Binary Pair

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “How--” I began to ask, but Kasta interrupted me by tapping her skull at the temple.

  “I can interface with them. Up to about thirty actually, but anything over ten strains my own body movements and functions, so I have to sit in a chair and not move.”

  “You see what they see?” Z asked as she pressed the button to open Persephone’s hatch door.

  “Yes and hear what they hear.” The android shrugged.

  “Shit, that is really useful,” Z said after she let out a long whistle.

  “We are happy to be part of the crew,” Kasta glanced at her sister, and then they both smiled at me.

  “How far is the range on the drones?” I asked as Persephone’s ramp finished descending.

  “Three, maybe six kilometers,” Paula answered. “Depends on the buildings. We had boosters placed throughout Queen’s Hat to help with range.”

  “That is far,” I said with a nod.

  “We need to hook our control interface into Persephone, then we will get more range. It is only three because I’m transmitting the signal with my own body,” Kasta explained.

  “Got it. We’ll work on it when we get some down time.” I pointed down the ramp and glanced toward the abandoned city. We were a good two kilometers away from the first group of three-story buildings. The height of the structures quickly scaled afterward, and the tallest of the buildings appeared to be over seventy levels.

  “I’m on point. You all stay behind me. You follow my orders without question. If I tell you to stay put, you stay put. If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to shoot, you shoot. Got it?” I asked the four women as I walked down the ramp, and they all nodded.

  “Z, lock her up, please,” I asked as we left the safety of Persephone’s hold. The air here was slightly humid, and it was a bit warmer than I would have expected.

  “Aye, Captain.” Z made a motion on the wall near Persephone’s iris door, and the panels spiraled closed with a soft whisper.

  “Please send out your drones,” I said to Kasta, and she nodded. I didn’t see her move, or gesture, or produce any sort of movement that indicated she controlled the small flying robots, but they flew away from us like birds, and I lost track of them after a few moments.

  The field where we landed was covered with tall light green grass. The blades brushed my knees, and the scents in the air combined with the humidity and heat made me think it was summer here.

  “Wow,” Paula and Kasta both said in unison. The beautiful blonde women were staring at the blue sky with their mouths opened.

  “That’s right, neither of you have ever been on a planet,” Z said.

  “No,” Kasta whispered, and the android reached down to brush her hands across the tips of the long grass. She smiled when her palms ran across the swaying green carpet, and then she turned to her sister. Paula was still looking up at the sky, and she was taking deep breaths.

  “I feel like I could fall into the blue,” she whispered. “It’s so pretty and endless.”

  “Space is like that too,” Z said.

  “I know the sky is just the atmosphere that separates us from space, but look there are clouds over there!” the engineer pointed into the distance, and we turned to see a white and gray puff floating toward us. “It looks like mashed potatoes.”

  We waited as the two women looked around for a few more moments. Their wonder and curiosity were charming, and I found myself smiling as they each took turns looking at the grass, the dirt, the sky, and their long golden hair as it fluttered in the warm wind.

  “We can continue, sorry about that,” Paula said at last.

  “We can wait a few more minutes,” I said with a shrug. The women were having a good time, and even though I wanted to explore the city, I didn’t think a few more minutes would hurt.

  “No, we have a mission. Let us continue,” Paula said, and the five of us continued our walk through the long grass.

  “Something is wrong. It’s freaking me the fuck out, but I don’t know what it is.” Z whispered after we had walked toward the city for a few minutes.

  “I am also feeling ill at ease,” Eve said.

  “I’m fine,” Kasta said. Both of the twins still wore their beautiful smiles, and their eyes darted all over the field and sky while they walked.

  “Okay, that makes me feel better. The android is cool with everything,” Z said sarcastically.

  “There aren’t any bugs,” I said.

  “Hmmm,” Paula said. “Bugs?”

  “Shit. Adam is right, I don’t hear any crickets, or flies, or whatever. Just the breeze, no birds either. You’ve been on space station all your life, might not know what a bug is. A bug is a small insect that--”

  “I know what a bug is,” Paula interrupted Z, “but you are correct, we didn’t have any on Queen’s Hat.”

  “What does it mean?” Eve asked me.

  “I don’t know, but let’s keep going,” I said.

  We walked for another five minutes, but there still wasn’t any sign of life or movement in the grass beside the wind. The uneasiness in my stomach began to grow, and I realized that we might have picked a bad place to park Persephone. The grass here was tall enough to conceal an ambush of crouching snipers. It was probably a better spot than inside of the city, but we should have done a few fly overs, or maybe sent out drones first to scout.

  I wasn’t used to being the captain of a ship. I was a marine, and the problems I normally solved involved putting a bullet through someone’s armored body. I commanded a few units during special ops, but the sorties had been more along the lines of search and destroy or extraction. I was completely unqualified to be leading these brave women, or commanding this ship.

  No, my love. You are more than qualified. All capable men and women question their capabilities. We have been through much already and come out alive and stronger. Do not doubt yourself.

  I turned to Eve, and she smiled at me. I nodded with thanks and then I turned back toward the city.

  Then we reached the first road leading out of the cluster of buildings.

  “There is no sprawl,” I said.

  “Yeah. Fucking weird,” Z commented.

  “Sprawl?” Kasta and Paula asked in unison.

  “The buildings just start and stop with a clean line. There are no shanty towns or smaller homes on the outskirts,” Z explained.

  “What does that mean?” Paula asked as she glanced at the first row of buildings. They were probably ten meters high, made of cement, and had tinted windows. The designs were more utilitarian than aesthetic, but the buildings didn’t seem to be weathered.

  “Could mean a lot of things,” Z said. “Could be that the population of the city is way smaller than the living spaces, it could mean that there were rules about building additional structures, or it could be that no one ever occupied the place. Hell, these buildings don’t even have graffiti on them. They don’t look new, but they don’t look worn either.”

  “There are no automatic doors at the entrance to the buildings, and they appear to be locked,” Kasta said. “I haven’t found a place for my drones to sneak in and see what is inside.”

  “It could be that the city was never occupied,” Paula said.

  “Then why the cars?” Z asked, but the other blonde woman could only shrug.

  “Let’s continue,” I said as we moved toward the buildings again.

  A few minutes later, and we were at the front door of the nearest one. It was made of a thick plastic-like material that didn’t flex when I pushed against it. It was tinted black so I was unable to peer into it.

  “Should I break it?” I asked as I tried to push on it. There was no handle or any visible locking mechanism.

  “There’s just no fucking sound anywhere,” Z whispered. “I feel like you hitting the door will echo throughout the entire city and let whatever alien-monster know we are here.”

  “Alien-monster?” Paula asked with her blue eyes opened wide.

  �
�Yeah. How else do you explain it?”

  “I’m sure there is a better explanation,” I snickered as I checked the door again. Z was right, it was probably a bit too premature to try and break the material open with the butt of my rifle or a few bullets.

  “The power source is this way,” Eve said. She had the map on her transponder open and was pointing deeper into the city.

  “Alright, stay frosty.” I took the lead again, and the women followed me past the first line of shorter gray buildings.

  The silence of the abandoned city was beginning to feel more than a little oppressive, and every ten meters of walking started to feel like ten kilometers. The buildings were getting taller with every block, and they seemed to stare down at us with sorrowful gray faces.

  “The vehicles are in good repair,” Paula said when we walked past a row of parked ones. They were small oval shaped things, with a single wheel in the front and two in the back. Each only had seats for three people and a single hinge door that lifted off the top.

  “Yeah, but look inside. There are no crumbs, or magazines, or cups, or anything people would leave in a car. Hell, the tire tread looks new on all of these.” Z pointed at the front wheel of one. Sure enough, it looked as if it was unused.

  “The paint does not appear new,” Eve said as she leaned over slightly to inspect the car.

  “Let’s keep going,” I said. “We’ll find answers near the power source.”

  “What if we don’t?” Z asked?

  “Then we’ll keep looking,” I said.

  “You are like a dog with a bone-- hmmm, no. I need a metaphor with a cat,” Z sighed. “Hold on. I’ll think of one.”

  “Catnip?” Paula said.

  “Naw, too drunk.”

  “Toy mouse?” Kasta said.

  “Naw, too cute.”

  “Laser pointer?” Eve asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Close enough,” Z said as she turned to me. “You are like one of those cats that keep chasing the laser pointer.”

  “I don’t think it is a metaphor because Adam actually did chase a--” Paula started to say, but I interrupted her.

  “Ladies, let’s keep going,” I growled as I gestured with my rifle toward the end of the street.

  The women nodded once more, and we continued our walk. We didn’t speak for a few minutes, and the brief surge of humor from Z was soon covered by a heavy blanket of tension.

  “I’ve found an open window!” Kasta gasped suddenly with excitement, and the outburst made the rest of us jump with surprise.

  “Don’t do that!” Z hissed. The hacker’s chest was heaving with ragged breaths from the fright Kasta had given her.

  “Oh, sorry,” Kasta whispered as she winced.

  “What is inside?” I asked as I pointed for us to step off the main street and into a narrow alcove at the front of one of the gray buildings.

  “Hmm. It is an office building. Cubicles, desktop computers, not even connected terminals. Old-style keyboards. The writing on the keyboards is Russian.” Kasta didn’t close her eyes as she spoke, and her blue eyes stared through me.

  “What else is in the room?” I asked.

  “The computers are all off, the drones aren’t picking up any noise or electronics.”

  “What about dust? Is there dust anywhere?” Z asked.

  “Hmmm. Yes, there is some actually.”

  “I don’t know if that is good or bad,” Z whispered with a shrug.

  “It’s something. Keep us updated if you find anything else of interest. In the meantime, let’s continue to the power source.” I gestured down the street with my rifle, and we continued our walk.

  “Right around the next corner,” Eve said after we had journeyed a few more blocks through the silent city.

  “I’ll scout ahead,” Kasta said, and we waited at the last building before we were supposed to turn right.

  “I see a building that I’m guessing is our destination. It’s a bunker,” Kasta reported after half a minute.

  “How do you know it is a bunker?” Z asked.

  “It says ‘bunker’ on the top entrance of the building.” Kasta smiled at the hacker.

  “Oh.” Z let out a soft laugh.

  “Let’s head over there,” I said before I peeked around the corner.

  I saw the building that must have been the bunker. It was two hundred meters down the street on the other side. The bunker was a massive structure, with a rounded spherical top placed on top of thick walls. It could have easily been mistaken for a sport stadium, or a covered starship yard.

  We made our way down the street toward the bunker, but I kept my eyes on the fronts of the gray buildings and the dark alleys that ran between them. There was still no movement, no sound besides the gentle summer breeze, and no scent beyond the usual ones of heating city asphalt.

  “You can read Russian?” Z asked Kasta as we made it to the building. I was unfamiliar with the shape of the large red lettering, but I had heard of the language. Jupiter and the surrounding moons were mostly descendants of Japan, Hawaii, and the Western coasts of the old United States of America, so I’d never had much exposure to the old European languages.

  “Yes. I can read and speak all of the Earth Languages saved in the original exploration ark archives, but those languages are over three thousand Earth years old, there might be some shifting in dialects with planets far removed from stations or trade routes,” Kasta explained.

  “Let’s hope there is someone to talk to,” Z said as we came to stand in front of the door.

  “There is power to this building. The drones are picking up the electromagnetic flow through the door,” Kasta said, and I noticed the six small aerial dragonfly units were floating a few meters above our heads.

  “Let’s see if it opens,” I said as I moved toward the door. It was made of a dull metal and looked like it could weather shots from Persephone’s plasma cannons.

  “Locked,” I said after I gave the handle a few tugs and pushes.

  “Oh darn, let’s just head back to Persephone and call it a day. You guys want steak for dinner? I say we have steak,” Z said.

  “I don’t see any data pads or locks anywhere. It must be sealed from the inside,” I said as I took a few steps away from the door.

  “Yeah. See? Probably locked for a good reason. I’ll cook, I think it’s my turn anyway,” Z continued.

  “Kasta, can you do a fly over and look for anyway inside from the top or sides?”

  “Yes,” the android said, and the drones zipped away from us.

  “If we really want to get inside, I can use one of the parked cars to smash through the door,” Paula said with a shrug of her slender shoulders.

  “They seemed pretty lightweight,” I said as I looked at the door again. “Do any of our drones have cutting lasers?”

  “All our aerial ones have front mounted laser arrays and light plasma guns,” Z blurted before either of the twins could answer.

  “Not sure how aggressive I want to get with their bunker. They could be hiding for a reason,” I said as I glanced around the streets again. The beast was annoyed, and I agreed with him. Persephone told me to go here, but she hadn’t given me any other clues about our mission.

  “Just wrapped around,” Kasta said. “I don’t see any other entrances besides the door.”

  “Darn, looks like we’ve gotta head back to Per--”

  “Wait,” Kasta interrupted Z. “There is some writing on the wall here at the back.”

  “Graffiti?” asked her sister.

  “No. It’s a location. 5.432 by 876.998.”

  “How close is it?” I asked Eve since she still had her transponder map open.

  “It is a kilometer and a half to our north east,” the dark-haired woman answered after she moved her fingers over the map for a few moments.

  “Alright, let’s head over to that location. Might not find anything, but I don’t really know what else to do.”

  “It’s farther a
way from Persephone though,” Z said with a sigh.

  “Yeah. We’ll be alright,” I said as I stepped away from the door of the bunker.

  “Captain,” Kasta said, and the tonality of the android’s voice made us all pause our walk and look to her.

  “Yeah?”

  “The words appear to have been written in blood.”

  Chapter 3

  The walk from Persephone to the bunker had been tense, but the walk from the bunker to the location indicated on the wall felt like it was an execution march. I could smell the sour fear coming from Z and Paula, but the two women were doing their best not to let their terror show on their faces. The predicament brought a cascade of regret to my chest. It had been unfair of me to make them come. They weren’t marines or military. They were civilians who joined up with me so that they could help people. I should have just asked them to stay on Persephone while I explored the city by myself.

  They are stronger than you think. If you had left them on Persephone, they would have suffered from more stress because they would have worried about us.

  “I would have left you on the ship also,” I whispered to Eve with a smile.

  Impossible. Her lips upturned into a beautiful smile that showed her dangerous fangs.

  “What did you say?” Kasta asked me, and I guessed the android must have some sort of enhanced hearing.

  “Nothing,” I replied, and then I gestured to the corner of the alley. “What do your drones see?”

  “It looks like an apartment building. Twenty meters tall. It’s a lighter shade of gray than most of the other buildings on the street, but other than that, it is unremarkable,” Kasta answered.

  “Any open doors?” Paula asked. Her arms were shaking a bit as she held her rifle. I wanted to reach out and comfort her, but I didn’t know her well enough to guess at how she would take the physical contact. Eve knew what I was thinking and gently touched the beautiful blonde woman’s shoulder with a comforting caress.

  “No,” Kasta answered.

  “Should we break in?” Paula asked me, and her body seemed to relax with Eve’s touch.