Xenia nodded thoughtfully, as though weighing Vanya’s words in her mind. The NessCorp scientist then answered with a grin, unexpectedly reaching across the table and taking Vanya’s hand.
“In light of this tragedy, I’d be happy to serve in that capacity to the best of my ability.” Then, the NessCorp scientist leaned forward. Whatever scent Xenia was wearing now caught in Vanya’s nostrils. She felt helpless, caught in Xenia’s trap. “I look forward to working with you, Vanya. Perhaps we can get to know each other a bit better, don’t you think? Who knows? Maybe we can even become friends.”
Vanya nodded. She desperately wanted to get away, but Xenia’s gentle hold of her hand held the science officer in place.
“I…” Vanya shook herself, then withdrew her hand. “Yes, Doctor Xayasith. Thank you for stepping up.” This was becoming more complicated by the second. Now that she had broken Xayasith’s hold on her, she had to get out. “Thank you, Doctor Xayasith. I need you in the lab stat.”
Xayasith flashed a sultry grin. “Of course, Vanya.”
“Please, Doctor Xayasith … call me Miss Reddy.”
“Whatever you say…Miss Reddy.”
Even addressing Vanya formally, Xenia sounded inviting in ways that Vanya did not want to contemplate. The fact that Xayasith was subtly coming on to her was not lost on Vanya, and the science officer could not deny that the woman was attractive. Xayasith looked like a vid-star or a former Miss Universe.
But this display of seeming affection was not what bothered Vanya. The science officer was not religious and had no hang-ups regarding same sex couplings. If she thought that Xenia was earnestly interested in her, she would not be bothered, though in truth, the science officer had no interest in relationships with any of the crew, Xayasith included.
Ms. Reddy knew that Xayasith’s interest had nothing to do with affection or even with Vanya herself. The fact that Xenia had not once checked on or asked about the veteran xenobiologist was telling. Hutch Davis had only interested Xayasith because he held the post into which Miss Reddy had just placed the NessCorp scientist. Xenia no longer needed Davis for anything, and no longer pretended to have affection for the man.
The woman wanted something. She no longer needed Davis, but she did need Miss Reddy. Chances were that Xayasith had used him to get to the science officer through his place as the senior member of the science team. Now that Davis was out of the picture and three of his researchers were dead, Xayasith had direct access to Vanya.
The worst part was, even knowing all of this, Xayasith seemed to have in the past five minutes developed a magnetic hold upon Miss Reddy, and it scared her. Something was very wrong. She stood abruptly and practically ran from Xenia’s cabin.
“See you soon, Miss Reddy.”
That was exactly what the science officer was afraid of. Unfortunately, Vanya had cast the die by going to Xenia. Now, she wished she had gone to Doctor Kinsale-Royce instead, but it was too late.
No, it isn’t!
The thought grabbed a hold of her. Every fiber of her being wanted to tell Xenia that she had changed her mind, that Kinsale-Royce was better suited, but try as she might, Vanya could not bring herself to ring Xenia’s door chime again.
What has she done to me?
The thought tormented Vanya as she ran to the tech lab, wanting to get as far away from Xenia Xayasith as she possibly could, all the while knowing that she would be seeing the woman again in less than fifteen minutes.
Xenia Xayasith remained in her cabin, drinking her tea. She looked across at Vanya’s empty cup and smiled. The effect had been perfect. The drug placed into the tea reacted with Xenia’s perfume. Vanya would no longer be an obstacle to her plans. In fact, the science officer might prove to be just the opposite.
She began to dress herself, putting on her uniform as quickly as she could; Miss Reddy wanted her ‘in the lab stat.’ The effect would last for a few hours, and Xenia wanted to maximize that time as much as possible. She needed to bend Miss Reddy fully to her will in order for her plans to succeed.
“Yes, Miss Reddy,” Xenia said aloud. “I will indeed see you soon – stat, as you say.”
27
The entire science team was gathered in the lab, looking over the data gathered during the examination of the Astro Mantis. Doctor Shan Liu, an Alliance nanotech expert, had not been present for the examination of the creature. Her field was likely part of the reason, but she suspected that the major reason she was not included was that she was not a United States citizen. Although ethnically diverse, the American science team was definitely cliquish. However, now that their lives were on the line because of these creatures, she felt it was imperative that she catch up. Study of the nanotech laced blood samples from the woman that Doctor Davis had dubbed, “Phenomenon X” would have to wait.
Prior to today, she had paid little attention to the NessCorp doctor, Xenia Xayasith. Davis had wanted them to coordinate on the study of Phenomenon X, but up to now, Xayasith had been with the science team, or otherwise indisposed. Now, Liu had the opportunity to observe the NessCorp doctor. Shan Liu did not like what she saw.
The team was going over the data in order to hastily figure out how to best defend against the astro-mantises. Three of the team had been lost, and Doctor Davis was now mentally incompetent. Somehow, Xayasith had been chosen to replace him as the de-facto ranking scientist, undoubtedly due to her xenobiology background.
Apart from what they already knew; that the creatures were photosensitive, could be killed with firearms, and were deadly, little new ground was broken. One major observation from the lab disaster was that the creatures could flatten themselves to fit through openings much smaller than their bodies – the pit bull terrier-sized creature had forced its way through an opening just large enough for a man’s arm. Apart from reinforcing that it was imperative to keep these things away from the ship, it was not a ground-breaking discovery.
It seemed that every time the science officer spoke up, Xayasith condescendingly evaluated and graded what she said. It was like watching a teacher evaluate an elementary school student’s answers. To Liu’s surprise, the normally fiery Vanya Reddy seemed to shrink back from Xayasith. After watching the dynamic, is soon became apparent that Reddy was actually afraid of the NessCorp scientist. Doctor Liu filed that away in her mind for later.
“In short,” Xayasith said in conclusion, “we need to keep the mantids out of the outpost structures and out of the ship at all costs.”
“With all due respect,” Doctor Liu interjected, “we have left the outpost unguarded since your foolishness in the lab. How can you be certain that the mantids have not already begun to infest it?”
“Selene is monitoring for heat signatures, remember?” Xayasith’s condescending sweetness was clearly meant to belittle the Alliance scientist in front of the team.
Liu did not care. She saw the charismatic and manipulative Xayasith for what she was. Xayasith’s manipulations would not matter if these creatures destroyed the entire team. While the team seemed to be nodding along with Xayasith, some of them chuckling at Liu’s expense, the science officer was not. Shan Liu saw an opportunity.
“Ah yes,” Liu replied. “The Selene, which is a sitting duck as we speak, is it not? She can fire her masers and destroy the outpost, killing the astro mantises with it, but then… we have no outpost.”
Xayasith still smiled, but her expression told all that the NessCorp doctor had no ready answer to Doctor Liu.
“Then, Jax and his marines will have to stop them before they get to the outpost,” Xenia finally said.
“That is not a viable plan,” Liu pointed out. “There are too few marines to defend against the numbers of mantids we will face, certainly too few to defend both the ship and the outpost. They will die, and then this ship will be vulnerable. The mantids will find a way inside, and we will all be killed. Unless this ship is repaired, allowing us to alter the nature and location of the conflict, we either die or scrub the
Ceres outpost and make for Ganymede.” Then, she added, “And hopefully, we will not encounter another such egg.”
“If we do, we leave it alone,” Vanya Reddy declared.
“If we do, we destroy it.” Commander Jax’s booming voice caught the attention of all in the room. “You got anything we can use? If so, Miss Reddy can share it with the rest of the bridge crew… now.”
“Mister Jax,” Vanya objected, “this is a closed-door meeting of the science team, and I will not have you…”
“It’s not, and you will,” he interjected. “Giffords wants you in the conference room. Now.”
“This meeting,” the science officer began defiantly.
“Is adjourned,” Jax finished. “The rest of you, figure out what you can. We need every bit of intel on these things that we can get. That goes triple for you, NessCorp.”
Xayasith shot Jax an indignant glare, but the commander was already turning back to Miss Reddy. It was clear to Liu that for Jax, Xayasith was a nuisance with which he was contractually obliged to put up, nothing more.
“Is Davis useful for anything other than blowing spit bubbles?” Jax asked. “He’s your xenobiologist, so if he knows anything…”
“Davis has been replaced by Doctor Xayasith,” Miss Reddy informed. “She’s the only other xenobiologist aboard.”
“Fine,” Jax replied. “Bring NessCorp with you.”
Vanya looked at the rest of the scientists, then at Liu. “I will bring up your points in this meeting.”
“Get moving, NessCorp,” Jax barked when Doctor Xayasith made no move to join him.
Xenia grimaced, but reluctantly went with Jax and Reddy.
Liu just smiled and nodded. She found the dynamic between Jax and Reddy fascinating. The two were tense with each other, but at the same time, seemed to be on the same page about most things. It was only one or two areas where the two of them disagreed, but those one or two areas may as well have been a gulf the size of the Pacific.
As Miss Reddy excused herself, Liu realized the root of the problem. Vanya was less regarded by the rest of the team than Davis had been. Miss Reddy was consistently manipulated and placed on the defensive by Xayasith and overwhelmed by Jax. In spite of her rank, Vanya Reddy received no respect. The woman was brilliant and was the third highest ranking officer aboard. In Jax’s presence, however, Miss Reddy may as well have been an ensign.
Liu had not yet seen the exchanges between Reddy and Royce, though she had heard about them. She imagined that Miss Reddy had similar difficulties with the lower ranked but both highly skilled and vital-to-the-mission pilot. While she doubted that Kendrick would bark at the science officer the way Jax did, Liu imagined that the pilot took little to no flak from Vanya Reddy. It was no wonder that Miss Reddy looked cross all the time.
28
Captain Giffords called her people to the conference room; Jax, Kendrick, Miss Dalrymple, Doctor Kinsale-Royce, and a visibly nonplussed Miss Reddy. To Carol’s surprise, Doctor Xayasith followed Miss Reddy into the conference room, a smug smile on the NessCorp Doctor’s face. This seemed out of the ordinary, but Carol said nothing. If Xayasith was here, Carol assumed that it was probably at Miss Reddy’s insistence.
With everyone gathered, the captain could begin. They had a lull in the action, and Carol took full advantage of it to talk to her people.
“Sit-reps—now. Jax, you first.”
“We’ve lost all but four of our non-engineer class marines,” Jax began. “Four clone troopers were killed, and we still have all of our engineers. The clones performed well in the field; probably saved Lieutenant Fleischer’s life.”
Carol nodded. “How did Mister Royce do in his first firefight as a marine?”
“Exemplary, ma’am,” Jax replied.
She looked to Kendrick. “Congratulations on your baptism by fire, Mister Royce.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Royce replied, a touch of sarcasm in his voice. “But I need to know: what is Project Minuteman?”
Carol sighed. “We’ve got a lot going on, so I’ll make this brief. Named for the Minuteman soldiers from the American Revolution, who were said to be able to be ready in one minute at a moment’s notice, these clones are designed to be awake and ready in one minute. The Omega Protocol is required in order to activate them. Each unit is called an Omega Platoon. They go into stasis in their armor, and upon activation, arm themselves and report for duty.”
“Guess they kept us from all dyin’ out there, so I ain’t gonna complain – not about that anyway.”
Carol nodded, thankful that he did not press the matter further. Then, she turned to Kendrick’s wife.
“How are you holding up, Fiona? I know that you… feel what happens to the ship.”
“I no longer have a connection with the ship, Captain Giffords,” Fiona reminded. “I was stripped of that connection when you activated the Omega Protocols.”
Fiona looked at Carol with betrayal in her eyes. The doctor was not over what had been done to her, and Carol feared that Fiona’s feelings of betrayal, if left unchecked, could jeopardize the mission. She wanted to say something to mollify Kinsale-Royce, but could think of nothing, so she simply nodded.
“Fiona felt everything prior to that, though,” Kendrick added. “Far as Selene’s concerned, she’s been damaged before. Not this bad, but she’s tough. Your imitation AI’s been coordinating with Miss Dalrymple and Miss Chen in the repairs.”
Carol nodded. “Thank you, Mister Royce, Doctor Kinsale-Royce.” Then, she looked to Miss Reddy. “Give me the upshot; what’s your teams analysis of these things?”
“They’re gathering food and bringing it back to the nest,” Vanya explained. “They are cannibalistic; they eat their own dead, and they eat fresh prey, as we already know. Based on the size of the creatures that attacked us, they double in size after hatching and eating the remains of their eggs and the sac that their eggs were inside of.” Then, she turned to Xenia. “Doctor Xayasith has taken over Doctor Davis’ post as our xenobiologist and has been studying the data we collected in the tech lab and the sensor data from the crater itself; I expect that she has a more detailed analysis.”
Giffords looked at the NessCorp scientist. “Do you have anything to add, Doctor?”
“Yes,” Doctor Xayasith replied. “I’ve done an extensive analysis of the data from the crater and from the specimen that we studied in the tech lab. The mantid creatures, which Miss Reddy has dubbed Mantis-Astrosa—or Astro-Mantis, are similar to Earth mantises, with some notable distinctions. First and foremost is their size, with the ones attacking today being the size of a bull mastiff. If my predictive models prove accurate, then these creatures could grow to stand as tall as a human, but with a length of over eight feet.
“Unlike Earth Mantises, the astro-mantis has no wings, suggesting that with their size, wings are unnecessary. On Earth, they would be a super-predator. The armor piercing and incendiary rounds the marines used proved effective in taking the creatures out, and they’re extremely vulnerable to our masers, exploding on contact.
“These mantids can survive in extremes of temperature and even lack of breathable atmosphere so long as they feed.”
Jax propped his chin on his hands, his elbows resting on the table. “What does their feeding have to do with lack of breathable atmosphere?”
“They take oxygen from the bodies of their prey,” the NessCorp doctor explained. “So long as they eat, they need not breathe. Miss Reddy and I theorize that once their food source is depleted, they enter a state of dormancy akin to stasis. Needless to say, they are exceedingly strong and tough. However, that is not the most important element.”
“Oh?” Giffords wondered what more Xayasith could say that would make this worse than it already sounded. Then, the NessCorp scientist spoke, and Carol wished she had not asked.
“These mantids do not appear to have any kind of queen, and do not appear to need males for reproduction. The creatures are born pregnant, each having
the capability to lay a sac containing over a hundred eggs within hours of its birth.”
“Hours?” Jax looked at Xayasith incredulously.
“Yes,” Xenia replied. “Hours. These creatures are already reproducing and are bringing food back for their unhatched young. When these eggs hatch, there will be thousands more of them.”
The room was silent. This was a scenario out of a sci-fi horror movie.
“When do you expect the eggs to hatch?” Fiona asked.
“We don’t know the gestation period,” Vanya replied. “At the rate they’re growing, they could be viable outside of the egg within a week, but it remains to be seen if they actually will hatch within that time-period. Without a plentiful food source—something that will not be present until the second stage teams arrive later this year—they may not hatch at all.”
“We need to kill these things,” Jax declared.
“Agreed,” Giffords said.
Vanya shook her head. “I understand the necessity, but… it bothers me that we’ve just found a new lifeform and the first thing we’re doing is killing it.”
Giffords nodded. “I understand, Miss Reddy. If we could let them live without consigning the next team to being eaten alive, I would seek another solution. As it is…”
“Monsters need to be killed,” Kendrick stated with an edge in his voice. “And it ain’t like it’s an indigenous species.”
“True,” Miss Reddy agreed. “But they aren’t monsters, Mister Royce; they’re animals – animals that we need to understand. Now that we know they’re out here, what if we run into more?”
“Today, we survive,” Giffords interjected. “When we get off this planet, we can discuss the answers to that question. For now, we do whatever we have to do to survive… which brings me to you…” Carol turned to the chief engineer. “Miss Dalrymple; what is the status of the ship?”
The Silver Liner: Sails to the Edge! Page 11