“I am going to hypnotize you, with your permission, and ask you about the events on Space Station Eight. Is that all right with you?” The Captain asked.
Mason nodded; what choice did he have? They’d already given him truth serum at the prison interrogations, recorded him, beat him, drugged his eyes with hallucinogens until he thought he was going crazy, and tortured him. He’d never been hypnotized before.
The Captain made him lie down on the couch, and gave him an injection, saying, “This is only a muscle relaxant to calm you. It is not truth serum or any other psychotropic drug. It is only to keep you from possibly injuring yourself or me during the session, okay?”
Then he asked Mason to count backwards from 100. Mason began talking in his hypnotic trance, like a story narration. Soon he was back on Space Station Eight, overseeing the post-docking checks, prior to disembarking the crew. They all went through the new bio filters and entered the space station, filled with shops and cafes. Mason wondered why anyone would want to live here year-round, waiting for ships full of stir-crazy crew to party it up for a few days, and then leave. It was sometimes months between ships stopping. How did the station crew handle it? Oh well, not his problem.
Mason wandered around until he found a bar with cold beer and food. There was no real beer onboard the ship, only the synthehol stuff that tasted awful. This beer did not actually taste much better, but it was real, at the very least. He felt the alcohol start working its magic on him, and suddenly got hungry. When he went to the counter to order some food, he noticed everyone in the bar wore turtlenecks. That’s funny, he thought, no one wears that old-fashioned shirt unless you’re in a space suit, not unless you have to. Who wants to have something so tight around your neck? He picked up some hot food and another beer, and sat down to eat. A couple of ship’s security crewmen came over and sat with him, and they ate a decent meal, with more beer. Soon, it was time to get a room on the station, or return to the ship. He decided to walk back to the ship, and when he was nearly at the dock ramp, Lt. Commander Smith ran up to him and said, “Hurry, Marine, we have a situation!”
The Chief Chemist was found dead in his lab, with self-inflicted cuts to his wrists, and apparently bled out. Blood was all over the floor, more blood than Mason thought was possible to be in that geek’s body. Nothing appeared disturbed, nothing broken or out of place. They called in the space station police as witnesses, and processed the scene and the chemist’s body. Ship’s Captain Hanson decided to leave the body on the space station for storage, until his family could be notified, and cremation take place. When the police were bagging his body, Mason noticed the chemist was wearing a turtleneck, a white one, or at least it had been white before becoming blood-stained.
Now that was weird, even for a scientist. Mason used a stylus to lower the turtleneck, and rolled it down a little, to check out his neck. That’s when he noticed the little marks at the base of his neck, about 5 centimeters below the hairline. He noted that in his report, and the police took the body away. He was a suicide, no autopsy was ordered by the Medical Officer or the Captain. Mason recommended the chemist be autopsied, but his request fell on deaf ears.
No mention was made of the dead Chief Chemist for several weeks. He was generally an unlikable fellow who did not bother to make any friends on board the Esmeralda. Mason did not miss him. One less geek to watch over.
Then, only two months’ out from Space Station Eight, the strangeness started happening. Requests to turn around and return to SS8 were being made daily, for reasons suspicious in their very frequency. The water levels were suddenly lower than they were the previous day, and were becoming perilously low. Were the gauges at fault, or the techs? No one knew for sure, but the techs were blamed. The fruit trees in the gardens all died, every one of them, suddenly. Our food stores were being rapidly depleted. The water and food stores were refilled at the space station, and documented; Mason inspected them. We were only out a few weeks; how can this happen? No one seemed to know anything for certain, except that they should return to the space station, restock and refuel, and figure this out. The Captain did not want to turn around, preferring to continue the mission, even if forced to resort to food tubes. As long as the life support system functioned, we would go on.
Mason and the security guards broke up fight after fight, between both crewmen and the research staff. Two scientists were injured, and several crewmen were put in the brig. No one knew if the ship systems were failing, or if they were being sabotaged. When the fuel supply suddenly became perilously low, the Captain turned the ship towards the space station. Mason knew it was sabotage for certain, now.
Water rations were enforced, and people could only shower once a week. The crew started scratching their heads, and Mason thought it was lack of hygiene, until he noticed several crewmen at dinner one night, all arguing, and sometimes scratching their heads. He saw the backs of their necks were red from being scratched, and some scratched their necks raw until they were bleeding. He notified the medical officers, but they seemed not to care. Crewmen began wearing small bandages on their necks and heads, but the scratching continued.
When the ship was two months out from Space Station Eight, the mystery sickness fell on most of the crew. The infirmary was too small for the number of sick people. The medical officers confined the ill crew members to their quarters, and uninfected volunteers were enlisted to aid the sick. The strange sickness made them scratch themselves raw, sweat, vomit, and shake from chills, and have fevers of 103 and above. Many died, too many to count. There were now only 210 Space Forces officers and crew on actual duty. Captain Hanson never went anywhere without Mason now. She even moved him into the empty Commander’s quarters next to her own quarters, and she felt safer.
Mason knew he would eventually get whatever the rest of the crew suffered, but he held out hope they’d make the space station first, so he could get good care and medicine. And a shower, he thought, he just needed a good shower.
When the Esmeralda returned to the space station in three months, the reception was not as welcoming as before. They were greeted with empty halls, and all the cafes and stores were empty. Only the medical and military personnel stationed there stayed behind, everyone else left with the last ship that docked there, right after the Esmeralda’s initial stop. The Esmeralda’s crew was treated by the medical personnel, and most started recovering in a week or two.
The mystery illness was not identified. Captain Hanson demanded to know what the affliction was. How could the doctors cure her remaining officers and crew if they did not know what they were treating? She never received an answer from them.
That’s when the turtlenecks appeared, from the space station. They were issued on a color-coded scheme, according to your rank and position. The crew first started wearing turtlenecks to cover up their scratched, raw necks and bandages. They refused to take them off. Even though their necks were mostly healed, and the scratching stopped, the men and women kept their turtlenecks on, day and night.
Mason got sick, too, but he was cured within a couple of weeks. The nurse treating him bandaged his neck and brought him a black turtleneck, saying “A black turtleneck for our Prime Marine.” He never thought much about it, because they all wore them now, that is, until he removed it and his uniform to shower. Then he noticed the marks on his neck. They initially looked like scratches, but he never experienced the compulsive scratching like the crewmen; he was cured before those symptoms attacked him. He noticed his armpits were scaly, and the armpit hair was falling out. As he washed, he noticed his feet. Why were the bottoms of his feet getting scaly? Mason finished quickly, dressed, and headed off for the space station hospital. It was packed with sick crew, but he waited outside until a doctor could see him.
Mason related to him the scales on his armpits and feet bottoms. “It’s possibly a reaction to the medicine. It should go away in a few days. Here, put this on,” the space station doctor said, giving him another black turtleneck. He
quickly left. It sounded reasonable, so Mason returned to the ship to prepare for re-boarding of its crew and her remaining passengers. Nearly a third died before reaching the space station.
Due to the mass illness of its crew, the Esmeralda changed course to return home two years, ten months early. That was welcome news to Mason, who was ready to go to Mars Colony III, and see his family. But they were soon ordered to head for Titan One, for medical observation, according to Captain Hanson. The crew kept to themselves for the return trip, a quiet and dejected group. The lounge areas were empty; the entertainment areas, restaurants and bars never reopened. Only the mess hall was kept functioning, with a restricted menu. The costly experiments designed for the mission were either destroyed or scrapped entirely. Every research lab was closed, and locked down. The mission was determined to be a highly expensive failure. No medals or promotions would be awarded from this cruise.
Captain Aziz’s face slowly came into focus, as Mason came back to reality, out of his hypnotic trance. He remembered everything, just like it was yesterday. He sat up, and asked, “Well, Captain, was there anything you found out you didn’t know from my reports, sir?”
“Yes, Mason, there was the matter of the space station being abandoned by everyone but the military and medical personnel. Where do you think all the people went?” He asked.
“I guess they left on the transport that docked after the Esmeralda first visited, right, sir?”
“Yes, that’s what the records show. They off-loaded all passengers here. Some went on to Mars Colonies II and III, and some transported to Earth.”
Mason asked the question that was still burning in his mind. “Why was I arrested and imprisoned? I just did my job, Captain Aziz.”
“That is classified, as I’m sure you have been told,” the Captain answered. He closed his files, and stood up to leave.
“Well, Captain Aziz, sir, does that mean I can go home now? They put me in prison for two and half months. I’ve been on this base for a long time. Can I go home to Mars Colony III? I did all I was asked to do, didn’t I, sir?” Mason requested.
“You will be leaving this base tomorrow. You are to be transported to your ship and briefed on your new assignment at o-four-thirty tomorrow morning. I will have your orders ready in one hour. Thank you for your cooperation. You are dismissed.” With that, Captain Aziz left, leaving Mason with more questions than answers. At least he was a free man again. He received his uniforms and all his personal gear from the Sergeant later that day. He went to work out for the first time in months.
Mason boarded the science-class ship Alexandria the next day, and found his quarters. As he was stowing his gear, he received a visitor. “I am Colonel Green, and you have been reassigned to duty effective immediately on board this ship as Prime Marine, Master Gunnery Sergeant Mason. You are to report directly to Captain Lee on the bridge at o-six hundred hours tomorrow morning.”
Mason turned and saluted, noticing the strange-looking officer and said, “Begging the Colonel’s pardon, sir, but I thought I was going home now.”
“You are needed on this ship, Prime Marine. We are on a mission to Landau One, and there is much work to be done,” the Colonel said. “Your skills and talents are needed now.”
“Sir? Landau One? That’s deep space. How long will it take, Colonel Green?”
“It will take enough time for your transformation to be fully integrated.”
Mason felt his throat go very dry. “My …. Transformation? What transformation, sir? I don’t understand, sir.”
Colonel Green looked him squarely in the eye. “The Titan One space station personnel have all been seeded, thanks to you and the crew of the Esmeralda. The weak were weeded out, and the strongest survived. The research colony on Landau One must be seeded, and the remaining space stations en route, before your work is done.”
“Seeded, sir?” Mason asked, fearing what the Colonel’s reply would be.
“Yes, seeded, Marine. Your DNA was altered, and will continue to be reprogrammed here on board. The transformation will be completed by the time we reach Landau One, and you can reproduce at will there. By this time next year, you will be like us. More intelligent, stronger, faster. You are already beginning to resemble us, is this not so? Soon, you will notice your thoughts becoming alive with our thoughts, thinking like the hive. We will all learn together. When one discovers, all share. You will never again be alone. You are a part of us now.”
“Who are you? I mean, who are we, sir?” Mason asked suspiciously.
“We are ONE. And now, John Mason, you are hereby reinstated as Master Gunnery Sergeant, and all back pay has been restored to your accounts, with a special bonus of $250,000, for extreme hardship. Your service record will not reflect any of the events of the last three months. You are truly a superior being. You will be an integral part of creating the next higher life form in the solar system. You are the Perfect Man.”
Mason was speechless. The Colonel turned, and said, “This invasion was supremely successful. We are not only taking over your world, we are taking over your bodies, as well. Not one weapon was fired by the ONE. All infrastructures intact. All we needed to do was to send our DNA to the Esmeralda, and find one disgruntled chemist who could be bought for mere gold. You drank us inside your bodies. You will soon begin to look and eventually think like us. Now, get some rest. Your transformation requires you to sleep. Here is your black turtleneck. You’ve earned it.” He saluted Mason and left.
Mason watched him leave the room, suddenly realizing the ramifications of all that Colonel Green said. He did feel a little stronger, at that. Maybe he’d even get smarter, who knew. The Yellow Man finally held him right in the palm of his hand. He was now their Perfect Man, to be used for colonization. He was becoming a reptilian-hybrid.
The main thing to get used to was the tail.
III
Seven years ago, the mining freighter Hesperia encountered the Yellow Man, and he was the bane of that mission even before the first crewman boarded the ship. The Yellow Man secretly recruited over half of the Hesperia’s youngest crewmen and officers on Moon Base, with the lure of $10,000 in gold for each of them, free drugs and easy sex partners, and all the booze they could drink for the week prior to boarding the Hesperia. He promised $10,000 additional whenever one of his new “agents” would perform a requested task for him. Even when the ship was under way, his agents on board continued to recruit for the Yellow Man.
The Hesperia was a mining freighter, with 200 Space Forces officers and crew, and a much larger group of six hundred union member miners, totaling over eight hundred people. The Yellow Man wanted the Hesperia to be part of a colony for the ONE. But he wanted only the best of the eight hundred. He orchestrated several sabotage efforts to disable the Hesperia, and even more outright attempts at mutiny. Each attempt was thwarted by Prime Marine Mason and Captain Victor Baines; no attacking miner ever set foot on the bridge or in engineering.
The Hesperia located a huge asteroid for mining containing primarily platinum. In fact, the asteroid provided enough platinum ore to smelt the largest haul of platinum in the history of mankind. Captain Baines eventually brought in the precious cargo, with much help from Mason, his Prime Marine and best friend. Head Nurse Commander Baines (formerly Commander Cohen), kept everyone patched up from the attacks, especially Mason, always in the thick of the fighting.
The ONE and their reptilian hybrid human, “The Yellow Man,” finally showed themselves to the Hesperia’s bridge officers. Mason instantly identified the Yellow Man as Dr. James, a science researcher assigned to asteroid colony GK-356, and unintentionally left to starve by the URE. The ONE selected Dr. James as their Perfect Man, and found him “worthy” of transformation into the reptilian hybrid he became, and shared their considerably advanced knowledge, power, and wealth with him.
The ONE managed to trade one of their own reptiles for a traitorous Space Forces officer, Lieutenant Sukesh, with Earth Command’s blessing. Both E
arth Command and the ONE had a subject to “study.” The trading of Sukesh would turn out to be one of the greatest errors ever committed by Earth Command.
The Hesperia arrived at Moon Base with its historic payload of platinum, providing everyone with medals and promotions. Mason received the URE’s highest honor, the Medal of Honor, for his selfless dedication to protecting Captain Baines, and the command officers and crew of the Hesperia against mutineers and hundreds of attacking miners. The ONE was forced to look elsewhere for their colony and more “Perfect Man” specimens. Up to that time, the ONE and the Yellow Man always wanted the Perfect Man to volunteer.
But John Mason never volunteered to be the Perfect Man for the ONE and Dr. James, the Yellow Man. His DNA was altered without his knowledge and against his will, while on board the Esmeralda. Mason realized the nearly three months he was held in prison on Titan One was merely a series of tests designed to break him or make him stronger. Mason told the truth at all times and maintained his innocence. He suffered at the hands of his torturers and interrogators, and bore the scars from their inhumane treatment. Yes, he was stronger now than before his incarceration, but he was determined to get his freedom and humanity back, even at the cost of his own life.
Mason felt most of the bridge crew of the Esmeralda suffered similar fates as his own, and he instinctively knew they were on the Alexandria with him. His goal would be to find them, and do everything he could to free them from their forced transformation. He did not know if the DNA changes done to him or anyone else could indeed be reversed, but he swore an oath to the Man Upstairs to free as many as he could. God created man in His own image, the Bible said; it was immoral to force them to become reptilian hybrids against their wills.
Captain Lee was the Commanding Officer of the Alexandria, the one Mason reported to directly. He was a short, muscular Asian with gray hair and weird green eyes. It was obvious he was changing into a reptilian hybrid. His jaw was slightly elongated, with his lips stretched to accommodate the change. He spoke distinctly, but his mouth looked all screwed up when he spoke. Mason wondered how long the Captain had been on board the Alexandria; how long did his transformation take to get that far? How did the Captain make it through all the senior officer interviews to be assigned as Ship’s Captain, looking like that? There must be traitors at Earth Command to give Captain Lee command of the vessel. At least he was not asked to swear his Prime Marine oath to Captain Lee.
Vengeance of Sukesh: John Mason (Legend of John Mason) Page 3
