Chains of Duty

by Anthony James

  They did so, taking their hands away from their consoles and remaining in place. The Ghasts didn’t relax and kept their rifles steadily aimed. Minutes passed and nothing happened. Duggan asked questions, without getting a response. He pointed towards the spacesuit helmets on the floor and made a careful step towards them. The reaction from their captors made him stop in his tracks.

  After another ten minutes, there was movement outside the bridge and another Ghast came through. This one was dressed in the same stiff cloth uniform as the others – just as he had been when Duggan first met with him. The Ghast spoke in short, harsh phrases. When his words ended, they were replicated in the Confederation tongue by a small amplifier badge he wore on his chest.

  “You have caused much trouble, John Duggan,” said Nil-Far. “Your actions have brought us anger and uncertainty.”

  “I have fought too long to desire anything other than peace,” said Duggan. “I came here to discover if your species is planning an alliance with our enemies. I have acted of my own free will and without sanction from the Confederation. I was asked to hand over the Ransor-D in neutral space and I chose to come here.”

  “You’ve risked much in your cause,” said Nil-Far. There was no reproach in the words. “Tell me – have you found signs of deception?”

  Duggan shook his head, not sure exactly what to say. “I don’t think so.”

  “You are not certain?”

  “You took over our ship before we had enough time to finish,” said Duggan with a half-smile.

  “You will have to come with us.”

  Duggan had already asked what the Ghasts planned for his crew, without receiving any assurances. There seemed no reason to ask again. “We’ll come,” he said.

  The crew were led away from the bridge one-by-one. Each had two Ghast soldiers in front and two behind. Not once did their escorts speak, nor did they drop their guard for a moment. There was no point in resistance and Duggan allowed himself to be taken from the bridge, keeping his eyes fastened on the broad shoulders of the soldier in front.

  The four of them were taken to the top of the boarding ramp. Heavy, warm air filled the airlock. It was brighter outside than it seemed from the sensor data and much hotter than Duggan had expected. He idly wondered if Vempor was as hot as this across much of its surface. Heat and pollution would explain why the Ghasts chose to live in sealed domes.

  Outside, the feet of humans and Ghasts made little noise on the thick metal ground. Duggan looked around him. He was familiar with the feeling of insignificance that came from standing amongst the gargantuan spaceships of the Space Corps fleet. Here, the feeling was exacerbated somehow, though the Ghast machinery didn’t look any larger than its human equivalent. A figure loomed at his side.

  “We are taking you there,” said Nil-Far, lifting an arm to point at a distant building. It was another dome, over a kilometre away.

  “What will happen to us?”

  Nil-Far shrugged, a startlingly human gesture. “We’ll see, John Duggan.”

  Duggan was herded towards an opening in the rear of a fifteen-metre-long transport vehicle. It made the Space Corps’ designs seem like an indulgence of frivolous bells and whistles, since it was little more than a hollow metal box with a gravity engine. He climbed the high steps and one of the soldiers indicated a nearby metal seat. Duggan sat, breathing the warm air in through his nostrils. Sweat was already running down his spine. The others were in front of him, though none turned to catch his eye.

  As the transport headed off, carrying the four of them into the unknown, Duggan’s mind spun in turmoil as it searched for an answer to what McGlashan had found on the Ransor-D’s sensor feed. There had been a pyramid of black metal, with a base measuring fifteen hundred metres to each side. Buildings surrounded it – enormous industrial complexes with unclear purposes.

  The transport came to a halt. In the journey’s short time, Duggan had only been able to reach a single conclusion and was unsure if it was even remotely correct. The presence of the pyramid suggested that far from being allied to the Dreamers, the Ghasts and Dreamers were, in fact, one and the same. What this meant, Duggan couldn’t begin to imagine, but it had become imperative that he get back to the Space Corps and tell them what he and his crew had discovered on Vempor. One thing was certain – nothing would be straightforward in the months to come.

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