Fen rose angrily. "I assure you that my brother did not consider this world a riddle or joke. He was very serious about this place. He believed that it had the potential to transform life in the galaxy."
Iggy stepped forward. "Excuse me, but we - have so - daylight. I suggest we - forward." His/her transmission was crackling but still somewhat understandable.
Grey was amused. "By all means, Ig, lead the way."
The slope was inclining and the crew swooned in the oppressive air, despite their climate suits. Only Iggy seemed to be unaffected by the environment.
"Iggy, how are you managing?" Minns was sweating, fat globes adhering to her forehead. “You’re happy as a clam, aren’t you?”
"I am - well, Ms. Minns. My body temperature depends to - extent - the environment. The warmth and humidity - stimulating to me." Sheit stopped and began taking yet another sample.
"Is it my imagination or is the haze thickening?" Fen asked.
Iggy responded. "My gear - fifteen percent increase - humidity and - upswing in suspended organic particles."
After several more kilometers, they stopped to rest and eat. Minns looked puzzled. "Has anyone seen Rhodes? About twenty minutes ago he stopped to take a leak. I thought he'd caught up. But there's no sign of him."
Fromer frowned. "I will go back with Verat and see if we can find where he his. Do not move from here until we return."
Verat looked at Minns. "Mind if I take one of your weapons? If I get separated from Fromer, I'd like to have a fighting chance against the ghosts- pirates, whatever."
Fromer shrugged. "Minns, please give Verat one of your side arms. Verat, do you know how to use this?"
"Sure do. I love shooting things. Grey’s my next target."
They vanished in the haze.
Verat ran to keep pace with Fromer. Fromer bounded over boulders; Verat scrambled. The heat in Verat's suit was building faster than it could be eliminated. Thoughts flooded his mind. Look at me, a steamed vegetable. Why did I let Grey get me into this mess? Something is seriously wrong with this place. I bet Rhodes went back to the camp. Why is Fromer moving so fast? How does he do that?
Verat fell back in a puddle of slop, heaving. "Fromer, stop. I need a rest."
A thin breeze grazed the nape of his neck. Fromer appeared, as if he formed instantly from the haze. Verat gasped. "God, Fromer. You scared me. I'm going to have an embolism if you keep pushing me this way. I don't have your hyped up metabolism. Take it easy."
"Rhodes may be in distress. We have no time."
"Fromer, do you know something that we don't?"
Fromer paused, considering what he should divulge. "That being that we saw at the shuttle? I know who he is - or was. He was once my friend and he is very, very dangerous."
"Was? Is everyone losing their minds? Fromer, of all the sentients on Platform, you'ree the one that I always felt some admiration for. Now you're talking about a living being in the past tense? What's happening here?"
"I cannot say. But if Mup is alive, then we all need to be afraid. Please keep your wits about you."
“Now Fromer, you know I always have some wit hanging around me.” Verat stood slowly.
Something moved - slid- in the mist behind Fromer.
Fromer swept around, his lancet appearing from nowhere. Its green glow was dampened by the organic mist.
"What the hell was that?" Verat's sweat iced over.
"I do not know. That was not a hybrid- Mup. It sounded like a large animal with no legs. It is locomoting by undulating on the ground. I would surmise it is a snake or a large worm."
"That's even more impossible than seeing dead people. No multicellular life should be on the planet. We're not due to introduce any animals on Nine for another twenty years."
"Something very large is out there. I suggest we contact Gorian. She can send a drone here. It can use sonic imaging to tell us what is down here. How many as well."
"Fromer, please don't tell me you think there is more than one out there."
"I do. And they are watching us."
Chapter 32 – Confrontation
Gorian was chewing her nails. Her overbearing, loudmouth mother was still sitting there in her head telling her to stop that nasty habit. That internal voice made her want to bite them more - to the quick. The gooey haze of Nine penetrated all of her pores, not just physically but psychologically as well. The place was beyond oppressive. And they think that people will want to settle here?
Of course, in a couple hundred years, most of the goo would be converted to plants and animals. The sun would shine. And the sky would be clear and blue. But in this drab, beige state, it was impossible for her to believe. She didn’t have the patience of a biologist. She needed to engineer the solution now. Why work on things that would not mature until you are bones and only a distant memory? Instant results made her happy. This place did not.
She pulled her drones from their boxes and began prepping them for their trans-planet flights. Her metallic insects, ready to do her bidding now, not later. They gleamed, steel blue against a bland backdrop. Tiny optical ports rotated and focused on her face. These were her children. She smiled at them, and gave one a reassuring pat. Another was smudged. She polished it with her sleeve before setting it down on her table.
"You’ll do a great job out there. Come back to me safe."
For a moment, she thought one of the drones answered her. It was the tinny voice of Verat on the comm band, too garbled to understand. She lowered the bandwidth and boosted the signal by switching to text communication.
Gorian com: VERAT, CANNOT USE VERBAL. PLEASE SWITCH TO TEXT. OVER.
A few seconds passed - more garble on the transmission. Then Verat figured it out.
Verat Comm: GORIAN. RHODES AWOL. FROMER & I SEARCHING. IS HE AT CAMP? PLEASE SEND DRONE TO OUR APPROXIMATE LOCATION. UNKNOWN LIFE HERE. NEED IMAGE AND NUMBER AROUND US. OVER.
Gorian stared at the screen, mouth agape. She tore the edge of her thumbnail off and spit it out. She began typing in earnest.
Gorian comm: VERAT. RHODES NOT AT CAMP. WILL SEND DRONE IMMEDIATELY. OUT.
Gorian sent a series of messages from her data tablet to drone number one. The metallic bug responded with a lurch, buzzing and hovering in front of her. She gave her tablet a final tap and the drone shot into the muddy fog. Imagery from the drone streamed onto her screen. Only swirling chocolate milk was visible. To compensate for the radio interference, she reduced the quality of the video. It came in waves as isolated frames. Better than nothing. The drone recorded everything, so she could review it later.
She released the other drones and focused her attention on number one. She flipped on the sonar tracking and turned off the video. Using the same echolocation tactics that earth bats use, she directed the drone's vision through the haze. She identified shapes on the ground as rocks and gullies. As she neared the location where Rhodes disappeared, she slowed the drone and increased resolution and magnification. She spied movement on the ground. It was a single humanoid figure crouching next to a large boulder. Around the figure - Rhodes she surmised- were what appeared to be long vines about twice the width of a person. As the drone circled sending stuttered pictures to her, it was quite clear that the vines were changing shape and closing in on Rhodes. She spat another nail in the dirt and typed.
Gorian comm: RHODES IN TROUBLE. 500 FEET SW FROM YOU. CREATURES IN VICINITY. OVER.
Verat comm: WE R SURROUNDED TOO. CANNOT SEE THEM. USING GUNS TO KEEP BACK. CANNOT CONTACT RHODES. OUT.
Gorian glanced at the screen. The things were almost upon Rhodes. He tried to climb the rock but kept falling back. As she watched the grainy images unfold, her stomach tightened. The tubes, snakes, vines, whatever they were had reached Rhodes. He appeared to be firing his gun. The creatures descended on him. The next image showed a scene that Gorian would never forget. Rhode's figure was transformed into clumps- a torso, perhaps a head, and arms. Or were those legs? The monsters had vanished.
Gorian co
mm: RHODES DEAD I THINK. OVER.
Verat comm: R U SURE? THINGS HAVE DISAPPEARED. MOVING TOWARD HIM. OVER.
Gorian comm: WATCH YOUR BACK. BRINGING DRONE OVER U. OUT.
Gorian felt like vomiting and then screaming. But, she had lives to protect. She closed her eyes and focused on the drone, hovering it over the shapes of Fromer and Verat as they approached what was left of Rhodes. There was no sign of the creatures. Gorian swore to herself that they dissolved into the ground.
Verat comm: REACHED RHODES. UGLY. OVER.
Gorian comm: SEEMS SAFE. RETURN TO OTHERS. WILL FOLLOW WITH DRONE. OVER.
Verat comm: OK. OUT.
The drone followed Fromer and Verat until they reached the others; all were plainly visible from above. She was readying her comm to send a message to Verat when she heard the heightened voices of Banna and Tyrrel behind her.
"Melat, dammit, open the shuttle door". Banna looked over at Gorian and Tyrrel, looking confused, terrified, and bemused. "I think we have a problem here. Melat’s in the shuttle and not responding."
Gorian spoke while gazing at her screen. "I'm sure she has some reason. She isn't initiating a take off, right?"
Tyrrel answered. "No, but she’s spending a lot of time at the helm. I can see her up there punching a bunch of commands into the console. What’s going on with her? She’s just gone completely off since the drop."
Gorian spoke as calmly as she could into her comm. "Melat, what are you doing in there? We’re getting concerned about you."
"I’m going to cleanse the planet. This place has been defiled by those who have no business being here. They know better."
Gorian looked over at the two soldiers, her eyes wide. She spoke slowly, deliberately. "Mel, what do mean by that?"
The comm crackled. "I can’t allow this abomination to continue. The doorway’s open, breached. There’s no other way for us to stop this."
Gorian switched the comm to Grey.
Gorian comm: GREY, ARE U LISTENING? OVER.
Grey comm: YES. STATUS? OVER.
Gorian comm: MELAT IN SHUTTLE. SHE IS LOCKED IN. WILL NOT COME OUT. ADVICE? OVER.
Grey comm: WE WILL SEND HELP. KEEP MEL CALM. OUT.
Banna walked up to Gorian. "She’s no longer at the helm. Must be messsing with something in cargo. Is there an emergency hatch? We’ve got to extract her."
Gorian nodded. "No way. When a pilot secures the hatch from the interior, it’s impossible to force entry without damaging the vessel. In other words, making it impossible for the shuttle to get us off this rock. However, if I transmit the right codes to the HM interface, I may be able to override her lock. But that’ll take time and I’m trying to keep other people from being killed. For right now, I’ll have to let Mel do whatever she is doing. If you notice anything more unusual, you know like the drives powering up, please tell me."
Gorian returned to the drone's imagery. She saw that two of the crew were leaving the rest of the group.
Grey comm: SENDING VERAT, IGGY TO ASSIST. OVER.
Gorian comm: GOOD. WILL NEED THEM TO HANDLE DRONES WHILE I OVERRIDE MEL'S LOCK. OUT.
The drone hovered over the remainder of the crew. Depending on how well Ig and Verat were moving, they may make it to her by dusk, as long as they weren't torn apart.
Chapter 33 – Traveling
Verat and Iggy submitted themselves willingly to the brown funk. They borrowed more weapons from Minns and Fromer and were headed back to camp. Verat carried a rifle. Iggy looked like an amphibious gunslinger with an ammo belt hanging loosely around his thin waist. Fen, Minns, Fromer, and Grey prepared to forge ahead, trudging away from the security of the Raven’s shuttle and their small camp.
"Are you sure we’re making the right decision? We should consider all our options and consequences." Fen was rubbing the back of his neck and sipping water.
Grey responded. "Uncle Fen, this is a huge opportunity. If the planet has spontaneously generated multicellular life, we’ve discovered something ground breaking. Spontaneous generation of life has been disputed since Darwin. Perhaps Lamarck was right."
Fen was exasperated. "You don't have to impress me out here Grey. I’m sure you are as scared as I am. Think logically about this. Never once in the galaxy has spontaneous generation of life occurred. Animals don't suddenly spring to life. These things were put here, perhaps by your dad as a defense. The question is, what was he defending? More unsettling is that someone contaminated this world on purpose, long after we set things in motion."
Fromer put his hand on Grey's shoulder. "You are the leader my friend. We have sufficient fire power to defend ourselves against those things. I just hope your father or whoever is responsible did not dream up other creatures. I am more worried about Mel and her plans for the shuttle. If she strands us, we will be in dire trouble." Fromer did not tell them about the potential dangers of Mup's ghost.
Grey was ready. "I neglected to mention that the Institute will send a rescue ship if they don’t hear an update from us in seventy two hours. Even if Mel leaves, we’ll be rescued. No worries there. What do you think is wrong with her? She’s slipped hasn’t she?"
Fromer felt compelled to protect his friend. "Mel is clearly sick. This is an after effect of the accident with the Raven. She seemed fine- perhaps too much so. Once Verat and Iggy return to camp, Gorian will be able to extract her and give her a sedative. If need be, I can command the shuttle into orbit."
Grey noticed new activity on his data tablet. "Gorian says the drone gives us a clear path for another kilometer. No sign of the creatures. At the end of the road she says that there’s a sheer cliff wall- about 120 feet. We’ll have to deploy our climbing gear to get up there. We should be able to scale the wall and camp tonight above the cliff. Gorian says it is flat up there with less moss and shrubs. With no appreciable wind, the air should be less dense and the moisture less oppressive at the higher elevation."
They walked into the haze, following the frequent guidance of Gorian's guardian angel hovering high above them. The organic fog would ebb and thicken like waves lapping on an ocean beach. One moment, the entire crew was visible to each other; the next, a wrong step led to complete isolation. Pools of green slime occasionally belched gases, causing them to jump. The ground was ridged with thick, fibrous vines waiting to break their ankles.
Gorian and her drone told them that they were within 50 feet of the cliff wall. And then there the shelf was, barely perceptible in the fog. It loomed, stretching forever into the endless soup suspended above them. Grey noticed a blinking cursor on his tablet- another message from Gorian. He cocked his head and then sprang. "We have a problem," he hissed. Two of the creatures are directly behind us. Gorian says they appeared from nowhere, as if they materialized from the fog."
Fromer grabbed a repeating rifle from his shoulder and pointed it into the haze. The scratching and slithering grew louder. "Start up the wall. I will cover you."
Minns pulled a canister from her pack, used a sight to aim it upward into the fog, and pulled the trigger. A thread of high tensile climbing rope blew out with a low whomp and extended upward into the invisible realm, finding purchase on a rock. Minns tugged on it to ensure it was snug and attached a climbing ring. The ring was made of a special polymer that adhered to the climbing rope, providing a secure hold as each climber advanced. Minns quickly disappeared. When she reached the top, she sent the ring back down and Fen started climbing easily- quite a feat for a man of advanced years.
Fen was about half way up when the hand appeared. Fromer and Grey were astonished. It was enormous, twice Fromer's size. Each of its four fingers was encased in sinew and vessels- long, gray fingernails darted from their ends. The hand grasped at Fromer. He aimed and fired three shots. The demon dissolved into a slushy mass on the ground, pulsating.
"What in the world was that?" Grey exclaimed.
"I do not know," Fromer said. "But let us hope that Fen sends the ring back down soon."
The climbing rin
g slid down; Grey quickly grabbed it and ascended. Fromer never felt so isolated. All sound was absent- the fog had sucked it away from him. The tendrils of haze coalesced and for a moment Mup's blank face hung before him, passing judgement, daring him to continue. Fromer aimed. With one shot, the face imploded into a glob of brown muck and hit the ground with a wet smack.
The next few moments were perceived as frames by Fromer. Three, perhaps four, hands appeared, all smaller than the first. In his periphery, Fromer saw that the hands were affixed to snake-like arms. They were coming for him. He grabbed onto the rope and found small nooks on the wall for his feet. He scurried up the rock face, leaving the hands behind him far below in the mocha swirls.
His compatriots were standing in a circle facing out, protecting their interior. Fromer asked, "Has anything occurred up here?"
"Not yet," Fen responded. "What happened down there?"
Grey responded. "Beats me. I expect it has something to do with the organic composition of the fog. Somehow it configures itself into multiple shapes. Fromer, is this the same thing you and Verat saw and that likely killed Rhodes?"
"Neither Verat nor I saw the creatures. We did hear them and they made a similar sound. Let us check in with Gorian. Perhaps the sonar imagery can be compared."
Grey began typing into his tablet. "Gorian says that the imagery was similar. Both the creatures that attacked Rhodes and apparated before us at the cliff were as solid as the rocks. They disappeared as quickly as they appeared. This really sucks. It’s almost like the fog itself is alive and can configure itself into shapes."
The fog at this elevation was thinner and oozed off the edge of the cliff into the valley- a ghostly, silent waterfall. Visibility was surprisingly good. They saw several hundred feet into the mist. They were standing on a plateau stretching all directions away from the cliff edge. The sunlight waned.
"It is time for us to rest until dawn," Fromer announced.
No one argued with him.
Grey tapped on his tablet. "Gorian reports that Verat and Ig made it back to camp. Thank mars. Melat’s still in the shuttle. She won’t respond to hails. The drone is about one hundred feet above us and detects no creatures nearby. Ig will take over recon for Gorian for a while."
Planets Falling Page 14
