by Colin Weldon
Father, you have to let me go. Trust me. Please. Just let me go.
Chavel suddenly looked up at the view screen. She looked at him and smiled. Barrington suddenly realised that she was in contact with him. He saw love in her eyes and watched as they silently looked at each other. He saw a tear streak down one side of her cheek and realised the connection between the two. He saw Chavel nod and smile softly as he looked back at him. His face was calm. He gave a nod to the captain and smiled at him.
“Let them go, sir,” he suddenly said.
“What?” Boyett said looking at the pair.
Barrington felt the pull of his heart at the thought of never seeing his daughter again.
I’ll return I promise, she said loud and clear in his mind. I love you.
I love you too, Carrie, he replied, somehow knowing that he probably wouldn’t see her again.
The view screen went black and was replaced by the image of the frozen planet below.
“Boyett, land the ship,” he said suddenly taking his centre seat.
Boyett looked at him open mouthed.
“Sir?” she replied dumbfounded.
Barrington only had to look at her to tell her he was deadly serious. It was a look he had been accustomed to giving officers who questioned an order. It meant do it. And do it now.
“Engine room, prepare for atmospheric entry. We’re landing the ship. Secure the FTL ring and prepare the landing struts,” he said into his comm panel on the side of his chair.
“Got it, John, we’re ready down here,” Tosh replied sounding hesitant.
The bridge went silent. Boyett was looking at Chavel who gave her a slight glance. She turned to the captain.
“Sir, the shuttle?” she asked him looking for answers.
Barrington found his mind wandering. A sense of grief was making it difficult to focus.
“Let it go, Lieutenant, fly the ship,” he snapped back at her. He was in no mood to give explanations.
Boyett turned slowly back to her flight controls shaking her head. She looked confused. Barrington felt a numbness take hold as he ran through the procedures for landing the ship. He thought about what Tyrell had said as the reality of their situation began to flood his mind. He wondered how many more of his crew he was going to lose. He wondered if this was the end of their race. His eye began to itch and he raised his hand to scratch the inside of his empty socket.
“Sir, a projectile has just been launched from the shuttle craft. I can confirm that we have been leaking coolant from the engine cowlings,” Chavel said.
“Boyett, get us on the ground,” he said to his first officer, “left viewer on the shuttle craft, Chavel. Show me the projectile as well.”
The view screen to the left of centre flicked to an outside view of the shuttle which was making its way away from the ship. The screen next to it showed a small metallic pod floating gracefully away from it. The screen kept it perfectly in its centre.
“Shuttle course?” Barrington asked Chavel.
“It seems to be following closely behind the shuttle, sir,” he replied.
The planet’s surface grew in size on the main view screen and the ship entered the atmosphere on its gentle descent. He watched the pod, full of the liquid bomb, as it tumbled through space.
“There is no way the shuttle will survive this, sir,” Boyett suddenly said from the flight chair.
She sounded sombre.
“Time to planet surface?” the captain asked, ignoring her statement.
“Seven minutes, sir,” she replied.
Barrington watched the shuttle as the sadness of what was about to happen flooded through his soul. His vision began to blur as his eye began to well up with water. He tried his best to hold back the swell of the tears that desperately wanted to escape.
The Shuttle
Carrie looked at The Agathon as it made its way into the planet’s atmosphere. It’s graceful disc shape sliced through it with ease causing a wake of warm crimson light as its hull heated up the surrounding air. She was standing at the rear of the shuttle and viewing the ships descent from the small window above the hatch.
“You will need to secure yourself in, Carrie, this may be unpleasant for you,” Tyrell said from the front of the craft.
She suddenly felt like this was a mistake. Maybe she should have forced Tyrell back to the holding cell where he belonged. She still couldn’t shake both her scientific and personal curiosity as to why she and The Black were so connected. She felt comforted that The Agathon would land and make repairs and that Tyrell had given them hope with the coordinates of habitable worlds he had just transmitted. If she ever did see her father again, and she genuinely felt at this point in time that she would not, he would probably stun her with his pulse gun. She had to leave. There was something much larger at stake here and she knew Tyrell had answers. She could not do much to help The Agathon while being stuck on board. David would understand. She had told him before she cut the communications channel. He had been angry and confused, but he was a warrior at heart and when she had explained to him what was about to happen, he had reluctantly given her his love and his blessing.
She moved to the top of the small spacecraft and took a seat next to Tyrell.
“So, explain this to me again,” she said, “We won’t be blown up because why?”
Tyrell looked at her, not answering. She couldn’t tell if he simply didn’t have an answer or if he himself did not know if they would blow up or not. He turned back to the console.
“Three minutes, the pod has entered the outer edge of the coolant. We must detonate at the exact point where the electromagnetic fields of these two stars meet. I am increasing speed,” he said.
“Why?” asked Carrie fighting a new fear that had taken root in her stomach.
Tyrell looked at her.
“We must be within one meter of the pod when it detonates,” he said.
“What?” she replied raising her voice, “Are you crazy?”
Tyrell raised one of his eyebrows. His eyes began to change colour as the black fluid that filled his body flooded into them. The shark’s eyes looked at her.
“Trust me, Carrie,” he said.
She could see her own reflection in the black mirrored surface of his corneas. It seemed to happen when he was accessing his true biological self within Tyrell’s body.
“Tell me something,” Carrie asked, “Is Doctor Tyrell aware of any of this? Will you ever return him?”
It had been something that she had almost forgotten about, but somewhere inside this mind was the real Doctor Tyrone Tyrell. Suppressed. Hidden. Captured by an alien fluid. Was he still in there? Observing this entity as it moved his arms and legs and spoke with his voice. Was he aware that they were about to fly into a fireball that would most likely incinerate them all?
“The Tyrell is not dead, Carrie, however the longer we remain in this form, the less of his mind will remain,” he said.
“So you have taken yet another life for your own means?” she said coldly.
“You will soon see, Carrie. One minute,” he said, “I need you to stabilise the ship while I prepare. Keep us within one meter of the pod.”
The cylindrical pod they had launched suddenly came into view out of the corner of Carrie’s eye. Tyrell moved the shuttle skilfully past it and positioned it directly in front of the floating container. Crystallised coolant began to fill the windows as it bounced off the hull of the ship. It was like moving through a snow storm. Although Carrie had never actually seen snow, she had seen it on the viewing chamber in Tyrell’s old lab on Mars. The glass clinked as it came into contact with the engine coolant crystals. Each one reflected light from the neighbouring stars and Carrie could see the formation of rainbows within its epicentre. It was really quite beautiful. She activated the shuttles stabilisers and locked the course of the shuttle into a steady straight run.
“Now what?’ she said preparing herself.
“Twenty seconds,” Ty
rell replied looking at the navigational relay in front of him.
Carrie waited patiently as Tyrell tapped the engine control system. It looked like he was building the power of the engines up.
“What are you doing, Tyrell?” she asked.
“Please let me focus, Carrie,” he replied not looking at her.
She looked out the window and opened her mind one last time. She felt a great distance between her and her father and tried to send him one last message. At this distance he would probably not hear her, but she sent it anyway.
I love you.
She watched Tyrell as he flooded the engines with drive plasma and unlocked the manifold. Under normal circumstances, you would never attempt this while they were running, as it would ignite the plasma inside the ship. He released the outer doors of the engine cowling and let the plasma flow out from behind the ship.
“Hold on, Carrie, five seconds,” Tyrell said turning his black eyes to meet hers.
Carrie took a deep breath and grabbed the restraints that held her into her seat.
“Detonating in three …two … one …,” Tyrell said igniting the engines.
There was an enormous explosion from behind Carrie as the world shook to pieces. A white blinding light flooded her brain as she was nearly shaken loose from her harness. The sound nearly blew her eardrums as the world around her sank away into a distorted frenzy of strange shapes and colours before fading into nothingness.
Planet Surface
A light breeze blew across the ice. It shifted some loose snow on its surface which then resettled into small clumps. The twin suns overhead shone brightly down on its surface sending glimmers of light in all directions. It had been a quiet place. For millennia now. Not like before. The memories of destruction and death now frozen under its cold surface. This morning had been different. Two bright objects joined the familiar suns as they rose over the horizon. A sudden bright streak across the sky had erupted like a comet. The trail of fire lingered directly overhead. Not like the fire that had consumed this world all those years ago. This one was different. The second object was now hovering very close to the surface. The metallic craft descended gently onto the undisturbed ice and lay its feet upon its surface. A small crack appeared just beneath its landing struts as the ice bore its weight. There it rested. The first visitor this world had seen for over a million years. Somewhere beneath the ice, where the oceans were thick and alive, something opened its eyes and slowly began to make its way to the surface.
“We’re down,” said Boyett taking her hand off the flight controls.
Barrington didn’t answer. He was busy looking at the centre view screen that showed the fireball which had just torn across the night sky. He recognised this feeling. It was like being punched full force in the stomach. The energy drained from his muscles as he watched the enormous streak of fire and light tear a rip in the nothingness of space. He had lost his little girl and it was entirely his fault. He felt sick, but his training instinctually made him cover the basics.
“Scan the surrounding area for life forms, Mr Chavel,” he said with a lump in his throat.
He took a moment to steady himself.
“Charly,” he said softly, “Liaise with Tosh about repairs, I want a full damage report within the hour.”
“Yes, sir,” Boyett responded quietly.
She moved past the centre seat and Barrington suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He was not expecting it, but Boyett’s smile as she moved past him told him that he wasn’t alone. It broke all sorts of protocol, but at the moment he really didn’t give a shit. He leaned his elbows on his knees and looked at Chavel.
“Nothing conclusive, sir, but the ice is pretty thick here. I am picking up faint Infrared bursts coming from the North, but not anything that constitutes a threat to the ship as far as I can tell,” he said.
Barrington nodded. He stood from the centre chair and looked around the bridge. He suddenly realised he had to get out of there.
“David, you have the bridge. I’ll be in the conference room if you need me,” he said turning towards the lift.
“Yes, sir,” Chavel responded.
The rest of the crew watched quietly as the captain left the bridge.
10
The Unity
Mess Hall
“Seriously, one of these days we have to find a planet with plants on it. I mean, there has to be at least one planet in this miserable universe with some plants, right?” said India stirring her protein pack supplements into the dented metal bowl in front of her. It made a slurping sound as she stirred it.
“Here, here,” said Oliver sitting next to her, “I vote we go find some plants!”
Aron wasn’t paying much attention to the banter. He didn’t have time for India’s silliness at the moment. The last buoy was nearly in place and he was getting worried.
“Sir?” India’s voice said, directed at him.
He moved his eyes up to meet hers.
“Huh?” he asked.
“Plants!” she said playing with the goop in her bowl.
He frowned at her, telling her inadvertently to shut up. She got the message quickly and sighed.
“Fine” she said taking a mouthful of the grey food.
The door of the mess hall slid open and Hector Stanley walked in. The room went silent. Aron looked up at the unexpected arrival and quickly looked at India to get her attention. She turned around and watched as the large man slowly entered the small mess hall. Aron instinctively sat back in his chair and gave Stanley a nod. It was not reciprocated. He looked at India who was tracking him with her eyes. He coughed getting her attention and directed her to keep eating her food with a nod of his head. Stanley moved around the room to where the food was stored and filled up a bowl with the protein compound. He turned casually and approached the table where the three crew members were sitting.
“May I?’ he said rhetorically.
It was a tight squeeze and despite there being plenty of room at another table, Aron shifted over and let Stanley slide onto the small bench that he was sitting on. He threw his bowl onto the table letting some of the food spill over its edge and sat down. The tension was getting higher. Oliver broke the silence by coughing.
“Well, I … eh … better get back to the engine room to oversee that last deployment, ay?” he said, standing slowly and giving Aron a nod.
“Captain,” he said, nodding a farewell as he placed his bowl in the large sink and heading out of the door leaving just the three of them.
Aron gave him a raised eyebrow and turned his attention back to his food. There was deafening silence in the room as the air from the life support system swirled in from the overhead ducts. Aron looked up at India who was playing with her spoon. Aron could feel Stanley looking intently at India. She shifted in her seat and looked as if she was beginning to feel uncomfortable by it. That was usually when she turned into attack mode, so Aron thought it best to intervene.
“So, Mr. Stanley, how are things getting on with the power conservation efforts on board the station?” he asked trying to get India’s attention to calm her down.
Stanley kept his eyes firmly on India who was now looking him straight in the eyes.
“Something I can help you with?” she asked bluntly.
Stanley smiled at her.
“You grew up in the Red Tribe, didn’t you?” he said to her.
Aron looked at India who was frowning at Stanley. The Red Tribe was considered to be the lowest class of all four tribes in the colony. It was forbidden for a member of Red to reproduce, without express written consent from Arturo Verge. Any child born without authorisation was immediately terminated. Needless to say, the population control measure was deeply resented by those in Red. There were rumours that some children had slipped through the medical nets as it were. Aron knew of course who those children were. Sitting opposite him was one of them. India’s birth implant, which had of course been replicated by an ingenious member of Red Tr
ibe, had hidden her secret successfully her entire life. Aron didn’t like Stanley’s tone at all. There was something distinctively menacing about it.
“I did,” India replied looking back at her bowl of food.
Stanley nodded.
“Who were your parents if you don’t mind me asking?” Stanley said still focused on her.
India dropped her spoon into her bowl and looked at Aron. She had been the most fearless person he had ever met, yet there was a sign of panic in her eyes. Aron decided to answer for her.
“Surely you should know all our family histories, Stanley? Why do you ask?” Aron said turning his shoulder towards him. Stanley kept his gaze on India.
“Walder,” Stanley replied, “That’s an interesting last name. I have always liked it. Do you remember your parents? They died, didn’t they?”
Aron could see India close one of her fists.
“They did,” she replied, “I never met them. Why do you ask, Stanley?”
Stanley shrugged, “What were their names?”
Aron was unsure what this was leading to, but danger was looming. India sat up straight in her chair and stared down Stanley.
“Paul and Cynthia,” she said through tense lips.
Stanley snapped his fingers at her and laughed suddenly, as if finding out the answer to a riddle he had been unable to solve.
“That’s it,” he said triumphantly. “Paul and Cynthia, that is it. I have been trying to figure that out since I got on board, thank you.”
“Figure what out?” India replied.
Stanley looked away and began to eat his food.
“Oh nothing,” he said shovelling large mouthfuls of the food into his mouth.
There was what seemed like an eternity as he ate. India looked angrily at Aron who shook his head ever so slightly, telling her to calm herself and not do anything stupid. Stanley suddenly paused and looked up at India.
“You really are quite beautiful; you know that?” he said.
India didn’t respond. She was clearly taken aback at the comment. Aron could see she was ready to do battle.
“You know, it’s funny,” Stanley continued, “I looked up Paul and Cynthia Walder in the Colonial Guard database. Did you know that both your parents had blue eyes?” he said.