by Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep- The Best New Science Fiction from Sweden (retail) (epub)
"But where did he go?"
"Unknown."
She locks the panel. Warren should have done that when he left, but she's not going to report him.
She starts for the ladder when suddenly she feels the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. There is a presence there – watching her. She turns, slowly.
"Hello? Warren?"
Her heart is racing. Diodes blinking on panels, the hissing from the coolant. It's not healthy to spend too much time in the sensor tower. The radiation starts to affect you after a while. Marta has spent hours up there. In her other life, before someone else moved in. But there is nobody there. She's imagining things.
It feels a lot cooler at the bottom of the ladder. She shivers as she lets go of it and starts walking towards the elevator.
That feeling again. Stronger this time. She turns.
In the far end of the corridor, where it's a lot darker than she remembers, she sees a shape. No details, just shadows in a formation that her brain connects into the shape of something ... alive. For half a second she thinks it's Warren and opens her mouth to call out his name, but she stops herself. That's not Warren. It's something else.
Her hands feel cold, as if her blood is draining from her arm and legs. She licks her lips. They feel cold too.
Could it be Trinn or Grule over there in the shadows? No, it can't be Trinn. She's too small. Grule is a large man, but this thing is bigger than him too.
"Hello?"
Marta takes a few steps closer, wishing she had something to hold onto. Something to comfort her. Passing the ladder, there is a sound from above. She looks up. Nothing there. She quickly turns back to the shape in the shadows. It's gone.
She lets out a lung-full of air and shakes her head.
"Get a grip, Marta."
She turns around and hurries back to the elevator.
Marta's hands are still shaking when she gets out of the elevator and walks over to her station. Sing looks up and Marta shakes her head at her.
"Open a channel to engineering." For a second, nothing happens. "Computer?"
Finally, the beep.
"This is the commander," she says. "Trinn? Grule?"
"This is Trinn."
"Have either of you seen Warren?"
"No."
"Nope, me neither," Grule says.
Marta gives a nod to Sing to close the channel, then paces a few steps, her hands folded behind her back.
"Computer, when was the last time Warren logged any keystrokes? Anywhere on the station."
There is a strained sound from the speakers, like an electric motor that's stuck.
"Warren has not logged any keystrokes since the sensor tower," the computer says.
Marta twists her fingers, and slowly walks over to Sandan's station.
"Could we recalibrate a few of the sensors to scan the station for life signs?"
Sing and Sandan look at each other.
"Well, yes ... but shouldn't we be monitoring the cloud?"
"Just for a moment. Warren could be hurt. We need to find him."
Sandan shrugs, then nods and starts pushing buttons.
"It's done," he says, a couple of minutes later.
"Start the scan."
"Scanning ..."
Marta stares at the cloud though the window. Most of the sensors are still directed at it, but somehow she feels she needs to compensate for the sensors they're using to look for Warren.
The panel in front of Sandan beeps. Marta leans in close, peeking over his shoulder. He shakes his head.
"I can see Trinn and Grule on level two. And I see the three of us here in operations. Other than us, there is nothing alive on the station. Not even any anomalous heat signatures."
Marta pulls at her collar which is suddenly way too tight.
"Okay, reset the sensors. And get Grule and Trinn up here. We need to go find Warren."
"But he's not onboard, the sensors showed that."
"He must be somewhere out of reach of the sensors. Where else would he have gone to? He can't just have disappeared. Maybe something's interfering with the sensors. You said it yourself. There was a glitch a few minutes ago. Before Warren disappeared."
Sandan scratches his head.
"I don't know how. The instruments would have detected an interference. The reading would have been way off."
"A part of the cloud maybe?"
"I guess it's possible," he says. "But we should have detected it."
Marta looks the young man in the eyes.
"So where is he then?"
He opens his mouth to answer, but shakes his head instead. At the same time, Trinn and Grule step out of the elevator.
"What is it?" Grule mutters.
"We need to organize a search party to look for Warren. All of us. He is missing."
Grule looks Marta straight in the eyes. He is almost the same age as her, but looks at least twenty years older. Nobody pushes Grule around.
"We don't have time for this," he says. "If the cloud moves while we're out playing hide and seek, there'll be hell to pay. For all of us."
"We'll set the computer to monitor all systems. If anything happens we'll be notified immediately."
Grule scoffs.
"Computer. Monitor all systems, and report to me immediately if anything happens."
There is that strained beep again, even more tortured.
"Computer?"
Nothing. Trinn and Grule look at each other. As does Sandan and Sing.
"Computer, confirm monitoring of all systems, sensors and communications."
Still nothing. Not even the tortured beep.
"Vera? What's wrong?"
She ignores the looks from the rest of the crew. Finally, she hears the computers voice. It sounds sluggish.
"Comman- click Commande- click"
"Computer, self-diagnostic."
There is no response.
"Sandan, what's wrong with the computer?"
He pushes a couple of buttons.
"I don't know, commander."
"Commander," Sing says. "The canary signal from Outpost Ten just went silent."
Marta hurries over to Sing's station. All outposts transmit a continuous transponder signal – a way to let the other outposts know they're still there. A red light flashes on the panel.
"They're gone," Sing says. "Last recorded transponder timestamp reads one hour ago. Not long after they sent their priority message."
"What do you mean?" Trinn asks.
"It takes about an hour for the signal to reach us. Distance through space and all that," Sing says.
"I know that, but what do you mean gone? Couldn't it just be a malfunction?"
"No, that would show. There are two options: they have either been destroyed, or the cloud has swallowed them."
"Is there any difference?" Grule grumbles.
Nobody answers. They all know ships have flown through black clouds before, but it's a dangerous journey. Nothing works, instruments are dead – sensors, communication. You have to program the course before entering the cloud and hope your calculations are correct. For some reason it's impossible to travel faster than light through the cloud. The hyperdrive is knocked out immediately, and without instruments to navigate by, the risk of going around in circles until fuel runs out is very real. Survivors have spoken of that exact scenario, like there was something inside the cloud actively preventing ships from leaving. They say that only ten percent of ships entering a black cloud ever come out again.
"Commander," Sing says. "What should we do?"
Everyone turns towards her. Her heart bounces like a ship without inertial dampeners leaving hyperspace.
"Are we reading any changes in the cloud?"
Sandan checks his instruments.
"Only small fluctuations on the surface," he says.
"We must find Warren," she says, quietly, almost to herself.
Grule sighs and folds his arms.
"Something is
wrong here," she says and stares at him. "Can't you see that? He can't have just disappeared."
"We know," Trinn says. "It's just hard to grasp. Somebody vanishing like that."
"That's exactly why we need to find him. Sandan, you keep an eye on the cloud, and try to see what's wrong with the computer.
"Sing, you stay here too. Monitor the communications. There is little chance, but just in case a last message from Ten should show up. And besides, nobody should be alone.
"Trinn, Grule, we'll go down to zero together and work ourselves up. Nobody is left alone at any time."
Grule and Trinn nod.
"Are we in agreement?" she asks before she can stop herself. She could – she should – just give them an order. This is no democracy. But right now she needs to have them on her side.
"Yes," Trinn says. "It's the right thing to do."
Marta breathes a sigh of relief.
"Okay then. Check all places that might be shielded from sensors in some way. We'll bring portable comlinks and lights, just to be safe. No unnecessary risks. We don't know what's happened."
While Grule finds the comlinks, Marta walks over to the window to look at the cloud. She thinks she can see the fluctuations on the surface, but it's probably her imagination. How could she see anything? Black on black hundreds of kilometers away.
"We're ready," Grule says.
Marta turns around. Trinn tests her light and nods when it appears to be working properly.
"Let's go."
Marta hasn't been at the bottom of the station in years. And neither has Trinn or Grule. It's the level nobody ever visits as long as nothing is broken down there. It's a basement, in every sense of the word. It's dark. The only sources of light come from the emergency beacons every ten meters along the corridor.
"Isn't there any more light?" Marta asks and sweeps from side to side with her portable lamp. Trinn shakes her head.
"There's no need. People aren't supposed to be down here. Only machinery."
Steam vents from a pipe further ahead, which makes Marta jump.
"I hate this," she mutters to herself and continues along the corridor. Grule and Trinn are close behind her.
Grule sweeps his light back for a second, then sighs and ducks under a pipe.
"What would Warren be doing down here? There's no reason for him to be here. There's no reason for anyone to be here."
Marta shakes her head.
"I don't know, but we need to check everywhere." They pass a large metal container. "What about this? This might block sensors, don't you think?"
"Not likely," Grule says. "We have the most advanced sensors available. Metal would never stop them. We're using them to monitor the master cloud – and that thing's immune to scans."
Marta sighs.
"So what do you think happened?"
Grule mumbles something she can't hear. But he doesn't argue any more.
"Wait!" Trinn says and turns around.
"What is it?"
"I think I saw something. Back there."
All three turn their lights to where Trinn is pointing.
"I don't see anything," Grule says.
"But I did see something, I'm sure of it."
"More steam?"
"No, it was something else."
A bang echoes through the corridor. Marta turns around. Then the emergency beacons flicker for a moment and die.
"What the hell was that?" Grule asks.
Marta can sense something approaching in the darkness, and for a moment it feels like it might be Warren. She touches the piece of paper in her pocket through the fabric. Then she sees the shape. It's not Warren. It's the same shape she saw before, below the sensor tower. And it isn't human.
"Run!"
Shuffling steps behind them. Not human, something else entirely, like each step is accompanied by several echoing footfalls. Panic erupts like a small fire inside her chest.
Up ahead, a ladder.
"Up, there!"
Trinn and Grule racing ahead of her. The shuffling steps behind.
"Up, up, up!"
Grule is climbing, way too slow. Trinn yells at him to hurry up. Marta shines her light – which now seems to have lost some of its power – back along the corridor. Long arms stretching out from behind a cluster of pipes.
She lunges at the ladder and starts climbing. Grule has his hand out and grabs hold of her, pulls her up. Trinn is ready and slams the hatch closed as soon as she is clear. Then she sits on the floor, panting.
"What was that?"
Grule shakes his head.
"I have no idea. I couldn't get a good look."
"How did it get on board?"
Marta shakes her head. "I don't know."
"And what's happened with the power?"
Marta looks around. Level one should have lights, but it's as dark as level zero.
She shines her light in Trinn's eyes and sees fear reflected there. What's worse, Grule, the bitter old engineer, is terrified. Dread threatens to suffocate her. She shakes her head to clear it and lifts the comlink to her mouth.
"Sing, what's happened with the power?"
There is no reply. Not even static from the comlink. She shakes it and tries again. Trinn tries hers, and then Grule. All the comlinks are dead.
"What's going on here?"
"That. Whatever it was. That's what must have killed Warren."
"Don't say that!" Marta blurts. She shuts her mouth, wishing she could take her words back. They sounded anxious, almost hysterical, which is exactly the way she feels. And she doesn't like it, but the thought that Warren might be dead ... she's just not ready for that.
"It's the only reasonable explanation," Grule says. "Something has gotten on board and Warren is missing. Put two and two together. We should evacuate immediately."
Marta swallows. Give up? Her body is shaking. She has never been more afraid, of anything. She doesn't want to die. But the thought of leaving on the rescue ship, not knowing if Warren is still back there somewhere. She has to know.
"It's still down there. We made it. That means maybe Warren did too. We continue upwards. We still need to go through all levels now that the elevator is out."
Trinn nods. "Okay, but we must hurry. There are other hatches leading up from level zero."
Marta stands. "Yes. Where is the next ladder?"
"At the other end of the level," Trinn says. "Right next to the other hatch coming up from level zero."
Marta looks at Grule. He nods. "It's our only chance," he says. "If we hurry, maybe it hasn't made it there yet."
They run through the corridor. Shadows seem to come alive around them, reaching for them with ghostly arms but never connecting. Marta scans their surroundings as she runs, checking every dark corner, but she almost trips over her own feet and has to focus on where she is going instead.
Trinn runs ahead of her, and she can hear Grule's heavy footsteps behind. Suddenly, Trinn stops, crouches down and sneaks forward.
"What is it?" Marta whispers.
"We're almost at the hatch."
"Can you see anything?"
Trinn shakes her head. Marta sees the hatch now too. She shakes her portable light to try to boost its power. It doesn't work. She points the weak beam at the darkness in the hatch.
"Let's close it."
Marta takes the first step. She looks at Grule who nods at her. He knows what he's supposed to do. He walks around the hatch, waiting for her signal. She slips closer to the edge of the hatch, her chin out ahead of her body, trying to peer into the darkness below.
There is nothing down there. Marta lets out a gasp of frustration. It would have felt a lot better to know that they'd trapped the thing on level zero. She leans in closer, angling the light to catch as much of the floor below as possible. Then there is sound. They all look around, then at each other.
"It came from down there!" Trinn shouts.
Grule pushes the hatch closed and spins the wheel to lock it.
"We got it," he says. "I'll be damned, we got it."
"Are you sure?"
"I saw something down there," Trinn says. "Something that moved."
"Was it the creature?"
"I don't know, it moved so fast. It must have been. Didn't you hear the sound it made?"
Marta nods.
"Is there any other way up?"
Grule shakes his head.
"Just those two hatches. It's trapped down there. Now, let's get the hell out of here."
"Lead the way."
Level two is familiar ground to Trinn and Grule – main engineering.
"Do you see anything out of the ordinary?"
Grule shakes his head.
"Nothing, except for that it's dark as hell."
They continue through the maze that is engineering. Marta's breath comes out as smoke and she starts to feel cold. The metal creaks and cracks as the coldness of space outside slowly starts to cool everything down.
Grule walks over to a panel and pushes a couple of buttons.
"That's strange. Everything has closed down. That's why it's getting colder. I can't get a reading from the engines, but if they've shut down too, we might start drifting."
"Do you think they have?"
Grule becomes silent and closes his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"He's listening," Trinn whispers.
"Quiet, both of you."
Grule is silent for almost thirty seconds.
"I can't hear anything. As far as I can tell everything is dead."
"Dead? How?"
"Not dead exactly. More like sleeping. Look at this panel, how it's dimmed. That's what's happened to everything. It's online, but it doesn't work. Any of it. This must be what happens when a ship enters a black cloud."
"But we're not in the cloud."
"And you know that, do you?" Grule snaps.
Trinn puts her hand on his massive forearm.
"Grule, relax."
A loud creak echoes through the station.
Marta's voice carries no more than a whisper.
"What was that?"
"The hull setting," Grule says. "Or the hatch down to zero being forced open."
Trinn shines her light around her.
"In any case, we should hurry. Follow me."
Marta can see the ladder when she hears a hissing sound.
