Godeena: SF Novel

by Stjepan Cobets

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  She tried to calm down by releasing some air from her lungs loudly. “Well, actually no. I listened to what Diana said about the Being.”

  Two lightning strikes cut up the dome which enclosed them. Keniko’s fear was justified, but if Diana had survived because of the suit, then she should be safe. “Don’t worry; you’ve got the suit. The Being can’t see you and it isn’t able to get to us anyway.”

  When Henry opened the door, the loud noise of the wind and thunder filled the interior of the soundproofed transporter. He leaned his head out and noticed that the box was a couple of meters further ahead. “Keniko, let’s go! I don’t want to stay a moment longer than is necessary.”

  Keniko unwillingly got up and stood at his side. “What should I do?”

  “First, take the energy gun and drag the box nearer to the transporter. Vandor and I will lift it inside.”

  She nodded and jumped onto the loose sand, sinking a couple of inches into it, and then she moved to the box. While she was walking away, Vandor asked Berry, “How was it to work for Tantras?”

  “Like work anywhere. Work is work.”

  “It isn’t obvious to me how you got taken to Hades, anyway?”

  Berry’s face into a frown as she recalled the reason he ended up in jail. “Kill two hundred passengers on a passenger ship, and you get a first-class ticket to Hades.”

  Vandor nodded and murmured, “Is not bad, not bad at all, Berry.”

  You bet I am sure. Berry roughly rubbed his hand pilot control and firm squeezes with his hands. “That ship shouldn’t have been there; that’s why I crashed into it. It broke down at that pier because of its blasted motor, but still, I’m not sure that it was only there by chance.”

  “So you think that somebody set it up?”

  Berry glared at him and hissed through his teeth, “I’m convinced that Tantras was behind it.”

  Vandor waved rejecting his statements and not paying attention to his anger in his voice, said, “Why would he bother setting up a pilot, no matter how charming he was?”

  Vandor you’re an asshole. “I’m not there some pilot. I was his personal pilot.”

  “Now I don’t understand anything anymore. Why do you think he set it up?” Vandor asked, scratching his chin.

  Berry sighed, remembering some details. “Very probably he discovered that I had an affair with his daughter.”

  Vandor by significant views Barry, he doesn’t believe him for a moment in what he says. “You have an affair with Lania? You’re lying!” Then he shook his hand because it was impossible. “She wouldn’t look at you.”

  “You’re wrong. We were lovers.”

  “I don’t believe you were with the most charming woman in the whole quadrant.” He waved his hand and smiled mischievously.

  Berry took out a small photo from his wallet and handed it to Vandor. “Here you are, read the back and see what she says.”

  While he was reading it, Keniko shouted loudly from outside, laboring with the box, “Ass! What are you reading now? I need your help, and you are fucking around!”

  Henry jumped out of the transporter and Vandor followed him, throwing the photo back to Berry and turning his head; he had already read the inscription. We quickly threw the packed box on board and closed the door of the transporter.

  Keniko took off her helmet and wiped off her sweat. “What is in that box? It’s as heavy as lead.”

  Henry saw a good number of little aluminum cylinders with the inscription Storm Transmitters. “Berry is this, what you asked for?”

  “Wow, I see that they didn’t spare any effort! There are more than fifty. You’re better off not asking their price.”

  “I’m not interested in it. Luckily here are Vandor and Endy’s suits.” Henry threw the suits to them. “Put them on. We have to find our other boxes or the transporter. Vandor, you’ll help Keniko.”

  He laughed at me and looked towards Keniko, who whipped him with her sharp look. “Aye aye, Sir,” he said.

  “Vandor, I was dying to drag that box while you were mocking Berry.”

  “Don’t be angry with me, love.”

  “You’re smarter when you shut up! Can’t you see that I don’t need your love? What I need is your strength. Don’t try to bullshit me with this outburst of tenderness.”

  Vandor frowned and angrily started to put on his suit. “I’ve always known you were a bitch and a lesbi…”

  Henry interrupted their discussion, “I mean that is enough of you two! Vandor put on that suit and take your seat.”

  Henry had a strong feeling that the Being was causing this neurosis; he was tense as a bowstring too. He knew that they had to pick up the equipment as soon as possible and get out of the storm, so he closed the door hurriedly – it easily glided into its groove – and again silence prevailed in the transporter. Henry waited for Vandor to put on his suit and take a seat, and then he sat down by Berry and issued him a command. “Proceed slowly in the same direction. I think the fallen transporter isn’t that far.”

  First, they caught sight of a couple of scattered boxes and then the transporter. As Mark had said, it was awfully close to the brim of the crater. The front part of it was driven deeply into the sand at a sharp angle. The unloading door had been pulled off its hinges. He pointed to Berry where to land and then he turned to Keniko and Vandor. “First bring back the boxes lying outside the transporter and then we’ll go into it to get the rest of the equipment. In the case of anything unpredictable, get back to our transporter. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, Sir!” they responded synchronously.

  While they were adjusting their helmets, Henry opened the door and shouted over the strength of the storm’s noise, “Vandor! Find the box with my equipment, and then I might be able to help you!”

  Vandor threw the rifle on his shoulder and jumped from the transporter. He surprised Henry when he lifted his visor and looked around. After he had looked at the boxes, he concluded confidently, “I think I can see it. It’s at the very edge of the dome.”

  Henry leaned out and looked through the door. “It should be that one – it is different from all the others.”

  Keniko threw her rifle on her back. “It’s much too close to the storm wall. It would be better if Berry moves the transporter a couple of meters.”

  “That won’t be a problem.” Henry turned to Berry, who was checking something on the control panel. “Berry, give us five meters more to the right!”

  But Vandor shouted, “There is no need to move the transporter! Keniko, if you’re afraid don’t go to fetch it.”

  Keniko thrust her left hand across the right one to show him what she thought of him. “Vandor, you really are a shithead.”

  Now he bowed to her and added, laughing, “I like it when you’re such a bitch. It’s a pity that you don’t love men otherwise we would be a perfect couple.”

  “Yes, for a boxing match!” responded Keniko, snorting to herself.

  “Well then, Vandor, shall we move or not?” Henry asked.

  “There’ll be no need. I’ll drag the box myself.”

  Henry shook his head. “I don’t wish to test the Being. Put down your visor!”

  He grinned and added, “I believe in Brain, it can’t cross the protective brim.”

  “Ok Vandor, as you wish! Though I think it isn’t wise to do that.”

  But Vandor had already moved towards the box, and Keniko was looking at me worriedly. “You’re letting him be a hero. What’s the matter with you men? You only want to prove yourselves.”

  “If it can’t be otherwise, let him learn the hard way.”

  “The lunatic might be killed.”

  “I don’t think that’ll happen.”

  “How do you know?”

  “If the Being had been able to kill us we would have been dead long ago.”

  “That’s true.”

&nb
sp; “But he won’t like his prey getting only a meter or two from him. That’s for sure.”

  “Regardless of all that, I must admit that Vandor has got balls.”

  Henry laughed. “An imposing specimen, but to not put the visor down… eh, that’s madness!”

  As Vandor got closer to the box, the storm became louder and louder. He couldn’t hear his own thoughts, but the feeling which squeezed his stomach was much worse. He knew that fear could be a huge problem, but that it is a greater problem if you aren’t able to overcome it, for it might overpower you completely. However, he only grinned and continued walking towards the box.

  At the moment he caught the handle of the box the storm silenced completely, and he raised his eyes. Two meters beyond the brim the boy had materialized, and Vandor suddenly took the energy rifle off his shoulder.

  “Don’t you fuck with me? Who the fuck, do you think you are?”

  The boy watched him carefully for a couple of seconds, his eyes black as night. He turned his head left and right and addressed Vandor in an icy voice. “You are bad!”

  Vandor only grinned. “And you aren’t?”

  “You are very bad!”

  “Fuck you and your babbling!” Vandor grabbed the box, laid his rifle on it and began dragging it towards the transporter, not paying any attention to the boy. The boy screamed in a penetrating, inhuman voice. Vandor backed away instinctively and fell on his back when he caught sight of a monster materializing ahead of him. It seemed like a colossal insect that had undergone some mutation to grow three meters high, maybe four, with a body armored with many tiny black scales. Its tall, conical head had large, dark sockets instead of eyes, and a double row of smooth, shining teeth which clicked without control and worked grotesquely. Instead of hands it had long cutting edges which were swaying towards Vandor.

  He grabbed his rifle and began shooting, but soon after the first burst of fire he realized that the monster couldn’t get through the dome shield created by the transporter. Though bullets from Vandor’s rifle had pierced him, he still hit the outside of the dome wildly, and bright bluish lightning flashed every time. The Being was raving, but it wasn’t able to reach Vandor, who was lying on his back in the sand. He got up elegantly, shook the sand off his suit and laughed, aiming directly at the monster’s head. “You’re ugly, brother! And you have bad breath!” He pressed the trigger and the head of the monster dispersed, flying into a thousand pieces, and then it evaporated. Vandor took the box and continued to drag it towards the transporter. The storm came back with much stronger intensity, but Vandor didn’t pay it any attention.

  Keniko and Henry helped him to bring in the box and then she asked him worriedly, “Was that really necessary?”

  “I think I did.”

  “You truly aren’t normal.”

  While they were quarreling Henry opened the box and took out a suit. Then he looked at them and said, “I mean that is really enough of you two! It’s time to do something, and you,” He angrily pointed to Vandor with his finger, “...don’t ever whistle in the dark! I don’t think the Being has a sense of humor. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  “Then get to work. The men are waiting for us.”

  *

  An hour later most of the boxes had been taken out of the fallen transporter and transfer to ours. While they were carrying in the last one and storing it in the storage space, Henry examined the interior of the fallen transporter through the back door with a battery torch in his hand. The front part was deeply sunken into the sand, but inside there were more boxes of equipment. Henry called Berry through the microphone on the suit. “Berry! I need a rope to pull up the equipment and hooks to lower me down.”

  “OK, I am coming.”

  Vandor brought the equipment what Henry had asked Berry for and handed it to him. “Shall I go in?”

  He looked towards Keniko. “It’s better that she goes down, and the two of us drag out the boxes at the entrance.”

  Keniko smiled at Vandor while Henry tied a belt around her and attached hooks to it. “Again, you’re trying to avoid the work.”

  “Of course, but I didn’t succeed this time.” Vandor was pretending to be angry.

  Henry threw a rope to him. “Less chat more work. Wind the rope around yourself and slacken it to let her down when I tell you.” Then he looked at Keniko. “Are you ready?”

  She raised her thumb in the air. After a short descent, she came to the boxes, which were piled atop one another against the cockpit door. Soon they were dragging up the first box, but the fallen transporter shook slightly, and Vandor shouted with surprise, “Look out on the right side!”

  The sand suddenly fell, whirling all around, and the fallen transporter started leaning sideways. Henry turned to him and shouted, “Quickly!”

  The box which we were dragging flew out through the opening. There was a scratching of metal against something hard, and the fallen transporter began to sink into the loose sand. Henry only had time to unbuckle the box and tie the rope around his waist. “I’m going down. Will you be able to hold us?”

  Vandor dug himself into the sand and wound the end of the rope around his hand. “I will. Go!”

  Henry lowered himself along the steep floor while Keniko watched him, scared. She had fallen amongst the boxes, and now she got up, trying to regain her balance. The transporter shook again, so Henry shouted and looked directly into her eyes. “Jump now!”

  Keniko pushed herself up from the unstable floor and threw herself as far as she could. At the last moment, he grabbed her right wrist and squeezed with both hands. He didn’t release the pressure for a moment, even when the transporter fell into the dark abyss that opened beneath them. They swung and hit against the stone walls of the deep canyon and remained hanging above the abyss. Henry knew very well that Vandor wouldn’t be able to pull them out alone. He looked at her. She had closed her eyes, and he loudly cried, “Climb over me, and I’ll push you as much as I can.”

  Keniko breathed painfully, gritting her teeth. “I rammed myself hard when we hit against the wall.”

  “Will you be able to manage?”

  “I will, but only when the circulation comes back into my hand. I am bloodless; you squeezed me so strongly.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t want to risk you sliding out of my hand.”

  She nodded and smiled. “Just tell me when I can start to lift you.”

  “I’m ready.”

  “Let’s go then!”

  Henry heaved her as much as possible, and she swung a little and caught the rope which was tied around his waist. He released her right hand and quickly embraced her round her waist. For a moment she shook her hand to get the circulation back and then, she started to climb up the rope. She stopped when she spotted Berry at the rim of the canyon. He shouted to her and threw the other rope, at the end of which was tied a clip. “Keniko, catch the rope and tie you with it! Vandor and I will get you out.”

  Keniko said in surprise, “And who’ll hold the Commander?”

  “When I saw what was happening I ran to Vandor and tied the rope around the transporter.”

  When they were safe Henry leaned back over the rim of the canyon and lit up the dark hole, but he couldn’t see the lost transporter. “Berry, how far do you think it is to the bottom?”

  “I’m not sure.” He shrugged his shoulders.

  “How much rope is there?”

  “We have 700 feet.” He looked at him, astonished. “Are you intending to go into the canyon?”

  “We have to get the rest of the boxes of equipment.”

  “You hardly escaped with your life and limb, and you’re going down again?”

  “Berry, we have no choice. We have to get the rest of the equipment.”

  He nodded and went to the transporter to fetch the rest of the rope without asking any more questions. Keniko came closer and held out a hand. “Thank you, you saved me.”
/>   “I caught you at the last moment.”

  Vandor said with a sad expression on his face, “And what about me? I held you.”

  She approached him, raised her visor and kissed him gently on the cheek. Then she touched his strong shoulders and whispered, “I’ll thank you tonight.”

  Vandor gazed into her green eyes with surprise, turned his head confusedly and asked, “Aren’t you a lesbi…”

  But she stopped him and put her index finger on his lips. “I’m not.”

  Time was dripping through their fingers, so Henry interrupted them. “Leave your tenderness for tonight! Vandor, help Berry. The boxes won’t get themselves out of this big shithole.”

  Vandor looked at him askance for he had never heard Henry use dirty words, and once more he looked at Keniko and with a smile, concluded, “Yes Commander!”

  *

  As soon as we landed back in the crater, Kir came over to me and whispered in my ear, “We should talk.”

  “Can you wait a moment?”

  “We have to talk, leave it to the Sergeant!” she hissed angrily and set off at a quick pace towards his tent. Henry ordered Colburn to take over the unloading of the equipment and followed her. “Why is the rush?”

  Kir sat down on his bed. “The Being decided to act.

  “It might be expected from him.”

  “He has sent cleaner robots from Absolute, and they are in the desert somewhere.”

  “What about them? Are they so dangerous that we must worry about them?”

  “So far they have kept the city clean, but he has prepared them to attack and kill any living being they meet.”

  “How come they haven’t attacked us before, and why hasn’t he already destroyed the life in this crater?”