Habilitation

by Ken O'Steen

Chapter 8: Rescue

  The roiling blue clouds of Kepler greeted us, impenetrable and ominous as they thundered around the atmosphere. We sat quietly in orbit, each of us mentally preparing ourselves, pushing away the feelings of betrayal that were haunting us.

  The biodome was hailing us, again and again. I punched the flashing blue button and Staff Sergeant Nichol’s voice sounded across the bridge.

  “This is Biodome 354 to unknown vessel. Please identify yourself.”

  "Staff Sergeant Nichols, this is the Professor."

  "Professor. It's good to hear your voice. Where's Captain Anderson?"

  "The Onyx was lost unfortunately. And the Captain with it."

  I sat on the bridge of The Wilhelm, my hands dug into the sides of the oversized arm chair. Had I been back in my alien body, my Original, this seat would have fitted my frame perfectly. Anger was coursing through my veins now. The trip back had been short, only a few hours but the memories that had come flooding in to each of us had given us an unbelievable rage that seemed barely contained within these capsules of flesh and bone.

  “What happened?” His voice was dark.

  “I would worry less about him and more about yourself. We know, Nichols. We know everything.”

  The hiss of dead air answered us as we waited, patient, our anger abated for now.

  “What do you want Professor?”

  “You came around quicker than expected.”

  “Well when you’re surrounded by a dome of glass on a poisonous planet you have nothing to barter with.”

  “I’m glad you see it that way. We’ve come for what’s ours, to rescue whoever has survived from those you left to die. Leave us be and we will leave you to live out the last of your oxygen. I’m guessing that’s close to a year and a more than fair exchange since you left my people less than that when you found them.”

  Another long pause, an audible sigh and a defeated, “Very well.”

  I looked to the others, "Prepare for terrestrial landing." I crossed to the door where Angela was kept and helped her to her feet and out onto the bridge as the ship descended through the cloudy atmosphere.

  “I am sorry I had to lock you up but had this gone badly I wanted to spare you blame.”

  “I know.” She squeezed my arm reassuringly and kissed my cheek.

  The Wilhelm landed, less than gentle, in front of the main entrance. I would have preferred the hangar but as far as we knew it wasn’t connected to the main mountain passages. The ramp lowered and we marched the six aides out onto the brown waste.

  “The biodome is that way. If you hurry you will make it before your air runs out.”

  Petrie began to protest but I held up my hand, “It’s more than we left those aboard The Onyx so go, now, before we change our minds.”

  Hesitating they turned and headed downhill, climbing carefully over the rocks. Petrie stopped before the edge, saw Angela had yet to move. Their eyes locked for a moment before Petrie also disappeared over the ledge. And in that moment I knew he knew. A90 surfaced again but there was no time, there never was. We were all on the move. Strata and Meta watching the scanners and manning the guns while Astro stayed in the main chamber to begin searching for a place our people could call home.

  The elevator rattled to a stop and we stood before the large metal door. Rusted shut I slowly cranked the door open manually. One by one the phospholuminescence came on, casting the room in a blue glow.

  Pods, hundreds of them, row upon row disappeared into the massive chamber before us. We stood there, Angela at my side, her gloved hand in mine.

  “Let’s go. Find out who’s still alive, bring them to the door.”

  The more I searched the more I realized my hopes had been foolish. The pods, all buried in dust, held only death and disappointment for us. Men, women and children, the pods had never been meant to hold us for this long.

  “I found one.”

  I rushed to Angela’s side, brushing the dirt away, “Take him to the front.” Using the small touchscreen I activated the hover pads and with a shudder it lifted from the ground a few inches. Angela pushed it easily away and I rushed down the rows, discovering two more. We found eight in total. Five women and three men.

  Waiting at the door we called to Cutter but only silence answered us. I found her near an open pod, cradling her brain dead son. Though still a child he was as tall as her human form with blue skin and needles of yellow teeth in his slack mouth. Unhooking the ventilator she held her son and watched the heart monitor flat line. I pried her away gently as her whole body shook with sobs.

  “They were supposed to come back for us. Why didn’t they come back for us?!” She screamed so loud the voice filter on the mic cut her out and I heard the words muffled through her helm.

  The group was silent and solemn as we rode the elevator upwards, a pod each.

  “Welcome back. We got company.” Strata’s voice boomed in my ear and in the background I heard laser fire.”

  “What’d we miss?”

  “Apparently Nichols decided against sitting pretty in his dome.”

  We were already jogging past Astro, the pods gliding before us, “Astro, please tell me you have good news?”

  “Not yet. Cross referencing our maps with Earth’s.”

  We sprinted from the chamber down the dark passageway of the mountain corridor and out into the gunfight. The ramp was still lowered but the lasers were out and firing downhill at the oncoming onslaught of ATVs and armed men. From the way some of the men were holding their pistols it was clear even the civilian scientists had been recruited. Bullets were flying, ricocheting off the shields of the ship and exploding against the rock.

  “Quick. Get the pods on board,” We ran for the ramps, Angela right behind me, “Stay here Angela. Only three of us need to go back.” I was already racing back down as Cutter, Cal and Corvus reached the bottom.

  Cal stumbled back suddenly, clutching his chest. The pod followed gravity downhill and knocked him back onto the ground. I grabbed the pod, stopping its descent and shut the hover pads off to send it crashing to the ground.

  There was blood bubbling up from the small hole in his suit but even more deadly was the carbon dioxide filling his lungs with each gasp. He was dead before Cutter returned to help. There was no time for grief amongst the chaos as Cutter and Corvus made their way back into the mountain. The hover pods back on I pushed Cal’s pod up the ramp into Angela’s waiting hands.

  The body of Cal lay spread before me as I made my way back down, the white suit soaked in blood. The men were advancing closer up the slope, The Wilhem’s lasers overheating as Strata attempted to spread its fire down the mountain.

  Before I could turn to make for the tunnel Nichols crested the peak. His pale face showed nothing but determination. He had nothing to lose, while I had everything. He was near the front of the ship, taking cover by the landing legs and I had no choice but to sprint forward. The ground burst around me as bullets flew. My oxygen was running low, the alarm buzzing in my ear as I sprinted beneath the belly of the ship.

  The two of us collided as he was reloading. Spinning and tumbling we came to a halt sprawled across the dirt. I was the first up, first to Nichols’ gun but I didn’t shoot him. The butt of the gun smashed his helmet, exposing his lungs to the poisonous atmosphere. The others were getting closer, the lasers firing slower and slower and I could almost see the metal beginning to glow red.

  I worked quickly to remove Nichols’ oxygen tank and replace it with my own, firing occasionally to give myself cover fire.

  “Professor? Professor we’ve got the last of them.”

  I dumped the gun on Nichols’ body and hurried back to the ramp.

  The pods were lined up in a storage bay and we were all safe aboard the bridge. The ship left Kepler behind and turned towards Astro’s co-ordinates, what we hoped was a safe haven, a planet capable of supporting our Originals.

  Our suits off I took Angela’s
hand and lead her back to the pods where Cutter was running tests, preparing to remove them from stasis. I took her to the last pod and carefully brushed the dust away.

  The male alien beneath looked to be in peaceful sleep, the only signs of the sleeping sickness in his gaunt face and his pale blue skin. It was like looking into a mirror for me and for a moment I forgot I was human. Angela looked upon him with wonder.

  “It’s me. My Original.” She released my hand and touched the glass. We stood like that for minutes. Finally I couldn’t take it any longer and I drew her away. We ran down the corridors, I had never felt so happy, so free. There were no more eyes watching, controlling. I was free to be with her and nothing was going to stop me now. The door to the room we would claim as our own swished open and I pulled her into the dark and kissed her. Our lips met, our hands explored and I found a passion inside me that had been hidden away beneath drugs and protocol since my awakening.