PERIL

by Holloway, Timothy

  “Clearly, we’re not getting the full story here?” Bains says as she eyeballs the map.

  “Agreed. The Beryllium is pure. Advanced scans determined that before we left Earth,” Reed says.

  “So why would they claim it’s substandard?” Neil asks.

  “Again who cares? This map says there are large deposits and they’re giving it to us! I say we take it. I got no problem with it,” Cruise says.

  “You’re also prone to leaping before looking, Cruise,” Magruder says in jest.

  “Enough. Pure grade ore, large deposits based on this map, this is all speculation. The only way we’ll substantiate anything is if we physically go out there to the site and run some scans. So suit-up,” Bains orders.

  “Alright Cruise, Pendersen and Nickolette you’re up. You know the drill, two in environmental suits and one in the DCU,” Reed commands.

  “Awe, hell no! I ain’t getting in that thing. I’ll take an environmental suit if it’s okay with you,” Cruise objects.

  The downloadable Conscious Unit or DCU is a mechanical suit used for mining. The occupant would get into a cryo-stasis unit and have his or her consciousness downloaded into it.

  “I’ll do it––it’s like dreaming, Cruise. It’s just like hyper-sleep. Paid snooze time!” Nickolette says jokingly.

  Nyna listened in silence.

  “Call it what you like, but you can’t spend the money if you die in that freakin’ thing,” Cruise scoffs.

  “I don’t care who gets in it just get moving! We don’t have all day,” Reed says.

  Everyone except Nyna heads over to D-Block via the North Corridor to the habitat’s Med Lab where the DCU’s are housed. Nyna has plans of her own. She slips away unnoticed by the group.

  The crew arrives at Med Lab. The robotic units stand nine feet tall with huge mechanical arms. There are two of them. The suits are shiny red and silver in color. The suits’ helmets have large black visors with neon blue domes on top of them. Both of the robotic suits stand up against a wall and has a large spikes lodged in both of their backs. The spikes are used as conduits for the suit’s power and user’s consciousness to be transferred through.

  In the Med Lab are also four portable cryo-stasis units. There is also a closet housing several environmental suits. Magruder and Reed assist Cruise and Nickolette as they put on their environmental suits. They methodically check to make sure that the suits are secure. Doctor Peirce and Bains helped Pendersen into the cryo-stasis unit and check its systems. Neil sits at a station monitoring the cryo-stasis unit’s activity and powers it up.

  Once Pendersen is in the cryo-tube, Bains and Doctor Pierce joins Neil at the station. Nickolette and Pendersen watch each other from across the room. The genetic twins share a feeling of apprehension despite Pendersen’s confident attitude about the unit. The DCU process is a fairly new use of the cryo-stasis unit barley out of the testing phase. Nickolette watches as his counterpart settles into the cryo-tube.

  “Just like dreaming, bro,” Nickolette says reassuringly to Pendersen.

  “Just like dreaming,” Pendersen replies nervously.

  “HAB 1, initiate DCU protocols,” Doctor Pierce commands.

  The cryo-tube begins to hum and the robotic suit lights up. Bains watches intently. She moves closer to Doctor Pierce.

  “Pierce, tell me more about this unit you’re transferring him into,” Bains inquires.

  “Well it operates like your standard cryo process except instead of his consciousness remaining in the cryo-unit it’s transferred to the robotic suit. He’ll have full control over the suit with the ability to push, pull and lift over five thousand pounds off pressure,” Doctor Pierce says confidently.

  “Sweet!” Reed says.

  Bains smiles in response to Reed’s childlike amazement.

  “How long can he safely be in it?” Bains inquires.

  “Up to 7.5 hours max,” Doctor Pierce warns.

  “Hey doc what happens after 7.5 hours?” Cruise asks jokingly.

  “Obviously, that would be considered clinical death Lieutenant,” Doctor Pierce replies.

  “Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen,” Bains urges.

  Nickolette slaps Cruise on the shoulder.

  “What? I just wanted to know where ya go after 7.5 hours”

  “In your case, Cruise a fiery pit somewhere at the bottom of Hades,” Magruder jokes.

  “Downloadable Conscious Unit is online. Whenever you’re ready, doctor,” HAB 1 states.

  Cruise now in his environmental suit eased over to the robotic suits.

  “Begin transfer,” Dr. Pierce says.

  “Transfer in progress. Standby,” HAB 1 replies.

  The group watches anxiously awaiting Pendersen’s transfer. The neon blue dome on top of one of the suits begins to glow and lower into the suit’s helmet. The rod piercing the back of the suit charges with electrical currents. Electrical bolts fire rapidly around it. Suddenly, the suit jerks upwards from its slightly hunched over position. Cruise quickly accesses a panel on its arm. He scrolls through several commands stopping at “Vocal App” and then accesses “Captain Vanessa Bains Vocal Processor.” He pats Nickolette on the shoulder and grins mischievously. He’s up to his juvenile pranks per usual.

  Suddenly, a projected image of Pendersen’s face appears on the suit’s black visor. It flickers a bit until a solid signal is obtained.

  “Transfer complete,” HAB 1 indicates.

  “Uh, we got ‘em here, doc,” Cruise says grinning widely.

  “Ok, Pendersen, how are you feeling?” Doctor Pierce asks.

  There is a distorted audible response as Pendersen tries to answer. It sounds like a very bad transmission. The suit is confused by an input error. Then Pendersen responds again.

  “I said I’m good. Hey quit screwin’ around, man!” Pendersen says in Bains’ voice.

  Cruise laughs hardily. He’s amused at seeing Pendersen’s face speaking in Bains’ voice.

  “You know, Cruise, the sooner we get those scans completed the sooner we know how much money we get,” Bains says.

  “I copy that!” Cruise says.

  Cruise accesses Pendersen’s Vocal App and corrects the error immediately.

  HAB 1 withdraws the metal rod from the back of the suit.

  “Okay. Pendersen why don’t you stretch your legs a bit? Get a feel for the suit” Doctor Pierce says.

  “My pleasure doc,” Pendersen replies eagerly.

  Pendersen steps away from the wall disengaging the suit from the spike in its back. He raises the suit’s huge arms in the air and lifts its heavy legs. The pounding of the suit’s footsteps produce a thunderous bang as he moves quickly towards Cruise. He looks very opposing. Cruise backs into a corner in fear of the giant.

  “Hey back off man!” Cruise yells.

  Pendersen slams both the suit’s arms down against the wall pinning Cruise between them. He leans in placing his projected face close to Cruise’s face.

  “The suit is working just fine now, doc,” Pendersen says.

  “I agree. However, I’ll want to run a few more test before you go out,” Doctor Pierce adds laughing.

  “How long?” Bains inquires.

  “About twenty-minutes,” Doctor Pierce adds.

  Turning her attention away from the horseplay Bains revisits the earlier meeting highlights with Reed.

  “I’m still a little perplexed about the other team’s agenda.”

  “Agreed. I’m curious about what they don’t want us to find at the other sites. Fifty-clicks, that’s excessive,” Reed says to Bains.

  “Knowing what’s up over there would make me feel a lot better,” Bains replies.

  “There maybe a way to find out what they’re hiding. The probe Seeyer launched over a year ago was monitoring all the prospective dig sites,” Neil says.

  “Wasn’t it lost?” Bains asks.

  “Yeah, but when the, Decima, came within range of the planet, ISIS, picked up on its
last known telemetry. She transmitted the data before she went offline,” Neil adds.

  He logs onto a holo-terminal and has HAB 1 download the data. HAB 1 also scans for the downed probe’s current location.

  “Probe found in Sector 373-D,” HAB 1 states.

  Bains and the rest of the crew gather around the terminal.

  “Sector 373-D?” Bains says as she wanders back over to the map.

  “That’s Site B!” Bains points out.

  “Site B. Okay, Bains, what are you thinking?” Reed asks.

  “That probe is Ares Corp. property and retrieving it gives us an excuse to look around their dig site”

  Bains notices that Nyna has been absent for a while.

  “Reed go ahead and send Cruise, Pendersen and Nickolette to scan our site,” Bains orders.

  “Where are you going?” Reed asks.

  “To finally get some answers. HAB, locate, Nyna.”

  “Corridor C, headed towards the Launch Bay,” HAB 1 states.

  Bains makes her way to the Launch Bay. She arrives to discover the hatch disengaged. She looks through one of the small hatch windows and sees Nyna unlocking the strange crate she brought along.

  “HAB override hatch door,” Bains says anxiously.

  “Opening hatch,” HAB 1 responds.

  The hatch opens and Bains rushes in.

  She finds Nyna standing in front of the opened crate, wearing an environmental suit. Bains makes her way around to the open side of the crate and is in shock at what she finds.

  “Oh my, God! Are you insane? What is that thing doing here?” Bains asks alarmed.

  Nyna has brought a deadly robotic weapon called the, Shiva. Just like the name suggests, Shiva resembled the Hindu God. It stands ten feet and has six arms. It’s equipped with biological and technological weaponry.

  “It’s a solution and a guarantee,” Nyna says smugly.

  “For what exactly?”

  Nyna resumes programming the Shiva for deployment. She also decides to finally let Bains in on the classified aspects of the mission.

  “The probe Seeyer sent here detected some sort of alien transmission before we lost communication, emanating from Sector 373-D. No doubt Aaron Enterprises and The Apollo Corporation’s teams have found the source of the transmission. The implications to such a find are obvious. Ares Corporation wants more Intel and this unit guarantees that we’ll get it.”

  “At what cost, our lives?” Bains asks.

  “As a scientist, you should appreciate the value of this find.”

  “Oh I do, but I’m a Captain first and your motives puts us at risk.”

  Bains is unnerved by the presence of the Shiva Unit, yet intrigued by the discovery of the transmission.

  “Bains, to, Reed,” Bains call out over the intercom.

  “Reed, here, Captain.”

  “Status?” Bains asks.

  “Cruise, Pendersen and Nickolette are in route to the Launch Bay.”

  “I’m in the Launch Bay with Nyna. I need you down here!” Bains says with urgency.

  “Acknowledged! Is everything okay?”

  “Just get down here, now!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Cruise, Pendersen, and Nickolette enters the Launch Bay prepared to go to the site. They find Bains and Nyna at an obvious standoff.

  “What’d we miss?” Cruise asks.

  They venture further into the bay and discover the Shiva.

  “Oh crap! This can’t be good,” Nickolette says.

  “Stand clear!” Nyna says.

  Reed enters the bay and he too is stunned.

  “What the…” Reed says.

  Bains quickly updates Reed and the others on the now declassified mission objectives.

  “Alien transmission? Why weren’t we informed from the giddy up?” Cruise blasts.

  “Yeah, what’s up with that?” Pendersen adds.

  “Clearly we’re considered moot…insignificant. Getting the ore was just a ploy to come here,” Bains explains.

  “You are still under company orders, Bains. Get your ore and leave the rest to me,” Nyna urges.

  “So what’s your plan to unleash this thing and slaughter the other teams to obtain what? Intel?” Bains asks.

  “Humans, you’re driven by base emotions and bound by your moral precepts, only when it suits you. Note, I came with an agenda–––I will see it done,” Nyna scoffs.

  Bains realizes that Nyna would kill the other teams to get what she wanted. She would possibly terminate Bains’ crew if they got in her way. They are all expendable.

  “How could, Seeyer, put us in harms way like this?” Bains thinks to herself.

  Nyna is physically stronger and faster than her human counterparts. Bains knows what needs to be done and there is only one person there that can handle the job.

  “Pendersen,” Bains says.

  “Yes ma’am?” Pendersen responds.

  “Put this thing down!” Bains commands.

  “Yes ma’am! ”Pendersen eagerly replies.

  Nyna lunges at Bains and in mid-air, Pendersen catches her with one arm. The robotic suit effortlessly slams Nyna to the floor. Nyna lands a swift back kick to the suit’s mid-section denting it slightly. However, Pendersen maintains his grip on her. Facedown, Nyna is unable to maneuver.

  “That’s ten thousand pounds of pressure on ya ass girl!” Cruise yells.

  Nyna struggles to get free. She tries to grab the suit’s helmet, but the robotic suit’s long arm put it out of her reach.

  Reed and Nickolette scrambled to find something to subdue the android with. Bains quickly grabs a heavy drilling device from a wall unit and with one swift blow she bashes in Nyna’s head. Synthetic lubricant splashes in every direction and sparks ignite signaling the android’s defeat.

  Bains takes a moment and stares at Nyna’s immobilized body. Her head is slightly disconnected and smashed. Exposed fiber optic wiring is all that connected the robot’s head and torso. Bains kneels down over Nyna. The android manages a few parting words for her adversary.

  “This changes nothing, Captain. Seeyer, will send another team to make contact with the source of that transmission if the other teams haven’t already. Based on what we know, you’re dealing with intelligence far superior than your own. They will most likely be hostile. Once back on Earth Humanity’s reign will be over. Then and only then will you have the infinite knowledge you so arrogantly seek…an ending,” Nyna says.

  Bains wraps her hand around the slimy wires protruding from Nyna’s neck.

  “Is there anything else?” Bains asks coldly.

  “Only regret. I won’t be able to see that end.”

  “Fret not, Nyna, it may not be the ending you wanted to see–––but it’s the one you’re gonna get,” Bains says poetically as she yanks the wires free.

  “You guys go ahead to our site as planned. Get those scans,” Bains orders.

  “What do you want to do about that transmission?” Reed asks.

  Bains pauses before answering.

  “Recon. I say we go take a look at, Captain Satoh’s, dig site,” Bains replies.

  “We can take the Titan. She’s slower than the Grey Goose but she’ll get us there,” Reed suggests.

  Bains and Reed exit the Launch Bay and strategize their recon mission. Cruise, Pendersen and Nickolette board the Grey Goose. It is an all terrain vehicle used mainly for transport and it is loaded with geological survey equipment.

  The outer hatch doors open and they disembark from the habitat. It is twilight and the visibility is low. High winds persist as they drive across the landscape. A thick mist adds to the low visibility. The planet’s surface is covered with strange cone like rock formations. They are dense in some areas and sparse in others, much like trees in a forest. The environment is eerie.

  “I can’t see, shit, out here,” Cruise gripes.

  “I’ve been on many planetoids in my career, but this has got to be the creepiest,” Pendersen say
s.

  “Don’t tell me you’re spooked,” Nickolette asks.

  The planet’s terrain is rocky, giving the crew a bumpy ride.

  “That’s it, switching to autopilot,” Cruise states.

  “Grey Goose online…auto pilot engaged. Please state or enter a destination,” The vehicle’s computer requests.

  Cruise fumbles with a holographic map of the terrain. Pendersen and Nickolette notice the computer’s cartoonish voice.

  “Cruise, you screwed with the Goose? Aw man!” Pendersen complains.

  “That’s gotta be bad luck man,” Nickolette adds.

  Cruise continues to fumble with the map.

  “Will you chill? Uh, let’s see here, it’s a straight route. I know Site D is on here somewhere,” Cruise declares.

  “Please state or enter destination,” The computer repeats.

  “Sector 20-12,” Nickolette states.

  “Acknowledge…ETA twenty-one minutes to Sector 20-12,” The computer confirms.

  “I knew that,” Cruise says.

  The ride gets even bumpier and the holographic navigational display shows multiple blurred obstructions and rocky debris along their path. Cruise looks over the display frantically as he tries to get his bearings.

  “Maybe we should stop I’m reading multiple obstructions! Some of them appear to be moving!” Nickolette insists.

  “That’s just negative E.M. field interference you’re picking up. Goose press on!” Cruise urges.

  The terrain is giving them a real jostling. They notice something ahead of them and yell out in fear.

  Hours later, Lt. Neil is in Main Operations trying to reach Cruise and his team. Bains and Reed enter discussing their plan to infiltrate Captain Satoh’s dig site. They’re both wearing environmental suits and holding helmets.

  “Anything?” Bains asks.

  “No. The planet’s atmosphere is creating negative E.M. fields in that sector. It’s hard to localize their position, let alone make contact,” Neil replies.

  “Track for any moving objects the size of the Grey Goose,” Reed instructs.

  “It’s worth a shot,” Neil says.

  “Keep on it,” Bains orders.

  Bains turns her attention back to Reed.