He pressed a button and the door slid open; he wore only pajama bottoms. She still wore her duty fatigues. She looked startled, as if expecting he wouldn't answer. She looked at his chest, his arms, and then back to his face.
The look in her eyes was unmistakable.
“I don't think this is a good idea,” he said.
“I don't care.” She pushed him into the room and slammed the button to close the door.
Sexual relationships between exploration vessel crew members were against regulations; it was bad for morale and the chain of command. In the Imperial Navy, a first offence resulted in a non-judicial punishment like an arrest in quarters or forfeiture of pay, plus a permanent reprimand on file. A subsequent offence resulted in a court-martial. The Exploration Service wasn't so strict; for a first offence, transfer was the usual punishment; a second offence resulted in forfeiture of pay and a reprimand. A third offense warranted a court-martial.
There were cameras all over the Solstice. The officer on watch, probably Lieutenant Kuusik, undoubtedly saw the whole thing and made his own conclusions.
Her arms were around his neck and she pulled her body close to his. She moaned softly and exhaled warm breath on his chest. He felt his body stir; it had been a long time since he had been with a woman.
God, it's tempting. Damn tempting.
But he grabbed her arms and pushed her away. “Caroline. We're not going to do this.” I've worked too hard to throw it all away.
A shocked and hurt expression spread across her face. Her eyes demanded why.
“We're not young ensigns anymore; we're senior officers and must set a good example. I won't jeopardize the mission; it is too critical to the Exploration Service.”
A haughty expression exploded across her face. She drew up to her full height and looked down her nose at him, her lips a tight line, her eyes glaring. Wordlessly, she turned, slammed the button to open the door, and stormed out of his room.
Did I encourage her? He searched his memory for anything in their interactions. What about on the beach last night? Doubt seized him, and fear, anger, disgust and shame sat in his stomach like lead weights.
God damn her!
Kessler exited his quarters and walked down the curved passage to the ship's lounge. He hadn't seen Caroline all day, and wasn't looking forward to the briefing. After she left his quarters last night he hadn't slept another minute. He had spent the day avoiding her as he performed his duties. He didn't even give her his survey report in person; he just sent it by e-mail.
The lounge was a circular area sixteen meters in diameter surrounding the main lift at the center of the Crew and Lab Section. The kitchen occupied half the area, while the other half contained dining tables, couches, and comfortable chairs. A multidisplay, two meters high and ten meters long, covered a section of the curved wall. Normally the device displayed ship status statistics, feeds from external and internal cameras, scientific briefings, and entertainment videos. Now, the ship's status statistics occupied the far edges, and the large area in the middle displayed the image of a scaled creature with large ears, bug eyes, and a long, stinger-tipped tail. It lay on a metal table, it's chest splayed open revealing its internal organs.
Someone touched his elbow and Kessler turned to see Lieutenant Kuusik, his pale blue eyes darting around the room. “I know nothing happened last night,” he said in a low voice and winked. “She left your quarters too quickly, and she didn't look very happy. I won't say a thing.”
“The recording?”
“Encrypted and in the datavault.”
Kessler slapped the young man on the back. “Thanks. I owe you one.”
“That's two you owe me, Commander. Remember the axe-head creatures?” He smiled and shifted through the crowd of arriving crew.
Over the next several minutes the rest of the crew arrived and took seats on one of the couches or at the dining tables. Dr. Vargas and Mission Specialist Drucker entered and approached him.
“The rumors have been making the rounds,” Drucker said. “We're famous.”
Talbot and Lieutenant Commander Mitchell were the last to enter and took a place in front of the multidisplay. Kessler did a quick head count. Thirty crew; everyone was present. Emerans Van Zant leaned against the wall on the far side of the lounge.
Talbot didn't look at him; her professional mask was firmly in place. She called for attention and presented a summary of the previous day's events, the images on the display changing to complement the briefing. Kessler noticed that as Talbot spoke, she seemed agitated. She made a few mistakes reading from the prepared notes on her pockcomp, and even dropped the device. “Just tired,” she said, and continued.
As she finished her briefing, the crew murmured in excited voices. A few of them turned and gave him, Vargas and Drucker a thumbs up. Talbot sat and Lieutenant Commander Mitchell stood. He nodded at Kessler. “Welcome back.”
“Thanks.”
“With apologies to Commander Kessler, I have been tasked by Captain Talbot to organize a land survey. This is normally his job, but, as the Captain mentioned, she has something else in mind for our Chief of Survey. Something far more exciting, I'm sure.”
I'm sure.
“Doctors Dabisha, Orolo, Webb and I have taken the data from the preliminary surv-”
The security alarm sounded. On the multidisplay, multiple feeds appeared from the sensors and drones surrounding the ship. Almost all the feeds showed images of the thin forest nearby the landing areas of the Lalande and Solstice, the drone feeds from high above, the sensor feeds closer to the ground. Kessler saw movement in the images; one of the drones zoomed in to reveal several scaly monkey-like creatures. They had long arms, bug-eyes, long prehensile tails, and wide hands with long fingers. Annotations on the drone feed revealed the creatures stood about a meter tall. As Kessler and the crew watched, the scaly monkeys swung from branch to branch, leaping between the trees, sometimes up to a distance of ten meters. Some of the ground sensors displayed images of even more of the scaly monkeys running along the ground. Kessler couldn't guess how many there were: scores if not hundreds.
All were heading toward the Solstice.
Kessler glanced at Talbot. She looked at the feeds with wide eyes and open mouth. She looked frozen, as if unsure of what to do next.
“Look!” someone cried. The crew babbled and screamed.
One of the drone feeds displayed a hulking and scaly figure, three meters tall, lumbering between the trees. The thing had shoulders almost a meter and a half wide, a thick set of arms, and legs of greater diameter than the trees the thing walked between. Its head was covered with a scaly helmet, and it looked out from below a prominent brow ridge with dark eyes. Its large, thin-lipped mouth was set in a line. Other sensor and drone feeds revealed more of the hulking figures, perhaps a dozen.
Kessler looked at Talbot again, but she just stood there, her eyes wide and mouth gaping. He looked at Van Zant, who just shrugged and shook his head.
The entire crew watched as the creatures approached the Solstice. They all gathered at a distance of about twenty meters from the bow, and wouldn't come any closer.
A drone feed showed additional movement in the trees. A figure walked toward the Solstice; it was definitely human. As the drone zoomed in, Kessler saw the figure wore dirty and torn duty fatigues. It was a woman; the slim waist and wide hips were unmistakable. Her sleeves were rolled up to the elbows and he saw cuts on her arms. Her black hair was wet and matted with dirt. Her face looked dirty and pale.
“My God!” Talbot exclaimed. “It's Janice!”
Janice Ibori, captain of the Lalande. Kessler knew that Talbot had served with her aboard the Sirius. Many in the crew cried out as they watched the display.
Talbot rose from her seat and headed for the central lift. She was just a few meters from Kessler. Her face was twisted and flushed, her brow furrowed, and her eyes dark.
“I wouldn't go out there, Captain,” Van Zant said in a loud voic
e from across the lounge.
She stood still and looked at him, her face a ball of fury. Kessler had only seen the like when he refused her sexual advances last night. What the fuck is wrong with her?
“Shut up, you paranoid freak!” Talbot shouted.
The crew's babble fell dead quiet, their faces slack and eyes wide. Talbot continued to the central lift.
“Commander Kessler,” Van Zant said, walking toward Talbot. “If you please?”
Kessler leapt forward and grabbed Talbot by the arm. She screamed and punched him in the jaw, but he pulled her close and hugged her tight. She writhed like a wild animal, screaming and cursing. Dr. Webb appeared and pressed a hypo against her arm. Many of the crew screamed in alarm.
“Calm down, everyone,” Van Zant said. “Our dear Captain is under the influence of a drug; she is not herself.”
“I should have examined her last night,” Dr. Webb said quietly.
Kessler laid her gently on the floor; her face slackened and she looked at him woozily. “Don't ever leave me again,” she slurred and lost consciousness.
“Look!” someone cried. Kessler looked at the display. Captain Ibori's image appeared on several feeds, the data transmitted by drones and the ship's external cameras. She stood about ten meters from the bow of the Solstice, her arms and face slack.
“Under Article II of the charter of the General Intelligence Directorate,” Van Zant said, “I am taking command of this vessel.” The crew backed away and erupted in a babble of voices.
Kessler looked at the political officer and opened his mouth to speak, but didn't say anything. He can do this.
“I need Lieutenants Kuusik and Calhoon on the command deck,” Van Zant said. “Lieutenant Commander Mitchell will provide arms to the mission specialists and all will assemble on the lower deck in EVA suits. Engineering staff will remain on alert to perform repair duties, if needed. The scientific staff will continue to monitor the security feeds and provide hypotheses as to what is happening. Dr. Webb will tend to Captain Talbot to ensure her full recovery.”
The crew stood still, talking in hushed voices. Suddenly, Lieutenants Kuusik and Calhoon bolted from the lounge, forward toward the command deck. Like a dam breaking, everyone started to move.
Dr. Webb appeared with a power stretcher and Kessler lifted the unconscious Talbot onto it. He stroked her face and Webb took her away.
Kessler looked at Van Zant. “So, what do you have in mind for me?”
“You and I are going to collect a sample.”
Chapter 9: Collecting a Sample
I'm finally in charge of this farce.
For too long Van Zant had to stand by and watch the amateurs; it was painful. His cringe reflex was almost broken. Talbot had been far too reckless; she had not ordered a careful systematic investigation of the planet's environment. She and the crew were lulled by the beauty of the place. The crew of the Lalande almost certainly made the same mistake, and probably paid for that mistake with their lives. The crew of the Solstice had so far been very lucky.
I may be paranoid, but that doesn't mean everything isn't out to get me.
Van Zant and Kessler entered the lift and exited on the lower deck. They went to the lockers and donned EVA suits, belted on holsters, and then waited several minutes for Mitchell and the mission specialists to assemble.
“Bring a power stretcher,” Van Zant said.
“What the hell for?” Kessler asked.
“Specimen collection.”
Kessler shook his head and approached one of the cargo containers and opened it.
“Lieutenant Commander Mitchell?” Van Zant continued, “Once Commander Kessler and I exit the Solstice, you and the mission specialists will exit and surround the loading ramp. Spread out and keep alert until it happens.”
“Until what happens?” Mitchell asked.
“You'll know it when you see it.”
“Yes, sir,” Mitchell said. His expression and tone spoke volumes; he was not happy taking orders from the political officer. I couldn't care less.
Kessler approached, pushing a power stretcher.
“Load it into the back of the buggy,” Van Zant ordered as he climbed into the passenger seat. “You're driving.”
Kessler complied. “So, where to?”
Van Zant pressed a key on the buggy's console and the starboard cargo door opened. “Go down the ramp, but back up toward Captain Ibori.”
Kessler drove the buggy down the loading ramp as Mitchell and the mission specialists spread out. He pulled a donut, put the vehicle in reverse, and backed up around the bow of the ship. Slowly, they approached the figure of Janice Ibori standing ten meters from the bow of the Solstice. The scaly monkeys and hulks stood several meters from Ibori and didn't move; some turned their heads to and fro, but most just watched as Kessler and Van Zant approached. Ibori stood motionless.
“Stop here,” Van Zant ordered.
“What the hell is she doing?” Kessler asked.
“I don't think that's Janice Ibori,” Van Zant said.
“What?”
“But we do need to get her on the Solstice.”
“What the hell are you saying?”
“It is my hypothesis that she is under the influence of another intelligence.”
“Come again?”
“I think she has been exposed to the dimethyltryptamine in the environment. This has made her susceptible to the will of the alien presence Captain Talbot and I saw in our own dream visions.”
Kessler looked at him like he was nuts. “How can you possibly come to that conclusion?”
“That's how the Intelligence Directorate uses dimethyltryptamine; to soften up subjects for interrogation and control. Among other methods, of course.”
Van Zant saw Kessler look at him with wide eyes. He's afraid of me. Good.
“There's more of them!” Lieutenant Kuusik crackled over the pockcomp. Van Zant saw more human figures approach the Solstice, walking among the scaly monkeys and hulks. They all wore ripped and dirty duty fatigues, but their faces looked blank. The fear grew in Van Zant's gut.
“That's the rest of the Lalande's crew!” Kessler said.
Obviously.
“Now what?” Kessler asked.
“Get out and follow my lead. Leave the motor running.” They approached Ibori with caution. Van Zant saw her shift and twitch. She opened her mouth and groaned. Her jaw moved and her lips flapped, as if trying to speak. “Leave,” she groaned. The word was drawn out and sounded like a low moan.
“I think this is just a warning,” Van Zant said.
“And if we don't?” Kessler asked.
“We're going to find out, probably sooner rather than later, judging by her escort.”
“So, what do we do now? Leave?”
“Eventually, but we need to know more about what is happening here. I'm going to stun her with my blaster. We're going to load her on the power stretcher and take her to Dr. Webb for examination.”
“Jesus Christ, can't we just ask her to come with us?”
“Go ahead, Commander Kessler. Give it a try.”
Kessler spoke to Ibori, but she raised her arm and pointed at the sky. “Leave!” she moaned, her mouth twisted and eyes like dark coals.
“Lieutenant Commander Mitchell? That 'it' I was talking about earlier is about to happen. Shoot to kill. Concentrate your fire on the hulks. Get ready.”
Van Zant raised his blaster pistol, pointed it at Ibori, and pulled the trigger. The blue bolt hit her chest and she crumpled to the ground. Screeches, grunts, howls and roars filled the air, and the mass of scaly monkeys, hulks and zombie humans ran toward them. Mitchell and his crew opened up while Van Zant and Kessler scrambled to get the unconscious Ibori onto the power stretcher in the back of the buggy. A fusillade of bolts flew through the air and struck many of the scaly monkeys and hulks. Without looking back, Van Zant and Kessler jumped in the buggy; Kessler gunned the motor and closed the distance to the loading ra
mp in moments. Van Zant heard Mitchell command his crew to perform a fighting retreat.
Kessler drove the buggy up the loading ramp; Mitchell and his crew followed the buggy into the ship. Van Zant punched a key on the console and the cargo door closed with a hiss and a boom, just as a hulk mounted the loading ramp.
“That was fun,” Kessler said. “Good plan.” A boom sounded at the cargo door, then another, then another. “The hulks; they're knockin'.'”
“And they can't come in,” Van Zant said. “Let's get this sample to Dr. Webb.”
“Uh, Commander?” It was Lieutenant Kuusik on Kessler's pockcomp.
“Yes, Lieutenant.”
“We've got more visitors. I think you need to come up here.”
“Go,” Van Zant said.
Kessler stripped off his EVA suit and ran to the lift.
Chapter 10: A Radio Surprise
“What have you got?” Kessler asked as he entered the command deck. He stopped and gaped at the multidisplay. A huge creature was crashing through the trees; it was a four-footed beast with armored scales, a long neck, and a long tail. The head was covered with swept back spikes. Data on the multidisplay revealed the it stood ten meters at the shoulder, with the head another nine meters higher. It opened its mouth and roared, dull gray teeth glinting in the light.
“Take off. Now.”
Kuusik's voice sounded over the intercom. “Prepare for flight.” The Solstice hummed and gravity shifted. Kessler saw the beast look up and roar again as the Solstice ascended.
Van Zant's voice filled the command deck. “What the hell is going on?”
“I'm saving our asses.”
“Get to medical. Captain Talbot is awake.”
Caroline. “Take us into orbit, Lieutenant Kuusik, your discretion.” He bolted from the command deck and into the Crew and Lab Section.
Talbot sat up on the stretcher, a mask on her face. Van Zant stood beside her, still wearing his EVA suit. His helmet hung on his belt, but he wore a mask, as well. Dr. Webb and a mission specialist, clad in protective gear, were cutting off Ibori's duty fatigues and attaching sensors.
The Dreaming Oceans of San Miguel Page 6