by Erica Rue
Dione released the tracer and took a few hurried steps back. Lithia pulled the gun up to her shoulder, took aim, and fired her first shot. In the silence that followed, they could still hear that awful grinding noise. Lithia fired two more shots in rapid succession, but there was no effect.
“It’s not working,” Dione said.
“Then I’m out of ideas,” Lithia replied.
For a few helpless moments the girls stood there, shoulders hunched, with no plan. Dione couldn’t believe it. They had counted on being able to disable the tracer, but she had never considered that this might be impossible. This was supposed to be the easy part. This entire trip had been one frustration after another, and all of that frustration was now building inside her. She took the machete strapped around her shoulder, and with no particular plans in mind, began to strike at the tracer with swing after frenzied swing. The clang of metal on metal echoed through the hangar.
“Dione, stop,” Lithia said. But Dione could barely hear her. All she could think is that maybe, if she hit it enough times, it would break. Her calculated attempts never worked, like when she had tried to kill the Ven the first time. She had only applied the force that was necessary, and she had come up woefully short. Then a Ven had been loose on the ship, nearly killing them all. So if their plan wouldn’t work, she would just have to beat the metallovore into submission.
Then, in between the metallic echoes of her swings, another echo joined in, woefully off beat with her own rhythm. It was moving faster. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a dark-haired figure racing toward them.
Bel. She was carrying something. Curiosity overpowered her frenzy, and Dione stopped. She found that she was out of breath. Maybe Bel had another idea. Dione looked back at the tracer and noticed a few small indentations.
“I found a defibrillator in the med bay. Its charge should be powerful enough.”
Dione dropped the machete and got down to help Bel. Bel positioned one charge on the front, while Dione place the other on the back. They were just about ready to give it a try, when alarms began blaring from the Calypso.
“It’s almost broken through the hull,” Lithia said.
“Clear!” shouted Bel. She initiated the shock. Immediately the scraping stopped. Over half of the tracer’s bulbous body was now inside the hole it had dug, but Lithia wasted no time in putting their improvised pry bars back to use. Dione grabbed the other, and together, they shook it free.
“Is it still transmitting?” Dione asked.
“No, it’s completely dead,” Bel said. “I just hope we got it in time.”
“How’d you know to come?” Dione asked.
Bel held up her wrist. “I borrowed Zane’s manumed.”
Lithia, who was spread out on the ground, began to laugh.
“Have you lost it?” Dione said.
Through her laughter, Lithia said, “You’re the smartest person I know, and you were attacking this thing with a machete like the muscle in an action holo. And you never play the muscle.”
Dione cracked a smile. What had they gotten themselves into? She glanced at Bel, but there was no laughter there. In fact, she looked sick. Her face looked too flushed, and beads of sweat had formed on her brow.
“Bel, you okay?”
Bel’s only reply was to collapse on the floor.
12. DIONE
Bel was heavier than she looked. By the time that Dione and Lithia had carried her into the ghost station’s med bay, Zane was already waking up. His hands were pressed against his temples as if he had the worst headache of his life. When he saw Bel's unconscious body, he got up swiftly. Dione offered a hand for support, but he stabilized himself using his bed. He squinted in Bel's direction, clearly in pain.
“What happened? She all right?” he asked.
“She stopped the tracer, but then collapsed. We're not sure what's wrong,” Dione said.
They put her in the bed with the built-in scanner, and waited for the results. Dione saw the worry on Zane’s face, but it was Lithia who comforted him.
“It's probably a concussion. She just needs some rest.”
Minutes later, the results were in. Bel had a minor concussion and a broken rib, but that wasn’t the part that troubled Dione.
“It’s detected a parasitic infection along with a slight fever.”
“What? How is that possible?” Zane said.
“Take a look at this,” Dione said. She was pointing to a deep scratch on Bel’s leg. Of the three parallel scratches, two were quite deep. Bel hadn’t mentioned it when she was cleaning Dione’s back wound. There was something strange about it. Dione dimmed the lights. In the darkness, it glowed a gentle green.
“That can’t be good,” Lithia said.
“It will make the infection easier to track,” Dione said. She turned the lights back on and noticed the pinkness around the edges, Bel’s natural immune response kicking in. Maybe that, paired with rest, would be enough.
“The Ven gave it to her?” Zane said.
“Probably,” Lithia said. “We can see if there’s any mention of something like this—”
“Got it,” Dione said, scrolling through the file she had pulled up on her manumed, displaying it for the others to see. There wasn’t much in the survivor category, but she did find a reference to Ven fever.
“There have been two known survivors of Ven attacks who exhibited flu-like symptoms. One died before treatment could be administered, and the other was treated with an anti-parasitic that targeted a similar protozoan parasite.” She frowned. “He responded to treatment, but died from his other injuries. Doctors believe it’s an incidental infection as a result of contaminated wounds, rather than part of the Vens’ attack strategy.”
“So we can give her something for the infection?" he asked.
When Dione requested more detailed information on the parasite, it was listed as unknown, but its phylum had been identified as protozoa. This could be the same thing. The computer showed her a list of similar parasites, and next to each one was the appropriate medication.
“That one,” Dione said, pointing to an enigmatic combination of letters. “Malscopine. It’s an anti-parasitic. There's no medicine like this on our ship, but we can check around the med bay."
It did not take long for them to realize that nearly all of the station’s medical supplies, or at least the ones that could be easily moved, had already been taken. The med bay had been completely cleaned out.
“Must’ve been pirates,” Lithia said.
“Maybe they had a secondary storage somewhere, like a giant supply cabinet,” Dione said. She queried the computer, and found that, while there was no supply on the station, there had been a med transfer to the planet. Somewhere called the Forest Base. And of course, the transfer included the kind of medicine that Bel needed. “I bet it’s still there on the surface. I wonder how many of these bases there are, and what they were used for.”
Zane wasn’t satisfied. “What are the symptoms?”
“Fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, and it can even lead to issues breathing." Dione looked up. “We can’t leave curing her up to chance.”
“So you think we should go down to the surface?” Zane asked.
Dione cast a glance at Lithia. They were thinking the same thing. “We can’t all go,” Dione said.
“We shouldn't move Bel, and someone needs to stay with her,” Lithia said.
Dione watched realization dawn on Zane’s face. From his expression, she could tell that he understood what she meant and was not pleased, but Zane kept his complaints to himself.
“So I take it you want me to stay here,” Zane said. “You two are leaving me here and taking the ship?”
“Those other shuttles in the hangar are still usable,” Lithia said. “If I can fly one of those down, we can leave the ship here so that the nanotech can make all of the repairs. We’ll be back before the repairs are even completed.”
“And what if you don’t find it? What happe
ns to Bel then?” Zane said. He seemed to be asking himself the questions, rather than directing them at anyone, and Dione didn’t miss the heartfelt concern in his voice. There was a pause.
“I don’t know,” Dione said. And Dione hated not knowing. There was still a part of her in denial that all of this was actually happening. It was a school trip. It was supposed to be safe. But now they were alone, Bel was infected with a deadly parasite, Zane was recovering from a Ven bite, and the professor… She could still hardly believe it. Dead. She felt despair welling up like a wave in her chest, and used all of her strength and rationality to push it back down. No problem was insurmountable as long as you broke it down into steps.
“We just need to come up with a plan,” she said.
After some brief discussions, they figured out their next moves. First, they would release the nanotech to repair the physical damage to the ship. At the same time, they would integrate the distress beacon’s charging matrix and start charging the Calypso for the jump. They agreed to put the Ven in one of the professor’s cold storage containers on the Calypso, because it was easier than dragging it to an airlock. The cargo bay would probably stink forever, but at least they wouldn’t have to walk by that thing all the time.
Finally, Lithia and Zane would run diagnostics on one of the shuttles in the hangar. Dione would look around for any supplies they might need on their trip to the planet, or any information that would tell them what to expect at this Forest Base.
“This could work,” Lithia said. “What do you think, Zane?”
“How long do you think you’ll be down there?”
“A few hours to land, a few hours to find the Forest Base and meds, and a few hours back. Less than a day.”
“Assuming things go to plan,” he said.
Lithia raised her eyebrows and nodded in agreement. “I’m going to get the repairs started, but I’d like to get some sleep tonight before flying a century-old shuttle to the surface.”
“I’ll stay with Bel,” Zane said.
“I’ll look around and see what I can find out,” Dione said. She hoped to discover what this station had been built for. Why had it been abandoned?
13. DIONE
The mystery of this place was intoxicating to Dione. There were hundreds and hundreds of rooms to explore, and yet she would only have the chance to inspect a fraction of the station before her trip to the surface with Lithia. The long time needed to charge the jump drive might give her a few days to explore when they got back.
The station’s layout was rather intuitive, once she figured out how it worked. The station itself was designed like a giant wheel with four spokes, gently spinning. Each spoke contained common areas. The circumference of the wheel contained numerous crew quarters and specialized work areas, like labs. Finally, in the center, were the vital areas of the station, including the command center, the energy core, and the med bay. The hangar bay was positioned between two of the spokes, providing easy access to any area of the station.
Based on the picked-over state of the med bay, Dione decided to bypass the common areas for now and check out the crew quarters. She thought she had a better chance of finding supplies people had squirreled away. As she walked down one of the spokes, she took stock of the athletic arenas and the small cafés. The further she moved from the others, the more anxious she became.
Most of the doors had not been locked. The first room was empty aside from its furnishings, but the next still had some art hanging on the wall and a few toiletries in the bathroom. Most of the rooms were like these first two, but Dione did find one room with quite a few things left behind. On what she presumed was once the dinner table, she found several drawings painstakingly done by hand and several pages of notes. Dione puzzled over the drawing for several minutes, but until she read the notes she couldn't make full sense of what she was looking at.
It looked like a giant dog, with sharp fangs and thick, mottled fur. It reminded her of an over-sized wolf, except its snout seemed rounder, and she could see the wag in its curled tail, even in the two-dimensional drawing. It looked practically domesticated. She had never seen or read about such a creature before, though it certainly reminded her of other canine species.
The first page of the notes described the so-called “maximute,” but not in the way that a child who had dreamed up some fantastic beast would. These notes were clearly written by a scientist, talking about the different genetic bases that would go into forming such a creature. But something seemed off about the notes. They weren’t… hypothetical. These were informal notes written by someone who had attempted and succeeded, at least in some capacity, to engineer a maximute. The last few pages were field notes, from the writer’s personal observations on the planet below, and they even gave the planet’s name.
The realization hit her like the vacuum of space, and she returned excitedly to the others. She knew what this place was, and it filled her with more awe than fear.
***
By now, everyone was back in the med bay, and Bel was waking up. Lithia had programmed the nanotech, which was working steadily to repair the Calypso. Once Bel was awake, Zane had been able to help Lithia integrate the beacon’s charging matrix and get an idea of how long the charge would take.
“Good, Di, you’re back,” Lithia said. “Looks like the ship will take about a week to charge. Better than we hoped.”
Dione was too excited to ease her way into the conversation. “I know what this place was for. Look,” she said, holding up the drawings and the notes. “This animal does not exist. At least, it didn’t, until whoever drew this created it. This station was an advanced terraforming research station. Who knows what we’ll find on that planet.”
“What do you mean?” Lithia asked. Zane stopped shuffling blankets. He was paying careful attention, too, though he kept his eyes on Bel. Bel looked annoyed to be trapped in bed.
“The researchers here were terraformers, and considering where this place is, they were pioneers. Who knows what they seeded that planet with.”
“You think it’s dangerous?” Lithia asked, amusement in her eyes. The two had very different ideas of danger, and Lithia loved to take risks. Of course she wasn’t going to take Dione’s concerns seriously.
“Yes, but I still think we should go. We have to get those meds. After we return with the anti-parasitics, we could even go back,” Dione said. “We’re stuck here for a week after all.”
Bel spoke up. “A few shiny engineered drawings and you’ve already forgotten what’s out there? Oberon is gone. The research trip is over. Until we are back in the Bubble at a Level Two colony at least, we are in survival mode. The Vens could still find us.” She frowned at the drawing in Dione’s hand.
“There’s really nothing we can do if they show up before we’re charged,” Lithia said. “And we have plenty of food and water in the cargo bay. But I don’t think we should spend more time on the planet than we have to.”
“This drawing gives us more information,” Dione insisted. “We know what this station was for now, and we know that the planet probably has animal life. We should take the stun rifle with us. We can talk about going back once we have the anti-parasitics.”
“No. You shouldn’t even go down there at all, but Zane and Lithia outvoted me. I’d rather wait until we’re charged and get treatment at a colony, but that will apparently take too much time. The Vens are still out there, and the planet is probably dangerous. Are you so sheltered that you can’t recognize how screwed we are? I don’t care who your father is, he can’t help us out here. I thought you were the smart one.” Bel put a hand to her head, as if all those bitter words had hurt her, too.
Dione felt all sense of wonder and joy drain from her body, leaving nothing but a nasty hollow in the pit of her stomach. Their focus had to be on survival. Dione held her lips as steady as she could and said, “You’re right. It was a stupid thing to say, but I did find out what this planet is called.” She needed to change the subject.
Lithia raised her eyebrows in inquiry.
“Kepos,” Dione answered.
14. DIONE
Dione dressed in a fresh white and navy StellAcademy uniform. She thought she would beat Lithia to the shuttle dock on the opposite side of the hangar bay, but Lithia was already there, working on a shuttle. Her friend gave her a wary “Are you okay?” look. It seemed she felt bad enough to call a truce on their own disagreement.
“How does the shuttle look?” Dione asked, making it crystal clear that she didn’t want to talk about it.
“Nate’s just fine. A few more places to inspect, but he’s in good shape.”
“Nate?”
“Yeah, N-8, right on the side here. Nate.” She pointed to the lettering along the side.
“Please tell me Nate is the best shuttle and you didn’t just pick him for cosmetic reasons.”
“He’s in the best shape of them all, though they’re all in great shape.” Lithia shook her head in wonder. “The absence protocols on this station must be phenomenal.”
“And you can fly these old clunkers?”
“Yeah, just like the ship in Paths to the Universe.”
“For the record, I’m trusting you because you’ve got more flight hours than most solar chauffeurs and not because of the hours you logged in a boring and repetitive holo game.”
“You’re just mad you always crash.”
The two girls made the final checks and strapped in. The readouts looked old, but fortunately not too foreign. The entire shuttle was large enough to fit about fifteen people, and seemed to be a transport model. There were a few larger ships in the hangar as well that Lithia thought were for cargo.
Dione pulled out two meal bars from her bag. She had grabbed two basic packs from their cargo bay. She handed one bar to Lithia, and for a moment, it felt like a road trip. When the planet loomed on the view screen, that feeling evaporated. It was insane, really. Stupid. The professor never would have allowed it, especially if he had known what they did about the terraforming experiments. But he wasn’t there, and the best chance Bel had was on that planet in a forest patrolled by whatever lived there.
