“Affirmative,” Ghost responded.
Chavez and Harper helped get the large shields off the four HA Specialists. It was a simple task, but everyone seemed to be moving slowly in the extra gravity. Dean always felt sluggish and weak when he moved from zero-g back to any sort of gravity, but the invisible force on the alien ship seemed much stronger than Dean was accustomed to.
“Sir, we can pass through the goop,” Ghost announced. “Looks like that stuff is sealing off the ship.”
“Harper, get in there and give me an atmospheric reading,” Dean ordered. “Captain Dante, we may have a safe place for you on the alien craft, stand-by.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Esma said.
“Alright, Staff Sergeant. Get these Specialists through the gap.”
“Yes sir,” Chavez said.
Dean went ahead of the HA Specialists, shuffling sideways through the narrow gap. Dean knew the big defensive specialists wouldn’t like the passage, but it was their best chance for getting into the alien vessel. He reached the wall of slime and hesitated. He could see through the cloudy substance, but he could also see the slime moving. It seemed to pulse and vibrate, almost as if it were alive. So far, all the technology that the aliens had used seemed to be within the realm of human understanding, but Dean got the impression that there was more to the gel that sealed off the broken ship than any of them understood.
“Stay sharp, platoon,” Dean ordered. “It’s a good bet that the masters of this ship know we’re here.”
Dean pushed through the slime which he expected to cling to him, but instead it seemed to recede in front of him before resealing behind, with no real effort on his part.
“That is some freaky shit,” Chancy declared.
“Keep your opinions to yourself, Corporal,” Dean ordered. “Ghost, any sign of movement?”
“No sir, it’s quiet.”
The interior of the ship beyond the slime wall looked undisturbed by the carnage the vessel had been through. The long corridor in front of Dean looked like a maintenance shaft. It was just wide enough for three HA Specialists to stand shoulder to shoulder. Bundles of pipes ran along the roof, and the lights were covered with protective grates.
“Too quiet,” Tallgrass said. “It feels wrong.”
“I’ve got atmosphere readings, Captain,” Sergeant Emily Harper said. “Nitrogen and oxygen, mainly. More oxygen than we need, but certainly breathable.”
“Any toxins?”
“None that I can detect.”
“Captain Dante, we have breathable air.”
“I still have ninety minutes on my suit,” she informed him. “I’d like to stay here and keep working on comms, if possible. The other shuttles may cross over and if they do I can help them.”
“Well, take an hour then, but after that you need to come this way. If you wait too long you won’t have enough air to get onto another shuttle when we leave.”
“Yes, Captain, I understand.”
He spent the next few minutes telling her how to get to the passage and through the goo just in case he couldn’t send her the help she needed. While he did that the HA Specialists got their armor back in place.
“We’re ready, Captain,” Chavez said.
“Good,” Dean declared. “Let’s take things nice and slow. Endcaps formation. Everyone check your weapons. We need to find survivors and convince them we aren’t here to kill them.”
“And make sure they feel the same way,” Adkins said.
“You know it,” Kliner added.
Wilson and Carter took the lead, with Dean and Tallgrass right behind them. Then came Ghost and Harper, followed by Chavez and Chancy. Adkins and Kliner took the rear guard and they slowly started down the corridor.
“Harper, use your MSVs to range ahead of us,” Dean ordered. “If there’s trouble I want to know about it in advance.”
“Yes, Captain,” the Fast Attack Specialist replied, sending one of the small drones speeding down the long hallway.
Dean brought up the vid feed from the MSV, watching as it moved quickly away from his platoon. The ship felt like a ghost town, as if the beings who had been on the vessel had simply disappeared. They could all be dead, and part of Dean hoped that was the case, but he couldn’t imagine that none were left when the ship still obviously had power and life support.
“I got a bad feeling about this,” Ghost said.
“Me too,” Wilson added.
“This ship is so big,” Harper said. “How can it be so empty?”
“It don’t make no sense,” Wilson said. “Something ain’t right.”
“Just keep moving, people,” Dean said. “Now’s not the time to get antsy.”
He hoped he sounded convincing, like a confident leader. But inside he felt nervous too. Something was still alive in the ship, it had to be. It was just waiting to be found, but Dean wasn’t convinced he wanted to find it.
Chapter 8
“Is there any chance this ship can still fly?” Harper asked.
“Perhaps, but wouldn’t they have already left the system if that were possible?” Adkins replied.
“If there are survivors,” Chavez spoke up. “They’re probably frantic to get this heap of shit running again.”
“We might be better off leaving a few charges and blowing it up,” Tallgrass said. “We have nothing but non-lethal ammo and no back-up. It is not a good position to be in.”
“Especially against unknown aliens,” Adkins added.
“We don’t have charges,” Chancy declared, making Dean wish he could mute the corporal’s audio again. “Unless the captain disregarded the rear admiral’s orders completely.”
“You’re a real hardcase, Chancy,” Ghost said. “How many times do we have to pull your ass out of the fire before you realize you’re only hurting yourself?”
“No one has had to save me,” Chancy declared. “And I know why you all hate me. You’re jealous.”
Everyone in the platoon except for Chancy and Dean laughed. It made Dean sad to think that Chancy was a lost cause. No matter where he went, or who he worked with, his stubbornness and inflated sense of self would sabotage everything he tried to do. No one would ever value him, and Dean didn’t think it was possible to salvage the obstinate corporal.
“Let’s focus on our mission,” Dean said.
The platoon grew quiet as they made their way down the long corridor. Occasionally they passed metal rungs that led up to hatches similar to the one Chavez and Harper had checked. Dean guessed that they led to the holding cells, if that was the right way to describe the large rooms where prisoners were kept. All they knew about the ship so far was that it was built in a long line, with rows of detention cells on one side of a main concourse and with a maintenance shaft running below. The captured ships were adhered to the outside of the vessel, but Dean was guessing the creators of the ship moved mainly in the central space where they could easily move up and down the entire length of the ship.
“Captain!” Harper said.
Dean checked the feed from the MSV even before he halted the platoon. The small drone was the size of a book of matches, with tiny rubber tires, a wide angle surveillance camera, and a small amount of explosive. The MSVs could be used as spies, moving unseen through small spaces. They could also be set up to guard positions or even used to attack with their explosives. They weren’t as deadly as the AAVs, but they were just as useful in the right situation.
“What the hell is that?” Dean asked.
“Looks like blood,” Harper said.
“Let’s hold this position,” Dean ordered the platoon, his focus completely on the vid feed from the MSV. “Pan up, Harper.”
She controlled the drone with simple hand movements and facial controls in her battle helmet. The camera rotated upward and Dean saw bright red liquid dropping from the hatch above. It was a rotating hatch that opened from the center, and it obviously wasn’t sealed off. Blood was seeping through the opening, running a
long the grooves of the various scalloped sections of the hatch, and dripping down to the metal floor of the maintenance corridor.
“Something died up there,” Harper said.
Dean sent the image to his platoon.
“Oh, shit,” said Adkins.
“You think it’s the aliens?” Wilson asked.
“Let’s classify what we’ve seen so far,” Dean said. “We know the Urgglatta were prisoners on this ship. We also know there are feline creatures, and huge simian beings. I don’t think either are the Kroll. We fought something in a mechanized suit, but no one actually saw the creature.”
“Cows, lions, and apes, oh my!” Ghost said playfully.
“Can that shit, Sergeant,” Chavez said.
“The lions have green blood,” Adkins said. “I remember that.”
“And the ape’s was red, but so dark it looked black,” Harper added.
“So we aren’t seeing the blood of those aliens, I don’t think,” Dean said.
“Could it be the Urgglatta?” Kliner asked.
“That’s possible,” Dean admitted. “We don’t know anything about the Urgglatta anatomy other than what they look like.”
“It could also be the aliens,” Tallgrass said. “Some cultures have a suicide element in conjunction to military failure.”
“You think they offed themselves?” Wilson asked.
“I’m just saying it’s possible,” Tallgrass replied.
“Well, what isn’t possible is that the damage to this ship would have led to such physical trauma,” Dean said. “And that blood doesn’t look days old.”
“It’s fresh,” Tallgrass agreed. “No coagulation.”
“Oh shit,” Adkins said again.
“What does that mean?” Carter asked.
“It means that something was killed on this ship recently,” Dean said. “And from the looks of things it happened in a violent manner.”
“There’s something on this ship that kills,” Chavez said. “Something we haven’t seen yet.”
“Maybe a lot of somethings,” Chancy offered.
“Alright, Harper,” Dean said. “I want an MSV here, in the middle of this corridor. We need to make sure no one flanks our position. The last thing we want is to get cornered somewhere we can’t escape from if we run into trouble.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Adkins, I want you to go back to the entrance we came through. Take Chancy with you. Hold that position and see if you can’t enlarge the passage back through. If we have to get out of here quickly, I don’t want the HA Specialists stuck trying to remove their shields. Corporal Chancy, put that thermite in your gear to good use. The rest of us are moving forward. We need to get out of this shaft and into a place where we’re more likely to find whoever is still alive on this ship.”
“There’s a ladder and a hatch up ahead, Captain,” Chavez suggested.
“And there has to be a way for the crew of this ship to access this area,” Harper said.
“Let’s move out, people. If there’s a threat on this ship we need to neutralize it before more of our people arrive.”
They increased their speed and came to the bloody section of the maintenance shaft. Once again Chavez was sent up the ladder, while Harper sent the MSV scouting further down the corridor. It only took the staff sergeant a few minutes to tug the hatch open. When he did, blood and bones dropped to the deck in a sickening cacophony. There was little to go by, the flesh and organs were gone and the bones were mostly shattered, but Dean guessed they were seeing the remains of a herd of Urgglatta.
“So the prisoners were slaughtered,” Chavez said when he rejoined the platoon.
“Any sign of more up there?” Dean asked.
“No, it was dark.”
“Harper, get a drone up there and make sure that section is empty.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Why would they kill the Urgglatta?” Kliner asked.
“From the looks of things, they were eaten,” Ghost said.
“Odd that there isn’t more,” Tallgrass said, running a gloved hand through the blood. “Assuming their blood is similar to human or earth animal blood, it will begin breaking down soon. Water, plasma, actual blood cells coagulating. This looks fresh.”
“Why is that odd?” Kliner asked.
“Because most carnivores don’t eat everything,” Tallgrass explained. “A large kill, like just one of the Urgglatta, would have provided meat and fat, but also organs, hide, appendages. In most ecosystems, an animal killed for food is consumed by a host of creatures, from the carnivores who made the kill, to scavengers who fight over the scraps, and even insects to pick the bones clean.”
“If the Urgglatta were only killed recently, then whatever killed them must have devoured everything,” Chavez said.
“What are we up against?” Wilson asked. “How big must they be to eat that much of anything all at once?”
“And so quickly,” Tallgrass added.
“Nothing left in the area above, Captain,” Harper said. “It’s the same as before. A holding cell, glass on one side, the strange slime on the other. No way in or out that I can find.”
“Bring that drone back,” Dean said.
“What now, Captain?” Chavez asked.
“We keep moving until we find whoever did this,” Dean said, pointing to the bloody bones on the floor in front of them.
“I’m not sure I want to find them…” Wilson said.
“We kicked their asses once,” Carter spoke up. “We can do it again.”
“Let’s move out,” Dean said. “I want to find whoever is still on this ship before they find us.”
“That’s a cheery thought,” Ghost said.
“Wish I had some regular ammo,” Wilson admitted.
“I hope we don’t need it,” Dean said, but he didn’t think there was much of a chance that they weren’t headed for a fight. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t quite shake the image of the bloody, shattered bones. Whoever was in charge on the alien ship, they were a strange and frightening race. Dean wasn’t so sure he was ready to take them on, but he stuffed those feelings deep down inside him, and steeled himself for whatever lay ahead. He might not want to meet it, but he was certain he would never turn away. They had to know who the Kroll were, and his platoon were the only people who could do it.
Chapter 9
They hadn’t gone far when a loud, sonorous grunt rumbled up the passageway.
“What the hell?” Wilson said.
“Quiet,” Dean reminded the HA Specialist. “Harper?”
“I don’t see anything,” she said, all her attention on the vid feed from the MSV. “It’s darker ahead, but there’s nothing in the passageway.”
“Let’s keep moving. Everyone stay calm. HA,” Dean said, referring to Wilson, Carter, and Kliner, the three privates with their heavy armor who were leading the platoon forward, “Assume defensive posture.”
“Still nothing,” Harper said.
“There could be side passages hidden in the shadows,” Dean suggested after looking at the vid feed. “Back up and pan around.”
The little drone rolled back, curving toward the left hand side of the passage when suddenly it was snatched up.
“Hold!” Dean ordered, his attention on the shaking vid feed from the MSV.
“Should I detonate?” Harper asked.
“No, wait,” Dean replied.
The picture cleared for a second, Dean thought he saw bars and some light beyond, and then huge teeth closed over the drone and the feed was lost.
“Did something just eat the MSV?” Harper asked.
Dean had already replayed the feed and slowed it down. He couldn’t switch to low light amplification but he could turn up the contrast. He saw nothing at first, just a dark blur, but then the bars were visible, like a massive cage. And then unmistakable canine fangs as they slowly came together frame by frame.
“What? Something ate the drone?” Wilso
n asked, the terror evident in his voice.
“Hold it together, Private,” Chavez snarled.
“We have creatures ahead,” Dean said. “But it looks like they’re caged.”
“What kind of creatures?” Tallgrass asked, sounding as calm as a doctor asking questions during a routine examination.
“I don’t know,” Dean said. “But judging by the glimpse of the cage, they must be large.”
“Do you want me to send another MSV?” Harper asked.
“No, save them. We don’t want to lose too many, or have one detonate unexpectedly and bring the masters of this ship down on our heads. Let’s move slowly, switch to low light and don’t get too close to the sides of the tunnel.”
“Don’t bunch up,” Chavez said to the HA Specialists. “Wilson, Kliner, drop back right behind Wilson.”
“Why do I have to go first?” Wilson complained.
“Because you’re afraid,” Chavez said. “You face that shit like a man. We’re Force Recon, not Operators hiding behind computer consoles.”
“I heard that, Staff Sergeant,” Esma said over the open channel.
Several people snickered, but no one was talking or making more noise than they had to. They had been away from the shuttle for almost an hour and Dean’s nerves ticked up another notch.
“Captain Dante, what’s the status on your air supply?” he asked.
“I’ve got thirty nine minutes,” Esma replied.
“Any news from our back-up?”
They haven’t moved,” she said. “The cowards are just holding and waiting, although I don’t know what they’re waiting for.”
“I want you to make your way into the ship. Let’s conserve what oxygen you’ve got left. Corporal Chancy, meet Captain Dante at the shuttle and help her down onto the alien ship. Then escort her back inside the sealed area.”
“Dean,” Esma said, switching to a private channel. “If I remove my helmet in the alien ship I’ll be exposed to any pathogens in the air.”
“That’s a risk we’re going to have to take,” Dean said. “There’s no telling how long we’ll be here before help arrives. Besides, everyone from the Roosevelt was exposed.”
“I don’t want to die from some horrible alien disease.”
Embracing Oblivion: Wolfpack Book 3 Page 5
