A single robed Deathlord stood at the command chair, looking at it closely. His face was hidden behind a pale white mask, nondescript except for two eyeholes revealing a dim glowing red from behind them. Somehow, Jack knew just by looking at him that he was different from the others.
Then, in a flash of purple, Abraxas appeared on the bridge.
“Vicar General,” said Abraxas as he walked past Jack and approached the white-masked Deathlord. “The Supreme wishes news of your investigation. What have your Acolytes discovered?”
The Deathlord Vicar General turned slowly and faced him. “It is most curious, Warlord Abraxas,” the Deathlord intoned in a soft, almost monotone voice. “This ship is unlike any I have ever seen.”
“Is it of Ancient design?” Abraxas asked.
“Possibly,” replied the Vicar General. “But something about this vessel… troubles me.”
Abraxas tilted his head inquisitively. “How so?”
“Aside from the bridge and a hallway spanning the length of the ship, we have been unable to detect any of its systems or structure,” replied the Vicar General.
“What do you mean?” prodded Abraxas.
“I mean nothing exists on this ship,” the Vicar General replied. “It has no power source, no ventilation, no electronics, no engines, no shield generators, no weapon systems, nor any rooms or cabins. Other than the bridge we are standing in, this ship – for all intents and purposes – is a solid hunk of metal.”
“How can that be?” demanded Abraxas, asking the exact question Jack was thinking. “We saw it flying in the atmosphere of the planet. It engaged our fighters in combat, entered into hyperspace, and somehow has the ability to disappear and reappear out of nowhere.”
“And that, Warlord Abraxas, is what troubles me,” replied the Vicar General. “The systems on the bridge are active. Yet, they seem to control nothing. We know the infidels on the ship somehow escaped, yet we can find no exits of any sort.”
“What are you saying?” asked Abraxas.
“I would like to continue my investigation,” the Vicar General responded. “And be granted permission to interface the vessel with our mothership’s central computer.”
“Is that wise?” Abraxas growled. “Exposing the nerve system of the mothership could be… problematic.”
“I am aware of the risk,” stated the Vicar General. “But if this ship is indeed advanced technology from our ancient enemies, it may have safeguards in place to thwart us. Only the central computer would be powerful enough to purge the influence of the heretic god from this machine long enough to unlock its secrets.”
Abraxas glared at the Vicar General before turning to look at the other Deathlord Acolytes who poked and prodded around the bridge as he weighed the request.
“Very well,” he finally responded. “Interface with the central computer. Download everything you can. Rip this ship apart if you have to. The Supreme wants whatever technology our ancient enemy has locked away inside it.”
The Vicar General bowed. “As the Supreme commands, so shall it be done.”
“I will inform him of your progress,” said Abraxas, and with a curt nod, he teleported away.
Once Abraxas was gone, the Vicar General turned to one of his Acolytes.
“Interface the nodes,” he commanded. “Connect directly to the central computer.”
His Acolyte nodded and produced a smooth black rock from his robe. The rock pulsed with purple light before the Acolyte released it. It hovered in the air, cracks forming on its smooth surface.
Jack looked on with a mixture of curiosity and unease as the small rocky orb moved to the center of the bridge. Without warning, it ripped apart and its jagged pieces flew toward the ship’s exposed circuit panels and control stations.
Sparks flew as the pieces dug into the circuitry of the Ancient starship. Green laser light shot from all of them, converging in the spot the rock had flown to before separating, forming a pulsing green ball of energy veined with what looked like golden circuits.
“Nodes connected,” the Acolyte said. “Interfacing with the central computer… now.”
Suddenly, a loud screeching noise assaulted Jack’s ears. He clamped his hands over them, but the sound did not muffle. He looked up as he saw the green ball of energy begin to spin, and suddenly an avalanche of images assaulted his vision.
It wasn’t like it had been when he had accidentally accessed the Ancient terminal on Earth. This was foreign, relentless, and overwhelming. Jack’s brain buzzed with pain. He dropped to his knees as the ringing in his ears grew steadily louder. Jack struggled against the sudden sensory onslaught, screaming in defiance as his head felt like it were about to explode.
And then, Jack woke with a start.
He was back at the survivor camp in the Pit, sitting straight up, his back sore from sleeping on the unforgiving ground. He was breathing heavily, his brow wet with sweat, and his head was throbbing. He cradled it in his hands and tried to steady himself.
“Bad dreams, lad?”
Jack looked over and saw Scallywag sitting a few feet away. The pirate was gnawing on a thin strap of leather while he fiddled with one of his pistols, twirling it around in his hand.
“You have no idea,” Jack responded.
“Aye, get used to ‘em,” Scallywag responded. “Surprised you were able to sleep at all in here. Only one I’ve seen able to catch a decent forty winks is the bloody Rognok, lucky browner. Something about this place messes with yer head.”
Jack sighed and rubbed his temples. “How?” he asked. “How are the Deathlords able to do this? Rip people’s souls right out of their bodies? Mess with their minds? Slowly wear them down without even doing a thing?”
“They got some nice bloody toys, that’s how,” grumbled Scallywag.
“No,” said Jack. “This isn’t some type of technology doing this. This is something else. Something… weird.”
“Bah. It is what it is, and they do what they do. That’s all there is to it. Think about it any more and you’re jus’ hurtin’ yer brain,” said Scallywag.
“Maybe your meager brain,” piped up Heckubus from behind a nearby rock. “I’ve already postulated approximately 2,156 theories to all the Earthman’s inquiries.”
“I’ll postulate me foot up yer bum if ya keep lurkin’ about, ya rusty bucket o’ bolts,” growled Scallywag.
“Well, pardon me for trying to do something constructive with my time!” the robot shot back. “Not all of us are content to merely sit around, play with our guns, and excrete toxic fumes from our backsides all day long.”
“Guys, please,” said Jack, rubbing his temples. His companions’ bickering was doing nothing to alleviate his splitting headache.
“We’ll see how rosy you smell when I melt ya down for scrap,” said Scallywag, pointing one of his pistols at Heckubus.
“Pah!” growled the robot. “Instead of threating a clearly superior being, why don’t you try to do something useful, like getting off your lazy hind parts and finding us a way out of this sink-hole.”
“There ain’t no way out,” grumbled Scallywag. “We’ve been halfway around this Pit and there ain’t nothin’ but rock, rock, and more bloody rock. Face it, rust-bucket; yer gonna die here just like the rest o’ us.”
Suddenly, some images flashed before Jack’s eyes. They were wild, like they had been just after the Deathlord’s activated their nodes with the Earthship, but somehow Jack understood them.
And they were telling him exactly what he wanted to know.
“Whoa,” said Jack, his eyes wide with surprise.
Heckubus and Scallywag both looked at him.
“What is it, lad?” asked Scallywag.
“Are you preparing to release toxic fumes as well?” asked the robot.
“No,” smiled Jack. “But I am preparing to get the heck out of this Pit.”
Jack got to his feet and looked at his companions triumphantly.
“I just found a way o
ut of here,” he said, before sprinting off toward the rest of the camp.
Scallywag and Heckubus shared a rare moment of calm as they glanced at one another before scrambling after Jack.
The rest of the camp had gathered together near Doc Pyle’s old make-shift infirmary, huddled miserably around a couple of quickly dwindling campfires.
As Jack ran up he found the Major grouped with some of his other soldiers, including Sergeant Rodham and Yeoman Porter. They were all taking stock of the ammo they had left, counting out energy cells for their rifles and a couple of thermal grenades when Jack came running up.
“Major!” exclaimed Jack. “Major!”
“What is it, kid?” asked Ganix, not looking up from his ammo count.
“I’ve found a way out of here,” said Jack excitedly.
Instantly, every soldier stopped what he was doing and turned to Jack, eyes wide. Ganix shot to his feet.
“What? Where?” he asked.
“On the far side of the Pit,” said Jack. “A couple miles around to the west of here. There’s an exit.”
“The far side of the Pit?” Major Ganix repeated. “How would you know there’s an exit there?”
“Just trust me!” said Jack. “It’s there! I swear!”
Ganix exchanged a look with Rodham as Scallywag and Heckubus approached the group.
“Do you know anything about this exit he’s talking about?” Ganix asked Scallywag.
The pirate shrugged. “The lad just woke up and started saying he knew a way out.”
Ganix sighed. “You were dreaming, kid,” he said as he knelt back to his ammunition count.
Jack saw the other soldiers sullenly go back to their current duties of being miserable, but he wasn’t about to let this go – not when he knew he was right.
“Your mission,” said Jack. “Your secret mission was to protect Anna while she was on my planet looking for an Ancient artifact you could use to fight the Deathlords.”
“What of it?” asked Ganix.
“Well, she found it,” said Jack.
Ganix looked up at Jack. His pale eyes were tired, but patient, as well. “Did she, now?” he replied.
“It was a spaceship,” explained Jack. “One built a long time ago by the Ancients. But it’s super-advanced. Like, so advanced even the Deathlords can’t figure it out. That’s what we used to escape Earth before it was destroyed.”
Ganix nodded. “Okay…” he said. “What does this have to do with getting out of here?”
“Here’s the thing,” said Jack. “Even though the spaceship was built by the Ancients, it’s attuned to people from Earth, so the only people who can operate it are Earthmen. I was the one who had to fly it, and while I was doing that, I noticed that it developed a kind-of… well, mental connection with me.”
“You telling me you mind-merged with a kitten spaceship?” muttered Sergeant Rodham.
“Look, I know it sounds crazy–” said Jack.
“That’s putting it mildly,” muttered Heckubus.
“But I’m telling you, the ship could read my thoughts,” said Jack. “It changed itself to make it easier for me to fly it.”
“Get to the point, son,” said Ganix.
“I’m saying, I think that mental link is still active. While I was sleeping, I had a dream I was on the bridge of the ship – but it wasn’t like a normal dream. It was like I was really there. I think the ship was sending me images of what was actually happening on it.”
“And what was happening?” asked Scallywag.
“The Deathlords, they were trying to interface the ship’s computer with their mothership,” said Jack. “They wanted to access the ship’s secrets. But I don’t think it worked. I think, instead, the Earthship got access to the Deathlord’s computer. And now, it’s telling me exactly what I need to know to get out of here.”
“Sounds like a kitten-ton of koo-koo to me,” grumbled Rodham.
“Is it?” piped up Porter. “I mean, who’d have thought portgates were real until they were discovered? Or hyperspace? Or any of the other technology we got from the Ancients? Is it so hard to believe that maybe they found a way to interface thought and technology together?”
Ganix pondered Porter’s comment for a second before looking at Jack. “Let’s say, for the moment, I believe you, Earthman. What is this ship telling you?”
“It’s telling me that we’re still on the Deathlord mothership,” said Jack. “The Pit, the whole thing, is like the ship’s core.”
“The ship’s core?” laughed Rodham. “Why the blazes would they dump us into the core of their ship?”
“Fuel,” said Jack. “That giant pillar of light out there? That’s the ship’s power source. It runs on the energy of living things.”
An uneasy look passed among the group.
“From what I can tell, the ship is designed to suck all the life energy out of a planet before it hits the planet’s core, causing it to explode,” explained Jack. “In addition, any life-forms that are thrown in here are meant to add their life force to it eventually, to help it grow.”
“Are ya saying when we die in here, our ‘life energy’ is added to that pillar?” growled Scallywag, obviously not liking that notion.
“Exactly,” said Jack. “But this place, it’s designed to break down our physical forms so it can weaken our life energy enough for it to be absorbed. That’s why we’re getting sick. Everything around us is trying to break us down on some level, to weaken our will enough to allow our life energy to be stolen.”
“Ah-ha!” said Heckubus. “So theory 298 was right after all! I knew it!”
“Don’t even pretend ya had an idea of what was goin’ on,” said Scallywag.
“It was one of my many theories,” rebuked Heckubus. “I just didn’t have any empirical evidence to back it up. But if what the Earthman says is true, then it all makes perfect sense. The sickness and zombification could come from prolonged exposure to radiation from the glowing veins in the rock, deteriorating organic tissue enough to harvest the electrical forces of life within you organic simpletons.”
“So the Deathlords run their ships on people,” muttered Rodham. “That’s just kitten great.”
“But don’t you see?” said Jack. “We’re still on the ship! The same ship Anna and Shepherd are on. The same ship my spaceship is on!”
Ganix raised his eyebrow. “That means if we can escape the Pit, and get to the Princess…”
“Then I can fly us out of here,” said Jack.
The other soldiers got to their feet, an excitement beginning to stir within them.
“You sure about this exit, kid?” asked Ganix.
“Positive,” replied Jack.
“And what if he’s wrong?” asked Rodham. “What if this Earthman’s just crazy, and he’s making this all up?”
“Then we’re no worse off than we were before,” said Scallywag. “We might be dead a tad quicker, but it’s not like we got many prospects sitting around this bloody cave waiting for the next attack.”
“The pirate’s right,” said Ganix. “If we’re gonna die, we die advancing. Not stuck here like rats in a box.” Ganix turned to his men. “Gather your things. Bring as much ammo, food, and water as you can find. We’ll head out in one hour.”
The men jumped to, getting ready to head out. For the first time since Jack had arrived, he got the sense that there was some hope that they might just live through this huge ordeal after all.
Ganix looked down at Jack. “I’m putting all our lives in your hands, Earthman,” he said. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Me, too, thought Jack.
Chapter 24
Shepherd and Green strode down the long curved hallway cautiously. The sterile metal of the walls stretched out for what seemed like an enormous distance, peppered with doors leading to places they could only guess at. At that moment, though, Shepherd was more concerned with what might emerge from those doors rather than what lay behind them
.
After teleporting further into the mothership, it seemed to Shepherd that they’d done little more than run and hide. Though their hologuises gave them some cover, if the two allowed any Deathlord to get too close, the chances of them being discovered were just too great. If a Dark Soldier happened to emerge from a room too close to them, their gooses would be cooked.
As if that weren’t bad enough, they were also hopelessly and completely lost. Without any frame of reference, it seemed as though they may have been walking in circles a great deal of the time. Though the mothership appeared big from the outside, walking around on the inside made it clear just how massive the vessel truly was.
The corridors the two found themselves in seemed to stretch on endlessly, with curves and intersections at odd places, and hallways that would frequently dead-end for no apparent reason. The duo had gotten turned around many times, since there were no real visual markings pointing out where they were headed or what the rooms contained.
Also, more than once the two had seen groups of Deathlord soldiers coming down the corridor they were in and, in an effort to avoid being seen, had quickly had to take a turn down a different hallway or to move into a room not knowing what it held.
Luckily for them, they had been correct in assuming security on the ship would be light. It was obvious the Deathlords had never had to deal with an incursion within their own ship and had not been expecting it. Even if they had been prepared, could a ship this massive, Shepherd wondered, even be staffed with enough Deathlords to sufficiently cover it?
Many of the rooms they entered were empty and seemed to serve no purpose, not even as storage. Very rarely did they see any Deathlords who were on their own. They always seemed to travel the ship in groups, and even then, they did not see that many. Green theorized that they used teleportation to traverse their massive mothership, and after a few hours of walking through its long, winding hallways, Shepherd agreed that was probably the case.
Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet Page 26