The Planetsider

by G J Ogden

  The comlink crackled and fizzed back into life, but the voices and artificial sounds were gone. The words ‘Power Levels Critical. Emergency Life Preservation Initialised’ were spoken by a robotic-sounding voice, the same voice that had announced the launch warnings in the hanger pod on the planet. He felt a stabbing pain in his neck from a needle and the tell-tale hiss of something being injected into his blood stream. His vision started to darken and his mind fogged over. He felt movement, not from his suit, but from the inertia of the great vessel surging forward. He tried again to move his neck and arms, but could not. The red lights continued to flash in front of him as his eyes closed involuntarily and he slipped into darkness.

  The arrow-shaped craft cut a path through the debris that had surrounded it for generations, breaking free from its orbital graveyard and on through the darkness of space towards an object that was a mere dot of light in the distance. An object as old as the ship itself – the orbiting space station belonging to Global Power Security.

  chapter 23

  Ethan opened his eyes. His temples pulsed and his head felt woolly and sore. He was still wearing the UEC flight suit he’d been given before embarking on the mission, and was sitting, slightly reclined, in a large, black chair with a padded headrest, in a small, grey room, with just a strip light above. The room felt unfamiliar and Ethan felt fear start to overwhelm him as he realised he was not on the UEC moon base. This was somewhere else.

  His heart began to race and adrenalin surged through his body. He remembered the mission, the intruder, and being attacked. He jolted himself upright and then froze. In front of him was a tall, thin woman with dark red hair that fell arrow-straight to shoulder level. Her thin red lips were pressed into a patient smile. She was middle-aged and dressed in a formal-looking, plain grey suit that neither flattered nor obscured her figure. She stood with her hands held together in front of her, displaying a calm serenity that was the exact opposite of Ethan's near overwhelming anxiousness.

  “Hello,” she said. Her tone was warm and casual.

  Ethan could hear the blood pounding in his ears. “Hello,” he replied nervously, after a short pause.

  “You must be tired of waking up in strange places and being confronted by strange new people,” she said, and her smile widened. Her delivery was sociable, as if she was talking to someone she already knew.

  “I suppose I’m getting used to it,” replied Ethan, honestly, heart still racing, but no longer gripped with panic. The woman did not seem a threat. He looked around again; there was no-one else in the room. He wasn’t restrained, and other than the throbbing headache, he didn’t appear to be injured. There was a door to his left, closer to him than it was to the woman, and Ethan considered making a run for it.

  “There is nothing to stop you leaving, if that’s what you’re thinking,” said the woman openly.

  This caught Ethan off guard. “Erm, I wasn’t, I was just…”

  “It’s okay,” said the woman. “In such a situation, my first reaction would be fight or flight too. I’m just glad you’re tending more towards the ‘flight’ option.”

  Ethan almost laughed at the joke, but despite the woman’s attempts to make him feel at ease, he was still far from it. “Running would be pretty pointless,” he said. “I don’t even know where I am.”

  “You’re on a habitat orbiting the planet,” the woman replied without hesitation. “Long ago, it was the headquarters of Global Power Security, which you have no doubt heard of.” Curiously, it wasn’t phrased as a question, and so Ethan chose not to answer. “You are in no danger here, young Planetsider, so please, relax and regain your strength.”

  Ethan looked at her intently. She had remained entirely still, in the same position, smiling warmly at him. He was reminded of Archer, but there was something different about this woman’s smile, something more earnest. He began to feel more in control, and as the instinctive fear response subsided, it was replaced with a confidence, and anger. “Who are you? And why am I here? How am I here?” demanded Ethan. As he heard the words in his own ears, he was surprised at how forceful and composed he sounded. Despite the woman’s reassurances, he still felt under threat.

  “My name is Diana,” the woman said. “You are here because circumstances unfortunately compelled us to act, in order to prevent you from retrieving the stranded vessel for the UEC. You got here on that same ship, which was recovered by one of our pilots. A regrettable last resort, I’m very sorry to say.”

  “A last resort, what does that mean?” wondered Ethan.

  “Ah...” said Diana, sombrely. “To answer that question will require a little more explanation. But please, this is not an interrogation; let’s leave. We can walk and talk, okay?”

  Ethan studied her face. The thin smile and high cheeks, framed by the straight red hair were certainly striking. And then he noticed her green eyes. Piercing, intelligent, sincere eyes. For some reason, this woman engendered trust, more so than anyone he had ever met, even Maria. Then he suddenly remembered Maria. He tensed up, like a coiled snake.

  “I need to get back!” he said, urgently. “A friend… she’s in danger!”

  He sprang to his feet and advanced quickly at the woman. Diana uncoupled her hands and stepped back a pace or two as he approached, but she remained composed and did not attempt to fend him off, or even appear frightened, even when Ethan grabbed her by the shoulders.

  “They need something from that ship to cure her!” Ethan blurted out. He held her tightly. “That’s all I wanted. Keep the ship, I don’t care, but please send me back with the equipment they need. She will die!”

  “It’s okay,” said Diana in a soft, hushing tone. She took Ethan’s hands, removed them from her shoulders and then held them firmly together with hers. She looked calmly and reassuringly into Ethan’s eyes. “Don’t worry about your friend, she will be fine,” she said, sounding sincere. Ethan still looked desperately at her, and tried to plead, but she did not let him interrupt. “I know you have no reason to trust me,” continued Diana. “But, in time, hopefully I will earn that trust. For now, I promise you, on my honour – on my own life – that your friend is not going to die.”

  “But, how can you know…” urged Ethan, frustrated by the cryptic response.

  “I promise I will explain everything,” Diana interrupted again. “But, please, understand this… You are not a prisoner here, and I wish no harm to you, or anyone else, including your friend.”

  Ethan let go of her hands and stepped back. He looked over at the door again. “I don’t think you’re lying to me,” he said, “but I can’t risk that you might be. I need to get back.” He looked over at the door again.

  “If you want to leave, I won’t stop you,” said Diana. “I will even make sure you get back to the UEC base, if you so wish. But at least give me a chance to explain why we brought you here.”

  “I don’t have time!” said Ethan. “She has only a few days, at most.”

  Diana thought for a moment. “How long exactly, do you remember?”

  Ethan threw up his hands. “I don’t know!” he said, exasperated. “They told me seventy-two hours, but I don’t know how long ago that was.”

  Diana turned around walked over to a worn metal cabinet that had been obscured from Ethan’s view up until now. On it was a device on a strap, which he recognised. Kurren had put it on him before he got into his EV suit. “This is your PVSM,” said Diana. “A Personal Vital Signs Monitor.” She threw it over to Ethan and he caught it. On the display was a screen, with a number that was steadily increasing. It read 21:03:02. “Twenty-one hours,” said Diana. “That’s how long since your ‘mission’ started.”

  Ethan thought back to the medical area and his conversation with Maria’s sister. “Seventy-two hours” he said. “She had seventy-two hours. But I spent some time training too, I don’t know how long. It felt like days, I know it wasn’t that long really, but it was certainly hours.”

  Diana nodded. “Then give
me just twenty-four hours,” she said. “twenty-four hours here, as my guest, and if you still want to leave, I will personally make sure you get back long before your seventy-two hours is up.”

  Ethan considered this. “With the equipment?” he asked. “The medical device they need?”

  “There is no need for any equipment,” said Diana, but before Ethan could question why, she added, “But yes, you can take anything you want from the ship.”

  Diana had piqued Ethan’s curiosity. She was not threatening, and had given him no reason to distrust her, besides having someone violently abduct him. Yet, there was something about her that felt real. Something that made him want to find out more. “Okay,” he said, “twenty-four hours, and no more.”

  “Thank you,” said Diana, sincerely. There was relief, also. “I say again, you are not a prisoner,” continued Diana, “so I want you to know that during your time here, there is nowhere that is off limits.” There was heavy emphasis on ‘nowhere’. Ethan remembered back to what Archer had told him about off limits areas on the moon base, and Ethan knew this was not a random statement. But if it was deliberate then why?

  “I don’t trust you,” said Ethan, plainly.

  “You have no reason to, yet,” Diana replied, still calm and composed.

  “No, not because we’ve just met,” said Ethan, pressing the point. “Or because you abducted me and brought me here against my will...” he added pointedly, which caused Diana to raise an eyebrow. “But because you know more than you’re letting on. The mention of ‘off-limits’ areas, for example.” It was a gamble to press Diana so soon, but Ethan was fed up with playing cloak-and-dagger games. He wanted to see if he could find any chink in her intellectual armour.

  She smiled broadly and laughed, which was not the reaction Ethan had expected. But again it was a warm and genuine laugh; he sensed no hint of malice. “This is just my attempt at subtlety,” Diana said. “I don't want to overwhelm you. But, if you prefer, I will talk plainly – I would actually prefer that. But you may not like, or believe, what I have to say. Nevertheless, it will be the truth.”

  Ethan took a deep breath and rubbed his temples, which still throbbed. He thought about Maria, lying unconscious back at the moon base. “Okay,” he said, “I’ll go along with this, for now.”

  “Thank you, Ethan,” said Diana, using his name for the first time.

  “So, you do already know my name,” said Ethan. “And you clearly know something about my time on the moon base. Who are you?”

  “Who I am is not important right now, Ethan,” she replied coolly. “But what I am not, is a General.” Then she gestured, open palmed, towards the door. “Shall we?”

  Diana's obvious reference to Archer was again not lost on Ethan. The militaristic nature of the UEC had always concerned him, most especially because their leader was both civil overseer and military commander. Diana wanted it made clear that she was not a military leader, and more than that, she knew that highlighting this fact would engender his trust. He admired Diana's subtle tactics, and understanding that her careful choice of words was clearly intended to manipulate him into trusting her, Ethan felt himself starting to trust her all the same. But he was also deeply suspicious of her, and her motives. And always at the back of his mind was Maria. He would play this game and see where it led, and hopefully along the way there would be an opportunity to escape – although how, he couldn't begin to fathom – or at the least find a way to contact the UEC.

  He walked over to the door, turned the handle, and stepped out.

  chapter 24

  Diana and Ethan walked through a series of corridors and rooms, some of which were populated with people working at desks. Diana had commented that they were in the main administrative wing of the station, which dealt with mainly service matters, such as power, water, food and reclamation. Ethan was only vaguely paying attention though, because his senses were focused on gathering as much information as he could about his new surroundings. The most obvious difference was how much more basic the station was compared to the moon base. It was bright and clean, but functional in design, with none of the grand, sweeping domes of the moon base, and it seemed somehow much older, as if most things could do with being refurbished or replaced. In fact, it wasn’t until they reached the ‘central concourse’, as Diana had called it, that Ethan saw any windows out into the starlight. The central concourse was, however, quite impressive, in an industrial sort of way. They were standing on a balcony at the eighth level, and below and above them were additional levels, reaching perhaps fifty metres above him and perhaps another twenty to thirty below. At the bottom was a plaza with a number of stalls and seating areas and a healthy bustle of people. The plaza itself was perhaps a hundred metres from one side to the other, although as it disappeared under the first level balcony, it could have extended further.

  “There are twenty-five floors in total,” Diana said, as if reading Ethan’s mind. “The lower level is a recreation area, where people can go to eat and relax. It is about the only part of this station where the original use has been preserved after the cataclysm that stranded us here.”

  “You mean the war you started that killed billions?” said Ethan, candidly, leaning on the railings and still looking down over the plaza. It was a deliberate attempt to provoke, to see if he could test her composure.

  Diana turned and also rested against the balcony railings. She folded her arms across her chest and looked at Ethan. For a moment they were silent, but Ethan was determined to play this out, and let her move next.

  “Okay...” said Diana, breaking the impasse. “I’m just going to lay it out for you, and then we’ll see. All I ask is that you hear me out, and then I promise I will answer any questions you have. Deal?”

  Ethan remained pressed against the railing, but turned his head slightly to look at her. Her face was more serious now. The lips pursed tighter, with no hint of a smile. She looked almost sad. He looked away and stared aimlessly at the hubbub below. “Just tell me why I'm here.”

  “Very well,” said Diana. Ethan heard her clear her throat, and could tell she was anxious, nervous even. “I know that you were recovered from the planet’s surface by a UEC expeditionary unit,” she said. “We tried to destroy the UEC ship before it reached atmosphere, but failed, obviously, since you are here.”

  “Sorry to disappoint,” said Ethan, sarcastically. Diana did not react.

  “We know from our own intelligence-gathering and surveillance that you have been shown holos depicting the circumstances that led to the destruction of the Refinery, and the near total annihilation of the planet’s surface population. In fact, for decades, we thought life on the planet was extinct,” and then she added more casually, “all human life, anyway.” Diana turned around slowly and rested on the balcony, mirroring Ethan, staring down at the people below. “We know that you have been told the ship you recovered, the one we captured with you on-board, contains specialist equipment needed to synthesise a medicine to combat the toxic effects of orrum radiation poisoning. We know that you were told that we – or to be more precise, Global Power Security – instigated a plot to eradicate the UEC, thus ending the generations-long war that GPS started. And we know that you believe this equipment will also save your friend, Captain Maria Rose Salus.”

  Ethan felt shivers run throughout his body and he fought hard to remain calm and composed, but he was deeply shaken by how Diana had described everything with chilling accuracy. What did that mean, he wondered? He kept his gaze focused below.

  Diana waited for a reaction, and when none came she stood up from the railings and faced Ethan. “Am I right so far?” she asked, with genuine interest, rather than presumption.

  Ethan looked at her nervously out of the corner of his eye. Diana's hands were clasped in front of her in the same position as when he had first seen her. Adrenaline was surging through Ethan’s body, making him feel sick. He just wanted to run, to get away, but to where?

  Diana
waited a few moments longer and when it was clear Ethan wasn’t going to answer, she sighed heavily. “All of that is a lie.”

  The words hit like a hammer, but Ethan's first reaction was denial and anger. He shook his head and laughed. “Why would I believe a word you say?” he demanded. “Of course you’ll try to turn me against them. You captured that ship so that they would die. So that you can finally win this war, admit it!”

  “Don’t be a fool!” Diana replied, her voice suddenly powerfully assertive. She looked strong, resolute, and just as angry as Ethan felt. “If all we needed was the ship, why am I talking with you?” she added. Ethan tried to hit back, but Diana had a point, and instead he hesitated. “Look around you,” Diana continued with voice lowered, but no less forthright. “This is not a military base. We are not soldiers. You have been with the UEC for days. You’ve seen how they live. Do they look like the victims?”

  Again, Ethan tried to think of a counter, but could not.

  “You have been fed lies in order to coerce you into getting the one thing they need, but for years have never been able to secure.”

  “Stop talking in riddles!” shouted Ethan, pushing away from the railing. He was desperate to fight back, but in his gut he felt that Diana was speaking the truth. “Just tell me what is going on here!” he said, desperation creeping into his voice.