Carey barked as my head came through, and when I solidified lying down and took my helmet off, he licked me fervently.
“Okay, boy, I’m glad to see you too.” I worried about Mae and ran to the front of the ship as I peeled off the suit.
“Did you know she was going to do that?” I asked Mary.
“Someone had to go in there and run the show.” Her voice was quiet. We zoomed in the screen on Mae and saw her struggling with the debris. She pulled free a hunk of it and the inertia pushed her away from the wall. I knew her suit would be breaking down, and I looked down to my own. It was almost melted and blackened all over. Peeling it off, I kicked it to the side, and didn’t feel much better in my sweat-soaked clothes. They were dirty enough at this point, and the smell just kept getting worse.
“Mae, come in. Get inside!” Mary yelled into the comm. There was no reply, and I figured the suit’s comm-system had worn down from the heat. I held my breath as we watched her, a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.
Mae’s small form floated away from the cube, and for a moment, I thought it was over. She was dead. Then she started to glow green and thrust at the wall. She passed through it.
“Everything good?” Magnus’ voice came through the speaker.
“We think so. We’ll have to see if Mae got to that thruster. If so, we might have a convoy,” Mary replied. “How are things with the rest of the containers?”
“They seem to be receptive to keeping our people alive. There are a couple of the Kraski hybrids that seem to know what they’re doing – the air, food, water, and triage business like we set up with the first one we crossed. I think this might have worked.” Magnus paused, and I was sure he was thinking about how many people would be dead in these things, and how many we’d seen die in their crashes with the sun.
“It’s okay, Magnus. We did everything we could. Now we have to make sure we get them home.” Then I thought of something that apparently had slipped our minds up to that point. “We have, in these things, the whole world’s population. Scientists, engineers, astrophysicists…all of NASA. I mean, we can get some help now. It isn’t all on our shoulders any longer.” As I said the words, I felt some of the pressure lessen, and I also felt every minute of the past week hit me. I needed sleep. We all did.
“Come in, Mary,” a familiar voice came through the speaker, though there were many of the clones that sounded the same. I prayed she had made it.
“Mae?” Mary asked tentatively.
“Yes, it’s me. You guys better get over here. Bring weapons!” The transmission cut off.
TWENTY-NINE
“Carey, stay here. We’ll be right back,” I said, knowing he would be safer on board than whatever we were heading into. He looked at me, probably doubting my words, but slumped down to the ground, head between his outstretched paws.
Mary and I both had suits on as a precaution, and we exited the ship into a massive cargo bay. Mae had told us where the dock would be, but she wasn’t sure if the wall was breached or if it would be safe to breathe there or not. The room was empty and just a couple of lights were on, giving the room a quiet, eerie feel to it. It was much the same as the Kraski mother ship, which really didn’t surprise me.
We made our way to the far wall, where I guessed there would be a hall leading to the middle of the container. My guess paid off, and I was glad they’d kept some of the same plans as their own large vessel.
“We should be able to get to the heart of the ship from here. Magnus and I didn’t even think of this when we visited the first one we found stranded a way back. Now we know better. It sounded like Mae needs our help, and quickly.” I led the way, gun unslung from my shoulder and firmly in my grip. Mary followed suit, looking much more at home with a gun in her hands than I did.
“I’m guessing the hybrids weren’t too happy about us blowing out their thrusters. They were ready to run into the sun – the ultimate sacrifice to a race that never really cared about them. Mae might be in over her head. She didn’t even have a gun,” Mary said, hurrying down the hall. The floors were the same metal grating from the Kraski ship; our runners made almost no noise on it.
We kept moving until I saw a symbol I recognized from when Drendon had brought us to that central bridge room.
“This way,” I called, and we exited to a set of stairs. Doors slid aside for us and I almost retched at what we found. Bodies were piled high in the large room. There must have been thousands of dead just in this room alone.
“Over here!” we heard someone call. “It’s me, Mae.”
Mary’s jaw was set firmly, obviously affected by all the death surrounding us. We walked over, guns raised at the hybrid. She looked worse for wear, hair partly singed and skin a shade of black.
“Mae, what’s going on here?” I asked, voice thick.
“Since we stopped the crew from running into the sun, they’re moving room to room, killing everyone still alive. I’ve been hiding but made it to a comm-station so I could reach you,” she explained.
Hitting some triggers on my suit, I moved my suit’s comm to Natalia’s ship.
I explained the situation to her and Magnus, and when Magnus said he was coming to back us up, I had to calm him down. “Listen, buddy, you’re the only two out there who know what the hell happened and how to get us back now. We’ll try to contain things down here, and we’ll see you soon. I’ll keep you posted. Get every one of those damned containers some sense of stability. When we’re done here, we’ll want to start moving everyone away from the sun, before it does long-term damage to these hulls.”
“Never thought I’d be taking orders from some bean counter, but here we are. You better keep me posted. See you on the other side. Over,” Magnus replied.
Mae was unarmed, and we kept her behind us.
“How many are there? Same as the other ship?” I asked, sure there were about a dozen. I could see their lifeless bodies when I closed my eyes for a deep breath. We were about to do it again, but this time, their threat was imminent.
Mae urged us forward, pointing down the hall. The hallway had no air flowing down it, and it smelled stale, and I could have sworn there was blood in the air. In a few minutes, we could hear screaming. Mary dashed ahead of us, gun raised. She looked like a superhero from the comics I’d read as a kid as she ran for the doorway and opened fire. I caught up and saw that she’d found the hybrids unaware and from behind. Shooting someone in the back wasn’t the most glorious way to do it, but every second saved a few more of our people. They were huddled in the far corner of the dim room; the dead were spread across the floor. I wondered how many rooms were full of bodies thanks to these monsters. Then I fired.
I shot at them as they turned to see what was happening. Five were down before they could get a shot off, but red beams blazed at us moments later. The doorway crumbled from the impact, and Mae and Mary ducked back the way we’d come. I dove and hit the ground on the other side of the entrance. Beams bore down on the hallway walls as the last remaining aliens tried to clear the way.
We held our fire for a brief time, waiting to see what was coming. Our positioning was poor, as we would be in each other’s crossfire. Not sure what the best move was, I decided to slink down to the ground some way, and fire to the right side should they come out. My mask was still on, and my heavy breathing was beginning to fog it up. I wanted to take the damn thing off, but every moment was precious here.
I could hear groans from the room, but they had ceased firing, at least. Mary looked at me, worry etched in her eyes. Her mask was off, and her gaze at me was only for a few seconds. It hit my gut like a ton of bricks. She started to walk into the doorway, gun aimed forward. She paused, jaw hanging down. “Bob?” I heard her whisper.
There was no way I was going to lose her. I ran for her as the first red beam flew from her gun. A volley of shots came from inside the room as I tackled her down, sending my gun flying down the hall. We hit the ground hard, and something didn’t feel quite right on m
y back. I could hear footsteps clanking down towards us.
“Not going to happen today!” I heard someone yell, then more fire sprouted around us. Mary was beside me, shooting at them. I felt her get up to her feet, but I was still face down on the ground. I couldn’t seem to move for some reason. Mary was screaming now, a primal shout I hadn’t known was possible from her.
After what felt like long minutes, the firing stopped. All I could hear was heavy breathing and the clatter of something falling to the ground. I struggled to turn my neck, but a searing pain shot through my body.
“Mary, it’s over. That should be all of them. It’s okay,” I heard Mae tell her.
A hand pressed on my shoulder, and Mary rolled me over carefully. She looked at me with her big brown eyes and tears were falling down on me. “Dean, are you okay?”
“I think so,” I lied. Truth was, I could hardly move, and something was definitely wrong.
“You fool. I was going to be the one to save the day, sacrifice myself for you guys and all the people here. Then you had to go ruin it and keep me alive. I can’t believe you did that running tackle.” Her voice was soft as she spoke.
“Some of them are alive!” Mae rushed down to the next room, where a head poked out of. The face was dirty and gaunt. I remembered that much. “We’re here to help you. Don’t worry, everything will be okay. We’re going to bring you home.”
Hesitantly at first, groups of people began to emerge from the container’s storage rooms. Eventually the halls were filled with people, and Mae was barking orders. Mary was still holding my hand and before my vision went black, I saw her beautiful face smiling at me. “We did it, Dean. We did it.”
THIRTY
I awoke in a dark room. My back spasmed, and I realized I must have slept on it wrong. What was I supposed to be doing today? I tried to recall and couldn’t. I had a tax file for the O’Sullivans to do, and was I meeting James later for beers and the Yankees game on his new sixty-incher?
I heard a dog bark in the distance and wished that Susan wouldn’t let Carey do that so early in the morning. It had to be dark out still; otherwise, light would be seeping through my never-quite-closed curtains. I reached out for my alarm clock and my arm kept moving through the air. Where the hell was my nightstand?
When I tried to turn, my back screamed at me and failed to comply. I started to panic. My eyes were adjusting, and now I could make out the outlines of the room, and this wasn’t my bed. My mind felt groggy, muddy with images. Ships coming out of the sky, big black cubes lowering in the dawn skyline, and green light, grasping at my friend as he was pulled through the ceiling.
“Hello! Is anyone there?” I yelled at the top of my lungs. I tried to move again, and this time pushed with my left hand. I propelled myself to my side, my back in agony the whole time. I fell forward and was too late catching myself. Before I knew it, I hit the ground, my hand coming up just in time to protect my face. I didn’t know what was wrong with my motor skills. I heard a hiss and what sounded like a sliding door. Light poured in and the clink of metal headed toward me.
I tried to look up and got a face full of dog tongue as a reward. “Carey?” He yelped a bit and licked me some more.
“Dean, what happened?” a voice asked. Hands grasped me under the arms and helped me back onto the bed.
“Janine?” I asked, looking at my wife. My memory flickered and I saw the hospital, and that final moment in our bed, then the coffin at the service.
“No, Dean. It’s Mae.”
“What happened to me?” I asked, still unsure where exactly I was.
Her face was grave. “You were hit. In the spine.”
“Dean?” a new voice asked from the doorway.
Seeing her standing there, with light pouring in behind her, I felt my heart ache.
“Mary,” I said, remembering all of a sudden. I recalled seeing her ready to sacrifice herself to save us and the people in that room, and then she’d seen a hybrid who’d looked like her husband Bob. That pause was enough to almost get her killed, and apparently almost enough to get me killed too.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Well, I’m confused and my back hurts like hell, but I’m alive. What’s happened?”
“We killed them all and brought you into the bridge. You were out, and it wasn’t good. It seems you took a shot right in the spine. We got you onto a cot and scoured for a doctor. This ship picked up its load from Egypt, so we had a hell of a time finding someone who understood us. Once we had a translator, we found a doctor.” She paused and held my hand. “He said if you didn’t die, you would be paralyzed.”
I wiggled my toes and fingers just to be sure, and they all moved. “But I’m not,” I said, maybe a little too defiantly.
“No, you’re not. We did the only thing we thought might help.” Her eyes told me she was scared to tell me something.
“What is it?”
“We injected you with hybrid blood. Mae had heard of some of the hybrids on Earth healing their partners of illness or ailments without them knowing, using their own blood. We didn’t know if it would actually work…but it seems to have.”
Hybrid blood. I really didn’t know what to say. How could having an alien transfusion be any worse than being paralyzed? It seemed a fair trade-off to me.
I looked at Mae. “Was it yours?” I asked quietly.
She nodded. “It was mine.” I could see she looked drained, even a little pale in the dark room.
“Thank you. How long have I been out?”
“Four days,” Mary said.
“Four days! What’s going on? Are we on the way home?” I couldn’t believe I’d slept through so much.
“Calm down, Dean. We have the world’s best and brightest at our disposal. We’ve appointed leaders to each container, and the dead have been isolated to a few floors on each ship. Mini-hospitals have been made, and we’ve distributed the small rations we found. More are going to die on the way home. We simply don’t have enough food and water, and we’ve had more several incidents. Bad people are still bad people even in crisis, it appears.” I left it at that, because I understood what she was implying.
“How many? How many are dead?” I needed to know.
“Dean, don’t worry about that now. You just worry about resting and getting better. In a few hours, you can come and see our progress. We’re only two days away from home,” Mary said.
Her avoidance of the question was enough to know that we’d lost a lot of them. Earth would never be the same.
She kissed me on the lips, and I was self-conscious of how dry mine were. And how my breath must smell like a rotten tomato, but she lingered on them for a moment and smiled at me after, a cool hand on my face.
“I’ll come back in a bit with some food. Have a rest. Carey will stay with you.” She walked away, and Mae followed her.
Carey jumped up onto the small cot with me and curled up between my legs. I lay there in the dark, my mind reeling at everything that had happened. Closing my eyes, I could swear I felt the other blood coursing through my veins. But even now, my back was better than it had when I woke up. Slowly, I drifted into sleep.
______________
Four Years Ago
I was on the couch watching the Pirates destroy the Yankees on a cool fall Sunday afternoon. “Sunday in New York” was blasting from the Yankee stadium speakers and the announcers were talking over the song, complaining about the weak bullpen this year. I agreed with them, but I always laughed at the overweight, middle-aged guys telling the world how a team should play better.
The doorbell rang, and Janine hurried from the kitchen to answer it. I took a sip from my now warm Brooklyn Lager, and the room started to spin. I glanced to the door and saw Bob step in, looking frantic. Bob, the name almost came out of my throat, but it refused to emerge. Was there something in my beer? Maybe food poisoning?
They spoke in hushed voices, and I didn’t put much thought into it as my eyes cl
osed and the hum of the commentators shrank in my eardrums.
“Don’t worry about him, Bob. I put something in his beer. You know I hate doing this to him. Can’t we just talk when he’s at work?” Janine’s voice carried over to me.
“It couldn’t wait.”
“Well, what is it?”
There was a pause. “Plans are changing. I think we need to move to plan B. Teelon’s plan.”
Silence. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. The Kraski are desperate, and they won’t stop until they find a new home for themselves. I know some of us feel like we owe them, like they’re our parents, but the truth is, they’ve done nothing but grow us in a lab and send us out to do their dirty work. The Deltra want to help the humans. We have no choice but to trust them.” Bob’s voice was a hurried whisper. The kind that wasn’t really a whisper at all, but I could hardly process what they were saying. The room was still spinning.
“So it’s true? The Kraski homeworld is gone?” Janine sounded like she was on the verge of spilling tears.
“Yes. It’s true. Billions of them were killed before they could board the transport vessels. Word is the Valiant got away, and they took the vessels with them.”
“Why take the transport vessels if they don’t have the population to move any longer?” Janine asked, voice strained.
“Take a guess. Humans. They’re going to take everyone off the planet, turn off the Shield, and voila. They have a new world. Sounds simple enough, right?”
“So we play along, but in the end, switch sides and do what Teelon says. Get our people… our spouses,” she paused, “to obtain to the Shield, bring it to the Valiant, and kill the Kraski. Then the Deltra will bring the humans back, and everyone lives in peace and harmony. Sounds like a long stretch, but I do trust Teelon. He hasn’t given us a reason to not believe him.”
I heard their words, but they seemed to flow in one ear and out the other.
“Will Earth be safe from the Kraskis’ enemies?” Janine asked. “They’ve destroyed billions of lives, countless planets.”
The Survivors Box Set Page 21