“An apt description,” Xayasith agreed.
As soon as the scanner began mapping the now hatched creature’s image, it made a shrieking sound, and stabbed at the glovebox’s holes, tearing through the glove material, and squeezing through the hand hole.
Vanya shrieked, and for the first time, wished that Fleischer and her marines were in the lab with them. The creature surged from the box, and flew straight into Whitman, who was running to the door. The mantis landed on his back, and grabbed his head in its mandibles, crushing Whitman’s skull, and impaling the back of his head with a tube. Vanya and Hutch tried to remove the thing from the flailing assistant, but it was held fast. Miss Reddy even tried crushing it, but it was beyond her strength. Whitman shrieked, then went stiff, and fell to the floor convulsing as the mantis devoured his brain.
It then turned to the other scientists, who backed away in terror. The mantis was blocking the only door from the lab. But if they escaped, the doorway opened into the next room where the living quarters were, and the creature would follow them. Vanya backed into the wall and felt something prod her in the back. She realized that it was the light switch, and pushed upward, illuminating the room.
The creature screeched, then spat some acidic substance at the overhead lights, destroying them, leaving only the computer monitors and scanner readouts to illuminate the room. It then leapt onto Price, grabbing the man’s face and temples in its mandibles, and impaling his skull through the forehead. Haddad tried to pull the creature off, but it turned and grabbed the scientist by the neck with its raptorial forelegs, severing Haddad’s head from his neck.
Vanya thought they were all dead, then the door opened, and a loud gunshot sounded, followed by a loud splashing sound. The light from the living quarters backlit Sergeant Gardner’s short, stocky frame.
“You geniuses just had to bring it back here, didn’t you?” Gardner shook his head as six more marines poured into the room, guns drawn, and flashlights on. “Now we got three dead men … all for fucking science.” The gruff sergeant laughed mirthlessly. “Y’all are just too smart for us. Clearly, those PhDs really made all the difference.”
When Gardner shined his light onto Whitman’s head, Vanya’s knees buckled, and she fell to the floor vomiting. The creature’s innards were everywhere. Its ichor smoked as it ate into the surface of the floor. Another marine came in and tossed sand on it, which seemed to resolve that issue.
“We… we had to study it,” Hutch gasped. “It’s… it’s alien life….”
“I’m sure Whitman, Price and Haddad agree,” Gardner said sarcastically. He pointed his flashlight at the creature’s innards. “Somewhere in there, I think you can probably find pieces of Whitman and Price’s brains.”
“They were scientists,” Xenia said matter-of-factly. “I’m sure they would agree.”
Hutch nodded slowly, but the expression on his face was one of shock, and Vanya doubted that he was thinking clearly. Some of the scientists and research assistants were sobbing, some were retching, and others were catatonic.
The science officer just stared at the three dead men. Whitman and Price’s skulls were crushed and broken, while Haddad had been decapitated, his open eyes staring up at her from his severed head. The creature had injected its digestive fluids into the heads of Whitman and Price and sucked out their liquified brains.
Vanya was overcome as her stomach turned again, and she fell to the floor and vomited once more.
Commander Jax stormed into the room, gun drawn. “Alright, people, Royce just contacted me—prepare for incoming!”
“Incoming?” Hutch looked like a man who had lost all sense of agency. He shook and trembled but did not move. Instead, he just stared at Jax in disbelief.
“Selene’s been monitoring the situation,” the commander announced. “Seems that whatever you did with that egg, it’s hatching now—hundreds of those things. They’re eating the leathery sack, and the remnants of their own eggs. Once they’re done, they’re coming for us, starting with the marines guarding the crater.”
“Then, we don’t have a problem,” Xayasith said smugly. “Your soldiers will deal with them before they get here.”
“Based on what happened in here,” Jax retorted, “those things don’t go down easy. The sheer number of those things alone make them a serious threat, even to Fleischer’s team.”
“Then, we need to get out of here,” Vanya cried weakly.
“Negative,” Jax responded. “We have construction crews and scientists coming, and we need to maintain this outpost until they get here. We deal with this now. I want all of you aboard Selene in five minutes. Get your space suits on and move out!”
“I… I just wanted to study it….” Hutch just stood there as the rest of them began donning their space suits to walk to the ship. Sergeant Gardner walked over to him and slapped the back of his head.
“Git yer head outta yer ass, Geek-squad! Then get your ass moving while we still have time.”
Vanya was about to intercede, but Jax held a massive arm out in front of her, barring her way. Then he grabbed Hutch by the collar and yanked him from his feet.
“I will knock you out and drag you to the ship if you don’t get your ass in gear,” Jax growled. “Now move!”
Vanya glared at Jax as she took Doctor Davis’ arm. “You didn’t have to do that, Commander.” Then she walked Davis to the space suits. “Come on, Hutch. Let’s get to the Selene. We’ll be safe there.”
Doctor Xayasith took Hutch’s other arm, speaking soothingly to the still reeling Doctor Davis. Vanya only hoped that she was correct and that they would indeed be safe aboard the Selene. If those things got onto the ship, they would be very difficult to fight. And if those things got back to Earth… Vanya shuddered at the thought.
15
All was quiet out at the crater where Lieutenant Ariella Fleischer and her unit kept vigil. The surface of Ceres was eerily quiet. The planet received the light of Sol, but it was so far out of the habitable zone that the light brought with it no warmth and provided nothing like daylight on Earth. They were on the edge of the celestial frontier, farther from home than any human had ever dared venture.
Private Jackson walked over and joined her. “Amazing view, L-T.”
“Yeah,” Lieutenant Fleischer replied. “Kind of… eerie, but beautiful in its own way.”
“I thought we’d never make it here after those damned Zoo-hocks tried hijack the ship. Far as I’m concerned, this is the most beautiful sight in the solar system.”
Fleischer laughed. “Can’t fault you on that one, Jackson.”
Private Harris soon joined them in staring out at the horizon. “My suit cam’s gettin’ pics of this!”
“Mine too,” Ariella confessed. “We’ll be the only ones on social media who can check in at Ceres.”
Suddenly, her com unit crackled to life, breaking the silence, and Jax’s voice sounded in her earpiece.
“This is Commander Jax! Lieutenant Fleischer, that thing’s about to hatch!”
“Oh, fuck!” she exclaimed.
The science team had taken the rover back to the outpost, leaving her team stranded here until help could arrive. If these things hatched in the next five minutes, they would probably all be killed.
“Ready weapons and prepare to defend yourselves! These things are hostile and lethal upon hatching. One hatched in the science lab and killed three of the researchers. Hold tight for evac—I’m on my way!”
Thank heaven for that, but how long? She did not bother asking; Commander Jax would get there as fast as humanly possible. She just hoped they could hold out until then.
“Got it, sir!” Then she addressed her team. “Move back from the perimeter, and ready your weapons! Hostiles in the crater!”
“What the fuck?” Harris half-asked, half-shouted.
“You wanted space aliens to fight,” Jackson chided. “Be careful what you wish for, Blondie!”
“Jax says they’re hatc
hing now and they’re lethal at birth!” Ariella exclaimed. “The one the science team took back hatched and whatever was inside killed three of them! Commander Jax is on his way to extract us!”
As soon as she finished her sentence, the egg sack broke open, and hundreds of mantis-like creatures, each the size of a pit bull terrier, began pouring out. With the lack of gravity, the marines were able to leap backward quickly, but the creatures moved like lightning, and seemed able to remain stuck to the planet surface, enabling them to move at their full speed.
“Weapons free,” Lieutenant Fleischer shouted as the creatures descended upon them.
Automatic weapons fire seemed to be doing the trick at first but more and more came forth. The topic of alien life had been broached more than once, with everyone agreeing that firefights with hostile aliens were unlikely. Now, here they were in a firefight with hostile aliens. There were too many of them, and Fleischer saw no way that her team could survive until the commander’s arrival.
Her unit retreated steadily, laying down a withering field of fire. Their weapons worked, but the creatures were tough; it took several shots to kill one unless they got in a lucky shot to a vulnerable area. Even though the marines were able to kill them, it did not slow the creatures down; there were too many and they were coming too fast.
“Kill as many of ‘em as you can!” she shouted. If Ariella Fleischer was going to die in space, she wanted her last words to be fighting words.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jackson assured as he cut loose with his assault rifle.
16
Kendrick, Heather and Fiona were looking over the reports that Heather had prepared. Now that Fiona had become the soul and physical embodiment of the ship, the doctor had been able to give valuable insight into the damage the Selene had sustained, and the three of them tried to determine whether or not these mantid creatures could gain entry to the vessel before it could be restored to space-worthiness. If even one got aboard the ship, it could spell the end for all of them, even Fiona.
All three looked up when the doors to Engineering swooshed open, and Carol Giffords marched through, flanked by two MEDroids – G1 and G2 – and followed by four MPs.
“Selene,” Carol barked. “Execute Minute Man Protocol on my authority. Sending command codes now!”
The captain activated her datapad and after briefly typing, Kendrick sensed nothing but static from the ship for a moment. Then Fiona disconnected from him entirely. The doctor stiffened, standing rigidly, staring straight ahead as if she had been overridden.
“Codes received, Captain Giffords,” Fiona said without emotion. “Frequency acquired—connecting. Granting access now.”
Whatever backdoor had been programmed into the AI by Starfleet was now a part of Fiona as well, sublimating Kendrick’s wife completely. The woman standing at rigid attention was no longer Fiona Royce. She was the avatar of the Selene.
Royce looked at Carol, hardly believing what had just happened to Fiona. “What the hell did you do to my wife?”
At Fiona’s – no, Selene’s – command, the seam in engineering was broken as the door behind it opened. Carol then turned to Royce, sorrow in her eyes.
“I’m sorry Kendrick. I had no choice.”
“Yeah, I knew this would come back to bite us in the ass eventually,” Kendrick growled. “I gave you a chance to come clean about this shit when you first came out of stasis, but you lied to me instead.”
Carol looked at Kendrick with genuine surprise. Clearly, she had forgotten their conversation upon coming out of stasis the first time. Perhaps then, she thought he was talking about something else – who knew what other dirty little secrets Starfleet had tucked away aboard his ship?
“Yeah, we found ‘em while you were asleep,” Kendrick continued. “All frozen in armor—I wondered what excuse you needed to wake ‘em up.”
“As far as I was concerned, never,” the captain retorted. “But it wasn’t my call.”
“Clone troopers,” Heather said with disgust. “First androids, then clones—what’s next? Never mind—I don’t even want to know.”
“Heather, Kendrick,” Captain Giffords replied, “I am your friend and I am on your side. You’re going to have to trust me on this one.” Then, she added, “If I was just waiting for an excuse, don’t you think I’d have done this when the Zduhać scientists attempted their little mutiny?”
“You never had the chance,” Kendrick countered. “By the time they revealed themselves, they already had control of the ship. The AI copy had none of the necessary protocols.”
“I could have activated them after Miss Richardson’s murder,” Carol reminded him tersely.
“Fine,” Kendrick spat. “If those things can kill the bugs, turn ‘em loose.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” the captain declared.
“You can expect that we’ll be having a long chat after this is over, Carol,” he warned. “And whatever you just did to my wife, it needs to be undone.”
“It will,” Giffords assured. “You have my word, Kendrick. But right now, I have people out in the field who need evac, facing a foe they have no chance against, and this was the only way to activate the troopers. I need Engineering cleared – now!”
Kendrick nodded as the MPs escorted Heather and him from Engineering. Royce understood, but he still hated it. When this voyage came to its conclusion, his and Fiona’s tour would be over. They would leave, and he swore to himself that Starfleet would never see them again.
Commander Jax selected a team to go with him to the crater. Apart from himself, he brought five marines, including Kang Mun and his pilot, Maggie Rodas. Jax was about to leave the ship and make for the shuttle when Carol joined him in the Nexus.
“You need a bigger team,” she declared.
“This is as big a team as we can spare,” Jax lamented. “Don’t worry, Carol—we’ll come back, I promise.”
“And I will do everything I can to ensure that.” Carol paused as the doors behind them opened, and twenty large soldiers in body armor marched into the Nexus. Each was as large as Jax, and each resembled him in some way. Ten of them were men, and ten were women, but even the women were taller than Carol.
“Holy fucking shit!” Ms. Rodas’ eyes bugged out when she saw them.
“They’re like Lorgen’s men,” Mun exclaimed. “Except we’ve got chicks too!” Maggie swatted the back of Mun’s head, causing him to exclaim, “Hey!”
“Nobody calls women chicks anymore,” the shuttle pilot said. “You shouldn’t either.”
“Knock it off, you two,” Giffords barked. Then, she turned to Jax. “If there was ever a point that we needed them on this mission, this is it.” Carol turned to the troopers. “This is Commander Donavan Jax. He is the XO and your squad leader. He’ll brief you on the shuttle.”
In perfect unison, they shouted, “Yes, ma’am!”
“Alright, people,” Jax barked. “Let’s move out!”
In response, he got a very loud, “Sir, yes, sir!”
They all donned their helmets, ready to exit the Selene’s pressurized environ. As he led the twenty troopers to the airlock and out onto the landing pad where the remaining shuttle was parked, he wondered if these men knew that they were bred to be cannon fodder. Jax resolved that they would not be used as tools. These were human beings, and he would treat them as such, High Command be damned.
Fiona emerged from Engineering abruptly, walking right past Kendrick and Heather, who were still in the corridor. Heather looked at Kendrick who just shook his head.
“Stay here, Heather,” he instructed. “I need to stay with her.”
Heather nodded as Kendrick ran and caught up to his wife. She walked like Lena had when the G.A.I.S.F. unit was marching into combat.
“Fiona,” he called, but she just kept walking. Kendrick caught up to her and grabbed her left arm. “Fiona, stop!”
To his surprise, she did.
“Lieutenant Royce, please release me �
� during a code red event, my presence on the bridge is essential.”
Kendrick looked at her in disbelief. “You never address me as Lieutenant Royce when we’re not on a fully staffed bridge! What gives?”
Fiona – no, not Fiona – deftly broke from his grip and continued walking as she replied.
“I am the ship, Lieutenant Royce. This body is an avatar of the ship. In light of our current situation, my presence is required on the bridge.”
Somehow, this was Selene, but Kendrick had no idea how. “You never addressed me that way, Selene! I am your captain!”
“Command has been transferred to Carol Giffords, Lieutenant. You are no longer my captain.”
“Dammit, Selene,” he shouted, again taking hold of her. “What happened to my wife?”
She wrested her arm from his grip once again, but this time, she pushed him away, knocking him into the Nexus’ port side bulkhead.
“Doctor Kinsale Royce is fulfilling her duty as a vessel for my programming due to catastrophic failure of my servers.” She then continued her forward pace toward the bridge.
“We’ve replaced your servers,” Kendrick growled. His back hurt from hitting the bulkhead, but he continued after her. He attempted to merge with her but found that she had shut him out completely.
“Affirmative,” she replied as she walked. “I will retain the use of this vessel until the present emergency has passed and conditions return to code yellow.”
“Fine,” he growled. “You’re the ship – but you’re my ship!”
“As of the initiation of Protocol Omega-Five-Two-Six, the United States government has commandeered this vessel,” she said as the two of them arrived at the doors to the bridge. “You have been relieved of ownership and compensated for the value of this vessel prior to Starfleet’s upgrades.”
“That … was not in the contract I sighed!”
“The passage of the Hensky-Jass war powers bill in 2110 gives the United States government the right to acquire any starship should it be the only one in range of a U.S. territory under attack, without obligating the government to return said starship.” The bridge doors opened, and Selene turned to face him. “You are dismissed, Lieutenant. Report to Captain Giffords for your new orders.”
The Silver Liner: Sails to the Edge! Page 7