Deep Space Dead

by Chilvers, Edward

  “What are you saying?” Asked Arianna uncertainly.

  “I’m saying we should let people make up their own minds,” replied Barra Herr, his tone considered and measured. “It is true to say we face a stark choice: stay here and starve or go and risk becoming humanoids like Guya. Of course there is always the chance we will not starve here just as there is always the chance Guya will not turn many more of our people into humanoids. It is a choice we must be free to make.”

  “Exactly,” said Col Gayze with smug satisfaction. “And I for one am prepared to take my chances on the Suki II.”

  Arianna wanted to argue some more. She thought it unbelievable that Col Gayze was prepared to risk his humanity in this matter and yet both Barra Herr and Sol cut her down and supported Col’s argument. “It is for the best,” said Barra Herr after the meeting was over. “The more people go the more people will be thinned down from the Tula IV and the better chance we who remain will have of surviving.”

  “Until Guya comes back for us,” muttered Arianna bitterly.

  “He could come back for us any time he wanted,” said Sol warily. “He hasn’t done so yet. We have an advantage in that he is unable to use his emotions. It means he doesn’t care about us for as long as we don’t get in the way of his plans. Were he human he might become angry and bitter, try and wipe us to cover all his bases.”

  Arianna watched sadly as the first colonists boarded the rover bound for the Suki II. Col Gayze was amongst them. A general announcement had been made that the colonists could travel at their own risk and to her amazement over two thirds of those remaining had elected to take their chances. It was a gut wrenching feeling knowing they were going willingly to have their humanity stripped away from them, to become no better than the very creatures who had tormented them all this time. “I cannot believe they would do this to themselves,” said Arianna. “And to their children as well.”

  “I suppose they do not feel they have been given the choice,” said Sol glumly. “Most would gladly be numbed after all the horrors they have had to face.”

  There were still too many colonists on board the Tula IV. As the days passed this became increasing apparent as the food stocks continued to dwindle and the arboretum was unable to keep up. Perhaps if more farmers and agricultural officials had remained it would have been different, but most of these had gone over to the other starship to make ready the arboretum over there. The transportation of emigrants was agonisingly slow and as the weeks went past more and more changed their minds and decided that they would, after all, brave the uncertain regime of Guya and his humanoids rather than risk starvation on the Tula IV.

  “Most of them have gone,” said the doctor. “But a hardcore of a thousand have remained for now.”

  “When the next crops come up in a month we’ll be set for life,” said Dr Palk as he analysed the data in the Council chambers.

  “Not much good when we only have enough food to last a week,” muttered Arianna.

  “We shall have to get by somehow,” said Sol. “There must be some food leftover in the abandoned apartments. I know for a fact some colonists were hoarding food when we were short. And if the worst comes to the worst…” His voice trailed off.

  “What?” Demanded Arianna.

  “We still have Jak,” said Sol quietly. “He is after all a humanoid and…”

  “Don’t call him that!” Snapped Arianna irritably.

  “It is true,” retorted Sol. “I don’t like what they did to them any more than you do but he’s our last hope if we want to make up the food shortfall.”

  “I’m not even sure we can trust him,” muttered Arianna reluctantly.

  “We can still use him,” said Sol. “Think about it, Arianna. The revenants will not come after him when he is like he is. He could come and go as he pleases; he could go out in the rover and get great nets worth of food. We could sustain ourselves indefinitely, all of us!”

  “We can’t just use him as a slave,” said Arianna.

  “We will not have to,” replied Sol. “Imagine if there was a way of reversing this process. After all, if Guya managed to splice his DNA imagine what the doctor could do with time and technology. Perhaps we could work on the revenants as well. We still have all the technology on this ship.”

  “He can get the transmitting station back!” Exclaimed Barra Herr suddenly. “If we fixed it up we could call for help.”

  “We cannot afford to pass up this opportunity,” said Sol decisively.

  “Very well,” said Arianna, although she was still reluctant. “I shall go and speak with him.”

  Arianna found Jak in the darkened room that had once been a supply cupboard to the side of the landing bay. It was where he spent most of the time nowadays, unless he was directly summoned and Arianna was ashamed to admit she often forgot he was there. He looked up when Arianna entered and switched on the lights but did not attempt to greet her; spoke only when he was spoken to. “It has been a while since we spoke,” said Arianna apologetically. “I am sorry I do not come and see you more often. It is – well it is a little hard for me.”

  “Change is often hard,” replied Jak, in a tone that put Arianna in mind of Guya. “But you have had to cope with much change and disappointment these past few months and you are still alive.”

  “Will you go out in the rover for us, Jak?” Said Arianna suddenly, determined to be away from Jak at the earliest possible moment. “Will you go and take the nets out?”

  Jak looked towards Arianna blankly. “Of course,” he said.

  Arianna smiled. “We’re going to fix you, Jak; we’re going to get you back, you hear me? But first we just need you to this for us, and afterwards we need you to walk amongst them, salvage what you can.”

  “Of course,” said Jak again. “Your suggestion is perfectly logical Arianna. You are quite correct that the revenants will ignore me. Why this is I cannot yet say, although I am sure Guya will enlighten me in due course.”

  “You still know how to pilot the rover, don’t you Jak?” Asked Arianna.

  “Indeed,” replied the ranger. “I have forgotten none of what I learnt prior to my initiation by the humanoids. If anything I feel I shall be an even better pilot, for I have nothing clogging up my mind which might distract me. I can go at once if you wish; take the nets out just as we did before.”

  “That would be good,” said Arianna formally. “We’re going to need as much food as we can get these next few days.”

  22

  Jak went straight to the landing bay without so much as a glance at Sol who had come to join them outside. He and Arianna steeped back as Jak let himself in. Once more when the hatches opened the revenants made no move to rise up and take down the rover as it rose up above them. “They know,” muttered Arianna. “They know it’s one of their own in there.”

  The rover rose up into the air and made to take off and vanish into the sky beyond but to Arianna’s surprise all it did was circle the starship and the assembled revenants gathered around. “What the hell is he doing?” Demanded Sol.

  Arianna picked up the radio. “Jak?” She asked curiously. “Is everything okay?”

  “I’m sorry Arianna,” said Jak, speaking clearly through the radio. “But I am afraid it has been neccesary to deceive you. “

  “What do you mean?” Demanded Arianna. “I thought you were going to find that equipment?”

  “What I must do now is for the best,” said Jak. “In this I am working for the good of our race, Arianna, for we are not humans now you must realise but rather a separate species entirely. You have called us humanoids. I do not think we need be constrained by names. What matters is that our two races will be unable to co-exist peacefully with one another.”

  “What do you mean?” Demanded Arianna, the panic rising in her voice. “Has Guya put you up to this? What has he said? What are you going to do?”

  “I cannot allow you to make contact with the Confederation,” said Jak. “To do so would not be
advantageous. What you see before you in these revenants are the results of thousands of years of failed experimentation all leading up to this moment. What you see before you is an army which we new successful breed of humanoids will soon control. We will perfect ourselves, Arianna, and in doing so will live forever.”

  “He’s going to crash into the ship!” Exclaimed Sol in horror. “He’s going to kill us all!”

  “Listen to me, Jak,” said Arianna desperately. “You need to snap out of this, do you hear me? You’re still you.”

  “I am a better me,” replied Jak.

  “Don’t do this, Jak!” Pleaded Arianna desperately. “Think of Ambra. Think of me. We love you, Jak!”

  “It is because of you and Ambra that I do this,” replied Jak, his voice sounding even more distant over the static of the radio. “I have come to pity you both.”

  Arianna turned to Sol. “How bad will the damage be?” She demanded.

  “It will destroy us,” said Sol. “The nuclear fuel rods on that rover will blow a huge hole in the ship.”

  Without another word Arianna turned and charged down the corridor in the direction of her quarters with Sol calling after her. He caught up with her just as she opened the door and ran inside to where Ambra was playing on the floor. Arianna seized her daughter in her arms. “Come along,” said Arianna urgently. “We need to get out of here.”

  Ambra started to ask questions but at that moment the ship shook with the force of a massive explosion which knocked Arianna off her feet. Ambra went flying as well. Arianna jumped up and seized a hold of her and dashed away with her down the corridor. She well knew what was coming next.

  The explosion wrought the strong metal of the starship asunder. The asteroid shield could do much but it could not protect against a direct nuclear hit and a huge jagged hole was torn in the side of the starship through which the hungry revenants now began to pour.

  “What are we going to do?” Demanded Arianna desperately. “With the shields down we’re at their mercy – we can’t even hide because the damned things never go away!”

  Sol looked down at his pistol, then up at Arianna. Ambra hugged her mother fearfully. Arianna knew straight away what he was thinking. “Surely there must be another way?” She said, eyes filling with tears. “Surely there is some hope left?”

  Sol thought fast. In the middle distance he could hear the screams of the colonists and the low roars of the revenants as they commenced their terrible feast. “The orbiter!” Exclaimed Sol at last. “It has a stasis pod. We could launch ourselves out of here.”

  “The orbiter is on the other side of the ship,” protested Arianna.

  “Would you rather the alternative?” Sol glanced from his gun to the revenants. Arianna needed no further persuading. She seized hold of Ambra, charged out of the corridor and began hurtling down the corridor with Sol following fast behind.

  From behind there came the hideous sound of doors being smashed in, of metal being torn in two. Suddenly a revenant smashed through the window to the side of the corridor and would have devoured them with the same movement had it not become stuck in the frame. Sol turned around and fired several times with the laser pistol until the creature ceased its struggling and slumped over the frame. Now a revenant dived through the door straight in front of them. Arianna skidded to a halt but the creature did not even turn in their direction, dashing through into the next room to make short work of the hapless occupants inside. Sol tore forwards and pressed the button to shut and lock the doors, dooming those inside but possibly giving them the time they needed to save their own lives. Arianna turned back towards the door in time to see the metalwork bulge with the force of the revenant’s blow from the other side.

  As they ran Arianna saw people she had known and lived alongside for years fleeing for their lives, falling in the corridors and she knew they were doomed. But there was simply no time to help them. Right now the only person Arianna was concerned with was Ambra.

  Throughout the length and breadth of the starship the sound of metal being ripped apart was almost deafening. Many of the colonists simply fell to their knees in terror, too paralysed with fear to resist the monsters who now tore through them. Arianna saw a man running ahead of them when the revenant appeared as if from nowhere, bursting through him, scattering his four limbs across the room and shattering his head like it was a watermelon. The revenants did not stop to devour, not when there was so much killing to be done. There would be time for feasting on the remains later.

  The three of them rushed passed the arboretum which the revenants were occupying with a frenzy. A long line of beasts stretched in front of them. They skidded to a halt. “It is too late,” muttered Sol with resignation. “They have surrounded us.”

  Arianna looked this way and that. “There!” She exclaimed suddenly, pointing to a side corridor. The three of them hurriedly started through it. “This leads nowhere!” Exclaimed Arianna suddenly, slowing to a halt. “Nowhere except another exit, out of the starship altogether and look! There are still thousands of the things outside!”

  “The vents,” said Sol, looking upwards. “The whole ship is connected via a network. Provided we are quiet and keep our sense of direction we should be able to make it to the escape pod from there.” Sol raised his rifle and shot a large hole in the metal above then took hold of Ambra and lifted her up towards the vents where she was able to clamber inside. Now Sol seized Arianna and threw her up as well. She grabbed a hold of the jagged metal, not noticing how it cut into her skin and pulled herself up. “Quickly!” She exclaimed, holding her hand down to Sol. “There isn’t a moment to lose!”

  “You have to save her,” said Sol quietly. “This is the only thing that matters.”

  “What do you mean?” Demanded Arianna. “Come along Sol, don’t be so damned stupid!”

  “You know as well as I do there isn’t space in that pod for the three of us,” said Sol. “Barely enough air for a few months as it is.”

  “Sol!” Cried Arianna. “Don’t try and be a hero you idiot! Get up here! Take my hand!”

  “I love you Arianna,” said Sol quietly. “I love you and I love our baby too. More than life, Arianna. More than life.”

  “Sol!”

  There came the sound of heavy footsteps from below. Sol turned and fired his pistol as the revenant burst through the hatch. The revenant reared up and staggered towards him. Sol continued firing until the creature fell. He began to rush back along the corridor but another revenant stepped forward to block his path, and then another from behind. Arianna could watch no more. She pushed Ambra along the vent then began to crawl herself as the sound of more shots sounded out, finishing abruptly with a terrible tearing sound below that she could not even begin to comprehend.

  Arianna pushed Ambra forwards through the narrow vent, which twisted and turned and branched off in all directions. Arianna tried desperately to keep going forwards towards the other end of the ship. From below she could hear the terrible sounds of chaos. More than once, with the revenants directly below them Arianna brought them to a stop and they remained silent for several seconds, hardly daring to breathe. Arianna had horrible visions of a creature ripping through the metal and dragging Ambra down into its clutches below. Once Arianna heard heavy breathing right below. They stopped stock still, trying to remain as quiet as possible. She could see it through the cracks in the vent. The revenant paused in the corridor and looked around. Although there was destruction taking place all around somehow Arianna could hear only the sound of her own heart beating. Suddenly a colonist charged from his apartment and tried to make a break for it along the corridor. Arianna watched in horror as the revenant leapt forward and tore off his limbs before dragging his still gyrating torso over the floor and setting it down in a corner, there to feed ravenously upon the wretched man. Arianna closed her eyes tightly and hugged Ambra close until the revenant had eaten its fill and moved along once more.

  There were fewer screams now. Only a fe
w minutes had passed since the ship had been breached and already almost everybody was dead. Instead Arianna could hear the terrible, inhuman snarling, the heavy footsteps clamping along the steel floor as the revenants prowled the ship in search of fresh blood. She wondered if the revenants would soon disperse. Perhaps now they had taken the starship and everybody inside they would return back to the bowels beneath the earth? But how soon would that be? Arianna knew she would go mad if she had to spend another second on this starship than was absolutely necessary and besides, she knew they were close to the pod now. They came upon a maintenance hatch just opposite the pod station. The air vent didn’t go any further. Arianna cautiously poked her head out of the hatch and looked down to see a revenant stomping back down the corridor. It had clearly been trying to gain access to the pod bay before deciding there was nobody inside and heading off again. Arianna knew there was not a moment to lose. She tried to be as quiet as she could. She lowered herself down on to the floor and whispered for Ambra to jump. There was a heart-stopping moment as the little girl sailed through the air but fortunately Arianna was able to catch her before she made contact with the floor. The two of them crept across the floor to the door of the pod. Arianna reached for the buttons and punched in the code and at that moment heard a terrible gutteral snarl coming from behind her. She turned around to look straight into the bulging yellow eyes of a revenant at the opposite end of the corridor. Arianna’s hand flashed to the firearm at her belt and she fired the pistol three times. Her aim was off and only the first two shots made contact. The revenant reared back, wounded, and the few seconds gave Arianna the opportunity to turn and punch in the code. As the damaged door slowly began to open the revenant put its head down and charged. Arianna ducked down and dived inside, dragging Ambra with her then threw herself to the floor, turned and fired the pistol over and over. The revenant staggered then fell back against the door. Arianna leapt to her feet and punched in the code to close it again but the now dead revenant’s body prevented it from shutting completely. Worse, the sound of gunshots had attracted many other revenants and Arianna became aware of the heavy charge of footsteps as the monsters made a beeline in her direction. There was no way she could possibly take them all on. The only hope now was to get to the orbiter.