Grey typed into his comm and waited for help to arrive.
Chapter 37 – Landing
Gorian looked up from her screen. "Grey just commed us. Things are horkin bad out there. Fromer is gone. The others are trapped about three kilometers away. I don't think that help's coming."
Verat sipped his tea. "What do you think Mel's waiting for in there? The Raven's just a short jump away."
Iggy checked the barrel of his rifle. His communicator spoke while he fidgeted with his weapon. "I don't see her at the shuttle's helm. She may be running through the pre-drop diagnostics virtually in the back. She'll be unable to activate the quantum drive until she is in the command center on the Raven. I anticipate we won't have much time to stop the shuttle once it is in air. We have one opportunity. The shuttle bay is underneath the Raven and thus will be unable to dock the shuttle. Rather, she'll need to land the shuttle next to the vessel and run into the aft hatch. If we send Banna and Tyrrel there, they may be able to intercept her."
Verat inhaled. "I can't believe I'm a fly trapped in this forsaken ointment. I'll remain here on the comms and with the drones. Gorian, I presume you'll stay at the shuttle trying to get in?"
"I will. If I can get it open, then Iggy, you, and I will engage Mel and stop her." Gorian looked down at the gun in her hand. Her mind was with Grey and the others, wondering if they might have a chance in the mist. She imagined confronting Mel in the shuttle. Mel wasn't defenseless. Fromer and his guard left a considerable number of weapons, including grenades in cargo. The shuttle also was equipped with a light arsenal of external guns for defense. If Mel wanted, she could turn the shuttle toward the camp and begin blasting.
Banna and Tyrrel slung rifles on their shoulders and hooked grenades on their belts. They glanced at the shuttle. No sign of Melat at the helm. They slipped into the gorge leading to the Raven's resting place. Within about fifteen minutes, they'd be in position to stop Melat.
Gorian resumed her assault on the shuttle's locks. She tunneled through two security layers and had but one to go. If she could access the HM interface in the shuttle, she would not only be able to open the door, she might be able to persuade the HM to prevent the shuttle from flying and obeying commands from Melat.
Iggy’s unblinking eyes kept watch on the shuttle, while Verat monitored the action on the planet. Drone one was monitoring Fromer. Two was now over the Raven. Three was headed toward Minns, Grey, and Fen. Four was on the other side of the planet and out of communications reach. The planet's electrical activity was worsening. Their only way to call for help from the Institute was by getting into orbit and sending a message via the recon satellites. Melat controlled all means of their salvation.
Verat was busy watching Grey and company and had not eyed Fromer for a while. He switched the comm to Fromer's drone. "Oh hell and holy mars," he muttered. There was no sign of Fromer. The drone was programmed to follow Fromer's movements. Even if Fromer was torn into pieces like Rhodes, the drone would diligently remain above his remains, like a loyal puppy. Verat widened the drone's search pattern. It only registered the undulating surface of a shallow lake. He switched from sonar to visual on the drone and was surprised to see a hazy image of the lake, sunshine, and moss-covered boulders. He rubbed his eyes. He saw hundreds of faces in the ripples of the pond. They looked right at him. He sipped his tea- the faces vanished. "Please God, get me off this planet."
With Fromer missing, Verat decided to program drone one to systematically search the area for any sign of the hybrid. It would notify him whether Fromer was found, dead or alive. He flipped over to drone two. It was still too foggy over the Raven, so he used sonar. Banna and Tyrrel had arrived at the Raven and flanked the vessel's aft hatch. If the door opened, they'd have a direct shot at Melat and the shuttle. Mel had no chance.
Drone three followed Grey's network of beacons and arrived over his three crewmates. Two figures - Minns and Grey- were encircled by a solid, swirling mass. It looked like they were perched in the eye of a small hurricane - those storms that occurred on some ocean planets including old earth. Fen was about fifty feet behind them. Two large solid masses stalked him. He was mostly still. But each time he shifted his position, the masses shifted similarly. Beyond the three of them, the area looked clear. Verat typed a note to Grey.
Gorian comm: VERAT TO GREY. DRONE IS OVER YOU. ENTITIES ARE SURROUNDING, ABOUT FOUR FEET THICK WALL. BEYOND THAT, ALL CLEAR. OVER.
Grey comm: WE ARE FINE. STATUS OF MELAT AND OTHERS? OVER.
Verat quickly typed in a synopsis of their status, refraining from his usual rude commentary. Showing even more restraint, he purposely neglected to tell Grey about Fromer's disappearance.
Gorian generated one more algorithm and felt a pleasant twinge of satisfaction. Before her on the screen was the command menu for the shuttle. If Mel was paying attention, then Gorian had time for one command before Mel interfered. If Mel was still communing with the Raven, then Gorian had more opportunity to gain an upper hand. Gorian entered her security access key and ordered the stern hatch to open. The magnetic lock disengaged and the hatch lowered silently. The gangplank hit the soft ground with a muffled thud. Gorian motioned to Iggy. They raised their rifles on opposite sides of the dimly lit opening. Verat appeared behind them, crouched down, and swiftly entered the shuttle.
As Gorian prepared to follow Verat into the vessel, the gangplank retracted and she fell back. The hatch hissed and slammed shut. Iggy lunged at the door but it was already shut. Verat was trapped in the shuttle with Melat. Gorian ran back to her data interface. But it was completely frozen and smoking. The shuttle's HM sent a power surge through it as a defensive action. She was not going to have a second chance.
Verat stumbled into the cargo bay and sought shelter behind a bench. Mel appeared from the adjacent chamber and punched the emergency lock panel - a large red button reserved for accidental hatch breaches. When Verat saw her do this, he knew he was on his own. Even Fromer would be unable to respond quickly enough to get through the closure.
Melat exclaimed, "HM. Purge any external access." At that, the shuttle fried any external connections. Verat realized that Gorian had no chance of bypassing the system now. Melat turned toward the helm, causing the engines to charge up. Within a few minutes, they'd be airborne. He sighed. His bladder was full. Should have refrained from drinking that last cup, he mused.
He stood up and advanced toward Melat, her back turned to him. He lifted his rifle and aimed. A few days ago he was planning a trip to the beach and now he was prepared to empty the contents of his friend's skull onto the control panel. Well, the term friend may have been a bit exaggerated. But, still, he had no fortitude for violence. How did he get to this point in his life?
Melat cocked her head, causing Verat to hesitate. Verat felt a tingling in his feet and arms. He dropped his rifle and fell in a heap on the floor. Melat turned and smiled. "Why hello Verat. Glad you could join me. I have no tea to offer you." He could only stare at her, frozen on the floor, muscles twitching. I just walked into a security field, he thought. Dammit.
The shuttle rose gently. Gorian and Iggy watched it hover over them and advance slowly toward the Raven. Iggy lifted his rifle and Gorian shook her head. "No use Iggy. We need one of the ion charge launchers that Grey and Fromer have. Rifles will be useless. The best we can do is run to the Raven. Hopefully, we can provide back up for Banna and Tyrrel.
"What about the drones?" Iggy asked.
"Grey, Minns, and Fen will have to hold tight. I hope Fromer shows up." Gorian sipped some water, then zipped around a pile of rocks and vanished in the gorge. Iggy was right behind her.
Chapter 38 – Crushes
Banna peered at the sky. Confounded fog. He could see nothing. He shouted, "Tyrrel, what's your status?"
"Same as before Banna, nothing to report."
Banna thought about his life before this assignment. Wife, two kids, even a dog. He was born on mars to an unremarkable life, coming from a long line
of maintenance staff. They knew every inch of the colonies. The old domes, Fuerst gardens, the amazing mountains, and most importantly, the hidden service tunnels. He was the first of his family in generations to leave the nest- became a soldier, dragging his family to a new planet. Then the pirates came and made him pay for his adventurous spirit. Now, here he was. Family dead, horrid planet, and a crazy woman on her way to send them to hell.
Tyrrel was trying to relax when she saw Banna walking into the fog. She hissed, "Banna, where are you going?"
Banna saw something. It looked an awful bit like his five-year old daughter at the time the attack came. Could it be true, what they were saying about the planet? That the dead were coming back? Maybe this would be his opportunity to tell his girl and the rest of his family how sorry he was. He should've been there with them rather than deployed in space. If only he was there, it would have been different.
The girl was smiling, beckoning him to follow. She was wearing her favorite shoes- blue with sparkles and tiny bows. He had to give it a try. Even if it was a hallucination, the mere vision was enthralling. He followed her into the fog. Somewhere in the distance he heard a soft voice. Was someone calling him? His family perhaps?
Tyrrel was concerned now. Banna had evaporated in the fog. The air was vibrating, although she could see nothing. She readied her rifle- the vibration was the tell-tale protestations of molecules in the air- a sure sign of a shuttle descent. Where was Banna? Redundancy was as important to a soldier as it was to engineers like Gorian. With no back up, she was hanging in the wind. She yelled for Banna once more, and the hull of the shuttle appeared in response.
Banna kneeled to touch his daughter's cheek. He was sobbing. "Amy? Sweetheart?" She was smiling, gazing at his contorted face with sympathy. His hand passed through her face, his fingers feeling impossibly cold. She spoke to him breathlessly. He could decipher her words - join us. The air around him prickled. His inner ears hummed, buzzed, and then burst in excruciating, exquisite pain. Blood coursed down the sides of his head. The last vision of his life was the steely glow of the shuttle hull crushing him into the dirt.
The shuttle landed gently. Tyrrel readied her rifle, lowering her sight directly at the front door of the shuttle. It opened and a silhouette appeared in the hole. She pulled the trigger and her weapon recoiled - the figure dropped before the sound registered in her head. She ran forward and froze. The body on the gangway was not Melat the pilot. Verat Wilcoxin stared blankly into the swirling mist.
Tyrrel kneeled to feel for Verat's pulse. Nothing. Then she looked down and noticed blood running down her chest. How did so much of his blood end up on me? she thought. Realization washed over her mind even as it began to fade. Melat had ditched the rear hatch and shot Tyrrel in the back. How could I be so stupid? As Tyrrel fell on her side, she saw the jet black hatch of the Raven yawning open and Melat's red hair swaying into a fading blue mist.
Gorian and Iggy burst into the clearing to see the shuttle perched against the Raven's enormous backdrop. The shuttle's gangplank was extended and the Raven was shut tight as a corked bottle. Gorian called, "Banna, Tyrrel. All clear?"
No answer. Only the Raven's vents answered with a distraught hiss of vapor.
"Ig, this can't be good."
Iggy was physically incapable of frowning. But his-her slackened face showed deep concern.
They scrambled to the shuttle and found the lifeless bodies of Tyrell and Verat. Verat's hands were bound with cable and his mouth was taped. Banna was nowhere to be found.
Gorian rushed into the shuttle and checked the logs. The shuttle had landed ten minutes ago. She did the math. Drop preparation was a time-consuming process. It would take additional time to shut down all the safeties. After all, no self-respecting engineer would want a ship in dry dock to drop into infraspace accidently and destroy an entire planet.
Melat was in the vessel trying to convince the HM to allow a drop to occur on a charted world. Gorian imagined the conversation. Are you certain Ms. Melat that you want to override safety protocol 5050? Yes, HM. Do you realize that this will cause a catastrophic singularity in this system? Yes, HM. I authorize it via voice command. Ms. Melat, a voice command will require you to provide a biometric scan. Do you wish to proceed? And so on. Gorian would’ve smiled if it all wasn't so damn tragic. Verat, dear ass, Verat. Dead on the gangplank. And likely shot by one of us. His mouth was taped shut so he couldn't make a sardonic comment as he drew his last breath.
Her calculation was complete: Melat needed 30 minutes to initiate the quantum drive.
"Iggy, jump on board. We've to get out of here, now."
Chapter 39 – Flight
Minns and Grey were miserable, sitting in the muck, orbited by a frenzy of hands and snakes. The air was sodden with thick organic haze. They gagged on each breath as the organic suspension in the air condensed in their mouths and lungs creating a dense, mucilaginous sludge. Fen wasn't faring well. His thick coughs rolled through the fog, arriving in irregular intervals. Their muscles tensed as they anticipated the next tide of hacking.
Grey sighed to himself. "How'd we end up here?"
Minn's face reddened. "We? Are you kidding? I should shoot you right now. Or maybe I should force you to walk into that wall of death. If we escape this, I'm quitting. They don't pay me enough to put up with this crap."
"How is this my fault?" Grey slouched back on his pack. "My father was a great, brilliant man. This is pure evil. Corruption. I have no idea what happened here, but this wasn't his intent. If I had to gather what happened, he likely created some defense mechanism in the life he planted here - to protect the organisms from tampering. Maybe he gave the creatures the ability to retreat from a threat - a vague intelligence, an ability to communicate. This benign response evolved into something else. I wonder if something on the plateau-" He stopped.
Minns turned to him, "Did something dead manipulate all this? Are you telling me that what we were seeing up there were really dead sentients? And are there demons and angels there too? Did the devil escape on the planet?"
"By mars, I don’t know. Maybe something like that. Do you remember Pinchot Ferris from grade school history, the one who died a recluse? My perspective’s changed. I don't think she went crazy. My dad thought she was onto something. He believed and I now agree that Ferris discovered a window to an alternate reality and it has something to do with the emergence of life."
Minns laughed shrilly.
"Seriously. Here's my hypothesis. Life acts like a powerful quantum drive. It punches a hole in the very fabric of space-time. Perhaps, when we die, a little bit of the coherent energy we produce as living beings sinks down through that hole. Life after death. Water down the drain. Maybe there's a heaven and hell of sorts. Beyond all of, this."
Minns sipped some water and wiped her mouth. "This is completely trippy. What you're saying is that this planet is the equivalent of a giant quantum drive to the afterlife?"
"Yeah, I think so. In a sense, this planet opens a doorway to another universe or something outside of our realm of existence. Who knows? I suspect it's related to infraspace. Neither Ferris nor dad anticipated that other things, beings might be there. When dad opened the door, he let the dead walk, but also provided an opportunity for other - things - to emerge. Whatever has escaped into our reality has warped the life on this planet. Hence, our dilemma." He pointed at the undulated wall before them.
"If life's the doorway, then why hasn't this emerged on other worlds?"
Grey vaguely felt that he had this conversation before. "Well, let’s see. This planet harbors life on hyperspeed. Dad selected strains of bacteria and plants that mixed with the electrical activity of Nine to intensify the effect. He learned this from Ferris' writings. Other planets with life are far less likely to generate a big, gaping hole in the fabric of space-time.”
He sat quietly for a moment, deep in thought. His eyes lit up. “But, think about it. Every sentient species we know has a cultural memo
ry of spiritual entities. On old earth in ancient days, gods, fairies, elves, you name it, walked among humans. All of us abandoned these ideas as we developed science and technology. But with technological advances, all of our species trampled the life on our planets into submission. I mean, earth was a complete shithole before the fall happened."
Minns felt strangely calm. "As we turned down the dimmer on our environments, we lost our spiritual connection."
Grey sighed. "Exactly. And what we have here is a spiritual connection gone out of control. Humans, even brilliant ones like dad, always mess things up. We just fail every time we dabble."
They sat in silence watching the maelstrom before them.
It was during this strangely peaceful moment that Fen began screaming.
"Uncle Fen, what's wrong?" Grey yelled.
The screaming drained into a low moan.
"We've to get to him," Grey fired into the beings. Each curled hand dropped onto the ground, dissolving into the mud. The wall thinned and Grey advanced. Minns fired beside him and a small hole appeared.
Grey shouted to Minns, "Keep firing until I give you a heads up. I'm jumping through".
"You're completely insane. Let me know when you’re ready."
They fired for another minute. Grey looked over at Minns, nodded, and said, "Here I go."
She stopped firing and Grey dove for the hole. He cleared it with ease and ran toward his uncle. Fen was alone, curled on his side in a pile of dirt. Whatever beings held him captive were gone. Grey looked behind him. The hands continued swarming around Minns, seemingly unaware that he had escaped. Fen was conscious but clearly in pain. Grey kneeled down.
"Uncle Fen, what happened?"
"They fell down on me. I thought it was over. But then he – Fromer - appeared and they vanished back into the soil."
"Fromer? Where is he then?"
"I don't know. I'm so cold, Grey"
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