by Paul Grover
Vic Rybov cursed.
“Baikonur Control, I am committed to final and you have just closed the bay… please instruct.”
“Read you Eden’s Revenge, we have a situation here. Please join the holding pattern and standby.”
A warning light flashed on the Holo-HUD.
“Traffic, I have a situation of my own.” He tapped into the external cameras; a figure in an spacesuit clung to the exterior of his ship. “I am low on fuel and I have someone in an EVA suit attached to my hull. I think one of your maintenance people is hitching a ride.”
There was a pause.
“Eden’s Revenge, understood. We can only permit access to the central bay if you are declaring an emergency. Are you declaring an emergency?” The question was loaded. Misuse of emergency status could lead to the ship to being impounded.
“Sofi,” he said. The girl was sitting behind him staring at the figure clinging to the hull.
“Are we declaring an emergency?”
“We are Vic. We should save that person. It’s the right thing to do.”
He snorted. Damn kid is as bad as my own fucking conscience.
“Traffic, Eden’s Revenge, we are declaring an emergency.”
The controller acknowledged and sent Rybov permission for an internal bay.
He guided the ship in. The cargo barge ahead of him peeled out of the way, giving him a clear run into the station.
Passing through the aperture into the central bay there was little sign of the damage caused by the crash other than all pads showing lock down flags. He brought the Revenge onto his allotted landing zone and shut down the sublight drive. Once the ship was isolated and connected to shore power, he lowered the ramp. Rybov pushed the seat back and made his way aft.
Sofi ran down the ramp ahead of him. She waved at whoever was anchored to the hull.
Rybov followed her gaze.
A woman in a space suit raised her hand in greeting.
“Hi,” she said. “Thanks for the ride.”
Rybov snorted. “Anything else you need?”
“A ladder would be useful.”
He shook his head and a laugh rasped from his throat. “I’ll open the top hatch. Don’t touch anything on my ship.”
He clicked his remote. The woman gave him a thumbs up and disappeared.
There’s something familiar about her…
The lights in the bay flickered as a public service broadcast was played over the PA system.
The situation must be more serious than he thought.
Tish did not realise she was holding her breath as she watched Mira disappear into the ducts.
“She’s smart. She’ll work it out,” Meyer said.
Tish worked though the station’s systems.
“I’m looking for anyone trapped. We can save people.”
A green light flashed on the comm system. Tish hit the receive key. Her fingers barely paused from typing; her eyes did not deviate from the screen.
“Tish, is that you?” Shannon asked.
“Shannon! You made it. I was worried. Where are you?”
“I’m on the station with a guy called Vic Rybov. He knows you and Mira.”
“Yeah, he used to be a Merc… wait how?”
“It’s a long story. He is trying to protect Mira. He knew about the bounty. He thinks Manson is following him for revenge and using Mira as bait.”
“I have busted Mira out. She is on the far side of the station, Red Sector A. Is that close to you?”
There was a pause.
“Tish, I am in bay 932; Green Sector. It’s not far.”
Tish checked her station schematic.
“Shannon you are outside of the quarantine zone. You are closer to Mira than Rich. I will guide her to you. I need you to go shore side; head for the Galleria commercial district. You should not have any problems with customs or immigration; all station officials are busy with emergency relief.”
“Okay.”
“Shannon?”
“Yes, Tish.”
“Thank you. I’m glad you are safe. Mira would be pissed if I got you killed… I mean I would be sad too… this isn’t coming out right…”
Shannon closed the link.
Tish glanced at Meyer who met her gaze with a warm smile.
“You see Tish, you just have to believe in yourself and things work out.”
They were not out of this yet. She flicked through camera feeds. Barnes limped onto the flight deck.
“The station authorities have sealed the pier… I can’t get onto the station,” he said.
“It’s okay, Rich. Mira is out and I have Shannon in the same sector; lady luck is with us right now.”
Barnes frowned; his disappointment at being left out of the action clear in his face.
“I have access to the station’s network, I can feed a link to a datapad. You can contain the fire and lead people to safety. We can make a difference here.”
“I can do that. I’ll round up every datapad I can.” He glanced at Meyer. “Mind if I use your man?”
Meyer was quick to agree.
“I’m sure Ben will be pleased to help. Otto is at a loose end too, now Shannon is safe,” she said.
Barnes headed aft and boomed Ben’s name.
“You handled that well, Tish. You are a natural leader.”
She blushed.
“I don’t know…”
Meyer squeezed her hand.
“You are maximising your resources for the best outcome; that’s leadership.”
Tish turned back to her screens with a passing smile. With Barnes handling the station, she could devote her attention to helping Mira.
Eden’s Revenge berth was quiet, aside from the emergency announcements playing on a continuous reel over the station’s PA system.
“Sounds like a major accident,” Shannon said.
Rybov snorted.
“Not uncommon. Stations out here have incidents like this all the time; too many yahoos with overpowered ships and underpowered brains. I was on Oasis IV when a super-freighter missed her mooring and tore into the hull. Half the station carried on as normal. Six hundred people died and two weeks later you would have never known it happened.”
Rybov was more concerned about a more pressing problem. Manson was at large on the station. He suspected his former comrade was monitoring the arrivals queue to locate the Revenge. There was every chance he was on his way.
“Sofi! Lock yourself in a life pod. The only people you come out for is me, this lady.” He pointed at Shannon. “Or a girl called Thorn with black hair and green eyes. She’s not much taller than you.”
“Vic…”
He rounded on her.
“Just do it!” he roared.
The kid bit her lip and did as she was told.
“Are you expecting trouble?” Shannon asked.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Do you want me to come back? Check everything is okay?”
When this day was done either he or Karl Manson would be dead. Sofi might need someone to take her to Mizarma.
“For the kid’s sake, yeah, I’d appreciate it… uh… what was your name again”
“Shannon.”
“Something is bugging me. Have we met?”
“I don’t think so… I used to be kind of famous.”
“What’s your full name?”
“Shannon Wade, I used to…”
“Never heard of you.” Rybov grunted and wished her good luck. “Give my regards to Thorn, just in case I can’t,” he added.
Shannon agreed and jogged to the bay door. She stopped.
“Vic, thank you for rescuing me. Keep yourself alive, okay?”
He shrugged.
“Didn’t think I had much choice, but you’re welcome and I’ll try.”
She waved.
Rybov raised his hand, sat on a crate and rolled a cigarette.
Mira emerged into the main hub of the station. It was te
eming with people; security operatives were directing them toward an open blast door.
The emergency lights were on and blue smoke hung in dense clouds in the air. Swirling in the smoke were iridescent particles. They eddied and danced before her eyes.
“What are you?” she murmured. She sensed something in the cloud… a familiar presence; it was faint and resonated at a subconscious level.
Pharn Tech. How did it get here? What hit the station?
A voice snapped her back to reality.
“Miss, clear this area; we are preparing to seal it.”
A station security operative pushed her toward the blast door with a heavy shove. Everyone around her was being marshalled in the same direction. The atmosphere was tense and laced with fear. Occasionally tempers boiled over and blows were traded. Mira turned back to the security man; he wore riot armour and a respirator.
“Seal it? What’s happening?”
“There was a crash; a ship hit about a kilometre spinward from here.” The mouth filter made the man’s voice sound muffled and slightly metallic.
“What ship?”
He cocked his head.
“I had… uh… a heavy night,” Mira added. She assumed it was morning, but she had lost track.
He ushered her forward, toward the crowd.
“One of the survey vessels from out in the Vale came in hot… unmanned or crew deceased. This shit in the air showed up after it crashed. Station admin is not taking any chances.”
Mira let herself be herded with the rest of the crowd.
The particles in the air stirred around her. There was a pattern in their movements. They moved with a level of complexity the air currents could not account for. She wondered if everyone else could see the patterns in the randomness, the pockets of order in a cloud of chaos. She suspected she was the only one who could.
“Is this stuff everywhere?” Mira asked.
“Not yet,” the man replied. “The ship came down five levels above here. There was a lot of damage. We have nine zones open to space, and fires in another 13. This stuff was drifting through the air ducts until we sealed them.”
Mira stirred the air with her hand. The particles glowed brighter and clung to her skin before continuing on their path. It reminded her of how an oar would cut through water. There was also sound, a low rustling hiss barely in her hearing range.
The blast door was ahead of her. The crowd shuffled to an ill-tempered stop.
“Where are we going?”
“Quarantine.”
“For how long?”
“As long as we need to make sure this stuff isn’t a danger. Now shut your mouth, do as you are told or face the consequences.”
Mira flipped the guard off and melted into the masses as he raised his shock stick.
The security team moved to quell a disturbance close to the blast door. Mira slipped through the crowd and back into the concourse.
She headed through the thoroughfare and onward toward a small square. Security cameras swivelled to follow her progress, but no one intercepted her. The fog was thicker as she pressed on. It was easy to breathe, but the tiny particles coated her skin with a silvery sheen. She brushed them off and they clouded into the air. The skin of her face and hands tingled wherever the silver dust touched it.
How many of these things are on that ship?
Mira noticed a consumer electronics store. On impulse she ran toward it and ducked under the half-closed shutters. Inside the piped music and mood lighting was oddly surreal. She lingered guiltily in the entrance for a few seconds.
She ran to the shelves and located a multi-channel comms system and a data visor. She paired it with the comms unit. The visor requested a security code. Mira entered four zeroes. The unit rejected the code, she tried 1234 and the units beeped and connected.
She perched on the store counter and tuned in the com-link. It was a lightweight consumer grade device; the earpiece had a red indicator light on that turned blue when a carrier wave was active.
“Tish, can you hear me?”
There was a pause, seconds stretched toward a minute.
She repeated her question.
“Mira!”
“I escaped. Thank you, I thought I was dead. I’m in the station. It’s deserted here. The crashed ship came in from the Vale. It brought something with it.” She was aware her voice sounded panicked, words coming out as fast as her heart was beating. She calmed herself and steadied her breathing.
“What do you mean something? You’re scaring me. You need to come back. I can send you a route.”
“I don’t think it’s dangerous.” Mira paused. “I am coming back, but I want to investigate further. Can you pick up my location from this signal?”
A pause.
“You must be in the quarantine zone. Power is intermittent and most of the cameras are offline… wait… I have you.”
“Can you tell me where the crash site is?”
Another pause, longer.
“From what I can tell the ship is still intact. It came to rest three decks above you, a half kilometre spinward.”
“Okay, it’s on my way back. I want to check the crash site out. I have a visor so send me a route.”
Mira did not give Tish a chance to object.
“Don’t worry Tish. I won’t take any chances. I’ll meet up with Shannon as soon as I can. I love you and I promise I’ll come back.”
“Mira… be careful… I love you, so much, don’t you dare die on me.”
“I promise.”
Tish kept the link open.
“Mira…” Tish said. “How do you feel… are you, you know, okay?”
During the escape Mira had been too occupied to give herself a second thought.
“I’m fine, Tish… too busy to be scared. Seriously, I’m good.”
“We’re here if you need us.”
“Okay.”
Tish closed the link.
Mira left the shop. The hiss of the Foglets was louder. There was a crackling of static in the air. She was transported back the hold of the Kobo and the obsidian black ovoid known as the Ark.
Ahead of her the Foglets coalesced together. Blue light flared and the formed the shape of a humanoid figure, too tall and lean to be human but similar in shape. It beckoned for her to follow before dissolving into nothing.
“Tish, are you monitoring my visor’s feed?”
“Affirm…”
“You saw that, right? You saw that… whatever it was?”
There was a pause.
“I saw it. I am escalating my mood to freaked out. Be careful.”
Mira promised she would.
“There is some crazy shit in this universe,” Mira whispered.
She ran through the shopping district and located a static escalator. She ran up two levels and continued forward. The station had position markers hard-wired into the bulkheads; Mira’s visor recorded them and kept her on course. There was the smell of combustion in the air now, the strong acrid stench of burnt insulation. The floor was littered with broken glass and parts of the ceiling had collapsed. It was not long before she came across the first body, then a second.
It was a man in his twenties, dressed in a business suit. A briefcase lay open next to him; its contents spread over the floor. He lay in a pool of black fluid, thick and viscous. It reminded Mira of tar and appeared as if it were leaking from his body. She could not see any visible injuries, so she gripped his arm and pulled him forward. A black tentacle protruded from a gaping wound in his back. It writhed in the air, pushing further from the body; black slime dripped from the horrific protuberance.
Mira yelped in surprise and let the body fall. She scrambled backward and fell on the deck. The tentacle writhed beneath the man, making his body jerk as if jabbed with a shock stick.
“What the…”
“Mira, what was that? I saw a thing… it was alive!” Tish interrupted over the link.
“I… don’t know… it’s gros
s.”
Before Tish could reply the man’s body convulsed. With a wet tearing sound, more tentacles erupted from the carcass. They pawed at the air as they grew longer and thicker. Mira watched in horror as they pushed out and into the deck. Their movements slowed and they gradually solidified. The body was nothing more than a burst bag of tissue, completely rent apart by the emerging monstrosities. With a puff of gas the remains of the man’s body expelled a dense cloud of Foglets into the atmosphere.
Mira edged forward and touched a tentacle… root was a better word for it now. It was hard and cool. It reminded her of ceramic weave.
She composed herself and stood.
“You saw that?” she asked Tish.
“Yes…”
“Tish, I know this is hard, but I need to get to that ship, pull their core and find out what is going on.” She stood and continued onward, ignoring Tish telling her to stop.
The ghostlike figure reappeared, walking toward a bank of elevators. Mira was certain it was formed from the Foglets. The figure vanished.
A door to an elevator opened and closed randomly, unable to complete its cycle due to a badly burned corpse lying in the aperture. Mira stepped over it into the car. She used the emergency ladder to access the service hatch in the roof and climbed into the shaft.
A steel ladder ran up one wall. She began her ascent. Above her steel girders groaned as they bent and distorted under strain.
Mira sensed movement and looked up as a flaming piece of debris hurtled past her. She pressed herself against the wall as it passed, feeling the intense heat on her back. A body on fire followed it.
The debris and body collided with the elevator sending it tumbling to the depths of the station. Mira shuddered.
Maybe this was a bad idea.
“Don’t worry Tish. I’m not going to die, not today,” she muttered.
Mira continued to climb, stopping occasionally to rest her arms. She opened her link.
“Tish, where am I now?”
“You are almost there, next level.”
Mira continued upward, arriving at another elevator entrance. She found a manual crank handle on the wall. She pulled it free. The handle almost fell through hands slick with sweat.