The Osiris Invasion: Book Two of Seeds of a Fallen Empire

by Anne Spackman

  "No, he has a point." Knightwood nodded, agreeing.

  "Should we use our lasers?" Nathalie asked, eager to start something moving. She had already released the safety cap from the nozzle of her gun and held it ready near the side of the alien hull.

  "By all means, try." Knightwood shrugged as though certain it wouldn't work, but hard pressed to think of anything else that might. Akira joined Nathalie to synchronize their fire. Knightwood stood back with the others to watch as the two team partners emptied their guns against that beautiful navy hull that she remembered, that had given her countless nightmares.

  "It's not working!" Nathalie cried in disgust as her gun extinguished itself.

  "All right, break off and look for entrances." Zhdanov motioned for his team to move in, and Akira slung his weapon over his shoulder, moving aside for the others to examine the area of the hull they had been frying. Zhdanov didn't voice his private concern that the team would meet with failure, that the ship remained closed to them.

  At that moment, Erin shuddered.

  "What's wrong?" Knightwood let only a little of the concern she was feeling affect her voice.

  "He's watching me, Dr. I—it's horrible."

  "Who's watching you?" Knightwood looked around, but saw no one.

  "Forget it," Erin croaked and cleared her throat. "I was probably hallucinating. Anyway, I'm okay now." She added and walked forward to join the others in their search.

  Before she blocked it out, she'd had an odd sensation, something she'd picked up in the air as if she could read minds, a sensation of hostile observation now turning to affection and recognition. But she couldn't read minds! She knew that, and yet—

  Calm down and think, Erin. She pushed all immaterial thoughts away. Now how do we get in?

  As this thought struck her, she began to notice a light, painful pressure growing in her head, like something living in her mind was trying to pull her forehead inward; words suddenly filled her thoughts unbidden. Spoken in her mind they sounded unlike any language she had studied at the UESRC, unfamiliar but vaguely, agonizingly recognizable.

  Elas-sa hai-eel lirah... Throw wide the doors at my will... As soon as she understood their meaning, she felt them grow in her mind to an enormous pressure, bursting out in every direction away from her, silent but charged like electricity.

  And before her an airlock hissed open with the sound of rushing air.

  "Ah!" Several of the others exclaimed, jumping back. Their eyes had turned in Erin's direction at the sound, and the group appeared behind her in moments, mutely regarding the yawning aperture.

  "How the hell did that happen?!" Nikolai exclaimed a moment later, voicing their collective wonder.

  No one answered, and no one seemed inclined to head into the aperture; they stared at it, shifting feet, fear creeping over them, making their hair stand on end within their compu-helmets. They stared at the darkness as though it were the boundary between life and death, and none of them were ready to jump over into it. Like a knight who had successfully stormed a castle, Erin pushed through the crowd and took a step forward into the beckoning darkness. In a panic, Knightwood stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder.

  "Hold on, Erin. We have no idea what's in there." Knightwood objected, her voice rising. "Scanners?”

  “Nothing living within the next hundred meters,” W said.

  “Well then, if we're going in, we'll all go together.” Knightwood said, calming. “I don't need to tell anyone this trip might be dangerous," Knightwood's cogent tone was not enough to dissuade her, but still Erin hesitated.

  Pictures had begun to flash through her mind the moment she stepped towards the aperture. She had an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu, and she recalled her earliest memories—the day she had been found by her mother and father. She had been sitting outside in an area similar to sector eight, but what had happened before? And why did she find herself remembering that day—a day she had pushed to the back of her mind along with the first few years she had lived with her new family?

  Before that—there was only a blank, but now images crossed the obscure barrier in her mind, and she was once again staring across a muddy plain, turning around to look one last time at the shining blue wall behind her, uncertain because she had no idea where she was...

  Erin jerked her head suddenly as if she had been shocked by electricity. Her reasoning mind dismissed the alien illusions as a hostile intrusion. She couldn't have been in there before, so where were these memories coming from? She refused to believe anything that interfered with her illusion of belonging to the Earth.

  Meanwhile, Knightwood watched Erin, privately certain that something significant was affecting her. Knightwood's mind raced through the scenarios she had pondered over the years. If there were aliens on board this vessel, perhaps as hostile as the first, what could their intentions be? They had never shown any sign of activity, but she knew that didn't necessarily mean that they had been dormant all these years.

  She suddenly wondered if it was possible that they were communicating to Erin for some reason—but why? Was it because Erin had been raised by her first, biological mother in this area? Still, if they hadn't contacted her—then perhaps Erin was only reacting because she had been the only one to see the ship crash all those years ago.

  Yes, Knightwood reassured herself, that had to be it, not knowing that there was an alien force in her mind compelling her to ignore the most logical explanation to Erin’s behavior, not knowing that this hypnotic force had been there, had been operating since the moment Knightwood first saw the girl, long ago.

  "Be careful," Knightwood whispered again, motioning for the others to commence exploration procedures. "If anyone's getting off this ride, now would be the right place to do it." She suggested, but to their credit, no one responded. In any case, waiting outside could prove just as dangerous, Knightwood realized, and perhaps more, if the aliens on board had no interior means of defense, if all their defensive weapons were buried just under the exterior of the ship.

  Meanwhile, a few clicks of timers on their wriststrap communicators sounded in the dead air as the company began to transmit their personal locations and biosigns to the UESRC.

  But Erin wasn't thinking about exploration procedures. While she stood rooted to the ground, she began to feel that overwhelming sense of affection that she had noticed before welcoming her; at first, she felt compelled to be cautious by her years of conditioning in training sessions, but the feelings reaching her were so genuine that her mind was put at ease.

  Knightwood noticed Erin's body physically relax, but her gaze was drawn more to the calm smile that had appeared on Erin's face.

  "We'll be all right, Knightwood," she said, in an eerie manner, but the others didn’t question her; for no reason at all, each felt an instinctive urge to believe her. The hypnotic quality of Erin’s eyes intensified as they flared wide; Knightwood just looked at her a moment, her own fears abruptly retreating.

  "All right, then, everyone, let's see what we can see." Knightwood said calmly, then stepped forward to Erin's side, and together they entered the unknown.

  * * * * *

  "Colonel Kansier, we have signals coming in from the Blue Stripe Sky Hawk squadron. They're preparing to enter the vessel with Zhdanov and Knightwood. Should we send a back-up over, sir?" Major Dimitriev called from his temporary position at the communications console on the bridge of the grounded Stargazer.

  Preparing to enter the alien vessel? Kansier's thoughts echoed. For a moment he wondered if he had heard Dimitriev correctly.

  The two men sat alone amidst the noise of the instruments; most of the crew had been sent out during the fighting and had yet to return, and the bridge crew had been transferred to the Saturn defense fleet, to be replaced by the graduating cadets in exactly two weeks.

  "No," Kansier said slowly. "What could we
possibly do to help them if there are aliens aboard that ship? Someone's got to take a risk, and Arnaud felt that the Blue Stripes were up for the assignment. All we can do is pray that they come out alive again." Kansier sat with his head bowed low, his face and emotions hidden.

  "Sir, we just received a report that the aliens are retreating again, and that Coast Charles survived the attack." Scott sounded only marginally relieved; he was preoccupied with worrying about the Blue Stripes that had just entered the buried spaceship.

  God, bring them out again safely.

  “Good news for once.” Kansier said, interrupting Dimitriev’s thoughts; Kansier also hoped that the Blue Stripes would make it out—in his heart of hearts he had begun to favor them above the other three bridge crews that had been training to board the Stargazer. But then again, he thought as he contemplated the visuals being relayed from the site of the Earth-bound alien dreadnought, the time might be up for the entire human race.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Knightwood picked herself off the floor where she had fallen a couple of feet and looked to her right side to see if Erin had avoided the pitfall. The cadet had activated her helmet lamp and called to the others to watch their step, and now she was turning her head to observe the dimly lit corridor, the human-sized corridor.

  Knightwood caught Zhdanov’s expression; he was staring at their surroundings in utter disbelief, and she was sure that the same expression was on her own face.

  Sleek sea blue metal glittered to either side in the beacon-like light of helmet lamps; the beams grew stronger and bolder as the last few cadets dropped to the floor behind them at Watanabe's urging. Once the entire squadron had assembled, Zhdanov wanted to begin down the dark passage right away, but he took another moment before speaking over the comline to allow the others to collect themselves.

  An unbroken silence reigned in the narrow air lock corridor. They were terrified, of course, but that was to be expected, though their curiosity was greater—what was this place?

  Once the squadron had finished activating their tracking devices, Erin headed to the end of the short tunnel about ten meters from the inner air lock door, turned to her left, and disappeared into the shadows. Knightwood rushed anxiously to catch up with her, but Erin waited around the corner for the others to join her, who were being led by Zhdanov. Knightwood defied the timeless ambiance with a soft whisper through her external speakers; her scanners reported an oxygenated atmosphere that, even if it proved dissimilar to the Earth's, carried sound waves the same.

  "Hold on a minute, Erin." Knightwood said quickly. "Remember we have to stick together. No sense in causing a panic. It doesn't look like there's much going on—yet—but, we’ve got to keep together in case we’re attacked. So what do you think—should we turn left or right?" Knightwood turned to Zhdanov, who had appeared beside them.

  "I think the cadet was headed the right way.” Zhdanov said. “We entered near the lower stern of the ship, so we would be better able to reach the interior if we head left." Zhdanov tried to scratch his head, but his helmet got in the way for once.

  "What's he saying?" Erik asked, standing several paces behind, next to Einar and Nikolai.

  "I think Erin's suggesting we head left, and Zhdanov's agreeing." Hans said from just ahead.

  "Erin said we should go left?" Einar asked. "How does she know which way to go?"

  "I don't think she does," Erik shrugged.

  "So why is Zhdanov taking us to the left?" Einar said,

  "Are you saying we should we go right instead?" Erik asked.

  "If you ask me, it doesn't make any difference." Nikolai interrupted. "But you know, a woman’s intuition and all that—"

  "Just typical of you to say that.” Einar said.

  "Actually, in this case, she also makes sense." Nikolai shrugged.

  "We're heading left." Knightwood suddenly shouted, signaling with an arm wave at the cadets behind Zhdanov. "Form up with your team partners and keep an eye on each other. We're going down this corridor here. Everyone be prepared to defend yourselves at a moment's notice. Understood? Ross get yourself up back up here with Mathieson-Blair."

  Erik broke through the crowded squadron and took his place beside Zhdanov. Like the other cadets, his expression was a blank as he attempted to concentrate on his duty and suppress the current of fear threatening to engulf his thoughts and drive him to self-interested distraction.

  Some of the other cadets, Knightwood noticed, already appeared ready to bolt. No one had predicted how they might have been affected—but it looked like some form of acute claustrophobia in the confines of the unknown spaceship had set in. Knightwood too felt something, the sense that they had left the real world behind.

  Yet Erin seemed not at all disturbed by their new surroundings. Knightwood thought that especially peculiar considering the girl's odd behavior outside moments ago, but perhaps Erin was masking her fears.

  The corridor continued much the same as in the short air lock passage—the walls to either side almost hypnotic as they approached, flashing reflectively in the helmet lamp light and then diminishing. The ground was a hard, dark, metallic alloy, surprisingly easy on their feet yet smooth and slippery to their flight boots.

  More than ten minutes passed as they traveled down the passage, uninterrupted by airlocks or intersections of corridors. Then suddenly the walls to either side came to an end and they found themselves at the edge of an enormous cavity so dark that they could only make out vague distant images in the pitch black, bright patches where the helmet lights reflected back to eyes that strained for anything recognizable in the gloom.

  Knightwood gave orders for each team to pick a direction in order to measure the confines of the space they were in and perhaps find another corridor leading further into the interior of the ship. Only a few minutes passed before Einar Suffield-Andersen let out a shout; an additional minute went by before the others were able to locate him.

  As Knightwood approached the dim circle of faces, her pace quickened in excitement. It was easy to see why Einar had called them over; he had been the first person to collide with one of the obscure objects. He had observed a cluster of the things from the small decline at the edge of the corridor where they had entered.

  All of the helmet lamps were cast upon the object. The brilliant marine blue surface of the plane recalled the exterior of the ship; polished and seamless, even the landing wheel mechanism had been constructed using strong metallic fibers woven to resemble organic muscle tissue.

  As a biochemist, Knightwood admired the sight, awe-struck. Still, she knew they had a job to do and as quickly as they possibly could, so she began to count the number of those around her. She was about to suggest that they continue when she realized that three people were missing.

  In the voluminous space, Erik Ross' voice rang out in rippling echoes.

  "We found the far wall," he called, hoping the others could hear him. He, Erin, and Nathalie had continued in their allotted direction when Einar called the group together. Erik was beginning to resent the darkness. Erin had been ignoring his and Nathalie's questions and he couldn't see her face to figure out why.

  In truth, ever since Knightwood and Watanabe had left Erin at the chamber's entrance, forgotten memories of her life before she came to live at the UESRC had been close to recollection. But her subconscious fought to keep them buried. She tried to concentrate on other memories: her first visit to the rural zone near the UESRC, her home in Statue City, her sister...

  But the darkness frightened her, and the familiarity of the room offered no comfort, reminding her of a nightmare that belonged buried among her dreams. She heard voices from the past like distant shadows, echoes from a former life, but they meant nothing to her. Her eyes ached for the light of day, for life and motion, and she felt desperate to escape from this silent and ageless graveyard.

 
Again strange words formed in her mind, Ev-daleh, minaia taksina, and she understood their meaning: you brought light back into my world. A memory came with them, a bright-haired woman held her in the soft green light of a forest under the canopy of leaves.

  Out of the darkness, Erin felt a presence listening to her heart, moved to pity, seeming to care for her for reasons beyond her understanding, reaching out to grant her wish...

  And suddenly, the Great Cargo Bay was illuminated to a blue-white intensity so strong that the startled Earthlings shielded their eyes in pain and sudden blindness, more alarmed and fearful than injured.

  Blinking in the brightness, Knightwood peered out through her fingers which she had laced across her helmet's face. Dropping them, she squinted and shook her head until she could see properly. Beside her, Zhdanov sucked in his breath, and Watanabe blanched, while soft whispers broke out among the cadets behind them.

  The Cargo Bay Knightwood had visualized was nothing like the reality that greeted her eyes: it extended many times further than she had guessed, and standing at the periphery, they had only just come across the first of a sea of sparkling jets.

  Knightwood noted that the size of these was not much larger than their own Earth planes and was even more similar to the alien fighters in size and composition. Even though much had happened in the past thirteen years, the enormity of this discovery was not lost on her. They looked a whole damn lot like the alien fighters.

  The analysis team on Earth had rejected the notion that the Charon aliens might be similar to human beings without sufficient evidence, yet they had noticed that the aliens must have been close to human size from the size of their fighters, obtained from video sequences shot during the alien raids.

  Knightwood had scrutinized the videos while working with Cameron and Zhdanov on the Earth's first proto-fighter nearly thirteen years ago, and during their sessions she had fingered a metal fragment gathered from the rubble of Statue City which hadn't been used in their experiments. She recalled the silvery-blue alloy, and reached forward to stroke the surface of the fighter plane before her to make a comparison.