by J. N. Chaney
Boss Creed’s office was as small as my room. With so many Transients living in such a relatively tiny space, every meter was precious.
“You’re making quite a name for yourself,” Boss Creed said, leaning back in his chair. He interlaced his fingers and placed them behind his head. “I think everyone aboard the ship might know you by name, thanks to the stunt you pulled on the shuttle.”
“Wonderful,” I said, hoping we could just move the process along. “Where do you need me first today?”
“The doors for the pens you were working on still need finishing.” Boss Creed sat up straight in his chair and reached for a data pad on his desk. “You should be able to complete that in the space of a few days. I have your gear down there waiting for you.”
“Sounds good,” I said, already heading for the door. If I could get out of this conversation without talking anymore, it would be a small miracle.
“Hey, Dean,” he called me back.
“Sir?” I returned, pausing at the door.
“You did a good thing coming,” he said, nodding at me.
I’d know this man for a few years and he’d never once given me a compliment. It was surprising.
I just nodded and moved out of his office.
There was a small line of mechanics waiting outside of his door to receive their own assignments. Stacy was one of them.
“Hey, you figure out what they’re having you do on the ship?” she asked with a mischievous smile. “Cleaning out the sanitation receptacles?”
“Nothing that glamorous,” I said, heading down the hall with a wave.
This level was reserved for the ship maintenance crew, which now included me. There were various names on doors set in plaques: engineer, medical, food supplies, and more.
Reaching the end of the hall near the elevator, I found the area completely empty. That same feeling that made my hair stand up on end raced across the back of my neck—something telling me that I was being watched.
I casually entered the elevator, then looked back down the hall to see if someone was behind me. It was clear.
I pressed the holographic display, choosing the cargo level. The doors on the cylinder-shaped elevator began to close, and as they did, a head peeked out the left side. The movement was so fast, I could barely focus on it before the doors closed.
I couldn’t tell who it was.
You need to chill out, man, I told myself, shaking my head.
The cargo doors were sealed now that the journey had begun. Only those granted access would be able to enter, due to the shields along the walls. I placed my right hand on a screen set into the side of the double steel doors. It scanned my prints and beeped a cheerful hello. A moment later, the doors opened, and I was let inside.
The cargo area was packed from floor to ceiling with crates and supplies for the six-week trip. Along the right and left sides of the room, there were pens with thick gates that rolled downward from the ceiling and locked into the floor.
Just as Boss Creed promised, my gear was waiting for me near the back end of the area. My feet hit the steel floor underneath me, nearly echoing in the massive chamber.
I reached down, grabbed my belt, and secured it on my waist. The weight of my tools on my hips was comforting, something familiar for me to feel in an unfamiliar world. The other tools I needed were neatly placed in a pile beside the door I’d be working on.
My torch, gloves, mask, and more were all there waiting for me like old friends. While I was securing my belt, I felt a presence behind me.
My right hand traveled to the side of my hip where a large wrench rested in a side holder. I didn’t grab it, not yet. My fingers rested against the metal, ready to use it if I needed to.
I turned my head to the left to get a view behind me.
There was no one there.
Was I losing my mind?
Across the cargo bay on the opposite side of the open area, another row of pens was set into the wall. The massive rolling gate on the last pen was opened ever so slightly. A gap no more than two meters high between the ground and the gate caught my eye.
Although the room was brightly lit thanks to overhanging lights, the way the shadow played between the floor and the empty space between the gate, it was hard to tell if it was really open at all.
The sound of rushed, angry breathing filled the air. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound human.
I knew it was none of my business, but all the warnings were going off in my head. There was something going on here that wasn’t right. I thought back to the wooden boxes with holes that I loaded onto the ship. The ones that moved on their own—the ones Elon told me not to worry about.
I picked up the wrench from the side of my belt as I walked toward the barely open gate. The sound disappeared again.
My heart rate was drumming quickly in my chest. I took a long, slow breath to try and calm myself.
I reached the pen, examining the lock that usually held it to the ground. It was broken, forced open by some kind of tool using leverage to pop it free from the steel floor.
More concerning was the sign that wasn’t there two days before when I was working on the pen doors. A yellow hazard symbol was painted on the door with a clear warning underneath. The warning read:
Authorized Personnel Only. Under No Circumstances Is This Pen to be Opened.
Wonderful, I thought to myself with a sigh.
Getting out of the cargo bay post-haste and telling Boss Creed or even one of the suits on board might have been the best idea. I could say I heard strange sounds and the lock was broken on the pen.
Once again, I’d be the center of attention. Maybe I should have just let someone else stumble upon this like I had, but Boss Creed knew I was down here.
Instead of debating all the pros and cons repeatedly, I went down to my hands and knees. If I did report this, I needed to get a better look at what was happening inside the pen. I’d feel like an idiot running for help if it was simply a broken lock. I needed more information, if for nothing else than to satiate my own curiosity. I looked down into the dark room, holding my breath.
The area inside the pen was long and wide. Green lights shined above smaller individual pens, lining the walls in the room.
This alone wasn’t that strange. I knew a few of the pens were larger, offering smaller compartments within. I pressed the right side of my body against the cool surface of the floor. My right cheek made contact, flattening my beard on the side of my face.
It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the light in the room, although I still really couldn’t see. All I could make out were green lights and movement.
Whining, mixed with angry, guttural growls, wafted from the pen. If there was anyone in the room, I couldn’t see them. All I could spot were large, dark shapes that roved around the floor. The creatures moved on four legs and acted as though they were agitated.
I was so enraptured with trying to figure out what the creatures were, I missed the hand snaking out from inside the pen to grab me by the collar.
With lightning quick motion, I felt myself get pulled inside.
10
Whoever had grabbed me quickly released my collar and laid into me with a series of kicks and strikes. I staggered to my feet against the beating, somehow losing my hold on the wrench.
The strikes hitting me were well placed and brutal. Pain exploded in my stomach. Stars erupted in my head.
I put my hands up to block against it, more out of habit than anything else. I was already dazed. By the time I could see enough to make out my opponent, I was already a bloody mess. There was the metallic tang of blood in my mouth, and my right cheek had already gone numb.
Dressed in black, the person in front of me had a crimson handkerchief across their nose and mouth. All I could see were their eyes. They wanted to kill me.
I didn’t have time to focus on anything other than onto my consciousness and blocking the blows when they landed.
I played t
o my situation, pretending I was more injured than I was. My opponent pressed their attack, leaving them open for me to make my move. I sacrificed my own defenses as I jabbed out with a right, catching them in the throat.
They staggered back, grasping at their throat. I swung a wicked right hook, connecting with their eye. At the same time, they whipped out with their right foot and took me in the side of my ribs.
Pain exploded across my body as we both went down. I gasped, realizing my ribs were either broken or bruised. Either way, it wasn’t going to be pretty. I fought back to my knees, searching for my opponent. Like a wraith in the night, they were gone.
I told myself it wasn’t anything nefarious as I searched for them. They’d simply rolled out under the open pen door. That was it, I hoped.
I looked around the room one more time to make sure I was alone. My eyes had finally adjusted to the dull green light. As far as I could tell, it was only me and the strange creatures on the other side of the pens.
I winced as I rose to my feet, clutching my left side with my arm. I’d been in enough fights to tell my ribs were bruised, not broken.
Thoughts of leaving the inner pen as soon as possible and reporting all of this entered my mind, but I was already here. I had to find out what was on the other side of the smaller pens. Maybe even what that person had been doing here. My guess was that I’d stumbled onto something, because if they’d been here for me, I’d probably be dead.
Glancing around, I saw there were at least twelve pens of creatures, six on each side. Each pen held a different beast. While they were all animals I recognized, each appeared modified to be larger and stronger than normal. The chickens were twice their typical size. The cows were more muscular, and their hides looked thicker. Instead of man’s best friend, the dogs took on the features of a wolf.
Each pen had a lock and audio seal on it, so you couldn’t hear them from outside. The attacker had been tampering with the dog’s gate when I’d surprised them, and the audio seal appeared to be broken.
A mangy mutt with pointed ears and thick fur came up to me, pawing at the door. The animal looked at me with large, sad eyes.
I placed my hand close enough where he could smell but not so close that he could bite me. He sniffed my hand through a long snout, and then he tried to lick me, as if reassured by my presence.
Something else caught my eye, and I leaned down to look at a satchel on the floor. Before I could pick it up, I heard movement behind me.
“Stop there!” Stacy said, entering the room. She held a blaster in her hands, pointed at my head.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said, raising my hands. The act brought an excruciating level of pain from my ribs. “You didn’t see the masked guy running out of here? And why do you have a blaster?”
“Dean?” Stacy said, coming so close I could almost reach out and grab her weapon. “Turn around and get on your knees. I’m not going to ask you again.”
“Listen, I’m not really sure what’s—”
I awoke, propped up on a medical table. Blinking rapidly into the bright white lights above, I saw an angel. No, not an angel—Iris, the ship’s Cognitive. Her ethereal glow made her appear to be a divine being, like something from the old religions, and she was looking down at me with the same look of pity I gave that mutt in the pen.
“How are you, Dean Slade?” Iris asked in a too human voice. “Can you hear me?”
“I can hear you,” I said, wincing at the pain in my head and side. “Where am I?”
“You are restrained in the medical unit on the Orion seed ship.” Iris looked down at my wrists and ankles. “You were found breaking into the pens in the cargo area and attempting to weaponize the animals Elon Drake brought aboard.”
“Weaponize?” I repeated, clenching my fists to test the bonds. The steel cuffs around my hands didn’t budge. They cut into my skin, so I relaxed for the time being. “Listen, I know what you think you saw, but it wasn’t me. I fought whoever was breaking into the pen. Come on, you don’t believe me? You must have cameras everywhere on this ship. You’re a freaking Cognitive, for crying out loud.”
Before Iris could respond, the door opened. Stacy, Elon, and Arun walked in. Stacy wore the same mechanic’s clothing as always, and Elon and Arun were dressed in dark grey uniforms. Arun’s long white hair was pinned behind her head, while Elon’s was in a ponytail.
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and venture a guess that you’re not a mechanic,” I said, staring daggers at Stacy. I wasn’t sure exactly why, but I felt betrayed. “So what are you, then? Some kind of suit spy?”
Stacy looked over to Arun, who nodded to her.
“Special agent, actually,” Stacy said, crossing her arms over her ample chest. “Disciple threats were coming in every day, especially at the construction yards. I was placed in yours to keep an eye out for people like you. That’s also why I’m on this ship.”
I bit my tongue so hard it hurt. Instinct kicked in. I wanted to remind her that actual terrorists attacked our yard. That maybe she should work on finding them instead of keeping me detained. That there was a terrorist on board our ship.
“I didn’t do anything except try and stop the person who was going to release those animals.” I looked over to Elon. “Why do you have animals in the cargo pen to begin with? Hell, while we’re at it, why are they so big and—”
“Enhanced-looking?” Elon asked, finishing my thought.
“Sure, we can go with enhanced. I was going to go with mutated and deformed, but sure,” I said.
“We’re taking twelve special kinds of animals with us to Kronos Five, to build and sustain a working population, each for different reasons. A new colony needs livestock.” Elon moved his hands as he spoke like a conductor leading an orchestra. “Most of the animals were chosen for the food, but a few were also chosen as companions. The dogs, for example, are genetically modified to have the loyalty of a German Shepherd with the size of a large wolf.”
“Great, we’re taking giant puppies to keep people happy on an alien planet,” I said.
“I do not believe that Dean Slade is responsible for the vandalism found in the cargo bay,” Iris said, interrupting our conversation. “Although the cameras show no one else, I did discover something strange while playing back the footage.”
“No, it has to be him,” Stacy said, shaking her head. She skewered me with a glare.
I stared right back at her.
“There was no one else there when I arrived,” Stacy said. “No one passed me when I found him.”
Iris opened her right hand, palm-side up. Immediately, a screen appeared in the air above us, glowing with the same dull blue illumination that surrounded her.
The image looked down on the cargo pen door labeled with the warning sign. There was no one on camera yet. Even with the absence of any person, the lock on the cargo bay door was already broken and raised a meter. It was like someone had perfected the art of invisibility and succeeded in masking themselves from the camera.
“See?” I said, pressing my case. “I don’t know how they did that, but there it is. Last I checked, I couldn’t turn invisible.”
“Fast-forward to when Dean arrives,” Arun spoke for the first time.
Iris obeyed, fast-forwarding the footage to a few minutes later when my familiar, nosy face appeared on the screen. A moment later, a very real arm reached out and pulled me inside the pen.
“There are no cameras on the inside of the pen,” Iris said, confirming what we were all thinking. She rewound the feed and froze it on the image of the arm reaching out to pull me in. “However, that arm is enough proof to confirm what Dean Slade said is true.”
“All right, then,” I said, nodding over to Iris. “I take back everything bad I ever said about Cognitives.”
“Iris, let the feed play forward,” Arun asked.
Iris obeyed, showing the person dragging me into the pen. Within a mere twenty seconds, Stacy appeared on the screen, ducking und
er the pen door behind me.
“So, tell us exactly what happened in the pen once you were dragged inside, in as much detail as you can remember,” Arun said, looking over to me with her familiar calculating stare.
“It was dark,” I said, piecing together the events for myself. “When they started pounding on me, it must have deactivated their cloaking tech. They wore all black with a red handkerchief around their face. I could only see their eyes.”
“Was it a man or a woman who attacked you?” Elon asked.
“A man, I think, but I don’t know for sure,” I said, trying to recall the few seconds in poor lighting where I had seen my assailant.
“You think?” Stacy pried.
“Hey, give me a break,” I said, trying to move a hand to my head, only to remember I was still strapped to the table. “I had a concussion and probably some bruised ribs.”
“The Disciples’ colors are black and red,” Elon mused out loud.
“Well, while we’re all playing detective, do you think I can get out of these restraints?” I asked, looking round the room.
“Yes, of course,” Arun said, nodding to Iris.
Iris merely glanced at the bonds holding me in place, and they opened. With a satisfying click, I was free.
“We need a plan to find and lure out this Disciple before he or she tries anything else,” Stacy said, pursing her lips in thought.
“Yep, right, so this has been great,” I said with a grimace as I swung my legs off the bed and stood up. “I’ll leave you to your Disciple hunt. I’m going to go lick my wounds and pretend there isn’t an invisible maniac on board trying to bring this ship down.”
“We need your help, Dean,” Arun said.
“Don’t you have an army of suits on board or a—”
“You’re the only one who has seen who we’re after. That makes you our key witness,” Elon told me.
