Magwave (The Rorschach Explorer Missions Book 2)

by K Patrick Donoghue

  Morgan clicked off and turned back to Carillo. “I understand where you’re coming from, Julia. It’s a fair concern, and if you want to sit this one out, it’s your call. But I’m going. I have to go.”

  “Yeah, I know you do,” she said. “It’s okay. I’ll stay on Rorschach with Bob. There’s no way he’d survive what Nick described.”

  “But didn’t Nick say the aliens could help Dr. Shilling?” Ajay asked.

  “He did,” Morgan said.

  “So shouldn’t we take him with us?”

  “Us?” Morgan said. “Does that mean you’re going?”

  “Roger dodger. I came all this way to meet some aliens. I’m not backing out now.”

  “Well that makes two of us.” Morgan turned to Kiera. “Kiera, you’ve been quiet. Do you want to stay on Rorschach with Julia and Bob? Might be a good idea given your eyesight’s not all the way back.”

  “Nah, I’m good. I’ll go,” she said. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to the whole detox thing, but I agree with Major Carillo. It’s a small price to pay to meet the lizard men and Captain Reed. I do have one small request, though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’d like five minutes alone with the mai tai pouch before we leave.”

  Morgan laughed. “Deal.”

  He radioed Nick with their plan.

  But Nick pushed back. “Look, I really want to see Julia. It will bum me out if she doesn’t come aboard. We can quarantine Dr. Shilling in the airlock and take him to our med bay right away. The Suhkai will make sure he’s in stable condition before he goes through detox and inoculation. You have my word.”

  “I’m sure your word is golden, Nick,” Morgan said, “but we’re going to stick with our plan. Just give the three of us about fifteen minutes to get ready. I need to send an update to our Mission Control Center and we need—”

  “Paul?” Nick interrupted.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t contact your people just yet.”

  Morgan frowned. “Why?”

  “I’ll explain when you come aboard.”

  “Uh, I’d like an explanation now if you don’t mind. They know we were rendezvousing with your ship. They’ll be expecting an update.”

  There was a long pause before Nick replied. “I’m not ready for people to know I’ve come back yet.”

  “But—”

  “Look, Paul, all things considered, I don’t think it’s too much to ask. Just respect my wishes until we’ve had a chance to discuss things. You’ll understand my request after we talk. I’ll see you after the inoculations.”

  Crew airlock — the Rorschach Explorer

  Docked with Suhkai spacecraft Ethel

  Drifting at all-stop in the asteroid belt

  After emerging from the galley with a smile on her face, Kiera joined Morgan and Ajay in the main crew airlock across the corridor from the ready room and just aft of the flight deck.

  “You get your fill of liquid courage?” Morgan asked.

  “Uh-huh,” she said. “Guess what? I can see a little better now, too.”

  “That’s great news,” Ajay said.

  “It is.” She fixed Ajay with a look. “So I’ll be able to tell if your eyes drift my way.”

  Ajay started to protest the insinuation, but Morgan quickly cut in. “Look, I know this is going to be awkward as hell, but we’ll get through it. Just be professional and focus on the end game.”

  Carillo exited the flight deck and walked up to them, the Callisto queen hovering behind her with a handful of Cyton escorts. “Paul, I think we should treat this like an EVA and set up a regular check-in schedule, like every thirty minutes.”

  “Good idea. We’ll have to rely on Nick to give us access to comms, but I’m sure he’ll come through. We’ll start the cycle once we’re done with the detox.”

  “Sounds good.” Carillo hugged each of her shipmates. “You be careful. All of you.”

  “What’s the matter, Major?” Kiera said. “I can’t see you very well, but your voice sounds a little spooked.”

  “I don’t like the radio silence request,” Carillo said. “I mean, I get that Nick might not want to send everybody on Earth into a tizzy about him being alive. I can see how he might want to make that known himself. But I don’t understand why he’s not comfortable with us letting Mayaguana know we linked up. We wouldn’t even have to mention Nick yet.”

  “I wouldn’t sweat it,” Morgan said. “We’ll clear it up first thing when we meet with Nick. In fact, why don’t you go ahead now and prepare an update that doesn’t mention Nick. That way it’ll be ready to go as soon as I give you the green light.”

  After a few last-minute instructions, Morgan cranked open the airlock door, and the three astronauts entered. Carillo shut the door behind them.

  Morgan sighed and began to unzip his flight suit. “Okay, crew. Let’s make this quick.”

  As the three astronauts peeled out of their flight suits and underclothing, they kept their eyes fixed on the far end of the airlock and their thoughts focused on the historic meeting that loomed ahead. As such, they paid no heed to the cluster of blue lights that briefly flickered into view behind them.

  Decontamination chamber – Suhkai spacecraft Ethel

  September 8, 2019

  With her eyelids pressed as tight as she could make them, Kiera felt a clump of her hair slide down her nose. The chemical spray stung, but at least it was warm. The naked march from Rorschach’s airlock through Ethel’s counterpart chamber and into the decontamination room had been so cold it felt like an ice bath. The air had been almost as frigid as the metallic walkway under the soles of her bare feet.

  Now, with her arms raised above her head and her legs spread, Kiera stood still as one of the Suhkai continued to “power wash” her body. She was sorely tempted to open her eyes and take another look at the alien, but feared the chemicals still dripping down her forehead would damage her eyes.

  Though Kiera had seen the photographs of the spaceport murals many times, and knew from the Cetus Prime logs that the humanoid aliens were taller and thicker than Earthlings, the mental image she had formed of the Suhkai significantly underestimated their height and girth.

  From the moment the hazmat-suited aliens had entered the decontamination chamber to greet Kiera and her colleagues, even with her vision still somewhat blurred, she had been able to tell they were easily twice as tall as her and that their arms and legs were as thick as an elephant’s limbs.

  Only these elephants didn’t walk on all fours. Just like in the scenes depicted in the Callisto spaceport murals, they walked upright like humans on two legs supported by two boot-covered feet. They carried equipment with two glove-covered hands attached to two arms. In fact, in their hazmat suits and helmets, save for their exaggerated proportions, they looked human. No wonder the Cytons had been confused by Carillo’s spacesuit-covered appearance, thought Kiera.

  Daring a peek as the Suhkai now sprayed her feet, Kiera cracked open one eye and looked up at the alien, focusing her attention on the visor of its helmet. She couldn’t see much of its face through the condensation covering the visor, but she could pick out its dark, reptilian eyes and gray-green skin. Nope. I’m not dreaming. This is really happening. Shutting her eye once more, Kiera recalled more of the brief and surreal first meeting with the Suhkai.

  There had been no formal ceremony or greeting, although Morgan had suggested they bow when the Suhkai approached within reach. The Suhkai had either not seen or not understood the gesture, for they remained as still as statues. Morgan had then extended a hand and introduced himself to them. No response. They remained inert while Ajay took over communications from Morgan and spouted some “me human, you Suhkai” gibberish Kiera assumed he’d seen in some movie or TV show.

  When the aliens finally did react, it was not to bestow greetings. Instead, one of the Suhkai used its hands to instruct the three naked astronauts to stand farther apart fr
om one another. Another of the aliens had then raised its arms above its head and spread its legs, a gesture Kiera and her crewmates surmised they were supposed to mimic. Then just as quickly as they’d assumed the pose, the decontamination had commenced. Given the aliens’ all-business approach, Kiera was left with the impression the Suhkai weren’t particularly social beings or they didn’t view the meeting as special. They seemed more concerned about cleaning them of “ick” than anything else.

  With that thought lingering in her mind, the “power washing” ended and a new spray began.

  This one was more of a mist than the pounding spray from before, and the sting of the chemicals was replaced by a pleasant tingling. Kiera felt a foamy sponge-like pad rubbing the top of her now-bald head. With gentle motions, the Suhkai was bathing her. Slowly and deliberately, it moved from head to toe. She found it relaxing until the alien reached her loins. There, the combination of the tingling mist and the Suhkai rubs produced a different reaction.

  Thankfully, her arousal was cut short by the sound of Ajay protesting similar attention to his nether region. Morgan began to laugh, distracting Kiera, and soon her Suhkai moved on to less sensitive areas.

  When the cleansing was complete, Kiera opened her eyes again and saw a Suhkai at the far end of the room motioning them toward another doorway. They entered a new chamber, filled with thousands of golden Cytons. Another hazmat-suited Suhkai stood in the center of the room and demonstrated the spread-eagle stance required of them.

  Once more, Kiera and the others raised their arms and widened their legs. She watched the Cytons divide into groups and swarm around them. As they began to pelt their bodies with bright light, Kiera snapped her eyes shut. Within seconds, she heard Ajay chiding the Cytons for another close encounter with his private areas, rousing another round of laughter from Morgan. When it was all over, Kiera opened her eyes to see a bald Morgan bemoaning the loss of his prized mustache. “Took me years to get it just right,” he grumbled.

  She also noticed a dark splotch on his butt cheek. Her vision wasn’t clear enough to tell any more than that, but she recalled Carillo’s teasing during their Hawaiian party. “So it’s true!” she said. “You have lightsabers tattooed on your butt!”

  Morgan feigned an effort to cover the tattoo. “Hey, keep your eyes off my butt.”

  “Ha! Now we know the true source of your Skywalker mojo,” she said.

  All in all, the decontamination process had been as degrading as Kiera had expected, yet it was also the most fun she’d had since the mai tai party. As they lined up in front of two more Suhkai to receive their inoculations, she felt a renewed camaraderie with her shipmates.

  She knew she owed much of her improved spirits to the ever-screwball Ajay. Not only did he look ridiculous hairless and naked, he was so in awe of the Suhkai, he kept on throwing up Vulcan-greeting hand signs to the puzzled aliens in between his efforts to shield his genitals from their view.

  Keira watched as the Suhkai administered inoculations to Morgan and Ajay. Despite their intimidating height and girth, Kiera found the Suhkai movements measured and graceful in a way that reminded her of whales gliding through water. What was it they called whales on Earth? Gentle giants?

  Her thoughts were interrupted by the hand of one of the aliens touching her head. She looked up and smiled. The alien’s facial expression inside the helmet changed. Though Kiera couldn’t see its mouth, it seemed to her that the alien smiled back.

  The Suhkai cupped its palm over her pate and tilted her neck to the side. The hand was so big, Kiera’s head was like a kiwi fruit in its palm. She was certain it could have crushed her skull with ease, but its touch was feather light.

  The injection burned and made her neck muscles spasm. Within a few breaths, she felt dizzy and nauseated, and seconds after that she slumped to the floor, her head coming to rest on the boot of the Suhkai. The spasms spread to her shoulders and chest.

  Gritting her teeth, she groaned in pain. The burning snaked up into her brain and down her spine. Kiera lost control of her arms and legs, and they flopped against the floor, her fingers and toes clenching with cramps. She tried to cry out for Morgan but choked on thick trails of saliva slithering down her throat.

  The monstrous hand of the Suhkai closed around her lower leg, lifted her up, and carried her, dangling upside down, from the room. Kiera was powerless to resist.

  Through blurry eyes, she tried to look for her shipmates, but she saw nothing but the gray surface of the floor.

  The Suhkai stopped. Kiera felt something cold press against the small of her back. It jolted her spine, making her body go limp.

  Then darkness washed over her, and she faded into unconsciousness.

  Flight deck — the Rorschach Explorer

  Docked with Suhkai spacecraft Ethel

  Drifting at all-stop in the asteroid belt

  Carillo paced back and forth on the flight deck. It had been over an hour since the others boarded Ethel and she still hadn’t heard from Morgan. While Nick hadn’t provided a time estimate for the detox and inoculation procedures, Carillo couldn’t imagine they would have taken more than half an hour combined. She’d tried to raise Nick on the radio but had received no answer.

  Frustrated, she turned to the Callisto queen for answers. The gold ball of light had been following her around the ship like a shadow ever since the others disembarked. She asked the queen if she knew why it was taking so long and why Nick didn’t answer the radio. But the queen didn’t seem to receive her thoughts, for the alien exhibited no flickers or pulses when Carillo projected her questions.

  With nothing else to do, Carillo decided to check on Shilling. She found him still unconscious, and even though the docking maneuver was complete, he continued to be surrounded by a blanket of pulsing Cytons. She asked the queen about the purpose of the Cytons and their pulsing, but again her question went unanswered.

  As she swapped out Shilling’s IV bag, Carillo heard a noise from the corridor. She paused to listen more closely. It was the sound of the airlock cranking open.

  “What the…”

  She finished attaching the bag to the rack by Shilling’s gurney and headed for the med bay door. The Callisto queen and her escorts zoomed in front of her. A thought from the queen cut through Carillo’s confusion. “Stay!”

  The warning was delivered with enough force that Carillo stepped back. “Why?”

  The cranking sound picked up pace.

  Carillo called out, “Paul? Is that you? Is everything okay? Ajay? Kiera?” She moved toward the med bay door once again.

  The golden queen suddenly flashed a bright white. “Stay!”

  Carillo shielded her eyes. “What’s happening?”

  Thumps echoed down the corridor. Carillo could feel the vibrations through her boots. “Move,” she commanded.

  Not only did the queen and her escorts remain hovering in front of Carillo, another dozen Cytons swirled up from Shilling and joined the blockade.

  The thuds grew more intense, and a dark shadow obscured the corridor lights.

  “Who’s there?” Carillo shouted. “Is that you, Nick? Please say something. You’re scaring me.”

  When the enormous lizard head appeared in the doorway, Carillo backed right into Shilling. The Cytons covering him rose up and slithered over her body. She tried to push them away as she pleaded with the queen. “Stop! Why are you—”

  The aim of the Suhkai was true. Carillo slumped to the floor.

  CHAPTER 18: LYING EYES

  Recovery room — Suhkai spacecraft Ethel

  In orbit around Saturn moon Dione

  September 10, 2019

  Morgan awoke to find himself lying inside a glass-encased pod. His head throbbed and his throat was parched. His hands were covered with mitten-like gloves, and he was clad in a one-piece gray garment. He could feel a hood cinched around his face.

  Morgan closed his eyes and tried to remember how he had ended up here. He recalled boarding the alien s
hip and entering the decontamination center…but nothing after that. Had he fainted?

  He looked right and left. Though the light overhead was dim, he could tell his pod was in the middle of an otherwise barren room. Laying his head back against the cushioned surface inside the chamber, he pressed his hands against the glass to see if he could open it.

  To his surprise, the casing began to retract.

  The second it opened, the warmth inside vanished. The room surrounding him was as cold as Ethel’s airlock had been, and Morgan’s thin garment did little to protect him.

  He propped himself up on his elbows and discovered his muscles were unusually stiff. Pulling his legs up, he swung them awkwardly out of the chamber. With a push of his arms, he sat up and raised his arms above his head. After a good stretch, he tugged off the annoying hood — only to be reminded of his newfound baldness. He moved his hand to his mouth, half-hoping his Fu Manchu mustache had miraculously reappeared while he slept. It hadn’t.

  He lowered his feet to the floor and attempted to stand. But his legs were weak, and he had to grab hold of the pod’s frame to avoid falling.

  He heard a door open behind him, and then Nick Reed’s voice. “Take it easy, Paul. Your body has to get used to our gravity.”

  Morgan turned to see Nick Reed standing in the doorway. Except this man looked nothing like the Nick Reed that Morgan remembered. Nick had been a tall blond with the sleek body of a surfer. Sure, that had been twenty-five years ago, and it was natural to assume Nick’s appearance would have changed as he aged…but this wasn’t about aging. Nick barely looked human.

  “It’s a shock, I know,” Nick said, stepping closer.

  “Jesus, Nick, what happened to you?”

  Nick was hairless like Morgan, and his skin was mottled with dark splotches. His hands were swollen to twice their normal size, and judging by the size of his boots, the same applied to his feet. His eyes were almost entirely black, and some of his teeth had fallen out. Worst of all, he looked thin and drawn, and was hunched over as if he carried a heavy load. Yet despite the bodily deformities, his face showed little sign of aging — just a few wrinkles around the eyes — and his voice sounded as youthful as ever.