by Ian Woodhead
The other man turned to Todd then to Ryan. “We are going to Mars.”
Chapter Three
The Arrival
He felt her warm breath flow over his cheek. Ryan turned his head to face her. Bernice pushed herself across his soft grey pillow, kissed the tip of his nose then rolled onto her back, giggling when he tried to kiss her in response.
“Now, you wait right there, mister,” she said. Bernice folded back the covers, slipped out of bed and padded over to the open window. The full moon gave Ryan enough light to make out her body contours beneath her shimmering colourglow nightdress. He so wanted to go over to the woman and glide his hands up and down her body while planting kisses on the back of her neck. Ryan had been told not to move, and he wasn't going to disobey that order. Instead, he closed his eyes and allowed his imagination to do the work.
“Ryan.”
He opened his eyes.
“You do know that I'm not really here, my love.”
He nodded once then shut his eyes again. A fat tear squeezed through his eyelid, rolled down his cheek and landed on the pillow. Ryan knew this, he just didn't want to think about that just now. He kept his eyes shut tight and focused on remembering how her soft skin felt under his fingers and the soft scent of her freshly washed hair used to feel as it brushed across his face as they made love.
Used to. There it was, his own admission that none of this was real. The despair which threatened to pull his body into a dark pit drifted towards the perimeter when he sensed Bernice return to the side of the bed. He opened his eyes to find she had put on his dark blue dressing gown. Ryan opened his mouth, ready to spout out one of his standard quips but nothing appeared. From the corner of his eye, Ryan noticed the creeping shadow was just a metre away from her shapely legs. “How am I supposed to make you a coffee when you've stolen that?”
She turned around and kicked at the lingering blackness. It vanished through the cracks in the floorboards. Bernice turned back to face him. “Ryan, the drugs are beginning to wear off.” She bent over the bed and ran her finger down the side of his face. “You'll be waking up soon. Before you leave this place, remember that I'll always be here, in our bedroom, waiting for you to come back and don't worry about that, my love. It won't be coming back. Not ever.”
Ryan grabbed her wrist. “No, I don't you to go. I don't want to go. Please, don't leave me?”
The surroundings and all noise faded away, leaving him feeling both physically and mentally numb but the lack of sensation lasted less than a second before cold, hard reality slammed into him. Ryan's body altered from feeling like he was on fire to becoming cold enough to stop his heart. He snapped open his eyes and found himself staring into the distorted face of some giant pink monster.
Some limited functionality returned to his waking mind, allowing Ryan to make sense of the confusing riot of colour exploding in front of him. He tried to sit up and grunted in shock when his forehead slammed against a hard surface. Lying back down gave him a better chance to finally work out where he was. He had been placed in a glass box. That familiar panic simmered just under the surface at this realisation and it took a great deal of effort not to submit to the irrational fear that some unknown fiend had buried him alive.
He had wires attached to his arms and thighs. That wouldn't happen if whoever had done this wished him dead. Ryan lifted both arms and traced his fingers against the walls. The material felt different, softer. More compliant than the window above his head. Ryan pushed his fingers as hard as he could, gaining hope when his fingers sank deeper into the flexible material. Ryan might actually be able to escape the confines of this prison after all.
The pink face returned, this time it had brought a friend. Ryan jumped when all the wires dropped out if his body and the casket lid lifted. His friend, Todd peered inside. Their gaze met. Todd gave him a reassuring smile as he helped Ryan to sit up.
“Hey, take it slow, buddy,” he said when Ryan tried to climb out. “You need to give your body a bit longer to come around first. Don't worry, Ryan. You're safe in here.”
“Where exactly is here?” he murmured. Ryan managed to sit up with a little help from Todd. He scanned the room in confusion while impatiently waiting for the last pieces of his memory to come flooding back. There was another casket beside this one. He reached out and ran his fingers along the surface, surprised at its texture. It reminded him a little of firm flesh, not at all what he'd imagined. Ryan looked up at Todd, who simply supplied him with an enigmatic smile. The walls behind the man were the same dull gun-metal grey as everything else. The room had no sharp edges at all.
“This feels like a hospital but it isn't one I've ever been inside.”
“Oh, man, you really are out of it.” He pulled out a small box-shaped object, the size of his index finger and the same colour as everything else in here. Todd placed it on Ryan's forehead. “Not bad, it appears that the magic juice the Danu pumped into you before he placed you into the sleep-pod has done its job. That's some good news at least.”
The whole host of new and unfamiliar words from Todd's last sentence, set off fireworks inside Ryan's head. Random images, sounds and emotions fought with each other as they all attempted to make themselves understood. He saw himself with Bernice, walking hand in hand up the town's high street as well as listening to low music drifting from a hidden speaker behind a restaurant wall and finally, Ryan experienced, second-hand, toned down versions of all those intense emotions which slammed into him moments after he finally understood that Bernice was never climbing out of that crater hole.
He took a deep breath and waited for the heart clinch to cripple him yet nothing happened. Ryan just sat inside that casket, vaguely wondering if the nurses in this strange looking hospital were ever going to feed him.
Todd leaned over and helped him out. “What do you remember?”
He frowned. “Pretty much everything. Apart from where I am. I still don't know that, Todd.” He looked at his friend. “Why am I not crying for Bernice?”
“You'll find out in a second, I guess. Come on, let's get the rest of the shocks out of the way while you're still as high as a kite.” Todd guided him across the floor, which, like the casket surface, felt warm and organic under his bare feet. The sensation was not altogether unpleasant but it did make Ryan cringe every so often.
Todd stopped directly in front of a blank wall, pulled out the small box thing and attached it to the wall. Ryan blinked rapidly, a little shocked as a section of the wall slid back to reveal yet another room. Unlike the one he and Todd was still in, this one wasn't so bland. Todd walked inside and motioned Ryan to do the same.
The humanoid figure whom he remembered as Danu, sat in a long leather chair at the back of the room. He swivelled around when he and Todd entered and nodded once to his friend before smiling at Ryan.
“I am glad to see you awake and about. How do you feel?”
What sort of a question was that? Ryan simply shrugged. It seemed to be the safest option. He examined the wall behind Danu which was full of flashing lights and an assortment of switches. The feeling that he was in a hospital rapidly began to fade. The idea vanished altogether when he just happened to the look to the side past where Todd stood. “I do not believe this,” he croaked. Ryan kept swallowing while pushing past his friend walking straight to the side wall, straight to the view screen which dominated that wall. He stopped about a metre from the viewscreen and stared into space, literally.
Todd joined him. “Impressed?” He rested his hand on Ryan's shoulder. “We thought it would be best if we allowed you to see for yourself.”
“Is that, wait, is that another planet?”
“It is Mars,” replied the other individual, “and it is our destination. We are coming into land within a couple of minutes.”
Ryan spun around and stared at the pair of them. “You are serious?”
Todd nodded. “Of course. You have been in the stasis-pod for nine days. The Danu and I thought it w
as best to leave you in there for the whole journey. He also injected you with a synaptic stabiliser which gave you time to grieve for your loss.”
“It is said that amongst your people that time is the best healer. This is, to some degree true but as time is not a possession which we can manipulate, I installed a memory companion. It had to be done, and I am sorry about that.”
Ryan wasn't too sure what any of that meant. Right now, after what he had just found out, he decided not to dwell on it. “Wait, you're an alien, a Danu?”
Todd abruptly laughed. “No, Ryan, not at all.”
“What is it then because there is no way that it's human.”
“It's best to think of The Danu as a distant relative, Ryan. Their species evolved on Earth, just like ours did. They just left the planet before we came on the scene.”
“You were already on the scene by that time, Todd. Your species were too busy killing each other with rocks and sticks to take much notice of our departure” He went back over to his chair. “We are ready for descent. Please find a chair and prepare yourself.”
“Is this going to be rough?”
The Danu shook his head. “Remember Todd's words about seeing for yourself? Turn to face the viewscreen and observe.”
Ryan did as he asked. He sat beside Todd and watched the ship fly at an impossible speed towards the surface. Todd slapped his hand against his stomach.
“Before you say it. No, we're not going to crash. This is perfectly normal.”
The ship plummeted towards the surface and despite his friend's words, Ryan still wanted to scream out in terror as the surface sped towards them. It was only at the last couple of seconds when the ship braked to a halt, hovering about two metres from the ground. If anyone was standing under the ship they'd be able to reach up and touch the underside.
“That couldn't have happened. It's impossible.”
“If you say so,” replied the Danu. “Please continue watching, we are almost there.”
Two large metal hatches on the Martian soil slowly slid back to show a perfectly circular well. Once the hatches were far enough apart, the ship dropped into the hole, falling down for a couple more seconds before abruptly halting and flying forwards. The viewscreen shut off and the interior lights changed from a muted yellow to a harsh white.
The Danu left his seat, turned to the right and walked over to another blank grey wall.
Todd caught Ryan's arm. “This is where the fun and games start. Whatever you see out there, please try to stay calm. We both need you in one piece and functional. Okay, are you ready for this?”
Ryan didn't even know where to start to respond to that question. He watched the Danu produce his own small grey box and attach it to the wall. “Fine, I'll stay calm. After what I've been through, I doubt there's anything left that could possible surprise me.”
“I wish you hadn't said that,” muttered Todd. “Come on, let's go get you introduced to the locals.”
Another hatchway opened and the Danu walked through it. Ryan couldn't see anything beyond the wall apart from more greyness. He wasn't even sure if the humanoid had even left the ship. He mentally shrugged and followed Todd through the hatchway.
The contrast in noise, movement and colour from the ship's interior to wherever he had reached almost blew away whatever calmness Ryan had managed to collect since waking up in that steel coffin.
He walked straight onto the deck of a busy military base. At least, that's how it appeared once his mind was able to process the almost overwhelming amount of noise and new visual data. Todd grabbed his shoulders as soon as his feet touched the ground and steadied him.
“You need to keep quiet now, Ryan. We don't really know how this is going to play out.”
He resisted the urge to ask his friend just where the hell they were and what this place was as he wasn't too sure whether he'd be able to cope understand Todd's reply. Keeping quiet and observing did sound like the safest bet.
It didn't matter where Ryan cast his gaze, the comparison of his new environment to the base where he trained could not be denied. Their ship had touched down on what appeared to be some kind of landing pad. Other spacecraft of the same design as well as numerous other types of craft, both smaller than theirs and larger, filled the interior. As with most other military bases, the colour grey dominated the scene, from the spacecrafts to the floors and walls. Ryan lifted his head and observed the lifeforms which filled in the spaces not occupied by machinery. They too wore mainly grey.
Ryan spotted plenty more of his own species with mainly Danu forming the rest of the majority. Not he was able to see this more of this species, Ryan could easily tell them apart from the humans, from their shape, proportion as well as their smooth, liquid-like movements. From what he could make out, there was no species hierarchy. Both races fitted into either troops or officers. That surprised him. From what he could make out, the Danu developed and created all of this advanced technology. He saw nothing he recognised from either military service or civilian life.
Even the large amount of signage around the base was incomprehensible. The alien script was like nothing he had ever seen before. What threw him more than anything was that the longer he stared at it, the more confused he became. It felt like it tried to imprint itself on his mind without him knowing what it said. Ryan quickly turned away, fearing the stuff would give him a headache.
He stayed close behind Todd, as the three of them walked towards another human. Ryan almost smiled to himself when the middle-aged, muscular male, wearing a light grey tunic, grey combat pants and black boots marched over to the Danu and stopped directly in front of him. The man's hard eyes gave them all a quick once-over before switching that steel gaze on the Danu. They might be on another planet and surrounded by non-humans but Ryan drew comfort that some things never altered. This man was clearly in charge of something on this base. The man reminded Ryan of a certain gunnery sergeant he knew back when he and Todd were serving together. Even down to the short-cropped salt and pepper coloured hair and the knotted muscles aching to break out of the man's thin clothing.
Ryan then noticed something from the corner of his eye, there was another moving colour amongst this ocean of grey. An individual wearing orange heading straight for them. He had to force a fist into his mouth when the crowd parted and a seven-foot reptilian monster stopped behind the other man, saluted then bowed its head.
“What the fuck is that?” he hissed.
Todd quickly turned his head. “Don't panic, they're on our side. Now hush. We still don't know how this will go.”
The reptile left the package by the man's feet then hurried back in the same direction. Ryan watched the orange jump-suited creature, still wondering if he had really seen that. Todd said that they're on our side, meaning that there must be more of them. It also brought up the possibility that the thing could even be sentient. Now he understood Todd's off-handed reply about nothing surprising Ryan.
“You are three days overdue. Would you care to explain the delay?”
“Marauder patrols, sir. We had no choice but to come in via stealth for fear of discovery.”
“That is an interesting story. Perhaps you stopped to pick up passengers too?” He glared at both Todd and Ryan. “Care to explain why you brought these two unauthorised civilians?”
“They are here to join the great cause, sir.”
The human nodded while stroking his chin. “Yes, I’m sure they are. These fine specimens are just what we are looking for. Well done.” He turned around and clicked his fingers. Another Danu and a human, both dressed in identical uniforms. They stopped and saluted. “Put these two on the next Terran bound transport and place that Danu liar in the brig.”
“This is not going the way we planned,” growled Todd. “Ryan, you're going to have to trust me on this.”
“Trust you on what?”
“You'll see.” He ran up to the Danu guard, slapped away his slender arm and snatched his gun straight out of his
holster.
All three humans found this act highly amusing. Joviality was one emotion that Ryan was not feeling at this present time. Todd obviously had a death wish.
“And what were you planning on doing with that, my rather ignorant friend? asked the deck officer. “Has your Danu pal not informed you that us humans are not able to operate their weapons?”
Todd ran back over to Ryan and slapped the gun into his open palm. “Okay, here we go. Point it at the Danu guard, Ryan, and shoot him.”
They had attracted a sizeable crowd now of both species. He looked at the Danu guard who appeared unconcerned that his friend had stolen his gun. The only person he knew who wasn't finding this situation amusing was him.
“Don't worry, it's on a low setting,” barked Todd. It won't hurt him, besides, the guard is wearing armour.”
This brought even more merriment. The laughter increased when Ryan brought the gun up and pointed it at the Danu guard. He looked over at Todd who hurriedly gestured him to get on with it. He pressed the trigger and the whole hanger bay fell silent when the guard collapsed into an untidy pile of limbs.
The deck officer grabbed Ryan, pulled the gun out of his fingers and handed it to a human guard. “Enough of these games!” he shouted. “You have orders, both of you,” he said glaring at the guards. “I’ve changed my mind about the humans. Throw them in the brig as well.”
The Danu who had brought them here lifted up the Danu guard. He looked as astonished as the rest of his kind. He stared at Todd. “How did you know this was going to happen?”
His friend had no chance to reply. Two human guards grabbed an arm each and pulled him across the hanger deck. Another two human guards took hold of Ryan arms, and he found himself following his friend. He didn't struggle, there seemed no point. After all, even if, by some miracle, he did manage to get free, where would he go? Ryan took his eyes off the back of Todd's head and watched the reactions of the people they were passing. Most of the humans were staring at him while the Danu all bowed their heads when he passed.