.
“At least two hundred smaller vessels,” observed Grod, “Maybe thirty larger cruisers.”
The warriors and their king had managed to make it safely to the observation lounge nearly ten stories up from the hangar bay’s main level. They had seen many people along the way that had been killed by the aerogores—left lying in pools of their own blood: men, women and children. The beasts were obviously not hunting for food but for service. This was a planned attack by a master of the elements—a master of evil.
“Can you see the Equinox?” asked Tiet.
“There are too many to pick it out,” said Grod, “It may be all the way down on the other end where the ships all seem to be heading. Perhaps they have found a way out without the transgates.”
“Wynn? What are you doing over there?”
The elder man was studying a schematic up on the wall behind the control desk.
“I think you’re right, Grod,” he said without taking his eyes off of the chart. “If I’m reading this right, there is supposed to be an escape tunnel big enough for the larger ships to be able to get through. It looks like there is a barrier, maybe a gate. They will have to open it to get out.”
“Where does it lead?” asked Tiet. “Do they come out in the plains where that army is?”
“No. It looks like they will come out in the city…near the airbase for Sector City.”
“That should provide them some cover then; maybe enough to get away from the cruisers they have stationed out over the plains,” said Grod.
“Look!”
Down in the hangar, aerogores were beginning to come into the massive underground chamber in great numbers.
“There must be hundreds of them,” said Tiet helplessly.
They could make out people being attacked outside of their ships as they tried to ready for departure. Some of the smaller vessels were being attacked also as the aerogores hurled great blasts of chemical fire at the vehicles. Others had several of the beasts clinging to them and ripping away at the armor plating to get inside at the human occupants. They continued to unleash hundreds of bursts of flame at the ships. Some of the smaller personal craft were completely engulfed in flame and then suddenly one nearby the observation window exploded before them. The heavy shrapnel clanged into the blast proof transparisteel, but did not penetrate.
Tiet removed his blade, ignited it and hammered into the viewing window. It scarred the material, but did not penetrate.
“You’ll be working a while to get through that stuff Tiet. It’s made to withstand a large freighter explosion if need be,” said Wynn.
The heavy doors they had come through began to ring with pounding coming from the other side. “They’ve found us!” shouted Grod as he prepared his plasma weapon for a final showdown.
“Wait men,” said Wynn. “If I’m correct we can follow this back hallway through this co
ntrol station and we’ll find a corridor that is supposed to lead to a small fighter bay. It must be a reserve hangar just for personal fighter craft?”
He pulled the map down to take with them. The doors began to glow from heat being put to it from the creatures beyond.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Tiet as he and Grod jumped the counter to join Wynn. He led them through the control station area according to the schematic. Hopefully they wouldn’t encounter more predators along the way.
☼
Emil helped Mirah to get Ramah situated in the single patient bed in the Equinox’s med-bay. They strapped her in securely as the rumble of the engines increased in intensity—they were taking off.
“I’d better get up front and help Kale,” said Emil.
“Do you have to go right now?” asked Ramah, half dazed from her medications.
“You’ll be fine now,” he said. “You’ve got a great doctor looking out for you.”
He smiled and acknowledged Mirah and then turned to head up to the bridge.
“Emil?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks for saving my life.”
“You’re very welcome,” he replied, smiling again.
Emil headed on through the main corridor quickly as pounding noises began to resonate through the hull. When he reached the bridge, Merab and Jael were with Kale as he brought the ship up off of the tarmac.
“Let’s get those shields up!” he shouted. “We’ve got some of them on the hull!”
“I’ve got it!” said Merab.
Beyond the main bridge window, he could see hundreds of ships clamoring into the air trying to get away from the aerogores. They were raining fire down upon the smaller ships that were vulnerable to such an attack and others were almost completely covered by the beasts as they tried to rip through the hull armaments to get at the people inside. The larger ships, some that were much bigger than the Equinox, were shielded and impervious to the creature’s attacks. Nevertheless, evacuation was still necessary.
Emil took a seat at the communication and science station next to Kale. “Let’s see who’s leading this parade.”
He tapped into the rebel’s coded frequency, still in the computer’s memory from recent communications, and found one particular ship, the Maelstrom, apparently leading the others out.
“It looks like the lead ship has opened whatever gateway is up ahead in the huge escape tunnel down at southern end.”
“They must have had power feeding it from another source,” said Jael.
Some of the smaller ships were colliding in the low light conditions and aerogore fire and smoke from some of the wreckage on the tarmac wasn’t helping the mess.
“We’ve got a long line to get out that way,” said Merab. “The smaller ships are getting bogged down behind those bigger vessels.”
“What about the transgate?” asked Emil.
A moment of epiphany swept the bridge as they all remembered the special capabilities of their ship.
“Do it,” said Kale. “Just put us above ground inside the city; we don’t want to leave the main group.”
“Calculating,” said Emil as he worked the controls frantically. “I’ve got it! I’m engaging transgate.”
Everything around the ship flashed. In a moment the murky scene of torn transports, fire and smoke was replaced by the brightness of day above ground. The sudden transport into sunshine was a little painful to the eyes, but still a welcome sight.
They could see that many of the ships were already on the surface, but there seemed to be no direction as to the intended destination for the group. Aerogores still mingled among them—the foul creatures weren’t giving up their prey so easily.
Suddenly, a massive burst of energy impacted with the side of a building near the place where the ships were emerging from the underground hangar. It shattered the old dilapidated structure to pieces.
“What is that?!” shouted Merab.
“My guess is that those Vorn cruisers are firing on us from the plains beyond the city,” said Emil.
“I’m picking up something else,” said Merab as he surveyed his scan readouts. “It looks like several hundred pods are heading this way from the same area beyond the city.”
“I’m taking us in,” said Kale. “Let’s see if we can provide some cover fire until everyone can get above ground.”
☼
By the time the warrior trio reached the door to the corridor indicated on Wynn’s schematic, they were all winded. The aerogores were still somewhere behind them and continuing the chase.
“This is it,” said Wynn as he tried to make out the details in the low light.
Tiet ignited his weapon and proceeded to cut a portal through the electrically controlled door. As soon as the piece fell through, they were hit with a horrible odor coming from the corridor beyond.
“Oh man! What is that smell?”
“I know that odor,” said Grod. “It smells like an aerogore nesting site.”
He proceeded through the cut portal ahead of them, peering cautiously into the dark corridor before moving completely through. Wynn and Tiet were puzzled, but they followed their friend on through with their own weapons at the ready.
Something was squishing under their feet. Tiet lowered his lit blade to cast the glow on the floor. Oh great, droppings.
“Don’t slip,” said Wynn as he came up behind him.
He might have thought it funny if they weren’t potentially creeping toward their own deaths in the chamber up ahead. There was absolutely no light at all. They had seen the last of the emergency lighting back before entering this corridor. It seemed like no people had been in this remote corner of the base in years. He remained close enough to illuminate Grod’s back with his blade and Wynn was on his heels, but walking sideways against the wall to be sure nothing came at them from the darkness behind.
The horrible stench was only getting stronger as they approached what was supposed to be an auxiliary hangar with a clear designated opening to the outside, at least according to the map.
“Are you sure about this Wynn?” asked Tiet in a low whisper.
“This is what the schematic says. I only hope there are still ships stored down here.”
“And that they’re in working condition.”
Grod stopped ahead of them. “I think there are some controls here,” he whispered.
He stepped off to the side as the corridor opened up into the other room. They couldn’t see anything beyond the glow of Tiet’s blade. It appeared to be a vast chamber and descended downward beyond the railing they were standing near. Grod raised the computer display mounted in the forearm of his uniform and clicked the power on to cast some light on the panel he was looking at. He tapped a few keys on the board and it began to illuminate its own controls.
“Power is coming on,” said Tiet.
“They must have an alternate power source for this bay—good thinking on someone’s part,” said Wynn.
The self illuminating of the control panels began to run off of the panel before Grod and continued on many more along the walls of what appeared to be a control booth for the hangar. The overhead lights blinked on in the booth around them revealing an aerogore waking on the floor near Grod. It screeched and sprang toward the Horva general. He reflexively brought his glove up and swatted at the beast. Its powerful head knocked Grod into the air and over the railing as the lights continued to come on inside the chamber.
Tiet was quick to slash into the beast. He got a strike to the aerogore’s face and barely recoiled ahead of its claws as it defended itself. He somersaulted over the reptile, driving his blade deep in between the beast’s shoulder blades into the heart as he went; landing against one of the control panels on the other side. He found a place of attachment and clung to the face of the panel as the aerogore went into a wild spasm and died.
Wynn was already at the railing searching for Grod. Tiet grabbed his blade as he jumped over the carcass and land
ed next to his elder.
“Help me!” shouted Grod as he hung from a lower portion of the railing that spiraled along the chambers outer wall.
The Barudii raised him safely with their thoughts, bringing him back to stand beside them.
“Thank you.”
The main lighting for the chamber was on now and they could see that it had been a great while since any humans had been to that portion of the base. There were droppings everywhere; especially along the bay floor below. There appeared to be twenty fighter craft in the bay, although the majority of the ships were ruined. Most appeared to have been used as aerogore play toys and were beaten and stripped apart; chewed on and defecated upon.
The men hurried along the ramp, cautiously investigating their surroundings for more predators. “It looks like the rest of them are all inside the base,” said Wynn.
“This is definitely a nest,” said Grod. “They love caves and places like this where they can rest undisturbed and then use the dark of night to hunt by.”
“How do you know so much about these things?” asked Tiet as they came to the tarmac at the lowest level.
“My campaigns with the Vorn military—we fought on several different worlds. The Vorn home-world of Demigoth also has aerogores indigenous to it.”
“That looks like the way out,” said Wynn, pointing to an orifice in the chamber above them.
