Ascent

by Thorby Rudbek

  Terry reached over Latt’s shoulder and cut the power. “Start it up again when I signal.” He ran into the laboratory, falling to his knees as the gravity slope reached up and pulled him down. A moment later he had climbed up and was heaving the laser mount back to a vertical orientation. The Controllers’ ship neared, but only the huge laser beam could be seen, wandering slightly off course, now the homing signal that Latt had unintentionally been providing was missing.

  Latt understood Terry’s ploy and activated the directional controls once more, his spirits soaring to new heights. Freed by Terry, the device rotated, and Latt determined the optimum moment, as the ship passed, almost overhead, to restart. This is it. They’ll finish us off now. His pessimism threatened to paralyze him for a moment, then Latt growled again and directed the pulsed beam up into the gloom, making a best guess for the location of the area on which he had previously been concentrating.

  All eyes streamed as the rebellious group tried to keep the action in sight. The pillar of light continued onwards and did not return as Latt had feared; it faded in and out as the dust swirled, and started to look thinner, and less substantial. Then it started to lean until it appeared to be falling over like a felled pine tree.

  Latt turned off the laser again and watched incredulously, a new feeling growing within him until it felt like his insides were on fire.

  Terry staggered across the mini-sand dunes that had sprung up within the laboratory, and stepped into the Railcar. Within moments the beam on the video screen was nearly horizontal, then it wobbled slightly and was still, pointing upwards now like a searchlight illuminating the night sky, visible periodically through the storm.

  Hoarse cheers and cries sounded in his ears as Latt reached up from his monitor and activated the door mechanism. Scraping sand out of the track, Terry helped persuade the door to slide shut, until between them they had managed to seal off the opening into the laboratory; the air pressure started to increase, leaving several inches of sand in drifts on the floor of the Railcar, and a haze of fine dust in the air.

  “What happened?” Ruth gasped as she pulled off her facemask. “I thought they were going to finish us off.”

  “The sship musst have ssussstained ssome damage from the… ‘La-sser’. It lookss like it crasshed not too far from here,” Latt explained, his face alight with emotion.

  “Fantastic, Latt!” Terry slapped him on his back. “You did it!”

  “No, I only worked the controls. You did it! I was about to give up.”

  “You were great, Latt!” Ruth kissed him on the cheek.

  He blushed slightly – the effect on his greyish complexion was startling – and smiled another of his newfound smiles at her. “You are generouss. But now we musst find the ship and desstroy the Controllerss, if they ssurvived the crash. They might sstill be able to repair the damage and leave uss in thiss dessolate place.”

  “I’m sure one must be badly injured, if not dead,” Terry stated. “He probably broke his neck when Isaac reversed the gravity field.”

  “And as for the other one, could anyone survive a crash like that must have been?” Isaac questioned. “More to the point, how could that ship be anything more than a pile of junk after smashing into the rocky surface of Mars?”

  “The Controllers are very sstrong; they don’t even have necks like we do, and the sship is old, but dessigned to withsstand much punishment,” Latt cautioned. “There are sspecial electromagnetic sshells which protect from impact. We musst be prepared for the worsst. If they are sstill alive, they musst be killed. Only then will we ssurvive.” With that he walked quickly to the airlock. “I musst get an exact bearing on the light in casse they are sstill alive and they sswitch the la-sser off. Patch the inner door before I exit, pleasse, Terry.”

  Stadt scrambled around looking for the stack of smaller repair patches, then managed to slap a few of them over the neat, round holes as the pressure in the lock started to reduce in preparation for the opening of the outer door.

  Three hours later, after successfully completing the almost impossible task of loading all the parts for the miniature six-wheeled truck into the airlock, along with tools, supplies and of course, both Latt and Terry, and then proceeding with the even more difficult task of assembling the truck outside the airlock without being quite literally blown away, Terry reluctantly released the tethers that held the truck to the outside of the airlock and climbed up beside Latt. Both of them had changed to new air storage spheres after finishing the work, and this was not only forward thinking, but also a necessity, as the heavy labour had almost used up what would normally last for four hours. In addition, they had strapped four spare spheres to the little truck, giving them three times the amount of air that Latt estimated they would need to enable them to make the journey. These were a kind of insurance in the rather likely event that they became disoriented and took a less than direct route to the point of impact, or the unlikely case that they failed, but somehow managed to stay alive to attempt a return trip.

  Latt gingerly drove the truck out of the comparative shelter of the shadow of the Railcar; he and Terry felt their apparent weight fluctuate wildly as the hastily engineered auto-feedback mechanism maintained enough locally-induced gravity to keep their light truck on the ground. Latt stopped by the shattered laboratory and they both climbed down and slipped through the slot which the Controllers’ laser had cut in the domed surface, carefully paying out their safety lines behind them. The strange gravitational effects continued within the laboratory, where some of the Gravity Inducers had been severed from the power supply or simply sliced in two, while others continued to function unaffected. Wading through the sand, Terry managed to position himself beneath the swaying laser. Latt climbed up on a broken bench and started to disconnect the device. After several minutes of struggling, they managed to detach the laser and return with it to the truck, where Latt bolted it to the framework in front of Terry.

  They drove off towards the approximate location of the ship; Terry felt like he was the machine-gunner on a war-time jeep. Just in case they see us coming and decide to run for it. He smiled a little grimly at the somewhat unbelievable situation in which he found himself.

  Latt winced as a chunk of rock smashed into his arm, sending waves of pain up into his shoulder. It was several minutes before he felt able to move it, to determine if it had been broken. Incredibly, it was still in one piece, although he thought that it might have sustained a fracture. In any case, he had lost all sensation from the limb, except pain. He drove on, resting the injured arm on his lap while using the other arm to control the vehicle.

  Glancing down at the primitive emergency radar screen to check for large boulders in their path, he found one off to the left; he strained to see the same rock ahead through the driving sand and dust. At times he could see ahead about twenty yards; the radar gave him advanced warning to a maximum range of about a mile, or five miles on the reduced definition setting. About all I’ll see on that will be the Controllers’ ship. He suddenly remembered the beacon-like laser light, and realized he hadn’t seen it since they started on their cross-country trip. Just thinking about it made him feel cold inside; something about which the miniature reactor which powered the truck and into which he had plugged his suit-heater could do nothing.

  It doesn’t take very long to replace computer modules or rewire broken circuit connections on the ship. I would have done it by now. Then to reseal the outer Hybralloy skin where the puncture occurred, and maybe a second puncture, if the laser beam went straight through; that might take another hour, especially in this wind. He smiled a little, a mannerism he surmised he had picked up from the strange humans from planet Earth with which, for better or worse, he was now allied. Even if Varshak, the most intelligent of the two, who thinks ship maintenance is beneath his dignity, is the one who survived; it would take him a while to figure out what needs to be done, where to find the replacement parts, and how to install them. As for Harnak, well it wou
ld take him twice as long. Maybe we’ll make it in time. Latt tried not to think about the possibility that both were alive.

  Terry leaned forward, trying to minimize the buffeting of the wind and massage his neck through the fluffy suit material where a small but extremely hard rock had hit him. Just below the helmet, of course. He had thought highly of Latt’s addition of helmets to their gear, along with an extra layer of coarse coveralls under the fluffy spacesuit – even before they had left the Railcar. Now he was doubly grateful. Doesn’t matter if I feel a bit like the Michelin Man! It’s better than getting stoned to death. He leaned slightly left and forwards so that he could see the radar screen. He could see the laboratory-Railcar complex sliding slowly towards the bottom edge of the circular display. “What does it look like on long range?” he asked Latt over the radio.

  Latt changed the setting, and Terry waited while the unit completed its first scan of the larger area. The complex now appeared just below the centre of the screen, and already looked remarkably similar to the other blobs in the scenery around it.

  Finding this enormous ship will be one thing. Finding the complex, if we fail to stop their escape, would be next to impossible. Terry fretted about this for a while. Of course, if we fail, we probably wouldn’t be alive to try and make the return trip. It would only be to die together in the complex, instead of alone in this wasteland. The gloom in which he now found his spirits seemed to match the surroundings perfectly, and for a time, Terry just sat in a stupor, hardly aware of the buffeting he was receiving as the truck crawled across the surface of that barren planet which some scientists had generously referred to as our neighbour.

  Latt switched the unit back to short-range and glanced at it from time to time until the complex disappeared off the bottom of the screen. Then he turned it back to the long-range setting and tried to spot the complex in the clutter. After a while he gave up. If we come back at all, it will be as the new masters of the Controllers’ ship, not on this flimsy contraption. The thought made the blood surge through his veins, and the new emotions he had yet to understand raged within him, once again.

  Time passed slowly, and Latt had to fight the impulse to become worried when the Controllers’ ship still had not appeared at the top of the radar screen. The torturous journey proceeded in what seemed like a kind of slow-motion replay, or a fevered dream; everything was blurred by dust until a sense of unreality pervaded. He wondered what Mars seemed like to Terrance Stadt. The contrast with what a planet such as Earth sounded like from Terry’s descriptions must, Latt thought, be even greater than he felt, comparing Mars to his home planet, which had been polluted and despoiled to its present, almost lifeless state by the selfish, short-sighted, single-minded actions of the Controllers.

  The shock of pain as another flying rock hit him, brought him back to the present. I knew it would be at least an hour before the ship would be in range. I must try to maintain what Ruth called a positive attitude. “Terry,” he began, in an attempt to take his mind off the subject, “How are you doing?”

  “Okay, I guess. That’s if you don’t mind being subjected to the ultimate in power-massages.” Stadt reached to the left and forwards, and squeezed his new friend’s stiff shoulder muscles.

  Even Latt could pick up on Terry’s unique humour now, and, once he figured out the meaning, it usually raised his spirits somewhat. This example was no different.

  “How’s the driving? Having much trouble with the local traffic?” Stadt continued.

  Latt smiled. “I think you would ssay that they, the rocks, are not very polite.”

  “Yeah,” Terry drawled. “I wish I’d thought of that!”

  They drove on again in silence. About two hours out from the complex, Latt found himself taking longer and longer glances at the radar screen, almost willing it to display an image of the huge ship, but the seemingly endless procession of rocks continued unabated. He checked his air and found he only had another hour left in that sphere; perhaps the effort required to breathe in the variable but consistently higher gravity field meant that they would use up the air more quickly than he had anticipated. Hopefully we won’t need to worry about that.

  A few minutes later Terry noticed the same effect. “Hey, Latt! The air’s not lasting as long as it should.”

  Latt explained his theory.

  “That’s not too great, my friend,” Stadt commented. “What if the ship is further away than you estimated?”

  “I think my esstimate wass good, but–” Latt’s response was cut off as another rock piled into his already injured left arm. He ground his teeth together to prevent himself from screaming. Shaking his head, he blinked away the tears that threatened to blur his vision; in the process, his attention was drawn to the radar screen. A huge blob had just materialized on the top-most edge of it, and it was almost directly ahead! “Take a good look, Terry!” He banged his right fist on the screen for emphasis. “We’re right on course!”

  Terry thumped him on the back. “Latt, you’re a genius, finding that thing in this pea soup! If you’re ever looking for a job, I’ll find a place for you in one of my companies in a moment!”

  Latt felt a warm glow inside as he listened to Terry, even though he failed to understand the full meaning of his words.

  “Thank you, my friend,” he said simply.

  ***

  By the time Latt was able to switch to the short-range scan on the radar, both of them had changed to their second air spheres. Now they had only one spare each. Latt leaned forward, trying to see through the murk, as they approached the Controllers’ ship. The dust swirled and eddied.

  Terry glanced across and down at the screen. The blob was getting very close to its centre, so he switched on the laser control system and swung the rather large laser around on its mount, pointing it forwards, ready for action.

  Latt swerved around some large rocks in their path and then returned to their original course. “It sshould be vissible any moment now,” he announced. “Get ready to fire if I ssay sso.”

  The wind veered as they continued forwards, exposing a huge black, cliff-like wall about forty yards ahead of them, where monstrous black spheres hung over their heads like exotic pearls in a Caribbean submarine chasm. Terry thought this meant that he and Latt were microscopic plankton, considering the huge scale of the ‘pearls’.

  Latt slowed their truck for a few seconds, while he figured out the intimidating craft’s orientation, then swung right and drove parallel to the ship. “Once we can ssee the control room windowss we’ll be able to tell if the sship iss being repaired. If that iss the case, you musst fire at the area below the windowss, where the control computerss are mounted. That area sshould appear above the windows, ass the sship crasshed on itss back. Then we will cut through the airlock door and hunt Varshak and Harnak until we have killed them both. I have the hand laser, sso we will usse that once we have broken through.”

  “Understood,” Terry replied shortly.

  “If they did not ssurvive, all we need to do iss walk in and fix it oursselvess; then we can fly back and resscue Isssaac and Ruth.”

  Ah! Ruth… It would be nice to be her hero. Even though it wouldn’t change a thing between her and Isaac. Terry smiled to himself, remembering past pain and current camaraderie.

  The bucking of the truck calmed as Latt turned around the nose of the ship. There, about fifty yards ahead, was the airlock door, its warning light flashing on and off every second or so. Above, the control room windows were illuminated by an orange glow that flickered strangely. And it’s not on its back any more! Terry opened fire in the same instant that Latt shouted at him to do so. The laser found the surface beneath the windows and started to burrow into the Hybralloy like a red-hot poker into wood. Then a strange sparkling pattern fizzed into existence at the point of contact and the red glow faded quickly away. The ship disappeared into the dust once more and Terry and Latt grabbed onto the frame of the truck as it seemed to float off the ground, bouncing bac
k down heavily after a couple of seconds.

  “Sstop firing, we’re too late!” Latt shouted. At the same instant the pillar of light burst down through the gloom just yards from the truck and swung towards it.

  Terry switched the laser off and jumped from his seat as the brilliant beam swept towards him, cutting through their little vehicle and extinguishing their comparatively puny laser forever. As he hit the ground, the light seemed to fade away to nothing, as did the noise of the wind, and the pummelling of the hail-like smaller rocks within it. All became peaceful, pain faded and his last thoughts were relief, along with a surprised confusion.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Setbacks limit options, persistence conserves remnants – Idahnian

  When Terry regained consciousness, nothing seemed real. Even the storm felt like a dream, and he floated motionless within it, unconcerned now by its fury. He must have moved somewhat, for he found that Latt was bending over him, his helmet touching Terry’s.

  “The Controllers have left. They have gone back to Rhaal.” His former prison warden’s voice came faintly through the material of the helmet. “They have beaten uss. We, and the resst of your race, are finisshed.”

  Terry struggled to sit up, and found that his right arm would not respond. He looked down and found that something looked very different about the limb, but strangely, he seemed unable to determine quite what it was, and despite that, was oddly unconcerned about it.

  Latt pulled him upright and leaned him back against the partial shelter of their wrecked transport. Waves of pain flooded Terry’s mind, destroying the sensation of peace and placidity and driving the very perception of it from his memory. A dull stupor returned slowly, as he instinctively froze into immobility. Stadt stared blankly at the shadowy figure of his desolate friend.