The first opening led into a narrow corridor, which turned off to the right after a few feet—in the direction from which they had come. Jeff doubted it would lead them to their goal. The next opening was right next to the long table. This one was wider and higher than the others. It led into a smaller room, at the other end of which was another door and a glass pane in the wall.
“Wait here,” Jeff ordered and stepped into the room. “I want to see what—” He stopped short when he heard a loud hissing noise behind him and whirled round—just in time to see a hatch come thundering down to the ground from the ceiling.
“Green!” Jeff screamed and raced to the door. His flashlight fell out of his hand and skittered across the floor. The beam of the flashlight on the ground immersed the room in a ghostly light. Jeff banged his fists against the metal and screamed the names of his shipmates. “Finni! Green!”
No answer. He took a step back and looked to see if there was some kind of opening mechanism. To the left of the door, a dark-gray rectangle was embedded in the wall. He touched it, but nothing happened. Jeff groaned. It must be a control panel for the door, considering it was right next to it. Some automatic mechanism must have caused it to close. But why didn’t the manual control work?
Frantically, Jeff took his handheld out of his pocket. He had to get Finni and Green to look for a control mechanism on their side. Maybe the one on this side was just broken. With trembling hands he held the antenna against the wall. “Green! Finni! Can you hear me? You have to—” There was a clinking sound as the antenna snapped off and fell to the ground.
Shit!
He had pressed the device too hard against the wall. Now he was completely cut off from the others.
After trying in vain to reattach the antenna, he banged his fist against the door, cursing loudly. But it was no use, it didn’t budge. He had to get a grip. Finni and Green would of course do everything in their power to open the door from their side.
Jeff tried to suppress the panic welling up inside him. What if they didn’t manage to get it open, and there was no other exit out of this and the surrounding rooms? Then he would starve to death in here.
Jeff tried to gather his wits and push those dark thoughts aside. He turned around, picked up his flashlight, and shone it around the room. It was completely bare, and not very big. Just a few feet lay between Jeff and the opposite wall, where there was another open door and a window. Maybe there was another way out that would lead him back to the lobby.
He walked toward the window, but all he could see was the bright reflection of his flashlight. Then he shone his flashlight through the open door. The room on the other side was bigger and higher than this one, as big as the gym at his old school on Luna. Behind the door were a few steps leading downward. Slowly, he let the beam of his flashlight wander round the room.
He gasped in surprise. At the end of three long rows of tables were machines of some kind. They were twice as high as a tall man and looked a bit like the old phone booths they used to have on Terra. They also reminded Jeff of the security controls at a civilian spaceport.
He stepped up to the first row of tables. They were covered with twisted and distorted metallic objects. He picked up one of them: a long tube that was bent in the middle, with a small black box at one end of it. Whatever it might have been, it had definitely been destroyed. He placed it back on the table and continued to look around. The hall was oblong in shape. On each of the two short sides there were two doors. The ones to his right were open, but led in a completely different direction from the way he had come into the room. The ones at the other end, behind the “phone booths,” were closed off by heavy bulkheads. He wondered if he should wait here, hoping that Finni and Green would be able to open the door, or if he should venture into one of the open passageways. Maybe it would lead him back toward the “lobby” … And anyway: if his shipmates hadn’t managed to open the hatch by now, they probably never would. Jeff picked up his handheld and checked that the inertial navigation was still working so that he wouldn’t get completely lost.
He turned to look at the openings. They were both narrow and high and had arch-shaped recesses at the top, like the portal of a church—or like a cross-section of the long corridor they had been walking down for the last few days. They appeared to lead into two parallel corridors. If he went down one of them, he had to make sure he took a right turn as soon as possible so he didn’t move too far away from the group.
He got to the opening and stopped. He felt a warm gust of wind on his face and started. It was the first time that he had felt anything like a breeze on this ship. He could barely bring himself to put even a single foot forward. He wavered as he peered into the corridor. There must be something up ahead that was reflecting the beam of his flashlight. He swung the beam to the right, but the light did not change. So it wasn’t a reflection!
Jeff quickly switched off his flashlight. He was enveloped in darkness. Only the pale white glow further down the corridor remained.
It must be one of those light aliens. He began to tremble. He tightened his grip on his flashlight so it wouldn’t slip out of his hand. He wanted to take a step back, but couldn’t. As if something had blocked the neural paths from his brain to his muscles.
The glow in the corridor got brighter.
Jeff had to get out of here. Somehow. He bit his lower lip so hard he tasted blood. He bit even harder. The pain triggered something in him, and with a huge effort he managed to take a step back. And then another. As if in slow motion, he turned around and somehow heaved himself to the other end of the room. He had to hide so that the sinister creature didn’t find him.
Finally, he reached one of the phone booths and crouched down behind it. He peered around the edge just as the creature reached the hall.
Jeff thought he could hear the hammering of his heart echoing through the room. The creature must have seen the light of his flashlight. But it didn’t seem to know where he was now. It stood there very calmly. A pale ghost that resembled a slender, almost human figure, a little smaller than Jeff. It wasn’t wearing any clothes, had no visible sexual features, no hair on its head, and no face. Jeff wasn’t sure which way it was looking. But it must have some kind of sensory organs. Light surrounded the being like an aura, white, with a pale-blue shimmer.
The creature entered the room very slowly. It didn’t make a sound. It simply floated over the ground. Jeff was sure it could move much faster than he could run.
It stopped abruptly at the first row of tables. Could it be the same creature he and Joanne had seen in the corridor the night before last? Was it the same creature that had brutally murdered Irons and Fields?
Now his life depended on whether the creature noticed him or not. It must know that something was hiding in here. Maybe he could somehow sneak past the alien and flee down one of the two back corridors. Or had he maybe overlooked an exit? If he turned on his flashlight now, the creature would know immediately where he was. In front of Jeff were the two big closed-off doors. But over there, several feet away, was another little door that he hadn’t noticed before. It, too, was closed. But next to it was another one of those small squares embedded in the wall. It must be a manual control for the door. If he was quick enough, he might be able to run to the door, slip through, and close it from the other side before the creature reached him. But the question was: would the manual control work? If it didn’t, he was a dead man.
The creature was still standing calmly next to the table at the other end of the hall. It appeared to be waiting for him to make a mistake and give away his location. If only he could see which way the creature was looking!
Minutes passed, during which time Jeff remained crouching rigidly in his hiding place. His heart was beating so hard he was sure the creature must be able to hear it. But the alien did not move an inch and gradually it dawned on Jeff that he would never get past his enemy. His only chance of escape was through the little door in the wall. Jeff tried to estimate how
long it would take him to run there, open the door, and close it behind him, but he couldn’t think clearly.
He had to make a decision. And he knew it was a life-or-death decision.
Suddenly, the image of the gutted major appeared in his mind’s eye. Jeff shook his head. He didn’t want to end up like that!
He sprung up, stumbled, and almost fell flat on his face. He only just managed to regain his balance. Then he ran.
Don’t turn around! Don’t fall!
He assumed the creature was now coming after him. The question was, at what speed? He expected a cold, pale hand to grab him from behind at any moment. Mechanically, he counted his steps.
Twelve, thirteen …
Too many, but finally he reached the door. Still running, he hit the small square on the wall before crashing headlong into the door. Nothing happened. He pressed on the square again. Still nothing! The door didn’t budge.
This was it. He was about to die. For a moment he considered closing his eyes. He didn’t want to see the ghost rush toward him and start to slice him up. He just hoped it would be quick. But in the end he couldn’t resist the urge to turn around.
The creature hadn’t moved! It was still standing by the table, waiting.
Of course! It knew the door was closed and so it could take its time. Jeff’s heart was racing. Frantically, he looked around for another escape route, but there was nothing. He would never get past the creature. He needed to confront it, although he knew it was pointless.
Finally, he remembered he had a weapon with him, and with shaking hands, pulled out his pistol. He pointed it at the creature. This damn trembling! It was impossible to aim accurately!
Then the creature began to move. Jeff remained glued to the spot. It was coming toward him. But very slowly, as if in slow motion.
“What do you want from me?” Jeff cried out.
He pulled the trigger. The noise reverberated around his ears. The bullet exploded in a shower of sparks against the back wall.
Shitshitshit!
The second shot also missed the target by several feet.
The creature was now barely more than a few feet away from him.
“No!” Jeff shrieked.
Bullseye!
But the shot simply whipped through the middle of the creature. The bullet left a fine white line in the creature’s body that immediately dissolved again. Jeff cried out in horror. The weapon clattered to the ground.
He was done for. Any moment now, this creature would grab him.
Suddenly he heard a hissing sound behind him and a gust of wind in his hair. The ghost stopped abruptly.
Jeff turned around and saw Green stepping out of the now open door with his pistol drawn. He grabbed Jeff by the shoulder. “Shit!” the engineer screamed and pointed his gun at the creature.
“No use,” Jeff cried and stumbled backward. “The bullets go straight through it. Let’s …”
Suddenly, the ghost swung round and glided away at great speed.
“Jesus, it’s fast,” Jeff whispered. The creature had already disappeared down the corridor down which it had come. For a moment, the eerie glow continued to illuminate the tunnel entrance, then it was pitch black again and only the flashlight in Green’s hand provided a little light.
Gradually, the tension in Jeff eased. He stooped to pick up his pistol and his hands grasped the weapon. It had been close. Too close.
He turned round to his shipmate, who was still staring slack-mouthed at the doorway through which the alien had vanished. “Thanks,” Jeff croaked. “If you hadn’t turned up, I’d probably be dead by now.”
Green gave a nod, then turned to look at him. “Yup, looks like it,” he replied.
“How did you find me?” Jeff asked. He wiped his clammy hands on his suit. His pulse was still racing.
“We looked for another corridor that led to the other side of the closed gate. One of the doorways in the lobby branches off into a total labyrinth of corridors and rooms. I looked around a bit and heard shots close by.” He shrugged. “It was luck, mostly.”
Jeff nodded. There was no doubt he’d been extremely lucky. “Where’s Finni?”
“He stayed behind in the lobby. He wanted to keep the others updated and keep trying to make radio contact with you. Why didn’t you contact us with your handheld?”
Jeff shrugged. “I was clumsy, and broke off the antenna by mistake.”
Green nodded and checked out the room with the beam of his flashlight. “Interesting.”
“Yes,” Jeff agreed. “Looks a bit like a transport hub in a space station or asteroid.”
Green looked at his handheld, then pointed at the big, closed doors. “The cavity ought to be exactly in that direction.”
“Maybe this is where passengers had to check in,” Jeff mused.
“If the others haven’t found anything …” Green began.
“… then we have to go this way,” Jeff ended his sentence.
“We can try and open the doors,” Green said, walking toward them.
“No,” Jeff said, and grabbed him by the arm.
Green turned around in surprise. “You’re still trembling.”
“Whatever,” Jeff said. “I want to get everyone together again first. Let’s go back to Finni and get the others to come to the lobby.”
Green shrugged. “If you say so.” Then he turned on his heel and went back through the door. Jeff followed him down a short corridor that led to another from which further forks led left and right at regular intervals. Green was right. It really was a labyrinth. By now, Jeff had completely lost his sense of direction and Green kept looking down at his handheld.
Jeff took his own computer out of his pocket. Although the antenna was broken, the inertial navigation still worked fine. “But that’s not the way to the lobby,” he said out loud.
Green nodded, without turning around. “No. But a little further on there’s a turnoff that leads back to the lobby.”
“It’s a miracle you found me at all.”
“I told you, I was lucky.”
“Without our handhelds we’d never find our way out of this maze,” Jeff said. “We really need to be careful not to split up again. If someone’s handheld really breaks, then they won’t stand a chance.”
“I don’t know why that damned hatch suddenly closed,” Green said and turned left down another corridor.
“Maybe it was triggered by a sensor. But I don’t understand why it didn’t open again.”
“Maybe the manual controls are broken.”
“Possible,” Jeff replied. “After all, there seems to be more than one way of getting to every destination. How much farther is it?”
“Not far, we’re nearly there. Down there, round that curve, and then the first door on the left.”
Jeff followed Green and a few minutes later they were walking into the lobby. It was pitch black.
“Finni?” Jeff called. Why hadn’t he put on his flashlight?
“Where are you, man?” Green shouted.
Jeff shone his flashlight on the closed door that had separated him from his shipmates earlier on. He walked toward it and pressed on the small square next to it on the wall. As he expected, the door didn’t budge. Jeff turned around and followed the beam of Green’s flashlight as it panned around the room.
“Maybe he went back to the others,” Green sounded uncertain.
The cone of light fell on an object on the floor.
“Stop! Hold on, there was …” Jeff switched on his own flashlight and walked toward the spot.
It was Finni’s handheld. It was completely destroyed. The rear panel was shattered and small electronic components lay scattered all over the floor.
“Looks as if he flung it full force against the wall,” Green said.
“Finni?” Jeff called, shining his flashlight around the lobby again.
Had one of the light aliens been here? Had it abducted Finni? Or had Finni run away and was now in one of the o
ther corridors?
“Green! Try and contact Owl and Shorty, and …” Jeff trailed off as he saw Green, standing stock still at one of the doorways leading out of the lobby, his flashlight directed at something Jeff couldn’t see from where he was standing. But he guessed what it was. Or who.
The body of their shipmate was lying face down. He could only tell from the mussed up hair that it was Finni. He was lying in a huge pool of blood, his arms stretched out on either side of his body as if he were trying to fly.
“Fuck,” Green finally whispered.
Yet another one of them had been murdered. This couldn’t be happening.
“How long was he alone?” Jeff asked hoarsely.
“Since just after you got separated from us.”
Jeff felt anger welling up inside him. “You shouldn’t have left him alone,” he said.
Green turned around and looked at him coolly. “Sure. Then you would now be …” He didn’t finish his sentence.
Jeff took a deep breath and turned away. Was the engineer right? If Green hadn’t found him, Jeff would probably now be lying slashed up on the floor of that strange check-in hall. Instead, Finni was dead.
It’s my fault! Mine alone!
Jeff shook himself. He mustn’t think like that. Neither he nor Green was to blame for the actions of these savage creatures. Hopefully the rest of the group was OK.
“Try and contact the others. Give them the coordinates for the lobby and precise directions. They should come as quickly as possible.”
20.
“He was slit open,” Joanne said, after she’d finished examining Finni’s body. She was very pale. “From the lower lip down to his anus.”
Jeff shuddered. “To his anus? But …”
“His penis and testicles were cut off and inserted into his abdominal cavity.” Joanne swallowed. “Together with his eyes.”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Owl put his head in his hands.
“No!” Castle moaned. “No! Who would do something like that?”
Nobody answered.
The Dark Ship Page 21