by Elin Wyn
“It’s too early to say, I think,” the man continued, running his pudgy fingers through his long beard. “Apparently it’s all because of the Gorgos.”
“And what the hell is a Gorgo?” I asked, the words escaping from between my lips before I had the time to filter them. Had I become stupid overnight or something? I wasn’t understanding a damn thing.
“No one’s really sure,” someone to my side said. This one was younger than the chairman, although he still had at least ten years on me. He was wearing a tailored suit, and there was a massive ring on his right hand, one that he tapped against the table as he spoke.
“The government is keeping a lid on things, presumably to stop everyone from panicking. From what I’ve gathered, the Gorgos are an alien species that act as a parasite. Just like a virus. They attach themselves to their human hosts, and take over them.”
Sighing heavily, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.
More aliens? Just great.
“So you’re saying that half my crew was possessed by some parasitic alien?” I asked, shaking my head as I said it.
The entire planet had been turned upside down after the Vengeance guys got here, no doubt about it. Ever since their arrival, there was always something funky and dangerous happening every week.
War against the Xathi, vine domes, protests and rebellion...it seemed like the madness would never end.
“What are we going to do about it?”
“I got word from the capital that they’re investigating,” the chairman replied. “Not much else we can do about it. In the meantime, we still have that bridge to build.”
“Alright, alright,” I whispered, trying to process all that information without going nuts. “I’m gonna need to hire some more workers to compensate for the—”
“That’s been taken care of, Alessa,” my boss cut me short. “You’ve been assigned a completely new team.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I frowned. “Some of them walked out, sure, but a lot of them are still there, waiting for construction to continue. They’re not to blame, you know? Even though their friends and colleagues walked out into the jungle, these guys remained on their posts.”
“It’s not about blame, Alessa. Thing is, Gorgos only seem to affect humans.”
“So?”
“So that’s why your new team will be made up of Skotans.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I said, looking around the table to see if someone shared my disbelief. Apparently, not. They had come to this decision before I had even stepped one foot inside the room, and there wasn’t anything I could say to make them go back on it. “How am I supposed to train a new team from scratch? Especially if they’re aliens? They probably have no experience in construction. You can’t expect me to—”
“Alessa, I get it,” Alberon interrupted me again, except this time he did it in a soothing manner. “I helped vet your new team. They all have experience when it comes to construction, and they’re fast learners. You don’t have to worry about anything like that, alright?”
Running one hand through my hair, I just exhaled sharply.
“Can we count on you to finish the bridge, Ms. Naro?” The bearded chairman spoke up, looking me straight in the eyes. I was of half-a-mind to tell him to go build it himself, but saner minds prevailed.
“Yeah, alright,” I said as I pushed my chair back and stood up. “I’ll go build your damn bridge.” With that, I turned around and left, my heels clicking against the polished floor like the hand of a clock. The moment Tameron saw me stepping into the lobby, he jumped to his feet as if there were springs under his boots.
“So, how did that go?”
“Not great,” I merely said, not knowing how I’d break the news.
The poor guy had a family to feed, and now I would have to tell him he’d have to pack his bags and go back home without a steady paycheck.
“Spit it out, Alessa.”
“They’re getting me a new team.”
“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?”
“You didn’t hear me,” I said. “It’s a brand new team. Skotans from the Vengeance, the lot of them.”
“Oh, fuck.”
“Yeah,” I smiled sadly. “That’s the word.”
Navat
The day after the incident with the infected woman whose name I still didn’t know, I walked through Command Central on my way to get my assignments for the day, mind whirling.
I’d spent all night, wide-awake, puzzling over the Gorgos. I didn’t like going to sleep with unsolved problems.
Unfortunately for me, the Gorgo problem wasn’t one that could be solved in one night.
“Navat!” I heard Tyehn’s voice behind me.
“Need something?” I asked when he caught up to me.
“I’m heading out to the Sika Jungle with Maki today,” he said. “There are still some humans out there. Do you want to come along?”
“Why me?” I asked.
“You had some solid theories about the Gorgos yesterday. I figured if you spent time around the crater they were digging, you and I could get somewhere.”
“I have to see what my assignments are for the day.” I started walking once more.
“I already suggested to Sk’lar that you head out with us,” Tyehn said.
“Did you?” I folded my arms over my chest.
“Yes. Why do you look like you’re about to punch my teeth in?”
“To freak you out. Come on. Let’s go.”
“You have an odd sense of humor.”
“I know. It keeps me on my toes.” I clapped him on the back and turned toward the elevators.
Maki was waiting for us at the hanger.
“I’ve already packed up everything we’re going to need,” she declared.
“Weapons?” I asked.
“Stun guns,” she replied.
“Are you sure that’s all we’ll need?”
Maki placed a hand on her hip.
“At the end of the day, our biggest threat is encased in a human body. Do you really want to blow it’s brains out, especially when you know Evie and Leen need more test subjects?”
“When you put it that way, no.”
“That’s what I thought. Don’t worry. These stun guns are strong enough to take down a rampaging Phetnes.”
“I’m assuming that’s a name for a strong nightmarish creature you’ve got roaming this planet.”
“You’d assume correctly. They don’t like jungles so we won’t have to worry about them but my point still stands.”
Mika swung herself up into the aerial unit. It was a compact little thing with a swooping propeller on top. It looked old but nowhere near broken down.
“Looks like we’re all set,” Tyehn nodded with approval and climbed up into the pilot’s seat.
“You’re flying us?” I snorted.
“Yes, I am. Scared?”
“Concerned. I’d prefer not to crash today. Once in this lifetime was enough for me.”
I climbed into one of the passenger seats. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say I was spilling out of it.
“Was this seat made for a child?”
“No, it was made for a normal-sized human,” Maki quipped.
“Don’t close the door,” I warned Tyehn. “You’ll slice my leg off.”
“Good thing there isn’t a door.”
Tyehn powered on the aerial unit. We lifted straight off the ground. Wind whipped around me as my leg dangled out of the open side.
“How did this win out as our primary mode of transportation?” I asked as we shot away from the city in the direction of the jungle. “Don’t we have rifts for a reason?”
“This is more fun,” Tyehn called over the roaring wind.
“Oh! Well as long as you’re enjoying yourself,” I grumbled back.
Maki laughed as the wind whipped her hair around her face.
“What’s the plan once we get there?” I shouted.
“What?” Maki shouted back.
“The plan!”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
“What?”
I glared at Maki only to receive a shit-eating grin in response.
Somehow, I was the one with the twisted sense of humor.
Tyehn brought the aerial unit down in a clearing and powered down the engine.
“What’s the plan?” I asked again.
“We’re going to go to the camp,” he explained.
“And then?”
“We’ll see what we find.”
“That’s not a plan. That’s an idea.”
“My plan is to follow the idea,” he replied.
“What if there are hostile humans?” I prompted.
“That’s what the stun guns are for.”
“I think we should set up a perimeter and observe from afar before we stroll right on up to them,” I suggested.
Maki tilted her head in my direction.
“He’s got a point.”
“Oh, and you’ve always been the cautious one?” Tyehn gave her a sly grin.
“Cautious? No. But I don’t like to be outright stupid.”
“All right,” Tyehn tossed his hands in the air. “The three of us will set up the planet’s smallest three-person perimeter and go from there.”
We walked together through the forest until we neared the camp. Maki and Tyehn walked to the west. I made my way to the east.
“See anything?” I called into the radio after walking about half a mile.
“The new batch of scientists,” Maki replied. “Nothing looks out of the ordinary.”
“How many?”
“A dozen or so,” she said.
“Any telltale signs of Gorgos?”
“They look healthy from here,” Tyehn reported. “But its not exactly like they come with bright labels.”
“Okay. Let’s move in.”
I moved closer to the scientist’s camp until they came into view. Maki and Tyehn’s observations appeared to be accurate. None of the known signs of Gorgo interference were present.
“Greetings!” I called out.
A few of the scientists jumped at the sound of my voice but no one reacted with aggression.
“My apologies for startling you,” I grinned. “We’re from General Rouhr’s company.”
“What do you want?”
“To help, of course,” Maki stepped out of the clearing.
“Help? You’re sneaking around with weapons. That doesn’t sound helpful.” A young male scientist who made Leena look downright cuddly narrowed his eyes at us.
“For all we knew, you’d fallen to the Gorgos.”
He furrowed his brow.
“The what?”
“It’s something we’re trying to prevent and learn more about in the process,” Maki explained.
“That’s not good enough,” the young man. “If you want access to our site, which is highly confidential by the way, you need to spill it.”
“Spill what?” Tyehn blinked in confusion.
“Did you hear about what happened to the first teams that came out here?” Maki asked.
“We know they were infected by something,” the man sniffed. “We’ve gone to measures to prevent that.”
“You can’t block out the things that infected them,” Maki explained. “We don’t even fully understand what they are yet.”
“We call them Gorgos,” I explained.
“That sounds made up.”
“All names are made up,” I replied. “My point is, we aren’t here to steal your work or get in your way. We’re here to make sure you’re all safe and to figure out what’s so special about this place.”
“We’re safe,” he sighed.
“Great!” I clapped my hands together. “Now we can focus on the second part.”
“Tyehn, Navat, come look at this.”
While I was talking to the scientist, Maki had wandered closer to the hole dug by those affected by the Gorgos. I stepped up to the edge of the ditch beside her.
“What am I looking at?” I asked.
“I’m not sure.” She tapped her finger against her chin. “But answer me this. Why do you dig a hole in the first place?”
“To bury something,” I said.
“Or dig up something that’s already buried,” Tyehn finished.
“Exactly,” Maki nodded. “I bet there’s something down here.”
“Excuse me!” The scientist scurried over. “You’re not authorized to do anything here.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Tyehn grinned. He passed a keycard to the scientist. “Check this for yourself. You’ll see we all have the highest level of security clearance. We can sleep in that hole if we wanted to.”
“Which we don’t.” Maki wrinkled her nose.
The scientist took the key card and scanned it with his wrist device. It flashed green.
“Well,” he said primly. “I suppose I can’t legally stop you but I’ll be watching like a hawk.”
“Good,” Maki grinned. “You’ll want to see this.”
“See what?” said Tyehn, the scientist and myself in unison.
“Navat, do me a favor and radio the Urai,” Maki said. “I want to order a satellite scan of the area.”
“We’ve already done that,” the scientist said. “The scans turned up nothing useful.”
“But do you have Urai tech?” Maki smirked.
“No,” the scientist muttered.
“That’s what I thought. Don’t worry. The scan won’t damage anything beneath the surface.”
“It better not.”
Once I felt certain the scientist had finished protesting, I grabbed my radio.
“What do you want?” Came Fen’s voice.
“Fen, always a pleasure,” I grinned. “You sound like you’re in a good mood.”
“This may be a shock to you, but I don’t sit around at my desk all day waiting for you and yours to need something.”
“Yet you answered.”
“What do you want?”
“Can you send a satellite over to my coordinates? We’re looking for something beneath the earth.”
“How deep?”
I looked to Tyehn and Maki, who shrugged. The scientist didn’t look like he knew either.
“I don’t have all day.”
“You really are a delight, you know that?” I smirked. “Let’s call it three hundred meters.”
“Whatever you like.”
“Thank you, Fen. You’re the best.”
“I know.”
She clicked off the channel and I sent her my coordinates. She sent back a live tracker for the satellite she sent.
“You seem like a real charmer,” the scientist said to me.
“I get the job done,” I shrugged.
“I’ve never heard Fen be so prickly,” Tyehn said. “What did you do to piss her off?”
“I may have referred to her as my personal transportation service,” I said.
“Brave. Stupid, but brave. You’re lucky she hasn’t tried to chop off your arm via rift.”
“She’s tried. Three times.”
“Ah,” Tyehn nodded. “Well, when I find your body sliced in half one of these days, I’ll know why.”
“Please bury the halves together when you find them.”
“What makes you think I’ll go looking?”
We laughed while the scientist looked between us with a mixture of annoyance and confusion on his narrow face.
“Don’t mind them,” Maki said. “That’s a normal conversation.”
“Just find me when the scans come in,” the scientist replied before stomping off.
I watched him walk away.
“He seems like a real charmer.”
Maki snorted. “As long as he’s not possessed, we can work with it, right?”
Alessa
Beads of sweat trickled down my brow, the morning sun mercilessly whipping
the earth with its heat. Running one hand through my hair, I shaded my eyes from the sun and leaned against one of the bridge’s steel beams.
From underneath me I could hear the roaring waters of the Sauma river, and I couldn’t resist the urge to lean over the edge and gaze at them.
Building a bridge over such turbulent waters hadn’t been an easy task, but it was finally done. Even though the investors had been hesitant to fund such an undertaking, my plans and schematics were now a part of the real world. Four lanes wide, it was a long puzzle of steel and cables, its arches perfect semi-circles that had started as mathematical equations.
It would stand the test of time, I was sure of it. No matter what happened, people would still be walking across it a hundred years from now. I doubted anyone would remember my name by then, but I didn’t care much about it. My legacy was made of steel and concrete, and I was ready for it to outlast my own reputation.
“We’ve just finished testing the structure,” I heard someone say beside me, and I spun around to find a tall Skotan standing there. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, as the regulations mandated, nor was he wearing a yellow vest. Instead, he had a simple grey shirt, one that was covered with dust and small pieces of rock. On his waist was a large belt crammed with all sorts of tools.
“And?”
“It all checks out,” he said. “I’ve left the reports on your desk in case you want to double-check.” The aliens weren’t exactly the best when it came to following the safety protocols on a building site, but I had to hand it to them—they were a competent bunch.
Whenever I told them to do something, they did it flawlessly and without complaint. More than just that, they didn’t mind the fact that I was a woman.
The only thing they cared about was my knowledge. That was refreshing.
“Thank you,” I said with a nod. “You can radio Alberon and tell him we’re done.” Usually it would fall on me to radio the boss such big news, but this time I was ready to break tradition.
Alberon had insisted on the alien crew, so I figured he wouldn’t mind if it was one of them making the announcement.