The Circle and Star

by John Foster

  “Wake up or you’re not going to ever again,” she cried frantically as another cloud tried to form over her mouth and then another, as they swarmed over her trying to resettle. She stood battering them away from her and then used her beam weapon to fire against the ceiling where smoky tendrils were forming. “My gawd, there are hundreds of them.” The vapors scattered into smaller wisps that immediately started to re-coalesce. Madison grabbed West and shook his face and screamed in his ear to wake, slapping his face frantically to rouse him.

  She was losing her grip when suddenly her arms were being held still by West who was coughing and gagging but still holding on to her arms tightly. “Jeez, stop hitting me, I’m sick or something,” gasped West his face pale.

  She wrenched her arms free and hugged him in relief. “My gawd, the smoke is some type of parasite and its taking us over while we sleep,” she yelled. West blinked his eyes hard several times trying to understand what Madison was saying. He was having trouble focusing but word ‘parasite’ was sinking in. With sudden clarity, he understood, steadied himself, stood unevenly, then with Madison supporting him, he reached for Curt and started to shake him. “Wake up Curt, wake up,” yelled West. Madison turned to Cesar and likewise tried to rouse him by slapping him and yelling.

  West continued to slap and then shake the sleeping man, when suddenly Curt’s eyes opened but the look in them wasn’t Curt, no, not Curt at all. Curt’s eyes were glazed and unfocused. West realized this immediately and then suddenly Curt had grabbed West’s arms and then picked him up and hurled him against the wall. Madison looked over her shoulder and watched in horror as Curt started to walk over to West and pound hammer blows into West’s face who was struggling to fend off the blows ineffectually. Madison said “Good gawd, no!” and gave one more good shake to Cesar and then turned toward Curt and West who were struggling against the wall. Curt took West’s head and started to batter it against the rock face. Madison pulled her weapon, turned it to stun remembering what it had done to the vapor on the ceiling and as she changed the setting she heard West slide down the wall and then Curt was moving towards her, as she raised the gun to fire. Curt knocked her hand aside and the pistol flew to the ground and then backhanded her against the wall. Curt walked unsteadily towards her and reached down, pulled her up with one hand, and was about to backhand her when a beam weapon struck him in the back and he crumpled, his face astonished, and his eyes rolling back into his head. Cesar got up from the floor and was holding his beam weapon on the prone body of Curt. Madison who was gasping got up slowly and then turned to Curt and rolled him to his side and started to push on his back and slowly ever so slowly the smoking residue started to leak out of his nose and mouth. As she pushed at Curt’s back, she told Cesar, “Help West and see if he’s okay,” then start working on the others to wake them before they become taken over by the vapors.

  West had slid partway down the wall and his face was bleeding and his nose bruised, but he started to respond to Cesar within a few minutes. Cesar gave him a stim shot and West started to come awake, his eyes having difficulty focusing, and then slowly gained clarity.

  “Geez, what happened, wait, where’s Curt?” said West now sitting bolt upright and looking around. He spied Madison pressing Curt’s back and got up and joined her.

  “What’s happening?” asked West gingerly touching his nose.

  Madison looked up at West, her eyes looking him over, the blood all over his face and her face softened and she gave him a hopeful smile. “You got hit hard,” said Madison.

  West continued to rub his face, “Yeah, that Curt has got quite a punch, what happened to him?”

  “The vapors are some kind of parasite that entered our minds and took control. I don’t really understand it but we’ve wandered into a nest of them and we’ve got to wake the others and get them out of here.”

  “Right, where’s Volkum?”

  “He must be outside in the corridor.”

  West stood up and went out into the corridor. He saw Volkum lying on his side, the vapor creatures covering his face. West, his face a grimace, bent down and wiped the smoky vapors away and then pulled Volkum so that he was sitting against the wall and started to slap his face. Within a couple of minutes all of them were starting to come out of it. The vapors in the meantime were fluttering about above their heads but every time they tried to settle, they would be swatted away. Amal was the last to be revived.

  When she was recovered, they sat around her and she said, “There was something oddly familiar about those creatures and what they wanted.”

  “What did they want? I mean other than taking us over,” said West.

  “I got the impression that they were doing the bidding of some other creature or creatures, who were asking them to take us somewhere close by. I also could sense that these vapor creatures had some little intelligence and that they thought they were doing a good thing.”

  “Other creatures and they’re close by? I’m not sure that is good news,” said West looking at the doorway to the room. “We’ve got to get out of here and we can’t go back the way we came. But at least we’re forewarned that something is ahead.”

  The others looked at each other and nodded, then gathered their few things and filed out the door, swatting at the vapors.

  Like light bulbs blinking out of existence, the link to the vapor creatures were snapped off and Tuslo’s subtle ambush had failed to overcome the Terrans. The only Nafti on Jo-Tene stood in the transformation room, nearly dark with hollowed out vertical crypts behind him lining the walls. Here were the most recent victims that the vapor creatures had controlled and were in the throes of becoming the slaves that the Nafti used as their reluctant army. More than 20 of them were going through the various stages of conversion and Tuslo was concerned that the Terrans would find this facility which was the only one left. The biomedical laboratory of the Kaa had been developed thousands of years ago to help ease the sleep and rest of the Kaa inhabitants. The original founders had eschewed the use of chemicals and other substances as much as possible and used instead biological agents, sometimes subtly and sometimes radically modified to cure their ills and ease their minds. The vapor creatures were one such product and had been created from the skillful manipulation of the Kaa DNA to create semi-intelligent entities that would enter the minds and generate restful thoughts and images. They were the biological equivalent of the sleeping pill. When the Nafti had originally explored this planet, they had found these caves and had encountered the vapor creatures and then soon afterwards discovered the laboratory where they had been created several millennia ago. With the use of the scripts that had been used to genetically create the Vapors, the Nafti were able to change their programming to infiltrate the minds of lesser creatures and make them unwilling but obedient slaves. It had been simply a matter of experimentation on various inferior species to learn how each could be controlled although the higher the intelligence the less likely to affect total control. One such set of experimental creatures were the Sovar clones who had been the easiest, as the Sovar had also sought to tightly control their use and had genetically altered them to avoid or lessen independent thought. The Nafti were actively kidnapping clones as much as possible and then using them to lure other Sovar vessels to affect their capture and subsequent subjection. The Sovar believed these loses were the result of Soshi sorties but had started to only travel in small fleets to prevent the loss of crews.

  The Saars had initially been the easiest to manipulate but unfortunately, they did not exist in numbers sufficient to support the expansionist plans of the Nafti, and after a limited time were able to resist the effects of the Vapors, and throw off their control. The Saars had been reduced in numbers as many of the adult males had already been seized and used to fight in the previous Nafti wars. Regrettably the Saars limited intelligence made them excellent melee fighters and assassins but miserable in any battle that needed complicated weaponry such as beam weapons. Only a very few had the
capabilities to use such weapons but hardly enough to fight anything more than a squad of their enemy. The few human Sovar personnel that they had captured had proven difficult to convert and not particularly reliable. The vapor creatures had been programmed to be active in the waking hours and control the actions of the subjects who could then be ordered by the Nafti to do their bidding. It was a form of perpetual hypnosis and the longer the subject was under the influence of the vapor creature the easier it was to direct and control them although the Saars proved to be notable exceptions. The Nafti now held 20 captives in the caves that West and his team were now traversing and this was the last center. The Nafti could not create more vapor creatures and many that did survive had mutated themselves becoming useless in the process for controlling others. It was critical that the useful vapors be protected and hidden from others. The caves of Jo-Tene had adequately addressed that issue but now the program was in jeopardy from this wayward group of humans that had entered in their midst.

  The main contingent of Saars that Tuslo had under his control were in the main spaceport watching the Terrans working in and around the Cyclops and there were no others that could affect a defense except the captives now undergoing conversion. The Soshi had been the most unreliable as they were a highly interactive species and bonded only with other Soshi. They could be controlled, but only on a limited basis and had to be repeatedly converted to maintain their docility. Ultimately, the Nafti had given up on using the Soshi as slaves because it took too many vapor creatures to control them and were subsequently destroyed. Tuslo paused in his thoughts, he could sense the approaching Terrans through the spider web of vapor creatures that he controlled and knew that they were likely to find this chamber. He would be forced to use the subjects currently undergoing conversion to destroy the Terrans. Tuslo was certain that he possessed the one thing the Terrans would not suspect and that surprise would be their undoing.

  West and the others had noticed that the vapor creatures were fewer and hung back, no longer attempting to attach themselves as if whatever was affecting their control had slowed or stopped them. When they paused for a rest, West said, “They seem to be keeping away. I suppose they’ve realized that as long as we’re awake they can’t take us over.”

  Curt looked at West whose blood streaked face made him wince. West saw him and said, “Hey, don’t worry Curt, I don’t take it personally, at least not until I can feel my face again,” his hand gingerly feeling his bruised face.

  Curt nodded and said, “Sorry Chief, I couldn’t stop myself. It was like I was present but couldn’t prevent the ... the other mind from taking control. It was some kind of nasty, evil, and intelligent thing that was doing it.”

  At this revelation, Madison looked on with interest. “You don’t think the vapor creature was the thing controlling you?” asked Madison.

  Curt looked down, his brow furrowed, face strained, “No it was like the vapor creature was a conduit and something else, some kind of other personality was in charge and was using the vapor to get into my head.”

  “You mean like a primitive telepathy?” asked Madison.

  Again, Curt looked down and thought about it before answering. “No, it seemed like it was connected to a network of other vapors that were all linked to the same creature that was controlling me. Sort of like a spider web.”

  The other team members did not share Curt’s experience and he had been clearly controlled in a violent way that the others had not felt.

  Madison rested her chin on her hands and looked up at the vapor creatures hovering just out of reach. “I wonder if they’re transmitting what we’re doing right now?” said Madison.

  Tuslo couldn’t see the Terrans clearly but could certainly sense their location in the web of connections that the vapor creatures maintained in the caves. He could also sense intermittently the arrival of the Sovar into the cave system as well. This was an added complication and Tuslo cursed the luck that had drawn the Terrans into these caves. He had now lost a dozen of the vapor creatures in his ill-fated attempt to capture the humans and they couldn’t afford to lose many more. Most of the creatures he had in the cave chamber were close to conversion, particularly the three Saars that had been brought here. The rest were clones that had been snatched from the wreckage of the space battles that had been raging in the solar system. And then of course there was the special surprise too. That weapon would have to be wielded with finesse and care.

  West and the others got up from their break and made their way down the corridor, now warier than ever. Madison had created a sense that the enemy, whomever that might be, knew where they were and was planning to stop them. As they moved along the passageway, West turned to Amal and said, “Who is controlling the vapors? and why? It’s probably not the Sovar but who else is involved in this mess?”

  Amal looked thoughtful as she walked next to West. “It might be the work of the Nafti, they are a crafty race, with whom we have fought a long war and have since joined with the Sovar to defeat us. We had them beaten and then the Sovar’ showed up intruding into our territory and mining our sacred world. We have had little contact with the Nafti since then, although we think they hover about in their cloaked ships.”

  “Sacred world?” asked West.

  Amal stopped, her face grim, and looked at West and the others. “I said this with great reluctance but you must know if we are to help each other,” said Amal. West and the others nodded.

  Seeing this, Amal continued, “Our species is dependent on certain geologic conditions to give birth. Only a few planets possess the right mix of geology and atmosphere for this to occur. One planet in particular has the right environment that will generate the smartest and strongest of our young. It has been so for many thousands of years. Our people make the pilgrimage to this world and give birth there. I hope to do so when I am ready to be a parent. It is the greatest accomplishment of our people. It gives us generations of knowledge and makes us stronger than if born elsewhere in our planetary territory. The Sovar invaded our birth planet and started to mine it. We confronted the Sovar but they continued to ignore us as they destroyed our birthing areas.”

  “Birthing areas?” asked West.

  “Yes, there are specific areas on the planet that have geological formations that when mixed with generations of birthing residue create a matrix that enhances our young to be stronger and more intelligent. The Sovar had the misfortune to start mining only these areas and we were compelled to stop them. We entreated with them but they only ignored us and then we used force.”

  Captain Petrov moved off down the corridor with his men in train. Petrov led from the front and was the first to see the roof cave-in ahead of them. He only paused a moment to take in the scene and then moved off through the spiked plants which ineffectually stabbed at them as they passed. The plants had no effect on their armored clothing and when Petrov realized that plants were attacking them, he had one man plant a hand grenade in the middle of the vegetation to explode when they had all passed through. In a few short moments, another species on Jo-Tene became extinct.

  Tuslo ordered the vapor creatures to have the crypt subjects gather around him. There were lizards and Sovar clones in the group and one special member. The clones were docile enough but he doubted that they were conditioned sufficiently to be very effective in a life and death struggle. No, this battle would hinge on one convert and he alone would decide the outcome of the battle that was to come. He turned and looked towards the man and raised his finger to gesture the human to come forward. The man was in shadows but Tuslo didn’t need the light to see that the level of control was not complete and that the outcome would be in doubt if something wasn’t done to reinforce the role this person would have to play. The Nafti went to the weapons room and retrieved a special outfit and carried it back to the room and then called to the man, “Human, you will heed my instructions. Your fellow Terrans are on their way here to save you. You will put on this vest which will give them a suitab
le welcome.”

  The man’s eyes widened in anguish and terror as he looked at the thickly padded clothing that Tuslo held before him.

  “The vest is indeed a weapon, but I only need you to stop your companions and keep them from chasing me while I escape with the other captives. The blue ring on the front of this vest is a safety device. Pull it to disarm the explosives.” The Nafti could see the doubt and frustration in the man’s eyes. “I see you do not believe me but look around and I shall show you the truth. Before you is the only remaining laboratory of the vapor creatures that you see about you. If this room is destroyed, then I lose control of all the captives and then, as you can see, some of them would, well, be less restrained. It is in my best interest to tie your safety and mine together so that we can both survive. I will loosen some of the control so that you can whisper but not move and then when the other humans arrive you can tell them how to disarm the weapon. In the meantime, I can escape with the others. You will do this, no?” Tuslo’s smile was visible below the bottom of his hood and he waved a hand so that the man could whisper. “I will set the device and when they come through that door the device will start to arm itself. You must wait a short time and then the weapon will be armed. If it is touched before that, it will explode immediately. After that they must disarm the bomb immediately or all of you will be dust.” Tuslo smiled and laughed gleefully and turned to leave. He then turned back and went up to the human and pinched his cheek. “You never know we may yet get to know each other.” Laughing the Nafti assembled his captives and led them out another exit.