NEBULAR Collection 7 - Guardians of the Continuum: Episodes 31 - 34

by Thomas Rabenstein

  After he had reached half the distance, he heard something that irritated him. He stopped and listened. He heard a rustle, then a grinding, slowly approaching sound. Pillgreen closed his eyes briefly, then looked over his shoulder, but no one was there.

  Wondering, he shook his head and kept crawling. After a few meters, he heard the sounds again, right behind him!

  Pillgreen clenched his teeth, breathing shallowly. Again, he turned his head and shouted, »All right, Sparks! You got me! My shift is almost over, and I just want to have a quick look into space. You certainly won’t deny me that after my shift?«

  When there was no answer, Pillgreen added angrily, »I don’t like these childish games of hide and seek. Where are you, Sparks?«

  »Where are you, Sparks?« a strangely distorted voice replied, making Pillgreen hold his breath.

  He looked forward, uncertain. He had almost reached the viewport. He pondered for a moment, changed his mind and slowly crawled back to the access panel.

  »That’s not funny, Sparks! I’m going to kick your ass when I’m out of the tunnel,« growled Pillgreen and looked around, searching.

  »Kick your ass,« the scratchy voice said, causing Pillgreen to get goosebumps. Suddenly, Pillgreen seemed rushed. The voice had become louder as if the stranger was very close, but Pillgreen was still alone in the maintenance tunnel.

  »What’s going on here?«

  He looked at a dark, recessed section of the tunnel, no more than a gap between two control blocks. Pillgreen first believed to see two indicator lights in the dark, until they suddenly began to move and a strange-sounding, eagerly panting voice said, »What’s going on here?«

  These are eyes! thought Pillgreen in growing panic, unable to move. He felt how something fell from the ceiling, landing on his back. Sharp claws effortlessly slashed his work suit and dug into his skin … then a sting into his cervical vertebrae. It felt as if someone had injected glowing metal into his bloodstream. Pillgreen wanted to call for help, but he only managed to produce some gurgling sounds.

  His hands and legs moved around uncontrolled while he injured himself on sharp-edged panels. Blood gushed from a damaged vein in all directions.

  I’m trapped! he thought panic struck before he became stiff.

  After a few minutes of rigor, he suddenly raised his head and opened his eyes. The pain had subsided. Pillgreen didn’t even mind that the unknown attacker on his back had pierced deeply into his flesh, clinging to him like burdock weed.

  »It’s too hot,« Pillgreen heard the voice of the unknown attacker, but this time without fear.

  »You’re right,« he replied in a whisper. »I’ll change that to more pleasant temperatures.«

  Strangers on board

  Dorothea DaDiva seemed distraught and had already called the command central for the third time.

  »The man’s alive! You and I know that such a thing is impossible! I’m asking you again to call the Triton Base and ask for a ship or even better, change course and fly to the base the fastest way possible! This incident needs to be investigated!«

  »Of course, the incident will be investigated,« Fosset said reserved and knit his eyebrows. »Namely by us! I hope you have no problem with that, Doctor, or aren’t you qualified?«

  »We’ll see!« DaDiva replied riled. »If you ask me, the whole thing looks like extraterrestrial influence. I just hope you know what you’re doing.«

  »I hate to interrupt you two,« said Welf Rouven and pointed to a warning message on his console. »I think our air-conditioning failed. No wonder, considering the maltreatment of our beautiful ship. Sooner or later serious damage will occur, if we keep cruising through this sector. Our ship will end up in the scrap yard!«

  »Get it repaired,« Fosset said dryly, turning back to DaDiva, but Rouven continued after another system check.

  »Correction, the air-conditioning hasn’t just failed, the aggregates are going nuts on me. According to my sensors, all ship sections are cooling down rapidly. The cooling loops are not working properly.«

  »I’ll call you back soon,« Fosset interrupted the link to the doctor and looked upward, slightly angered. In the ceiling, directly above his commander’s seat, a ventilation diffuser was located. Fosset shivered suddenly.

  The air is freezing! Why is the neuronal computer not responding and activates the reserve systems? he thought

  Welf Rouven rubbed his hands.

  »It’s getting nippy in here!«

  »The temperature in the command central has fallen by twelve degrees within just ten minutes,« said Gamze and tightened her collar.

  This is serious, Fosset thought and called his AC-technician via intercom. After several attempts, Pillgreen finally answered. His likeness was visible on the holo display.

  Fosset was startled when he saw the specialist.

  What happened to that man? His face is pale. Is that blood on his clothes?

  Pillgreen seemed absent minded and didn’t look directly into the camera.

  »What can I do for you?«

  Fosset laughed out loud, »It’s cold in the ship. Aren’t you responsible for the maintenance of our life support systems?«

  »To me, everything seems normal,« he replied in a monotone voice. »But I can check it out.«

  Fosset looked surprised.

  »Are you all right, Pillgreen?«

  The technician looked up.

  »Nothing serious. I cut myself a little.«

  His eyeballs are blue! Fosset thought terrified and told the tech, »Check out the life support systems. I’ll send Kokrint to help you. Then see Doctor DaDiva, immediately after.«

  »As you wish,« Pillgreen replied lamely and severed the comm-link.

  »I think that Pillgreen won’t receive the employee of the week award,« joked Welf Rouven, earning a worried look from Fossett.

  »That’s where you both have something in common,« Fosset said dryly and was about to ask Kokrint to check out the systems, but the words didn’t leave his lips. Fosset couldn’t believe his eyes. The Zerbite suddenly had a fluffy and thick, pink fur. The hair covered not only the arms, hands and shoulders, but also the entire face.

  »Goodness!« shouted Fosset loudly. He wasn’t the only one who was surprised.

  The Zerbite looked into the wide opened eyes of the command central crew and felt obliged to explain himself, »It’s damn cold here. Fur keeps you warm.«

  Kokrint tried to imitate a Human smile, but his full mouth and hairy face made it look rather funny.

  »Gamze, do you also see what I see?« Welf Rouven asked stunned. Did our vegetarian friend actually grow a pink, plush pelts within the last minute?«

  »Fur is growing very rapidly,« agreed Kokrint, ignoring Fosset’s amazed looks and began working on the ship systems. The so quickly grown body hair was very finely structured and responded to the slightest air movement.

  »Life support systems are not kaput,« analyzed Kokrint. »Someone reprogrammed the main system control module.«

  »What do you mean?« asked Gamze surprised and verified Kokrint’s statement by launching her own query. »If the log files are correct then the control module program was manipulated. But that would mean that we’re dealing with some sort of …«

  »… sabotage,« Fosset added quietly. He just finished saying it as the command central’s airlock opened.

  Mark Chambers, in his white chef’s uniform, entered the room, furiously wielding an arm’s length knife in Fosset’s direction.

  Fosset was startled at first, but then squinted and looked at what Chambers wanted to show him. The sharp blade had skewered a strange, wriggling creature. Gamze jumped out of her seat, screaming in horror. A glutinous, yellowish substance trickled from the wound of the strange creature along the blade, dripping onto the floor.

  Chambers’ face was red as a lobster.

  »I didn’t want to scare you, my dear, but this thing attacked me inside my walk-in cooler. I just took inventory when it jumped me lik
e a rabid animal. I wonder how such a thing could get into my kitchen? Cleanliness and hygiene are the highest priorities in my kitchen!«

  Fosset was speechless. His eyes wandered between the knife with that squirming creature and Chamber’s face. The creature was equipped with sharp bristles, wriggling still with jerking twitches. It almost looked like a hedgehog.

  »Kokrint!« Fosset shouted and signaled Chambers to pull himself together. »You didn’t happen to bring some bad-tempered pets from your home planet on board my ship?«

  The Zerbite croaked as if strangled. All his furry hair strands were suddenly standing up, while changing to a dark red.

  »We don’t live with animals under one roof!«

  Fosset raised an eyebrow and watched surprised how Kokrint had changed. The extraterrestrial seemed furious.

  »Okay, okay,« appeased Fosset. »I believe you.«

  »I don’t want to make any accusations,« Chambers rumbled on, »but somebody manipulated the coded lock of the walk-in cooler, bypassed it and smuggled this beast into it. This action alone is totally unacceptable. Worse, however, is that I have to throw all the goods stored in there into the converter because this thing could have introduced a lot of pathogens.«

  »What kind of animal is that anyway?« Gamze asked suspiciously, pointing to the weakening creature. »There’s no way that it comes from Earth.«

  Fosset rubbed his shivering hands and looked again at the ventilation diffuser before he decided, »Kokrint, go to the bow section and get the climate control system back online. Chambers will accompany you! Throw this creature into space and pay attention to Pillgreen! Something’s wrong with the man! I’m going to DaDiva and take another look at this strange guy. Maybe we brought this prickly thing into our ship together with him.«

  Fosset rose slowly from his seat and pointed with his toe at the creature’s body liquid on the floor.

  »Gamze, please take a sample of this stuff. Before I forget, Welf, trigger a silent alarm and warn the rest of the crew. Maybe there’re more extraterrestrial invaders onboard. Tell the crew to be careful and not walk around alone in the ship.«

  Welf Rouven acknowledged and carried out Fosset’s orders.

  Messages and parasites

  »He opened his eyes a couple of minutes ago,« DaDiva whispered with a slightly agitated voice while gesturing wildly with her hands. »The man was drifting in space for years and opened his eyes! I can’t believe it!«

  »Easy, Dorothea. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Did you secure him?« Fosset asked carefully, watching the re-animated man on the display. The man was contained inside a small, hermetically sealed isolation cell. The entrance was covered with a thick, transparent plastic film barrier.

  »Of course, he’s tied down! Moreover, the nanobots have interrupted the nerve impulses to the arms and legs. The man cannot run away if that’s what you want to say.« The doctor took a deep breath before she continued, »Furthermore, his body temperature is minus ten degrees Celsius. Normally, he would be stiff as a board, but strange substances in his bloodstream keep the blood flowing even at this temperature and allow it to circulate. The body cells show a high metabolic rate at an unusual energy level for a Human. His muscles are relaxed and not hardened. Call me a fool, but I could swear that he would be able to stand up.«

  »Gamze is going to send you a body fluid sample of the strange creature Chambers had killed,« whispered Fosset, rubbing his hands. The sickbay was also getting quite cold. »Please, compare the substance to the chemical compounds inside the strange man’s body.«

  »Montas Bondifar,« rebutted DaDiva with a trembling voice. »That’s the man’s name. He is a special forces member, if we can trust the holographic ID. I reprogramed a nanobot to check his dog tag. This was done before he regained consciousness.«

  Fosset seemed surprised. He was still holding the small holographic memory cube in his clenched fist.

  She doubts herself and struggles inwardly. I totally understand, Fosset thought. I feel as if I’m living a nightmare. The content of this memory cube comes from Toiber Arkroid, that much is certain. Although, I’ve received the data via indirect channels and not from him in person, the data and the cube are authentic. Arkroid foresaw these events, and he knew about this Montas Bondifar. He had chosen me, but why? I think what happens is beyond our planned mission. When the Merinian can actually see into the future as he assured me in this message, then we determine current and upcoming important events.

  Fosset stared at the display on which Bondifar could be seen. He didn’t take his eyes of that man.

  I think, he’ll soon wake up and articulate himself. He’s the contact with the key message that will bring us one step closer to our mission objective. Arkroid, however, didn’t mention anything about the circumstances. He said nothing of extraterrestrial creatures which are currently attacking my crew. If he can see the future, why didn’t he warn us? Was it not important to him? I wonder if I understood Arkroid correctly and that this matter actually leads us to the wreck. Perhaps, he thinks in entirely different frameworks.

  »Are you listening? Fosset! Are you dreaming?« he heard DaDiva’s nervous outcry. »I said, the man just moved his lips!«

  Fosset interrupted his thoughts and, fascinated, looked at the display.

  That’s incredible!

  Suddenly, gurgling sounds could be heard.

  Sounds, formed by vocal cords that had been exposed to the deadly cold of space for years, Fosset thought shivering. He stammers and tries to tell us something.

  Shocked, DaDiva stepped away from the display. Her voice trembled.

  »I’m telling you to immediately return to the Neptune System! They’ll know much better what to do, and before you ask again: Yes! This situation and this … this … man there exceed my expertise and yours as well. Unlike you, I’m more than ready to admit it!«

  »Activate the microphone field near his mouth. We have to record everything he has to say,« demanded Fosset.

  DaDiva paled and quickly activated the energy field that employed microphone-like properties.

  »These cysts that I had found during the initial examination …,« DaDiva whispered anxiously as she checked the terminal. »… I think these ulcers were not part of his body. Maybe they stuck to him and dropped during the slow thawing process. Unfortunately, I cannot confirm this theory by means of direct observation.«

  Fosset looked at the last nanobot recordings and frowned.

  Blue stained indentations and tiny puncture sites distributed all over the body. What has happened to this man? he thought perplexed.

  »Frigonans,« Montas Bondifar whispered and very slowly turned his head toward the surveillance camera.

  Fosset and DaDiva froze. The gaze from the blue tarnished man’s eyes seemed to want to dissect them while a cold mist-like haze escaped from his mouth.

  »What did he say?« DaDiva whispered tensely.

  »Frigonans,« Bondifar said again, this time with a stronger voice. »My children will take over this ship. Don’t fight it, resistance is futile!«

  »Open it!« Fosset yelled suddenly and tore down the isolating plastic curtain in front of the room’s entrance. »I want to talk to that man!«

  »You’re breaching the isolation barrier!« DaDiva warned panic struck.

  »We have our decon chips and are protected!« Fosset rebutted and opened the transparent door to the isolation room. He suddenly felt as if an ice-cold hand had touched his shoulders.

  The chef

  Chambers scurried the narrow passageway toward the bow module, holding his two filleting knives ready, stretched forward. It looked as if he had swords in his hands and not cooking knives. Kokrint followed at some distance, and changed, almost every second, the color of his new fur. The individual hairs trembled nervously, and it was evident that he didn’t feel well in his skin. With his stooped walk and the chef’s hat rhythmically rocking to the left and right and the white fluttering apron, the chef didn’t make a bold
impression but looked rather grotesque. The way he moved, quickly and quietly, while using every niche as cover to then gently peeking ahead, spoke a different language, though.

  »Come, Kokrint?« Chambers hissed und signaled the Zerbite to follow suit.

  Then he stopped suddenly and raised his hand in warning.

  »Stop!«

  Kokrint froze. His big frog eyes came a bit out of their sockets. »What’s happening?«

  Chambers slanted his head, put a finger on his lips and listened.

  »Did you hear that?«

  Kokrint looked around uncertainly, then shook his head in a Human manner.

  »No, I hear nothing.«

  »Exactly!« Chambers smiled with a sly look. »The collisions have ceased. It seems that the Solar Pride has left the debris field that caused these massive, explosive shock waves in front of the ship.«

  Kokrint chose the ocher color of relief for his fur and relaxed.

  »Do you need to scare me so much? How do you know so much about these things? If I wouldn’t know exactly that you’re the ship’s cook, then I’d take you for an experienced kreezer hunter. Do you fear that these stinger beasts could attack us?« Kokrint asked with a high pitched voice. »Such dangerous undertakings are contrary to my contract! I’m only responsible for the maintenance of the machines and equipment and improve their performance.«

  With a quick movement Chambers put away the two knives and made them disappear under the apron. He bowed slightly and raised both arms in an apologetic gesture. Then he grinned, blew into his closed fists and then rubbed his cold hands. Taking the red color of his nose as an indicator of the ship’s climate, then the temperature must have fallen well below zero.

  »I like to be prepared for all eventualities, but didn’t want to scare you, Kokrint. Incidentally, I wasn’t always a cook. I cannot explain how this prickly creature came on board our ship and hid in my walk-in cooler. Maybe there’re more of those ugly pests. Dark niches, corners and places to hide, we have more enough on board.«