Starfire

by B. V. Larson

  The aliens got their bearings and formed a circle facing outward toward the humans. Their intent was clear, and they had weaponry this time. There were cutting tools and weapons that looked like spear guns in their pincers.

  The drone lurched into motion at their feet, surprising them. In a split-second, the B-7 recognized the danger and went to work.

  Two aliens were struck by kill-sticks. They popped like balloons of paint. The release of gas from the shells in the low-pressure atmosphere blew their bodies apart. A third had one of its limbs shaved off by a flashing ripsaw.

  The aliens wheeled on their attacker and stabbed at it. Their weapons released charges, sparking and rasping on the drone’s hull. They seemed to be shocking it somehow. The drone stopped moving.

  Yuki took less than a second to reach into the control box and rip loose a memory stick. It wasn’t everything the drone had gathered, but it was all she had time to recover.

  “Run!” she shouted, getting to her feet and charging toward the Russian ship.

  “We can take them,” the Russian Lieutenant said to Perez.

  “No we can’t. The tube is activating again.”

  Soon, all four of them were running toward the ship. “We should have made a stand there,” the Russian complained. “That was a choke point. We could have killed a hundred.”

  “You’re welcome to try!” Edwin shouted.

  The Russian made no further comment. They all saved their breath for the bounding, low-gravity sprint over the ice.

  Chapter 65

  Europa Ice Cap

  Starlight

  Lev led the fleeing group back to Troika. They clambered up the hull after him and reached the sole working hatch. The Americans crammed themselves into the airlock behind him and huddled there, breathing hard.

  Lev was embarrassed. Why had he decided to preserve his life at this unlikely moment? The odds were against him, and it looked like cowardice.

  Even as his breathing slowed, he realized what had changed his thinking. It was the woman—Dr. Tanaka. He saw in her a wisdom that went beyond the moment. He and the other men had only been concerned with defeating an enemy by pressing a tactical advantage.

  But she had been smarter than that. She was not risking her life to fight the aliens directly, but to screw them permanently. To take data home to Earth and use it to defeat these creatures on a larger scale. It was this impressive goal that had jolted him out of his defeatist mindset.

  Certainly, the odds were that they’d never leave this frozen rock. They were doomed, in all likelihood. But that didn’t matter, because there was a chance they could win through and damage the enemy in a very real and permanent way. He’d liked that idea, so he’d run with the rest of them.

  He would help them get back into space and get home somehow. He’d done it before with Kira in the submarine. He’d survive again—but if he ever did get back to Moscow, he swore he’d refuse to fly off into space with the next ship full of fools.

  “We’re locked in,” Lev said, spinning the wheel until the hatch was sealed. The automatic system had broken upon landing. “Where’s the rest of your crew?”

  “Sandeep?” Edwin called. “This is Dr. Goody. Respond please.”

  There was nothing but crackling static.

  “Sandeep?”

  Perez waved for Edwin to be quiet. “Brandt?” he called.

  There was a moment of silence, then Brandt’s rough voice broke into their channel.

  “What are you guys doing on this channel?” he asked. “It barely works. Scan over to fourteen. Everyone’s chatting there.”

  The group breathed a collective sigh of relief. They worked the communication systems in their suits, and soon they heard a flood of chatter. People were here, working on the lower decks to get the ship flying again.

  “I thought we were the last ones alive,” Edwin said to the group.

  “I thought we were dead, too,” Yuki admitted.

  Perez waved for quiet again. “Brandt? We have trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  “We made contact with more of the enemy. Hostiles are inbound. I repeat, hostiles are inbound.”

  “Perez?” another voice broke in. “This is Sandeep. Have you got everyone with you?”

  “Yes, we’re in that high airlock, upper deck. We’re alive, but the enemy chased us back to the ship.”

  “More aliens? How many?”

  “Unknown. Several at least.”

  “All right Perez,” Sandeep said. “Brandt? Could you get up there and take over coordinating a defensive effort? Dr. Linscott is working on the engine, and I’m assisting her. We could use our Russian friend down here, too.”

  “I’d be useless,” Lev said. “I’m a soldier, not an engineer. I’ll help with the defense of the ship to give you more time.”

  “Fine. Good luck, everyone. Sandeep out.”

  Brandt arrived moments later. He surveyed the situation. “We could meet them outside.”

  “No,” Lev said. “I think there are too many.”

  The others backed him up.

  “This is crazy,” Edwin said, breathing hard. “We’re fighting these beings—but we’ve never tried to talk to them. We didn’t bring any translators or linguists—”

  “This rock wasn’t supposed to be full of intelligent aliens,” Lev pointed out. “Our crew included a few astrobiologists, but they only expected to find an odd species of underwater lichen or something. Not creatures like this.”

  “Why not?” Edwin demanded. “Why didn’t anyone foresee something like this? Someone had to build those ships!”

  Yuki put a calming hand on Edwin's arm. “Explorers often don’t foresee something outside their experience. Remember Columbus? Until his death, he believed he’d found India, rather than a new continent.”

  “We should try to talk to them,” Edwin insisted. “We haven’t even tried.” He pointed at Lev and Perez. “You two ambushed them and killed them as they came up. No wonder they’re hostile.”

  Lev laughed. “You want to talk? Be my guest!” he said. “One of my shipmates tried to talk to them. Dr. Kira Norin. She was my friend, and they butchered her right in front of me.”

  “Is that when you decided to kill them all?” Perez asked.

  “Yes. I don’t think you can reason with these brutes anyway. They must be put down. They’re too different. Too violent.”

  Edwin sighed.

  “What’s the plan then?” Brandt asked in annoyance. “Lock the doors and hope they can’t get in?”

  “They will get in eventually,” Lev said. “This ship wasn’t built to be locked. It was built to be accessible. What we want to do is let them come in here and kill them as they enter. The best we can do is channel their attack into a good killing zone.”

  “Will you just listen to yourselves?” Edwin demanded. “A killing zone?”

  “Look,” Brandt said. “We’re either going to kill them, surrender to them and hope we live, or try to talk to them. I say we kill them. That’s the only path that doesn’t leave the outcome up to the aliens.”

  “What if there are too many?” Edwin asked. “What if we fail?”

  “Then we’re doomed. But we don’t know that.”

  “Let’s have a bloodbath then,” Edwin said bitterly. “Open the airlock, and invite them inside. Let’s get this over with.”

  Brandt nodded his head. “All right. Be my guest. Who’s going to open it?”

  No one moved. Brandt looked around for a moment, then smiled. “All talk,” he said. He edged forward and put his hands on the hatch.

  “I’ll help,” Lev said.

  The two men positioned themselves on either side of the door and spun the wheel until it creaked open. The seal hissed, and the bluish light of the surface swept into the compartment.

  An alarming series of events followed. Several sets of claws reached in, plucking at Brandt’s suit. They had something new in their manipulative hooked claws,
devices that resembled an oval of metal. These implements turned out to be weapons. They sparked when they made contact with anything.

  “What are those things?” Brandt asked. “Some kind of shock-stick?”

  “They’re trying to touch us with them,” Lev said. “Don’t let them.”

  The two men fought the alien claws and the strange weapons with knifes and fists—but the struggle was uneven.

  The Earthmen were stronger, but their space suits were a critical weakness. Not only were they cumbersome, they were easy to breach. Air was venting from Brandt’s suit within seconds, and he was soon gasping. He had to retreat. His arm was limp at his side.

  “I can’t move my arm. They got one of those shock-devices into my suit. I—my side is paralyzed.”

  Perez stepped up, taking Brandt’s spot.

  “This isn’t working!” Lev shouted. “Let’s close the door again. Everyone push!”

  Edwin, Lev and Perez all heaved and pressed against the half-open hatch. Their earthly muscles were powerful on this tiny world. The enemy was tough and built like wiry balls of rubber, but they were pressed back. The hatch closed again.

  Yuki worked to patch Brandt’s suit. The seal was poor, but serviceable. When Brandt could breathe freely again, he looked at the others with bloodshot eyes.

  “What I don’t get,” he said in a faint voice, “is why they don’t just blow us up. Or shoot holes in the hull. They have to be capable of developing sophisticated weaponry. Why would they be using their claws at this point?”

  No one answered him right away. Lev suspected no one really knew.

  “Lev?” Yuki asked, getting the Russian’s attention.

  “What is it, Dr. Tanaka?”

  “Have you done a count? How many crewmen did you lose?”

  Lev chuckled. “All of them.”

  “Yes. But did you account for their bodies?”

  Lev frowned at that. He looked around the compartment. “There were two right here,” he said. “I’m pretty sure of that. Did Sandeep and his crew clear out the dead?”

  “No,” Brandt said. “I came in with the initial group. There were no bodies in here. Blood and torn suits—but no dead.”

  “None at all? Not even below decks?”

  “No,” Brandt said definitely.

  “This is odd then,” Lev said. “Clearly, the aliens took the bodies. But why?”

  “They’re testing us,” Yuki said, “just as we might test a newly encountered species.”

  The group looked at her in alarm.

  Lev nodded. “Again, you are wise. You must be correct. They are sampling our dead—testing us. They don’t want our bodies blown up or burned. I think this last attack on you, Brandt, was with some kind of paralyzer. They wanted to take you alive. But they’re paying a heavy price for this information.”

  “As individuals,” Yuki said, “they don’t seem to be as worried about dying as we would be. I guess they might place a different value on life.”

  “What do you mean a different value?” Lev asked. “Are you saying they don’t care if they die?”

  “Ants, bees—there are thousands of species that will die to save their hive, their queen. Even some mammals operate that way.”

  “Okay,” Lev said, respecting Dr. Tanaka’s mind more every minute. “Let’s say they are like a swarm of bees. Why wouldn’t they have killed us when they had the chance? When we first arrived—that would have been the moment to attack. Why did they hold back until now?”

  “Let’s consider their behavior. Let's assume they brought our ship down here on remote control. They let us land and didn’t attack immediately. They observed and recorded, I’m sure of that. How much can you learn from a corpse? Better to study the live specimen.”

  “Makes sense. You think that’s why they haven’t broken up this ship yet? Haven’t killed us all? Because they’re making careful notes on our behavior?”

  “It’s as good an explanation as any,” Yuki said. “They aren’t human, but they are smart, in their own way. They took our dead in order to dissect them. I bet the aliens are down there right now, under the ice, working on the bodies.”

  Lev didn’t like to think that Kira was undergoing such a violation even now. She was dead, certainly—but cutting up her body was wrong. “They want to know what we can do, so they play with us as a cat plays with a struggling mouse. Maybe it brings them pleasure to do this. What will they do next, Doctor?” he asked Yuki.

  “I think we’re already seeing the next phase. They brought us down to this spot, and we’ve provided them with dead specimens to dissect. Now—I think they want a live human to work on. That’s what I would want.”

  “Maybe…” Perez said, “…maybe they’ve been looking for a way to capture one of us alive and failing at the task. They tried to grab Brandt just now, but their claws opened up his suit, and he began to die. Afterward, it seemed like they lost some of their fervor.”

  Brandt was on his feet again. The effects of the paralyzing device had been temporary. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “My suit is patched, and I’m back in this. What we’ve got to do is find out what they’re going to try next. If they get into the ship down below, they could grab Dr. Linscott. Instantly, we’d all be stuck here. We need to see what they’re up to.”

  They worked together with Lev leading. They soon managed to find windows and cameras that could be used to examine the ice outside.

  What they saw beyond Troika’s hull was alarming. There were perhaps a hundred of the creatures out there now. They crawled over the exterior of the ship and prowled the ice in every direction.

  Worse still, they spotted a new variety of alien among their number. A much larger sort that walked hunched over, using five limbs as legs rather than the usual two or three.

  “What the hell are those things?” Edwin asked in horror.

  “Maybe Dr. Tanaka was right,” Perez said. “Maybe they are a hive-race. Because those look like the soldier-variety of starfish to me.”

  Chapter 66

  Europa Ice Cap

  Starlight

  Jackie Linscott worked faster and harder than she ever had in her life. The Russian ship was so confusing. She’d thought figuring out how to control an alien drive had been difficult, but this—this was worse.

  The trouble was the Russians had hybridized their technology. Their systems weren’t alien, nor were they earthly. They’d taken a mix of both worlds and thrown in a little something extra that didn’t make any sense to her at all.

  It had to be about the containment fields. That was the central sore point in all these EM-Drive systems. Once the reaction started, how did you keep it from eating the ship?

  The shielding system, unfortunately, didn’t look anything like her design. The simple answer would have been to build her own, but of course she didn’t have the time or the resources to recreate her own version as she’d done back on Earth. Instead, she had to translate the work of foreign scientists and reverse-engineer their solutions.

  Colonel Dyson tried to help, but she was worse than useless. At least Sandeep had the good sense to know when he was out of his depth and to stay quiet.

  “Maybe you should just hook it up and switch it on,” Dyson suggested. “If it doesn’t work, fine, we’ll go back to making it complicated.”

  Jackie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “It is complicated, Colonel. The containment field has to be brought up bit by bit in tandem with the drive that generates it. You can’t just switch it on, because there’s no field to switch on until the drive is operating. Do you want to forget about the shielding?”

  “Of course not,” Dyson snapped. “When the drive starts operating, it will spill out thousands of rads into this compartment—probably with a lot of heat, too.”

  “Yes, exactly. Do you still want to just flip it on?”

  The two women glared at one another for a moment.

  Sandeep approached. His hands were up in a gesture tha
t urged peace.

  “This is a naturally tense moment,” he said. “Let’s back off and take a break. Maybe we can think of another way.”

  “I’ve got another way,” Jackie said. “You can start by kicking her out of the engine room so I can think.”

  Sandeep released a nervous laugh. “I’m sure that’s unnecessary.”

  “It might just be necessary to our collective survival,” Jackie insisted.

  She knew she’d lost it but she didn’t care. According to Brandt and the rest of the troops upstairs, the enemy had encircled the ship and were probing it for weakness. She’d seen the vids of the exterior, at least a few clips. The aliens looked like a SWAT team that had encircled a bank full of thieves. They were clearly planning the best way to break inside and take everyone down without a loss. She found it hard to think under these circumstances.

  Colonel Dyson set her mouth in a small tight line and left the chamber. Sighing in relief, Jackie went back to tinkering with the engine and puzzling out the controls.

  “You know, Jackie,” Sandeep said. “Dyson is right about one thing. We can’t just sit in this ship forever. They’re going to dig us out of here. We don’t have much time.”

  Jackie nodded and waved for him to leave. He finally did, but the moment he exited the engine room into the main passageway, everything changed.

  “This is Sandeep,” he said over the ship-wide channel. “We have a breach, repeat, we have a breach down in engineering.”

  Jackie rushed to the hatch and looked out into the passageway. It was shadowy, but after a moment she realized what he was staring at. Colonel Dyson lay on the deck, eyes open. She was dead. Her suit had been cut open from the back and both the air hoses were slashed. The inside of her faceplate was covered in blood. Something had gutted her.

  “But,” Jackie said, backing up slowly into the engine room again. “She only left here a minute ago.”

  Sandeep retreated with her and closed the hatchway slowly.