by Kalvin Thane
Alden rolled his eyes. “Perfect. We have a fairystorian with us. Tell me, sweetheart, why did you come on this mission if you believe you’d be facing angels of death?”
“We were chosen.”
“Chosen?”
Herlie drew herself upright and faced him. “We drew lots. To see who would come.”
Alden leaned back in surprise. “Wow.”
“Yeah,” she turned away. “We both lost.”
“I need to head back to the airlock,” Trenn said. “I can’t raise any comms in here.”
“What’s wrong?” Sema asked.
“I need to warn the Admiral about that thing.”
“There’s probably no need to worry,” Herlie said.
“You said it was dangerous.”
“Yes, it seems to be powerful. But it’s not a bomb.”
“Oh?”
“No. We think it’s a drive unit.”
Alden snorted. “This rock is drifting through space.”
“Duh, it’s switched off.” Sema rolled her eyes.
“If it’s a drive unit...” Trenn said slowly. “Then there must be a control room.”
“Or a cockpit,” Alden added.
When the techs nodded, Trenn turned away. “Herli, Kell, you’re with me. Alden, try not to fight with Sema.”
“As long as she isn’t a fairystorian. You’re not, are you?”
Sema shook her head. “I consider myself enlightened.”
“Good. Then enlighten me about that thing. How does it work?”
“Do you want the long explanation, or the short one?”
“The short one, please.”
“Beats me.”
“Perfect.”
AFTER NUMEROUS WRONG turns and several back-tracks, Trenn, Kell and Herli finally reached the cockpit. Control room would have been too generous a name. A curving bank of panels, cluttered with screens and over-size buttons faced a flat window. A single couch sat before the controls, with a pair of joysticks half-way along.
“It’s dusty,” Kell remarked. He wiped a single finger along the couch to demonstrate.
“Don’t touch anything,” Herli cautioned. “You might set off an intruder system”
“We forced open the airlock door after blowing the panel,” Trenn reminded her. “That should have set off alarms all over the ship.”
“You mean rock,” Kell said.
“Whatever.” Herli gazed around at the simple controls. “It’s still an amazing piece of engineering.”
“Is it?” Kell asked doubtfully. His enthusiasm had waned with every wrong turn of the rocky corridors.
“We can learn so much from this ship.”
“Rock,” Kell corrected.
“They were going to destroy it, did they tell you that?” she asked. “Our head of research begged the Admiral to hold fire so we could have a look.”
Trenn smiled. “I bet that was a hard sell.”
Herli nodded. “Our head really owes the Admiral for this.”
“So why did she only send two techs?” Kell asked. “Why not swarm the place?”
She shrugged. “Security. We needed to make sure it was safe.”
“And that’s why you needed the Dog Squad?” Kell asked.
“Don’t call us that!” Trenn snapped. “If we’re going to have a name, let’s offer up something that commands respect.” When Herli snorted, Trenn scowled. “So if you’ve seen enough here, can we re-join the others?”
“I need to plant some RTs so everyone else can three-dee this cockpit.”
“RTs?
“Remote Transmitters. They can be useful for studying any change of activity.”
Kell half-smiled. “Not much activity here, aside from us.”
“Plant them,” Trenn said. “And let’s go back.”
“Hey...” Kell murmured.
“What?”
“I drew a line in the dust... on the couch.”
“So?”
“There’s no line now.”
SO WHAT ELSE DO WE need to do here?” Alden asked.
“Once I’ve set up the RTs around the drive system...” Sema said. “We can monitor everything from the cruiser.”
“So we can scram?”
Sema smiled. “I’m happy to stay behind until the next team gets here. There’s so much—“
“Uh-uh.” Alden shook his head. “Our orders are to check this place is clear of Creepys, and safe. You can come back another time and play.”
“Play?” Sema’s screech startled Alden. “This is a tremendous discovery, Trooper!”
“Okay, okay. Keep your face on.”
“Do you remember the last ship we recovered intact? It was six years ago.”
“They have a nasty habit of destroying themselves,” Alden remembered.
“Studies from that ship advanced our technology by twenty years,” Sema reminded him.
“I’m sorry,” Alden said. “I was wrong. But all this stealth stuff, all this creeping around? It bugs me, okay?”
“You’d rather be blasting away at alien ships?” she asked.
“I’d rather be back home, fishing or kayaking down the thousand-meter rapids.”
“There, that’s the last RT.” Sema dusted her hands off. “Now we can go.”
“Your gloves...” Dun frowned.
“What about—oh, no!” She tore off the gloves and hurled them to the deck. As the trio watched, the material crumbled into gray dust.
“Nanobots...” Sema whispered hoarsely. “The dust we’ve been seeing everywhere. It’s them.”
“Damn!” Alden snapped. “We have a problem. Commander!”
As he spoke, a shrill scream echoed down the nearest corridor.
GET THEM OFF, GET THEM off!” Kell yelled. He hurled his disintegrating gloves away. When they hit a wall, they exploded into dust. The young trooper stared at his hands in horror. His skin rippled and shifted in color. He scratched at his palm, only to watch his skin peel away.
“Don’t touch them!” Trenn ordered.
“They’re itching!” Kell protested. He continued scratching, pulling away more skin from his palm. Blood welled and ran onto the cuffs of his jacket. Herli screamed and backed away, staring at Kell in horror.
“Commander!” Alden’s voice crackled in their ears.
“To the airlock!” she ordered. “Immediately. Don’t touch anything, you hear?”
“Copy,” Alden replied.
“Come on,” she urged. “Run. We need to get you to the medics as fast as possible.”
“They won’t allow him on board, Commander,” Herli advised. “Not if he’s infected.”
“Fine, then we bring a medical team onto the carrier. Sale, do you read me?”
When Sale replied, her voice was faint. “Here, Commander.”
“We’re coming out. Keep the carrier in position for a fast evacuation. Zero-Gee in the bay.”
“Aye, Commander.”
“And call the cruiser. Tell them to prep a fully-equipped medical team. They’ll need to meet us when we get back.”
“Aye.”
The trio raced back the way they’d come, then turned in the direction of the airlock. Trenn’s HUD showed her where Krul waited. They were only a few hundred meters away. Alden and the others converged from the left, working their way through the rocky maze of tunnels.
“It hurts...” Kell groaned. Instead of scratching, he rubbed his palms together to alleviate the pain. By now, the backs of his hands were bloody.
“Almost there, Trooper,” Trenn said. She dropped back to run alongside the young man.
“Don’t touch him, Commander,” Herli advised.
“Up ahead, Kell. The airlock is close.”
“Yes... ma’am...” he said in a tight voice. They turned a final corner, and the welcome sight of Krul greeted them.
“Keep going, Commander!” Alden called. “We’re behind you.”
“Sale, are you in place?” Trenn asked.
<
br /> “In three... two... one...”
“Krul! Emergency evacuation, now! Blow that door!”
“Yes, mum.” Ambex Krulguakor jammed his wrecking bar into the outer airlock’s seal, and heaved. The heavy door slid open by an arm’s width, then more. Immediately, hurricane-force winds tore at the squad, endangering their footing in the low gravity.
“More!” Trenn yelled. Krul heaved, then dropped the bar and pushed the door fully open. The carrier’s cargo bay yawned open, eager to receive the squad.
“Jump!” Trenn yelled. All seven broke contact with the deck and the howling rush of the escaping atmosphere swept them into space—briefly—before the carrier swallowed them. Krul was the last, watching carefully to ensure his comrades didn’t hit an edge and ricochet back into the void.
“All safe!” he called. The carrier leapt forward, the cargo ramp already rising. Once it was fully closed, Sale accelerated away from the asteroid. Those who didn’t have a hold on anything solid drifted back toward the sealed door. Trenn reached up to grab Kell’s boot, but nothing else. Minimum contact was the order of the day at this point. With the gravity plates off, they could keep Kell clear of the deck. But he was wailing. Drops of dark blood clung to his hands; his breath was short and panicked.
“Kell!” Dun cried. “What happened?” He reached out to his twin.
“Don’t touch him!” Trenn ordered, then added in a softer tone. “Not at the moment. It’s not safe.”
“But he’s...”
“I know, Dun. I know. We’ll get help for him, I promise.”
“This might be easier if we weren’t still in vacuum,” Alden said. He glanced at the tech’s swollen suits.
“Sale, pressurize the bay.”
“And the gravity?” Sale asked.
“Maintain zero.”
“Aye, aye.”
“Commander!” Sema called. “Can I try something?” She raised her scanner. When Trenn stared, Sema continued. “It might help slow down the infection.”
“Anything,” she replied. “Try anything.
“Be careful to use a lower amplitude,” Herli cautioned. “Or you could disrupt the cellular—”
“I know, I know,” Sema replied. She tapped the screen several times, then glanced at Kell. A moment later, the trooper stiffened. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Nearby, Krul howled and pressed huge hands to his armored head.
“What are you doing to him?” Dun asked. His face was white.
“High frequency ultrasonics,” Sema said. “We discovered they temporarily halt the nanobots.”
“Temporarily?” Dun asked.
“As long as I keep the ultrasonic beam on him, they won’t invade any further.” She turned to look at Krul. “I’m sorry. We’re using a wide band. We haven’t had time to isolate—”
“Don’t let the beam drift,” Herli warned.
“Sorry, sorry.”
“Sale,” Trenn called. “When we decelerate, make it gentle. We need to keep Kell away from any surfaces.”
“What about a cargo net?” Alden asked.
Trenn shook her head. “Nanobots could use it to reach the deck.”
“Commander,” Alden said. “We were all in that rock. Every surface was coated with dust. We’re already covered, and the carrier is contaminated.”
“It might be contaminated. Not all the dust was nanobots.” She glanced at them all in turn. “It couldn’t be.” She sighed, misting up the face mask. “But just in case, keep the masks on. No sense in taking risks.”
SALE WAS ORDERED TO maintain a safe distance from the cruiser. The squad waited anxiously as a medical team, consisting entirely of volunteers, was assembled and transported across the gap. A decontamination team accompanied the medics, and when everyone was aboard, the cargo bay became crowded.
“We can’t operate under these conditions,” the Chief Medical Officer said. “Get everyone out of here.”
“I’m not leaving until Kell is free of infection,” Trenn said.
“I’m staying,” Dun added.
“You need me here,” Sema said, nodding toward the ultrasonic emitter, and then Herli. “You need us both.”
“Not to sound cold-hearted,” Alden began. “But Krul and I can’t help much. We can evacuate to the other carrier and wait there.” He nodded toward the behemoth. “That’ll free up a quarter of the bay.”
“Thanks, Alden,” Trenn said. “Krul? Thanks for the fast evacuation back there.”
“Yes, mum.”
The decontamination team waited until Alden and Krul stripped off their uniforms, leaving Alden in underwear and mask. Krul, formed of tougher stuff, pulled off his mask and prepared to cross the intervening space naked. Alden shook his head in wonder.
When the six bodies had gone, and the bay was pressurised once again, Trenn asked the CMO if he was able to work now. “I’ll be in the cockpit,” she said.
“Much better, thank you,” the CMO said with a tight smile. She turned to brief her team, making sure she included the young techs who were holding back the invading nanobots. With their help and some recuperations time, the CMO was certain Trooper Kell would make a good recovery.
This Series Continues With....
A Dog Squad Story Series Volume 2:
A Hard Place
Commander Kami Trenn squirmed in her chair as all eyes turned to her. A seasoned trooper at heart, she hated sitting in the presence of her superiors. She’d tried to remain standing for the duration of the Admiral’s conference, but the ship’s captain insisted that she join the other commanders around the ring-shaped table.
“Commander?” Captain Mafelle quirked a bushy eyebrow. Trenn cleared her throat. Mafelle was her superior, although he was crew, not a marine. He was also the sort to shoot first.
Trenn opted for a positive response. “The techs are bouncing with excitement, sir. It’s as if they’ve discovered a cave filled with treasure.”
Mafelle snorted. “I still recommend we destroy Hard Place, Admiral.”
“Hard Place?” Trenn asked.
“It’s what some joker called the enemy vessel,” Mafelle explained. “It amused the Admiral, so the name stuck.”
“No!” a voice cried. Mafelle turned slowly to glare at the Piscean as she continued. “We can’t destroy such a valuable resource, Admiral. The drive technology alone—”
“You were not invited to this council, Shay. As a civilian—”
The Admiral raised a clawed hand, lifting a feathered wing into view. “Let her speak, Arn.”
“But, Admiral. That rock represents an incalculable risk to this ship.”
“And an invaluable source of alien technology, Arn. Civilian or not, Shay represents the Alliance’s need for better tech. If she thinks we can harvest anything useful...”
“Admiral, that ship could go off like a bomb!”
“And yet it hasn’t, despite Trenn’s team blowing off the airlock door.”
“The tech on that thing is lethal! It’s already killed one of them.”
“Trooper Kell is in surgery, Captain,” Trenn corrected. “He’s tough. Don’t write him off yet.”
“He’s infected with alien nanobots!” Mafelle cried.
“And thanks to his condition, we’ve already found a way to stop them swarming,” Shay pointed out. “Wouldn’t that be useful in the event of attack?”
Mafelle dropped a fist onto the table. “All traces of that tech should be annihilated.”
Commander Trenn leaned forward. “What do you suggest, Captain? That we destroy Trooper Kell?”
When Mafelle remained silent, Shay raised a finger. “My people have already hacked the en-bee’s programming. It may be possible to utilize them some day as part of a damage repair system, or medical assistors.”
“Or a weapon?” The Admiral raised an eyebrow. ”Encase a million in a glass sphere and launch them against an enemy ship.” Mafelle opened his mouth to object, but then closed it before saying a word. A
curious expression crossed his face as he envisaged the possibilities.
Shay couldn’t resist. “You see, Captain? New technology, new possibilities, new weapons.” Shay’s thick marine lips curled in revulsion around the last word. A pacifist at heart, Shay’s species had only joined the Alliance in order to safeguard their aquatic world. No Piscean would ever fire a weapon, or hurt another living being, but if they could assist the Alliance in halting the Creep’s advance, their collective consciousness would be clear.
“We will not be firing upon the Hard Place anytime soon,” the Admiral said. “Let that be an end to the discussion.” She fixed a dark, beady eye on Captain Mafelle, who squirmed. “Now, Commander Trenn, what exactly happened to your young trooper?”
“You know he became infected by nanobots?” Trenn asked.
“But not much more than that.”
“We’re calling them en-bees in the technical section,” Shay reminded everyone. Admiral Jayda cocked her avian head at the Piscean, who sank lower in her seat.
“Trooper Kell did nothing more than draw a line in some dust. Less than a minute later, his gloves disintegrated.”
“Their attack was swift, then,” Jayda commented.
“Those damn things are probably programmed to destroy everything they touch,” Mafelle muttered. “We can’t risk them getting aboard—”
“Admiral?” Shay raised a webbed hand. “You might be interested to note that the trooper’s boots remained unaffected.”
“Is that true, Commander?”
Trenn nodded. “Oddly, yes. The boots were quarantined by the techs, but returned to us a day later, undamaged.”
“Hypothesis, Shay?”
“We think the composition of the soles are of no interest to the en-bees.”
“And yet the gloves were?”
“I’ll run some tests on the en-bees we isolated. They might be consuming one particular component in the glove, which would make them lose their integrity.”
“Let me know what you find. It might be critical for when we go back inside.”
“Inside?” Mafelle cried. “Admiral, you can’t be serious!”
“Are you questioning my judgement—again?” Jayda asked.
Mafelle sagged. “Merely exercising caution, Admiral.”