by S D Tanner
“But Lunar exists. This ship proves it.”
“Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean they did what she said they did.”
Trying to unravel such a well-hidden truth was a waste of time. All he could do was get more information and hope the truth would reveal itself. Sighing, he was relieved when Jessica’s voice sounded in his earpiece.
“Shuttle bay is cleared for access.”
As he pushed down on the handle on the door, he heard Judge mutter. “Man, that woman is weird.”
Jessica was weird and familiar at the same time. The real Jessica was a woman he could only vaguely recall and she hadn’t been weird. Although he couldn’t remember her with any clarity, she’d been a good person, someone he’d trusted. Walking through the doors to the shuttle bay he was confronted by the bubble he’d only seen in space. At least fifty yards in diameter they were lucky the bay had been cleared of shuttles. Shimmering under the lights it dominated the room making the bay appear smaller than before.
“What is it?” He asked knowing no one could tell him. Hawk and Flak were exiting the back of the shuttle, and he turned to watch them as they walked toward him. “Did it put up any resistance?”
Hawk shook his head. “Nah, we were gentlemen. Candle lit dinner and she was all ours.”
Although Judge was peering under the curve of the beacon, he heard him mutter, “Damn pilots.”
Looking back at the beacon he couldn’t see himself on the shining surface. Despite appearing to be a large silver ball it didn’t work like a mirror. The shimmering effect was caused by something inside it. He was drawn to the movement and walked closer until his face was inches from the surface. Although it appeared to be wobbling like a bubble caught in the breeze it wasn’t moving against the floor. Just like everything else on the ship the wobbling motion was only an illusion.
“Do you think it’s a ship?” He asked.
“If it is then it’s a stupid one,” Hawk replied.
“Why do you say that?”
“It has no thrusters. There’s nothing to control its direction or speed.”
As if it was feeling insulted, the beacon whirred and a panel opened next to his face. Pulling away, he asked, “What the hell is that?
Judge already had his gun pointed at the small opening on the beacon, but he wanted to see what it would do next. Leaning forward and peering into hole, he said, “Don’t shoot it.”
Perhaps he should have told Judge to shoot it. In the next instant, he felt heat on his face. A light was shining directly into his one human eye, only it didn’t blind him. It continued to scan his body; the heat traveled down his chest and onto his legs.
Still pointing his rifle at it, Judge asked, “What’s it doing?”
“Checking me out.”
Whatever it found appeared to satisfy it. The heat and light went away and the panel whirred until it closed. Once the beacon was whole again a shattering crack started at the top. One jagged line led to the next and pieces of it began sloughing away. Chunks of curved glass clattered to the floor as if something was kicking its way out. Not wanting to be caught under the collapsing structure, he and the others pulled away until their backs were against the wall. The beacon was falling to pieces. Shards of the curved transparent surface fluttered to the floor and shattered on impact. Fragments from the broken bubble skittered in every direction.
“Is it hatching?” Hawk asked.
He wasn’t sure, but likening it to an egg breaking was a fair comparison. Raising his gun, he and Judge stood side by side ready to kill anything that might emerge. Although he couldn’t have said what he expected to find in the beacon, this wasn’t it. The floor was becoming littered with chunks of the outer shell.
Nothing living was born from the round beacon, but something was left standing. Inside it was a cylindrical device with a dozen rods at equal distance from what had been the edges of the ball. Clearly the device had been suspended and held in position inside the beacon. Made of a dark material it didn’t look metallic or biological. The surface was smooth and there were no lights.
Still aiming his rifle at the center, he walked toward it. “Hello.”
A loud whistling cut across the bay and echoed along the walls. When it stopped a new sound started bringing forward a memory he didn’t know he had. He was holding an old-fashioned radio, twisting the dial while he searched for a channel. With every turn, the radio scanned, picked up, and then lost frequencies. As it briefly landed on channels there was a mixture of whining squeals and actual words.
Unsure what to do next, he said, “Hello.”
“…safety….”
In between the undulating tones he could hear more words.
“…lost…”
“…Extrema…”
“…danger…”
“…Lunar…”
“Did it just say Lunar?” Judge asked.
Raising his hand for Judge to be quiet he tilted his human ear toward the device.
“…help…”
“…Tag…”
The sound stopped and the device appeared to shut down. Now silent, it was nothing more than a lump of useless metal propped up on three legs.
“Was that it?” Judge asked.
No doubt the beacon had meant to say more. Someone had been trying to send him a message, but the beacon had been damaged, possibly when Hawk and Flak had grabbed it in space. With no idea about how to retrieve the message they’d never know the full contents. What mattered most was someone else knew who he was. The only question was whether they were offering to help or asking him to save them.
Turning to look at Judge, he said, “It knows who I am.”
Judge nodded. “I heard your name too.”
“Was it offering help or asking for it?”
Sighing, Judge replied, “I don’t know.” Suddenly his face creased into a warm grin. “But it’s a good thing.”
“How do you figure that?”
“It means we’re not alone.”
CHAPTER TWENTY: Death Defying
“How is he?”
Lolo was leaning over Ash, who was lying on a bed inside the living quarters. Ash’s chest and stomach, stripped of his uniform, were exposed. Patches of blackened, raw and red flesh started at his neck and spread across the torso to his crotch. Although his chest and abdomen had been protected by armor, the explosion had blown it apart. The armor must have heated so badly it burned into his body. Lolo and Rok had peeled the thickened fabric away, taking chunks of Ash’s flesh with it. The worst of the damage was under his chin and across his collarbone. Bloody and torn, the flesh was already beginning to darken. Any other man would have been near death through shock alone, but Ash’s chest was rising and falling with a rhythm that defied the severity of his injuries.
Straightening, Lolo shrugged. “He’s not getting any better or worse.”
“Why is he unconscious?”
“I’m not sure he is. He’s just not responsive.”
“What’s the difference?”
“His breathing is fine, not labored or shallow. I’ve checked his heart rate and it’s steady, not erratic or low.” Leaning over him again, she pulled back his eyelid. “Ash! Wake up!”
When Ash didn’t move, she straightened. “There’s the problem. He has no eye movement. It’s like he’s not aware of me.”
Adjusting Ash’s head so the overhead light shone into his eye she pulled back the eyelid again. “The pupil should constrict in the light, but I’m getting no response.” Tapping his eyeball with her finger, she looked up at him. “I’m not even getting corneal blink reflex and that’s automatic.”
“Is he brain-dead?”
“I’d say yes, but I can’t see why. His injuries don’t tally with brain death.” Moving away from the bed, she asked, “Did he say anything after he was injured?”
He shook his head. “Not that I know of. Rok had him.” Looking across the empty room, h
e asked, “Where’s the squad?”
“They went to the armory. Rok wanted more ammo.”
“What for?”
“Bug fight.”
Judge was still examining the beacon in the shuttle bay with Flak and Hawk. He’d planned to find the squad and bring them up to date. Having left them in the living quarters he was annoyed they were planning to attack the fleas.
“They can’t do that. They’ll destroy the chamber.”
Sitting on the edge of a bed, Lolo looked up at him. “You’re a strange guy. You have no idea who you are, but you’re determined to save a bunch of people no one else wanted.”
“You wanted Mark.”
Her face twitched and then settled into its usual calm expression. “We weren’t supposed to be on the ship.” Sighing as if fed up with their situation, she flicked her head at Ash. “If you want me to help him then I need medical supplies. They’re supposed to be in one of the domes.”
“Do you think there are any, or did Lunar lie?”
“I don’t know, but if your guys take on the bugs there’ll be more injuries to deal with. You should at least look.”
He’d set himself three missions. One was to find the other squads, but he suspected they were either dead, or long gone. His second mission was to clear the ship of fleas, but he had no idea how they could do that without destroying the chamber. Robert was shutting down pods, but Lolo had said it was necessary, which meant he couldn’t stop him. Judge wanted to know who they really were and he was no closer to finding out. They couldn’t be in the army, otherwise they’d be wearing badges. Contract military weren’t trained or tracked in the same way as the regular army. He appeared to be operating feral and perhaps there was a good reason the army wouldn’t have him. Maybe they’d fired him for being a crappy commander.
Slumping onto the bed next to Lolo, he said, “I need to eradicate the fleas.”
“Shouldn’t Ash have a priority?”
With his chest rising and falling in a steady pattern, he wasn’t sure Ash needed any help. If he was brain-dead then there was nothing they could do for him. More importantly he couldn’t let his squad shoot up the chamber. If the fleas exploded, then not only would the chamber be lost, the entire ship could be compromised.
Giving him a sidelong look, Lolo asked, “Why are you hesitating?”
Meeting her gaze, he replied, “I’m not sure what we are and seeing him now isn’t helping.”
“What do you mean?”
“Jessica and Robert are bio machines and I think we’ve been modified as well.”
When she gave him a skeptical look, he stood and leaned into Ash’s body. Flesh had torn away from his chest, exposing white ribs. Several were so badly broken they cut into the lungs underneath. The blood pooling in his gut was already turning black. Ash shouldn’t have been able to breath, but his lungs were steadily moving under the torn flesh. Scabs had congealed on ripped arteries stopping his blood from draining away. Although Ash should be dead, his heart was beating and his lungs contracted and expanded with the steady rhythm of a sleeping man.
Pulling the glove from his right hand, he said, “Sorry, buddy.”
He pushed his fingers into Ash’s exposed gut; where the abdomen should have been warm, it was cool to the touch. Digging deeper, he felt something that shouldn’t have been inside any human. The two-inch in diameter tube ran from Ash’s hip line and disappeared into his chest cavity. He couldn’t see what it was without opening Ash from hip to heart and he had no intention of doing that. Removing his hand, it was red with fresh blood, but that wasn’t what was keeping Ash alive. Reaching into Ash’s throat he pushed his fingers inside the open wound and found more of the tube behind the trachea. Whatever was inside of Ash, it traveled the entire length of his body. If he guessed right then it was the real reason Ash wasn’t dead.
Wiping his hand on the sheet next to Ash’s body, he turned to face Lolo. “Not entirely human.” Looking back at Ash, he added, “And not entirely not human.”
“Are you a bio machine?”
They’d been modified, but not in the same way as Jessica and Robert. There was only one of him and he still thought for himself. Maybe that was the difference between them. Jessica and Robert weren’t autonomous, whereas he and the squad were. Ash wasn’t going to die of his injuries. Just as he’d been repaired and rebooted four times, Ash would be brought back to life. Ash’s protocols would be restored and he would wake again with no memory of being wounded.
Knowing he couldn’t be killed changed what he was willing to do. The chamber was infested with fleas and he wouldn’t stand down until they were gone. He might not remember who he was, or be able to find the other squads, but he could complete one of the missions he’d set for himself. If he achieved nothing else before being returned to his pod, he would destroy the fleas on the Prognatus.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Pay Day
Of the six men in his squad only Joker had the softened and padded features of a younger man, but now his puppy face was screwed up with disgust. “Eurgh. I’ve got a tube in me? Sounds gross.”
“You fished around inside Ash?” Rok asked, sounding horrified.
Judge was sitting on a bench inside the armory and he smirked. “Remind me not get wounded anywhere near you.”
Refusing to apologize for his actions, he said, “When you want answers you have to get your hands dirty.” Nodding to Judge, he added, “Now we know what we are, it’s time for payback.”
“I like that idea,” Rok said. “I’m sick of this shit. We don’t know what we’re doing here and this place is a shit hole.”
Flicking his thumb at Rok, Joker nodded enthusiastically. “I don’t usually agree with the mutt, but this time he’s right. We shouldn’t be here.”
“Why do you say that?” He asked.
Not waiting for Joker to reply, Judge said, “We’re trained better than your average contractor. I don’t know how we ended up here, but it’s not right.” Judge tilted his head at Lolo who was standing next to him. “She’s told us about a company we don’t think we’ve ever heard of that’s supposedly in control of the world, but I think I’d remember that.” Raising his left arm, Judge’s face creased with contempt. “I would never agree to someone chopping off my damned arm just to get a flashlight and a comms link to some Cogless crap.”
Judge’s words were fueling a growing anger inside him. Something was wrong. They were somewhere they weren’t supposed to be. Daisy was his daughter and he would never have left her, not willingly. Lisa had been Daisy’s mother. Although he might not remember his wife he knew they loved one another. Lisa and Daisy were the most important people in his life and he wasn’t even sure if they were alive. They might not be on the ship, but they could still be on Earth. What if they needed him? He might not remember who he was, but he wouldn’t have abandoned them. Someone had forced him to leave. Where were his family now? Had they been killed by a virus unleashed by an insanely ambitious corporation he couldn’t even remember? He was tired of flailing about and feeling useless. Someone was to blame for their situation and they would pay for what they’d done.
Echoing his thoughts, Hawk said, “We had real a life and someone took it away. I was a pilot. I might not remember doing it, but I fought for my country.” Looking across at Flak, he added, “We both did. We’ve flown together for years.”
Flak nodded enthusiastically. “I know you too, bro.” Pointing at Hawk, he grinned. “You only ever drink scotch and smoke cigars to impress women. Your fave drink is hard cider, and you hack up like an old woman when you smoke.”
Chuckling, Hawk nodded at Flak. “Like your game is any better. You’re no wing-man in a bar. If you weren’t such a good stick I’d have dumped your ugly ass.”
Seeing them sitting side by side on the bench Hawk and Flak could have been brothers. Lean, with long legs and classically handsome, both men moved in synch as if they’d worked as a team for a long time
. Judge was his combat buddy, someone he’d trusted without even knowing anything about him. The man had imprinted on his psyche leaving fingerprints that couldn’t be erased. Without his buddy, Ash, Rok was edgy and fidgety. Each pair of men knew one another, even if they couldn’t remember why. The only one who didn’t appear to have a partner was Joker. Joker had claimed jokers were wild, but he appeared to be a ring in, making him wonder what his role was on the squad. Hawk and Flak were pilots, Rok and Ash were grunts, he and Judge were the leads, so who was Joker?
With his face contorted in rage, Rok leapt to his feet. “Fuck this shit. Some asshole is playing us for fools.”
The tension in the room was rising and he was glad to see it. Judge looked up at him, his mouth turned down in anger. “What are your orders?”
It was a fair question and one without a clear answer. He couldn’t deliver the mission with what he had. Rok was now carrying a KLAW and they all had rifles and handguns. On their own they were dangerous enough, but combined with the combustible fleas they could tear the ship apart. The fleas didn’t appear smart enough to hold their fire, but he’d be forced to. A showdown in the chamber wasn’t an option. They’d lose the ship.
All he had left were six soldiers and two civilians. If they kept wandering around the ship like hapless tourists the fleas would pick them off until no one was left. He wasn’t even sure about Bart. According to Lolo, he’d been a significant player in Lunar. Maybe the man was spying on them. Jessica had said Lunar knew everything happening on the ship and maybe Bart was the reason why. Lolo was annoying, but at least she’d been loyal to the squad, sharing whatever she knew to help them. Nothing on the ship was as it seemed. He was shadow boxing and looking for problems where none might exist.
Crossing his arms over his chest, his head sunk low. “We’re being pulled around by whoever set up this ship.”
“You mean Lunar,” Judge replied.
“That’s what Lolo believes.”
So far, they’d only reacted to what they’d seen, but it wasn’t good enough. If they continued to be led around like bumpkins they’d end up back in their pods. When they woke again, they’d have no memory of what they’d learned. It made him wonder how often he’d been through the loop. Jessica said four times, but she couldn’t tell him what he’d learned during his previous tours. All he knew was he’d already lost four times and this was his fifth chance to take control.
