One of the center spheres ejected a series of fist sized white globes which flew in all directions and crashed into anything in their way. One of those globes struck the rock under the fusion pack. The rock split from the impact and cracked into many small pieces. The fusion pack toppled over behind the rock and the rapidly flashing and blinking lights were partially obscured.
The spheres immediately organized themselves and moved into the shadows away from the brilliant flashing light. They then began a series of coordinated ejections of head sized white globes which smashed into the rock over and over faster than Paul could count. The rock was obliterated and the fusion pack sustained direct hits from the white globes. The flashing lights ceased, and all that was left was the purplish-blue glow from the spheres.
Piff. Piff.
Paul fired at the spheres, but his eyes were adjusting to the vastly different level of light. One of his shots struck the first sphere as it was slumping down onto the trail. A large chuck was blasted out of it, and its purple glow disappeared.
Piff. Piff.
More shots rained down from Brinley and they struck glancing blows off the remaining spheres.
Gretchen took careful aim and fired at the sphere which was recovering from the hit by the organic disruptor.
Piff. Piff.
Two holes appeared in the center of that sphere. Its legs retracted into itself completed, as did its appendages. It rolled over and back and away from the fighting.
Large white globes flew out from the other spheres. One struck the bridge and exploded between Brinley and Larissa. They both dove to the ground and rolled away from the explosion of white, cold, sharp splinters which were emitted from the globe as it detonated.
“Paul run!” Gretchen screamed.
Piff. Piff. Piff.
Gretchen charged at the sphere nearest to her. It was struck over and over. It spun backward, retracted its appendages and tried to roll away. Gretchen raced after it.
Piff. Piff.
Paul fired again from his position in the dry pool. One of his shots struck the tip of a sphere’s leg and that was yanked away, with a messy splatter of gunk. The sphere fell, but the blue spread back over where the leg had been ripped off. It then sprouted another leg and stood up again.
It rushed toward where Paul was lying. Its long whip-like arms seeking to grab him.
The whine of the organic disruptor was heard, and that sphere was struck by the beam of energy. The front part of it undulated in a dull white color, shuddered, and then ripped away. Its momentum caused it to come crashing toward Paul. Fluids, watery, slimy, and foul smelling, gushed out of the opening in the side of the sphere. Along with the liquids that poured forth, a body slid down. It had a bell shaped top, but that was divided into sections or segments. The fluids poured down, the sections were deflating. The thing grabbed the rough edge of the sphere with a tentacle. As the fluids slipped out, the long stem which came out from the bottom of the crown, flopped about, and a very mushy flexible end with a sharp point flailed about. Numerous other tentacles were dragging behind it as it lost the grip on the sphere’s torn side, and it fell splat into the dry pool where Paul lay.
Paul jumped up and away from the thing as it floundered on the dirt and rocks. The husk of the sphere faded in color and fell to its side, stiff and immobile.
Paul fired his pistol into the quivering mass over and over. The projectiles ripped it to shreds. Goo and fleshy things flew out from the body as it was destroyed.
Larissa sprinted over to him, while Brinley chased after Gretchen.
“It is dead,” Larissa said. “You have defeated this enemy.”
Paul looked at his hands, which were wrapped around the pistol. They were covered with sticky blue glop, and dripping with the sticky remains of the dead Jellie.
Epilogue
The sky tube brightened high over A Habitat: Oasis. The light shined down on Inaccessible Island. A single bird circled high overhead. Its black and white body moved nearly effortlessly in the air currents.
Paul was sitting down on the grasses on the plateau and thinking. He could see Gretchen walking toward him from the path that led down to the beach. He still thought about it as the waterfall path, even though the waterfall was gone. The river that used to run to the waterfall was also dried up. Brinley was investigating why, but Paul really did not care why. He just knew it was gone, replaced by a few stagnant pools of brown gunk and the dead bodies of fish and other things that had lived in the river. In some ways the dead river reminded him of the dead Earth outside Dome 17. He looked out to the sea. The sea still looked brown in all directions, except for occasional patches of clear water, mostly around the island, but some way off in the distance.
Paul felt a vibration on his chest. He dug under his shirt and pulled out the medallion he had recovered when Oda and Sibat had been killed. It was warm to his touch.
“Just more memories of dead people,” Paul muttered to himself. “Just more people I have failed.”
A tiny voice came from the medallion. “Diana has seen what you did. We are your allies.”
“Artemis?” Paul said to himself. “Now I am imagining things. Great, hallucinations. I am hearing dead people now as well as seeing them in my mind. So many dead people. So many people I have failed.”
He pushed the medallion back under his shirt. It was not vibrating, nor was it warm. He shook his head to clear it of memories, but that did not work very well. He still saw the children who had drowned, and the hunters who had died, and the Roe who had attacked him, and he still saw that horrible thing flopping out of the burst sphere.
Gretchen walked up to him. “There are no sign of the Jellies. There were the two we destroyed on the beach, as they tried to escape, and the two up on the ramp.”
“Who cares?” Paul said listlessly. “Do you think those four are all there ever was? I do not.”
“Larissa and Jodie are working to contact the other habitats. She has made connections with several and is gathering information. She is hearing rumors that things called Rusalka or Egeria are in the water of their lakes and rivers. Larissa is convinced they are the Jellies, and not just superstitious folklore.” Gretchen said as she sat down.
“Larissa confuses me,” Paul admitted. “I hate her, but she saved my life. She tried to kill us, yet she saved Brinley. She killed many Free Rangers, and yet Jodie is working with her? Now Larissa is working to fight enemies? It is too much for me. I cannot understand the people here. I cannot understand this place.”
“I know what you mean,” Gretchen replied. She wrapped an arm around Paul.
“So much death. So many crazy ways to die. Back in Dome 17, people were not trying to kill each other,” Paul lamented. “But here, that is all we have found.”
“Yes, Paul, it is difficult,” Gretchen agreed. She held Paul closely and watched the bird circling overhead. “In Dome 17 we had a common enemy, the outside world with its radiation and death. Here, it is more complex, and subtle, and strange.”
After some time of being held by Gretchen, Paul asked. “Do you think they are safe? Better off? They must be better off, right?”
“The Dome 17 people?” Gretchen asked. “I sure hope they are.”
“Then we must act,” Paul said and stood up.
“What do you mean?” Gretchen asked.
“Tiffany?” Paul said into his communicator. “Tiffany, please come to my location.”
“Paul what do you mean?” Gretchen asked again.
“You are I are going to escape from the Vanguard. There must be a way. We will find it.” Paul’s voice sounded confident for the first time in a long time.
Gretchen smiled at him as she grabbed his hand. “We are in this together. I am with you. We will find a way to escape the Vanguard.”
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Thornton lives with his wife of many years, his two zany dogs, and two very very old cats. The cats have no known enemies, excep
t for time itself. They are working hard trying to find a way to defeat that enemy, time. Their current tactics appear to involve lots of sleeping in sunny places and meowing at inappropriate times. John also has grown daughters and sons-in law.
Escaping the Vanguard
Colony Ship Vanguard book 6
John Thornton
Copyright © 2014 John Thornton
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13:
978-1500997076
ISBN-10:
1500997072
DEDICATION
This novel is dedicated to my family. I know sometimes all of you have wanted to escape from my bad jokes, or my endless stories, or my oddball concepts and thoughts. Thanks for sticking with me anyway!
Thanks for reading m y books! Please check out the Colony Ship Eschaton series. Happy reading!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Cover art by Jon Hrubesch
1 paradise
Paul walked out onto the soft green grass, felt the gentle air on his face, heard the soft trills of the birds in the nearby trees, and smelled the misty and refreshing scents from the small stream that flowed nearby. The sky tube far overhead was bright and cheery and its warmth filled the habitat he was in. His blue eyes looked around without fear or worry or concern. He saw some birds high in the air circling. Their graceful and easy flight was soothing as he watched.
Paul massaged his eyes. Paul’s blond hair reached a bit over his ears on the side, and his stubble of a beard was darker and somewhat brown. He rubbed his hand over his face and wondered if he should shave sometime. The bristly sensation on his hands almost tickled.
“Cunda? Where is Gretchen right now?” Paul asked his personal artificial intelligence system.
“Gretchen is playing a solo game of ricochet ball,” the AI answered with its pleasing and soft voice. “Do you want me to have Delphi interrupt her game?”
“No Cunda, there is no need, just have Delphi tell her I found a beautiful scene.”
“That message has been left with Gretchen’s personal AI, Delphi. What have you seen, may I ask?” The AI Cunda inquired.
“This place is just so pretty. The green grass is vivid, there are a few flowers of bright colors, and some birds are soaring. I just thought Gretchen might enjoy a stroll with me along the edge of this stream. The water is flowing so pure and clear and beautiful over the rounded rocks of the stream bottom. So much clear and sweet water.”
Paul looked down at his feet which were bare, and his toes wiggled in the soft green grass.
“Yes, plentiful water is a great thing,” the AI replied.
Paul turned a bit and a door stood before him. He walked toward it and it opened. Beyond was the cafetorium. Other adventurers were sitting at some of the tables eating their food rations and drinking a serving of water. The walls of permalloy were tan colored, but it was a warm and healthy kind of tan. Paul felt pleased to see that it was not the tan of dryness, radiation, or toxins, but rather a tan like the dirt he had seen in the habitats under some of the trees, or in the soils by the gardens. Or perhaps the tan was like that of the underside of some of the birds which he had seen flying over the canyon and its flowing river of water.
“So what did you think of that special message?” Cammarry, one of the adventures, said as she looked toward Paul. Her straight dark brown hair was parted down the middle and fell to either side of her oval face. Her narrow eyes twinkled with joy. She was wearing a woven cloak similar to the clothes he had seen people wear in one of the habitat towns, but he was not sure which specific town. It looked good and comfortable on her. She took another bite of the food ration bar she had been eating.
“Special message? I am not sure what you mean,” Paul said. “Cammarry, the water outside is so nice.”
“Outside?” Cammarry said with another giggle. “Oh yes, outside, outside. We can talk about the message later. Yes, the outside is there right now.” She waved her arm toward the clear permalloy walls which looked out on the area around Dome 17. Paul started to look outside, but was distracted.
“…and the animal had four feet with fur!” Hobart said in his overly loud voice. His head, with its short, almost white colored hair, bobbing about as he chuckled at the joke. The people around him laughed and laughed and laughed. He was a big and happy man and his voice boomed all around the cafetorium. “The animal even was eating another animal in that broken elevator.”
There was another uproarious burst of laughter.
“Hobart, you have been listening to Tiffany too much,” Ian teased.
Cammarry rolled her brown eyes, and grinned. “AIs telling jokes? What is next, machines chasing people down?” Everyone knew she liked to tell stories as well as hear them. She walked back toward the table where the adventurers were sitting and eating.
“Please, use some more gallows humor!” Gwen said as she slid in next to Hobart.
“We are all here together so why not?” Hobart gave her a quick hug.
Paul turned away from the laughing group of adventurers and looked out of the Dome 17 windows. The permalloy felt cool and moist to his touch as he rested his hands against it while looking out.
He could see the sky tube shining down on a lush forest of trees. They stretched all the way to a wall at the horizon. The sky itself was a swirling gray color which seemed to be there, and not be there at the same time. The sky had depth, but also seemed just outside the clear permalloy. It was a bit unsettling to look at.
Paul pulled his hands back from the clear permalloy, but continued to look out. He rubbed his fingers together, surprised at feeling moisture there.
“I could explain the math to you if you have time to listen,” a man said as he placed his hand on Paul’s shoulder. “The gray is just a representation of the fact the scout is outside of what we consider our reality. You need to start with the basic construct of a unified field theory, then upon….”
Paul turned to look at Brink, the Master Engineer for Dome 17.
“The mathematics is fundamental to the faster-than-light scout ships,” Brink went on, “but you already know that, being one who journeyed through to the other side. The mass limit is frustrating, but that can be overcome, I am sure of it. Building on those FTL basic calculations and concepts, the transmission of matter via what we call teleportation is easily extrapolated, but again you know all about that too!”
“Yes, Gretchen and I did do that,” Paul said. “We found forests and animals.”
“Like out there?” Brink asked and gave Paul a side-armed hug. “It is pretty.”
Paul looked back outside and now he could see several people walking toward him coming out from under the trees. One of them had short red hair and a confident walk. Next to her was a woman with her tool belt and a wide cheerful smile. They were walking toward the dome where Paul was looking out.
“How are they are outside Dome 17?” Paul asked, but Brink was gone now. The sense of his arm around Paul was still there, but Brink was not.
Paul turned back and looked again. The two women were closer and he said, “Jamie? Brinley? Why are you outside?”
Brinley tossed her hair back and laughed, “No door can keep me in or keep me out! You know me Paulie!”
“Brinley has been showing me how the Dome 3 systems work. Paul it is amazing what we missed when we were there,” Jamie said. “She thinks that whole Dome can be put back into service. Even the food processors.”
“Dome 3?” Paul asked with a bit of a chill. “Food production? From Dome 3?”
Jamie and Brinley both looked up. Their smiles continued as they watched what was happening. The sky itself shifted colors from the otherworldly gray to a swirling tan. The tan made the sky tube dimmer and cast a sepia hue over the scene outside. Paul knocked on the hard permalloy and called to them.
“What is happening? Why are you outside?”
“Nothing important, Paul. It is just time to get back inside,” Jamie said. “Michael will need to hurry bac
k from his solo mission if he is to get any of the party foods we have brought.” She turned to Brinley, “Do you want to cut us a door or should I?”
Brinley handed her a molecular torch. “You go ahead; I have cut so many already.”
“Thank you!” Jamie replied.
Jamie walked up to the clear permalloy and just slipped the molecular torch through the permalloy without any trouble at all. She made a vertical slit, and she and Brinley easily just squeezed though the slit which then sealed up behind them.
“Paulie did you get the special message?” Brinley asked as she slid off the backpack she was carrying.
The Colony Ship Vanguard: The entire eight book series in one bundle Page 118