Dead Force Box Set

by S D Tanner

  “By using the latest micro tech, we are injecting these soldiers with info-chips. These chips will track their location and condition. The chip will affect the central nervous system to improve targeting. It will work in conjunction with comms gear implanted in the left forearm to ensure they will always have access to communications and information.”

  He watched Jessica use the device to fire something into the back of his head. Without thinking he immediately ran his hand across his neck. Whatever she’d implanted had left no scar. On the screen, Jessica was helping him put a glove over his left hand and an eye patch over his right eye. He was wearing the glove and patch, and looked the same as he did now. According to the footage these items had been worn like clothing, but running his nail under the rim of the eye patch, he realized it was now fused to his skin.

  Judge held up his left arm, shaking his head at it. “We can’t remove this gear.”

  “There’s more,” Joker replied and he didn’t sound happy about it.

  “In a ground-breaking agreement with the Pentagon and the Chief of Staff, Project Centurion has already chipped over half a million soldiers with this latest technology.”

  “Damn,” Judge muttered. “They took over the army.”

  “Who did?” He asked.

  Raising his hand, Joker said, “Just keep watching.”

  The screen shifted again until it showed the squad standing in the alcoves. Instead of the overexcited sales voice, another one had taken over the commentary.

  “These soldiers were killed in action. With the combination of viruses and bacteria implanted while they were still alive, their bodies went into suspended animation, which has prevented cellular decay. As agreed, their bodies have been returned to Lunar to remove the chips.”

  Shifting again, the screen showed his body lying on a metal trolley. No consideration had been given to his comfort. Waxy and pale, his eyes were closed and his head had been shaved. His entire torso was open and pinned back so his organs were exposed. Hands were pulling out the organs so they remained attached by long thin tubes. A tubular rod, just like the one he’d felt inside of Ash’s chest, was then inserted into his gut. The surgeon, or rather the mortician, was forcing the tube under his rib cage by twisting it from side to side. It was shoved inside him with such force his body rocked on the metal base. Watching his corpse being abused tapped into a primal rage he didn’t know he had. His fists clenched and his upper lip curled into a sneer.

  “The reanimation process works by interacting with the virus and bacteria to restart the brain functions.”

  As he moved to the top of the bed he was shocked when the doctor twisted his head to the side. The entire left side of his skull was missing. Instead of seeing the gray mass of his brain there was a dark metal cover like the one over his eye. The surgeon grunted as he forced his fingers inside the skull to attach the end of the rod to something he couldn’t see.

  “The brain cells are intact. We remove fifty percent of the brain and replace it with automated controls. The central rod replaces the function of the spinal cord. By retaining a high percentage of the biological brain, thoughts are processed rapidly, but the computer controls the content.”

  “Are we zombies?” Rok asked in disbelief.

  According to the cold and clinical voice he and the rest of the squad had died in combat, but Lunar Horizon had thought ahead. They’d prepared their bodies for reanimation by inserting a chip with viruses and bacteria. Once they had been killed in combat, the reanimation process involved replacing their spinal cord with a tube that was connected to their brain. They had died and were still dead, so technically he supposed they were zombies, but that was the least of their problems. Lunar Horizon had taken ownership of their bodies, meaning they were no more than expendable assets. The army had sent his body to the labs at Lunar Horizon to remove the chip. It had probably been a contractual agreement and the army had no idea Lunar were modern day body snatchers. Instead of sending his body home they must have kept it. Surely the army would have demanded his remains be returned. How had they kept his body? His question was answered before he even had a chance to ask it.

  The screen changed again to show a flag draped coffin being unloaded from an aircraft. Lisa was dressed in black and standing on the tarmac. Her head bent lower as she watched his coffin on the moving belt. While tears ran down her cheeks a man he didn’t recognize put his arm around her shoulders. He finally understood she hadn’t been the one who’d left. She hadn’t died and neither had Daisy. Lunar Horizon had made a fool of them. Lisa was crying over a coffin that didn’t even contain his body.

  “Altered remains are sent to the relatives of the deceased. Recipients are advised to keep the coffins closed to avoid contamination.”

  He must have been shown the footage before, otherwise how could he remember seeing Lisa in mourning? Lunar had tricked the army into handing over their bodies, only to reanimate them to become their puppet soldiers.

  “When did this happen?” He asked in a flat tone.

  “Hard to say,” Joker replied. “But it wasn’t recent.”

  On screen the doctor was sawing off his left arm with as much finesse as he would a branch from a tree. The voiceover was continuing, but he’d already learned what he needed to know. Out of his three missions he at least had an answer to one question. Although he still didn’t know who they were, what had been done to them was more than clear. Nothing on board the Ark was as it seemed. Sleepers weren’t colonists. The Arks weren’t heading toward a new horizon. Lunar Horizon was well named. The only interests on Lunar’s horizon were their own. Despite being angry with Lunar Horizon relief flooded through him. He hadn’t abandoned Lisa and Daisy when they’d needed him most. For all he knew they were still alive and well on Earth. Even as he thought it, he didn’t believe it. No one knew how long they’d really been in space. It could have been years, or even centuries.

  Muscles, which he hadn’t known were tensed, released until he found himself slouching into his chair. Rok had just called them zombies and maybe that was a good thing. It meant he had nothing left to lose. As his mind relaxed a new coldness settled inside him. A dead man was a dangerous one. How much of his brain was left? What part of him had they taken? The questions swirled through the half a brain that he assumed was still under his control. Learning he was one of the undead bothered him less than he expected. He’d already lost everyone who’d mattered to him so what was one more body on the pile?

  “Why aren’t they in control of us?” He asked.

  “What makes you think they aren’t?” Judge countered.

  It was a fair question and he couldn’t prove his answer. He didn’t believe anything was controlling his thinking, but were his thoughts his own? Since waking, he’d felt a deep commitment to saving the sleepers. Was that his thought or only his programming? Memories had surfaced unbidden since he’d woken, but now he wondered if they were they random or directed. He was fed up with feeling off balance. It was as if Lunar Horizon had deliberately left a trail of misleading breadcrumbs for him to follow. Every time he thought he understood, there was yet another twist proving he didn’t. It all added up to feeling out of control.

  Joker interrupted his thoughts. “The brain isn’t that simple. Look at Jessica. She doesn’t want to be controlled by protocols. I just had to ask her the right questions.”

  For the first time since he’d seen her on the Ark, Jessica smiled. It was warm and genuine in a way that animated her usually blank face. “Neural pathways are created whenever we think about something in a new way.”

  “Where is your brain, Jessica?”

  Her face became blank again and Joker shook his head. “Don’t push her, Tag. Her hold on independent thinking isn’t good. The controls yank her back.”

  Is that what the thing in their brain did to them? Could they be pulled back under Lunar’s control? Were they being played by a vicious cat with an injured mouse. He doubt
ed Joker or Jessica knew and it was a risk he would have to live with. While he appeared to have control of himself he intended to make good use of his time. Lunar’s fleas couldn’t have the sleepers without a fight. He would destroy the Ark before letting them eat the people alive. Anything he could do to thwart their plans, whatever they really were, he would do.

  Rising to his feet, he nodded to Joker. “Good work. We need to test the flea.”

  Also standing, Rok asked, “That’s it?”

  “What else do you need to know? We’re dead and we have half a brain.”

  Also rising to his feet, Judge nodded at Rok. “That was always true for you, Rok.”

  “You don’t know me to say that,” Rok replied. “For all you know I was a genius before they took half my brain.”

  Hawk and Joker laughed and even he couldn’t stop a wide grin from forming. “Seriously, Rok. You’re a KLAW gunner. They don’t give that job to the sharpest tools.”

  Grabbing the tentacle on his trussed flea, Rok dragged it through the door leading from the Bridge. Both he and flea sounded as equally unhappy. “You guys are assholes.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Killer Instinct

  Although the habitat didn’t have gravity, the oxygen and pressure were good. Despite this, Judge was carrying a spacesuit as they walked along the tube leading to the dome. Even stripped down, a suit still weighed over a hundred pounds. A slightly-built woman like Lolo wouldn’t have been able to walk in one. She didn’t need the suit for zero gravity, but whatever was inside the tubes they’d taken from the lockers might kill her. Having just learned they were already dead meant he, Judge and Rok hadn’t bothered to suit up. Hawk had left the Bridge and was on his way to the shuttle bay to meet with Flak. Still hoping to learn more from Jessica, Joker had stayed on the Bridge.

  Rok seemed surprisingly undisturbed to learn he was one of the undead. Whistling to himself, he was strutting along the corridor as if he’d just won the lottery. Seeing Rok’s apparent lack of concern made him wonder if their brains weren’t working too well. His own reaction had been less shocked as disinterested. He was a man without a past to worry about, or anything to dictate what he did next. Anyone who had ever known them thought they were dead.

  In an odd way, being dead-alive and off the grid was freeing. Even though half his brain was missing he’d never know what he’d lost. It was difficult to miss something he knew nothing about. Although he could accept his death and reanimation, thinking about Lisa and Daisy brought forward a cold rage he didn’t think would ever go away. Once Lunar brought him back to life they could have sent him home. Daisy needed a father and Lunar had no right to take him away from her.

  “What do you think is keeping us alive?” He asked.

  With his mouth downturned, Judge replied, “According to the vid we’re not alive.”

  “I feel alive.”

  “Are you sure about that? Do you know what being dead feels like?”

  “That’s a stupid question. I think therefore I am.”

  “But are you thinking like you always did, or have you changed?”

  “Does it matter?”

  Judge gave him a sidelong look as if he were trying to assess how serious he was being. “We’ve been screwed over.”

  “I know.”

  “Your wife and daughter think you died. Lunar robbed them of you.”

  He should have felt outraged, but all he had was a quiet confidence. Lunar would pay for what they’d done to them. “There’ll be time for payback.”

  “How do you plan to get back at them? We don’t even know where we are.”

  He didn’t have a ready answer, or at least not one he could justify. Like pulling on a thread, they were slowly revealing the truth about the so-called Ark, but the story was far from done. There was still more to learn about their situation. He felt sure that, providing he was patient, the truth would out.

  They’d reached the airlock between the corridor and the habitat dome. Turning to Lolo, he said, “Suit up.”

  As Rok helped her into the gear, she complained, “Why don’t you have to suit up? For all you know whatever is in that bag could kill you.”

  “I’m already dead, honey.” Running his hand over his bald head, he added with a wink, “Maybe it’ll make my hair grow back.”

  Fitting the helmet over her head, Lolo replied archly, “Certainly won’t make your brain grow back.”

  Despite having a smart mouth, Lolo’s hardiness was growing on him. Considering she’d woken abandoned in space and then lost her partner, she was proving to be resilient. He wouldn’t have described her as a nice person, more like someone with enough attitude to survive anything. It was a trait he could respect.

  Turning to Judge and Rok, he said, “Stand back.”

  They didn’t need to enter the dome to release the contents of the tubes. All they had to do was tether themselves to the platform and throw the flea inside. Grabbing hold of the tentacle from Rok, he wrapped his arm around Lolo’s waist. The flea hadn’t stopped whimpering and now its cries sounded resigned. Although he didn’t think he was a cruel man he didn’t have any sympathy for the creature. Without an obvious face or any consistent shape, it was hard to relate. All he knew was the flea had only grown thanks to the lives of the sleepers. That alone made it an enemy in his mind, even if it hadn’t been the one to create the problem. Lunar were responsible and, in a way, the flea was as much a victim as they were.

  “Do you know what to do?”

  “Open the bag and break open the tubes.”

  His gun was strapped to his right arm ready to fire, not that he expected to. There was nothing inside the dome other than large pipes full of plants and insects. While tethered to the wall at the entrance, he planned to push the flea into zero gravity and break open the tubes. If any of the viruses worked then they would open the other door and flood the ship.

  “Jessica, open the door.”

  Stepping inside the entrance his feet immediately lifted from the floor. With his arm around Lolo, he managed to clip her harness to a hook on the wall. The tightly strapped flea had floated into the middle of the entrance way.

  “Jessica, close the main door and open the one to the dome.”

  When the door opened he gently pushed the flea toward it. It was enough to make it move swiftly through the opening.

  “Lolo, open the bag.”

  Struggling to open the bag with her heavily gloved hands, her feet drifted over her head. With his own feet drifting in the air, he reached across and pulled at the bag. While he tried to free one of the tubes from inside the bag something latched onto his ankle. Looking up at his foot in surprise, a translucent limb was curling and tightening its grip. His view of the habitat was blocked by fleas gathering at the entrance. They hadn’t seen a single flea inside the dome during their last visit, but now it appeared to be full of them.

  “Judge, the habitat is infested!”

  Tentacles were reaching around the edges of the walls, weaving and waving unsteadily as they felt for their target. Just as he lifted his gun arm intending to fire into the cluster of fleas, Lolo shrieked, “The viruses!”

  The bag with the viruses drifted across the entrance until it collided with a tentacle exploring the empty space. As if eager to learn the contents of the bag, it wrapped around it. One moment the bag was there and the next it had been snatched away. The tentacles were followed by fat bodies pushing their way inside the airlock. He hadn’t forgotten what it felt like to be suffocated by the squishy body of a flea and he pointed his gun at it. A bullet would cut through the flea, never stopping until it met something with more resistance than a pillow.

  Lolo’s screams pierced through his earpiece. Wrapped in more than one tentacle she was also being torn away. If he didn’t act fast enough she would be dragged inside the dome where there were hundreds of fleas. It would only take one to explode and she would die. If it set off a chain reaction then the
entire dome would be lost and him with it. He had to grab Lolo and open the inner door to the ship. They could get back inside and deal with any fleas that made it through before Jessica closed the door. While he ran through his options, Lolo was already being pulled through the entranceway and into the dome.

  Launching from the wall he collided with her. Grabbing her by the arm, something was pulling her away from him. Her tether was holding, but she was hanging outside the entranceway. There were so many fleas inside the dome he couldn’t see the habitat. As more fleas gathered around the entranceway he lost sight of Lolo. The fleas were wrapped around one another with their tentacles flaring toward them. Lolo’s screams were growing louder by the second and his decision was made.

  “Short range. Five round bursts. Fire! Fire! Fire!”

  Bullets ripped through the bulging bodies. Blood burst in wide bubbles from the holes and the fleas flew backwards. A shrieking sound rose in a pitch to match Lolo’s cries. The screaming wasn’t loud enough to mask the sharp sound of something cracking. His bullets must have cut through the walls on the dome. In less than a second he would be sucked into space. Cursing himself for being too cocky and not wearing a spacesuit he grabbed Lolo’s tether. When nothing happened, he held onto the edge of the entranceway and tugged her toward him. In a suit now red with blood, Lolo emerged from the howling transparent mass.

  “Shut up! You’re fine!”

  The translucent mass was breaking up and fleas were moving in every direction. Still holding onto Lolo’s tether, she slammed into him, throwing them both against the door to the main corridor.

  “Tag, what’s happening in there?” Judge shouted through his earpiece.

  “The fleas must have found a way inside. I think I’ve shot out the main wall of the dome.”

  “Relax. You can’t have or you’d be in space by now.”