Blue Sky of Mars

by Christopher R Wills

  Jethro stood up.

  “Nothing. I need to think about it first.” He left without waiting for an answer and headed straight for Doc’s office.

  Doc was cradling another cup of coffee by the machine.

  “Amazing.”

  “What’s amazing?” asked Jethro.

  “That alien appears to have evolved almost exactly the same as our Squids on Earth yet they are much lighter hence their ability to fly.”

  “Could they have some evolutionary connection?” asked Jethro.

  “It’s possible.”

  “Doc? Sit down. We have something to discuss.”

  “We do?”

  “Yes.”

  She sat without letting go of her cup of coffee.

  Jethro wanted a drink. He programmed himself a tea.

  “So?”

  “It’s about your Administrator.”

  “She’s not dead?” Doc had sat up and nearly spilt some of her coffee. She drank some down as if to want to prevent wasting it.

  “No. The alien is inside her head.”

  “What?” Doc spilled her coffee this time.

  “I saw it when I went to visit her just now.”

  “What did you see? How has it affected her? How come you can see these things and nobody else can?”

  “Woah there. One question at a time.” Jethro sipped his tea. “I saw tentacles. It didn’t seem to affect her. I don’t know why I can see them but nobody else can.”

  “How can we get the alien out of her? Are you telling me an alien is inside the Administrator’s head?”

  “Yes. And I have no idea how to get the alien away from her. You tell me. You’re the scientist.” Jethro stood up and picked his gun up.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “You don’t need to ask me that. I’m a soldier and that alien is a danger to everyone in this station.”

  “But you can’t do that. You can’t just kill someone because she’s got an alien inside her.”

  “She might as well be dead already.”

  “There must be a way.”

  “If there is let me know.” Jethro turned and went towards the door.

  Doc beat him to it and stood in his path.

  “I will not let you kill her.”

  “I told you she’s already dead.”

  “Then why didn’t you kill her when you were in there just now?”

  Good question. Why didn’t I? Maybe I wanted support. But I’m trained to kill.

  “I don’t know. Please, can you get out of my way?”

  “No.”

  Jethro hated this. He thought he had an ally in Doc but now she was standing in his way. He put his gun over his shoulder.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m trying to save you and the rest of the scientists from aliens.”

  “You wouldn’t dare.” Doc put her hands on her hips. “I am the Chief Medical Officer for Mars and I am ordering you to sit down.”

  Killing is easy. Often, it’s kill or be killed. This is difficult. Still any punishment he could receive for manhandling a woman couldn’t be as bad as being hanged. Jethro picked Doc up and turned about so he was nearest the door. Then he put her down and quickly went through the door and shut it behind him holding it shut by switching on the manual override and holding the large handle so that Doc couldn’t open it.

  There was a muffled screaming and shouting and banging from behind the door. A young man in a white coat walked by in the passage. “Do you have a problem?”

  “Lover's tiff.” Jethro replied.

  Why did I say that? She must be twenty years older than me.

  The young man nodded and walked on.

  Eventually the shouting and screaming and banging stopped. Jethro gently let the door handle go and swiftly moved up the passage in the direction of the Administrator’s office. He knew what he would do when he arrived. Confront her and the alien to get the alien to leave her body. He was asked in his selection interview if he could kill a woman. He knew the answer to that now, and the answer was yes. This scenario wasn’t covered in the extensive special forces training he had received.

  He arrived at the Administrator’s door and opened it reasoning that after his last visit she was unlikely to let him in.

  Shit.

  She was dead, and the alien had gone. The Administrator was sitting in her chair with her head opened up and there was a large empty cavity where her brain had been.

  Fuck.

  He heard something behind him. It was Doc. He stepped in her way to bar her from entering the room.

  “Jethro. Let me in. I want to see what you’ve done.”

  Jethro stepped aside. He needed Doc on his side and the more she knew about these aliens the more help she might be to him.

  She gasped. Jethro took one of her arms as she seemed unsteady on her feet.

  “This happened…”

  “Before I got here,” Jethro finished her sentence.

  “Then where’s the alien?”

  “I don’t know,” replied Jethro.

  “The dead scientist. Come on.”

  Jethro ran after her. “Why would it be heading there?”

  “For the rest of the brain.”

  They reached the room. Fraser was on guard.

  “Fraser. Code Red.” Jethro ran into the room but there was no alien.

  Doc examined the corpse of the dead scientist carefully. “The Squid has been here. There were bits of brain remaining when we left, but now the whole brain has gone.”

  Jethro did some quick thinking. “Fraser, get Walker and all the scientists in the large dome.”

  When he and Doc arrived, he briefed them all.

  “There is an alien that resembles a Squid loose in this research station. This is what we know so far. Doctor?”

  “Thank you. The Squid can fly at least short distances and can squeeze through small holes, but we think it doesn’t like the extreme cold so it won’t go outside. It has killed two scientists already, including the Administrator.”

  There were gasps and looks of horror from the four remaining scientists.

  “It appears it can inhabit a human body. The only way you can see the Squid is to use infra-red goggles. There may be tentacles coming out of an orifice like the ear or the nose but the host human doesn’t appear to know they have an alien inside them.”

  Jethro interrupted. “The human…” He paused, “is probably already dead by the time he or she becomes a host. So here’s what we do. Always stay in a minimum of pairs and yes that means in the bathroom. Do you scientists have infra-red goggles?” They nodded. “Keep them to hand and keep looking through them because it’s the only way you will see the alien.”

  “What do we do if we see the alien?”

  “If you see the Squid shoot to kill.”

  “Even if it’s inside somebody?”

  Everyone watched Jethro waiting for him to answer.

  “Even if it’s inside me. If we don’t kill it, everybody in this research station will die, one by one.”

  Silence.

  Jethro continued. “I want a search of every room and every space in this station. One of my team with two scientists. Stick together, don’t split up under any circumstances. Doc and I will be in her office. Report back to us when you’ve finished the search. If you see the alien, shoot first, then we can see if it has any answers to our questions.”

  Jethro dispatched the two teams then he and Doctor V went to her office.

  Tea and coffee were in order.

  Doc put her coffee cup down before she drank any of it.

  This must be important.

  “Can I take some of your blood?”

  “Why?”

  “Because in the lab the alien tried to enter your head and it didn’t, or maybe it couldn’t. There must be a reason.”

  chapter 20

  Ted: “And in the World News studio today we have the world famous Cryptozoologist, Doctor Stuart
Pacabra.”

  Stu: “Please call me Stu, everyone does.”

  Alice: “Hello Stu. Tell me is there such a thing as a Kraken?”

  Stu: “Absolutely. Legends first tell of a monster Squid over a thousand years ago.”

  Alice: “Did you say Squid?”

  Stu: “Yes. Although strictly the Kraken is a separate species and not a Squid.”

  Alice: “And you believe these Krakens exist?”

  Stu: “Yes. There is a lot of evidence to suggest they are real creatures.”

  Alice: “Has one ever been caught?”

  Stu: “Not yet but it is only a matter of time.”

  Alice: “So what evidence is there Stu?”

  Stu: “There are a lot of eye witness reports of large creatures that live in the deep of the oceans.”

  Alice: “So no real evidence then.”

  Stu: “No physical evidence but remember we know more about the surface of Mars than the depths of our own oceans.”

  Alice: “Yes. Thank you very much Doctor Stu Pacabra.”

  Ted: “I thought you were dismissive of him Alice.”

  Alice: “We are a news channel, Ted. Speculation is not news.”

  Ted: “I guess you’re right Alice. I wish Mrs Ted was as easy to convince.”

  Alice: “Still doesn’t want to go on the cruise then?”

  Ted: “No Alice. We’ve had to cancel.”

  Alice: “Shame about that Ted. So that was the World News for today. Remember people, unlike other news channels we deal in facts. We don’t make this up.”

  chapter 21

  Doc was sat in her chair silent and Jethro could see her hands were shaking and she was avoiding his gaze.

  “Doc? Are you OK?”

  “No, I’m not. I can’t do this anymore Jethro. I’m not up to it.” She put her head in her hands.

  “What are you talking about Doc? When we met you were ankle deep in blood and guts and running around like some machine giving orders and saving lives.”

  “That’s the point. That’s my job. I help the sick and the wounded. I save lives. I can do that. These aliens are way beyond my comfort zone.”

  “I know what you mean Doc. I wasn’t exactly trained to kill aliens. I was only trained to kill people.” He looked at Doc and noticed she was looking at him and smiling through her tears.

  “You’re smiling. What are you smiling about?” asked Jethro.

  “We’re a good fit really. I save people. You kill them.”

  Jethro said nothing.

  “I’m sorry,” said Doc. “Not very funny.”

  Jethro didn’t mind the humor. He was pleased she could see humor in her situation.

  “Sometimes Doc, we don’t have a choice. Maybe you are with a patient where you don’t have the tools or the drugs or the machines. But we do what we must. As far as I see it. It’s simple. Them or us.” Jethro programmed the machine in the wall next to Doc’s chair. Coffee, black, no sugar.

  He passed the steaming hot mug to her. As she took it her hand brushed his. “Sorry.”

  “No problem.” He sat down.

  Was she apologising for touching me?

  “Jethro. What were you before you became a soldier?”

  “I lived with my parents on their farm on the edge of Dartmoor We grow Soy beans and rear sheep.”

  “That must have been idyllic.”

  “It was but I didn’t appreciate it at the time,” said Jethro. “I do now. What about you?”

  “My dad died just after I was born. My mum struggled to raise me alone, and she died just after I graduated from Medical School.”

  “That must have been tough.”

  “In a way it was, and in a way it wasn’t. What mum told me about dad would have made him the most perfect dad that ever lived, and you know what? I believe he would have been, so I have no bad memories of him. And when I graduated as a doctor, I thanked my mum and told her I couldn’t have done it without her hard work and support, and she cried for a whole day.”

  Doc sniffed.

  “So why Mars?” Jethro wanted to keep Doc talking. Keep her mind occupied.

  “I came after the war ended to help out. No, that’s not true. We have two beautiful grown-up children but Rick and I have kind of drifted apart. Maybe our careers got in the way. He’s a lawyer and a workaholic. But then I suppose I’m a workaholic as well. I came to Mars to get away. My children visit… Used to visit.”

  Silence.

  “Right Jethro, you’re in charge. What are we going to do about this Squid?”

  “Find it and kill it. Then we can get you lot back to Earth.”

  A machine pinged from the bench behind Doc. “That’ll be the blood test results. Let’s have a look.”

  Jethro followed her to the computer screen that was displaying a whole raft of numbers.

  Doc read them.

  “What does it mean?” asked Jethro.

  “Hang on a minute. I need to make sense of this.” Doc scrolled the screen down and read more. She looked at Jethro. “It means you possibly have some kind of anti-virus in you. I’ve never seen it before, but the computer tells me it is like the drug concoction they give to soldiers on Asteroid duty.”

  “I’ve had that concoction. I was on Asteroid duty before this alien mess,” said Jethro.

  “But the computer says this is that concoction plus another anti-virus that seems to have mixed in with it. Have you ever had any extra anti-virus given to you? This might be the reason that Squid couldn’t get inside you and if we could isolate it… Well who knows.”

  Jethro thought about it. As far as he could recall he had the same vaccinations the rest of the team had. “No, I think I’ve had the normal jabs.”

  “There must be something Jethro. Think.”

  Jethro thought about it.

  Of course.

  He told Doctor V the story about his uncle, Colonel Baskerville, and the vial the Colonel had made him drink. Jethro had forgotten about that.

  “What did he tell you about the vial?”

  “He told me it was an anti-virus that had been developed to protect humans from aliens.”

  “That’s amazing. Who developed it? And where are they?”

  “I don’t know the answer to any of those questions. That was three years ago. Colonel Baskerville is dead. I have no idea where the anti-virus came from.”

  “Then we must find out. This could help us. Help the Earth, otherwise…” Doc didn’t need to explain what otherwise meant.

  “So you’re OK now Doc?”

  “OK?”

  “A few minutes ago you didn’t want any part of this.”

  “A few minutes ago I thought there was nothing I could do. I’m not a killer Jethro. I save lives. Anti-virus stuff, that I can do.”

  Jethro looked at her.

  Is that what I am? A killer?

  Doc realised what she had just said.

  “Oh my god. I’m sorry. I wasn’t calling you… I mean, I can’t…” She put both her hands on Jethro’s shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it Doc. Not a problem,” Jethro lied. He knew he was trained to kill, and he killed, but did that make him a killer? It wasn’t a word he associated with himself. He had never thought about it that way before. He accepted Doc’s embrace.

  She was almost as tall as Jethro’s two meters, which meant her hair irritated his face and he could feel her breasts gently pushing into his chest. She was warm but he could feel one of her cold hands on the back of his head pulling it round to face hers. Their lips met.

  This is wrong in so many ways.

  She tasted of coffee. Woman flavored with coffee. Not as bad as Jethro thought it might be.

  What the fuck. We might all be dead tomorrow. Why resist?

  Jethro pulled away from her and looked around the room. There was no obvious place so Jethro put one leg behind hers and gently lowered her to the floor which had a soft covering.

  Doc said, “Do
or lock, lights dim.”

  She shook her hair so it splayed outwards on the floor giving her face a hair halo.

  Jethro knelt astride her and leaned down to kiss her again, this time deeper and more meaningful and longer lasting.

  She pulled Jethro by his shoulders lower on top of her. Jethro let her take the lead and let himself be devoured by the older woman.

  They lay on the floor side by side, Jethro was sweating and breathing heavily, as was Doc.

  “You OK Jethro?”

  “Apart from the scratches all down my back and the bite marks all over my chest. Never felt better.”

  “Sorry about that. It’s been a long time.”

  “Phew that’s a relief. For a moment I thought you might be a vampire.”

  She laughed.

  “It’s good to hear you laugh.” It was the first time Jethro had heard her laugh freely since they met on Mars.

  “It’s good to laugh.” She climbed on top of him and kissed him. “This should never have happened.”

  “I know. But things happen in war.”

  “As a doctor I never thought I’d find something agreeable about war.”

  “As a soldier I never thought I’d find something agreeable about war either.”

  She rolled off him and they lay side by side holding hands.

  Bang. Bang. Bang.

  The moment over.

  Someone was knocking at the door so Jethro jumped up and straightened his clothes. He waited until Doc was seated behind her desk coffee in hand before he released the door lock.

  chapter 22

  “Sir. We think we’ve cornered it.”

  Jethro grabbed his gun and followed Fraser down the passage, aware that Doc was also in pursuit. They passed through the central dome and entered one of its legs, which was in darkness. Jethro stopped and handed his goggles to Doc so she could get a look at the alien.

  Walker was stationed outside the last office door before the airlock.

  “Sir,” Walker said. “We think the alien is in that room.” He pointed.

  “How do you know it’s in there?” asked Jethro.

  “Because everyone is accounted for, this is the last room, and there’s something moving around in there,” said Walker.

  “Right. I’m the only one that goes inside. For some reason it can’t get inside me. If it leaves the room, kill it.”