What kind of storm is this? It’s uncanny! he thought.
Leukonen felt insecure and glanced at his ice glider with skepticism. He was in a critical situation without his vehicle.
»Well then, we’ll do it the traditional way!« Pilvi whispered obstinately and strapped on his snowshoes. As he glanced back over his shoulder, he saw a gray wall moving toward him with astonishing speed. The Antarctic expert was struck with panic for a short moment.
A heavy snowstorm! How is this possible? This wasn’t in the forecast!
The Norwegian immediately activated his global positioning system to avoid losing his orientation as the whirling snow reached him and completely obscured his vision. With his last strength, he pulled his emergency igloo from his backpack and inflated it using a set of pressure cartridges. Four anchors automatically melted deep into the ice, fastening the tent to the glacier while Leukonen quickly crawled inside. Through the transparent window of the steel-hard, inflated tent, he watched a strong wind catch his ice glider and toss it bodily away.
The scientist watched in awe as, at a distance of about three hundred meters, a gray funnel rotated and sucked up vast amounts of snow and ice.
A tornado, Leukonen thought, frightened. That’s completely impossible! Such weather phenomena can’t form here!
Instinctively, Leukonen tightly held on to the interior braces of his igloo.
If the tornado changes direction, then it’s all over!
Reserve?
There were moments when Sammy Atkins seemed in touch and sensible. This was such a moment and Marco Applos took advantage of it to converse with the young psychologist.
Atkins’ doctors were also present and gave Applos a sign of approval. The paleontologist cleared his throat and looked at Sammy, concern written in his features.
»First of all, I want to let you know that I regret what has happened to you. I won’t pretend that I know how you feel, you’re the only man who knows what it means to be taken over by a Soulwalker. Will you talk to me about it?«
Atkins looked around nervously. His hands trembled slightly, probably due to the influence of the psycho-pharmaceuticals.
»Not for long! A lot more people are going to know,« answered the young psychologist in a shaking voice. »He has a Collector! Do you understand what that means?«
The doctors watched, nervously, and Applos shook his head slowly. He didn’t know how to reply to the young man’s statement.
»As the … the demon overpowered me, I was still aware of everything around me, but my body wouldn’t obey me anymore! Something alien had crept into my head and taken over total control. I was caught and the alien spirit made sure that I knew, beyond any doubt, that I would soon die.«
»Could you understand the Soulwalker’s thoughts?« Applos asked cautiously.
Atkins’ lips trembled.
»As clear as I can hear your voice.«
With a glance to the side, the paleontologist noticed the doctors watching the reaction of their patient with undivided attention. The conversation was recorded and monitored from a second room. Applos didn’t know how long Sammy Atkins would be able to speak freely, so he came directly to the point.
»You said,« Applos corrected himself and began again, »the Soulwalker said he was defeated by mankind a long time ago. He mentioned a time span of a million years. What can you tell me about that?«
Tears ran from the corners of Atkins’ eyes. His hands clenched together, the patient’s breathing became frantic.
»The demon is consumed by hate! He had been deceived and surprised, and he didn’t like it one bit!«
»Who overpowered the Soulwalker? Can you tell me that? Was it really Earth people?«
Atkins jumped from his bed and paced restlessly.
»We’ll all have to pay for that!«
The doctors were ready for anything. They didn’t let their patient out of their sights for a second.
»What activated the Soulwalker just now? Why did he go to the orbital station and capture your body?«
Atkins’ body was shaken by a series of uncontrollable convulsions, then he regained control again and answered very quietly.
»No alien spaceship may enter the Reserve, and if that happens, then it is his job to destroy it! He can feel its presence! Do you understand? He can recognize the signature of the propulsion systems, the drives … he’s more machine than a living being. I had the feeling that he doesn’t even know what he actually is or whom he represents.«
Applos looked astonished.
»What do you mean?«
Atkins became agitated.
»I don’t know how to describe it any better than that … but he talked about his body and thought about a machine at the same time!«
»And his body or this machine had detected the Shwakan ship and sent his spirit on its way?«
»Why didn’t he react to our spaceships? Union ships approach Earth every day!«
Atkins was overcome by loud, hysterical laughter. Applos retreated, terrified.
»Our ships! They are too primitive, don’t have the typical emissions – but the Shwakan ship triggered a reaction!«
Atkins’ eyes looked dull and indifferent, then he shouted at the doctors.
»We have left the Reserve! He’ll punish us for that! You must warn all of Humanity. He wants revenge!«
»Please, calm down,« Applos begged, but Sammy Atkins didn’t want to listen. The doctor in charge ended the interview. The patient’s pulse raced like that of an athlete. The young psychologist had to be sedated. Applos slowly nodded and followed the doctor’s instructions as he had promised, but he would soon come back to ask more questions.
Abandon Station
Arkroid recalled the Soulwalker’s words as the space station began shaking: I will deal with the orbital station later.
Obviously the uncanny creature had been bitterly serious. The second shockwave made the entire structure shake.
STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY FAILURE!
Warnings signs lit up everywhere. Toiber Arkroid saw panic break out in every section of the station.
»What’s going on?« he asked one of the leading scientists, who only shrugged helplessly.
»It seems to be a directed gravimetric shockwave. We’re detecting gravity waves shaking the entire region of space around us. Satellite stations and even an atmospheric glider between us and the alien object in Antarctica have been reported as lost. It must be the same type of force that shook the Antarctic continental plate. We can’t explain how an object as small as the Stinger can control and direct so much force at a particular target.«
The station was struck again by an imaginary fist. Holodisplays flickered, their images blinking out of reality for a few seconds and then rematerializing.
Toiber Arkroid turned around at the alarm from the central computer, his eyes wide.
»The inclination of the station has changed! Have the correctional jets been ignited?«
»Negative!« The answer came from the control central. »There’s a force field pulling us out of orbit and downward.«
The station’s neuronal computer immediately initiated countermeasures and started the larger correction drives, but every correction was met by a stronger counter-countermeasure.
One of the scientists read the actual data, disbelief etching his face. Fine pearls of sweat formed on his forehead.
Sweat of fear, Arkroid thought.
»The drive can only give us a reprieve for about ten minutes. After that, we won’t be able to resist the gravity pull. The Stinger is pulling us into Earth’s atmosphere! The station will not survive this! It’ll break apart and burn up!«
Chaos erupted around Arkroid. Men and women searched despairingly for a possibility of saving the station from the unknown force field,
He wants to demonstrate his power – set an example. He’ll destroy the station and there’s no way we can stop him! Arkroid’s mind was suddenly clear. The Merinian analyzed the situation a
nd knew that there would be no rescue. With a hard and firm voice, he confronted the turmoil and assumed responsibility with a terse command.
»ABANDON STATION! Proceed immediately to the rescue pods! Switch the correction drives to automatic – that’ll buy us some time. Repeat, we will evacuate the station, immediately! Execute!«
People stared speechlessly and disconcerted for a moment, then men and women jumped from their seats and hurried to their assigned assembly areas. Less than an hour ago things had been normal. Now, in a matter of minutes, they would leave their lives’ work and an empty station behind.
Deporters
Vasina listened to the last oaths from her guards, a meaningless ceremony based on tradition. She knew beyond doubt that she could count on her soldiers. The old ritual was an important bit of Progonaut culture.
We’ll celebrate it as long as we can, the head of the House of Atlantika thought.
Herkales had watched silently; he was the last to offer his oath of allegiance, then the shield-bearer said softly, »The large planetary gun at the pole is no longer firing. It was probably destroyed by the enemy. The defense shields that protected the continents were either circumvented by the attackers – if not eliminated. The Deporters have landed everywhere on Atlantika. Our ground troops are offering bitter resistance, but you know the result.«
Vasina glanced at the escape field that had formed between the portal’s crystal columns. The tachyon field’s bluish aura shone like a small sun.
»I’m not an army leader and soldier like you, Herkales, but I know that we’ve lost our solar system. Only a few ships left, defending themselves against a too stronger opposition, overpowering our ground troops. I can’t save those men and women. We haven’t got the ships to evacuate them. Can we return with Atlantika?«
Herkales shook his head sternly.
»Atlantika has already taken on ten thousand refugees, evacuated via the escape field according to your orders. Women and children mostly, snatched from the fangs of the Deporters. Those people are our prime responsibility!«
Vasina looked back at the Rainbow Palace again. Her residence, where she had spent all her time as a young girl, appeared as a dark silhouette on the horizon against the rising sun. The Fog Tower, the symbol of Atlantika’s capital city, towered three hundred meters over the city.
A brilliant flash of light suddenly dwarfed the morning sun and became a glowing fireball, rising slowly into the atmosphere in a characteristic mushroom cloud. Vasina held her hands in front of her face and closed her blinded eyes.
The guards froze in horror, some turned away. Vasina only bowed her head in the last farewell. The Rainbow Palace, a symbol of the Progonauts of Atlantika and capital of all their kingdoms, had been annihilated.
The ruler removed her large cape from her shoulders, let it fall carelessly to the ground, and stood in her tight, golden-yellow battle uniform with its meaningless royal insignia.
»Herkales!« she commanded with a firm voice. »Signal the ground troops to stop fighting. They will focus their efforts on saving and protecting the population. Everyone in a position to do so, retreat to the labyrinth and seek safety in the planet’s core. The attackers will never discover all of the secret caverns! Save as many Progonauts as possible beneath the surface. We will use the Tachyon Portal and board the Atlantika.«
While her shield-bearer relayed the orders to the fighting forces and the distraught guards, still staring at the barbaric destruction of the palace, Vasina stepped forward and leaped into the transport field. She rematerialized instantaneously in her flagship’s control central, followed by her guards and Herkales, who before leaving the planet’s surface, had picked up Vasina’s cape and brought it along.
Alone in the ice-desert
Within seconds, Pilvi Leukonen’s emergency shelter was covered with snow. The researcher breathed heavily, his pulse raced. He knew that an alarm would be sounding in the Antarctic Control Center. His vital functions were observed and evaluated around the clock by the local neuronal computer.
Leukonen realized soberly that he could no longer see the tornado – and this made the situation even more nerve wracking.
It could be racing toward me while I sit here waiting for the end, he thought in horror.
The end didn’t come, at least not in the form of a storm. After an hour of waiting, Pilvi Leukonen was finally sure that he had survived the unexpected danger.
The researcher had considerable trouble getting out of the emergency tent. It took him thirty minutes to dig through the snow to the surface. When he finally stood on the surface, he didn’t believe his eyes. The day had turned to darkness. A whirling black field of clouds obscured the sun and reached all the way to the horizon. There was no trace of his snow glider and the storm had deposited meter high dunes of snow everywhere. It was a hopeless undertaking to try to free the emergency igloo from the masses of snow, and Leukonen soon gave up trying.
He lowered his arms in resignation and looked in the Stinger’s direction.
He estimated his chances realistically. Without the sled and his emergency gear, he was lost. The scientist was unsure whether he should continue his march or immediately turn back. He decided to go ahead and shouldered his remaining gear. There wasn’t much left. It had been blown away together with the snow vehicle.
The wide snowshoes gave him some advantage, but with every step he sank in over his ankles.
Small icicles quickly formed in the Scandinavian’s beard, nourished by the researcher’s condensing and freezing breath.
Leukonen picked a nearby destination and turned toward it. With his global positioning device, he verified that he wasn’t going in circles. He went slowly, testing the snow in front of him with his snow stick.
The snowdrifts can be dangerous – they might cover and hide deep crevasses, he thought.
Leukonen fought his way through the deep drifts and finally reached the small hill he had been aiming for.
As he climbed the small icy summit, he got his first clear view of the Stinger. It was overwhelming. Leukonen had never in his life seen such an object and had to fight with all his might not to turn around and run away.
Run? Where? Back into the ice desert? Without the ice glider, I won’t survive the next twenty-four hours, let alone reach my base camp.
Somehow, the Scandinavian remained calm. If no Solar Union rescue team arrived soon, then he was lost. His only chance, perhaps, was the tower. Leukonen felt his strength draining.
He slowly removed the knapsack from his back and opened the flap. A small parabolic antenna automatically unfolded and adjusted itself, aiming for a point in the sky. The researcher observed the dark cloud formations that rotated above the Stinger with skepticism. How could he transmit through that? He shrugged and began to speak into the throat microphone with his report. He could only hope that the signal would be received.
The global positioning device still works. There’s a good chance that my signals get through too.
The Achmedorian Key
The control room crew looked up at their sovereign. Before anyone could move, Herkales and the rest of the bodyguards followed her out of the tachyon field. Hellas, the commander of the Atlantika, bowed and waited for Vasina to address him. She looked around, stared at her home world on the central display. The entire planet was wreathed in explosions and roaring fires, an apocalyptic sight that left no doubt about the outcome of the battle.
Vasina signaled her commander to step closer. Emotion welled in Hellas’s voice as he gave his report.
»Your Majesty, the enemy has broken down our last lines of defense. The Home Fleet is disintegrating, the Deporters are overrunning our world.«
»We can’t shoot down these transport ships if they have our people onboard. The Dark Brotherhood has dealt us the final blow. We never dreamt they had the reserves and weapons to attack in the home system. Even Nubia has fallen – Uma sacrificed himself and his ship to help a few ships escape, and Deport
er ships are also in the Nubos system.«
»Uma … may your soul rest in the Hall of Ancestors,« Vasina whispered sadly. The leader of the House of Nubia had been her oldest friend and ally.
»I’ve ordered the troops to evacuate as many as possible to the labyrinth,« Vasina said with a new resolve in her voice. »It doesn’t make sense to keep fighting. They’ll be safe for a while at the planet’s core. Have the remaining ships retreat. All Progonaut ships with survivors are to find safety and protect our people who escaped. Take the Atlantika out of the shadow of the Green Moon. We’ll bring our refugees to a safe place, then we fight!«
Hellas thumped his golden chest armor with his fist and turned to relay her orders to the navigation and comm-sections.
»Power up defensive shields! Drives to full!«
The Atlantika slipped out from the dark side of the moon. Like a small, bright blue sun, it raced into space.
»Plasma weapons, stand by!«
The gunners snapped to their stations.
»Enemy situation?« Vasina requested calmly.
»Five Dark Brotherhood destroyers are located on the night side of Atlantika. They are firing on our cities and causing severe surface destruction. A hostile carrier baseship is approaching. Space-time disturbances indicate two more coming in stealth mode. Each of their ships outguns the Atlantika.«
Vasina accepted the report without emotion.
»Three carriers, eh?«
Vasina was torn. The Atlantika had refugees crammed into every nook and cranny, most of them women and children. The enemy ships intended to wipe out the civilian population still on the surface. Vasina barely maintained her composure, but she made her decision.
»Battle Stations! Course: Enemy Destroyers! Our people need some breathing space!«
Battle cries from the command deck told her that her crew was behind her. She knew with satisfaction that they would fight to the end.
The Atlantika, her defensive shields flaming into life, maneuvered to attack the enemy destroyers from behind the planet. Their sudden appearance sent the destroyers milling in confusion.
NEBULAR Collection 1 - The Triton Base: Episodes 1 - 5 Page 24