by Doug Goodman
“Opportunities.”
“What do you say?”
7
Downtime is always a problem for astronauts. Downtime leads to malaise, which is easy to succumb to in a tiny station or say, when your Ascent Vehicle has been destroyed and you have no chance of returning to the space vehicle orbiting your alien planet. Fortunately, the crew had a lot of tasks to complete while they waited a day for the solar cells to recharge the DSMU batteries. They would need them for their excursion into the desert to get to the monsters. They used the time to fix the Hab, which had sustained outer damage from the explosion.
During downtime, most astronauts have special areas of study and research that they explore. While Cole explored the Doomsday Book further, Anna conducted tests on a core sample she’d taken from the monsters.
First, she analyzed the sample for any biological material. She was in luck. She had some. Once she separated the biological material from the rest, she conducted several tests and worked to break down its DNA code.
She called everyone to come look because she had gotten so excited. “I think I’ve figured out how they got here.”
“The monsters?” Cole asked.
“Mega Xenons,” Anna corrected.
She pulled up several tests on her screen. They were all charts and graphs. “These creatures are amazing. The Mega Xenons have an incredible tolerance for radiation. It is a level of tolerance that we’ve never seen before. And their simplicity in design, the latticework structure of their cells means that the skin has a strength a thousand times stronger than human skin.”
“Can you demonstrate?” C.C. asked.
She removed from a vial a purple piece of skin and placed it on the floor. The skin was about five centimeters thick. Anna looked around the Hab. She pointed to one of the only robots to not be destroyed in the crash. “OGRA, please.”
The robot stepped forward and placed a foot on the skin. “It feels rubbery,” OGRA said.
“How much do you weigh, OGRA?”
“This robot weighs 145 kilograms. Would you like me to convert that to pounds?” OGRA asked.
“We’re good. Just step up onto the skin.”
OGRA leaned forward, putting both feet and all of her weight on the skin. The skin did not show any sign of stress. It didn’t sag in the middle or slip.
“Eish,” Mathieu said.
“That’s 320 pounds on a single layer of skin,” Anna said.
“So it’s strong, and it’s very hardy against radiation. They are also tolerant to heat and cold. I tested the skin at over 300 degrees, and it was still living, and then I placed it with the LOX, and it survived that, too. I think what we are looking at is kind of similar to a water bear.”
“Water bear?” Cole asked.
“A tardigrade,” Anna said. “They are small, multi-cellular organisms long believed to be some of the hardiest creatures on Earth. The difference is they weigh less than a hairpin, and the Mega Xenons weigh as much as a mountain.”
“So what does that tell us?” Emily asked. “They are tolerant of extreme heat and cold, they are incredibly strong, from a cellular standpoint, and they can withstand radiation.”
“Don’t forget, they have metal skeletons to help hold up the weight of their bodies,” Mathieu added.
“They absorb energy wherever they stand, so they don’t have to eat much,” Anna added. “And they can enter hibernation for thousands of years.”
“They’re explorers, like us,” C.C. said to Emily.
“Or colonizers?” Emily responded. “Do they land on a planet like 51 Golgotha and destroy all inhabitants so the planet is ripe for plunder when the rest of them arrive?”
Mathieu said, “The statue at the pyramid was pointing at the stars. Maybe it wasn’t an extension of hope, but a reminder of what’s to come.”
“Monsters,” C.C. said. “Sorry, Mega Xenons.”
“Kaiju,” Cole added. When the others sneered at him, he asked, “What? Am I the only one who likes Godzilla movies?”
“Well, we’re going to have a chance to determine whether it is more monster or more kaiju when we go see it,” Emily said. “Time’s up. The DSMUs are ready.”
8
The two-story-tall mechs struggled to traverse the desert topography. Except for the riddle of a second C.C.asaurus Rex skeleton that seemed to have been dragged under the dunes thousands of years ago, the crew encountered no new questions or adventures.
They pushed through the dunes, the sand sucking at the DCMUs’ legs with every step. At this point, though, much of the lower half of the leg was just frame for spent boosters.
The trip took two hours longer than originally planned. Eventually they caught up with the giant monsters whose towering figures they’d been following all day.
“Crud,” Mathieu said. “I think Cole’s finally going to live his dream of meeting one of the aliens. The drones are showing that the Jedik-ikik are traveling faster than we thought. They’re walking, though. Based on this data, we’re projected to arrive before them.”
“Do they look hostile?” C.C. asked.
“They have those blunt-edged spears with them.”
“They’re hostile. We should prepare for a fight.”
“Don’t be antithetic,” Emily said. “They probably don’t know we’re coming. If we do meet them, we’ll choose the peaceful path between our two peoples.” She stopped and turned her DSMU on the others.
“Look, I know it’s been difficult to say the very least, and the last two days have gone a lot worse than we ever expected. But that’s no reason to give up on our training or our procedures. We were chosen for our ability to adapt, and we were trained to cope with loss. So dig deep into what you’ve learned. We’re going to adapt and cope and whatever the hell else we need to do to get off this rock.”
The monsters lay like mountains in the middle of the desert, their craggy peaks jutting out of the sand. The rock dragon and the three-legged monster, each fallen on their bellies, eyes closed.
“How do we know if they are alive or dead, or in stasis?” Cole asked. “I don’t want to die if they get up and decide to stomp us into dust.”
Anna held up her Health Sensor. “There is a heartbeat coming from over there.” She pointed to the largest Rentok’s foot.
“Its heart is in its foot?” Cole asked.
The DSMUs approached the mountains of monsters. The foot was the size of two rows of buses stacked on top of each other. Next to it, the DSMUs looked small. Maybe not like ants, but more like mice. Small, humanoid-shaped mice.
“If we direct the pulse cannon at the heart, maybe we can kill it,” C.C. said. He didn’t need to explain his maybe. Everything about these creatures defied scientific explanation. So while it seemed reasonable that destroying the heart of any other living creature would kill it, they really didn’t know with these creatures.
C.C. climbed on top of the foot with Anna while the other three remained at the bottom. The pulse cannons charged.
And then a door opened in the base of the foot.
9
A thick, round astronaut’s helmet appeared in the dark. Two blue eyes opened. Once the alien spilled out of the monster’s foot, it became obvious that the eyes were circular blue goggles. The alien had a thick brow, nostril slits where his nose should be, two lower canines that jutted over his lip, and tapered ears. His skin was the color of old silver, the kind that stays in a bin and never sees daylight for years on end, and he had a blue pattern tattoo on the side of his face.
“What the?” Mathieu said.
The alien creature leaned against the rock and pushed his visor up. One side of the helmet was covered in blood streaks. The alien took several slow breaths. He looked unwell. He was weak, and possibly injured. He surveyed the astronauts while they exited their DSMUs.
“What do we say?” Anna asked. “Does he know Jedik?”
Cole stepped forward. For a moment, the alien and the astronaut watched each othe
r, trying to feel each other out and see what the other would do. Then Cole took a big gulp of air and removed his helmet.He pointed to himself and said, “Astronaut.” He pointed to every other crewmember and repeated the word.
The alien watched Cole pointing and speaking. His mouth moved like he was trying to speak. “TORnot,” he finally said. Cole smiled. They were communicating.
But then something shorted in the thin electrical device the alien wore as a collar around his neck. He winced and pressed a button. “TORnot,” he repeated. The device buzzed. “Stro-not,” he said when he spoke again. And then the third time, “Astronaut.”
“Yes,” Cole said. “Astronaut.”
“You are an astronaut,” the alien said. As he spoke, little lights in the collar blinked.
“Yes. You can speak English?”
“No.” He struggled for a minute, not just to find the words, but to find his breath. While the alien struggled, Cole placed the helmet back on his AXES suit and breathed in the oxygen. The rush felt good in his lungs. He wasn’t so sure how much longer he could have gone on holding his breath.
“I am from the planet Gromm.”
“How, how did you learn to speak?”
He pointed to his collar.
“But where did you pick up the English language?”
He pointed to the astronauts. “We have been listening to you since you arrived. We read your documents. You are here on a peaceful mission to study the Jedik-ikik.”
“Yes.”
“And you are here to colonize 51 Golgotha.”
“Wait. No,” Cole said.
“Yes,” C.C. said.
The alien looked from Cole to C.C. and back. The alien’s smile said a lot more about similar culture structures than Cole hoped to see in his lifetime. He just didn’t know it at the time because he was trying to understand what C.C. was saying.
“We came from Gromm to colonize here, too. We came several times, but every time the Jedik repelled us. So we brought bigger and bigger Rentok.”
“I’m sorry, but what are Rentok?” Cole asked.
The alien pointed to the monster behind him. “They call them Rentok. ‘Destroyers of the Universe.’ We call them vessels, though Rentok sounds much more interesting. We go as one, Rentok and pilot, to new worlds. For the worlds that can be harvested, we destroy the native civilization to prepare for colonists. The Jedik were too strong. They would destroy our vessels. When all was lost, we went into hibernation mode, knowing the Jedik would never reach us deep inside our vessels. We knew once the next group of Rentok arrived, they would wake us to join the battle. You woke us too soon. Now, without proper stasis rehabilitation equipment, I am dying.”
The alien slumped to the ground, falling on his bottom and holding his stomach. Anna scanned him with her health sensor. “His heartbeat is weak, and he has internal damage.”
“You,” the alien said, pointing to Emily. “You finally beat me. You are Kroern Morrigan now. Come here. I have something for you.”
“Don’t do it,” C.C. said, holding her by the hand, but Emily stepped forward. Cole approached with her. Together, they kneeled down on one knee next to the alien. He took off his glove. While the others watched in horror, hoping she would have the good sense to step away, Emily removed the glove from her AXES suit and took his hand. It was rough and aged, like an old book from a forgotten library.
“I pass on to you, Morder of Worlds.”
“What’d you say?” Cole asked. “I’m sorry. Could you say that again? It didn’t come through in your translator choker device.”
“Nott,” the alien said.
Emily felt a tingling in her fingers, and a bolt of electricity. She jerked her hand away. When she looked up, the alien was slumped back and looking up to the stars. He had stopped breathing. He was looking up to the stars. And the blue tattoo on the side of his face was gone.
“Baby,” Cole said, disconcerted. “What’s that on the side of your face?”
10
“I want to go inside,” Emily said, her eyes to the door.
“Let’s work the problem first,” C.C. said.
“There’s no problem here.”
“We should analyze it.”
“What is there to analyze? That the radiation out here is high? It’s probably safer in there.”
“I’m with her,” Anna said.
The two women moved toward the door. Cole walked after them, then Mathieu, and then C.C. Mathieu stopped at the dead alien. He played with the translator for a moment, and then it popped off. “Hey, Cole, looks like you’re about to become obsolete.”
Cole looked up at the giant monster. “A lot of things are.”
The room inside the Rentok’s foot was dark except for three blue lights at the far end of the room. The astronauts turned on their helmet lights until Emily pressed one of the buttons and the lights came on.
“How did you know to do that?” C.C. asked.
She shrugged. “I’ve always had great analytical thinking.” She pressed another button, and the outer door behind them shut.
“Too bad you don’t use it,” C.C. said. Emily scowled.
The small entry room had barely enough space for all the astronauts and their AXES suits. A set of spacesuits, like the one the Kroern pilot had worn, was strapped to one wall. Across from them was one door, with a spiral pattern on it. At the far end was another, but it had a slit down the middle. Next to the spiral door was another set of lights, and then also a small round door, not more than twenty centimeters in diameter, and about a meter off the ground.
Three tones beeped, each one lower than the previous. By the third tone, jets of gas were vented into the air.
“This is why we do the fault tree analysis, Em,” C.C. said.
“We’re okay. It’s antimicrobial.”
“This is an airlock.” C.C. said what they were all thinking.
Once the venting stopped, Anna asked, “Which door do we take?”
Mathieu rapped the farthest door with his knuckles. “Metal. How do you get this much metal inside another living organism?”
Emily pressed another button, which was next to the nearest door. “Oops,” she said, without any sense of apology. Inside, she was burning with curiosity. This was the kind of adventure she had wanted since she was a child first looking up at the moon and wondering what other planets were out there. It was the complete unknown, and she was drawn to it.
The flanges in the spiral door separated, revealing a second compartment even more cramped than the first. The flanges closed, and then a second door in front of the first. A series of buttons were on the side, as well as another circular door.
“Okay, so we are in an elevator inside a giant monster,” C.C. said.
“Going up?” She pressed the top-most button. Without a sound, the elevator carriage began to move upward. Then it suddenly curved and turned upside down. The astronauts scrambled for the straps as they bumped over each other like leaves in a tossed salad. Just as suddenly, the elevator turned the other way and lay on its side. It shunted along like this until it turned them back on their heads, then quickly jolted the other way. The carriage came to a sudden stop.
The door opened.
“Get off my head,” Mathieu said.
“Sorry,” Cole said.
“No, not you. Your wife.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Slowly the crew disentangled themselves from the mess they had become and left the elevator carriage. This was the biggest room so far, but it was still close quarters. There were six chairs around consoles. Each console showed a hologram of the giant monster’s face.
“That is the face of one angry beastie,” Mathieu said. He leaned in real close to the console to see the monster.
“You okay?” Anna asked him. In all the excitement, Mathieu had been able to get away with his vision problems. Not anymore.
“I’m fine. I’ve just been having a little vision trouble, but it’s nothing that w
on’t autocorrect itself,” he said.
Anna pulled out a pen light and searched his eyes for trouble.
“You’re not good,” she said. “I need to get you to the Hab for observation.”
“I’m as healthy as an ox.”
“Maybe, but you’re as healthy as an ox that’s traveled through a seven year gauntlet of space radiation, only to fall to Golgotha. I need to do a more thorough review. I can’t do it here.”
“We’ll head back soon,” Emily said. “First, I want to get to know this beauty a little better. If I’m right, I can cut our travel time down to minutes.”
The Rentok’s face was covered in smooth rock patterns, like layers of sediment. Its teeth were like finely carved stalactites and stalagmites perfectly shaped over each other.
“He?” C.C. asked.
Emily nodded. “He is calling to me. I can hear him in my head. It is faint like he is yelling from a faraway window, and I don’t understand his language, but he’s calling for me.”
She began to ascend the ladder at the far end of the room. It led to a higher platform.
“Where are you going?” Cole asked.
“I need to do something.”
“Fault trees, Em,” C.C. said. “Don’t be a fool.”
“Not everything is a fault tree, C.C. Sometimes you have to go with your gut.”
They watched her ascend to the higher platform. Up here, the metals were mostly gone. Purple tissue surrounded most of the cabin. There was a console with another glaring face of the monster, and a chair. There were no circular doors on the walls, Emily noticed. There were several at the base of the chair, though.
She sat down in the chair. She was a little small for the seat, and the chair was cold.
From out of the flesh grew three purple masses, one from above and one from either side. The masses of flesh sought her out like feelers probing the air. As they approached her, the masses opened. Looking inside them was like looking at all the stars of the universe.
“Don’t touch those things!” Cole called up to his wife. He was already climbing the ladder.