by Frank Carey
"Fine. Pull the damn trigger," she said as she wrapped her tail around her waist. He had come to realize she emoted a lot through that tail.
He aimed and fired his weapon at the rocks, causing them to melt and flow like candle wax on a hot day. The melted stone slowly sloughed away to reveal the remains of a bluish-green metal double-door set into the cliff face. It looked like it had been ripped open.
"Now what? Wait for the lava to cool?" Aerith asked, looking at the hot rock, then at her light-weight hiking boots.
Mykkl glanced up and saw something. He took Aerith's hand and led her away from the cliff before resetting his gun and aiming it at a slab of rock perched several feet above the door. He took aim and fired once more, this time with a pencil-thin beam which sliced away the bottom of the slab. It fell and landed over top of the hot rock, creating a cool bridge for them to walk over.
"Your wish is my command, milady," he said as he took her hand and led her over the makeshift bridge.
"Such the gentleman. I don't care what they say about you on the InterWeb," she quipped.
He gave her the look again. "InterWeb?"
"OK, when I hold my tail like this," she said coiling it like a spring. "It means I am not joking with you."
"Ah. I see I will need to keep better watch on your tail," he said with a grin.
"Very funny," she said unable to keep from grinning herself. She pulled out her blaster and set it for heavy stun while activating its barrel-mounted flashlight. Mykkl did the same.
They walked up to the destroyed door and shined their lights through the doorway. They saw a large open room with a long hallway stretching out from the back wall, opposite of where they were standing. The floor was littered with small rocks and debris while the walls were pocked from what looked like weapons fire.
In one corner were the remains of a large, dirt-filled, ceramic pot. Mykkl ran his scanner over it. "There are organic remains mixed in with the dirt. Carbon scan shows the plant died around ten thousand years ago. This doesn't explain why there's no trace of any civilization on the surface," he said.
"Unless this is just an isolated outpost of beings from another planet," she pointed out.
"Or they lived underground," he posited. "We have too many questions and not enough data to answer them."
They heard people outside. Tannith and Iolaus walked in moments later. "What in the name of..." Tannith exclaimed as she surveyed the doorway. "This room and adjoining hallway never showed up on the initial surveys." She walked inside and looked down the corridor while scanning it with her pad. "Seems to go for about a quarter mile before ending in a large room." She looked at the others. "This discovery takes priority over our current mission. We may be looking at an ancient civilization. We'll head back to the ship and get better gear. Luckily, the Asgard is carrying a complete xenoarchaeological kit."
Once they were back outside, Tannith called Doris and Mauro and told them to head back to the ship. That's when they heard an explosion in the distance. Worried, Tannith called the Asgard but got no answer.
"Asgard, this is Tannith. Do you copy? Over."
Silence.
"Asgard, this is Tannith. Do you copy? Over."
Still no reply.
"Doris, this is Tannith. Do you copy? Over."
"Tannith, this is Doris. We copy. Over."
"Doris, we just heard an explosion, and we can't raise the Asgard. Go to security alert status and hold outside the perimeter. We'll rendezvous with you behind the big rock on the west side of the camp. Copy? Over."
"Copy that. Security alert and hold at perimeter behind big rock. Over and out."
"Tannith out." She looked at her students with trepidation. "Something's wrong. Iolaus, do a low-level scan of the camp, please."
"Copy that. Odd, my scans are being blocked by interference from a non-localized source. It's blanketing the area."
"Mykkl, is your beacon still on?"
"Yes, Instructor."
"Turn it off. Everyone shut down your comms and go weapons hot."
The three students did as they were told and set their weapons to heavy stun. "Keep your eyes and ears peeled," Tannith said as they moved out.
Shortly, they arrived at the rock where Mauro and Doris were waiting. "Instructor, we saw smoke from the direction of the camp," Mauro said.
"So did we," Tannith confirmed. "I'm going to go check it out. The rest of you stay here until I signal an all clear."
"Wait a minute. You can't go in there alone," Mykkl said. "I have to go with you."
"Excuse me?" she replied. "I am the instructor…"
"And I'm security. If you want to check the regs, you'll see in section 34, part..."
"Fine. Come with me," she growled.
"We're all coming," Aerith said.
"What she said," Iolaus, Doris, and Mauro said in unison.
Tannith hung her head in defeat. "OK. Mykkl, do you have a plan?"
"Yes. Spread out, ten-yard intervals, staggered entries with weapons ready. The minute you're in the clear, mark places where you can get cover if the need arises. If anything starts shooting, head back to the perimeter."
They all looked at him in shock. He was like a totally different person.
"One final thing," he said as he checked his weapons. "I want to apologize for the crack about Doris. It was uncalled for and unprofessional."
"Not a problem," Doris said, "but you owe me a nutribar."
He reached into his vest, pulled one out, and handed it to her. "Even?"
"Even," she replied, grabbing it as if it were made from some precious metal.
"Good," he said as he looked at Tannith for direction.
"Move out," she said.
They six of them spread out. One by one, they entered the camp. What they found was a nightmare. The Asgard was a smoking pile of rubble, while strewn around it was the ruins of their equipment. It looked like a scene from one of those post-apocalyptic horror vids they showed in the ship's theater.
"Spread out! Find Jemtah and Penny, but don't use the scanners unless absolutely necessary."
The six of them fanned out and searched the wreckage of the camp. "Instructor, over here," Mykkl called out from where the Asgard's cockpit once was. Tannith ran over, but he stopped her before she got too far. "It's Jemtah. He's dead." The look in his eyes told the rest of the story. "I'll take care of it when we're finished," he said while she stood there in shock.
"How did he die?" she asked.
"Multiple blaster shots at close range from a variety of angles, almost as if several assailants had surrounded him before opening fire. I don't see any foot prints anywhere, only small indentations like someone using a spiked walking stick."
"Those are bot tracks," Aerith said as she pulled something from the wreckage. It was the body of a partially destroyed hexapod bot with a dorsal-mounted blaster. "This isn't one of ours, nor is it even a League design. We don't use this many optical sensors, and I can't read the writing on its side."
Tannith looked closely at the carcass. "You're right. That's not a League language. Dammit, what have we stumbled into? We've got to find Penny!"
"Over here!" Iolaus yelled from edge of camp nearest the river. They looked and saw him holding up Penny with the help of Doris and Mauro. Tannith and the others ran down to join them.
"Penny! Thank the gods you're alive. Doc, how is she?" Tannith asked as she knelt down next to her friend, handing her a canteen of water.
"Bruised and shaken, but no serious damage," she said as she pressed a spray hypo against the copilot's arm. "This is a light sedative. Try to relax," the Alturan said.
After a long drink, Penny looked less in shock, so Tannith asked, "Penny, honey, what happened?"
"Jemtah decided to run a diagnostic on the Asgard's shield generators while the rest of you were out in the field, so I stepped outside and watched while he brought the system online. Just as the field formed, a swarm of bots came out of the forest and attac
ked the Asgard. There were hexapods, quadrapods, fliers, and things I can't even begin to describe attacking the ship. He tried to take off, but a huge metallic tentacle came out of the ground and crushed first the cockpit then the aft section. The engines exploded, throwing me into the forest. That's all I remember. Where's Jemtah?"
Mykkl took the young copilot's hand and said, "I'm so sorry, ma’am, but he didn't make it. I promise on my honor he did not suffer."
Penny started to cry. "This was his last trip, dammit! Why did he have to try to take off?"
"He was probably trying to draw the bots away from the campsite, possibly over the cliff. He tried to save the rest of us," Aerith said. "Songs will be sung and poems written about his bravery and sacrifice. Penny, do you remember which direction the bots came from?"
"From the precipice, I think,"
"Iolaus, with me for a moment," Aerith said. She ran over to the cliff's edge and peered over it just as Iolaus joined her. "I knew it," she said.
"What?" he asked as he looked over the edge. "Damn!"
"What do you see?" Tannith asked as she walked over and took a look.
"Metal hatches about thirty feet below us. We seem to have landed on top of some kind of robot nest. Look at the beach down there," Aerith said, pointing to the river's edge at the bottom of the cliff.
Tannith and Iolaus looked down and saw dozens of broken robot carcasses littering the shore and in the water. "Those are the ones that didn't make it up or down the wall," Aerith observed. "From Penny's description, and the amount of damage to the camp, I think those broken bots are only a fraction of what attacked the Asgard. We need to get out of here before the others come back."
Tannith got up and walked away from the edge while pulling her radio out of her vest. She flipped open a cover on its side and pressed a red button underneath. "Tung'We, Tung'We, this is Instructor Tannith on Emergency Channel requesting emergency evacuation. Asgard has been destroyed and Pilot Jemtah is dead. I repeat, Asgard is destroyed. Do you copy, Tung'We?"
The only answer was static.
She tried twice more, but no reply was forthcoming.
"Doris, join me for a moment," Tannith said as she walked out of earshot of the others.
"Yes, Instructor?"
"How's Mauro?"
"He's fine for now. We have a second vial stored in the ship's medical locker. Hopefully it survived the attack.
"And Penny?"
"She's fine, physically, but mentally she needs a break from thinking about Jemtah."
"Can she help you search for the medlocker while the rest of us deal with Jemtah's body?"
"Yes, Instructor. Good idea. I assume you're planning on a small service for the pilot?"
"Yes, very small and very quick, but I think we could all use the closure. When we finish, I want all of us to scavenge everything useful from the wreckage."
"Are we staying here?"
"No. Aerith and Mykkl found an abandoned facility dug into the side of the mountain. We'll hold up there until help arrives."
"Yes, Instructor. Let me get Penny, and we can start looking for the medlocker," Doris said as she slid off.
Tannith called Mykkl and Aerith over and told them the plan. "Mykkl, I want you and Aerith to keep watch while I and the others bury Jemtah and scavenge the site. Nothing comes into this camp, understand?"
"Aye, mistress," they said in unison.
"Get to it. We're getting out of this mess," she said with a set to her shoulders.
"How can you possibly know that?" Mykkl asked as he set his weapons to disintegrate.
"Because I said so," she stated for all the gods to hear. "Now get to work."
"Aye, mistress," he said as he handed weapons to Aerith before they walked off to take positions between the cliff's edge and the camp, leaving Tannith to plan their next move.
Chapter Five
The seven remaining members of the expedition stood around the grave, not quite knowing what to say. Finally, Aerith walked up to the grave and threw a bouquet of yellow flowers on top of it while she said something in very ancient elf. She ended by saying in Standard, "Calm seas and fair winds, Capt. Jemtah. Thanks for the assist."
"Yellow flowers?" Mykkl asked as he looked down at the grave.
"Found them by the big rock. They smell like sulfur."
"He loved that smell," Penny said. "Goodbye, old friend."
After a moment of silent reflection, Tannith issued orders to her team. "Find anything useful in the wreckage, then head to the cave. It's defensible and not far away."
"What about rescue?" Aerith asked.
"Hopefully the Tung'We either escaped or got off a buoy. Otherwise, we're declared overdue in seventy-two hours."
"Mauro will be dead in seventy-two hours," Aerith blurted out. She looked and saw everyone, including Mauro, staring at her. "What? My hearing is more acute than even Doris's. I heard her and Tannith talking, so I know the medlocker was destroyed. We need to get a signal to Starguard and fast."
"And how do you suppose we do that?" Iolaus asked. "None of our transmitters are faster-than-light capable, and the ship's radio is fried."
"The disaster buoy. The spare is over by what's left of the Engine Room. We just need to drag it out into the open and hit the firing switch."
"One problem," Iolaus explained. "The buoy goes fully shielded during a five second warm-up period. It'll draw those things out before it lifts off. If the Asgard is any indication, those things will swarm the site and kill anyone foolish enough to be standing anywhere nearby."
"I'll have Mykkl's rifle," Aerith said, "and I'll shoot anything that comes near me or the buoy. Once it launches, I'll just take off and lose the little buggers before doubling back to the cave."
Penny got a panicked look on her face. "Those things are impossibly fast. No one could..."
Aerith leapt backwards and landed in a three-point stance at the edge of the campsite, a good twenty yards from where she had stood. She ran back. "One of the benefits of a hybrid makeup coupled with living a couple of years on a high-gravity planet. I'll be fine."
"Then we have a plan," Tannith said. "People, go and scavenge as if your lives depended on it."
They spread out and searched for anything useful in a survival situation. Aerith started with the lounge area. She noticed Mauro joined her as she moved wreckage aside. "Why are you risking your life for me?"
"I'm not risking my life. I'm just helping out a friend."
"But you might get..."
"Killed? Naw. I'm faster than a bunch of bots. Instead of worrying, how about you help with the search?"
"OK," he said as he pitched in.
In a short time, the group had gathered up an impressive collection of items which was placed into packs and crates before being transported to the cave. Soon, only the buoy remained.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Tannith asked Aerith as the group stood around the crate containing the beacon. It was open, the buoy sitting inside, silently waiting. Aerith reached down and pressed a button which initiated a systems check. When it finished, Tannith recorded a report of what had transpired since landing. She finished and stepped away to join the rest of her class while the buoy sat, waiting for the final launch command.
"Yes, absolutely sure. Now, why don't y'all take off and let me work my magic," Aerith said as she checked her pistol.
As the others slung their packs, Mykkl unslung his rifle and handed it to her along with a couple of spare power packs. "We'll see you at the cave, got it?"
"Got it, now go."
After getting hugs from Doris and Tannith, Aerith stood and watched the others disappear into the forest. She looked around at the wreckage before her gaze came to rest on Jemtah's grave. "Buddy, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm really hoping I don't join you." She shook her head and chuckled. "Girl, you really need to get your noggin examined and soon. These bouts of bravado are going to get you into so much trouble."
Her musin
gs were interrupted by sound coming from the direction of the river. She knelt down and pulled out a pair of compact field glasses. She used them to scan the area. On her last pass, she saw the source of the sound. It was a bot quadruped, about the size of an Earth cat. It emerged from the brush and began a search pattern around the ruined camp.
Aerith keyed her radio to warn the others. "Tannith, this is Aerith, do you copy?"
"Aerith, I copy. We're in sight of the cave. What's your status?"
"I have a visitor. It's a bot, quadruped about a foot long and a half tall with sensors fore and aft. It's checking out the camp."
"It might have picked up the beacon's power signature. Launch and get out of there. That's an order."
"Copy that," Aerith said as she carefully reached over and punched the Beacon's launch button. An alarm sounded as the beacon's systems came to full power, its shields came online, and its engines started to spin-up.
The bot spun around to face in the direction of Aerith and the beacon. After a second or two of indecision, the bot made a beeline toward where the young elf was crouched.
"Damn. Sorry, kitty, but it's night-night for you," she said as she fired off a round, blowing the bot into dust. She swung back toward the precipice only to see more bots swarming over the edge, all of them homing in on the beacon. She fired at them, taking them out in rapid succession, but they kept coming. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the beacon took off and headed into the sky. With the buoy clear, Aerith leapt away from the bot horde just as it swarmed over the beacon's crate. She landed near the big rock and sprinted away before any of the bots noticed she was even there.
###
A loud thrum filled the air as the crew and passengers of the ill-fated Asgard made it to the cave entrance. They turned and looked in the direction of the campsite, watching as the ship's spare disaster buoy lifted off and headed into space. Moments later, a shock cone formed as the beacon went transonic.
"Aerith, this is Tannith. Do you copy? Over."
Only static came from the radio.
"Aerith, this is Tannith. Do you copy? Over."