Prototype: The Lost and Forgotten Series

by Robert Gallagher

  “Well, I’m sure Dr. Zorn has a totally different experience, Professor. He was forced to design and help build the pod with the two from the laundry, and once it was completed, Samuel did stand by his words and let him go, but the freakers gave him a going-away beat-up.”

  The professor looks confused as he replies, “But I don’t understand. How can he do this? He’s just like the rest of you—he’s just a man.”

  Now it’s Sam who replies, “Well, Professor, when we spoke about Samuel here a few weeks back, you said that he’s the nowhere man, the computer can’t find him on any records, and you went on to say that we might not be the first to be imprisoned here.”

  The professor now looks perplexed. “But I don’t remember any of that. We spoke about you trying to find a way out of here, that if anyone could find a way, you could, but last time we were all together, you told us there was no hope.”

  Sam thinks back to that particular conversation before replying, “Yes, well, that might have changed now. It’s complicated, but rest assured we will be getting out of here.”

  Frank and Abs remain silent and listen as Alistair, still not looking happy, replies, “That’s great to hear, but I can’t leave now, or at least yet. Well, I mean I need to get to the cryostation or possibly to Facility One.”

  Sam then remembers the messages and the one from a Commander Taylor detailing his wife and daughters. “I appreciate your concerns, Professor, but if we succeed in getting out of here, I won’t be returning back to the same place I’ve been trying to escape for the past three months.”

  Frank, now looking confused, starts to put his hand up but quickly pulls it back down. “Um, Sam, more than three months, mate. More like six years.”

  Before Sam can reply, Abs speaks up. “Let’s forget how long we have or have not been here. I can understand both Sam’s concerns and Professor Brookes’s request, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We get out of here first, and we still have the issue with the freakers and possibly Samael. He’s not so far acted directly against us, so he might not, but we should consider him a threat, at least.”

  Brookes replies first. “I’ve taken measures to make sure level one cannot bother us anymore.”

  Abs has a bad feeling about this. “What have you done, Professor?”

  Standing and walking to his terminal, Professor Brookes brings up a timer on his screen. “I have instructed the system to lock down the level, and in four hours and three minutes, level one will be jettisoned into the black hole.”

  Frank laughs and thumps his fists down on the desk, making all the objects on top bounce. He is the first to speak as Abs looks on, shocked, and Sam looks like he’s asleep. “Good bloody riddance to the freaking lot of them.”

  The group remains in silence for a few minutes, until Sam says, “We might have a bigger issue. I can’t explain how, but, Professor, if you could access your messages, you have just received a new one.”

  “Hey, Sam, that ship you wanted to be informed about has just arrived, and all hell broke loose when it did. As we suspected, the first was the infected ship, followed by an inner-world cruiser.”

  One moment Sam was sitting at the conference table with Abs, Frank, and Professor Brookes within facility security, and the next moment he was standing in his apartment back on Earth, except this time the main view screen was showing a view of the facility and a burning cruiser attempting to keep away from the black hole’s influence. “What the? Where am I?”

  “Well, this is the ship’s virtual environment, but I’ve chosen our apartment back on Earth as a safe and welcoming environment. I’ve added a time-dilation buffer so we can share knowledge and information but not directly merge our minds.”

  “Our apartment? Well, I guess it is. Okay then, what do you have?”

  Sam changes the view screen once more and then expands the screen in a 360-degree vista, leaving just a platform in the middle of the room for both Sams to stand on. He then replays the footage recorded earlier.

  The Inner Worlds Federation cruiser drops out of warp with a flash of electrical energy. The cruiser has been running hot for over a month. Prolonged warp is one thing, but running the warp engines at full speed for such a long time is dangerous and unadvisable.

  The cryostation wasn’t expecting company for at least a year, and the cruiser’s appearance puts the station on edge. Maybe it’s some kind of surprise inspection, so the station is even more surprised when the twelve forward-facing rail guns open fire, disintegrating the cryostation’s lower-positioned sentry guns. Each gun fires two explosive, frictionless, armor-piercing rounds per second—slow but effective.

  The cruiser’s spear-shaped design makes it ideal for its primary task of breaking through the defensive lines of enemy fleets, plus the forward armor plating protects it against most weapons. The cruiser’s main weakness is its rear and along its sides, but to put off all but the biggest ships from attacking there, the cruiser has three photon cannons on both sides and a further eight rear-facing rail guns.

  The federation cruiser burst scans the station and the facility and then launches an extraction pod that heads toward the facility.

  Another flash of electrical energy announces the arrival of a second federation cruiser, this one already severely damaged. It’s also been running hot for over a month, but the strain this time is too much for the ship. The warp drive detonates, vaporizing the lower rear section of the ship and exposing the unfortunate crew that was working there at the time to the vacuum of space; however, this cruiser still opens fire on the first cruiser and begins to accelerate toward the enemy ship as it begins to rotate. The first salvo of rounds takes out the enemy cruiser’s main thrusters, and the remaining shells concentrate upon the rear weapon systems of the ship, but like the front, they are protected with thick armor plating.

  The first cruiser’s rear-facing rails return fire with destructive force. The attack rips holes in the armor of the other incoming ship, which deflects the majority of the first five seconds of fire. Unfortunately the continuous onslaught of the rails slowly shreds away the armor plating, exposing the weapons and the bulkhead of the ship.

  Both ships suffer major damage, but it’s the second cruiser that has suffered the most. Secondary explosions begin all over the ship as it completes its rotation and heads up and above the first cruiser. With the enemy ship’s main thrusters already destroyed, it is unable to evade and only has its secondary maneuvering thrusters. This ship now starts to rotate to bring its photon cannons to bear on the other ship.

  But it’s the second ship that manages to open fire first, landing several direct hits on the enemy cruiser, exploding holes into the side of the vessel but not doing any serious harm. But it’s just too much for the second ship, and another set of internal explosions breaks the ship in two as the main power plant overloads and evaporates the entire back end of the ship. The resulting explosion propels the first cruiser down toward the facility and the black hole.

  Professor Brookes continues to stare at the terminal in disbelief as the footage ends. Abs, having seen this kind of conflict many times before, watches from the conference table and has already started to think upon something else, while Frank stares with amazement like it’s some kind of war movie.

  Professor Brookes walks unsteadily back over to the conference table and sits down. “Who are they, and what do they want?”

  “They are after me, Professor. Remember one of Commander Taylor’s last messages, ‘They are coming for you, Sam’? Well, they have arrived, and I’m informed that they are going to be cutting through the hull of this facility within the next few minutes.”

  Abs stands as a noise and vibration begins overhead. “That’s the breaching pod we saw launched from the first cruiser. We’d best get out of here, unless you want to fight whatever comes out—which, by the way, I do not advise.”

  Frank snorts and replies, “Run? You don’t normally run from a fight, Abs.”

  Abs gets up
, turning back to Frank. “That’s because what I’ve fought so far are just untrained madmen. These pods are normally filled with six highly trained and extremely armed Special Forces.”

  Sam gets up and heads for the elevator. “Well, I don’t need to be told twice.”

  Professor Brookes follows, and then with a sigh, so does Frank, all now heading for the elevator as Abs looks back at the room and enters the elevator behind the rest of the group.

  Then a hole appears above the conference table as a bigger circular ring begins to glow red around the central one, the sign that a much bigger breaching hole is being cut. A canister drops through the smaller central hole and explodes in a bright flash and a loud bang as the room fills with smoke just as the elevator disappears through the floor.

  Arriving at medical, Dr. Moore looks up from his terminal as Brookes enters the room, followed by the rest of the group.

  Sam, trying not to sound worried, says, “Hey, Doc, we were wondering if Dr. Zorn is doing okay. We might have to get out of here, but where to at the present has not currently been decided.”

  Before anyone can reply, a voice calls out as a facility-wide broadcast, “This is Commander Keen from the Inner Worlds Security Authority. We are here to collect Sam McCall for further questioning. Unless he is handed over to security in ten minutes, we will release toxins into the ventilation system and activate the dreamtime riot-control countermeasure. That is all.”

  Everyone listens to the announcement, but it’s Dr. Moore who looks the most shocked. “System, Sam McCall is in medical!”

  Frank responds first and shockingly fast, rounding on Dr. Moore and raising his hand. “Hey, Doc, seriously not cool. Frickin’ corporate light foot!”

  Surprisingly Dr. Moore squares up to Frank. “I was willing to accept Professor Brookes’s security project test case and even to allow a prisoner to conduct a murder investigation; however, he is still a prisoner on this facility.”

  It’s Sam who comes to the doctor’s aid, putting up a calming hand and resting it upon Frank’s. “It’s okay, Frank. Go help Professor Brookes prepare Dr. Zorn.”

  Frank protests at first but then slowly calms, giving Dr. Moore a look of anger before he moves away and heads over to Abs without saying another word.

  Sam then turns back to Dr. Moore as Professor Brookes joins him. “Sorry to the break the bad news to you, Doc, but those guys over the broadcast are no longer who they say they are, so we need to get out of here, and I’m taking Dr. Zorn with us.”

  Dr. Moore scoffs. “You got to be kidding me. How can you possibly know that, or more to the point, who the heck has put you in charge and given you the right to start giving orders?”

  Professor Brookes intercedes before Sam can reply. “Sam is not in charge—I am. But I trust Sam in this. Information has come to light that would suggest that the inner worlds have started a civil war due to some kind of infection. Hard to believe, but I can assure you that it’s true.”

  Dr. Moore looks on in disbelief before replying, “You sound more nuts than Sam. What’s going on with you, Brookes? I know you are missing your wife and kids, but pull it together and send this guy back to the general population before he has you doing something you can’t take back.”

  “For a starter, this damn place I can’t take back, but right now Sam and the rest of us are getting out of here. Come with us or stay—your choice.”

  Before Dr. Moore can reply, Abs calls out to the system, “Main dining hall,” and a corridor opens up. “You guys coming, or waiting for the other guys to arrive and show you how efficient they are?”

  The others demonstrate their answers as they follow Abs out into the corridor, pushing the currently unconscious Dr. Zorn in a wheelchair, leaving behind only Dr. Moore, who resolutely refuses to believe a word from any of them as the corridor closes behind them.

  Almost on cue another corridor opens up, and four heavily armed men in semirigid battle dress and black, fully enclosed respirator masks enter the room.

  Dr. Moore takes a step back before speaking, his voice unsteady. “You just missed them. I tried to stop them, but they would not listen to me.”

  One of the men steps forward, an emblem on his chest denoting him as the officer in charge. “It’s okay, Doc. Where did they go?” he says, his voice sounding artificial as it’s emitted from his respirator.

  Dr. Moore takes another step backward as the man now in front of him starts to remove his respirator as he steps forward. “I heard Jessica ask the system to take them to the main dining hall.”

  The officer, finished removing his respirator, looks directly at the doctor. His face is covered in patches of green and yellow slime mold. The doctor takes another step backward and attempts to turn and run, but the officer opens his mouth and blows a cloud of spores into the doctor’s face.

  Once out of medical, Sam catches up to Abs, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Why are we going to the dining hall?”

  Abs stops and turns. “We’re not, but I thought it was best not tell the doctor and in turn our guests where we were heading. You know, for someone who’s very smart, you’re not sometimes.”

  Feeling a bit foolish, Sam asks, “So where are we heading?”

  Abs smiles at Sam and calls back to Professor Brookes, “Professor, can you access the main system from the maintenance bay?”

  “I think so, yes, but what do you have in mind?”

  Abs turns back toward the front of the corridor and requests a route to the maintenance bay. “I’ll tell you when we get there, but I’m sure you’re not going to like it.”

  When the infected inner-world security team enters the main dining hall and spreads out with guns raised, the assembled prisoners, Jake and about forty in all, begin to throw cups and plates at the men, shouting names and jeering obscenities instead of running.

  The officer scans the room, watching the pointless display of aggression, and radios back to security. “Gas the dining halls, and activate the dreamtime riot protocols.”

  Within moments the room fills up with millions of spores as dreamtime drops every prisoner within every dining hall within the facility.

  Jake drops to the floor as dreamtime tells his body to shut down and wait for security to take him away, but this time the dreamtime protocols standard announcement has been changed: “Your mind is about to die. The spores you are now breathing in will eradicate your personality, and we will take over your mind and body. Fear this; it quickens the change. You will feel your mind and personality dissolve, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.”

  Even in dreamtime, the prisoners in the room begin to struggle valiantly but pointlessly as they start to breathe in the spores. The effects are quick as patches of slime mold begin to grow over their faces. Spasms begin in some of the victims who are unfortunate enough to breathe in high doses, but in only a few stronger-willed prisoners. The whole process takes no longer than ten minutes to change them all.

  Sam and the others arrive at the maintenance bay, where the steady hum is as constant as ever, pods still being dismantled.

  Abs reaches one of the main terminals and turns to face Sam as the rest arrive. “Now, Sam, it’s time to tell us how you knew about the message and that the breaching pod contains infected security.”

  Sam, looking undecided, replies, “It’s a bit complicated to explain.”

  Abs now looks more resolute. “Try me. Better yet, try us. It’s time that we are all open, considering what we are now facing and what I’m about to ask.”

  Sam’s resolve starts to crumble. “It’s the prototype I stole. It is a very unique ship, and it needed time to adjust. Just recently it woke up and sent me a message.”

  Abs raises an eyebrow as she listens. “And it sent a message to Alistair’s terminal, but how did you know it had done this, and also, how is it that your top is slashed and stained with blood, but you have no discernible wounds?”

  Sam, feeling now that he’s being driven into a
corner, also realizes he still has the wounds the freaker had inflicted upon him; he had forgotten them since the pain had almost vanished immediately.

  Without warning Sam suddenly appears in his apartment, but the view is now showing from the side the infected inner-world cruiser slowly breaking away from the black hole’s influence and heading for the cryostation. The other Sam is standing next to him. “Sorry to bring you here like this, Sam, but we need to do something about the cruiser. I am detecting weapons powering up on the cruiser, and I fear it’s about to destroy the cryostation.”

  Sam watches the screen for a moment. “Can you take out its engines?”

  “Yes, Sam, and that is what I would have advised, but I’m unable to make that decision without you.”

  “Okay, then do it, but be careful, and do not put yourself in direct danger.”

  “Understood, Sam. I’m sending you back. I apologize that this conversation took about five minutes of your time.”

  Sam flashes back to the maintenance bay. Abs seems to have teleported six feet to the other side of the terminal. She’s talking to the professor, while Frank is staring at the docking tube mumbling something under his breath and rocking Dr. Zorn’s chair back and forth.

  “Sorry, guys, I must have zoned out for a few minutes.”

  Abs, looking annoyed, replies, “Zoned out? Like I said before, Sam, it’s time to be open with us.”

  Sam, realizing he can’t evade any longer, raises his hands halfway in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, but this is going to sound a bit crazy. My ship telepathically communicates with me, but it’s more complicated than that.”

  Abs and Professor Brookes both look stunned. It’s Abs who replies, “You have a telepathic ship? How can it get more complicated than that?”

  “Trust me, it can, but let’s save this conversation for another time. Now what is your plan?”