‘Where is Tony now?’ Koenig asked, puzzled by the situation.
‘He’s down there, sir, bottom tunnel. I think he’s looking for someone.’
Koenig looked anxiously across at Frazer, who was equally bewildered. Settling himself better in the contour seat, he pointed towards the floor. ‘Come on, Bill. Get me down there so I can find out what the hell is going on.’
The rumble and shake of the stone all around them had become so regular and expected that Tony was managing to walk even as it occurred. It was just like a sailor getting his sea legs and anticipating the roll of a ship’s deck. He couldn’t get used to the dust that the jolts were shaking loose however, and both he and the Security men were troubled with coughing. Maya didn’t mind it so much, but her Psychon lungs had a more efficient filtering method in her respiration system than theirs.
Several times they had caught sight of the Osgoods in the torch beam, but the couple moved like they had got a new burst of energy and they were having trouble closing the gap.
Tony stopped for a moment to wipe the sweat off his face. If he left it too long the dust would cake around his eyes like a mud mask.
‘Isn’t it strange,’ Maya said, ‘how close to the truth Osgood’s prophecy was? I suppose we should feel comforted to know we’re following a prophet at a time when the face of the moon is being blown up.’
Tony sighed. ‘Sure, unless he blows up.’
‘Yes. There is still that to worry about, even if we catch them.’
Tony started to move ahead. ‘We must catch them soon. They must be exhausted by now.’
Maya caught his arm. ‘Wait. I have an idea. Turn off your torch.’
Tony was willing to try anything that brought a quick conclusion to the pursuit and the safe delivery of Michelle to the Medical Centre. He did as Maya requested and sensed even without being able to see through the pitch blackness, that she was undergoing a transformation. Seconds later an oddly shaped and velvety hand with only three fingers slipped into his.
‘One of you get hold of the back of my jacket,’ Tony told the Security men, ‘and the other get hold of his.’
Linked together they moved off at a steady jog. Whatever form Maya had adopted, Tony guessed it must have some kind of bat-like radar to find its way accurately without light. He just hoped it wasn’t as horrific looking as the thing in the Explosives Storeroom.
They ran on for quite a few minutes, gaining constantly on Osgood. He had slowed his pace as soon as he could no longer see the torchbeam. The sound of feet running after him would have been undetectable in the rumble and thump of seismic waves racing down from the surface.
Abruptly Maya stopped and as Tony waited uncertainly the fur-covered appendange let him go. A peculiar purring sound hissed near his ear, words that seemed to say, ‘Wait... till... ten... then... light.’
As Maya left him he raised his torch, aiming it straight ahead of him down the tunnel. Silently he counted to ten and then pressed the button with his thumb.
Michelle Osgood was sitting on the ground, her back against a large boulder and her head slumped down. Patrick stared into the stark light, dazzled and astonished.
‘Pat!’ Tony shouted, ‘It’s me... Tony. I want to talk to you. I’ve got good news from Helena!’
Osgood shook his head with anger, probably not even comprehending the words. He raised his right hand with the plastic clip in it, the copper jaws coming closer and closer together. As soon as they touched, the circuit from the battery he had in one pocket would be complete. The current would flow through and into the charges he had strapped to his body. Their six bodies, what was left of them, would probably never be found.
With a terrifying roar, something sprang into the area of the light. A coat of black and red stripes shivered all over its upright body and curved, razor-sharp claws slid cat-like from its paws. The head was nothing more than a thick, grey membrane... low on the shoulders and with a puckered large gap for a mouth.
Osgood was stunned rigid by the vision, something Maya must have been counting on. His hand was half-way open and Maya bounded the rest of the distance between them before the fingers could twitch a fraction more. She did not attack him this time however, but lashed out with a claw and accurately sliced through the dangling wires leading to the battery. As Osgood’s mind spun back into action, he let the clip go and it clicked harmlessly shut.
‘Noooo!’ he howled with disappointment. He was crushed by this final defeat and turned and ran headlong down the tunnel.
For the moment, Tony was more concerned with Michelle and moved quickly to her side to see if she was still alive. The answer was ‘barely’, her breathing irregular and her heartbeat weak and fluttering.
‘Get her up to the Med Centre,’ he told the Security men, still goggle-eyed at the creature Maya had adapted herself to. ‘Fast as you can, damnit!’
When they started off, he turned back to Maya. ‘I’m going after Patrick now,’ he said. ‘He may lose his will to live now that we’ve got Michelle. He could even re-wire the explosives and blow himself... and me, to pieces. But I can’t leave him.’ He left the question of whether she would help him unspoken.
Understanding, she drew back her alien claws and held out the soft black hand once again.
Koenig strode purposefully into the Medical Centre and went straight across to the sealed viewing booth for the operating theatre. Down below, under the filter clarified floodlights, Helena was just completing the transplant operation and the surgery team were clearing up.
Through a speaker he heard Ben Vincent say, ‘Pressure improving... heart rate still irregular.’
Helena looked up so that she could see the graph projections on the wall screen for herself. A nurse wiped the beads of sweat off her brows for her, and she returned to applying the sutures.
‘Going on audio,’ Ben reported, and then the increasingly rhythmic ka-thumping was amplified for them all to hear. ‘Heart rate getting better.’
Helena finished and stepped back, tugging off her plastic gloves. The nurse swabbed the closed incision and applied a dressing while the theatre attendants readied the table to be wheeled out.
Frequently a loud crash could be heard through the insulated walls and the floor shuddered from another bolt hitting up above. The conditions would have made the operation terribly difficult to perform, Koenig thought, but he knew that the girl’s condition must have been desperate for Helena to have gone ahead.
As Helena and Ben came through the doors to the sterilization room Koenig walked around to join them.
‘John!’ she cried with delight at seeing him. It still didn’t disguise the deep lines of tiredness around her eyes... but at least they sparkled at the success of the operation and at his return.
‘How is she?’ Koenig asked, then before Helena could answer, changed the question. ‘I know she’s all right... how are you?’
Helena flushed with pleasure at his concern. ‘I’m fine... a little tired is all.’
‘Well, now you can get some rest... on official orders. The worst of the storm is passed and things will be quieting down.’ Koenig placed a finger-tip in the corner of her smile. ‘You need a good night’s sleep.’
Helena shrugged and shook her head. ‘Not yet, John. There’s still a problem.’
Dr Vincent led the way through to the post-operative care room. Michelle looked very much at peace, deeply sedated and resting on the white sheeted bed. The instruments showed her vital signs were picking up nicely.
‘She looks fine,’ Koenig said.
Frowning with doubt, Helena stared at the girl. ‘She’s fine now, but what about when she wakes up and finds out her husband’s missing... or that he’s dead.’ Helena looked like she might suddenly cry, the stress taking its toll. ‘I can give her a new heart, but I can’t give her the will to live. She’ll need Patrick for that. I’m afraid all our work... all our hope may be for nothing.’
An old familiar voice suddenly shouted
out. ‘Sorry to tell you that you’re wrong... but you’re wrong!’
Turning around they all saw with surprise the dirt smeared face of Tony Verdeschi looking past the cover of the door. He wore a gleaming, lopsided Italian smile.
‘Tony!’ said Koenig.
‘I’m not very clean, so I won’t come in,’ Tony’s smile got bigger. ‘I just thought you’d like to know I’ve got Patrick out here. He’s not very fit, but he’s alive.’
Helena started to rush across the room, saying brightly, ‘and we’re going to keep him that way.’
The routine of the Moon Base was just about back to normal and both Osgoods were well on the road to recovery when two days later Tony Verdeschi invited Maya, Helena and Commander Koenig to join him for a celebration drink in his quarters. They all sat around expectantly while Tony’s home-built brewing apparatus bubbled and glugged with yellow liquid.
Verdeschi looked hopeful with anticipation, but Maya was a picture of scepticism.
‘Just look at the colour,’ enthused Tony, ‘pure amber. Come on, Maya, that consistency is perfect... not a bubble in sight. I tell you, on the scale of one to ten, this will go right through the roof.’
‘Just so I don’t when I drink it,’ Maya replied.
Tony drew off a measure of the liquid in a glass beaker and held it up to the light. He stretched it out for Helena’s inspection.
‘Looks pretty healthy, Tony,’ she laughed.
‘Here’s a toast to Mr and Mrs Patrick Osgood. May they live happily ever after. Now the first trial sip...’
Helena raised a hand of warning. ‘Are you sure this is really a good idea, Tony? Remember what our computer analysis said about your last brew?’
Tony blushed and showed his exasperation. ‘I know. I know. Unfit for human consumption. But what the heck does a computer know anyway? No lust for adventure... no daring desire for experience.’
Without another word he raised the glass and took a good mouthful of the fluid. He held the drink in his mouth momentarily, and then swallowed. The look on his face was one of bafflement. He tried another sip and the look in his eyes was very peculiar.
‘Tony,’ asked Maya, ‘are you all right?’
‘Fan-tas-tic!’ he said with satisfaction. ‘Who said this wasn’t fit for human consumption?’
Maya couldn’t resist one last joke as Tony filled glasses for them all. ‘Who said you were human?’ she laughed.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
It was less than a week after the Moon Base had survived the fire storm when an aerial geological survey pinpointed a new seam of Tiranium near the crater Copernicus. A large fireball collision had split open one of the old lunar rills like a ripe peach. There, deep in the basalt was a rich vein of the dreadfully essential element. In time even that supply would run out, and they would have to continue to search for the next source in the meantime. But at last they could operate all the Alpha systems, including those just for leisure and relaxation. For the base personnel it was a welcome day when the Recreation Room cinema started showing films again, even though they had seen every one in the library a dozen times already.
As life relaxed, the daily routine became almost boring and long weeks without incident slipped by. Social events began to re-assert their importance in the Alphans’ personal life and dances were scheduled to help things along.
Maya joined Helena in her room one afternoon, dressed in a shimmering rainbow-coloured gown that draped to the floor. Her hair was up in an elaborate baroque of curls and knots and tinted a vibrant pink.
‘Tell me, Helena,’ Maya asked as she swept through the door, ‘what do you think?’
Helena took in the stunning effect. Evidently the special preparations were in honour of a dinner party that was being held in the evening. The dress was magnificent but Helena frowned as she considered the hair style.
‘Is something not right?’ Maya asked perceptively.
‘You look marvellous, but your hair... it’s just not quite correct with that gown.’
Maya pouted as she considered the criticism, then she smiled and there was a twinkle in her eye. The construction of pink curls began to blur and grow pale. An opaque light swirled mistily, around Maya’s head and the next thing Helena could clearly see was a shower of golden ringlets, a classical Grecian look, coming into focus.
‘Like it now?’ Maya asked cheerfully.
Helena nodded. ‘What’s more important... Tony will like it.’
With a regal wave of dismissal, Maya sniffed. ‘Tony? You think I care what Tony likes?’
Helena laughed at the very unconvincing pretence. The affection between the handsome Italian and the lovely Psychon grew stronger every day. She was half expecting an announcement of an engagement before long. Her thought was piercingly interrupted.
The alarm sound had a distinctively long and drawn out whooping tone to it. Helena had not heard that particular warning sound for so long, she had to think a moment to recall what it meant.
‘That’s the automatic life support malfunction warning!’ she explained to Maya.
‘We’d better get to Command Centre,’ she replied and stepped smartly towards the door.
Tony Verdeschi had been going over the details of replenishing the Tiranium stores in the Eagle propulsion units when the alarm started to sound. He too had to think a moment to remember the coded signal, but Yasko was running a check on it almost instantly. She expected to see an immediate indication of something like an oxygen leak or a thermostat failure. Instead, all the data showed normal ecological conditions in all areas.
‘What is it?’ Tony shouted over to her.
‘I can’t find anything wrong yet,’ she replied. ‘I’ll run a test on the alarm system.’ It only took seconds before she had an answer. ‘It looks like the alarm circuit has gone haywire. It must have set itself off.’
‘Can you pinpoint the fault?’
Suddenly the room was flooded by the sound of another siren... a rising and falling howl that made Alan Carter’s ears ache. As a pilot he knew that sound very well... it meant a fire in the fuel stores.
Yasko was quick to check on it. ‘Now it’s a section F malfunction,’ she said, noting all other instruments said things were perfectly normal at the fuel depot.
Several other alarm systems went off; horns, bells and whistles jarring against each other in a pandemonium of noise. Lights were blipping madly all over the consoles, trying to call attention to seemingly non-existent disasters. Koenig came charging into the room just ahead of Helena and Maya.
‘What the devil’s going on?’ he shouted to Verdeschi, barely making himself heard.
Tony had double checked Yasko’s data on the print-out. ‘Malfunction main electronics!’ He looked up. ‘Whatever the problem is, it seems to be spreading.’
‘Cut off those alarms!’
An incredible silence descended on the Command Centre as Tony pressed the over-ride button. The torrent of decibals had numbed everyone’s hearing so badly that Koenig still had to speak loudly to be heard.
‘Give me a visual check of sections... up on the big screen, in order of priority rating. I want to see for certain that there’s nothing wrong. Heaven only knows that there’s likely to be after all that confusion.’
They looked up to the screen in anticipation but saw only a zig-zagging pattern of vivid colours.
Yasko tried to get a picture on the optional channels.
‘Malfunction spreading to video systems,’ Tony reported.
Koenig felt an alarm all his own go off then, a warning tingle of danger in the back of his brain. ‘Reset,’ he ordered.
Yasko tried putting the Command Centre power through on an alternative circuit but to no avail. ‘Negative.’
Even as she spoke the scramble of light on the screen began to dip and fade. All around the room the myriad bulbs of brightness on console boards began to go out.
‘Power fading fast!’ Tony reported. ‘Switching to emergency powe
r.’ He tried to change over but there was no response. Horrified, he looked at Koenig for further instructions.
‘Yasko...’ Koenig asked, steeling his expression. ‘Status report?’
Very calmly and regretfully she told him the worst. ‘Complete power failure. Malfunction Systems A through G. Malfunction Complete Life Support.’
As his mind raced, wondering what his next decision would have to be, Koenig noticed that a strange aura of light had pervaded the room. At first it seemed to be coming from the walls, part of the fading glow of Alpha’s control boards working illumination. Then, as he swivelled his head he saw that there was an actual point of brilliance emerging from a point in mid-air in the room’s centre.
While he watched it, he realized with dread that he was petrified. Quite literally he was frozen into one position and could not move a muscle. Within the field of his vision he could see that Tony and Maya were in the same condition and could presume everyone else in the centre was too.
The light dazzled and then cohered into the shape of a lovely young girl, a fresh complexioned, smiling face framed with short, dark hair. She was dressed only in a light, semi-transparent shift that revealed an athletic and perfectly formed body.
She seemed to beam with triumph as she looked around the room and inspected the helpless Alphans. Only then did she turn to the Commander and by no more gesture than a nod, release him from his bondage. Koenig had to quickly steady himself on the edge of a chair until his equilibrium came back, but his first anxious thoughts were for the rest of the Alphans frozen in their stances.
‘They will be all right,’ the girl reassured him in a perfectly... an almost too perfectly inflected voice. He was more startled by the fact she seemed to read his thoughts.
At the same time the other Alphans stirred from immobility and blinked in confusion at the attractive stranger who had come from nowhere.
Space 1999 - Mind-Breaks of Space Page 13