The First Dawn (The Sci-Corp War Saga Book 1)

by Justin Alexander

  “Yes sir I will arrange it personally,” Jasmine retorted as she strode off.

  Josh continued to study the screen and offered a silent prayer for the Marines on board that ship.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Back aboard the hulk, Daniel heard the confirmation to continue come over his auditory implant, it was what he wanted but he still didn’t have to like it. “Ok we’re a Go, I am first, Snowman your next, Killer you cover, Geek your next then Doc and Little boy you’re covering the rear.”

  “Just the way he likes it,” Kelly added with a sneer.

  “You wish Geek,” Mathieu retorted, to which Kelly simply held up her middle finger.

  “Enough!” Daniel uttered, “We’ve got a job to do now, so let’s do it.” He didn’t wait for a reply instead he trudged towards the gap.

  He stooped down holding his gun out ahead of him, allowing the beam from the torch to irradiate the murk. His finger settled loosely on the trigger and then he set off through the breach. He could hear Hollis behind him struggle to squeeze his vast frame, that in the suit was even more mammoth, into the slightly narrow gap, and for a moment he allowed himself a slight chuckle. He forget all the misery and pain, it was one instance of relief amid the dread. As he neared the far side of the barricade he paused, mentally preparing himself for what was going to lay on the far side of this blockade. He tried not to think about, why the crew of this ship had built this defence, or what they were trying to keep out.

  “Geek any movement?” he asked.

  “Nothing sir, the only thing moving here is us,” the reply crackled over his headset.

  He sat for a minute, building up his courage and steeling his own strength. Then he eased out through the fissure. Most of the emergency lights here had been knocked out so the darkness was thick and all-consuming. His torch light irradiated more snapshots, but these were enough to make him heave, sprays of dusky crimson fluid covered most of the walls while on the grated floor, clumps of flesh and hair created a grim scene. The whole thing reminded him of the slaughterhouse his father had once taken him too once, so long ago.

  He marched away from the breach and allowed the rest of his team to move through, all had their weapons primed and ready. As more torches arrived and lit up more of the corridor, the grisly sights continued.

  Kelly was the first to speak, “Is that blood?” her voice quivering, as she stared at the wall.

  “Don’t look at the floor.” Hollis encouraged her knowing that she wasn’t good with gore.

  “What the hell happened here?” Mathieu demanded as he spun around taking in the whole panoramic scene of brutality.

  “I don’t know but it was bad,” Daniel tried to control his pitch and hide not only his own terror but his revulsion as well.

  “This is arterial bleeding,” Millie piped up as she edged towards one of the walls. “There’s so much of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much blood before, a lot of people bleed out here,” she spluttered.

  “Jesus no one is alive in this place!” Kelly exclaimed.

  “This is bad,” Hollis added.

  “Where are all the bodies?” Millie asked nervously. “This much blood and detritus but not a single body that I can see?”

  There was silence and then Denzel spoke, “I don’t think we want to know that.”

  Daniel turned away from the carnage, he tried to force his eyes to lock onto the gloom ahead of him, whatever had happened here, they were too late and yet still someone may have survived this slaughter. Members of the crew that had managed to flee from this butchery and perhaps reach the sanctuary of one of the hibernation pods.

  He fortified his spirit, “We keep moving.”

  “Sir, we aren’t going to find anyone alive here, this place is a tomb,” Denzel declared speaking for all of them.

  Daniel swung round to face him, the trepidation in his eyes refracted through the thick glass. “That may be true Killer, but we have to be sure, up ahead should be some emergency pods, if anyone made it out of here alive that’s where they would have gone.”

  “Well that’s a plan sir, although I could really do with some beers and maybe some serious therapy.” Hollis sneered, his own fear still heavy within his timbre.

  “Well I think that we could all do with some once this is over,” Millie added attempting to lighten the sombre mood.

  “We move now,” Daniel replied languidly, trying desperately not to look again upon the frozen bloodshed, tried not to notice it was black rather than red, tried not to see how much of it there was and tried not to think of how many men and women must have been killed here.

  He set off into the murk, as he lumbered ahead he could almost feel it wrap around him as if the very shadows aboard this colossus were alive. He gripped his weapon tightly in his hands, as if it was his only lifeline. Ahead of him the corridor continued, as the radiance from his torch beam lit the way, he could see more filth covering these walls, whatever happened here had been bad and whatever the crew had been attempting to keep out, had managed to get in and it had brought death with it.

  “Sir why is it that we always get the sweet jobs?” Hollis enquired.

  “Well I could say because we’re the best,” Daniel answered dryly, “But I think we all know, it because of the time you banged the admiral’s wife, the brass really does hate us.” A slight ripple of amusement followed.

  “God I hate you Snowman,” Kelly added.

  “Yeah hope it was worth it?” Denzel asked.

  “Hey, hey,” Hollis said getting defensive, “She really was worth it.”

  “You and your dick Snowman, you’re always getting into trouble.” Millie sniggered. “And I know how small it is as well, you really must know what you’re doing.”

  “Hey Doc that’s not funny,” Hollis tried passionately to defend himself, “You know it’s not the size of the motor it’s the motion in the ocean.” He held up his hand, when he had no takers he added, “What you going to leave a guy hanging?”

  “Come on now you know that wasn’t worth a high five,” Denzel retorted.

  “Ok,” Daniel had to put a stop to this, “Let’s get our heads in the game, we can all laugh at Snowman’s tiny prick later.”

  “Lone Star words hurt you know,” Hollis protested.

  “Geek what have we got?” Daniel inquired.

  Kelly glanced down towards her tracker, “I’ve got no movement sir, other than that ghost signal about nine hundred metres ahead.”

  “Ok, we move out, covering formation.” Daniel said attempting to mask the sentiments he was feeling, “The emergency pods are about two hundred metres, It’s simple we check them and then move onto that signal, clear?”

  “Sir” the reply came.

  “Good we move, now, remember who you are, we look out for each other and everyone makes it home, clear?”

  “As crystal!”

  Daniel shifted his attention back to the passageway; he liked the banter and tried to allow it as much as he could. Most people could never understand how you could laugh and jest at a time like this. The answer was simple, it was how you coped with seeing and doing the things they had to, if you didn’t joke, didn’t lessen the tension then you would lose it.

  He set off his gun primed. He could see, the small, green emergency lights which were still functioning, that would have directed the crew to the stasis pods. He was under no illusions, he didn’t think anyone had survived the massacre that had taken place here, yet while there was still a chance he would keep doing his job. As he edged through the shade, the image of his sister continued to explode within his consciousness, he wondered why she was suddenly so vivid, so clear to him. He attempted to expunge the thoughts, he had to concentrate now on the mission at hand. As he neared the entrance to the hibernation pods, he could see a concentration of frozen clumps of scarlet and rose.

  “They tried to make it to safety,” Millie said soulfully.

  “Looks like a lot of them didn’t make i
t,” Denzel added.

  Daniel peered at the butchery, “maybe some did, and it’s our job to find out.” He paused and steadied his nerve, “never leave anyone behind.”

  Without another word he manoeuvred to the corner, before the ingress, his team instinctively stacked up behind him, arms prepped and set.

  “Geek are we clear?” he asked.

  “Yes sir, I’ve got no movement,” Kelly replied calmly.

  Daniel readied himself, he knew that there was nothing within the room, or at least not anything that was moving, yet within his head, countless gruesome scenes played out at once. Dark creatures, lurked within the gloom, they squalled to him and dared him to enter. Extracts from a hundred nightmares and horror films coalesced into one signal vision of pure dread.

  He detached a burst grenade from the webbing on his suit and activated it, “Burst” he said, before he reached out and tossed the projectile into the room.

  He barred his eyes tightly and prepared himself. Muscles taught, the bitter taste of adrenaline in his gorge, his trigger finger twitched. Only a fraction of a second later the explosive detonated with a flash brighter than most suns. The blast was designed to incapacitate and temporarily blind any foe, making an assault like this easier.

  As soon as the light faded, his eyes were open and he was moving, his weapon pulled in snug against his shoulder. He propelled himself into the vast chamber, the beam from his torch scanning the area, behind him the rest of his team entered. Cones of effulgence fought to fully illuminate what was once again a scene of sheer, bloodshed and horror. Frozen sanguine fluid covered almost every surface, many of the pods lay ajar, where the poor victims had tried in vain to seek shelter.

  “Jesus!” Millie exclaimed.

  “Clear,” Daniel uttered as it became evident that whatever had happened in this area, was long since over.

  “Clear,” the rest of the team replied most of the voices, trembled and were doused with sentiment.

  Daniel lurched over to the nearest bank of pods, most lay completely open, some were agape, skin, hair and pools of tar-black fluid the only trace of the crew which had tried to seek refuge here.

  “We’ve got a sealed unit here sir,” Kelly suddenly piped up.

  Daniel whirled around and crossed over to her. She was right he could see a single chamber that was sealed shut, the soft green light above it indicated that the seal was still intact. There was a chance that someone was still alive on this dead ship and maybe they would be able to tell them exactly what had taken place here, what had wrought this carnage. Even though part of him really didn’t want to know, part of him just wanted to flee this mausoleum and find some kind of solace at the bottom of a bottle. That was not his way though, above all he was a recon Marine and perhaps that was the only thing that he still had in his life.

  He still had an operation to accomplish and if someone was alive aboard this craft, if somehow they had managed to escape the massacre, then they deserved to be rescued. Of course it was always possible that whatever had done, this was safely shuttered away inside the pod, just waiting for someone dumb enough to unleash it from its slumber. Still that was a chance he would have to take, after all you can’t live forever and he was all too aware of that.

  The words escaped his lips before he had time to think, “Never leave anyone behind.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  PLANET BETA-PRIME, 500,000 LIGHT YEARS FROM TRAVELLERS GATE, UNCHARTED SPACE.

  In high orbit above the planet three sleek, black, unmarked spacecraft hovered majestically, only one however was visible either to the naked eye or to the powerful trackers operated by the facility on the surface far below them. Within the troop hold of this vessel, heavily armed troops prepared themselves for battle, most were silent although some offered prayers in disparate languages to the one true God, the one allowed by Sci-corp.

  Standing just away from them in a darkened corner Agent Clarissa Fletcher, stood in stillness, her eyes barred and thoughts clouded. Instinctively her gloved hand ran over the cold steel of the assault rifle that hung loosely from her shoulder.

  Abruptly the portable holographic display in front of her burst to life, projecting a three-dimensional image of a familiar figure. He had no name; or at least not one that anyone would know. He would have been given one at birth, she was sure of that, yet with his position now within the Sci-corp, the highly secretive and powerful scientific and research arm of the Governments of planets, all of his personnel records had been deleted.

  He was truly a ghost, a man who lived now within the shadows, removed from the grid which controlled and monitored the lives of all the other members of the human race. He was free from the shackles of security and surveillance. The flipside to this though was that, he answered to no higher power, he obeyed no laws, observed no regulations or rules and so to the Sci-corp he was a God made flesh, their leader and master.

  Yet if you were to look upon him without knowing any of this information, you would see a simple looking man, plain even and certainly unremarkable. On the wrong side of middle age, a slight paunch, his face still pot marked from an adolescent haunted by severe acne. His eyes though would be what you were drawn to, they were dark wells, cold and devoid of any discernable human emotion. If they were indeed the windows to the soul as it was suggested then it was clear this was a very dangerous and haunted man.

  Clarissa bowed her head in reverence as was the custom and when she spoke her voice was firm and calm, “Sir.”

  “You’re in position?” He asked impassively, his facade servility ever present.

  “We are sir.”

  “And you are ready for what must be done?” He posed the question in a way that made her think that he sought a very specific answer.

  “Of course sir, it is what I am trained for.”

  The man interrupted, “It is what you were born for Clarissa, Sci-corp has raised you since you were a screaming babe, so that you would be ready for this moment.”

  “Yes sir,” she tried in vain to conceal her emotions, as neurons fired and memories were stirred from slumber. She returned once again to the orphanage she was raised in and to the terror. She could still hear the Sci-corp priest’s sermons, of service, duty, honour and of course hate. Still feel the impact of the whips on her back, while the chains dug into her feet.

  “The final stage of our mission will soon begin, with what you bring back today the battle for the very soul of humanity will commence.”

  “We stand against the darkness,” She whispered, repeating the mantra of the Corp, which had been breed and beaten into her. Until eventually she heard it even in her sleep.

  “We stand against the darkness,” the man paused and pushed his thick rimmed glasses back up to the bridge of his large, pointed nose. “This battle has raged for many years now, you know this, it has been a war conducted in secret not between armies but ideologies. Now however, the time is drawing near when this conflict will become more public, it will be necessary as the strands of our plan are drawn together. The ordinary people will not understand, they have little faith and prefer to live safe and normal lives. Watch the holo programmes we pump out, fornicate and drink. They care more about celebrities and fame, than the suffering that is going on around them. They are sinners all of them and the cleansing fire is coming my child.” as he finished a disturbing sneer greeted her.

  She struggled to control her revulsion and to keep her guise on, “I understand,” she finally managed to cough.

  “You have killed before Clarissa at my request?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “That was not a choice that was taken lightly, to take another human life is a grave crime; however you agree that it is necessary, especially to combat the sin and heresy which has permeated our species for so long?”

  She felt anger and rage rise within her, like an inferno, “Of course sir.”

  “In order to protect the trillions of human lives within the universe some must be sacri
ficed,” the man paused and took in a measured breath. “Even the loss of billions of lives is acceptable if it is to safeguard the very continuation of our race.”

  “I understand sir,” She knew what he was trying to say, she knew the dark history of Sci-corp, she knew what had been done in its name and she knew what she had done in its name. The countless lives she had personally taken or ordered taken. She would see them most time she shuttered her eyes, a parade of silent spectres that haunted her dreams. They would not speak, they didn’t need to. They simply stand in hushed judgement as behind them the Sci-corp priest would spout his bile and vitriol. She would awaken, her body shaking, drenched sheets pulled tightly to her lithe body, her hands instinctively tracing over the rough scar tissue which covered her back.

  “Good, our mission is too important for the moral ideals of a bankrupt society to interfere with.”

  She took a minute to frame her answer, being careful to choose her words wisely, even with her higher position now as an agent, she was always at risk. “I agree sir the government of planets has grown fat and weak, it is in no position to protect us from the darkness that is coming. Only the Sci-corp can accomplish that, we will stand alone in the final battle, as we have always known that we would.” she smiled sardonically to reinforce her point, while inside her intestines turned, and she felt acid rise in her gullet.

  “Yes the human race itself stands on the very brink of destruction, yet none of them see it, they are too busy and they do not see the truth.”

  “We will show them sir.”

  “Yes we will, today is just the start.”

  “It shall be done sir.” She bowed and held her gloved hands together in mock prayer.

  Without another word the hologram disappeared and Clarissa stood alone. Musings and recollections burnt in her mind like white hot coals.