by J W Murison
‘You be bloody careful with that thing,’ Buzz warned.
‘You have an armoury sir, I will put her in there along with my other weapons.’
Buzz nodded, ‘that’s good, besides I doubt if your ammunition would work anyway.’
‘It is a bit old,’ Kelly agreed, but it’s still dangerous. If you do get someone down here to grab some of this clothing then you had better be careful.’ He pulled a grenade from his pocket and held it up. ‘There are bound to be lots of this stuff in here somewhere; you will need military men to handle it.’
Steven scratched his head, ‘we really don’t have anybody free at the moment. You are right though, it will be dangerous. This stuff is full of identifications and personal items.’
‘You have resuscitated those like me haven’t you sir, the ones in that transport pod thing?’ Kelly asked.
‘Yes we have, they are in deep shock.’
Kelly stood, and he looked every bit a soldier, ‘give them to me sir. The Doc’s crew have the hang of bagging and tagging those poor souls out there now. I recon we could sort through this stuff. I don’t fancy trying it down here though.’
Steven thought it over. ‘There is lots of room up there plenty tables. Babes could transport it up, and you can sort it out.’
‘I know what I am doing sir; trust me.’
‘I have been told you did a great job today Sarge, thank you for that. Tomorrow you can begin on this. First go get something to eat and then get some sleep.’ He turned to Buzz, ‘that includes you. Now let’s get the hell out of here.’
Chapter 11
Komoru stood with Lewis and some of her men on a platform outside the freighter. Ico had to hover beside it, the thing was so big. ‘No sign of life captain,’ one of her scientists reported. ‘No air either if these readings are right. From what information I can glean from our ships these freighters often carry perishable goods. If some catastrophe overtakes the crew the ship will automatically come to a standstill or head to a predetermined destination. To preserve perishables they are kept in an air tight oxygen free environment.’
‘You mean a vacuum,’ Komoru suggested.
‘Not quite my heart.’ Ico interrupted. ‘It ultimately depends on the cargo. A freighter can produce any environment the cargo requires. It may just cost you a little more. Once the crew died the ship probably pumped out all the air in the crews quarters to preserve the bodies then powered down. They aren’t meant for atmospheric entry or take off. They are simply cargo haulers. Every planet has a spaceport off world and goods are shipped on world by local haulers.’
‘Will it take off from the planet then, it has no atmosphere Ico but it does have gravity?’
‘I don’t know my heart. The ship itself should be able to, it depends on the container and the weight within.’
‘I see, the ship is little more than a cradle with an engine and quarters for the crew.’
‘Yes my heart the ship can take on one single massive container or dozens of smaller ones. This one is a single unit, normally used to haul foodstuffs.’
Komoru placed a small black box against the access panel and a few seconds later the airlock opened. She repeated the process inside and they all walked in. ‘Let’s go forward to the bridge,’ she suggested and her soldiers streaked off in front of her.
‘Captain I have a body.’ One of her men reported. They came across it a few seconds later. It was of a species they had not seen yet. The ugly desiccated corpse sat with its head back howling in agony as it died. Komoru shuddered and dropped a black box beside it. The nanobots went to work immediately. The soldiers reached the bridge and gained access. It was full of corpses of many different species. Komoru arrived and tried to take to all in.
‘What was happening here?’ A large bale of what looked like hay lay spilled about along with some strangely shaped bottles.
Lewis took a look around, ‘I think they had a party miss Komoru.’
She saw it then, ‘I think you are right Lewis.’
She went over to the opened bale and picked up a label. Ico read it through her eyes, ‘that is a very rare and expensive type of grass my heart. Those bottles also contain alcohol made from various grasses. I believe Lewis is right.’
She was both fascinated and repulsed. ‘Leave the nanobots to do their job and let’s explore the rest of the ship.’
Both Andy Myers and Matt McGuire made a bolt for the engine room; Ico had finally got over his revulsion of Andy and now allowed him free passage through his interior. They checked the fuel levels and the state of the engine. ‘The engines powered down as expected captain and vented the atmosphere to preserve the cargo and the crew.’ Matt told Komoru when she arrived.
Komoru’s attention was captured by something else. Three aliens sat round a large bale. Holes had been torn in the bale; on top sat some kind of game board and empty bottles. One still sat with his chin in his hand. It reminded Komoru of an old masterpiece she couldn’t remember the name of.
While the two engineers got the engine ready for start-up Komoru found herself facing a delegation of scientists. She was furious when they requested permission to dissect some of the bodies. She refused their request and made them lift the black cubes on to Ico. They were buried half a mile away and the spot recorded in case they ever crossed the barrier.
It took a couple of hours for the engineers to restart the ship and to flood the cavernous cargo bay with enough oxygen so they could breath. Matt reported to Komoru who was now on the bridge. ‘I have completed a diagnostic Captain and the ship is ready to fly. Hull integrity is good but she is too heavy to take off. We need to lose about a hundred tons of cargo if we are to achieve orbit. I am supplying power to the bridge now.’
‘Thank you Matt,’ she turned to the consoles as they came to life. ‘Let’s find out how they came to be here. These vessels are protected by a large treaty and are rarely attacked.’
It didn’t take her long to find the reason in the captains log, she read her findings aloud, ‘they were cruising along the great barrier having picked up an expensive cargo that only grows on the rim when they were hit by a meteor shower. They lost all power to the bridge. The external damage was easy to fix but the interior damage took a fortnight. When the work was completed and they got navigation back they discovered that the meteor shower had thrown them off course and they had already crossed the barrier. They managed to send a communications pod through the barrier to let their family’s know what had happened. The cargo and ship was officially written off by the insurers and ownership transferred to the captain and crew to do with as they pleased.’ She looked up, ‘that is all there is really. Their long range sensors found this planet and they just partied on down until they died.’
‘Looked like dey all died de same time Miss Komoru.’
Komoru spoke to Ico and he quickly found a plausible reason. ‘You might be right Lewis, according to Ico the time of their deaths coincides with a large solar flare.’
Lewis mulled it over for a few moments, ‘hard to believe dat our sun can be so lethal to these people.’
One of her soldiers turned to Lewis, ‘Just as well Lewis. I think our sun is the only thing that has protected us from annihilation.’
‘Yeah you're right Akio. Still I don’t think every race out there is bad.’
‘No race is ever bad to you if you are strong Lewis. These other races have been fighting over territory in their universe in much the same way we have been fighting over resources on Earth for many generations. Our planet is a jewel and our universe untouched. As far as they are concerned we are little more than bugs to be crushed under their heel. If more than one race knew about us then their whole universe would be fighting to claim it for their own, in much the same way as the white man once cut up Africa and claimed it for their own use.’
‘Yeah,’ mused Lewis, ‘and America.’
Akio nodded, ‘yes my big friend. They respect strength and technology. We are primitives co
mpared to these races.’
Komoru had been listening to the conversation, ‘it’s time to go check out the cargo hold.’
The hold was filled with air so they didn’t need their suits. They entered through a hatch high up on the level of the bridge. As the lights came on they simply stood and stared. It was filled to capacity with large bales of hay.
‘How the hell do we get rid of all this?’ Komoru whispered.
‘Good thing is Miss Komoru; der must be more than a hundred tons of de stuff.’
‘Good point Lewis, but how do we dump it?’
Lewis pointed to a back wall, ‘looks like some sort of ram Miss Komoru. Push de right switch and away it goes.’
‘I think you are right Lewis, but where is the switch. We need to open the cargo doors first; there must be a station on board that deals with this. Ico can you go through the ships schematics and find that station please.’
‘Yes my heart.’
‘Let’s go explore everyone.’
They found a lift and soon figured it out. They were lowered into the hull of the freighter. Seventy percent of the cargo hold was filled with bales of grass. Thirty percent was made up of more domestic products. One locked cage seemed to hold mail.
‘This is fascinating,’ Komoru decided and cut into a strangely marked box. She took out a highly decorated piece of cloth. Lewis helped her and they stretched it out. It was a puzzling garment. ‘It looks like some kind of dress Lewis.’
‘Yeah fo de cow Miss Komoru.’
Komoru suddenly saw it and burst out laughing, ‘oh I think you are right Lewis.’
Lewis took out his pistol and changed the settings on it. A green light lanced out and cut through the lock on the cage. Komoru dived in and grabbed a smaller package, ‘in their universe this mail is protected by a universal law Lewis, do you think I should open it?’
‘We ain't in der universe Miss Komoru.’
She smiled, ‘that’s true.’ She opened the package to find a couple of strange twisted decorative objects. She took them out and sat them on top of a box. She was mesmerised by the colour and texture. ‘Aren’t they beautiful Lewis?’
Lewis screwed his face up, ‘like dat modern art Miss Komoru, I ain't got no time for dat stuff.’
She laughed, ‘you are a wit Lewis. I wonder what they are.’
It was Ico who supplied the answer, ‘they are from a race that lives on a very stormy planet near the barrier, they represent what they call the divine wind.’
‘Oh! That sounds very Japanese, it’s no wonder I like them. I bet my mother would love them.’
Lewis couldn’t help but laugh, ‘we going to open them all Miss Komoru?’
‘No Lewis let’s take these but leave everything else until later. Ico has found out where to activate the cargo bay doors from. Back to the bridge everybody.’
Komoru sat at a large console and activated it. Large screens came to life above her head and she took her instructions from Ico as he translated what appeared on the screens straight into her mind. Large doors opened on the side of the freighter.
‘Atmosphere is being maintained in the cargo hold captain, there must be some sort of force field keeping the air in,’ Andy told her.
‘Thank you,’ she answered almost absentmindedly as she manually chose the bays to empty. ‘I need thirty percent power from the engines to operate the rams Andy.’
It took him a few seconds and they felt the ship shudder a little, ‘ready to go captain.’
‘Thank you.’
She began to tap the screen and they felt the vibrations as the massive ramps began to work. Lewis took a stroll back to the cargo bay to watch the operation and stood there with a huge grin on his face as the large machinery dumped all of the grass out onto the surface of the planet.
‘Sweet,’ was the only thing he could find to say before he returned to the bridge. With her pilot at the helm they began the journey back to the alien base. It was a tense if un-dramatic flight. The dumping of the cargo had left them with weight to spare. Yet all felt a great sigh of relief as it finally touched down.
Komoru swiped away a long strand of glossy black hair from her face, ‘let’s go get something to eat people.’ She put her helmet back on and made for the airlock where Ico was already waiting to lift them off.
Chapter 12
Kelly walked into the room. Special walls had been constructed and painted to prevent the occupants going blind. They sat with plastic bottles of water in front of them in silence. One glanced his way but the man’s eyes were glazed over. Kelly’s eyes ran over the eight of them in their tight fitting one piece suits that were a lighter colour than the crews. He tried to sum them up; pretty came to mind, then handsome, beautiful. They were all that and more; they were perfect specimens of humanity. Now they were in shock. They had barely been able to say much since they had been released. Two of the women had actually fainted when they were told where they actually were.
He moved round to the top of the table and slammed the butt of his tommy gun onto its surface. He had their attention now. He turned to the biggest man who was sitting nearest him. ‘What's your name fellar?’
The mans eyes began to glaze over and he looked away; he didn’t even see Kelly move. Kelly slammed his head off the table, ‘don’t bloody ignore me boy, what's your bloody name.’ He barely gave the man time to answer before back handing him across the face and tipping him off the chair onto the floor. ‘What's your fucking name, he screamed and kicked the guy in the guts. The man began to retch but Kelly picked him up and slammed his head into the table again, ‘so help me god if you don’t answer my bloody question I am going to wring your scrawny neck like a chicken.’
‘Bloody hell,’ the man gasped, ‘Liddell, me names Liddell for god’s sake.’
‘Irish eh, black bog Irish I’ll bet.’
‘OH god!’
Kelly let him go and snapped his head round to the next man, ‘what the hell’s your name boy?’
‘Asher sir.’ The man was trembling as were all of the remainder of the group.
‘First name?’
‘Joe, Joe Asher sir.’
‘American huh.’
‘Milwaukee.’
‘Any English folk here?’ A very beautiful and cultured voice asked.
She was by far the best looking woman Kelly had ever seen in his life, he grinned, ‘what's your name kitten?’
She looked away as if trying to ignore him but Kelly was one of those people you just didn’t ignore. Her eyes swung back. ‘Lady Jane Montgomery Royce.’
‘A real lady huh?’
‘I most certainly am.’ She stuck her nose in the air in an autocratic manner that left him speechless.
Just then the doctor appeared, ‘what the hell do you think you are doing man? I was told you were trying to kill someone.’ She saw the injured man and rushed over, ‘these people are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, they need peace and quiet, not a mad man yelling at them.’
‘Bollocks, they need a good kick up the arse is all. I've seen this; whatever the hell you call it many times Doc, I know what I am doing.’
‘Really!’
‘Yup, you ever seen it before?’
‘Ah no actually!’
‘We called it shellshock, hell I've suffered from it a time or two myself. A good hard kicking always sorts it out.’
She stood straight with her hands on her hips staring him right in the eyes, ‘you don’t say! Well it doesn’t seem to be working very well does it now sergeant.’
‘Worked on me,’ growled the Irishman touching the inside of his mouth with his tongue.
Amanda jumped a little in surprise, ‘oh!’ Suddenly she noticed all of them were watching her carefully their eyes alert.
‘Excuse me dear, is that a British accent?’ Asked one of the women.
‘Uh, yes it is, Scottish.’
‘How nice,’ she smiled, ‘could you possibly fetch me a cup of tea dear?’
Amanda was shocked for a moment, ‘it’s not what I do here.’
‘Really, you're not a maid, how strange. Never mind what is it you do?’
Amanda turned to face the woman, ‘I am a doctor, a surgeon.’
The woman looked shock, ‘you jest surely?’
Amanda found herself getting annoyed, ‘no I don’t jest.’ She turned her attention back to Kelly, ‘actually you seem to be doing quite a good job here sergeant, why don’t I just leave you to it.’
Kelly grinned, ‘sure thing Doc.’
One of the men began asking questions in a strange accent while one of the women began asking questions in French. ‘What are they saying?’ Amanda asked.
The Sarge shrugged, ‘hell if I know.’
Lady Jane said something in fluent French and sent a scathing look at the pair of them, ‘she wants to know where her family is?’
Amanda turned her attention back to Kelly, ‘give me five minutes will you sergeant, I will go fetch some translators.’
‘Sure thing Doc,’ as she left he turned his attention back to the French woman, ‘tell her we have no idea. If they were with her at the time there is a chance they may be here somewhere in one of those sleeping pods.’
‘Cup of tea sounds right nice about now,’ mused the Irish man.
Kelly sighed, ‘follow me then.’ They watched as he went to a bright hole in the wall. ‘Coffee sweet and black please.’
He stuck his hand in the hole and it came away with a steaming hot cup of coffee. ‘You seen how it’s done, go help yourself.’
Lady Jane tried next, ‘tea please, earl grey, one lump of sugar and a dash of milk please.’
She was delighted by her cup of tea until she tasted it, ‘oh uch! I don’t think they warmed the pot.’
‘It’s hot and sweet lady, be thankful,’ growled the Irishman.
‘Un chocolate.’ Cried the French girl and seemed to enjoy hers. Eventually they were all sitting down with a hot beverage.
Amanda arrived with a bag of silver earpieces. She fitted them for everyone and activated them. ‘Can every one understand me?’ There was an explosion of noise as those who couldn’t understand English all began talking at once. She laughed, ‘I will take that as a yes. I will leave you all to it.’ She nodded at Kelly and he returned it.