by G J Ogden
“You’re still a jerk,” said Maria, before letting out a chuckle.
“Damn it, Sal, you had me worried!” said Kurren pulling down the sleeve of his jacket crossly.
Maria slapped him on his good arm. “Don’t worry, you’re fine,” she said. “So long as we keep up the meds, we should both be off this rock without any negative effects,” she added, more seriously. Kurren didn’t respond, but he knew exactly what negative effects Maria was referring to.
They both started to gather their gear and headed cautiously down the stairs, and then quickly scouted the perimeter, weapons drawn, making sure there were no more unwanted guests. When they were satisfied they were alone, they met at the rear of the house, overlooking the city in the near distance.
“First order of business should be to secure our ride back,” said Maria. “If we can’t get back, there’s no point trying to bag our prize.”
“Agreed.”
Maria checked her PVSM and flipped up a panel to reveal the data display. “According to the survey of the area the best place to find a ship is the underground space port, north of the city. Due to my exceptional piloting skills...” Kurren snorted, Maria smiled at him and continued, “…as I was saying, due to my steely piloting skills, we’ve actually landed...”
“Crashed,” Kurren said, trying to disguise the word as a cough.
“...landed...” Maria stressed, “about ten miles away from the port. We’ve already covered some of the distance there, so if we get a move on, we should be able to find an entry-point in a few hours. Once we’ve tagged a ride out of here, we can perhaps also find a city transit car or utility, and if we’re lucky, we can grab the prize and be out of here by tomorrow.”
Kurren looked at her, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. “Are you sure you’ve been taking the right meds?” he said. “Because it sounds like you’ve had an overdose of wishful thinking.”
Maria gave him a friendly punch on the arm. “Gotta stay positive, fly boy!” she said. “Besides, I’m already sick of your ugly mug. So let’s get this done as soon as we can.”
“Yes boss,” said Kurren. And they set off towards the outskirts of the city.
CHapter 8
Ethan, Summer and Dorman approached the smoking object with their weapons drawn. Summer hung back with her hunting bow held low, and arrow nocked, while Ethan and Dorman held short wooden batons, about a metre long; the preferred weapon of the Ranger.
This was their first close-up view of the object, and it was now obvious to all of them that it originated from before The Fall. It was metallic, about ten body-lengths long and half that in width, and just tall enough for an average-sized human to stand up in. Smoke was billowing from the side furthest from them, jutting straight up into the clear, windless sky, and there were some ominous-sounding hisses and crackles coming from it, like logs burning in a fire. On the outer surface closest to them was an open door or hatch that led inside.
Summer regarded the object with suspicion. “Has this thing really just crashed or has it always been here, and just, I don't know, exploded?”
Ethan glanced back at her. “Why do you ask that?” he said with genuine surprise.
“I mean, look at it. It looks sort of... old. I mean beat up,” Summer said, unsure what she really meant.
Ethan stopped advancing, cautious not to get too close. “It’s from before The Fall,” he said, casually.
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” said Dorman. “But, I agree it does look similar to some of the things we’ve seen in the cities.”
“We saw it come down from the sky,” said Ethan, “so we can be pretty sure it hasn’t always been here.”
“We should go, this doesn’t feel right,” said Summer, nervously. She was on edge, continually looking around, arrow partly drawn back.
“Take it easy, Summer,” said Dorman. “Let’s just do what we came here to do, and head back.” Dorman was closest to the object. He edged closer to the open hatch, but not close enough to see inside. “There’s blood on the door frame here,” he said gravely. “Someone was inside when it crashed.”
“That’s enough!” said Summer, fiercely. “We’ve found what we came for, now let’s go back.”
Ethan dropped back alongside Summer. She looked scared, and Summer wasn’t one to scare easily.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Ethan said, trying to calm her down. “But we’re here now, let’s find out what we can.”
“Ethan, this isn’t a game,” said Summer, relaxing her bow. “If there were people on that thing, they’re not here now; they could be watching us. We don’t know why they’re here. We need to be careful.”
“I understand, but I want to know why they’re here,” Ethan replied. “Don’t you?”
Summer shook her head vigorously, “No!” she said firmly.
“Then why did you come out here?” said Ethan, feeling frustrated.
“I came to be with you, you idiot. Don’t you know that by now?” Summer retorted. “And besides, Katie asked me to watch out for you, make sure you didn’t do anything stupid. I didn’t expect we’d find anything. Not like this, anyway.”
Ethan looked away. “I didn’t… realise,” he said, embarrassed.
“Of course you did!” said Summer. “We’re not kids any more, Ethan, so let’s not play games.”
Ethan looked back at her. She looked more angry now than scared. “Okay, I know,” he admitted. “But this is hardly the time for a heart-to-heart.”
Summer scoffed. “I’m not sure there’s room in that shrivelled thing for anything more than you and your personal crusade.”
“That’s not fair!” said Ethan. Summer’s remark had hurt.
Summer tilted her head back, her eyes closed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just worried that this thing here will cloud your judgement, make you reckless.”
“It won’t,” said Ethan, confidently. “But, you’re right, Summer. This is what I’ve been searching for.” He turned and pointed at the crashed object. “Look at it,” he said. “Finally, we could get some answers. Whoever arrived on that thing… maybe they can tell us what happened. Help us understand.”
“Help you understand,” Summer corrected him. “The rest of us are perfectly happy not knowing.”
“Then why send us out here?” Ethan argued. “Why bother if no-one cares?”
Summer shook her head. “We’re not out here for answers, Ethan,” she said in a mocking tone, as if it was obvious and Ethan was stupid for asking. “We’re here to find out if it’s a threat. That’s what we do, Ethan. We protect our people. Or have you forgotten that?”
Ethan rubbed his forehead and temples. He hated arguing with Summer, and hated that he could never turn her to his point of view. He really wanted her to understand and to have the same drive to know more. It was a rift, and perhaps one of the reasons why their relationship had never developed further.
Summer reached out and grabbed Ethan’s jacket. “Maybe some things are best forgotten, Ethan,” she said sombrely. “Maybe we should live for now, and be thankful that we escaped whatever it was that did... that,” she nodded in the direction of the derelict city in the distance.
Ethan looked over at the city and then back at Summer. He’d never heard her talk this way, and he’d never had the courage to open up to her like this himself. But how could he make her understand that he couldn’t live for now until he understood why this had all happened? It gnawed at his subconscious every hour of every day. He was about to speak, to try to explain this, when Dorman interrupted. He was standing just outside the open door hatch of the object, some distance from Ethan and Summer, so that he needed to shout.
“Hey, can you two save whatever it is you're talking about for later?”
They both turned to look at him, just as the side of his face exploded into a mess of blood and bone. Dorman fell, motionless in a crumple on the ground, twitching chaotically. A figure casually stood over Dorman's body, looking down at it impass
ively. It had been inside the object – stupidly, no-one had checked inside, and Ethan had been too pre-occupied with Summer to think about it, until now.
The figure, dressed in tattered, soiled clothing, now splattered with the bright red blood from Dorman’s broken skull, wore a vacant look on its face. A human-looking face. It wasn’t yet fully maddened, Ethan realised. The Roamer remained standing over Dorman, staring blankly at the twitching body at its feet, before it slowly looked up and saw Ethan and Summer; both frozen in shock.
Summer reacted first. She pushed away from Ethan, and in a flash drew back the string of her bow and fired the arrow deep into the Roamer’s chest. It stumbled back, and fell to one knee. It looked at the arrow and reaching up with a blackened, disfigured hand, grabbed the shaft and pulled. There was no cry of pain, even as dark red blood oozed from the wound. It tried in vain for several seconds to remove the arrow, grunting inhumanly, but it was sunk too deeply into its corrupted flesh. Eventually, it fell to its side, still holding the arrow shaft with one hand, and fell still.
Summer expertly nocked another arrow and they both stood there, waiting, watching, hearts pounding so hard that Ethan could hear the blood pumping in his ears. He quickly surveyed their surroundings again, looking for any signs of movement, any indication that there could be more. The Maddened moved alone, Ethan knew this, but Roamers sometimes travelled in groups, even ones this far gone. There could be more. Neither spoke for what seemed like an eternity. Then, slowly, another figure – a man – appeared from inside the object, followed by two others, one male and one female. They also had not yet become fully maddened, but they were long past the stage of being recognisably human. All three looked at the lifeless body on the ground and then up towards Summer and Ethan. Then without a word or gesture between them, the Roamers charged straight at them.
Ethan was a good runner; one of the best. Tall, strong and agile, he was swift and able to outrun any Ranger in the settlement, something he did every year whenever a new Ranger graduated and fancied challenging his status. But as the Maddening progressed, it not only changed a person’s mind, but their body too. They stopped feeling pain, and could perform feats of exertion that would seriously injure a normal person; their brains simply did not tell them when to stop. Three years ago, Ethan had seen a Roamer tear open a section of the settlement's perimeter wall with its bare hands, pulling out stone and wood as if they were weeds. The effort was so great that it actually tore an arm from its socket. And then, just as suddenly and violently as it had begun its assault, the pressure on its heart and lungs become too severe, and it collapsed, dead. But the damage to the fence was done, and more Roamers had gotten inside the wall; four settlers were killed before they were stopped. Ethan had fought them that day, as on others days, and he had learned the hard way not to underestimate them. They would not retreat, would not surrender and would not negotiate. They simply wanted what the settlers had, and would stop at nothing to get it.
Ethan heard the tell-tale 'swoosh' of an arrow being loosed, and he watched as it sank into the eye socket of the female. It fell flatly forward, driving the arrow through its brain and out the back of its skull. But even Summer couldn't draw fast enough to take out the next one before it reached them, and so there was no choice left but to fight.
Ethan had already begun moving before the second Roamer had taken the arrow to its head, his weapon clenched tightly in his grip, muscles pumped with adrenaline. Summer threw down her bow and reached for a knife but Ethan knew she wouldn't get it in time. He charged into both Roamers, using his staff to ram them off course. It worked, and both were knocked off balance, stumbling and falling roughly to the ground. Ethan too was down, and he knew he had to regain his footing quickly to stand any chance of surviving the attack. His own physical prowess came to the fore now, as he rose swiftly and swung at the nearest Roamer, striking a glancing blow to its side. The second was on its feet almost as quickly and launched at Summer, who deflected it frantically with her knife, but the attack was enough to send her falling backwards. Ethan saw Summer fall and switched his footing to take on her attacker, dealing a powerful blow to the creature's face, smashing its nose and cheek bone with a nauseating crunch. Then Ethan was hit on the back. Somehow the other Roamer had managed to recover quickly enough to land an attack. Ethan fell, trying to block out the pain, and rolled over to face his attacker, just in time to evade a second blow. The Roamer lashed out again and this time instinct took over, and he kicked out its legs. It dropped solidly to the floor, and Ethan followed up quickly, crushing its throat. He scrambled to his feet barely in time to see the other Roamer advancing again, its face a bloodied mess, with Summer’s knife in its hand. Ethan saw the glinting metal and backed away, panic rising in his gut. The knife rose high and was about to drive forward when Summer appeared and hooked the creature’s arm with her bow. Ethan had no idea where she had come from, but he was grateful for the opening it gave him. His staff did the rest, and a moment later the Roamer was back down in the dirt, this time for good.
They both stood there for a few seconds, struggling for breath, arms and legs buzzing with adrenalin and raw energy.
“Thanks...” Ethan managed breathlessly, still watching the bodies to make sure they were dead. Summer nodded, similarly breathless, muscles still tense and alert. She was still coiled and ready to strike. Ethan stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder; a simple gesture of reassurance to diffuse the tension. “It’s okay, we got them,” he said, calmly.
Summer threw her arms around him and Ethan winced as she squeezed the area of his back that had taken the brunt of the Roamer’s assault, but he didn’t complain. He dropped the staff and embraced her with similar intensity. This was as close as either of them had come to death, and they both knew it. All he wanted right now was to feel Summer, to know she was still breathing, warm and alive.
They remained this way for several seconds, but as the true realization of what had just happened sank in, Ethan began to feel guilt and shame. He held on to Summer as if letting her go might mean that she could blow away with the wind, and stared out towards the derelict city on the horizon. He’d always been so sure of himself, of his ability, confident in the knowledge that he’d never been badly hurt during any of his previous confrontations. It had made him feel invincible, infallible, though others might call it cocky. Now he better understood his sister’s anguish. He understood this as he held Summer close to his chest and felt sick at the thought that she could be lying broken in the dirt, beside these diseased creatures. Her instead of Dorman. Oh no… Dorman, he thought.
It was as if Summer had heard him, because at almost the same time, she said, weakly into Ethan’s ear, “What shall we do about Dorman?”
Ethan pulled away slightly, but did not let Summer go. He noticed her eyes were wet. Not quite crying, but close. He’d never seen her like this.
He finally let go of her, though it was hard to do so, and looked at the scene before them. Three dead Roamers and a dead Ranger. He shook his head. “We should burn the bodies,” he said, coldly. “We take Dorman’s gear, and we burn them all together.”
“Ethan…” said Summer, sounding unsure, almost shocked at the suggestion.
“It’s what he’d tell us to do,” said Ethan. “It’s what he’d do if it was us. He’s just a shell now, what does it matter?”
Summer rested her forehead against Ethan’s chest and exhaled. She stayed there for a few seconds, and then rested her hands around his waist. Despite the situation, Ethan felt a slight thrill, and instantly rebuked himself for feeling it. It was like he was a kid again, fooling around in the yard.
Summer raised her head and met his eyes. “Okay,” she said with quiet determination. “Let’s get it done.” She moved away from Ethan and they stood side-by-side, the cool wind calmly blowing across them, oblivious to the violence that had taken place only moments earlier.
“And then what?” said Ethan, realising he had lost his firmness o
f purpose, and no longer knew what to do. He thought that he would probably do whatever Summer asked, no matter what it was.
She looked at him, her expression plain, her composure regained. “Then we find whoever came here in this thing,” she said severely, “we find out why they came, and we shake some answers from them. We do it for Dorman, agreed?”
Ethan looked into her eyes and his doubt disappeared. “Agreed,” he said.
chapter 9
The door was buried behind a jungle of weeds and plants the like of which Maria Salus and Chris Kurren had never seen before. Their base on the moon was home to a very limited variety of plant life and it was all very neatly kept, even inside the huge arboretum.
It had taken them just over two hours to reach the spaceport on the outskirts of the city, and their journey had been uneventful, to their great relief. Even so, they were very cautious while pulling back the undergrowth covering the service door that led inside the spaceport. After ten minutes of solid de-weeding, the door was exposed enough to gain access to the main control panel.
“You’re up,” said Maria, slapping her palms together to shake off the dirt.
Kurren approached the door and snapped open the hatch to the service panel. The screen was blank, but the ports inside looked clear, despite some tarnishing of the metal components. He took out an override jacker from his belt and hooked it up to his PVSM with a short cable, then to the port in the control panel with a second cable. The display screen on the control panel flickered into life, and diagnostic text scrolled down the screen.
“It looks okay,” Kurren said, squinting to read the fast-scrolling text dancing across the panel's screen. “The air inside is pretty stale, but not toxic. It looks like the internal air conditioner failed long ago, but the emergency vents opened.”
“That means some of those things could have gotten inside,” Maria commented, gravely.
Kurren looked over at her, wearing an unusually serious expression. “Possibly, yes,” he agreed matter-of-factly, before returning his eyes to the panel. “The generators still appear functional, but they have no fuel,” Kurren continued.