by Adair Hart
Jay laughed. “Several miles? In a building? C’mon, man …”
Evaran half grinned at Jay. “You still believe this is a building?”
“Yeah, I do,” said Jay, glancing at Dr. Snowden.
Dr. Snowden nodded his head at Jay. “Until proven otherwise, I agree with Jay’s assessment.”
Evaran shook his head and exhaled sharply. “Okay.”
They reached the featureless half-cylindrical column. Evaran placed his UIC on the wall console and interacted with his ARI. The half-cylindrical column rotated, exposing a spacious interior with gray walls.
“In we go then,” said Evaran.
They walked into the elevator. Dr. Snowden noted that the interior was featureless except for one console. The wall slid shut, and after a few moments, they reopened to level 555.
Dr. Snowden was amazed at how fast it went up nine levels. They walked out, and he recognized that this level had a different height than the others. He guessed it to be about three stories high. He jumped as a shrieking sound rang out from far away. The mist and low lighting made him rub the goosebumps on his arm.
They turned left and walked for a few minutes to the main bridge concourse entrance. They stopped to examine the archway. The border of the entrance had thick segmented blocks ringing it. Each segment had a circle on it, with an alien symbol in the circle.
Looking down the main bridge concourse, Dr. Snowden could barely see the end of it. “This is a pretty big room. How far to the bridge?”
“Approximately one mile,” said V.
Dr. Snowden flinched as V appeared next to him. He had forgotten V was flying around. “Umm … thanks, V.”
V glowed a bit brighter and flew to Evaran.
“V, map the concourse,” said Evaran.
“Acknowledged. Mapping mode engaged,” said V. V flew off toward the end of the main bridge concourse, emanating a two-dimensional circular red light that expanded to all sides of the room.
“When V gets back, we will have a three-dimensional scan of the room. I just want to make sure it is clear before we proceed,” said Evaran.
“You think there might be other specimens in there?” said Emily, watching V fly down the main bridge concourse.
“Possibly. It is a large area, which has some tactical disadvantages for us,” said Evaran, raising a finger.
“What else would V be scanning for,” said Sanjay, looking at Emily.
Emily shot a look at Sanjay. “I don’t know. That’s why I asked.”
Sanjay ducked away to the other side of the arched entrance.
Dr. Snowden walked over to one of the segmented blocks on the entrance border. An interface projection appeared in front of him. It displayed the unusual alien symbols, but this time, he understood what they meant. It was a map interface for the main bridge concourse.
“Hey! I can understand this!” said Dr. Snowden, turning to look at Evaran.
“Ahh, good. The universal translator has kicked in.”
Sanjay, Emily, and Jay gathered around Dr. Snowden.
Sanjay studied the map interface. “Are the nanobots doing this?”
Evaran gazed down the main bridge concourse. “They are involved. I was able to get them to accept translation requests from my ship. I was unsure of how long it would take to kick in, but it appears they have completed integration.”
“Translation requests? You mean we are connected to your ship through our supposed nanobots?” asked Dr. Snowden with raised eyebrows.
“Yes, the supposed nanobots can communicate with the ship’s universal translator. Typically, I would offer you a temporary set of nanobots. As you already had nanobots inside you, I decided to see if I could interface with them, and it appears to have worked. Your nanobots now have a new protocol to check with the ship’s universal translator if they cannot translate something. If it cannot translate something directly, it will use the nearest term, even if it is slang,” said Evaran, turning to look at Dr. Snowden and Emily.
“Does it make others who don’t have universal translators understand us? Like, if I were to speak to a French person, would it come out as French?” asked Emily.
“Yes, and your lips would move to compensate. Although you would still see French in text and the other person’s lips move in sync with French, you would understand what it meant,” said Evaran.
Dr. Snowden snorted and shook his head. “I find that very unlikely.”
Jay shook his head. “That’s messed up.”
“The evidence is staring you all right in the face,” said Evaran.
“Does this mean the ship has access to our thoughts then?” asked Sanjay.
“Temporarily during the translation it does, but it does not keep an audit trail. The universal translator protocol came with the ship, and other than knowing how to access it remotely and configure some of it, that is all I know about it,” said Evaran.
“So it has some privacy security built in. I like that,” said Sanjay.
Dr. Snowden could see that Sanjay was a sharp kid. He couldn’t bring himself to so easily believe what Evaran was saying. He was not as secure about his conclusion in the medical lab as he was now. He watched as V flew back. V had said that the bridge was one mile away. He calculated that since V was not gone long, V must be able to either fly quickly or skim across the top and be able to scan forward as opposed to the sides he saw initially.
V flew next to Evaran and projected a three-dimensional overview of the main bridge concourse. Dr. Snowden noted that the map V projected had more detail than the displayed one from the segmented block. Evaran began walking around the projection with his hands behind his back.
“Analysis. No active life-forms detected. Multiple inactive life-forms detected. Eighty-seven entrances, seven thousand hatchways—” said V.
“I think that will be enough. Looks like we are walking,” said Evaran.
They followed Evaran as he walked down the center of the main bridge concourse.
Dr. Snowden took note of the architecture. The sides of the main bridge concourse had walkways accessible by ramps at evenly distanced intervals. There were various areas sectioned off in the main walkway that contained stands with unusual devices. Benches with strange shapes and an occasional odd-looking plant dotted the floor. The main bridge concourse was big. The most unusual aspect of the concourse was the small hatches high up on the walls. There were three rows, with each row having roughly five feet between each hatchway. The rows seemed to span the length of the main bridge concourse.
After thirty minutes of walking, they reached the middle of the main bridge concourse and could see the bridge door in the distance.
“Everyone, you may want to see this,” said Evaran, pointing to something on the ground.
They walked to where Evaran was pointing. On the ground was a dead Krotovore. Around it were other aliens Dr. Snowden did not recognize. The Krotovore was missing a leg and two arms. Half of the chest armor was missing, with teeth marks around the edges. Green liquid had solidified around it.
“It looks part eaten,” said Sanjay.
“It was one of the security forces of the ship. You can tell by the designation on the chest plate,” said Evaran, pointing to the mangled chest armor. “Whatever got to it was strong enough to peel apart the armor. Probably something we want to avoid.”
“Ewww. I think I’m gonna be sick,” said Emily as she grimaced and put a hand on her stomach.
Dr. Snowden smirked. “I’ve seen better props than this.”
Jay walked beside Dr. Snowden. “I dunno, man, looks pretty real to me.” He rubbed the back of his neck while looking up. He snapped his head back and pushed Dr. Snowden down. “Watch out!”
“What the—” said Dr. Snowden as he rag-dolled to the floor. A spiderlike creature landed where he stood just a second ago. His eyes widened, and his heart began to race.
“What the fuck?” shouted Jay as the creature jumped at him. He caught it in midair and threw it
to the ground. He stomped it. Several more landed near him. He kicked the nearest one. Another one jumped at him. He dodged it. When it landed, he pivoted and stomped it. He shouted out in pain as one fell on his arm. It careened off him and crashed to the ground. He stepped back and kicked the creature, sending it flying. He turned his hat backward and balled his fists. His face turned red. He shook his head at the one he kicked. “Well, c’mon then, you little shits!”
Sanjay took off running, with four creatures in pursuit of him. Evaran had turned to help Jay, but then turned back around to run after Sanjay.
Dr. Snowden scrambled to his feet. He heard Emily scream. He turned to see two creatures had landed near her. Another was already trying to bite her. Emily held it in place with her outstretched arms. He bolted over to her and kicked the first one. Its sides busted open, spewing guts everywhere. He stomped the second one, causing its organs to fly out the back end. He yanked the third off Emily and threw it to the ground. It landed on its back. His eyes flared as adrenaline surged through him. It tried to flip over, but he got to it first, kneeling to slam his fists into its soft underbelly. It shuddered as black blood spattered out. He grunted as his vision blurred, and he raged that they would threaten Emily. He grabbed a leg. Rip. And another. Rip. And another. Rip. It stopped moving. The nauseating smell of guts permeated the air.
He turned as he heard the thump of another one landing near him. He reached out and grabbed it. He slammed his fist into its multi-eyed face, crushing it. A sharp pain shot up his leg. He looked down and saw another had bit his leg. He grunted as he pulled it off him. He flipped it and crushed the creature’s soft underbelly with his right hand. It shrieked and then gurgled. Black blood oozed everywhere. He picked up the body and ripped it in half.
He turned to look at Emily. She was violently shaking. She had fallen back some and was dodging one of the creatures. She kicked at it as it came close to her. It kept circling her. Dr. Snowden scrambled to his feet and rushed over. He dove at it, slamming both fists into it. It flattened out. He let out a primal scream as he jackhammered the lifeless corpse.
Evaran had come back from chasing Sanjay. His suit had a spattering of the creatures’ entrails on it. Jay had finished off those around him that had not run away. Evaran walked up to Dr. Snowden and put his hand on Dr. Snowden’s shoulder. “Dr. Snowden.”
Dr. Snowden kept hitting the dead creature. Tears ran down his face.
“Dr. Snowden!” said Evaran.
Dr. Snowden stopped and put his fists against his temples and squinted his eyes. His jaw was clenched and his breathing ragged. He whimpered as he looked back to Emily, who was frozen in fear. He turned to see Evaran and Jay, both covered in guts, staring at him with dead creatures lying around them. He looked back at the thing he had mutilated. There is no way a creature like this existed on Earth for many reasons. He knew any aggressive bugs that could evolve to this size would have easily swept the planet.
“I believe it is dead,” said Evaran.
Dr. Snowden took a deep breath. He splayed out his arms as leaned forward and dry heaved. He could taste the blood of the creatures in his mouth. Some of the entrails that had shot onto his face slipped off. After a few moments, he turned his head to look at Evaran. He whispered, “This … this is real.”
Evaran’s eyes softened as he nodded at Dr. Snowden and lightly squeezed his shoulder.
Emily walked over and put her trembling hand on his other shoulder and whispered, “Uncle Albert?”
He turned to face her. His body shuddered as more tears ran down the side of his face. His voice cracked. “I was wrong.” He looked down and squinted hard. His lips drew down. He looked back at Emily and in a hushed tone said, “I was so wrong.”
“It’s okay,” whispered Emily as she knelt to hug him. She sniffled and wiped a tear off her face.
Jay looked around, then at Evaran. He clenched his fists. “Sanjay ran away! That lil chickenshit!”
Evaran sighed and turned to face Jay. “It was a rough situation. Do not judge him harshly. Nonetheless, we need to move. Those were draug. The ones you saw were just the scouts, and the smallest of their type. Some escaped back to their brood.”
“Ohhh, that’s just fucking great, man!” said Jay, tossing his right arm into the air.
Dr. Snowden stood up with the help of Emily. He looked at the ground as the warm sensation of embarrassment washed through him. His heart slowed down as he measured his breath. His mind was a jumble of thoughts. How could he have been so wrong? He put his hand on the bite on his leg. It was just a minor surface wound. He coughed as the smell of the corpses almost overpowered him. He walked to where Jay was.
Jay slapped him on the back. “Damn, Doc—I mean, Dr. Snowden. You literally kicked the shit out of them, man. Fuck yeah.”
Dr. Snowden exhaled sharply and nodded at Jay. If Jay hadn’t pushed him out of the way, the creatures would have landed on him. The situation could have been much worse. When it came to fight or flight, Jay was all fight. “Call me Doc.”
Jay half grinned and nodded at Dr. Snowden. “All right then.”
Evaran tilted his head while raising his index finger. “The brood has arrived at the entrance. We must move. Now.”
Dr. Snowden rubbed the goose bumps on his arms. The intensity of Evaran’s face startled him back to reality.
V had flown off back toward the main bridge concourse entrance per a motion from Evaran. It took them twenty minutes to hustle to the main bridge door. When they arrived, Evaran placed his UIC on the console next to the entryway. Sanjay was curled up next to the door.
“There you are, you son of a bitch!” said Jay.
Sanjay crawled up to a standing position. A urine trail snaked down his slacks. “I was scared, okay?”
“Fuck, man, we’re all scared. Doesn’t mean we don’t watch each other’s back,” said Jay.
“Jay, this is not the time for this,” said Evaran.
Jay shook his head and exhaled sharply. “God, what a pussy.” He walked away from Sanjay.
Evaran interacted with his ARI and then pulled out a small orb device from his utility belt. Evaran tossed the orb out, and it hovered a few feet off the ground. Evaran interacted with his ARI again, and a projection shot up showing creatures running in through the entrance. They were pouring in, not just on the ground, but on the sides and the ceiling.
“Shit, more of those things,” said Jay with wide eyes, his mouth slightly ajar. He turned his hat back around.
“So many of them,” said Emily, grimacing.
“That is a full-on draug brood. We can discuss it more when we are in a safer position,” said Evaran.
“Goddamn,” said Jay.
Emily grabbed Dr. Snowden’s arm. Her trembling echoed through him.
He had a lot of thoughts running through his mind, but the projection of the draug mesmerized him. The draug had different body types. Although they were all mostly mottled brown in color, there was a remarkable diversity of shapes. It reminded him of ants somewhat. There were larger ones with four legs, a thorax behind them, and an upper plated body. The face had two large eyes and large pincers where a mouth would be. The upper body had two powerful-looking arms that ended in claws. Those must be the soldiers. Then there were two smaller types running around the larger ones. The first one was the type they just ran into. It was a darker brown than the rest of the draug. They also seemed to move much faster than the rest. The second one reminded him of a pill bug, except with armored plates that had spikes on each segment of its back armor. It had a tube of some sort coming from its face. Those must be specialized workers.
As V began flying back, there was a wide shot of them.
He noticed a single one that towered over them all. The body reminded him of a large praying mantis, but this one had arms ending in large claws instead of praying forelegs, and there were all sorts of protruding spikes on it. He figured it was the size of an elephant. The face reminded him of a spider’s. The
re were multiple eyes on it and large fangs projecting from its mouth. He had no idea what that creature represented, maybe an overseer or something. The clicking sounds were getting louder. He guessed they knew that there was food in here. At least there were no flying ones.
“Umm … how’s the door coming?” asked Sanjay.
Evaran reached out, and the projection orb flew into his hand. He put it back on his belt. The UIC had a blue light between it and the door console. Evaran interacted with his ARI. “Opening it now.”
The doors pulled back into the sidewalls, revealing a large bridge. They burst through as Evaran pulled the UIC from the door console, causing the doors to begin closing. V flew in as the doors closed. Thumping sounds emanated from the door a few moments later.
Dr. Snowden barely registered the thumping. A jumble of thoughts was waging war in his mind. He was not used to being this wrong. He vowed to learn everything he could.
They took a breather after the doors closed. Jay walked over to the wall near the entrance and leaned back against it. He looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. “Damn, I could go for a smoke ’bout now.”
Dr. Snowden went over and slumped down against the wall next to him. Emily followed him and bent down. Sanjay walked over the opposite side of the door. He drooped his head and slid his hands into his pockets.
Evaran walked out in front of them. “Any longer out there and we would have been another meal for them. They will not be breaking through that door. It has shields and is physically very durable. Relax a bit. I am going to work on the bridge consoles. There are sustenance replicators to your right. You can get some water there, but I would recommend not trying to select any food items.” He looked at Jay. “Or cigarettes.”
“Figures. Any place to get this crap off?” asked Jay, pointing to the draug bits and pieces on his boots.
Evaran nodded and pointed to their left. “There are some cleaning rooms over there. Just step in, wait for the door to close. and undress. If you need to use the bathroom, they have a structure for that in there as well. Once you are ready, just press the large green button, and it will scan and then clean everything in the room.”