by Raylan Kane
The man stands – I can see his outline in the blue light – he is massive. Gel falls off of him and splats on the floor. “I’m Rull.”
“Good to meet you Rull. I’m Ri – this is Bramen.”
“Hello.”
“Danger – self-destruct in 90 minutes.”
“Self-destruct? That does not sound good.”
“No, this ship is set to explode. We need to check the other pods and get out of here.”
“Thank you both for coming in here and rescuing me.”
“No trouble – but we need to check the rest of this bay for other pods.”
I am feeling frantic – we’re running out of time!
“Where are the other pods?” Ri said.
We check the rest of the pod bay there is nothing.
“Looks like my pod was the only one left in here,” Rull said. "Is it possible others fell from this bay through a hole in the wall?"
"It's too dark to say any whole but this room does smell of smoke, so it's possible there's a missing chunk," I said.
“Okay, that’s two pod bays we’ve checked. Lofwell and Prit will have the other. We need to get back to the landing dock,” Ri said. “Follow us Rull.”
We walk out of the bay and through the pitch black corridor. We run down the hall to the ladder chute. I usher Ri through the hatch door first.
“Make sure your hands are free of that gel,” I said to the muscle-bound man. “The ladder will be slippery otherwise.”
I follow Ri and Rull climbs through after me. We rush up the ladder.
“Danger – self-destruct in 80 minutes.”
“How many more levels?” Rull says yelling up to us.
“We’re almost there.”
We push hard. The climb seems longer than it did when we climbed down. My sweaty palms slip from the rungs in places but I swiftly correct and grab the bars again. I see Ri open a hatch door above me. She climbs through; I close in on the door myself. I look down and see Rull has fallen back a bit.
“You okay, Rull?”
“I’m fine. I’m coming.”
“Danger – self-destruct in 70 minutes.”
I climb through the hatch to the corridor. Ri and I stand for a minute waiting for Rull. His arms poke through the opening. I grab one of his arms and help him through. We run down the hall back to the landing dock. Lofwell and Prit are not here.
“We’re waiting for some more folks?” Rull said.
“Yes – two others, plus anyone they might have rescued from the other pod bay.”
“You picked a good meeting area. See that big bay door?” Rull said. “There’s a large landing deck on the other side.”
“We know,” Ri said. “We came in through here.” She points to the opening in the ceiling. “Bramen, we probably should’ve thought about how we’re going to climb out of here. That hole’s too high up.”
“I thought we’d find something to climb up on top of – to get us closer,” I said.
“No need,” Rull said. “I work in this area. The emergency backup power appears to be on – I can open up the bay door.”
“Do it!”
Rull runs to a control panel against one of the walls.
“Bramen?” The clone pokes his head through the hole in the ceiling above us. “I scared.”
“I know – just stay there, okay? We’re coming out to you.”
“Okay.”
“Danger – self-destruct in 60 minutes.”
“Where are those guys?”
CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
Rull works away at the control panel. I am shaking with anxiety. Ri paces around the room.
“They’re coming,” Ri said. “They’ll make it.”
“They need to hurry up. We still have to climb down off of this thing.”
“If we slide down much of it we can make it.”
“It’s dangerous, but we may have no choice.”
The big door slides open in front of us and the bright sun stings my eyes as it floods the darkened room with daylight.
“The door is on a timer,” Rull said. “It won’t stay open long. Once it closes we’d have to wait another minute or two before I could open it again.”
“Come on, come on. Where are you guys?”
“Bramen?” The clone pokes his head through again.
“Just wait there buddy. Wait – better yet – see if you can climb down to the big door below you. Can you do that?”
“Okay.”
Finally, Prit rounds the corner – she has Milne! I run to her and hold her head in my hands. She gives me a weary smile. We kiss and I remove gunk from her hair.
“Are you okay?”
“We made it,” Milne said.
"I was so scared that I wasn't going to find you," I said.
"So next time let's share a pod?" Milne said with a smile.
"Yes. You sure you're alright?” I said.
“I’m good – just exhausted.”
“Where’s Lofwell?” Ri said.
Prit shakes her head. "He didn't make it."
“What? How?”
“The ladder chute – he just, it was slippery – just like that - he was gone.”
“Danger – self-destruct in 50 minutes.”
The bay door begins sliding closed. I grab Milne and we run under the door in time out to the landing deck.
“We’re really high up here,” Milne said. “Where’s Trident?”
“Way down there presumably,” I said pointing down to the masses. "I haven't found him yet."
“And what about-“
“Bramen – your friend,” Ri said. “Where’d he go?”
“He’s just up-“ He’s not there!
I hear banging on the other side of the bay door.
CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE
I scramble quickly to the opening above the landing dock. I look down in the hole and see the clone crying and banging against the door.
“Bramen! I scared! Bramen!”
“Hey – it’s okay buddy. I’m right here.”
“I scared.”
“I know you are – we’re gonna get you out of there, okay?”
“Okay.”
I slide around so I can put my feet through the hole.
“What are you doing?” Milne said.
“I have to get him out. We can’t leave without him.”
“You don’t know how to open the bay door. I don’t want you to go in there. What if you can’t get out? Stay here with me.”
“It’s okay – I’ll do it,” Rull said. “I know how to get the thing open again.”
I offer to help Rull through the opening – but he is all muscle and handles the task easily on his own. He drops down and lands on his feet. I look in the hole and see the clone cowered in the corner by the bay door.
“It’s okay – this is Rull. You can trust him. He’s going to help you get out of there.”
The bay door slides open, I slide down to the deck and rush to the clone and give him a huge hug. “Please don’t do that again.”
“Okay.”
“We need to get off this thing,” Prit said.
We make our way down the treacherous exterior of the ship. I keep Milne and the clone close – should anyone slip I can grab them quickly – they can do the same for me. The ground gets closer to us as we crouch close to the ship’s surface and keep in a tight group. We’re way down from the deck now. I can make out certain faces amongst the huge crowd of survivors below us to our right. I do a double take as I see a familiar face smiling up from the dirt.
“Look, there’s Trident!” I say to Milne and the clone.
“Friend of yours?” Prit said.
“Yes, we’ve known each other a while.”
Trident waves – Milne waves back to him. "I'm so relieved! He's okay!" Milne said.
We are careful to watch our footing as we go down the slope. Ri is at
the lead of the group and keeping a good pace.
“Do we have enough time to get off this thing warn everyone and get away before it blows?” Milne said.
“I think we do. Just keep moving. We’re making good time here.”
I look back at Trident – he’s looking at me – I wave my hands at him trying to signal for him to get away from the ship. He smiles and doesn’t seem to understand. I try to signal him that the ship is going to blow up – he’s laughing – it’s not working.
“Stop!” Ri stops dead in her tracks.
“What is it?”
“Look!”
A dozen of the yellow and brown-haired beasts we’d spotted earlier walk slowly on four legs from the little lake, rounding the end of the ship, headed toward our hundreds crew mates below.
CHAPTER NINETY-SIX
I wave my hands frantically at Trident. I can almost make out his facial features from this height – he looks to be squinting.
“He doesn’t understand! We have to do something – they don’t know those things are coming toward them,” Milne said.
“What would you have us do?” Prit said. “We go down there what could we do?”
“Maybe we could scare them off.”
“Look at the size of them – I don’t think they’d be afraid of us at all,” Ri said.
“By the looks of things – they’re the opposite of afraid – they’re moving right toward our people,” Rull said.
“We need to get their attention,” I said. “Everyone start screaming – yell – be as loud as you can.”
Trident stands there staring at us. A few heads turn from the main group as we scream and stomp our feet. We continue for a few minutes, stopping only to breathe. My throat stings – the yellow beasts are crouched and move very slow through sprigs of grass facing the huge throng of people.
“What are they doing?” Milne said.
“Hunting.”
I thrust my arms in the direction of the creatures inching forward. Trident finally appears to catch on and looks to where I am pointing. He looks back at me and shrugs.
“No, Trident they’re right there!” I said. "You have to run!"
I try making a running motion and point in the opposite direction from the animals toward the big groups of people. He just looks at me.
“Run!” Milne screams.
One of the beasts leaps upward with great force and lands close to Trident. His foot slips as he falls backward trying to retreat from the massive animal. I see him look up toward me as he falls to his back. The creature lurches forward and jumps on Trident’s chest, burrows its head into Trident’s chest and neck. I see my friend try to fight the thing. He throws his hands at the beast’s face but it has no effect. The creature tears into Trident’s body and blood stains the ground. The animal’s coat soaks red.
I can hear screaming and yelling at the horrific sight. Others see more of the creatures moving slowly toward them. The largest of the animals jumps from its perch – it twists its neck and lowers its head and unleashes a sound from its mouth that vibrates deep within my bones. The other beasts all lunge ahead and throw themselves into the vast crowd. People scatter all over the desert as dozens are taken down by the animals and torn limb from limb.
Milne sits facing away, sobbing. Prit and Ri stand watching the carnage, their faces awash with anguish. Rull and I stand next to each other, speechless. The clone sits next to Milne, also facing away from the terrible sight.
Huge portions of land below us turn a deep shade of red. Stragglers behind the main retreating crowd run back toward the beasts trying to defend their fallen friends from the onslaught, all for naught.
“Trident we have to get to him! We have to go down there!" Milne says through her tears.
I cannot even process what’s just happened.
“Look, they’re coming back at them,” Rull said, pointing.
A collective holler rolls toward us on the wind. Our crew mates come running back toward the ship in a bid to scare off the beasts – it seems to be working. Hundreds of people pound the ground and the animals back off their feeding and skitter back toward the end of the ship – the same place we first climbed onto the Holocene.
“We need to get off of this thing and as far away as possible,” Prit said.
“Where do you think the countdown is now?”
“I’d say we might have maybe 15 or 20 minutes left.”
“We can climb lower – how are we going to get around those things.”
Below us our crew mates group around all of the bodies of our friends. They appear to be bringing all of the bodies to one place.
“Can anyone see Marek or Rygart?” Milne said.
“They probably organized the group – kept everyone together enough and calm enough to come back at those things,” Ri said.
“You think?”
“I don’t know, maybe.”
“Guys – how are we going to get off this thing? Those animals have only retreated so far – they’re right by where we’d have the easiest time climbing down. The other end of the ship is a sheer drop. We need to figure this out now,” Prit said.
“Do you guys feel that?” Milne said.
“I shake.” The clone said.
Milne stands up. “There’s something happening.”
I can feel the shaking now. The ship rumbles beneath us. The crowds down below us to our right appear to feel it too.
“This ship is ready to go,” Rull said.
“It’s not the ship doing it,” Prit said.
“Why would you say that?” I said looking at her.
“Look.” Prit points to our left. On the horizon beyond the small lake and the small stand of trees a dark wall rumbles across the savanna, a cloud of dust rises ominously behind it.
CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
The great mass rolls toward us. The ground becomes alive and the rumbling vibrates throughout the hull of the ship and chatters my teeth. As the mass comes closer we see it is a massive horde of dark colored animals with long thin legs, scraggly fur and thick humps behind their head. They move in unison as though they are one hive mind controlling several thousand separate creatures. They gallop as a tight knit herd – their hooves kick up dust – the herd splits around the lake and the clumps of trees and moves forward, relentless, oblivious to the great clawed yellow beasts huddled near the base of our ship.
The hundreds of survivors among our crew see the oncoming rush and there is retreat among those about to unwittingly make contact. The big yellow beasts make a hasty retreat bounding through our crew causing mass panic as people have no idea which way to run.
“We have to get off this ship! It could be any minute now!” Prit said screaming to be heard over the chaos.
To our left an end to the hooved beasts’ enormous herd – a long dark line sweeps behind them moving our way. The line moves closer and a different kind of beast appears – two legged – they appear human! They carry long wooden shafts and run swiftly throwing their weapons into the hordes of hooved animals.
Our crewmates are fully caught in the deluge of these foreign creatures. The Holocene shakes with the commotion happening just at its feet.
“We have to go!” Prit said again.
“Where? We have nowhere!” Milne said.
The two legged humanoids use their weapons on our crewmates – a war is happening below us – some among our crew are using stones as weapons – stabbing and bludgeoning their way through the madness.
A fireball lifts into the sky from the opposite end of the ship. A tremor shudders through the Holocene’s exoskeleton.
“This is it! Forget everything you see down there – move!” I said.
“Where?”
“Listen to me – all of you!” I said. “We’re getting off this thing, now! When you reach the ground run and dive into that lake – do not stop for anything!”
We have thrown caution
to the wind and run down the side of the ship as more tremors rumble through. I can barely keep my balance as we get nearer to the dirt. I feel Milne’s presence right behind me. I control my speed flexing my legs and I gallop toward the edge.; all I can see is Trident’s face flickering in my mind.
We sprint toward the lake - we close in on the water. I can hear the frantic breaths of my comrades as we flee our dying ship. A giant wave of heat pulsates against my back. I feel Milne's hand brush mine as we lunge forward and splash into the cool lake water. An orange wall of flame sweeps over the surface of the water above us. Our group hovers, suspended for a moment underwater, flapping our arms to keep from floating to the surface. The heat radiates down through the water. The ball of flame recedes and we surface gasping for air. I see black scorched sand all around us and the Holocene is a charred smoking wreck with a thick gray plume filling the sky, partially blocking the sun. All of the bodies near the ship look to have been incinerated - Trident is gone, my friend, gone.
We tread water heaving in gobs of smoky air and coughing. "What now?" Prit said.
"I don't know," I said. I swim to the edge of the lake and sit on the sand fighting back tears. I feel all over my suit looking for the recording device I'd had zipped into one of my pockets. It was what I'd used to keep a daily record of the mission. I looked at Milne as she came to rest on the shoreline beside me. "My recorder - I've lost it," I said.
Milne's face twists as she begins to cry. I slide over beside her and she puts her head on my shoulder. I wrap my arm around her and hold her close. The others swim to where we sit and climb ashore. In complete silence, with the burning wreck behind us, we stare at the barren horizon; all is lost, the future is uncertain.
CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT
Wind whipped the sides of the tent and the lamps swung from the crossbeam above. The man steadied himself on the plywood floor and continued to plunk away at the typewriter. Firm steps on the boardwalk outside broke his concentration. He looked to the front flap on his tent for the inevitable interruption from one of his students. Sure enough a chubby-faced university student stuck his head through he flap.
