by S A Pavli
“Understood Captain,” said the Major. He operated the door of the Transit Vehicle and stepped through. The Transit Vehicle was basically a square box with steering jets strapped around it. It was permanently secured to one of the ship’s air locks and was used for ship to ship transfers. There were hand holds around the walls and straps for equipment to be secured. The two astronauts took their positions and with a whirr of hydraulic pumps and a thump of releasing clamps the small machine was detached from the mother ship. It drifted gently away, and through the one window they could see the blank grey wall and airlock from which they had exited.
“About to fire the rockets,” announced the Captain.
“We are secure Captain,” replied the Major. He and Jimmy both had firm handholds. There was a muted rumble and the craft moved with gently increasing speed away from the ship. At the same time it swivelled so that the airlock was now pointing towards the Chameleon. Their destination grew until it filled the window. The jets rumbled as Alden manoeuvred the small craft towards the Chameleon’s main airlock. They were not able to use the Chameleon’s transit vehicle airlock because its own TV was still in place. They would have to attempt a manual external unlock of the main airlock. Alden brought the TV to a gentle halt centimetres from the airlock.
“About to open airlock door,” announced the Captain. The door slid open and the Major floated up to the control panel situated to the side of the Chameleon’s main airlock. He opened the flap and examined the controls carefully. Behind him, the wall mounted camera whirred as Josephine zoomed it in to the control panel.
“Flip the two switches at the top to ‘set’, and press the big green button,” she said.
“Check,” replied the Major. “Big green button, do your job.” He jabbed at it, and there was instantly a heavy hum of machinery and the airlock door began to move. The two astronauts instinctively floated away from the door, but it opened to reveal an empty airlock.
“OK gentlemen. We will leave the TV in place. You may enter the airlock,” announced Mark. The Major confirmed with a terse ‘check’ and floated out of the TV and into the air lock with Jimmy behind him. As they passed into the Chameleon’s hull, its artificial gravity field clutched at them gently, pulling them to the floor. The Major operated the controls to cycle the airlock. The external door closed and the pumps came on with a roar. Once the pressure was in the green, the pumps stopped and the Major operated the unlock button to open the internal door. They stepped through into the large brightly lit loading bay.
“Running commentary Major,” said Mark.
“Yes Captain…ok, this all looks very normal,” began the Major. “No sign of life. There is some equipment over there; a couple of AG hover cars; some mechanoids, powered down. They look like prospecting robots. Boxes of other stuff, don’t know what it is but it looks like they came here for the same job as us.”
“No signs of violence or damage?” asked the Captain.
“None that I can see,” replied the Major. “Where to next Captain? The shuttle deck or the habitation deck?”
“Let’s check out the shuttle,” said the Captain. The two astronauts headed for the central lift shaft. The lift arrived with a cheerful hum, the door springing open energetically. They entered and pressed the button for the shuttle deck. As they stepped out into the shuttle deck, the lights came on automatically. At the same time as Major Pete saw the shuttle in its berth, he saw something else. Both he and Jimmy froze in the lift door.
“Shuttle is place Captain,” announced the Major. “But we have a problem.”
“Confirm that Major. Shuttle is place. What is problem?” The Major directed his helmet camera and held it still.
“It looks like a body Captain.”
Chapter 11
It was Jimmy who made the first move towards the body but the Major’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm.
“Hold it Jimmy. Check out the area first.” They both paused, looking carefully in all directions. “Right, you hold the lift, I’ll investigate. Get your stun gun out.” Jimmy fumbled in his storage pouch, removed the stun gun and set it to active. The Major did the same with his. A detached part of the Major’s brain noted approvingly that the Captain had not interrupted them or made any remark about the guns. He stepped forward towards the body. It was a man, long dark hair tied in a pony tail, sprawled face up on the floor. As he came closer, he noticed that the eyes were open and staring, the mouth gaping open. He was dressed in dark blue overalls. The Major could see no sign of any serious injury, but as he came closer he saw what appeared to be heavy bruising about his face and congealed blood on his forehead.
“He looks as if he’s been beaten up,” he remarked.
“Is he dead Major?” asked Mark.
“Certainly looks it,” replied the Major. He bent over the body and looked carefully into the staring eyes. He reached out with his gloved hand and shook the head. The eyes continued to stare unblinking at the ceiling. He straightened up and turning he beckoned to Jimmy who was still standing at the open lift door.
“Come and keep me covered Jimmy. I’m going into the shuttle.” He turned and walked towards the air lock door, Jimmy bringing close behind him, stun gun at the ready. As they cleared the air lock, they could see that the shuttle’s main bay was empty.
“Let’s check out the Bridge,” said the Major. There was a small two ‘man’ lift that went from the main bay to the Bridge, as well as a helical stairway. The Major took the stairs, with Jimmy behind him, stun gun pointing upwards. At the top of the stairs, the small Bridge was packed with instruments and three empty padded chairs.
“Nothing up here Captain. Bridge is empty,” reported the Major.
“Check out the rest of the ship Major, before we decide what to do with the body.”
“Understood Captain. I don’t think he’s going anywhere. We’ll head for the habitation deck and then the Bridge.”
“Watch yourselves Major. It looks like there may have been violence here,” said Mark.
“Proceeding with utmost caution Captain,” remarked the Major. They re-entered the lift and selected the third level, the habitation deck. The lift doors opened into the lounge area. The galley was off to one side, and a corridor led the passenger cabins. From the lift the lounge looked empty, but as he stepped out, the Major saw the other two bodies. One, a woman, was seated back against the wall, staring straight ahead, tousled dark hair partially obscuring the face. The other was draped across a table face down.
“Jesus Christ,” moaned Jimmy. “What’s happened here?”
“This is looking bad Jimmy,” said the Major, his voice hard. “On your toes mate?”
“Aye sir,” said Jimmy crisply. They stepped cautiously into the room, stun guns fanning to each side. They saw the third body in the corridor leading to the passenger cabins, and the fourth lying on the floor of the galley. Both were men, and dressed in civilian attire.
“It’s a bloody massacre,” hissed the Major through gritted teeth.
“Major, any idea how these people died?” asked Mark.
“Can’t see anything obvious Captain,” replied the Major. “Jimmy, keep a look out while I have a closer look.” He approached the woman sitting with her back against the wall and bending down, gently moved the hair away from her face. The same staring eyes and gaping mouth he thought. He examined her body, moving her away from the wall and turning her over. She was dishevelled, covered in bruises and scratches, but no wounds large enough to kill her. One by one he examined the others. It was a gruesome task but he steeled himself to do it. Two were dressed in civilian clothes, the other two were obviously crew.
“No major injuries on any of them Captain,” he reported. “But they are all covered with bruises and scratches. Oh, and they look dehydrated. Tongues poking out of their mouths, lips dry and cracked.”
“Surely the ship has water?” asked the Captain.
“Easy enough to check Captain,” replied the Major. He strode
to the galley and opened the water tap. Clear water gushed out.
“Well, we have water. Unless its been poisoned.”
“We’ll have to take samples of the water, the air and the food,” said Mark. “Major, this could still be the work of a madman, so proceed carefully, and stick together.”
“We’ll get around the cabins now, then go up to the Bridge and crew cabins,” said the Major. Cautiously they made their way around all the passenger cabins. In the third cabin they found the body of an elderly civilian, again in the same condition as the others. The other cabins were empty, although everywhere they went they found clothes and personal effects strewn about, on the floors and in the corridors. It was if the passengers and crew had all gone berserk, crashing against furniture walls and doors, and insanely throwing their personal effects around until they had all died of exhaustion and dehydration. The more the Major saw, the more he doubted that they had been murdered by a berserk madman. It seemed more likely that they had all ingested some poison which had driven them all insane.
“Well, that’s all the cabins Jimmy. Let’s get up to the Bridge,” sighed the Major. Back to the lift again and this time level four was selected. The lift opened to an alcove. Ahead of them was the door to the Bridge, to their left and right were the corridors leading to the Captain’s and the crew’s cabins. They could see the pilot and co-pilot’s seats and both were empty. Belatedly, the Major remembered that the Bridge had already been scanned by the EE robot. They turned to the left and walked to the end of a short corridor. The door to the Captain’s suite was ahead of them. The Major remembered that the Captain’s suite was also one of those with windows that had been examined by the EE robot, but he pressed the door button and entered with the same care. The room was empty, but like the others, littered with personal effects. The door to the bathroom was open and the Major moved cautiously towards it. As he cleared the door, he saw the woman spread-eagled on the tiled floor. She was in MSN uniform with the insignia of Captain on her left breast.
“We’ve found the Captain,” murmured the Major into his communicator. “She seems as dead as the others.” As the Major approached closer, he noticed that her eyes were closed, head lolling forward and mouth gaping open like the others. She had a huge bruise on her forehead and one hand was covered in blood. She was a good looking middle aged woman with a shock of tousled blonde hair.
“She looks as if she’s been in the wars,” remarked Jimmy. The Major cautiously lifted her head, brushing the hair back from the bruised face. Suddenly, eyelids sprang open and intense blue eyes glared back. His helmet speaker transmitted the strangled groan that came from her contorted lips.
“Jesus!” he gasped, lurching backwards in surprise, his pulse suddenly racing.
“Fuck! She’s alive.” gasped Jimmy as the Major staggered backwards into him. They both struggled to regain their footing, and both stun guns were instantly pointed at the woman. After her dramatic reaction she hadn’t moved, her eyes staring blankly at them, and her chest heaving. The Major could hear her tortured breathing through his helmet speaker. After his first visceral reaction the Major calmed himself. He handed his stun gun to Jimmy and knelt down to her again. Her eyes were un-focused and staring. He took her face in one hand and moved her head from side to side. Feeble sounds came from her mouth and her limbs writhed weakly.
“How is she Major?”
“In a bad way Captain. Very weak. She looks dehydrated and exhausted. And…catatonic. In a semi-coma. ”
“Damn peculiar situation.”
“To say the least,” agreed the Major.
“Major hold there for a minute while I discuss our next action with the team. I particularly want the Doctor’s advice,” said the Captain.
“Understood Captain,” replied the Major. “In the meantime we’ll finish off searching the crew’s cabins on this level.”
The search of the remaining cabins was brief and fruitless. There were no more bodies, dead or alive. The Major and Jimmy returned to the Captain’s cabin to find the woman in the same position, but eyes closed again and head slumped forward.
“She needs attention quickly Captain, if she’s going to survive,” he warned.
“Understood Major, but we need to move carefully,” replied Mark. “If there has been some kind of infection there, the last thing we want to do is transport it to our ship.”
“We can’t just leave her to die Captain,” protested Jimmy.
“Agreed Jimmy,” said Mark. “She may also have invaluable information as to what the hell happened there. I’ve talked to the doctor. She really doesn’t feel that this is a virus or infection. Its happened too quickly. But we can’t take any chances, so we have decided to set up an isolation area in the transit vehicle airlock. Leslie will arrange for the treatment bed and whatever other equipment she needs to be moved there.”
“How are you going to isolate the airlock from the rest of the ship?” asked the Major.
“We wont,” replied the Captain. “The airlock is equipped with de-contamination sprays. It’s standard equipment for all airlocks. Anyone entering the TV airlock must wear a de-contamination suit and go through the de-contamination procedure.”
“The patient will remain in the TV?” said the Major.
“Exactly,” agreed the Captain. “The TV will be a sealed area. Entry and exit will be via the TV airlock using a DC suit.”
“Understood Captain, it’s a good plan,” agreed the Major. “Alden, do we have a name for the captain of the Chameleon?”
“The MFPP Register shows Anja Pederson as the captain of the Chameleon,” replied Alden. Having a name for the wretched creature on the floor made the Major feel better. This is a real human being he assured himself, not some alien zombie.
“Come on Jimmy, let’s take Captain Anja back,” said the Major.
“Sorry to ask you Major, but we have to do something with the dead bodies,” said Mark. “Can you take them all to one of the airlocks and evacuate the air? We don’t want them de-composing.”
“Oh God,” groaned Jimmy. Melanie’s voice came back to them over the intercom.
“Sorry Jimmy, this is above and beyond the call of duty I know. There’ll be a special bonus for you and the Major for this.”
“Only kidding. But thanks anyway boss,” retorted Jimmy.
“All right. Let’s do this Jimmy,” said the Major, weary resignation in his voice.
Chapter 12
The Major and Jimmy were greeted as heroes on their return, with handshakes all round and hugs from Melanie and Leslie. The doctor had moved the sick room bed and a pile of medical equipment, including a drip, to the TV airlock, and the unfortunate Anja Pederson was strapped to the bed and immediately connected to the drip. Over the next ten hours she began to show signs of greater animation; but soon became too animated, straining against the straps continuously until she became exhausted. Her inarticulate animal screams and groans were pitiable and Leslie was forced to give her a cocktail of drugs to calm her and put her to sleep. She was caked in her own urine and excrement and it was Melanie who offered to help the doctor in cleaning her up. They cut off her clothes, washed her thoroughly and dressed her. Melanie even washed and combed her hair. Leslie was impressed despite herself. She had never expected that the aristocratic rich girl would be so ready to get her hands dirty.
Leslie took blood and urine samples and carried out every test that the ship’s laboratory was capable of. All came up negative. Clinically, Captain Anja was as healthy as the proverbial horse, but her pulse was ragged and irregular and her adrenalin levels were out of control.
After a nights sleep Leslie completed her tests with no outcome. She was in the ship’s small medical lab when the Captain called her.
“Leslie, are you in a position to brief me on your patient?”
“Yes Mark, give me five minutes to tidy up the lab.”
They met in the lounge. Leslie felt a twinge of jealousy on finding the Captain in
what she immediately took to be a cosy tête-à-tête with Melanie. The Captain stood politely and offered her a coffee which she declined. He waved her to a seat.
“I thought Melanie should be present at our meeting Doctor,” said Mark. Leslie nodded.
“How is your patient Doctor?” he asked.
“She has no serious injuries,” said Leslie. “And clinically there seems no reason for her coma. Her adrenalin levels are high and variable, and her pulse rate is again high and variable. The two are of course related. She has no infections or viruses that I can detect.”
“It almost seems as if she is asleep and having a terrible nightmare,” remarked Melanie.
“Yes, some kinds of REM sleep can cause these effects in mentally disturbed or damaged patients,” agreed Melanie.
“Is there any poison that can cause this kind of thing?” asked Mark.
“Yes,” said Leslie, but with some doubt in her voice. “Not exactly such extreme effects and they do not normally lead to death unless a massive overdose is taken. But if she was suffering from something like that, she should have started to recover by now. She’s been on the drip and her blood has been cleaned of poisons.”
“Have you fully ruled out a virus?” Mark.
“All my cultures have been negative,” she replied. “There is no organ damage, or secondary infections. She is clinically healthy.”
“So the problem, whatever it is, is affecting her brain?” asked Melanie, although it was more a statement than a question.
“Exactly,” said Leslie. “The problem is, the only way I can examine her brain is using the MRI.”
“And you can’t move the MRI to the TV airlock,” said Mark thoughtfully.