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

by Thomas Rabenstein

  Langlo knit her forehead thoughtfully.

  »You’re right. Clarification can only be attained by talking to the aliens.«

  As if Langlo had caused an unintended reaction with her words, the color of the light in the room suddenly changed. The bright, white light slowly turned to warm orange.

  Langlo rushed to get on her feet and looked around.

  »Many species use color signals to communicate with each other,« Kel-Nar hissed. »They want to attract our attention.«

  »There might be something to it,« Langlo said, and could not believe her eyes as the wall before her collapsed suddenly, fading away like a fine mist. Behind it was a bright, tunnel-like passage, which seemed as if it had been drilled into a crystal. The walls consisted of innumerable crystalline ridges, which glimmered in all the colors of the spectrum.

  The cadets didn’t move and stared at the flood of colors. Everything sparkled as if the walls were made of diamonds

  »That’s beautiful,« Langlo shouted impulsively.

  Kel-Nar walked a few steps into the strange tunnel. He couldn’t see far into the passageway due to a sharp bend. He looked back and said, »This room, seems to be some sort of an elevator. We were transported from the floe’s surface and are now in the inside of the …«

  Kel-Nar struggled to find the words to describe his surroundings. Insecure, he reached for his weapon with his right claw.

  »We’ll leave the guns where they are,« Langlo said aloud. »It’s best to lay down the plasma weapons. We should avoid anything that might give the aliens the impression that we’re trigger happy. They invited us into their station or base, and we should behave like guests.«

  Kel-Nar pulled back his hand, but he remained skeptical.

  »They can’t blame us for being cautious. After all, we are in an unknown and hostile environment. I won’t put my weapon down, no way!«

  Samura frowned, he understood him. If the aliens could hear and understand the radio communication, then they were also aware of the conflict the four cadets were facing.

  »Let’s get going, and accept their invitation,« Bennett suggested. »There’s no other choice anyway.«

  Langlo nodded to her three companions and took the lead.

  Soon, they had to bow their heads not to bump into the hard crystals, extending from the ceiling.

  Tiny panels, mounted flush into the tunnel walls, attracted Bennett’s attention.

  »They look like terminals or consoles, but could also be scanners or sensors. The low ceilings, as well as the low mounted terminals, suggest a small body size of our hosts.«

  »Don’t judge too fast,« Langlo said. »Perhaps, the aliens move in a stooped manner. We also saw our friend Kel-Nar running on all fours through the Marigold’s hangar.«

  »I don’t understand what this hide and seek game is supposed to proof,« Samura said quickly. »Why is there no reception committee welcoming us?«

  »We’re being observed and analyzed,« Kel-Nar said. »Perhaps, not all doubts about us have been resolved and whether a contact with us is at all desirable.«

  »At least, they are trying to accommodate us, because this environment is flooded with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere,« Langlo said surprised. »Nevertheless, our protective fields are still activated. The oxygen concentration is too low for our metabolism.«

  »Together with all the hydrogen outside there is an explosive mixture,« Samura said.

  A high and piercing chirp caused the four cadets to flinch. The noise was unpleasantly loud and caused goosebumps. Langlo shivered and breathed faster. Her pulse accelerated. Immediately, her suit’s life-support system sounded a warning signal. »What’s that?«, she exclaimed irritated.

  »Behind us!« Bennett warned, who was walking behind the team. »An energy field! It completely seal’s the corridor and follows us. It’s coming straight toward us!«

  »This’s not a good sign,« Kel-Nar hissed. »This doesn’t look like a peaceful contact attempt.«

  »The energy field is likely used as a small motivation aid to make us move faster,« Langlo suggested.

  Bennett picked up a little crystal sliver from the ground and threw it into the dark-red glowing energy field. It hissed loudly, and the crystal evaporated with a short flash.

  »Now, I’m extremely motivated,« the cosmologist yelled in a high voice, pushing the others forward. The faster the four moved on, the faster the energy field followed.

  »This is like a hunt!« Samura protested, breathing deeply.

  Bennett looked around, again and again.

  »Faster people! Forward!«

  But then the cosmologist ran into to Kel-Nar, who just stood there as if nailed to the ground.

  »That’s the end!« Langlo shouted alarmingly. »At least by foot! Before us is a narrow smooth-walled tunnel that leads downward.«

  »What do you mean with downward?« Bennet asked unbelievingly.

  »It’s some sort of chute!« Langlo replied loudly, standing, hesitantly, in front of the opening in the wall.

  »The energy field is getting closer,« warned Bennett, looking around hectically. »If this is a chute, then we’ll slide!«

  Suddenly, a snarling voice sounded from their radios. It sounded artificial and distorted, but the words were intelligible.

  »Welcome to the Mother Crystal!«

  Langlo held his breath, then whispered, »Mother Crystal?«

  »Damn! Jump into the chute, it’s getting serious!« Bennett shouted, diving head first into the chute. The three remaining team members followed with a bold leap into uncertainty.

  Information policy

  Admiral Friedberg seemed adamant. A swollen vein on his forehead clearly showed his anger. Nevertheless, the admiral spoke quietly and considerately.

  »This incident will have consequences! It cannot happen that four Fleet Cadets ignore the command of their superior and interfere with a Fleet mission! How could your four cadets display such an attitude?«

  Jannis Peleus was searching for words.

  »Admiral. First, I’d like to point out that the four are, without exception, the elite of this year’s class. They’re young and still in training, but all of them have a high degree of sense of responsibility and self-reliance. If the cadets decided to put their lives in harm’s way to act as a shield, they were firmly convinced that an attack on the alien ship was morally unjustifiable. These character profiles are exactly what we want if you allow me to interpret the recent Fleet regulations in this way.«

  Friedberg had problems controlling his emotions.

  »For a few days, we’ve been hunting for unknown ships, which have appeared everywhere in the Solar System. Previously, there was a serious incident in the Oort Cloud. We found the ship fragment of a species that calls itself Guardians of the Continuum and is apparently planning an attack on us. On board was a modified Original Spark, which was to act as a sun igniter. We could avert the danger, but the threat remains. We suspect a connection between the Guardian Ship and the numerous sightings of unknown spacecraft in the outer ring. These are possibly scouts who are preparing a large-scale invasion!«

  Jannis Peleus paled and replied in a wavering voice, »How should our mission specialists make competent decisions if they don’t receive all the information?«

  Admiral Friedberg drew a deep breath, peering at Peleus through a holographic transmission. Then he leaned back in his chair and nodded slowly.

  »All right, Peleus, you have a valid point. I see, you’re backing your protégés. This honors you. I wanted to know from this conversation if we’re dealing with four collaborators who are aiding an alien power. But it seems to me that your cadets acted out of conviction and sense of responsibility.«

  Peleus had no reason to be relieved yet.

  »What happened to the Hawk? The Firedrakin has not returned,« he threw in.

  Friedberg frowned.

  »We’ve found wreckage, but couldn’t find anything of the cadets. The ship was in the immedi
ate area of the tachyon energy whirls when the Hawk’s hull burst. We can’t rule out that your students were pulled into the vortex. I’m very sorry.«

  »In other words, they’re missing,« Peleus smoothened Friedberg’s statement.

  Friedberg nodded.

  »MIA!«

  Naked, but alive

  The tube was smooth as glass and didn’t offer the possibility of slowing the downward slide. Bennett, who had started the head first slide, already cursed his hasty decision. It seemed to him that the smooth tunnel would lead straight to the core of the planet. The initially weak downward slope changed after a few meters and became much steeper.

  »Oh, no, I’m way too fast!« he screamed. »An energy field! It blocks the tube! I can’t stop!«

  Langlo, who had jumped into the tube just behind Bennett, slid ever faster into the depths, pressing her lips together. She also saw the red glowing energy field ahead. As she could no longer control her down sliding movement, she just closed her eyes and waited for the collision with the field. Her painful scream was briefly heard by Samura and Kel-Nar, then the communication abruptly ended. The energy curtain slowed Langlo down. When penetrating the energy barrier, her skin burned like fire. Her protective field burst like a soap bubble with a sharp piercing sound while, at the same time, a small blue flame flared from the projector on her belt.

  The energy field destroyed my protective field generator! I’m unprotected! she thought horrified.

  Biting cold temperatures enveloped her body, and the oxygen deficiency caused her to violently hyperventilate. It was less important to her that her weapon had also disappeared. It had just vanished. Presumably, it was intentionally destroyed.

  No, not only my weapon but also the entire suit. I'm naked!

  The tube ended abruptly and led into a dark room. Langlo landed in a large basin which was filled with a jellylike substance about two meters below the chute’s exit.

  Beside her, Bennett was wildly kicking the unknown mass with his legs. The cosmologist had also lost his clothes and equipment and threatened to suffocate. Although the substance had softened the fall and absorbed the impact, it also held him in an unfortunate position.

  »Come on, Bennett!« Langlo shouted as loudly as she could. She was also stuck, waist-high, inside the substance. She grabbed her team mate by the legs, who then, slowly freed himself from his awkward position. He could only pull his bluish head out of the yellow mash while breathing hard and coughing violently. Moments later, two more dull impacts took place, and the bodies of Samura and Kel-Nar landed directly behind Langlo.

  »I can’t breathe!« Samura croaked. Kel-Nar wasn’t feeling any different. He was trembling all over his body, gasping for air. He too suffered from oxygen deficiency.

  Langlo breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Bennett’s condition was improving.

  My condition also stabilizes. I can breathe much better now. How is that possible? she thought perplexed. The Scandinavian woman tried to inhale slowly and calmly and felt much better after a while.

  »Try to stay calm!« she advised her teammates, wondering that the strange substance protected them well against the prevailing cold. It covered her naked body pleasantly.

  »I can breathe again,« Samura said, looking around for Kel-Nar. He was still trembling, but also seemed to feel better.

  »I presume we’ve landed in a reactive substance,« Bennett coughed disgustedly while spitting out the unknown substance. »The jelly warms us and prevents hypothermia. It also seems to improve the oxygen supply, probably by an increased absorption through the skin. The yellow mass, by the way, tastes horrible.«

  While Bennett was still shaking with disgust, Langlo looked around the gloomy surroundings. There was not much to see in the dimly lit room. But then, she noticed movements and froze.

  »Guys, we’re not alone in this chamber!«

  Longlo’s eyes slowly grew accustomed to the twilight. She saw something flashing in the dark. At first, there were only a few scurrying shadows, then several dozen, after a short while there were movements everywhere.

  »I hope we haven’t been thrown into this jelly bath so we can taste better for the dinner or a big celebration!« Samura whispered nervously.

  »The first contact with a strange species, I had imagined differently. In any case, I didn’t want to stand naked before them,« Langlo whispered uncertainly, feeling shame. »There’re a lot of them, and they’re quick!«

  »Without our suits, our possibilities are limited. We can’t even use our suit sensors to scan this room and get an overview,« Kel-Nar regretted.

  »We have eyes,« Samura replied. »This is not a room or chamber. It looks more like a hall. It’s gigantic! If I’m not wrong, then I can make out several levels and balconies which are grouped around this hall. Langlo is right. The strangers are using the dark lighting conditions to get themselves into position. That doesn’t look good for us.«

  »Great,« remarked Bennett. »And we’re standing in the buff in a basin full of gunk.«

  Langlo tried to wade under great effort toward the basin’s edge. The yellow substance had a consistency like honey and offered significant resistance with every movement.

  When, in front of the basin, one of the beings suddenly rose directly before Langlo, the astrophysicist was so terrified that she stopped her movement.

  Three large facet-like eyes in a greenish, glittering, round face, stared at her while the pincer-like arms and threatening mandibles crackled loudly. The look of the extraterrestrial was cold, unemotional and penetrating. Four antennae, which grew laterally from the black, round head, were constantly in motion, rubbing against each other, producing a high and unpleasant chirping sound. The antennae were directed at the astrophysicist as if they wanted to touch her. The unknown being was so close that she saw herself in the reflective, segmented eyes.

  »An insectoid form of life,« Samura said surprised. He categorized the extraterrestrial on some key features, which did not mean that the strangers had any kinship with terrestrial insects.

  »Facet-like eyes, clearly separated body segments, strong body armor. Probably trachea breathers and hierarchically organized,« Samura said to himself quickly.

  The strange being paused briefly and seemed to listen to Samura’s words. Its antennae circulated frantically as it suddenly replied, »Boney, flesh-covered beings with keratin strands growing from the top of the head. Bag breathers and muscle pumpers, quasi-symmetrical external body structure, but not necessarily internally. Bisexual, accompanied by a lowly servant,« the being said in a raspy and rattling voice.

  The team was speechless. The stranger used a translation device and understood well what the four cadets were saying.

  Soft light suddenly flooded the hall, emitted by large crystals, growing from the ceiling. Behind the strange being, more and more insects flowed into the hall. They formed a united, greenish iridescent front of bodies with innumerable antennae, swaying back and forth in the same rhythm. Hundreds of facet-like eyes stared at the four naked cadets who retracted a little deeper into the yellow liquid. The eyes of the strangers mirrored the light like reflectors or eyes of nocturnal animals, which were shone upon by a headlight.

  »Oh my God,« Bennett said with a faltering voice, although, being an atheist, primarily believed in the creative powers of the cosmos.

  Eno Samura studied the insectoids with the eyes of an astrobiologist and recognized subtle differences in the physique of the alien species. There were small, elegant and nimble creatures with a round head, like the speaker, who was still standing in front of the basin, waiting. The breastplates of these beings showed a strange symbol, which perhaps indicated the social status or rank within the community. They moved on four legs, while two elongated arms with short thorns grew from their erected upper bodies.

  On the sides, and somewhat in the background, there were much more powerful and bullish-looking representatives of this kind. These beings were much taller, by several
head-lengths than their little cousins. Their mandibles looked larger, more powerful and menacing. They wore clearly visible staff-like weapons, which they clutched with two of their four claws. Their natural body armor was more pronounced and dark black.

  In between, Samura noticed very slim-looking beings. Compared to the other two groups, they seemed to be skinny. Their antennae were shorter, the mandibles not well developed.

  It took several minutes until Langlo was ready to speak again. She had to digest all these impressions. Apparently, Samura, Bennett, and Kel-Nar were entirely relying on her negotiating skills and didn’t say anything.

  »I’m a Cadet Malin Langlo,« she began hesitatingly, glancing at her comrades, before adding a little more firmly, »We are glad we can communicate and thank you for the rescue from our space emergency, as well as protecting us from the hostile conditions of this planet. We are grateful for the humane treatment, even though, we feel exposed.«

  »Humane treatment … means … we do not understand,« the alien snarled, adding, with some hissing noises, »We not barbarians … no let ... die beings in need. We sent a Maidship with a clear tachyon peace signal. Behavior and attack by fleshoids is embarrassing.«

  Although the translation didn’t sound fluent or smooth, Langlo understood exactly what the strange being wanted to tell her. She slumped a bit and nodded slowly.

  »Human and humane means that you treat us as we treat people and prisoners according to strict ethical rules,« added Bennett, who intervened for Langlo.

  »Is Human a category for a caste, a sex, or a status?« snarled the insectoid while swaying its head left and right. »Why do you take word, if you have different sex, but the word should come from Malinlanglo?«

  »This is going to be complicated,« Samura sighed.