“According to Trevor, he was last seen talking to a mutant Eridani.”
“Mutant?”
“Yes Captain,” Trevor broke into the private channel. “Most of the Eridani in Wild Space are mutants in one form or another.”
“I thought they were cloned beings. How could they be mutants?”
“Once and again, it happens.” Trevor’s voice shifted into what Yamahara was coming to call his Eridani Erudite voice. Grated and high handed. “Problems with the cloning facility. The clone wants to try and break free, thinking they are some Second Coming.”
“Wait, wait, wait…the Eridani have a Jesus figure?”
“A bit crude, but fitting,” Trevor said. “Most of the Eridani don’t think they are the ones, but a few DNA strands unravel in the right way, and a mutant gets it in its head that it is the Second Coming.”
“What is it called in their language?” Cyrus asked. “I really don’t like the idea of this thing having anything to do Our Lord.”
Yamahara wanted to snap at Cyrus, but stopped herself. Everyone has their belief. She still prayed to her ancestors, keeping a small shrine in her quarters. Who was she to judge? “Maybe later, let’s just find the PFC.”
The mutant Eridani that Garret had been talking to smiled at Jaime and the others as he looked at them. “Is there a problem?”
“Yes, I am missing a crew member and you were the last one seen talking to him.”
“Oh, how?”
Checked with the security system,” Jaime lied. Garret had an implant that let her see where he was at all times. It had been cut off somehow. Either he was blind, or he was blindfolded. And there had to be some kind of privacy screen since the tracker was useless. But then, most about the space station reeked of needing repair.
“What is he worth to you?” the mutant asked. His orange teeth appeared in a rictus of a smile. “Perhaps we can—”
“Doubtful,” Jaime said, pulling out her weapon and pointing it at the mutant. “Tell me where he is or I will—”
The mutant threw his arms up, Jaime was surprised he could raise his arms as high as he did. “Of course, no need for violence. I was having a bit of fun. Your crewmate is beyond that curtained section and straight down the corridor.”
“Someone keep an eye on this wretch,” Jaime commanded. Cyrus nodded, pulling his weapon on the Eridani. Jaime nodded and took the rest of the crew down the way the mutant had pointed out.
Yamahara entered the corridor and held back a gag. She kept moving, while the others watched her back. The reek grew stronger and stronger until she opened the hatch at the end of the corridor. The room stank of mildew and a latrine. In the center was a metal framework where Garret was hanging upside-down from a rack, his eyes blindfolded.
“Who’s there? I’ll fucking tear you apart,” Garret coughed out.
“Still as rowdy as ever?” Jaime asked, stepping forward to yank the blindfold off his face.
Garret blinked back at the glare of the light. “Captain Yamahara, glad to see you. Forgive me if I don’t salute. Kinda tied up.”
She tried to shush him. The private was very pale, and she realised a small set of red-tinged tubes running along his bonds and up towards the ceiling. There was a small receptacle of some kind that she was sure held most of PFC Garret’s blood.
“Visitors?”
The voice was followed by the soft whirr of an Eridani grav chair. The thing in it wasn’t anything like an Eridani. It was same purple hue and spindly, but the head was wrong. It looked as though it had been flattened. There were also tentacles coming out of every appendage, making it look like it had double the number of limbs.
Before she could say anything, Lt. Bryce and Cruz fired at the thing. It took three shots of their pulse pistols, then fell to one side of the grav chair. The chair dropped with a crunch and the thing was still.
Garret limped out of the room, one arm over Lt. Bryce’s broad shoulder. “A few quarts low, but I think I’ll make it,” Garret said with hacking laugh.
Jaime sighed and shook her head.
“Captain, come in. Are you OK?” Lt. Cyrus shouted into the comm link.
Everyone winced from the sudden shout in their ears. “Yes, Lieutenant, we are. What is with the shouting?”
“The damn mutant got away.”
“How?” Jaime asked. Then, thought better of the question. “Never mind. We have PFC Garret. Let’s get out of here.”
“Good thing,” Garret said.
“Why is that?”
“I know where we need to go.”
To be continued
<<<<>>>>
PART THREE
Garret shrugged off Lt. Bryce’s arm after a dozen steps towards the captain. He gave a sloppy salute. “PFC Garret, reporting for—”
Yamahara held up her hand. “You in one piece, Garret?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Let’s get the Hells out of here.”
Garret noticed that the group that had come to get him were holding their pistols and rifles in tight grips. “Captain, there is another way to get to the ship without having to go through the main promenade.”
“Show us the way,” Yamahara said with a gesture. As Garret passed her, she tapped him on the side of the arm. He tried and failed to hold back a wince of pain. “You are going to need this more than me,” she said while offering her pistol to Garret.
He nodded and took it without a word.
The small group followed him towards a small access hatch, and after prying it open, the group was walking through the access hallway towards the docking ring.
Yamahara, at Garret’s elbow, asked, “How in the hell did you—”
“Don’t worry about it Captain,” Garret said. They found themselves at a hatch with the stencil ACCESS TO DOCKING RING etched into the door in three different languages. “I know where we need to go.” Garret smirked at the captain when he palmed the door lock, and the door to the docking bay irised open. “Trust me.”
“Captain,” Cerberus shouted into the comm links. Everyone jerked their hands to their ears in unison.
“What?” The collective shouted back.
“The ship is surrounded.”
Garret turned to see that the docking sector they headed towards had three Eridani in their grav chairs, much like the ones that had captured him. “Well, this is just fucking great.”
“Language,” Trevor said on the comms.
“Really?” Garret rolled his eyes. “Fucking kid.”
“I’ll reinstate docking pay, Garret,” Yamahara said, giving Garret a sidelong look.
Garret frowned.
Yamahara moved forward, hands up. “We will be heading to our ship, gentlemen.”
“I think not,” one of the Eridani said, swivelling towards them with a pistol in hand. “This craft is now under our control.”
“Negative,” Cerberus said in the link and through the audio box at the ship’s entrance. “This—”
A harsh spike of static caused everyone to wince.
“We suggest you take the comms offline before we do anything else,” one of the Eridani said with a smirk. He had a thick red band across his chest. It looked like it was part of his skin. “Unless you wish to go deaf.”
Before anyone could say anything, there was a loud, high-pitched tone that came through both the comms and the ancient announcement systems that the station had. For a moment, Garret clawed at the comm, even though it was attached to his ear. He then blacked out.
Garret opened his eyes and grunted at the docking bay’s harsh light. He looked around and saw that the Eridani and the other mercs were on the ground. Trevor had the door open and was holding a pistol out in shaky hands. Both of his fists clenched around it.
Yamahara was the first one to sit up, and Garret was the next. He pushed himself into a squat. Trevor swung the pistol towards him. “Whoa, kid. It’s us. We are—”
Trevor let out an audible sigh and then waved at Yama
hara and Garret to get in. Garret helped those that had come to help him, and soon everyone was inside.
“How did you do that, Trevor?”
“Simple. The Eridani were using a frequency amplifier that knocked you all out. I re-calibrated it to affect him and his mercs.”
“Thanks for the save, Trevor,” Garret said.
“Actually, it was Cerberus’s idea,” Trevor said. “I wanted him to leave you all.”
“That true, Cerberus?” Yamahara asked, her eyes not leaving Trevor.
“Yes ma’am, it is,” Cerberus said. “I don’t always want my crew to die.”
Yamahara cocked an eyebrow, “Sure… What’s the real reason?”
“Cerberus is telling the truth,” Trevor said. “We could’ve escaped at any moment.”
“Then why not take control or con him into taking you away?” Yamahara asked the youth.
“Go on, tell her,” Cerberus said.
“I didn’t want to blow up,” Trevor said sheepishly.
Garret let out a laugh. “That’s rich. I’m glad you stayed behind, so I can kick your ass later.”
“Private Garret,” Yamahara shouted, “You need to shut up and get to the bridge. You have the coordinates?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then. Get to the bridge.”
“Yes sir.”
Garret got to the bridge, his mind feeling like a wasp’s nest. There were strange voices in his head. Some of the voices sounded like Eridani voices in their own language, but he could understand them. He had no idea what was going on. Why the hell did I tell her I know where this damned planet is?
“Cerberus?” He said as soon as the lift doors shut.
“Yes, PFC Garret?”
“Pause the lift, will ya?”
The lift stopped. At least Garret thought it did.
“Is there an issue, PFC?”
Garret heard the faux-concern of Cerberus. He shook his head. “Need a moment is all,” Garret said. He took a deep breath and pressed his forearm against the wall of the lift and rested his head on it. He reeked. He really needed a shower. Yet, he had a job to do: use whatever info was in his head. Then shower. And maybe sleep for a week.
“But, what if this is the wrong info? What if—”
“PFC Garret, are you having a moment of stress?”
“I’m fine, Cerberus.”
“According to my sensors, you are at the beginning of a panic attack.”
“Fuck.” Garret felt himself slide down the side of the wall and start to breathe heavily. “Fucking fuck,” he said, starting to hyperventilate.
“PFC Garret, count along with me.”
“I’m not going to—”
He stopped talking because suddenly, he couldn’t breathe. He sucked at the air. It felt like he couldn’t breathe, and his lungs were aching for air.
“One, five, two, seven, nine twelve—”
“One, five, two, seven, nine, twelve—”
“Thirteen, four, eight—”
“Thirteen, four, eight,” Garret counted and felt a little better. He could breathe again. He pushed himself up from off the floor and took a long deep lungful of air. “How did you—”
“Easy, PFC Garret. The human brain can’t have a panic attack and count out of order. It can only focus on one thing at a time. Therefore, I helped take your mind off the panic attack.”
Mike smiled. “You’re actually helpful, once and again.”
“As I said, you are my crew.”
“What about the original crew of Starkiller?”
There was a long pause. Garret opened his mouth to say something, when Cerberus said, “They weren’t my crew.”
“How so?”
The door opened before Cerberus answered. Yamahara was already there. “Where have you been?”
“I… I…”
“Captain, he was asking me about certain details of the trip. But, I think it would be better if he implemented the coordinates himself.”
“Thanks buddy,” Mike said while stepping onto the bridge. He made a straight line for the helm. A young man waited at the helm, looking at him.
“Do you need help, Private Garret?”
“I’m good, kid. I know how to implement coordinates,” Garret said while he started to touch the control panel, plugging in numbers for the location of the rogue planet. He wasn’t sure where the numbers were coming from, but he didn’t want to say that. For a brief moment, he had seen the planet in his mind. He wasn’t sure when, but it was while he was unconscious after being knocked out by that freak Eridani.
“Private, are you positive about this information?” Yamahara asked, looking him up and down. She had that scowl that meant she didn’t believe him.
Garret noticed the shining bridge again, the way the metal of the bridge reflected the soft light from above. It was somewhat comforting, yet it was a stark comfort. Garret wasn’t sure when he would ever be on the bridge again, so he took a moment to reflect on it.
He looked at her, gave her his best smile, and gave her a wink. “Yes, Captain. I am sure.” He then reached over to press the docking release.
“Not yet, you—”
The ship shook violently. Garret got pitched forward over the instrument bank, smacking the side of his head against the deck. Yamahara was next to him, glaring at him. “Did you forget we are still held in docking clamps?”
“Sorry, Captain.” Garret shook his head. What the hell, I knew that. Why did I do that?
The ship shook again as Yamahara slapped the engines off. Then, the ship rocked again and Cerberus’s cold voice came over the loud speaker. “There is a group of beings who are trying to enter, Captain. Shall I deploy defence—”
“Yes!”
Garret turned to look at the screens, which flicked to the view of five men and two rogue Eridani trying to break into the main airlock. They all had some logo on their shoulders of an inverted “T” in a circle. It reminded Garret of something, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. Then there was a strange echoing voice of Cerberus as his voice came through the comms and onto screen.
“You are not authorised to be here. Please leave. You have been warned.” In the blink of an eye, Cerberus brought on the small but powerful deck sweeper, shooting one round into the densely-packed group of men. There was a shriek, and then a red-and-pink mist filled the screen.
“Boarders repelled, Captain Yamahara.”
Yamahara gave Garret a sickened look. Her face turned greenish for a moment. She took a long breath and said in a tight voice, “Please tell me why you went from level one to five that fast?”
“They weren’t leaving fast enough, Captain.”
Yamahara’s shoulders slumped, and she grabbed onto a nearby tech chair. “Put me through to the dockmaster.”
“On screen.”
Garret turned to see an obese man, dark skin paled by something. When he opened his mouth, Garret knew why. “I.S.S. Starkiller, why did you kill our security? We demand to be let—”
“We are on a mission for the I.S.S. Release us at once, or we will continue what we did with your small security force.”
Garret didn’t look at the captain, seeing what she was doing. The others on the command deck didn’t and turned to say something. She held her hand up and let the dockmaster speak. Before he could say anything, she added, “Or would you prefer I launch and rip your space station apart? This is a ship-of-the-line for the I.S.S., and—”
“Go! Leave.” The dockmaster hit a series of buttons, and the sound of the ship being released hissed through the hull.
“PFC Garret, take us out.”
Garret nodded dumbly, went to the pilot’s chair, and moved the ship out of the station’s docking area.
The command deck was silent as the ship moved. It wasn’t until they were clear that Garret asked, “Jump to coordinate?”
“Yes, PFC Garret.”
“Aye, Captain.” Garret hit the button and felt the gut twisting sensatio
n of the ship jumping to FTL.
Being in FTL made Garret feel queasy. It wasn’t normal space that they were shooting through. It took longer than a second for Starkiller to cross the gap through the stars. And for a long second, Garret and the crew watched in mute wonder as the bridge lights strobed and coruscated, ran the gamut of colors of the spectrum. Garret had once heard that the FTL tunnels weren’t always as they were now, sometimes when the lights of the ship shifted through the spectrum, they threw off other parts of the spectrum. Rumour had it there was a ship out in the black that had been fried because of a huge dose of X-Rays that bombarded the inside of the ship through the ship lights.
Of course, the moment he thought that, Starkiller exited the FTL and was in another system. A system that he didn’t know. He even heard someone ask, “Where are we?”
It took him a minute to realize it was the captain… asking him. He shook his head and punched up a stellar map, and then felt his blood run cold. “Deep in Wild Space. Almost a million AUs from Sol proper and from the station.”
“Well, this is wonderful. How did a planet get out here?” Yamahara asked.
“They fit a planet with an FTL drive, obviously,” Trevor said from his cabin through the intercom.
“I thought that there was a size limit on—”
“With the Eridani, I have learned to never say ‘it can’t be done.’”
Garret smirked, “And they never say it to us either,” he muttered under his breath.
“I heard that,” Trevor said.
“Good, you little punk. The Eridani said that they’d take us in a year. The war lasted six. We made them bleed for every inch we gave,” Garret shouted. He looked around, seeing the wide eyes of the crew. “Right. I forgot, the I.S.S. Likes to keep that bit of history secret.”
Yamahara made a noise in her throat. Garret turned. “Yes, Captain?”
“You have done what I asked, please return—”
“I am not going back to my quarters, or the brig. Or back to that doc who—”
“I was going to say ‘to your quarters to clean up.’ You reek,” she said. She pointed at the lift, and Garret shook his head.
“Aye, Captain,” he said. He then gave her a salute and left.
I.S.S. Starkiller Chronicle Bundle: Parts 1-3 Page 4
