by Frank Carey
“Copy that, Captain,” the two of them replied, though I could see they were not happy about it.
“Torque, please, unship the traveler and bring it around,” I said into the radio. Immediately, a ramp lowered at the rear of the Sancus and a tracked vehicle rolled down it and parked next to us. It had four powered tracks, light armament, and it seats eight comfortably. Great for driving around town, getting groceries, or just rescuing people.
“All aboard and remember where we parked the spaceship,” I quipped as I opened the traveler’s hatch and stepped inside. Soon, we were on our way.
“We should be at our destination in twenty minutes. I have no idea what we’ll find, so be prepared for anything. Stay frosty and watch each other’s six.”
“Aye, sir,” Natalia said, speaking for the rest of them.
We arrived at the designated coordinates and found the Tenjin’s two travelers parked near an entrance to a large, windowless building. The exteriors of both vehicles showed no damage, which was more than could be said for the interiors. Both vehicles had been gutted, as if to make room for one or more large items, say a set of ship’s power units. We scouted around and found large deep tracks heading from the rears of each traveler to a pair of large doors at the base of the building. The tracks looked like they were from a heavy carryall. After parking the traveler out of sight behind a large pile of rubble, we examined the doors.
“John, there are no locks, scanner pads, or even a simple latch,” Natalia said as she examined the door and surrounding wall. “They may be controlled by a remote from the inside. I’m stumped.”
“Allow me,” Sybol said. I nodded, so he walked up to a seam in the door. He placed the fingers of both hands into the seam and pushed, forcing it to separate a small amount. He put his back into it and the door opened with a noticeable grinding noise. We had our way in.
“How’s that,” he asked, barely breaking into a sweat.
“Fine, Perfect. Thank you,” I replied, not a little impressed.
We entered the building. It was quiet inside, the gloom broken by sunlight filtering down from skylights. I pulled a hand torch from my belt and swept it around the room. Everything was covered with a layer of fine dust, broken only by the tracks left by the carryall.
We followed them to a large, dark, foreboding stairway which led downward into the gloom.
The silence was broken by a scream as something leaped on me from the darkness. I tried to fight it off, but it was unbelievably powerful. Sybol was barely able to tear it off me. He threw it across the room, but it shook off the impact and ran back, intent on tearing me apart. Finally, a blaster bolt sent it crumbling to the ground.
“At least blasters seem to affect it,” I said.
They walked over to the body. It was a male human wearing what was left of a uniform. Morga knelt down and examined the body while Sybol and I kept our guns trained on him. I found this a little on the freaky side.
“He’s dead,” she said as she checked for a pulse. He was covered with wounds, some of which should have been fatal. His eyes were pure white with tiny pupils
“Multiple lacerations and contusions, all from several hours ago,” Morga said as she ran a med scanner over the body. “I count at least five wounds that should have been immediately fatal, yet he stood his ground against a Mal. We are missing something.”
“Any ID on him?”
“DNA is a match for Space Tech Renny Bosch of the Lewis. Pre-departure medical shows him fit for duty when he left Station Zed.”
“Not a good way to die. May the Guides help him on his way” I said as I played the light around and found the tracks again. We left Mr. Bosch’s body to rest in peace.
We climbed down six flights before we found ourselves standing in front of what once was a pair of massive stone doors. Something had recently reduced them to a pile of rubble. We stepped though and found ourselves at a three-way intersection of corridors, each dimly lit by widely-spaced light fixtures. While the ladies scanned and Sybol stood guard, I placed a marker beacon on the ceiling above the doorway. This way we could find our way back if we got lost or separated.
“Sir, we’ve got odd life signs coming from that direction,” Sybol said, pointing down the corridor straight ahead of us. “Distance approximately one-half click.”
“Define odd,” I said as I looked at the readout.
“Strong, unknown, yet overlaid on very weak human ones, almost masking them. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
"I have," Cassandra said as she examined the scan. "These scans are similar to when a non-corporeal one, say an artificial intelligence, merges with a corporeal being. In those cases, the two minds share the host body in a symbiotic fashion."
"If Spacer Bosch was merged with something, it sure didn't look symbiotic. What happened to the non-corporeal in him?" I asked as I looked down the dim hallway. I didn’t like any of this, but we were running low on time. “Let’s go see what or who is giving off those readings. Head out and keep your scanners peeled.”
I was overdue reporting-in with the Sancus. “Sancus, this is Quist. Do you copy?” I said into the radio.
“Search Party, this is Sancus,” Natalia replied. “We copy. We were getting worried. We’ve finished with the Tenjin and are now buttoned-up in the ship awaiting your return, over.”
“Copy that, Sancus,” I replied. I told them about the mixed life signs. “Let us know if you have any visitors, over.”
“Roger that, search party. Be advised that it's getting windy outside. Sancus out,” she replied.
“Search party out,” I said as I closed the connection.
We continued down the corridor when Morga saw something on her scanner. “John, we have a life sign approaching. It reads human and moving fast, with a number of other life signs in pursuit. We should meet it in less than two minutes.”
I signaled everyone to hold position as I looked around. “Sybol, that door next to you, can you open it?”
Sybol pushed on the door and it opened.
“Everyone, inside,” I said.
Once we were all inside, I took my pack off, reached in, and grabbed a small aerial probe. I activated its locator system and waited.
My patience was rewarded when someone ran around the corner. As they passed us, Sybol reached out, grabbed them, and pulled them into the room with us. Once inside, I threw the probe into the corridor. It shot down the darkened hallway while pinging away. I ducked inside and had Sybol close the door just before a crowd ran around the corner, now in pursuit of the probe instead of the humanoid we had grabbed.
“Let go of me, you oaf. Who the hell is in charge here?” An angry and slightly out of breath female voice said. I recognized that voice. It was my ex-wife, Shenda Quist, Captain of the Tenjin.
###
The hiss of sand against the Sancus’ hull was getting louder as I tried to monitor the radio. "It sounds like the wind is really picking up outside," I said as I started to worry about how the others were going to get back here safely.
"Yes it is, Natalia," Bruce replied as he looked at the instruments. "Wind speed has doubled since we last called the search party, and the amount of dust in the air has passed the level of dust storm. Visibility is quickly deteriorating."
“Perimeter alert,” Torque said over the intercom as alarm klaxons went off. I reached over and killed them.
“Bruce, weapon-up and take station near the hatch,” I said as I checked my pistol. “Torque, what do we have?”
“Three hostiles with the mixed life signs John told us about.”
“Can you ID them? Are they Lewis or Tenjin crew?”
“Wait one… Yes, we have DNA matches on all three. One is from the Lewis, one is Pamela Jones from the Tenjin, and the third one is…” Torque suddenly stopped in mid-sentence.
“Who is it, dammit?”
“It's your brother, Samuel Frisk.”
Without thinking, I shot out of my seat and headed to the door
.
“I have to go see him. Maybe he’s okay.” I said as put on my goggles. A small haboob had moved in, causing visibility to drop to only a few meters.
“I can’t let you do that, Natalia,” Torque said quietly. “He’s not who you think he is, and we have our orders.”
I was in no mood for logic or orders. We were talking about my kid brother and I wasn’t about to just stay inside the ship.
I walked up to the hatch and tried to open it, but Bruce blocked my way.
“Sorry, little sister, but Torque is right. You need to stand down.”
A voice came over the speaker from the exterior microphones. “Natalia? Is that you big sister? It's me, Samuel. Please, help me.”
“Natalia, that isn’t your brother,” Torque said over the intercom. “That thing out there is severely wounded with at least three fatal stab wounds. I don’t know what’s keeping it alive and I don’t plan for you to find out.”
“Bruce, stand aside!” I yelled as I pulled out my blaster and pointed it at him.”
“You know I can’t, little sister,” he said staring down the barrel of my gun.
“I guess I’ll have to take care of this,” Torque said over the cabin speakers. The sound of a dorsal hatch opening filled the cabin followed by giant wing beats. Howls and unearthly screams interspersed with gunfire came next followed by silence.
“Natalie, this is Torque,” a deep voice said through the external microphone. “Come outside and bring Bruce with you.”
I took a deep breath and lowered my weapon. “Sorry,” was all I could say to my friend as he palmed the hatch release. Dust swirled in as the door opened.
“Not a problem, Natalia,” He said smiling. “That popgun you use only stings.”
We walked out into the storm and saw a large form standing over three bodies.
“Over here,” the form said. It was Torque. A random air current cleared away the dust and we could see him clearly. He was over seven feet tall, with four arms and a pair of huge wings. He was a gargoyle from time long past.
I ran over to the bodies. One I didn’t know, and one was Caltar, one of the Tenjin crew, but the third was my kid brother, Samuel. Like the Lewis crewman the search party encountered, these bodies had seen a lot of violence. All three had the white eyes and pinprick pupils. “Ah, Sammy, this isn’t the way things were supposed to happen,” I said as I knelt down next to him and closed his eyes.
“I’ll take care of them,” Torque said. “The storms getting worse. You and Bruce need to get inside.”
“Thanks,” I said as I clasped one of his elbows. Oddly, it didn’t feel strange, just comforting.
Bruce and I went inside and called the search party to report what happened. We heard Torque return as the howl of the wind grew in intensity.
###
“That would be me,” I said as Cassandra activated a small lantern, bathing the room in dim light. It was Shenda, and she had been through a mill.
“John! What the hell are you doing here?” She sputtered as Sybol let her go. “Didn’t Samuel transmit the Alpha18?”
“Sorry, all we got was the log buoy and it had nothing on it about an Alpha18,” I replied.
“Did you find Samuel and Caltar? Where are they?”
“John, there’s a message coming in from the Sancus.” Morga said.
“What’s going on?” I asked. Our next scheduled transmission wasn’t for several more hours.
“Wait one…” she said listening to the radio. “But everything’s okay, right?” A pause. “Got it. Keep us apprised. Search party out.”
“Report,” I said. My hackles were rising.
“First, there’s a mother of a sandstorm blowing out there and it’s getting worse. Second, they were approached by three individuals with mixed life signs. One of the visitors identified himself as Samuel Frisk, Natalia’s brother. He tried to lure Natalia out of the ship, but Torque intervened. The three visitors are dead, but like our friend in the corridor, they were pretty much dead before they decided to play with Torque. One of the three was a Lewis crewman, but the other was Caltar Wren. Our people are back inside the ship awaiting orders.”
“Dammit, not Sam and Caltar,” Shenda said, slamming her fist against the wall.
“Calm down,” I said. “How’s Natalia doing?”
“She sounded okay, considering her brother is dead and she got to meet Torque.”
“Thanks. Shenda, how are you holding up?” I said as I looked her over as Morga scanned her.
“I’m fine. Why is she scanning me, and who are these people?”
“I’m scanning you to make sure you don’t have a second set of life signs,” Morga replied as she put down the scanner. “She’s clean.”
“We need to make this quick,” I said as I made speedy introductions and explained how we got here.
“I knew Doc Patoor had a daughter, but I didn’t know Samuel had a sister. Wait a minute. You said log buoy. Samuel and Caltar must have gotten it off. How did you get it?”
“I stole it from Science Council Headquarters.” I explained.
“You stole it from SCHQ? Are you mad? Do you know what they’ll do when they catch you? And they will catch you, you know.”
“Yes,” I said bowing to the inevitable, “I figure they have a cruiser sitting outside the system, waiting to see what happens. At some point they’re going to send in troops.”
“We have to stop them,” she said frantically. “No one can come down here.
“Why not? What happened here?” I asked.
“And where is my father?” Cassandra chimed in.
Taking a deep breath, she began. “SCHQ got word that the Lewis needed the services of Dr. Patoor, so being next on the roster, my crew and I was assigned the task of transporting him and his assistant to this godforsaken planet. We landed and the two doctors, my first officer Talock, Space Tech Pamela Jones, and I went out to meet the crew of the Lewis, leaving Samuel and Space Tech Caltar Wren behind to mind the store. Everything went according to plan as we handed off the two doctors to Lewis personnel. We were about to leave on our next mission when Doctor Patoor excitedly invited us to an unveiling. It seems the Lewis crew found something big. I called the ship and let them know we were going to be delayed.”
I sat down in front of her while Morga gently took her pulse. Morga looked at me and nodded her approval of Shenda continuing.
“We followed the doctor into the bowels of this building, to a huge room filled with ancient devices, many of which were powered up and active,” she said as she played with a necklace I had given her right before we went our separate ways. “I thought it was against protocol for them to bring the alien machinery online, but the Doctor said that he had given them permission before the Tenjin had even left the station.”
At this point, Shenda’s eyes got shocky. I looked at Morga as she prepared a spray hypo.
“The doctor started to explain their great discovery when there was a scream from the middle of the room. People in the room started shaking and screaming, even my crew. Then they all started to fight. Somehow I got out of there and found a place to hide. I called the ship and ordered an Alpha18 assuming that some kind of disease had broken out. Then the radio went dead.”
Shenda started to shake. I nodded and Morga gave her a hypo of sedative, which calmed her down as it took effect.
“I stayed in that room for hours, waiting for someone to find me, but no one did. I tried the radio, but it was dead. Eventually, I ventured out and tried to find my crew. I found myself on a balcony overlooking some type of arena. It was filled with people battling to the death. Off to one side was a corral of sorts filled with members of the crew of the Lewis. When someone in the arena succumbed to their wounds, they would drop to the floor. Then one of the people in the corral would convulse before jumping in and taking the dead person’s place. It was horrible.”
“What about my father or Natalia’s brother?” Cassandra asked, transfix
ed by the story.
“I haven’t seen Samuel since leaving the ship,” Shenda explained. “Your father, on the other hand, was standing on a raised podium at one end of the arena, as if he was orchestrating it. We need to get out of here and send this place to hell.”
She stopped talking and looked at me. Everyone looked at me as if I had the answers. I stared at the pendant I gave Shenda and started to formulate an idea, an idea I found more frightening than even an ancient mutagenic virus.
“Morga. These crystals you’ve implanted in us. Your people naturally have them in your brains, correct?”
“Yeah. We use them for low-level communications.”
“So, everyone here has one of these crystals, correct?”
“Yes, except Shenda.”
I reached over and took the pendant from Shenda’s hand and showed it to Morga. “I had this pendant made right before Shenda and I got divorced. I had it made from one of the crystals you gave me during the adoption ceremony.”
“Yep, it’s what we call a ‘hensba’ crystal. Useful, pretty, and durable, as long as you don’t get them wet—they’re water soluble. So, this means everyone in this room has a crystal…”
“...that emits a bioelectric field.” I said, finishing her sentence. “So, what do we have? We have overlapping biosigns and bioelectric fields. Cassandra, what are your doctorates in?”
“Biology, bioengineering, exobiology, physics, and xenohistory. Why do you ask?”
“Just a hunch. Shenda, can you take us to where all of this started?”
“I don’t think you heard me. We need to get out of here. Now! No sightseeing. No guided tours. Just get out,” she said emphatically.
“Half your crew is here, plus the two doctors, plus what is left of the crew of the Lewis. We aren’t leaving here, not yet anyway. Morga, call the Sancus and update them on our status and what we’ve talked about.”
“On it, Captain,” she replied.
“Now, Shenda, I need you to…” I was cut-off by my ex-wife shoving a gun in my face.
“...take us back up to the surface, back to your ship and off this rock. Once in orbit I will call in a bombardment.”
