by William Wood
Calvin took a deep breath. “We can relax now.”
“We did it,” Astra said. “That was close.”
“You sound surprised.”
“Did you see the size of that ship?” Astra asked.
“No, but I seem to remember you wanting to get closer to it,”
Calvin said.
“No, I was just curious, that’s all,” Astra explained. “I’ve never
seen a ship like that. We were invisible.”
“Yeah, well, I was more than a little worried back there. Where
are we going now?”
“We’re going after the eighth segment,” Astra said. “We can go over the details of that later.”
“No problem, are you hungry?”
“Is that all you think about? Food?”
“No,” Calvin said defensively. “I think about other things. I think all that running makes me hungry, or maybe it’s the stress.”
“It’s probably both.” After they changed out of their combat gear, they went to the dining room for something to eat. On the way, Calvin’s right leg began to ache and pulse with pain. He tried not to put too much weight on it, and shifted it to his left, but doing that made him walk with a limp. Halfway to the stairs she stopped and looked at him with a concerned look on her face.
“I’m pretty sure you’re fine, but let’s stop by medical and have your leg scanned, just in case.”
Calvin didn’t argue with her. He was tired, and just wanted to go to sleep. She must have sensed his pain, or saw it in his face. She wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him walk the rest of the way.
She helped him sit up on the diagnostic table.
“Tell me something,” Calvin said, as the medical robot ran the scanner over his leg. “The EMP attack damaged the base, right? How did the No’Rath’s escape ship work?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Astra said. “Maybe it was shielded.”
“Hmm, maybe, but the station was shut down.”
“That’s because Dev initiated the EMP inside their shields.”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
The medical robot finished and an image of Calvin’s leg appeared on a monitor. He’d seen internal scans before, but he didn’t know how to read them, unless there was an obvious injury. Even with his untrained eyes he could see something didn’t look right. Areas of his leg were dark, and his bones had small black lines running through them. He could tell by the look on Astra’s face that it wasn’t good.
“Your tibia and fibula have been crushed,” MD-71 said without emotion. “And there is significant tissue damage. This won’t take long, but you should know your leg will still be sore for a few days.” The scanner went to work again. A blue light saturated his leg. Calvin could feel it going deep inside his leg. Instantly the pain was gone. Astra said he should take it easy the rest of the day, so they walked slowly to the dining room. Wanting something light for lunch, Calvin got a sandwich and a small bowl of soup. Astra selected her meal and they sat down at a table. Calvin took a bite of his sandwich, and thought about what had just happened. It all happened so fast, and they had come so close to being killed, more than once.
“Did you hear how scared the No’Rath was when he found out an Alerian and Arlandian were working together?” Calvin asked.
“Actually, he was hysterical when he found out you were an Arlandian.”
“It was chilling,” Calvin said.
“Well, your race is supposed to be extinct. Not only did he find an Arlandian, but one aboard his station. He was terrified.”
“Do you suppose they know what we’re doing?”
“There’s no way for them to know that, but one thing is certain; this will send shockwaves up the No’Rath line of command.”
“And now they’ll be searching for us.”
“Just like the Goremog,” Astra said. “I’m afraid it’s going to get much more difficult from here on out.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear,” Calvin said, rubbing his eyes. He was so tired he could feel the floor spinning under him. ‘It must be the meds MD71 gave me,’ he thought. ‘I shouldn’t be this tired at lunch time.’
“Sorry.”
“I forgot to look,” Calvin said, wanting to change the subject. “How long will it take to reach the eighth segment?”
“Six weeks,” Astra said.
“Good,” Calvin said, standing. “We can get some rest.”
“Yeah, well, not me, I’ve got a ton of work to do. The last segment is a mess. It’ll be like putting together a puzzle.”
“And not Mister Nils,” Ion said, standing in the doorway. “He’s helping me in the engine room. He’s become a very skilled engineer.”
“Hey, don’t sneak up like that,” Calvin said. “It’s not nice.”
“Sorry Master Calvin, I did not mean to scare you. I came to give you a status report.”
“Go ahead,” Astra said.
“The engine tried to scram during our escape from Seyta-Zun. Mister Nils and I are initiating a complete diagnostic of the engine core to determine why it occurred.”
“Was there any damage?” Astra asked.
“Not that we can tell,” Nils said, stepping from behind Ion. “But we hope our diagnostic will find out if there was any.”
“Very well,” Calvin said. “Better get to it. The last thing we need is for the engine to fail when we’re surrounded by thousands of enemy ships.”
“Yes, sir,” Nils said. Calvin and Astra watched them leave.
Calvin took the last bite of his sandwich and sat back. Astra was staring at him; her gaze was soft and caring.
“You look tired,” she said gently. “You should get some rest.”
“Yeah,” Calvin said. “I’m going to lie down for a while. I can barely keep my eyes open.”
“It’s the meds,” Astra said. “Our medical advances are second to none, but the drugs tend to linger for a while.”
“That’s what I hoped it was. I know I’m not that out of shape.”
Astra giggled. Calvin smiled and wondered if he had enough energy to make it to his room. Astra walked to him and helped him to his feet. She walked him to his room and gave him a hug. Calvin took off his boots and collapsed on the bed. He fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
The doorbell softly chimed, waking him from a deep sleep. Calvin was surprised to see it was 6 in the evening. He had slept for six hours. He went to the door; it was Astra.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “But I’m willing to find out.” Calvin took her hand and they walked to the dining room.
“Do you feel better?” she asked.
“Yeah, I feel much better. My leg is sore, but the medical robot said that would last a few days.”
They found everyone in the dining room celebrating their victory by eating a large feast of just about every kind of food imaginable. During dinner everyone was sitting in their favorite seats. Calvin and Astra were at one end of the table, Dev and Wexton at the other end with Nils somewhere in the middle. Calvin asked a question that he had been thinking about.
“Dev, when we were on the station, Ion was about to tell us something, something that was boarding the station with the robots, but you stopped him. It’s what grabbed me and bit my leg. What was it?”
Everyone stopped talking and looked at Dev.
Dev just smiled and said, “I’ll show you pictures of it tomorrow, I don’t want you to have nightmares tonight.” Everyone laughed, except for Calvin and Astra, who glared at him with a mixture of annoyance and anger.
“Sorry,” Dev said uncomfortably. “Honestly I didn’t look at the scans yet. You can look at them if you want to, I haven’t had a chance to analyze them, sorry.”
“That’s all right,” Calvin said, rubbing his hands together.
“I will say this, though,” Dev said seriously. “They had all the characteristics of Dark Terrors.�
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Wexton nodded in agreement.
“You’re right,” Calvin said. “I saw blood and metal splash against a wall when Wexton shot them. But they were much smaller than the Dark Terrors we’ve seen before. And how could Dark Terrors get on a No’Rath space station?”
No one answered. Calvin looked at each face and saw only raised eyebrows and shoulders, but not Astra.
“I have a theory,” she said slowly, as if choosing her words carefully. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. The monsters the Goremog created can’t get from planet to planet on their own. They can’t get themselves onto an enemy space station or battleship. No, in order for the Dark Terror to be a viable weapon, they would have to weaponize them.” Everyone looked at her with blank expressions. Even Calvin was scared by the thought.
“You saw the scans, didn’t you?” Dev asked.
“Yes,” Astra answered. “I saw them. Think about this; they’re Dark Terrors, just like the big nasty ones you’ve seen before. But these are smaller, like dogs. The Goremog load them into a missile, and fire it at a target. It passes through a weak point in the shields and breaches the hull. The nose cone opens and these little terrors pour out. No explosion; just terror.”
“That’s how they infect planets,” Dev said. “That’s why the Dark Terror is everywhere. The Goremog are firing those missiles across the galaxy. How can we fight that?”
“It’s just a theory,” Astra said.
“You’ve been out here a long time,” Calvin said. “Analyzing Goremog tactics. I believe you’re probably right, as usual.”
Astra smiled and patted Calvin on the shoulder. For the rest of the meal everyone talked less and ate their food quietly.
After dinner, Calvin contacted his father. The transmission connected quickly.
“Son, you look beat,” Foster said candidly.
“I know,” Calvin said. “I’m exhausted.” There was movement in the camera’s view behind his father, and several shadows, but Calvin didn’t care who was listening.
“No it’s more than that. You look…. older; more mature. You’re not the eager young man who left home eightyfour days ago.”
“Only eighty-four? It feels like I’ve been gone for a year.” There was a brief pause, then Foster waved his hand in the air. “A lot of people here have been keeping track of your progress. I was going to recommend you for a promotion when you got home, but I’m afraid one step may not be enough, considering what you’ve been through. I wonder if they’ll let you skip right to captain.”
“That would depend on if the mission is successful or not.”
Foster laughed out loud. “Right!”
“Dad, I’m really worried. I haven’t told Astra, but I’m terrified that the weapon isn’t going to work. Two pieces were damaged when we found them. The last one was shredded into so many burned pieces of metal; there’s no way it can be repaired. What are we doing? Dad, is this mission doomed?”
Foster regarded his son with compassion. “Calvin, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not there, but from what you’ve told me, you have a lot of smart people with you. Do you think Astra would continue if she were convinced it was a waste of time?”
Calvin wanted to say ‘yes’ she would. She would if she knew there was nothing else they could do. But would she? Maybe not. Maybe if there was only a tiny glimmer of hope, she would do it.
“I think she would go on, and try to complete the mission,” Calvin said. “Only because there is so much at stake.”
“You’re a wise man,” Foster said. “I’m proud of you, son. You can do this.”
“Thanks dad.”
“Now go get some rest,” His father instructed. “You’re going to need it.”
“Yes sir. Good night.”
“Good night,” Calvin said and closed the connection. He stared at the dark screen for a moment, in a daze.
They had found seven segments, with only three left to go. Did they need to consider an alternate plan, in case the mission failed? Calvin had a very bad feeling that the weapon wasn’t going to work. They could go home, to New Arlandia. The planet was invisible. They could hide there and hope the Goremog or No’Rath would never find them. Even if they did, they could hide somewhere else. Perhaps they could live in an asteroid field. He’d seen at least a dozen good hiding places. They might need it. There was no way Astra was going to be able to repair the last segment.
“No, that’s crazy,” Calvin said to himself. “Why am I thinking about this now? We can’t hide; not yet. We need to know if the weapon works or not. If it doesn’t, then we’ll figure out what to do.” Calvin had to force himself to get up and climb into bed. He pulled the covers over his head and curled up.
Calvin was worried that he wouldn’t be able to sleep, but he was exhausted and all he wanted to do was turn his mind off. He wanted to sleep, but he didn’t want to dream. He also knew that wishful thinking didn’t get him anything, especially not a restful, dreamless sleep.
He fell asleep and found the nightmares waiting for him. In his dream, he was lost in a small, dark space station. He knew a Dark Terror was hunting him. It was never more than a few steps behind him, and never seemed to catch him no matter how fast he ran. The worst part of the dream was that the lights were off, none of the light switches worked. He was alone in the dark without a weapon. At the end of his dream, the monster dropped down out of the ceiling above him.
Calvin sat up and looked around. He was safe, in his bed on Azure Frost. He got a drink of water and lay back down. He went back to sleep and had the same dream again.
In his next dream, a meteor storm pounded the space station. Giant fireballs beat against the shields. The sound filled his head and reverberated throughout his body. He couldn’t see the monster, but he knew it was there.
Calvin screamed and willed himself to wake up. He woke suddenly and jumped out of bed, landing on his left leg. He ignored the stabbing pain that shot like lightning up through his back.
His heart pounded in his chest as he struggled to remember where he was. He was relieved when he realized it was just another dream. But was it?
The room was dark; darker than it should have been. The clock by the side of his bed usually emitted a soft green light, but not now. The clock light was out. The only light came from starlight through the windows, and that was only enough to barely make out the dim silhouettes of the furniture. Calvin pressed the light switch near his bed; nothing happened. He pressed it again; still nothing. Was he still dreaming? Was this another nightmare?
Calvin froze and listened. The soft whirring of airflow from the oxygen pumps was gone. He was engulfed in dead quiet.
Next he tried the inter-ship comm system. He knew as soon as he pressed the transmit button that it was dead because it didn’t click, but that didn’t stop him from trying anyway.
“Astra, can you hear me?” There was no reply. “Can anybody hear me?”
“No! It’s happening all over again!” Calvin hurried to the door, and to his utter horror, it wouldn’t open. “I’m stuck in my room! This isn’t happening! I have to get out of here!”
He looked around for a manual release; some way to open the door without power. Every ship had to have one, right? He could just see it; something horribly bad happened, and he was trapped in his room. “Not again!”
Calvin frantically rubbed his hands on the wall. He started on the left side and then moved to the right, jumping back and forth. Hysteria threatened to overcome him. “Where is it?” He hissed. After five minutes he stepped back. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Relax, Lieutenant,” he said, angry at himself for getting scared. “Take a step back and slow down.” Calvin took five more deep breaths and focused his thoughts on what he had to do. Now wasn’t the time to panic. There were no monsters in the room. “Focus.”
Calvin put his hands on the wall and slowly felt around. He was looking for thin lines in the wall that he hoped would
be a small panel.
He looked for five minutes, and found a recessed panel on the right side of the door with a large rocker switch inside. It was surrounded by red and black stripes with the words, ‘to be used in an emergency only,’ written under it.
“Finally,” he breathed, trying not to get too excited. He pulled the switch without hesitation. There was a deafening boom and the door slammed open violently. The noise made him jump nearly out of his skin. When the echo died away, Calvin cautiously peaked around the corner into the corridor. It was pitch black in both directions. His worst nightmare was coming true, again. All he needed was a pair of red glowing eyes at the end the hallway to make it complete. There weren’t any, but he didn’t draw comfort from it. Something very bad was happening and he desperately needed to find out what.
He crept back inside his room. He knew it was irrational, but he felt safer there. But safety wasn’t important right now. Calvin knew what he had to do. He had to go find Astra. There was a disaster of some kind. Either the ship was attacked, or there was an explosion somewhere inside the ship; probably the engines. Calvin knew where his place was; the bridge. He looked into the darkness, knowing that all he had to do was walk straight down the corridor; it wasn’t that far away. But there was no way to know if there was something in the inky blackness between him and the bridge.
Without giving himself too much time to think about it, he plunged forward. Calvin cringed in pain; his left leg throbbed but he chose to ignore it.
“The pain is all in your mind,” he repeated what MD-71 had told him. “Huh, who said robots can’t lie?”
Astra’s room was next to his. He’d try there first. He felt his way along the wall until he reached her door. The darkness was oppressive, as was the silence. He felt like he was being smothered. He hadn’t felt this level of dark since he woke up in his room on the Sorenia.
The door was closed. He knocked softly. “Astra?” He said. There was no answer. He wanted to knock louder, but for some reason, it might have been fear, he was afraid to.
He had visions in his mind; all of them were bad. Astra might be hurt; unable to get to the door. After wrestling with his thoughts, he decided to risk it. He knocked on the door with force. Still, no answer.
