The Dark Side: Alex Hunter 9

by Greig Beck

  “Yes, and perhaps they are still here,” Borgan answered.

  “This is unacceptable.” Her eyes narrowed as she turned to the commander. “Our work is of the highest level of confidentiality.”

  Stanislov turned, one eyebrow up. “Our mining?”

  Irina’s lips pressed together. “Of course.”

  “Yes, yes.” Borgan straightened. “Give the order.”

  “Prepare for the surface,” Stanislov said. “All weapons to be readied.”

  The soldiers got to their feet to grab helmets and weapons. Their titanium-blend armor made them both formidable and lethal.

  Borgan turned back to the view window. “Time for us to get some answers.”

  * * *

  Kapitan Yuri Borgan surveyed the damage. There was little left of the Russian lunar base, and zero evidence left for him to work with. Most of the structure was now nothing but melted slag in the center of an explosion debris ring a quarter of a mile wide.

  “No one could survive this,” Stanislov said.

  “I think that was the idea,” Borgan replied evenly. The mission commander looked over the chaos and ruination. His men turned over some debris, and kicked at other items, but nothing remained intact.

  He saw his two scientists, the doctors Irina Ivanov and Anastasia Asimova, talking between themselves and pointing at different things they observed among the chaos. They were being their usual secretive selves, and he guessed whatever their objectives were, they might not be the same as the soldiers’.

  “No bodies or even body parts. Strange,” Stanislov observed.

  “Huh? Yes, probably vaporized,” Borgan said and watched as two of his men checked over the American crawler, examining its contents. One climbed inside and drove it closer to the group.

  “What now?” Stanislov asked.

  Irina tossed aside a piece of melted steel. “There is one structure still largely untouched which should have been shielded from the explosion.” She pointed to the far side of the lunar plain and a crater ridge. “The mine is just beyond the rim. If anyone wanted to shelter from the blast, that’s where they’ll be.”

  “Agreed.” Borgan nodded. “Stanislov, call the men in. We have two mission priorities: the first is to investigate the hole in the ground. You will take Boris, Anastasia, and Chekov. The second is to pay a visit to our American friends and demand some answers. I will take our neighbors’ vehicle and the rest of our team.”

  Stanislov turned and grinned. “Or maybe exact some retribution.”

  Borgan smiled. “We come in peace.”

  CHAPTER 26

  Mia looked up at the towering human beings before her. Each of them was in a suit that seemed made of a silver metal and looked powerful and impregnable. They stared at her with the unblinking gaze of an eagle or wolf. Predators, Mia thought.

  She cleared her throat. “Benoit and I found the Russian woman on the moon surface.” Mia’s hands clenched and unclenched. “We detected an explosion at their base and came across her when we went to investigate. It looked like she had crawled out.”

  “And is the base destroyed?” Sam asked.

  Briggs shook his head. “We still don’t know. We sent a team – hell, two teams – but they never came back.”

  “And where is this Russian woman now?” Alex asked.

  “Olga, her name is Olga Sobakin, and we have no idea where she is. She vanished.” Mia shrugged.

  “And she is your main suspect for being infection patient zero?” Marion asked.

  “Infection,” Mia scoffed. “Yeah.”

  Alex nodded. “Okay, Mia, go on.”

  Mia swallowed, her mouth dry, and resumed her story. She told of bringing the Russian woman back to the base, how she had miraculously survived with the hole in her helmet. And how she, Olga, had tried to warn them about the lifeform that had killed everyone at the Russian base.

  “She said it was her that initiated a nuclear meltdown,” Mia said softly. “But whatever attacked their people got into our base.”

  Mia’s voice became smaller as she told of the disappearances, finding the torn clothing and the black substance, and then being outside when they were attacked.

  “We thought we locked it out, but it got back in somehow. Or maybe it never left.” She looked up at Alex. “We don’t know if it’s a single thing, or many of them, or even many parts of the same thing.” She groaned softly and folded her arms across her belly.

  “Describe it,” Sam asked gently.

  Mia looked up at him and gave a watery smile. “It’s hard to understand what its natural form is or might be. It seemed to have a shape and, not. It was like a plant growing stalks, doughy, and then dark, black, like glutinous oil. And it attacked via tendrils or filaments that pierced the suit, then infected the occupant.” She kept her eyes on him.

  “You saw it attack them?” Sam asked.

  Mia’s eyes glistened as she nodded. “They just seemed to vanish, dissolve.”

  “And then it copied them,” Briggs said. “We saw it attack two of our men. One minute they were physically intact, alive, and the next they were pulled from their suits. Drained out somehow.”

  “You mean they were in their suits one minute, and then removed from them? What happened to them?” Marion asked softly.

  “Liquefied, dissolved, flesh, bones … I don’t know how, and if I hadn’t seen it myself, I would never have believed it.” Briggs’ breath hissed from between his clenched teeth.

  “Externally digested. Horrifying, but fascinating,” Marion replied.

  “Then the suit reinflated. Someone or something was back inside it. We think it copies or mimics us somehow. That’s how it gets close. Waits until we’re alone and picks us off.” Briggs shook his head and turned to the crowded control room. “That’s why we stay in groups: to protect one another.”

  “When was the last interaction with the animal?” Marion asked.

  “Animal? This is no animal. This thing makes plans, is cunning, and exhibits strategic thinking.”

  Marion nodded, unfazed. “Has it tried to communicate?”

  Briggs laughed. “Does a wolf discuss its dinner plans with the sheep?”

  “I see, and I repeat, when was the last interaction with the, ah, lifeform?”

  “The last? Two days ago. And if your next question is where is it now? We have no idea. It’s either hiding, camouflaged somewhere, or concealed in one of us.”

  “In one of us,” Mia repeated softly and shuddered as a chill ran up her spine.

  * * *

  Alex turned to the people crowded into the room and felt the weight of their gaze upon him. He tried to sense whether anyone among them wasn’t who or what they really were. But he couldn’t detect anything other than impatience, worry, and a lot of fear.

  Briggs folded his arms. “This thing knew to take out our communications, just like Olga said it did at the Russian base. It set ambushes for us and seems to be always one step ahead of us. This thing is smart. I just don’t know how smart yet.”

  “So it could be in here, in this room?” Alex said.

  Briggs nodded.

  “We thought about a test.” Mia stepped a little closer and lowered her voice. “But Doctor Pandewahanna vanished while working on it.”

  “What was the test?” Marion asked.

  “We’re not sure.” Briggs replied. “We’ve been in here and only leaving to restock food supplies. And of course, waiting for our saviours to get us all home.”

  “You’ll have to keep waiting a little longer.” Alex turned to Marion Martin. “The test sounds of value.”

  “I agree. We need to find out what the doctor was working on.” Marion turned to Briggs. “Can you take us to Doctor Pandewahanna’s laboratory?”

  The captain blanched, but Mia interjected.

  “I can.” She beamed at Sam.

  “No, Briggs will do that. Everyone at all levels has to lean in now,” Alex said. “And as soon as the others get back
, we’ll head there.”

  Mia looked across at Sam and shrugged. “Next time.”

  Alex joined Casey and Sam where they stood by the door. “I don’t like that they’re split over two locations. This thing could be hiding inside one of the base crew, and we can’t spread ourselves between both camps.”

  “It’s fucked up,” Casey sneered, the scar on her lip dragging her face to the side. “Freaks me out that some alien asshole could be staring at us right now, and us not even knowing it.”

  Sam grunted. “You do know what that means?”

  Alex nodded slowly. “Yeah, no one goes home until we can work out who’s who.”

  Maddock, Klara, and Stevens returned, and Maddock reported in to Alex.

  “Scared, but healthy and secure for now. Won’t take much to panic them, though.”

  “Same as this bunch.” Alex called the HAWCs into a huddle. “Time to go to work. We need to establish a secure perimeter and find out about that test their doctor was working on. Then we can make a call about evacuating the base or not. Time to rally the troops.” He drew a deep breath and turned to the overcrowded room.

  “Ladies and gentlemen.”

  The room quietened and faces lifted toward him.

  “My team of scientific, engineering, and military specialists were sent here to assess the situation, and take control of it, and if there is a form of infection, then we isolate and/or eradicate it.” He paused.

  “Infection,” someone muttered with derision.

  “To that end,” Alex continued, “we will be expecting everyone on this base to lend a hand and do what is asked of them. Immediately.”

  “How long?” a man asked.

  “Unknown,” Alex replied. “But we will be working as hard and fast as we can.”

  “What good is a rescue mission that won’t rescue us?” The man stood up, his eyes round. “Some of us have families back home. You should start taking a few of us back immediately.”

  Alex smiled without warmth and tried to project calm. “I know being patient is hard right now. Everyone is scared, and tired, and damn fed up. But work with us, not against us, and it’ll all be over soon.”

  “It was the damn Russian woman who brought it here!” someone else shouted, a woman. “Why don’t you find her? Or we will.”

  “I can only urge you to follow your commander’s instructions. And do not get in our way.”

  “They’re just scared,” Mia said.

  “I know.”

  “What can we do to assist you?” she asked.

  “I’ll let you know.” Alex turned to his team. “Let’s get to work. Team one – Roy and Klara – take Angus to find out what happened to the base comms. Mr. Stevens, can you act as their guide?”

  “Sure can.” Stevens stood ready.

  “Team two – Marion, Casey and I – will go and check on the work that Doctor Pandewahanna was doing. If we can produce a test, then we don’t need to keep everyone in quarantine.”

  “I’ll take you down there,” Briggs offered.

  Alex was about to turn away but paused. “Hey, if this thing wanted to flush us out, it might try and shut off the power or oxygen. All the power and oxygen. Where are the internal controls for those utilities?”

  “We thought that too. The overarching controls are all via this room. But the actual generators, batteries, and boosters are down in the subbasement. We checked them after the comms went down, but they seemed okay.”

  “Good. But we need to monitor it.” Alex turned to Sam. “Okay, big guy, you’re flying solo. But take Mia as your guide. Need you to check out and secure that room.”

  “On it.”

  “Yes.” Mia’s mouth quirked up at the corners. “I get to go with Sam.”

  Alex clapped his hands together. “Let’s get this done, people.”

  The three teams headed out the door, moving fast.

  CHAPTER 27

  Colonel Jack Hammerson listened to Lieutenant Vincent “Vin” Douglas as he delivered his status report – they’d landed on time and on target.

  As expected, the Kennedy Base communication systems were down, but Alex Hunter and his team had already established that there were signs of life and were en route to the facility. All good and to schedule so far. But the sooner they established what the threat was, dealt with it, and were on their way home, the better.

  Right now, Hammerson’s team was a long way from help, and working in the most hostile environment imaginable. And as of that moment, out of contact. Vin’s last message was delivered as the satellite they used to bounce the radio waves back home was passing over the lunar horizon. It was one of the downsides of being on the dark side of the moon: there was no line of sight for transmission.

  He felt for Vincent; he’d only been in the HAWCs for a couple of years and showed great promise. And like all of them, he was highly skilled, and keen to get in on the action, so performing babysitting duties must have been driving him crazy.

  “Hang tough, kid.”

  Hammerson sighed and lifted the phone. He’d promised to keep Aimee in the loop, but Alex hadn’t told her this mission was off-world. A small detail he’d need to leave out of his talk with her. And she was smart enough to know that whatever Alex was doing meant it wasn’t comms equipment being down or some other tech problem, because, in simple terms, she knew that they didn’t send in a team of HAWCs unless they were expecting heads needing to be broken open.

  As his hand alighted on the phone it rang, and he snatched it up.

  “Hammerson.”

  “Sir, Major Bilson at launch control. We might have a problem.”

  “What sort of problem?”

  “A potential lift-off anomaly. You asked to be advised personally of any issue,” Bilson replied. “I think you need to see this, sir, ASAP.”

  Hammerson cursed under his breath and couldn’t imagine what the issue could be as the rocket had already left and landed at its destination.

  “Can it wait?”

  “Best not, sir.” Bilson’s voice had an anxious edge to it.

  Hammerson grunted. Aimee’s update would have to wait. “On my way.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Mia led Sam down to the lower level and in the small elevator she turned to grin up at the silver giant beside her.

  “How do you even fit in a normal chair?”

  Sam chuckled, liking that there were still a few grains of humor remaining among the somber base personnel. He held out his arms. “This bulk is mostly the armored suit. Out of it I only weigh about 260 pounds, give or take a donut or two.”

  Mia laughed. “Only 260 pounds?” She blew air between her lips. “I take it back, you’re a lightweight.”

  She continued to stare up at him, and after a moment Sam felt the weight of her gaze. “What?”

  She shrugged. “Thank you. For coming, I mean. Things were getting a little fragmented up here. People who didn’t like each other suddenly acted like they wanted to kill each other. Depression, psychosis, aggression – we were having the lot. Plus, the suicides started. I don’t think we could have made it much longer.” She shared a crooked smile. “So, yeah, thank you.”

  Sam shrugged. “Don’t mention it, we were in the neighborhood anyway.”

  Her smile broadened. “Well, I’m glad you were.”

  The elevator stopped and opened with glacial speed. The corridor outside was dark. Sam engaged his visor and it telescoped up over his face.

  “Get behind me.”

  “Watch out for Olga,” Mia whispered. “The Russian woman.”

  Sam looked over his shoulder at her.

  “She’s about five-ten, has short, dirty-blond hair, and very light blue eyes. She’s our number one suspect.”

  “Got it.” Sam moved out and slowly down the corridor, and soon found his first pile of empty clothing. There were gobbets of black stuff all over it.

  “This is what happens when our people are … taken,” Mia said.

  S
am pulled his gun into his hands.

  “I can’t see anything,” Mia said.

  Sam checked his sensors and, other than Mia behind him, they told him they were alone. He engaged the suit’s lights, which shone a bright pipe of illumination down the corridor.

  “That’s better,” she whispered. “Up ahead and to your left.”

  They continued on. Under foot there was more of the black slime, but it was solidifying and becoming like some sort of resin crusting, and actually beginning to fully coat the walls and floor.

  “There, see?” Mia said. “We must check out the equipment and secure the door. The thing has been down here.”

  No shit, Sam thought, stepping over another blob of the sticky-looking material.

  “That way.” She pointed past him.

  They turned the corner, and at the far end was the sealed door to the power-generation room. But blocking it was a person dressed in full space suit slumped against the door.

  “Oh God,” Mia exhaled. “I think that’s Eric Wilson, our missing chemical engineer.”

  “He’s not looking too good. Stay here while I check it out.”

  Sam pulled his weapon and strode forward a few paces then engaged the external speaker on his suit. “Person standing in front of energy room doorway, I am Second Lieutenant Sam Reid, please identify yourself.”

  When he was just twenty feet from the figure, Sam stopped and hailed him again, but once more there was no response. The guy’s helmet had the gold reflection visor engaged, and there was no chance of seeing his face.

  “Be careful,” Mia urged, from a long way back.

  Thank you, Miss Obvious, Sam thought, and then focused on the figure. “Sir, are you okay? What is your status? Please respond.”

  Sam moved forward, and when he was only a few feet away from the person, his intuition screamed at him that something was seriously wrong. He carefully reached out with the barrel of his gun and poked the body.

  Several things happened at once: firstly, the body collapsed to the floor, just an empty suit now. Secondly, the door slid back, and the power-generation room’s overhead lights came on brilliantly white, blinding him for a split second.