Darkest Reach

by Eric Warren

  Rafnkell shook her head and turned the other way, headed back to Bay Two.

  “Great. I’ll brief Blohm when she arrives,” Cas said, headed off toward the Bay doors. Evie glanced up to notice Zenfor staring daggers at Ensign Tyler. Cas had mentioned some altercation between them, though Evie had only been half-listening at the time. But something had definitely happened, the air around them had changed as if it had been charged by an electrical shock.

  “Consul, is everything okay?” Evie asked.

  “Fine. Ensign?”

  He glanced up, then back down again. “Yeah. Fine.”

  Evie decided she didn’t need any part of whatever was going on with them. Maybe Cas returning to the weapons lab that day had been a good thing, but he couldn’t have known what he was coming back into. Regardless, it didn’t matter now. All that mattered was they get moving. Tempest didn’t have very long before it was pulled into the center.

  She stepped away from the rest of the group and tapped her comm.

  “Greene here.”

  “Looks like we’re about ready to go down here, Captain. I’ll return to the bridge when they launch and coordinate from there,” she said.

  “Very good. Any hiccups?”

  Evie eyed Cas and Blohm, the latter who’d just come into the bay. “Sir…I wonder is it wise to send both our bridge engineer and our human liaison to Sesster on the same mission?” They were two of the better engineers on the ship. If something happened out there, to either shuttle—or even both—what backups did they have on the ship? Who else could talk to Sesster? She had a bad feeling about this rising in the pits of her stomach.

  “Do you think it’s too much of a risk?” Greene asked.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe.” It didn’t escape her notice Blohm brushed her hand against Cas’s arm, though he seemed oblivious to it.

  “It’s your call, Commander. Do what you think is best. Greene out.”

  Evie sighed, making her way back over to where Tyler and Zenfor stood. She was still staring at him with an intensity Evie rarely saw from people while he was doing his best to look anywhere except at her. “Ensign, I’m sorry to do this, but I need you to report back to engineering. You’re not going.”

  His eyes snapped to hers. “What? I don’t understand, did I—?”

  “It’s nothing you did, but the fact is you are the primary conduit for Commander Sesster, and we can’t afford to lose you. Not many people on this ship are receptive to him and those that are aren’t well versed in engineering. I’m sorry, Ensign.”

  “What’s going on?” Cas asked approaching with Blohm behind him.

  “She’s taking me off the mission,” Tyler said, anger in his voice. “All because I’m the ‘magical’ conduit.”

  “You better watch it, kid. That’s not how you speak to your commanding officer,” Cas said.

  “This is such bullshit,” he replied. Even though he was looking at Cas Evie felt the comment come straight to her.

  “Ensign, my patience has run out. Are you going to report to engineering or do I need to confine you to quarters?” Evie stared him down.

  He shook his head, leaving them standing there in the Bay. Evie tapped her comm. “Karen, make sure Ensign Tyler makes it back to engineering. He’s a little hot right now.”

  “No problem, Commander,” Uuma’s voice said over the comm.

  Evie shut it off and turned to Blohm. “You’ll head up the radiation communication attempt with Captain Grippen. I’ll pull Pearson from engineering as your backup.”

  Blohm nodded. “I won’t let you down. Cas was just telling me about the mission.”

  Cas cleared his throat. “Let me show you exactly what we’ll be doing. Consul, will you join us?” He indicated they make their way to one of the shuttles. Box was over on the shuttle itself, inspecting the work of the maintenance team. As they made their way over Cas shot Evie a look, but she couldn’t tell what he was trying to say. Was he upset she’d countermanded his orders and used Blohm instead of Tyler? Or was there something else? Maybe she’d ask him when they got back. There was too much to do to worry about it at the moment.

  Evie took one final look at both shuttles and left Bay One, heading back for the bridge.

  30

  “Prepare for departure,” Cas said into the comm. He was at the second station on the shuttle Parnitha while Box sat in the pilot’s seat. Beside them the Helicon warmed up holding Grippen, Blohm and Crewman Pearson. Cas had noticed a fair bit of trepidation from Pearson, but he’d accepted and they were ready to depart.

  Cas wasn’t thrilled with the idea of Commander Blohm—Suzanna—as she asked him to call her, being on that other shuttle. But the fact was they needed a good engineer and she had a lot more experience than Tyler. Cas wondered if Zenfor hadn’t suggested Tyler because she expected this mission to fail and they had had such a contentious relationship so far. He turned in his seat to glance behind him. Zenfor had transferred her data from the weapons lab to the shuttle and was making calculations on the large wall-screen behind them, paying both him and Box no attention. Cas returned his attention to Box. “Ready?”

  “Just like old times,” Box said, finishing the preflight sequence.

  “Helicon is a go,” Grippen’s voice came through the comm.

  “Spacewings?” Cas asked.

  “Lined up and ready to launch at your signal, Commander,” Rafnkell’s voice said. She’d decided to join her pilots in escorting the shuttles. Cas also didn’t like the idea of a chaperone but strangely he felt extra comfort knowing she would be out there with them.

  “Cas to bridge. We’re ready to launch.” He sat back and engaged his seat restraints.

  “Proceed when ready, Commander,” Evie said. “And good luck.”

  “Okay. Hit it,” he said. Box nodded and the shuttle rose off the Bay floor, while Helicon beside them mirrored the movement. Box took them out in a controlled, steady movement. Cas wasn’t used to the restraint. “Trying to impress someone?”

  “Just following protocol. My best moves are outlawed by Coalition pilot regulations.” As soon as they exited into open space there was a discernable shift in the forward movement of the shuttle.

  “That’s the electromagnetic field, adjusting now,” Cas said. He’d made a few modifications the shuttle moved ahead quicker, but still not as fast as it should have.

  “Is that all you got, robot?” Grippen said through the comm playfully. Through the window the Helicon caught up beside them. “I thought you were supposed to be a hot shot.” Cas could imagine the look on Suzanna’s face. A smile danced across his lips.

  She had been very open to helping, for which he was grateful. Though their interactions had been brief, they had always been friendly. Suzanna Blohm had backed him up when no one else had, and it seemed she always gave him the benefit of the doubt. He hadn’t yet found a way to repay her kindness, but her excitement about this mission might be a start. She’d told him she enjoyed getting off the ship, though she didn’t get to do it often enough. There was a sadness in there somewhere, something Cas had only begun to pick up on before moving on to the next important thing. Once all of this was over he’d have time to give it more thought.

  “The spacewings have launched and are in a formation surrounding us,” Box said. “I don’t know if this thing can register heat signatures, but seven ships all coming for it at once might look like one big one. Maybe that will help us?”

  “There’s no evidence one way or another,” Zenfor said, her first words since they’d boarded the ship. “And it doesn’t matter.”

  Box’s eyes blinked confusion and Cas shook his head, willing Box not to say anything further. Zenfor’s pessimism wasn’t the issue here and it wasn’t what they needed to focus on. “Any changes to the creature or the surrounding area?” Cas asked.

  “Nothing yet.”

  They were much closer to the center of the phenomenon than they had been before, but ahead of them was nothing but a b
lanket of black. It was the total absence of anything that unnerved Cas. He enjoyed openness, but this felt claustrophobic, enclosed. It took all of his mental power to tell himself they weren’t headed for a trap. “Switch to the spectrum view.” The windows of the shuttle shifted so the entire area was alight in the spectrum of color. The black was replaced by background blue and directly in front of them, in its odd shape with the tentacles disappearing into nowhere, was the creature. It was fascinating to observe, and he wished they had time to study it, but that would be for the next ship. Now their only job was to convince it to let them go and return on their original mission. If it sounded so easy then why was his heart hammering his chest?

  “Caspian, we just switched over. We can see the creature now,” Suzanna said.

  “Us too.”

  “How close should we get before initiating the sequences?” she asked. Cas turned to Zenfor.

  “One-hundred-thousand kilometers,” Zenfor said without looking up. “Close enough so the creature should be able to receive the transmissions without any trouble.”

  “Acknowledged,” Suzanna said.

  “Hey, Box, want to do a couple laps around that thing? Unless you suped-up your shuttle when I wasn’t looking,” Grippen said.

  “No one is doing laps,” Rafnkell said. “Pilot, focus, we’ve got a mission here.”

  “Just trying to lighten the tension,” Grippen replied, disappointment in her voice. “Helicon coming up on target.”

  “Suzanna, we’ll try the light sequence first. If we don’t get a response try the radiation. If neither works, we’ll do both at the same time,” Cas said.

  “Acknowledged.”

  “One-hundred thousand kilometers, boss,” Box said, slowing the shuttle until it came to a complete stop. Cas began the light display sequence.

  “You’re sure you got the syntax, right?” If Box hadn’t built the structure right they might be sending nothing but gibberish.

  “It’s only an alien language no one has ever used before by a spaceborne creature with no eyes, mouth or ears so yes, I am one-hundred percent sure whatever you say won’t be taken out of context.”

  “The robot is sarcastic,” Zenfor said.

  “The robot is a pain in the ass,” Cas mumbled, finishing the prep sequence. He opened the full channel back to Helicon and Tempest. “Initiating light sequence.” Small pulses in the visual range of the spectrum showed up on the screen in front of them. If Cas had left the screen on visual, the flashes might have been bright enough to cause eye damage. “Anything?”

  “No response.”

  Damn. Plan A was a failure. “Helicon, go for your sequence. Light attempt was nonresponsive.”

  “Acknowledged,” Suzanna said. “Initiating now.”

  The screen lit up this time with the fake Kryon Radiation coming from Helicon in waves. Each looked like a shockwave emanating out from the center and as soon as the first one reached the creature, it moved. “The creature is responding to the radiation,” Zenfor confirmed. “It has rotated four degrees. Now seven. Now ten.”

  “Suzanna, you’re getting a response. Keep it up,” Cas said, hoping Box’s interpretation of the radiation was close to accurate. If they could just get through to the thing, that was all they would need.

  “We’re receiving an audio transmission,” Box said. “It’s weak but it’s there.”

  “From where?” Cas asked. “Helicon, are you seeing this too?”

  “We are, Commander,” Crewman Pearson said. In the absence of anything else to do, Suzanna probably assigned him the comm.

  “It seems to be coming from the creature, or maybe just below it, from the tear? I don’t know, I can’t pinpoint it,” Box said, his eyes blinking frustration.

  “Zenfor?” Cas asked.

  “I can’t tell either. Someone is trying to speak with you though. I suggest you listen.” Box tapped the pad to activate the incoming transmission.

  At first it was mostly static, but there was a voice in there somewhere, Cas could almost make it out. “Can you clean that up any?”

  “I’m on it, sir,” Pearson said from Helicon. “We’re getting it too.” Cas listened closely, the message sounded like it was being run through a processor and with all the static he couldn’t quite understand what was being said. But strangely, it sounded like the message was in Coalition Standard language. And it was a male voice. A human male if he wasn’t mistaken.

  “…is cap…ald…row. Ar…rec…is…mission?”

  “He’s getting there,” Box said.

  “Do you recognize the voice? Do you know who it is?” Cas asked. Box shook his head. He turned back to Zenfor. “Anything?”

  “The source of the transmission hasn’t changed. But I still can’t pinpoint it, even using the probes that are already out here,” she replied, frustration in her voice.

  “This is…Regin…Morrow. Are…this trans…ion?” Reg Morrow? Captain Reginald Morrow? It couldn’t be, was it possible they were still alive after all this time?

  “It’s the captain of the Iphigenia,” Box said.

  “I need a location on that transmission, now.” Cas leaned forward. “This may have just become a rescue mission.” He opened the comm to full. “Captain? Can you hear me? This is Commander Caspian Robeaux of the USCS Tempest. Can you give us your location?”

  “Commander. Thank…for comin…e’ve been lost here for…ades.” The transmission was still garbled but Cas could still hear relief in the captain’s voice. They had done it! They had really survived here all this time.

  “What is your location? Can you tell us where you are? We have seven ships in close proximity,” Cas said. He hit the mute button. “Is Tempest getting all this?” Box nodded.

  “We’re in a place…ween spaces. I…I can’t…escribe it. Thank you for…ing, Commander. You don’t know…long we’ve been waiting.”

  “Zenfor?” Cas asked, giving her a pained stare. They needed to find out where the transmission was coming from. It had to be the tear in space, that was the only thing that made sense.

  She shook her head in frustration. “Something’s not right. The transmission is being obscured by…something. I should be able to detect its source, but something is stopping me.” She glanced up at the rest of her screen. “The creature has turned a full twenty-two degrees.”

  He didn’t care about the creature at the moment. All he cared about was finding what was left of the Iphigenia and getting it out of here. Maybe with both ships they could find a way to break free. He unmuted the comm. “Captain, how many of your crew is left? How many do we need to transport back?”

  “Not many. It’s…een so long. We’re …glad you came. My…ip fell into the…ame phenom…on twenty-se…en years ago. I was so…oolish.”

  Cas glanced at Box. Something felt wrong.

  “But I…ouldn’t be here without…crew. They…aught me…much over the…ears. And now…ou’re here.”

  “Pearson?” Cas asked.

  “Almost finished, sir, cleaning out the rest of the interference now.”

  Cas leaned over the comm. “Captain, please repeat. That last message didn’t come all the way through.”

  “I said I wouldn’t be here without my crew. They taught me so much over the last twenty-seven years and now you’ve come. You can help teach me so much more.”

  Cas furrowed his brow. “Captain, I’m not sure I understand.”

  “You’ve come to instruct. Just like I did. And just like Captain Worth of the Genesis. We’ve all come for the same purpose. I followed his signal in. And you’re following mine. It’s part of the cycle.” The last few words distorted but not by static, but as if the captain had a head cold and everything he said sounded slightly…off.

  Box hit the mute button. “Boss, I don’t think that’s Captain Morrow.”

  Cas whipped around to Zenfor. She gave a subtle shake of her head. “I finally got a lock. The transmission is coming from the creature,” she said. “I bel
ieve Captain Morrow is dead.”

  31

  “I don’t understand,” Cas said, a panic growing in his chest.

  “The creature. It’s speaking using the captain’s voice. Because it took his ship and his entire crew. Or absorbed them. I’m not sure,” Zenfor replied. “The Iphigenia is gone, there’s no trace remaining. And no other life signs other than that creature. I believe it has lured us here. But for what purpose I’m not sure.”

  Cas opened a secure channel to the other ships and Tempest. “I think we have a problem. Zenfor says the transmission is coming from the creature itself, that it is speaking with the captain’s voice.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Grippen said. “We’ve been monitoring. He said I came here. Not he. If the creature was speaking wouldn’t—?”

  “I don’t think semantics matter at this point,” Evie broke in. “We need to consider this is a hostile organism. Abort mission.”

  Cas couldn’t agree more. Whether the creature was trying to deceive them by telling them it was the captain or if the captain’s consciousness still resided inside it and had been corrupted in some way didn’t matter. Either way, this was a hostile force that had drawn Iphigenia and Genesis in on purpose. It knew what it was doing.

  “All spacewings, escort the shuttles back,” Rafnkell announced.

  “We have a problem over here,” Grippen said. “Our engines are malfunctioning; we can’t get any thrust.”

  “The electromagnetic field around the ship, it has increased tenfold,” Zenfor said. “The creature is attempting to pull it in.”

  “Can we get over there and evacuate them?” Cas asked Box.

  “Not without getting stuck in the field,” he replied.

  “No, you don’t get to leave,” Captain Morrow’s voice said. “Soon you’ll join us. My knowledge will be filled.”

  “What the fuck is he talking about?” Cas asked, frantically searching for an option.

  “All ‘wings, fire on that son of a bitch,” Rafnkell announced. Cas watched the five fighters turn and unleash the full power of their weapons on the center of the creature.