by J W Murison
Cookie had moved on and suddenly burst out laughing, ‘you have to see this sir.’ Cookie wiped that last of the frost away with a sleeve.
Howe caught up with him and his jaw dropped, ‘oh you have to be shitting me!’
Cookie burst out laughing, ‘he looks pissed doesn’t he?’
Howe suddenly grinned, ‘he does doesn’t he. I will call the captain.’
Ten minutes later a very pale Steven arrived, his colour began to return as he stared in at the figure within the glass in wonder, ‘wow, he looks pissed.’ The men all laughed.
Howe was grinning, ‘he was the only one dressed; the rest are all naked; men and women and even number, four of each. I would describe them as perfect specimens of humanity; then there is this guy.’
Steven reached up and ran his fingers over the thick glass like surface, ‘he cracked the glass, another layer has been welded on top. That is an American uniform isn’t it colonel?’
‘Yes sir, I would say his smock is late forties, fifty’s era. The shirt underneath I would say was older; Second World War and if you come to the side you can just see ribbons on the shirt.’
Steven did as bid and squinted, ‘that’s a lot of medals colonel; do you recognise any of them?’
‘Medal of honour, Normandy, purple heart, looks like campaign medals mostly; can’t really say for sure.’
‘He is a big fella, it looks like he was a wake when he was stuffed in here.’ Inside the cylinder stood a soldier dressed in full battle regalia with a snarl of hatred on his face. ‘He is obviously a sergeant; do you know what regiment colonel?’
‘1st Infantry division sir. What do you want to do sir?’
‘I want to wake him up and find out what the hell happened. By the looks of it he will be far more compos-mentis than any of the others.’
Howe scratched his head and grinned, ‘I can’t fault you on that assumption sir, but I think we had better all stand back.’
Steven ran his eye over Howe, ‘you still have your uniform don’t you colonel?’
‘You mean my combat uniform sir?’
‘Yes.’
‘You think it might be better if he is greeted by someone in a uniform he can recognise sir?’
Steven nodded, ‘he might not recognise the uniform straight off colonel but I don’t think badges of ranks and things like that have changed much since his days.’
‘They haven’t at all sir.’
‘Then go get changed please.’
Half an hour later Steven began the sequence that would release the mad looking sergeant from his prison. Steven expected the man to collapse in a heap after being in stasis for so long. He couldn’t have been more wrong. With a mighty roar the sergeant burst free from the unit. Steven was forced to duck as the glass door went flying and the sergeant came leaping out.
‘You dirty stinking rotten…’
Howe’s voice snapped with authority, ‘front and centre sergeant.’
The man froze for a second his eyes sweeping the room. They lingered for a moment on the collar of Howe’s uniform and he suddenly snapped to attention. Steven moved forward to quickly reaching out with his hand, ‘good afternoon sergeant, my name is.’
Before Steven could react the man had grabbed Stevens arm and pulled. Steven found himself in a vice like grip. The sergeant tore Steven’s sidearm free and pressed it into the side of his head. He nodded to Howe, ‘you might have the stars of a full bird colonel, but you ain't wearing any damn uniform I recognise sir; now I had better get an explanation quick before I blow this little guys head off.’
Howe’s eyes turned cold and his own pistol whipped from its holster, ‘let the captain go sergeant.’
Before the situation could escalate Steven reached up and gripped the sergeant’s pistol arm. With the precision of a surgeon he pinched a spot on the sergeant’s arm and the arm went limp dropping the pistol; before the soldier could react, Steven had thrown him across the room. He crashed to a halt against some computer banks.
Howe covered the man, ‘don’t move sergeant, it would be a pity for you to have gone through all the shit you obviously have in your life to end up being killed by your rescuers.’
The sergeant sat up holding his arm. Steven stooped and picked up his pistol. Rubbing his throat for a moment he turned his attention to the sergeant, ‘well that wasn’t pleasant.’ He help up his pistol, ‘thing is sergeant, this isn’t a firearm. Even if you found the safety it was set to stun. You might have cooked my brain a little but you wouldn’t have blown it out around the room. ‘
The sergeant rubbed his arm suspiciously finally coming to rest on Howe, ‘I recognise your stars boy, but that ain't no American uniform that I've ever seen.’
Howe took off his cap and wiped his brow, ‘no I don’t suppose it is sergeant but if you call me boy again I will kick your arse from here into the middle of next week.’
Steven decided to intervene, ‘sergeant my name is Steven Gordon, I am in command here. This is a civilian operation however these men are all military men who serve under me as part of my team. They provide any military expertise and muscle if need be during our exploration. We would like to know how you got here and the circumstances leading you to be shoved into that chamber there?’
The sergeant waved his arm a little as the feeling began to return, ‘329714 sergeant Kelly.’
‘Ach jist leave the daft bugger,’ suggested Cookie.
‘Can it Cookie,’ Howe growled but Cookie just grinned.
Steven shook his head, ‘this is no good. Colonel put your weapon down. No in fact, please hand it to the sergeant.’
‘Excuse me sir! Is that wise?’
‘Sergeant Kelly here obviously doesn’t trust us. I bet he has been a soldier so long he feels pretty vulnerable without a weapon in his hands. I am quite sure that the sergeant is also aware of his own abilities.’
‘Sir if he decides to shoot, half of us will be dead before we can kill him.’ Howe interrupted.
‘That’s pretty much how I see it colonel and we really don’t have the time, nor do I have the inclination to prattle about playing games. He will either trust us or he won’t, it is his choice. Now pass him the bloody weapon.’
With a frustrated sigh the colonel went over and held out the pistol the 1911 pattern pistol. The sergeant almost snatched it out of his hand. He inspected the weapon closely while keeping an eye on the men gathered. Then he ejected a round and inspected it. Steven noticed a small smile play on the man’s lips for a second. He ejected the magazine, flipped out a few rounds and inspected them. Then he recharged the magazine and replaced it; eased the hammer down and shoved it in his pocket. ‘Can I keep this for a while sir?’
Howe frowned, ‘for a little while sergeant but that’s my personnel weapon, it has a return spring.’
The sergeant grinned and got comfortable on the floor. His eyes found Stevens, ‘what is it you want to know sir?’
‘Just what happened to you sergeant; or at least what you can remember?’
‘Can you tell me where I am first?’
Steven sucked his breath through his teeth, ‘that might be a little hard for you to digest straight away sergeant; I would like to know what you can remember first before you start freaking out on me.’
The reclining man frowned, he didn’t recognise the word but he got the jist of was Steven was saying. He leaned back, ‘ain't much to tell really, we were on top of a hill in Korea. My platoon was ordered to hold the commies back as the rest of the regiment retreated. We were quickly surrounded but managed to hold out for about three days. We ran out of ammo food and water,’ he shrugged, ‘not that it mattered. The platoon by that time was reduced to about eight effectives and a dozen wounded. Still those that could hold a weapon did. We decided to stay as there wasn’t enough of us to carry out the wounded.’ He shook his head, ‘it was hopeless really but we were prepared to fight with what little we had left. The next thing I know there was a real bright light. I
woke up strapped like a pieces of meat to some kind of metal table. I heard a man scream, it was one of my wounded men. I looked over and saw some kind of creature cut off his wounded arm with a strange thin blue wire of some kind.’ The look on his face darkened, ‘then they opened him up with it and began, uh!’ The sergeant hesitated, ‘well they killed him anyway. I managed to break free from my bonds. They had taken my weapons but missed a combat knife I kept in my boots. I killed a few of them and managed to release a couple of my men before there was another bright flash. Next thing I know I'm in that thing and some creature is telling me that I being sent to his home world; that his military were interested in doing experiments with me. I tried to bust out and here I am. Now what the hell is going on, where the hell am I?’
‘It might be easier to explain if we just show you sergeant.’ Steven concentrated, ‘Lewis can you find me but return to the first ship and bring your spacesuit will you.’ The sergeant frowned but kept his mouth shut. ‘One of my men is coming down here. Accompany him, he will explain it all to you. Now Lewis has a habit of taking people by surprise, please don’t shoot him.’
The sergeant sat forward, ‘I will keep that in mind sir.’
‘What about the rest of them sir?’ Colonel Howe asked.
‘Leave them just now, let’s see how our new friend adapts to his situation. Has this thing been disabled?’
‘Babes assures me the safety systems would have kicked on the moment we began to cut into it. It’s going nowhere. How’s it going at your end?’
‘Not good, so far not a single survivor. I had better get back to it.’
‘Good luck sir.’
Sergeant Kelly waited patiently keeping himself to himself but when Lewis turned up his mouth dropped open, ‘holy shit boy, what your mama been feeding you?’
Lewis wasn’t amused, ‘you dis Sergeant Kelly fella?’
‘Yup.’
‘Den you gotta come with me.’
The sergeant followed him through the complex and he seemed to have no trouble keeping up with Lewis. His curiosity kept him from asking questions as his eyes swept over everything. They reached the air lock and Lewis thrust the suit at him, ‘you gotta put this suit on.’
‘What the hell for boy?’
‘It absolute zero out der.’
‘Hell boy I been in places that were minus thirty or forty; zero is nothing to me.’
‘Not zero, absolute zero.’
‘Don’t get yah!’
‘Don they teach you white boys anything, absolute zero, dat means it’s minus two twenty out der.’
‘It’s what, where the hell are we?’
‘You see soon enough. Just shove the damn suit on’
Just then Komoru and her pilot walked past and the sergeant went for his gun, ‘is that a nip?’ Lewis hand slapped against his and pinned it down. A struggle developed between the two men. When the two Japanese were out of sight Lewis let go.
‘What the hell’s going on here boy; who was that?’
‘Dat der was Miss Komoru, de captain of my ship.’
‘The nips aren’t allowed a damn navy.’
‘You been on ice for a damn long time Kelly, lots has changed, and we ain't at sea either. Get the suit on and you ass out there, then you may begin to understand what going on. Give you all de answers you need after dat.’ He suddenly felt a moment’s sympathy for the man. ‘What you gonna see is gonna knock your socks off. Hope you man enough to take it.’
Kelly growled, ‘I've been man enough all my life boy, I've seen shit that would turn you white.’
‘Yeah heard dat before and I still ain't white. Put you hand against dat green panel when you ready; I’ll close the door inner door from here. On the other side you will see another green panel. When this door closes put you hand on dat and when it opens step outside. Don’t wander off nowhere. When you want to come back in de same thing, you will see a green panel, you will have to close the outer door before you can open this one. Now let’s get this suit on you.’
Kelly was well over six foot but he was very aware of how loose the suit was on him. Lewis checked him over then opened the door. Kelly stepped inside, ‘ain't you coming boy.’
‘You got my suit fool, ain't no way I'm going out there without it. Don’t try and take it off neither; I ain't never seen no one die in space before but dey say you blood freezes so fast it boils and your eyes pop out oh you head.’
Kelly suddenly felt a sudden dread and didn’t want to close the door, but there was no way he was going to let this man see his fear and indecision. Lewis placed his hands on the panel and the door slid shut. Kelly opened the outer door and stepped boldly out into the all-consuming darkness. He felt his fear rise to a level he had never felt before in his entire life. The door hissed closed behind him and the last remaining light left him in this strange and hostile world. Eventually his eyes began to adjust, he looked upwards and saw the stars. Kelly knew the stars well and prided himself in being able to navigate by them. There was something strange about them he took a few steps away from the building to get a better look. Something else began to happen. There was a shimmering in front of him and two large, bright, tear shaped objects appeared out of nowhere. He stumbled back against the door and when the green light appeared he hit it. The door slid open soundlessly and he tumbled back into the airlock. His world spun as he grabbed a rail for support. He hit the panel and the door slid closed behind him. Lewis seeing the state the man was in opened the inner door and Kelly stumbled back into the building. His heart hammered in a way he had never felt before and he fell to his knees. Lewis grabbed him, sat him back against the wall and removed the helmet. For a full five minutes the sergeant hid his hands in his face. When they stopped trembling he removed them.
‘Where the hell are we?’
‘You in outer-space man. Halfway between our universe and de next on a planet we have nicknamed the Black Planet. You wuz abducted by an alien race and brought here.’
‘Those beasts weren’t a nightmare?’
‘Nope dey were real.’
He shook his head, ‘I don’t want to ask this.’
‘Two thousand and twenty three.’ Lewis supplied having a feeling he knew what the man wanted or didn’t want to know.’
Kelly’s hand shook as he wiped his mouth, ‘holy shit.’ He thought his situation over, ‘can I see the captain again?’
‘Yeah sure, he said to bring you if you asked.’
The sergeant staggered to his feet and was still trembling when they found Steven. Kelly fiddled with his helmet, ‘thank you for the rescue sir.’ He reached into his pocket and unloaded the pistol. He handed over to Howe with a nod and a thank you then turned his attention back to Steven. ‘It’s quite a shock.’
Steven smiled sympathetically, ‘I imagine it would be sergeant, how are you feeling?’
‘Like shit sir. I suppose all of the people I once knew are now dead.’
‘That would be a fairly safe bet, did you have family sergeant?’
‘A brother sir, that’s all. He had a wife and a couple of kids. I was married to the army sir.’
‘Then you may still have some relations; when I get in touch with Earth tonight I will send your details and try and find out for you.’
‘Thank you sir, do you know if any of my men are still alive?’
Steven looked towards the capsules, ‘I have no idea sergeant. There are thousands of these capsules and so far we have only found the remains of people. Maybe somewhere deeper are your people, they may well be still alive, I don’t know. Right now I want you to go get cleaned up, report to the doctor for a physical; take a little time to adjust to your new reality.’
‘Yes sir, thank you.’
‘Lewis I want the sergeant to bunk with you. Take care of him will you?’
‘Yes suh.’
Chapter 9
Steven was angry; Sergeant Kelly stood rigidly to attention in front of him his eyes reaching out into the darkne
ss beyond the ship. They were in Stevens private quarters where he had a desk built that could swivel three hundred and sixty degrees. Today it was swung inwards. Buzz and Colonel Howe were present along with Lewis and Komoru who lounged prettily on the couch. It was she who had asked Steven to deal with this man.
‘Remove those sun glasses please sergeant.’
‘Uh! The glare sir.’
‘Take them off sergeant, it wasn’t a request.’ Kelly did so reluctantly. ‘That’s quite a shiner sergeant would you like to explain yourself?’
He sniffed, ‘no sir.’
‘This is the third time you have attacked Lewis in a single day and the third time you have taken a beating for it. Wasn’t once enough?’
‘I don’t like people that lie sir.’
Steven sent a silent command and behind him the wall became white and on it played a number of incidents that the sergeant had been involved in; the man’s jaw dropped open. Steven let them play out.
Steven saw them man’s jaw harden and he stiffened. ‘Let me make things clear for you sergeant if I may. Lewis does not lie; there has been two black presidents since you were put on ice as you like to refer to it. You did not beat the Koreans and the American forces did get their asses handed to them in Vietnam. On the last matter, Lewis most certainly can build an atomic bomb from scratch. These days we call them nuclear weapons or devices. He isn’t the only one on board that can do it either. Lewis was a member of your American Special Forces. After being wounded on a number of operations he specialised as an armourer where he was taught how to build one. Oh and one more matter I want to clarify; just because I may talk with a bit of an American accent and was brought up in America, I am not American, I am Scottish. I have never applied for American citizenship. Do you understand?’
‘Yes sir.’
‘Good, now let’s move onto your deplorable behaviour in the canteen shall we and the remarks you made to some of the Japanese. Do I have to play the incident in question?’