by William Wood
The pants and coat felt cool and rubbery. Once on, the suit contoured itself to Calvin’s body, forming a perfect fit. When he put on the helmet, the visor slid down and the computer turned on automatically. A soft green light displayed and the scanner began collecting information regarding his surroundings; oxygen level, radiation, heat, light and an analysis of every single object in the room; all available with a blink of his eye. At first Calvin found the torrent of data to be overwhelming. Every time he looked at an object, its statistics would be centered in his vision with way more detail than he wanted. But with practice, he’d learned to control his eyes, and focus on what he needed. In time too, the system intuitively learned what was important to Calvin and give him only what he needed instead of showering him with unnecessary data.
The suit was light and easy to move in; totally opposite of the big bulky space suits. Calvin grabbed two laser pistols and strapped one to each thigh holster. Then he selected a rifle off the weapons rack and slung it on his shoulder.
When he walked out, Astra was waiting for him. Calvin looked at her. His helmet computer, Helcomp, scanned her in a flash and displayed her life signs. He could see her heart rate, body temperature and a dozen other readings, including the status of her gear.
“I love these suits,” Calvin said. “Do we have everything?” “Here, you’ll want these,” Astra said, and handed him two extra shield packs and a personal cloaking generator.
“Thanks,” Calvin said. There were six pockets on the front of his jacket, and all of them were full. So he put them in smaller pockets on his side, under his arm.
Calvin checked his weapons again. He was certain they weren’t going to win this one by brute force, but he wasn’t taking any chances either.
“Oh, and the anti-gravity units,” Astra said, she placed four thin handles into one of her front pockets. “Now I’m ready.” They walked to the airlock in silence. Once there, Calvin opened the door. At the same time, Calvin and Astra activated their cloaking devices. They shimmered and flickered violently for a second and then they vanished completely. Calvin turned, and Astra was gone. For the first time he got confirmation that the cloaks were very effective. She didn’t only disappear physically, but his scanner couldn’t see her either. He realized for the first time that he wasn’t going to be able to see her following him. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Then he heard her soft voice,
“Calvin, hold my hand.”
“Where are you?”
“Right here.”
He reached out and felt for her hand but caught her arm instead. When they found each other’s hands, they both held on tightly and began walking, hand in hand down the corridor. Calvin heard the door close behind them but didn’t turn around to look.
It was a strange feeling, walking into the base. He knew they were invisible, but not sure how long it would last. Despite Dev’s reassurance that they would last fifteen minutes, Calvin had doubts. He also felt fear and doubt. Were those the alarm bells going off in his head? Was it because he was leading Astra into danger, or because he was choosing not to listen to himself? He really should have listened to Wexton and let him come along. It was too late now. He didn’t want to go back. He just wanted to get it over with.
They followed the boarding tunnel towards the main base structure. It was dark, not because of a power failure. When Calvin looked at the lights, his Helcomp told him they were off.
“Right,” Calvin thought to himself. “Robots don’t need light. It would be a useless waste of energy.”
Calvin’s heart beat faster and he felt a rush of adrenaline when they walked into the large main room with all the doors leading away. He felt Astra pull him towards the side of the room, away from the open. Calvin followed her. For fear of making any noise, neither of them spoke the whole time, but Calvin’s mind raced at high speed.
Twice they had to move aside quickly to avoid being run over by short, silver fastmoving robots that couldn’t see them. Once their shields flickered, but fortunately it happened when they were alone in a narrow corridor.
Astra led the way through the least inhabited areas of the ship. It would take longer, but there was less chance of running into something hostile. That was her theory, anyway. It was working, and Calvin was beginning to feel relatively safe. The corridors were in varied states of construction, and it seemed most of the robots were staying in the core.
They turned a corner and saw a tall, dark colored robot coming towards them. It wasn’t short and silver, like the other robots. This one was larger, darker and hard to see. It could only be one thing; a combat robot. Calvin slowed down, but Astra didn’t slacken her grip. She pulled him along. The robot moved much faster than he expected.
Then, the strangest thing happened. As it passed very close to them, it moved away at the last second to avoid them, as if it could see them. “That was weird,” Calvin whispered.
Astra made a sound, but didn’t say anything. Calvin decided it must have been a random move, mere coincidence. But then the robot stopped, turned around and followed them.
Was that a coincidence too? It had to be, right? All he wanted to do was stop and let the robot pass them. Calvin looked back, and felt fear flood his body when he saw the robot was towering above him.
“What’s wrong?” Astra asked. Calvin pulled her hand, much harder than before, and pulled her against the wall so the robot could pass, but it didn’t. The robot stood in front of them and didn’t move. Astra squeezed Calvin’s hand tightly, tripped on something and fell to the floor. Calvin kneeled down beside her, and tried to position himself in front of her. The robot towered over them menacingly. It looked battered, and didn’t appear to have a weapon, but that didn’t mean it was unarmed. Calvin suspected it might have one built into an arm.
For several seconds, nothing happened. Calvin could see Astra’s vital signs on his Helcomp. Her respiration and pulse were high, and her body temperature was higher too.
“Calvin,” The robot whispered. “I can see you.” The voice sounded familiar. “There’s something wrong with your cloaking devices. I can see you!”
It took him a second to realize it was Fring.
Then, without warning, their cloaks failed completely, at the same time.
Astra was completely visible, right next to him. If he was looking for any kind of reassurance, he didn’t find it in her expression. They both froze.
“That wasn’t fifteen minutes, was it?” Astra asked.
“No,” Calvin said, and checked the computer clock. “That was nine and a half minutes. Dev! That was nine and a half minutes!”
“I know, I told you they were unstable,” Dev said in a quiet voice. “I’m sorry. Stay here and wait till they recharge.”
“Of course we’re going to wait here,” Calvin hissed quietly.
Neither Calvin nor Astra moved. Calvin was hoping that Dev was right, and their shields would block their life signs because if they didn’t, they were going to be in trouble very soon.
He didn’t know why, but hiding along the wall made him feel a little better, even though he knew if they were spotted on sensors it wouldn’t matter what position they were in. But having the robot standing over him didn’t make him feel safer. In fact, it made him feel exposed.
“Get out of here Dev!” Calvin hissed. “You’re going to attract the wrong kind of attention!”
“Oh, OK, sorry sir.” Fring turned and rumbled away down the corridor.
“Thank you,” Astra whispered. He turned and looked into her eyes. She looked scared. Calvin kept an eye on her vital signs. Her heart rate was down a little, but her body temperature was still up.
Calvin was convinced that the space station’s internal sensors could see them, and No’Rath robots were now on their way to capture them. He moved the short range scanner so he could see it better. There were a few contacts in the area; some maintenance or construction robots, but nothing moving in their direction. Relieved, he relaxed a little, and moved
against the wall. Five more minutes passed. Why hadn’t the cloaks turned back on yet? They must have had enough time to recharge.
Calvin occupied his time by watching the scanner. There was movement; a group of red dots moving down an adjacent hallway. He stared at one of the red dots, which caused the computer to analyze it. When it was done, it could only report that there were four robots, but couldn’t identify what kind; only that they were still moving away quickly. Nothing to worry about, Calvin thought. Why were they moving so fast?
Calvin took his eyes off the scanner and looked at Astra. He smiled at her. Why weren’t the cloaks recharged yet? She smiled back at him. Yes, everything was going to be all right.
Then suddenly, a loud whoosh filled the air. His sensors went crazy displaying a rapid change in air density. Then an incoming trajectory of four fast moving objects flashed on his screen. It took a second to register in Calvin’s brain. ‘Wait, incoming trajectory, what does that mean?’ He found out very quickly when four robots rushed at them suddenly. They looked exactly like Fring, only Calvin knew they weren’t harmless; they were dangerous. Before they had a chance to stand up, they were grabbed harshly and dragged to their feet. The robots roughly slammed them up against the wall. Terrified, Astra held onto Calvin. A deep gravelly voice spoke,
“Who are you? What are you doing in my base?” There was no way Calvin was going to answer that, so he stayed silent.
“Scan them!” The voice ordered. A light flashed over Astra for a few seconds.
“An Alerian?” The voice said with disgust and anger. “She’s no threat to us; destroy her.” Then the light flashed in Calvin’s face. The Helcomp darkened his vision until the light turned off.
“An Arlandian?” The voice cried hysterically. “Impossible! The Arlandians are extinct! Quickly; destroy them at once!” Calvin felt Astra clench onto him tightly. “Now! Kill them now!” The robots backed away five feet and leveled their arms, which revealed stubby laser guns imbedded in each arm.
“Execute them!” For a brief moment, Calvin thought he heard another voice, but couldn’t understand what it said.
“No, we can analyze their corpses. Fire!” Without hesitation, both robots unleashed a stream of red laser bolts. The flashes of light were blindingly bright. Even though the Helcomp protected his eyes by tinting the visor, Calvin still winced and turned his head away. At pointblank range, the laser shots did not miss. Calvin tried to step in front of Astra so he would take the brunt of it, but was unable to move. The robots blasted them for several moments and stopped. Calvin opened his eyes; and was surprised to find they were all right! Their shields had protected them!
The robots took another step back and lowered their arms. Calvin’s mind raced. What were they doing? Did the robots not see that Calvin and Astra were still alive? The answer was obvious to Calvin. The robots obeyed their last order. Logic dictated their behavior, so once they executed their prisoners, they were now waiting for more orders. Calvin seized the moment. He grabbed Astra’s hand and pulled her with him, running down the corridor at full speed.
“What are you doing?” The voice screamed. “Follow them! Don’t let them get away!” Calvin couldn’t see, but he could hear the robots running after them, shooting as they ran. The area around them was bathed with laser fire. Most shots missed, but some hit Calvin in the back. His shields glowed angrily with each hit. The shield indicator flashed yellow, and then red. He slowed a little to let Astra run in front of him, in hopes of blocking her from the laser bolts. It worked, but for how long? His shields were on the verge of collapsing, but he didn’t do anything to make it stop. Astra’s shields were a shot or two from total failure.
They turned a corner and ran up a short staircase. The robots were right behind them and getting closer. A loud beeping filled his ears and made him jump. A warning message filled the center of his vision for two seconds; ‘Incoming projectile!’ He wanted to shout, but it was too late. The last thing he saw was a crystal clear image of a missile in the center of his Helcomp as it slammed into the floor right behind them. Fortunately, his Helcomp protected him from the deafening sound wave and bright flash.
The force of the blast hurled them fifty feet down the corridor. Calvin hit the wall and landed on his right shoulder then tumbled for ten more feet. He ended up in a heap next to Astra. He was dizzy and his eyes were blurry. He couldn’t read anything in his Helcomp. There was debris all over the floor. Calvin tried to stand up but intense pain filled his entire body, like he had been crushed by some enormous weight. The best he could do was roll on his side and sit up on his elbow.
The robots were close now; their heavy footfalls sent shockwaves of terror into his core. His Helcomp screen flickered. But even worse; his shields were depleted, and so were Astra’s.
Calvin crawled over to her. She was lying on her back and her eyes were open.
“Come on!” Calvin said loudly. “We have to get out of here!” Calvin stood up. A lightening rod of pain shot through his back and legs, but he forced himself up. Then he helped Astra.
Suddenly a bright flash lit up the corridor like an exploding sun. Calvin sucked in a breath of air and turned to look at Astra, but all he could see was a dark outline. The bright light dissipated in an instant, and they were enveloped in darkness. There was one last crash; metal on metal. Then, total silence encased them. He could still see a gray, shadowy afterimage; it was Astra’s outline. He closed his eyes and opened them again. Nothing helped. He was going to have to wait until his eyes adjusted. He checked his Helcomp, thinking he could get answers there, but all the gauges and sensor screens were off.
“What was that?” Calvin whispered.
“I think it was another EMP,” Astra said quietly. “But this one was bigger.” Calvin stumbled closer to Astra. It was dark, so dark he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. It took a second for him to realize his Helcomp was down. His face shield was off; the scanner and sensor displays were gone. Now it was just a useless piece of glass. Calvin heard noises, very close to him. He could tell it was Astra. There was the sound of movement; buttons snapping and a zipper slowly being pulled.
As his eyes slowly adjusted to darkness, Calvin became aware of a soft green glow around him.
“Am I seeing things?” He asked. “Where is that glow coming from?”
“Emergency lights,” Astra said.
“What?”
“In the event of a Helcomp power failure, our boots emit glow- in-thedark panels. Do you know what that means?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Calvin said. “Our shields were down when the EMP hit.”
“Right; and that means no sensors, no cloak, and no internal oxygen supply.”
Astra kneeled down on the floor and tugged on the side of Calvin’s boot. She pulled open a small flap, allowing the soft green light out.
“It’s not much,” Astra said. “Just enough for you to see, and not enough for an enemy to see you, at least that’s the theory. But we have a much bigger problem. Do you hear that?”
Calvin listened for a moment. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly, the oxygen pumps on the space station have stopped.”
“So we just lost our best advantage?”
“Not lost,” Astra said. “At least not permanently. The Helcomps should reboot in a couple of minutes.”
“So they’re EMP proof?”
“Not quite, but almost. Come on, we need to keep going.”
Astra led the way. Their glow-in-the-dark boots gave the
corridor an eerie green glow. Now all they needed to make this
mission complete would be Dark Terrors.
“We need to hurry,” Astra said. Just when she said that, there was a loud creak and bang and what sounded like a scream from far away.
‘Dark Terrors,’ Calvin thought to himself. Why did he have to think about that?
“I just had a terrible thought,” Calvin admitted.
“No, don’t,” A
stra whispered. “Don’t even think about it. Just because we’re in a dark place and we had a mishap doesn’t mean Dark Terrors are involved.”
“You can read my mind, can’t you?”
“Of course,” she responded playfully. “Now think about something else.”
They continued down the corridor, guided only by the soft green light. They passed dozens of robots; all motionless metal hulks lying on the floor.
“We lost the map and the sensors,” Calvin said. “How are we going to find the segment?”
“I can find it,” Astra said. “I looked at the whole route while we were walking. You should know by now that I have an excellent memory.”
They walked in silence. Since he couldn’t see, Calvin tried to use his other senses. The air felt cool, and there was an odd stale smell. He could see the corridor walls as light green objects. Ten minutes later, the walls were gone, and Calvin could sense that they had entered a wide open space. The air felt more open and there was an echo that told him it must be a very large space. Their lights did little to help; only provided a small green circle on the floor.
Calvin stopped walking, and listened carefully. He thought he heard something, but decided the darkness was playing tricks on him. But then he heard it again.
“Did you hear that?” Calvin asked. Astra stopped. A heavy blanket of silence smothered them. There was a loud boom followed by several soft bangs. There was no mistaking it; it sounded like someone running, and it was coming towards them! Calvin spun around wildly, trying to see where it was coming from. Terror filled him, not just for himself now, but for Astra.
Suddenly a dark object came out of the darkness and crashed into Calvin, knocking him to the floor. Calvin jumped back up to his feet, wheeled around to see what it was. It was too late. Whatever it was, it was gone.
“Did you see that?” Astra exclaimed.