"No, I get it, I understand." Naomi said, standing quickly. Folding her arms across her chest she said, "I'm going to go back to the Jolly. You don't need me here anymore."
"Naomi-"
"You made yourself clear, just give me time to think okay? Trust me, the feelings I'm having for you are not normal for me. I need to get my head clear. Just, please, let me go."
Trang nodded and watched as Naomi left the bridge.
Naomi found herself walking toward the Professor’s lab. Instinct tugged at her, telling her which directions she needed to go. Familiar voices talked to her inside her head. The voice from the planet they orbited telling her to keep moving. A ripping sound from her skin caused her to look down to see it slowly split apart. Her arm hair shrunk away. In its place withering white tendrils grew.
The silk like hairs grew large and thick as she walked into the lab. She felt her stomach twist as the thought of Trang’s rejection of her sank in. A cloud fogged her mind as the planet’s agents took over. An image of Trang stayed on top of the fog. Her words echoed through Naomi’s ears. Harsh words of rejection floated on her conscience. The transformation didn’t hurt nearly as much as the rejection. She twisted her head around and let out a low growl.
Her skin continuing peeling away revealing a hardened, ever growing tough hide. She looked around. The room seemed too big, too open. The voices told her to find a place to hide. She found a vent and walked over to it leaving a trail of bloody flesh where she stepped. She reached up and ripped the vent off. Her nails grew into long, sharp claws which she dug into the metal to get leverage to lift herself into the hot, dark vent. The voice liked this, it was the perfect place to finish the transformation.
#
Jolly monitored the ship diligently just like she had for twenty years. Even after ten upgrades she still felt as if she were an old computer program. Being one of the first commercially ready artificial AI for ships she should have been discontinued years ago. Instead, Scrapper and her crew kept her on, even with her salty disposition. Jolly understood all the concepts of human emotion even if she didn’t feel them the same way. If asked she could tell you that she loved the crew as much as a complex program could love a crew.
She kept a constant look out for each crew member. Doc and the Professor's readings suddenly went away. That was never a good sign. When she suddenly lost reading it means they crew member had died. Or, she was having a malfunction.
Her sensor picked up the door to her computer room opening. She did not pick up anything walking into the room so she passed if off as another malfunction. She made a note to request a full check the next time they docked at a space station.
Something pressed hard against the room’s floor plates. Jolly turned the camera to that room on. Her database had no information on what she was looking at it. It looked human but larger and much more muscular. Its arms dragged on the ground and where fingernails were supposed to be she saw four large claws. Her face recognition program gave an 80% match to the Professor.
The Professor lifted its large arms over its head and smashed the computer console in front of it. Jolly sent an urgent message that she was under attack. Another blow to another computer knocked out several systems, another blow took out all her sensors.
"Jolly, what's going on?" Trang asked.
Another blow, communications lost and she couldn't form words to explain the attack. Another blow, she lost her consciousness. Another blow and there was nothing else for her to lose.
#
Scrapper opened his eyes when he heard the sound of the door opening. The darkened room allowed very little light in, all he saw were shadows. Sleep clung to the inside of his eyes and he did his best to shake it off. "Jolly, turn on the lights please."
The lights did not come up. "Jolly, can you hear me?"
A voice from inside the room answered. It was a low voice that seemed to originate deep within the recesses of hell. "Jolly isn't around anymore."
Scrapper felt his skin turn cold even as he started sweating. "Who are you?"
The thing came into a better light. Scrapper scampered backwards in the bed to try and get away from what he saw. "What the hell are you?"
"Something I want you to become."
The thing was large, but still human looking. White hair adorned its scalp and a white beard seemed to stretch out on its face. Its voice sounded gruff, yet familiar.
"Doc?"
"You have to be like us," Doc said. "You have to be like this."
"No, no, I don't." Scrapper jumped from the bed and tried to run for another door. Silk like strands shot out of the Doc's skin and grabbed Scrapper, pulling him toward the Doctor. Scrapper screamed and tried to fight it but they were too strong. The Doc engulfed him in a bear hug that took Scrapper's breath away. He gasped as the grip grew tighter.
White strands wrapped him up, digging deep into his pours, spreading into his blood, his cells, his DNA, transforming everything into something else.
Scrapper fell the floor as the silk strands cocooned him. His body twitched, trying to reject the attack. He moved his arms frantically trying to keep the steel strong strands from wrapping him up. The resistance was too strong and soon both his arms were trapped to his side. Everything happened too fast for Scrapper to fight. Soon his body was wrapped in a white cocoon.
#
"Something’s wrong," Trang said, looking at her communicator. "Jolly, can you hear me?" She got nothing in reply. She held the communicator closer to her mouth. "Yelolus?"
"Here."
"Okay, so you can hear me."
"Yes I can."
"Smiley."
"I can hear you too," Smiley replied.
"So, no communication problem."
"What's going on?" Yelolus asked.
"Jolly contacted me, told me she was under attack, then I got nothing."
"Let me check something," Smiley said. A moment later, "Jolly's not connected to the ship anymore."
"Yelolus, can you meet me at the docking tube?"
"I'm on my way there."
Trang walked out of the bridge and toward the docking tube. "Scrapper?"
She got no reply and a new set of worries passed through her. "Doc?"
Nothing. "Yelolus, I can't get in touch with Doc or Scrapper."
"I heard."
"Are you armed?"
"Yes."
"Good, cause I'm not."
"Are you expecting problems?"
"I don't know. When was the last time Jolly, Scrapper and Doc didn't respond to our requests?"
"Point very well taken. I'm at the tube now."
"I'm in the elevator, give me a few minutes." She pressed the lower level and the elevator jerked downward.
It's happening here, she thought. What happened to the science ship is happening to us now. I knew we should have left a while ago. I hope Naomi is okay. Trang wished she had given Naomi a communicator when she stormed off. That oversight could be costly.
The door opened and she walked down the hallway toward the docking tube. At the end Yelolus stood, a laser rifle slung to his back and a gun tucked into his belt. "Wow, you do come prepared."
"I also have a pistol in my belt," he said motioning to an ill-fitting belt. "Do you suspect that the thing that caused those marks is now on our ship?"
"Yeah, I have a really bad feeling about this."
"You are in touch with the feel of things better than most I know. We will proceed with caution. Where should we go to first?"
"Computer room, I want to see what happened to Jolly."
The two walked through the tube and onto the ship. Yelolus's shoulders stiffened, Trang felt why as extreme tension worked its way through her senses. "Do you feel that?"
"Yes," he said. "I don't need your senses to know that something is wrong."
"Can I have your gun?"
Yelolus took the gun from his belt and handed it to Trang. "Should we call someone else over?"
"I don't
want to risk any of our people so, right now, it's just us. Do you agree?"
He paused for a second, contemplating the situation. "I agree. I believe we can handle what might happen. Hopefully it's nothing, just our imaginations running wild."
"Never had much of an imagination."
"Me neither,” he replied humorlessly. "Let's proceed."
They walked toward the computer room. Trang was thankful the lights in the hallway were so bright; she didn't need anything sneaking up behind her in the dark. They walked slowly, carefully turning every corner. She felt both her and Yelolus' anxiety as they marched forward.
She lowered the gun to her side when she saw the door to the computer room open. "That should be closed at all times."
"Look, it's got markings on it," Yelolus said. "Looks almost like claw marks."
Sure enough, as she got closer, she saw what he was talking about. Claw marks scratched the surface of the door as whatever it was pried it open. Looking through the door she saw her worst fear.
"Jolly!" she yelled, running forward. Yelolus ran close behind her, looking around, making sure there was no threat. "What happened to you, Jolly, oh no."
She overlooked the wreckage that was Jolly's computer system. Computers had been smashed, monitors destroyed, drives thrown around and taken apart. "The full computer core might be intact, she might be fixable."
"And if she's not?" Yelolus replied, his voice emotional, saddened.
"We last backed her up two years ago. We can restore her but she'll lose two years' worth of memories."
"Then she'll never be the same."
"No, I'm afraid not," Trang replied. "We need to call a meeting right now. Get Captain Forrester involved in it. Find out what our next move should be."
They both heard the loud thud of something dropping down behind them. They turned to see something moving faster than they could react. It stood in front of Yelolus, grabbed his rifle and pulled it out the Ulliam's strong hands. With a backhand it slapped him across the room and into the pile of a computer system.
"Yelolus!" Trang yelled, raising her own gun and firing several shots at the attacker. All shots missed.
The monster, human shaped, large, fast, strong, grabbed the gun and squeezed. Trang screamed as her hand cracked and crumbled under the pressure.
The monster raised its other arm to hit Trang when another blur, a small gray one, slammed into the monster, knocking it off its feet. "Go! Get out!" Yelolus yelled. "Get help, I'll hold this thing off!"
"No!"
"Go!" he yelled and pushed Trang away. Trang ran toward the door, taking one last look at Yelolus as he squared himself up to fight the thing that attached them.
Chapter fourteen
Yelolus had never been hit that hard before. It triggered something deep within his warrior mind. The spit in his mouth foamed a white froth as he let out a low growl. His muscles tightened. He screamed loudly, trying to terrify the thing that stood across from him.
The monster gave him a look that was way too human. Yelolus paused for a moment, his servant mind fighting with his warrior one. Then, the monster lunged.
Yelolus used his shorter statue to get under the monster and, using his superior strength, toss it into the wall where it dented the metal. Yelolus didn't stop and charged forward, his jackhammer-like hands punching the monster in the head, face, and chest.
The monster took the blows and waited. Yelolus's fist hurt as he slowed, his breathing heavy, his heart racing. He stepped back to catch his breath.
The human monster lay on the ground, bloody and unmoving. Yelolus screamed, letting his warrior rage celebrate the victory. Looking at the monster he thought he identified who it was. "Professor?"
The monster, still breathing, opened one of its eyes and looked at Yelolus and nodded an affirmative. Yelolus walked over and bend down to look closer at the thing. "What happened?"
The Professor moved his bloody mouth, trying to form words but nothing came out. His face had taken too much of a beating. "I'll see if I can find the Doc."
The Professor reached out and grabbed Yelolus' arm. Then he lowered it, too weak to try anything. Yelolus pulled out his communicator. "Doc?"
He got no answer and decided to try someone else. "Trang?"
"What's going on? Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. That thing was the Professor, he's- different, transformed, or something. I-I don't understand what is happening."
The Professor let out a loud scream and pushed Yelolus away from him. He stumbled and tried not to fall over. Yelolus spun his head around to find the Professor running toward one of the many vents in the room. He ran after him, unable to believe how quickly the monster was moving. He was in the vent moments before Yelolus could stop him. "He's in the vent, I'm going to go in after him."
"No, don't you dare."
"I beat him before."
"Yelolus, please, don't go in there without any back up."
"But it could hurt someone else."
"We'll deal with it then. Look, I have an idea, please meet me in the Doc's office."
Yelolus looked at the vent and stepped toward it. He stopped. She was right, it would be foolish to follow. He ran toward the Doc's office hoping Trang had a good plan.
#
The commotion from the fight echoed down the hallway. Trang cringed knowing that her friend could be dead, or dying, and she was running. Echolites weren't known for their warrior tendencies but they were survivors. Sometimes surviving meant running to fight another day.
She smiled brightly when she heard Yelolus asked for Doc before asking for her. As he talked she thought about what the next step was going to be. She heard some scampering over her head and looked at the ceiling. They needed to get off the Jolly. They needed to have the UC ship help.
The door to Doc's room was open and she heard noise coming from inside. "Doc? Scrapper?"
The noise stopped and she saw a shadow move from behind a curtain. She ran over and pulled the curtain back to find a bed of white silk in front of her. Quickly fading footprints led to an open duct. She ran over and heard it, the sound of scurrying, and of growling. "What the hell?"
"They seem to like the ducts," Yelolus said, walking into the room.
"Good way to get around if you can manage it. Lots of places to hide."
"Easy to flush them out," he said. "Easy to set a trap for them."
"What are they?"
"I believe Doc, Professor Litchen and maybe Scrapper."
She shook her head, unable to wrap that news around it. "How do you know?"
He pointed to the cocoon. "That is where Scrapper was laying. We can't get in touch with Doc and I fought Professor Litchen. Scrapper might be dead, he might be alive, but I think he's most likely turned into one of those things."
“As long as they're trapped in the vents we can contain them. Let's go back to the Science ship, seal the docking tube, keep them trapped in here until we can get the UC to come over and deal with this."
"Did Captain Forrester make it back?" Yelolus asked.
"She should be back by now,” she pulled out her communicator. "Captain Forrester?"
There was a long delay while they waited for a response. When they didn't get one Trang said, "Captain, our ship's in danger, we need your help."
Captain Forrester yelled into the communicator. "What kind of help? What is going on?"
"The thing that killed the crew of the science ship just tried to kill us. It also destroyed our AI system. We were hoping to empty this ship and get you to send some troops to flush it out."
"Get off your ship, disconnect it from the science vessel and pilot it away. We'll destroy the Jolly once you're cleared."
"No, we can't do that." Trang replied, shaking her head. "We took too much of the science ship apart, including its computers. It's dead in space."
"Of course, you guys have to make it difficult."
"I'm sorry, we didn't expect this to happen."
&
nbsp; "Fine, I'll get some troops together and we'll flush your monsters out. Now, don't bother me again."
Trang turned to Yelolus. "So, what now?" she asked.
"We go to the Science ship, close the dock tube and alert the crew as to what is going on. Then, we wait, we're at the mercy of the UC forces now."
"I suspect they won't allow us to keep the ship now, huh?"
"That seems very unlikely," Yelolus replied.
Chapter fifteen
Yelolus and Trang ran through the docking tube and closed it behind them. Trang pulled out her communicator. "This is Trang, no one is allowed on board the Jolly for any reason. I'll explain everything in a few minutes."
The two walked down the hallway and toward the bridge. "We need to find Naomi," Trang said.
"I agree, everyone needs to be accounted for. We don't know who else might have been turned into one of those monsters."
"And we don't know if Naomi was at some point."
Yelolus turned to face Trang. "What do you mean?"
"Naomi has a blank spot, a memory gap she can't explain. Professor Litchen said she was the leader. What if she was turned into one of those things then, for some reason, reverted back."
"That would mean the others have a chance to fight the transformation."
"Exactly, which is why we need to find Naomi, see what we can get from her. Maybe she'll remember something."
"Okay, you go look for her, I'll deal with the Captain."
The door to the bridge opened and Smiley ran up to them. "What's going on?"
"Things aren't very good," Yelolus replied. He went on to explain what happened on the Jolly, how the computer was destroyed, how he was attacked. How Doc, Professor Litchen and, mostly likely, Scrapper had become some sort of monster. “So, as you can see, we have an emergency."
"Oh god," Smiley gasped, placing her hands over her mouth. "Are we going to kill them?"
"We may have to," Trang said. "Did you hear from Naomi?"
"No, not yet. I scanned for her but for some reason she doesn't show up on the scanners."
"Why would that be?" Trang asked.
Scrapper's Hope Page 8