NEBULAR Collection 2 - The Expedition: NEBULAR Episodes 6 - 11

by Thomas Rabenstein

  »I have seen this abode only from the bottom of the volcano,« Paafnas said. »I would never have imagined being up here.«

  Maya detected a sad undertone in Paafnas’ voice.

  »What’s wrong?« she whispered to him.

  Paafnas slumped and replied, »I think that we won’t leave this place alive. We can‘t climb down the mountain again, you wouldn’t make it. There’s no return!«

  »You’re right, Paaf. There’s only forward for us.« Maya smiled and touch Paafnas’ right arm in a gesture of friendship. He quickly pulled his arm back as a reflex. It seemed that this act of sympathy was unknown and very alien to him.

  »Let’s go,« Maya suggested.

  She hauled herself determinedly over the edge of the plateau and ran crouched toward the spaceship. In its shadow, she signaled Paafnas to follow her.

  Maya squatted and cautiously glanced over to the strange looking building. The outside walls were covered with fine crystal dust, visible even in the darkness – crystals from the desert!

  This crystal dust caused the abode to glitter in the daylight so intensely that it seemed blinding. Maya didn’t know if the crystal dust was used for something else besides just outside decoration. It seemed the Lord wanted to impress visitors or the Treugolans or both with this light display … or was it a signal of might?

  Is this the only reason the prisoners have to sift the crystals from the sand dunes? So the Lord of the World can make his castle shiny? Maya Ivanova thought perversely.

  She shook her head; it couldn’t be that simple.

  Parts of the abode extended into the extinguished volcano crater and Maya was certain that the building itself reached far into the mountain. Several archways led into the castle from the plateau, which was probably only used as a landing field. Maya estimated the arches to be about two meters in height. Considering these measurements, they were not unlike entrances to a building on Earth.

  Seems to me that the Lord is almost, if not quite, humanoid, considering the size of the arches. I need to find out!

  »You know, we should just go inside and have a look,« Maya whispered jokingly. »There are no other entrances; at least, I don’t see any. If this is the only way into the Lord’s abode then we need to take it.«

  Paafnas licked his large eyes, nervously.

  »There’s no way back,« he murmured, depressed.

  Maya nodded in agreement and smiled at him encouragingly.

  Paafnas licked nervously over his eyes.

  »Exactly, Paaf. Let’s go then!«

  Her mind made up, Ivanova left her cover and darted toward the nearest entrance. Paafnas followed and positioned himself at the other side of the entrance arch. Cautiously, they peeked into the building.

  »Do you see anything?« Ivanova hissed at Paafnas.

  »There’s a lobby. The building seems to be open, no energy fields or other technological barriers.«

  Paafnas’ voice sounded surprised. He must have expected more.

  »Better for us then,« Maya Ivanova remarked and blinked at him. »The Lord of the World seems to feel pretty secure. I imagine that he will make some changes after our visit here. That means we have only one chance, do you understand, Paaf?«

  Paafnas nodded.

  »What do you want to do next, Maya?«

  »Think!«

  Without waiting for an answer, she stormed into the lobby and stopped at the darkest section of the room. Even though there was no direct illumination, it was still bright enough for her, because the inner walls were also covered with crystal dust. Maya was fascinated. The crystals seemed to be glowing from the inside out, possibly acting as light amplifiers for the minimal amounts of photons that entered the room.

  »Fascinating!« she said in awe, and waited until her eyes had adjusted to the lighting. She looked around and saw more arch openings leading to different rooms and sections of the building. The lobby was plainly designed, not high tech at all. There were several shelves whose storage areas seemed to extend directly from the walls. They contained boxes or containers in different colors. Maya had no idea what was in those containers. Maybe clothing, holographic memory crystals, anything imaginable. Maya suspected, however, that the boxes contained special equipment, because the Lord needed to pass by these containers to get to his spaceship.

  »Where do you want to go?« Paafnas asked insecurely.

  »We’ll snoop around, carefully,« Maya decided. »The Lord is somewhere in the building. Let’s look at these containers, maybe we can find a weapon.«

  Immediately, Paafnas climbed up the wall and cautiously opened the lid of one of the containers. Suspicion crinkling his face, he looked inside.

  »Crystal dust!,« he whispered, disappointed, to Maya and went to the next container.

  The next container was also filled with dust, the dust Maya and the other prisoners had sifted from the sand dunes.

  He’s hording the crystal dust and storing it here, but why? Maya wondered.

  Paafnas moved along the ceiling, while Maya cautiously advanced into the nearest room adjacent to the entrance lobby.

  The room reminded her of a laboratory, furnished with solid lab benches that held strangely formed test tube-like containers. Some of them were connected to each other by means of tubing or wiring harnesses that led to measuring devices and instruments. Some contained boiling substances, which were circulated and exchanged with other systems. Maya didn’t understand the purpose of any of it.

  She did notice a thick layer of dust on the benches, which under a closer look turned out to be crystal dust.

  He uses this stuff for his experiments! Maya thought perplexedly.

  Maya arrived at the end of the lab benches, looked around – and froze!

  A moment later she took cover behind one of the benches and glanced toward the back of the room. Strange looking bodies were standing in the room – they seemed to be waiting for her in the diffusely lit room. She held her breath and tried not to make any noise. After a couple of minutes, she noticed, that these bodies weren’t moving, they were stiff.

  Maya cursed the lighting conditions sulfurously and cautiously left her cover.

  What is this? Sculptures?

  Maya wanted to examine the bodies more, but she heard Paafnas’ hissed a warning from the ceiling above her, where he had fully adapted to the surrounding color scheme.

  »Maya, no! Don’t go there – keep your distance!«

  It was already too late.

  As Ivanova approached the first body, she looked into starry, wide-open eyes – Human eyes.

  The eyes and the entire face were crystallized – as if frozen under immense pain and fear.

  »No! Sati!« Ivanova screamed.

  Maya’s stomach and shoulders heaved and she had to struggle to overcome her flight impulse. Sati was dead! What she saw before her was just a lifeless cocoon. She fought her emotions and tears of rage ran down her cheeks.

  Having seen Sati like this, she doubted she could ever reason with the so-called Lord. He was a murderer without scruples and had sacrificed Sati to further his experiments. Again, she looked into Sati’s pain-distorted, crystalline eyes. She would never forget those eyes again in her life. Sati was standing on a pedestal and appeared as if he was a freak exhibition piece.

  Now, Maya also noticed the other beings who had shared the same fate.

  »What did he do to you?« Ivanova sobbed, trying to regain her self-control. It was obvious that Sati had consciously witnessed his body’s transformation. Maya was certain of it. Sati’s facial expression spoke volumes.

  Maya Ivanova had to force herself to break eye contact with the dead body. She couldn’t bare the view any longer.

  »I’m so sorry, Sati,« she whispered and clenched her fists. She wanted to destroy all the test tubes and containers in this room.

  A voice called out to her from the darkness of the back of the room. Maya froze.

  »What took you so long? I almost thought I had overe
stimated you!«

  Her escape plan had failed. The Lord of the World had been watching her all along.

  Suddenly, the room was flooded with brilliant light, and Paafnas was shot down from the ceiling. The Pleunatan hit the floor like a ton of bricks.

  The light affirmed Maya’s wildest imaginings. Twenty crystallized beings were present in the room – put out for display like a freak horror show.

  Maya saw the oscillating energy field hovering in the middle of the room.

  Suddenly, she felt calm and ready.

  That’s how you feel when you’re at the end.

  Silently, she looked over to the energy field where it obscured whoever had just shot Paafnas. The stranger seemed to wait …

  After a quick glance to the side, she went over to Paaf, ignoring the stranger. Cautiously, she checked out her friend, although she didn’t know anything about Paafnas’ anatomy. Relieved, she felt slight movement from his organs and noticed his shallow breathing. Maya closed her eyes for a moment.

  Thank God, he’s still alive!

  »You can understand me!« she said into the room without facing back. »Why did you do that to him? You almost killed him! That wasn’t necessary!«

  »Caring, sympathy and standing up for other beings, even for very different species … will be your downfall. I’ve seen the same behavior in your partners. That’ll come in handy at some time.«

  Maya saw from the corner of her eyes that the stranger had come closer. She could understand his voice perfectly. He must be using a universal translator device.

  »Whoever you are, you’re making a big mistake. It’s not our weakness, it’s our strength!«

  His answer was muted, mocking laughter.

  Ivanova hated the stranger for it even more.

  »Pride, revolt and resistance – I’ve forgotten how often I’ve broken peoples’ wills and characters in the past … as I will yours, Human woman!«

  »Dream on!« Maya said grimly. »We can talk to each other, so let’s act like intelligent beings. Negotiate! Let us leave this world and we’ll never come back.«

  »Negotiate?« the Lord asked disingenuously. »That implies that you can offer me something in return, which in fact you can’t. So … the word negotiation doesn’t really apply.«

  Maya Ivanova felt an ice-cold shiver as never before. This being, still hiding behind his energy shield, had absolutely no intention to dialogue.

  »I was wrong about you,« Maya answered angrily, tossing her head up. »You’re a murderer, no better than these Treugolans!«

  »You came here all the way just to kill me,« the voice sounded amused, »unkempt, exhausted, without weapons and without a feasible plan – accompanied only by a weak Pleunatan – an act of desperation.«

  Maya Ivanova felt a slight drag, than a strong pull, which brought her to her feet against her will, suspended a couple of centimeters above the floor. Her arms and legs were brutally spread apart by whatever force he was using.

  »Gravitational restraints,« the Lord commented. »The more you resist, the more it hurts.«

  She hardly heard his voice over the pain. She had made a crucial mistake, assuming that this being would negotiate rationally. She felt like she was trapped in a nightmare.

  Pearls of sweat appeared on her forehead. She was utterly at the Lord’s mercy. She gathered all her strength to free herself from the force field – to no use. Then the force field pulled hard on her clothing and tore it from her body. Maya Ivanova was shocked. She was suspended naked in the air, unable to move a limb.

  »You’re a very beautiful woman! There were times when I conquered and destroyed worlds just for beauty such as yours.«

  »You seem to have forgotten how to treat a woman!« she snapped at him. She had never felt so humiliated.

  Suddenly, an energy blast left the oscillating field and hit her on the chest.

  Ivanova felt the sudden pain as her muscles spasmed. She screamed and fell unconscious.

  Re-armament program

  »Ladies and Gentlemen, the new Comet Class program is under way. Nine ships are being built. The Union Government has freed the necessary funding. Each ship will be outfitted with inertia dampers, and as soon as Toiber Arkroid and the Shwakan return to Earth, we will try to buy more of his devices.

  »Let me introduce the Solarwind. The status of completion has reached 14 percent. Currently, the ship’s hull is being fitted at an orbital space-dock.

  »The Solarwind’s home base will be Orbital Station Phoebus. Her main task will be the defense of the Mars Colony. In addition, the Solarwind will participate in operations as needed throughout the entire Solar System. The new Comet cruisers can be classed as fortified science and research vessels, able to reach all points within the Solar System to conduct scientific research, but also perform tactical tasks.«

  Strong applause filled the big assembly as a 10 meter high holo display established, connecting Earth with Mars. The pictures from Mars orbit had no sound due to the signal run time between the planets, so that the Space Fleet speaker had to narrate the pictures before the Solar Union Parliament.

  »Similar to Pulsar Class ships, the Comet Class employs a multi-layer, re-enforced hull. Newly developed nanobots have been integrated into the ships’ design to repair hull breaches and tears within minutes. All new generation Fleet space ships will be armed. We will, however, no longer make use of our outdated laser technology, which will be reserved for civilian applications such as ranging or other instrumentation. The new ships will employ plasma launchers as well as various types of space torpedoes with autonomous power plants and guidance systems. The plasma launchers are a new weapon system, developed from those of the Globusters. We may not be able to precisely copy their technology, but we have made strides, attacking technological problems from different angles.«

  The speaker made a brief pause and looked around. It was obvious that not all of the present representatives showed enthusiasm for the government’s re-armament plans.

  »I understand that the re-armament program is not everybody’s cup of tea, as it reminds us of the times when we were fighting each other on Earth. However, with the Globuster threat, we have to be able to protect Earth and our bases and colonies!«

  »I vehemently object to these plans!« a voice shouted from the audience.

  Skogar Hakash had jumped from his seat to exercise his privileges as a representative speaker. Rumor had it that the Martian politician had very close ties to private industries. Still, his outspokenness could seriously harm the Union Government’s presentation. Tumult developed on the parliament floor and “niceties” were exchanged, as it had been assumed that the re-armament program had been unanimously passed by the parliament.

  »The Globusters are not a threat as long as we stay out of the Kuiper Belt!« Hakash continued. »They’ve become passive and inactive since the Stinger’s destruction. I say let’s not reawaken them! The re-armament program will cost us trillions that could be used elsewhere and will, in the long run, bring war and destruction to our colonies and Earth! We should not try the Globusters’ patience, but rather use the some of the money to relocate the people who are living in the outer sectors back to Earth!«

  The Space Commissioner couldn’t believe he had heard correctly.

  »My dear Honorable Mr. Hakash … do you really believe that we should close our eyes and abandon our projects at system perimeter? Projects, which are vital for Humanity’s survival? You want to expose our bases to future alien attacks?«

  Hakash stepped behind the opposition’s speaker desk, indicating that he was distancing himself from the government’s and Space Fleet’s plans.

  »We have no business in the outer perimeter regions. The bases located on the moons of the giant gas planets are prohibitively expensive in upkeep considering how very inefficient they have been. The moons are not suitable for colonization and their scientific research value is debatable at best. Even Fosset Enterprises, the largest employer in those r
egions, have cut back their activities there. They want to put their resources to better use on the Moon and on Earth.«

  The Space Fleet speaker grimaced and needed a couple of moments to digest Hakash’s arguments.

  »Listening to your arguments, it seems that Fosset Enterprises is also your employer, Mr. Hakash!«

  The Martian representative didn’t flinch.

  »I will vote against the re-armament program and bring in my veto, representing the Martian colonists. We cannot accept that billions are being wasted on the Fleet when we need to develop better infrastructures on Mars, Moon and on Earth!«

  That did it!

  Hakash requested a new vote on the re-armament program under the provision that it would have to be dealt with within four weeks. Nobody seriously believed that the program would be voted down, but the Fleet would have to stop work on the cruisers until it was passed anew.

  Unexpected results

  Igor Petrow had parked the Blue Moon on Neptune’s night side and invited his staff officers in for a meeting. The onboard scientists had tried for hours to gain more information about the object in Neptune’s atmosphere – so far to no avail.

  »Jeeez, it’s like pulling teeth!« Petrow cursed.

  »Nevertheless, we have learned a few things, although it won’t help us much at the moment,« Nemov added quickly. »Even though it created unnecessary complications, we now know that the object’s drift velocity is less than Neptune’s rotation velocity. It actually is quite slower and forces the atmospheric gases to flow around it. This causes minute ionization effects, which we’re trying to measure and interpret. We’re recalibrating the sensors right now, but I’m sure we’ll have better scanning capabilities in a short time.«

  Even this good news did not improve Petrow’s mood.

  »What precisely can you tell me about the object? I’m not interested in what we cannot do or might be able to do. You should by now be able to tell me at least something about its structure, damnit!«

  »Well, I was thinking about it, Commander,« Wan Mui answered.