Denise was going to try again when she felt a shove from her side. Eric and Bruce had pushed her aside as they grabbed hold of the handle on the outside.
“It’s stuck!” Eric shouted. “Here help me.”
Bruce added his strength to the handle and started pull with Eric’s help. Their muscles strained against the task at hand. Yet, despite their combined efforts the lid did not budge.
Denise understood the near panic of the men that had pushed her aside, they were only trying to help and time was of the essence. However, there were two things that they didn’t understand. First, she had already noticed that the computer had told her that it was locked and that meant that there would be no force on the outside that would be able to open the container. Unlike the other chambers that had slightly activated and unlocked, this one hadn’t gotten that far. Physical strength would not open the lid which was why she was trying to walk the computer through the wake up process.
The second thing that these two men didn’t realize was that she had already had her fill of men pushing her around, thinking that she was incompetent simply because she was a woman. She had to work twice as hard just to prove herself and even then she was often dismissed as just another pretty face.
Tracy’s eyes widened one last time. Her body started to convulse as she was fighting for air. There was one last pleading look in her eyes before…
Chapter: 05
The crash and explosion of glass to Eric’s left startled him and he jumped back out of instinct. Denise had found a metallic piece of debris from the wreckage around them and had struck the chamber with all of her might.
Denise could hear Tracy start to hyperventilate as she was trying to get her body to breathe the incoming rush of oxygen. She was going to live, at least for now. Now all she had to do was finish the job of getting her out of there. Tracy thrust her hand between the broken glass shards and grabbed in the inner dial. With a couple of good twists she was able to open the chamber.
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The wave from the seemingly endless sea thrust against the hull of the tiny boat like a hand of God and threatened yet again to tip it over as if the ocean itself had made up its mind to sink the small vessel. Salt water sprayed all over the boat, showering it one more time with the intent to scuttle the craft with sheer volume. The wave seemed only to momentarily relent before it began to pull back and come at them again. Yet this was not the case. In reality it was yet another wave, driven by the harsh winds, that was fast approaching with several more behind it as there had been several before.
The sea was full of these massive waves that could easily sink this boat and many like it as it had done with so many that were foolish enough to venture into these waters, especially this time of the year. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing out here but rough water from horizon to horizon.
But it wasn’t just the waves that were threatening the boat, there was the wind and the rain that came at it. This was one of those storms that often frequented these parts, a storm that should never be here, at least not by historic standard weather patterns. However, ever since the Earth's temperature rose from global warming, this area was getting perpetual storms and that’s why they were here.
The boat rocked again, throwing the father and daughter crew into their instruments. The going was rough, but Robert Holman was a good navigator and knew how to maneuver his craft. He met each wave head on and kept the boat from capsizing. He knew how important this mission was for his daughter, and for the rest of the research team, and he wasn’t going to let anyone else handle the boat if she was going to be out here. She might be a grown woman, but she was always going to be his little girl and he wasn’t going to let her come out here alone.
“Just a little bit longer,” Helena yelled toward her father over the sound of the crashing waves and thunderous wind. “We almost have the data we’re looking for.”
Although he was only a few feet away from her, Robert could barely hear his daughter over the roar of the storm and the crashing of the waves around them. He gave a nod of recognition as he spun the wheel of the boat into another wave. If she were close then he would only have to do this a few more times and then they could head back to shore and get out of this storm.
The data that they were after were far too many for him to count and Robert was glad that Helena had it all figured out in her head. After all, she was the oceanographer. According to her, they needed chemical analysis of the saltwater and how it interacted with the atmosphere. She was also collecting information on pollution and how it was spreading across the sea and around the world. Then there were samples of krill and plankton count to see how these have diminished during the years. Finally she was getting some sonar echo reading of the geothermal vents to take back to the lab for analysis. This was going to show how the tectonic plates have been moving. Each piece of data would be analyzed back at the lab and would tell them how the world was changing and how the oceans, and everything that lived in it, were changing as well.
Unfortunately, the best place to gather this data was right here, in the middle of this storm infested area. Hopefully their results would help scientists better understand why these storms were gathering so strongly at this location than at any other place around the world.
“Looks like we have company,” Robert yelled toward his daughter.
At first the message didn’t seem to register since she was so focused on the machines in front of her. Finally, when it did, she took her eyes off of her instruments and gazed out across the horizon.
Helena couldn’t believe that anyone would be out here with them. No one at the research facility was going to be out here, none had wanted to brave the weather, and the Coast Guard had basically said as much.
She had to scoff at that last thought. She was sure that the Coast Guard had been bought off by some mega corporation or politician to turn a blind eye to their illegal activities. If it were ever found out that one of these companies had been polluting the waters above and beyond legal limits, which Helena was sure that she was going to be able to prove, then there would be hell to pay all around. God, she was looking forward to getting off of this planet and taking that Terraforming mission that was coming up. She simply couldn’t stand the corruption any more.
But if it wasn’t going to be the Coast Guard or anyone from the research facility, then she wondered who would be stupid enough, or brave enough to be out here? Then she remembered. There could be corporate sponsored thugs that were hired to scare off any unwanted company. Then again it could be pirates. Some of these high tech devices that they were using could fetch a pretty penny on the black market. Helena looked up and gave a glance toward the oncoming vessel.
The boat seemed to be a small boat and didn’t seem to be in top shape. From the looks of things, from what she could tell, the craft had seen better days. It wasn’t sleek or updated, but looked to be more of a floating junk pile. She could even make out a couple of the men that seemed to be waving weapons around, perhaps rifles.
If this had been a corporate sponsored “thug” boat, then it would be more updated. It would be slick and fast. It would be well managed and taken care of and the crew would wait until they got closer before giving away their presence of numbers or weaponry. So, if this wasn’t a “thug” boat then this would be...
“Pirates,” she muttered more to herself than to her father.
“Did you say something?!” Robert asked with a raised voice over the storm.
“Pirates! We have pirates!” Helena yelled back.
“I’ll steer us clear as best as I can.”
It didn’t matter anyway. She knew how to take care of herself against either pirates or thugs. Since these were common threats, they had bought some insurance to ensure their safety. They might not be able to protect themselves against a raging storm, but they could take care of themselves against pirates.
Helena cast her eyes upon the contraption under the tarp, protecting it from the raging storm and prying eyes. They weren’t really supposed to have it, that was why they bought it on the black market and let a military friend of theirs mount it and show them how to use it. She had already gotten fairly good at using it and had already sunk several ships, sending their crew and their intentions to the bottom of the ocean.
Without a second thought, Helena took the several steps over to the object and pulled back the tarp. There, before her, lay the insurance that she had come to know and love. There lay the 20mm railgun based off of the design of the old navy S20. She would be able to send a projectile seven times the speed of sound over several miles and she could either shoot individual shots or send a stream of bullets through the air with the automatic setting. No one knew that she had it. If they did then it would either be taken away from her and they would be tossed in prison, or the pirates would come at her with something more powerful. It was best to keep their little secret a knowledge that only the both of them knew about.
Helena flipped on the switch. Immediately she could hear the electricity start to hum through her weapon and it felt powerful. She brought the sight around and lined it up with the oncoming pirate ship. Just a few shots would do. They would take on water and would have to immediately turn around and give up their chase or they would sink. The choice was theirs.
She waited and timed her shot with the rise and fall of the waves. She ignored the showers of water being sprayed upon her. She ignored the wind beating against her back. When her time was right she pulled off a couple of rounds.
Helena could feel the recoil. She could feel the electrical vibrations. She could feel the cold wind hitting her in the face. No, that wasn’t right. The wind was coming from behind her. She could hear the hiss of oncoming air into her cryo chamber…
Helena woke with a start. It had all been a dream, a memory. It had been the last oceanic mission she had been on while on Earth. Now she was here, on this vessel, heading to another planet.
Chapter: 06
Cleo Swanson looked through her microscope one more time. After a couple of quick adjustments to help bring the sample into focus she was more convinced about the theory that she had proposed in her paper. The results were astounding.
The laboratory was full of beakers boiling away on several tables. Several machines were buzzing away. Computers were analyzing data. Test tubes were being mixed by lab assistants in their long white lab coats. Other people were reviewing their results and comparing their data to hers.
Sitting on the table, next to Cleo’s microscope, was the specimen from where her sample had come from. The creature was similar in shape to an octopus. Its body was nearly two feet across, not counting its eight tentacles that would easily double its size, if they hadn’t been cut off. The specimen was splayed out across a metal tray to prevent it’s ichor from draining onto the laboratory table and onto the floor. Its head was cut open to reveal a massive brain that took up the majority of its inner body. The small stomach and heart had been pulled aside so the scientists could get a better look of the organs.
“Doctor Swanson.”
The voice brought Cleo out of her focus and brought her attention to several men that had walked into her lab. She had recognized the voice, and the leader of the group, as her benefactor, the one that had funded this whole operation. His only caveat was that there were no questions asked.
The man with the expensive suit, the one that was leading the group, the one that had spoken her name, had always given her chills. His slicked back black hair and deep dark eyes seemed to continue to give an air of mystery about him. The suit that he wore was worth more than she knew she would ever make in a lifetime. But there was something else, the way he walked perhaps, or the way he talked. It was something that let him carry himself with confidence and perhaps power. He had only been known to her as “Mister Smith”, but somewhere deep in her gut she doubted that this was his real name. She hadn’t known any “Mister Smith” on the top ten powerful people in the world list and there wasn’t any known mega-corporation that was being run by a “Mister Smith” and any research she had done to try to find out more about him only led to dead ends. All that she knew was that the man had his secrets and his ambitions and it seemed to her that she was part of them, rather or not she understood how she fit in them.
“How goes your results?”
Cleo gave a slight smirk. She knew better. He wasn’t asking for his benefit, he had already surmised that her theory was accurate. Hell, she was sure that he didn’t even care about her theory, but her theory did support his cause and if she could prove everything then he would be able to move his agenda along faster and with more support. But even if she couldn’t substantiate her theory about the specimen and dazzle the other investors, she was sure that he would still go ahead with his plan, just behind everyone’s back and with his own money. It was just easier and cheaper if her results were conducive to winning over the other backers.
“The results are what I had expected. The sample is highly adaptable. Although it is aquatic based, it has the ability to rapidly adapt to just about any environment, mind you that it’s a slow genetic adaptation, but one that could be seen within one or two of its generations. It also has the ability to mimic the colorations of its surroundings and become camouflaged with its environment. It might need to learn its environment and train the pigment of its body to respond, but I doubt that that would take any real length of time considering its ability to adapt quickly.”
“By what we know of the Xenoamorphopseudopods, they multiply in large quantities and mature very quickly. This means that their whole species could adapt to any environment within a month or so. Just think, if I can unlock this gene and transplant it into humans, then we might be able to adapt to the way that Earth has been…”
“Yes, doctor, that’s all fascinating…”
“Although they have a written language to some degree, we believe that they are also telepathic in nature. This would explain…”
“However, we were wondering how soon you can show results.” It was clear that “Mister Smith” wanted to get to the core of the conversation.
Cleo nodded. She knew it was coming to this. They wanted results, not theories. They wanted something tangible. They didn’t want to know about the alien’s language, or their proposed telepathy. All they wanted was results. None of them really understood the patience that was needed when dealing with science. They wanted everything now.
She could understand this, but what she couldn’t understand was why. Mister Smith, if that was really his name, didn’t strike her as a true benefactor. Yes, he did put up the funds to run this laboratory and its crew, and he was the one that had secured a dead specimen for her, but she doubted very much that it had anything to do with helping people adapt to a dying planet. The question was, what was he really after?
Cleo gave a sigh. “I won’t be able to have full results without a live specimen. All of the ones that we have been able to work with have already been killed during combat encounters. Their inner structures have been horribly damaged and I can’t tell how this creature would have been while alive. If I could get a living Xenoamorphopseudopod then I would be able to run more thorough tests. Until then, there’s only so much that I can do, I mean there’s only so much that can be speculated, but until we watch a specimen under various conditions we won’t know how it reacts, if it will react at all. I’m afraid we’ve gone as far as we can go under the circumstances.”
“Well then, Doctor Cleo Swanson, it looks like we need to get you that living specimen and it may come sooner than you think. There’s a team of Terraformers heading out to the fringe planets and I think I can get you on as one of the members. By the looks of things, their route will take them close enough to the Xenoamorphopseudopod space and with a few adjustments to the ship’s trajectory…”
At first Cleo’s eyes widened with exciteme
nt. It was beyond her wildest dreams to visit another planet, one that she could study other life forms. However, she immediately changed her outlook from excitement to concern.
“But...the reports of Xenoamorphopseudopods have been filled with overly aggressive behavior. I’m a scientist, not a Marine; I can’t defend myself against one of those things. And what about the safety of the other team members? Wouldn’t they…”
Mister Smith put his hand up to placate her. “I’ve taken care of that. I’ll make sure that there is enough security detail to keep everyone safe and to ensure that you get a live specimen. All you have to do is bring it back alive.”
“But they spit acid. I don’t have anything…”
Mister Smith put his hand up again to placate her.
“I already have a team that has developed a container that will be able to contain one of those things. It’s proven to be resistant against their bio-acid weapon. You will have no problems containing one. Everything is taken into account. All you have to do is bring it back and then we...you can have your living specimen that you need to finish your research. Imagine, all of the people your research can help, all of the good that you can do.”
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