Dark Side of the Moon

by P. C. Rasmussen

  "Keep moving!" he snapped at the kid, hoping that Daniel in his dazed state of mind would realize that there was nothing more he could do. But Daniel was not really in any condition to realize anything other than that his friend was in danger and needed help.

  He kept stumbling along, barely staying on his feet, until they reached the mouth of the tunnel. Here he came to a stop again, this time a little more forcefully and turned halfway to look back the way they'd come. "They'll kill him," he rasped and tried again to get out of Kyle's grip.

  Kyle saw no other option. He slapped Daniel hard across the face, attracting his undivided attention. "He's dead! Get that through your head. There's nothing to save. And if we don't keep moving, we'll end up like him," he hissed, yanked Daniel forcefully around and shoved him into the tunnel.

  Daniel's knees gave in and Kyle barely managed to stop him from hitting the ground. He dragged Daniel's arm over his shoulders, hoisted him back to his feet and pushed on, not even chancing a glance back. He hadn't seen anything, but Daniel's reaction indicated that the kid might have.

  "Keep moving," he said sternly. This was not going to end well unless he could get Daniel all the way to dome 1 without stopping. It was a bit of a trek, and there was the risk that the gardeners would try to stop them, but Kyle was in a frame of mind where he welcomed opposition. It would only strengthen his resolve to get aggressive if need be.

  Nobody in dome 4 made a move to stop them which was a relief and a concern at the same time. But it wasn't something he wanted to address in any way right now. Anything that might make him question his current actions would end in a colossal failure, and he wasn't ready to throw in the towel yet; not with a possible rescue this close at hand.

  So he kept moving, kept pushing Daniel to move too, and realized that slapping the younger man had done the trick. He wasn't fighting him anymore, wasn't insisting on going back to help Billy.

  What he had not felt in dome 4 hit him like a tidal wave when they stepped into dome 3; the sense that there was opposition ahead.

  "Kyle?"

  He stopped short and scanned the greenery ahead of them with concern, then realized that the voice had come from his right. He turned, dragging Daniel with him, to find Stella standing there.

  "What's going on?" she asked and eyed Daniel with a slight frown.

  "Nice try. Mike filled me in," Kyle countered, well aware that his voice was cold and full of contempt. "We're going back to dome 1 and you better not try to stop us."

  She stared at him and her expression made him wonder if the culprit in all this might actually be Mike and not her. What Mike had said had been a bit of a disappointment because he liked Stella, and it would be the first time ever that he had so grossly misjudged someone. "Why would I try to stop you?" she asked, genuinely puzzled. "And what do you mean, Mike filled you in? Filled you in on what?" She again gave Daniel the once over. "What happened to him?"

  "As if you didn't know," he growled, but there was a part of him that was starting to doubt. "The loonies tried to feed him to that ... thing in dome 6. It ate Billy."

  Her expression made Kyle doubt his sanity. She looked absolutely horrified. "What?" she snapped. "Are you nuts? Why would anybody ..." She stopped, realizing what he was talking about. "You think that because I said I'd made a deal with the loonies, I would actually feed them people regularly?" she asked, but didn't wait for confirmation. "Oh, for fuck's sake," she snapped, brushed past them and disappeared down the path leading into the middle of the dome.

  Kyle blinked and then glanced at Daniel, who for all intents and purposes looked like he was going into shock. "Hey!" he snapped and gave the younger man a jerk. "Stay with me, man," he added, then started them moving again.

  The center compound was in an uproar when they reached it. Everybody was gathered around Mike and Stella, who stood in the middle of it all and yelled at each other. "... the fuck are you thinking?" Stella roared.

  "We have to live!" Mike yelled back.

  Kyle paused only for a moment. This was none of their business anymore, and with Daniel this close to the edge, all he could do was to ignore the verbal combatants and keep moving. And nobody paid them any attention until they were halfway across the compound.

  "STOP!" Mike yelled and in spite of himself, Kyle came to a lurching halt, gritting his teeth in frustration. He turned them both around again to face the older man. "Where the hell are you going? You can't take him out of here. That's blasphemous."

  "Blas ..." Stella sputtered, but broke off. "What are you? Some kind of religious nut?" To Kyle's immediate surprise, she lashed out and hammered a fist into the side of Mike's head, which sent him staggering a few steps sideways. For an older woman she packed one hell of a punch. "I FUCKING HATE RELIGIOUS NUTS!" she roared and took another swing at Mike, who obviously didn't have the capacity to dodge her right now.

  After the second blow, he blinked and shook his head, staggered a few steps backward and sat down hard on the ground. "He will not be denied," he rasped. Blood started oozing from his nose and one eye was bloodshot.

  "The hell he will," Stella snarled and kicked him in the face, knocking him out. Breathing hard, she just stood there and stared down at him, her hair in disarray, eyes sparking with anger. "Dammit all to fucking hell!" she then snapped and gave the downed man another kick just for good measure. Then she focused on the others standing around. "What the hell are you all standing around for? Pick him up and feed him to that vengeful deity of his. He doesn't deserve any better!"

  Kyle stared at her for a moment, then turned himself and Daniel around and started toward the path leading up to the rim and the tunnel to dome 2.

  "Kyle," Stella called after him. "Wait a minute."

  "No way in hell," he pressed out through clenched teeth and kept moving. Whether she was involved or not was no concern of his. The only concern he had right now was to get Daniel the hell away from these lunatics.

  She caught up to them and stopped him by grabbing his arm. But her gaze was on Daniel. "I'm sorry, son. I should have seen this coming," she said to him, then focused on Kyle. "Where are you taking him?"

  "Away from this nuthouse," he snapped, yanked his arm out of her grip and pushed Daniel to move again.

  They made it into dome 2 without further opposition, while Kyle kept his mind off what was happening behind them; not that he really cared that much. Daniel staggered along, but slowly seemed to regain some of his strength.

  They hadn't made it very far before Kyle came to a sudden stop. The path ahead was blocked off by the Russians. The group stood there, spread out, preventing them from going any further.

  "Get out of our way," Kyle pressed out through clenched teeth.

  The old man, who had spoken to him in the mess hall, eyed him closely. Then he took a step forward. "You need to leave," he said quietly.

  Kyle frowned. "That's what we're trying to do. So get out of our way. I need to get him to dome 1," he countered aggressively.

  Daniel pulled away from Kyle at that moment. He looked too pale, but remained standing. "Just ... let us pass," he said. His voice was a bit jittery while he in vain tried to readjust his ruined clothes.

  The old man eyed him for a moment. "You have met them?" he asked.

  "Them?" Kyle was getting a little tired of the weirdness right now. "Them who?"

  Daniel held up a hand, stopping him from asking further questions. "Yes, we have," he agreed quietly. "We need to pass. We need to get away from them."

  The Russians whispered to each other while the old man kept eying Daniel. "They did that to you?" he asked.

  "Yes, they did. And if you won't let us pass, they'll do worse," Daniel agreed and gave up on trying to keep the tatters of his t-shirt together.

  For a moment all the Russians just stood and stared at them and Kyle was almost overwhelmed with the vibes of hostility they emitted, but then the old man turned back to the others and said something in a l
anguage Kyle didn't recognize. The group dispersed immediately and a moment later, they were once again alone in the corridor.

  "Them?" he asked again and couldn't help wondering if they meant the loonies. "Who's them?"

  "I don't know," Daniel admitted. "I just had the feeling that we needed to agree with them."

  "I thought they weren't dangerous," Kyle said, but then remembered that this bit of information had come from Mike - who was obviously off his rocker. "Then again ..." He shrugged and then focused on Daniel. "Are you okay?"

  Daniel nodded. "I think so," he muttered and idly touched his torn t-shirt. "I ..." He stopped and looked up to face Kyle. "There really is a monster in there, isn't there?"

  Curiosity was a dangerous thing, Kyle figured, but he couldn't deny he felt the urge to ask questions. "You saw it?"

  "No," Daniel said with a shake of the head. "All I saw were the loonies. But ... Billy ..." He swallowed and reached out to brace himself against the wall next to him. "Something ... I don't know ..." His breathing deepened, became faster.

  "Hey, ho-wow," Kyle said and grabbed his arm. "Deep breaths," he admonished. "Don't pass out on me now."

  Daniel followed his advice and breathed deeply a few times, closing his eyes in the process. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget those screams," he finally whispered.

  "No, me either," Kyle agreed and glanced in both directions of the path. "Listen, Danny, we gotta get the hell out of here. The sooner we get back to the com-station room, the better I'll feel." He eyed the younger man intently. "Are you okay to walk?"

  A silent nod was the only reply he got to that one.

  ***

  Baby steps

  Getting back to dome 1 and its relative safety wasn't the big problem. Daniel wasn't exactly steady, but he walked on his own and despite his denial of the same, Kyle kept wondering if he had seen something. The Russians did not turn up again and he considered that lucky. There was something about them that he didn't like, even though he was hard pressed to say what exactly that was.

  When they reached the com-station room, the door was closed. Kyle paused and gave Daniel a once-over. "You look like crap, by the way," he said and gave the kid a smile.

  Daniel pulled at a piece of his t-shirt and sighed. "I need new clothes," he said and then grimaced. "But I'm not going back there alone."

  Before Kyle could come up with an appropriate response to that, the door opened and Bark just stopped and stared at them. "I thought I heard voices," he announced hesitantly.

  Kyle nodded. "So you did," he agreed.

  Bark shifted his attention to Daniel and frowned at him, then shifted his attention back to Kyle. "You found him, I see," he said and stepped aside to let them in.

  "How are the repairs coming along?" Kyle countered and stepped inside followed by Daniel.

  "Almost done. I need to connect two more lengths of wire and we're ready to fire this baby up," Bark said. His gaze hitched on Daniel. "What the hell happened to him? He looks like he's been in a fight with a big cat."

  The mental image this produced was a bit comical and Kyle couldn't help a smirk even though it was a pretty halfhearted one. "Not really," he said and turned back to close the door.

  Daniel withdrew to the furthest corner and slid down the wall to the floor, where he wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his chin on top of them.

  "So, what happened to him?" Bark asked, his tone indicating that he wasn't at all sure what was going on here.

  Kyle glanced at Daniel, who seemed to seemed to have signed off mentally, and sighed. "Mike tried to feed him to the thing in dome 6," he said. "The loonies were all over him when I got there." It sounded like a damned joke when he said it out loud, but all he had to do was take one look at Daniel to know it had happened. Since Daniel had nothing to add, Kyle gave Bark the whole sordid story and finally fell silent.

  For a long moment after he had finished, Bark just stared at him. Then he scrubbed a hand over his lips. "Holy shit," he muttered. "There actually is something alien in dome 6?"

  "My best guess is yes," Kyle agreed. "I didn't see it, but I sure as hell heard Billy screaming." He picked up one of the last lengths of wire and eyed it without really seeing it. "I won't forget that any time soon," he added and handed the wire over to Bark, his gaze settled on Daniel. "He's not really hurt. But that attack would rattle anyone's foundation."

  Bark fiddled with the wire for a moment, then dropped down in front of the machine and went back to work without a word. His movements were a bit strained and he was working faster than before, which told Kyle all he needed to know. Despite his previous reservations, Bark was dead set on getting out of here now. And that could only work in Kyle's favor.

  Moments later, Bark put the finishing touches on the last wire, got back to his feet, flipped a few switches and brought the com-station online. He eyed the displays for a moment and then glanced at Kyle. "Seems to be working," he said. "Only problem I have is that if we get in touch with the Penal Authorities, this might be as far as it goes. If they don't want us to talk to Earth, they'll jam the frequencies and that will be the end of this little expedition."

  Kyle frowned. "Why would they not want us to talk to Earth?" he asked, fully aware that he was missing some big point, that was most likely staring him straight in the face.

  The look in the other man's eyes underlined that feeling. "These wires were cut on purpose. I severely doubt that anyone up here cut them to harvest wire. If that had been the case, they would have taken all of it, and the rest of the station would probably have been taken apart for spare parts," he said, his tone strained. "Somebody back home doesn't want us talking to Earth."

  Kyle eyed the displays and dials and buttons while trying to acclimate himself to the thought that this breakdown in communication was on purpose. Unless ... He derailed that train of thought before it could become anything tangible. The prospect of where it was heading was just too upsetting right now. "Fine, then why are we even thinking of using this thing if we don't want to talk to whoever might pick up at the other end?"

  Bark made a face that indicated both frustration and annoyance. "I'm a hacker, Kyle," he said, stressing the words. "This is ... basically one big computer. It'll take a bit, but I'm sure I can find a way to circumvent whatever protocols they have used to limit the connectivity of this station ..."

  Kyle stopped him by holding up both hands, palms out. "Pretend I'm stupid, dude. Draw me a picture," he said.

  For a moment the other man considered this and then shrugged. "Okay, fine. I can reprogram it to use any frequency we want. In other words, you wanna call home, I can connect you," he said.

  That made Kyle smile. "Now that's what I like to hear," he said. "Get on it. Get me a line straight into the headquarters of Whitmore Enterprises. I wanna talk to my dad first and foremost." He paused, his imagination kicking into gear. "Is there any way that you can ... I don't know ... protect the line so others can't listen in?"

  Bark leaned his head to the right. "I'm a hacker," he repeated. "I managed to breach the security protocols in your dad's company. I can scramble a signal too." He turned back to the terminal. "I just need to find out how big of a job this is going to be."

  Kyle left him to it and turned his attention to Daniel instead. "I'll see if I can find some clothes for Danny," he said and realized he was speaking to himself. Bark was already deeply engrossed in trying to do whatever he needed to do to reprogram the com-station and was pretty much lost to the world already. Daniel was just sitting there, his attention on nothing.

  Kyle hunkered down beside Daniel and he jerked, eyes going wide instantly. "Hey, ho-wow," Kyle said, grabbing his shoulders. "Everything's honky-dory. You're safe."

  For a second or two Daniel stared at him, then swallowed hard, glanced at Bark working on the com-station, and then sent another more controlled look around the room before licking his lips nervously. "Shit. I was just ..." he t
ried, but broke off when his voice cracked.

  "Take it easy," Kyle said, smiling at him. "Everything's fine. You're okay."

  "I can't believe he's dead," Daniel said quietly.

  Kyle's smile faltered. "Dan, there was nothing you could have done. They were too many, they were attacking you ..."

  "But you just waltzed in there and got me out. They made no move to stop you," Daniel interrupted him, sat up completely and pulled back against the wall. "I couldn't ... I didn't even ..."

  "Beating yourself up about this will accomplish nothing, Dan," Kyle said sternly and sat down on the floor in front of Daniel. "I had the element of surprise on my side. I was pissed as hell and not afraid to show it. Obviously, that impressed them. But I would not have stuck around to chit-chat. Any wrong move, one wrong word and we would both have been maggot fodder."

  Daniel blinked rapidly and hunched his shoulders, a shudder rippling through him. "I should have done something," he muttered.

  Kyle grabbed a hold of his shoulder. "There was nothing you could have done," he stressed, while keeping in mind that his father would have told him to man up and forget it, there was no sense in crying over spilt milk. "Any move you would have made differently would have gotten you killed." He tightened his grip on Daniel's shoulder. "Care to tell me what the hell happened?"

  For a moment it seemed that Daniel would not respond, but then he raised his head just a little. "It was ... I don't know what it is. But it's definitely not only the loonies over there. There's something in dome 6, something ... big. They stripped Billy, and then pushed him into the tunnel. And these ... arms ... these ... tentacles snaked out and grabbed him." He shuddered, tensing up. "I think I'm gonna be sick," he added, looking nauseous .

  Tentacles? Kyle frowned at the idea. It wasn't far-fetched, but the origin of whatever was hiding in dome 6 piqued his interest. What was it? An alien? A mythological monster of some kind? Some genetic mutation? Absentmindedly he ruffled Daniel's hair, and then got back to his feet. "I'm gonna go find something to eat and some clothes for you," he said. "Both of you stay here."