Scrapper's Hope

by Timothy Callahan

  "You'll probably sell them to the highest bidder,” she said as a statement, not a question.

  "More or less, yeah."

  "Do you even know what they were doing here?"

  "No clue. I haven't read any of the reports and, to be candid, I don't care."

  "This ship would be a magnificent prize."

  "We could retire on it."

  They walked through the docking tube and into the science vessel. Captain Forrester ran her hands across the wall and looked at the dirt on them. "Not a very tidy ship."

  "They had some issues," Scrapper replied. "Let me show you what we found."

  He took her down the hallway; right away she noticed the large claw marks on the wall and half cleaned up blood on the floor.

  "What happened here?"

  "We don't know,” Scrapper replied. “When we arrived we were attacked by three women. We killed them. We're working on the idea that they killed the crew."

  "That doesn't really explain this," she said pointing to the claw marks.

  "I know, it also doesn't explain that." Scrapper said pointing to a door that had been ripped apart. "We did a scan of the ship but didn't find anything that could have caused that sort of damage."

  "So, you think we're safe?" Captain Forrester asked.

  "We've been on this ship for a while now, we've looked everywhere and whatever it was hasn't surfaced. Maybe it was blasted into space before we arrived."

  "I'd like to see the bridge."

  "Of course, right this way."

  They took the elevator to the bridge. When it opened she noticed a flurry of activity as people took apart computers and other equipment. "You don't waste any time, do you?"

  "We didn't know if there was a program that would erase it all so yeah, it was the first priority after securing the ship."

  A short, happy looking woman bounced up to them. She held her hand out and Captain Forrester took it. "Hi, they call me Smiley."

  "I think I know why."

  "Aww, thank you. If you have any questions please feel free to ask."

  "How much data have you recovered?"

  "Well, so far we're only about halfway done. Some of those drives are really buried in the ship. Our ship did a quickly analysis and we found petabytes of information."

  "That's a lot of information to sell."

  "I know, right? Most of it is probably junk. Once Jolly goes through it all we'll figure out what to sell and what to just give away."

  "That's practical."

  '"Yup, that's our Captain, mister practical."

  "Scrapper," Captain Forrester said, turning to him. "I think I've seen enough. I'm going to head back to my ship and contact the united corps, they'll tell me what to do."

  "Come on," Scrapper said between clinched teeth. "We both know what you're going to do. You're going to pretend to call them, then pretend they told you to get the ship, then you'll take this from us. I know how it works."

  Captain Forrester nodded. "Well, you seem to know things better than I had anticipated. Yes, we want to take this ship and we will. Things will go much easier for you and your crew if you simply don't fight. We will compensate you for your find but you need to give us back all you took from the ship."

  Scrapper was about to say something when, from the corner of the room, out of sight from him and the group, Naomi stepped forward. "Captain, you will not take this ship."

  "And who are you, my dear?"

  "I'm Naomi Bellagard. I'm the last survivor of this Science ship and, under law, this ship is now mine."

  #

  She couldn't believe she said it but, once it was out, Naomi could not take it back. She heard how they were talking, the Captain of the other ship would do all she could to take this ship away. She couldn't have that. She needed to speak up.

  "Excuse me?" The Captain asked. She stepped forward aggressively as if trying to intimidate Naomi.

  She did not back down and even took a small step toward the Captain. "I'm a survivor of this ship. The crew tried to hide me for reasons that aren't important right now."

  "They are important," the Captain said, looking over at Scrapper. "Is what she says true?"

  Scrapper looked at Naomi; she felt he might just rip her head off. He turned back to the Captain. "Yes, she's a survivor. We also have a Professor on our ship who survived as well."

  "I see, and you felt the need to keep them from me because you wanted the ship for yourself?"

  "Yes," Scrapper replied. "It was in my best interest to keep that information to myself."

  "But," Naomi said, her voice confident, "I felt I had to speak up."

  "That was very brave of you," Trang said. "But, maybe not the best timing."

  "Now that the cats out of the bag," Scrapper said, "What’s our next step?"

  The Captain looked around the bridge as if the answers might be written on the walls somewhere. "The rules are clear. Miss Bellagard, the ship is yours, for now." She turned to Scrapper. "This isn't over, not by a long shot."

  "I figured that," Scrapper replied.

  The Captain turned and walked out briskly. When the door closed Naomi said, "I'm sorry, I know I stepped over my bounds but-"

  "It's okay," Scrapper replied. "I think you actually did a good thing. I had nothing, no way to prevent them from taking the ship. Never thought to just fess up and tell them the truth about you. You did good."

  "Thanks," Naomi replied, smiling. "I want to give you the ship."

  "If you do that then we're right back where we started. No, this is you and the Professor’s ship now. We need to talk about what we're going to do, but that will wait until we get back to a station."

  "So," Naomi said, "what do we do now?"

  "We keep taking the drives. When we're done we'll talk and I'll give you the options on what you can do. I'm going to talk to the Captain, try and calm her down, might be able to get some answers from her. Trang, Naomi's all yours, keep your eye on her."

  Trang nodded and walked over to Naomi. "That was very brave."

  "No, not really,” Naomi replied. "I'm going to have to work with the Professor, aren't I?"

  "More than likely, yeah. I'll do my best to be a buffer between the two of you, we might get things done then."

  Chapter twelve

  Scrapper couldn't tell if Naomi was a genius or stupid. She bought them time but also complicated things. Captain Forrest briskly walked away from him. Her posture stiff, her arms swinging quickly, her feet stomping down the hallway, anger pulsating across her body. "Captain, please slow down."

  Captain Forrester picked up speed. "I don't have time to talk to you."

  "I know, I know, I'm sorry I deceived you. Surely you understand why I did it."

  "I understand that you're a liar and a thief. I understand that you made me look like a fool and now I have to explain to my superiors why I didn't take this ship back."

  "Why do you want this ship so badly?"

  She stopped and turned. "You should be able to figure it out."

  "You want to know about the life-form discovered on the planet."

  Captain Forrester nodded. "Professor Litchen sent a message out to the UC about his discovery. I was dispatched to find out what he found. We were sent to escort this ship back so no one else could get to that discovery. When we arrived and saw you we knew something bad had happened. Captain, I looked you up when we found out your ship was the Jolly. You have a very checkered past with your well documented stim addiction. I wanted to trust you but then you lie to me and that is unacceptable."

  Scrapper stood there unsure what to say next. The plan unraveled around him faster than he thought possible. If she found out about the personal logs being erased, how would she react to that? He opened his mouth to talk when, from above, he heard what sounded like a train crashing through a station.

  Something large landed behind the Captain. Something alien, something he's never seen before. Teeth, muscle, gray skin, claws, and a speed unlike
anything he's ever seen lunged forward and grabbed Captain Forrester by her waist. Scrapper stepped backwards and into the wall as the creature shook the Captain back and forth like a dog playing with a toy. He scuttled back while still sitting on the ground. Blood splattered on the wall. She tried to pry the mouth open with her arms, screaming, yelling to get it off. She looked at Scrapper, her eyes wide and the thing bit down. With a loud crunch she was snapped in half and the screaming stopped.

  The monster looked at Scrapper, its blue eyes focusing on him, looking at him as if trying to communicate with him telepathically. It jumped back into the ceiling.

  Scrapper continued screaming. Something touched his arm and he jumped and continued to crawl backwards away from the touch. He saw familiar shapes but his mind wouldn't allow him to leave the fight or flee zone.

  "Scrapper!"

  The name had no meaning.

  "Captain!"

  The same voice, Captain, yes, he was the Captain.

  "Captain Johnson!"

  No one called him that. "Trang?"

  "Sir, what happened?"

  "Trang?" he repeated and stopped moving backwards.

  "Yes, it's me, Trang. Come back to me please, come back, it’s okay."

  "No, it's not okay," he said and jumped up. "Something killed the Captain, something killed her and it escaped through that hole. I want every one of my crew back on the ship. We're all in danger."

  "Sir?" Trang asked, looking around.

  It was then he started noticing other people around him. Smiley, Yelolus, Naomi and- Captain Forrester. He shook his head and blinked his eyes. "I saw you die."

  "I don't think so." She replied. "You suddenly started screaming and falling backwards. I didn't know what was happening."

  Using the wall, and Trang for support, he slowly stood to his feet. "No, that's not right. I saw something fall from that hole," he pointed to the ceiling, the hole was no longer there. "I don't- I don't understand. I saw something fall and attack you, it cut you in half."

  "Have you used any stims recently?" Captain Forrester asked.

  The memory of him inside the darkened room with the needle against his skin flashed in his mind. He had injected himself, but nothing happened, it was a dud. "No, I didn't stim myself."

  The Captain looked at his eyes. "Looks like you may have."

  "No, I didn't,” he lied. "I-I thought about it. I had it ready but I never pressed the button."

  "I believe you," Trang said. "I've seen people under nanostim and you don't act that way."

  "Then what just happened?" Captain Forrester asked.

  "I had a hallucination," Scrapper replied. His heart slowly returned to normal. His skin and clothes were wet and cold from his sweat. "Very vivid, very real."

  "Go see Doc," Trang said. "Nothing you can do while we wait to hear what the UC wants to do, isn't that right Captain Forrester?"

  "Yes, that's right,” she replied. "I'm heading back to my ship. I don't need an escort. Good day."

  She walked away leaving the small troupe alone in the hallway. "Need someone to walk you to the Doc?" Smiley asked.

  "No, no, you all go back to doing what you were doing."

  Everyone nodded in agreement and went about their duties, leaving Scrapper alone.

  He walked the hallways, jumping at any noise, hoping he didn't have another hallucination. The monster he saw would have been able to do all the damage to the ship. It would have been strong enough to rip doors open, to claw the walls, to kill everyone. But, was it real? Could something that large actually hide in a small ship like this?

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long breath of air, trying to clear his mind. It was like waking from a nightmare that lingered long after you woke.

  He walked into Doc's office. Doc wasn't around. "Doc?"

  He heard nothing in reply. "Doc?"

  "The Doctor took some time to rest." Professor Litchen said through the locked door.

  "This is sort of an emergency. I'll go to his room."

  "Has it started with you yet?"

  "What?"

  "The hallucinations. Has it started yet?"

  "What are you talking about?" Scrapper asked not wanting to admit anything to the Professor.

  "I know you found it. I know you injected them into your skin."

  "The nanostims?"

  "Yes."

  "What did you do?" Scrapper asked, running up to the door. "What did you do?"

  "I didn't do anything."

  Scrapper shook his head trying to believe his own lie. "I didn't take them."

  "But you did."

  "No, I didn't. I didn't!"

  "Scrapper?" Doc asked, walking in. "Are you okay?"

  "Yes, just talking to the Professor."

  "The Professor? He's not in here. I gave him his own room to rest in."

  Scrapper looked at the locked door then violently flung it open. The room was empty. "No, I was talking to him."

  "Have a seat," Doc said, pointing to a chair. "Tell me what's going on."

  "I don't know. Suddenly I'm starting to hear and see things."

  "When was the last time you slept?"

  "Took a quick nap a few hours ago."

  "Lay down here, get some sleep. I'll have Jolly keep track of your vitals."

  "You really think its lack of sleep?"

  "For now, yes."

  Scrapper nodded and walked over to a bed. He laid down. "I didn't take any nanostims."

  "Good, then sleep, I'll wake you in a few hours."

  Scrapper closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber.

  #

  By the time Doc left the room he heard Scrapper breathing loudly, an indicator he fell asleep.

  Doc and Scrapper went back to when Scrapper was a Captain. They worked together for years. Doc did his best to help Scrapper through his stim withdrawal. For his help Scrapper hired him when he bought the ship and Doc needed a job. Scrapper treated him well. He didn’t mind Doc’s naps. Didn’t bother him at all. Never told him what to do. His only request was to never give him stims, no matter how much he asked. Doc thought of Scrapper as a good friend, one he would always trusted to do the right thing. Seeing him like this worried Doc. Though he denied it, Doc knew Scrapper took some stims. The dot on his arm where they were injected was small, but his trained eye caught it right away.

  He walked the hallways to the Professor's room and knocked. "Come in."

  He walked in. Professor Litchen sat up from the bed. "Scrapper?"

  "He's asleep."

  "What happened?"

  "He said he was hallucinating. What do you know about that?"

  The Professor turned white at the news. "It's starting again."

  "This is how it started on your ship?"

  "Naomi was the first. Then Janice and the rest."

  "I need to know what to do," Doc said. "What can I do to help Scrapper?"

  "Lock him up. I wonder if time is the key here. Naomi is either lying or she doesn't remember what she did on the ship. Has she displayed any irrational behavior?"

  "No, in fact, she's working with the crew now to take the computers apart."

  "Hmm, that makes sense since she's a computer programmer."

  "Don't forget, they found her hiding from Janice and her gang. Maybe the effects do wear off after a while and the person infected has no memory of it."

  "Perhaps."

  "How does it happen?"

  "The Nanostims," Professor Litchen said. "I believe the mold somehow infected the nanobots in the nanostims. When injected into the blood stream the mold rewrites that person’s DNA changing the body to its liking. The immune system wouldn't stand a chance against that."

  "I suspect he did. I can see the mark on his arm. I just don’t know where he got them."

  Professor Litchen's eyes narrowed. "He took the nanostims I gave Janice. Yes, of course he did. Doc, I haven't been perfectly honest with you. I have a large blank spot in my memory. I took
those nanostims before giving them to Janice and her crew. You must leave now, Doc, I don't want to harm you."

  His skin started to split apart forming thin strands of webbing. The ripping sounds of his flesh tearing apart chilled Doc’s blood.

  Doc stood in the room paralyzed with fright. He wanted to move but found his legs anchored to the floor. The Professor lunged forward, the webbing from his skin ripped off with sickening shredding sound and wrapped themselves around him. Doc tried to scream but when he opened his mouth the webbing flowed inside. He coughed and choked as the strands worked their way down his throat into his lungs.

  "Doc, are you okay?" Jolly asked. "I'm not reading your heart anymore. What's going on?"

  Professor Litchen looked up at the ceiling where the voice came from. He saw no cameras in this room, but of course the AI was monitoring everything. The Professor manipulated the vocal cords of the Doctor with his webbed fingers. "I'm fine."

  "Okay, as long as you're okay. Keep me informed if you have a problem."

  "I will."

  When he heard Jolly disconnect he let the limp body of Doc fall to the ground, the webbing connecting them ripping apart as he did. The body lay motionless for a moment before a spasm caused the back to arch up. The strands of webbing working their way through the Doc's system, changing it, making it its own.

  Professor Litchen sat back on the bed, then laid down. The webbing from his skin continued to grow rapidly, surrounding his body in many layers.

  Chapter thirteen

  Trang crawled inside a computer and grunted as she pulled on the drive. "Come on, come on."

  "Need help?" Naomi asked peeking into the small space Trang currently laid faced down in. Half her body stuck out while the other half barely managed to fit into the tiny space.

  "No, the drive’s being stubborn."

  Naomi rubbed Trang's back and felt it stiffen up. She stopped. "I'm sorry."

  Trang slowly slid out from under the console, a drive in her hand. "Don't be, just- please don't do that. What happened in your room was strange, but it can't happen again."

  Naomi swallowed hard and lowered her head, her eyes looking into space. "I understand."

  "Look, I'll keep my eye out on you, I'll be your friend, but that's it. I can't be in a relationship with a human. Your emotions are overwhelming."