Dead Force Box Set

by S D Tanner

  As if the chamber had a dimmer switch, light fell until it was gloomy enough to stop light from reflecting against the pods. The pattern on the ceiling should have vanished with the light, but it stubbornly remained, making him wonder if the ship’s architects had added the swirling design. Even as he thought it he knew they wouldn’t have. The ship’s design was functional and little effort had been put into making it aesthetically pleasing. Lunar’s architects wouldn’t have embellished the ceiling with overlapping swirls.

  He remembered once driving a car in half-light. The road had been wet and he’d taken a corner too fast, only to see the tail lights of another vehicle in front of him. He knew what was about to happen, but his reflexes hadn’t kept up. Just as he’d been about to raise his foot to the brake, his car had slid into the back of the one in front. It had all happened in slow motion. Even as he banged into the other car he couldn’t understand why his foot hadn’t hit the brake. In that instance, it was only a minor fender bender, but what was about to happen was going to be far worse.

  Reaching for Rok, he shouted, “Pull back!”

  Snowflakes were falling from the ceiling. They appeared to gently drift then grew larger until they were plummeting toward them.

  “Hawk! Get out of the chamber!”

  Like a child trying to catch a snowflake on his tongue, Ash stared at the ceiling with his mouth hanging open.

  “Ash! Move!”

  His cry was enough to break through Ash’s surprise. The first of the fleas slammed into the walkways above them. It broke its fall by using a tentacle like a long arm. Dropping to the next level it began swinging toward them. Under bright lights their slimy, translucent skin had reflected the chamber until they were almost invisible. Even when Jessica dimmed the chamber he’d almost missed the strange swirl across the ceiling. They’d been suctioned to the roof and no doubt the walls as well. The chamber was infested with fleas.

  They were two hundred yards from the first platform and fleas were falling along the entire length of the chamber. There had to be at least a thousand of them dropping through the air. A humanoid shaped flea landed on the walkway in front of him. The tentacles in its mouth and on the end of its wrists were waving feverishly. It must have used them like suction cups to stick to the ceiling. Pale eyes stared at him and it reached out a slender arm, only to lose its footing and fall again.

  “Some of them are humanoid!” Judge shouted.

  “Don’t shoot them. They could take out the whole chamber.”

  He wasn’t wrong. The fleas were grouped together and shooting even one of them could set off a chain reaction. Judge was on point leading the squad toward the armory. Worried about the other squad, he said, “Hawk, report in.”

  There was no reply and he looked across the walkway hoping to catch sight of the other squad. There were four in Hawk’s squad. Flak and Joker were trained to fight, but Bart wasn’t. Lolo was running behind Judge on their walkway with Rok, Ash and Joe following him. All of them were only three or four feet apart.

  Something swung into his face, slapping him with a damp tentacle. Grabbing it in one hand, he stabbed upward with the other, and warm blood gushed over his face. He spat out the blood, and yanked the flea from the walkway above them. When he let go of the tentacle, the flea tumbled onto the walkway and fell over the edge. Blood trailed behind it as it plummeted to the floor.

  More fleas were latching onto the walkways above them. Hanging onto the rim of the walkways they waved tentacles in front of their faces. One weaved in front of his face and then suctioned onto the back of Lolo’s head. While she screamed he launched forward, slashing as he did. Almost slicing the tentacle from its body, a ribbon of blood streamed out in a long flow turning the pod next to them red. Slapping the draining limb from his face he pushed Lolo forward.

  “Keep moving!”

  A humanoid looking flea appeared between two pods next to him. Still running he punched at its chest. The blow was enough for it to step backward and fall from the walkway. He glanced over his shoulder. Rok was directly behind him, but Joe wasn’t keeping up, meaning Ash was falling even further back.

  “Rok, watch Ash.”

  They were less than twenty yards from the platform that would take them back to the level with the armory. Filled with an incendiary the humanoid fleas were dangerous, but they weren’t good fighters. Even now the fleas weren’t attacking in any coordinated way. All they had were numbers on their side. Providing Joe stepped up his pace they should make it back before the fleas overtook them.

  “Hawk! Report in!”

  “Almost at the walkway.”

  His foot hit the platform and he skidded onto it, almost crushing Lolo. Turning to find Rok he felt the explosion before he saw it. The walkway lit up with a massive blast. Ash was thrown backward and Joe simply disappeared. The size of the eruption sent two pods flying and they crashed into others on the next walkway. A supporting beam snapped and the walkway above it collapsed. More pods tumbled onto those below and the entire chamber echoed with the creaking of strained metal. Rok leapt for the edge of the platform, but only managed to catch it with one hand.

  Judge dropped to his knees in front of Rok and grabbed his wrist. Joining him he leaned down and caught a strap on Rok’s armor and they hauled him onto the platform.

  “You ok, buddy?”

  “Where’s Ash?”

  The explosion appeared to have stunned the fleas and the snowflakes had stopped falling from the ceiling. Standing on the edge of the platform he could see Ash was two levels down. “I’ve got eyes on him.” Rising to his feet, he ran to the stairs joining the levels. “Judge, get Lolo out of here. Rok, you’re with me.”

  He and Rok clanked down the stairs not even bothering to hide their presence. Fleas were shying away from the walkway as if they were worried there might be another explosion. Ash was lying along the walkway with one leg swinging over the edge. His armor was scorched black and part of his vest hung open. The helmet that should have protected his head was tilted at an odd angle. Blood was dripping from the hand dangling limply over the edge of the walkway. Ash’s eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly open.

  Rok ran forward and checked for a pulse. “He’s alive.”

  Hauling him onto his shoulders, Rok’s boots slammed down onto the walkway as he ran back to the platform. Allowing Rok to pass him he watched for any movement. The chamber had fallen quiet again only now he wasn’t fooled. Glancing up at the ceiling as he climbed the stairs to the armory level he could make out the pattern on the ceiling. Although hundreds had floated down from their nest many more fleas were still clinging to the ceiling. The chamber was infested, making him wonder how many pods were still active. If they traveled deeper into the chamber he suspected most were already lost. Now they were in a bind. They couldn’t shoot the fleas without destroying the ship, but left alone they would finish off the rest of the sleepers.

  Closing the door to the armory behind him, he said, “Bring Ash to the living quarters where we can check him out. We’ll have to get into the dome with the medical supplies.”

  “Are you sure there are any?” Judge asked.

  It was a fair question and he was saved answering it when Jessica’s voice sounded in the cover over his ear. “Commander Tag, report to the Bridge.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Damned Truth

  Leaving the squad to take Ash to the living quarters he stormed through the corridors until he reached the Bridge. By unspoken agreement Judge had followed him. They wanted answers and he was going to get them even if he had to tear off Jessica’s metal head. Barely stocked with anything a colony would need, the Arks were a sham. Despite knowing Jessica was only a bio machine he still wanted to shout at her. How could she have let this happen? He might not remember why, but he’d trusted whoever Jessica had been and felt betrayed.

  On entering the Bridge, the dim light was only lifted by the image of Lunar Horizon’s logo. Standing beh
ind the single command chair in the middle of the room he glared at the planet slowly orbiting another on the screen.

  “Jessica!”

  Almost seeming to detach from a wall on the Bridge her body moved with what he now recognized as robotic precision. When she stood in front of the spinning logo on the screen it cast a moving shadow across her face.

  “A beacon is approaching the Prognatus.”

  It wasn’t anything he’d expected her to say, but nothing was going to distract him from what he wanted. Leaning across the back of the command chair, he said in steady and overly patient tone, “I want answers.”

  Judge was standing to his right with his hand casually resting on his rifle. He might not remember the man well, but he knew what that pose meant. If he didn’t get what he wanted then Judge would swing the gun into a firing position and blow her apart. They’d been in this situation before. Maybe not with Jessica, but this wasn’t the first time he’d been pushed too far, and Judge had stood by his side ready to back him up.

  Seeming unaware of the danger she was in, Jessica tilted her head. “Specify the question.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Doctor Jessica Everton.”

  “What do you do?”

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

  “Are you alive?”

  “Define life.”

  “Can you die?”

  His last question made her frown. “I can be terminated.”

  “What happens if you’re terminated?”

  “I cease to exist.”

  “Will you be replaced by another Jessica?”

  She tilted her head appearing confused by his question. “Define another Jessica.”

  Waving his arm at the ship, he replied, “There is or was a roomful of Jessicas and Roberts. If you’re destroyed would you have been replaced by one of them?”

  Whoever had created Jessica hadn’t given her much awareness of what she was. Even with her limited comprehension she seemed to understand the implication of his words. Her mind was clearly processing his question and she didn’t seem to like what he was suggesting. Stepping back as if she needed to create distance between herself and the truth her head began shaking from side to side.

  “I am Doctor Jessica Everton. I am the Servator. I preserve the dormant.”

  Her reaction surprised him. Had she been a simple robot she wouldn’t have cared about being a machine. Stepping around the chair he closed the gap between them. “Am I a machine? Is there a roomful of Tag bots somewhere on this ship?”

  “You are the Defensor.”

  “Are the Defensors the same on every Ark? Was there another Tag on the Animax and Extrema?”

  Jessica shook her head seeming confident again. “I am not aware of the Defensors on the other Arks.”

  “Can I be terminated?”

  “Yes.”

  “If I am terminated will there be another like me?”

  Seeming to lose her intellectual footing again, she frowned. “I cannot answer your question.”

  “There’s an easier way to check,” Judge said. “I could just shoot you.”

  Raising his hand, he said, “That’s not a test I’m prepared to conduct, but if Ash dies and shows up again I guess we’ll know.” Turning to face Jessica again, he asked, “Have I been woken before?”

  Nodding confidently, Jessica replied, “Yes.”

  “What happened?”

  She frowned again. “Which awakening event do you wish to know?”

  It didn’t surprise him to know he’d been woken more than once. What he couldn’t comprehend was why he couldn’t remember being awake. How many times had he and the squad been woken? What did they do every time they were awake? Why were they put back to sleep? Had he been through this routine with Jessica before?

  As if able to guess his questions, Jessica’s voice began droning. “Commander Tag has been awakened four times. Each event resulted in significant damage and Commander Tag was returned to stasis for repair.”

  “How was I damaged?”

  Continuing to drone as if she were reading a boring report, Jessica replied, “Commander Tag was damaged during four separate events. Two events were the result of bullet wounds. One event was the result of fire. One event was a fall.”

  “Did I die?”

  “The damage was remediated.”

  “Why don’t I remember being awake before?”

  “All protocols are reset during remediation.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Judge snorted. “We’re reset back to factory conditions.”

  Glancing at Judge, he shook his head, “But we’re not robots.” Turning to Jessica again, he asked, “Why are our protocols reset between awakening events?”

  She tilted head as if confused. “I cannot answer your question.”

  Raising his metallic hand, he twisted it in the air. “We must be some sort of bio machine.”

  “Maybe we’re cyborgs.”

  Cursing his flaky memory, he asked, “Is there any such thing?”

  “Not that I know of.” Judge nodded at Jessica. “But I’ve never seen anything like her before either.”

  The screen behind Jessica flickered and a round shape replaced the spinning Lunar logo. As he moved past Jessica, the large circular object grew until it filled the entire screen. Smooth and glistening it appeared to be full of swirling color. The shimmer reminded him of an oversized soap bubble, except something seemed to be controlling the light inside it. Almost opaque, a light blue color wound its way around the circle like an eel trapped in a bowl. It was so like a soap bubble he almost expected it to burst.

  “What is it?”

  Turning to face the screen, Jessica replied, “It is an unidentified beacon.”

  “Where did it come from?”

  “I cannot answer your question.”

  “How did we find it?”

  “I do not know its trajectory.”

  “What’s it doing now?”

  “Following the Prognatus.”

  Judge was standing next to him looking at the beacon. “Why?”

  “I cannot answer your question.”

  He was sick of unanswered questions. Everything he learned only left him with more to answer, and nothing he’d done had gotten him any closer to the truth. The facts of their situation had to be ugly. Why else would the truth be so well hidden? It couldn’t be a coincidence. Someone had deliberately made it impossible to discover what was really happening. He’d been woken four times, five if he counted his current awakening. All it meant was he’d failed the previous four times.

  Turning slowly until he finally faced the screen again he was even more convinced something was watching them. Maybe it was only paranoia, but given his situation it was a fair reaction.

  “I want that beacon.”

  “Why?” Judge asked.

  “Maybe I’m paranoid, but I think we’re being played.”

  “For what?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think we’re alone.”

  Judge nodded and looked at Jessica. “Are you in contact with anyone at Lunar Horizon?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  Smirking cynically to himself, he flicked his chin at Judge. “Wrong question.” Turning to Jessica, he asked, “Does Lunar Horizon know what happens on the Prognatus?”

  Sounding confident again, Jessica replied, “Yes.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN: Bubble Burst

  Speaking to Jessica had been less than enlightening, but at least he learned they’d been awake more than once. What he didn’t understand was why he couldn’t remember anything. According to her he’d been injured four times and reset to factory settings every time he’d been restored, but he didn’t know what that meant. In some ways, he felt like a machine. Although he couldn’t remember his body hurting he was sure it had. Absentmindedly rubbing his left elbow, he had an ima
ge of it covered by a padded cast. He vaguely recalled having to compensate for his left arm being weaker than the right one. It meant sometime in his life he’d broken his elbow.

  Judge was leaning against the wall of the corridor. “You broke your arm when you fell off an armored truck. It served you right for goofing off.”

  “What was I doing?”

  “You were pretending not to be drunk.”

  Hawk and Flak had left in a shuttle intending to use the ship’s grabber to bring the beacon on board. Eager to learn how it could add to his patchy knowledge, he and Judge were waiting inside a corridor next to the shuttle bay. For all he knew the beacon was home to more fleas, but desperate for any information he was willing to take the risk. While they waited, the bay doors had closed and the docking area was pressurizing.

  The feeling of paranoia that had come over him on the Bridge hadn’t gone away. Not only did he believe they were being watched, he also felt they were running out of time. He was part of game he hadn’t agreed to play. Something, or someone, had him on the clock. The sleepers were depending on him, but he didn’t know how to save them.

  “What else do you remember about me?”

  “Not much. You have a daughter, but…” Judge hesitated as if he were reluctant to say more.

  He didn’t need to ask why. “You don’t remember her being any older than five.”

  Judge looked along the corridor as if the realization hurt him as well. “Do you think Lunar did something to her?”

  “Why would you think that?” Leaning forward so his back left the wall, he said, “I don’t even remember Lunar. Do you?”

  “I certainly don’t remember any company building spaceships. In fact, I don’t recall anything about space travel.”

  “How can we have forgotten about such a powerful company?” Flicking his chin at the corridor, he added, “They built one hell of a ship, even if it is full of crap.”

  Judge shrugged. “Evil corporation killing people with a manmade virus sounds like the plot for a bad movie.”

  “Do you think Lolo is lying?”

  “If she is, then she doesn’t know it.”