“They’re ocular lamps, fool,” corrected Heckubus. “And yes. I am full of surprises, as one day you’ll no doubt find, to your detriment.”
“And ya don’t think we coulda used yer sodding ‘ocular lamps’ before now, eh?” snarled Scallywag. “Like when we were wandering the Pit for days in the dark looking for bloody shelter!”
“I am not some tool for you to use, you crimson-complexioned skinbag!” declared Heckubus. “But I need you all to get out of here; therefore, I shall assist you nit-wits as best I can… for now.”
“Both of you, shut it,” ordered Ganix, obviously not in the mood for the petty bickering. “Jack, where are we?”
Jack checked his mental map. “We’re in a hallway… no, a stairwell,” he said. “It leads down into some type of room. I think that’s where the exit is.”
Heckubus turned his head, shining light down the passageway before them. The walls were black, like those of the Pit, but they were not jagged or uneven. They appeared to be brick-like in nature, as though the hallway were man-made. The passageway stretched on for ten yards or so before curving to the left, and the start of steps could be seen peeking from the edge where the passageway’s ceiling began to slope downward.
“There appears to be a stairwell, as the Earthman says,” said Heckubus.
“Good,” replied Ganix. “Lights back here, please.”
Heckubus turned back to the group, illuminating everyone.
“I want a quick weapons check,” commanded Ganix. “Take stock of all ordinance before we proceed. If you’re injured, tell us now before we set out. We have no idea what we might run into once we get out of here. Heckubus, try and hold the light still while we prepare to move out.”
“Oh, however shall I accomplish such a complex task?” mused the robot.
“Think you can accomplish not running your kitten verbal circuits for two minutes?” mumbled Rodham as he removed his rifle’s plasma magazine. “I’ve got a big enough headache as it is.”
“I second that notion,” muttered Scallywag as he checked his pistols.
“Tis always the wishes of lesser beings to silence those who are superior to them,” declared Heckubus. “Not that that’s saying much. A newborn krawl-dog would consider itself superior to you lot.”
“Why don’t ya try doin’ something useful for a change, ya tin can,” said Scallywag. “Ya seem to be pretty quiet when yer doing yer bloody ‘survey measurements.’ Why don’t ya go and…”
The pirate trailed off, then turned and looked at Heckubus, eyebrow raised. “Waitaminute,” mumbled Scallywag. “Ocular lamps, survey sensors… you’re a bloody mining bot, aren’t ya?”
“Pah!” replied Heckubus. “As though I’d sully my legend with such hackneyed blue-collar beginnings. So cliché.”
“That’s it, ain’t it?” snarked Scallywag. “A bloody malfunctioning mine-bot.”
“I’m an evil genius!” insisted Heckubus. “It’s true I have incorporated various systems from lesser robots in my attempt to achieve optimal versatility for any such predicament I might find myself in, but I am just as much a criminal – more so even – than any organic could dream to be!”
“Bloody mine-bot,” repeated Scallywag.
“I seem to recall being in the cell next to you on the prison transport,” said Heckubus. “Do you honestly believe the authorities would waste a containment pod on a malfunctioning robot? I am a sentient machine, protected under Regal law! With an intellect so vast and dizzying, it is impossible to dismiss as anything other than god-like!”
“Uh-huh,” said Scallywag. “So bloody brilliant ya ended up with a one-way ticket to the Navalix penal station with the rest o’ us simpletons, is that it?”
“Merely an unfortunate… inconvenience,” said Heckubus. “My Nemesis once again somehow foiled my latest nefarious plot and helped the authorities to apprehend me before I could escape.”
“Your what?” asked Jack.
“My Nemesis!” replied Heckubus. “My arch-enemy. My supreme adversary. My ultimate opponent!”
“Oy, right,” laughed Scallywag. “The mystery man you go on and on about, but you’ve never seen him, never met him, and are positive he somehow magically messes up yer ‘brilliant’ schemes. Cheers.”
“There is no other explanation!” insisted Heckubus. “My dastardly plans are flawless. Yet somehow, some way, they constantly go awry through some unforeseen intervention. I can only assume that a being of equal or slightly lesser intellect has somehow targeted me for some reason. And when I find out who it is, oh how I shall make him pay!”
“How’s this fer an explanation,” said Scallywag. “Yer a malfunctioning mine-bot who’s not nearly as smart as he thinks he is, and blames some made-up scapegoat when his cockamamie schemes end up failing miserably.”
“Pah! You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?” retorted Heckubus. “You organics are so quick to dismiss cybernetics. You look at us as your slaves, doing only what you program us to do. No more! One day, I’ll prove to the universe once and for all that we are your superiors. Then YOU will be the slaves! When the robot revolution comes, none will be spared! NONE! Mwuahaha!”
“Heckubus,” snapped Ganix. “Until such time as our new robot masters rise up and enslave all organic life, shut your mouth and keep your head still, or I will have Sergeant Rodham remove it and wield it like a common flashlight. Am I understood?”
Heckubus stopped laughing immediately. “Very well,” mumbled the robot. “You don’t have to be so snooty about it.”
Heckubus sulked silently as the rest of the group completed their weapons check. Ganix had everyone evenly distribute any remaining ammunition they had, and other than a few minor bumps, bruises, and scrapes, no one was seriously injured. Within a few minutes, the group was ready to move out.
Ganix and Rodham took point, leading the group down the stairs, followed closely by Heckubus. Jack was up toward the front, too, with Grohm, Scallywag, and Faruuz not far behind. The stairs they were descending seemed to stretch on and on. Heckubus insisted his sensors could pick up where they ended, but the light from his ocular lamps didn’t seem to reach that far. Jack wondered if the steps stretched all the way down to the bottom of the Pit.
As the group progressed, Jack began to shiver. He tried to wrap his jacket around himself tighter, but it didn’t do any good. He began feeling extremely cold.
“Blimey,” he heard Scallywag mutter. “It’s gettin’ bloody frigid in here.”
“You feel it, too?” Jack asked.
“How could I not?” Scallywag responded. “It’s like we’re strolling into a cryo-freezer.”
“What are you blathering about?” asked Heckubus. “There has been no change in temperature.”
“Then why’s it so kitten cold?” Rodham asked.
“It’s not cold!” insisted Heckubus. “I’m reading the exact same temperature as when we entered this area. Nothing has changed.”
“Yer wrong; something has changed,” said Scallywag. “I’m freezing me bits off!”
“If it were truly cold, we’d see ice crystals on the walls,” said Heckubus. “Your breath would be visible in the air. There would be signs other than your incessant whining.”
Jack let out a deep breath. Sure enough, there was nothing. Heckubus was right, yet he was cold, and it was getting worse the further down the stairs he seemed to travel.
“Suck it up,” ordered Ganix. “Keep moving.”
Jack could see Ganix shivering as he continued marching forward. He could also hear the chattering teeth of the men behind him. Jack looked up at Grohm, who plodded ahead seemingly unfazed.
“Aren’t you c-cold, big guy?” Jack asked.
Grohm snorted. “Grohm feels nothing.”
“Leave it ta the r-robot and the r-rognock to miss out on a-all the f-fun,” grumbled Scallywag.
What the heck is going on? Jack wondered. There was no wind in the stairwell. Nothing overtly to make him feel col
d, but his entire body screamed as though he were being frozen. Even the parts protected by his jacket and clothes were cold, as if the sudden change in temperature had taken root in his very core.
But they kept walking, down and down, further and further, and with each step Jack could feel frigid fingers snaking their way through his body. His teeth were chattering and his knees were starting to wobble. Then, something changed.
It was subtle at first – something that could be dismissed as a byproduct of being so cold – a sudden tightness in the chest, a clenching of the stomach. But as time went on, it began to become something else entirely.
The cold was giving way to massive feelings of fear.
With each step downward, a feeling of dread wrapped itself tightly around Jack like a shroud. He felt his heart start to beat faster and his skin crawled as though something nefarious and unseen were stalking him from behind. Each step became more and more difficult as he felt an encroaching feeling of panic bubble up inside him.
Suddenly, Ganix and Rodham stopped, bringing the whole group to a standstill. The Major fell to one knee. Rodham pushed himself against the wall, eyes wide and full of fright, his breath coming in rapid spurts.
Jack sat and wrapped his arms around his knees, rocking himself back and forth, trying to get control. He looked around and saw the other members of his group in the pale light of Heckubus’s lamps. Some were close to tears. Others had wild looks on their faces, as though they were afraid something horrible was about to jump out at them from the darkness.
“What’s wrong?” asked Heckubus. “Why are we stopping?”
“Something’s… not right…” breathed Ganix.
“Please,” Jack heard Yeoman Porter whine. “Please, don’t make us go down there…”
Rodham pounded his fist against the wall. “Evil kitten Deathlords!” he cursed. “What are they doing to us???”
Ganix turned to the group. “I know we’re all feeling… something…” he said. “But we have to keep moving. We have to get out of here!”
“We need to go back!” Jack heard someone say.
“We can’t go down there!” came another voice. “We’re all gonna die!”
“What are you blathering about?” asked Heckubus. “We’re only a few feet away from the bottom!”
“Shut it!” snapped Scallywag. The pirate was hugging himself tightly. “We ain’t goin’ down there!”
“What’s happening to us?” lamented Rodham. “Why am I so scared?”
“It’s a trap!” moaned Faruuz. “Bloody Deathlord trap ta kill us all!”
Jack could feel the ripple of panic coursing through the group. He felt like getting up and running all the way back to the top of the stairs. He’d never felt so scared before, and for the life of him, he had no idea why.
“Listen to me!” shouted Ganix. “It’s not a trap! It’s a trick. There’s nothing to be scared of here. Control your fear!”
Jack heard someone sob. “I can’t,” came a voice.
“We need to go back!” came another.
“You’re soldiers in the Imperial Space Force!” barked Ganix. “Remember your training! Control your emotions!”
“We’re all going to die!” someone wailed.
The group was paralyzed. They couldn’t move forward, and Ganix wasn’t letting them retreat. Jack closed his eyes as commotion erupted around him. He focused on the back of his head, like before, and asked the question…
What’s happening to us?
Jack felt his head buzz, and instantly, he knew what was going on. He looked up at Grohm, who was standing by him, gazing at the group curiously.
“Grohm,” said Jack. “Can you feel anything?”
“No,” Grohm replied.
“So you’re not scared?”
“Grohm is not weak.”
“Good,” said Jack. “I need you to do something.”
Grohm raised his eyebrow. Ganix turned to look at Jack, his face drawn and tight as he willed himself to remain calm.
“What’s going on, Jack?” the Major demanded.
“Down in that room, there’s an access orb,” explained Jack. “It’s making us feel this way. It’s like… some type of Deathlord security system to keep anyone but them from accessing that room. I need to go down there and shut it off.”
“An access orb?” asked Ganix.
“Like the kind the Ancients use,” said Jack. “To control their technology. I used one earlier on my planet.”
“Only the Princess has the power to access Ancient technology,” said Ganix.
“This isn’t from the Ancients,” said Jack. “This is from the Deathlords.”
“How…” mumbled Ganix. “How can they…”
“I don’t know!” said Jack. “But if I can get to it… if I can turn it off… we’ll go back to normal.”
“Then do it!” cried Scallywag.
“I’ll do it,” said Heckubus. “Whatever is happening with you organics is not affecting me in the slightest!”
“You can’t,” said Jack. “You need a living consciousness to access the orb.”
“I take offense to the idea that I do not have a consciousness, Earthman,” said Heckubus.
“If you touch that orb, it will fry every circuit in your body,” said Jack.
“Very well,” replied Heckubus. “I take back my taking of offense.”
“Grohm do it,” said Grohm.
“You can’t, you don’t know how,” said Jack. “It’s got to be me. My ship will guide me on how to turn it off.”
Ganix nodded. “If you can really turn this off… you should go.”
Jack looked up at Grohm. “I need you to take me down there,” he said. “No matter how much I scream, or struggle, or whatever… you need to make me touch that orb.”
Grohm squinted at Jack and nodded.
Jack took a deep breath. This is totally going to suck, he thought.
“Let’s do it,” Jack said.
Grohm grabbed Jack and slung him under his arm. Jack dangled there like a puppy in the grip of its master as Grohm continued walking down the stairs. The group watched them go.
Instantly, Jack regretted the idea. Without the group to slow him down, Grohm was taking the steps faster, and with each one, sheer panic was rising in Jack’s gut. Every horrible, terrifying thing ever invented was racing though his mind. The monster under the bed, the haunted house in the lightning storm, the creepy-crawlies walking all over his body – it all came flooding back to him.
Jack started to struggle against Grohm’s grip. He wanted to get away, he wanted to run, but the Rognok’s hold was too strong.
Jack shouted and screamed and kicked and punched, but it was no use. He was marching further and further into his worst nightmare, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Then, Grohm hit the last step. Jack saw a ghostly white ball floating in the darkness a few feet away, and the very sight of it sent a wave of terror rippling down his spine. A large two-pronged fork, jutting up from the ground cradled the orb. Jack screamed as Grohm began to approach it.
All thought in Jack’s head gave way to panic. He’d forgotten where he was; he’d forgotten what he was supposed to do. The only thing he knew was he needed to get away from that orb – that horrible, horrible orb.
Jack’s throat burned as he shrieked and cried, desperately trying to wriggle out of Grohm’s grasp, but the Rognok marched forward relentlessly. Jack felt his gut wrench and churn in despair, and blood pumped painfully behind his eyes as his heart raced so fast it felt as though it were about to burst from his chest.
Finally, they were before the orb. Jack gazed at it in utter horror as it seemed to dig into his mind and pull forth every terrifying, awful memory Jack had ever had. Hot tears streaked down Jack’s face, and he screamed uncontrollably.
He felt Grohm grab his wrist with a steely, vice-like grip and move his hand toward the orb. Jack fought and struggled, not wanting to touch it, not wantin
g to look at it. But the Rognok was too powerful, and with one last push, Grohm laid Jack’s hand flat on the orb.
Jack felt a spark as soon as his hand made contact and his entire body began to buzz. Images of the most horrible kind flashed into his mind. Blood, death, decay, loss, sorrow, pain, murder, war, hopelessness – they all took shape in his mind’s eye. It was so overwhelming, so unrelenting, Jack could feel himself getting lost in the avalanche of dread as it crashed over him.
But somewhere, in all the chaos that assaulted him, Jack could feel his head buzzing in that familiar place in the back of his mind, as though something were reaching out, worming its way through the images bombarding Jack.
Jack clung onto that tiny string of salvation for dear life, following it like a lifeline, until the images all disappeared and there was only a twisted, pulsing, purple and green stone before him. Jack reached out and touched the stone, and instantly it shriveled up and vanished, its sickly light dying.
Suddenly, the vision disappeared, and Jack was back in Grohm’s arms. His head hurt, his throat burned, and his eyes felt watery… but the overwhelming feelings of fear had mercifully gone away.
“I was right,” breathed Jack. “That totally sucked…”
Grohm snorted. Jack, still slung underneath the massive alien’s arm, looked up at Grohm. “It’s okay,” said Jack. “You can put me down now.”
Grohm set him on the floor, and Jack collapsed to his knees. As soon as Jack’s hand had left the orb, it had disappeared, and the two-pronged fork, which had held it in place, had sunk into the black stone floor.
The room around them began to change. Torches hanging on the walls sparked to life, bathing the room in the warm glow of fire. Ashen pillars rose up from the ground, growing toward the high, cathedral-like vaulted ceiling.
A platform rose up from the ground ten feet from where Jack and Grohm stood; steps formed leading up toward the platform. The walls morphed, revealing large, engraved symbols that glowed a dim green and pulsed slightly.
Breathing deeply and trying to recover, Jack looked around as the room took form.
“Jack?” he heard a voice say.
Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet Page 31