Starflake (T'aafhal Legacy Book 3)

by Doug Hoffman

  “It does sort of look like a posh bespoke flat. Doesn't look lived in though.”

  “I wonder if there is a kitchen?”

  “Always thinking about your bleedin' stomach.”

  “If there isn't any food in the kitchen then the place is probably abandoned. If it ain't there should be some.”

  “That actually makes sense, I'm impressed, Yank. You go look for the galley and I'll call the Gunny and let her know we found a cosmic condo.”

  Bosco's Fireteam, Warehouse, Bottom Floor

  “Looks like this is as far as we go without rappelling gear,” Fanni remarked, staring over the edge of the platform. The bottom floor of the warehouse was about half the size of the floors above. From the edge, the top of the next structure could be seen thirty meters below—a collection of domes, boxes, and girders, like the top of a skyscraper cluttered with equipment to maintain the habitable spaces within.

  “I think you are right,” Bosco confirmed. “I see no way down from here.”

  Toward the center of the floor, Keti and Simba were standing next to the opening of the central shaft. “LCpl. Boskovitch, there seems to be something going on in the central shaft.”

  “What?”

  “Simba is right,” Keti called out. “A shaft of glowing light has appeared in the, er, shaft.”

  “Coming to you.” Bosco and Fanni quickly converged on their teammates.

  When they arrived at the shaft they could clearly see what Simba and Keti were talking about. A column of air along one side of the central opening was glowing like the beam of a searchlight on a dark night. Looking downward the color was a faint blue, looking upward it was reddish.

  “What's happening?” Fanni asked, not addressing anyone in particular.

  “Beats the hell out of me,” Keti replied.

  Simba pointed down through the opening. “Look, there is something floating up the beam of light.”

  His companions all peered over the edge. About halfway between their position and the top of the building below a figure was rising.

  “It's going to be here in about fifteen seconds.”

  “Chyort voz'mi! You are right.” Bosco was team leader, he had to make a call. “Spread out along the edge and cover it, but hold fire unless it shoots first. Break. Gunny, Bosco, we have contact.”

  “Right.” Keti and Fanni jogged a dozen steps to the right of the men.

  “I think it is accelerating.”

  Again Simba was right, the approaching figure was ascending notably faster than a few seconds ago. The Marines crouched down, weapons at the ready. Glowing sight reticles danced across their helmet displays, slaved to the rail guns mounted on their forearms.

  “Bosco, Gunny. Say again your last.”

  A lumpy, misshapen figure flashed past the Marines and disappeared up the shaft.

  “Gunny, You have company on the way. There is a humanoid creature flying up the central shaft toward your position. Over.”

  “Copy, an alien is rising up the shaft. Interrogative, any details on the alien?”

  “Da, is squat like troll, yellow color and is wearing a white diaper. Over.”

  Chapter 14

  Squad One, Warehouse

  The Marines spread out facing the central shaft opening, giving each other clear fields of fire. JT was to the right of the cabinet they had opened, Inuksuk forward and to the left.

  “Chill people. No fire, no hostile moves unless ET initiates something.”

  As JT finished talking the alien popped up and stepped smoothly onto the warehouse floor. Bosco was right, the alien looked like a Tolkienesque cave troll. A squat 150cm tall, the creature had broad bulging shoulders and massive arms, though the lumps and bulges betrayed a musculature unlike any human's. Atop the shoulders was a tiny lump of a head: small, bald, and with no neck. Two widely spaced black eyes and a thin slash of a mouth were all that adorned the face—no nose, not even slits, no eyebrows, no ears. Most startling was the color: the creature was bright yellow, the same shade as mustard on a hotdog.

  “Now that's butt ugly,” said Vinny.

  “Put a sock in it, Vinny,” the Gunny snapped.

  The yellow alien ignored the assembled Marines towering over it in their dark gray armor. It waddled forward, headed straight for the open cabinet. As it approached its target, Inuksuk was in its path.

  “Hold steady, Corporal,” JT ordered.

  “Like I was stalking a seal, Lieutenant.”

  The alien didn't even stop to look up at the towering ursine, it just waddled around the obstacle. As it passed by, the Earthlings could see it was wearing a white loincloth that did look remarkably like a diaper. Around the top of the garment was a belt from which hung several pouches and a number of devices that could be tools, or weapons. Stopping at the open cabinet the creature peered inside, then began rummaging in one of its pouches.

  “What is it doing,” asked Zippy. From her position near the rim of the shaft she couldn't directly see what the creature was up to.

  The creature's hands had only three fingers, two on top and one on the bottom. They ended in large black claws that meshed, the bottom one between the top ones when closed. Reaching inside the cabinet with one muscular arm, it delicately plucked one of the damage glass rods from its position. Stuffing the broken rod into one of its pouches, the troll produced another, longer piece. Fiddling with the new rod, its wide body blocking the Earthlings' view, the creature was occupied for almost a minute. Then it lifted the finished rod, with a new bend in it near the top end, and inserted it into the cabinet.

  “Peggy Sue, Ice Castle. Are you getting this?”

  “Roger, Ice Castle. We're using your recon drones and suit telemetry to record the creature's actions.”

  CIC, Peggy Sue

  “This creature is fascinating,” said Betty White, who had come forward to the CIC from sick bay. “It's anatomy is unlike anything we've found in the past.”

  “I would agree, Dr. White,” said Will Krenshaw, a xenobiologist on the science staff. “The terahertz scanner shows it has an internal structure unlike anything on Earth. Can a creature be classified as a vertebrate if it has no spinal column?”

  “Vertebrata is a subphylum of chordate animals, comprising those having a brain enclosed in a skull or cranium and a segmented spinal column, so I'd have to say no,” answered Johan de Bruin. The South African vet was fascinated by his first living extraterrestrial. “It does, however have three large long bones that seem to provide support for the head and shoulder sockets.”

  The Captain cleared his throat. “This is all fascinating, Doctors, but doesn't explain what it's doing.”

  Mizuki, while not a biologist or medical doctor, was head of the Science section and felt obliged to answer. “It appears that the creature is repairing the photonic circuits inside the cabinet that the Marines damaged when they pried the box open.”

  “It doesn't seem interested in the Marines at all, has it made any sound?”

  “Nothing that the drones or suit microphones have picked up, Beth.”

  Another glass tube was replaced with a new one and the alien maintenance worker moved on to a third. The squat yellow creature acted as though the surrounding Earthlings were not there. Even the recon drones that hovered about, observing it work, did not distract the creature from its task.

  “Maybe it's some kind of biological construct,” said Bobby. “Created to do repair work and nothing else. Like an idiot savant, really good at one thing and lacking other skills.”

  “Like communication?”

  “Well, it's not communicated yet, Captain.”

  “Bobby may be right, or the creature could be bred specifically for its job, some kind of servant race for whoever or whatever runs the station.”

  “That's a disturbing thought, Number One. Those cyborg critters made by the Dark Lords are creepy enough without biological slaves scampering around fixing things.”

  The creature finished fixing the broken
tubes and turned its attention to the cover laying near by. Picking up the rectangular piece of metal the maintenance worker carefully inspected the cover's edges. The place where Vinny had inserted his machete was bent and distorted. Pulling another tool from its belt the creature bent and flattened the metal. When the repair was complete the edge was smooth and uniform, as though the damage had never happened.

  Lifting the cover into position the yellow troll thumped the edges to seal the container. Stepping back, it viewed is work. Then, evidently satisfied, it turned and waddled back toward the central shaft.

  “Peggy Sue, Ice Castle. It looks like the creature is leaving. Interrogative, do you want us to detain it?”

  “No, Ice Castle. I think we should let the alien get on with its day.”

  “Roger that.”

  Warehouse

  “You heard the man, let stumpy go back to where ever he came from.” JT could be seen shaking his head inside his transparent bubble helmet.

  Like JT, the creature's total lack of interest in the Marines also confounded Vinny. “That isn't natural, for a creature to have absolutely no interest in anything but doing its job.”

  “Maybe it's a member of the repair workers' union and handling strange aliens isn't part of its contract.”

  “Maybe he will send members of the station defense force to take care of us,” Zippy added. As the Marines all watched the alien stepped into the central shaft... and went up.

  “Shit, I thought it would head back down,” the Gunny swore. “It's headed for the upper levels. Davis, Walker, did you break anything up there?”

  “That's affirmative, Gunny, Walker sort of kicked open a door when we first arrived. Why do you ask?”

  “It looks like the building super is on his way up to fix the damage, over.”

  * * * * *

  “What do you suppose that means, Bubba?”

  “How should I know, you're the one who broke the bloody door.”

  “Hey, you said you wanted out of the closet and I should improvise.”

  “Whatever, we should head back to the inner balcony and see if we can catch sight of this building supervisor.”

  The two Marines headed out of the apartment, sending their two recon drones down the hallway ahead of them. Arriving at the balcony they halted and peered around the edge of the open doorway. They were just in time to see a short, wide, bright yellow creature step onto the platform.

  “That dude has got jaundice real bad.”

  “Get back, he'll see us!”

  Walker and Davis backed down the hallway, taking shelter in two facing alcoves. In their bulky suits the recessed door openings were not deep enough to hide them fully. They needn’t have worried, the yellow creature walked by the hallway entrance without even glancing toward their positions.

  “I think it missed us, mate.”

  “I think it doesn't give a shit, Bubba.”

  Video from their recon drones showed the yellow visitor hammering away on the twisted door as it lay upon the balcony deck. The sounds of hammering could be heard over their suit pickups.

  “Gunny, Davis. The alien is working on the broken door. How should we proceed, over?”

  “Davis, that's pretty much what it did down here. Just stay put and observe, we need to know where it heads when it finishes.”

  “Roger that.”

  “Looks like he's about done with the door.”

  Sure enough, the creature had picked up the now uncrumpled door and was fitting it back into its opening. Standing back from the portal, the repairman did something to make the door slide open and shut a few times. After one last adjustment the door slid shut for a final time and the yellow alien turned and headed back around the balcony. Waddling back to the gap in the transparent railing, the yellow troll stepped off the balcony and fell downward, disappearing out of sight.

  “Gunny, the alien just stepped off the edge of the platform and fell.”

  “By fell you mean the alien was headed back down the spire toward my position?”

  “Affirmative, he's not free falling, sort of drifting down in a column of reddish light.”

  “I Copy, Davis. Can you two get back down here?”

  “Wait one. Walker is checking the door to the ramp.”

  “Roger that. Tell him not to break the damn thing this time.”

  Brains clicked the comm link in affirmation and followed after his partner. Grits was running his hands around the edges of the door, searching for a release or operating mechanism.

  “I can't find anyway to open this sucker, how are we supposed to get down outta here?”

  “You heard the Gunny, do not break the door again.”

  “Then you figure out how to get us down from here, Brains.” Grits pronounced 'Brains' with an abundance of sarcasm.

  “Look, that yellow blighter managed to get down, why can't we?”

  “He just stepped off into space, I'm not sure that will work for us.”

  “Why not? It must be an automatic mechanism just like the docking bay.”

  “You willing to risk a five kilometer fall on that idea?”

  “Come on, lets go.” Davis jogged around the balcony to the gap in the railing. The faint column of light was still present. “See, it must still be active. Let's go.”

  Davis stepped off into space.

  “She-it!” There's no one to even say “hey y'all watch this” to, Walker thought, the famous last words of every redneck about to die in some extraordinarily stupid way. He followed Davis off the vertiginous ledge.

  Gunny's Team

  “Davis, Walker, what the flying hell are you doing?”

  “We're heading down the light shaft, just like the yellow chappie. You told us not to break the door again and this was the only other way down.”

  The Gunny closed her eyes and placed one hand on top of her head in dismay—an odd looking gesture for a seven and a half foot tall armored giant.

  “Have you two geniuses figured out how to get off the magic light beam?” asked JT.

  “No, Sir. But we're not free falling. My suit nav says we are falling at about ten meters per second. We'll be at your level in about five seconds.”

  “Can you lean toward the edge, reach out and grab a hold of the deck as you pass by?” JT waved his arms at the other Marines. “Quick! Someone be ready to grab those idiots as they pass by!”

  As people were scrambling to get to the edge of the platform an armored figure suddenly appeared. Davis managed to grab a hold of the outer lip of the ceiling paneling. His body swung out of the light beam and into the warehouse proper.

  Momentum swung his extended body in an arc up to the ceiling like a gymnast on the high-bar. Colliding with the ceiling he lost his purchase on the edge and fell the four meters from ceiling to the floor. He landed on his back with a crash.

  JT ran forward and knelt to check that Davis was OK. Looking up he saw Walker fall by, arms flailing.

  Bosco's Team

  “Bosco! Walker is about to fall past your position, see if you can catch him somehow!”

  “Da, Lieutenant. How?” Standing at the edge of the central opening he looked up and saw Walker falling toward them.

  Next to the light beam Keti had unfurled a length of cable with a climbing hook on one end. Turning to Fanni she yelled: “Take this end of the cable and belay it around the support pillar.”

  “Kyllä, yes!” She ran off toward the nearest roof support, cable trailing behind her.

  With her right hand, Keti began swinging the end with the hook in a circle, holding the coiled remains of the cable in her left hand. Looking up she watched Walker approach and just before he arrived she let fly. The grappling hook almost hit Walker in the chest as it flew past. Fortunately, he had the presence of mind to grasp the cable and wrap it around his arm. The cable drew taught.

  If Fanni had not wrapped the other end of the cable around the pole it might have been ripped from her hands or pulled her off the platform
after the plummeting Walker. As it was, Keti lost her grip on the cable as Grits was pulled up short. The taught line stretched from pole to precipice, supporting Walker now swinging five meters beneath the platform.

  “Come! Help me pull him up!” Keti yelled as she retrieved the cable and began pulling the dangling Marine up to the platform. Simba quickly lent a hand and shortly Walker's armored arm appeared above the platform edge. He grasped the edge with his unencumbered left arm, which Bosco seized. In a team effort they hauled Walker bodily onto the deck.

  “Thanks y'all, thanks all y'all,” he panted, bending over hands on knees.

  “Thank Keti,” Bosco said in a matter of fact tone. “If she hadn't used rope we would all be watching you disappear into depths of the building below.”

  “Hey, thanks Keti. I owe you big time.”

  Keti was recoiling her cable. “Why would you do something so stupid?”

  “I was just following Brains, ask him.”

  “You always follow your friend off a cliff?”

  “I am in the process of reevaluating my friendship with him. Where did you learn to handle a rope like that?”

  “Back home in Georgia. Georgia is built on the Caucasus Mountains, so naturally I went mountaineering as a girl.”

  “Naturally. Well I'm sure glad you did, darlin', 'cause otherwise I'd still be on my way down. Thank you again.” Grits stood up straight. “Crap. I think I might need to clean this suit out.”

  The others all laughed.

  “Gunny, Bosco. We managed to snag Walker as he was passing by.”

  “Roger that. Tell him to get his ass back up here.”

  Chapter 15

  Warehouse, Starflake

  Two hours later 2nd Squad landed at the warehouse docking area two levels above 1st Squad. Along with the Marines several others were on board the second shuttle, including Mizuki Ogawa, Bobby Danner, and a pair of engineer's mates to help investigate any interesting alien tech. Mizuki and Bobby were there in anticipation of imminent first contact with the station's residents, both having prior experience in such situations. Being present for ostensibly diplomatic purposes they were armed discreetly, carrying only sidearms. Still, they were far from helpless if it came to open hostilities, carrying his and hers katanas strapped to the backs of their light armor suits.