by G J Ogden
Sterling followed Banks into the space and discovered that it was one of the crew quarters. “It looks like the place has been ransacked,” he commented, sweeping his light across the rows of empty beds.
Sterling moved further inside, his boots clacking resonantly against the hard, sodden floor. An assortment of unidentifiable bric-a-brac and personal effects lay scattered across beds and bedside tables. He spotted a collection of old photographs that had been left on one of the chests of drawers. Curious, he walked over and picked one up, shining his torchlight onto the faded and moisture-damaged image. In the photo was a Fleet Crewman First-Class standing with a woman in typical civilian colony clothing. The man had his arm wrapped around the woman’s waist and was holding her left hand, highlighting a ring on the fourth finger; an engagement band with a clear stone in the center. Out of the corner of his eye, Sterling caught the glint of something metallic on top of the drawer unit. Adjusting the angle of the torchlight, he saw that it was the same ring from the photograph. A simple silver band with a shimmering stone that, unlike everything else in the room, had not lost its luster. Together, the two items told a story, Sterling thought. Though he also had a feeling it was a story that did not end as happily as the two people captured in the photo appeared.
“Diamonds are forever,” said Banks, appearing behind Sterling’s right shoulder and adding her torchlight to the ring on the drawer unit. “Unlike that happy couple, I suspect,” she added with a darker, unfeeling tenor.
“I wonder how many of them mutinied and joined Fletcher’s little rebel troupe,” Sterling mused, tossing the photograph back onto the top of the drawer unit.
“I wonder how many are still alive,” Banks replied. She had already moved away to the other side of the room. “This all happened more than forty years ago. That’s a long time to survive in the Void.”
A voice echoed along the corridor outside. Sterling instinctively placed his hand on the grip of his pistol and hustled back toward the corridor. Banks arrived moments later, weapon in hand. Sterling then saw the flicker of a torchlight moving toward him. He raised his hand to shield his eyes from the glare and saw that it was Lieutenant Shade. Sterling and Banks glanced at each other; the relief evident in one another’s eyes.
“This place is beginning to creep me out,” said Sterling as his weapon’s officer approached. “The sooner we’re done here the better.”
“The cutting team has almost broken through, Captain,” reported Shade, lowering the torchlight so that she was no longer blinding him.
“Are there any further indications that others have been down here recently, Lieutenant?” Sterling asked as Banks stepped out of the crew bunk room, holstering her weapon again.
“It’s hard to say, sir,” Shade replied. “The damp and constant drip of water from the ground above would mean that any recent tracks will have been obscured.” Shade then shone her torch at the seam between the wall and the ceiling. “I’m afraid they didn’t build this base to last.”
Sterling followed the path of the beam and saw a crack running through the surface. He shone his own torch along other sections of the walls and ceilings, noting several other hairline cracks and larger fractures.
“Most of this base would have been 3D-printed on-site,” commented Sterling. “There would have been plans to build a more permanent structure, but the outbreak of war put paid to that.”
“Hopefully, the vaults have remained intact,” said Banks, stepping further along the corridor and shining her light into the darkness. “We should get down there. There’s nothing else in this base but ghosts.”
Shade led the way through the maze of corridors until they reached a wide staircase that descended to the storage areas. Sterling was about to follow Shade down the flights of stairs when something caught his eye. He stopped and shone his light onto the landing area across the far side of the staircase.
“Lieutenant, have you or your team been along this corridor?” Sterling asked, frowning down at the marks in the grime on the floor.
“No, sir, my team went directly to the vaults,” Shade replied, jogging back up the steps to Sterling’s side. The weapon’s officer added her torchlight to Sterling’s, illuminating the area more clearly. With the extra light, Sterling could see that the grimy scuff marks on the floor extended down the opposite flight of stairs and into the storage level.
“We didn’t go down this corridor, did we?” Sterling asked Banks, who had also moved back onto the landing. “This place all looks the same to me in the dark.”
Banks shook her head. “No, we didn’t get this far. Whoever made those marks, it wasn’t us.”
Sterling sighed and clipped his torch to the shoulder attachment on his body armor before drawing his pistol. “Then if it’s not us, we’re not alone down here, after all,” he said, ominously.
Shade and Banks also attached their lights to their armor and held their weapons ready. The three officers then stood back-to-back on the landing, covering the three exits. The damp, cold air inside the complex felt suddenly colder, as if a malevolent spirit had just floated through the corridors and passed through their bodies. Sterling tapped his neural interface and tried to reach the squad of commandoes. However, his mind was merely swamped by a hazy white noise, like an old de-tuned radio. Cursing, he tried to reach out to Lieutenant Razor, but his attempts to form a link to his engineer were similarly ineffective.
“Damn it, Razor hasn’t got the neural relays online yet,” Sterling said, sweeping his weapon along the dark corridor.
“Do we go on or go back?” said Banks, who was covering the corridor behind Sterling.
Another drop of freezing cold water trickled down the back of Sterling’s neck, but this time he didn’t try to wipe it away. He welcomed the sudden, icy shock, which acted like a splash of water to his face, sharpening his senses.
“We go forward,” he said, with determination. “I don’t care if this place is plagued by the undead spirits of deceased Fleet crew. Nothing is stopping us from getting those supplies.”
Sterling moved out first, cautiously stepping down the stairs to the storage level. Flicking his eyes between the steps and the route ahead, he following the swirling marks on the grime-covered floor that had been left behind by the unknown intruder.
“Straight ahead then second right,” said Shade, as Sterling reached the foot of the staircase.
Sterling nodded then moved ahead, observing that the swirling marks on the ground had multiplied and appeared to spread in all directions. A scraping noise filtered along the corridor to their side and Sterling froze, holding up a clenched fist to the others. The clack of their boots on the hard floor stopped, and all that remained was the sound of their breathing, and the drip, drip of water from the fractured ceiling. The scratching sound then came again, sharp and frantic against the deathly stillness of the underground compound. Shade indicated ahead, pointing two fingers into the darkness like a pistol.
“Let’s do this,” whispered Sterling, glancing to Banks and Shade in turn. “A straight up power play, nothing fancy.”
Shade and Banks both nodded then got ready to move. Sterling again led the way, creeping along the corridor and following the tracks left behind by whomever or whatever was stalking them. The scratching sounds came again, growing louder and clearer the further Sterling ventured into the belly of the complex. Shade then threw up a signal to stop before indicating that there were enemies ahead. Sterling pressed himself up against the wall beside the junction of the corridor where the noises were coming from. Heart thumping in his chest, he checked that Banks and Shade were in position then gave the signal to attack.
The trio of Omega officers burst out into the corridor in perfect synchronization. The combined effect of their torchlights shining along the passageway was dazzling and for a moment Sterling was blinded. Suddenly the scratching sounds rose to a piercing screech and Sterling saw the silvery eyeshine of an animal racing toward him.
“Fir
e!” Sterling called out, aiming as best he could and squeezing the trigger.
The fizz and flash of plasma weapons was followed by a shrill yowl as the unknown beast was hit and sent down. Then as the corridor again fell into partial darkness, Sterling could see the shine of yet more eyes ahead, like stars piercing the veil of night. He couldn’t count them all, but he knew that the numbers were greater than he, Shade and Banks could handle alone.
“Fall back!” cried Sterling backing along the corridor and retracing his steps. Then he turned and saw more silver discs of light along the adjacent corridor. Cursing, he glanced back in the direction they had come and the same shining dots in the darkness peered back at him.
“We’re surrounded,” said Banks, opening fire to Sterling’s rear. “They've been hunting us!”
“And we walked right into their trap,” Sterling replied.
One of the beasts darted out of the shadows and Sterling fired hitting the creature on its flank. The animal fell a few meters from his feet, writhing in agony. However, it also gave Sterling his first clear look at the beast. It resembled a wolf, but with a head that was more akin to a bear. Its skin was leathery and its limbs stocky with highly-developed shoulder muscles on its front legs that gave it a lopsided appearance. It was a powerful-looking animal that had clearly evolved to kill.
“Keep moving,” Sterling called out as more flashes of plasma fire lit up the corridors.
The scratches of the beasts’ claws on the floor were now matched only by the howls of pain as they fell. However, the creatures kept coming, undeterred by the deaths of the others in their pack. Banks reached the foot of the staircase and began to climb, but was then faced with two more of the creatures on the landing. She fired, but both creatures had already stalked away into the darkness and her shots flew wide.
“Reloading!” Banks called out, releasing the energy cell in her pistol and slapping in a new one.
Sterling turned to cover his first officer but was then pummeled in the back and knocked to the cold, wet floor. It felt like he’d just been tackled by a gorilla. A close-range blast from a plasma pistol blinded him, then the weight was lifted from his back. He spun over and saw Shade at his side, standing over the body of the dead creature. The rank odor of burned flesh assaulted Sterling’s senses even more severely than the creature had done. It was a smell he seemed unable to escape from for long.
Replacing the cell in his own pistol, Sterling climbed to a crouch and continued to fire, but the onslaught from the beasts seemed never-ending. Backing up the stairs, he glanced across to Banks, who was still trying to fight back the creatures that were amassing on the landing. Suddenly, one of the beasts made a move, launching itself at Banks like a cat pouncing at its prey. Sterling fired, trying to hit the creature in mid-flight, but missed. The beast collided with Banks, its powerful front legs clawing at her. Sterling could do nothing other than watch in horror and amazement as Banks caught the creature by its shins and wrestled it off her. The eyes of his first officer were almost as wild as those of the beast. Sterling continued to fire, driving back the other creatures on the landing as Banks roared and retaliated. The organic snap of muscle being torn from bone then echoed through the corridor. It was followed soon after by a nauseating howl, the likes of which only a medieval torturer might have heard before. Glancing across to Banks, he saw she had ripped the animal’s legs out of its shoulder joints, leaving them splayed at ninety-degree angles. It had been as effortless as pulling a cooked chicken leg from the carcass of the roasted bird.
Suddenly, fire engulfed the landing at the top of the stairs, and more howls and scraping claws filled the air. Through the blaze, Sterling saw another figure, but unlike the beasts that had stalked them, this was human. Flaming torches sailed over Sterling’s head, so close that the fire singed the short hairs on the top of his head. The torches landed at the foot of the staircase and immediately the beasts howled and scurried away. In the new light from the fires, Sterling could now see the figure at the top of the stairs more clearly. It was a woman dressed in a combination of furs and what looked like old Fleet survival gear. She was perhaps in her thirties, though Sterling found it difficult to judge considering that her mouth and nose were covered by a fabric bandana. The woman was then joined by another woman and two men.
“You can come up now,” the woman who had first appeared called out. “They don’t like fire. They won’t come near us now.”
Sterling turned back to Shade and handed her his pistol. “Cover our rear,” he said, before turning back to the new arrivals and climbing the stairs to the landing.
Banks arrived at Sterling's side, her chest still heaving from the exertion and adrenalin of her struggle with the beast. Her eyes were no longer wild, but she still bristled with raw, nervous energy. If it were needed, Sterling felt sure that she could have punched her way through the walls of the complex to make an escape route.
“I’ve never seen anyone do that before,” the woman said, peering down at the mutilated body of the beast, spread open like a spatchcocked hen. “Are you human or some sort of android?” she addressed Banks directly.
“I’m just someone it’s best not to make angry,” Banks replied, though her tone was surprisingly light and convivial.
“I can see that,” replied the woman. She then pulled down her bandana to reveal her face and offered Banks her hand. “I’m Jana, by the way,” she said. Banks took the woman’s hand and shook it. “I’m guessing you guys are Fleet?” she added, this time looking at Sterling.
“Yes, we are,” replied Sterling, offering Jana his hand, which she accepted. “Thanks for the assist. I don’t think we’d have gotten out of here without you.”
The woman nodded, accepting Sterling’s thanks. “The question is, what are you doing here?” she said, releasing Sterling’s hand. “I haven’t seen anyone from Fleet on this world since…” she hesitated then shrugged. “Well, since forever. For as long as I’ve been alive, in any case.”
“It’s a long story,” replied Sterling, with a wry smile.
“I’d like to hear it,” Jana replied. “We don’t get many visitors around here.”
Sterling glanced down at the smoldering bodies of the wolf-like beasts. “Not friendly ones, anyway,” he said, gesturing the creatures.
Jana laughed and wafted her hand at the creatures dismissively. “Oh, these things are puppy dogs compared to some of the genuine monsters that lurk down here,” she replied, darkly.
Sterling remembered about the commando team and his pulse began to race again. “Can you come with us?” Sterling asked. “We have more people down here that might need your help, and your fire.”
“I know,” Jana said, with a breezy nonchalance. “I’ll take you to them, and make sure the way back to your ship is kept clear of our furry friends,” she added. As with his earlier conversation with Banks, Sterling could tell there was a but coming. “But if you want our help, you’ll need to give us some of the contents of those vaults,” Jana added. “We’ve been trying to get into them for years.”
Sterling glanced at Banks, who just shrugged in response. He then peered down at the still smoldering collection of beasts littering the stairwell and huffed a laugh.
“Under the circumstances, I think I’ll accept your offer,” he said to Jana, smiling. “It sounds like a fair deal.”
Chapter 9
The ghosts of fleet’s past
By the time Sterling and the others had reached the vault rooms, accompanied by the colonists, two commandoes had already been killed. The beasts that inhabited the lower levels of the abandoned Fleet base had torn through their commando armor like it was paper, then ripped their flesh to shreds. The three remaining commandoes had managed to drive the creatures back, discovering only by accident the protective effects of fire. Incendiary grenades had not only served as an effective weapon against the creatures, but the burning remains of the dead beasts had ensured others kept clear. Now it was the flaming torch
es of the colonists that protected the group. Dozens had been set up outside the vault-room door, and lining the corridors back to the ship. Even so, the eyes of the predatory creatures that had attacked Sterling could be seen lurking in the areas of the base that were still shrouded in darkness. On the plus side, Sterling had managed to retrieve some old command access codes from the computer on the Invictus. These had successfully unlocked the vault door, without the need for a brute-force entry.
“Let’s have your report, Lieutenant,” Sterling asked Lieutenant Razor, who was interrogating the vault’s inventory computer. “Is there anything of value in here or not?”
“Well, there’s good news and bad news,” said Razor, in a matter-of-fact tone.
“That’s not exactly what I wanted to hear,” replied Sterling, feeling his mood sink. “Give me the bad news first.”
Razor turned from the computer interface on the wall and referred to the device on her wrist instead. She tapped the screen so that it expanded and solidified to provide a wider field of view.
“The bad news is that probably fifty percent of the stored meal trays have perished,” Razor began, scanning down the list of items she’d highlighted. “That was down to the local vermin that the Fleet crew who managed these stores failed to deal with.”
Sterling scowled then began to check the floor around his feet. “Vermin? What kind of vermin?” He said, sounding a little fretful. Given the beasts they’d just encountered, he was envisaging rat-like monsters the size of small dogs with three-inch fangs. Banks snorted a laugh as Sterling hopped around on the spot, causing him to scowl back at her instead.
“Long dead vermin, thankfully, Captain,” Razor then answered. “They may have found food in here, but there was no oxygen or water. However, while they were alive, they did plenty of damage.”
Sterling sighed then nodded. “How long will the food supplies last us?” he asked, returning his attention to the chief engineer.