by William Wood
“According to the scanner,” Calvin said. “We need to keep going straight for another three hundred feet. We take a right turn through a door and then a left turn down a major corridor that runs down the center of the ship. We follow that all the way to the bridge.” When the scanner flashed, both contacts disappeared, and then white dots covered the screen. “The interference is getting worse.”
They slowly plodded on. Calvin carefully watched the scanner for changes. The strange life signs were moving very erratically.
One hundred feet down the corridor, they found a small computer monitor on the wall.
“It’s a computer terminal,” Ion said. He stopped and examined it carefully. “I hate to add to our problems, but if these readings are correct, the life support system is failing, and oxygen is leaking into space in several sections due to hull breaches. I estimate there is only one hour of air left, and the ship will be completely unable to support life.”
“I’m glad I have this suit on,” Calvin said. “I hope the other guy has a suit, too, or he’s gonna be in trouble.”
Up ahead in the gloom, Calvin saw an odd bump on the floor. As they got closer, he saw it was a body. They cautiously walked up to it. Calvin was afraid he was going to see a lot of this. But when they got closer, they saw it was a robot. He felt relieved and sad at the same time. What happened to the crew?
Calvin felt a familiar feeling of dread slowly creep over him, threatening to consume him. He turned and looked around, wildly shining his light in all directions. He was terrified that something was sneaking up on him. He kept hearing strange noises. There was a grinding noise that sounded like metal being pulled apart. But the scariest sound was a tapping noise that sounded like footsteps. It started far away and seemed to rush toward him very quickly.
A short distance away they found two more bodies, both robots. Calvin looked at them carefully. Both were burned and broken into pieces, but one of them was different. The arms and legs on one of the robots looked like they had flesh on them.
“What’s that?” Calvin asked, feeling nauseated. The head of the creature did not look like a robot’s. There was a metal frame and structure that belonged on a robot, but there was an outer layer made of flesh and blood. The mouth, with rows of razor sharp teeth, looked like it had been crushed inward. Many of the teeth were cracked and broken. Ion stooped down to examine the creature.
“This is very bad,” Ion said sternly. For the first time, Ion sounded scared.
“What is it?” Calvin asked.
“The Goremog created these things,” Ion explained. “We don’t know their real name, but the Alerians call them the Dark Terror.”
“What?” Calvin said. “That’s the Dark Terror?” He started to breathe faster, his heart pounded, and he began to feel light-headed. “I was really hoping it was just a story. It’s real? I can’t believe it.”
“Yes, they’re real,” Ion said. “And they’re extremely dangerous. This one looks a little different than the other ones I’ve seen before. We need to hurry.”
“You’ve seen them before?” Calvin asked.
“Yes, several times.”
“What happened?”
“They were hunting us,” Ion said. “We barely got away. Actually, not everyone in the group survived. Master Calvin, we need to hurry. We’re in extreme danger.” A blue light came out of Ion’s chest. The light started at the monster’s feet and slowly moved up the body. When it reached the head, it changed color from blue, to yellow, then red. Then it turned off.
“I scanned it and will study it later,” Ion said.
“OK,” Calvin said, stepping past it. “Just don’t touch it.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” Ion said simply.
Calvin didn’t know what was worse—the monsters running around in the dark, the dying ship, or that Ion was scared.
Farther down the corridor, they found a section that was full of robot bodies. Some were normal robots, some were monsters. But all were burned, melted, and torn to pieces.
Calvin looked at his scanner. It had been several minutes since he last checked on what the strange life forms were doing. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. What if the strange life forms were all live robot monsters? He was seeing the evidence on the floor now. What else could they be?
“Something is moving!” Calvin half shouted. Then he lowered his voice. “Coming this way.” He moved behind Ion and peeked his head around. Both of them stood still, with their weapons pointed down the corridor. Ion scanned the corridor in front of them. He must have had his scanning intensity set very high; a soft hum filled the air.
Calvin wanted to look down into the scanner but was afraid of taking his eyes off the dark corridor ahead. Another minute passed. Nothing happened. Finally he looked down into his scanner. The red dot on the screen was still there, but the scanner said it was right in front of them.
“Ion,” Calvin whispered. “Do you see it?”
“No, I can’t see it,” Ion said quietly. “But my sensors say it’s twenty feet in front of us.”
Calvin stood frozen behind Ion and stared intently into the gloom. Ion shined his light directly ahead, but they couldn’t see anything. Suddenly an ear-piercing scream shattered the quiet. Calvin jumped. The scream was the most horrible sound he’d ever heard. It crushed his heart like a vice, sapping his strength.
A dark shape appeared out of nowhere and rushed them. It was in their faces before either of them could react. It moved like lightning— arms thrashing, mouth open, flashing rows of razor-sharp teeth. It screamed again, a deafening cacophony of torturous pain and horror.
Calvin and Ion opened fire at point-blank range. The laser flashes were blinding and loud but didn’t do anything other than make the creature mad. Calvin stumbled backward. Ion held the monster by the neck to keep it from tearing them apart with its claws and teeth. The monster screamed and grabbed Ion’s head with its long arms and pulled. Suddenly a solid, bright-blue laser beam sliced through the air and cut into the monster. It screamed and jumped up, smashing its way into the ceiling. The screaming stopped abruptly, and there was silence.
Calvin stared up at the hole in the ceiling, shocked. He replayed the last few seconds of the attack over in his mind. Did that just happen? He looked down. Lying on the floor at his feet was an arm. There was a metal rod protruding from the end, and a dark colored substance leaking out of it.
“All of that shooting, and we didn’t even kill it,” Calvin gasped.
“They’re very difficult to kill. At least we injured it.”
“Yeah, but how much?”
“Not enough, I’m afraid. Are you all right?” Ion asked, running his scanner over Calvin.
“Yeah, I think so,” Calvin said. “Please tell me there aren’t any more of those things running around.”
“Sir, you know there are,” Ion said sadly. “Eightyfive of them.”
“I know,” Calvin said. “And I really don’t want to be here anymore.”
“Neither do I, sir.”
Calvin’s hands were shaking as he looked at the scanner. “Speaking of the eighty-five, I don’t see them anymore. They’re gone. Do you think maybe it was a malfunction after all? They all left the ship or died?”
“Look again,” Ion said. “And scan for radiation.”
Calvin did what Ion said, and the screen changed. Several areas of the ship were dark.
“What is that?” Calvin asked. “There’re several areas of the ship I can’t scan.”
“The radiation level has been rising since we boarded,” Ion stated. “The engine room appears to be the source.”
“Yeah, OK. That makes sense,” Calvin said. “It’s the biggest dark spot on the map. I bet the engines are damaged.”
“Clearly, but I should mention the creatures are attracted to heat. They don’t like the cold.”
“That’s good to know,” Calvin said. “And I bet it’s nice and warm in the engine room. We should stay away fro
m there.”
“Good idea. We need to find the survivor and the segment and then get off this ship.”
“Come on,” Calvin said and led the way. He walked slowly, holding his gun out. His hand trembled, and he breathed in short gasps. Not knowing where the monsters were petrified him. He kept a careful eye on the scanner, hoping the dark areas would clear up, but the static and interference got worse, not better. Fear grew with each step, terror with each thud and echo. It felt like it took a lifetime to walk the length of the corridor. Calvin jumped at every little noise, and there were a lot of noises. The light from his helmet cast shadows on the walls. Occasionally he would catch a glimpse of one and spin around in fright, expecting to see a monster.
After another hundred feet, they stopped in front of a closed door.
“Here,” Calvin said. “We need to go this way.” He found the controls to open the door, pressed a button, but nothing happened. “There is no power, sir,” Ion said. “I’ll open it.”
Calvin stepped aside. Ion pulled the door open easily, but Calvin cringed when a loud grinding noise shattered the quiet.
“We have to stop making noise,” Calvin said, more to himself than Ion. “Every monster on the ship probably heard that.”
“I’m sorry, sir.”
Calvin was now completely horrified. The ship was slowly dying, and he could see it on the scanner. He could hear it in the creaks and groans, which sounded like cries of agony.
Calvin peered into the darkness. Another corridor stretched out in front of them, and one that led off to the right and left. There was a loud bang and then the sound of something running away. Calvin was afraid to keep going. He decided to look at his scanner to see what it was.
“Ion, wait!” Calvin whispered loudly. “There’s something in front of us. It’s moving.” His heart pounded as he watched a small red dot move away on the screen.
“I can’t tell what it is. There’s too much interference,” Calvin said. “Is that the Tryvellen? I can’t tell, but it’s running away from us.” Ion stood still. Calvin wanted to shout but was too scared to, and he knew that it would be a mistake.
“I don’t think it’s human,” Calvin said. “The readings are changing. I don’t know if it’s because we got closer to it. It could be another one of those things.” Suddenly the readings jumped again.
“No, wait,” Calvin said. “These readings are really strange. Now there are two dots. One of them is the one we saw earlier. It’s clear and looks completely human. This other red dot is something else.” Calvin’s heart froze when he realized what it was. “It’s another monster.”
“Where is it?” Ion asked. Calvin worked the scanner. “It’s one level below us. I bet it’s looking for a way up here.”
“What is the human doing?” Ion asked.
“He’s still moving away from us,” Calvin said.
“Is the segment still with him?”
“Yes,” Calvin answered. “I think he’s carrying it. That could explain why he’s not moving very fast.”
“He must realize how important it is,” Ion said. Suddenly a burst of static from the communications gear made him jump.
“Calvin, how’s it going?” Astra asked.
“I’m all right,” Calvin said in a shaky voice.
“I’m seeing some really strange life sign readings over there, but I can’t tell if they’re real or not. They keep appearing and disappearing. Are you detecting any kind of radiation that might be blocking your signal?”
“They’re real,” Calvin said. “We just ran into one a few minutes ago. And yes, there is a lot of radiation coming from the engine room.”
“What was it?” Astra said, full of concern. She could hear the fear in his voice.
“It was one of your monsters, the Dark Terror,” Calvin said. “Like what you told me about last night.” Calvin and Ion walked slowly and cautiously. Calvin watched the signal on his scanner. “Robots on the inside and flesh on the outside. Claws, huge teeth. Scariest thing I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something now.”
“Oh, no,” Astra whispered, her voice full of fear.
“It gets worse,” Calvin said. “There are eighty-five of them on this ship.”
Astra gasped. “Please be careful and don’t take any chances. Shoot at everything that moves and get out of there as fast as you can.”
“OK. Wish I’d thought of that,” Calvin said, sarcastically.
“Funny. Listen, I’ll try to help you. The sensors on the Frost are better than your handhelds. I’m trying to burn through the interference and get a better idea of where all the monsters are. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
“Thanks,” Calvin said. He was trying to focus on his surroundings. Since his scanner wasn’t working very well, he would have to rely on his eyes and ears.
Ion walked forward, with a reluctant Calvin right behind. He used Ion as a big shield. They turned left down the ship’s central corridor. Maybe it was because it was dark, he didn’t know, but everything in this spaceship looked the same.
“Master Calvin,” Ion said. “What’s the creature doing?”
Calvin looked into the scanner. He had it fixed on the alien one deck below them. When he checked it again, it was gone.
“It’s not there,” Calvin said, alarmed. He looked around wildly, half expecting to see it standing behind them. He played around with the scanner and frantically searched for the monster. He could not find it. All he could find was the human, still moving away ahead of them.
“Come on, Ion,” Calvin said. “Let’s hurry and catch up to that guy.” Ion and Calvin started running. At first it didn’t seem like it was going to be a problem running in the bulky space suit, but Calvin quickly learned he was wrong. After a few minutes, the suit began to get heavy. He could feel his leg muscles burn, and pain began to creep into his back. After a few more minutes, running became torturous and got worse with each step. After five minutes, Ion began to pull ahead and leave Calvin behind. It brought back memories to Calvin of the harrowing escape from Aleria. Except there he wasn’t wearing a heavy space suit. They kept running until they got to the end of the corridor, where they found another door.
“I think he’s going to the bridge,” Calvin said, gasping for air. He was tired and uncomfortable. His body was covered in sweat. Calvin tried the door, but it wouldn’t open.
Ion pulled it open effortlessly and walked through. Calvin followed close behind. The central corridor stretched out in front of them. Some of the lights on the ceiling were flickering. Instead of offering brief flashes of hope, the distant flashes of light scared him. He couldn’t tell, but he thought he saw a dark shadow, far up ahead. Was it a monster, watching them? Knowing he couldn’t rely on his eyes, Calvin looked into his scanner and watched the screen as he walked. If there was a monster there, it wasn’t appearing on the scanner. They continued on but decided to walk instead of run. It felt as if it took forever to walk to the end. Calvin switched back and forth between the scanner and looking forward, terrified of what was in front of them but frustrated that he couldn’t see very well. Thankfully he didn’t see anything, but he heard a lot of scary noises; scratching sounds like claws on metal; pounding like something big running up to them. But the most distressing noise was a low, deep growl that came from somewhere above. When he looked up and shone a light, he didn’t see anything. He sensed that something was there, even though he couldn’t see it. It felt like it was following them. At the end of the corridor, they found another door.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
THE SURVIVOR
Ion forced the door open; the screeching sound of tearing metal was louder than before. They stepped through and found themselves on the bridge. The room was full of computer stations, and there was a large star map hanging on the rear wall. Short windows lined the room.
A distant sun cast an eerie yellow light in the room. Long shadows stretched across the floor. Calvin looked out a window and saw the Azure
Frost slowly float past. Calvin turned his attention back to the bridge. All the computers, including a dozen large monitors hanging on the walls, were off. Half of the screens were cracked.
“Just out of curiosity,” Calvin said. “How long until life support is completely gone?”
“There’s twenty minutes of breathable oxygen left,” Ion said.
“Hello?” said a quivering voice. “Are you Tryvellen?”
Calvin spun around in the direction the voice came from.
“No, I’m an Arlandian,” Calvin said. “My name is Calvin. This is Ion. He’s an Alerian.”
“How do you know my language?” the voice asked suspiciously.
“I have a translator,” Calvin answered. He peered into the darkness. Calvin couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, but it was clearly a man’s voice. “I don’t know your language. You can come out. We’re friends. We want to help you.” There was a row of computer equipment along the wall. Calvin thought the man might be hiding behind it.
“The life support system is failing,” Ion said. “There’s only twenty minutes of oxygen left. If you don’t have a space suit, or a portable life support system, you’re going to die.”
“I have an extra one,” Calvin said. “You can use it.” Calvin unzipped a pocket and pulled it out.
“How do I know it’s not a trick?”
“We don’t have time,” Calvin urged. “We have to get off of this ship before those monsters find us.”
“You have a way to get off the ship?”
“Yes!” Calvin said. “We have a shuttle. It’s docked near the engine room.”
“Oh, no,” the voice said, clearly upset. “You didn’t let them out of the engine room, did you? We had them trapped in there.”
“No,” Calvin said. “We didn’t let anything out. The one we saw was in the corridor.”
“Don’t tell me that!” the voice exclaimed. “That means they’re out again.”
