New Threat

by Nathan Hystad

  Magnus and Natalia stood to the side, and she slipped her arm around the large man’s waist and pulled him close. He leaned down to kiss the top of her head, and I couldn’t help but feel happy for the two of them. They would be among the first people to go to a new world, and I couldn’t think of anyone I’d rather have relish an experience like that than them. The fact that I’d miss them went without saying. The urge to call my old best friend James overtook me, and I shoved it down, deciding I’d ask for a way to reach outside the dome later. While I was at it, I’d call my sister, whom I also needed to talk to all of a sudden.

  “We won’t need the pins for this, but they might come in handy, like in your adventures.” Heart clicked a button on a keychain, and the ship raised up off the ground quietly, followed by a ramp dropping to the ground under the new ship. This way, you could bring goods on and off the ship with a dolly, and not need to float through like an alien wizard. The technology the Kraski had was cool, but not always practical.

  Carey hesitated on the grated ramp, but when he found his feet wouldn’t fall through, he ran up in excitement. Though Magnus and Nat were leaving us behind, I was grateful that Carey could stay with us, and we could stay an odd little family. Mary was ahead of me, her uniform hugging her curves, making the whole picture look far more flattering than my uniform on me. She’d told me it was hot, and passed me her aviators back at the room, slapping me in the butt and calling me Maverick. We’d laughed, and I couldn’t help but think of how lucky I was.

  I was the last up the ramp to the ship, and as I’d expected, we were in a small bay used for storage and supplies. The lighting was soft and less sterile than the Kraski ship had been. Essentially, we were in the middle of the ship; behind us were the crew quarters, which consisted of four rooms with bunks. Two rooms had four beds, and the other two had two each, making room for twelve to sleep at the same time, but with most crews, I imagined there would be shifts. The space was twice the size of the other ships, but the idea of sharing the space with twenty people over an extended period of time was enough to make me feel claustrophobic.

  Mary held up, and after a nod from Heart, she let Carey off his leash to explore. He barked in excitement and took off. “Quite the different experience, huh? I honestly hardly remember what the Kraski ship we flew in looked like, I was so invested in flying it and trying to stop what was happening. Basically a trip fueled by adrenaline, stress, and fear. I remember lying in those beds and talking to you. I think I started to fall for you that moment.” She said this, and I remembered it all vividly. The ship, the sterile smell, sharing that moment with Mary was when I’d really started falling for her too. I also remembered tethering myself up along with Magnus to find a vessel half-filled with dead people.

  “I fell for you too,” was all I could bring myself to say.

  Before we got back to the loading area, Heart showed us the small room that housed a dozen or so suits, designed specifically to fit human males and females, with built-in body fluid recyclers and radiation protection like the Kraski suits. They also had the thrusters attached to the hand controls, which would come in handy if you were floating uselessly in space. I hoped to never be in that position again.

  “These kick ass!” Magnus said, sifting through them, probably seeing if they had one large enough to fit his big frame.

  I noticed a cabinet, but when I tried to open it, I couldn’t pull it open.

  Heart put his thumb to it. It beeped, then unlatched. “We’ll get you guys set up on the system when we’re done here. You’ll have full access.” I caught an underlying sense of unease in the general at giving a civilian access to all of this, but Dalhousie had him sold on us working on the Earth Defense Unit. In time, I was sure he would grow to trust, and hopefully even like us.

  Inside what looked like a large custom wardrobe from a high-end house sat a line of weapons, each larger than its predecessor. Magnus nudged me and whistled as he saw the arsenal.

  “Not planning on meeting any friendlies out there, are we?” he asked as a joke, but it sat at the pit of my stomach. He was right.

  We continued the tour, crossing up to the front half of the ship, where we passed by an engineering room. Clare glowed as she explained the propulsion system. It was all over my head, but Mary looked enthralled; I’d ask her to spell it out in layman’s terms later. What I did understand was that each of the ships had FTL capability. When activated, the propulsion boosters opened from behind the ship, and it took hours to charge the drives, depending on how long your trip was. Otherwise, they could travel any direction with all the mini-thrusters we’d been using, and they were quite fast, from my experience.

  The bridge came next, and it was gorgeous. Instead of the small space we’d been in, with two seats and a computer screen, it was like something out of all the science fiction movies I’d seen. Large viewport front and center, with five seats, each with their own workstation. Fashion added to function, since it was the first model Earth had built themselves. Brown leather trimmed the swiveling chairs, reminding me a bit of my office chair at my old company.

  Heart and Clare showed us around, and I was only half-listening as they clicked controls and showed viewscreen options. I didn’t expect to be flying one of these ships myself, so I’d leave it to the professionals. As it went on, the walls felt like they were closing in on me, and before they were done, I slipped out, with the excuse I was going to find Carey. As I neared the ramp out, Carey found me, nuzzling into my leg. Together we walked down and outside – if I could call it outside, since there was a ceiling over our heads high above. They’d done a great job of having soft light, imitating the sun, and then I realized it was sunlight we were seeing. The canopy reflected and emulated the other side of the net they’d installed. I could even make out clouds. It was amazing.

  “Dean, they want to show us the newly renovated colony ship.” It was Mae. She’d approached so quietly while I was looking to the sky. When I turned to her, I could have sworn I was looking at Janine, but I pushed the memories away.

  “Sounds good.” It came out choked.

  She rubbed Carey’s head, which caused him to follow after her as we made our way to the modified transport vessel.

  I’d originally underestimated the size of the things when they’d first lowered to Earth, and though the news had given a solid estimate, they could realistically hold about a million people in comfort. The sheer volume cramped on them a year ago had been deadly in many ways.

  “How many people are you bringing on this first venture to Proxima?” I asked Clare, who in return beamed at me, running her fingers through her short bob-cut brown hair.

  “The plan called for around one hundred, but as we got deeper into it, with maintenance, construction, botanists, air and water purification, and all the other boxes, we needed about one thousand to check them all off. I wish you were coming with us. I mean, the hero of mankind and all. Would be nice to have you alongside us as we find a new home.” Clare turned a bit red, and I wasn’t sure if it was from her gushing to me, or because she might have let some secret information slip.

  Mary was behind me, rolling her eyes as soon as I looked back. She didn’t seem the jealous type, and why should she be? She was a strong, beautiful woman, whom I didn’t even deserve.

  “Wow, one thousand? Do all the people who are going know it yet?” I wondered how they would all take the news.

  “Most of them. Some of the roles, we asked for volunteers. Doctors, veterinarians, teachers…” She looked me in the eyes. “We need certain people to come, and most wouldn’t come unless their families were able to join. We want this to be a wonderful experience for everyone, and the future is there, so having families and schools will give us a foundation to build our new home on.” I could hear Dalhousie’s passion through this young woman.

  “It all sounds great. I can’t wait to visit,” I said. I had an idea. “My sister, Isabelle Parker, is a veterinarian in California. I think this is th
e type of thing she’d love to do. Can we pose it to her?” The last time we’d talked, she seemed so down, and she had always been more of a space nut than me.

  “Of course.” Clare beamed at me. “Anything for your family, Dean. Send me her number and we can contact her. Unless you want to make the invite?”

  “Sure, how about I call her and ask? I’ve been meaning to talk to her.”

  Clare smiled and walked ahead, talking to Natalia now, and I slowed, letting Mary catch up. “Oh, Dean, I wish you were coming with us,” Mary said in a light pouty voice, pushing her chest against my arms and giggling.

  “That’s enough. I’m sure it has less to do with her wanting to sleep with me, than it does that I’m some sort of idol. God knows I deserve their attention less than any of you guys do, but if all the women in the world now want a piece of me, then I suppose I’ll just have to make myself be permanently unavailable.” I blurted the words without thinking what they meant, and when it clicked, I surprised myself by not regretting what I said. After Janine had passed three or so years ago, if you’d have asked me, I would never even have looked at another woman. Mary had changed all of that in the most unbelievable of scenarios.

  “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Her joking tone was gone. “Or should I say, are you asking what I think you’re asking?”

  We were twenty feet back from the rest of the group by then, and I stopped her, holding her hands in mine.

  “Mary Lafontaine, would you do me the honor of being my wife?” I whispered beside her ear, my lips lightly touching it.

  She nuzzled in, and now her lips were on my ear. “Yes. Yes, I will do you the honor,” she whispered back before biting my lobe.

  “General Heart, you guys go ahead. We’ll be right there. We just… forgot something back at the room,” I called before we turned back, almost running to the hangar where a cart was waiting for us to borrow.

  As the rest of the group went for a tour of the colony ship, all I could think about was how much I wanted to see my new fiancée’s pants on the floor of our little room.

  ELEVEN

  The next few days were spent with me going over training plans, Mary getting lessons on the new ships as well as the old, and Magnus and Natalia helping organize the colony supplies’ loading. It was a busy time for all of us.

  It wasn’t until day five there that Heart came knocking on my door early in the morning. Mary was already out, and Carey sat at my feet as I ate a light breakfast, hoping I would give in and share with him.

  Heart looked tired as I opened the door, seeing him outside his uniform. He shrugged when he saw me appraising him. “I’m supposed to be leaving today to see my family for the weekend. Before I go, I wanted to ask if you would visit the prisoners. They’ve asked after you, and frankly, we’re of two minds on them. If they are telling the truth, we’ll be doing something horrible. We don’t have a judiciary system set up for something like this. If they did kill those people, then we have to decide what to do.” He said the last sentence gravely.

  Against my wishes, I said, “Sure. I’ll stop by this morning.”

  Just like that, I found myself standing in the prisoner area an hour later, waiting to be let through a secured door. It was more than secure, it was like Fort Knox; steel doors two feet thick were the only way in, with thumb and retinal scans, as well as a passcode. They weren’t messing around. We had been given clearance for most things around the base, but not for this area.

  As I waited, I pondered my engagement to Mary, knowing it was what my once-broken heart wanted, but wondering if that was the most opportune time for such an announcement. We’d decided to keep it secret for the time being, and it wasn’t easy since we were surrounded by our closest friends.

  The door buzzed, and the guard on duty led me through. I saw myself on screens along the wall, being filmed as I walked.

  “You guys take this seriously,” I said to the guard, who just grunted his assent. In a moment, we were at the end of the hall, past six or so empty cells.

  “He’s all yours. Just holler if you need anything.” With that the guard was gone, back down the hall. Terrance and I were a few feet apart, separated by nothing but what appeared to be a thin wall of plastic. I knew better than that.

  A folding chair was propped against the wall, on which I flipped down and set before the cell.

  “Where is she?” Terrance asked. He looked sickly: pale and slick with a light sheen of sweat.

  “Who?” I asked, before noticing Leslie wasn’t in any cell down the hall. “Leslie?”

  He nodded. Sitting on the edge of his small cot in the tiny room, he looked half the size he had when we found them in Nashville.

  They hadn’t filled me in on any of this. I imagined the two prisoners would have been kept apart so they could interrogate each alone.

  “She’s fine.” I didn’t like making it up, but these people killed in cold blood, and I didn’t think a white lie was tipping the karmic scale in their case.

  His head hung down below his shoulders. “Dean, we just want to leave Earth.”

  “And where do you want to go?” I asked.

  “There’s a place. Just get them to let us go, and there will be no further trouble.” It sounded like a veiled threat.

  “What makes you think they’ll listen to me? I’m just an accountant.”

  He made a noise like a snicker. “If you ask, they’ll consider it.”

  These guys really gave me more pull than I had. I felt like an outsider at the base, but also knew that might change the longer I was there. Not that that was comforting.

  “Why should I? We talked to Clayton in D.C. and he blamed you guys,” I said, voice rising slightly.

  He looked up from his stoop, making eye contact with me. “The shooting in D.C. was our doing. We knew it would get your attention. There was no other way we could get you in front of us to talk.”

  There had been a couple other shootings around the country in the past week, and Heart thought they might be connected to them. “Do you have anything to do with the other recent shootings?”

  He shook his head. “No, we don’t. You know how people are. Once a rumor starts, it spreads like wildfire. You don’t think there are hundreds of people in the US that wouldn’t conspire to frame the hybrids for something like this? They hate us. They blame us for all their loved ones being dead, for them being ripped from their homes into the sky, and the torture they endured as they starved in space. Can you imagine their hatred? It’s venomous, and we just want to leave.”

  He made a good point, but something was missing. “If you wanted to get our attention, why did you run when we showed up? Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?”

  He shrank back. “We had our reasons, and they’ll be clear to you soon.”

  I hated all the vague talk, and told him so, to which he just shrugged.

  “If you want me to believe you, you better damned well give me something more than your word and a shrug,” I barked, standing up quickly. The chair flew back, clanging against the metal floor.

  Terrance stood too, face right against the plastic wall between us. “Dean, they’re probably coming, and I don’t want to be here when they get here. Is that what you want to hear?” He was yelling, spittle hitting the barrier.

  My pulse raced at his words. He was right. I could almost feel it in my hybrid blood. With each heartbeat, the Bhlat were closer to Earth, or closer to finding our location.

  “They told me you claim you didn’t kill those guards in Long Island. Tell me.” Our faces were inches apart.

  “We would never have hurt them. They were our friends. Where all the rest of them looked at us with contempt, they were always nice to us. They understood our plight more than anyone. Someone set us up, and I bet it was that piece of crap, Skip.” His anger faded, and he was moving back to the cot’s edge. If I was ever going to read someone’s truth, at that moment, I would have said he wasn’t lying. But how did t
he guards end up dead just as the two of them were leaving? Skip was an odd man, but was he capable of a setup like that… and murder?

  “Tell me everything you know about the Bhlat,” I said, grabbing a notepad from my back pocket.

  __________

  Dust flew in the air behind our truck tires as Magnus drove down the side road away from the base. In the daylight, the dome just looked like more rocky terrain, and I was once again amazed at the technology.

  “We’re leaving in a couple days, Dean.” Magnus tried to sip from his coffee travel mug, and almost splashed on himself as we hit a bump.

  “How much more do you need?” I asked. They’d had an endless train of materials coming to the base over the last month. All of the product was being sent to a warehouse in Santa Fe. From there, Heart’s crew picked it up.

  “There were a few items they couldn’t procure, or wouldn’t, so here we are,” he said, grinning widely.

  I knew this to mean cigars, Scotch, and a less than palatable Scandinavian beer.

  “I wish you were coming with us, bud,” Magnus said. “I can’t believe they’re breaking up the Beatles. You know, we thought about turning them down.” This was the first time he’d told me that.

  “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, and they need you two out there. If anyone can kick some ass if needed, it’s you two.”

  “Well, I hope there are no asses there that need kicking. I kind of just want to play colonist farmer. Build a cottage on the beach. Maybe start a family.” He looked at me in his periphery.

  A family. I knew they were a couple, but the idea of Magnus and Nat sitting on their porch drinking sweet tea while the kids ran around the yard was a strange image, though also one I truly wished for them.