Martian Dragons

by Ian Woodhead

  The Danu male operating the data terminal next to her, stood up and soundlessly left the operations room. She found it odd yet perfectly acceptable not to know the name of the male who had sat next to her ever since the time of the last base re-occupation.

  With him gone, Faylar was the last Danu in this section. She would not be leaving her workstation until her human commander gave her the order, if that ever came.

  If they did re-occupy this base after they had fought off the Marauders then Faylar decided to try to start a conversation with the Danu male, even if it is to discover his name and which clone batch he originated. Perhaps it was time to emulate the humans desire for change. If the warrior Taylish can have the sheer audacity of sharing his great mind with a human then should the rest of their kind not try to emulate his example and attempt to break free from the reins of their genetics?

  Faylar waited until every other Danu in occupying the section opposite were totally engrossed in their work before discreetly swapping her screen to show the camera display in the cells. The human sat on a bench next to another prisoner. He didn't seem to be doing anything apart from, perhaps meditating? She recalled Taylish used to meditate regularly, especially before the start of a great battle.

  She wasn't sure how the warrior was going to defeat the Marauders once they did take the base and their bounty but Faylar had every confidence that the alien enemy would not survive the encounter. Taylish would not have allowed the stupid humans to lock him up if he did not have a plan.

  How could the humans not see the gift which fell straight into their laps? It did not make any sense. Surely, one of the commanders must have realised what they had within their grasp. As ridiculous as it was, not one of them questioned the order to incarcerate him, even when every single Danu on the deck dropped to their knees.

  Faylar noticed the proximity sensor discreetly flashing moment before a collective sigh echoed around the operations room. She hurriedly switched her monitor back to the screen she was supposed to be studying before turning around to await their visitor.

  A light blue haze appeared a metre above the central podium. Moments later, their human commander's holo-matrix image stepped out through the haze. He took precious time to address the remaining Danu operators by their given titles as only a human would before he finally turned to face her.

  “Bad news, I'm afraid, Faylar. It looks like this one is going to be another damage limitation operation, meaning the augments have to be running at full power.” He nodded slowly. “Yes, I'm aware that it'll hurt you but there's no other way. The Marauders are already at the surface defence wall. We don't have much time.” The Base Commander paused and licked his lips. “I need to know if you're up to this amount of pressure.”

  Faylar wasn't sure whether this human was paying her some kind of weird human compliment or questioning her abilities. Inter-species human interaction always confused Faylar. She found it truly bizarre to find that although the Danu and the Human were genetically closer, the Danu had an easier time talking to Velicions.

  "I am prepared, Commander Lindstrom. I have already shunted the appropriate subroutines into my guest cortex." She ran her slender fingers down her white one-piece tunic, still wondering why the human asked her that question. This was her job. Nobody in the base was qualified or experienced. Faylar had never failed before. Was he showing her affection? She decided to replay this interaction at a later date to see if she had missed any subtle hand or eyes gestures that the humans are so fond of using. If that did not help then perhaps she could log the runclip with the auto-Wordmasters to see if they could make discover what she had missed.

  The human nodded again. "Good luck," he smiled. "Try not to miss the last transport out, Faylar." The holo-matrix image vanished and a few seconds later, the remaining five Danu operators stood up as one and trooped out of the operations room. Just like the Danu male, not one of them acknowledged her presence. She frowned, wondering why she even questioned their behaviour.

  The other operators were heading for their private booths on board the most heavily armed ship in the joint fleet. Once she had finished her preparations, Fayler would be heading for the ship too. Within the ship's central core, she had her own booth to fit inside where she would connect with the rest of her squad.

  As the base primary augmented pilot, it was her job to remote link to the Danu attack cloud platform, positioned in stationary orbit on the other side of the planet. The Terrestrial defence orbiters hadn't been able to stop the Marauder ground forces as they always infiltrated in unarmed stealth landers. Faylar's task was to destroy as many Marauder fighters which came in on the second wave, so their ships could get off the planet before the enemy's reinforcements arrived.

  Her heart rate increased to a beat above her recommended level and her sweat glands opened up without permission, Faylar knew the reason and although she could bring her body functions back under control, she could not remove the building frustration of not being able to control other aspects in this invasion.

  The Danu and Human joint assault forces would not be able to stop the Marauders, not without suffering heavy losses. Unlike them, the Marauders have improved the design of their body armour and weaponry to the point where even Danu weapons had trouble in penetrating the enemy's armour.

  Only Velicion guns were effective against them but there were so few of their ancient allies left alive. To risk their friends on such a pointless endeavour was inexcusable. Better to just cut their losses. After all, this wasn't the first time that this ancient base had changed hands.

  Faylar entered the shutdown sequence codes then rose from her chair. She knew it was wrong to form an emotional bond with a room but she could not help herself. Working so closely with humans had begun to affect her mental status. Danu were not supposed to act in an illogical manner.

  Faylar did not behave like a member of the lesser species. Their code of demeanour made that point most clear, just as it was coded into every individual to obey an order no matter how wrong it felt. Not for the first time, Faylar was torn between her duty and her inner ethics. That human would not survive the Marauders, not matter which spirit resided inside that body.

  “The Wordmasters were wrong about your appearance, perhaps they were wrong about other things too.” She leaned over, swapped the view to show the cells, then in-putted the command to open his cell door. “May Lady Light guide you onto the highest path,” she whispered, before hurrying towards the exit.

  Chapter Six

  An Uneasy Alliance

  Ryan jumped back into Villas when their cell door slid open. Unlike him, his cell mate didn't hesitate, he pushed past Ryan and raced out into the narrow corridor, spinning around with his hands in the air. As soon as the other prisoners saw this, they all began to bang on the bars while demanding their doors to open too. Their voices melded into one loud jumbling mass of indistinct shouting. Villas stopped, he stared at Ryan then ran back into the cell, grabbed his arm and pulled him out.

  “What are you still doing in there, my friend? he shouted over the din. “Come on, we have our freedom. We need to get out of this hateful place before the aliens show up and eat us!”

  Ryan shook off his hand. “No, I'm not going anywhere without the others.”

  “Have you lost your mind?” Villas ran over to the outer cell door then came back. “We don't have any time to start figuring out how to get their cell doors open too. It's going to be hard enough to get that main door open.” He ran back over to the outer door and pushed his thin arm through one of the bars.

  The little man said something but the surrounding din shallowed up his voice. Ryan hurried over to Todd. “What do we do? How can we get the rest of you out of here?”

  It was the Velicion who answered Ryan. A set of claws pushed through the bars, hooked Ryan's arm and dragged him over. Ryan tried his best not to be so intimidated by this creature's appearance. This one dwarfed the last Velicion he saw up on the deck. The creature pulled
his claws out from the ragged holes it had made in the fabric then rested his hypnotic gaze upon Ryan. Those bright red eyes set into that dark green, reptilian skin seemed to pierce his very soul. He managed to pull his eyes down to his feet before quickly shifting his gaze over to the other occupant. This must be Barnaby. A mid forties human male, with short-cropped blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in a filthy blue boiler-suit. The man noticed Ryan staring at him. He shook his head a couple of times before turning around to face the wall.

  “Ryan, please, pay attention,” said the Velicion. “There is an access panel to the left of the outer door entrance. It close to where the other human is pushing his spindly arm through the bars. There is a release mechanism, hidden under the organic transverse mesh. Just lift that up, you should be able to see what to do then.”

  “What?”

  Barnaby turned back around and hurried over to the bars. “Are all bluelanders so lacking or are you just a special case? It is a simple task. Go to the panel, open it, pull back the Danu circuitry and kick the stuff underneath.”

  “Go back to your corner, human,” hissed the Velicion. “Do this now and perhaps I won't eat your face.” He turned back to Ryan. “The other Velicion killing human occupying your cell was correct about us running out of time, Ryan. Please. Go to the panel and try to get these doors open.”

  Ryan nodded then ran over to the outer cell door. He dropped to his knees and ran his fingers along the wall, trying to find anything on this smooth surface that might signify some kind of access panel.

  “Good, you're back. I'm sure there's a release button on the other side of this wall. If we can get out of here, I know a hidden route down to one of the tertiary decks. There is bound to be one forgotten ship I can steal to get out of here. I possess a wealth of launch keys. One of the codes will work. Of this, I am sure. It is lucky you are with me, my new friend. Without me, you would be as dead as the others in these cells.” The little man looked around. Ryan, “what are you doing down there?” he asked.

  “The Velicion says there's a panel somewhere that will open the door.”

  “Which door, this one or the doors separating us from them?”

  “Their doors, obviously.”

  Villas pulled his arm our from between the bars and jumped in front of Ryan. Stop that, right now. We really can not let them out!” He dropped down to his level. “Please, you must believe me. They'll kill us both then steal my ship. They are all violent prisoners. Why do you think they are down here? Trust me on this one, Ryan. You do not want the others out of there.”

  From the increased noise coming from the cells, the other prisoners heard Villas's warning and they were not happy. Ryan sighed to himself, gently moved the little man and continued looking for the hidden panel.

  “Even if such a thing exists, you will not be able to open it. This is a Velicion station, constructed millions of years ago with advanced Danu organic tech fused over the shell. The insides are not meant for the likes of us humans to interfere with.”

  The little human's tone suggested that he wasn't that enamoured with either of the other races. He saw no point in asking why, all he was sure about was that these Marauders were on their way here and would kill them all. Faced between that fate and Ryan getting all the cell doors open, he was sure the little man would choose the latter.

  He heard a soft click and a rectangular panel, the size of Ryan's hand slid back, to reveal what looked like several tightly coiled masses of thousands of multi-coloured hair-sized threads, packed into raised ovoid shaped areas across the area of a dark-green ridged board. “What is this?” he murmured. Ryan remembered the words of those two behind him and slowly moved his hand towards the panel.

  “What were you expecting, a big red button titled push me? Look, just leave it alone, Ryan. You really do not want to put your hand in there.” He looked over at the Velicion's cells. “He's lying about this. Trust me, I know. It's bound to have an anti-tamper device installed. One touch from you and that's the end of it. You'll be turned into charcoal.”

  Ryan stood up.

  “Good man. Now step away from it and help me reach through the bars to see if we can unlock this...”

  He placed both hands against the wall and slammed his boot into the recess. Villas moaned as all the other cell doors slid open. Todd ran over to him, he gave Villas the once over then hung hung his head.

  “Thank you, Ryan. I know I deserve to have stayed in that cell but...”

  “You all should have stayed in there,” interrupted Villas. “Thanks to that little stunt, you have activated the deadbolts on the door. I just heard them slam into the wall.”

  The Velicion headed straight for Villas. Ryan stepped to the left and stood in front of him. “I don't know why you two aren't pals but, right now, I think perhaps we have more important problems?” Barnaby left the cells and walked over to the cell at the end of the room. He leaned inside and pulled out another individual, a tall Danu who, upon seeing Ryan, ran over to him, fell to the floor and kissed his foot before going back over to Barnaby. As soon as the Danu reached him, Villas moaned again before sliding down the wall and tucking his head between his knees.

  The Velicion tapped Ryan on the top of the head. “The Danu believe that Lady Light filled your empty vessel with the reincarnation of their last warrior. I myself do not believe that this is even possible. Even if my eyes state otherwise.”

  Villas peered out from behind Ryan's legs. “There, you have your wish, Velicion. Now get us out of here!”

  “There is no way of unlocking the deadbolts from this side of the cell, human.” The Velicion's arm snapped out, caught Villas's shoulder and pulled him past Ryan. “So, you would not intentionally harm any Velicion because we are such beautiful creatures?”

  Barnaby giggled.

  “We are going to die in here, human. Even now, I can sense their approach. This is a shame.” He looked at Ryan. “If the ghost of some mythological Danu warrior really is trapped inside this human shell, it is clear that this ghost has not ascended.” he pulled back his teeth. “To witness the struggle as the two spirits fight over this human body would prove most entertaining.” He pulled his arm back and stretch out his claws. “At least I will be able to end the miserable life of the Butcher of Sigmas Three.”

  “Don't kill him!” shouted Todd. “We need everybody alive. Let's deal with the one problem that's going to kill us all. You know, the enemy of my enemy is my friend idea?” He hurried over to the exposed panel and kneeled in front of it. “What does this do, apart from open the cell doors?” He looked over to where Barnaby and the Danu stood. “I know what your race are like for installing multiple safeguards. I doubt they wouldn't have built this place with only one way in or out. Isn't there a secret exit or something?”

  “It is a prison,” he growled. “Of course there is only one exit. You must not listen to rumour and heresy.” The Velicion lowered Villas who rushed over to Todd. “You pathetic human, he can not protect you.”

  “I'm not the Butcher of Sigmas Three, you freakish cold-blooded herdsuckler,” he spat. “and I'm have no intention of cowering under anyone's legs.” Villas glanced over at Ryan. “I might need your help here.”

  Ryan looked at Todd who just shrugged, before sidestepping the huge reptilian creature. He leaned over Villas who had pushed one hand inside the panel recess. “Are you looking for a big red button?”

  “You're funnier than the Velicion,” he snapped. “Listen, your friend was not wrong about the lizards building in multiple redundancy features into everything they had ever designed. It's the sole reason why this place is still functioning.” Villas pulled Ryan down. “There,” he pointed to a small coil of multi-coloured fine wires, previously hidden under one of the ovoid shapes. “Pull that.” He turned to him. “If everyone is right about this Danu spirit hiding inside you then pulling that should open another panel somewhere in this room.”

  “And if everyone is wrong?”

 
“Then you really will be reduced to a small pile of grey dust.”

  Ryan could now hear heavy footsteps heading towards them. Like he had a choice in the matter. He reached inside, pinched the wires as instructed, recoiling when every hair on his back stood up. “Oh, that feels weird,” he said.

  “Come on!” urged Villas. “I can see them now. They're heading straight for this door.”

  He took a deep breath and savagely jerked back the wires. Ryan cried out as something jumped from the wires and buried itself into his flesh. He toppled backwards, screaming in agony, while something made out of broken glass crawled up his arm from the inside. Its shape continuously altered to maximise the mind-numbing pain. A strange slender hand wrapped over his eyes and mouth and he heard a gentle melodic, haunting voice whisper words of an unknown language in his left ear. Another hand took his wrist and lifted his arm over his head.

  “Taylish seeks freedom,” said the soft voice. “Do not fight it. The pain will only increase. Relax your inner self, Ryan. Allow the process to come to fruition.”

  When he thought the pain could not get any worse, it proved him wrong by that broken glass expanding from his shoulder, all the way back down his arm and into his forefinger. The slender hand over his jaw relaxed ever so slightly, giving Ryan his last chance to shriek. He opened his mouth at the same time as the agony suddenly vanished leaving as weak as a new born baby and unable to even lift his head.

  He had to rely on his ears to figure out what just happened and they were not sending him anything that he could understand. The only noise which did resonate inside him were solid, heavy sounding clunks coming one after the other eight times. They had to be the deadbolts disengaging.