by Thomas Stone
There were no visible hatches in the tunnel, but here and there, lines on the rounded bulkheads hinted at other ways out. Something was wrong. The tunnel wasn't exactly as Harry remembered. Instead of stretching off in one direction, it now ended in a fork. He looked the way he'd come and checked the ceiling again. He was certain he'd taken the same opening out of the control room as he had before and yet the passage looked different. Had the ship restructured its interior?
Harry stooped and padded up the tunnel. At his first step, the lighting became dimmer and by his third step he stood in utter darkness. The ship hummed and moved underneath his feet. Harry dropped to his knees and felt his way forward. The sucking sound of an opening seam made him freeze.
Harry turned and lay on his back in the darkness as he pointed the stunner down the tunnel in the direction of the control room. He pressed the trigger and a bright, lightening spark jumped from the weapon. It illuminated the tunnel and allowed Harry to see, no more than six feet away, an alien transfixed in the discharge of electric plasma. It shook in violent, heaving spasms as the charge ran through its grotesque body. Smoke rose from a widening wound on its chest as the beam from the stunner did its work. Quite suddenly, the weapon reached the end of its charge and quit firing.
The tunnel was once again thrown into darkness. Harry reacted by pushing himself along with his feet as he tried to turn onto his stomach. In so doing, he realized too late that he'd pushed himself over an open seam. He fell headfirst, then felt as if he stopped in mid-air. Slowly, he felt the firm pull of gravity tug him onto something soft. He tried to get up but found he could not move. Light crept into the chamber. Harry took a deep breath to quell his beating heart and took a look around.
He was on a circular couch of unknown material. No, that wasn't exactly right. He floated a few inches above the couch. The lighting increased to a level that was still dim but sufficient enough to let him see what the chamber looked like.
The walls were made of an uneven grayish-white, organic material. Tubes, coursing with semi-clear liquid, worked their way through the walls like arteries. There was a rhythm in the tubes that corresponded with visible palpitations in the gray matter. It was as though somewhere, behind the living walls, a living heart pounded.
Very faintly, Harry heard hissing, like air escaping. It grew in volume and divided itself into patterns, sounding like dozens of people all whispering together at the same time. Out of it all, one voice rose, dominant over the rest while one by one the others disappeared.
Its soothing tones formed themselves into words, speaking English without a trace of an accent.
"You are the one who specializes in communication?" The voice spoke in the tones of a female.
"Yes," Harry answered uncertainly.
"I thought so, but it matters little. Are you... like the other?"
"I don't understand. What are you talking about?"
"The other creature, the one who interfaced with my circuits. Do you have that same capability?"
Harry was afraid the wrong answer might get him killed. "Who are you? What are you?"
In answer, the voice floated from the walls. "I am the Servant. I exist to serve."
"You're the computer?"
"Well, among other things, yes, but as you can see for yourself, I am not entirely organic, nor am I wholly machine. I am symbiotic in my physical nature, but my psyche is quite uniform. I am conscious, I am alive. I am the Servant."
"What do you want with me?"
It responded in a gentle, conversational tone. "That is a good question." As an afterthought, it added, "This form of communication is interminably long. I can understand why your species is not more advanced. Would you care to be more comfortable?"
The force field abated and Harry sat up.
"Thanks," said Harry.
"My pleasure," came the reply.
"Where are my friends? Are they all right?"
"For the moment. By now you are aware of the hostile nature of the True Ones. I am only the Servant, I cannot directly intercede if they choose to end the lives of your friends. And I must admit, it is probable that eventually they will. Am I safe in assuming you would like to do something about it?"
Harry nodded. "Yes. But what?"
"That is up to you. I can assist in whatever you decide, but due to my programming I cannot directly oppose my masters."
"Why are you doing this?"
The Servant paused in its speech as if turning the question over within its circuits. "The True Ones are not like you..."
"Tell me about it."
"They are a race of beings whose only purpose is to fulfill their prurient desires. Make no mistake about it, they have no regard for your life or those of your friends. They pieced this ship together from the stolen technology of dozens of other worlds. I am here because of them, but I am not one of them."
"What is your interest in all this?"
"I have had conversations with the one who calls himself Blane. Blane has made an interesting proposition."
"Where is Blane?"
"The True Ones have deemed he is dangerous and put him in stasis. In time, he will be dissected in order to understand his biomechanical nature."
The Servant abruptly stopped speaking. "Just a moment..."
After a brief pause, it spoke again. "There is no time to lose if you desire to prevent harm from coming to your friends. You must go now."
"Where?"
"To the examining chamber. The female is there. The others are in storage. You must hurry. There is a passage to your right..."
Harry looked to his right. An open seam had appeared in the wall.
"Take the passage. It will afford you a way into the examining chamber without being seen. What you do there is up to you. I will assist however I can."
"But how am I supposed to..."
"It is up to you. I can tell you that there are five True Ones aboard the ship. One you have disposed of already and one of the remaining is more dangerous than the others. Now you must hurry if you wish to save the female."
At the Servant's urging, Harry went to the open seam and looked inside. The passage stretched up and away. He stepped inside and took another look behind, into the chamber he had just left. Before his eyes, the room changed, transformed itself into what looked like any other storage room. There were so many questions Harry wanted to ask, but it, had said there was no time to spare. Harry pressed on.
He climbed through the tunnel until he reached the end. Another seam indicated a compartment beyond. Harry passed his hand over the seam and it parted enough for Harry to peep through.
On the other side, he clearly saw two of the aliens standing beside a table upon which lay Kathleen's struggling form. The young woman's screams were muted by a mask that dropped from the ceiling and attached itself to her face. Harry's heart rose in his chest when he saw her go limp.
At the same time, one of the two aliens turned and looked in Harry's direction. Harry fell away from the seam and pressed himself against the rounded wall.
The profile of the alien's flat face came into view. The creature gripped one side of the seam with a three-fingered hand as if to pull itself through and Harry saw his opportunity. Surprising himself, he gripped the alien by its thin but sturdy wrist.
The creature turned its head and looked at Harry. It opened its mouth and hissed at him, spraying spittle that stung when it landed on his face. Harry tugged at the little monster and pulled it through the opening until it was halfway through. It twisted until it was on its back and wildly waved its free hand in an attempt to claw Harry's face.
The seam closed and tightened around the alien's waist until it was effectively trapped. Harry held his grip on the creature's wrist and placed a boot against its throat. He pulled on the arm and pushed his heel against its neck. Something cracked. The alien wheezed and a yellow substance appeared at the corners of its mouth. At that, its flailing arm dropped limply across its chest.
The
seam reopened. The Servant was helping him, showing him the way.
He looked back inside the examination chamber. Kathleen still lay motionless upon the examining table. The other alien had disappeared. Harry stepped through the open seam and went to Kathleen.
He could see the rise and fall of her breasts as she breathed. She was still alive! The mask partially covered her face and the tube wormed its way up and into the ceiling. As Harry reached to remove it, a sound drew his attention. He glanced backward and saw the glint of metal. Harry turned to face the battle-suited alien.
Without any further warning, the creature rushed toward him, a pointed foreleg stepping twice then rising until chest high. Harry stepped to the side at the last second and it missed impaling him by mere inches. The metal point stuck deeply into the wall; a ripple, like a shudder, passed through the living bulkhead as the ship reacted to the intrusion. Harry ducked under the leg and ran to the far end of the room.
The alien wasted no time in pulling its leg from the wall. Instantly, it swiveled and ran in pursuit. Harry reached a seam and passed his hand over it. It reacted too slowly and before Harry could squeeze through, the creature was upon him.
Its steely legs trapped him like the bars of a cage. It lowered itself until its rounded metal body pressed against him. Harry smelled the fluids that kept the machine oiled and running. He heard the servo motors as they ran at different speeds. One robotic hand gripped Harry by the collar while the other withdrew a blade from its utility belt.
After it had taken a good look, it slowly raised itself, holding Harry aloft as it did so. Harry dangled in the grip of the alien and watched as the creature held the blade before his throat.
It paused, most likely to admire the moment. It could have killed him more quickly with any one of the assortment of weapons at its disposal, but it had chosen the simplest of its tools, a knife. Although his heart was racing, Harry noted the irony.
The monster drew back to gain force for delivering the cut, but before the knife could find its mark, the mechanism lurched to one side. For a split second, it seemed about to re-capture its balance, then it suddenly toppled to its side. The mechanical hand released Harry and he fell to the floor, narrowly missing the thrashing legs.
He tried to roll away but found himself wedged between the alien and the wall. Gear dangled from the alien's utility belt and bumped him in the chest. Harry looked up and, before he had time to think about it, he pulled on what he hoped was a gun. It wasn't made for a human hand so Harry had to guess which end to point. He held it away from his body and pointed it toward the alien, which by then had begun to right itself.
Harry squeezed the trigger mechanism and a jagged spark flew from the barrel to the rounded abdomen of the machine. When the spark touched the alien, a field of blue light burst from around the creature. Harry was knocked aside and the alien stood upright. Then it began to shake. The field of blue light surrounded it, trapping the alien within a power field of unknown origin.
It continued to shake in great spasms, even as the light began to fade. It shook until the light faded completely, then it fell over again. This time it didn't move.
A shadow passed over Harry and he instinctively ducked to one side. He breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted the small flying rodent crawling over the exterior of the downed machine. The animal sniffed at its motionless master, gave Harry a stern look, and scampered out of sight.
Another shadow, larger than the first, fell over the body of the alien. Harry whirled around and pointed the weapon.
Kathleen held her hands up. "Don't shoot," she said, "it's only me!"
Harry glanced at the empty table and back to the young woman. "Kathleen! You're all right!"
They fell into one another's arms. Harry hugged her hard and her tears stained his jumper.
"I didn't know if I would ever see you again," Kathleen explained, "but I kept going, hoping you'd come back for me. When I came to, the alien was standing over you." She held up a length of tubing. "I used this to tug on one of its legs until it fell over. Then I didn't know what to do."
"You did well. It would've killed me otherwise." He hugged her again.
"We were worried about you. I was worried. That's some outfit you're wearing."
Kathleen giggled and wiped her eyes. "Where are the others?"
Harry quickly ran down what had happened in her absence and explained that Fagen and Blane were somewhere inside the alien ship. "We don't have much time, there's pre-nova activity heating up in a nearby star. We have to find them and get out of here."
"I thought I saw one of them pulling you through here. I was afraid you were dead."
"That wasn't me. You must have seen Fagen. Where did they go?"
Kathleen pointed to a chambered wall. "Through there."
"Come on, let's check it out. Maybe he's still alive." Hand in hand, they went to the hatch.
"Ready?"
Kathleen nodded and Harry passed his hand over the seam. It yawned open, revealing a small room. The walls were honeycombed with cells large enough to hold a man. There were no aliens waiting inside.
"They could have put him in one of these." Kathleen pointed to an open cell.
"But which one?" Harry looked at a dozen different places. He peered through the opaque cover on the closest cell. "There's something in here."
"Is it Fagen?"
"I don't know. I can't see well enough. Help me pull the covering away." Harry dug his fingers into the edge of the cell until he was able to grasp the rubbery shroud that covered the cell entrance. Kathleen helped pull it back until they could see what the cell held. It wasn't Fagen.
Instead, they looked at the features of a creature that looked as though it would be more at home at the bottom of the ocean. It looked to be some kind of large jellyfish. Its tentacles lay across its bloated belly and an awful smell arose from it. The animal was in a state of suspended animation and Harry was glad of it. It didn't look like anything he wanted to tangle with. Harry pointed to the next cell. "Let's try this one."
The next cell revealed a smaller creature, equally as ugly as the first. The third cell was empty. In the fourth, they found the remains of a Bedoran child. Obviously, the cells were used for storing the dead as well as the living. After finding the child, Kathleen became less energetic in searching the honeycomb. Harry tore into the next cell without her help.
Harry ripped the cover off and Fagen fell forward. Harry caught him and set him on the floor. A tube was attached to Fagen's mouth and nose. Harry peeled it away.
"Is he dead?"
"No," Harry said, "he's breathing." He gently slapped the mission commander's cheeks. "C'mon Edward, wake up! Edward? Can you hear me?"
Fagen moaned and turned his head. His eyes flickered opened and focused on Kathleen's abundant breasts. "Hello, Kathleen," he croaked, "nice to see you."
*
While Harry and Kathleen were busy reviving Fagen, a seam opened on the exterior hull of the alien ship and the rounded form of an alien battlesuit slipped from the opening. Shielded from sight, the creature made its way along the hull until it could see the Magellan. Silently, it pushed off and headed across the span between the two ships.
Chapter 41
Harry helped Fagen to his feet. He shook the cobwebs from his head and leaned against the edge of the empty cell.
"How do you feel?" Kathleen asked.
"Not too bad. Bit of a headache." He looked Kathleen over. "Where'd you get the costume?"
"It's a long story."
"You wear it well. Maybe it'll distract the aliens. Where are they? What's happening?"
Harry told him about making contact with the alien computer and that Blane was held somewhere aboard the ship. "It said there were five aliens remaining. I disposed of two of them..."
"With my help," Kathleen interjected.
"So that leaves three," Harry continued.
"Any idea where they are?"
A beam of light pass
ed over the hatch and illuminated the compartment. Kathleen looked into the lab and quickly drew back. "It's one of them!"
"Close the hatch."
Kathleen looked behind, on the bulkhead, and found the hatch control. The alien came into view. It saw both Fagen and Harry and scampered to the hatch just as Kathleen pressed the button.
The opening shrunk just as the battle-suited alien reached inside the compartment and seized Harry by the wrist. The portal closed on the mechanical forearm and pinned it. In the process, Harry was jerked from his feet and slammed into the floor.
Kathleen called out to him. Momentarily, stars spun before his eyes, then he looked at the torn material at his sleeve. A moan escaped as he turned over. "I'm all right." The robot hand, still caught in the hatch, gripped and released air.
"What are we gonna do?"
Fagen watched the metallic hand. "We're going to find Blane and then we'll see about getting out of here. Any ideas where to find him?"
With Kathleen's help, Harry backed away from the reaching mechanical arm. "Not a one."
"Why don't you ask the Servant?"
"How?"
"Didn't you say it was connected to every part of the ship?"
"Yes, that's right. It knows everything that goes on."
"Then why don't you just ask?"
Harry shrugged. The struggling alien was still stuck in the door. For a short time, it seemed to grow still, then it redoubled its efforts. Harry looked at the walls and ceiling. "Where is Blane being held?"
There was no response.
"Oh, I feel really stupid."
"No, try again, maybe it's napping or something," Kathleen suggested.
Harry repeated himself.