First Encounter

by Jasper T. Scott

  “Stay sharp,” Clayton said, walking by Devon and starting down the corridor to the cryo chamber. Before they’d even taken a dozen steps they found the problem with the lights. All of the power conduits in the ceiling had been torn open.

  “How the hell didn’t she electrocute herself?” Clayton wondered aloud.

  “Maybe she found the control box and turned off the power there first?”

  “Maybe,” Clayton agreed. “Stay close.” As he crept down the hall, dust bunnies danced through the cone of his tac light. He swept his rifle around, checking alcoves and the entrances to the various storage and control rooms.

  Swish.

  They all froze. Just up ahead, the access door to the cryo belts was open, providing direct access to the space between the inner and outer hulls where the cryo pods were stored. The door slid shut after just a few seconds. Three tac lights converged, chasing the shadows away.

  No sign of Keera.

  “She must have just gone in,” Devon whispered.

  “Stay alert,” Clayton added as he began inching toward the door.

  One foot in front of the other, his breath hitching in his throat, pulse pounding in his ears...

  Adrenaline sparked in Clayton’s fingertips as he flexed clammy hands around the energy rifle.

  “Everyone is set to stun, right?” Lori whispered sharply.

  “Can it,” Clayton snapped. They’d better be, he thought. SpaceComm would have his head if he didn’t bring Keera back alive.

  They reached the access door and fanned out, their rifles and tac lights converging on the door.

  Clayton took a second to steady himself before triggering the door. “Brace for contact,” he breathed.

  But before he could do anything, all of their tac lights flickered and died. Even the glowing interface on Clayton’s ARCs vanished.

  “What the—” Delta’s voice cut off in a guttural scream. Clayton whirled toward the sound, perfectly blinded. He snapped off a shot anyway. Guessing where their attacker might be.

  A brief muzzle flash illuminated something short and crouching with jagged claws flashing. Clayton couldn’t see her face, but Keera was the only one on the entire ship who was that short. Delta stumbled away from her and then the light vanished, and Clayton’s stun round plinked off the side of the corridor. A hissing snarl faded into swiftly retreating footsteps. Clayton gave chase, blindly snapping off two more stun rounds. By some miracle, one of them hit the scrambling black silhouette running ahead of him, illuminating Keera briefly with an electric flash of light. It was her all right. But instead of those stun rods burying in her skin and shocking her into submission, they bounced off, and she raced on down the corridor. Then came the tortured scream of metal shearing. Clayton’s footsteps slowed, and the tac light under his rifle flickered back on.

  He found himself staring at the ruined grating of the cover to the maintenance tunnels. She’d gone back in.

  Heavy footsteps caught up to him, more tac lights appeared bobbing over the bulkheads and deck.

  Clayton noticed that Delta was bleeding, the entire left side of his uniform torn open across his ribs with five parallel gashes.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Just a scratch, sir.”

  Clayton looked to Dr. Stevens for confirmation. “He’s losing blood, but they’re superficial wounds. We should get him to sickbay.”

  Clayton nodded absently, his eyes straying back to the shredded cover of the maintenance tunnels. “Do we have time to wake reinforcements first?”

  “Not recommended, sir. He could pass out if we don’t stop the bleeding soon.”

  Clayton swallowed a sigh. “Then let’s make it fast. On me.”

  “What happened back there?” Devon asked as he led the way back to the elevators. “All of our lights died at the same time.”

  “Not just our lights, Lieutenant. All of our equipment. Anything electrical, even our ARCs.”

  “That might explain how she’s able to tear open electrical conduits without getting shocked,” Dr. Stevens said.

  “But how can she do that?” Devon asked. She glanced back at Keera’s parents for the answer.

  “I’ve never seen her do that before,” Lori said.

  “Maybe she’s been hiding her abilities,” Morgan put in.

  Clayton shook his head and turned to regard them as he entered the nearest elevator. “Her abilities? She’s not superhuman.”

  But the silence that answered him was proof that everyone else thought otherwise.

  As the elevator dropped down to sickbay, Clayton considered it. There were handheld EMPs on board that could cause a brief electrical failure. If Keera had somehow gotten her hands on one, it would explain what had just happened.

  That has to be it, he decided. But there was something else he hadn’t mentioned to anyone: one of his stun rounds had hit Keera, and it had bounced right off.

  Chapter 30

  Devon stood watching the entrance to sickbay while Dr. Stevens patched Delta up. Fortunately, there were no other entrances, and the maintenance tunnels didn’t come out inside of sickbay. Knowing that put Clayton at ease, but at this point, maybe it shouldn’t have. What would Keera do next? For all they knew she’d gone back up to the bridge. At least all of the control stations were restricted access.

  “Stop squirming,” Dr. Stevens said.

  Delta scowled as Stevens threaded his needle for the hundredth time. He’d anesthetized the area, but it was taking a long time to stitch him up. Five gashes, each over a foot long, and wide enough that Clayton could see glistening white bone peeking through underneath.

  “Can’t you just spray them and be done with it?” Delta asked.

  “No. The gashes are too wide.”

  “It would seal them.”

  “And you’d end up with scars as thick as snakes. Now stop moving or this it going to take all day.”

  Clayton turned away. His eyes fell on Morgan and Lori, both standing on opposite sides of sickbay—Morgan with his arms crossed over his chest, Lori looking pale and distraught. They were at odds over Keera. A mother’s love was unconditional, but Morgan had always been wary where Keera was concerned.

  At this point, they all had reason to be. Clayton walked up beside Devon. She glanced at him. “Sir.”

  “Lieutenant,” he replied, acknowledging her back. Dropping his voice to a whisper, he said, “We might have a problem.”

  “Beside the obvious?”

  “Besides that.”

  “What problem?” Morgan asked in a loud voice as he came over. Clayton scowled at him. Lori approached next, her eyes darting warily between them.

  Clayton had been hoping to keep this between him and Devon, but now he had everyone’s attention. But maybe Keera’s parents deserved to know.

  “I shot her.”

  Lori’s eyes flew wide. “You what?”

  “Just a stun round, but it was point blank. It hit her square between the shoulders.”

  “And?” Devon asked, her coppery eyebrows raised.

  “It bounced off.”

  “What do you mean it bounced off?” Delta asked from the examination table.

  Morgan snorted and shook his head. “Great.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t a direct hit,” Devon suggested. “If the stun rods hit at an angle, they wouldn’t dig in.”

  “They could have hit bone, too,” Lori pointed out. Her spine is thicker and more prominent than a human’s.”

  Clayton nodded. “You’re right. Those are all possibilities.” And they made a lot more sense than the alternative. “Has she ever been hurt?” he asked, nodding to Lori.

  “Yes... of course. She fell down lots of times when she was learning to walk.”

  “She’s never bled,” Morgan said, shaking his head. “Her skin might be thicker and tougher than ours.”

  “Then why does it look transparent?” Lori challenged.

  “Because she’s a freak!”

 
“All right, settle down,” Clayton said. “Let’s all just be aware that it could take more than one round to bring her down.”

  “If you shoot her with more than one, you could stop her heart,” Lori objected.

  “It’s a risk, yes,” Clayton admitted.

  “Captain—”

  He turned to Devon and saw her ARCs bright and flickering with imagery. “What is it, Lieutenant?”

  “We finally got a hit from the surveillance system.”

  “Where?”

  “Level twenty-five. Walking down the corridor as we speak.”

  “Lock it down.”

  “Done. She’s trapped between two bulkheads, sir.”

  “No maintenance tunnels in that section?” Clayton asked.

  “None.”

  “Thank God,” he breathed, his shoulders rounding as the air left his lungs and the tension left his muscles.

  “What’s on that level?” Lori asked.

  “Escape pods,” Clayton replied.

  “That’s it?” Morgan added.

  “That’s also where the auxiliary armory is,” Delta added.

  “Are there any other doors around her?”

  “Aye, to the escape pods and the armory. I’ve locked them, too, but there are manual overrides on all of the doors, including the bulkheads.”

  “We’d better get down there before she finds a way into the armory and blows the whole ship up,” Delta said.

  “Lie down!” Dr. Stevens snapped. “You’re going to tear open your stitches!”

  “It’s good enough, Doc.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  “He’s right,” Clayton said. “Stay here with Stevens. The rest of us will go.”

  “Dr. Reed and the Ambassador should stay as well, sir,” Devon said. “Unarmed civilians are a distraction and a liability.”

  Clayton considered it. “No, we need Lori. She might be able to help, but Morgan can stay.”

  “Without a gun?” he asked, his voice pitching high with fear.

  “Delta has one,” Clayton replied as he waved the door open and started out. “Keep the door locked and you’ll be fine. She can’t claw her way through an inch of reinforced alloy.”

  Devon and Lori followed him out.

  “But—” The door swished shut on Morgan’s objections, and Clayton took off at a run. “Double time! We need to make sure she doesn’t get away again.”

  “Let me speak with her before you start shooting,” Lori said.

  “You’re assuming she wants to talk,” Devon said.

  “We’ll do everything we can to avoid a violent confrontation,” Clayton reassured her. What he didn’t mention was that if stun rounds didn’t work, they were going to have to set their rifles to kill. He wasn’t going to let any one else die on his watch.

  Chapter 31

  “Where is she now?” Clayton whispered.

  All three of them stood in front of the sealed bulkhead to the section where Keera was trapped.

  “Surveillance lost her, sir. I don’t know. I have to check the records. Give me a few minutes.”

  Clayton shook his head. “We don’t have a few minutes. She could be in the armory right now. Ready up.”

  “Ready, sir.”

  “Stay back, Lori,” he added, glancing over his shoulder at her.

  She gave no reply, her eyes wide and staring at the door.

  “Power’s still on.”

  “Maybe she got tired of skulking around.”

  “Or maybe she’s waiting for us to open the door before she drops the lights. Stay sharp.”

  Clayton reached for the control panel beside the doors rather than using his ARCs to open them. That way Devon would have some warning.

  As soon as he triggered the doors, he took a quick step back and snapped his rifle up.

  The corridor was empty.

  “Looks clear,” Devon whispered.

  Clayton pointed to his eyes and then to one of the escape pod hatches. The control panel was glowing red, which meant that pod was occupied.

  He led the way into the sealed corridor, walking slow to keep his mag boots from clanking on the deck.

  They reached the hatch to pod 216, the number glowing red on the hatch. There was a tiny circular window in the inner hatch and a matching viewport in the rear hatch of the pod itself. Clayton caught a glimpse of a small bony white creature curled up on one of the acceleration chairs—just one bony white arm peeking out, and her snake-like ear canals poking above the headrest. Clayton’s hand flashed out to the control panel, and he locked the inner doors with his personal access code. Heavy locking bolts slid into place with a loud thunk and Keera jumped out of her chair. Bright red eyes met his, widening in horror.

  “What are you doing!” Lori cried.

  She probably thought he was launching the pod.

  “Relax. I’m just containing the threat.” He got on the comms. “Delta, Cross here. Threat neutralized. We’ve contained her in one of the escape pods.”

  “Aye, sir...” Delta said through a sigh.

  “We should just launch her into space,” Morgan growled.

  “Who gave him a comm piece?” Clayton demanded.

  “He took one from an equipment locker,” Dr. Stevens replied.

  “Great,” Clayton muttered.

  “Should we come down?” Delta asked.

  “I’m not done,” Stevens objected.

  “Stay where you are,” Clayton said. “She’s not going to get away again.”

  “Copy...” Delta sounded disappointed. Maybe he’d been hoping for his pound of flesh to replace the one Keera had sliced out of him.

  “We’ll see you soon. Cross out.”

  “Now what?” Lori demanded, her eyes hard and glaring, arms crossed over her chest. “You can’t leave her in there forever.”

  A flicker of movement and a muffled thumping sound drew Clayton’s attention to the hatch. Keera was crying and smacking on her side of the windows with both palms, her voice muffled.

  “We won’t. Once we’ve woken up some of the others, we’ll open it up and stun her, and then we’ll put her in cryo.”

  “We should just do it now and get it over with,” Devon replied. “There’s two of us and just one of her.”

  Clayton considered that. “I shot her once already and that didn’t work. And Lori’s right, if we shoot her with multiple stun bolts, we could kill her. We want to avoid that at all costs.”

  “Let me talk to her,” Lori insisted. “Who’s to say that stun rounds will work on her at all? But I can get her to listen to me.”

  Clayton hesitated.

  “Lock me in this section with her if you’re that scared!”

  “She could kill you,” Devon said.

  “She wouldn’t intentionally hurt me.”

  “That’s not what Ambassador Morgan said.”

  “He’s an idiot. Trust me. I know Keera better than anyone.”

  Clayton chewed his lip. “We need her restrained.”

  “The armory is right here!” Lori said, turning to indicate the door. “Get me cuffs and I’ll put them on her.”

  Clayton took a shaky breath. “Okay.”

  “Sir—” Devon objected with a sharp look.

  “She’s right, Lieutenant. This is a good plan, and it might just prevent further loss of life. Keera’s included.”

  “Thank you,” Lori said, her eyes sparkling with tears.

  He nodded stiffly to her and went to the armory. After a brief search of the lockers and weapons racks inside, he found two sets of stuncuffs with smart locks. He grabbed a stun collar for good measure and then returned to the escape pod’s hatch. Lori and Keera were communicating through the windows with their eyes, both pressing their palms and faces to the viewports.

  “Here,” Clayton said, nudging Lori’s shoulder.

  She turned with tear-streaked cheeks and stared at the items in his hand.

  “Stuncuffs? A collar? She’s not a
n animal, Captain!”

  “She’s dangerous, Lori. Even you have to admit that. I need you to cuff her hands behind her back, cuff her ankles, and put the collar on. That’s the only way this is going to work. They won’t shock her unless she tries to tamper with them.”

  “She’s a child! Of course she’s going to try to take them off.”

  “So tell her not to.”

  Lori held his gaze for a long moment, glaring.

  “I’m sorry, Dr. Reed. It’s the only way.”

  She cracked a bitter smile. “Back to last names are we. I thought we were friends, Captain.”

  “We are. Get it done, Lori. We’ll be waiting on the other side of the doors.”

  Chapter 32

  Keera fell out of the escape pod, sobbing. Lori caught her.

  “Shhh, it’s okay.”

  “I didn’t do it, Mommy.”

  Lori nodded and smiled, kissing the top of her daughter’s head. “I believe you.” But she didn’t.

  “Are they going to make me sleep?”

  “Yes.”

  Keera withdrew sharply, her eyes flashing with terror. She stumbled back a step, shaking her head. “Don’t let them.”

  Fresh tears ran hotly down Lori’s cheeks as she held out the stuncuffs. “I need you to put these on, honey. Can you please turn around for Mommy?”

  Keera’s eyes darted, looking for an escape.

  “It’s the only way, sweetheart. I promise I won’t let them hurt you.”

  Keera’s face fell and her eyes grew dull. “You don’t believe me.”

  “Of course I do, honey.”

  But Keera had always been strangely intuitive. As she slowly turned around, something inside of Lori broke, and her eyes ran like rivers.

  Lori reached for Keera’s hands. They were stained red and crusted with blood, and the sleeves of her plain black jumpsuit were stiff with dried blood.

  Lori cuffed Keera’s hands behind her back, then did the same with her ankles, and finally placed the collar around her neck.

  “Now we can go.”

  Keera began rolling her shoulders and straining against the stuncuffs. An electric pop and crackle sounded and a scream tore from her lips. “Don’t do that, honey,” Lori said. “Don’t struggle.”