Battleground Earth

by Gerry Griffiths

“Rob, hold tool.” She handed the wrench to the robonaut.

  The job was simple enough; remove the antenna mast, some nuts, and washers and fix the problem under the ground plate. In a gravity environment and with bare hands, the task would be routine. But in space with zero gravity, it was going to be a definite chore.

  Cass decided it would be better to direct Rob and have the robonaut disassemble the mast so she could gather the parts and put them in the pouch for when it came time to reassemble the antenna. The last thing she wanted was for an intricate piece to get away from her and drift out into space.

  Guiding Rob’s hand, Cass adjusted the wrench and set the teeth around the nut holding the tip of the antenna in place.

  “Rob, counter clockwise turn.”

  The robonaut twisted the wrench a full turn.

  “Repeat.”

  Again, its hand turned the tool. Cass kept repeating the command until the nut came completely loose. She grabbed the mast and secured it to a brace on the truss with an anchor strap. The nut slowly came off, as did the antenna bezel and two washers. She swiped at the pieces with her thick glove, catching the bezel and washers but not the nut, which was critical in putting everything back together. She couldn’t open her glove or she would release the other parts. She frantically tried stuffing them in the pouch.

  “No, no, come on. Get in there!” She glanced up and saw the nut drifting...

  Rob’s fingers closed around the nut.

  “Oh, my God. You caught it without me telling you.”

  Rob extended its hand.

  “Thank you, Rob,” Cass said and took the nut and placed it in the pouch.

  “You are welcome, Cass.”

  This was incredible. Rob had just exhibited the capability to problem solve—and without having to be told.

  They continued to work on the antenna. It was just as she suspected, the cable under the ground plate had become disconnected. Rob methodically reconnected the cable, fastened down the ground plate, and reassembled the antenna mast and completed the job in a matter of minutes, which should have taken an astronaut considerably more time.

  “Good job, Rob.”

  “Thank you, Cass.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Something flashed past Cass’s visor. She watched it crash through a single solar panel like a rock hurling through a pane glass window. She turned her head and saw a field of asteroids coming her way. Some were the size of softballs, others as big as a house.

  “Rob, hold on!” she yelled. Even though she couldn’t hear them whizzing by, she could see the damage the asteroids were doing to the space station. Her worst fear was getting struck. It would only take a grape-size rock to rip through her spacesuit even though it was constructed to stop a bullet. This was certainly no time to put it to the test.

  Cass saw a large chunk coming at her and pushed away.

  A sharp edge of the rock cut through her tether.

  She felt herself float away from the truss and slowly begin to tumble, helmet over boots. After the third spiral, she was disoriented. Her breathing was erratic and sounded extremely loud like she had overexerted herself from a strenuous run. She thought of using her thrusters but was afraid of propelling herself in the wrong direction.

  Cass knew split-second thinking was critical in her situation and there was no time for indecision, but she didn’t know what to do so she continued to drift farther and farther away...

  20

  “I guess this is home sweet home,” Wade said. A single overhead light bulb in the middle of the ceiling illuminated their assigned room. It was sparsely furnished with a single Army surplus cot for Wade and twin bunk beds for Debra and Amy. There were three metal lockers to stow their clothes and belongings. A rickety-looking chair and an old wooden desk with a drawer missing were butted up against a wall.

  “Wade? Amy wants a kiss goodnight,” Debra said.

  He walked across the room to the top bunk. Debra made sure Amy was snug and warm and adjusted the top of the heavy military blanket under Amy’s chin.

  “I know it isn’t what you’re used to,” Wade said, “but I think you’re going to like it here. You’ll get to go to school and play with other kids. That should be fun, right?”

  “Do I have to go to school?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Okay.”

  “Sleep tight...and what do we say?” Wade said.

  “Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” they said together as it was their nightly ritual. Wade kissed his daughter on the forehead.

  “Goodnight, honey,” Debra said and gave Amy a kiss. She reached up and flicked off the wall switch, casting the room into darkness.

  Wade and Debra ambled across the room. They looked out the third-story window and could see slivers of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island in the night fog.

  “Quite the view,” Wade said.

  Debra slipped her arm in the crook of Wade’s arm.

  He leaned down and kissed her.

  “I wouldn’t be getting any ideas,” Debra said. “Not with our daughter in the room.”

  “Don’t worry,” Wade said. “I doubt very seriously if that cot could hold the two of us, let alone me.”

  “How long do you think we’ll stay here?”

  “I really don’t know. But at least we’ll be safer here than out there.”

  “Thank God, Jack came around when he did,” Debra said. “I don’t know what I would have...” the words were replaced with tears.

  “It’s all right. Try not to think about it,” Wade said and put his arm around her.

  There was a faint knock at the door.

  Wade stepped away from Debra. He went over, opened the door a crack, and peeked out.

  “You guys settling in?” Jack asked from out in the hall.

  Wade opened the door wider. “Yeah, how about yourself?”

  “Never thought I’d be bunking in a barracks again. Thought I’d hit the showers.”

  “Let me grab my kit. I want to brush my teeth before turning in.” Wade went over to his locker and grabbed his toiletry bag. “I won’t be long,” he said to Debra and closed the door behind him.

  “How’s Debra holding up?” Jack asked as they headed down the hall.

  “She’s still a little shaken up.”

  “Yeah, that was pretty rough.”

  Wade turned to his friend. “Yeah, well it would have turned out a lot worse if you hadn’t shown up when you did.”

  “Glad to have been of service,” Jack said with a smile. He had a towel slung over his shoulder. He was barefoot but was still wearing his shirt and jeans.

  Wade noticed he hadn’t taken off his belt of throwing knives. “Expecting trouble?”

  “Never let your guard down,” Jack said. “No matter what.”

  “Even on the crapper?”

  “Especially on the crapper,” Jack grinned and the two of them laughed.

  “Jesus Christ!” a man yelled from around the corner.

  “Oh my God!” a woman screamed. “Get if off of me!”

  “Damn things are everywhere!”

  Wade and Jack ran around to the main room which had two rows of twin bunks stretched the length of the barracks, enough to sleep over 120 people. Just about everyone was on their feet, many moving away from the beds. Most of the overhead lights were off, controlled at a box at the far end of the room. Even though the beds had been vacated, there was still movement on the mattresses. Wade saw something in the gloom that looked like a large lobster without claws, crawling across a blanket. Then he caught a glimpse of another one on a nearby bunk. Hell, they were everywhere.

  “Sucker bit the shit out of me,” a man yelled.

  “Damn, I’m being eating alive,” another man hollered.

  Someone started firing a gun.

  “Put that away idiot before you shoot someone!” yelled a large man. He came over and grabbed the pistol from the frightened trigger-happy shooter. “Everyone, list
en up! Take out your knives, anything you can kill them with, but no guns!”

  A lot of the people were wearing only their underwear and were fighting the things off with their hands, stomping them with their feet or hitting them with their rifle stocks or anything sharp.

  A man wearing only a T-shirt and boxers backed toward Wade and Jack.

  “What the hell is going on?” Wade asked the man.

  “Some fool must have brought in some life forms.”

  “Life forms?” Wade asked.

  “Yeah, those alien things the bugs eat.”

  The man saw the questioning look on Wade’s face.

  “You didn’t know?”

  “I’ve seen plenty of giant bugs but I never knew what caused them.”

  The man backed up as four lobster-sized bugs skittered across the floor.

  “Watch this,” Jack said. He pulled four knives out of their sheaths and held two in each hand. He cocked back both arms then flung a single knife from each hand. Each blade hit the mark and impaled a bug to the hardwood floor. He drew back his arms again and threw the two remaining knives, pegging the other two bugs to the floor.

  “Wow, that was pretty fancy,” the man said, genuinely impressed.

  The inside of the barracks sounded like a major barroom brawl as everyone scrambled to kill the infestation. Wade thought he’d heard every curse word in the book until tonight.

  “Look! It’s happening,” the man in his skivvies said, pointing at a specific bottom bunk then backing away.

  Wade and Jack approached the bed, slowly. The top sheet was rumpled and the blanket was on the floor. It looked like the occupant had suddenly scrambled out of the bed in a big hurry. There was something moving under the sheet, bulging the thin fabric—getting bigger as they watched as though it was being gradually inflated.

  The big man that had ordered everyone not to use their guns, strode over and stood next to Wade. He stared at the strange phenomena. “You guys are in for a treat. It’s not very often you get to witness an actual transformation.” He stepped over and eased the sheet off, then shined a flashlight on the bed.

  “Holy crap!” Wade said, unable to contain his surprise.

  The six-legged bug on the mattress had a light-brown, flat oval-shaped hard-shelled body. At first glance, it was the size of a man’s hand but as Wade watched—it was impossible not to—it steadily grew and grew. It was unbelievable; truly mesmerizing and was happening so fast. The bug was almost the size of a roasting pan.

  “It would be a good idea to kill it about now,” the big man said. “A blade behind the head works the best.”

  Jack took one of his flat knives and stabbed the bug, almost severing its head.

  “That was really incredible to witness,” Wade said.

  “Yeah. By the way, I’m Crandall Green. I’m in charge of this floor.”

  “Good to meet you,” Wade said and shook Crandall’s hand. Jack introduced himself and the two men shook hands.

  “Do you have family here?” Wade asked.

  “Just my wife, Shelly. She teaches school here.”

  “What grade?”

  “First through fourth.”

  “My daughter’s seven,” Wade said. “She’d be in first grade.”

  “Looks like she’ll be in Shelly’s class.”

  “So has this happened before?” Jack asked.

  “Oh, you mean the infestation? Yeah, I’m afraid so. Usually after the Eco-Marines eradicate an impact site.”

  Wade gave Crandall a questioning look.

  “From the meteorites. As the life forms are so small, they’re difficult to see. They cling to everything. Clothes, boots, even get in your hair if you aren’t careful.”

  “Are they harmful to humans?” Wade asked.

  “Not that we know of. For some unexplainable reason, they’re only able to morph insects.”

  “Well, we should be grateful for that,” Jack said.

  “Yeah,” Crandall said. “One sec... Hey everyone!” he shouted to the people in the large room. “Anyone that’s been bit, get over to the infirmary on the double!”

  A woman with a blanket draped around her shoulders, strolled over and joined them.

  “This is my wife, Shelly,” Crandall said and introduced Wade and Jack.

  “Nice to meet you,” Wade said. “Your husband says you teach school here.”

  “That’s right,” Shelly replied.

  “Then you’ll be teaching my daughter.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Amy.”

  “I look forward to meeting her.”

  “Well, I think I better get back to my family,” Wade said.

  Wade and Jack returned to the hallway and walked to the restroom. It was a large public room with ten sinks in front of a mirrored wall and an equal amount of stalls with toilets. A tiled entry led to the showers. Wade washed up at a sink and brushed his teeth while Jack went to take a quick shower.

  “See you in the morning,” Wade yelled out as he slipped out the door. Jack said something but it was difficult to hear his reply over the running water. Wade had a laugh visualizing Jack standing under the shower, naked, but still wearing his knife belt.

  When Wade got back to the room, Debra was standing next to the bunk with a concerned look on her face. “All I could hear was people yelling and screaming. Thank God, Amy didn’t wake up. What in the world was going on out there?”

  “Bedbugs.”

  21

  Cass felt a tug on her gloved hand, which stopped her from somersaulting through space. She glanced sideways inside her helmet and saw that it was Rob that had grabbed her by the hand.

  She couldn’t believe it. The robonaut had actually come to her rescue. It pulled on its tether, creating momentum, and propelled them back onto a truss ledge.

  “Oh my God, Rob. Thank you, thank you so much.”

  “You are welcome, Cass.”

  Her lips were parched so she took a drink from the straw-end of her drink bag. It took a minute for her breathing to resume to a steadier rate. The ordeal of almost being stranded out in space had taken a heavy toll on her nerves. She decided repairing the antenna was enough for now and would leave the task of trying to remove the asteroid blocking the access passage to the Soyuz for the next spacewalk.

  They glided back through the superstructures and entered the space station airlock. If it weren’t for Rob’s assistance, Cass would never have been able to put on the bulky spacesuit on her own. She had programmed a step-by-step procedure into Rob’s operation system along with a reverse process so that Rob could assist her in removing her spacesuit. She stepped into the frame that supported the upper half of the suit and her life-support backpack.

  Cass was relieved when Rob removed her helmet by sliding the release tabs and twisting the cover. Even though the air in the compartment was stale and not at all refreshing, it was better than being cooped up inside the helmet. Rob turned each one of her gloves enough so they detached from the sleeves. She raised her arms and slid out of the upper portion of her suit and onto the deck, grabbing onto handholds so that she didn’t float awkwardly. Rob was anchored and held the boots of her suit so she could pull her legs out of the lower portion of the suit.

  She removed her skintight ventilation undergarment that fit around her body like spandex and was surprised she hadn’t panicked and soiled her diaper almost being lost in space; the absorbent material intended for extended spacewalks without potty breaks.

  It felt liberating, floating naked, but also strangely erotic knowing Rob was recording her every moment with its cameras.

  She slipped a sweatshirt over her head then put on a pair of shorts and woolen socks.

  “Well, what do you say we go see if the radio works?”

  “I don’t understand the command,” Rob said in a monotone voice.

  “Let’s go see if the radio works.”

  “The radio in the Columbus.”

  “Yes, Rob. How
did you know where it was?”

  “All equipment and their locations are in my data bank.”

  “So they are. Silly me,” Cass said and smiled.

  “Who is Silly Me?”

  “Just an expression.” Cass didn’t want to confuse Rob, if that was even possible.

  He was proving to be truly amazing. Did she just say he? Was she that desperate for human contact that she was actually considering Rob as a fellow astronaut instead of just a machine? Whatever gets you through the day.

  “Rob. Follow me,” Cass said. She propelled out of the changing chamber and turned at the first junction into the Destiny module and then into the Harmony module. Rob stayed right on her heels. She performed an elegant acrobatic move like a synchronized swimmer under water and glided into the laboratory module, Columbus.

  Plexiglas enclosures on flat surfaces occupied one curved wall containing various test subjects. White lab rats and guinea pigs were loosely strapped down, study subjects on the effects of weightlessness. Only a handful were still alive.

  Cass looked into a glass box and saw over 200 fruit flies clinging to a fabric wall and another 100 lying dead in a big heap after their immune systems had failed due to microgravity. A colony of ants in the next habitat seemed to be fairing better as they were still actively scampering about in their pressurized ant farm. She moved to the next display case that had minute air holes and saw an intricate web configuration and its maker in the center—a gold-colored spider with long spindly legs and a body the size of a dime.

  She drifted over to the amateur radio and switched it on. Loud static came out of the speaker, so she turned down the volume.

  “Rob. Anchor beside me.”

  The robonaut planted its stud feet into the bulkhead, an arm’s-length away from Cass.

  She adjusted the dial to a designated frequency band and began a voice check to see if she could get a response.

  “This is NA1SS. Is there anyone out there that can hear me?” Her throat felt raspy so she grabbed a thin water pouch that she’d brought along and squirted a small amount of water out of the tube into her mouth. A few tiny goblets escaped out of the end of the spout and drifted away.

  Cass waited attentively for a reply and heard nothing but white noise.