The Captain nods and takes a step forward. I found myself following as he breaks through the shrubbery. The beast sees us and drops from the tree to all four legs. It lets out a snarl, a warning, and takes a step forward. The Captain takes aim with the handgun, not at the creature but at the tree near it.
The gun fires and near as hell deafens me.
Bark and the whiter, inner tree trunk explode into the air behind the Iguanodon. Pieces whistle through the air, and the monster turns tail to flee. The Captain keeps the handgun raised until he is sure the beast has retreated. “Sometimes, you just can’t beat traditional guns. But he will know we are coming.”
I can see her at last, the Marauder, just through the last trees and bushes. Her black, kite-shape is stood on her landing legs, and she looks unharmed by the entry.
We emerge from the forest. The Captain first, handgun raised, followed by Sarah and me. Not a single noise, light, or smell comes from the ship. She has been shut down, just like CETI said. All we need to do is jump on, and the three of us can escape. It is only twenty years back to home…
…my child would be nineteen by then. I would be in my sixties.
The Captain approaches the air lock alone and cautiously, but something makes him relax. His shoulders drop and the handgun lowers. “Seekers, on me,” he shouts.
Sarah is away as soon as the last word passed his lips. I move slower, more cautiously. It is me that Racker wants, after all. But when I approach the air lock I see something that lifts the weight from my shoulders. Blood, and a lot of it.
“A Dinosaur must have got him,” concludes Reed with more than a hint of relief in his voice. “He just wasn’t prepared for Domus.”
The Captain unbuttons his shirt down to his waist and unwinds his bandage. He bends over and dips the white cotton into the largest pool, smiling as he does. “Now,” he announces, “one of us must go up there. CETI can take the Marauder up by herself, but a Seeker needs to override what Racker has done once she is up and has enough power from the solar charge. Evangeline, are you up to the task?”
Why me? Why did he nominate me and not her? He wants Sarah. He wants Sarah as his chosen one. The two of them want me out of the way. I can see her face smiling that smug smile like she did all those years ago.
“Listen, Captain.” I just need to tell him the truth. “The Seeker Project is over. Why don’t we all just go home? You can have children with both of us, but they cannot have children themselves.
“Let’s just get the hell out of here. Let’s go home; it’s over.”
“It isn’t over, Evangeline. There was always a plan B. Inside the Marauder is the sperm and embryos of a thousand men and women. CETI can install eggs in both of you that have nothing to do with my genetic code. All I have to do is say the word, and the Marauder will fire the capsule down to Domus.
“It isn’t over, Evangeline. We can still do this.”
“Then Sarah has to go.”
“Why?”
“Because… because I’m pregnant, Captain.”
“That isn’t possible! It would be sin!”
“I sinned, Captain.” I can feel Sarah’s stare. She already knows who I sinned with. “That first night on Domus, Simon and I sinned together. I’m sorry, Sarah. We had drank too much wine, and the occasion got to us… we were all so happy that night. It feels like a lifetime ago now.
“Please don’t kill me or cast me out, Captain. I have just started the next phase early.”
“Kill you? Why the hell would I kill you?”
“It says so in the contract; death is the maximum sentence.”
“All that crap was just put in there to scare you, to deter you from having babies in space. Could you imagine the Marauder with kids running wild and creating havoc? It was just a deterrent, and one that clearly didn’t work. Sarah, it’s up to you. I would but I need to calibrate CETI from my quarters once the Marauder is up. Are you up to it?”
“I am,” says Sarah. She would do anything he asked her to. I noticed how quickly her anger faded; I saw the moment she realised that the Captain was all hers now. “I have one request before we go up.”
“Please, go on.”
“We sweep her together. We make sure that there is nothing, or no one, on that ship.”
The three of us move through room by room. From the airlock, we are immediately in the living quarters. Eight empty beds and seven empty wardrobes; Doctor Lawson’s clothes are still in his. We all slept in the same room to discourage sinning. I check the escape pods, two in total, and they can squeeze in eight, but they are both empty.
The en suite is also empty, but old mud and soil lines the bottom of the bath. The Captain is bemused. “How did soil get in the bathtub?”
Sarah, as always, has an answer. “Maybe Racker did manage to get out of the Marauder successfully one time, he came back, took a bath, and the next time he left he was killed.”
“Let’s hope so. Keep your wits.”
From the living quarters, we take the centre stairs to the old laboratory where Doctors Barros and Yun once worked. It is empty now that all of the computers were loaded into the Dweller. Nothing is out of place.
From the lab, we take the stairs up to the loading bay, again now empty without the Dweller loaded. Only now do I appreciate the size of the room; it’s almost a soccer pitch in length and width. Reed checks the tool cabinets but finds them empty.
One place left to search: the bridge.
The Captain takes point with his pistol, and we pass through the open door. I have never seen the bridge like this. It’s void of lights and noises, all of it dead. Hundreds, no, thousands of pieces of paper are scrunched into balls, and they litter the entire floor. Near the pilot’s seat is a smashed mug, Racker’s favourite mug.
“What are these?” asks Sarah as she mends down to pick up one of the paper balls.
“Reports,” mutters Reed with a disappointed look on his face. “These are daily reports that CETI ran for me every day for twenty years. They are the Seekers vitals, your worries, your health, your mental state. I’m not going to stop either of you from reading them, but please, don’t.”
“You had CETI spy on us?” I ask with a whimper. I feel even more nauseous than ever.
“It wasn’t spying, Evangeline! It was a sit-rep report, a medical; just something that I needed to see to make sure everything was okay. It was these reports that almost saved Lawson’s life. CETI knew before the first symptom. I needed to do this.”
“It didn’t help stop Racker, though, did it?”
“No. I stopped running them as soon as we landed on Domus.”
“You lied to us, to Racker. This is probably what pushed him over the edge! What else have you been hiding? Do you have a secret room full of that sperm you spoke about? What other secrets do you have, Captain?” I’m almost foaming at the mouth, and this time it isn’t hormones.
“There is no secret room, I promise. The sperm and embryos are loaded into a compartment on the escape pod, and that is how I can retrieve them. This is not the place to stand and argue. We need to get back to the Dweller before sundown. Sarah, it’s all on you now.
“Good Luck.”
The Captain and I leave Sarah on the deck of the Marauder. She pleaded for the handgun, and I was relieved when the Captain said we were taking it, and disheartened when he reminded me why—the long journey back to the Dweller.
We enter the forest, and I hear the Marauder start up. She doesn’t explode or let out any fire. The ground rumbles, and there is a brilliant light and high pitched buzz. I turn back to try and see, but the light is blinding. The Captain grabs my arm and pulls me along.
There is no time to stop.
We navigate the forest in silence, ducking and diving between cover. The sun has almost fully set when I see the lights of the Dweller just through the last part of the forest.
“We are home,” beams Captain Reed.
It doesn’t feel like home, not to me. Home
would have been all of us getting on the Marauder and flying as far away from this planet as possible.
And I have to give birth here. I have to raise a child on this planet.
Sarah Moore
The Marauder is still shaking from the lift off. Her panels are delicate, but they hold together. Outside of the observation screen is brilliant white, and then clouds in a night sky, and then stars.
I should be annoyed at Evangeline for sinning with my chosen one. But in truth, Simon is dead, and that stupid bitch has paved the way for me and the Captain. I could kiss her for that.
She is right about one thing though. We should have all got on and got the hell out of here. But I see now that the Captain will never let the Seeker Project go. He will fight until the very end to keep it alive, even if that means the death of all of us.
Still, I could get out of here on my own. If I can learn how to programme CETI’s autopilot for back home, I can leave the pair of them to it. I could go back to cars, hair straighteners, coffee, decent food. I could, if any of it is still there.
“Sarah, this is CETI. I am back online in the Marauder and taking us up to stasis in orbit. Once the intended elevation is reached, I can be rebooted and recalibrated with the Dweller.”
Nothing I can do, but hold tight for now.
The Captain’s reports make for interesting reading. I pick up a piece of paper dated ten years ago, and the words about Racker chill my blood. Has low self-esteem and confidence issues, possibly linked to an underlying body dysmorphia. He has issues with his chosen one, and is shy to the point of retiring socially. The next step of the Seeker Project maybe beyond Racker’s grasp. I recommend for IVF treatment if he is unable to fornicate naturally with his chosen one. Not a leader.
The Captain knew. He knew all along that Racker was withdrawing, that he and Evangeline had no hope, and he must have known what effect this might have.
“Sarah, this is CETI. Optimum height has been achieved. Please log on, and re-boot my software.”
I sit in Racker’s seat, and it doesn’t feel right. I can see shadows from here, shadows that seem to dance across the walls. There is a flashing cursor after username. I log in.
USERNAME: SMOORE
PASSWORD: *********
“Sarah, please select ‘re-boot all Marauder systems to default.’ The Captain upgraded your privileges on the Dweller.”
I run the sequence, and the screen buzzes back into life. A huge satellite image appears on the screen, peppered with tiny heat spots. I can see where the Seeker beacons; the sea, the mountain ranges, and a cliff, and I can see the Dweller.
I push the communications button. “Captain Reed, can you hear me?”
“I hear you, Sarah. I have just finished calibrating the Dweller, and we are all green. The systems are exactly as they were before Racker’s sabotage. I have CETI running the blood we found on the airlock, too, so there is nothing more for you to do up there. CETI, do you read?”
“I do, Captain Reed.”
“Please prepare a Marauder escape pod for Sarah, and load it with the human sperm and embryo samples.”
“Negative to both requests, Captain.”
“Please report why?”
“The escape pods have been sabotaged, Captain. The oxygen supplies have been destroyed, and the integrity of the pods changed. The human samples are unable to be loaded due to a blockage in room B-544.”
Room B-544?
The Captain has lied again. There is a secret room on the Marauder…
…and we didn’t sweep it.
“Okay, Sarah, listen to me. You will need to land the Marauder again to get out. CETI can auto-land, and you can escape before she goes back up. All the systems are good, so another landing will only mean the loss of comms and visual for an hour or so.
“But it is dark on Domus now. Coming back to the Dweller unarmed at night is too dangerous.
“You will have to spend the night on the Marauder.”
The words cut deep. This place is like an abandoned prison now. Only the ghosts of laughter and frolic haunt the rooms. Shadows seem to move all around, and although quiet, it never feels fully silent. There is that faint buzzing just before your ears pop, and it is always.
“Captain?”
“Yes, Sarah?”
“Where is room B-544? I will feel much safer sleeping up here knowing that the room is empty. I need to know that he is not here.”
“There is no room B-544. It is just a loading compartment and nothing more. Get some sleep, and you’ll feel better. Captain Reed, out.”
I know he is lying to me.
My fingers trace the walls all around the bridge, but they find nothing. I search the lab, too, and the living quarters. I don’t need to search the loading bay; I know that room too well and would have noticed something in there before.
Nothing.
My eyes are weighing me. I take the duvet from my old bed and return to the bridge. There is no way I’m spending a night alone in the living quarters with all those empty beds.
I make a cup of coffee and settle into Racker’s old chair with it. The screens beep and they flash occasionally, but it is the shadows that keep my attention. They appear unnaturally, cast by an unseen light source, but I see them. They take the shape of humans, dinosaurs, and other animals. One of them even looks like my mother.
I close my eyes when she reaches out a hand, and she is gone when I open them again.
There is no surprise that Racker lost his mind up here alone. I can feel things watching me, and not just CETI.
The duvet is pulled closer to my chin, and I close my eyes. The sooner I sleep, the sooner I will be off this haunted tin.
I do sleep, but not for long. CETI’s voice drags me back into the ship, “Seekers, this is CETI. Do you read me?”
“I read you, CETI,” I say with a yawn.
“I read you too,” buzzes Captain Reed’s voice.
“I apologise for waking you at this hour, but I have now concluded the blood analysis. I can confirm that the blood is type O negative. According to the Seeker database, it belongs to a male, one Jasper Ford.”
Had Racker changed his name before the Seeker Project? Or had he given false bloods?
The Captain’s voice lowers. “CETI, please read database entry for Jasper Ford.”
“With pleasure, Captain Reed. Jasper Ford is a Caucasian male from the city of Coventry in the West Midlands, England. He is noted as being six feet tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He has a clear criminal and medical background, with no family history of illness or hereditary diseases.”
“CETI, please confirm why the entry is in the Seeker Database?”
“Jasper Ford is a volunteer to the Seeker Project, chosen for his good health, his clean criminal record, and his academics. Jasper Ford donated sperm to the Project and blood so that the auto-doc can have a stock of O negative blood for any transfusions.
“Jasper Ford’s sperm and blood is stored in room B-544.”
“Sarah, are you listening to me?”
“Yes.”
“I need you to put in an earpiece, and do exactly what I say.”
“What is going on?”
“You are going to go to room B-544.”
This is the Captain’s fault. If he just swallowed his pride and admitted there was a secret room, then the three of us could have gone.
Racker had set a trap. And I have sprung it.
I run to the living quarters and into the small kitchenette that is adjoined to the bedroom. There is a knife in the drawer about six inches in length, and it is all I have; the Marauder’s emergency light rifle is missing.
“Okay, Sarah, I need you to listen to me. I need you to be ready for anything, because anything could be in that room. And there are things in that room Seekers were never meant to see, things that will rip your heart right out. Are you ready?”
“I’m ready.”
The Captain directs me back to the bridge and t
o a corner. I ran my fingers over the wall here, but I felt nothing.
“Press the air ventilation switches in the following order; red, green, red, yellow, blue, red, green.”
I press the buttons and there is a ‘click,’ and then a door handle rises out of the wall itself, and the square outline of a door follows with a whoosh of hydraulic air.
“Be ready, Sarah.”
The knife is gripped tight in my right hand, and I grip the door handle with my left. I take a deep inhale of breath and try to focus so my hands stop shaking. No noise comes from the other side and no light, but that doesn’t mean it is empty.
I’m ready. I open the door, and I step inside.
Light automatically illuminates above my head. The air in here is old and stale, and it reminds me of the library in my home town. The floor is cold, and the room is suffering from a build-up of condensation; all of the ventilation pipes lead here.
There is no Racker.
Two fridges stand in front of me, one labelled ‘bloods,’ and the other ‘sperm and eggs.’ There is a chute under both of them that must feed directly into the escape pods, but piles of scrunched up papers litter the floor, probably blocking the mechanism.
I pull the clumps of paper out of the way, and the mechanism whirrs and clicks. The entire fridge of sperm and embryos drop down the chute below and into the escape pods ready to launch to Domus.
Racker has been in here.
The other three walls are lined with cabinets. I move to the first, more confident now, and I wrench the old metal open. There is nothing inside but old paper clippings.
“Be prepared to have your heart broken, Sarah.”
I skim through the first paper, and then the second and then the third and fourth; they are all reporting the same story, the death of the Yun family. They were all murdered in the Kunlun Mountains, back home in China.
The next pile is even bigger. It reports the murder of an Alvaro Barros, and how he met a grisly end. The next pile reports Selena Barros, and the next is dedicated to a Lucia Barros, just a baby.
“What is this, Captain?”
“That… is what happened to our families. That is the reason the room is a secret.”
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