by Peter Knyte
I pulled no punches with my account of our encounter with the second creature either.
‘It was the scopes I made for the search teams that were the cause of the problem,’ I admitted earnestly. ‘While they allowed the men to see the creature, the field of vision through them is just too narrow, and as a consequence they struggled to follow the creature when it was moving quickly, especially when the surroundings also provided so much natural cover.
‘This allowed the creature to get in close with the men, and injure some of them. And that’s when the second problem with the scopes became apparent. The officers with the scopes needed both hands to be effective, one to hold the scope, the other to aim their revolvers. Consequently as the injuries start to stack up the group had to start reducing the number of people using the scopes or guns, either that or restricting the group’s ability to move.
‘By the time we arrived from the boat yard to relieve them, the number of dead or injured who needed to be carried had got to the point where even with our numbers there weren’t enough able bodied individuals to allow the group to move and defend itself effectively, which put us in the impossible situation of just about being able to guard against the thing, or being able to move the group, but not both.’
‘So you walked off into the yard by yourself to call for help?’ Hughes asked.
‘It was a calculated risk,’ I admitted. ‘At the point when we arrived the creature had once again managed to get in close with the group and was attacking them hand to hand. But unlike the others, with my lensing rig I was not only able to see the creature with perfect clarity, I was also able to follow it amongst the melee, which it clearly wasn’t expecting.
‘As a result I was able to seriously injure it before it knew what was going on. Naturally, it fled and I guessed it would probably be half an hour at least before it would come out of hiding and realise it wasn’t being hunted.
‘Well within that time, we’d established the nature of the predicament the group was in, so I decided the only option was to do something unconventional, some way of getting the men out without putting other people at risk, all I needed was a two-way radio to be able to contact either the ship or the control room.’
‘But how did you know where you’d find a radio in the rail yard?’ Jenkins asked.
‘Fortunately, one of the railyard workers was able to direct me to the main site office, which he knew had a two way radio in the back to co-ordinate activity across the city.
‘As soon as I had that I gambled it was just a question of getting away from the group before the creature returned, and then not being unlucky enough to run into it on the way.’
I was just about to ask a question of my own in return, about how confident the Captain was that the creature had been destroyed when the doctor called the bridge over the ships internal communication system.
‘This is Dr Zimmerman to the Captain, can you hear me?’
‘Yes doctor,’ was the Captain’s reply. ‘We hear you, is there a problem?’
‘I’m afraid so Captain,’ he responded. ‘I have several patients who need immediate surgical intervention of type I cannot deliver. Is there any possibility of diverting the ship to drop them off at a hospital with a surgical facility?’
‘We can certainly divert the ship without any problem doctor,’ replied the Captain. ‘But I’ll have to contact the ground to confirm which would be the best hospital for us to use. I’ll call you back as soon as I have an update.’
The moment the Captain explained the situation to Platt over the radio he recommended we head for Belle Vue hospital, the same site that had accepted the bulk of the injured crew when the ship had first appeared. He had to place a few calls to confirm this, but it took barely two minutes for him to do so and then radio us back.
Despite having a huge number of injured from the Khan still on their premises and only a few minutes to prepare, the hospital medical teams were ready and waiting to receive the injured and the dead as soon as we came to a halt above them. They’d already been patched through to the ship in order to get the patient specific details from Dr Zimmerman, and had then asked to speak to the Captain in order to direct us to the specific area of the hospital grounds where we could lower the cradles in order to transfer the men. Along the way it had also been decided by Platt that the rest of the search teams should also alight at the hospital for a quick check-up following their ordeal.
I was half expecting I’d be forced to join the rest of the men for a check-up, but I wasn’t going to volunteer to join them, so when nobody asked me to go with them I just stayed at my post, and acted as though there were no reason for me to be anywhere else.
The doctor also alighted with the men from the search teams in order to try and help out at the hospital in the treatment of the priority cases.
Moments later and we were rising effortlessly back up into the heavens in order to head back to our temporary mooring in the park. Despite not having much experience at the helm, I couldn’t help but notice that the ship seemed to be far more responsive than it had been on our brief voyage down 7th Avenue, which I commented on to the Captain as we flew.
‘I think you’re right Ashton,’ he replied almost absently. ‘Though the credit must go to Mr Hughes here and his engineer Mr Bradbury, who seems to be working wonders. There was a time when I felt certain the Khan was dead in the water, but now, it really feels as though she’s regained her old spark of life.’
As we soared back up into the golden light that flooded the ship’s bridge with its warmth, it was difficult to imagine the Khan as anything other than a vibrant and living thing.
CHAPTER 21 – SUSPICIONS
Getting back to the park and our temporary berth was the closest thing we had to a home at the moment, and once the ship was properly secured I realised that for the first time in almost a week I’d be able to spend the night aboard, in my own cabin and my own bunk, which oddly I’d started to miss.
It was early evening by the time we got the ship secured with the engines off, by which time the light which had bathed the ship as we’d flown across the city had turned from golden to a deep orange. This made the park and surrounding buildings look even more beautiful than they had earlier on that morning when we’d left with the ill-fated search teams.
In other circumstances the warm and summery dusk would’ve been relaxing, but there was a part of me which suspected things were far from resolved, so relaxation was simply not an option.
Captain Platt had requested we all meet in the new command centre in the boat house next to the lake to fully debrief after the day’s activities, but he wanted a few minutes before-hand to check up on his injured men and no doubt to provide an initial update to his superiors. I suspected he’d also have a long evening of travelling around the city to visit the families of the dead men in order to inform them personally of the tragedy that had occurred. So while we waited I decided to have a walk around the small lake and enjoy the evening air.
Hughes ran into me just as I was about to set off and asked if he might join me, which I was happy to agree to.
We walked in silence for a moment or two, until as we passed one of the mooring hawsers from the ship, where he bent down to examine the end of it.
It was one of the hawsers that appeared to have been cut incredibly cleanly, which he showed to me before speaking.
‘Still a perfect mirror finish,’ he indicated, running his thumb over the unnaturally smooth cable end.
‘I had one of my men go and have a look at the buildings on 7th Avenue where your ship had originally appeared over the city, and where several of the cables had fused with the concrete of the buildings.’
‘And what did he find?’ I asked with genuine curiosity.
‘Well it was a difficult job to get to some of the anchor points,’ Hughes replied, as he straightened up and looked at me. ‘Three of the points were over fifty feet from the nearest ledge or balcony, so he had to arrange with the
building supervisors for an inspection hoist to be set up, so he could be safely lowered down to examine them.
‘For every one of these hawsers that he found with that strange mirror surfaced end, he discovered the equivalent on the buildings. He also said the cables hadn’t just been cut through incredibly cleanly, they’d been cut perfectly flush with the concrete or brickwork of the buildings. The cuts were so close you could run your finger across the concrete and the point where the hawsers had been cut and you wouldn’t even feel the edge, the only difference you’d notice is that the end of the hawser was a lot smoother.
‘He was completely at a loss to explain how such a cut could’ve been made, because there was absolutely no sign of damage anywhere around the cut, and yet it was so close to the surrounding concrete or brick that a bit of damage would be inevitable no matter what type of saw or blow-torch was used.’
‘He had no explanation at all, for how it could’ve been done?’ I asked incredulously.
‘The only suggestion he could offer me,’ replied Hughes, doubtfully. ‘Is that the point at which the cable fused with the fabric of the building must’ve created a microscopic weakness in the metal, which may have caused the end of the cables to simply snap when they were put under enough pressure from the ship pulling on them.’
‘But surely as the hawsers are made up of hundreds of fine metal wires, that kind thing would’ve caused some of them to stretch more than others and the surface on the cable end would be much less even?’ I asked not particularly persuaded by the engineers theory.
‘A point which my engineer also made to me,’ replied Hughes. ‘But that is still the only possible explanation he can come up with at this time. I have asked him to take samples of the cable ends, with your Captain’s permission, to be sent for further analysis, but that’s likely to take several days at the very least.’
It was a mystery which I’d almost forgotten about until Hughes had mentioned it, but as we continued our walk around the lake it continued to niggle away at the back of my mind.
We walked for a little more, chatting amiably as we went before being called back to the boat-house for the briefing.
Platt started the meeting by relaying an update from the hospital on the injured men, all of whom thankfully looked as though they were going to pull through thanks to the timely intervention of Dr Zimmerman and the surgical teams at Belle Vue hospital.
We then moved on to the activities of the day, talking first about the creature that we’d captured at the abandoned boat yard, which had been transported to a separate hospital with the facilities to deal with prisoners who needed medical treatment. It was at this point that Platt had more information than we did.
Apparently the creature had already been X-rayed, and while the carapace shell that covered it seemed to diffuse some of the X-rays, it still worked well enough for the medical teams to be able to see that there was the majority of a human form fully contained within the thorax of the creature.
Furthermore, Platt explained the creature still appeared to be healing, which brought us to the first difficult point in the meeting.
‘I’ll be frank with you gentlemen,’ he continued. ‘I feel as though we’re out of our depth with the issues that this first creature has raised.
‘Firstly, we don’t know whether this creature is a friend or foe, if the mind of your fellow crewman somehow survives within that . . . shell, and whether she or it has in actuality been involved in any of the attacks taking place across the city.
‘Until we get some answers to these questions I feel we have no choice but to continue treating this creature as potentially hostile.
‘Secondly, the biology of the creature is still being tested, but the doctors on site have stressed they have absolutely no idea what they’re dealing with, including whether any of the sedatives of pain-killers they have at their disposal are likely to work in the way they do ordinarily.
‘Thirdly, and in many ways this is the most pressing of the three issues. We know now from the X-rays taken that there appears to be a human form somehow contained within the body of this creature.
This poses the obvious question of whether we should attempt to free this person from the shell of the creature while it is still healing, or should we wait.’
It was a stark set of choices which Jenkins, Fraser and Platt understandably looked to me and the Captain to decide upon.
‘Well from my perspective,’ began the Captain earnestly. ‘This is only a serious consideration if some semblance of Ariel’s mind remains within this creature, which there is no way of knowing for sure until it regains consciousness.
Having said that, if there is any chance that my crewman still exists within that shell, then I would prefer to do everything we can for her.
‘Consequently,’ the Captain continued. ‘The question we must try to answer is this. What would Ariel want us to do, if as we hope her mind and body survive within this creatures shell.’
‘That’s all well and good,’ interjected Jenkins. ‘But I hope you’ll understand that until we verify that Ms Shilling’s mind does exist within this creature, we will have to keep it securely restrained.’
‘Naturally.’ conceded the Captain without hesitation.
‘May I ask though,’ he continued. ‘Whether the doctors have any assessment of how difficult it will be to remove the shell of the creature that appears to surround the human body?’
‘They have examined the material,’ Platt replied, ‘And the only thing they can say at the moment is that while it is incredibly hard, they believe it could be removed using the tools they have, but they’re unable to estimate how long it would take or how painful it would be for the subject.’
‘And you’ve already said they don’t know whether their pain killers would work?’ I asked, beginning to be concerned about the direction the conversation has heading in.
‘That’s exactly right Mr Hall,’ replied Platt.
The room was silent for a moment, before the Captain finally spoke again.
‘Then as far as I can see, we’re left with only two options,’ the Captain began.
‘We can either try to remove as much of the creatures shell as possible before it regains consciousness, in the hope that if Ariel is in there, then her current unconscious state will in some way shield her from the worst of the pain. Or . . .
‘We leave the situation as it is for the moment, wait until she regains consciousness, and then try to remove the creatures carapace shell, hopefully after she’s helped us identify something that can be used as pain-killer.’
‘Is there a chance that some of the painkillers would still work?’ I asked, increasingly worried.
‘There is Mr Hall,’ Platt confirmed, compassionately. ‘But the biology of this creature is so alien, our medical advisors have also informed me that for all we know, a simple Asprin could work perfectly well or it could be the most effective nerve toxin we could hope to ever have to use against these creatures.’
‘There’s also the question of whether Ariel will be able to assist us when she regains consciousness,’ The Captain added. ‘We know from our own studies on these creatures that the interlocking and overlapping carapace shell is not only very tough in its own right, but the creatures can make themselves much stronger or more flexible, or just more impact resistant if they wish.
‘Now I don’t think Ariel would deliberately hinder the medical efforts to remove the creature’s shell, but if the procedure is painful, she may not be able to control her reactions.’
‘You seem to be leaning toward attempting to remove the shell before your crewman regains consciousness?’ commented Platt in anticipation of what the Captain was saying.
‘Yes,’ came the Captain’s stark reply. ‘And the procedure should start as soon as the medical team are ready to begin.’
‘I appreciate it’s a difficult decision Captain Hughes. Thank you for making it as straight-forward as possible.’ Platt responded. ‘T
he surgical team has been standing by to start work, I’ll ask for a message to be sent immediately informing them of our decision, and for what it’s worth Captain I think you’ve made the right decision.’
There was a part of me that was seriously troubled by the idea of performing such a significant and invasive surgery without Ariel’s consent, not to mention the possibility we hadn’t discussed that she might regain consciousness part way through the procedure, and what that might do to her probably already fragile psyche. I wasn’t quite at the stage of hoping that the Ariel I knew wasn’t inside this creature, and that instead it would just be another mindless Lamphrey, but I didn’t like what was going to happen one little bit.
While Platt was clearly wanting to move things on to the next section of the briefing, I had to interrupt.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said, slightly hesitantly. ‘But I can’t help but imagine what it may have been like for Ariel being trapped inside this creatures body for the past several days, unable to see the world as we see it, unable to speak or communicate to other people, unable even to make herself recognised in order to ask for help, instead trapped inside the body of the enemy, before finally being attacked and shot several times, chased across the city, and then hunted down where she slept and gunned practically to death.
‘If that were me,’ I continued, painfully aware that as the other senior lensman aboard the ship it so could’ve been me the traitors chose. ‘And particularly if I then regained consciousness part way through a doubtless very painful surgery, might that not be one final trauma too far?’
‘What are you suggesting Mr Hall?’ Asked Platt reasonably.
‘Allow me to be present while the operation is being performed so that there’s at least a familiar face present if she should wake up. Also if you could find someone with some kind of psychiatric experience of helping people with anything even remotely similar.’
