by John Foster
Johnson helped Cesar over to the table and while Cesar leaned against the edge, Johnson picked up his legs and swung them around to the end of the table. Cesar felt his head touch the brown stuff and recoiled from it thinking it was repulsive. He then touched the brown mass and tried pushing it but it felt warm and tingling and, for an instant, his first reaction was to jump off the table but he felt a pleasant sensation that somehow was comforting. He started to touch, then pick up the brown mass, and play with it with his left hand. He touched the pile with his right hand and instantly the pain under his arm went away. Kal who was going through her med package looked up and saw him holding the brown mass which now seemed to be congealing and jelly like.
“Don’t be touching that!” cried Kal.
“Hey, this stuff is cool and my arm is feeling better too. The pain is gone,” said Cesar while Johnson stared at him.
“Don’t be silly and stop plying with that shit,” said Kal looking at him with serious doubt in her eyes.
“Hey, that ain’t shit, it’s some kind of good stuff.” Cesar pulled some of the stuff free and it came apart easily and placed it on the cut under his arm and the blood stopped flowing immediately and the skin turned from an angry red to a dull orange.
“See!” said Cesar holding his arm up for both to see.
Kal, shocked at the speed of the change in the wound, walked over to him and looked at his arm and lifted it higher in the light peering at it.
“It stopped bleeding,” she said skeptically.
Johnson then came over and also peered at it as Kal held Cesar’s arm up.
“Hey, I’m not a monkey, give me my arm back,” grouched Cesar.
“Hmmm... that’s to be determined. I’ll take this ‘stuff,’ as you call it, and show it to Madison.”
When Kal caught up with Madison, she told her what had happened but Madison looked distracted at first and then said, “Okay put it in my gear bag for now and I’ll look at it later when I get a chance.”
Kal took the material and slid it in Madison’s med pouch in a plastic sleeve. “Okay, Madison, it’s all yours.”
It took two days for the tunnel rats to map the entire ship perimeter, interior halls and corridors, not to mention the myriad rooms that had been encountered. Theo, Volkum, and Cesar stayed with it mapping each location, noting possible functions, and checking out what was found in each room. In a review of their findings it was evident that the ship was almost a duplicate for the one they had explored in the Gobi, except then they had never found any rooms, just the corridors around a central hub. It was evident from the map, that there was a large area in the center that was probably the control center but no doors appeared to allow them to enter the area. Whatever was there was not just going to open up for them. West and Madison who were anxious to see the ship for themselves wanted nothing better than to get down into the ship and see all the rooms and items that were being found. Theo had reported one room filled with various types of items that may have been tools but of unknown function.
Theo stood in the corridor that circled the hub of the ship and with arms crossed simply looked at the wall trying to figure out how to gain entrance to what he was sure were the engine rooms and bridge. He had pounded, probed, and touched almost the entire surface of the hub wall but had found nothing to indicate an entrance. Volkum walked up to him and stood next to him and also looked at the wall. They both mused in silence for a moment then Volkum said, “It’s too bad there’s no green sheen on any of these walls to show where the doors are like the rest of corridor.”
Theo continued to stare at the wall in front of him and then turned to look at Volkum. “What green sheen?”
Volkum, looking somewhat discomfited looked at Theo and said, “You know that green haze that outlines each door after they have been opened?” said Volkum.
Theo stared at him quizzically.
“You know the haze that’s around each door,” said Volkum trailing off as he realized that Theo had no idea of what he was talking about. Volkum walked over to a nearby corridor and pointed out where a door was by using his finger to outline it. “You see the haze?” asked Volkum.
“I don’t see any haze, green or otherwise,” said Theo walking to the area of the wall that Volkum had outlined and scanning the area. “I see a door outline but no haze,” said Theo. They had found during their exploration that the doorways had become visible and then stayed visible with a thin outline appearing as an edge in the corridor walls after the rats had opened them.
“I wonder why you see that green haze and I don’t,” asked Theo looking at Volkum. Cesar and his team had joined them and the small group stood before the blank wall.
Cesar, looking at the two, said, “Volkum has enhanced vision from one of those pop labs that hang around the seedy sides of the mining colonies that are supposed to give miners better sight in the dark.”
“Is that true?” asked Theo looking at Volkum.
“Yeah, it’s true. When I joined the Paradig, I figured some vision augmentation would be useful in the dark,” said Volkum looking vaguely embarrassed.
“Our boy Volkum can probably tune into various light wavelengths and see a lot of things we probably can’t,” said Cesar. “I’d have done the same but couldn’t afford the cost,” said Cesar.
“Hmmm...... How many different types of light can you see?” said Theo.
“About a dozen but most of them I have never used. I forget I have the ability and don’t find much use for them,” said Volkum.
“Okay, I want you to try each one of them as you move around the corridor and record what you see and where. Take a rat with you and have them do the mapping and notations. Use your imager and try to duplicate what you see,” said Theo.
Martin went back down the hallway and took out one of the rats and handed it to Volkum who made an adjustment to it and then synced it to his HDA. He set it on the floor and it dutifully followed him like a pet dog albeit smaller. Volkum then stood in front of the wall and started to blink slowly and the more rapidly as he cycled through the various vision wavelengths. Both Theo and Cesar noticed that Volkum twitched and looked to his right a bit at one point and Volkum moved over a couple of feet and repositioned himself in front of another section of a wall.
“You got something?” asked Theo.
“Yeah, I could see something flicker in this area at infrared,” said Volkum. “It looks like some kind of script and an icon of some sort.”
“Can you image it?” asked Theo.
Volkum pointed his HDA at the wall section he was looking at and the slowly adjusted it and then seeing what he wanted, he pressed a spot on his HDA. “That’s it,” said Volkum.
“West and Madison, take a look at what Volkum just imaged,” said Theo over his HDA.
They could hear Madison chime in, “Got it. The script is new to me, but the icon is familiar and it reads radiation.”
“Nuclear?” asked West and his voice was low and tense.
“What’s the matter?” asked Madison over the HDA.
“Nothing to talk about now. Theo, keep after it and get into those control rooms. I’ve got to get back to work on this fabrication and I’ll talk to you later,” said West and he signed off.
“I’ll send over an icon image of a door for you to look at and see if it matches anything you can find on the wall,” said Madison.
Volkum and Cesar looked at Theo and before they could say anything he said, “Volkum keep scanning and see if you can find a door icon for the engine room.” Theo then walked back to the temporary room they had relocated to for their headquarters in the ship.
Volkums’s HDA lit up and the image Madison had obtained appeared on the screen. “We’ll let’s see what we can find,” said Volkum to Cesar. They moved off around the central hub with Volkum pausing every few feet to scan the wall. The tunnel rat dutifully at his feet recording everything he did.
West was sitting at his work station off the bridge with the
door shut. His head in his hands while the view panel in front of him showed the progress of Theo and his crew on the alien ship. He had drawn a skull and cross bones on the panel where Theo’s people had found the nuclear reactor of the ship. The news that they had found a nuclear reactor had thrown him into a funk and while the presence of such a power source should not have come as a surprise, he felt like a black cloud had fallen over him and all the sad memories that he had long buried were now surfacing. The door buzzed, West looked up and saw Madison’s icon over the door indicating Madison wanted access. It slid open as it had been programmed to when she wanted to enter.
She walked in looking a bit curious and West could see her reflection in the monitor screen just above his head. In spite of himself, he smiled at the sight of her.
She placed her arms on his shoulders and could feel the tension in his muscles and said, “What’s up big guy? You kind of clammed up there on the open channel.”
West started to protest but she cupped his mouth with her free hand. “Hey, if you don’t want to talk about it, I’ll leave it alone, but if you need me to listen I’m here for you, Okay?” She stood up and took her arms from his shoulders.
West sighed and breathed deeply. He started tentatively, “I just didn’t want it to be nuclear. It is such a hassle and I was hoping it would be something a little less lethal than having a radiation bomb in the engine room,” said West with vehemence.
“Whoa, wait a minute, the Paradig is powered by a nuclear power plant and it’s one of the safest ways to travel and the cleanest I might add. At least it can be recycled unlike the old solid fuel that they used to use on earth,” said Madison.
“Well it’s still deadly and I don’t have to like it even if we use it here on the Paradig,” said West. He shivered just for a moment like he was feeling some dread that had gripped him. Madison bent over him and put her arms around his shoulders again. “What’s the real problem, West?” asked Madison quietly. “Tell me.”
West turned his head away from her, then turned it back but not quite facing her. “Did I ever tell you how my father died?” said West.
Madison tilted her head up a bit and crossed her arms and looked expectantly. “I heard that it was from some space accident on one of your first expeditions to an archaeological dig but I never heard exactly what happened,” said Madison now wondering if radiation played a part.
“Yeah, it was my first major solo xenoarchaeological expedition and dad was the Captain and ship’s engineer. In those days, everybody had multiple jobs.” His voice cracked a bit when he said it. Madison’s reached out and put her hands on his shoulders. “You see my dad died saving me and the ship’s crew from a nuclear reaction on the predecessor of the Paradig. We got hit by micro meteors and they penetrated the outer and inner hull and then the armored chamber of the reactor. It started to leak and while I did a spacewalk to fix the punctures of the meteors on the outer hull, Dad went in the nuclear chamber and closed it down. He had to because it was going to explode and blow us to hell.” West had turned in his chair to face Madison but was looking at her belt and was describing the event calmly, evenly, his voice a monotone. “When I heard that he was going into the chamber I yelled over the ship radio to not do it but he said it was necessary. He told me to keep on the mission, finish it and make him proud.” West looked up to Madison’s face, his eyes flashing and brimming with tears. “He died soon after, screaming as the radiation first made him sick, blistered his skin, and then killed him. I watched him die in the containment area through the window. The crew wouldn’t let me in to save him. I could have given him something that would have saved him. But the crew said that much radiation was always fatal and that we couldn’t even open the chamber now or someone else would die.” West dropped his head and put his face in his hands. “I could have saved him but I just let him die instead. I’ve never gone around the engine room since then. Never will, damn thing is deadly and I don’t trust it.” Madison put her arms around him and hugged him.
“We’re linked in that both our fathers and my brother died in space,” said Madison. Her hands rested on West’s shoulders. “They died doing what they loved to do, and in a place, they eventually would call their home, and for our fathers, their final resting place.”
West looked up at her and said, “I can’t stand to be around any kind of radiation and only accepted its use in the Paradig when I couldn’t find an alternative fuel source that would take me into space.”
“Well, maybe the alien ship will provide an alternative for us to use?” said Madison.
West looked up at her and said, “Based on what Theo just said, it doesn’t seem likely.”
The lights flickered in reds and blues across the darkened interior of the Sovar’ bridge. Dragaan stood in the center as he always did as they continued to hunt for the Soshi in the Jo-Tene system. The Soshi lacked larger attack cruisers but now had a smaller destroyer type of vessel that, if it got close enough, could damage the larger more powerful but less maneuverable war vessels of the Sovar. And damage of one ship meant it had to be escorted back to the home system for repairs, usually at reduced speeds meaning more ships were not in battle or doing patrols. Dragaan appreciated the strategy but was unable to do much about it as their own smaller destroyer ships were unarmed or too light to fight the more powerful Soshi ships. The Sovar could project power but only for short periods of time before they lost too many ships due to battle. A space platform was being built in secret several systems away which would cut the delays by providing repair and supply at a much closer location. It all took time though and the Soshi seemed determined to win back their precious planets. The Sovar were a territorial breed and could understand the Soshi defending their territory but their refusal to even discuss sharing or the purchase of the planet was baffling to the Sovar leadership.
The bridge door opened and a communications officer entered and walked up to Dragaan, “Commander,” said the officer who saluted smartly.
“Report,” said Dragaan.
The commissar approached from the shadows and stood next to Dragaan and listened in to the officer’s report. “With respect sir, we have been notified from our operative on Jo-Tene that the Terrans have discovered another AtVac and are in the process of making it operational and intend to fly back to Terra as soon as possible. Message terminated,” said the officer.
“Very good, dismissed,” said Dragaan.
The officer pivoted and turned away and left the bridge.
“Your plans commander?” asked the Commissar.
Dragaan considered for a moment and then turned to the man in front of him. “We will have to land on Jo-Tene and capture or destroy the archaeologists and take possession of the alien ship.”
“And the weapon?”
“I’m sure we’ll be able to take a few prisoners who might help us in that regard if properly persuaded. Any other questions, Commissar?”
“No, that will do just fine. I will report to the leadership. Thank you for sharing Commander,” and the Commissar turned and walked back into the shadows.
Dragaan watched him leave and hated his insolence and assumed the creature was now in his hidden chamber in the bridge where he could spy and send his encrypted messages back to the high command. Dragaan turned to the Captain, “Make course to Jo-Tene and order the Marine commandoes to make ready for combat.”
“At once, Commander,” the Captain responded and started the preparations to change course.
The whip of the lash across Cerix’s back fell with the slow methodical precision of a mechanical arm as the great creature recoiled from the whip, snapped it open in one fluid movement, and shot it across Cerix’s shoulders. The blood that had clotted earlier from the spear thrust had fallen away with the first stroke. His mouth was tight and he fought the urge to scream his rage and turn to attack the creature with the whip. His fate was not to die but to learn his lessons well and he knew that this moment was his way of thinking through his ins
tincts and learning to use them to kill and take what he was ordered to.
The Nafti watched from the shadows and knew what his creature was about and did nothing to interfere. Cerix would learn or die trying to accomplish the missions set for him. He was like the Terran dogs called the Sovar. The Nafti knew that tossing rocks and using claws would not win many battles much less provide the prisoners and equipment they would need to win the war against the Soshi but his army of clones was not yet large enough to commit to war. They needed time to raise their soldiers and in the meantime, the vapor forms would supply them with the fodder that would do their bidding.
The Nafti raised his arm and moved his finger and a human walked up to his side, its arms stiff but jerking a bit. The Nafti turned and looked at him, his face cloaked in shadow, and walked around the man frozen in place by a brain no longer his alone.
“Soon, my friend you will be ready to be turned loose and how you will frighten them.”
The man jerked again and the mouth moved but no words came out.
“You may go back to the caves,” said the Nafti. The man turned to leave but a slight gasp of sound escaped and the Nafti laughed.
“Yes, you love the little pets in the cave, don’t you?” said the Nafti. “Now go!” and the man walked back, his legs stiffly moving as if moved by a puppeteer.
The wind blew hard across the square and drove the red sands creating clouds and dust devils, and showers of gusting gritty rain. West stood in the open, his face raised to the feel of the wind as it swept about him feeling alive as every part of his body participated in the process of sensing and living in the moment. The light of the rising sun chased the long shadows before it as the light was amber, then turned lighter, then hardened into the fierce harsh light that would stay till evening. West never felt as alive as when the wind blew about him soothing, then cajoling, as it caressed him and then bade him farewell as it moved after the falling darkness. West reached out his hand to savor the last of the wind. He smiled and let the slowly dying wind whisper to him and then let him go as it fled on its endless journey.