Perspective

by Myles Anderson

  “No one touches Betsy,” he said as they all looked at her unconscious form lying before them.

  “Johnson, restrain the …lady,” Williams said sourly.

  “Gladly, sir,” Johnson replied.

  “What about those spikes?” Williams asked looking at Trisha.

  “The crystals react to magnetic fields. We mapped out which ones make them attack and which ones switch them off,” Trisha said. “Rayis thought it was something like what happens when our white blood cells attack a virus.”

  “So, what, we’ve been fighting this planet’s immune system?” Pete asked.

  “Exactly. Green and the others have been marked as a threat, probably because of what Rayis did,” she said as she turned to look at him.

  “How do we stop them?” Johnson asked.

  “We have to neutralize the field they’ve been tagged with,” Trisha said.

  “How?” Williams asked.

  “Do you have anything that can create a large EMF or EMP?” she asked.

  “Pulse Field Rockets could do it; neither ship is carrying them, though,” Williams said.

  “One minute until contact,” the pilot said.

  “Think, think …I’ve got it. If we can manage to magnetize the hulls of both Two-Edges with opposing fields and to the right frequency, we can create a nullifying field between the ships and fly over the others erasing the tag on them,” she said.

  “Will that work?” Potter asked.

  “It’s the best I can come up with,” Trisha said.

  “Good enough. Come with me,” Williams said as he and Trisha walked towards the cockpit. “The rest of you get ready. If this doesn’t work, it is going to get ugly.”

  Pete could see the fear and worry in Trisha’s eyes as she looked at him, her expression betraying the fact that even she didn’t know if her idea would work. He smiled and nodded to her confidently as she and Williams passed through the door.

  “I hope this works. It didn’t go too well the last time we tangled with those things” Johnson said, turning towards the entry ramp as a bead of sweat ran from the base of his military cropped black hair and down his cheek.

  “Me too. Me too,” Pete said flipping off the safety on his rifle before reattaching his helmet.

  As the missiles disappeared into the swarming mass of crystals, erupting fireballs broke through the throng sending smoking shards through the sky as the ships made their first pass to clear the air above the Rhino. The occupants of the Rhino swayed slightly from the force of the explosions overhead.

  “Roger that,” Green said as he signed off with Williams. “Get ready, people. On their next run, they’ll be laying down the field. Jones?”

  “I’ll have the Rhino rebooted ten seconds after the pulse is laid down,” she said.

  “What about our suits,” Griswald asked.

  “They’re shielded. They should be fine,” Grecko said.

  “Should?” Ramirez asked.

  “Stow it. Here they come,” Green said.

  “Fox two,” the gunner said as he pressed the fire button.

  “Roger that, Fox two,” said the gunner of the second Two-Edge.

  The next volley of missiles exploded, clearing a path for the ships. As debris rained down, the pilots struggled against their controls to keep the magnetic field between the crafts from pulling them together.

  The Rhino rocked as the ships passed overhead. Jones switched over the main relays and the screens and lights began to flicker back on.

  “We’re up and running,” she said.

  “What’s it look like out there?” Green asked.

  “All the crystals are settling to the ground,” she replied.

  Suddenly, Green heard a crash and a sharp cry of pain from behind. He turned to find Griswald holding Rayis against the wall by his neck.

  “What the hell did you think you were doing, you nerdy little freak?” Griswald asked as he choked him.

  Rayis struggled, unsuccessfully, to free his throat from Griswald’s grip.

  Green walked up and looked from Griswald to Rayis and back. Rayis’s bulging eyes pleaded with the Sergeant.

  “Let him down, Gris,” Green said after a few moments.

  Griswald slammed Rayis against the wall once more for good measure before letting the doctor slump to the ground.

  “I’m waiting,” Green said.

  “For what?” Rayis replied in a raspy voice, rubbing his throat.

  “For you to answer the man’s question. What do you think you were doing?” Green said.

  “I can’t tell you,” Rayis answered obstinately.

  “Excuse me?” Green said in a quiet and incredulous tone.

  “I said ‘I can’t tell you,’” Rayis said, his voice returning to its normal dull pitch.

  “You don’t seem to understand the situation…” Green started.

  “No, it’s you who does not understand the situation, Sergeant. Your team is on a strict need to know basis,” Rayis said defiantly.

  “Really?” Green began, his eyes wide as he paced menacingly in front of Rayis. “Well, here’s your ‘need to know. ’ You need to know that we all risked our necks to save your dainty posterior. You need to know that people have died because of your being here. You also need to know that your little stunt nearly cost everyone here, including yourself, their lives. That may not bother you, but it bothers the hell out of me. And, finally, you need to know that I will personally put a bullet in your head if you don’t talk. ”

  “You don’t frighten me,” Rayis said, all the while swallowing hard, not noticing his shaking hands.

  Green removed his sidearm and walked slowly towards Rayis, pressing the barrel into his forehead, and looking into his eyes with a cold, unblinking stare. A bead of sweat ran down Rayis’ brow and around the edge of the gun before it dripped to the floor.

  “Sir, we’re getting a message from Lt. Williams,” Grecko said quietly through the tension.

  “Inform the lieutenant that we request immediate pickup,” Green said, still holding the gun to the doctor’s head.

  “Sir, he says he needs to talk to you,” Grecko said.

  Green looked over his shoulder and then back down at Rayis.

  “We’ll continue this conversation later,” he said, holstering his weapon and walking towards the front.

  **********************************************************

  Pete resisted the temptation to scratch at the collar still around his leg as he walked down the ramp. He’d left Trisha aboard the Two-Edge with the pilots, while Nelson was trussed up in the hold until they could stuff her in the Io’s brig.

  He was still having a hard time getting his head around everything Trisha had told him.

  “A living planet. Not only living, but possibly sentient,” she had said.

  “That sure puts a whole new twist on things,” he thought.

  He walked towards Ramirez and Potter at the bottom of the ramp, Potter looking scrawny next to Ramirez’s wide frame, despite Potter being the taller by a few inches. Around the perimeter, Pete saw Griswald and Jones keeping watch as Grecko patched some of the holes in the Rhino’s hull.

  Pete kicked the toe of his boot into the ground. Or would skin be better? he thought as he contemplated things.

  “Weird, isn’t it?” Potter said, watching Pete.

  Pete nodded slowly. “We’re like insects to this thing,” Pete said.

  “Blood cells,” Ramirez said.

  “What?” Potter asked.

  “Well, that’s what Rayis said. We’re proportionally the size of a red blood cell,” he said. “Grecko isn’t the only one that can read lips.” To their left, Green and Williams were interrogating Rayis. Ramirez grinned as he kept his eyes on the conversation between the officers and doctor.

  “Has Green gotten any more info out of Rayis?” Pete asked.

  “He will,” Ramirez said coldly.

  *****************************************************
*

  “Alright, doctor, care to tell us why it’s trying to kill us?” Green asked, resting his hand on his gun holster.

  The movement wasn’t wasted on Rayis, who had finally decided to cooperate.

  “You do the same thing,” he said.

  “Doc, I don’t just go around trying to kill people,” Green said.

  “We’re not people to this being,” Rayis said.

  “Then what are we, doctor?” Williams asked impatiently.

  “Germs, bacteria, viruses--you name it. To this being, we’re nothing more than a tiny invading pest, and, like our bodies, it has ways of dealing with pests,” Rayis said.

  “Meaning?” Green asked.

  “Meaning that it doesn’t even know we’re here. Do you know when a virus has just settled on your skin? No, you don’t, but your body does, and it reacts to it,” Rayis said.

  “So those crystals are this planet’s version of white blood cells?” Green asked.

  “Yes. Every time we did something that was perceived as a hazard to the planet, those crystals came after us, just like white blood cells attack infections in the body,” Rayis said.

  “I don’t buy it. How can a planet be alive? ” Williams asked.

  “Just because something isn’t familiar doesn’t make it less,” Rayis said.

  “Those crystals don’t prove it’s alive,” Green said.

  “No, but its DNA does,” Rayis said.

  “DNA?” Williams asked, still not believing what he was hearing.

  “Yes, DNA,” Rayis said. “When the original survey team returned from this planet, the samples revealed something amazing. Every rock, every grain of dirt, every plant had something in common. They all had the same reoccurring lattice structures in their molecular makeup--a repeating pattern common to everything,” Rayis said.

  “So?” Green asked.

  “Just the way hair follicles, blood cells, even saliva have traces of our DNA, so did every aspect of this planet have traces of its own DNA, for lack of a better term,” Rayis said his voice rising with excitement.

  “Fine, the planet’s ‘alive’--I really don’t care. Why is it trying to kill us, doctor? ” Green asked aggressively. “When my team first landed, nothing happened until we tried to free Wilson.

  “Yes, the immune system perceived that as an attack,” Rayis said.

  “I get that. What I don’t get is why it attacked your group and not the original survey team and why it attacked us just now. What I want to know, doctor, is what did you do to piss this planet off? ” Green asked as he glared are Rayis.

  “I tried to communicate with it,” Rayis said, his eyes dropping to the ground.

  Pete and the others watched as Green and Williams roughly escorted a handcuffed Rayis aboard the Two-Edge.

  “You don’t understand! It is critical that we communicate with this creature,” they heard Rayis implore as he disappeared into the ship. “I was under strict orders to do whatever it took to communicate with it.”

  “Shut up. Potter, Johnson, keep an eye on our two guests,” Williams said.

  “Yes, sir,” they replied, walking up the ramp.

  Pete could sense Green’s anger as he approached, the mild glare from the faceplate of his suit making his hooded eyes appear even more menacing. He ignored Pete, keeping his gaze fixed on Trisha.

  “Did you know about this?” Green asked gruffly.

  “Know about what?” she asked.

  “Sarge, what’s going on?” Pete asked.

  “Stay out of this, Hower. That’s an order,” Green said, his glare still fixed on Trisha.

  “Sir…” Pete started.

  “It’s alright,” Trisha said, putting her hand on Pete’s arm to quiet him. “Did I know about what?” she asked Green, calmly returning his stare.

  “About the doctor basically trying to drill into this planet’s brain in order to ‘communicate’ with it,” Green said.

  “No,” she replied calmly.

  “I find that hard to believe,” Green said.

  Pete began to speak in her defense, but she put her arm across his chest to stop him.

  “If you’re going to charge me with something, then do it. Either that or get out of my face,” she said.

  “If that’s the way you want it…” Green began.

  “Stand down, Sergeant. Without her, you and your team would be dead,” Williams said.

  Green looked over his shoulder scornfully as Williams walked up.

  “Sir, she broke protocol and faced down a gun to save you,” Pete said to Green.

  “He’s telling the truth. I lost men here, nearly died myself. If I can believe her, then you should too,” Williams said.

  “Yes, sir,” Green said begrudgingly. “Hower, you keep an eye on her. Anything else happens here, and it’s your butt. Understand?” Green said.

  “Understood,” Pete replied with a sense of relief.

  “Pack it up, everyone, we’re leaving now!” Green all but growled over the wide band comm as he walked away.

  “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Pete said.

  “Don’t. I half agree with Green. Watch your step, Patterson,” Williams said as he too walked towards the Two-Edge.

  Pete saw Trisha shaking as the officer’s left.

  “Calm down,” Pete said quietly.

  “How?” she said. “People died here. I revealed secrets I wasn’t supposed to, and now I’m accused of being more interested in research than human life,” she said.

  “It’ll be alright,” Pete said putting his arm around her.

  “Will it?” she asked as they walked towards the ship.

  Looking out the port window, Pete could barely make out the silver speck that was the Io, where they’d be touching down in 15 minutes. They’d received a message that upon arrival, Nelson and Rayis were to be released into the custody of the diplomatic officer, meaning they were going to get off scot-free.

  After receiving the transmission, Williams had punched the console, skulking towards the forward cabin without a word. Jones started to say something when Green stopped her.

  “Leave him alone,” he said as they watched the hatch close behind Williams.

  Exhaustion had gotten the best of Trisha as she lay asleep on one of the benches. Pete’s leg felt like it was on pins and needles from the clamp around it cutting off his circulation.

  As he walked around the cabin to ease the pain, he heard someone say ‘hello’. Turning, he noticed Grecko transfixed by something on the screen in front of him.

  “Hey” Pete said walking up to him.

  Startled, Grecko looked at him like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

  “You alright?” Pete asked, surprised by Grecko’s reaction.

  “You just startled me, that’s all,” Grecko whispered.

  “Just saying ‘hi’ back,” Pete said. “What are you looking at?”

  Grecko gave him a quizzical look, then peeking over his shoulders, he said, “This is some of the data collected from Rayis’s medical team. It’s fascinating. They were right when they said the planet has its own version of DNA.”

  “Glad you’re so happy,” Pete said half-heartedly. He’d heard all he ever wanted to about that planet.

  “Sorry,” Grecko said. “I just figured I’d get a look at some of it before it disappears.”

  “Disappears?”

  “Do you really think Command isn’t going to classify this as ‘TOP SECRET’ as soon as they get it?”

  “I hadn’t really thought about it.”

  “Maybe you should. Anyway, I was looking at these fluctuations in the troposphere’s magnetic field. I was running a compressed version over a segment of crystal just to see what would happen,” Grecko said.

  “And?” Pete asked.

  “Not much. Watch,” Grecko said as he keyed in a few commands.

  “Hello? ” Pete heard over the speakers.

  “Yes,” Pete said after clicking the intercom switch
on the console.