“Dr. Yerzhov might be able to help with that,” said March. “Her Eclipse machine can detect the presence of macrobes.”
“Really?” said Torrence, blinking. “I thought conventional life sensors didn’t work on possessed humans. Their physiology is in too much of a state of flux or something like that.”
“The Eclipse prototype detects quantum entanglement effects,” said Cassandra. “But I think the fusion of macrobe and human creates a quantum distortion effect in hyperspace. The Eclipse can pick up on those distortion effects, and I can use the Eclipse to pinpoint the effect with a degree of accuracy. See?” She turned her phone’s screen towards Torrence.
“All I see are some numbers,” said Torrence.
“Am I the only one who uses the command line?” said Cassandra with some asperity. “Does everyone else insist on using the graphical interface? This saves valuable processor cycles, and...”
“It works,” said March. “If this is an experimental trial, then it’s been a successful one. I’ve seen the device work. It can’t detect sleeping macrobes, but it can detect any conscious ones.”
“Okay,” said Torrence. “I’m not a scientist, but I’ll take your word for it. I have access to everywhere on the ship as captain, and I know the layout like the back of my hand. If Dr. Yerzhov’s device can detect the macrobes, we can probably sneak around them and get to the engineering section. Where is the Tiger docked?”
“Starboard cargo corridor,” said March. “One of the airlocks there.”
Torrence grimaced. “I wish it were closer. No, wait, that will work. It’s a long way to the engineering section from here, but it’s not that far from the engineering section to the Tiger. I suggest that we go to the engineering section, get a spare regulator, and head for the Tiger. The Tiger can then circle around the Alpine and dock with one of the access airlocks near here.” He pointed towards the ceiling. “Getting the survivors across the ship without losing any of them would be nearly impossible. But if you bring the Tiger here, we can get them off the Alpine without anyone else dying.”
“Agreed,” said March. “We should start as soon as possible.”
“Dr. Yerzhov,” said Torrence. “If you could show me how to read your display, that would be helpful. You can remain here in safety while Captain March and I retrieve the regulator and the Tiger.”
“No,” said Cassandra with a shake of her head. “For one, I don’t think you have the scientific background to understand the Eclipse’s readout. Do you know the equation for assessing the standard rate of normal space resistance for dark energy currents?”
“I didn’t even know there was such an equation,” said Torrence.
“Then the Eclipse’s readout won’t make any sense to you,” said Cassandra. She took a deep breath. “And I want to help. So many people have died. If I can help save anyone, then I think I have a duty to help.”
“She hasn’t made a mistake about the readouts yet,” said March. Cassandra gave him a grateful smile. “And she has a point. The two of us shouldn’t go alone. If we’re killed, someone else will need to get to the engineering section and the regulator.”
“Agreed,” said Torrence. “We’ll take Reader with us. He was a veteran, and he’s seen combat.” He shook his head. “I don’t think anyone else has combat experience, though.”
“What about Tessa Morgan?” said March.
“The steward?” said Torrence. “I don’t think she has any combat experience. I check over the personnel files of every new crew member. I’ll admit I don’t remember hers, but if she had combat experience of any kind, I would have remembered.”
“Captain March is right,” said Cassandra. “She kept her cool when we fought the macrobes. She had shot one right through the head before I had even gotten my gun out of its holster.”
“A pistol shot from a distance is challenging,” said Torrence. “All right. We’ll set out at once. I think it would be best if we kept up the story that you’re Jack’s girlfriend and hyperdrive mechanic. It’s possible there were Machinist informants on the ship, and it’s just as possible that one of them survived and is in the room right now.”
“Okay,” said Cassandra.
Torrence nodded. “In the Silent Order, Dr. Yerzhov, paranoia isn’t a mental disorder but a way of life. If we survive this and you get to Calaskar, you’ll become one of us, and you’ll understand. If you’re both ready, we’ll leave at once.”
March nodded, and he and Cassandra followed Torrence as he strode into the center of the banquet room.
“Everyone!” called Torrence. “If I can have your attention please!”
The crewers looked at the captain. The families huddled near the video turned their attention from the attractive historian, their eyes fearful and shocked.
“For the first time today, we’ve had a stroke of luck,” said Torrence. “This is Captain March, and his ship is large enough to get us all off the Alpine. Unfortunately, his hyperdrive was damaged, and we need to retrieve a component from the Alpine’s engineering section before we can leave the system.” A murmur came from the families, but Torrence kept talking. “So, we’re going to retrieve the component, board Captain March’s ship, and then dock with the nearby utility airlock. That will let you get aboard his ship without any further risk to your families, and then we can return to Calaskaran space. Reader! Morgan!”
Both Reader and Tessa hurried over.
“Sir?” said Tessa.
“You’re coming with me,” said Torrence. “Our task is to retrieve a dark energy surge regulator from the engineering section, board Captain March’s ship, and then retrieve the survivors. Take whatever weapons and ammunition you want from our supplies.”
Reader nodded and jogged to a table holding a variety of weapons, but Tessa lingered.
“How will we avoid the macrobes, sir?” said Tessa.
“Don’t worry, steward,” said Torrence. “Cassie’s jury-rigged dark energy detector seems able to sense when macrobes are nearby.” Cassandra smiled a little at the description of her prototype. Though it was strange to think of a jury-rigged prototype causing so much trouble. “If you don’t want to accompany us, that’s fine. There’s no shame in that. You can stay here and help look after the remaining passengers. But Captain March said you handled yourself well in the fighting, and we’ll need all the help we can get.”
Tessa hesitated, and for an instant fear flickered across her poised expression. That was only rational. The prospect of facing more of the macrobes would fill anyone sane with fear.
“This isn’t a suicide mission, steward,” said Torrence. “We’re doing this to save the lives of the others and our own, and any help would be welcome.”
“You’re right, sir,” said Tessa. “I’ll come with you.”
“Take whatever you need,” said Torrence. “Once you’re equipped, we’ll go.”
Chapter 7: Battle Mutations
Ten minutes later, Captain Torrence unlocked an access door behind the buffet table, and they took a ladder and then another utility corridor into the bowels of the ship.
“Here’s the plan,” said Torrence. He had set up a short-range network on his phone, sharing a map of the Alpine with their devices and allowing them to communicate over earpieces. “We’re on the dorsal deck near the bow of the ship, and the engineering section is in the ventral region towards the stern. The quickest way there is through the first-class decks, and then down through second and third class and the cargo holds. Unfortunately, due to the large number of passengers who transformed,” grief flashed across his expression, and his commanding voice faltered for a moment, “there will be numerous macrobes on those decks. Miss Smith’s detector confirms that. We’ll have to stay close to the utility corridors, which will slow our time. Once we have the regulator, we’ll make for the Tiger, detach from the Alpine, and circle the ship to pick up the remaining survivors from the banquet hall. Are there any questions?”
“What if we encou
nter more survivors, sir?” said Reader.
“We’ll take them with us,” said Torrence. “We have no other choice. They wouldn’t survive a trip to the banquet hall, and telling them to make their way alone would be suicide.”
“Yes, sir,” said Reader, and Tessa nodded.
“One last thing,” said Torrence. “It is possible you will encounter macrobes who were once your fellow crewers or your friends. They may recognize you, and they may try to taunt you or lure you to your deaths. Do not listen to them. Every last person on this ship who was possessed has been killed and replaced with a creature holding their memories and knowledge. The macrobes will not hesitate to kill you in the most painful way possible.” He looked Tessa and Reader in the eye. “Do both of you understand?”
“Aye, sir,” said Reader. “When I was in the Marines, we found a derelict ship that had suffered a resonator failure. One of the nastiest things I had ever seen, at least until today.”
“I won’t hesitate, sir,” said Tessa in a quiet voice, meeting the captain’s eye.
“Good,” said Torrence. “Let’s move out. There are a lot of people counting on us.”
March knew him well enough to hear the grim tone in his voice. There were people to be saved in the banquet hall, but compared to the thousands who had started the trip on the Alpine, only a bare handful remained. It was a catastrophic disaster, and it would be remembered as one of the biggest starfaring disasters in Calaskaran history. If they lived long enough to return to Calaskar, Torrence would face a board of inquiry, and his career with Royal Calaskaran Starlines would be over. Depending on the results of the inquiry and the Ministry of Justice’s investigations, Torrence might face prison time, though from what March could tell, Torrence hadn’t been negligent in any way.
And even if it wasn’t his fault, even if his name was cleared, Torrence was the kind of man who would blame himself. He would carry the burden of those deaths on his conscience for the rest of his life.
March and Torrence took the lead, plasma pistols in hand. Tessa came next, and then Cassandra, and Reader brought up the rear, moving with the efficient motions of a man accustomed to fighting. Cassandra’s eyes remained fixed on her phone, watching the flow of data from the Eclipse device.
“I have a question,” said Cassandra.
“Yes, Miss Smith?” said Torrence, not looking back.
“No, not for you, captain,” said Cassandra. “For Miss Morgan.”
Tessa blinked and looked back at her. “Oh?”
“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” said Cassandra. “You’re a really good shot.”
“Oh,” said Tessa. She looked a little surprised. “Well...I told you I grew up in a little town on Calaskar, right? You’re not Calaskaran?” Cassandra shook her head. “In the less inhabited parts of Calaskar, there are these animals we call spineballs. I forget the proper name. They were native to the planet before we humans came in and terraformed the place, and they’re tough and smart and fast. They’re also predators, and they will attack and eat lone humans if they can. My dad made sure I knew how to shoot, and I’ve had to shoot charging spineballs a couple of times. Suppose it’s not that different from shooting a charging macrobe.”
“You should have mentioned that on your application, Miss Morgan,” said Torrence. “You might have gotten a job with security.”
Tessa smiled. “But I didn’t want to go into security, sir. I want to be a pilot or maybe a navigator. Figured I would start at the bottom and work my way up. Shooting guests doesn’t seem like a good way to do that.”
“We don’t shoot guests all that often, ma’am,” said Reader. “Sometimes we stun the drunker ones when they get rowdy, let them sleep it off in the holding cells, but that’s about it. The company frowns on shooting guests.”
He fell silent. No doubt he had worked out that he had shot a lot of guests today. Or creatures that had once been guests.
“How about you, Cassie?” said Tessa. “How did you get into hyperdrive repair?”
Cassandra glanced at her, shrugged, and then turned her attention back to her phone. “Well, I was good with physics at the university, but there wasn’t much money in that, so I wound up going into hyperdrive repair. I don’t get on well with my family, so I don’t mind traveling all over inhabited space. It’s a good way to see the galaxy.”
March was surprised that she had proven to be such a good liar. It helped that she didn’t seem to like Tessa at all, and made a minimal effort to hide that dislike.
“So how did you and Captain March meet?” said Tessa. “That’s kind of romantic, isn’t it? The captain and the hyperdrive mechanic.” She grinned. “Though most of the hyperdrive mechanics I’ve met have been balding and burly, so that would be less romantic.”
Indecision came over Cassandra’s face. “I...”
“If this works,” said March, “we’re going to all be cooped up on the Tiger for several days until we can get to Constantinople Station. There will be plenty of time to trade personal histories then.”
“A good point,” said Torrence. “Stay quiet unless you have something important to say.”
“Sir,” said Reader, and they lapsed into silence.
They continued down the utility corridor for several hundred meters, and then stopped at another access door.
“All right,” said Torrence. “This opens onto the first level of the retail promenade. We’ll have to cross the promenade and enter one of the shops...the place sells souvenir T-shirts, I think. There’s another access door in the shop’s back room, and we’ll take the utility corridor from there.”
“There are macrobes behind that door,” said Cassandra. “Two only three or four meters away. And there are dozens more scattered around the shopping promenade. I think they might be fighting each other...”
“But if they see us,” said March, “they’ll attack.”
“All right,” said Torrence. “This is what we’ll do. I’ll open the door, and Captain March and I will try to take out the two nearest macrobes. If we miss, Reader and Morgan will take them out. And if they miss, we’ll close the door and retreat into the utility corridor. We’ll have to take a longer route to the engineering section, but at least we’ll be alive to do it. Any questions?”
No one had any. Torrence dropped to one knee right in front of the door. March stepped behind him, both hands grasping his pistol’s grip. Reader and Tessa readied their guns, and Cassandra took a deep breath and stepped behind them.
“Jack,” said Torrence.
March nodded, hit the door control, and put both hands around his gun's grip.
The access door hissed open, and March saw the now-familiar sight of the shopping promenade. Two macrobes stood in the center of the promenade, one spider-like, the other a new kind that March had not seen before, a thing that looked kind of like a slug with an armored turtle’s shell. Like all the other macrobes, those strange blue-glowing tumors dotted their warped bodies, and their human torsos jutted from the misshapen forms of flesh that their bodies had become.
March was already lining up his shot, and he squeezed the trigger. His pistol spat out a plasma bolt, and the shot struck the turtle-like macrobe in the temple. The creature jerked and collapsed to the deck, its thick limbs hammering against the fake marble of the floor. The spider-like macrobe whirled, and March started to aim, but Torrence fired first. His shot vaporized the top half of the macrobe’s skull, and the creature fell atop the spiked turtle-thing.
“Go!” said Torrence, getting to his feet.
They hurried out of the access corridor and into the shopping promenade. The T-shirt shop in question was on the other side of the promenade, a dozen plastic mannequins sporting brightly colored T-shirts standing in its windows. March turned in a circle, looking for macrobes as the others hurried across the promenade to the T-shirt shop. He spotted the eerie blue lights of dozens of macrobes scattered in both directions down the promenade, but none of them were nearby.
<
br /> “Above!” shouted Cassandra. “It was sleeping!”
March looked up just as a spider-like macrobe perched on the railing of the balcony, looking down at them.
“Tacky!” shouted the macrobe, the blue light glimmering in its eyes. “A tacky shop full of tacky people.”
The spider-like legs flexed, the macrobe preparing to jump, and March raised his pistol and started shooting. His first shot struck the tumors and dissipated, but his second burned through one of the knobby joints of its legs. The macrobe let out a furious shriek and lost its balance, falling from the balcony. March leaped to the side and just avoided having his head taken off by the slashing legs.
He lost his balance, hit the deck, and rolled. March came to one knee and raised his pistol, but Tessa started shooting. Her second shot burned through the macrobe’s temple, and the creature jerked and collapsed to the floor.
“Come on!” shouted Torrence. “Move, move, move!”
The others raced towards the T-shirt shop. Cassandra shot March a concerned look, and he nodded and got back to his feet. Around them, he heard the cries of furious macrobes as the creatures converged on the sound of shooting. Another forty seconds or so, March thought, and they would storm into the shop and kill them all.
He ran into the T-shirt shop, yanking a grenade from his bandoleer as he did so. The interior of the shop was a mess. The racks of T-shirts had been shredded, and quite a few of them had been spattered with blood. The source of the blood slumped against the sales counter. The sales clerk had been a young woman, but one of the macrobes had removed everything inside her ribcage, and the creature hadn’t done a neat job of it, either. On the far wall was an open door leading into a stock room, and March saw the others vanishing into an open access door, a utility corridor stretching further into the ship.
“Jack!” said Torrence. He stood by the door, waving the others through. “Move it!”
March ran across the shop, lifting the grenade and setting the fuse to five seconds. “You’d better go first.”
Silent Order: Eclipse Hand Page 12
