Into the Dark (Dark Universe Book 1)

by Jason Halstead

  “Is that all?” Garf rumbled.

  “No. The big rock that hit us? It’s on top of us. Could be a problem when we take off, but not as big a problem as trying to get out of here.”

  “Why’s that?” Meshelle asked.

  Seph grunted and then yelped before she appeared in the door that led to the pilot’s cabin. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I swear, those rocks were trying to smash us. Without the anti-grav field, we would be smeared across a few dozen asteroids. Getting out of here will probably be just as hard.”

  “Let’s go,” Meshelle said. “We’ll deal with that when we have to.”

  Fluvulis was the first out of his restraints. The six mechanical legs of his suit extended and moved him forward and towards the rear of the shuttle. Garf released his locks and grunted as he tried to push himself from his seat. Aden and the others followed suit, each of them struggling to adapt.

  “What the—there’s gravity. Did it get turned back on?” Aden asked.

  “That’s the other thing,” Seph said. “Sorry, I forgot to mention that. This asteroid has gravity. I don’t know how, it’s not big enough, but you can feel it the same as I. There’s something here.”

  Fluvulis cackled over the near field radio. “That’s why you’re here, to escort me to retrieve some lost artifacts before somebody else finds them first.”

  “The attack,” Meshelle hissed. She stood and walked under the caved-in ceiling of the shuttle without ducking. She pulled on one of the panels and then tugged harder, popping it free. She reached in and started pulling out her chosen guns.

  Garf and Amber followed, opening up another closet filled with guns. Both mercenaries bristled with weapons attached to the firm points on their armor. The others gathered their gear, letting Aden go last. After he finished grabbing his weapons, Meshelle caught his eye and turned to look at Fluvulis.

  Aden nodded and moved closer to the Kesari in his mechanical suit.

  “Locked and loaded?” Meshelle asked.

  Aden checked the Colson rifle while everyone responded. He verified he’d loaded pulse laser cartridges in it and added his ready status to the conversation. Meshelle hit the button on the rear ramp of the shuttle. They waited for a moment before the door jerked and fell several inches. He felt the vibration through the deck and his suit. The shuttle’s ramp continued in a smooth arc to the rocky surface of the asteroid.

  Amber and Garf moved out first, covering each other and surveying the brief landscape of the asteroid. Tosc and Meshelle came next, leaving Seph to walk out after them. Aden saw Fluvulis looking at him and said, “My job is to keep you alive.”

  “Money well spent,” the Kesari said.

  “Surface is clear. Bring the VIP,” Meshelle announced.

  Aden gestured with his rifle and then moved down the ramp with Fluvulis. He did a quick scan of the asteroid and marveled at the rocks visible in the stars above them. Some were close and fast moving. Others were slower or stationary in relation to the asteroid they walked on. He glanced behind and saw the rock that had landed on top of the shuttle. It was huge. Not as big as the shuttle, but the fact that it struck them and didn’t flatten the small craft was amazing.

  “Boss, we landed right on it,” Garf announced.

  Seph chimed in, her voice upbeat and filled with a smile. “You’re welcome.”

  Meshelle’s voice was all business. “Move in.”

  Aden and Fluvulis followed the others across the uneven brown and red rock. The Kesari’s six-legged walker managed the terrain better than he did in his heavy suit. They gathered around a smooth stone circle carved in the surface of the asteroid. The rock was unnaturally smooth and had some sort of alien runes carved into it.

  “What is this?” Aden breathed.

  “It’s a rock,” Amber said. “Try to keep up.”

  Garf chuckled while Aden’s cheeks burned.

  “It’s a door,” Fluvulis said. He turned in his walker, surveying the rocks around the door. “There, by the Lermian. That rock is a lever.”

  Tosc turned and looked at a rock that jutted up from the surface of the asteroid. He reached for it and then hesitated, turning to look at Meshelle.

  “We came all this way,” Meshelle said.

  Tosc growled and pushed the rock. It slid over until it caught. The ground beneath their feet hummed as the carved stone split in half and pulled apart.

  “Whoa!” Aden mumbled.

  Garf stumbled back a step and dropped one hand to the ground. He pointed the heat ray weapon into the opening and then grunted something in his language as strange orbs flickered with a pale blue light in the hole. Amber kept her Colson pointed into the hole and stepped to the side to make sure they had everything covered inside.

  “What is this?” Meshelle demanded.

  “The entrance,” Fluvulis said.

  Meshelle stared at it for a moment and glanced up at the others. She nodded. “Tosc?”

  The Lermian let out a snarl and took two steps before dropping into the hole. Stairs descended from the lip, but he ignored them. A few moments passed before his voice sounded across the radio. “Looks like another door inside. I think this is some sort of ancient air lock?”

  Meshelle glanced at Fluvulis and then gestured towards the hole. “Let’s knock and see if anybody’s home.”

  Aden swallowed and watched as his new team descended into the alien air lock. Fluvulis ignored him and headed down the stairs behind them. Aden spared one last quick glance at the shuttle and then turned and headed down into the hole behind the others. A chill ran down his back as he walked out of the light from the system’s dying star.

  “That button on the wall over there. Yes, that’s the one, press it,” Fluvulis said while shining a light from his mechanical suit on the wall. Seph stepped up to it and, after a glance at Meshelle, pressed it with her fingers.

  The ground began to vibrate under and around them. They twisted and looked around, each pointing his or her weapon in a new direction. “The doors!” Tosc hissed, drawing their eyes up.

  The two halves of the stone doors slid out, moving smooth and quick until they slammed into each other with a thud they couldn’t hear, but could feel through the stone beneath them. The lights attached to their suits powered on and stabbed into the shadows that the blue orbs on the walls failed to illuminate.

  “We’re trapped!” Tosc growled. “What is this?”

  “Wait a minute,” Fluvulis urged.

  “Seph?” Meshelle snapped. “Anything?”

  The Tassarian slung her CAW over her shoulder and held up her left forearm so she could tap a control panel attached to her suit. “I’ve got pressure readings,” she announced after a few seconds. “Rapid increase. Chemical makeup is nitrogen, oxygen, and trace elements. We’re at point eight seven bars and rising.”

  “That’s enough air to breathe,” Amber said. “But I don’t recognize anything here. What is this place?”

  “It’s very old. Before the time any of your races were gifted with the ability to leave your home worlds behind,” the Kesari said. “Only the Criknids and Kesari knew of these beings. Some, like Terrans, hadn’t even learned to walk on two feet yet.”

  “The pressure’s stabilized at one point one three bars,” Seph announced.

  “So—” Meshelle began and stopped when the lights changed from blue to yellow and the door in the wall slid open, revealing a hallway carved into the rock. Garf and Amber spun around and covered the opening with their weapons. Brighter white lights turned on at the entrance of the tunnel.

  “Let’s go,” Fluvulis urged.

  “Wait a minute. What’s in there?” Meshelle asked.

  “The prize I seek.”

  Meshelle refused to budge. “What about defensive systems?”

  “Perhaps,” Fluvulis said and lifted two of his tentacles inside his mechanical suit to show he wasn’t concerned. “That’s why you’re here, to deal with such things.”

  Meshelle
sneered as she turned away. “Garf, Amber—head in and keep an eye out.”

  Garf swung his heat ray gun out of the way and secured it onto his back. He replaced it with his Betari Suppressor slug thrower and led the way into the tunnel. Amber followed a few feet behind him and stayed on the right side of the tunnel.

  The others followed in the same order, with Fluvulis stepping through the doors ahead of Aden. As soon as the Kesari crossed the threshold, the lights in the hallway went out, plunging everyone into darkness. Shouts and cries blasted over the comms.

  Aden stood stunned at the sudden turn of events. The pale yellow signal lights in the air lock remained on, casting enough light to reveal the inner door beginning to slide shut.

  “Shit!” Aden hissed, adding his voice to the bedlam over the comms lines. He lurched forward, afraid he’d be stuck alone in the air lock until the power cells in his suit gave out. The heavy armor surprised him with the strength built into it. He slammed through the opening and bounced off a wall and then sent Fluvulis stumbling to the side on his mechanic legs.

  The light faded completely as the door slid closed behind them. Light beams from flashlights stabbed into the darkness as one after another was turned on. Aden scrambled through the controls of his suit and brought the two shoulder mounted lights online and added a third beam from his helmet.

  “What just happened?” Meshelle barked.

  Silence reigned as everyone looked around the hallway, searching for an explanation or a threat. A few lights played over the sealed door behind them. “We’re trapped,” Tosc hissed.

  Chapter 10

  Meshelle swung around until her lights landed on the Kesari’s walker. “Fluvulis, what have you gotten us into?”

  “This is the remains of an Ampythean control node,” the Kesari began.

  “Ampythean?” Amber asked. “You mean frogs made this?”

  “That’s amphibian,” Aden corrected.

  Amber’s light played over him as she glanced his way. “Oh yeah, that’s right.”

  “Cut the chatter,” Meshelle snapped. “These Ampytheans—that’s the race you told us about?”

  “Yes. They’re gone now. They waged a war against the Criknids and lost.”

  “Their entire race is gone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Criknids don’t mess around. They’re dangerous,” Seph offered.

  “Not as dangerous as the Ampytheans,” Fluvulis said. “They were cruel overlords. They used their advanced science to turn their Criknids into what you see today, but made slaves of them and sought to use them to rule the universe. Their technology was special; it dealt with energies and an understanding of the universe no one has been able to replicate. In many ways their science is more advanced than anything the universe has seen since.”

  Meshelle turned her attention to the air lock's door. “That’s nice to know, but it doesn’t help us with our situation. Garf, can we blow a hole through that door?”

  The Devikian huffed and shouldered past the others in the hallway. He studied it and nodded. “I think so.”

  “No!” Fluvulis protested. “Deeper in this tunnel is the control source for this station. We need only get to it and I can disable it. Then we can escape without threat.”

  “Without threat? I like that,” Meshelle said. She stared at the door and then nodded. “All right, Garf and Amber, take the lead. Everyone else, keep your eyes and ears open. Try not to blow anything up unless it needs to be blown up.”

  “Are you worried about shooting the wrong thing or breaking something valuable?” Aden wondered out loud.

  “No,” she said. “Bullets are expensive.”

  Tosc hissed and Garf grunted, signs that both aliens were amused. Aden scowled, unhappy to be viewed as less important than the cost of a few rounds of ammunition. She was probably kidding, wasn’t she?

  “The hallway slopes down,” Seph said as they walked into the darkness. “Shallow grade, almost three degrees. I’m getting a lot of weird readings, though. Some kind of interference. Maybe the rock around us?”

  “How far?” Meshelle asked.

  “Not very,” Garf said from down the hall.

  “It widens up here,” Amber added. “Looks like platforms or shelves with stairs leading down to the next one. And Meshelle, there’s, um, statues carved out of columns.”

  “Statues?”

  “Holy shit,” Amber hissed. “There’s carvings, too. On the walls!”

  “Wait there,” Meshelle ordered and signaled for Aden, Seph, and Fluvulis to move faster.

  They filed onto the first level of the rectangular room and spread out to look at the walls and columns of the room. The red rock had elaborate carvings on it that had survived the passage of time. Fanciful pictures lined the walls, as well as symbols offering explanations or instruction in the forgotten Ampythean language.

  “We must go down,” Fluvulis urged. “Follow the steps to the control room.”

  Aden stayed near Fluvulis as they descended the steps, but kept glancing at the walls and shining his helmet light on them. Pictures of strange alien beings and unimaginable alien starships were carved into the walls. He also saw a scene where an alien with tusks and large teeth was battling against a Criknid warrior. He started to point and was going to ask about the scene when Amber and Garf both spoke.

  “Big ass round room with a pit in the center,” Amber said.

  “We found it.” Garf’s gruffer voice merged with Amber’s.

  Aden looked past them through the open end of the six-columned hall to the round room it spilled into. The upper level circled the room and was unremarkable from the rest of the facility, save for the five equidistant gray stone statues. They looked like representatives of the different beings carved into the walls, with the exception of the four-armed Criknid. One looked like a cross between a man and a bear or a boar. Another was part snake, including the long coiled-up tail the statue rested on. The other three were humanoid versions of a great bird, a lion, and some sort of crab or lobster. Each was fearsome and lifelike.

  Five rings of stairs dropped down from the outer shelf to a smaller pit in the middle. A pedestal rose in the middle of the floor and served as a rest for a large crystal that sparkled with its own inner radiance. It seemed to grow brighter as it captured the light from their suits, reflecting it in prisms of a thousand colors across the ground, walls, and statues.

  “That’s beautiful,” Seph whispered.

  “Amazing,” Amber agreed.

  “Expensive,” Meshelle opined.

  Fluvulis’s breath hissed over the comms. “That’s it! That’s the control and power I’m after.”

  “Garf, you heard the squid, go and—”

  “No!” Fluvulis shouted. “To get it safely, each of you must take a position near a statue.”

  Meshelle looked around the room and then at her mercenaries. “There are five statues and six of us.”

  “Yes, yes, I know. He can stay with me.” Fluvulis gestured with a tentacle at Aden. “Their sensors will know and release it without any—”

  “You sure do seem to know a lot about this place,” Amber interrupted the Kesari. “Have you been here before? Tried to do this before?”

  “No. Not here. We have recovered other crystals from similar places. Now go, stand near each statue.”

  “Boss?” Garf asked.

  Meshelle shook her head and looked away from the crystal. “Do it.”

  Aden watched as his new friends spread out, each picking an alien statue to stand beside. Fluvulis waited until they were in place before he drove his walker forward and down the circular steps to the inverted dais. Aden followed him but kept looking around at his team. When he refocused his attention on Fluvulis, he saw a panel slide open on the front of the walker. A tentacle stretched out and circled the crystal. Fluvulis hesitated and then contracted the appendage suddenly. The crystal was wrapped in his flesh and pulled off the pedestal and into his suit.

 
Aden watched the panel slide shut, sealing the suit. Fluvulis lifted the crystal and stared at it. His lips twisted up in a smile. The smile twitched but remained at the first cry of trouble from Seph.

  “What’s happening!” Seph cried as the serpentine alien statue beside her turned and extended four arms for her. Each held a curved blade. She leapt back and fumbled with her gun to bring it up.

  “That’s not how it’s supposed to work!” Fluvulis shouted. “This was the safe way! Protect me, Terran—keep me safe or none of you get your money!”

  Aden jerked his rifle up and spun around, looking for threats. The statues were all moving, each with primitive weapons in their hands that they threatened the mercenaries with.

  “Go, fall back!” Meshelle shouted. “Aden, keep the squid safe!”

  Aden turned and had to dig his feet in to catch up. The Kesari had already started rushing up the stairs. His six-legged contraption moved faster than Aden thought possible and he was heading into the hallway before Aden was halfway up the stairs.

  “Boss, these things aren’t fucking around,” Amber growled.

  “Then show ’em we mean business,” Meshelle snapped.

  Garf roared over the comms, distracting Aden and causing him to glance back. He saw the Devikian leap, heavy suit and all, onto the giant crab-statue he fought and pounded his fists into the automaton. It reeled back under the onslaught.

  Aden had to turn his attention away as he tripped on the first set of steps into the rising hallway. He picked himself up and burst ahead, looking up too late to stop himself from leaping into the crackling lattice of lightning that now arced between the three sets of pillars. Alarms shrieked in his suit and the display in his helmet flashed warnings of extreme heat and electrical system overloads.

  Ahead, just clearing the top shelf in the hallway, he saw Fluvulis’s walker escaping down the hallway. The Kesari’s suit emanated a strange blue glow that faded as he moved farther away.

  Aden growled and pushed himself forward, emerging from the first electrical field and making the stairs. He climbed them and clenched his teeth as he tried to rush through the second platform. The suit slowed as the arcs of lightning overpowered the surge suppressors built into it. He stumbled through and made it, though only luck and having his hands in the right place at the right time kept him from crashing into the stairs and falling.