Gretchen and Paul removed their jumpsuits, and clumsily folded them up. There were awkward moments as they tried to figure out the straps to sling them on their backs. They also were acutely aware of the limited amount of their own equipment they carried. They had one fusion pack, one communication link, and a few assorted hand tools from Dome 17. Their weapons were missing, as were the med kits, their molecular torches, as well as all the teleportation equipment.
Brinley had welded the door shut again. “All sealed and secure again. It keeps the Constable away from us, not that she and her troops would ever come in here anyway, but it does stop them from really following us. But it also locks us in here. Is that a good or bad thing?” She murmured to herself. Her jovial nature seemed a bit forced as she smiled and put away her welding torch.
Looking in both directions, the passageway was dimly illuminated by occasional flickering fixtures in the ceiling. There were odd smells in the air, and this corridor was different than any Gretchen or Paul had seen before.
“So now tell me,” Jared said quietly, “which unit are you from?”
Paul and Gretchen exchanged looks. They both remembered how the constable had reacted when she had been told the truth of their origin. Paul hesitantly spoke, “Thank you for your help. Can you tell us which unit you are?”
Jared gave him a large smile and clasped him on the shoulder. “So you want to keep your secrets. I can respect. After all if one unit gets captured, the authorities cannot find the other units, right?” Jared spoke in low tones with a grin. “So we will just head for the nearest hangar bay. Unless you want to part ways here?”
Irene stepped up to Jared and said in a low tone, “This area smells of the Roe. I want to get moving.” She was glancing down the passageways, her eyes darting back-and-forth.
Gretchen ventured question. “What are the Roe?”
Brinley, Irene, and Jared all snorted.
“Paul?” The AI Tiffany stated into his communication link. “I believe the term Roe is the common name these people use for infected humans, like the one we encountered earlier. From analysis of previous uses of the term Roe, this conjecture has moderate chance of being accurate.”
Paul took the risk, and said, “Yes, Gretchen is making a joke.” Paul forced a laugh. “We all know the Roe are sick people.”
Irene glared at Paul. She then snapped, “Shut up. Keep your voices down. Both of you are rather strange. The Roe are not just sick, they are deadly. Perhaps in your section on the ship the Roe have not killed your friends.” Her voice was quiet but the bitterness was intense.
Gretchen intervened, “No offense it intended. So lead on, we will follow where you are going.”
Jared spoke softly, “Brinley which direction? We do need to leave quickly.”
“Hangar bay E102 is closest, but that is still a good distance through these passageways. This direction.” She pointed down the corridor. “But that assumes no obstructions or blockages are in place.”
Jared nodded and so Brinley walked briskly in the direction she had pointed. Paul and Gretchen followed with Jared and Irene in the rear. Gretchen whispered to Paul, “We have these jumpsuits do you think we could finish the teleportation pad using these to stay warm?”
“Yes. I was thinking the same thing, and Tiffany says she can point us to where the teleportation pad equipment is. Using the relative position of this communication link compared to the one that was left behind. But I am not sure we can cut our way back into the habitat without more of these people’s equipment.”
“So Paul, should we just tell them? Ask them for help?” Gretchen asked.
Irene sprinted up to them and said, “I will tell you only one more time. Be quiet. You know the Roe are drawn by the noise, right? Keep making noise and you will get us all killed.”
“I can only imagine!” Screamed a voice from behind them.
“I told you so,” Irene snarled at Paul and Gretchen. Fear and anger were equally etched into her face.
Nearly instantly Jared, Brinley and Irene had drawn their weapons. The handguns were indeed much like the one the constable had used to kill Ferdinand. They were not as sophisticated as the pistols Willie had manufactured, but Gretchen and Paul both knew they were deadly.
The group hurried its pace down the corridor away from where the screaming had originated. Irene was walking backward most of the time watching the rear.
“I can only imagine!” The screen came louder this time, echoing down the hallway.
In their hurried flight away from the screaming Roe, they had seen no open doors or other exits from the corridor. The hallway took a sharp right turn. In the dim light they then came upon a place in the corridor where the floor came to an abrupt end. There was small debris scattered about, all leading to the edge of a sharp drop-off. Sometime in the past, the entire floor from wall-to-wall, had dropped away. Now there was just a sheer edge with a wide empty span between the deck they stood on, and the deck leading away across the open space. They could see across the gap, but it was too far to jump. Looking down they saw what had once been a lift shaft of some kind. The lift had descended at least many meters down, effectively taking the entire floor with it. Set deeply into the side walls were large screws which served to raise or lower the section of the floor. Diagonal faded yellow stripes were painted onto the side walls both below them and above them. The bottom was dark and dim below and it was difficult to judge the exact depth of the chasm between the two corridors.
“This is bad,” Irene said as she stood on the edge of the chasm. “The lift is at least one level down, and has been for a long time.”
Scattered around the edge were numerous bones and dark brown spots and stains on the floor. Irene was kicking them around.
“This is a Roe feeding area. They chase something here; it cannot get away nor jump down there. Then they kill it and eat it right here,” Irene stated.
“Can we just outrun it?” Paul asked.
“Where do you suggest we go? Back toward it? I do not see anywhere to go. We then would meet the tagalongs.
“Tagalongs?” Gretchen asked.
“Yes, idiot. The infected animals that follow the Roe. Some of those are relentless, and come in packs.” Irene looked afraid, but also astonished at Gretchen’s naiveté.
“I can only imagine!” Screamed the Roe which was following them. It was out of sight in the dim light, around the corner, but the voice sounded closer.
Gretchen and Paul were examining the walls. Jared, Brinley, and Irene had their weapons aimed toward the bend in the hallway.
“The El Dorado is at the Greenwood exit!” Screamed a new voice from across the empty span.
Paul looked up and saw a different figure running at them. Eyes glowing an ugly orange color, the face looked contorted in pain and anguish. It was hideous. While it had once been a human, a female, Paul had the distinct impression of wrongness and vileness.
“Found a spot. We shall see what these walls show when they are powered. Maybe raise the sunken floor?” Gretchen said as she wiped away a layer of grime. She pulled out the fusion pack and inserted the connecting cable into the port she had uncovered. A blue silhouette of a door was illuminated in the wall nearby. “I think we have an exit.”
“I can only imagine!” Screamed the Roe as it turned the corner. It then saw the people, and dashed at them in a mad rage. This one had once been male, but it had long scraggly unkempt hair, clothing which was mere rags tied around his body, and numerous scrapes, scratches, abrasions, scars, and cuts in various stages of healing, over most of its body.
Jared immediately fired his weapon in three blasts. The loud reports shocked Gretchen and Paul. The head of the Roe was blasted backward as the bullets struck just above the nose and into the face. The Roe fell to the deck with its limbs quivering and shaking.
“The El Dorado is at the Greenwood exit!” The other Roe wailed from across the mechanical chasm.
“The door should open when I
activate this switch,” Gretchen announced hopefully.
Brinley turned and fired at the other Roe which stood across the gap. It was struck in the left shoulder and the force of the impact sent it swirling about. Blood was gushing from the exit wound where the shoulder blade had been obliterated. The Roe lost his footing and toppled over the edge, “The El Dorado is at the Greenwood exit!” It fell down the shaft crashing to the bottom with a wet sounding thud.
Gretchen activated the switch and the door slid partially open and then jammed. As she stepped back to adjust the fusion pack, several animals came bursting out through the newly opened door.
“Skunks! Get back! They are carriers,” Irene commanded and pushed Gretchen out of the way placing herself between Gretchen and the animals.
The black animals each had twin long white stripes down their backs. Their eyes glowed the wicked orange color and they moved with surprising speed. Irene kicked one back into the darkness through the doorway from which it had emerged. She shot another one whose body was blasted off the edge, falling down into the shaft. The third grabbed onto her leg and bit and clawed viciously through her clothing.
“Oh no! I am bitten!” Irene exclaimed as she pounded the animal with the butt of her pistol. The animal’s head was crushed and it fell to the deck. Irene’s own blood was flowing freely down her leg. “No!” She uttered as she stomped on already dead animal.
Jared rushed toward her. A horrible stench filled the area. It made eyes water, and noses recoil in offense. It was almost strong enough to feel, so vile was the smell.
“Stay back. I am now infected,” Irene wept as she looked down at her bloody and mangled leg. “You know what you have to do.”
“Irene, this is so hard. We have been friends since childhood,” Jared said as he backed away. He did however lift his weapon and aim at Irene.
“What are you doing?” Paul said in horror. He gagged a bit as he spoke as the odor smacked into him as well.
“Rats are coming! Looks like lots of rats,” Brinley said in alarm. “The smell will not stop them!” There were numerous sets of bright orange eyes bouncing along the floor toward them. They were coming down the corridor toward them, but there were also rats across the gap. Those rats were coming to the edge and glaring. Taking tiny steps along the edge seeming ready to try to leap the enormous gap.
Irene stepped away from the doorway and said, “You go, I will fight off the tagalongs and give you time to escape.”
Brinley gave Irena a sad backward glance then turned away in tears. Not just tears from the foul aroma, but tears of sorrow and loss. She activated the light on the bottom of her pistol. She stepped into the room beyond the partially open door. There was a loud report as Brinley shot and killed the remaining skunk.
“What are you doing?” Paul asked again gesturing at Jared. “Her leg injuries are not that serious.”
“You are an odd one,” Irene said as she stepped away from them and toward the corner where the rats were congregating. “It is not the injury, stupid; it is that I am now infected. Do you really not understand?”
“We can heal your infection,” Gretchen said. She then remembered they had lost the med kit.
“Dream on, odd one. You and I both know I am better off dead than becoming a Roe. The outbreak has me now. So just leave. I will hold off the rats and other tagalongs. That gives you time to escape. If the tagalongs do not finish me, I will finish myself before the outbreak gets me. ‘Save one for yourself’ right?” Irene sounded like she was quoting something.
“Save one for yourself!” Jared replied. He then angrily and roughly shoved a still protesting Gretchen and Paul into the room through the partially open door. He turned to Irene and said, “Die well my friend, you will be remembered forever.”
As soon as Jared had entered the room, Brinley viciously smacked the controls on the side of the wall, and the permalloy door slid shut. A single tear ran down her cheek.
20 lost in the darkness
Brinley was scanning the room with the beam of light from her pistol. The room had a vile stench, not as bad as in the hall, but still repugnant. It was emanating from the dead black and white animal in the corner.
“That is where the skunks entered,” Brinley said as she pointed the beam of light at a hole in the ceiling of the room. “Rats may be coming through there soon. We need to get out of here. That crack is too small for us.”
“What are you doing? We have to go back and help that woman,” Gretchen insisted. She was looking for a place to plug the fusion pack into the wall to reopen the door.
Jared grabbed her and spun her around, and thrust himself right up into Gretchen’s face. His lips were thin and his eyes were intense. He growled, “Are you insane? Irene is giving us a chance to survive. You should honor her heroism. What was that nonsense about curing her infection?”
Gretchen unflinchingly met Jared’s gaze. “With our equipment we can cure that infection!”
“Your battery pack? Ridiculous. I admit I have not seen anything like it, but nothing can cure the outbreak. I have now lost one of my best friends, all trying to rescue you two. I do not think it was worth it.” Jared was filled with conflict and wrath. He stepped a pace back and demanded, “So tell me now which unit you are with, or I will drop you where you stand.” Jared had his pistol leveled at Gretchen’s abdomen.
Brinley turned and watched intently, but she did not interfere.
Paul, however, took a step toward Jared and Gretchen. “Wait! I will tell you anything you want. We are not from the Vanguard. We are not Free Rangers. We have come from Earth, and back in that habitat there is equipment that can honestly cure that infection.”
Jared stared at him, but did not remove the pistol from its aim at Gretchen. “So we have two insane people here. Wonderful. Simply wonderful. My friend dies for crazy people with delusions. What a waste.” He spat on the floor.
“It is not a delusion. Paul, have Tiffany speak to these people, they deserve the truth.” Gretchen did not flinch but spoke slowly and deliberately.
“Tiffany? Audibly address these people and explain what is happening,” Paul instructed.
“I am Tiffany, an artificial intelligence system. Paul and Gretchen are speaking the truth,” the AI’s voice came from the communication system link. “The infectious agent…
“AIs will say whatever their program tells them to say. Their testimony is meaningless,” Jared interrupted. “We should never have come for you two. I do not know what you are. But it is obvious, you are no Free Rangers. No more protection from me. I am done with you both.” He holstered his weapon and turned to Brinley. “What are our options for leaving here?”
Brinley looked from Paul and Gretchen then back to Jared and replied, “The ventilation shaft on the far wall has an intact grille, might be good news. I can pop that open and we will follow the ventilation ducts. They should lead us back to a main corridor, if they are not occupied. We will need to move fast. I am certain that other Roe have heard the commotion. They and the tagalong animals will quickly, I mean really quickly, swarm this place.” She nodded at the crack where the skunks had entered. “I have seen Roe tear out their own fingernails ripping metal open. When they want in, they get in. So we should go now.”
Jared nodded. Brinley walked over and began cutting the grille off the side of the wall.
Gretchen and Paul were again shocked that no one believed their story. They were also astounded Brinley and Jared would abandon their companion Irene so quickly. The people on the Vanguard were indeed an entirely different type of humanity. A humanity far removed from the ethics and morals of Dome 17. Not only by distance, but by culture, attitudes, and thought patterns.
With a clang, the cutaway grille fell to the floor. Brinley pointed her light into the ventilation duct and stated, “This looks like it stayed sealed, but no way to be sure. The smell is much better in here, for whatever that is worth. I say it now is clear as it is ever going to be.” She entered
the duct and rapidly started to crawl away.
Jared followed. Over his shoulder he rudely commented, “You two can stay here or follow us. I do not care what you do.” He too crawled away quickly.
Gretchen turned the Paul, “I think we should follow them. Those animals are back the other way, but I am beginning to doubt…. Sorry Paul, I just do not understand those people.”
“I do not understand them either. They were cruel to that woman. We could have helped her. We are not seeing the whole picture here, but what I see is ugly. No choice now, we must follow them.”
Gretchen shined the light from the fusion pack into the ventilation duct. She could just make out Jared’s feet as he was crawling far ahead. She got down on her hands and knees and entered the duct. Paul did so as well, but he turned to wedge the cut off grille into the opening, attempting to make some kind of barrier behind them.
The Colony Ship Vanguard: The entire eight book series in one bundle Page 19