Dead Force Box Set

by S D Tanner

  Rok had his nose pressed up against the glass like a dog at a door. “Rok, what can you see?”

  “There’s something out there.”

  “Space?”

  “Yeah, I think so, but there are some round white domes. Two of them.”

  Shading his eyes with his gloved hand, he peered through the window. Just as Rok had said, two enormous domes were attached to the ship by thick white tubes. If his flaky recall was right, then the domes didn’t contain people, but something the ship needed to function. Twisting to his left, he could just make out the curve of a hoop at one end of the ship. On the other side, was the arc of another hoop. Although he didn’t remember seeing the ship before, it was shaped exactly the way he thought it was.

  Turning away from the window he looked down the corridor. Every thirty yards there were three by one foot vents built into the ceiling above the window. Although the floor had been covered in what appeared to be hard plastic it felt solid under his boots. Wide enough to drive a small vehicle along it, the corridor was essentially an access tube running the length of the ship.

  Looking up at the vent above the window, Judge said, “It must take a lot of energy to keep the power up and circulate warm air.”

  “Why would anyone do that if the people are sleeping?”

  “Maybe only sections of the ship are operational.”

  “What are we doing on a spaceship?” Ash asked.

  “I think we’re the protection detail,” he replied. But he didn’t really know.

  Rok shook his head. “Nah, we’re military.”

  “Maybe we were, but we’ve got no badges and that means something.”

  They were ambling along the corridor and something about their attitude bothered him. Why weren’t they worried about danger? Did they assume there wouldn’t be any? He couldn’t shake the feeling he’d walked along the corridor before. Air was softly pumping through the vents and the sound of his boots were muted by the strange floor. Even the row of closed doors on his right were familiar. At the end of the corridor was a wide set of double doors. While he stared at the doors the image of a small figure running toward him drifted through his mind. Dressed in jeans and a pink t-shirt, the little girl’s braids flew so her ribbons trailed in the air. She was only a memory, but her face was alight with delight. With her arms outstretched, he had to resist extending his own to catch her. The memory faded to nothing, leaving a dull ache inside his chest. There was nothing he could do to force himself to remember who he was, and the little girl’s name was just outside his reach.

  Frustrated, he said sharply, “Look lively. We’re in enemy territory.”

  Pulling his carbine into firing position, Judge asked mildly, “Are you sure about that?”

  “Nope, but until we know where we are we’ll assume we’re nowhere good.”

  Judge gave a sharp laugh. “Spoken like a soldier.”

  He would have asked Judge who he thought they were, but he never got the chance. The vent above their heads creaked in anger. Something on the other side was kicking at it. All seven men pulled away with their backs against the wall opposite the window. At first only one vent was banging, but it quickly became two, until heavy hammering flowed along the length of the corridor. Joker ran for the nearest door slamming his hand onto the bar across it. In the armory, the door had swung open when the lever was pushed down, but this door remained stubbornly closed.

  Flak and Hawk were already pulling away to check the next door looking for anywhere they could defend. If the squad were split then they’d have less chance of dealing with whatever was coming through the vents. Caught in the middle of the long corridor neither end was close enough to make a break for it.

  “Form a perimeter!”

  “Around what?” Rok asked in disbelief.

  Looking behind him, he pointed to the nearest door. “That door. Flak. Hawk. Get your asses back here and blow open that door.”

  “I don’t think we can fire weapons in here, much less a grenade,” Judge said in a steady tone. Pointing to the window, he added, “The space out there is more hostile than anything in here.”

  Shouldering his gun and sounding resigned, he replied, “Blades only.”

  His squad had pulled in tightly so they were surrounding the door he’d chosen at random. Barely a foot apart they held blades in each hand.

  “Are you serious, boss man?” Joker asked. “We don’t know what’s in those vents.”

  “We could head back to the armory,” Judge shouted.

  The noise in the corridor grew, until it sounded like a dozen pots being hammered together. Clashing noises turned into groaning as the metal vents gave way. Whatever wanted out was about to get its wish. One corner on the vent in front of him popped out of position, weakening the grip it had on the wall. The covers might be made of metal, but they hadn’t been designed to withstand an attack from behind. A long white tentacle as thick as his arm reached around the opened edge on the vent. Whipping furiously, it slapped against the wall and window, leaving slimy smears on both.

  “What the hell is that thing?” Rok shouted.

  He didn’t know, but the translucent appearance reminded him of a squid—only larger, much larger. The illusion was complete when another tentacle appeared at the bottom rim of the open vent. More vents were popping open along the corridor. He couldn’t work out if it was one creature with many legs, or multiple creatures fighting their way into the corridor. Darting forward, he grabbed the whipping tentacle in one fist. If nothing else, he wanted to see what was coming through the vents. A loud wailing screech echoed along the pipes behind the vents. It was less of an angry howl as a pitiful wail. It didn’t like being grabbed, but he wasn’t letting go. Yanking sharply, the body of the creature tumbled from the vent bringing the metal down on his head. Ducking to avoid it, he continued pulling the creature from the pipe behind the vent. The tail on the tentacle he was holding lashed against his arm until it wrapped tightly around it. Tightening his fist, he felt it squelch in his hand like a stress ball.

  A body slithered out of the pipe bringing more tentacles with it. Free of its metal prison it began wrapping rubbery translucent limbs around his body. Several caught him around the knees, whipping and then squeezing. Although he could still move his legs, the tentacles were limiting his movement. Instead of breaking under pressure they seemed to stretch. If he didn’t do something soon, he was going to be wrapped up like a mummy by a space squid.

  The shapeless, wobbly lump glistened in the bright lights, giving it the appearance of having a pearly surface. He was fighting with something that moved like marshmallow. Under any other circumstances it would have been funny, but now a tentacle was wrapping around his neck. Fed up with the fight he slashed at the root of the tentacle that he thought was weaving its way around his throat. With so many limbs in play, it wasn’t easy to know which he was cutting, but it didn’t matter.

  As he flicked the blade upward a spray of brilliant red blood flew with it. Although it was translucent white on the outside, the tentacle was bloated with blood. Nothing stemmed the crimson gush from the sliced limb. So much red flowed from the creature that it deflated before his eyes. Stepping back in surprise, his boots skidded against the pooling blood.

  Several more of the creatures had exploded from the vents along the corridor. Ash and Rok were slicing into one of them. Flak and Hawk were making short work of another one. They repeatedly stabbed the fat bloated body created geysers of blood, which drenched all four men in a thick redness. His own creature was whining pitifully, flattening at his feet.

  Letting go of the limb, he turned to Judge and Joker who were still by the door. “What the hell are these things?”

  “Bad fighters,” Judge replied.

  Rok was making his way toward him dragging a deflated creature by one tentacle. It was whining, but its cries were becoming weaker. Behind him was a two-foot wide trail of red, turning the once immaculate
corridor into the floor of a slaughterhouse.

  Hunkering down, he grabbed part of the creature. It still felt spongy to the touch only now it was hollowed out. Slamming his knife back into its sleeve, he held the creature by both hands. The white on its body was now smeared with bright red blood and it was still whining weakly. If it could make a noise, then he figured it had to have a head somewhere. He moved it in his hands like flattened dough, but then pulled back in horror. Staring back at him was a single blue eye. It wasn’t like a human eye in that it didn’t have an eyeball. Instead, it was molded into the white surface. With eyelashes, and even veins around the iris, it could have been human.

  Judge had joined him and was examining the creature. Between them, they continued pulling at the deflated skin until Judge found an opening. It was just like a human in that the creature had a face and he found several red-lipped mouths and five eyes. If he continued searching through the flattened body, he knew it would also have rudimentary ears and at least one nose.

  “What is it?” He asked looking at Judge.

  “Disgusting.”

  “True, but why does it have human…body parts?” Looking down the corridor, he added, “And where did all the blood come from?”

  “I could take a guess, but you won’t like it.”

  He could take a guess as well. The only place the creature could have found so much blood was sleeping inside the pods. Flicking his head at Rok, he said, “Bring that thing with you. We have to get to the Bridge.”

  CHAPTER FIVE: Duality of Life

  “I’ve been here before.”

  Turning on his heel and looking around, he realized the Bridge was shaped like a half moon at the head of the ship. It was dimly lit. A bank of consoles sat opposite a wide, curved window. Had there been anything to see then the view would have been panoramic. His memory flipped until he saw a valley surrounded by mountains stretching into the distance. A foggy, twisting mist rose above the peaks and valleys, leaving him with a muddled sense of excitement and anxiety. The sun was lighting up the Bridge and the room had been full of people gasping in amazement.

  “Me too,” Judge said.

  Those two words were enough to break the image in his memory and the room became dimly lit again. Lights were flashing on the consoles on the back wall, and in the middle of the room was a single chair facing the front. Wide and generously padded it was clearly the command seat. Cabinets with screens lined the back wall. In front of each was a chair with a low back. Some of the screens were dark and others displayed images.

  “You are here.”

  The voice was the same mechanical, syrupy one that had spoken to him from the moment he’d woken. Turning, he looked for the source of the voice. Based on her tone he’d expected to see a tall, ice-cold blonde, but what stepped out of the shadows was short and stocky with a helmet of dark brown hair. She must have been at least sixty years old.

  “Who are you?”

  “Doctor Jessica Everton.”

  “What do you do?”

  “I am the Servator. I preserve the dormant.”

  “Do you mean the sleepers?”

  “The dormant rest in a state of not being.”

  “What is this ship?”

  “This is Ark Prognatus.”

  “Are there more ships like this one?”

  “Ark Extrema and Ark Animax”

  “Where are they?”

  In response to his question, the window at the front of the room brightened until he was looking at a ship identical to their own. Written in bold black lettering across the hull was the word ‘ANIMAX’.

  Turning to the screen, Jessica pointed to the image. “This is Ark Animax. It is five hundred miles from our current position.”

  “Where is Ark Extrema?”

  Jessica faced him again and he noted she wore the same flat expression as the medic. If he cut her she would bleed, but it didn’t make her any more human than the creatures they’d found inside the corridor.

  “Ark Extrema is not within range.”

  “Does that mean you don’t know where it is?”

  “Ark Extrema is not within range.”

  Frustrated, he asked, “Why were we woken?”

  “You are the Defensors.”

  “Does that mean we defend the ship?”

  “You defend the Ark.”

  “Is the ship in danger?”

  Without answering his question, the screen changed again to display an image of the creature like the ones they had killed. It had at least twenty long tentacles and a pearly, gelatinous body. Unlike the one they’d found this one didn’t have any human features.

  Remembering the rubbery feel of the tentacle that had moved under his hand, his lip curled in disgust. “What is it?”

  “It is a lifeform.”

  “It’s definitely alive, but what is it?”

  “It must be eradicated.”

  She hadn’t given him much of an answer, but at least he knew his mission. Eradicate the creatures on the ship. Simple enough, only it didn’t explain what had happened to the other ships. The screen at the front of the room changed again until all it showed was the logo of one planet orbiting another and the name ‘Lunar Horizon Inc.’.

  The image triggered another memory. This time he saw what Jessica had once looked like. Her hair was neatly combed and she was wearing pale makeup with bright red lipstick. With large diamond stud earrings and perfectly manicured nails, she wore a tailored suit and high heels. Instead of looking worn she was an attractive woman in her early forties. In his memory, she was standing in front of the logo inside a foyer with windows three stories high. Animated and excited, she had one delicate hand extended toward him and was smiling widely. Like all his other memories, this one came with an emotion. Hope flooded through him and then it was gone.

  Eager to recapture the memory he stepped toward her. “I know you. I trusted you.”

  “I am the Servator. I preserve the dormant.”

  Like the Medicus, Jessica’s answers were limited by whatever controlled her. He needed to know who he was and who the little girl was to him, but Jessica couldn’t give him what he needed. If she wasn’t a machine then something had been done to her so that she acted like one. She might look the same, but she wasn’t the woman he must have met before the ship had left Earth. All he could do was learn what she knew.

  “Show me a layout of the ship.”

  Waving her hand at the seats surrounding the command chair, Jessica nodded at them to sit. Behind her, the screen at the front shifted again until it showed a map of the ship. Without taking his eyes from the screen, he grabbed the arm of the command chair and sat down. A rich and confident voice came through the speakers on the Bridge.

  “Welcome to Lunar Horizon Inc. Join our team and become an integral part of our future.”

  The screen shifted again until it was showing a schematic of the ship. The long cylindrical ship was broken into segments, some of which he’d already seen.

  “The main ship is fully operational. It contains half a million stasis pods. Each pod is cared for by medical personnel known as Medicus. Doctor Robert Langus leads the Medicus, bringing over forty years’ experience as a leading neurologist. He has designed a method of muscle twitching to ensure our residents will emerge from their pods healthy and ready to enjoy their new life.”

  An image of the man they’d met appeared on the screen, only he didn’t look the same either. Smiling at the camera he would have looked at home dressed as Santa. Even through the glossy lens of a marketing clip, Robert exuded a warmth he rarely saw in anyone. The man they’d met in the pod chamber was a shadow of the one on the screen.

  “Each Ark has four life support domes attached to the main ship.”

  The screen shifted again to show the interior of one of the white domes they’d seen through the window in the corridor. Inside were wide tubes stuffed with green leaves. Another of the enormous gla
ss tubes contained clusters of small insects clinging to the walls. They vibrated and flickered with a humming energy.

  “Oxygen is created through our artificial planetarium. Residents in stasis require little air or food, but their needs will be met through our onboard life support pod.”

  Shifting in a kaleidoscope of color designed to dazzle and engage, the screen settled into an image of the interior of the other two pods. They were piled high with tall crates each bolted to the next, the voice-over burst with pride.

  “Everything our residents need is contained inside the domes. Habitats, medical equipment, cells and rapid seed growing food supplies. Everything has been considered.”

  Turning to face Jessica standing by his chair, he asked, “Is this a colony ship?”

  “The Arks create life.”

  Despite the confident sounding voice-over, he knew space travel was dangerous. Sending even a dozen well-trained astronauts into space was risky, much less half a million sleepers. Although his memory was faulty, nothing in him believed they’d mastered space travel well enough to launch a ship containing this many colonists. Why had so many people left Earth? Who in their right mind would agree to be put into stasis and thrown into space?

  “What went wrong on Earth?”

  Jessica tilted her head as if she hadn’t understood his question. “The Arks create life.”

  “Are the Arks safer than staying on Earth?”

  Nodding and almost seeming pleased with herself, Jessica replied, “The Arks create life.”

  “That’s not good,” Judge said.

  Judge’s face was lit up by the bright logo showing on the screen at the front of the Bridge. Even with shadows playing across his face, he couldn’t miss the worry in his eyes.

  “What do you think happened?”

  “I don’t know and Jessica isn’t telling.”

  “Have you met her before as well?”