“Who are you?” Dmitar asked. He looked at her as she picked him up. Her neck had thick tendons standing out, as she was quite thin. Her arms were just as skinny, but her hands gripped him with controlled strength.
“Let me get you out of here now, precious lad,” the woman said as she leaped to the platform with the boy. “The creatures prowl around quickly. We do not have much time.”
“Those others,” Claire said and tears ran down her face. She pointed a wobbly finger down toward where she had been tied up.
The woman never looked back. “Dear girl, we must leave now. Can you two walk? Or do you need me to carry you?”
Dmitar stood, but was a bit shaky. Claire steadied him, but kept opening and closing her hands.
“We can walk,” Claire said. “How do we get home?”
“Take my hand, my dear sweet girl, precious lad, you come too. I will lead you. There is a very hot place near here, we cannot go through that, but I know a place where we can hide from the creatures.” The woman had drawn out the energy weapon and held it in one hand.
“I just want to go home,” Claire complained with tears.
“You cannot go home if you are dead,” the woman said bluntly. Then she grabbed Claire by the hand and pulled her along. The woman’s other hand held the weapon as she pointed it in various directions. “Come my sweet girl, follow close dear precious lad. We must move quickly. They will get us, if we do not stay close together.”
Dmitar held onto Claire as they walked along, being pulled by the woman in her exoskeleton. As she walked the mechanism did not make as many noises. The hallway did not have any signs of growth medium, or mushrooms. The flickering light was coming from a ceiling fixture which had fallen halfway out of the ceiling. They could feel the air moving down the passageway toward where the pit with the fan was located.
“I have food, water, and a place to rest,” the woman said as she led them around a corner. “We really must hurry, before the creatures know you have been rescued. If we do not get to that safe house right away, well…” She let the comment trail off, and the children did not ask any more questions. Their eyes were wide with fear that the creature would reappear at any moment.
The halls were getting hotter as they kept walking. The flickering light was left behind and replaced by dull, emergency lighting of an amber shade. It was only at the junctions and above about a third of the doors. Between those places the halls were nearly dark.
“Stay to this side of the hallway as we pass those doors ahead,” the woman instructed. “I know it is frightful to be down here, but I am so happy to have found you. We were all searching, and we must get away before those creatures come.”
Several large doors were on the opposite side of the hallway, and heat was radiating from them. It was oppressively hot, but the woman and the two children made it past the large doors. Then they turned away from that hallway and passed through a bulkhead doorway. As that bulkhead door closed the air was much cooler. The hallway was short, lit by an amber emergency lights, and led to a pressure door which was labeled in white letters.
“Repository 997?” Dmitar asked.
“Oh, a smart lad. An educated lad. A literate lad,” the woman said. “Yes, that is the name of this place. Once, inside we can lock the doors to be safe from those creatures.”
The woman entered a code on the nine-section color pad on the door. The door hissed open. Beyond was a large chamber. Except for near the door the chamber was in shambles with pipes, ducts, wiring, and other detritus dangling down from the ceiling. The children looked over the area, and were surprised by what they saw. Lights shone down on the front part of the chamber, where there was a workstation, a cracked display screen, and five, illuminated, rectangular, crate-like containers. Those cuboids were mostly made from semitransparent permalloy and had wires, mechanical components, and tubing attached at various spots. A sixth such container stood with its end door open, and a table extended out from inside of that.
“What is this place?” Claire asked, squinting against the light.
“My home, and a safe place for you two,” the woman said as she locked the door. “The creatures have never gotten in here, and be thankful I was able to find you in time.” She pulled off the exoskeleton leg braces, and set the backpack down on the floor. The joints and braces all folded down into a neat package which, along with its power pack, all fit into a recessed charging station against the wall.
“Thank you,” Dmitar said. He looked more closely at the chamber and was reminded, in some way he could not articulate, of the Special Care Unit. He shuddered, but looked at the woman.
“That is a good little lad, being grateful. Yes, a good lad indeed,” The woman said and patted him on the head. She moved a bit more slowly without the exoskeleton, and was not quite as tall. Dmitar noted there were footpad parts to the braces which had been strapped beneath her own shoes.
“I must check my mates, and then I will get you settled in here,” the woman said. She walked over to the illuminated cuboids and examined each one.
Claire and Dmitar looked around. A myriad of similar cuboidal mechanical containers were against both sides, and stacked up to the ceiling. Those columns and rows stretched into the debris of the far end of the chamber where there was darkness. Except for the six which were lit up, none of the others had any illumination on them at all. Some had broken doors hanging from their ends. In the dim recesses of the back of the chamber, they saw collapsed ceiling materials. Ducts, pipes, and hoses hung down in a jumbled mess. Claire doubted she could walk to the end of the chamber because of all the mangled debris which obstructed it.
Only after the woman went to each of the illuminated cuboids, and made precise and minute adjustments, did the children realize that inside each of those semitransparent containers was a person lying face-up. The people were someone obscured, but the outlines of their bodies was visible.
“Are they dead?” Claire asked, thinking of the bodies she had seen in the pit.
The woman came over and hugged the girl. “Oh, sweet girl, dear me, no. They are inside those for a suspended animation. I was making sure these cocoons are working properly. We have no synthetic brains here to monitor…oh dear, there I go rambling on. Listen to me, speaking technical gibberish to you darling children. Children do not need to know such things. These mates of mine are just sleeping, and for now, I am their guardian. We take turns being guardian.”
“Most of those boxes are broken,” Dmitar stated. He was thinking of all the destruction he had seen in Beta. “Was there a crusher here?”
“Crusher?” the woman looked perplexed for a moment. “I guess you could say so. Yes, this placed got crushed. That was long ago. Now the creatures wander around.” She waved her hands in dismissal of those kind of thoughts. “But do not fear. Dear sweet girl, and precious lad, here you are safe. Well now, look over there. Back there is your bedroom, and the bath and toilet are just off of that. Let me make you some supper. I am sure you are famished after your horrible ordeal.”
“Please, can we just go home now?” Dmitar asked. “I miss my brothers and mother.”
“Oh, it is not safe with the creatures running about. They will get you for sure. But in a day or two they will move on, and then I can help you go where you need to go. My shift as guardian ends in three days, and I will need to take care of you before then, that is for sure. So, do not worry your beautiful heads a bit. Just let your Auntie Mariamne take care of your every need.”
“I want to go home now,” Claire objected.
“Oh, of course you do, sweetie. I truly understand that, yes, I do. Your Auntie Mariamne understands, but like I said, those creatures are lurking out there. I was lucky to find you when I did. Just pure random luck.” Mariamne walked past the children and then turned. “Well come on, you need to get some rest, and food. I will make you a delicious and nutritious meal. You just trust your Auntie Mariamne.” The smile on her face did not reach her eyes, but the c
hildren nodded anyway.
“Please Auntie Mariamne, take me home now,” Claire begged. Then she remembered Clark. “Oh! Where is Clark?”
“Yes, where is Clark?” Dmitar echoed. His eyes were wild as he tried to recall what had happened.
“A small one, with deformities?” Mariamne said with a flat voice.
“Did you see him? Where is he?” Claire asked.
“Oh, dearest girl, and precious lad. You are all I could find, alive,” Mariamne stated. She wrapped her arms around the children and squeezed. “Just you two.”
Claire began to weep. But Mariamne knelt down in front of her. “You are safe. You are here with me now. Perhaps some of the other searchers found that one?”
“Do you really think so?” Claire asked, some measure of hope in her smoky-gray eyes. “Really?”
“I do. The creatures do not like muties,” Mariamne replied. “But now to see to your needs. Come along.”
The children walked, hesitantly into the apartment area, and away from the repository. The threshold to the apartment was roughly cut, and the door welded into place in such a way that Dmitar noted its crude construction.
Mariamne, seeing his look stated, “Maybe what you called a crusher did the damage? That term is not familiar to me, but a bright lad like you will understand that places get broken and need to be fixed.”
“Well, Beta was so broken, it is gone now,” Dmitar said with a deep frown. A few tears rolled down his face.
Mariamne reached over and tousled his hair. “Big lads do not cry, be a man now for your Auntie Mariamne. You are safe here. The creatures cannot reach you here with me. In a day or so, I will make sure you go where you need to be.”
She shepherded the children into the bedroom where there were three bunks. The side walls had various cupboards, cabinets, and cubbies. She took the energy weapon off her belt and opened an old-style steel safe set high in the wall. She set the weapon inside that, and locked the door.
“Now, I will make your suppers. Please use the bathroom, and get all washed up for our meal. There are some clean smocks hanging on hooks near the tub. You, dearest girl, you go first. Bathe in the tub, wash away the filthy marks of your abduction, and dress in a clean smock. Then the precious lad will follow. By then your supper will be served.”
Mariamne almost shoved Claire into the bathroom. Dmitar sat on one of the bunks, and tried not to cry as he thought about Clark and where they were.
“Be strong, precious lad. After you and the dear girl are clean and dressed we will eat.”
Mariamne turned and exited the bedroom shutting the door behind her.
After a while, Claire came out from the bathroom. She was scrubbed clean, but her puffy eyes showed she had been crying. Wrapped about her was an off-white colored smock. It was long enough to reach her knees, and had a drawstring around the waist.
“It felt good to get clean, but I cannot stop thinking about Clark.”
“Claire, I am thinking about him too,” Dmitar said. He stepped past her and entered the bathroom. “I hope he got away. Maybe someone else did find him. Auntie Mariamne said there were other searchers out looking for us.”
“Maybe,” Claire said, but her voice carried no conviction. “That monster was terrible.”
When Dmitar finished bathing, and put on his own smock, he came out. Together they went to the door. Claire tried the controls, but the door did not open. Dmitar could not get it to open either.
Just as they were getting a bit worried, the door slid aside, and Mariamne entered. She was carrying a large tray with steaming, hot foods. The smells were odd to Claire who had grown up on the needle ship, but to Dmitar the aroma reminded him of roasted pig, and fresh bread. They were foods he had known only prior to when Beta had been destroyed. He missed foods like that.
“Here is your supper, my sweet girl, and darling lad. Pork, vegetable, noodle casserole, with buttered rye bread. Your Auntie Mariamne also brought orange juice and milk.” She walked to the side of the room, and with her foot touched a button. A table and chairs folded down from the wall.
“How do you get food like this?” Dmitar asked. “I expected rat, or goat.”
“Oh, my dear lad, here I have a supply of foods in storage. I can cook just about anything you desire. It was put away long ago, but will remain ready to prepare for generations to come.” Mariamne looked at Claire. “Oh, sweet girl, you have been crying. Never fear, I will make some special…”
A claxon went off. A red light flashed over on a side display.
“Oh my, those creatures have gotten beyond the outer perimeter,” Mariamne stated. Her lips were drawn tightly. “I will confront them and if possible eliminate them. Oh, my children, you do need to be safe. Do not worry about your Auntie Mariamne, I can easily scare them away, at least. You must remain here. I will lock you in, so you are safe. The creatures cannot get all the way in here. I will not let them take you.” She quickly left the food on the table, and departed the room. There was a loud clank as she locked the door from the other side.
With the door locking, the claxon shut off, and the red warning light quit flashing.
“Will they get us in here?” Claire asked in a trembling voice.
“She seems to know what they are,” Dmitar responded. He was worried, but was trying not to show it in front of Claire.
6 they are then able to strive for victory
Jerome sat before the display monitors in the Defense and Counter Assault Control workstation. He still remembered using it for the probes, and was worried about the new functions. He flexed his arms in callisthenic exercises which cleared away some of the anxiety. He looked to the small displays which were labeled, “Vindicator Missiles” and “Teleportation Bombs” and “FTL Punchers” and “Willie Cannons” and “Probes.” Only the display showing probes had any green numbers beneath it. That green number, five, in the case of the probes, indicated how many were available. All the other displays had a red zero underneath them. None of the new weapons were ready, despite a rush on production.
Jerome closed his eyes, and thought about the babies which were sleeping in the room next-door. He knew Monika would be tending to them in a loving and compassionate way, but if he could not find an effective method to fight off the Jellies, he feared the worst. All his imagined and invented anxieties about the Crocks were coming true in the Jellies. He had to protect his boys, but he felt helpless and impotent.
“Sandie? Is there any word on those lost children?” Jerome asked. He had intended to inquire about the weapons, but the question about the children came out instead.
“I have not yet received word that they have been located. Many people are searching. Khin and Vesna are the only ones who have com-links. Others will report using slower methods. I will inform you when I know more.”
“And what of the weapons? How soon can we knock that Jellie ship back where it originated?” Jerome asked. He kept replaying in his mind the destruction of Zalia he had witnessed, and each time he was more convinced than ever of the danger they were all facing. He had seen the genocide of an entire planet. Rage, fear, revenge, angst, and indignation all battled in his heart and mind.
“Our goal is not to be in some pugilistic contest between battlewagons like the Battle of Jutland,” Sandie the AI replied. “We are to…”
“Battle of what land?” Jerome asked. His mouth twisted in bafflement.
“Forgive me Jerome. I assumed you would know the reference. It was a combat situation in a war roughly two-hundred and fifty some years ago. The records before the Great Event are incomplete, but the Battle of Jutland was a primitive clash between ships built to travel on Earth’s oceans. Two competing nation’s naval forces met. One belligerent force was led by someone named Jellicoe, while the other belligerent nation’s navy was led by someone named Scheer. A total of approximately two hundred fifty ships fought resulting in the deaths of thousands of humans from both combative nations. Historians are divided on the out
come of the battle, as both sides claimed victory. In many ways, it was the largest battle between warships in human history. More lives were lost in the 90 Hour War, by a huge factor, but the Battle of Jutland was a conflict between what, for their era, were the best weapons and defenses available aboard ships specifically designed for military operations.”
“And we are not even a military designed warship,” Jerome replied. “Is the Jellie ship designed for military or combat use? Are we facing a warship from those Jellie aliens?”
“We have limited information. However, I conjecture that is a high probability,” Sandie replied. “I say that while I continue to review the Zalian materials on the Jellies. From what I can gather, and admittedly it is from the Zalian perspective, but the Jellies do seem to be a species which is focused on war, aggression, and hostility.”
“And we saw what their satellite system did to Zalia and the Crocks,” Jerome replied. “So why have the Jellies not found us? I am not complaining, but if they are militant hunters, why has this last flight of the Conestoga gotten this far?”
The Colony Ship Conestoga : The Complete Series: All Eight Books Page 229