by John Foster
West put his hand on Madison’s shoulder and looked down to her as her hand covered his. Out of the corner of his eye, West saw something move and turned just in time to see one of the wounded aliens emerge from the rocks and come limping towards them, its eyes watering and blinking while blood poured from wounds in its ripped arms and left leg. West paused in what could only be called a living nightmare. It wasn’t so much that the monster was larger than human but it was the brutal looking slanted eyes with yellow rings around the edges, an inner ring of cobalt blue, and piercing black pupils in the center. He wore no clothing, his muscular body rippling with strength, covered by a rough scaly gray skin, looking more like a shark than anything else. After taking in the brilliant eyes, the teeth loomed large with upper incisors nesting in furrows of the lower jaw, white, sharp, and an inch long and now dripping with salvia. The creature was agitated and his front teeth rotated outward showing a slight inner roundness as if it could draw a victim inward towards the maw. The nostrils were thin forty-five-degree slits that were now blowing out from its recent exertions. As if the eyes and mouth weren’t enough to encourage waking up, the claws were wicked two-inch-long yellowed daggers on long fingered hands and a stout thumb with a smaller claw. This, West realized, was a formidable foe. When it realized that it had been spotted it roared while West shoved Madison to the ground and raised his pistol to fire but was too late as the creature batted the gun away and reached down to claw him but he rolled and threw dirt in its eyes and it stumbled over a small boulder flailing with its one good arm to seize him. West got to his feet but the creature grabbed his pants and ripped at them with sharp talons and tore the fabric in a line that caught his boot where it seized hold and then jerked him off his feet and down to the ground in a flurry of dust and dirt. Madison jumped to her feet and ran behind West, just as the creature pulled West into range to rake his midsection with its great long claws. West blinded by the dust from the fight, felt a sharp pain in his leg as the creatures reared up to disembowel him. A shock wave of sound and force rocked West’s head as his pistol exploded in a flash of flame and powder. The creature stood still, a gaping hole in its chest, its face contorted with pain and an almost human expression of regret and then collapsed.
Madison held her hand down to West to help him up. West made a grim smile and took her hand. She handed him the large pistol her face white from shock. “Good shot” he said and with his urging they both ran for the bikes as yelling and beam blasts continued to come from the canyon behind them.
“Where are we going?” asked Madison her voice and color to her face returning.
“Let’s try to get up the canyon and away from this area. I think I saw another creature but dressed in some kind of black outfit head up the canyon,” said West.
“Okay, I’m with you,” said Madison.
They got to the Dragonflies and West helped Madison up on her machine and then West pulled himself up on his bike. They pushed the start buttons in unison and moved up a narrow path along the canyon rim. West led with his pistol tucked under his leg and at the ready.
They moved along at a slow pace careful to not be ambushed. West doubted that the creatures had moved off too far from their initial crash site and that they were relatively safe as long as they stayed out of sight.
They turned a corner and could see a lone vehicle just hovering above the ground in the center of the canyon. It was from the second party that had stopped and two of the pale faced men were standing outside scanning the area with some type of device. West slowed his Dragonfly and pulled it off the trail with Madison following him. West and Madison then crawled back to the trail edge and looked down to the scene below.
The two soldiers below had stopped scanning and were returning to their vehicle when a bright beam of scarlet sliced into their transport exploding it in a blast of flame and smoke. One man was blown 20 feet into the air and lay draped across a large boulder slowly staining it in red. The second, more fortunate than the other to have escaped the shock wave but had been spattered with some fiery liquid and was screaming in agony as it quickly spread over his body. West and Madison sat shocked and bewildered at the suddenness of the attack and explosion. They both looked up the canyon but could only see a faint wispy trail of smoke from among boulders nestled at a bend in the canyon. A lone creature walked out and stared at the smoking hulk and shot the screaming soldier with a beam weapon and with decidedly more intelligence moved back to the spot it had emerged from and was lost to sight.
West and Madison turned to look at each other. “Wow,” said West.
“That guy was different from the others, more controlled and intelligent,” said Madison.
West and Madison heard vehicles approaching and several Dragonfly like machines appeared racing up the canyon and then splitting off to maneuver behind boulders when they spied the burning vehicle. The larger vehicles appeared and also moved off to cover along the canyon side and stopped. They could see soldiers moving from the vehicles and fanning up the canyon sides to get higher ground.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” said West.
“Right,” said Madison.
They sidled back and then ran to the bikes and rode them along the narrowing path. They hurried, attempting to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the pale soldiers. West and Madison were on opposite side of the canyon from the creature with the large beam weapon and hoped that it would soon take their attention. A beam blast exploded behind Madison as they heard shouts from behind them. West looked over his shoulder and saw several soldiers frantically climbing over boulders to get on the trail they had just quit.
“Run, leave the Dragonfly, it’s too easy of a target,” he said to Madison.
“I’ll cover you,” said West.
Madison took his arm and squeezed it and then dumped her Dragonfly across the path. West raised his pistol and fired into the small group of soldiers who were looking up the trail and raising their own weapons. The bullet smashed into the first man and he literally flew into the group behind them knocking two from their feet while the others were thrown by their fallen comrades against the boulders. West turned to run, and pushed his bike on top of Madison’s. The weapon noise had attracted the attention of the rest of the soldiers and several began taking pot shots at West and Madison from across the canyon.
“Keep your head down and run for those higher boulders. They will shield us from the other side,” yelled West over the sound of beam blasts hitting the boulders around them. Shrapnel sprayed the area as West ducked lowered and ran for all his worth. The trail turned and twisted but narrowed and West had the uncomfortable feeling it was continuing to narrow and as he turned the corner he could see Madison frantically looking for a path among the boulders.
He led her farther up the path but it was soon blocked by larger boulders that had fallen down upon the trail at some distant time.
“Damn,” said West, his head turning left and right looking for an escape route.
West looked around and then cupped his hands to help Madison over the smaller of the boulders. She saw what he was going to do and grabbed his shoulder with one hand and put her boot in his hands and he raised her up and over the boulder.
“My god, how are you going to get over,” said Madison, her voice rising, as she peered at him from the opposite side through a crack between two boulders.
“I’ll be okay, you make your way back to the ship and get help,” said West.
They could hear shouts behind them and the footfalls of boots running in their direction.
“You’ve got to go,” said West.
She stretched her hand through the crack to take his hand but couldn’t reach him. He smiled at her and turned back and ran to the boulders behind him, crouching and his pistol ready. Madison watched him go, her eyes focused on him, and rather than run away she knelt behind the boulder to watch, her face pale with fear.
Soldiers turned the corner and stopped suddenly when
they saw West’s pistol sticking out from the side of a boulder and tried to backpedal but West started firing, knocking the first two men down and backward. West took the time to reload realizing that he probably wouldn’t have another chance. Resetting the chamber West leveled his pistol as a beam weapon started to crack at the boulder around him. The enemy couldn’t fire more than one weapon at a time as the boulder around them was too high to climb and the space opening into the trail area was too narrow to accommodate more than one man. West realized that eventually they would toss a grenade and that would be the end of it. He hoped Madison would be safe. As if on cue, a small grenade flew into the little clearing that fronted the boulder that West hid behind. West jerked back and threw himself behind the boulder as an explosion wrapped around the rock enveloping it in a cloud of rock shards and dust. The shock wave and smoke dazed him, the acrid smoke burning his nose, but he jumped back up and fired his pistol blindly as one soldier moved from cover to run into the clearing but not fast enough to escape the bullet from West’s gun. The soldier was thrown back against a boulder with a dark stain growing in his chest. As the soldier slid down the face of the boulder a dark stain appeared on the rock and followed his body down. Another arm with a beam weapon appeared and fired blindly at West’s position. The rock next to West flared with the intensity and West felt his arm seared with pain as chips of molten rock were flung up at him amid a shower of sparks and smoke. West reeled back trying to escape the searing rock as it sputtered and flamed around him and he tripped and fell backward sprawling. The smell of his own burning flesh made him gag. Just then a huge explosion erupted from somewhere in the canyon and then like an avenging bird of prey the Paradig rose like a spire of gleaming light from within the canyon, its laser beam cannons firing across the canyon floor. The ship pivoted and turned toward West, hovering. West shielded his eyes with his arm as another soldier ran forward stumbling as the Paradig shot into the soldiers attacking West. The shock wave of the blast threw the closest soldier off balance and into the opposite side of the nest of boulders that West was in. The soldier, his face pale with shocking white eyes raised his pistol to fire at West, now too close to miss, when suddenly there was a blast behind the soldier and some of the other men were tossed like rag dolls as the Paradig swooped down and fired into the trail behind West. The soldier in front of West dropped his pistol and collapsed with a large rock embedded in the side of his head, his eyes glazed and unstaring. West could hear the surviving men yell and their voices retreating as the Paradig continued to fire into them and the party in the canyon below. West cautiously moved out into the little clearing and looked at the retreating men.
“Hey big guy, you wanna help a gal out?” Madison called out behind him as she scooted up the opposite side of the boulder.
West whirled and turned to see her smiling on top of the outcrop, and then ran to help her down.
“How did you do that?” West asked.
“There’s lots of handholds on the other side of the rock,” she said, her eyes flashing and her hair falling across her face. Sweat streaked with dirt coursed down her face and West smiled and said, “You’re damn beautiful.” She smiled and held out her hand for him to help her down.
West forgot his injuries looking at her but then there were more explosions and the Paradig pulled in view hovering over where West and Madison stood and then a spider rope ladder dropped and Theo peered out of the hatch, grinning, his face bright red.
“Need any help?” he yelled.
“Just in the nick of time,” said West smiling up at him.
A huge roar and blinding light lit up the next canyon and West and Madison turned to see an alien space ship with engines screaming reaching for the stars in the morning light.
JOURNEY TO JO-TENE
The remnant of the Sovar fighting force limped into the impromptu camp that they had left hours ago. The lead vehicle was dark and spattered with blaster fire. It lurched to a stop next to the ship. The door swung open and Dragaan stepped out, literally flying out with his cloak flaring out as he stepped up to the ship entrance, the guards saluting as he disappeared inside. The ship captain stood ready at the top of the ramp and saluted as Dragaan marched up to the door. Before the captain could say anything Dragaan ordered “Secure the vehicles and make ready for immediate take-off.”
A chime sounded and men raced to their stations and the vehicles were moved to the side of the ship for embarkation. Dragaan stood to one side, staring into the distance, hand clenching and unclenching, his eyes narrowed and dark. One of the soldiers approached and saluted.
“Permission to speak Commander?”
“Report,” said Dragaan.
“We’ve 10 dead, 4 wounded, and six missing,” said the soldier.
Dragaan pounded one fist into the other, not moving.
“Where is the Guard commander, Altern?” demanded Dragaan.
“He’s dead Sir.”
“He was lucky that he didn’t live,” said Dragaan who then turned to the ship captain and told him to inform him when they had achieved orbit.
Dragaan moved through the ship, the crew standing and saluting as he passed and not a word spoken. He entered into his quarters/work station and sat on the console chair. He pressed a button and a microphone popped from the ceiling and hovered near his mouth.
“Commander to Battle Operations.”
There was some static, then a mechanical voice spoke.
“Battle Operations awaiting your orders.”
“An alien ship of unknown origin has just attacked us on Terra, we are currently decoding its possible destination. Stand ready to intercept once location is known.”
“Battle Operations understands and will comply,” said the robotic voice.
His private door buzzed indicating the ship’s Captain wanted an interview. Dragaan rose and with a look the door opened and the Ship Captain saluted and entered.
“Report,” said Dragaan.
“While you were in the canyon I sent a team to the remote tunnel entrance and we found several mutilated bodies and something of great interest.”
“What is it?” Dragaan turned to face the Ship Captain.
“We recovered the body of one of the mercenaries from the tunnel entrance and I believe it has a copy of the disc imprinted on its chest.”
“What do you say?” said Dragaan leaning forward, his eyes intense.
“The men noticed that this mercenary wasn’t mutilated as the other bodies were and took a closer look at it. It had been shot with a plasma beam weapon across the chest hitting the artifact that apparently was in a pouch hanging from the mercenary’s neck. The blast burned through the holes in the disc and imprinted on the skin. From the look of it, it is a good copy as I recognize some of the star clusters. It won’t take long to identify where the star disc was pointing to.”
“Who ordered the body checked?” asked Dragaan.
“Scout Igor.”
“Promote him and tell him it was from me personally,” said Dragaan.
“As you direct, Commander, we leave in 10 units,” said the captain.
Dragaan nodded.
The captain saluted, turned and exited the compartment.
The question was who were these aliens that had taken the artifact? It was quite obvious it wasn’t the earth fools, whose weapons while not exactly of unknown science were clearly marginally superior to even the Sovar weapons and that wasn’t taken lightly. While the creatures that attacked them wore Soshi tags, Dragaan didn’t believe that the alien enemies had the means or knowledge to know what had happened here or what was at stake. It was possible that it was the Nafti, and they were rumored to have strange creatures that they experimented on but Dragaan hadn’t seen any proof of it. His finger tapped slowly on the desk and one hand rolled in a ball, tightening and clenching. His plans had been ruined by the untimely arrival of the archaeologist’s ship before he could recover the disc but he would destroy them as well as these mysterious al
iens in due time. He would get his revenge and he pounded his fist into his open palm.
The Paradig glided into the landing area next to the main camp. After securing the ship, West and the others retired to the conference room behind the bridge.
“How are Volkum and Thomas?” asked West as soon as they landed and got a chance to talk to Theo.
“They’re fine, just major headaches and a couple of dozen small wounds. Malena and Rae are fixing them up and they’re moving around, albeit slowly,” said Theo his face grim.
“That’s great. I couldn’t stand to lose another crew member,” said Madison and noticing West’s look of concern added “he’s like my little brother who was killed in space.”
“What happened to him?” asked Theo but West interjected and said, “you don’t need to discuss that if you don’t want to,” his eyes focused on Madison.
“It’s okay, it happened almost a decade ago when my father and brother were on a space expedition to the outer planets to gather data for my father’s work at the university. Actually, it was for information my husband needed to complete his dissertation and my Dad took my brother with him to keep him out of trouble,” said Madison who was looking down at her hands.
“Your husband?” said West.
“Yes, Robert was one of Dad’s best students and had almost completed his experiments but needed one more set of rare metal clusters from the outer planets and Dad jumped at the chance to get out of the university for a while. Their ship had halted for repairs near Mars and was hit by a rogue asteroid which obliterated it. There were no survivors,” said Madison, whose shoulders slumped and she placed her chin on her hand and looked at the floor.
“Wow,” said Theo his eyes reflecting his regret for asking the question.
“So, you see, I took on Thomas as my protégé as my father would have and I’m rather close to him. He’s a lot like my brother,” said Madison as she looked up at them blinking and gave a gentle smile.
