Phoenix In Chaos (Exodus)

by Robert Stadnik

  Julie motioned for them to sit in the back, near the entrance. Although the temple lacked any decorations, the crystals walls and seats made this one of the most beautiful buildings John had ever seen.

  “What do I do?” asked John, as Julie already had her eyes closed.

  “Just focus on the sounds and let it clear your mind,” said Julie, her voice already sounding at peace.

  John closed his eyes and listened to the sounds. But as he did the image of Jeff’s lifeless head appeared. John immediately reopened his eyes.

  A hand gently touched John’s shoulder and he looked up to see Thresha. “Welcome, captain. I am honored that you have reached out to our spirituality to ease your pain.”

  “I want to forget what I saw, but I can’t,” whispered John, with a pleading look on his face.

  Thresha sat next to him. “You must never forget. To honor the life of Jeffrey McCail you must accept how he died. But you must not surrender to the fear if you are to move on. It must be conquered, otherwise it will rule your life.”

  “Then help me,” asked John.

  Thresha nodded. “Close your eyes. The Io cannot reach you here. You are among friends.”

  John closed his eyes. Again, the image of Jeff’s head popped in his mind. He wanted to run from it.

  Thresha sensed the captain’s emotional struggle. She took his hand and gently squeezed it. “You are not alone. Your friends are by your side.”

  Her words were similar to what the Yearden told him in the corridor a few months back. Somehow, the coincidence made the captain feel better. Although the horrific images were still flashing in his mind, he was no longer afraid. He merely accepted it.

  For the next hour John sat in the coilquin and listened to the sounds echoing in the temple. Although the images of Jeff never left his mind, they soon became background to the sounds that eventually soothed the captain. The images were there, but they no longer scared him.

  Back on the fifth planet, there were charred remains of trees and plants where PHOENIX’s plasma missiles had struck. But there were no pieces of twisted metal or the wreckage of the shuttle that was left behind. A few kilometers away by the cave was the shuttle, completely intact. It was surrounded by several Io, eager to uncover the shuttle’s secrets.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Computer, run sequence Gamma 12A,” said Myers.

  A beam shot from the overhead scalpel and struck the Screen armor. The Screen fighter pilot they recovered several months ago remained in autopsy, locked behind its body armor. The doctor had made numerous attempts using different techniques to crack the armor. But so far, he had no success.

  “Negative penetration of Screen armor,” reported the computer.

  “Disengage and reset for next test.” He reviewed his DAT to determine what to try next. The ship’s scientists completed their analysis of the sample of quadrin recently delivered to PHOENIX from an Onixin freighter. The Onixins were hard at work rebuilding their construction facilities on Kresil, and the council sent a courier to deliver a small quantity of quadrin to PHOENIX.

  “Computer, reconfigure for quadrin beam sample Alpha 1.”

  “Formatting, standby.”

  Myers was beginning to think that he might have to risk obliterating the armor if he was to access the body inside. Analyzing the armor’s technology was important, but dissecting a Screen body was just as critical. Learning about their biology could provide clues about Screen behavior and what motivates them.

  “Cutting sequence ready,” announced the computer.

  “Engage,” said Myers. He was already looking at the next sequence, ready to give instructions once the computer said this attempt had failed.

  The computer beeped. “Quadrin beam Alpha 1 successful. Screen armor has been breached.”

  “Computer, disengage scalpel.” The doctor checked the scanners. Sure enough, a hole had been drilled in the armor. What’s more, it didn’t affect the Screen encased within. “Computer, based on analysis of test, is separation of the armor per sequence pattern Alpha 1 possible?”

  “Affirmative,” said the computer.

  Myers wasted no time. “Prep the scalpel and initiate cutting sequence when ready.” Finally, this is what they had been waiting for. “Myers to Captain Roberts.”

  “Go ahead, doctor.”

  “I need you here in medical immediately. I finally made a breakthrough with the Screen armor, literally.”

  “I’ll contact the others and be down there in a few. Roberts out.”

  By the time John made it to medical, Myers had successfully cut through the entire Screen armor. But he held off separating it and exposing the body, wanting everyone present when he performed that task. Julie, Alex’sis, Chief Sandoval, Bret, and biologist Michael Willkin also showed up, gathered in the observation area outside. John didn’t see any reason for the communications officer to be there, but he understood Bret’s curiosity. For nearly a century the Screen had plagued humanity, but no one ever set eyes on their mysterious enemy. They would be the first humans to look at a Screen.

  “Isn’t Drix supposed to be here to examine the inner armor?” asked Julie.

  “He’s finishing up a project in the computer lab,” said Alex’sis. “He’ll be here as soon as he wraps it up.”

  “Let’s get started then.” John looked at Myers. “Doctor.”

  Myers activated the four robotic arms that descended from the ceiling. Each arm grabbed a corner of the frontal portion of the armor and slowly lifted it up. There, laying within the rear section of the armor, was the Screen.

  No one had any words to describe what they saw. As expected by the shape of the armor, the Screen was humanoid. It had a pasty white color to its glistening skin. Its head consisted of two dark eyes, and a small hole that John assumed constituted it’s nose. Numerous small tentacles were located at the mouth region. It reminded John of the alien facilitator Malnygun, but that alien’s tentacles were four times bigger.

  “It doesn’t look all that threatening,” Alex’sis commented as she stared at it.

  “Looks can be deceiving,” said Sandoval.

  “What do you have, doc?” asked John.

  “The Screen has typical humanoid traits,” said Myers. “An epidural layer, complex bone structures, organic liquid consistent with blood functions running through the body. Considering the number of months it’s been decaying in the armor, it’s in remarkable shape.”

  “Maybe the armor was somehow keeping the body preserved,” said Bret.

  “Possibly,” said Willkin. “But without a living Screen for comparison, it’s difficult to determine how their biology goes through the decomposition process.”

  “Could it impede the analysis of the body?” asked Julie.

  “I don’t know,” said Myers. “We’ve never examined a live Screen. Like Professor Willkin said, we have no living baseline to compare this body to. I will say the bones seem unusually brittle, but that may be a result of how Screen decompose.”

  “It could also explain why they wear body armor,” said John.

  “Again captain, that’s only speculation,” said Willkin. “This body will give us a wealth of information on Screen physiology. At the very least we should learn their resilience and what they’re susceptible to.”

  “I agree,” said Myers.

  Just then, Drix entered the observation area. “My apologies, John Captain, I was…” Drix looked and saw the exposed Screen laying on the table. Words suddenly became lost to him and all conscious thought seemed to leave his mind. Something within him snapped, something violent.

  The Cresorian lunged towards the autopsy doors, knocking Professor Wilkin and Bret out of his way.

  “Drix!” yelled John, watching as he crashed through the locked door. Drix was screaming and yelling incoherently.

  The Cresorian went straight for the Screen, his violent rage forcing Myers to retreat away from the table. But before Drix could get a hold of the body, he w
as grabbed from behind by John and Sandoval.

  “Drix, stop!” yelled John, grabbing a hold of his arm as Sandoval grabbed his waist and tried to pull him away. It took all of their strength to hold Drix in his place.

  “Drix, stop!” said Julie as she ran in and grabbed Drix’s other arm that was trying to swipe at the Screen. “Listen, please!” But there was no listening. Drix was unaware of his friends, was unable to hear their words. His only focus was getting to the Screen and destroying it.

  Alex’sis ran in and injected Drix with a tranquilizer, but it had no effect. Myers then followed up and pumped the Cresorian with two more doses before Drix finally succumbed to the drug and collapsed.

  John was still holding Drix’s arm, afraid he would wake up. “Everyone all right?”

  Everyone nodded

  “Yeah,” said Sandoval. “What the hell happened to him?”

  John looked down at his unconscious friend. In all his time on PHOENIX Drix never showed any hostile behavior. This was out of character.

  “Let’s get him to the surgical bay,” said John as he, Julie, and Sandoval lifted the Cresorian off the ground as Myers checked the Screen body.

  “Did he get to it?” asked Alex’sis.

  “No, the body appears unharmed,” said Myers.

  “We should check if the body is emitting some sort of gas,” said Willkin. “Something in it may have triggered Drix’s actions.”

  “Agreed,” said Myers as he handed Willkin a scanner.

  A few hours later Drix’s eyes opened up. There was a bright light over him. He could make out a figure standing over him. As the Cresorian adjusted his eyes he saw it was Thresha.

  “Where am I?” asked Drix.

  “You are in medical,” said Thresha in her calm, soothing voice. She looked over at someone. “He is awake.”

  “Sweetie, are you ok?” said Chris, joining Thresha at Drix’s side.

  “I do not know,” replied Drix. “What happened?”

  “You don’t remember?” said Chris. “You flipped out in autopsy and tried to attack the dead Screen.”

  An image of the Screen flashed through Drix’s mind and for a brief second, he felt the uncontrolled rage bubble up inside of him. He quickly dismissed the image.

  “What is it?” asked Thresha. She sensed the rage, as well as fear, in the Cresorian.

  “I cannot explain it,” said Drix, as he slowly remembered what happened. “The humans, are they hurt?”

  “Everyone’s fine,” said Chris. “But we’re all worried about you. What happened?”

  “I do not have an answer,” said Drix. “All I remember is when I saw the Screen, something came over me and I lost all sense of who I was.”

  Thresha looked over and saw the captain right outside the surgical bay. “Excuse me.”

  “They’re checking over the body to see if it has anything that might have set you off,” said Chris.

  “I hope they uncover something,” said Drix. “It is worrisome that I do not know what caused my actions.”

  Chris patted Drix on the shoulder. “Don’t you worry, they’ll find out. But it’s safe to say you should stay far away from autopsy for the time being.”

  As Chris worked to ease Drix’s concerns, Thresha joined the captain outside the surgical bay.

  “How is he?” asked John.

  “Confused. He is at a lost for his behavior.”

  “It was as if Drix wasn’t there,” said John. “He acted like some primal animal. There was no reasoning with him.”

  “Drix is equally perplexed by his actions,” said Thresha. “I could sense the fear in him. But there was something else.”

  “What?” John could see Thresha was hesitant to say more. “Thresha, if we’re to help him, I need to know.”

  “For a brief moment I sensed an intense anger within him. It was something I have never felt from him before. Captain, I do not believe Drix can explain the anger. He is at a lost for his actions.”

  “I believe you,” said John. “What happened in autopsy wasn’t our Drix.”

  “He is concerned what you might think of him now,” said Thresha.

  “Then I better put those worries aside.” John entered the surgical bay and joined Chris at Drix’s bedside. “How you doing?”

  “John Captain, my apologies for my actions,” said Drix.

  “You don’t have anything to apologize for,” reassured John.

  “I will accept any punishment that you deem fit for me.”

  “Nonsense,” said Chris.

  “He’s right,” said John. “No harm was done, and we all know that clearly wasn’t you in autopsy.”

  Drix was relieved that his friends were not angry. “I am grateful you do not think any less of me.”

  “Never,” said John. “But your reaction to the Screen was disturbing. I know you’ve said none of your people have ever seen one.”

  “There is no documented event that a Cresorian has ever seen a Screen,” said Drix. “I personally have never laid eyes on one. Perhaps if I consult my historical database…”

  “Hey, one step at a time,” said John. “First, you need to recover. The doctor said all your vitals shot through the roof and they’re still elevated. You’ll remain in medical for observation until your body gets back to normal. Until then, I think it’s safe to say you shouldn’t go anywhere near autopsy.”

  “Agreed, John Captain.”

  “I’ll stay here with you, if you’d like,” said Chris.

  “Thank you, Anne Chris,” said Drix. “But I am very tired. I should get some rest. You should attend to your other duties.”

  “Sweetie, you’re my only concern,” said Chris as he pulled a chair up. “I’m staying right here while you rest.”

  Sleep was exactly what the Cresorian needed as he had no trouble slipping into a slumber. By late afternoon, Myers cleared Drix to return to his quarters. However, the Cresorian couldn’t return home, not after what he did. Something had to explain his uncontrolled rage. He went to the hangar bay and spent the next few hours going through his ship’s database, looking for anything in his people’s recorded history that could explain his behavior.

  He lost all track of time during his research as he went through file after file. He only took a break when he was interrupted by a knock on the bulkhead. He turned around to see Alex’sis.

  “Hope I’m not intruding. The door was open.”

  “Your presence is always welcomed, Alex'sis Lieutenant,” said Drix.

  “Here.” Alex’sis handed him a glass of milk. “Thought you could use a break.”

  “Thank you.” Drix motioned her to take the seat next to him. “I have been looking for anything in the Cresorian database to explain my actions.”

  “Any luck?”

  “Unfortunately, I have been without success,” said Drix.

  “You know you don’t have to remain here until you find an answer,” said Alex’sis. “Everyone knows what happened in autopsy wasn’t you.”

  “But I need to know,” said Drix. “If I harmed any of you because of this unexplained rage, I could not forgive myself. The crew has treated me like one of their own. I cannot rest until I have determined what triggered my outburst.”

  Alex’sis could see Drix wasn’t going anywhere until he got some answers. “Well then, we better keep looking.”

  “You are not obligated to assist me,” said Drix. “You are busy handling ship operations.”

  “True, but I’m not about to let a friend deal with this by himself,” replied Alex’sis. “We’ll get through more files if we work together.”

  “Thank you, Alex’sis Lieutenant.” He punched in a few commands on the console in front of her. “There, you have complete access to the Cresorian database.”

  The pair worked together for over an hour, speaking little as they read through the files. Alex’sis only spoke up when she needed clarification about Cresorian culture and technology she reviewed in the database. It
would have been easy if there was something about the Screen, but the only entries were instructions for Cresorians to run at the sight of any Screen vessel.

  “Maybe we need to simplify this,” said Alex’sis as she took a break reading the files.

  “How so?” asked Drix.

  “You flipped out as soon as you saw the Screen, correct?” As soon as she spoke the sentence, she answered her own question. “You said it yourself.” Alex’sis checked the database and located the entry she remembered Drix quoted her. “You will know your enemy when you look upon its face.”

  “Yes, but nothing was specified,” said Drix.

  “Because they didn’t put the answer in the database,” said Alex’sis. “Maybe your ancestors were worried that the Screen would capture a Cresorian ship and get a hold of the database. They couldn’t risk it, but they wanted to make sure all Cresorians knew the Screen was the enemy if they ever looked at one. But how? How could they have made it so a Cresorian would recognize a Screen as the enemy?”

  “Genetic manipulation,” replied Drix. He brought up a large section of the database. “The database contains numerous files regarding Cresorian genetic structures.”

  Alex’sis looked at the information. “This information is far more complicated for any layman to understand. There’s a ton of scientific technical jargon.”

  “Agreed,” said Drix. “I have been unable to discern what this information means or how it could assist a Cresorian.”

  “Drix, maybe the ship scientists should take a look at this,” said Alex’sis. “They may be able to interpret the data and come up with something to explain your reaction to the Screen.”

  “That would be acceptable,” said Drix. “If they could find an answer, I would be most appreciative.”

  “Great, I’ll talk to them and get it set up,” said Alex’sis as she got up from her seat.”

  “Alex’sis Lieutenant, there is one more item I wish to discuss.”

  Alex’sis sat back down. “What is it?”

  “I have been meaning to discuss this with John Captain; however, I am unsure how to approach him.”