Zoo

by Phil Price

  “How long until we reach the safe zone?” Torben asked, slightly impatiently as they headed away from Biflux.

  “Twelve hours, skipper,” Rex replied from the controls. His hands hovered over the virtual controls, coaxing the ship gently, altering the pitch slightly. Rex almost looked like he was handling an infant, such was his tenderness with the control panel of Shimmer050.

  “Okay. I’m going to my quarters, Rex. I’m so tired. I will check on the crew when I wake up. Are you okay to handle things this end?”

  “Of course. The crew are all taken care of. I checked in on them whilst you were receiving your orders.”

  “What would I do without you, Rex?” he said as he patted the hominid on the shoulder.

  “You miss her, don’t you? I can tell.”

  “Yes, I do, Rex. A lot,” he replied as he headed out of the cockpit. Like Kyra, Torben took a brief shower, letting the pulsing amber under-lights soothe his aching body and mind. He welcomed sleep too, not thinking of his destination in a far-off solar system. He only thought of his woman and the lock of red hair that shimmered as she moved.

  “Prepare the warhead,” Hameda commanded as they neared the planet.

  “Preparing warhead,” a distorted voice replied through the control panel.

  “Pilot. How long until we reach Lomax Spaceport?”

  The pilot, whose name was Zowie, looked up from his control panel. “On this heading at this velocity, we will break orbit in nine hours.”

  “Excellent. As you were. You two, come with me,” she said to Ragyi and Ullar as she strode into the corridor beyond the cockpit. They entered Hameda’s quarters, watching expectantly as their leader sank onto her bunk. “We are ready. The warhead will be primed by the time we are inside the planet’s atmosphere. Once primed, we will drop down to within a few feet of the docking bays. As the pilot stated before, the bomb will stick to the roof of the port, giving us a few minutes to get out of harm’s way. By the time it goes off, we’ll be heading for Valkash.”

  “What damage will it cause?” Ragyi said, almost reverently.

  “Catastrophic. The blast zone will be extensive. There are mountains to the north. The heat blast from the detonation will melt the glaciers, swamping all in their path. The engineering plant of Halycon will either be vapourised, or submerged. No one will survive.”

  “I think, this calls for a celebration,” Ullar said smiling.

  “Yes, it does. Go to the galley and bring back some refreshments. Ragyi.” The man looked up at the woman on the bunk as she patted the space next to her thighs. “Come here.” Ullar smiled as she headed out of the room, hoping that there would be some left for her when she returned.

  A while later, the threesome lay on top of the sheets, spent and slick with sweat. Ragyi reached over, hefting a large tankard of cold beer. He handed it to his leader, smiling as it spilled over her naked breasts. “Ullar. Are you thirsty?”

  “Yes Hameda,” she said, taking her cue as she moved over her leader. Hameda lay back, enjoying the closeness of their tryst. A moment later, they lay entwined, limbs crisscrossed as the under-lighters began to fade.

  “We should get some rest. We have just over seven hours until we are ready to go into battle.” She looked over at the man, smiling warmly at the sight of his sleeping form. Hameda slowly drifted off to sleep as she played with Ullar’s hair. The lights dipping even further until the threesome lay sleeping in the darkened quarters.

  The ship dropped through the Stratosphere, heading towards the low cloud that blanketed the landscape. Hameda sat next to the pilot, her fingers tap-tapping on her armrest. “Not long now.”

  “No, Hameda. We should be in position in a few minutes. The cloud cover is a welcome bonus. Once we lift off, we will be hidden from any ground patrols. Lomax command will be able to see us, but we’ll be out of harm’s way by the time the warhead detonates.”

  “Good,” she purred as they dropped down further towards the grey sprawl that was Lomax Spaceport.

  A voice broke the silence, the pilot flinching. “Unidentified craft. State your purpose?”

  “We’ve run into difficulties on our voyage. Request authorisation to land. Our ion drive is malfunctioning.” The pilot moved the yoke from left to right, altering the pitch of the ship to make it look unsteady and floundering.

  “Authorisation denied. Please find an alternative port.”

  “Negative,” the pilot stated flatly. “We will not make another port. We’re only minutes from a potential crash.”

  “Then crash somewhere else. If you do not alter course, you will be fired upon.”

  “How far away are we?” Hameda asked, her knuckles whitening as she gripped the armrests.

  “We’re at 10,000 feet. If I take evasive action, we can be above the port in less than a minute.”

  “Then do it. Hold tight everyone.” Ragyi and Ullar strapped themselves into their seats, their expressions tight and nervous. The freighter moved sharply downwards, veering left and right between the clouds.

  “Unauthorised craft. I repeat. Leave this zone or you will be fired upon.”

  “Hang on. This is going to get very bumpy,” the pilot said. “Shields up.” A blue flickering light fizzed past the cockpit window, missing the craft by a few feet. “They’re using proton cannons. The shield will only withstand a few direct hits.”

  “Get us down there,” Hameda shouted as the ship rocked violently, the controls in the cockpit blinking out for a split-second.

  “Three thousand feet,” the pilot said as they dropped out of the covering clouds. “Target locked.” He pressed a button on the control panel. “Ready the warhead. We only have one shot at this. Don’t fail.” Ragyi reached over, taking Ullar’s hand. He squeezed, closing his eyes, hoping that he would open them again.

  “Warhead ready. Timer is set at sixty seconds.”

  “That’s cutting it fine,” Hameda said, her usual confidence evaporating quickly.

  “We will head off north at low altitude,” the pilot said as the ship rocked once more. “The lower we are, the less chance that they can hit us. Right. We’re here.” The ship hung a few feet from the drab grey exterior of the spaceport’s roof. The firing had stopped, an almost calm descending over the spaceport. “Deploy warhead,” the pilot said.

  “Warhead deployed.”

  “Get us out of here,” Hameda said as the ship lurched forward, almost skimming the structure underneath it.

  “Unidentified ship. The port authority has been notified. They are locked onto your wake.”

  “Great,” the pilot said. “Forty seconds to detonation. They’re onto us,” he said, noticing three green blips on his radar, closing in on their position.

  “How far away are they?” the woman said.

  “Five thousand feet. They are heavily armed, but they cannot match our speed,” he said as he pushed the throttle to maximum. “Hold on.” The freighter pulled away from the advancing craft, skimming trees before it broke out across a huge salt flat, heading north towards the tundra. Blue light shot past them, fizzling out into the salt pan as the freighter sped ever northwards. “Okay. Brace yourselves,” the pilot said. They did so, even Hameda’s eyes closing. Please let us live another day. A blinding flash echoed across the landscape, the pilot shielding his eyes as he passed a small settlement next to a large lake. “Detonation confirmed.”

  “Are we far enough away?” Ragyi said nervously.

  “Yes. The craft following us looks to have crashed a few miles behind us. Hold on. The heatwave is about to hit,” he said as the freighter began to climb. “Come on baby. Let’s get through this.”

  Hameda looked at the rear display camera, an icy chill enveloping her as she saw the landscape turn red. In the distance, a huge mushroom cloud roiled into the sky, taking up the whole screen. A red wave of fire grew ever nearer as the ship ploughed upwards. “Will we escape the heatwave?”

  “We should do. We’re over a hundred miles fro
m the blast zone. The heatwave will warm our hides, but the ship will get us through it. There is a landing zone at the pole. We can give the ship a quick once over before we head to Valkash. It will have to be very quick though, as they may be following us.”

  “Can we not just go straight to Valkash?”

  “We could. But we’ve taken a few direct hits on our hull. The shield should have done its job. But I just want to be sure. The last thing we need is a hull breach in outer space.”

  “Very well,” Hameda said as the ride became smoother. “It looks like we won through. Well done, pilot.”

  “Thank you. And please, call me Zowie,” he said smiling.

  “Thank you, Zowie. You have done well. Your place in history is almost complete. I have plans for you.”

  “Really? What kind of plans?” the man said.

  “We can discuss them later. In my quarters,” Hameda said, as she placed a weathered hand on his.

  Elsor walked towards a large metal receptacle as a stiff warm breeze blew in from the water. Flocks of birds scooted past her, making the woman crane her neck towards the sky before depositing a handful of weeds into the recycling furnace. She walked back to the flower bed, assuming the position that she’d been in for the past few hours. She hummed to herself as weeds were placed on the clipped grass next to her knees. More birds flew past, their calls seeming more high-pitched than normal. Elsor stood up, flexing her back as she rose from the flowerbed. She looked towards the water, smiling as saw her husband striding towards her, tools hanging from a leather belt. “Do you fancy an early lunch?” she called.

  “Sounds like a wonderful.” Trevik’s voice stopped abruptly as a blinding flash scorched his eyes.

  “Trevik!” Elsor shouted as she fell to the ground.

  The man rubbed his eyelids, stumbling across the grass towards the fallen woman. Shapes floated in his vision as he grabbed hold of his wife. “Elsor. Are you okay?”

  “Yes. What’s happening?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, his vision clearing enough to see a large mushroom cloud start its ascent into the sky. “Oh no!”

  “What?”

  “It’s an explosion. Towards Lomax. We need to get underground.”

  “Underground? Why?”

  “Because it looks like a fission bomb has gone off.”

  Elsor knew enough to understand what kind of devastation was wrought from such an explosion. “The cellar.”

  “Yes. Let’s move. Quickly.” They scrambled to their feet, heading up the slope towards the house.

  “Head around to the side doors. It will save us a few valuable seconds.” Elsor obeyed, tracking left across the lawn. Trevik went down heavily, winding himself. He grunted in pain, rolling over on his back as his wife came to his aid.

  “Come on, love. I’ve got you,” she said urgently.

  “Elsor. Look at me.” She did, staring into his eyes, noticing the tears that were beginning to well up. “I love you. And I always will.”

  “I love you too, Trevik. Come on. We can make it.” She tried to heave the man to his feet, failing as she fell next to him on the grass. He wrapped her in his embrace, closing his eyes. “I love you, Kyra,” he uttered as the heat blast swept over them. Trevik felt a moment of exquisite pain before he was reduced to ash as the maelstrom covered the land. Their home was blown away on the wind, the evergreen trees surrounding it flattening like fallen wheat as the heat wave consumed everything in its path.

  Twenty-Three

  “What kind of explosion?” Torben asked.

  “The bad kind. Possibly nuclear. Lomax Spaceport and the surrounding areas have been totally wiped off the map.” Rex replied gravely.

  “Oh my god!” the captain said, collapsing into his seat. “Kyra. I must make contact.”

  “Okay. She will be almost at Valkash by now, skipper. I am sure she is safe.”

  “Me too,” Torben said as he exited the bridge. He activated his wrist pilot, swiping through the holographic menus until her name appeared. He hit the virtual green icon below her name as he entered his quarters.

  “Torben?”

  “Thank god you’re safe.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “There has been an explosion at Lomax. We think it’s a nuclear detonation.”

  “What?” the scratchy voice exclaimed. “My parents. They…“

  “Try and contact them, Kyra. Although it will prove difficult. The blast may have destroyed all communications in the surrounding area. They live quite far away. They may have made it to safety.” He could hear muffled sobs on the other end of the connection, his heart constricting in pain.

  “Where are you?”

  “We’ve just come out on the other side of the wormhole. Our orders are to head to the planet and extract some more of its indigenous population. Where are you?”

  “Heading towards Valkash. I must go to the captain, to see if they know anything. Torby. I hope they are safe. I cannot lose them. Not after losing so much already.”

  “Try not to think the worst my love. Find out what the captain knows. I will call you back soon. I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Kyra said, her voice faltering.

  Torben made his way back to the cockpit, activating the communication system. “Shimmer050 to command. Come in, over.” Nothing but static reverberated around the cockpit. He switched channels. “Shimmer050 to Lundell Spaceport. Come in, over.”

  “This is Lundell Spaceport, over.”

  “We’ve just heard about Lomax. What has happened, over?”

  “We don’t have all the details, Captain Fraken. Lomax has been levelled, along with the surrounding areas. We are taking steps to ensure Lundell is protected, over.”

  “Shit. Okay, I will call back later. Over and out.”

  “What shall we do?” Rex said, his tone sombre.

  Torben was momentarily torn. Should he carry on the mission, or head back through the wormhole. “Keep going. I will wait for communications from Kyra and Lundell before we take any further action. How far to our planet?”

  “Not far. Just over nine hours, skipper.”

  “Okay, Rex. I will be back in a bit,” Torben said as he headed out of the cockpit, his legs feeling leaden, his throat dry.

  Kyra sat in the cockpit, her head in her hands. Tears ran freely from her eyes as she looked up at the captain. “Why?” she uttered.

  “I’m so sorry Kyra,” Telion said quietly. “Let us hope your family made it below-ground.” He placed his hand over hers, squeezing gently.

  She tried a half-hearted attempt at a reassuring smile, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I am going to my quarters. I will keep trying to contact them, Captain.”

  “As you wish. I will be here. If I hear any news, I will contact you.”

  “Thank you,” she replied, shuffling out of the cockpit towards her quarters. People headed past her, the news apparently spreading throughout the ship. Crew members were crying, being consoled by others as Kyra tried to blot out the visions in front of her. Reaching her quarters, she hurried over to the desk, activating the screen. It shimmered into life in front of her, framed by a blue outline. Her finger swiped across the screen, the latest news coming from Lundell. “Oh no,” she said, her tone desolate. On the screen in front of her was an aerial view of Lomax, taken by surveillance drones. She could see the devastation, the landscape burning, the once huge spaceport levelled. She swiped left, more images filling the screen. It was then that her resolve completely shattered. She could see the remains of Kiton and the surrounding forest. There was nothing left, except for a few burning trees that swayed in the stiffening breeze. “Mother, Father. Why? Who has done this?” She fell backwards into the chair, her whole body shaking as she sobbed uncontrollably. Kyra stumbled over to her bunk, collapsing heavily on top of it as she continued to cry. She felt her wrist pilot vibrate, turning over onto a pillow to see who was trying to contact her.

  “Kyra,” Torben sa
id. “Can you hear me?”

  She looked at the holographic image of the captain, her resolve crumbling once more. “Mother and Father are dead, Torben. I have seen the footage. The entire area has been destroyed.”

  “I’m so sorry, Kyra. Let us hope that they somehow managed to get to safety.”

  “There is no hope. Even if they had made it below ground, the fallout would soon hit them. They would stand no chance.”

  Torben knew enough about nuclear winters to know that she was right. He tried to vanquish the thoughts of family and loved ones that lived in neighbouring Cantis, his focus solely on Kyra. “I am aborting my mission. I am coming to get you, Kyra. I will tell Rex to set a new course for Valkash. We should be there in a few days.”

  “Please hurry, Torby. I have an awful feeling that the war is about to reignite, and that all will be lost.”

  Kyra traced her fingers across Torben’s shoulders as he slowly came out of a deep, trouble-free sleep. “Morning,” he said lazily.

  “Morning, lover. I was watching you sleep.”

  He moved towards her, kissing her gently. “I like this bed.”

  “So do I. Especially when you’re on top of it,” she purred, trailing her hands across his flat stomach towards the white sheet that covered his bottom half. A clanking noise from outside made her turn towards the door.

  “What is that?” Torben asked, feeling an ache inside that she was no longer touching his body.

  “Breakfast. I set the net this morning. Looks like something has ventured inside. I will cook you grilled lemmots for breakfast.”