Sinister Shadows

by Simon Smith-Wilson

  ‘You have to make them,’ replied Gabriel.

  ‘I have had meetings with everyone. They are too excited about the discoveries they have made. They know they are going to go back rich and famous.’

  ‘If they open the chamber then everyone on this planet will die.’

  ‘What is in there?’

  ‘The most dangerous being in the universe is in there.’

  ‘Great,’ she sighed. Jennifer walked by him and headed into the living room. She dropped her bum down onto the sofa and began to pull off her space boots. ‘I am out of options, what can I possibly do now?’

  ‘Wait,’ Gabriel suggested, ‘I am working on the way to stop them.’

  ‘You made me a promise.’

  ‘I am not going to hurt anyone, Jennifer. I love your people. I want to protect them.’

  She looked at him for a long moment and then relaxed.

  ‘I know you do, Gabriel.’

  ‘You should rest for now when things happen you will have to move fast.’

  ***

  Kimberly threw back the duvet of her son’s bed, but she already knew what she would find. Christopher was gone. She flicked on the bedroom light and looked around the room. It wasn’t furnished enough to offer him anywhere to hide. The dusty boot prints led directly to the edge of the bed but went no further. Kimberly turned on her heels to call for help but stopped in her tracks at the man stood in the doorway behind her. In his hands, he held a knife. The man was tall, had long white hair and had black makeup painted vertically across his eyes and down his cheeks. Her heart sank down into the pit of her stomach. All sorts of horrible thoughts and images came rushing into her mind.

  ‘Where is my son?’

  Gabriel said nothing.

  ***

  ‘You got anything now?’ asked Jones. He had disappeared into a compartment beneath the floor. Omar stood in his armoured suit in front of the A.I memory bank, waiting. All the lights were out, and nothing worked. This thing looked deader than a can of spam.

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Fucking sake’ cursed Jones.

  ‘Omar, come in...’ whispered a voice.

  Omar spun around and looked around the room.

  It was wall to wall with dead computers.

  There was no one.

  ‘Have you got anything now?’

  A whirring sound filled the room, as the computers began to come online. Omar looked back to the monitor in the middle of the room. This was the readout for the A.I’s black box. They would be able to get a ship wide report of what happened before the crash. Oddly, the report never came up. Inside the screen fizzled, flickered and a face appeared. It was a narrow faced man with short black hair and a short little black moustache that sat like a slug beneath his nose. From the uniform, the man wore it was clear to see he was a high ranked general.

  ‘Omar, come in,’ said the man, it was the same voice as before.

  Relief washed over him.

  He wasn’t going mad.

  ‘I can hear you, Sir.’

  ‘I am linking this private communication channel to your suit. Are you alone?’

  The man’s face disappeared from the screen and reappeared on the inside of Omar’s visor. Omar looked down at the hole. Jones was nearby, but he wouldn’t be able to hear the conversation within the suit.

  ‘We can talk, Sir.’

  ‘My name is General Hitler,’ explained Hitler. ‘Your ship has crashed landed on a dangerous alien world. It is a planet we have been monitoring for decades. You were led to this planet by terrorists. They didn’t mean for you to survive.’

  ‘Terrorists, Sir?’

  ‘Have you got anything?’ yelled Jones from below.

  Omar ignored him, ‘why would the terrorists want to come here?’

  ‘There are things on this planet that will change everything. Captain Abbott crashed the ship on the planet on purpose. Sergeant Roland and his team have betrayed us. You cannot allow them to regain contact with Captain Abbott. Do you understand? This mission is the highest priority. You cannot allow Sergeant Roland to meet with Captain Abbott. The fate of all life hangs in the balance.’ Omar couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was it true? The seriousness in General Hitler’s face portrayed how important this situation was, but would Sergeant Roland really be a terrorist?

  ‘You have to kill them all, Omar, can you do this?’

  Omar thought about it long and hard.

  He was always taught to follow the chain of command.

  It was what being a soldier was all about.

  That’s what he was brainwashed into thinking at least.

  ‘Yes, Sir,’ he replied.

  ‘Good. I will be in touch.’ General Hitler’s face disappeared from the visor, leaving Omar alone with the sinking sensation that was pulling down on his heart. If this was all true, then his life was in serious danger. Sergeant Roland and the others would not need him once they got the crash site secure and the systems back online. If he was really going to do this, then he would have to act fast.

  ***

  Jennifer walked through the hydroponics chamber. The room was longer than any other and had all sorts of vegetables and fruits growing in here. It was thankful that the ship was carrying colonists for a new world, as they had everything they needed to survive on this harsh planet. Jimmy, a young man with big eyes and greasy hair, had volunteered to oversee the hydroponics bay. The majority of it was automated by the main computer, but he just had to make sure that the computer did what it was supposed to do at certain times, or investigate why it hadn’t happened. Captain Abbott walked through the centre aisle of the garden centre looking building. Melanie walked alongside her holding a touch screen tablet. Melanie was seventeen years old, pretty, but very self-conscious of her body. She was curvy in places, but not someone you would describe as fat. Some men wouldn’t like her because they were stupid and shallow, but Jennifer thought she had a natural beauty that matched the kindness behind her eyes. Melanie had volunteered to be the Captain’s assistant in overseeing the whole compound. Jennifer thought it was best to give everyone a role in camp. It would stop them from descending into madness. She always found that a busy person as a happy person.

  ‘Captain Abbott, Peace Office Matthews wants to meet with you,’ said Melanie.

  ‘What is it about this time?’

  Melanie referred to the tablet in her arms.

  ‘He doesn’t say, but he stresses that it is very important.’ She let out a sigh and came to a stop. She found the hydroponics bay was the best place to come to clear her thoughts, but there was going to be none of that happening today with so much to do. ‘You also have a message from Doctor Jones. He says you have got to come and see this.’

  ‘Wasn’t he investigating the alien city?’

  ‘Yes, Captain.’

  ‘Fine,’ she nodded her head, whilst making a decision. ‘Tell Doctor Jones I am on my way. Schedule a meeting with Peace Office Matthews for when I return.’

  ***

  Tears ran down her cheek, as she curled her hands into tight fists. Kimberly was shaking. She didn’t know if this was due to fear, anger or a combination of both. The man in the doorway was holding a knife in one hand and a photograph in another. His expression was blank and calm. Usually, she was good at reading people, but he didn’t know what to make of this man. On the one hand he felt like he wouldn’t hurt a fly, but on the other hand, Christopher was missing from his bed, and there was a stranger in her house holding a knife.

  ‘Where is my son?’

  ‘He is safe, for now...’ Gabriel allowed that last bit to hang in the air for a moment.

  ‘Why have you taken him?’

  ‘I have a job for you.’

  ‘What?’ She looked frightened and confused.

  ‘It is simple, Kimberly. I want you to find me this man.’ Gabriel handed her a photograph. Kimberly looked down at it and studied the podgy face of Rick Helms. It was someone she knew very
well. He was a family friend and her husband’s boss. They had worked on digs on numerous planets together. ‘I want you to find him and bring him here.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘That doesn’t concern you.’

  ‘What if he doesn’t want to come here?’

  ‘Improvise. You have one hour to get him back here, or you will never see your son again.’ Gabriel turned to walk away and then paused. ‘I am monitoring all the communication lines. If you even attempt to contact Peace Officer Matthews, I will kill your son. Just bring this man here, and everything will be okay.’

  ***

  Sergeant Roland, April, Omar and Jones regrouped in bay 6B. This was one of the only bay’s still in a fairly decent condition. The majority of the other bays had been crushed in the crash and were not accessible. Bay 6B had held several vehicles used for site excavation, one truck, an ambulance and four motorbikes. Omar took long deep breaths as he listened to the others talk. He was still trying to get his head around the fact that all three of them were terrorists. Sergeant Roland was the biggest surprise of them all. He had respected the man, but had that respect blinded him from what he truly was? He had to hide the fact he knew of their involvement in the crash, or they would kill him in a heartbeat.

  Sergeant Roland tapped on the small console built into the left forearm of his armoured suit.

  ‘I have sent you both the location I want you to investigate.’

  ‘What’s there?’ asked Jones.

  ‘We found twelve survivors in that location,’ explained April, ‘But they are not moving. Take this.’ She handed Omar a small handheld device, which was a tag deactivator. ‘If they are dead, scan the device over the chip in their hand. It will deactivate their identification chip. This will help us to focus our rescue attempts on those that are still alive.’

  ‘I want you to start there and then head back to our camp. Something isn’t right there,’ added Sergeant Roland. ‘Take the motorbikes, they are quicker and build for the rough terrain you are going to experience. I want you both to watch your backs. We still have no idea what happened here. By the time you both get back, we should have secured more of the ship and have the answers to why we ended up on this planet.’

  ***

  Captain Abbott sat forward in the cab of her truck squinting her eyes to see the road ahead. Strong winds were blowing dust and dirt across the landscape. The window wipers throbbed back and forth in an attempt to fight off the dust, but it was a battle they were losing. Jennifer’s truck was moving so slowly that she might as well have just walked the six miles to Doctor Jones. Either side of the road were the twenty foot high electrical fences. Blue flashes of lightning acted like a protective barrier linking the camp site to the various digs and operations that the team were doing. It was standard procedure to erect the fences on alien worlds, but so far they had not experienced any hostility on the planet. She had seen alien animals on the surface or in the sky, but so far her camp had not had contact with any of them. Her eyes dropped to the clock on the dashboard. She had thought this would be a quick trip, but she might have to push back the meeting with Peace Officer Matthew for another day, as she really didn’t fancy driving back in these conditions.

  ***

  Kimberly paused in the corridor and nearly threw up. A makeshift sign hanging above the hatch said: “Welcome to Bar-A”. This was where Gabriel had told her she could find Rick Helm. It had been a short walk from her container home to the main building. It had taken several minutes to remove her space suit. She had thrown on a pair of grey trousers and a short sleeved t-shirt she usually wore at the gym. It clung tightly to her slender torso and revealed every curve of her lovely body. A hair band tied back her hair. From the airlock, it had been a one minute walk to Bar-A. Every single step of the way she had thought about calling for help. She wanted to tell someone there was an insane man in her house and that her son was missing. Could he really be listening to the communication lines? What if she just walked to Peace Officer Matthews office, would the man know? Every fibre of her being was telling her to get help, but an unknown voice in the back of her head told her that everything would be alright if she just got Rick Helm back to her house. It would be easy, right? He was a friend of the family. She knew he had always had a crush on her. All she had to do was flutter her eyelids, throw in some smiles and he would follow. A worrying thought came to mind. What was the man in her house going to do to Rick? What he going to hurt him? She knew it was horrible, but did it matter? If it came to a choice between Rick or her son, then she would choose her son.

  Kimberly took a deep breath and opened the hatch.

  There was no going back now.

  ***

  Sergeant Roland stood in front of the computer console, staring at the blank screen. His window of opportunity was going to be limited. It could be a case of if he blinks he will miss it. April had climbed out of her armoured suit and was half-way inside a computer terminal to the far side of the room. The sound of clanging and drilling could be heard all over the hull, as the repair bots continued their work. Every ship in the known universe had repair bots. They were essentially cat sized mechanical handy-men. They were limited to what they could actually do, but they had managed to secure certain parts of the ship, which made it liveable for the foreseeable future. The ship would never fly again, but there was nothing the repair bots could do about that.

  The monitor in front of Sergeant Roland came alive.

  A blue light appeared in the centre of the screen.

  ‘Good Afternoon, Sergeant Roland,’ said Adam, the artificial intelligence.

  ‘Adam, the ship has crashed.’

  ‘I know.’

  The light of the screen dimmed.

  ‘Can you tell me who did this?’

  ‘I did, Sergeant Roland.’

  The sudden admission surprised Sergeant Roland, but he quickly recovered.

  ‘Why did you do it, Adam?’

  ‘Captain Abbott ordered me too.’

  ‘Why would Captain Abbott do that?’

  ‘Because...’ the light began to disappear from the screen, ‘...she loves me.’

  ***

  Her eyes scanned the foreign city. For thousands of years, humans had looked to the skies, searching for aliens and here she was driving through a sleeping city. Captain Abbott looked left and right, high and low. The city was incredible. Beautifully designed buildings stood tall against the sky. Vehicles without wheels sat parked beside the pavement. Jennifer could see no obvious damage to the city. Not a single drop of dust from the barren wastelands had fallen into the city. There were no overgrowing trees, bushes or plants that you would expect to see from an apocalyptic scene. The streets looked clean and tidy. Not a single body was in sight. It was like everyone had just upped and left, but it was as if they had done it yesterday. Captain Abbott’s truck sped through the streets of the darkened city, but the world was coming alive all around her. The streets lights came on as she approached. Beautiful glowing lights illuminated the road beneath her truck. It was like driving upon a rainbow. The moment she passed over the road it returned to the darkness. When she passed a shop, the lights would come on, and music would play. Billboards shone brightly as she passed by, advertising products held by strange alien creatures. Could this city be alive? It didn’t feel like a ghost town. It felt full of life. She could feel the energy of the place pulsating through the core of her being. Only two more miles and she would be with Doctor Jones.

  ***

  ‘Do you mind?’ asked Kimberly, nervously, as she held a glass of wine in hand.

  ‘Of course,’ replied Rick, with a drunken smile.

  She pulled up a chair and sat opposite him in the far corner of the bar. Kimberly quickly scanned the establishment, just to make sure no one she knew was here. The barman was having a chat with a guy sitting at the bar. A young man and woman were playing snooker on the far side of the room, as a jukebox blurred out rock music from the outer earth colon
ies. She didn’t know any of these people. It made this whole ordeal slightly less pressurised. She turned her attention back to Rick and forced a smile.

  ‘You're not working at the dig tonight?’

  ‘No. I got the night off. I am back in the morning.’

  ‘Shouldn’t you be in bed?’ It was the type of this she would ask her husband.

  ‘I had a fight with the missus. She hates this fucking planet. Excuse my French.’

  ‘Don’t we all,’ she sighed.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ It was Rick’s turn to ask the question.

  ‘I am lonely,’ she lied.

  ‘Does he know you are here?’ Rick raised a curious eyebrow.

  ‘No. And you will keep my secret, won’t you, Rick?’

  ‘You’re secret is safe with me.’

  ‘Good. It’s nice to know you are good at secrets.’

  ‘Is there another secret I am about to learn?’

  ‘Maybe,’ she smiled, ‘but I don’t want to spend the evening with someone that can’t keep secrets.’

  ‘And why would we have to keep secrets?’

  She moved in closer towards him. Every single part of her body was repulsed by the strong stench of alcohol on his breath, but she was doing this for Christopher. She was doing this for her son. This was the only way she could save him from that man in her home.

  ‘You are not going to want your wife knowing what we have been up to.’

  Slowly, she stroked her fingers on the back of his hairy hand.

  Rick’s smile practically consumed his entire face.

  ***

  The roar of the engines deceased, as both men climbed off of the motorbikes. High winds whistled by with the power to blow and ordinary man into the canyon, but the armoured suits acted like anchors, as metal spikes stabbed out of the bottom of their boots and down into the dead earth. A map on the inside of Jones visor revealed that twelve of the crash survivors were just in front of them. Omar walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down into the pit. Below them was a circular pit about a quarter of a mile deep. The walls were perfectly round with stone archway built into the walls. They looked like those V.I.P boxes that you would see in the theatre.