Battle On The Marathon

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Battle On The Marathon Page 58

by John Thornton


  “You blew it all up. Oh my, Major, it is true,” I said as I saw on her dark face what she had ordered. “All this time, fighting the Jellies, it was a losing battle. Did we finally really do it? Did we kill them all?”

  Major Gonzales just stared back at me, her brown eyes full of emotions. I looked over at Samuels but she was pale and exhausted looking. Her blonde hair hung in her face, and I could tell she too was traumatized.

  “Yes, I blew it all up. Not since the Great Event and the 90 Hour War has such a thing happened. Were we maniacs? Did we blow it all to hell for no reason?” Major Gonzales asked, and I was unsure if it was rhetorical, real, or some kind of prayer.

  “Are the Jellies all dead? I told several people I would kill them all.”

  “From what we can tell, none of the Jellies inside the Marathon survived the blast, and we only survived because of our distance, and the fact that we got the Jellie exterior hull functioning again, before the radiation wave hit us,” Major Gonzales answered. “After General Adams nuked the aquatic habitats, which broke the back of the needle ship, there was no hope to salvage the Marathon. Our long race on her is over.”

  “At least Adams is dead too, right?” I wanted to spit. “But did we win?”

  “Yes. I saw the last two nukes blast it apart. Explosive decompression did the rest. I am fairly certain it at least killed the rest of the Jellies. This ship is all that survived. We are moving away from the wreckage now. We might scan the debris fields and search the wreckage, but we must leave before more Jellies come.”

  “And go where?” I asked.

  “We will need to make a big jump. Back to Earth,” Major Gonzales replied. “A big jump.”

  10

  Homeward Bound

  Well, Ryan, that gets us to the present, well nearly. I just reread my account to you, since we are on final countdown for the big jump. In this log I rambled and ranted, and left out a whole bunch of stuff. I sure wish I could have rescued a dog off the Marathon. But we did find a small genetic storage bank in Q-93, and that has the genome for a basic canine. I doubt it will look like Elav, or Marie, but at least it will be a dog.

  It has been a while—longer than we wanted to stick around—since the Marathon was destroyed. The big jump is going to happen in about ten hours, and only because we finally got things figured out. Samuels is brilliant on engineering things, I sure wish Kulm could have met her, they would have made a cute couple, and nothing would have been impossible for them. Nonetheless, she could only get so much of the Jellie’s alien technology working through her own figuring it out.

  And that leads me to talk about the captured Jellies we have. Samuels, the Major, and I, made a tank out of clear permalloy sections. We had to cannibalize some of the spare parts in the repository to do that, and then we had to rig up a water tight tank, along with the translation device. That was not so tough, but filling it with a clear solution which contained the toxic elements of the brown Jellie gunk, enough to allow them to survive, but in a weakened state, was a bit harder. But we got that done. The other soldiers all worked at what they termed, “housekeeping” by getting sleeping, eating, and toileting areas prepared for us. The repository is all that is left of the giant Colony Ship Marathon. They did a fine job making us a home, but back to the Jellies, our captives.

  Talking to them when they were still in their own brown slush, behind solid walls was less than ideal. We knew they were fiddling around with the interior walls of that chamber, and we just had no idea what all they might be trying to do, so they had to be moved. The Major and Samuels had conveyed messages to them and did convince them to show Samuels how to extend the Jellie ship’s exterior wall, but mostly because they recognized that they too would have been killed if they had not done that. The Jellies are who set the wall to slice through the Raven. They paid for that trick. Those Jellies are really miserly about sharing information and operations on the ship. They needed persuasion.

  Which brings me back to the tank we built. It held liquids, but not water like in a biome, no insects, bugs, mosquitos or flies. I miss nature, here in this awful Jellie ship. We built the tank in two sections, with a retractable wall between them. Then we flooded it with our concocted fluids. Those fluids look, on visual inspection, to be mostly clear, but they are not water. Not water like we know it. Into the end of that tank we built a water-lock, which allowed us to enter that tank whenever we wanted, but would prevent the Jellies from escaping, as they could not just come out into the air. Without their carapaces, they are very much dependent on an aquatic environment. Much like we are dependent on a gas environment.

  Then, I went inside the tank when it was filled and drilled holes in the wall between the tank and the compartment where the Jellies were trapped. My combat armor worked well in protecting me from that fluid. I installed a one-way door into that wall, and increased the pressure in the clear fluid tank to match the brown sludge the Jellies preferred. The brown sludge did not mix with the clear fluids, sort-of like oil and water do not really mix, so at the one-way door, there were only some small bubbles of brown which we could see had come in from the other chamber. I exited that tank though the water-lock we had created. The door in that water-lock sealed and the clear fluids were pumped back inside the tank, and normal air filled that room. I could then just walk out and remove the combat armor. I stored it in the corner where we had set up a charging station. The Major’s armor was there, as was Samuels, and Dietermeyer’s.

  Then we told the Jellies they had to move into that newly constructed tank. I will never forget that conversation. Samuels had refined the translation device, and it gave us a pretty fair understanding of what the Jellies were saying, and they understood what we were demanding.

  Major Gonzales began by addressing the artificial intelligence which was overseeing our interactions with the Jellies. “MC87, is the system ready to communicate with the aliens?”

  “Yes, Major Gonzales. Enter your message and it will be put into the Jellie’s language,” MC87 replied. “Their answers will be scrolled on your display screen. Right now, we are about seventy percent in translating their messages. Whatever is not understood will be shown as (unable to translate) on your scroll.”

  “Jellies, I know you can perceive me, and understand,” Major Gonzales taped into the display on the translation device. She then held her finger down on a button.

  The display screen showed a flutter of colors and then some sounds were heard echoing through the brown liquid behind the wall. Our microphone pickups were turned to maximum for that event.

  A moment later similar sounds came back, this time from the Jellies themselves.

  The translation device scrolled across the display screen. “We kill you all. We hate you. Free us now. Free us now.”

  “No. You answer questions, and you obey, or you suffer,” the Major lifted her finger off the button and then commanded, “MC87 alter the temperature in that chamber. Decrease it by ten degree.”

  “Decreasing temperature,” MC87 replied.

  The tip of the translation probe was not the only thing we had shoved through that wall. We had other instruments poking into that chamber, like a temperature regulator, and spouts for injecting various elements.

  More bizarre sounds came from the Jellies, and then the translation was revealed. “—(unable to translate)—Stop cold. Stop cold.”

  “Move through the door, and the cold will stop,” the Major typed into the display.

  Two of the smaller Jellies slipped past the one-way door. They floated in the clear fluids, and radiated a bit of blue and purple colors. Each had a dome shaped top with a stem that came down from the middle of it. That main stem had the curved spike on its bottom. At the pinnacle of the dome was a ball about the size of a person’s fist. Underneath the dome were trailing tentacles wiggling around the central stem. They both whipped their tentacles at the clear permalloy which enclosed them.

  “All of you move, or we will freeze you all,”
the Major tapped into the display. “Samuels, spray a burst of liquid nitrogen into their midst.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” she replied.

  Suddenly, there was a mass of ten other Jellies rushing into that clear tank we had built.

  “I know your leader is still inside,” Major Gonzales transmitted. “Move now or die. I am draining that tank.”

  “Die gas breather. You will all die. None can oppose my pod.”

  “We have twelve, that is enough. Drain out the large chamber,” the Major stated to MC87 as well as tapping it into the translation device.

  The pumps we had installed began to quickly drain out the brown sludge. There were a couple holding tanks in the repository we had decided to use to store that gunk, although I was all for just jettisoning it into space.

  As the chamber emptied, bizarre sounds came out from there. The translation device tried to make sense of it. “Cruel gas breathers, (unable to translate) Mean and cruel. We will kill you all. Our oceans are deep with life. Your gas will be blown away. (unable to translate) (unable to translate) Make you die.”

  Finally, the largest of the Jellies squeezed through the one-way door and into our tank. It was about double the size of the smaller ones. Underneath that Jellie’s dome the tendrils and tentacles were thrashing about viciously, all around that main stem. It swam up right against the clear permalloy, and was obviously enraged. It arched that stem and jabbed the curved spike at the clear permalloy over and over. It tentacles were thicker, deeper purple colored, and more ropy. From top to bottom the creature was a bit taller than Major Gonzales.

  “MC87, completely drain out that other chamber, we need to examine it and see what controls or operative systems were in there. Samuels, will you kindly walk down to the repository and check on the status of our interfaces? I want to make sure the sludge we are draining from here is being stored properly.”

  “Major, I can easily assess that information from the conservation slate, as well as the readouts we have put into place. Those show up on the wristwatch,” Samuels nodded down at her own wrist. Like most of us, after about the first week, she had taken to just wearing fatigues, and using the wristwatches. Fortunately, Lawrence had hauled in an entire crate of fatigues when he was rummaging for supplies, and the repository itself had about three dozen wristwatch communicators in storage around it. We had appropriated those for our use. “So, should I just run another diagnostic from here to check on that flow and storage status?”

  “Samuels, I prefer you do a personal onsite inspection. Take about an hour I think,” Major Gonzales answered with an odd tone in her voice. “Grab a meal while you are away. You have done an excellent job here, and you deserve a break.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Samuels responded, but she understood more than she said. As she left she asked, “Anything I can bring back for either of you?”

  “No, but thank you anyway,” Major Gonzales said.

  After Samuels left, I inquired, “Should I leave as well?”

  “No Sergeant Kalju, I will need your assistance. You will be outside here, while I go in and teach that Jellie some manners. We need more cooperation, and I intend to make sure we get in from here on out.”

  “You are going in that tank?”

  “Kalju, of course I am. You will run the translation device from out here and relay my requests, and that Jellie’s answers.”

  “But Major, there are thirteen of them?”

  “And this time around, I have armor, and they do not. They are in their native environment, or as close as I will allow, and I am in the combat suit. Shall we see what they think of facing an armored enemy while naked?” Major Gonzales walked over and pulled her combat armor on.

  I took my place at the controls of the translation device. I made sure my wrist communicator was linked into the private channel of Major Gonzales’ armor.

  The Major then walked to our water-lock and cycled it. Atmosphere filled the lock. The outer door opened and she stepped inside. I had a clear and unobstructed view of nearly the entire tank as it was almost all from clear permalloy. The only spots which were opaque were some of our seams, and along the ceiling where we had installed recessed lights of various wavelengths and intensities.

  The water-lock cycled, and Major Gonzales stood inside as the fluids were pumped into it. “Tell the Jellies I am coming inside.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I conveyed the message. Nearly immediately the biggest Jellie made some noises which were picked up by our device.

  The scrolled message displayed the translation. “It says it will kill you. Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked the Major.

  “Sergeant Kalju, for the next few moments, I only want you to serve as a conduit for messages. You relay what I say exactly as I say it, and then read back to me what these Jellies reply. Understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Attack me at your own risk,” Major Gonzales stated. I relayed that.

  “I will kill you.”

  Major Gonzales opened the inner door of the water-lock as soon as the system was ready. She stepped inside the tank with the Jellies. The largest Jellie swam over nimbly in the fluids. Its organic tentacles stretched out and wrapped around Major Gonzales’ legs. It then pulled itself directly at her and with its curved spike struck right into her armored chest. The organic spike caromed off the combat armor. The big Jellie struck again and again. Each time, Major Gonzales just stood there in the fluids, letting the Jellie jab at it. None of the Jellie’s attacks did anything, except to enrage it further. It tugged at the Major with its tentacles, but the Major had her gripper boots locked down to the floor, and she was immobile.

  The translation device scrolled out, “You are prey. I am predator. I kill you.”

  “I am a predator also.”

  “Swarm, attack.”

  Several other Jellies rushed at the Major, but their combined attacks were no more effective than had been the vigorous attacks by the largest Jellie. After about a half dozen more jabs by the curves spikes—to every spot on her armor—all of which were deflected, Major Gonzales grabbed the tentacles which were still wrapped about her legs. Those belonged to the largest of the Jellies.

  “Here is how our armor works.” Major Gonzales started the vibration saws in her gloves. Both of the tentacles she held were ripped up and their tips floated loose in the fluids. Globs of something dark were scattered in the fluids, but the ends of the tentacles sealed over. The largest Jellie tried to pull away, but the Major grabbed the nearest tentacle and squeezed.

  “Free me now.”

  “No.”

  The Major pulled the Jellie toward her, and kept using the vibration saws to hack parts of those large tentacles away. Chunks were dislodged, and then more chunks were lacerated off. The other Jellies swarmed around her, but their combined efforts were no match for her enhanced strength and the combat armor. I thought of how I had seen people trying to wrestle against the Jellies in their carapace armor, and now the roles were reversed.

  “We kill you all. (unable to translate) We kill you. We kill you. (unable to translate) None can stand against us.” The Jellie swarm chorused out against the Major.

  “I am standing against you. Just me,” Major Gonzales said. “And I killed all the rest of your kind.”

  “We are many. Many oceans full of us. Gas breathers all die. Your (unable to translate) weaknesses will (unable to translate).” The large Jellie conveyed.

  Major Gonzales brushed aside the threats, and grabbed the large stem of the Jellie leader. With her armored hands, she crushed down on it until there was a flopping around of the curved spike. The other Jellies retreated back to the corners of the tank. I was shocked to see them moving away from the Major.

  “This one will die slowly,” Major Gonzales said, as she twisted the broken stem about. The bell shape of the Jellie leader was billowing back and forth, and its tentacles were still thrashing about, but in an uncoordinated manner. “Unless you tell us exactly h
ow to operate this spaceship.”

  “No, no, no, no, no,”

  Major Gonzales suddenly released her grip on the busted stem, which was oozing some dark fluids, but they did not mix with the clear fluids in the tank. The Jellie leader swished away with obvious difficulty, as it sort-of swam, but its stem was flopping about without direction. Like a broken leg on a crippled calf, the Jellie did not move well. Chunks of the severed tentacles were turning tan and settling down to the floor of the tank.

  “Since the big one will not answer, I will begin removing tentacles from the smallest one here,” Major Gonzales said, and lifted the gloves. The vibration saws were running and the clear fluid was shimmering around that. “One tentacle comes off the littlest one each time you say no.”

 

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