by Colin Weldon
Barrington nodded. Boyett shuffled out of the flight chair and made her way to the back of the bridge. Barrington turned to Chavel.
“David, take the flight seat, if we get up and running, we’ll need to get out of here quickly.”
Chavel nodded, moving over to the seat and climbing in. He glanced up at the screens as he did so.
“Sir,” he said pointing up.
Barrington followed his gaze to see Jack’s ship moving in closer. Barrington tried the comm system on his chair again.
“Engine room, this is the bridge,” he said.
He was met with static. He sighed trying to think of what to do next. In that moment Chavel turned.
“Sir, let me take a shuttle and go get Carrie,” Chavel said.
Barrington was about to agree when a flicker of light caught his eye. He looked up to see Carrie dissolve into a flicker of particles and then vanish.
“Shit!” he said out loud turning back to Tark’An, “what just happened?”
“She has been transported back to their vessel,” Tark’An said, “You have no weaponry?”
“Not right now, no, we’re dead in the water,” he replied.
Barrington saw Tark’An tilt his large head to the side.
“It means my ship is damaged,” Barrington said, “any suggestions?”
Tark’An looked again to the advancing alien vessel.
“Pray to what God’s you have, you will be meeting them soon,” Tark’An said.
Barrington looked around at his bridge crew and was thankful that only he could understand. If they were all about to be killed, he rather they went out doing what they did best. So, he did whatever a captain could do. He put them to work.
“Ferrate, get me the internal ship comms back, now,” he said. Ferrate nodded.
He turned to Chavel.
“David, see if you can get the weapons relay back online,” he said to Chavel, who looked like he knew exactly what the captain was doing.
He seemed to play along, not knowing what else to do.
“Ripley, are you all right?” he asked the young woman nursing her head.
She nodded.
“Just a scratch,” she said through a bloodied eye.
He smiled at her.
“Sick bay,” he said.
“But, sir, I can ...”
“Sick bay,” Barrington repeated.
She nodded and moved to the rear of the bridge, there wasn’t much she could do now. Barrington looked up at the oncoming vessel. He took his seat and wondered if he’d just seen his daughter die, and if so, if he’d see her soon.
SCIENCE LAB 3
DECK 9
“Christ, being on this ship is like being on a fucking rollercoaster,” said Chase Meridian picking glass out of her hair.
An overhead light had exploded when there was a sudden electrical discharge. Her husband’s outreaching hand picked another rather sharp piece out that was protruding above her right ear. She looked at him, his face lit by the yellow emergency lighting and smiled.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Aye,” he replied leaning in and kissing her on the cheek.
“What was that for?” she said.
“Just because,” he said.
She smiled back, taking his hand and squeezing it before moving to the door of the lab and trying to open it. It didn’t budge.
“Fuck,” she said, “we’re locked in.”
She banged on the door.
“Help!” she shouted.
“It’s soundproof, lassie,” McDonnell said.
Meridian sighed moving back to a work station. She tried the comm system. It was dead. She looked up at the ceiling.
“What the hell just happened up there?” she said.
“Whatever it was the captain has it under control,” McDonnell said wafting smoke away from a computer console.
“Or we’re about to crash, again,” Meridian said.
“Well, he’s getting really good at that, so I wouldn’t worry,” he said smiling at her.
“You know, sometimes your positivity can be a real pain in the ass,” she said.
“Welcome to marriage,” he replied.
“Yeah thanks,” Meridian said sitting down and looking around the lab.
There was a brief moment of silence between the two as she looked around at the fried equipment. A sense of loss made its way around her body. She dropped her eyes to her feet and took a breath. Something popped in her mind as the events of the last several weeks came thundering through. Recognising what was about to happen, she placed her hands on her face and began to cry. She felt a hand on her shoulder followed by a cheek next to hers. A pair of hands pulled hers away and wrapped them around a pair of broad shoulders.
“Relax, it’s all right, we’re gonna be okay, lassie,” McDonnell whispered into her ear.
“I feel so useless,” Meridian said, “we’ve lost so much and I haven’t been able to help anyone.”
“Stop that nonsense, that’s not true,” McDonnell said.
“Everyone has a purpose on this ship and I can’t do one simple fucking thing,” Meridian said.
“One simple thing?” McDonnell said, “what simple thing is that? Trying to find a weakness in an alien organism that we’ve been studying for ages? And all in a matter of days? Jesus, stop being so hard on yourself.”
“The captain relies on me and I let him down,” Meridian said.
The pair continued to hold each other as Meridian let the tears flow. He pulled his head back and kissed her on the lips. She welcomed it, felt its warmth, and wondered if it was the best kiss she had ever had.
“Listen to me lass, the captain depends on you, you’re the only one he has to keep him sane. Without that sanity, we’d all have been dead weeks ago. He can’t have you fall apart; we can’t have you fall apart. Everyone on this ship needs you. I need you. Fuck, this little lab needs you. Without you, I’ll end up blowing the whole thing up.”
She smiled at him and dried her face.
“Put on that logical brain of yours. We’ll have power back soon and we have work to do. This black bioengineered goo has a weakness and we’re gonna find out what it is. You hear me?” he said.
Meridian nodded, feeling the drain of the emotional outburst.
“Now, we have back-up generators off the ship’s power grid, let’s get them working and get back to it and leave the saving of our lives to the people who are best at it. If we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die doing what we love, science shit,” McDonnell said smiling at her and giving her a wink.
She winked back.
“Aye,” she said getting up.
THE SIENNA CLARK
The room was white. All white, like the corridors and hallways of the ship. Aron had just regained consciousness and had now found himself with his arms above his head, locked into some sort of clamps. India was enclosed in what looked like a glass tube and Tyrell was just lying on the ground, still knocked out. The air was cold, much colder than the rest of the ship. They had dropped the temperature in here, presumably to make it as uncomfortable as possible. A light breeze moved past his face. There were no visible ducts in this room. They were not alone in here.
“Aron?” India said pressing her hands against the glass.
Aron looked over at her. His neck hurt and he had a throbbing headache. He nodded to her.
“You okay?” he said pulling against his restraints. His legs where clamped firmly against the wall, his range of movement was practically zero. Another breeze, this time coming from the opposite side wafted past his face. They were in here, watching them. India nodded to him.
“Looks like we’re in the shit again, sir,” she said.
“Yep,” Aron replied.
He looked down at Tyrell.
<
br /> “Doctor Tyrell?” he said.
Tyrell didn’t move.
“Tyrell!” Aron shouted not really caring what the cloaked beings did to him for speaking up.
Tyrell’s head moved slightly and opened his eyes. He looked up at Aron and without moving his head, moved his eyes around the room. Tyrell let out a long breath through pursed lips.
“Tyrell? Wake up,” Aron said scanning the room.
He looked back at Tyrell.
“Tyrell...”
“I’m awake, I’m here,” Tyrell said reaching his arms up and pushing his body into a seated position.
He held the side of his head.
“Christ,” Tyrell said looking around at India.
“They’re in here, Tyrell,” Aron said still surprised he hadn’t been punished for speaking.
He knew an interrogation room when he saw one.
“Shit,” Tyrell said, “back here again.”
“You’ve been in this room before?” Aron said.
Tyrell nodded.
“It appears that we’ve swapped places,” Tyrell responded, “are you all right in there?”
His comment, directed at India was met with a raised eyebrow.
“Just peachy,” she replied.
Tyrell got to his feet slowly and moved over to Aron. He placed his hands on the tubular clamps holding his arms in place. He tugged at them, to no avail. He shook his head at Aron. At that moment, a distortion in the air flickered and caught Aron’s attention. A tall grey alien figure appeared. Aron thought it resembled the one they called Jack on the bridge, but he couldn’t be sure.
“I wouldn’t bother,” Jack said.
Tyrell stood motionless beside the incapacitated Aron.
“I thought you came to help us,” India said from the tank.
Jack turned his thin grey head towards her.
“I came to help Carrie,” Jack said.
“We pose no threat to you. We’re just trying to find a new planet to live on,” Tyrell said.
“Well, that’s not entirely true,” Jack said, “you see, we’ve learned quite a bit about your species. Your race has one of the highest capabilities of violence that we’ve ever encountered. That’s including the Ruthenian’s. They’ve had a few millennia on you in terms of their evolution. At the moment, you pose absolutely no threat whatsoever, but our projections indicate that should you be allowed the time and resources to develop to the next technological level or beyond, that you would prove to be quite the problem for us,” Jack said.
“That’s absurd reasoning,” Tyrell said.
“And what is it you think you know, Doctor?” Jack said.
“A great deal more than you think,” Tyrell said.
“And that is why you are here,” Jack said.
Aron had a feeling about what was coming next. He’d been tortured before.
“Shut up, Tyrell,” Aron said.
Tyrell turned, glancing at Aron before looking back at Jack.
“You’re xenophobes! You were nearly destroyed by a war that lasted thousands of years. Your race was exiled, forced to leave this galaxy. You created the mechanical planets to defeat your enemies, but lost control of them, and now you’re trying to fuse an ancient biological weapon with Carrie’s abilities to try and destroy that enemy, so you can repopulate the galaxy,” Tyrell said.
“What the fuck?” India said from the tank.
Jack took a long stride towards Tyrell who responded by taking one back.
“Interesting,” Jack said, “and you got all of this from your bonding?”
Tyrell nodded.
“It’s impressive that you are still alive. Most organisms do not survive once the organism has abandoned the host. In fact, most organisms do not survive contact with it at all. It’s part of the reason why we have kept your race alive on this ship. We want to know why,” Jack said.
“You don’t have to do this. I am a scientist. I can help you understand,” Tyrell said.
Jack suddenly did something that sent a shiver up Aron’s spine. It looked like it smiled, revealing two rows of sharpened teeth. This thing was going to hurt them, badly.
“A scientist? Carrie is a scientist also, is she not?” Jack said.
“She was my apprentice, my knowledge far exceeds hers,” Tyrell said.
Jack took another step towards him.
“What was in your mind is part of us now, the bonding works both ways, Doctor Tyrell, so I can assure you there isn’t really anything new that you can teach us,” Jack said.
The horror suddenly dawned on Aron that this was not about torture. They were about to become lab rats.
“You only want our bodies,” Tyrell said.
“That is correct,” Jack said.
There was an eerie silence in the room as another distortion flickered to life, revealing another member of Jack’s grey alien race.
“I need to leave you now. I hope that you will not resist. It will only prolong the pain,” Jack said.
“Carrie will defeat you,” Tyrell said softly as Jack was turning to face the door.
He stopped and turned back, staring at Tyrell with his large almond eyes before turning away and activating the door mechanism. It shimmered to transparent and Jack left, leaving the trio facing the other alien.
This one was slightly taller than Jack. It was holding something in its right hand that looked like a rectangular crystal. Aron tried again to move his arms, but it was no use. Tyrell suddenly screamed and lunged at the alien who quickly raised his hand, the crystal glowing. Aron felt a searing pain explode in his neck and head like someone scraping a broken bottle across his brain. He screamed, not knowing anything he could compare it to. The intensity of the pain was astounding. He heard Tyrell and India scream, somewhere off in the distance. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he pressed his head against the back wall wanting to die, and then it was over. His body struggled for oxygen as he realised that he’d stopped breathing. He took one long fluid filled breath as snot and tears mixed into his mouth. India was crumpled up in the tank and Tyrell was writhing on the ground.
“Please, do not do that again,” said the alien in perfect English.
25:
THE AGATHON
“It’s gone,” said Chavel from the flight seat. Barrington had seen it himself a few seconds earlier. Jack’s ship had made a slow turn and simply vanished. He stood from his seat, still staring at the image of the black space softly brushed with the colours of the nebulae. He turned to Tark’An, who was now standing to his right.
“They’ve jumped the ship,” Tark’An said.
“How do we track them?” Barrington said.
“There is no need, I know where they are going,” Tark’An said.
“Where?” said Barrington.
“To my home world, to destroy The Sword of Stars,” Tark’An replied.
“I have to follow them,” Barrington said.
“Yes, Captain, you do,” Tark’An replied, “where is your engine room?”
Barrington turned to Chavel.
“Lieutenant, you have the bridge. I’ll be in engineering,” Barrington said before turning and heading to the lift.
He could hear Tark’An’s large footsteps as he followed him.
ENGINE ROOM
The captain was getting used to seeing the engine room in chaos. It was becoming a theme of their travels. All that stopped, however, when one of Tosh’s younger ensigns screamed. The entire room stopped and looked around. Barrington heard a tool drop on the floor. All eyes turned and looked up past the captain’s right shoulder. He looked to Tark’An, who stood silently beside him, his arms folded, looking as imposing as ever. He turned back and raised his arms.
“Okay, relax everyone, be calm. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Barrington said
to the terrified young faces gazing up.
He caught Tosh, who suddenly emerged from around a corner in his wheelchair.
“What the shit?” Tosh said out loud.
“Everyone, this is Tark’An, he means us no harm,” Barrington wasn’t entirely sure that he believed his own words, but it was the best he could do.
“I need you all to focus right now, as strange as this situation may seem. You need to get the engines back online, so go back to your stations and continue your repairs,” Barrington said.
Nobody moved.
“You heard the man, get your asses back on point, that’s an order for Christ’s sake,” shouted Tosh.
The crowd of faces slowly returned to their work, keeping a watchful eye on the huge green alien. Tosh rolled his chair over to Barrington and Tark’An. He stared up at the huge alien, who was double his size.
“Okay, so this is new,” Tosh said looking at the captain, “what the hell is that thing around your neck?”
“It’s a translation device so that we can communicate,” Barrington said.
“Ah, sure, why not,” Tosh said turning back to Tark’An.
“Report,” Barrington said.
“Charly is trying to bypass the flight control systems, they got pretty fried. What the hell hit us,” Tosh said.
“Carrie,” Barrington said.
“What?” Tosh said.
“I’ll explain later. We need the FTL back, now,” Barrington said.
“The Betty is in pretty bad shape, the drive plasma was depolarised and, now, we have no way to charge it without blowing up the containment sphere,” Tosh said.
“What did he say?” Tark’An said.
“Christ,” Tosh said obviously hearing a growling noise.
Barrington put his hand up indicating Tosh to be quiet for a moment. He explained the situation to Tark’An.
“Let me see your core,” Tark’An said.
Barrington took a breath and looked at Tosh.
“Show Tark’An the core systems,” he said.
“You want me to let that thing near the engines?” Tosh said.
“That’s correct,” Barrington said injecting authority into his voice.
“Jesus, John, all right. COME ... WITH ... ME!” Tosh shouted up to Tark’An.