by Mars Dorian
“Your wish is my wealth,” Aidos said and dematerialized his virtual body from view.
The Martian ground-pounder stepped up and grabbed everyone’s attention with his booming voice. The syn carried a presence that pulled people in like an invisible claw. “What about us?”
Judging by the big man’s power stance, he hungered for action. Every muscle-fiber seemed charged to the max.
“Well,” Tavio said. “We’re approaching phase two of our plan.”
He enjoyed the tension of the silence.
“We’re going planet-side.”
21
Bellrog smiled, but the other crew members expressed signs of worry. Especially the doctor as she said, “That early?”
“The sooner we can figure out the source of the signal, the better for us and humanity.”
Although Tavio wanted to believe the encounter would be a peaceful one, life experience shadowed his optimism. This ground mission required worst case scenario preparation.
“Here’s the plan—the sergeant and the doctor are joining me to the beacon’s spot where we will recon the area.”
His eyes targeted Naveesh. “Chief, you prep the dropship and stay here on stand-by with Aidos in case we need orbital support.”
“Roger,” Naveesh said, clearly relieved to stay aboard the ship.
Some folks, especially the techies, preferred being amidst man-made structures. To them, nature equaled nastiness.
“Any questions?”
“When do we leave?” the Martian synthetic said.
“Now is always the best time.”
He paused as he thought more about the excursion. “Since we don’t know how long we’ll stay planet-side, it would be wise to grab oxygen backup and inflatable tents.”
Eriksun’s eyes doubled in size. “You’re planning to set up camp?”
“Just in case, Doctor. We’ll follow the boy scout’s motto—always be prepared.”
Silent nods from everyone.
“Stellar. Let’s upgrade our skin.”
The trio arrived at the equipment section of the ship and snapped the next generation atmogears from their lockers. The three-leveled poly-alloy armor suits protected the carrier from radiation, toxins, and temperature as well as strikes through its external impact layer. Despite the all-around defense capabilities, the nano-plated suit kept mobility at a maximum and was powered by the wearer’s kinetic movements.
“Sponsored by Rebel Bionics,” Dr. Eriksun said with a sigh as she finished applying her suit. “I hope there is no commercial propaganda creeping into my HUD.”
“You wearing the suit is advertisement enough,” Bellrog said and pointed at the helmet’s optical sensors. “Each unit comes with a dedicated recording system. I’m sure the Exo Protectorate releases specific snippets for commercial purposes.”
“Before we worry about sponsorship, let’s focus on the mission at hand,” the captain said.
He sealed the suit shut. It adapted to Tavio’s uniform like a symbiont, merging with his frame. The captain grabbed the full spectrum helmet and attached it to his collar ring. The HUD switched on and enhanced his vision with augmented features. A semi-transparent grid appeared in his sights and offered information about his environment. Useless inside the ship unless an emergency happened, but priceless when treading the exoplanet’s surface.
Bellrog approached the Fairstryke arms locker and wiped it open with his DNA-swipe. The mechanical chest opened up and revealed an assortment of arms. Tavio watched the soldier attaching various devices to his thigh-holster, utility belt, and pouches. He fumbled with the adjustable stock of his square-shaped flechette rifle and checked its thermal optics and the red dot sights. Bellrog noticed the captain staring at him. “You may want to grab some protection yourself, sir.”
Dr. Eriksun shot a glance toward Tavio and eagerly awaited his reaction. Unfortunately, the captain was going to disappoint her. “He’s right. Just to be on the safe side.”
Bellrog grinned and rummaged through this ‘treasure’ chest. “I suggest an ion pistol with enhanced targeting or a scattergun with armor-piercing pellets. Works like magic in close-combat and doesn’t require aiming.”
Tavio could tell the last statement poked against his limited firearm training, but the scattergun was too bulky and powerful. “The ion pistol will suffice.”
The doctor gritted her teeth but kept any lurking comment sizzling on her tongue to herself. Bellrog nodded and handed over the pistol with an extra magazine battery. “Its range might be limited due to particles in the air, but you’ll have a solid one klick shooting range with the aiming-assist on.”
Tavio attached the units to his atmogear and looked up at the ceiling. He didn’t know why, but he always raised his chin when talking to the AI. Maybe a conditioned gesture from the 21st century when humans still believed in omnipotent beings. “Aidos, are we in deployment position?”
The AI replied through the comm. “We will be in fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds, sir.”
“Very well.”
Dr. Eriksun observed Bellrog prepping two crates. “What are you hiding in there?”
“Toys for big boys,” the soldier said with a smile.
The three left the equipment section and entered the mobile hangar bay where the dropship awaited them. Bellrog carried his two crates toward the ship’s cargo bay and sealed it shut. When he concluded the preparation, he opened the shuttle’s hatch and ushered the crew into the tight quarters. Tavio pinged Aidos again to check on the dropship’s auto-pilot.
“I’ve plotted the course toward the landing zone, sir. It will be about one and a half kilometers away from the beacon due to the density of the jungle.”
Bellrog eyed the cockpit’s console and view screen. “Maybe we should flatten some trees near the beacon and create our own landing zone, sir.”
Dr. Eriksun hissed. “We are already invading the environment by bringing our alien equipment to the surface. We will not further defile their bio-diversity with man-made weaponry.”
Bellrog seemed unimpressed. “We’re bringing microbial bacteria from our system into theirs. A few more trees chopped down won’t matter.”
“That’s why we sterilize our equipment.”
“Won’t kill all the germs. Never does.”
The doctor faced the captain with a pleading look. Tavio refereed between the two strong-willed individuals. “The landing zone is close enough. One klick walking distance isn’t going to kill anyone.”
Dr. Eriksun nodded with satisfaction. “Exactly, sir.”
The shuttle’s console came to life. Tavio touched the steering orb and put up the route display. He initiated departure through the decompression bay. Thirty seconds later, the shuttle boosted from the Moonshot’s final gate and followed the trajectory Aidos had calculated earlier. The vessel shot through the cosmic darkness between the Moonshot and the exoplanet in humming silence.
So, this is it, the captain thought. I’m entering an uncolonized planet which no human being has dared to visit before.
The second Tavio and his crew broke through the atmospheric cloud layers, vibrations rocked the cockpit. Eriksun clawed into her armrests and closed her eyes, murmuring a mantra, while Bellrog smiled with confidence. “Beats my massage chair.”
Tavio couldn’t suppress his smile and focused back on the downward vector. When the crew pierced the last cloud layer, the lush landscape of exoplanet E405 came into view. A mesmerizing variety of curved, green trees sprinkled across hills with coral-shaped bushes. For a second, the doctor seemed to forget her fears. “It’s magnificent.”
Tavio joined her wonder but couldn’t shake off the question of what they would find down there.
22//E405, planet-side
The optical sensors of the dropship recorded the surroundings and helped Tavio with the landing. He dropped the vessel’s docking gear and used the vertical sub-thrusters to hover over the grassy soil. The turbulence caused ripples across
the blade-shaped strains and roused tiny insect-like animals. The shuttle’s AI-assist calculated the optimal landing vector and planted the vessel on the alien ground. Tavio offlined the engine and breathed a sigh of relief. With the preparation a success, the real operation began.
“Okay, crew,” Tavio rubbed his gloved hands. He waited for his crew’s full attention and grew serious. “This is an unprecedented situation. So whatever happens here, we stick together, understood?”
Both the doctor and the soldier agreed. Tavio approached the outer hatch and activated the extractable ramp that fanned out over the skewed grass. The meadow looked vaguely familiar, except for the grasses that waved like bendable blades. Hundreds of meters in the distance, the alien forest pulsated like a world from a different dimension.
Tavio’s awareness increased. He had to watch every step from now on since danger could creep from anywhere—the forest, the bushes, even amidst the knee-cap tall grass blades. In fact, Tavio had to treat the entire planet like one potential trap. The lessons of the Liquid Lancer would help him cope with the psychic stress.
“Choose not to be harmed—and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed—and you haven’t been,” Tavio mumbled under his breath. He ordered his squaddies to prep for the journey toward the beacon. Bellrog approached the cargo bay of the shuttle, opened its ramp and keyed something into his arm display. A thub-thub noise sounded and caught Tavio’s curiosity. A mechanical creature with four bionic legs galloped out the landing bay and halted in front of the soldier. Tavio held his breath—the object’s torso had an angular tank chassis while its limbs reminded him of cybernetic jaguar legs. The machine’s military green merged with the surrounding.
The look of terror flared in Dr. Eriksun’s eyes. Bellrog noticed his team’s bewilderment. “This is APE, which stands for Autonomous Payload Entity. It’s like an e-butler but with far more supply and upgrade options.”
Tavio noticed the gun mount on top of the metal creature’s back. “And I assume that’s the cup holder.”
Bellrog chuckled. “It holds whatever you attach to it, sir.”
The doctor rolled her eyes. The soldier wasn’t winning any likability points on her scale today, even though he tried. “If that gear pack wears you down, Doc, APE’s more than happy to carry it for you.”
She wrestled with her lips. “I rather keep it on my body, thanks.”
Bellrog shrugged. Tavio moved the scanned area over his HUD’s upper right corner, changed it to semi-transparent, and updated the map with his information from Aidos. Way point markers appeared in his augmented vision and pointed toward the beacon spot.
About 1231 meters to go.
Lame game, as Quintan would have said. Tavio thought about channeling his brother to rev up his confidence, but time was of the essence. Besides, his own training should suffice for the upcoming challenge.
“All right you two, let’s move out. The faster we investigate the target point, the faster we can leave this planet.”
He guided his fire team through the bladed grass. The APE unit joined the trio and adapted its walking speed. Bellrog seemed to control the creature both through voice command and his arm display. Judging by his ease of use, he must have known the cybernetic creature inside and out.
The Martian synthetic isn’t your standard model, Tavio thought. He had studied the ground-pounder’s holistic profile, but the company which owned Bellrog kept quiet about a series of issues, such as the type of the breeding process. Tavio realized he only knew the bare minimum about the soldier’s true potential. And now, as if linked through telepathy, Bellrog eyes met the captain’s. “Any questions?”
“Just focusing on the mission.”
The crew and the APE marched closely to each other as they entered the unknown jungle. Bellrog kept his personal defense weapon ready and scanned the area with his helmet’s cams. Tavio unconsciously hovered his left hand over the thigh-holster where his ion pistol slumbered. He watched the APE unit marching through the thicket with ballet-like elegance. The captain couldn’t deny feeling more secure with an armored mech around. After all, the fungoid jungle seemed more hostile in person than it was on the satellite images.
23
Some tree roots tore through the ground like massive claws. Up high, giant plants bent over and sported green half-rings with an alien-version of poison ivy covering their trunk. Most plants oozed various shades of dark green, but some emitted a glow which intensified their color palette. The jungle maze could have been the invention of a twisted geo-transformer. Fascinating and frightening at the same time.
During the march, Tavio checked on his crew members. Bellrock remained on high alert while the doctor snapped footage a thousand frames a second. Her fear had swapped for flaming passion. She ‘graced’ the team channel with constant swooning. “Fab-u-lous. One square meter of soil alone will keep scientists busy for years.”
At least one crew member enjoyed the trip. Tavio couldn’t cherish the foreign fauna yet—he sharpened his senses and waited for danger. Insect-like wasps swarmed through the coral-shaped bushes and glowed like mutated fireflies. Alien life, but not the kind smart enough to set up beacons sending signals across the universe. Tavio flicked a nervous glance at Bellrog who was ready to shoot whatever lurked in the shadows of the leaves. The captain synchronized every step with his heart beat and scanned the foreign objects. His memory chip saved all the intel which he could later upload to the Moonshot’s own database. Despite Tavio facing possible conflict, he experienced a sparkling sensation underneath his fear. He couldn’t recall a single day on Earth where he felt as alive as today. Maybe he was supposed to be here, stepping into the unknown while looking out for the inexplicable. Or maybe it was an emotional overreaction due to the new impressions. Tavio looked at his map display in the HUD vision—404 meters until the target zone.
Dr. Eriksun kept her chin high and filmed the curved trees. She was so absorbed in her surrounding she didn’t notice stepping off-course.
“Keep close, Doctor. Remember what we’re here for,” Tavio said.
“Yes, sir.”
She gazed in every direction with a sweaty smile behind her face shield. “Even if we don’t find the source of the signal, we can consider this mission a success. Imagine all the new information we will have!”
Tavio appreciated her hunger for knowledge, but fear dominated over science in him. He and his crew waddled through unknown territory crowded with unknown life forms.
A swarm of some type of insect whirled around the stomping APE unit. Bellrog tried to wave them away but the little suckers seemed hooked on the cybernetic creature. Tavio wondered why. “Is it the smell?”
“Could be. Or maybe it’s the sensor lights.”
He took it with humor. “As long as they don’t sting, I won’t either.”
Sixty-three meters until the target zone.
The thicket grew more tight. The trio had to climb over bushy knolls and coral-shaped leaf formations which brushed against their atmogear plates. Mushroom-like infestations protruded from the ground, and Tavio hoped none of the organisms were strong enough to penetrate any of his poly-alloy layers—the radioactivity in the area outmatched Earth by a factor of three.
Bellrog readied his laser-cutter and was about to slice through the undergrowth when the doctor intervened. “Please don’t tamper with the eco system.”
“Investigating the source is the priority.”
Tavio had to step in, yet again. “He’s right. A bit of intrusion can’t be avoided.”
He gave the go ahead and watched as Bellrog cut through leaves and bushes to reach the target zone. Eriksun shielded her eyes as if to avoid seeing a loved one getting killed in front of her. Tavio wondered if she had any augmentations or implants that allowed her to sympathize with other life forms.
Bellrog ripped the loose weed away and stomped onwards.
Eleven meters to the target zone.
Tavio unholstered his ion pis
tol and switched off the safety. His biofeedback detected an increase of heart rate and blood pressure. His breath became shallow as his eyes darted around the jungle looking for something suspicious—something dangerous ready to burst out and attack. Bellrog’s coarse voice sounded from the right. “Fire support is one command away, sir.”
“Thanks, Sergeant.”
The soldier’s reassurance did help Tavio stay calm. He nudged the trigger of the ion pistol and reached the beacon’s target zone.
24
The beacon remained absent, just as Aidos’ scans had predicted. But the area flattened out compared to the foliage Tavio and his team had already waded through. He ordered the doctor to scan the location for anything noteworthy while he and Bellrog secured the perimeter. The soldier commanded the APE to stay on guard mode and created a patrol route around the zone. It stomped on fungus and plants alike, which would have infuriated Dr. Eriksun if she hadn’t been busy investigating the target zone for clues. “Do you see that, sir?”
He followed her gaze and noticed a swath through the thicket. It was subtle, but it did stand out enough to raise suspicion. “Do you think it’s man-made, Doctor?”
“Alien-made, if anything.”
They cleared the perimeter in a hundred meter radius and didn’t find anything unusual except for the alien flora which satisfied the doctor. She must have recorded a trillion terabyte worth of xenological research.
Tavio’s shoulders slumped. A naive part of him had expected a first contact with the unknown species. The experienced part knew wishful thinking never converged with reality.
Why were they hiding?
Sergeant Bellrock stopped his patrol. “What now, sir?”
Tavio spotted the fading light between the distant treetops. Darkness loomed in the sky and would soon swallow up the jungle. A veteran like Tavio cringed at the thought. He looked the ground-pounder straight in the eye. “We’re going back to the RV point.”