Project Columbus: Omnibus

by J. C. Rainier

  Loud booms rang out in staccato bursts from all over the hill. Darren felt a searing pain tear through his left shoulder. He winced and stumbled back a step. More shots rang out and Logan collapsed in a heap before his eyes. An instinct took over, and Darren reached with both arms and grabbed thorny vines, which dug into his flesh. Behind him, Denise coughed as she struggled to her knees.

  More gunfire erupted, and Darren watched as every man on the far side of the brush was cut down by the welcome party. Hank was the last man standing, and he managed to get off a couple defensive rounds before falling himself. Then the five gunmen turned on the wall of brush, and began firing wildly. Two more slugs hit Darren; one ripped through his knee, causing him to pitch forward, and the other caught him in the gut. His hand released from the vines, and with the last strength of his good leg, he threw his body on top of Denise.

  Only a few more seconds of shots rang out, and their echoes were quickly drowned out by the rising screams of panic from the pod seven survivors. His face was now turned into the jungle, and he watched men and women fleeing in all directions into the woods. Lifeless bodies lay scattered amongst the groaning wounded, who clawed at the dirt in a bid to escape.

  “Why are they shooting us?” Denise shrieked.

  “Shhh,” Darren clamped his bloody hand over her mouth. “Stay down.”

  He lay on top of his former captor as the minutes ticked by, keeping her from making any noise, for fear that their assailants would reload and finish them off. He heard the men approach, checking on the status of each man on the far side of the brush.

  “Yup, kid’s dead,” one of them remarked callously. “Why the hell did he go for his gun? Stupid, stupid kid.”

  “They thought that Logan was going to fire,” Darren whispered, coughing up a glob of blood. “What the hell is wrong with them? He just dropped his rifle, he wasn’t going to shoot.”

  “What the hell is this?” a woman’s voice barked from on the hill.

  “They went for their guns, Sergeant,” one of the men responded.

  “Are you kidding me? Give me that rifle, Sinclair. And get your ass back to camp right this second.” Darren knew the owner of voice. Although his head was swimming from the pain, he could recognize the woman that he had served with for a long time.

  “C’mon, Daniels, we were just enforcing the lieutenant’s quarantine orders. This kid went for his rifle.”

  “Enough,” Sergeant Daniels roared. “All of you back to camp right this second or I’ll have you shot.”

  The men did not talk back to her; instead he could hear them shuffling off, grumbling. He continued to play dead as long as he could, but couldn’t hold back another cough. Darren heard the approach of several pairs of legs. Hands grabbed at his arms, and he was rolled onto his back, into the freshly cut vines. He looked up and saw the familiar face of Daniels, as well as two airmen. When she assessed his condition, she bit her lip, and a look of grave concern grew on her face.

  “Sir, you’ve been shot.”

  “Thanks for the update,” he coughed. “My people… how bad?”

  Daniels nodded to the airmen, who continued on through the brush and into the jungle. “Not sure yet, sir. At least four dead, including the boy, and Hank. Just hang on. We’ll get the doctor to take care of you.”

  Darren became aware of soft sobbing next to him. He looked over and saw Denise, with her knees to her chest, crying. “Why the hell are they shooting?”

  “It’s over. Daniels is here.”

  “Logan... they killed Logan. Oh God…”

  He heard more footsteps, and saw shadows blur past as he began to lose focus. More hands grabbed him, and he was lifted onto a stretcher. His body rocked and jostled as he was carried up the hill.

  “Daniels?”

  “Yes sir?”

  “Do you have…” a coughing fit wracked his body, interrupting his query. The jerking of the coughs renewed the pain from his wounds, and he moaned in agony.

  “Take it easy, sir. Just stay with us until we can get you to the doctor.”

  “I need… need to know.”

  “It can wait, sir.”

  “Marsolek.” The rising pain as his adrenaline wore off made his breathing labored, and he could barely utter the words. “Need to talk…”

  The swaying stopped and he felt his back against the ground again. There was an almost imperceptible pinch in Darren’s arm, and seconds later he felt as if he would float away. The pain subsided quickly, but his thoughts became clouded and jumbled.

  “Marsolek,” he whispered.

  “Shhh. Let the doctor take care of you.”

  Capt Haruka Kimura

  Planetfall +23 days, mid morning

  Camp Eight

  Haruka sunk her teeth into the speckled orange flesh of the fruit. “Pepperine” was the name that camp dwellers had given the edible fruit that Gabi had inadvertently discovered. It was suitable, as it had qualities of both a nectarine and a pepper. Haruka found the tiny seeds to be more like dozens of grape seeds, but otherwise she felt the description to be accurate. All comparisons aside, it was one of her favorite foods of the new planet; the sweet fruitiness blended well with the slight spicy kick. By comparison, the edible leaves and roots they had found were either bland or tough and fibrous.

  She finished the fruit and tossed the core upstream into the river, then watched as it passed by her; several fish had come to investigate and taste the bobbing treat.

  The animals on this planet sure aren’t shy, for better or worse.

  The moment of solitude took the edge off of the feelings of guilt and uselessness that had plagued her since Dr. Petrovsky had ordered her not to work. Her shoulder bothered her only a little now, though the cuts from lancing the wound would take time to heal. Haruka splashed her feet in the refreshing waters of the river as she sat in the sands at its mouth. The tang of the sea was particularly pungent in the air this morning, and both Arion and Persephone hung well over the horizon. The former was a barely distinguishable shape, though it had moved in the last hour to a position in front of the brighter Persephone, causing a partial eclipse of the moon.

  Damn. That’s a hell of a sight, she thought as a grin crept across her face. That couldn’t happen on Earth.

  Her eyes were glued to the skies as she watched Arion dip toward the horizon, outrunning its orbital partner. Once the show concluded she wandered down the beach in the direction of the sleeper pod. The tide was in, and the usual gentle rollers that washed on shore were replaced by small, foaming breakers. Haruka looked up at the clear blue skies, noting barely a cloud in sight. A slight breeze cooled her skin as she padded along the white sands. A couple of the older children were braving the waters, but the younger ones were not on the beach. Notably absent were Gabi and her mother, who had been fixtures on or near the beach up until the death of Luis. Haruka’s lip curled upward and her fists clenched at the thought of his murder.

  She silently cursed the name of the murderer, Lon Carney. After Leight and James had accounted for the colonists on the day of the crime, only two were missing from the ranks: Luis, who was the victim of the heinous act, and Carney. Sergeant Leight confirmed the identity of the murderer; his description was a dead match for the young man.

  Haruka still could not wrap her mind around why Luis would be a target for murder. She knew of no altercations between her Chief of Security and any refugees. He was well liked and respected, and his devotion to the cause of carving out a new home from the wilderness was second to none.

  She shook the thought from her head and focused on the task at hand; she had not had her daily visit with Dr. Petrovsky, and she wanted to get it out of the way and move on with her day. She mounted the ramp to the pod, pausing at the top to note the waves lapping even farther up the beach than just minutes ago.

  Wow, really high tide today.

  Haruka poked her head around the corner and down a sleeper hallway, looking for the doctor, but it was deserted. S
he looked down the other hallway and came across Sergeant Leight performing his daily internal inspection of the pod.

  “Hey, have you seen Dr. Petrovsky?”

  He shook his head without as much as a glance in her direction. “Not for a while. He left after chow this morning.”

  “Any idea where he went?”

  “I think he went to check on Gabi Serrano and a couple of the injured from pod ten. I expect he’ll be back soon. Actually, I’m a bit surprised he isn’t already. You’re welcome to wait if you want.”

  “Well, he is a doctor,” she said dryly. “If he’s taking a vacation day, he’s either golfing or fishing. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was casting his line from the top of the pod right now.”

  Leight closed the berth he was inspecting and gave her a confused look. “What would he catch? Sandrunners?”

  “Huh? No, fish.”

  “Hope he’s got a hell of an arm then. I don’t think I could cast and hit the water from here with the tide out.”

  “The tide’s not out, Sergeant. It’s all the way in, and higher than I’ve ever seen it.”

  “What?”

  He spun around and squeezed past Haruka. The two walked to the top of the ramp and at the waves. Haruka gasped as she realized that in just a few minutes, another twenty feet of beach had become submerged, and the sea was not much more than another twenty feet from the pod.

  “Damn it.” Leight turned and yelled down the hall at the cockpit. “Jenkins! Get out here, now!”

  The cockpit door at the far end swung wide open, and Airman Jenkins came running out at full steam. His curly brown locks flopped in his face in rhythm with his strides, and his shaggy beard was quite out of place on his youthful face. Jenkins came to a stop at the top of the ramp and saluted.

  “No time for that,” Leight snapped. “We need to get this tin can unloaded this second. Food, medical supplies, and tools first. Anything that’s not nailed down after that.”

  “Yes sir!” he replied and darted back inside the pod as Haruka ran down the ramp.

  “Captain, where are you going?”

  “Getting help,” she called back without hesitation.

  Haruka made a beeline for the bank and scrambled up. Her legs tired quickly; her strength was still sapped by the effects of the radiation poisoning. Among the trees she found only the children and a couple of the mothers who took their turns watching the group. She raced parallel to the shore and came across Dr. Petrovsky, James, Maria, and Gabi. The doctor was admiring Gabi’s splint and tying up the sling when Haruka approached.

  “James, you need to help Leight at the pod right away,” she huffed, doubling over.

  He sidled up next to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Easy, catch your breath. What’s wrong?”

  “No time. Get over there now. Need to evacuate the pod.”

  “Evacuate?” His eyes grew wide with shock.

  “Come on,” Dr. Petrovsky said as he tugged the knot on Gabi’s sling tight. “Gabi’s doing great, let’s go help Seth.”

  Haruka turned to follow the men, but they easily outpaced her in their full sprint across the beach. Even the older doctor – who had lost a fair amount of weight in the three weeks on Demeter – left her in the dust. She panted and heaved, and then gave up the pursuit, dropping down to have a seat under a palm. Her heart felt as if it had sunk into the ground.

  I’m useless. I can’t even keep up with these guys for a hundred meters.

  She growled at her failure and flung a handful of sandy dirt at the pod looming on the beach. James and Dr. Petrovsky darted up and down the ramp with supplies handed to them by someone within the pod; she presumed them to be Jenkins and Leight. Several of the teenage children seemed to see what was going on, and rushed from the bank to help the men carry, push, and drag the supplies off of the beach. Haruka took a deep breath, relieved to see that there were others willing to spring into action.

  She recovered just as Maria and Gabi caught up. Maria started to speak, but Haruka stopped her with a raised hand, and continued her jog to the rear or of the sleeper pod. Heavy rollers slammed into the side of the pod, and the base of the ramp was submerged. A line of refugees stretched from the top of the ramp down into the water and onto the shore, and they passed crates, packs, tools, and weapons down the line in an effort to salvage the pod before the encroaching waves could invade it. Beyond the shore, pod twelve had slipped below the water. No trace of it could be found, despite Haruka’s best efforts to locate it.

  Leight wandered around the top of the ramp barking orders to Airman Jenkins as to what he wanted pulled from the pod next. Leight grabbed an ammunition box and passed it down to James just as a large wave slammed into the side of the pod, sending a wash over the ramp. James was knocked to his knees, but regained his footing. Kelly Vandemark, the older of James’s daughters, was swept off her feet and was dragged out toward the sea by the undercurrent. Haruka gasped as she saw the teenager struggle against the powerful ebb. Doctor Petrovsky was able to lunge out just in time to catch her and keep the sea from swallowing her.

  Haruka shouted from the shore, “Leight! Get out of there! It’s too dangerous!”

  He continued his work on the ship as another wave knocked the doctor off balance. Petrovsky yelled something at Leight, but she could not hear what, as the breakers drowned out the sound. The doctor and the teenagers abandoned the pod and trudged to the shore, leaving James, Airman Jenkins, and Sergeant Leight aboard the pod. James tugged at the sergeant’s arm, but Leight shook him off like he was a ragdoll, and disappeared into the pod. Another wave crashed into the back of the men, and Airman Jenkins had to steady his older companion, whose step faltered just moments before they reached safety. Once under the canopy of the palms, the soaked men looked back.

  “Leight!” Haruka called out.

  The surging surf slammed into the bank, spraying the considerable sized crowd that had gathered around, as well as the crates and supplies that lay scattered under the trees.

  “Get those supplies up the hill,” she barked.

  The survivors descended on the pile of goods and began to clear them out. There was little order; some supplies were dropped as two people would grab for the same item, and others looked at the jumble with confusion as to what they needed to do. In the shuffle, Haruka saw a half dozen of the encampment’s youngest children huddled nearby with no supervision. She scanned the crowd and locked her focus on Maria Serrano.

  “Maria,” she commanded sharply. “Get these kids out of here.”

  “W-where…”

  “To the hill. Get them up there and keep an eye on them.”

  Haruka quickly turned her attention to the rabble on the beach. She looked for signs of Sergeant Leight, but he was nowhere in the crowd. Water began to flood over the lip of the embankment, and she could see that the main hallway of the pod was submerged in about a foot of water.

  “Leight! Get your ass out of that pod, now!”

  She waited, but still the sergeant did not emerge from within the pod. She repeated her calls to him every few seconds until her voice became a hoarse rasp.

  Damn it, Leight! Get out of there!

  A large roller washed completely over the bank, and water flowed past Haruka’s boots and the small piles of clothing, food, and tools that the colonists could not carry in the first wave. Water surged down the hallway in the pod. Then, as the wave ebbed, the ramp of the pod was visible again for a moment, and then the whole pod lurched to the right a few degrees, startling her. Haruka’s heart raced as she wondered whether Sergeant Leight had been injured by the sudden shift.

  “Leight!” she bellowed again.

  Sergeant Leight appeared from inside the dark hollow of the pod empty handed. His legs pushed the shin-high waters out of his way as he made for the ramp, then his legs disappeared a few inches at a time until the swirling, rushing waters consumed them. He waded in to his chest, where the bottom of the ramp had been minutes earli
er, then turned for shore. His progress was very slow, and the sergeant seemed to labor as he struggled to walk against the current as it pulled away from shore. His teeth were clenched, and his brow was red.

  “Come on, Sergeant!” she beckoned as she walked to the bank’s precipice.

  He reached for her, but was knocked down from behind as he stretched. The spray made Haruka turn her head, and when she turned back, Leight had rolled over on his back, and the sea was dragging him out into the surf.

  “No!” she screamed.

  She was about to lunge forward when someone caught her arm and pulled her back. Dr. Petrovsky yanked her into her arms and squeezed with a bear’s grip. From the corner of her eye, as she turned back, she saw Troy Bryant run headlong into the surf. Leight was rolled over and smothered by an incoming wave, but Troy was on him in an instant, grabbing the stout sergeant by his flight suit, and dragging him back to shore. Petrovsky released his iron grasp, and Haruka knelt next to pod ten’s commander. He coughed and gagged as his lungs expelled the salty water.

  “Damn it, Leight. You could have been killed.”

  “I had to try, Captain,” he coughed.

  “Try what?” she retorted. “What was so damned important?”

  “Trying to seal up and shut down the pod so the computer doesn’t fry.”

  Haruka nodded and bit her lip. The loss of the pod’s computer paled in comparison to the prospect of losing Sergeant Leight. She fought back the urge to ream him for his stupidity.

  “That was a hell of a ride, though,” he added. “I thought the whole damn thing was going to roll over there. Thought that might be the end for me.”

  I don’t want your end to be something so foolish, damn it. I don’t want your end to come at all.

  2nd Lt Darren Cormack

  Planetfall +23 days, midday

  Pod one and two combined landing site

  The orange globe of the sun shone through the thick canvas of the tent, its size grossly distorted by diffusion of the light through the fabric. Darren’s head swam as he looked up from under the extra flight suit that was draped over his body. Between his wounds and the morphine, he could barely lift his hand to shield his face from the sun. He licked at his parched lips and relaxed again, waiting for the return of the nurse who tended to him.