by Ben Hammott
Still out of breath, Henry fished the walkie-talkie from his pocket and passed it to Max.
“Yes, Jane, we're all okay. The old man's a bit short of breath, but he'll survive, and Theo's covered in blood from the creature he just killed, but apart from that we're fine. Over.”
Jane sighed with relief. “That's great news, Max. We'll see you inside. Over.”
“Ten-four.” Max pocketed the communication device and looked at Henry's pale complexion. “Are you okay? You're not going to have a heart attack or something?”
Henry shook his head. “I'm fine. My body's beginning to realize I'm not as young and fit as my brain believes I am.”
After Max and Theo helped Henry to stand, they moved to the side of the bridge where they could observe the Wraiths moving about on the far bank.
“We had a lucky escape,” said Max. “If Jane hadn't warned us when she did, we might not have made it to the bridge in time.”
Henry passed Theo his handkerchief.
Theo wiped the blood from his face and hands as best he could while he studied the Wraith that stared back at him from the opposite side of the river. Its long, almost mist-like, skeletal fingers and feet were tipped with long curved claws. Its head was an indistinct shape and seemed to waver and shimmer with its ghostly movements, as if a strong wind would cause it to dissipate like a cloud of smoke. “They seem just as ferocious as every other creature we've met aboard this ship.”
“The crew must have been a tough bunch to be able to handle all the horrors onboard,” commented Max, fascinated as much as he was terrified by the unusual ghostlike creatures.
“Or well armed,” said Henry.
Theo threw the blood-soaked hankie into the river.
A river monster appeared out of the murky depths and swallowed the bloodied piece of cloth. Its movements through the green tainted water stirred up a strong stagnant stench. Another river monster swam by with its eyes fixed upon them. They glimpsed other large dark shapes of things unrecognizable below the surface.
Max shivered involuntarily. “I wouldn't fancy falling in there.”
Theo nodded his agreement and indicated his blood stained clothing. “I'd like to wash this crap off, as I'm sure its scent will attract other creatures, but I'll wait until I find water that's not full of things eager to eat me.”
Henry turned his back on the river and gazed up at the towering edifice a short distance away. “The river seems to be a moat.”
“With those creatures roaming about, I can see why they'd need one,” said Theo.
Max turned his attention to the tower. Two massive pistons reached out from the top to connect to top of the bridge now in the raised position. “If the water's a moat, then that's a drawbridge!”
“To keep the creatures from crossing,” Henry stated. “Though why they'd bring creatures aboard that they needed to protect themselves against is another mystery.”
“This ship gets stranger with every new discovery,” said Theo.
Henry retrieved his flashlight and was relieved to find it still worked. “Let's keep moving. Though I've no idea what we'll find inside, I'm certain not all of it will be good. Stay quiet, alert and keep a lookout for anything we can use as weapons.”
“Problem is, Henry,” said Max, “Most of the creatures we've seen are much bigger than us, hence, I assume, the crew will be also. Any weapons we find will be to their scale and probably too unwieldy for us to use or control.”
“It's something we can ponder if we find anything. I'm not expecting to find shotguns or laser pistols, though if we do, perhaps two of us can use it together if it's too big. A knife is a knife whatever its size, even if we have to fix it to something to make a spear. We're brainy people, we'll think of something. Theo just killed one with a small knife, so I'm sure we'll manage.”
“Or die trying,” sighed Theo. He followed Max and Henry.
They approached the building and cautiously entered through the middle opening.
Though it was too dark to see the three men clearly, their lights allowed Jane, Lucy and Jack to follow their progress from the bridge to the entrance of the building until they disappeared inside.
Jane slipped the walkie-talkie into a pocket. “I hope our journey's less eventful.”
“I'm sure it will be.” Jack glanced over the edge of the balcony. The ground was a long way below. “The creatures can't reach us up here.”
Howls and shrieks filled the huge room from the swarms of Wraiths roaming the landscape like flocking birds. They split off into groups and circled the thorny trees a few times before heading over to the river. With obvious caution, they scrambled down the short bank, drank the water and rushed away. Those that had visited the river hurried back to the trees and emptied the mouth-stored water into bowl formations growing around the trunks.
Lucy was astonished by the creatures' behaviour. “They're watering the trees.”
When a sufficient amount of water had been deposited, blue blooms sprouted from the tips of the branches. The more water fed the trees, the larger the blooms became.
Jack aimed his gaze at the commotion coming from the moat.
Three of the large amphibious monsters exploded from the water. Each snatched one of the water-collecting Wraiths in its jaws before disappearing beneath the surface with their prize. Though those closest to the attack jumped out of harm's way, the remainder continued to collect water. The watering of the trees and the attacks that saw nine more of their kind become food for the river monsters continued for ten minutes.
The three astonished onlookers stared down at the Wraiths positioned around the trees staring up at the blue blooms, which had swelled to the size of a football, too high for them to reach. An excited murmur spread through the cavern when the blooms glowed. The Wraiths gazes bathed in blue light focused on an area high on the thick trunk. A tendril snaked out and grew into an orange elongated tube about nine inches long, and then pulsed brightly. The protruding thorns adorning the trunk retracted. Shrieks and scuffling broke out from each individual group that ended with one of their number shoved toward the tree.
It was with nervous apprehension the forced volunteers approached the trees.
Jane, Lucy and Jack, captivated by the Wraiths' excited behaviour, focused on the group nearest them.
The lone creature paused a short distance from the tree and turned its head to gaze around at the surrounding horde. Ferocious snarls and clawed talons swiped the air to indicate what would happen if it failed in the purpose it had been chosen to perform. Accepting its fate, it leapt onto the trunk and climbed up to the bright lure. When it was within reach of its mouth, it hesitantly gripped the bloom in its jaws and sucked out the orange substance. Its eyes glazed over and its expression changed to one of euphoria. The shrivelled tendril snapped back. The blue blooms glow intensified into an almost white light, eliciting a crescendo of excited shrieks that filled the cavernous space. Sharp thorns shot out from the tree to pierce the unwilling volunteer's body. The spikes expanded and contracted with a sucking sound as they siphoned every drop of fluid from the body of the sacrificed creature. When the spikes retracted to release its hold on the unfortunate creature's corpse, its dry husk flopped to the ground.
Like the popping of champagne corks, the blue blooms ejected from the bush. Their trajectories were eagerly tracked by the waiting creatures. The blooms exploded in midair to shower the Wraiths with hundreds of tennis-ball sized globes of blue substance. Some were plucked from the air, others snatched from the ground. All were eagerly devoured. As each consumed its prize, its body glowed with a blue light, outlining its internal bones, blood vessels and organs and then amazingly they swelled as flesh grew on their bodies and limbs. After a few moments their body glow faded. Once the feeding frenzy was over, the creatures, no longer with the appearance of wraiths, relaxed and wandered around the cavern, nuzzling and sniffing others of their kind. Some mated, others played and some fought.
Jane exha
led loudly. “Wow! That was without doubt one of the most amazing spectacles I've ever witnessed.”
Lucy was in total agreement. “On Earth we have species of plants, animals and insects that depend on each other for survival, but nothing to rival the beneficial relationship we just observed.”
“It's a possibility these creatures are guard dogs to protect whatever is inside the building against the monsters we encountered in the rest of the spaceship, or they might be food for the crew, much like cows, sheep and pigs are for us,” said Jack. “It would make sense to have a self-replenishing live food stock if the crew travelled vast distances for a prolonged time.”
Jane stared at the intermingling creatures. “Yes, but our livestock isn't vicious and they don't have claws.”
Jack shrugged. “Maybe the crew enjoys the thrill of the hunt.”
“A crew which we've yet to set eyes upon,” reminded Lucy.
Jack glanced over at the building across the moat. “That might soon change.”
He led them along the walkway.
“I wonder where Eli and Richard are,” said Lucy.
Jack remembered Eli's scream shortly before they fled into the forest room. That Eli was almost certainly dead was a realization he kept to himself. Though Richard's fate was unknown, he thought it likely the man would survive; people like him normally did. “Hopefully we'll meet up with them soon. They might even be inside that building.”
Jane shot him a doubtful look, but kept quiet. Unvoiced, her concern might be proved wrong.
They continued along the walkway until they reached the door at its end. It slid open with a push of a button to reveal a corridor. After a cautious look to check it was free of monsters, they entered and the door slid shut behind them.
The Mimic faded into view when the three strangers had disappeared through the entrance. It was pleased. Things were going according to plan and they were heading in the right direction. She'd been observing the new arrivals, but the noises they made were unintelligible. Though she could repeat their sounds with ease, she didn't know their meaning. If she was to escape from her prison, it was important she understood them, which is why they'd been herded to the front of the ship. Soon she would know everything she needed to. She morphed into a Wraith, scrambled up the side of the construction, moved toward an opening in its elevation and disappeared inside.
Tombs
RICHARD GASPED AND STAGGERD back so abruptly he tripped to the floor. The ghastly, monstrous face, whose gaping mouth stretched twice his height, highlighted in his torch beam stared at him, but after a few fear-filled moments, he realized it wasn't another hideous monster out to kill him, but an inanimate carving. Feeling slightly less anxious, he climbed to his feet and aimed the light along the passage. Nine more creepy heads positioned along the walls at various angles didn't inspire confidence that he was out of danger. He stepped forward to touch the one he thought a moment ago was about to swallow him, and tapped its gaping wide lip. A hollow metallic boom echoed along the corridor. He had no doubt the rough rock that formed the walls and curved above him was also metal fashioned to imitate stone.
Another cautious step nearer the mouth allowed his light to penetrate the darkness within. A short set of steps led up to a chamber. A quick examination of the next two in line revealed identical steps. Not for the first time his reluctance to enter was pushed aside; he needed to find a way out of this hellish lower level. The rising steps might provide that escape. After snapping off a couple of photos of the heads for his collection, he took a deep breath in an attempt to pluck up what meager courage he could scrape from his now severely limited reserves and stepped into the nearest mouth.
As he climbed the steps, he noticed the headlight beam jumping up the treads with each cautious step seemed less bright. He sighed. Does this nightmare never end?
Lacking any spare batteries to replenish the ones draining before his eyes, he would be forced to wander through these nightmare rooms in total darkness.
The once white light took on a yellow hue when he peeked above the top step into a chamber. After a scan of the room revealed nothing obvious waiting to leap upon him and take his life, he stepped into the room and gazed at the nearest object; a large sarcophagus. Four similar were positioned around the edges of the room. It was a tomb.
An examination of one revealed it to be of actual stone. The worn edges of the intricate design and its aged appearance hinted they were once stored elsewhere, a place where weather and time could affect the stone. The name of the alien inside, though clearly marked on the thick, wide lid in an incomprehensible group of alien letters, remained a mystery to the man staring at it.
Recognizing another photo opportunity to add to his valuable collection, Richard snapped off a few shots of the tomb. He turned his attention to one of the sarcophagi. Its inhabitant might reveal the appearance of the crew or the ship's designers. They had to be important to have been brought aboard the ship and have tombs specially constructed to house them; maybe they held great leaders or even royalty. There might be something valuable entombed with the body. However, an attempt to lift or slide open one of the lids failed; it was too large and heavy for one man to move.
Richard's gaze around the chamber alighted on an opening in the back wall. A closer examination revealed a passage sloping up. He entered to discover what horror it would lead him to next.
Prepared to flee back the way he had come if danger threatened, Richard cautiously opened the door at the top of the slope. Blue light invaded the darkness of the passage he poked his head into. He glanced both ways along the corridor. As all seemed danger free, he stepped out. The curved corridor hinted it was circular, and that if he continued to walk in one direction, he would end up back where he started. For no particular reason, he headed right. Believing the doors set in the right side of the passage would lead to the tombs, he ignored them. The door he found in the left wall, he opened. When nothing howled, shrieked or attacked him, he stepped into a round room.
Though it was difficult to work out the room's function, it was the most technologically advanced room Richard had seen since boarding the spaceship. He thought it might be a control room. There was no hint of faux metal carved rock, bone structures or any hint of the medieval architecture he'd encountered in the bowels of the ship. It was the first room that matched his vision of an alien spaceship, though the tree growing through the floor, which had spread its gnarly branches out to entwine nearby objects, did ruin the illusion slightly.
The door swished closed behind him when he stepped forward to explore. Metal pillars, positioned around the room, rose four yards before angling off to connect with the curved walls. The pillars were not straight edged, but organic in form, wider at the base and covered with tubes, grills and shaped pieces of metal. The colour theme of the whole room and everything in it were muted shades of purples and pinks. Even the floor was patterned with these colours.
A raised central area, accessed by a few steps, was ringed with organically curved pillars supporting a circular roof set with lights bright enough to banish the darkness from the furthest edges of the room. Four flat protrusions fixed to the roof stretched out at a sloped angle to join to the ceiling, also adorned with similar eye-pleasing details of an organic nature.
Except for the stairs, the room's architecture was devoid of any straight edges. The effect was one of calmness, something Richard welcomed after his recent hectic escapades. Hopefully, it was sign things were changing.
Before he satisfied his curiosity to explore the room further, he searched in the rucksack for spare batteries. His fear of wondering through the spaceship in pitch blackness was something he wished to avoid at all costs. Though he found no batteries, he did find another headlamp. A check revealed it was a lot brighter than his current one. He put the failing one in his rucksack and placed the fresh one on his head, ready to switch on when needed.
He stepped around the tree that protruded through a panel in the floor it
had raised when it forced its way through, breaking one of its dead branches in the process.
The consoles below the screens positioned around the edge of the room were covered in controls, buttons, levers, unlit lights and sliding knobs that reminded him of a cross between a musician's recording deck and an aircraft cockpit. Though he pressed, moved and slid various controls, the lack of any power failed to produce any reactions. Large dust speckled chairs were positioned at each console. Richard again wondered what had happened to the crew and if any were still alive.
He climbed the steps and gazed around the raised platform. A large rectangle table with curved corners, whose top was level with Richard's chest, was positioned in the center and took up most of the floor space. Around the edge of the table an angled control panel absent any obvious power was littered with buttons and small screens.
Curiosity bade Richard to touch the purple top. He was surprised when his finger sunk into the jelly-like fluid. It oozed back into the small hole made by his inquisitive finger when he jerked it out. Though he wondered as to its function, his primitive brain when faced with such an alien object arrived at no likely solution, so he turned his attention to surveying the rest of the strange room.
A sloping walkway curved up to a balcony edged with a balustrade. He climbed up. A door stood at each end. In the hope that less life threatening challenges would be presented on the other side of the ship, he headed for the one that took him away from the tomb side of the vessel.
The Pilot
THE FLASHLIGHTS HELD BY Henry, Theo and Max roamed over the thick metal door that stood ajar at the end of the short entrance corridor.
Henry shone his light through the door gap and searched for danger. “From what little I can see, it seems safe.”
“Forgive me, Henry, if your observation doesn't fill me with confidence,” said Theo, glumly. The strain was beginning to affect him. “This ship has been one death defying situation after another, and I'm not expecting that to change any time soon, however safe it currently looks beyond that door.”
