by J E Grace
We would have to do everything mechanically from inside the spacecraft, as the atmosphere outside would not be tolerable even with the specialized breathing equipment. The air was just too thin.
“We’re coming up on Triton everyone. Buckle up,” said Mitch adjusting the controls for the landing.
“Looks more like the North Pole,” said Michael jokingly as he buckled his harness.
“We have our work cut out for us. “We might as well try to enjoy it. We’ll be here for a while.”
A few moments later we had docked on Triton. Mitch tried to contact Interplay control, but the interstellar radio wave clutter blocked the signal. Out came an intricate pattern of radio static, burst, and whistles. We were on our own for a while. There was no margin for error.
As we unbuckled, I took a look at our base. Part of the surface was as bright white as newly fallen Antarctic snow, and in other areas, there was a tint, ranging from pink to brown. A prevailing low-speed wind was blowing the snow that created a high-altitude haze due to the thin atmosphere. Over the next two days, we would begin a series of operations to set up the facility we needed for oxygen containment. We would work in shifts, taking time out to eat and sleep when necessary.
~
It was the beginning of the second day, and most of the equipment had been laboriously placed by the aid of the on-board robotic equipment. The only glitch was when the robotic arm suddenly malfunctioned and had to be shut down and restarted. Michael’s second attempt finally remedied the problem, and we were business as usual.
We were busy at work when a loud noise erupted from the service module, and everything in the ship went dead.
“What was that?” asked Michael.
“Don’t know, sounded like it came from behind us. We better check it out,” I said heading in that direction.
“This is bad news. It looks like the electrical system and oxygen supply is down. We’ll have to shut down the remaining systems and transfer to another area to conserve oxygen,” said Michael.
“We need to go on battery power and use just the essential systems until we can repair the problem. That means dress warmly, guy, we’re without heat and you don’t want to know the temperature outside,” I said as I begin to worry about our situation. Could we survive the night? Our water supply would have to be rationed, and we stood the chance of becoming dehydrated. We made our way back to the main cabin to deliver the news to Mitch and Paul.
“Hey, Mitch, how are your retrieval skills. It looks like the electrical system and oxygen supply is down. You need to shut down the supply to all other areas but this one and begin work to restart the system.”
“Better pray for a miracle. It’s going to be a rough night,” he said contemplating where to start first.
Chapter Twelve
Yvonne Stevenson was ecstatic that her ex-husband didn’t leave on the latest mission. She was afraid that one day he would be lost to Nicholas forever in the stretches of another galaxy and leave him to carry the burden of the loss. Randall had called her to set up a visit with him for the following weekend. He had rented a motel room and would spend the entire time with his son.
Randall had been a problematic, unreasonable man who was unable to come to grips with the new life she had chosen for herself and Nicholas. He just couldn’t let go of the past and move on with his life. One thing she knew for sure was that he loved his son.
It was the middle of the week, and there was a lot for her to do. She had to schedule a weekend getaway at a local inn she had always wanted to visit. It would be like a second honeymoon for both of them.
She lifted the telephone from its cradle, as cold chills racked her entire body. The receiver hit the floor dangling up and down. She stood staring into the openness of the room. Knowing deep within her, that something awful had just happened.
Tears streamed from her eyes and ran down the sides of her face collecting momentarily on her chin before dropping down onto the front of her blouse. Sobs welled up from deep inside and then finally escaped her lips. She stood motionless, covering her face with her hands, unable to understand the immense feeling of foreboding. What had just happened?
After what seemed like an endless amount of time, she made her way to the bathroom sink and patted her face with a cold cloth. At that particular moment, she had an urgency to check on Nicholas.
She dried her face and made her way to her son’s room. He was okay and was preoccupied with his toys.
“Hi, Mom. Want to play with me?” he said as she entered the room.
“I have to make a phone call, and then I’ll be back to play, okay?”
“Okay,” he said as he rushed over wrapping his small arms tightly around her waist. She stood there locked in a tight embrace, thankful that her precious son was safe. A moment later, Nicholas smiled at her and went back to his toys.
She made her way to the kitchen to retrieve the dangling phone which now was beeping away. She had to make sure that Anthony was okay. After a few rings, he answered his phone.
“Hi, honey. Are you okay? You sound kind of funny. Is Nicholas all right?”
“We're fine. I just wanted to check and see if we were still on for this weekend. I’m going to make the reservation after I hang up?”
“We’re still on. I can hardly wait to have you all to myself. I’ve got to go. There’s lots of work to be done. Fred will have my head if I don’t get these figures to him right away. You know what a slave driver he is, right?”
“Yeah, I love you. See you later.”
“Love you, too. Give Nicholas a kiss for me.”
Yvonne hung up the receiver and reluctantly dialed the Bennett Valley Inn to make the reservations, even though something deep within her told her everything was not okay. She just couldn’t shake the bad feeling.
Chapter Thirteen
It was four-thirty p. m. and things were wrapping up for the day. Randall and Jeanette were busy at work running the final tests necessary to support the findings of their last mission. They had run them several times, obtaining the same results.
“Looks like world hunger is a thing of the past. The only thing to do now is testing it on some seedlings under controlled conditions. Once again, we triumph.”
“I thought Doug was supposed to input the data into the system,” said Jeanette as she finished entering the results. “As usual when there is work to be done he stages a disappearing act. I’m sure he’ll come up with what seems like a legitimate excuse. Well, some of us are more dedicated.”
“I have some compounds to mix for another experiment I’m working on so I’ll be in the back lab if you need me. Tell Doug to come see me when he gets back. I have a few choice words for him.”
Jeanette smiled to herself as Doug left the room.
She could hear the sound of things being moved around in the back of the lab. Moments later she reached down to pick up a piece of paper she had dropped on the floor when the rear doors of the lab were blown off their hinges and debris flew into the air in all directions. Within seconds, the room filled with toxic yellow smoke.
Knocked down by flying debris, Jeanette painfully crawled in the direction of the explosion calling Randall’s name as she inched along the floor. Just short of the doorway, she collapsed. The last thing she thought of was whether or not Randall had survived.
Outside, personnel had heard the explosion and sounded the alarm. Buzzers echoed everywhere, followed by staff equipped with breathing apparatus running through the hallways.
They entered the lab and found Jeanette unconscious just inches from the laboratory door. Two men placed a breathing apparatus on her face and removed her safely to the infirmary yelling to seal off the lab.
The rest of the crew made their way cautiously through what was left of the back room and found Randall’s blackened body lying in a pile of rubble.
“Get on the horn to Reginald. Have him get a cleanup team in here pronto. Chuck, don’t touch anything on your way out.”
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“I’ll get right on it,” he said as he made his way through the debris in the lab.
What followed moments later, was safety precaution protocol according to the evacuation procedures. A sweep was quickly made of that section of the building, office by office. Three more employees were removed to the infirmary, all with smoke inhalation.
Yellow tape enveloped the entire area sealing it off, and security personnel was posted at both entrances to the building. The fire crew had sprayed a particular foam substance to snuff out the smoldering embers, and the ventilation system had been sealed off to the area. A haze lingered throughout the lab. Precious data was strung about like confetti, destroying months of research analysis. Randall’s body was lifted and placed in a sealed body bag and removed to the morgue, his cause of death to be determined later.
The infirmary was buzzing. All beds were full of patients in various stages of treatment. Jeanette had been placed in a far corner, curtains drawn tightly closing off space, while personnel assessed her condition. She laid motionless, tubes running from her vital organs to various sophisticated monitoring devices. The explosion had left her comatose. She was alone in her world of darkness.
~
In a restricted area of the Interplay facility, now unguarded due to the current explosion, Doug watched as personnel scurried about. He was quite pleased with himself. Everything had gone according to plan. It would take months for the lost data to be recreated, if ever. By that time, it would be too late.
He carefully made his way around the darkened corner of the building, just in time to avoid being seen by a guard.
Just ahead was the octagon rooftop of the observatory building that was the landing area for the Fallen’ aircraft. Just as he made his way to the top of the roof, the floating orb appeared.
Yes, he was ready.
The spacecraft hovered over the landing platform and then came to a standstill where they had been landing for years undetected due to their cloaking capabilities. They observed, planned, and were always in control.
The hatch of the craft raised and Doug entered the vessel. The brightness of the interior made him squint a little. He walked in and made eye contact with Lucius, the leader of the Fallen.
“The mission is a total success. I knew we could count on you,” Lucius said patting Doug on the back. The delays will give us the advantage we need.”
“All the data was destroyed. The truth will never be discovered,” said Doug smiling as he followed Lucius outside the spaceship.
“Your service is no longer needed,” said Lucius staring coldly into Doug’s eyes. The words no sooner left his lips when Lucius shot out penetrating beams from within him.
Doug's eyes widened in disbelief, and his heart beat wildly in his chest. Before a syllable could escape his throat, he had vanished. Nothing of him remained, but a spot of ash on the concrete.
As Lucius re-entered the craft, a loud, throaty laugh erupted from him. “Our business is done here. We have a celebration to attend.
Chapter Fourteen
Personnel had worked to clear out the debris and collect samples for analysis. It was still unclear as to what had caused the explosion. Reginald Livingstone had sworn to get to the bottom of the incident, and his people were busy gathering evidence.
Randall’s wife, Yvonne, had received a visit in person by Interplay staff and was informed of her ex-husband’s demise. She stood silent while they tried to explain that there had been an accident at the lab. The words seemed to echo from some faraway place foreign to her.
At first, only a single tear slid down her cheek. Her heart did not want to believe what she was hearing. The love for her ex-husband had been truly over for quite some time, but this was the father of her child they were talking about. How would she ever explain to Nicholas that he would never see his father again?
She was in a state of shock. Anthony tried to comfort her, but nothing seemed to cut through the barrier she had built around herself. Worried about her, he picked up the phone and called their family physician.
When the doctor arrived, he found her lying motionless in the middle of their poster bed staring into space. Nothing seemed to get through to her. She had gone to that place deep within that keeps you safe. It’s a place where the incidents of the real world can’t touch you. A place you want to remain in forever, so you don’t have to feel the pain. She could hear a familiar voice talking to her far off in the distance.
“This will help you sleep. You’ve had a bad shock. I’ll check on you tomorrow,” said the doctor.
Her mind and her body felt disconnected. She just wanted to sleep.
~
I entered the infirmary unprepared for what I was about to see. The room was dark except for a dim light to the right of the hospital bed, where Jeanette lay motionless.
Her head and face were wrapped in cloth bandages. Her chest rose and fell, with the assistance of modern machinery and the monitors beside her bed beeped as they kept track of her every vital sign. Her body contained burns and abrasions to most areas, and she had not regained consciousness since the explosion and therefore felt no pain.
I stood next to her bed quietly watching her. The thought of losing her became more evident as I stood there. She had to make it. If she didn’t, I would never know what might have become of our relationship. Although I didn't remember precisely when my feelings had changed towards her, I felt a broad sense of caring. Could it be the start of love?
I pulled up a chair and sat down next to her bed. Talking in a quiet voice, I said, “Jeanette, I don’t know if you can hear me, but you have to fight. We need you. I need you. Please don’t leave me.”
I carefully lifted up her weak arm and placed it in my hand, realizing that this was the first time that anyone had really mattered to me in a long time. I had guarded my heart and lost my faith long ago.
Unable to endure the sadness I felt seeing her reduced to the form before me, I carefully placed her hand back down on the bed. As tears welled up in my eyes, I slowly exited the room. Why had this happened? I vowed I would make whoever did this pay.
I left the infirmary and made my way over to my condo. With the lab sealed off, I had a few days before our work would resume. Finally, some quiet time to myself, but somehow, I was unable to appreciate it.
I was just unlocking my front door when I heard the phone ringing. I stumbled over some of my gear on the floor and finally found the phone. With very little emotion in my voice, I replied “Hello.” I recognized Michael’s voice immediately.
“Have you seen Jeanette yet?”
“I just got back. No change.”
“I can’t believe it. We leave, and all hell breaks loose. How did this happen?”
“Reginald’s working on it, but they don’t know anything definite yet. They still can’t find Doug. Since his body hasn’t turned up in the lab, there’s a chance he wasn’t there when the explosion took place.
It’s too bad about Randall; he was a good man. I heard his ex-wife took it really hard. I don’t know how they will explain it to his son.”
“I talked to her husband, Anthony, earlier and she is still not responding to anything. She just wants to sleep,” I said sitting down on the sofa. “Nicholas keeps asking for her.”
“I just pray that Jeanette will be okay. We need her at the lab. It looks like we will be spending the next few months trying to rebuild all the data we lost,” said Michael.
“My main concern is for her. The data can wait. I just want to get to the bottom of all this.”
“I’m with you. Get some rest. I’m going to swing by the infirmary and see Jeanette myself. Talk to you later.”
The incident had taken its toll on more than just a few lives. Some would never recuperate from the outcome. For others, it would be a constant reminder of unrest. I was in the latter category.
Chapter Fifteen
Arranging a meeting with Reginald Livingstone was my next agenda. I was met with n
o resistance, which took me by surprise. I had to know if the big brass had made any headway.
I made my way from my temporary lab accommodations through the long corridor to the back of the building, passing the sealed off the entrance to the destroyed lab. Feelings of rage dwelt inside of me, as my eyes took in the message on the yellow tape. What had gone wrong?
I couldn’t help but think about Randall and his son. Then my thoughts returned to Jeanette. She was the real root of the rage that festered inside and threatened to overtake my whole being. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, but I knew deep down that I had developed real feelings for her. Was it love? Too early to tell but I was definitely fond of her.
I forced myself to pull it together and exited the building. Outside, it was business as usual for Interplay. It amazed me how everything could seem so sane in the midst of such chaos.
The crisp, cold wind gusted and almost made me lose my footing. The wind was cold and out of the north. I glanced at the overhead sky now filled with ominous black clouds and hurriedly ran across the courtyard. I entered the main office building just in time to avoid the impending downpour.
I was confronted by a heavily armed guard. Security had definitely gotten tighter due to the recent developments. I quickly flashed my identification badge and was waved through.
I walked up to the door adorned with gold lettering announcing the office of Reginald Livingstone. I stood in silence, wondering if he was going to shoot straight with me. He had always given me the truth as far as I knew, but my gut feelings told me this time might be different. I took in a deep breath and filled myself with all the confidence I could muster. I just wanted to get it over with. I knocked on the door, and to my surprise, it was opened by Wilson Bench.
“Welcome, Davis. Have a seat. Reginald was called away, but should return shortly.”