NEBULAR Collection 3 - Morgotradon: Episodes 12 - 16

by Thomas Rabenstein

»Lyla! Man …can’t you announce yourself like everybody else, by intercom?« he griped.

  Lyla Koschwitz smiled conspicuously and came closer.

  »I’m sorry! I didn’t want to interrupt your little flirt with that monster. You could try paying more attention to the airlock entry signals. I had a green light, you know? It’s not possible to get into this section unannounced, my dear. You’re just much too enthralled with this … thing here. I’m starting to get jealous! You spend more time with him – it – than with me.«

  Van Velzen shrugged and smiled back.

  »Chucky isn’t in the mood today. I think I’ll stick with you for now!«

  He grabbed her by the hips and pulled her closer.

  »I can’t wait until tonight, when it’s us-time,« he said softly to her.

  »Is it our deep conversations, or do you have something less scientific in mind?« She dodged his attempts to kiss her until he almost lost his balance.

  »Our work here at Uluru also has its advantages,« he admitted. Before he could say more she pulled him against his will by his tie toward the examination table.

  »I’ve asked some of the girls and they all agreed: You’re the only one at Uluru who wears a tie,« she whispered in his ear.

  »So what?«

  »So what? It’s a fact! We’ve analyzed this Uluru tie phenomenon.«

  She yanked on his tie, looked him deep in the eyes and kissed him passionately. She let go of his tie, sighed, ran her hand through her hair and admitted, »These tie things are really great!«

  Teun van Velzen and Lyla Koschwitz had met at Uluru two weeks ago. It was love at first sight for the Dutch-born van Velzen and he’d made sure Lyla knew it. He liked her openness and enjoyed his hours together with the German assistant medical doctor. He couldn’t get her out of his mind, not even in the lab while he was working on the Globuster.

  »Doctor van Velzen, am I distracting you? You know how important your work is to the Solar Union and, just maybe, to the future of mankind,« Lyla reminded him, pursing her lips.

  Van Velzen nodded.

  »Oh, absolutely, Doctor Koschwitz! I just wish Chucky weren’t so uncooperative. I have to do all the work myself!«

  Lyla adjusted her stylish prescription glasses and stepped closer to the Globuster on the table. She had opted out of laser treatment for her nearsightedness, preferring her glasses, which lent her a certain authority, not to mention sexy, look. At 1.76 meters, she was as tall as van Velzen and very slim built. She preferred, however, to hide her figure underneath the common, light-blue Uluru lab coat … which somehow only made her sexier.

  Curious, she pushed her glasses with her middle finger against her upper nose and swiped her long, dark-brown hair out of her face. She leaned over a bit and began observing the Globuster’s claws, trying to touch one of them.

  »DON’T!« van Velzen stopped her with a loud voice. »Sorry, Lyla, but I can’t let you touch the Globuster. His body’s been decontaminated more than once, but there’s still a risk of infection … especially if you cut yourself on those razor-sharp claws. There could still be some kind of toxic and deadly agent hiding in the claws’ grooves and crevices, something we couldn’t sterilize.«

  Lyla pulled her hand back, paling.

  »Okay, I understand. Mensch … you scared me to death!« she admitted.

  »Sorry, Lyla, the thought of you being exposed to anything – !« he apologized.

  »It’s okay, Teun, you know better than anybody else. What test sequence are you working on? You’ve locked yourself in here for hours; I missed you in mess hall.«

  Teun tossed a holo-tablet in Lyla’s direction, and she caught it easily.

  »Oh … metabolic functions in connection with the stasis phenomenon? That sounds promising, Teun.«

  »It is that, my dear,« van Velzen stated flatly. »We need to understand those processes better. So far, it’s not clear what happens to the body fluids just before the Globs go into stasis. The Globs have some sort of blood or carrier liquid in their active state – to transport nutrition and energy through their bodies – but as soon as they go inactive, the liquids disappear. Why? Where do they go?«

  Lyla Koschwitz looked at van Velzen attentively.

  »Just the sort of very mysterious phenomenon you need to shed some light on. Not tonight, though, I hope – or did you forget our date?«

  Van Velzen shook his head.

  »Don’t worry, I’ll be there. Charley’s not going anywhere. It’ll be a couple of days before another team takes him away from me.«

  Lyla glanced at the Globuster, silently doubting Teun’s words.

  »Oodergoo must really like you, if he lets you work with that Globuster for more than just a couple of days. Aren’t you afraid of what happens if your Chucky suddenly gets up from the examination table?« she wondered, shivering.

  Lyla had intended that as a joke, but with her last question, but that’s not how it came out.

  »He won’t,« Teun told her seriously. »Look at how porous and hard his body is. If I hit him with a hammer he’d break apart like rock or marble. Right now, he’s made up of silicon compositions – can’t move a millimeter. If he should wake up in the next moment, I’ll see the transformation beginning in plenty of time to get the hell out of here. I’m not letting him Charley get a chance to use his bio-electrical aura on me … I don’t want to have to kiss my cute ass goodbye! Paralyzed and clumsy as he looks on that table, he can move like a cheetah if he’s activated. He’s way too superior physically to a Human to mess around with.«

  Lyla was shivering, as if a cold hand had touched her spine.

  »Why isn’t there more security in this lab? That Glob is only held down with titanium straps.«

  »Well, a cage or chains wouldn’t hold Chucky either, but that would hinder my tests. We’re assuming that the Globs need the wake-up pulse from the Stinger to be reactivated. The nanobots completely destroyed the Stinger, so that’s not going to happen,« Teun soothed. »Without their guiding pulses, these beings are just big, ugly lumps of silicon. Almost feel sorry for these guys in a way. They’re not like this voluntarily, they were controlled by the Globuster Lord. They’re just victims.«

  »Wait, wait, wait …you guys assume?« Lyla stretched out the last word for effect. »The alchemists in the middle ages assumed the world was a disk. Imagine their surprise if …«

  »What’re you trying to say, Doctor?« Teun asked edgily.

  Lyla frowned.

  »Just be careful … damn careful, you hear? That monster is unpredictable. It’s not a little cute cat purring on your lap and digging her claws into your knee. I don’t know why you even give him – it – a Human name. Promise me you’ll be careful, Teun. Don’t let that thing out of your sight!«

  Van Velzen looked her deep in the eyes, and saw her fear for him.

  »I promise, Fräulein Doktor!

  She paused, then after a beat she said, »Why do you have to be working on this project? Isn’t there something else for you to do? Something less dangerous?«

  Teun was moved by her deep fears. He kissed her softly on the cheek.

  »Dear, who else can say that they’ve had an encounter with an alien creature? I’ve wanted to meet one ever since I was a child.«

  »I’ve had nightmares since I laid eyes on the Globusters. They’re haunting me in my sleep,« Lyla admitted. Then softly, »I had another one last night …! Hold me, Teun …«

  Van Velzen held her tightly against his chest.

  »That’s understandable, Lyla … they are nightmares,« he whispered.

  With his free right hand, he threw a white sheet over the Globuster body and pulled Lyla to the airlock.

  »I need to keep working, babe. I’ll finish up here and then we’ll meet at your place for supper,« he suggested.

  Lyla nodded mutely and kissed him goodbye.

  As van Velzen turned around again, he noticed that the sheet had slipped to the floor.

  »Chucky, don
’t uncover yourself, you’ll catch a cold!« he scolded the lifeless body on the examination table.

  The sheet must’ve slid off his hard, hairless body, he told himself, while a cold shiver ran down his spine.

  Lyla’s dread was contagious.

  Is there gas escaping

  » … this is supposed to be an organic energy conduit?« Hassan Khalil asked doubtfully.

  »The connection completes the neuronal-like interface to the processor control circuit,« the neuronal analyzer affirmed. Hassan stopped what he was doing.

  »You’re full of shit! I think you need to be sanitized!« he countered. »We haven’t been able to crack any of the control circuits. You talk as if your processor has had a little chat with the Lens’ main computer. So … tell me again, what makes you think this is an energy conduit?«

  »I have determined that is the most probable explanation. I cannot rule out error, but 62.5 percent is a high result,« replied the analyzer in its monotone.

  »You don’t make errors … you can only work with the data we Humans provide you. If there’s an error it’s our fault! That’s the damn difference!«

  »Why are you so edgy, today?« came a voice from the ship’s open airlock.

  Hassan was lying on his back, working underneath the ships’ main computer interface. He lifted his head a little and saw Duane Fairchild, the chief coordinator of his research group.

  Hassan nodded in Fairchild’s direction and said pleasantly, »You don’t know? Well, then let me explain …«

  Hassan shifted to a more comfortable position.

  »I’m on board an alien spaceship, lying here in a bed-like indentation where a Globuster used to fart, and trying – to no avail – to understand this extraterrestrial technology, and I have to listen to stupid comments from this R2D2 analyzer. Short version: I’m frustrated and stuck!«

  »R2D2?« Fairchild frowned.

  »Never mind; R2D2 was an annoying robot from an ancient sci-fi movie,« Hassan replied, making a swift hand movement through the air.

  »The analysis computer is supposed to help you,« Fairchild reminded him. »I can send Cornwell to relieve you, if you need a break.«

  »Let’s face it, Duane: Cornwell, you and yours truly haven’t got the slightest clue about what’s going on here. I might was well stay here. I need to find out how this lens generates enough power to sustain the ship and its systems, especially its propulsion system. The ship is deactivated, dead without power since we eliminated the Stinger. There’s more life in a slice of toasted bread!«

  Fairchild chuckled. He had to admit, however, that Hassan was right. Still …

  »It doesn’t look that bleak. We’ve already cracked their plasma launcher. So get to work and find out how this technology is started up and how it works! Or are you afraid in here all by yourself?«

  »Afraid? You know what I’m afraid of? I’m afraid of Earth believing all our glorified bullshit about knowing everything about this ship, its technology and weapon systems. That’s nonsense and you know it!« the Lebanese engineer scowled in disgust.

  »Well, don’t we?« Fairchild asked, as if he didn’t know better.

  »I knew it … I friggen knew it … it was you who leaked that pabulum to the media!«

  »The new plasma launchers we’ve developed work, don’t they? They’ll boost the defense capabilities of our ships and bases, right?« Fairchild countered.

  Hassan was fuming now that he knew for certain that Fairchild was behind the misinformation and rumors.

  »You know damn well there’s a quantum leap between taking a machine apart to examine its functions and building a new one, or …,«

  »… or what?« Fairchild inquired calmly.

  »… or to be able to rebuild it with reverse engineering,« Hassan explained. He hated that his boss had been misleading the media, pretending to have made major progress on the alien technologies.

  »Even the Globuster weapon needs a trajectory to accelerate the plasma charges along. I don’t see any big difference between our plasma weapons and theirs,« Fairchild tried to get in the last word. He didn’t feel like arguing with Hassan.

  Hassan threw his test probe onto the floor and cursed in Arabic, which Fairchild didn’t understand.

  »Their weapon is a thousand times better than ours! It’s more compact and its energy charges are far more powerful. All we can do is to generate plasma – high temp-ionized gas – which, I admit packs quite a punch, but doesn’t deliver remotely as much power as the Glob plasma charges. The Hawk on Quaoar was literally evaporated by this weapon. It melted to atoms in seconds. Yo remember that? We’re not even close to generating such destructive force yet!«

  »What are you working on, right now?« Fairchild asked, trying to take the discussion onto a different tack.

  Hassan smirked, disdaining Fairchild’s attempt.

  »I’m trying to understand the ship’s energy generation and supply system, but I’m not getting it yet. There’s no central reactor, no fuel cell or anything. Some of these energy conduits, if that’s what they are, connect directly to the ship’s hull. I have no idea how it works, how the ship generates and distributes the energy to propulsion- and weapon-systems. I deserve a Nobel Prize if I find out. If we can understand how this ship works then we as Humans can stop taking baby steps. I know that much.«

  Fairchild gave a pained frown.

  »I’m depending on you, Hassan, but as for the Nobel Prize, well, praise and credits go to the boss – and that’s me!«

  »We should’ve left that Globuster here in his bedding,« Hassan murmured, lost in thought. Hassan Khalil wasn’t only a genius in his field but also known for his sporadic derailment of trains of thoughts.

  »What?« Fairchild inquired.

  »I said, we should’ve left that Glob here in his seat or lounge, or whatever you want to call it. Might’ve helped us understand how he controls the ship. I’ve wracked my brain looking around in there, but I can’t find a clue,« Hassan explained.

  »Well … that screams for multi-departmental cooperation!« Fairchild replied spontaneously. »Contact Uluru and request a holo-conference. If anybody knows the Globs inside-out it’s van Velzen. Oodergoo recommends him highly. Forget a real Globuster, Hassan. They’re all in Uluru being dissected as we speak.«

  »Van Velzen?« Hassan interrupted. »Never heard that name. But yes, maybe a holo-conference isn’t such a bad idea after all.«

  He just finished his sentence when he heard a fine hissing sound close by. Surprised, he jerked his head to the side.

  »What the … is there gas escaping?« he all but shrieked.

  For answer, he got a strong whiff of gas in his face. Instantly, his entire body began shaking and racked by heavy, hacking coughs. Hassan’s lungs burned like fire and a strong smell made his eyes tear strongly. He fell back onto the pilot’s lounge and couldn’t move a limb. The released atmosphere must be toxic and quick-acting on Humans! Hassan felt someone pulling on his legs before he lost consciousness.

  By whose orders

  »Hooh, Baby … I can’t do anymore, please,« Lyla sighed, moaned and turned on her back. »I need a break … lover …«

  Van Velzen kissed her on the forehead and bit softly on her earlobes.

  »Tired already, my Honeybunch?« he asked her.

  Lyla smiled with satisfaction.

  »No, dear, I haven’t had it this good in a long time! Now I know what you meant when you say that you can’t get enough of me.«

  She giggled and pulled the blanket over her head.

  Growling like a dog, van Velzen pulled the blanket away from her and gazed at Lyla’s naked body before him.

  »Is it any wonder? Have you looked at you in the mirror? You’re so beautiful … and so seductive!« he explained.

  »Be so nice and get me something to drink from the fridge … and then I’ll be ready for more,« she whispered in his ear.

  Van Velzen jumped out of the bed to get a couple of ice-cold bee
rs from the fridge. His enthusiasm was abruptly dampened by a loud whining sound, coming from the corridor outside Lyla’s suite.

  »What’s that supposed to mean?« she asked, shrugging into his shirt.

  »Stay in bed, I’ll take a look!« he told her, and opened the door to the corridor.

  Now the alarm was louder and there were people running around outside the suite.

  »Something’s happened!« a scientist yelled at van Velzen.

  The siren’s whining indicated “Station Alarm”! It also told the occupants to be ready for an important announcement.

  »What’s going on, Teun? Is there a fire?« she asked from her bed.

  »No idea, Honey!« he replied truthfully. »Turn on your holo … let’s see what they have for us.«

  Lyla reached up to her bed’s headboard and touched a sensor pad. Seconds later, a 2- by-1 meter display activated, running a red announcement banner.

  … MYSTERIOUS INCIDENT ON MARS … SAMUEL MCCORD DEAD IN BRIGHT LIGHT EXPLOSION …

  »Volume, please,« van Velzen asked Lyla. She turned the volume higher and now they both could hear the announcement.

  »… as we just learned, the light flash was a tachyon impulse, faster than the speed of light. So far there have been no reports of damage on Mars or elsewhere. Terrestrial technology cannot detect such an impulse; the information came from Toiber Arkroid who is currently on Mars together with Vasina, the Progonaut queen …«

  »Arkroid on Mars? He’s returned?« van Velzen repeated in surprise. »Did you know that?«

  Lyla shrugged.

  »Was I supposed to? Who is this Arkroid anyway?« she inquired.

  Van Velzen grinned and jumped from the bed.

  »I’ll be back in half an hour! Wait here and watch the news. Tell me everything when I get back.«

  Hastily, he put on his clothes.

  »Where are you going, Teun?« she wanted to know.

  »… to the command center. I want to know what happened!« he yelled back from the corridor before the door closed behind him.

  Van Velzen walked swiftly down the corridor and saw several of his colleagues heading the same way.