by S D Tanner
Nodding so the light threw his eyes into shadow, Judge replied, “We agreed to be here.”
“Why would we have done that?”
“I don’t think we had a choice.”
Standing and turning to face the squad, he said, “Rok, show Jessica the squid.”
Holding it up by one tentacle, it continued dripping blood onto the smooth floor. Rok was jiggling it up and down so its flattened tentacles slapped against the floor. After being stabbed and dragged along the floor, it now resembled a torn and bloody white towel. The creature was squelching with what he now knew was blood, and couldn’t have been anymore dead than it was.
“Jessica, do you know what this is?”
“It must be eradicated.”
Nodding, he replied, “I know, but where did it come from? Did we bring it from Earth? Is this what happens to the diseased sleepers?”
“It is a lifeform.”
“I know that, but is it human?”
This time Jessica hesitated as if she didn’t know how to describe the creature. “It is not as it was.”
“Do you mean it started as human and turned into this?”
Now Jessica appeared completely lost by his question. For the first time she frowned, making her forehead crease as if she were made of plastic. “It must be eradicated.”
“That’s not an answer,” Judge said quietly.
In some ways, it was a better answer than the one he’d expected. If Jessica had said the creature was human, then he’d know why Robert was shutting down some of the pods. It would be better if the squids were aliens that were attacking the sleepers. If that were true, then all they had to do was kill the squids and the problem would be solved. Even as he thought it, he knew it wasn’t right. The crazy, bloodsucking squids weren’t inside the pods that Robert was shutting down. Robert was killing sleepers for another reason. He needed to stop him, but could only solve one problem at a time. The squids were his biggest threat and he would deal with Robert later.
Turning to Jessica, he asked, “What happened to the other…Defensors?”
The screen on the Bridge lit up again showing a small white space shuttle traveling away from the ship. When it switched from the perspective of the main ship to the one on the small shuttle, another identical Ark was looming ahead of it. It was the Animax, the sister ship to theirs. The little shuttle was heading toward the docking bay on the main body of the ship, but then the screen went black.
Surprised the footage had ended so abruptly, he asked, “What happened?”
“The signal was lost.”
“Does that mean you don’t know what happened to the other Defensors?”
“They are on Ark Animax.”
“Why didn’t they come back here?”
When Jessica’s face remained blank it was clear she didn’t have an answer. Turning to face Judge, he said, “We have three missions. One is to find the other squads. The second is to clear this ship of the squids. Once we’ve done that we’ll sort out why Robert is shutting down the pods.”
Judge shook his head. “You forgot one.”
“What’s that?”
“We need to find out who we are.”
Judge was right and wrong at the same time. Although he couldn’t remember making a promise, he was sure he’d made one. Jessica called him a Defensor and he was the Commander. He might not know what Defensor meant, but his role was clear enough. Defend the sleepers at any price.
Nodding to Judge, he replied, “All in good time.” Looking past him at his squad sitting in the chairs against the wall, he asked, “Do any of you know how to fly a space shuttle?”
CHAPTER SIX: Lost in Space
“Stay alert.”
Talking to Jessica had been useful, but he was only a little the wiser. How he felt when he first saw her was more important than the information she’d provided. She wasn’t just someone he knew. Seeing Jessica had filled him with hope and he didn’t know why. Although she wasn’t a robot she acted like one and, like Robert, she had almost no personality. He and the squad weren’t like Jessica and Robert. His memories were patchy to the point of non-existent, but he could think for himself. Something was in control of Jessica and Robert, preventing them from telling him what they knew.
Having that awareness, just out of reach at the edge of his mind, was frustrating. Like a damaged disk, every so often his brain would throw him a memory without any context. Any insight it gave was always incomplete. If he kept moving forward maybe he would remember why he was on the ship. More importantly, maybe he would find out who the little girl was to him. Every image of her brought with it a deep feeling of joy mixed with anxiety. The deep-rooted worry made him wonder if she was dead. He didn’t even know who she was, but thinking she might have died made his gut contract.
The cylindrical main ship was mostly dedicated to the chamber with the pods. It took up over two thirds of the available space. Everything else the ship needed was crammed around the chamber, leaving no room for living quarters or any shared facilities. Based on the schematic the overconfident voice had shown them, no one was ever expected to live onboard the ship. Having left Jessica on the Bridge, the questions he’d forgotten to ask kept rattling around his brain. Where did Robert and Jessica sleep? What did they eat? Were the sleepers kept alive with a small amount of protein from the insects breeding in the domes?
Making their way down a narrow set of metal stairs, they clanked along with their weapons and ammunition. Each step was bending under his weight as he slammed down one boot after the next. Buried inside the gut of the ship, the chamber was at least fifty stories high and nearly half a mile long. The Bridge sat at the top and front of the ship, whereas the docking bay was situated in the middle and at the bottom. Lunar Horizon hadn’t wasted any money on elevators or moving sidewalks. While the main arterial corridor was generous and bright, the secondary corridors weaving around the ship were gray and barely lit. Nothing was labeled and he relied on the arrow in his covered eye to show him where to go next.
At the bottom of the stairs was another door with a wide lever across it. When he pushed down on it, the door swung open. Behind it was another dimly lit gray corridor, no more than four feet wide.
Fed up with being lost inside the ship, he grumbled, “One of you better be a pilot.”
“I wish one of us was a woman,” Rok replied.
“What for?” Ash asked. “When we’re finished here we’ll just go back into stasis.”
“How do you figure that?”
“There’s nowhere to live on the ship.”
Flak was jabbing at the black sleeve on his left arm. “What’s this thing for?”
Lifting his own arm, he ran his fingers across the black sheath. He should have asked Jessica what the sleeve did -- not that she would have told him. Although he took pride in his ability to read people, deciphering Jessica had been impossible. Even now, he wasn’t sure if she’d been withholding information or simply hadn’t known anything. Nothing about their situation was quite adding up. Surely, no one would have designed a protection detail to wake up knowing nothing.
Judge was following on his heels and he half-turned while he walked. “Judge, why don’t we know anything? What kind of set up is this?”
“A mistake.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Stands to reason, doesn’t it? Why would the Defensors not know their job?”
The arrow in the cover over his eye told him to open the next door, where he was confronted by another gray corridor. Beneath the chamber, the ship was a maze of corridors and doors without labels. If he hadn’t been wearing the visor over his eye he would have been hopelessly lost. Still rubbing the sheath over his left arm, he wondered if they were going about everything the wrong way. He should have put Jessica under bright lights and interrogated the hell out of her. Instead, he’d allowed her to dictate what she told him. Why hadn’t he been more aggressive? An a
nswer popped into his head. He felt protective toward her. They weren’t related, but she was more important to him than family. He needed her.
Half turning again, he asked, “Who is Jessica?”
A light flashed on the sheath over his arm and a voice sounded through his earpiece. “Doctor Jessica Everton is Servator for Ark Prognatus, Ark Extrema and Ark Animax. Her role is to control and manage the three Arks to destination. She is to remain online for the entire trip to Trappist-1d.”
“And who are you?”
“I am Cognitionis. I provide ship’s knowledge.”
Judge snorted sharply. “Are you telling me we’ve had access to a database this whole time?”
Hearing Cognitionis only confirmed his suspicion they were going about solving their problems the wrong way. Determined to make up for lost time, he asked, “Who am I?”
“You are Commander Tag. Your role is to defend the residents on Ark Prognatus.”
“Where am I from?”
“You are from Lunar Horizon Inc.”
“Where was I born?”
“You were not born.”
Sounding even more disgusted, Judge said, “Cogless is about as helpful as everyone else we’ve met.”
Ignoring Judge, he asked, “Am I human?”
“You are human.”
“Am I alive?”
“You can cease therefore you are alive.”
It seemed his existence was just another riddle he couldn’t answer. He wasn’t born, but he lived and could die. Finding himself in another gray corridor, he asked, “How long before we reach Trappist-1d?”
“Time to destination is unknown.”
Although he wanted to ask why not, he didn’t think the computer would understand his question. “How long have we been in space?”
“Five hundred and forty-eight years, eight months, fourteen days and seven hours.”
“What’s the travel time between Earth and Trappist-1d?”
Judge chuckled. “Good question.”
“One hundred and twelve years.”
“Are we still on course to Trappist-1d?”
“The original destination was not viable.”
“Why?”
“Situational abnormalities.”
“Where are we going now?”
“Seeking alternative destination.”
“How long before we have one?”
“Seeking alternative destination.”
They’d been in space four hundred and thirty-six years longer than they should have been. It could explain why they couldn’t remember who they were. Along with everyone else, they’d been asleep for far too long. He didn’t really understand how stasis worked, but even if it was transpiring at a slower rate, the body and brain would still deteriorate.
Half-turning toward Judge, he asked, “What do you think this means?”
“We’re on a death ship.”
“Why do you say that?”
“The ship’s lost. It’ll keep traveling through space until everything on it breaks down.”
Instead of giving him knowledge, Cognitionis or Cogless as Judge had aptly named it, was only adding to his growing list of problems. The ship was off course and headed nowhere in particular. The crew had either lost their minds or never had much of one to start with. Jessica and Robert couldn’t have lived for so long, meaning they must have been modified in some way. Given he’d never been born and yet could die then perhaps he had been as well.
The next door opened to a large bay at the base of the ship. Along the floor were painted lines where space shuttles should have been parked, but only one remained. Against the wall were a bank of screens, and above each bay was a large frame designed to drop over the shuttle. The last shuttle was sitting under the frame and the screens next to it were lit up and scrolling.
Flicking his head at the shuttle, he asked, “Is that an initiation sequence?”
“Shuttle Alpha Four is prepared for launch.”
Sounding doubtful, Judge asked, “But are we?”
“All Defensors are operating to optimum parameters.”
“All my girlfriends say that,” Rok said.
“Do you even remember having any girlfriends?” Ash asked. “Maybe you’re gay.”
Rok was already walking toward the shuttle. “Wouldn’t matter if I was. They’d still be my girlfriends.”
Moving across the glossy floor, he said, “Jessica, open the shuttle doors.”
CHAPTER SEVEN: Flying High
The shape of the shuttle was like the main ship. Cylindrical and long it looked like a large bullet. Resting on three sturdy legs there were thrusters on both sides. Between the thrusters was a large door that opened from the top to form an angled platform. Inside the tube-shaped shuttle were three segments. At the front were two metal framed seats with belts and harnesses. Surrounded by a two-foot tall window, the seats gave the pilots a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree view. Above the window were four screens for each pilot. Directly in front of the seats and under the window was a complicated control panel with even more screens. Between the two seats for the pilots was another bank of equipment with racks of buttons and toggles he didn’t understand.
Behind the pilot seats was another segment and this one had ten seats set on opposite sides of the curved walls. Much like the pilot’s chairs, these were no more than a metal frame with belts and harnesses. The shuttle was narrow and when used at full capacity their knees would be jammed into one another.
Closest to the open back door was the third segment on the shuttle. Against each wall were ten space suits with helmets bolted to racks. Compared to the main ship the shuttle appeared clunky and old. No one had thought about the aesthetics. With plain, gray paintwork, metal panels and chairs, it reminded him of a military aircraft. Nothing that wasn’t needed had been added, including any genuine concern for the comfort of the passengers.
With his mouth firmly downturned, Judge said, “I guess these aren’t for the paying customers.”
“Do you think the sleepers paid to be on the Arks?”
“They must have. Lunar Horizon is a commercial op. I doubt they gave the tickets away.”
“Do you think this is a colony ship, or were they running away from something?”
Tilting his head so he didn’t bump into the curved ceiling, Judge stepped inside the shuttle. “Aren’t we all running from something?”
Turning Judge’s words over in his head it was more likely he’d been running toward something than away from it. He’d felt too much hope when he met Jessica to be going somewhere he didn’t mean to be. She was someone who had been helping him.
“Hells yeah!” Hawk hooted.
Pushing past him, Flak was already elbowing his way along the narrow and curved corridor. “Get outta the way, dude.”
In a fluid motion, Flak dropped his pack and gun to the floor, leaping over the middle console and landing with a solid whump into the barely padded chair. Without any hesitation, he began flicking toggles and pressing buttons as if he’d done it all his life. Hawk jostled him aside as he entered the shuttle. Copying Flak, he dropped his gear to the floor before jumping into the seat next to him. Now seated side by side they grinned at one another.
“Guess we’re the pilots,” Hawk said.
Sharing a fist bump, Flak replied, “Didn’t think I was a grunt.”
Appearing at his elbow, Joker asked, “What if they’re not the pilots? They could just be a couple of assholes swiping the chairs with the best view.”
Lights were flickering on the screens and panels. Beneath his feet, an engine was firing up, sending waves of heat across the docking bay. A beacon began flashing orange above the shuttle giving warning it was getting ready to move. Above his head, the metal frame designed to sit over the shuttle was slowly retracting into the ceiling. If Flak and Hawk didn’t know how to fly a shuttle they sure as hell were putting on a good show.
J
udge was opening panels above the uncomfortable looking jump seats. After dumping his pack, gun, helmet and tactical vest into the bin, he began tying down straps on his armor. He couldn’t remember the protocol, but his hands and feet had a mind of their own. While he loaded his own gear into one of the storage bins, he said, “Pack it up. Zip it up. Get ready to go zero-g.”
“Aww, no,” Ash complained. “I get space sick.”
“Then keep your skinny ass far away from me,” Rok countered.
Joker was pushing his backpack into the locker and he turned to give Rok a look of disbelief. “How’s distance going to save you, man? We’re all gonna be wearing his lunch.”
Given they hadn’t found any food since waking, he doubted Ash would have any lunch to lose. After clipping and tucking any loose straps on his armor and gear, he turned to Joker. “Safety cross check.”
Already sitting in his jump seat, Rok was snapping buckles on his harness. “I’m good. Zero-g just makes me fart.”
On hearing Rok’s blunt confession, and despite his earlier warning they couldn’t escape one another, Joker immediately chose the seat furthest away. Screwing up his face at Rok, Joker said, “I’m pretty sure I don’t know you, man.”
Grinning widely and winking at Joker, Rok replied, “You might know me better than you think. Ash thinks I’m gay.”
Joker shook his head. “Nah, you’re too ugly to be gay.”
In a smooth and confident voice, Hawk announced, “Ladies, take your seats. We’re closing the doors and Jessie will be depressurizing the docking bay.”
After checking everyone was strapped in correctly Judge was the last to take his seat. Sitting opposite him, he watched Judge expertly clip his harness together. Without thinking, he’d wedged his feet into hooks on the floor. His hands were holding onto the harness and his head was pressed firmly against the headrest. Seeing Judge take the exact same posture, he smiled at him.
“Nice to meet you, sarge.”
“What makes you think I’m a sergeant?”
He didn’t know why he believed Judge was a sergeant other than he acted like one. The door to the shuttle had closed and he felt the ship moving. “You know what you are.”
