Closer To The Core (25,000 Light-Years Book 1)

by S. Hansen

  Just as Stark reached the door to the first room he had seen on the station he heard another open behind him. The three of them turned to face Trillan looking particularly pleased with himself.

  ‘Agent Stark.’

  ‘I am definitely glad you remember me, this would be a really awkward meeting if you didn’t.’ Trillan’s hand raised a weapon and pointed it straight at Stark. ‘But that makes it just as awkward.’ Stark raised his hands with the rail gun still uncomfortably held in his right hand. Polly followed his lead which meant that Dantil too held up his hands

  ‘Can you guess what happens if I open this door Agent Stark?’ Trillan pointed to the hangar door that they had recently passed through. Stark’s left hand lowered as he mockingly pretended to think.

  ‘Do we all get sucked into space because the airlock has been left open by some clumsy person?’ With a stony face Trillan responded.

  ‘No Agent Stark. Your friend Agent Mazar will become locked outside. With no oxygen tank.’

  ‘Well I wouldn’t say we were friends exactly. I mean there’s obviously some sexual chemistry going on because she doesn’t seem to be able to leave me alone. Also she is going to try and kill me. Hey you know she’s kinda like a praying mantis if you think about it…’ Stark’s incessant talking angered Trillan who took joy in working the doors controls, waiting a moment and when the door slid open smiling at Stark.

  ‘Now, put the weapon down and slide it away.’ Polly and Dantil were unsure exactly what Trillan meant but Stark knew, horror flashed across his face and he considered shooting Trillan where he stood but he looked at Polly and Dantil and lowered the rail gun to the ground slowly before kicking it away.

  ‘And now the gun behind your back Agent Stark.’ Once more he considered firing his weapon into Trillan’s head but he restrained himself and carefully lifted it from his trousers before setting it on the ground and kicking it down the corridor to the door furthest from Trillan. Then Trillan motioned the group into the large room where Hajeel and Nashana stood waiting patiently. Hajeel smiled sympathetically at them and stepped forward to greet them. Trillan stood menacingly in the door way tightly gripping his gun.

  ‘Please don’t kill us.’ Knowing Hajeel had little power Polly looked imploringly at Nashana.

  ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t want them to do this but I was outvoted.’ Hajeel turned away and spoke with a sorrowful voice as Nashana revealed she too was armed. She raised the gun to Polly without a hint of emotion on her face and the gun lit up ready to fire. Dantil rushed forward to Nashana and tackled her to the ground causing the gun to fire and a burnt hole to appear in the wall. Dantil pressed her gun wielding hand to the floor and struggled out of her other hands grasp in order to press his arm over her throat. Stark looked desperately around the room for a way to help while Trillan smugly watched knowing The Asteria’s crew would ultimately be unsuccessful.

  Nashana was able to use her free arm to lever Dantil off of her and break free of his grasp only to be cracked in the back of the head by Stark wielding one of his boots. Nashana’s collapsing body fell forwards and knocked Dantil to the floor, pinning him down slightly. Trillan aimed his gun at Polly and Dantil frantically tried to scramble to his feet to save her but he was too weak to move.. Stark’s head turned in time to see Polly in Trillan’s sights and hear a loud echoing bang.

  Polly froze in place as the blood speckled her face. A sharp exhale was followed by a slow movement of her hand. She hesitantly touched her face and pulled her hand away to see the dark red blood mark her fingertips causing her to double over and throw up on her feet. Mazar looked at her in disgust as she stepped over Trillan’s body.

  ‘Ugh again?! I can’t complete a single mission without getting blood splatter on me.’ Stark wiped away Trillan’s blood with an unimpressed look on his face and moved to help Dantil to his feet. Mazar marched straight across the room and aimed her gun at Hajeel who had turned around upon hearing the first gunfire and stood frozen in place watching the chaos ensue. Polly straightened herself up and tried to swallow away the acidic flavour in her mouth before speaking.

  ‘I’m really confused right now but thankyou everybody who just saved my life.’

  ‘Well that’s everybody but Hajeel then…’ Stark winked at Polly and subtly pointed to Mazar with his eyes for Polly to follow and interpret. She walked up behind Mazar and spoke whilst wrapping her arms tightly around Mazar.

  ‘Especially you Mazar.’ Stark grimaced and shook his head expecting the worst. Mazar slowly removed Polly’s hands from her one by one and patted her on the head awkwardly before raising the gun to strike Hajeel.

  ‘Wait! Wait!’ Hajeel dropped to his knees and threw his hands up while Stark laughed and smugly spoke.

  ‘Not so clever now are they.’

  ‘I want to help.’ Mazar’s grip on the gun loosened and she lowered it to her hip whilst keeping Hajeel targeted.

  ‘How can you help?’ Mazar’s voice was muffled by the helmet but Hajeel was able to hear what she had said. He nervously rose to his feet and looked around the room. His eyes passed over Trillan’s lifeless remains, Nashana’s still body, Polly sliding her back down the wall until she sat shell shocked on the floor, Dantil shivering cold and throbbing in pain, Stark making himself comfortable on top of the white cube and Mazar as she removed her helmet whilst maintaining a steady gaze on him.

  ‘I know how observer technology works. I can remove any tracking devices on the ship. You’ll be free to take it anywhere you please.’ Polly could still feel Trillan’s blood on her face as though it had freshly landed, she could still taste the vomit in her mouth and on the far wall she could see a picture of Earth. It was an extraordinary picture of Earth, the gleaming emerald green lands stretching between the inviting blue seas, the sun was peering over the crest of the globe and the clouds drifting through the atmosphere reminded Polly of home.

  ‘I just want to go home.’ She muttered almost inaudibly. Sympathy and concern rose up in Hajeel as he cautiously approached Polly so as not to spook Mazar.

  ‘You can’t go home. An observer is dead, they will look for you on Earth and they will find you.’ Polly’s tears began to flow and they refused to stop.

  ‘I can’t go home?’

  ‘Well piss.’ Stark jumped to his feet and began to pace around the room considering Hajeel’s words. The room fell into contemplation with the only sound being Polly’s crying and the occasional quiet rustle of Stark scratching his chin. Polly began to laugh through the tears and no single person in the room was able to understand Polly’s emotions or her words as they stuttered out between gasps for air, crying wails and nervous laughter. Dantil looked to the other humans for help while Mazar cleared her throat and looked at Stark to avoid Dantil’s pleading looks. Stark splayed his hands and let out a confused sigh causing Dantil to consider all the human interactions he had seen.

  He anxiously edged towards her and knelt down beside her. He lightly placed a hand on her shoulder and studied her face.

  ‘It’s going to be fine. Adam has a plan. You are going to be fine.’ He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She sank into his arms and peered over his shoulder at Stark who was gesturing to Mazar that he did not have a plan. She began to collect herself and regain her stiff upper lip but wasn’t completely able to because when she spoke she could still feel a lump in her throat.

  ‘It’s bloody typical that I spend my life studying Earth and human culture only to be told I can’t go there again.’ She squeezed Dantil and thanked him before getting to her feet and using anger to control her sadness. She locked a fierce scowl on Hajeel.

  ‘Right, you. Help us fix this mess. Dantil needs to go home and see a doctor, and we need to go back to Earth.’ Hajeel took a few steps backward away from her burning gaze. He swallowed hard as he chose his words tentatively.

  ‘This can’t be fixed, there is no going back. From the moment Trillan took you from Earth you could never go back.’ />
  ‘Well what the frickety frack do we do?’ She replied.

  ‘Do what humans do. I haven’t been watching Earth as long as Trillan and Nashana; this year will only mark my one hundred and fifteenth year observing Earth. But what I know is that humans have an insatiable curiosity. The minute you find something you just have to know what it is and how it works. You have to explore the furthest reaches, there is nothing that in time humans won’t discover because of your drive to know everything and see everything. And I know that humans refuse to go down without a fight. Human civilization has been hit by plague after plague, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. And every time you mourn and you rebuild.’

  ‘One hundred and fifteen years? How old are you?’ Stark muttered.

  ‘Well that’s great observation and all but how does that help us out?’ The anger still raged in Polly and sense failed to come to her while Mazar easily followed Hajeel’s thinking.

  ‘He’s telling us to run. Explore space and survive.’ Stark’s hands balled into fists and he shook them around while jumping from one foot to the other in an agitated fashion.

  ‘Goh! I am super excited and also very torn about leaving Earth behind.’

  ‘Cool your jets space captain. How do we even know we can trust him?’ The excitement grew in Stark and his eyes widened while turning to Mazar.

  ‘Ahhhh!!! A Captain!! I’ll be a ship captain!!’ Mazar’s whole body seemed to sigh in regret and her lips pursed before she sauntered over to Stark, gripped his shoulder and let him drop to the ground under her grip.

  ‘Normally I’d be really mad about that but right now I’m very glad you did.’ Stark lay smiling on the ground while the two women continued to question Hajeel. Dantil meanwhile having seen how Mazar knocked Stark unconscious began to squeeze his own shoulder. The two women seemed to be growing taller as they stood over Hajeel and he became more and more nervous.

  ‘You can trust me because if I don’t help you my life is over.’ He noticed the moderate confusion on their faces and began to explain himself. ‘Well let’s say I don’t help you, here’s what happens. You take the ship and maybe you go to Earth maybe you go further into the galaxy but either way the tracking devices on the ship will mean you will be hunted down and killed. Meanwhile Trillan is dead and Nashana and I let you escape. I have no idea what will happen because I remember nothing before I came to this station. I have no idea how old I am, I have no clue which planet I’m from or what my race is called. I have no life and when they come to fix the problem you created they will take away all my memories of Earth at best. I don’t know who I am. And I’m tired of watching every other race explore the galaxy, experience life, while I watch…. I want to experience life.’ Polly looked at Hajeel in pity and smiled at him reassuringly whilst Mazar shook her head.

  ‘You want us to take you with us, don’t you?’ Hajeel couldn’t bring himself to look at Mazar for fear of her rejection so replied while meeting Polly’s eyes instead.

  ‘Yes, please.’ His good-natured eyes pleaded with Polly and to his surprise Mazar responded politely.

  ‘Make yourself as useful as you say you can be and you will have earned your place on the ship more than Stark.’ She holstered her gun and extended her hand to seal the deal. Stark mumbled to the floor as he re-entered consciousness.

  ‘I’m very useful. Whose plan did we just use?’ He sleepily hoisted himself up using the white cube as support. He blinked a few times to check he wasn’t seeing things as he watched Dantil repeatedly pinching himself, slightly altering the location each time. He shook his head gently and rubbed the side of it with his hand.

  ‘So, what is Hajeel bringing to the crew?’ After sheepishly accepting Mazar’s handshake he gleefully approached Stark.

  ‘I am going to remove the tracking devices from the ship.’

  ‘Yeah you said that bit before. Are you going to bring more clothes? One outfit will only last me so long.’ Hajeel excitedly skipped off leaving the four of them to take in the life that lay ahead of them.

  ‘Obviously I don’t plan to live in space forever. Now that the little man has gone we should discuss what we intend to do.’

  ‘Oh, thank God. Mazar I was beginning to think you were as daft as Adam.’

  ‘Hey. It is not daft to want to explore space. It’s human… That’s what the alien said…’

  ‘Well he’s a problem. We can’t leave him behind because he’s a good source of information and we can’t trust him because it’s his people that want us dead.’ Mazar tried to keep the conversation on track as she imagined it would not take Hajeel long to complete his task.

  ‘Operation Goldfire?’

  ‘No too many loose ends. Perhaps Operation Salt Stream would work with some minor reconfiguration.’

  ‘How do you even know about that?’ Mazar looked at Stark smugly before he continued. ‘It would just leave a trail to us for whoever filled the power vacuum.’ Polly watched the two agents as though they were tennis opponents while they threw seemingly random operation names to each other. They heard a clattering in the hall and Mazar quickly finished their discussion.

  ‘We will have to consider this some more. We are going back to Earth one way or another.’

  ‘Is this really happening?’ Neither Stark nor Mazar really knew how to respond to Polly’s question. It all seemed so surreal that they would have happily accepted that it was a dream. Dantil finally gave up trying to knock himself unconscious and determined his race must make him immune to that particular attack. He smiled approvingly and knelt on the floor before Hajeel reappeared. He trundled merrily into the room carrying a stack of clothing that toppled and revealed that he was also transporting two clear boxes packed full of the packets Stark had made himself so familiar with.

  ‘Did you just bring us each five more sets of the same outfit?’ Stark rifled through the fallen pillar of clothing on the floor and began sorting through and separating them into personalised piles.

  ‘Yes.’ Hajeel smiled proudly and put the boxes down beside the white cube. He then began to motion above the cube which created a light array of text to appear that none but Hajeel could decipher.

  ‘This jacket won’t fit me. Where’s my spare coat?’

  ‘That jacket is for Agent Mazar, hers is ripped. Humans don’t change their coat as much as their other garments.’ Stark pouted as he completed his task and handed out the piles of clothing. Mazar accepted the gift and began to head for the door.

  ‘Surely we should be moving a bit faster. So far this doesn’t seem like much of a getaway…’ Being a naturally happy person the anger quickly began to subside in Polly giving way to the frantic despair. She ran her fingers nervously through her hair and began to pace. Dantil’s little golden eyes followed her back and forth across the room. This was something he had seen her do before so he was thankful that he knew exactly what to do.

  ‘Come here.’ He spoke confidently and all three humans turned their eyes to him. They followed his gaze to Polly who suddenly felt very awkward as she received the stares.

  ‘No, I’m fine here.’ She smiled through a confused expression.

  ‘Come here please.’ Dantil stretched out his hand for her and she tentatively stepped towards him and accepted his hand. He pulled her down to the floor and sat with an arm hooked around her as he gently caressed her arm. Stark was impressed as he saw Polly melt into Dantil’s arms and rest her head on his shoulder. He discreetly gave a thumbs up to Dantil when Polly wasn’t looking.

  ‘Dantil you’re freezing cold.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Well is that normal for you?’

  ‘No.’ Polly tilted her head to look at his face. She studied his expression carefully.

  ‘Dantil, we really need to get you to a hospital, don’t we?’

  ‘I don’t know, I have never been this unwell before. I’m sure I will be fine though.’ Polly did not yet know Dantil well enough to recognise the
signs on his face when he was lying. Signs that Dantil too would not have recognised, he had never lied before. Dantil had never before felt he had a reason to lie.

  ‘I’m pretty sure I already said that maybe we could get a move on.’ Mazar said before Hajeel dramatically swiped across the cube, picked up the parcels of food and turned to her with a smile.

  ‘Let’s go. We can take shuttle three seven nine now. I still need to deactivate the on-board trackers but I can do that while we are setting off.’

  ‘She’s called The Asteria.’ Hajeel brimmed with excitement at Stark’s correction and positively bounced down the halls to the hangar.