by S D Tanner
Lolo shook her head and then flicked her thumb at the two men next to Mark. “No, Mark and I weren’t members of the in-crowd, but those guys were.”
Tapping her leg in a way that spoke of a deep familiarity, Mark added, “But we worked it out in the end.”
Nodding, Lolo replied, “Yes, we did. Joe and Bart didn’t want to give up our skills so they gave us a choice. Join the Animax or die.”
Mark’s mouth twisted downward. “Well, as it turned out it was die or die.”
Their calm acceptance of what had happened on Earth was unsettling. “You don’t seem upset by the death of billions of people.”
“Lunar has been around for hundreds of years,” Mark replied. “People have always lived or died by their rule.” Glancing over at Lolo, he added, “We might not like it, but it’s the way the world has always worked.”
The name Lunar Horizon was familiar to him, but according to his flaky memory they didn’t control the world. Governments made the rules, not corporations. Turning to look at the two men Lolo had just accused of mass murder, he asked, “Do you remember any of this?”
Joe’s eyes widened with horror and he shook his head vehemently. “No. No. I don’t believe I did that.”
Bart continued to stare at him blankly, but now he wasn’t sure if the man was masking what he knew. “What about you, Bart?”
Shaking his head and appearing uncertain, Bart replied, “I don’t know.”
Turning to Lolo, he asked, “Where were the Arks going?”
Laughing without humor, Lolo replied, “To hell. In theory, they were supposed to be colonizing a planet in the Aquarius constellation, but I don’t think Lunar Horizon cared enough about the cargo to be sure. Let’s face it, no one really knows what’s out here. For all we know the target planet doesn’t even exist. Lunar loved to lie.”
Nothing Lolo had said solved his current problems. The fleas were destroying the pods, which meant everyone was going to die if he didn’t stop them.
Judge had been listening to their conversation and now he turned to face him. “Sounds like this deployment has been mandofun, but the truth about Lunar and the colonization will have to wait. We need to make a police call on those fleas first. Maybe we should wake up the people in the pods and arm them.”
Mandofun was military slang for mandatory fun and, although silently agreeing with Judge, he shook his head. “We don’t have enough weapons to do that. There are no living quarters on the ship and the food supplies are in the domes. Unless we plan to land we’ve got nowhere for them to live.”
Rolling her eyes, Lolo added, “Most of them are useless anyway.” Waving her hand at the viewing window, she said contemptuously, “You don’t have the best and brightest out there. Money, or your silence, were the only two criteria to get a ticket on an Ark.”
Although Lolo and Mark seemed to agree on what had happened he wasn’t sure whether to believe them. He and Judge would have remembered if a company had taken control of Earth. Had they been conned as well? Did they agree to defend the ships to save their families from a bogus virus? Was that why he and the rest of the squad had been modified? He needed answers to these questions, but first he needed to eradicate the fleas.
“Can you use a gun?” He asked.
“They’re made for idiots, aren’t they?” Lolo replied.
She might be the only awake woman on the ship, but Lolo was getting on his nerves. There was a dissolute arrogance to her, making her less of a survivor and more of a pain in the ass. Even though he wasn’t warming to the woman he couldn’t leave her, or the other survivors, unprotected, meaning he either put them back into stasis or they’d just enlisted in his army.
As if she’d read his mind, Lolo said, “I’m not going under again. Give me a gun.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Chatty Jessie
Rok, Ash and Joe had formed one team to look for fleas inside the chamber. Flak, Hawk, Joker and Bart were a second recon team. He wanted both teams checking every level inside the chamber. Judge, Lolo and Mark were with him investigating the rooms next to the arterial corridor. There was a lot he didn’t know about the Prognatus and he was determined to learn. Although he hadn’t seen any fleas inside the chamber on the Prognatus he knew they had to be there. What he didn’t know was how many sleepers were still alive, or how many of the fleas were of the humanoid versus squid variety. If they were lucky the infestation wouldn’t be advanced and there would be less of the humanoid type. The squid-like fleas were easy to kill, but he’d told Rok and Flak to head back to the armory if they ran into any trouble.
It was a big ship with many rooms. Although Jessica had shown them a schematic for the ship it hadn’t explained what was inside each room. While the two squads checked the chamber, he would look for anything that might help them. If they were lucky they might find something they could use against the fleas. Although he found Lolo irritating she appeared to know more than the men did. Adding her to his team would test his patience, but anything she could tell him might add to his scant knowledge about the Arks.
Lolo was right and wrong about the guns being designed for idiots. The pistols were easy enough to fire, but like all things it took skill to use them well. He’d given Lolo and Mark a fast lesson on how to load, point and fire, but Judge had still raised his eyebrows when he’d handed over the pistols. Although he didn’t disagree with Judge, he was in a bind. Even though they were more likely to kill themselves than a flea, he had only seven soldiers and little choice other than to arm the survivors.
If he had the time he would have sat down for a long chat with his brain. It kept offering him moments of familiarity and memories, with no context. Every commander needed a solid platform to work from and he didn’t have one. His confusion was holding him back, making him uncertain. Forced to feel his way from one situation to the next, he didn’t know where he was headed. He wasn’t a man who was happy fumbling the ball. Every instinct in him wanted to solve the problem, but so far, he hadn’t even managed to frame it. The only thing he was sure about was the fleas were bad news.
They were moving along the arterial corridor when Lolo stopped. Three of the fleas they’d killed were still lying flattened and bloodless in the corridor. Where the drooling blood was thickest it was still damp and a deepening red color, but the edges had already begun drying a dirty brown. A collection of bloody boot prints led to the door they’d left through.
“Where did all the blood come from?” Lolo asked.
Judge was pointing his gun at the still open vent above their heads. “People in the pods.”
Fleas had never been shy, or bothered to hide. If any were in the vents then they would have heard them, but he didn’t blame Judge for being cautious.
“How did they get on board?” Lolo asked.
“We don’t know,” he replied.
Mark was kicking at one of the deflated fleas on the floor. “They look like squids.”
“The ones on the Animax evolved to have humanoid features.”
Squatting in front of the flattened flea, Mark replied, “That’s not possible. Just because they consume our DNA doesn’t mean they’d look like us.”
“Then why do they start out looking like a squid and then become humanoid?”
Rising to his feet, Mark turned away from the flea. “They probably evolve to look like their prey. It’s a form of camouflage.”
“Does that mean they’ll end up looking human?”
“It’d be the perfect disguise.”
He had woken to a world where nothing was as it appeared. The Arks weren’t really colony ships. The colonization equipment they were supposed to contain was never intended to be used. People had fled Earth to avoid a disease that wasn’t going to wipe out mankind. Jessica and Robert looked and bled like humans, but they were a form of replicant. The sleepers weren’t even colonists. They were cowards who had run away when Earth needed them the most. Everything was an illusion designed
to look like one thing when it was really another. It wasn’t even a cheap trick. Lunar had spent real time and effort building the Arks, but he couldn’t work out why. If all they’d wanted to do was eliminate the sleepers then there were easier and faster ways to do it.
Judge was aiming his gun at a door in the corridor while he opened it. Before he entered the room, he said, “Jessica, lights up in my location.”
Brightness slowly filled the room turning shadows to sharp lines. He’d thought there were no living facilities on the Prognatus but this room contained a dozen beds. Flat surfaces, just large enough for a person, protruded from the back wall. One sat three feet above the floor and the next was six feet high. They were like bunk beds, only the flat surfaces weren’t one on top of the other. Each bed had a thin mattress with a blanket at one end. The blankets were still wrapped in plastic, with straps holding them to the bed, and none appeared to have been used.
To the side of the room was a door that led to several showers and toilets. Like the beds, the bathroom was pristine and untouched. The surfaces and mirrors were sparkling in the sharp light. There was no soap or toothbrushes. Perfectly folded towels were strapped to the vanity unit ready to be used. On the other side of the room with the beds was a wall of small lockers. Stored inside the inbuilt compartments were meal packs and prepackaged fluids. Much like the galley on a commercial aircraft, every item had a specific position inside the locker.
The living quarters looked more than clean, there was something dysfunctional about the design. It was the sort of room an architect would build, rather than someone who had to use it. The high and low positioned beds had no rails. They were so narrow any normal sized person would roll off the sides. Someone had forgotten to include pillows on the bed. There wasn’t enough space in the lockers to store clothes and other personal items. Even the bathroom made no sense. With only a glass partition between the toilets they offered no privacy.
“I don’t think this room has ever been used,” he said.
Judge shook his head. “Either that or this ship has the best cleaners ever.”
“It’s not flea infested either.”
“Nope. I’m guessing it doesn’t smell like fresh blood.”
He didn’t think it smelled of anything. There were no scuff marks on the walls. With crisply turned sheets over each bed there wasn’t even a wrinkle. It wasn’t just clean, the room felt unlived in, as if no one had ever stepped foot in the place. Maybe no one had. Jessica and Robert were replicants so they never slept. The other squads had left the ship. Even if they hadn’t he didn’t think the quarters were meant for them. Perhaps it was just another illusion created to make the ship look real.
After returning to the corridor they opened the next door. The room behind it was long and large with several entrances from the arterial corridor. Inside were rows of floor-to-ceiling lockers. Each row had a mix of large and small doors with wide silver handles. Some lockers were only one square foot in size and others were at least three feet. None of the lockers was locked and he twisted the handle on one of the largest. The door swung open until it was flat against those on the side next to it. Like the lockers in the living quarters this one had compartments. All were full of dark, heavy-duty plastic boxes. They fitted snugly inside the locker, meaning they wouldn’t move once the door was closed.
Swinging his gun low he pulled one of the boxes from its compartment. After dropping it onto the floor with a loud clunk, he knelt beside it. Like the lockers, it wasn’t secured. Unclipping the latches at each end the lid opened with a squeak. Inside was a green colored circuit with a pattern of gold and silver across it.
“What is this?” He asked.
Peering over his shoulder, Mark replied, “It looks like ship parts. My guess is it’s a replacement circuit for something.”
Judge had pulled out a box from another locker. “This one’s empty.”
Nothing on the ship was as it seemed. Suspecting this was just another scam, he moved to the last locker in the row. He opened a plastic box at random and wasn’t surprised to find it was also empty.
Still squatting on his haunches, he looked across at Judge. “Why did they waste so much money on these Arks?”
Judge stood over him looking down at the empty box. “What do you mean?”
Tilting his head to look up at him, he said, “These ships were expensive to build.” Pointing at the empty box, he shook his head. “But they didn’t even bother to stock it. It means the ships were never meant to reach their destination. I’m not even sure they had one.”
“Maybe they loaded the Arks with people they wanted to get rid of.”
Twisting on the heel of his boots, he asked, “Lolo, would Lunar have done that?”
She was leaning against a locker eating from a meal pack she’d found inside the living quarters. “Probably. That virus stunt gave them control of every country in the world. It had to be worth a lot to them.”
He’d suspected learning the sleepers were people Lunar hadn’t wanted was bad news and now he knew why. “We’re on the B ship.”
“What does that mean?” Lolo asked.
Turning to face her, Judge replied, “The ships are full of rejects. These are people Earth didn’t need and nobody wanted. They’re expendable and we’re just collateral damage.”
“How did you find out about the virus?” He asked.
Lolo flicked her thumb at Mark. “Smartass here was too smart for his own good. He worked out the virus had been manufactured to have specific properties.”
Chewing on something from a meal pack, Mark nodded enthusiastically. “It was too perfect. Viruses mutate by changing in small ways, but this one didn’t. It meant all we had to create was the antiviral and the virus was kaput.”
“Did you?”
Mark shook his head. “Didn’t need to. I found mass immunizations in a cold store at the lab factory.” Screwing up his face, he added, “I wasn’t being clever. I just went looking for the right components for the antiviral and found more than I expected.”
Punching his thin arm playfully, Lolo said, “And then the doofus told me, and here we are.”
Even the wealthiest corporation in the world wouldn’t waste their money sending three ships into space. If all they’d wanted was to kill the sleepers there were easier ways to do it than this. Lunar had to be doing something more than murder.
“What did they charge for a ride?” He asked.
“Everything you had,” Lolo replied. “It was a no-brainer. It wasn’t like the people were expecting to return home.”
“How many people died of the virus?”
Pursing her lips, Lolo replied, “At least a third of the world’s population. It was patchy as well. Every country was hit.”
“The medic on board is killing people he thinks are diseased.”
Lolo shrugged. “Some of them probably have the virus. I guess he’s just following the programming he had on Earth. He’s probably just a biomech. They’re not known to be geniuses.”
“What’s a biomech?”
“They come in lots of different forms, but essentially they’re controllable people.”
“How much of this ship really works?” Judge asked.
Raising his hand, he said, “Wrong question. How is the ship sending messages back to Earth?” When no one replied, he added, “Think about it. If the Arks weren’t really meant to colonize anything, then it must be sending information back to Earth, otherwise what’s in it for Lunar?”
“Dammit,” Judge muttered. “We need to talk to Jessica. She must be controlling the comms.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Body of Evidence
He wasn’t sure he believed Lolo. Too much of what she’d said didn’t make sense. Why would a corporation as powerful as Lunar Horizon release a virus to take control of Earth? If they were so clever then why not use more conventional methods like bribery? Going to the trouble of killing billions of people and buil
ding Arks was more complicated that it needed to be. Why didn’t Bart or Joe remember anything about their role in developing a deadly the virus? All he had was Lolo and Mark’s word for the wild story they were telling.
Despite his doubts, some things on the ship pointed to their story being true. The ship hadn’t been designed for anyone to live on it. It hadn’t even been stocked with enough supplies, making him wonder what the domes really contained. But nothing Lolo had told him changed his immediate problem. He had to deal with the fleas first, and sort Lunar Horizon later. His number one priority was to defend the sleepers.
Walking along the arterial corridor and heading toward the next room, he couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched. Were people on Earth being entertained by the disaster unfolding on the ship? Fixing his mouth into a grim line he looked along the corridor. Something about their situation was sick. An unfamiliar feeling of paranoia was settling in his gut. Maybe it wasn’t Lolo he found irritating, but their situation.
Flicking his head at Lolo, he said, “Stay out of the way.”
Sounding put out, Lolo asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Where I come from Lunar Horizon would be called assholes.”
While he aimed his gun at the next door and Judge opened it, Lolo replied, “I guess we got used to them. They took over most of the large companies. Everyone worked for them, or knew someone who did.”
When he stopped in the doorway Judge collided into his back. At first, he couldn’t wrap his mind around what he was seeing. Thirty tall glass boxes lined the back wall. Shaped like vertical coffins, next to each was a metallic humanoid body hanging from a hook. The oval shaped heads hung forward and the arms were limp by their sides. The feet were dangling a few inches from the floor, making the robots look like puppets. It wasn’t the robots that had stopped him dead in his tracks. A deflated human body hung on a hanger inside the glass box.
“What the heck?” Judge muttered.
Exploring the Arks was like taking a stroll through a house of horrors, and this discovery made his skin crawl. With lank hair neatly combed away from the face, the eye sockets were empty. A rubbery looking mouth hung open, showing only darkness within. The arms and limbs were shriveled and, without the robot body filling it, the torso had collapsed on itself. Running along the back of the empty torso were a dozen tubes he assumed were providing fluids and nutrients to the living tissue.