by G J Ogden
“Whatever you say, skipper,” replied Liberty, “I’ll be right here, doing all the hard work.”
Hudson laughed, “You really don’t want me fixing this thing. I’ll just make it worse.”
Liberty smiled and then waved him off with a sort of ‘shoo’ gesture. It was the kind of thing you might do to get rid of an annoying pigeon that was trying to steal your lunch.
Hudson took his cue to leave and started to scramble along the rocky landscape. The planet, like so many portal worlds, was largely barren. There was some evidence of vegetative life – a smattering of trees and the occasional oasis – but in general it was stark and empty. It reminded Hudson of the Colorado Desert in California.
He continued on for perhaps ten or fifteen minutes, until he came to a strange, hollowed-out section in the ridge. It looked like a giant had taken a long scoop out of the rock and earth with an enormous spoon. The sides of the hollow looked strange, as if they were shimmering. He looked closer, and noticed that the soil and looser rocks were steadily falling towards the center, like sand through an hourglass. He knelt down and pressed the palm of his hand to the rock and felt a vibration. It was subtle enough that he hadn’t picked up on it through the thick soles of his boots. However, now that he was more attuned to the sensation, it felt like the entire ridge was quavering gently.
“What the hell is going on?” he wondered, talking out loud into the warm, dry breeze. He stood up, considering that perhaps Liberty had started the Orion’s engines, but then something caught his attention down in the scoop. There was a metallic glint from an object that was concealed just beneath the loose surface rocks at the far side of the ravine. He scrambled down the side and moved closer, starting to feel a tightening in his gut. It was a similar sensation to the one he had experienced after discovering the alien shuttle on Zimmer One. Maybe it’s another Morphus? Hudson wondered, as he moved closer to the object. Tentatively, he dug out some of the rocks to reveal a smooth, black surface. It was an alien metal, similar to the sort used on the outer hull of the wrecks.
He dug away more of the rocks until he began to reveal the shape of the object. It was smooth, angular and definitely not natural. However, his first assumption that it was another being like Morphus didn’t seem to be accurate. Hudson didn’t recall the alien shuttle having such a razor-sharp edge to its design, and this ship – if it was a ship – seemed much smaller too. The tight feeling in his gut remained. He’d learned his lesson from Zimmer One; this time, he wasn’t going to go snooping around. He’d got lucky awakening the Morphus being, as it had, so far at least, turned out to be benign. He wasn’t going to roll the dice again, and take a chance on whatever this new thing was being hostile.
Suddenly, the ridge began to tremble more violently, and Hudson rapidly backed away as loose soil began to bury his feet. Heart pounding, he frantically scrambled up out of the hollow. The tremors were growing in severity now, and Hudson was forced to grab onto a large rock that was jutting out of the surface in order to stop from falling. Then he heard the unmistakable roar of starship engines powering up, and slowly the mass of stones in the scoop started to rise.
“Oh shit, not again!” Hudson yelled, as he watched an alien ship slowly rise from its rocky grave, clinging on to the rock for dear life. He wasn’t convinced that this time it was his meddling that had awakened the vessel, but he was sure Liberty wouldn’t see it that way.
The vessel hung in the air a few meters above the ridge, showering Hudson with dust and earth that was falling from its hull. Hudson was paralyzed to the spot. All he could do was clutch the rock and watch. However, now it was obvious that this was not the same type of vessel as the one belonging to Morphus. It was definitely smaller – about the size of an RGF Patrol Craft – and its angular shape gave it a meaner, more sinister appearance.
The vessel continued to hang in the air, mere meters from where Hudson was still cowering behind his shield of rock. The difference was that now it was turning sharply from side-to-side, as if it were a head on an invisible swivel. Then the glow from its engines intensified and it accelerated upwards at a ferocious velocity.
The downdraught from the ship’s engines sent Hudson soaring backwards, as if he’d been shot from a giant catapult. His arms and legs flailed desperately in an attempt to control his fall, but he was at the mercy of the planet’s Earth-normal gravity. He raised his arms to shield his face and then landed awkwardly in a patch of dense weeds. The momentum of the fall carried him on, and he felt his head slam into something solid. He groaned and then his eyes went dark, while the distant roar of the alien vessel’s engines faded to nothing.
CHAPTER 14
Hudson opened his eyes, and straight away had to shield them against the blazing light from the planet’s orange sun. Groggily at first, he pushed himself up and saw that he’d come to rest in a patch of dense, grassy vegetation. A couple of meters to either side and he’d likely have been killed, smashed against the sharper, bare rocks.
There was no sign of the alien vessel that had risen out of its rocky grave like an undead warrior. All that remained was the crater where it had slept. For some reason, it had chosen this moment to reanimate from its hibernation. Perhaps it was triggered by the crystal, like the space station? Hudson thought, dabbing blood from the back of his head.
Hudson started to make his way back along the ridge to the Orion, to let Liberty know what had happened. He considered it unlikely that Liberty wouldn’t have also spotted the angular alien ship blasting off. Yet he was surprised not to see her out and about, looking for him.
Hudson’s progress was slow at first, as he still felt dazed from the fall. However, the cool, fresh air on the ridge invigorated him, and he soon began to feel stronger again. About twenty minutes after setting off, he eventually reached the plateau on the ridge where he’d set down the Orion, but Liberty was no longer outside.
“Liberty?” Hudson called out, approaching the ship cautiously, but there was no answer. “Liberty, are you there?”
He continued on, but something about the situation felt wrong. He expected Liberty to have charged out to meet him, fueled by a heady mix of excitement and fear. Then he noticed that the repair automatons were still sitting on the hull, buzzing with energy, but clearly with no instructions to act on. Liberty wouldn’t have just left them out, Hudson realized. Something had happened to her, which meant danger was near.
Hudson reached inside his jacket and drew his pistol, stepping steadily around the side of the ship towards the opposite edge of the ridge. He tried to move with stealth, but each crunch of his boots on the dry, stony soil was unbearably loud. Then, as he cleared the ship and reached the far side of the ridge, he saw Liberty and froze. She was on her knees, blood trickling from her mouth and nose. Behind her were Cutler Wendell and Tory Bellona, and standing to Liberty’s side, hand tightened into a fist, was Logan Griff.
Cutler saw Hudson and immediately raised his weapon, but Hudson was alert enough to dart behind a cluster of rocks and take cover.
“Come on, rook,” he heard Griff call out. “There’s no point hiding back there. We have your pet, and if you want her back, you’ll do as I say.”
“If you want the crystal then let her go,” Hudson called back, peeking around the side of the rocks. “Let her go and I’ll give you what you want.”
Griff smiled and then jabbed Liberty smartly across the side of her face.
“You bastard, I said I’ll give you what you want!” shouted Hudson.
“You do what I say, rook,” Griff answered, coolly. “And for every time you don’t, I punch your little pet here.”
Hudson gritted his teeth. He wanted to storm out from behind the rocks and fill the miserable, low-life coward with bullets. However, he knew that even if he did manage to kill Griff, Cutler would gun him down next, and then he’d likely kill Liberty too. He hated it, but he had no choice other than to do what Griff demanded.
“Fine, I’ll do what you ask,”
Hudson called back.
Griff jabbed Liberty again, and Hudson saw her rock back from the blow. Cutler caught Liberty’s shoulders, preventing her fall, and then propped her upright, his face displaying its usual lack of emotion. Liberty’s eyes were half-closed, and the blood was flowing more freely now.
“Stop hitting her, damn you – I said I’d do what you ask!” Hudson yelled, but Griff just smiled.
“That one was just for my amusement,” Griff said, wiping blood from his knuckle onto his pants. “Now throw down your weapon, go inside your crappy little ship and get me that crystal.”
Hudson threw his pistol into the dirt in view of Griff, and then stepped out with his hands raised. “If I get you the crystal, will you let us go?”
Griff smiled again, clearly relishing his moment of triumph over Hudson. “I’ll tell you what, rook,” he began, “seeing as I’m feeling generous, I’ll let one of you go free. You get to choose who lives and who dies.”
“Fine, then let Liberty go,” replied Hudson. He didn’t want to play Griff’s sick game, but if there was a chance even one of them could walk out of this alive, he had to try. Then he had an idea. Griff’s word was worthless, and he doubted Cutler had any sense of honor either, but there was one person amongst them he knew did. He looked at Tory Bellona, who met his eyes with unblinking intensity. “Are we all agreed?”
Griff laughed, “This isn’t a democracy, rook.” Then he shrugged. “But, sure, fetch me the crystal, and your pet here walks free.” Then he pointed his bony finger at Hudson. “You, on the other hand, get to turn to dust on this crappy, lifeless rock. That’s a better death than you deserve.”
Hudson started to walk towards the rear ramp of the Orion, but he’d only made it half a dozen paces, before Griff again called out to him. “Oh, and don’t get any ideas about flying off in that thing,” he said, waving the ship’s ID fob at him. He’d evidently removed it from Liberty’s belt. “That ship isn’t going anywhere without this.”
Hudson watched as Griff then crouched down beside Liberty and lifted her chin. Her eyes were still half closed, and she didn’t appear to be aware of what was happening. Hudson again had to fight back the urge to charge Griff and tear his throat out. “You have five minutes, rook,” said Griff, still holding Liberty’s chin between his yellow thumb and forefinger. “It would be a shame if I had to make more of a mess of this pretty little face.”
Hudson ran inside the Orion and immediately dashed into the cockpit. Kneeling down in front of the scendar device, he began to dislodge it from its housing. However, as he was doing so, he noticed that the crystal was glowing softly. He frowned, wondering what it might mean, but there was no time to find out. He pulled the device out and hurried back outside, before placing the scendar on the ground at the foot of the ramp.
“The crystal is inside this device,” said Hudson, pointing to the scendar. “It’s what we used to detect and open the hidden portals.”
“Back up, over there” said Griff, motioning Hudson to move away from the ship. Hudson did as he was asked, then Griff cautiously collected the scendar. He peered through the small window in the metal box at the crystal inside and grinned, before walking back beside Liberty.
Suddenly, a deep but distant rumble rippled through the sky around them. Hudson looked up, expecting to see storm clouds, but the sky was perfectly clear. Cutler and Tory also looked up, wearing confused frowns. Only Griff seemed disinterested in the strange and unexpected event. He was too consumed with his victory to be concerned with, or even notice, anything else.
“How does the device work?” Cutler asked, finally speaking up. Hudson was surprised that the mercenary had stayed quiet for so long, especially given how brashly he’d acted on the station.
“The RGF’s engineers are more than capable of figuring that out,” interrupted Griff, holding a hand up to Cutler to silence him. “We have the crystal and the device, which means we don’t need anything more from these two.”
Cutler nodded, and Hudson saw the mercenary’s fingers tighten around the grip of his weapon. Griff smiled again, baring his yellowed teeth, which contrasted sharply with the rough black fibers of his moustache. Then he said, “Kill the girl first, so he can watch her die.”
Hudson jolted forward, but the threat of Cutler’s pistol made him think twice. Instead, he turned his panicked eyes to Griff. “We had a deal, Griff!” he roared, paralyzed to the spot. “You said you’d let her go!”
Griff laughed again. It was a loathsome sound that Hudson knew well. It was the same sneering, contemptuous laugh that he’d endured throughout his time as Griff’s subordinate. The big difference was that now Griff wasn’t just mocking him for sport. This was personal. This was revenge.
“You really are the dumbest rook I ever met,” said Griff, as another throaty rumble echoed off the mountains and ridges all around them. Then he turned to Cutler, and added, “Shoot her.”
Cutler hesitated, “But what of our agreement…”
“I’ve changed my mind,” Griff interrupted. “I’d much prefer to see Hudson tremble and sob over his dead pet, than make a few extra credits peddling her out in OPW territory.”
Cutler nodded, “As you wish.” Then he raised the weapon to Liberty’s head.
Hudson tried to run at Cutler, but his legs gave way beneath him and he fell forward, hands clawing into the dirt. He tried to cry out, but there was no breath in his lungs. He saw Cutler’s finger close around the trigger, but a fraction of a second before the shot was fired, Tory deflected Cutler’s aim. The shot rang out, and was lost amongst the growing rumble around them. Hudson could bear it no longer, and his body fell limp. He pressed his forehead to the dust as if in prayer, hoping that the ordeal was over. Liberty was still alive, but for how much longer, he didn’t know.
“We made him a deal,” Tory snarled, before Cutler could object again. “A deal is a deal. The girl lives.”
Griff squared up to Tory, “I make the deals, and I can break the deals,” he roared. “The girl dies, because I say she does!”
Griff’s oily words had barely escaped his lips, before Tory had lunged at him and slammed a hard, right cross into Griff’s face. The RGF officer was caught completely off guard, and staggered back, before dropping down to one knee. Tory advanced again, while Griff was still stunned, grabbing him by the shirt collar, and yanking him towards her.
“You made a deal,” she snarled again. “You go back on your word, and all deals are off. In that case, I start killing whoever I like, rather than who Cutler tells me to.” She shoved him away, and Griff slumped to his back. “And if I’m killing for fun, then I’ll start with you.”
Griff shot up, face red and furious. His hand went to his weapon, but it wasn’t there. Hudson had taken it while he was on the alien station, and it was now stored in one of the ship’s lockers. Unarmed and unable to match Tory in hand-to-hand combat, Griff growled and backed down.
“Whatever, I could do with the extra credits anyway,” Griff snarled. Then he jabbed a finger at Tory, “But this isn’t over between us.”
“You honor your agreement and I’ll honor mine,” Tory hit back. “It’s up to you, Inspector.” The rumble continued to build, as Tory stood guard over Griff, her hand now clutched around the grip of her six-shooter.
Griff dabbed the side of his face with the back of his hand, all the while glowering at Tory. Then he turned to Cutler, and said, “Let’s end this now. Hudson is yours.”
The faintest hint of a smile curled Cutler’s lips, as he raised the barrel of his weapon towards Hudson. However, before he had chance to pull the trigger, Griff spoke up again. “But I want you to order her to shoot him,” he added, pointing his bony finger at Tory.
Cutler scowled at Griff, and Hudson could see a flicker of indecision in his eyes. However, he then lowered his weapon and turned to Tory. For the first time Hudson could see fear behind the formidable female mercenary’s eyes. “A deal is a deal, Tory,” he told her, coolly.
“You said it yourself. Now we shall see if you are also true to your word.”
Hudson sensed hostility, bordering on hatred behind Cutler’s words. Then another sonorous rumble penetrated the skies, as if the heavens were orchestrating the tension and building it up to a brutal climax. This time Hudson physically felt the roar. It was as if the ridge itself was the scaly back of an enormous dragon that was waking from an eons-long slumber.
Tory Bellona glanced up at the sky, as did the others, but then she glowered back at Cutler. Her expression was harder and icier than Hudson had ever seen before. She then stepped forwards, pushing her partner’s weapon down to his side as she passed, and strode up to Hudson.
Hudson rested back on his heels, as Tory peered down at him. The mercenary had saved him – and Liberty – several times before, but this time he could see no escape.
Tory drew her single action revolver, and cocked it. Though at the same time, Hudson saw her draw a second weapon with her left hand, and raise it next to the six-shooter. It was done so swiftly, that it was almost seamless. And, with her back to Griff and Cutler, Hudson doubted that the others would have even seen it.
A shot rang out, near deafening due to Tory’s close proximity, and Hudson felt the stab of pain. His strength was instantly sapped from his body, and he fell backwards, unable to move. He saw Tory’s face above him, smoke from the barrel of her six-shooter obscuring her features. A dark cloud then swept across her, shrouding her in a veil of darkness. Hudson thought he was dying, but then the source of the dark shadow revealed itself, as an alien shuttle swooped in over the ridge.
Hudson heard terrified cries of ‘run!’, and the sounds of weapons being fired, but they were distant and wooly in his ears. The dark shape above him began to merge with the darkness consuming his vision. Soon, the alien ship had gone. Tory had gone. And then the alien world itself dissolved to nothing.
