The Pathfinder Project

by Todd M. Stockert

  “You are the one… as is written in scripture… the one who was cast out, aren’t you?” the spy asked in awe.

  “That is correct. God tried to punish me, but instead I now rule a kingdom far greater than His. He presides over heaven, but I am the one who is left to command all that you have seen before you out here in the rest of the universe.”

  “You are Lucifer, the Dark One, aren’t you?”

  “I am many things and go by many names. That is one of them.”

  “Scripture has records of you battling God, but you were exiled to rule the underworld, were you not?”

  “I go where I will, and right now I am here… standing in front of someone whose people have killed billions. Your so-called ‘new society’ is literally afloat on a river of human blood and that interests me more than you can possibly imagine.”

  “They deserved to die. They had the greatest planet in the universe and what did they do with it…? The most powerful nations used their resources to keep other countries trapped in a permanent lower class. Their governments also repeatedly found new reasons to murder those of us with less. We set out to reshape the globe… to begin again by rising from the ashes with the Triumvirate carefully controlling everything.”

  “They had great cities and great farming communities,” the other responded. “And historically they have had conflicts, but they have always chosen a negotiation table as their final weapon. When – in their modern history – have they ever used nuclear weapons against each other in the manner that your people have? You have murdered billions and openly claim to do so in the name of God! If that is not blasphemy, then what is?”

  “I personally had no control over that,” the spy protested, tears beginning to run from his eyes. “I was assigned only to infiltrate the Pathfinder project… like me, many of us had no idea what the end objective of our people was. If I had known what they were planning…”

  “Billions!” the other shouted, placing his right hand on top of the spy’s head. “There in your home galaxy lays a world shattered by nuclear fire, their streets filled with the dead. And you dare say that your people serve God? Your entire Brotherhood serves only ME now!”

  “Stop it, please stop,” the spy begged, falling to his knees. “These quarters are only semi-private and if someone else hears you…” The other kept his hand on the top of the man’s skull, and a wave of disorientation seemed to pass through his fingers and into the humanoid. “I didn’t know that genocide was our ultimate plan, I swear.”

  “Of course you didn’t,” the stranger said, waving casually at the pair of soldiers still standing motionless on the far side of the room. “You simply helped with the plan to unleash these killers and your war machine on the humans as a peaceful gesture.” He grinned wickedly, and his hand on top of the spy’s head began glowing with scarlet light. “Your people are powerful and – like me – are not afraid to stand up and take what is theirs! I am here now. Join me and I will spare you the punishment that is coming. Defy me and you will suffer for all eternity! GIVE me your soul!”

  “I don’t know about the rest of my people, but I am not a murderer,” the spy protested, noticing that the room was beginning to spin slowly around him. He felt dizzy and confused. “Not yet, at least.”

  “Of course you’re not, you just spend all your spare time here in your quarters making bombs because you are the kindest and gentlest of creatures,” the other sneered.

  “These people have killed mine! I have the right to take revenge!”

  “Of course you do. Your people kill billions by surprise and this ship’s crew manages to marshal a defense and fight back. How dare they? I see your point completely, I do!” insisted the stranger. “You have the superior intelligence, the strength, and the ability to defeat them. Don’t get me wrong… I would kill them too! Your people can make use of the technology on this ship. You have the right to take it just as you had the right to conquer Earth!” The hand came up off the top of the spy’s head and clenched into a tight fist. “Unite with me Brother, you’ve already been helping me… not some weak and powerless God! Together we will kill everyone and everything on this ship and take it back to your people so they can further expand your new and superior civilization!”

  “Stop, please stop…” the spy said again, sinking slowly into a tightly curled ball on the floor. “Please go away… I don’t want to kill anyone… I never did.” The room grew quiet and he lay there for quite some time, afraid to look up. When he finally did he could find no trace of the stranger or his two soldiers. Sweat and tears still rolled down his cheeks and he laid there on the floor, too afraid to get up and move around.

  He was still not used to having all of these uncontrolled emotions and struggled once again to pull himself together. After calming himself down, he stood up slowly and went immediately to the restroom. The spy used its sink to hold and then splash cold water on his face before bandaging his wounded hand carefully. He pressed a cool, wet washcloth to his forehead to try and control the burning sensation inside his head. Perspiration continued to run down his face and he gasped in utter shock upon noticing his image in the mirror. The mysterious other had judged him, of that much he was sure. But he hadn’t expected the Dark One to have left his mark as well.

  He stood there, staring at the change to his appearance in shock, wondering how he was ever going to walk amongst the crew of this ship again without being detected. They would be able to see him for who he was at a glance now, and his next duty shift in the hangar bay began right away the next morning. The spy cried softly as he realized that discovery was now unavoidable. It was then that he heard the two quick thumps on the wall separating his quarters from the next. It immediately became obvious to him that someone on the other side of the wall had overheard the entire conversation between him and the Devil.

  True fear seized and held him.

  * * * * *

  “So how is Thomas doing?” Nori asked curiously. She leaned out of bed just long enough to set her champagne flute on the nightstand. Adam lay next to her, deep in thought, arms clasped tightly behind his head.

  “The kid is doing fine,” Adam said. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised, especially since he had such a complete breakdown. Depression is one of those illnesses that will vary with each individual – I’m amazed that our Doctors can even treat it.”

  “Can they?” wondered Nori. “If your patient dies before he can improve, that’s not a successful treatment in my book.”

  “Thomas almost died because he deliberately disobeyed his Doctor,” Adam pointed out. “Stronger medications require a prescription for a reason… because they are unpredictable to a point and sometimes have side effects. That’s why they’re tested so thoroughly before the government approves them for use, and Thomas had no business trying to back himself off of them without speaking with the Doctor first.” He took a drink from his own glass. “Dr. Simmons feels terrible that she didn’t continue to check on him, but I had told her not to worry because I would do that.” He shrugged. “Thomas summed it up best himself… if you’ve been healthy all your life and never gone through this type of thing before it’s hard to realize what’s happening long enough to not make mistakes.”

  “What if you had found him a few minutes later? It sounds like he was really close to…”

  “I know.” Adam sternly sat quietly for a moment, remembering. “It’s weird. I was on duty working, and suddenly I had this… concern… that something was wrong.” He harrumphed loudly and shook his head. “I don’t know how to describe it, but somehow I just instinctively knew that Thomas was in danger.”

  “How?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I was working and then I leaned back in my chair for a few minutes to take a short break, and… and all of a sudden I imagined him all curled up in a ball, helpless, on the floor of his room. Something I can’t explain warned me that he was in grave danger. I left my shift early to check on him… most people don’t ev
en know about that part.” He sighed heavily and rubbed fatigue from his eyes. “The frightening thing is that I found him in the exact position I visualized. He was facing the opposite direction, but curled up in the same tight ball with the empty pill bottles lying next to him.”

  “Good God Adam!”

  “I know. That’s when I realized just how terrifying that nuclear attack was, how much pressure we’re all dealing with. I can’t think of anything else that would ever have driven a happy-go-lucky guy like Thomas to try and take his own life. He loves living that much!”

  “Well at least he’s sleeping again,” Nori pointed out. “I know how cranky I get when I miss a night of shuteye, so I can just imagine what it’s like to go night after night without being able to sleep.”

  “At least he’s talking to me now instead of compartmentalizing everything deep down inside,” decided Adam. “We visit every night for at least a half hour and never seem to run out of things to talk about.” He smiled at her. “Kind of like you and me, but in a brotherly way.”

  “Being diagnosed with mental illness, even if it is just stress-related, would scare the hell out of me,” admitted Nori. “There’s such a stigma attached to psychiatry… people look at you differently, like you’re some kind of whacko.” She shook her head. “Except if you’re rich – then you’re just an eccentric.”

  “When we were kids he really resented me for everything. I played sports, he read books. I dated girls, he read more books. I went out and socialized, he spent time at the library. It went on and on…” He paused, staring at the ceiling. “Then as adults we became better at interacting but he still looked up to me as some sort of impossible role model. No matter what I said or did he just felt like he was something less than his older brother.”

  “It’s no small thing that he and Glen did with the CAS Drive,” she decided. “The things that I’ve seen from my cockpit the past few weeks – it’s absolutely unbelievable and something I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever be able to go out and experience for myself.”

  “No kidding,” responded Adam. “I’ve always given him grief because he specializes in software, but can you imagine? What type of intricate mind does it take to come up with the concept of creating something like that singularity, let alone the precise calculations needed to control and stabilize it in order to harness its energy?”

  “We were all under pressure to get things done. Then that attack came and it became imperative that we get off of the moon and escape,” Nori observed, thinking back to those crucial moments that seemed to last forever then but now were already fading into the past. “Not knowing whether your parents are alive or dead… that must have weighed very heavily on both of you just like family is constantly on the minds of the rest of the crew.”

  “Our parents are dead, I know they are.” Adam said fiercely. “They were in Minneapolis. That was one of the places early reports said took a direct nuclear hit.” He rolled on his side to face her. “I was so scared when I found Thomas unconscious,” he said. “He was so pale and near death it terrified me… but I called for the medics and deep down I somehow just knew that it wasn’t his time yet.”

  “And now that incident is over and in your past, too,” she said, softly stroking his hair. He grabbed her hand and gently kissed it. “You still have part of your family with you and that’s more than most people on this ship can say.”

  “We actually have a better relationship because of his problem,” said Adam. “It’s not something I’d want to happen, but since it has we’ve definitely found a way to rebond as brothers and turn it into something positive.” The grin on his face was so full of warmth and love that Nori found herself smiling back at him.

  “That’s good, Adam,” she said, leaning over to kiss him.

  “But life can be so strange sometimes,” he continued, looking deep into her eyes. “Tonight when I left Thomas’ quarters there was an elderly couple down the corridor a way. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have sworn it was Mom and Dad smiling at us with admiration.” He paused, remembering. “The resemblance was so uncanny that I glanced back over my shoulder for a closer look. Of course, by then they were gone.”

  “Whatever heaven that I’m sure they’ve found, they’re going to be even more pleased with you in about seven months,” Nori told him with an odd tone of voice, suddenly grinning mischievously. “Although I’m not sure the Captain will be when his air group commander applies for maternity leave.” She smiled at his absolute and complete silence for a full ten seconds.

  “What?” Adam finally replied. “I know we decided to have a kid, but after the attack I was thinking that particular process might best be postponed for a while longer.”

  “Too bad, you mighty giant of a man,” she joked. “You knocked me up!”

  “That’s great!” he grinned. “Wait until I tell Thomas he’s going to be an Uncle!” His feet found hers under the covers and suddenly their upper bodies were tangled again too. He kissed her sincerely and was still smiling as she swung herself up into a sitting position on top of him. She guided his hands to her naked breasts and smirked at him.

  “Better score while you still can,” she suggested seductively, licking her lips in anticipation.

  * * * * *

  Mary woke up later that night, certain she had heard something. After her shift ended she and Glen had cooked another delicious dinner together. They were both getting better and better at the cooking process and eating more than she usually did had left her particularly drowsy. Promptly at 10:00 p.m. she had turned out the lights and slept soundly until a series of voices had awakened her.

  The clock next to her bed read 1:28 a.m. as she got up and searched the small apartment. She didn’t find anything and moved to the door, opening it and taking a quick peek outside to see if anyone had been passing by. The corridor was completely empty and silent except for the soft hum of the moving sidewalks that divided the center of the walkway.

  “It’s okay, Mary, no one is going to hurt you,” someone said from behind her. She whirled in surprise and the door slid closed.

  “Christopher, how did you get here?” she asked, staring in pure shock at her oldest brother. Behind him stood her other two siblings, Brian and Samantha. All three of them were smiling at her and she found the experience extremely profound. “Obviously I’m dreaming,” she said shyly, moving back toward her bed.

  “No, you’re not,” Brian said, stepping forward and taking her hand. She wasn’t sure how to react and simply stood there quietly, absolutely stunned.

  “We wanted to stop by and let you know that everything is going to be okay,” Christopher said, putting his arm around her shoulder. Samantha also approached and gave her a warm hug. “You’re going through a tough time right now but things will work out – they always do.”

  “How did you get here?” she asked carefully. “I’m either dreaming or this is a hallucination of some sort, that’s for certain.”

  “We came because you needed us,” Samantha stated. “We knew that never seeing us again would be devastating to you, so we’ve come to say goodbye and give you one last word of encouragement. You’re such a compassionate and generous person… we predict only great things waiting for you in the future.”

  Mary deliberately lowered her head and walked past them. She opened the door to her quarters and entered the dimly lit corridor outside. The two walkways continued to hum, their speed considerably slower during the night time, each moving in a different direction away from her. She carefully found a break between the hand rails and stepped on the reinforced, stationary frame in their center and then across to the other side of the corridor. Her hand was shaking, but she managed to activate the nearest door chime and waited patiently, knowing it was very early in the morning to be out and wandering about.

  “Who is it?” someone asked sleepily from the other side of the door.

  “It’s Mary from across the hall,” she said. “I’m sorry
to disturb you but I have a bit of an emergency this morning.”

  The door in front of her slid open and she stood face to face with Kari Hansen, Dr. Markham’s administrative assistant from the Observatory. Kari was dressed in her nightwear and also looked very sleepy and disoriented. “What’s the matter, Mary?” she asked carefully.

  “Could you come with me please?” Mary asked. “I heard someone in my quarters and I’m not sure yet just what’s going on.”

  “Okay,” Kari replied and they both proceeded to cross the moving sidewalks to Mary’s side of the walkway. Mary opened the door to her quarters and activated the lights inside. She entered the room and carefully looked around, noting quickly that her brothers and sister were nowhere to be found. Curious, Kari followed her inside, also surveying the spacious apartment.

  “Do you see anyone in here?” Mary asked, walking into the kitchen area.

  “No,” Kari replied cautiously, glancing from the living area to the bedroom. “Are you sure you heard a person, or could it have been some kind of noise that woke you up?”

  “Truthfully, I have no idea what it was,” Mary said, frowning. “But someone definitely woke me up – that’s for certain.” She thanked Kari for coming and sent her back to her room, then sat down on the bed and waited quietly. Fifteen minutes later she had still heard nothing and cautiously laid down and fell back asleep. She still suspected she might have been dreaming, but was very tired and decided that solving the mystery would have to wait until morning.

  She left the blankets crumpled at the foot of the bed, feeling so unusually warm that she was actually sweating.

  THE PATHFINDER PROJECT

  Chapter XI: Scaredy Cat

  Promptly at 6:30 a.m. the next morning Captain Kaufield entered the Medical Ward as requested. He found Dr. Simmons in one of the examination rooms visiting with Mary. Dennis put on his best smile as he walked through the door. “Good morning ladies,” he said charmingly, winking at Mary. “Aren’t you on duty in a few minutes, Lt. Hastings?”