“Thanks for not doing that,” he said. Boyett smiled. “I’m sorry,” he said. He walked over to his navigation station and took a seat. Boyett looked around the bridge at the eyes glued to hers.
“If you all think for one second that I don’t want to open the ship’s doors and have every last man, woman and child mount a rescue team for the captain, then you are all crazy.” She fought the tremble creeping into her voice.
“As far as we know, this ship is all that’s left of us,” she said. “This is it. Humanity. I... WE don’t have the luxury of losing any more people. It’s simple mathematics. As soon as this ship is space-worthy, I’m getting the hell off this rock and making our way to the next habitable system,” she said, looking at Chavel.
“You have a problem with that, you will have to fight me as well as this planet. And if you think a giant alien robot is an easy win, you ain’t seen nothing, kid,” she said to Chavel, putting enough force in her voice to leave no doubt she wasn’t kidding. Chavel smiled.
“What do you need?” he said, surrendering. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I need you checking the flight systems and getting us ready for launch,” she said aloud. Leaning into Chavel she whispered, “I’ll give her as much time as I can, David, but as soon the engine room gives me a green light...” Chavel nodded and began running flight checks. Boyett took the centre seat and raised her gaze back to the engine room.
“Medical team have entered the engine room,” said Ferrate. She nodded, turning her attention to the bridge monitor showing the nearby treeline.
“Come on, Carrie,” she whispered to herself.
The Cube
20:16 Martian Standard
Carrie’s ears popped as the pressure in the passageway seemed to change. It was lit like all the others by small points of light along the twisted pipe-filled walls and ceilings. They had been walking for well over ten minutes and had taken several turns in different directions. It was a maze that only one of the group was navigating.
“How far, Tyrell?” Carrie finally asked. Her father had regained some of the strength in his legs and was walking steadily. He still had his hand on Carrie’s shoulder for balance. The air felt humid.
“We are close,” Tyrell said.
“How do you know where we’re going, Tyrone?” the captain finally asked.
“We know,” he responded. The passageway finally opened up and the trio found themselves in another vast open space. Carrie looked around at the vista. This area was different to the open canyon they had passed by earlier. A single curved walkway circumnavigated a large gorge, with nothing but a slowly rotating cube at its centre. It seemed to be free-floating and must have been a mile wide in each direction. There was a light source that Carrie could not see coming from its base, which made it look more ominous. It was silent and there was a sense of calm in the cavern.
“What is this place?” her father said, staring at the floating cube.
“The Targlagdu,” said Tyrell.
“The what?” he replied.
“It’s a life form,” said Carrie. “This whole planet isn’t a planet. It’s an ancient life form that feeds on life,” she said, looking at Tyrell.
“And this is not Doctor Tyrell,” she said, deciding he needed to know. “There was an accident in Tyrell’s lab which shattered the container holding The Black. It entered Tyrell’s body and has taken over his mind.”
The captain took a step back from Tyrell in shock.
“What?” he said.
“It won’t harm us, Father. It’s our only way out of this place.” She could sense her father’s anger as thoughts of her mother flooded his mind.
“It did not mean to kill her, Father,” she said. He looked at her. Tyrell remained motionless.
“Are you Tyrone Tyrell?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“We are not,” Tyrell replied. Carrie sensed her father was about to grab Tyrell, but before she could stop him she was thrown against the wall by something. The captain and Tyrell were thrown onto their backs. Carrie slammed into a back wall, which knocked the wind out of her lungs for a moment. She struggled to get her breath back as she was held firmly in place pinned to the wall in mid-air by what felt like a hundred invisible hands covering her whole body. She looked at the quietly turning mile-wide cube in front of her, as a dark low mechanical voice penetrated her mind.
Tar-gla-gdu! it said. There was no emotion attached to the word. A low humming mechanical voice that filled the depths of every space in her mind.
Tar-gla-gdu, it said again without a change in tone or speed. Carrie couldn’t move. She looked down at her dangling feet and struggled like a fly in a web to no avail. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her father still on his back. Tyrell was standing upright and facing the gigantic floating cube. He turned to her, eyes completely black.
Merge! the mechanical voice said so loudly in her head she had to wince.
“Tyrell, get my father out of here!” she screamed at him. He didn’t move.
“I can assist,” he finally shouted at her. A small beam of bright light shot of out the cube and landed on Carrie’s shoulder. It felt warm but there was no pain.
“Get him out of here. The ship needs him,” she said again, as the beam of light made its way over her body as if scanning her. She turned her head to Tyrell.
“Please go!” she screamed. Tyrell nodded calmly and in one smooth motion picked up the captain and slung him over his shoulder like a ragdoll. Carrie watched as he turned and started walking over to her.
“What are you doing?” she said. Tyrell raised his right hand, which was free, and placed it between the beam of light and Carrie. The flesh on his hands seemed to burn as a thin ray of light pulsated from his fingers and made contact with the cube. It cut out in the blink of an eye. He turned to Carrie. Eyes black.
“It will not let us leave,” he said to her. He pulled back his free arm and landed a solid inhuman blow to Carrie’s mid-section. It seemed like hitting a brick wall. Strangely she felt no pain and the resulting punch seemed to free her from the energy field holding her against the wall. She fell to the ground hard. Getting her breath back, she turned to Tyrell. They both looked at the cube as the sound of something crackling grabbed their attention. A small storm seemed to be forming on its top. Small flashes of lightning began to swirl around a dark cloud.
“I’ll buy you time, get going!” Carrie said.
Tyrell looked at her. “Follow that passageway to its end,” he said, pointing with his head towards an opening. “It will lead you to a surface opening.”
She nodded at his black eyes, looking for some sort of connection to explain what he was doing. Still nothing. Before she had time to say anything else a bolt of electricity hit her square in the chest and sent her careering into the back wall. The shock of it stunned her, as the muscles in her body contracted with the electrical charge that pulsated through her body. She screamed out in agony and looked back at the cube. The electrical storm had spread across its surface. There was no denying it. Whatever the Targlagdu was, it looked angry. A rage began to take hold as she saw Tyrell disappear through the passageway off to her right. She brought herself slowly to her knees and noted the smell of burning that was coming from her clothes. She felt sadness at the thought of never seeing her father again. That this was where she would die. Then something else took over. She looked at the Targlagdu and, for a moment, sensed pleasure coming from the dark consciousness. Her body began to shake with rage. An energy deep inside erupted through her spine.
“Okay, motherfucker, let’s see what you can do!” she screamed, not knowing if it was directed towards the cube or herself. She threw both arms back behind her body and flung them forward, making her hands into claws. Her arms lit up as bolts of blue light burst violently into existence. Thousands of arcing beams
of electrical energy made their way towards the cube. It seemed to react quickly and met her attack head on with a fiery volley of lightning.
The two forces met in mid-air and formed a halo of light and crazed energy so bright it soaked the emptiness in its glow. Carrie had never felt so powerful. It was like a waterfall of light flowing through her as she held her ground as the opposing force. The Targlagdu was strong.
Tar-gla-gdu, it said in her mind, as the two were locked in a storm of lightning. Carrie felt an opposing surge from the cube that made her take a step back. Her hands began to shake as she suddenly began to feel the effects of fatigue. Maybe she wasn’t so powerful after all. She began to sense pleasure again coming from something. She opened her mind to it. She saw her castle with her atop it. She saw herself looking out beyond the walls, her arms outstretched with a thousand bolts of blue light shooting out in all directions.
“Tar-gla-gdu,” something mechanical said off in the distance, as an explosion impacted the castle walls. It had started to crumble. She saw visions of the crew cut up into small pieces. Her father’s head lying on the ground with something that looked like him standing next to it, with long tentacles where his arms should have been. Smiling at her. She was snapped back into the present as her feet began to slide backwards. She began to feel heat on the palms of her hands. She felt air beginning to rush past her cheeks as though a hurricane was starting to land on her shores. She bent her knees and leaned forward, now on the balls of her feet to counteract the force being applied against her. Her arms began to weaken as her hands began to glow red. The bolts of energy lessened in intensity. She couldn’t beat the storm as she felt herself relinquish to the inevitable. As her arms began to give way, she was taken back to the footsteps of her castle. It was a calm spring day. Lush grass surrounded the stone building. Carrie stood at the foot of the lowered drawbridge, looking out at the endless vista of trees and fields. She felt a quiet wind against her face as a female figure approached her. She stopped a few feet in front of her and smiled. She knelt down and picked a small purple flower from the grass and handed it to her. She took the flower.
“Mother?” Carrie said to the female who resembled the images she had of her. She was older though. Much older than when she died.
“Find us,” her mother said slowly. She raised a hand and let it glance Carrie’s cheek.
“Who?” Carrie said, as the touch flooded her memories of youth.
“Find us, Carrie,” she said again, before turning slowly and making her way back across the grass.
“Wait!” Carrie said, as she tried to follow. She couldn’t. Something was forcing her back as the wind began to pick up. She closed her eyes against it and tried to push forward. She couldn’t.
“Wait!” she screamed again. The storm increased in seconds, as she raised her hands against the debris that was thrown back at her. She felt a deep burst of energy inside her and took one last deep breath.
“Fuck you!” she screamed, looking at the sky as she was brought back to the present moment. Her eyes widened as a force exploded from inside her. Her hands glowed white as a tremendous burst of light erupted from their tips. She focused every ounce of everything she had left towards the cube. Arcing electrical forces met and exploded all around her. She continued her long feral scream as her entire body pulsed bolts of lightning into the chamber. A large cracking sound preceded an explosion that seemed to break the cube in two pieces. The force of it lifted Carrie clean off her feet and sent her sailing in mid-air towards the back wall. The last thing she saw before blacking out was a huge red fireball coming straight for her.
Engine room
20:29 Martian Standard
“Tosh?” Young said, kneeling over him.
“Give him a second,” Brubaker said.
“How is he?” Young said.
“I’ve sealed the wound. There are no major arteries hit, he’ll be fine but he’s lost blood. I need to get him to the medical bay.” Young looked at Tosh as he slowly opened his eyes.
“Jerome?” he said. Young took his hand.
“How you doing there, big guy?” he said.
“Beyond this place there be dragons,” he replied. Young smiled.
“Yes, there are,” he said.
“Emerson?” Tosh said.
Young shook his head. “He’s gone,” he said.
“We have to get off this planet,” Tosh replied.
“Boyett agrees. She’s spinning up the main thrusters and running FTL systems checks. We could use you there until we get into orbit.”
“That’s out of the question,” Brubaker interjected. “This man is seriously injured, Mr. Young.”
Young sighed. “I understand, Doc, but if any more of those things get on board this ship, then we’re all dead.”
Tosh looked at Brubaker. “I’ll be okay, Michelle. Strap me up and get my chair.”
“This is crazy,” Brubaker said. “You have a hole in your shoulder!” Tosh began to move awkwardly to try and sit up.
“Christ,” Brubaker said, helping him. Young brought his chair and the pair hoisted him into it. He let out a cry of pain as they did so.
Looking at Brubaker he announced, “I’m fine,” and activated the anti-grav function. “What the hell was that thing?” he said to Young.
“We’re still working on that, but whatever it was Lieutenant Chavel taught it a serious lesson in plasma dynamics,” Young said, pointing to the broken tubes next to The Betty.
Tosh looked at the damage. “Shit,” he said. They made their way to an internal lift linking the gangways and lowered themselves to the engine room floor, where Tosh examined the damage to the engine.
“Verdict?” he asked.
“I could use Tyrell on this,” Tosh said, holding his shoulder.
“He is indisposed right now,” Young said.
“I see,” Tosh said, looking over to where Emerson’s body should have been.
“Tosh, I’m sorry about Landon.” Tosh looked at Young and nodded. “It should have been me,” Young said. “I’m the one who opened fire first.” Tosh waved the comment off and looked at The Betty.
“We have to get the FTL up and running,” Young said, trying to focus the old man’s attention.
“Will she still fire with only one injector?” Young asked.
“Hard to know really. We hadn’t anticipated this. There is no reason why it technically shouldn’t but...” Tosh trailed off as a small vibration started rumbling underfoot.
“Bridge to engine room,” came Boyett’s stern voice over the comms. She sounded older somehow. Young tapped a nearby panel.
“Young here.”
“Mr Young, how is Tosh doing? I need a point man down there and I need you on the bridge at the navigation array. We have detected seismic activity. It’s time to go.”
“Boyett, this is Tosh. I’m good to go down here, there’s a lot of damage. I’ll need at least thirty minutes to spin up the thruster controls.”
“You have ten, Doctor,” Boyett said assuredly.
“Understood,” he replied. The comms clicked off and Tosh looked at Young.
“Get up there and buy me more time. It’s a fucking mess down here.” Young looked around at the smouldering consoles and cracked screens. He sighed, looking back at Tosh, nodded and made his way to the exit. The rumbling beneath his feet began to intensify.
27
The Forest
20:42 Martian Standard
Carrie opened her eyes and felt a wave of nausea as the ground beneath her field of vision moved rapidly in front of her. She looked at the heels of her mode of transport and realised she was flung over Tyrell’s shoulder. She raised her hand to her head, which felt like it had been cracked open with a stone. She pulled her blood-soaked hand away and groaned, causing Tyrell to stop and place her on the ground with surpri
sing dexterity. She looked up at the tree-tops and realised that they were back in the forest. The ground beneath her back was trembling.
“Tyrell?” she said, confused. Striking blue, human eyes gazed back at her.
“Can you walk?” he said to her, softly. “Your father is up ahead.”
“How did you-”
“We really do not have time to explain. This planet is about to de-form and jump from this system, but not before it destroys us and the ship first,” he said. “You have sustained a mild concussion and some minor injuries from the explosion, but other than that you seem fully functional,” he added. Carrie rolled over and looked behind her at the direction that Tyrell, or rather The Black inhabiting him, had taken her. They were near the edge of the treeline.
“Where is my father?” she asked.
“I left him resting against a rock. He did not have the strength to return and made it clear that if I did not I would not survive the day either,” he said. She smiled before feeling another tremor beneath her back. She slowly got to her knees, fighting off an urge to throw up as she did so and looked at her hands. They looked normal. The ground shook again as she caught something moving out of the corner of her eye. Tyrell saw it too.
“Carrie,” he said, motioning her to make haste. She nodded and began walking at pace towards the forest edge. She heard a clicking sound from behind her and knew what was following them. She glanced back and saw hundreds of humanoid-looking beings walking quickly towards them. They were flanked by at least three of the long, black worm creatures.
“Let’s go!” she said and broke into a sprint. Tyrell followed suit without hesitation and led the way. He looked strong as he took off at speed. She took a breath and followed as closely as she could. She heard a cracking sound off to her right as the trees passed her by. It sounded like the ground was opening.
“Carrie!” her father’s voice screamed off in the distance. She looked up and saw him standing in the clearing of the treeline. She ignored her aching arms and raced towards him. She covered the distance in a matter of seconds, as his outstretched arms embraced her as though she were a little girl. She threw her own arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest. He squeezed the air out of her lungs willingly for several seconds and kissed her on the head.
The Agathon: Book One Page 32
