The Circle and Star

by John Foster

  “Wow, that’s some pretty powerful weapon they got,” said Volkum peeking out from his corner.

  “You can say that again,” said Curt as another beam sliced through the air but this time in front of Curt’s position making him back away hurriedly.

  There was a scramble as the creatures sensed an opportunity and surged forward this time without the screaming and yelling that had accompanied their earlier charge. Volkum saw them first and fired without explanation and Curt turned and fired down the corridor not even aiming. One creature spun from the force of the beam impact from Curt’s shotgun and its head erupted into flame as the blast caught it full on. A second creature spun away in a spinning move that avoided Volkums’s beam and reached for him with its claws extended but Cesar moved forward from the opposite side of the corridor and shot the thing in the head causing it to burn and fry the head with smoke pouring out of its nose and mouth. Curt switched to the shotgun and was pouring shot after shot into the growing pile of creatures as they piled up in front of them. Several of them, only feet away, severely injured, dragging arms and legs crawled forward, their eyes gleaming fervently with blood lust and anticipation. Madison rose up and fired at them as they neared, causing them rise up, scream, and then collapse. Volkum had pulled back from the corridor and was working his rifle frantically while Curt paused with his shotgun reloading the ancient chambers. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up,” said Curt gasping as the smoke slowly worked its way into the chamber. “I only have 10 more rounds and about 5 more beam blasts at full power,” said Curt.

  “I’m down too,” said Volkum. “This rifle is old and can only recharge every 10 minutes and each blast is going to be less than the last.”

  “I’ve got about three more shots in my pistol,” said Cesar.

  “I’ve got about 8 in mine,” said Madison. “How about you Debbie? Any weapons?” asked Madison.

  “No, I don’t have anything, not even my glasses,” said Debbie looking down and dejected.

  They could hear creaking down the hall and both Volkum and Curt looked around the corner but could see nothing and both shook their heads. “We’d better think of something like Plan B,” said Madison. “West would be pissed if we didn’t have a Plan B,” said Cesar.

  “I was kind of hoping West was Plan B,” said Volkum smiling and looking over at the rest of them. The others all laughed.

  Cerix heard the faint laughter from the end of the corridor. His eyes narrowed. The Terrans were trapped and it was obvious their laser weapons were about played out and yet they laughed. His features froze. He would end that laughter and slaughter them. Cerix was a good two feet taller than his compatriots and well-muscled for a Saar. His claws gleamed from the silver steel implants with which he had long ago replaced the one’s he was born with. His clawed hands grasped mechanically in anticipation of his victory. He motioned his followers forward to push the heavy weapon platform closer to the humans. The beam cannon was an old weapon but highly effective as the Sovar’ had found to their sorrow that day in the Gobi canyon. How he had howled when he set their vehicle ablaze and sent the enemy flying through the air burning. He had not been able to feast that day but he was going to eat well this day. He gestured angrily at the remaining few and then helped them push the heavy weapon forward, creaking as it went.

  “They’re coming again,” said Volkum peering around the corner.

  The faint sound of the creaking grew louder and then suddenly stopped. Both Volkum and Curt pulled back from their corners as a blinding flash came at Varick’s corner creating a horrific blast of heat and sound as it scorched the walls and floor of the corridor and room beyond. Volkum literally jumped farther back escaping the heat and flame. A second blast hit the corner where Curt was and forced him backwards and away from the blast. Madison and the others ran backwards escaping the heat and flames as the floor rippled with the heat and intensity of the energy. As Curt lowered his hands from his eyes, he could see one of the creatures on the opposite side crawling along the edge of the corridor creeping up on Volkum, trails of silver colored drool leaking from around its mouth.

  “They’re coming at us from the floor,” yelled Curt as he leveled his shotgun and fired.

  To his astonishment, Curt’s blast caught a creature who appeared in front of him, its clawed hands outstretched to slash, and in its fury managed to only smash him in the face, causing him to collapse to the floor. The other creature closer to Volkum, jumped up and struggled with Volkum for possession of his rifle, while two other creatures literally sprang into the middle of anteroom looking for targets to attack then sprang towards Madison and Cesar who, wide mouthed, stood frozen. The creature closest to Cesar, reached out and caught his right arm with a claw which ripped it open and spurted blood across them both. Cesar brought up his other arm with the pistol, but it was knocked aside by the Saar who reached forward to sever his throat. Debbie threw herself at the Saar and grabbed its arm but was tossed aside as it flung her like a doll backwards to the far wall knocking her unconscious. Cesar regained his feet and spit in the eyes of the creature who blinked in astonishment while Cesar pulled his belt knife, quick as a flash stabbed the creature in the eye, and pulled down with all his strength spilling a torrent of blood which gushed over his face and chest. The Saar stood still, then rocked and fell over Madison was pushed back towards the wall by the second Saar who had grasped both of her arms and pushed its head forward trying to bite at her with its huge fangs. She yelled and kicked at the mid-section of the beast but with little effect. The creature pushed her against the wall and pulled back its head to lunge at her throat with its teeth when suddenly its head was jerked back savagely as Cesar stabbed it in the back of the head with his knife and with brute force pulling it away and down from Madison.

  On other side, Volkum was wrestling for control of the beam rifle when he suddenly let it go slack and the creature stumbled backwards, allowing Volkum to jerk it free, and use its butt end to hammer the creature across the face stunning it for a moment. A beam blast by Madison caught it as it was about to renew the attack and it collapsed to the floor. The room was choking with the smell of burnt flesh, the acrid powder of the shotgun, blood, and ozone of the lasers discharge.

  The humans all paused to get their breath, then they looked to the corridor entrance and there stood Cerix, his claws rhythmically curving in and out. Curt was sprawled out on the entrance to the corridor and Cerix stepped over him, heading for Volkum, who leveled his rifle and pulled the trigger but it only hissed, its charge exhausted. Cerix back armed Volkum sending him flying against the far wall. Cesar raised his pistol with the only arm that would work and fired a shot but it was too wide and Cerix backhanded Cesar into the glass wall beyond. Cerix walked to Madison who had fallen back to the wall with any possible escape cut off.

  Madison raised her pistol but Cerix knocked it aside handily and grabbed Madison by the throat and raised her upward by the neck, while Madison gasped for air as she was lifted from the ground and pushed against the wall. Her hands grasping his hand around her throat trying to loosen it.

  Cerix’s eyes were inches from Madison’s and he licked her mouth and nose, tasting her with his gray green pointed tongue. He smiled, eyes wide, and came closer, his fetid breath washing over Madison’s face.

  His eyes gleamed as he opened his mouth to bite into her face. Madison, twisting, grabbed his arms, and throwing back her head, butted the creature knocking it back but not loosening his grasp. There was a loud thump and Madison could feel Cerix’s body vibrate from a force behind the creature. Cerix’s grip tightened painfully around Madison’s throat, the claws squeezing and digging deep, warm blood streaming from her throat and down her shirt, her air gone, and as her sight dimmed her last vision was of those cold black eyes coming at her...

  THE ANCIENT SHIP

  Madison’s next recollection was waking up in the sickbay of the Paradig. Her head hurt, her throat was covered in bandages and, as sh
e opened her eyes, the bright lights swirled around her, spinning faster and faster. She closed her eyes and took a breath. She could feel her arms wrapped in something and tubing around her nose and mouth. Her memory returned and she jerked and thrashed, arms flailing and trying to pull the creature’s mouth away from her. In the remote recesses of her mind she could hear an alarm buzzing, and then felt hands gently touching her face and chest and then pushing her back down as she instinctively struggled. She felt suddenly immensely tired and couldn’t keep that monster’s jaws from reaching her.

  “I’m glad you got here,” said Rae to West as he entered the room.

  “What happened?” asked West, bending down over Madison’s bed looking at her bandaged face and air tubes feeding oxygen into her.

  “She came out of it for a moment, struggled, and passed out again. It’s normal after going through such a shock. She’ll probably wake up again in an hour or so,” said Rae, a tall slim woman with raven dark hair, dressed in a blue jumpsuit who had been a medic in the army back on Terra. Recent events had made her the de facto medic in charge.

  West nodded and said, “Thanks for calling me, I’ll be in my office down the hall. If she wakes,” but he paused as Rae held up her hand and nodded. “I know, I’ll buzz you when she wakes again.”

  West looked down at Madison again and then looked over to Rae, nodded, turned, and left the room.

  Rae checked Madison’s vital signs again and then sat down in the chair next to the bed and picked up her HDA and started reading again. She preferred old fashioned books that weren’t electronically lit but at night that was sometimes a pain.

  There was a knock at his door and West looked over his shoulder to the open door and saw Theo standing there. “Hey big guy, how are you doing?”

  “I’m good, I heard that Madison woke up?”

  “No, just a brief peek and then she was out again. Rae says its normal after getting beat up like that.”

  “I bet. It was a good thing that Curt was able to use that old Neanderthal spear, hanging at the entrance, on that creature. Amazing how the old technology is sometimes still the best, even 30,000 years old,” said Theo.

  “Yeah, no kidding. That was some monster, able to take that spear thrust, then toss Curt around like a rag doll and run down the hallway and get away,” said West as he tapped his desk absentmindedly with a digital scribe.

  “How are Curt and the rest?” asked Theo relaxing and leaning against the door frame.

  “They’ll be okay. They’re in their quarters with bumps, cuts, and bruises. They put up one hell of a fight in that corridor. There must have been a dozen dead clawed creatures down there.”

  “That was one close call. I wonder where they came from?” asked Theo.

  “According to Kal, they crawled up and down out of the central shaft in that building. Kal said they had just spotted a couple crawling down the shaft as they were checking on the hoist. If she hadn’t looked up they would have been lunch. Kal’s military experience came in handy and she pulled her laser and was able to knock both of the things off the walls and they fell down and dislodged several others that were crawling up the shaft. I couldn’t believe that they could crawl down those walls, but they have some sort of tiny fibers on their hands that allows them to climb easily. Just like a lizard or a spider. Kal saw them entering the tunnel that Madison and the others had used and tried to radio them to watch out but the relay beacon was already down. Those creatures knew what they were doing for all their primitive looks.”

  “Were they the same creatures you ran across on the Soshi ship that got Thomas?” asked Theo.

  West’s face clouded at that remark but looked up, “Yeah they were the same ones. They’re working for somebody that has space flight but ultimately, they’re primitive. I just wonder who directs them?” West looked up to Theo again, “What’s the status of the Paradig control surfaces?”

  “Not good, they’re a long way from working again. We could probably make it to the jump coordinates but we don’t have enough air frame stability to get through the atmosphere at this point. We’re stuck until we can do better repairs and that’s going to take some time,” said Theo, his eyes tired and his face drooping.

  “Alright, I’ll have Curt and Volkum assist you when they’ve had enough of a rest. I’ll go take another look at Madison and see if she’s come around,” said West rising from his seat.

  “Okay, I’ll pay a visit to Curt and Volkum and see if I can motivate them,” said Theo smiling, rubbing his eyes, and turning to head down the corridor.

  West walked out of his office and down to the medical bay which was standard on a ship like this, just three rooms, or cubicles, two for patients, and one for supplies and diagnostic gear. He walked in the bay and saw Rae helping Madison get to her feet, dressed in a hospital gown, and then sit suddenly in the chair next to the bed. Madison looked pale and haggard, her throat covered by bandages. Rae looked up to see West and shook her head negatively. West nodded and walked out without saying a word.

  “Was that someone?” asked Madison her head bowed and scarcely moving.

  “Yeah, that was West, coming to check on you but I gave him the no look and he took off. I figured you weren’t up to visitors just yet,” said Rae.

  “Gawd, I must look a mess,” said Madison clutching at the arms of the chair to steady herself.

  “You’re okay, you just need to rest and sleep. That’s the best thing for you right now,” said Rae.

  “Okay, I really could use some time to sleep,” said Madison her eyes half closed. Rae helped her up and back into bed, and then lowered the lights.

  The Paradig was a beehive of activity during the day and a quiet place of respite during the evening. A skeleton crew of about 13 personnel were either monitoring the sky, the immediate area, or the data that was collected the day before. One of the perks of the crew was that they had a chef on board who also specialized in baking. The baker, Lester, had a portable kitchen that he set up outside the ship and baked bread every morning. Lester had been a miner who had worked for West’s father during the old mining survey days and had been acclaimed even then for his baking expertise. He enjoyed the early morning hours and had spent hundreds of them on a variety of different planets but mostly in the big kitchens of the mining colonies where space was a premium and time scarce. Today, he sat watching the oven and listening to its ticking as it did its magic. Every once in a while, the defense platforms would activate and pivot and Lester would turn to look out into the darkness but he never saw anything but then again, he knew the defense drones weren’t moving around for fun. He turned backwards to the ship when he heard footsteps and saw West approaching with that friendly smile.

  “Hey, you,” said Lester.

  “Hey, back at you too. My, that does smell good. Any tasting by the Captain allowed?”

  “Well, yes, but you wouldn’t just taste so no you can’t.”

  West laughed and sat down on the ground next to Lester.

  “How’s Madison doing?” asked Lester.

  “Good, she’s recovering fine and back at work. I just left her.”

  “Wow, you say you just left her?” said Lester smiling and looking at the time piece he carried with him.

  West frowned and said, “She was working when I left her at her work station.”

  “Hey, you don’t have to explain that to me, I just work here.”

  “You could easily be left here too, so keep that in mind. But then again, I’d miss the bread. On the other hand, I’m sure the claw creatures would just love a plump little chef.”

  Lester nodded his head and smiled, opened the oven door, smelled deeply, and then pulled out the pans of hot steaming bread. The smell swept over Lester and West and they both basked in the nostalgia of memories that it evoked.

  “I used to make bread for you when you were a little one,” said Lester as he put out the pans to cool.

  “Yep, the only reason Mom kept Dad around was pro
bably you,” said West smiling.

  Lester turned serious for a moment and turned to West, “How is the ship repair going?”

  West turned to him and said, “Not good, the tail of the ship was pretty badly damaged. We have to fabricate replacement parts, and that’s time consuming. In the interim Madison is trying to find out where the alien weapon might be. She has gotten some good data from our radar scans and is checking into them right now. We should know pretty soon if her ideas are correct.”

  “What good is that going to do to us if we can’t get off the planet?” asked Lester.

  “Well, we know the weapon was brought here from earth so that meant using a space ship. She thinks she knows where a ship might be.”

  “An alien space ship, thousands of years old? And she thinks it will still run,” said Lester in disbelief.

  “Yeah, from the ancient scripts that we’ve been translating it looks like their ships are parked or stored underground in some kind of energy vault that protects them. At least that’s how she’s interpreting it. Of course, we haven’t found any ships yet and she thinks this place is some kind of space port,” said West.

  “Well, if this a spaceport, then I’m standing on the space ship,” said Lester with an exaggerated frown and to emphasize his point he hopped up and down once.

  Theo, West, and Madison were in the officer’s conference room which doubled as the unofficial broom closet for the Paradig. There was one table, an old-fashioned energy plate for coffee and tea, and a small refrigerator for cold drinks.

  “Okay Madison, let’s hear your idea about the spaceport energy vaults or whatever you think is going on,” said West as he sat at the table.

  There were four view screens on the table in front of them, three of which were active, one for each. Madison was busy rotating hers while West and Theo looked on.