Parasites
( Vitalis - 3 )
Jason Halstead
Jason Halstead
Parasites
Chapter 1
“Jeremy?”
Jeremy Sinclair jerked himself out of his chair. He came to an uneasy imitation of standing at attention and realized he still held the hand held display with his daughter’s picture in his hand. In the doorway stood his new boss, Dr. Synnamon Rice. “Sorry Doctor, I was…um, did you need something?”
Dr. Rice’s eyes went to the flexible display panel in his hand. “May I?” She asked. Jeremy thought her voice seemed distant. Then again, it was also icy calm. Her very demeanor was the polar opposite that her spicy name implied. Even her black hair, streaked with grey, reflected an absolute no-nonsense personality with it being pulled tightly back into a bun.
Jeremy thought about denying her. Wasn’t it enough that he had given up everything in his life to come on the mission? Discovering a new planet was exciting. Even more so because this was the first in his lifetime. All the existing systems in the coalition had been settled nearly a dozen years before he’d been born. This one was far enough away even at full burn on the military transport, the TCS Explorer, it had taken years to get there.
It would be years to get back too, not counting the time he was stuck being Dr. Rice’s lab tech on the planet. He glanced at the picture again then sighed and handed it to her. “Her name’s Jasmine, she’s my daughter.”
“Oh,” Was all Rice said as she took it from him and looked at it. Jasmine was barely more than an infant but even so it was obvious something was wrong with her. She was smiling in the picture, proof of the innocence of youth. Tubes were attached to her belly and chest, providing a necessary exchange of fluids and nutrients.
“Spartan’s Syndrome,” Jeremy heard his words and wished he could have taken them back. They sounded lifeless and pathetic. Spartan’s was a genetic disorder discovered less than a hundred years ago. It was also something that had come about at the same time, due to improper shielding of some of the earlier jump stations. Jeremy’s father had been through enough hops between solar systems and had passed along the genetic damage to him. Jeremy’s ex-wife, Bleigh, had similar damage. Between the two of them the one and only child they had was doomed before it was born.
“I see,” Dr. Rice said. “I’m sorry, it must have been difficult. How long did she-“
Jeremy pulled the display back from her. “She didn’t!” He snapped. He took a deep breath and forced the tension out of his body. “I’m sorry. I mean she was doing good when we left. As good as can be expected. She’s near the upper end of those affected, with proper gene therapy it’s possible for her to lead a normal life.”
“That was close to nine years ago.” He was thankful she hadn’t pointed out the obvious, that nobody survived past their fifth year with Spartans without significant, and expensive, therapy.
“That’s why I’m here, Doctor,” Jeremy said. “All of my checks go to her therapy. There was no other way I could make enough to pay for it. I was just catching up on status updates that had been sent while we were enroute. I’ve got about three years worth remaining, but I can do that after we’re settled at the colony.”
Dr. Rice stared at him for a long moment. “I was saying, Mr. Sinclair, that the transport is leaving for the surface in four hours. I believe most of our equipment has been loaded but…I’m going to check and make sure nothing has been overlooked. I’ll expect you’ll want to review your own items as well?”
Jeremy nodded, not sure if he was believing his ears.
“Good, I’ll leave it to you to determine how much time that will take. I’ll see you on the transport.”
Dr. Rice turned and left. The door to his quarters shut behind her, sealing him in. Jeremy stared at the door until his brain started working again. “Maybe she’s not the cold fish I’d read about,” he mused aloud. With a shrug he turned back to the display on his desk and pulled up the next message. He smiled and fought to blink past the blurriness in his vision. Jasmine was six in the picture and looked like a normal girl, even if her gaze was distant and unfocused. Modern medicine couldn’t cure everything, but this was as close to a miracle as he’d ever dared to dream.
Chapter 2
“Listen up!”
Jeremy snapped his head up again, surprised by the harsh tone. The Coalition Marine who spoke was sitting in her chair and letting her serious gaze travel over all of the science crew. When her eyes touched his he felt a sudden urge to hide. She looked angry and he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it.
“My name is Lance Corporal Fiona Kate. I’m in charge of Fire Team Charlie. I’m also in charge of keeping you people out of our way. Orbital scans show an atmosphere rich in nitrogen, oxygen, and other trace elements that make it nice and breathable for humans. You do not need containment suits, but you will stay in this transport until you have clearance to leave. Do you understand?”
Jeremy glanced around and saw everyone staring at the Lance Corporal with expressions that he was sure mirrored what he was feeling.
“You people are supposed to be some of the smartest people out there, prove it by not doing anything stupid! Do you understand?” Lance Corporal Kate yelled at them.
Shocked into reaction, Jeremy found himself stiffening and responding, “Yes Lance Corporal!”
He noted that some of the others had responded as well but none quite like he had. Jeremy felt his cheeks warm in the cold interior of the transport, then the icy chill returned when he noticed the Marine staring intently at him. Her eyes dipped to the name sewn on his environmental suit. “You a Marine…Sinclair?”
“No Lance Corporal,” Jeremy said. “I was in the Navy.”
Lance Corporal Kate grunted and looked away from him. He felt Dr. Rice looking at him from her seat beside him.
“That’s not in your dossier,” She said low enough to keep anyone else from hearing.
He ignored her, forcing himself to continue staring straight ahead. His time in the Navy was of no interest or use to anyone, least of all him. “Good,” He said, refusing to speak any further on it. If she made an issue of it he’d do what he had to — it wasn’t like he had a choice to leave and find a new job! He was stuck with Rice and, he supposed, she was stuck with him.
The most recent image of a nine year old Jasmine filled his mind, soothing the added tension in his shoulders. For her he’d deal with his past if he must. The treatments had worked beyond his wildest hopes. She only needed annual checkups and minor gene sequencing to correct the minor alterations that took place. She would continue to need that the rest of her life, but with it she could lead a normal life free of handicap or prejudice.
“Sorry, I’m just not-“
The lighting shifted in the passenger bay to red, distracting and disrupting him. Within seconds the transport shuddered briefly, the inertial suppressors not reacting quick enough to the forces of atmospheric entry. The shuttle smoothed out after a heartbeat. Jeremy swallowed nervously even as he heard Dr. Rice let out a deep breath.
The next few minutes of the ride were quite in an eerie fashion. Everybody was looking around, both at one another and at no one. They were headed to a new planet where only a handful of other people had been before and, from the orbital scans done, little sign of those people could be found aside from the ruins of a spaceship.
Jeremy heard someone squawk as the shuttle was shaken again. It was suppressed as quickly as it started, but a new noise penetrated the strained sound of the ventilators. It was a whining noise that was slowly rising in pitch.
“Emergency Crash Protocol!”
Jeremy was moving even as his mind digested what he’d heard over the speakers in the
passenger cabin. He tested his harness then started to reach overhead. He glanced to his right and saw Wesley Roberts, the assistant to Dr. Hall, staring blankly.
“Hey!” He snapped at the dazed veterinary technician. “Check your harness and cover your head!”
Wesley looked at him and nodded, then burst into action as the words filtered through. In seconds was fitting his helmet to his suit and then leaning forward to assume the ages-old crash position. Jeremy was again reaching for his own helmet when the keening noise hit a crescendo and metamorphosed into a sharp roar that made the shuttle tremble.
A new roaring noise replaced the previous one. Jeremy managed to twist the seals on his helmet in time to prevent depressurization. A hole in the wall on the opposite side of the shuttle showed a turbulent sky outside. A strange thought slipped through his mind even as he processed the smoke and flames visible through the opening, ‘ Better sky than space. ’
The shuttle jerked again underneath him. It was a brutal strike that slammed him into his seat and forced his upper body to slam into the wall behind him. His head, protected by his helmet only marginally, met the wall with equal force.
Chapter 3
“On your feet Sinclair!”
Jeremy opened his eyes long enough to squeeze them shut against the harsh light that speared into his brain. He made a gagging noise and waved his arm weakly, trying to push away whoever was trying to torture him.
“Wake up, sailor!”
Her jerked, the words reaching into a deep part of his brain that reacted in spite of years of neglect. Squinting heavily he stared down at himself and saw he was wearing his environmental suit. In spots it was stained, some of it green, some brown, and some a reddish brown that looked less like dirt and more like-“
“Stand up, damn it Sinclair!”
He looked up and saw Lance Corporal Kate standing over him. She had a standard issue plasma rifle in hand. Her Marine combat uniform, part armor and part environmental suit, was scratched and stained much like his, except she had more of the reddish tinted stains on hers. The other thing he noted through his squinted vision was that the visor on her helmet was up, exposing her face to the atmosphere of the planet. He could understand why, the visor had cracks running along it.
“What happened?” Jeremy croaked as he tested his body and climbed, slowly, to his feet.
“I lost one of my men and I’m pressing you into service until things are resolved,” Kate snapped. She pushed the rifle in his hands. “You know how to use one of these?”
Jeremy glanced down at it, then looked back up at her. He shook his head slowly. “I won’t…I can’t. I’m not in the Navy anymore. Administratively discharged, Ma’am.”
“You hit your head again, Sinclair? Don’t call me Ma’am, I work for a living!” She glared at him then lowered her voice. “I don’t care what happened between you and the Navy, The pilots are dead and so are two of my Marines. We lost three civilians in the crash too. We need to be organized and the stronger we can present ourselves, the better our chances of survival! You get me, Navy?”
He looked down at the rifle in his hands again. Turning it over he checked the manual controls on it, identifying the subtle changes that had taken place since he had last held one. “It’s been a while and I only used one on the range. What are we up against?”
“No idea, just be ready to use it if you need to. What rank were you?”
“Just a spaceman,” He mumbled. Jeremy looked past her, his eyes adjusting to the light Heavy cloud cover helped. Off in the distance he saw darker, angrier looking clouds. Storm clouds, and based on the wind on his face they were coming towards them. His gaze fell to rest on the ruined hulk of the shuttle. Gaping holes in the side and back gave testimony to how rough the landing had been. He shook his head, amazed anyone had escaped it, and turned back to look at Lance Corporal Kate.
“Well Spaceman Sinclair, you keep an eye on your people and keep them in line. Something happened to our shuttle that knocked us out of the sky. No idea what it was but I know we weren’t under fire. No idea what’s out here but we have to assume the worst.”
“Okay,” he said, nodding. He walked passed her over to where Dr. Rice and the others were sitting and standing. Their hushed conversation quieted as he approached. “Everyone okay?”
Synnamon stood up from where she sat on a rock and walked past him. He followed her a few paces until she spun to face him again. “Back in the military Mr. Sinclair?”
He shook his head, then realized he still held the rifle. He slung it quickly over his shoulder, then realized that her eyes had followed the movement. He’d practiced it hundreds of times but thought he’d forgotten it. Damn muscle memory. “They lost two Marines, she asked me to stand in, in case there’s trouble.”
“So what’s your story? Why is there no record of military service in your file?”
Jeremy looked away from the suspicion in her narrowed eyes. There was no record because Jeremy Sinclair had never been in the military. Jeremy Sinclair was only fifteen years old, by all accounts. “Doctor, it’s a long story and right now is not the time for it, okay? Please?”
Rice stared at him for a long moment, then nodded. “I expect to be told. Everything.”
He sucked in until he couldn’t hold anymore air then let it slowly. The aches in his body and his head remained firmly in place. “Fine, Everything. Now how is everyone?”
“Scared, shaken, bruised, cut, and traumatized. Including me.”
“Yeah, I bet. You’re holding up well though. We need to keep that up.”
Jeremy turned back to the others and saw them all staring at the two of them. He opened his mouth to say something when Lance Corporal Kate’s voice cut across the group. “Grab what you can carry, we’re heading for the LZ in 10 minutes! Navy, you stick with the civilians, Potter has point, I’ll be at the rear.”
He turned to look at the Kate and shrugged. She sighed then walked past him. He stared after her and realize that the next two years were going to be the longest of his life.
A distant noise floated across the wind, causing him and several others to stare into the distance. It had sounded like something out of an movie. Outside of special effects he couldn’t imagine anything that would be loud or primal enough to make a noise like that.
Chapter 4
Jeremy grimaced time and again at the noise the ‘civilians’ made as they walked through the outskirts of the jungle. The alien trees they walked through were sparse, growing no more than twenty feet tall. Far more prevalent were the strange looking bushes with thick leaves and exotic but beautiful flowers. Dr. Bronislav warned them all away from them, stressing the unknown nature of the alien flowers and how they could easily secrete a poisonous substance for self-defense.
Twice the point Marine and Lance Corporal Kate detoured them around strange mounds that rose out of the earth. Jeremy agreed, something seemed both natural and unnatural about them. After nearly an hour of stopping and starting a raised hand from the Lance Corporal caused Jeremy to roll his eyes and halt the doctors and techs. She motioned for him, drawing a deep sigh. The breeze felt nice but it wasn’t enough to compete with the high humidity. His environmental suit was overloaded trying to keep him cool and, he could tell from the looks on the faces of the others, so were theirs.
“Stay quiet, Potter saw movement up ahead.”
“Thought there wasn’t any indigenous life here?” Jeremy had read all the reports and studied the sensor sweeps. Lots of plant and animal life, but no sign of any civilization or intelligent species.
“Animals,” Kate said. “Six legged cat-like things.”
“How many?”
Kate shrugged. “He saw one but he’s pretty sure there’s more.”
Jeremy bit back the urge to laugh. He didn’t know much about animals but he’d had enough basic classes on higher level mammals to know that cats weren’t social animals.
“This isn’t a Coalition world, Navy, we don’t k
now shit about these things. Now you keep those civvies quiet, we’re going to recon, stand ready.”
Jeremy nodded, biting back on the derisive snort he wanted to give her. She was a Marine, they’d just as soon shoot the animals as look at them. He made his way back to his people and shook his head to stave off the questioning looks he received.
“Settle in and stay quiet, they’ve spotted some kind of animals and want to find a way around them,” he explained.
“I should go!” Dr. Bronislav said, stepping forward.
Jeremy held his hand out, touching the man on the chest. “Doctor, they don’t want us up there and you don’t want to be up there.”
“What? Why? They’re not going-“
An inhuman screech was followed by an all too human shout. A distant crackling release of a plasma rifle followed shortly. Another shot followed quickly, then more shouts and a scream.
Jeremy swore and hoisted his rifle to his shoulder. “Fall back!” He said to them. He stepped forward, hesitating. Another scream, this one clearly a human in pain, made him bite his lip hard enough to draw blood. “All right,” he said, thinking of his daughter. “This is for you, baby.”
Jeremy rushed forward, charging through the waist-high grasses to the point where he’d met Lance Corporal Kate and then passing it. The environmental suit was nowhere near as advanced as the Marines armor was, but the display on the visor did warn him of the life forms ahead.
Two Marines, one down and the other kneeling next to the fallen one. Kate was the Marine still functional, but Jeremy could see the blood on her uniform and the side of her face and neck. Two of the animals were on the ground and another was chasing itself around in circles trying to bite at the smoldering hide on its side. Two more remained and one darted forward even as Jeremy fired, and missed, the remaining alien predator.
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