"You can't just leave Hugh here!" Mary sobbed.
"I'm sorry Mary," Bob said, "but I saw it. He's dead."
****
Hugh removed his shirt and used it to bind the wound through his right side. He then started making his way out of the alien cargo bay. He struggled up the ladder then stumbled toward the corridor. Every movement reminded him of his injury. His right leg was not functioning correctly. He tried to run, but it was difficult and only possible in short sprints.
Once in the corridor, he again had communications with The Nine. He explained his situation and the evil nature of Bob's mission. The Nine repeated the mantra about not intervening in the affairs of mankind.
"Listen," Hugh pleaded, "I told you about the nanobots. He's going to use them to kill everyone on planet Earth. If you don't help me you will have aided Bob in killing billions. You will become an accessory to his crime. Didn't you guys fight a civil war here to prevent your own military from doing the same thing?"
They did not immediately respond.
"The One told me of your respect for life," Hugh continued. "The Nine told me your people fought to stop an invasion of my planet. Either you respect life and you fought each other for a reason, or you lied to me and the end of life on Earth is your goal. So just who are you anyway?"
The Nine considered the argument for only a split second.
"Hugh, we the scientists of Delmadia, do respect all life. We did fight against our warrior class for your people. As an entity that loves life we cannot condone a life that would take life. This was the nature of our own struggle. We choose life."
Hugh fell against the wall.
"You are not operating within designed specifications. Why?" The Nine observed.
"Bob shot me," Hugh explained. "Key components within me are damaged. Paramount is the loss of a semi-liquid sulphide lithium super ion conductor fluid that conducts power to my various systems. I am losing strength. If unchecked, I will cease to function."
"Remain stationary, Hugh, and conserve your energy," The Nine instructed.
"But...I must get to Mary, and—"
Within a few minutes, Pixie arrived. At first, she just hovered there looking down at Hugh, leaning against the wall. With his right hand, he applied pressure to his wound. The Nine told Hugh to hold out his left hand and to grasp the tiny orb. As he did, a blinding flash of blue light lit Hugh's hand and the entire corridor. Hugh felt a surge of energy rush through him. His wounds did not magically heal, but he had renewed strength. He rose and ran with all his might toward Zellat 43, and Mary.
****
All but Mary stood before the cylinder. Mary had remained in the theater unable to move, her mind wrapped in a shroud of grief, she was too sad now even to cry.
"What do we do?" Larry asked aloud.
"Pantomime leaving I guess," Balaji offered. With that, they started to try to communicate with The Nine. They tried to speak to them in every language they knew. Larry used his body to try to show his intent. He flapped his arms like a bird.
"Larry," Balaji stopped him, "have you considered they may not know what a bird is?"
Larry nodded, and then he placed the palms of his hands together and separated them quickly, making the uppermost hand rocket upward.
Bob just stood to one side and watched.
****
The Nine watched the antics stoically. They deduced the intended message very accurately. Then, they received Hugh's equation from the corridor. Not seeing her in the chamber, they concluded that Mary must still be in the theater. They understood the situation. To alert Mary that Hugh was still alive might just cause Bob to start shooting. They did, however, come up with a plan.
****
In the theater, the huge curved monitor turned red and flashed. This got Mary's attention. Then, one at a time, a thumbnail picture of each of them appeared on the monitor. Her own, Balaji's, Larry's and Bob's, then there appeared a three-dimensional representation of Zellat 43, a section of the hull was removed to reveal the ship's interior. One at a time the pictures moved into the theater. Mary understood. She rose and ran toward the geode room.
"Balaji," she shouted as she reached the door, "they want us all in the theater."
Everyone ran back to the theatre where they found the same picture Mary had been presented still on the monitor. Then the thumbnail images moved again. Mary's picture remained in the theater. Balaji's picture went to the geode room, Larry's to a room left of the theater, and Bob's to the planetarium or control room.
Balaji turned to Bob, amazed, "They want you in the navigation seat."
****
Bob's eyes widened. "Why are they sending you all to different rooms?" he asked.
"I can only presume that it has something to do with the ship's operations," Balaji responded.
"Okay, let's go quickly," Bob said. "Whitmore should be here by now." Bob stood aside and let Balaji rush past him. He watched as Larry exited through the left-most door of the theater. They each went to their designated positions. Bob left the theater slowly after nodding at Mary. He went past the short, connecting corridor that would have led him to the inner hallway, and thus to the door to the control room. Instead, he went quietly to the exit ramp where he had hidden the alien rifle then he headed for the control room.
****
Alone in the theater, Mary's thoughts again fell into shadow. Her eyes started to fill with tears when the monitor began to flash with an enlargement of her face alone. Shocked, she stood and watched. The monitor turned to a dark gray color, then the image of Hugh, leaning against the wall, his right hand applying pressure to his wound appeared. Mary clasped her hands to her mouth. Next to Hugh's picture Bob's thumbnail appeared and shrank to about a quarter the size of Hugh's picture. The color faded from Bob's picture, and then the image of a gun, in red, appeared over Bob's face. A red line extended from the pistol and moved directly to the wound in Hugh's side. The message was clear. Bob had shot Hugh.
To the right of this pictorial message, the picture of the Zellat 43 reappeared. The thumbnails of Larry and Balaji rejoined Mary in the theater. Mary rushed through the left door and shouted for Larry.
"What's the matter?" Larry said, bursting into the hallway.
"Quick, go get Balaji and come to the theater."
"What about Bob?"
"No! Just you and Balaji. Hurry!"
****
Hugh was making much better time. Every spark of energy he possessed was bent on Mary now. He'd promised he would save her life or die trying. Nothing else mattered. There was no wound in his side, no bad leg or distorted vision, all was pushed aside in favor of his singular self-applied directive.
He approached the Hotel Insularum where he held out his hand. Pixie sat down in his palm. He closed his fingers, and was again renewed.
He then sent Pixie ahead to scan the situation inside the spacecraft. She was off like a shot. Before too many seconds had passed, Hugh could see Mary and everyone but Bob in the theater. Then, Pixie turned to show the schematic of the Zellat 43 to Hugh. Hugh could see where everyone else was located, including Bob. Hugh started toward the entrance.
****
Mary gathered Larry and Balaji to her side in the theater, where they wordlessly examined the image of Hugh and in juxtaposition, the pulsing image of Bob and the pistol. It was not possible to reach another conclusion.
Like a ball of lightning, Pixie shot into the theater and stopped above their heads. The instant they saw her, they all knew it meant that Hugh was nearby. Mary started for the door, but Pixie jumped in front of her and flashed a bright red.
"She want us to stay put," Larry suggested to Mary.
"Best we listen, I think," Balaji agreed.
As if reading Mary's mind, Pixie shot out of the room and was almost instantly beside Hugh, whose image now appeared on the monitor. They saw him now in real time. He'd just exited the front door out of Hotel Insularum and was headed directly for Zellat 43.
/> Mary threw her arms around Balaji. "Oh, Balaji, he's alive, he's alive!"
****
Inside Zellat 43's spherical chamber they called the Planetarium, Bob approached the clear chair and sat down. The door closed behind him and the platform began its movement out toward the center of the room. Once the platform stopped, Bob waited, but nothing happened. He looked about the chair for some instrumentation, but there was none. He continued to wait.
Chapter 36
Hugh climbed up the ramp and entered the saucer. Immediately, he turned to his right and made for the theater. As soon as they heard him coming, the three ran to him, Mary leading the way. Her intent was to grab him and hold him tight, but the sight of him holding his side stopped her.
"Oh, Hugh! Let me look at that."
"No!" He held his other arm out. "I'm fine—we don't have time for that. The Nine has explained the situation to me. They have Bob locked in the planetarium right now, it's the only room on board suitable to restrain him, but they have to release him. If he starts firing that weapon of theirs in there—"
"Hugh," Larry replied. "He didn't have a weapon."
"He took mine after...he has it with him now. The Nine report he is in the planetarium with their weapon, and it can disable this ship if fired in that chamber. Here's the plan—"
They were just inside the theater where Hugh, uncharacteristically sat down to brief them.
"The Nine are going to power the ship up and start our ascent. In two minutes and forty-seven seconds, we'll be in space two hundred fifteen meters over the Moon's surface. Once the ship is powered, The Nine will have the ability to morph the floors again. Pixie and I will be their eyes. They will release Bob from the Planetarium and I will see to it he follows me. There is an airlock on the opposite side of the ship. I'll get Bob to follow me into it, and then The Nine will open the outer door."
"Hugh, you'll be sucked out, too!" Mary protested.
"No, the floor will grab my feet, just like it did yours in the brain room that day."
"I don't like it," Mary said. "You're injured, and it's too dangerous."
From the floor, there came a loud humming and a sharp whistling sound. The monitors came to life, showing a real time view of the cavern. The ship was rising vertically.
"There's no time to debate this. You all stay in here."
Hugh rose and shuffled out the door. Larry looked down into the chair Hugh had been occupying. A substance that looked like wet coffee grounds and milk covered the seat's right side, dripping off onto the floor.
When Larry and Balaji looked up, Mary was gone. She must have slipped out the far left doorway. "I'll go find her," Larry said. "You stay here in case The Nine want to talk to us," and he darted out the door after Mary.
****
Bob was becoming frustrated. Nothing was happening and he was stuck inside a six meter sphere on a disk he had no control over. He was about to allow his anger to satisfy his frustration, when the lights began to dim. Bob sat back and gripped the arms of the chair, bracing himself against the approaching darkness.
The sphere around him became transparent; allowing him to see the alien chamber illuminated by the ship's glowing surface. He felt as if he were floating several meters above the ground, and that he was all alone inside the cavern. He heard the loud humming and sharp whistling sound and watched as he seemed to lift straight up. He tilted his head back and saw above him the gray disk on the ceiling of the cavern start to open like the iris of a great mechanical eye.
The ship seemed to align itself, then pick up speed. Without warning the vision disappeared and the lights came up. The chair and its disk were starting to move back toward the door.
"No, no, no!" Bob screamed. The disk kept moving. He grabbed the arms of the chair and jerked them violently from side to side screaming at the top of his lungs.
He stood from the chair and readied his weapon. It was then that his eyes noticed the height of the platform from the bottom of the sphere. He began to tremble as he lowered his weapon. With his right hand he slowly reached back for the seat, and gently lowered himself to its base all the while holding his breath.
Just as the disk made contact with the sphere's wall, the door opened. From out in the corridor, Bob heard Hugh's voice.
"Hey, Bah-ob, your marksmanship stinks."
Despite having no target, Bob fired a round out the doorway. The weapon made an odd sound, like someone spitting between their front teeth. From the muzzle, a tiny green dot appeared and rocketed out of the weapon at a tremendous velocity. When it struck the opposite wall the light emanating from that spot went dark, an area the size of a dinner plate. Both Bob and Hugh made note of this bizarre effect.
Hugh decided the best thing was not to present Bob with a target so he would attempt to keep a portion of the curved wall between them and just bait him with his voice.
"Bah-ob, my grandmother shoots better than that!"
"I can't wait to see what effect this gun will have on human flesh!" Bob shouted.
"Yeah, me too." Hugh limped farther down the corridor, ensuring he made a considerable amount of noise doing so.
"Hold still, and let's finish this, Sergeant. There's no longer any place for you to run."
"What's the matter Bah-ob, tired?"
"You call me Dr. Muller, you uniformed Neanderthal!"
Hugh ran a little farther. "Doctor? You have to be kidding me. That's no doubt a lie, just like the rest of your life."
"Play time is over, Pacherd! You'll die forever this time."
Hugh was now across the hall from the short passage that led to the outer corridor ring. He listened a moment, then bolted for the passage. He had made it, but now there was no sign of Bob.
"What's the matter Bah-ob, can't hang, give up?" There came no response, but he knew that Bob was running forward; he could see him through Pixie's eyes. She was hovering unnoticed just above and behind Bob.
Hugh turned and sprinted as best he could to the location where the airlock door stood open. Hugh stood at a spot about two meters from the airlock door, looking down the corridor. He wanted Bob to become visible so that when he ducked into that door Bob would know where he'd gone and follow him.
****
When Mary left the theater, she took one of the Brown Bess muskets. It was loaded with its one lead shot.
She sprinted around the hallway until she reached a room with an obvious exterior door. This, she concluded this must be the airlock. She arrived well in advance of Hugh. She stepped into the dark room, pressed her back up against the wall, and waited. Her breath came fast and deep. Sweat beaded on her brow and ran down between her shoulder blades. Her stomach was tight and a little nauseated. It was not the run that had made her ill. It was the knowledge of what she was about to do. Never in her life had she even considered the possibility of killing another human being. Yet, here she stood, resolved to do just that.
****
As Larry left the theater, he noted the missing flint lock rifle. He knew instantly what Mary was up to. He knew also that she was severely distraught. He slowed down for fear that in catching up to her too quickly, she might shoot him.
****
Mary, who had been peeking around the edge of the door, saw Hugh run up and take his position. She then saw a distant movement from down the hall at the point where it curved. Hugh was standing just outside the door right in front of her, but she had a clear line of sight over his left shoulder. She took aim at the point where she was sure she would see Bob.
Mary saw Bob, now in a blind rage, run up the corridor and stop when he saw Hugh, he shouted an obscenity, and brought the weapon up to take aim.
Hugh turned to run into the airlock, but stopped when he saw the muzzle of the rifle. Mary had exposed too much of herself in her eagerness to make the first shot. She screamed "Duck!" Hugh dove for the open door across the hall opposite the air lock just as the musket erupted. Almost simultaneously, Bob fired the alien weapon.
&n
bsp; ****
Larry was less than a meter from Mary when the two weapons were fired; he leapt into the air toward Mary's rifle barrel. He had hoped to grab it and pull her down with it. His hands were extended as he flew horizontally toward the airlock door. He arrived just as the green projectile from Bob's weapon did. It struck Larry in the palm of his right hand. Instantly, Larry's hand from his fingertips to halfway up his forearm went dead. Larry crashed into the edge of the door headfirst, knocking him unconscious.
****
Hugh had hit the floor after his dive and rolled into the darkened room. As he turned and looked back through the door, Bob ran up and grabbed Mary, then forced her into the airlock. Helpless, he watched the door slam closed before he could even flinch.
At the airlock door, which was entirely made of the transparent metal, Hugh discovered that The Nine had already opened the exterior door, a round hatch that opened outward, but had an elaborate hinge inside the airlock. When Hugh looked in, he was horrified at the sight.
"Oh, shit!" he muttered.
Mary's feet were held down per the plan, but Bob was holding on tight to her arm with his left hand. Hugh frantically beat on the door, though he knew it would not open. The Nine, aware of the situation, was trying to flood the room with air but could not keep up with the gas escaping through the huge open hatch.
Bob, with a maniacal hatred in his eyes, now brought his right arm up, pointed the gun at Hugh, and fired. When the green projectile struck the transparent metal, an odd effect occurred. From the point of impact, the clear material began to develop what looked like frost spreading out quickly. When the door was covered, Hugh reached out and punched it. The entire door exploded inward, shattering as if made of a thin sheet of glass. Hugh was sucked violently into the room where he slammed hard into the hull of the ship, headfirst. Bob and Mary were both starting to turn blue. Bob fought against the current of escaping air to aim the gun at Hugh.
Hugh quickly communicated with The Nine, and they released his feet. He sprang toward Bob with all his might; still he only achieved about twenty centimeters. But it was close enough. He grabbed the weapon, kept its muzzle pointed away from him, and pulled Bob toward him. Then with his free hand, and all the force he could muster, he punched Bob hard in the face. Bob's grip on Mary was broken and he was sucked out the door, and into the perpetual darkness of space.
Dark Moon Rising Page 27
