Salvage-5 (First Contact)

by Brian K. Larson

  Tucker closed the hatch and depressurized the cargo bay.

  “In 3…2…1…Mag lock positive,” they heard through their headsets.

  “We’re lowering the rear cargo door,” Tuck said, “Stand by.”

  “Hargrove,” the Sarge suggested, “You should use the MECH to untether these cables. They’re junk now. The housings been pulled clean away from the hull.”

  “I’ll take care of it Sarge. I’ll access the MECH from the upper cargo bay entrance.”

  “Come on Tucker. Let’s see what’s down this hole.”

  “After you, sir.”

  The two made their way down the ramp with their mag-boots, and equipment, while Hargrove made his way to the MECH.

  Samuels cranked the hatch open that had been installed by the Salvage-4 crew. After lowering the power packs and tools down he disappeared, head first, through the hole.

  Tucker reached through the hatch and was helped down by Samuels, then floated around and closed the hatch, sealing them inside the Euna-1.

  Their top helmet lights flashed on, shining on the first of the dead crew. Tucker turned one of the floating bodies, exposing a horrific sight of wires and computer traces covering the face of the dead crewman.

  “Never seen anything like this in my life before,” Samuels said.

  “Me neither. Let’s check the others.”

  They inspected the seven other dead crew, only to find they were wrapped with the same bundles of wire as the first.

  “Tuck…this is weird.”

  “Yeah, huh. My Spidey Sense is pegged to the max as well, Samuels.”

  “What could have done this?”

  “No telling…Tucker to Rhodes…come in.”

  “Rhodes here, Commander.”

  “Get suited up and join us over here. We’re seeing something a little…odd in the way these crew died over here.”

  “What are you seeing? Did they have their suits on, was it exposure?”

  “Every one of them are fully suited. But they’re kind of wrapped up.”

  “Can you explain?”

  “With copious amounts of wire.”

  “With what?”

  “Wire…as in electronic wire. It’s like it was growing out of their bodies. What were their eyes, are bundles of wire…nose, mouth, ears…seems every orifice is affected, just looking at their faces…or what’s left of them.”

  “I’m on my way. Should be there in five, Rhodes out.”

  “Come on, Samuels. Let’s get to the captain. He was supposed to have been in the command deck.”

  “I remember the briefing, Commander. Let’s go.”

  In a couple of minutes, they reached the command station and the dead pilot. Only he wasn’t affected, and he had his helmet removed. His hand firmly pressed the engines to full power. The rod had been slightly bent as the pilot attempted to make it go farther than was possible. The look of terror deeply planted on the man’s face caused chills to run down their spines.

  “He appears to have died of asphyxiation. All systems went out, cabin filled with smoke, and he simply didn’t have his helmet on.”

  “No wiring on him, either.”

  “Samuels, hook up a power pack to this console outlet. Let’s see if we can get any juice over here.”

  The Sergeant opened one of his cases and hooked up the remote cables to the console. Tucker peeled the dead man’s hand from the control throttle and leaned him forward.

  “What’s this?”

  Samuels looked over, doing a double take, “Is that a jack on the base of his neck?”

  “Sure looks like it to me. Rhodes! Where are you? Report!”

  “I’m here now, Commander. Just finished checking out the first three bodies.”

  “Make your way forward, you gotta see this.”

  “On my way.”

  The doctor sealed the hatch behind him and came to the command deck, finding Tucker and Samuels inspecting the body.

  “What’s going on? Whattya got?”

  “What we got here, Doc, is some type of computer interface on the back of his neck,” Tucker said, leaning the body toward Rhodes.

  “I wish I could get a better look at this.”

  “No way, Doc. Do not remove your helmet,” Samuel’s argued.

  “Heh, you don’t have to worry about me. Just restore power to the ship so the scrubbers can give us some air first, but I must inspect the bodies…”

  “Either that, or we bring stiff man back to ours,” Tucker smiled.

  The two looked over at Tuck.

  “What? Hey, got to liven this up a bit to keep one’s sanity.”

  “It’s a little too late for him, I’m afraid,” the doctor said, “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

  “That might be our only option,” Samuels said, shaking his head, “The ship’s power is intact, but these panels are fried. There’s no way to restore complete power without a major refit.”

  “Cal, this is Tucker. Do you read?”

  “Yes, go ahead.”

  “Tell me if the energy field is still attached to the CSMO.”

  “Yep, it is.”

  “Check it out. I’ll bet that the beam is carrying energy from the hydro holding tank. That’s where that ship down there is getting their power.”

  “Are you serious? How did you know that?”

  “Just a hunch. First ship in. I figure that when they struck that thing down there with the harpoon anchor, it woke something up and began pulling our people in.”

  “Let’s get him back to the ship and one other specimen as well.”

  “I’ve got the flight recordings,” Samuels said.”

  Maybe we can finally solve what happened.”

  * * *

  Chapter 7

  Salvage-5

  Location:

  Kirkwood Gap – Asteroid 15 Eunomia

  Earth Date: Sept. 4th, 2064 1600hrs

  Missions Objectives:

  CSMO RECOVERY

  INVESTIGATE ALIEN CRASH SITE

  AQUIRE ALIEN TECH

  FIND & RECOVER SURVIVORS

  DESTROY ALIEN VESSEL

  “Whattya think doc?”

  “Tuck, this is the strangest autopsy I’ve ever done.”

  The body of the pilot was laid out on the galley table, tethered down with straps to hold him from floating about.

  “This man didn’t die of asphyxiation; he died because there’s no blood in his veins.”

  “What?” Cass asked, floating in the crew day room.

  “His veins were being replaced by some type of bio-organic material.”

  “Seriously,” Tuck said, pausing to light his cigar, “I’m having hard enough time sleeping at night, knowing that aliens are real. Now you want me to start thinking we’re in a bad 20th century horror flick?”

  “Look here,” Rhodes said, pointing to an opening he had made in the man’s right arm, “Wires for veins and these strange computer traces are routed all across these muscles here.”

  “He’s not human.”

  “Oh,” Rhodes said, addressing Cass, “He’s human alright…or at least he used to be, though I’m not sure he is anymore.”

  “Or some kind of hybrid?” Cass asked.

  “It gets even more disturbing.”

  “Oh how could it possibly get weirder than it already has?” Tuck asked.

  “This bio-organic material is not human, but it’s nothing I’ve seen. These properties seem to grow into the flesh of the host.”

  “Is it a virus, Doc?”

  “Commander,” the Sarge said in Tucker’s head piece, “Just an update. Hargrove almost has the anchors removed. We should be finishing up and heading back in thirty minutes.”

  “Thank, Samuels…Hargrove, how ya holding up in that thing?”

  “It’s a great tool, Commander. Don’t think we could’ve done it without it. But I’m running low on power. Switching to back up power in ten minutes; should be good for another hour.”

&
nbsp; “Okay, just don’t push it Hargrove.”

  “Don’t worry, sir. I don’t like getting below thirty minutes. I’ll be back way before that.”

  “Good work out there, guys…Tucker out…Doc, it’s not contagious then.”

  “No, not with direct contact.”

  “So what then?”

  “Here’s the strange part…”

  “…here we go again, stop it, already.”

  “…this jack in the back of his head. It was inserted with some type of tool. This jack is connected to a microchip. Once the host is given this little package, it begins to take the bodies enzymes and grows at an exponential rate. This material, the bio-organic material, grows into the tissue. It forms these computer traces and connections. These wires not only replace the veins, but their nervous system as well.”

  “So what about the others? Why are they overtaken by these traces and wires?”

  “My best guess, which is not a very good one at this point, is that this technology is trying to use us to replicate themselves. The only other organic material I have scanned down there are human. This leads me to agree with you, Tuck. They have been gone a very long time.”

  “Right, we came knocking on their door and set something off.”

  “It’s got to be all automated. Whatever is going on, it looks as if the first trials failed. These seven dead, only one of them have no wires externally. I think they used the first half of the CSMO’s crew getting the compatibility right.”

  “I just thought of something, Tuck.” Cass said.

  Tucker looked up at nearly the same time and nodded, “You’re thinking that they allowed this CSMO crew to escape.”

  “Yep. My Dad used to take me fishing. We always used bait to attract the fish. Works every time.”

  “I think you both got it,” Rhodes said, “These were the first ones, the pilot was slightly more successful, but they, or it, knew they were going to die and they needed more test subjects.”

  “Looks like the fishing has been good in this neck of the woods,” Tucker said.

  “Tucker,” Calvin said through his headset.

  “You got it Cal?”

  “Yes, sir. You better come and see for yourself.”

  “Great…another surprise brewing…I can’t wait…I’ll be right there, Tuck out.”

  “I’ll finish my analysis and let you know what else I find.”

  “Just don’t find too much new stuff, or at least don’t give it to me all at once…a guy can only take so much.”

  Rhodes smiled, “No problem…Commander.”

  “Cass, you’re with me. I want you to see this too.”

  “Gee, thanks Tuck. Don’t worry; I wasn’t planning on missing out.”

  “You’re welcome, Sassy Cassie.”

  “Hey,” Cass said playfully, “You’re not supposed to call me that around here.”

  “Oh?” Tuck asked, floating their way forward of the cabin, “I can say that somewhere else then?”

  “Tuck,” Cass said, swatting his arm.

  Tucker steadied himself, pressed the code and slid a panel open. The two floated inside Tuck’s cabin.

  “Tell me again how it is it that I got to bunk with Cal?”

  “Your plan was flawed.”

  “Oh? In what way?”

  “Two women can’t share such a small space for an extended period of time, or we would kill each other.”

  “Oh, please.”

  “Don’t oh please me, Colonel.”

  “And how did I get the floor and you got the bed?” he said, turning to Cal.

  Cal looked up with a sheepish grin, reached around with his hand, “My back can’t take the floor, Tuck.”

  “Yeah, right…but I’m the Commander around here.”

  “Yes,” Cass said, “You are the Commander, and that’s only because we let you.”

  Tucker drew from his cigar and blew it in Cass’s direction, then turned to Cal again, “So, what’s ya got there?”

  “The computer core the Sarge grabbed from the CSMO? Well, I powered it up on this remote pack and fed the data to this console.”

  “Great! Let’s see it.”

  “Brace yourselves, this is some pretty amazing stuff,” Cal cautioned, before pressing the play button. “Mostly Captain’s logs, but we got some other feed on here as well.”

  The screen lit up with the face of the dead captain that was tethered on the galley table in the next room, “Charles Hackleberry, Captain of the CSMO Euna-1. We just completed our three week journey to our target asteroid, 15 Eunomia. Speed, 5000 kph, distance 3000 kilometers.”

  “Sounds familiar,” Tuck nodded, “Standard flight path. Can you fast forward?”

  “Here, wait,” Cal said, programming his keypad.

  The screen advanced several logs, “Captain of the CSMO Euna-1. We just discovered something quite amazing. Our harpoon hit a foreign object. Something’s happening down there. Our ship is picking up a signal,” the man turned from the camera, “Are you kidding me?”

  The Captain faced the camera and then back to his shipmate, “You’re not going to believe this…we’re being pulled down. The ship is losing power, we can’t fight this force.”

  “Commander,” Cal said, fast forwarding, “There are a few rough spots.”

  “Captain of the CSMO Euna-1, we have been taken captive by force. We cannot escape. We have been pulled down inside some kind of massive complex. I am being allowed to leave a final log. These mechanical cyborgs, or whatever they are, are forcing us to be taken off the mining ship to a holding area. I’ve seen a little bit, of how big this place is. My guess is that it makes up nearly a quarter of the entire asteroid. It’s about eighty by forty miles and about twenty levels deep…all kinds of computer equipment and nearly every hallway they took us through were lined with cylindrical tubes. We tried asking questions, but they would never respond in a kind manner…wait…one of them is coming for me…if anyone sees this, please send help.”

  The screen turned fuzzy again, “Some of the recording has been compromised by high levels of radiation. Nothing harmful now,” Cal assured, “But the next scene, that’s where things get even more bizarre.”

  The screen flipped on, the captain in a panic and not addressing the logs directly, “Captain of the CSMO Euna-1…we managed to escape! Don’t come here. Stay away! They did things to us…”

  The captain in the video turned behind him, turned toward the camera with a ghastly look on his face, and then raised the nose of the CSMO and pressed the thruster level to full power.

  The camera was knocked and pointed behind the captain. Screams could be heard in the distance and the captain continued to yell to the logs, we’re making escape velocity! Have to get away…” the captain screamed.

  The camera picked up the view of another crewman; others were holding his helmet and trying to calm the man. He began convulsing and twitching. Then the camera picked up wires of all colors, crawling out of his skin and traveled through his mouth. The crewman’s eyes and ears were overtaken by wire and circuit board traces, before the others sealed him in his environmental suit. Then the man flopped in the air, and became weightless as the CSMO’s thrusters took them away from the alien complex’s artificial gravity.

  Then the screen went blank, “That’s all of it.”

  “Huh…” Tuck said hesitantly, “That was interesting.”

  Cal and Cass floated, staring at the screen, not fully believing what they had seen.

  “Whattya make of it Cal? Cass? I’m open to suggestions here.”

  “Well, Tuck,” Cass said, as they exited the cramped quarters, back to the main crew room. “I think Rhodes was right. They didn’t get the first ones right. I think this was the second batch. They tested these six men and then came for the captain. His was more successful. You can bet that third time’s a charm in this book.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking too, Cass,” Tuck said with a somber look, “There’s no telling
if our men are our men any more. We need to expect that they’re not, and are somehow working with the alien cyborgs, or whatever the hell you want to call them.”

  “I was right about the bio-organic material growing into the host,” Rhodes said.

  “So, Doc, what exactly are we dealing with here?”

  “I examined the captain’s brain. The chip was planted very easily, though I can’t guarantee painlessly, but very minimal brain trauma occurred. The bio-organic material then heals the site and begins growing the necessary components that the chip was programmed to grow.”

  “This chip; does it actually interact with the host’s brain?”

  “Yes, it grows traces into the brain tissue and becomes connected.”

  “We can be sure that they were fishing alright.”

  “Yep, I agree, Tucker,” Rhodes nodded.

  “There’s no other explanation: if the chip was imbedded, and then it was programmed to take out this task.”

  “I’ll bet they didn’t even realize that they were being manipulated by the chips.”

  “They were awake during the procedure.”

  “How do you know?”

  “The ones down in the complex are brainwaves consistent with someone that has been awake for nearly three days.”

  “You think they’ve been made some kind of slave for this alien complex for three months?”

  “Yep, but I think that’s why they gave us an open invitation. They need more specimens for whatever it is that this thing’s up to,” Rhodes said.

  Okay, team. Hargrove, you about done out there?”

  “Yes, sir. Just finished and coming up the ramp. You can close and seal her down, Commander. I’ll stow and recharge Hime.”

  “Hime?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I named my MECH. He’s one cool dude too.”

  “Ok, Hargrove. Carry on. Nice work out there.”

  Tucker hung his head low, “What’s the matter Tuck?” Cass asked.

  “It’s Gus. I don’t know if he’s gonna make it or if they did this to him too.”

  “Tuck, it’s not your fault.”

  “Yeah, it kind of is.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because Beverly left me for Gus and I made him understand how much I appreciated that.”