by Max Dane
Marko looked around for his people, but only silence and dust welcomed them to Madras. “Why has no one come to greet us? And everywhere I see small piles of debris. Why has no one picked them up? Where is everyone?” Looking at Marko, Bowman judged the boy was not far from panic. He could feel it too, something was very wrong here.
Bowman stopped in the yard just before the local administration building. It was tall for a colony, maybe eight or ten stories, silent and vacant like the rest of the area. There were no signs of lights or movement behind any of the windows. He glanced at Sarah, “Maybe I should go first.”
“This is so odd,” said Alex, “if there was a plague or a weapon of some kind, we should be seeing bodies. Lots of them.”
“Look around, there are vehicles left haphazardly all around us. And Marko is right, there seems to be little piles of belongings left all about. It seems as if the people here just dropped their things and walked away.”
Bowman had been on Thornwall IV when the blood plague swept through their colony. Pain and death and bodies piled high. It wasn’t anything like this.
“Doctor, it doesn’t remind me of a plague.”
“Me either,” said Alex looking back at the ship.
“There’s a fine dust in the air,” said Sarah.
“Yes, I noticed it too, it’s covering my faceplate,” said Bowman wiping his helmet with his suit sleeve.
Suddenly Sarah shouted, “Marko, wait!” Crossing the yard, he was walking quickly to the front door. She started to run to him, but was stopped short by Bowman as he grabbed her shoulder. “Stay here, I’ll get him.”
Marko was frustrated. They could talk all they wanted to, but he was going to find some answers. He grabbed the door handle and twisted.
It crumbled to sand in his glove.
“What in the seven hells?”
He stared at his palm in disbelief, as the crumbled handle poured like sand through his fingers. He threw the lump of sand down, and pushed on the door with both hands. Instantly it disintegrated beneath his hands causing him to stumble forward. His boot pushed through the floor, and he fell. “Help! Something’s wrong- ”
“Marko, wait there, I’m coming,” shouted Bowman. He began to run towards the boy.
Shakily, Marko got back to his feet and stepped forward using the wall for support. As he did, the frame around the door collapsed under his grip. Suddenly the entire front of the building crashed down, followed immediately by the rest of the structure. Sandy dust billowed out in a thick, powdery cloud. Bowman stood there in shock. The seemingly normal colony-central building had just disintegrated into a huge, crumbled pile of sand in seconds. And Marko was gone, buried under tons of it.
“Doctor, do you have readings on Marko?”
Alex was stunned, “Bowman, did you see that? The way it just collapsed like that- ”
Bowman whirled around, “Alex, is he alive under there?!”
Alex checked his armband display. It monitored the occupants of the suits and displayed their vitals at all times. The gauge for Marko was flashing red.
“His suit is offline,” said Alex, “it has been compromised under there.”
“Could he be alive?”
“I suspect the force of the impact probably killed him and the suit. But if he is still alive, he will suffocate long before we could hope to dig him out.”
Bowmen looked from Sarah to Alex, and then ran over to the huge mound of sand. Frantically, he began to shovel it away with his hands. He shouted, “Marko, can you hear me? Marko?”
The wind began to pick up.
Sarah said, “Bowman, listen to me. There is a storm headed this way. Look.” She was pointing across the town, to the buildings farther back. They seemed to be shedding and flaking the same sandy dust into the wind. Suddenly a gale blew through, and one of the tallest buildings simply collapsed, just as the one in front of them had.
“Did you see that?” Bowman said, not understanding what they had just witnessed. As the wind picked up, more of the buildings seemed to just blow away. Confused, he got to his feet and stumbled backwards. He could see the storm clouds on the horizon. The wind was blowing heavier now and the dust from the collapsed town was filling the air. Very quickly it was beginning to cloud their view. He was starting to feel nervous. “Sarah, I-I think we need to get out of- ”
“Bowman, come take a look at this.” It was Alex, standing over one of the piles of trash they’d seen on their way in. He and Sarah walked over and bent down to see what he was looking at.
It was someone’s shirt, protruding from the sand. But as he looked closer he could see there was more. The shirt, some pants, a belt and shoes. In the same small pile, there was an entire set of clothes and a satchel, too. Alex kicked at the pile and from within the clothes and shoes a very fine, sandy dust blew up, caught in the wind, covering their suits and helmets.
“Oh my god,” said Sarah, her voice cracked. “We’re covered in them. We’re covered in these people.”
Bowman took her arm, “Come with me, now.” He was alarmed; something bad had happened here. They needed to leave. He started walking briskly back to the ship. “Come on, Doctor, we’re leaving.”
As they walked back, everywhere the city began to collapse. Gusts of wind, preceding the storm blew apart the fragile structures one by one.
Bowman radioed the ship.
“Captain, this is Bowman. Do you read?”
After a moment, “Yes, I’m here, go ahead.”
“Captain, start the auto-pilot and begin the lift-off procedures. We need to get out of here, now.”
“Did you find the colonists?”
“I think they’re dead.”
“What?”
“Captain, we can talk about it later. Right now, we need to get off this planet.”
“Yes, I understand; how long until you’re back on board?”
“We’re almost to the cargo platform now, ETA is five minutes.”
“Okay, hurry, Bowman, I’m firing them up.”
Still holding Sarah’s arm, he was half pulling, half pushing her along. Alex was behind them saying something about samples.
“What did you say, Doctor? I can barely hear you.”
“I said that we need to bring back some samples.”
“No, Doctor. Keep moving. We don’t know what happened here. It’s standard quarantine; we’re not bringing anything on board.”
He was out of breath and didn’t want to argue.
Sarah was still frantically trying to wipe the dust off of her visor.
They reached the cargo platform, entered and shut the gate behind them.
As it began to rise, the ground beneath the ship gave way and the Juliet listed dangerously to one side. Bowman grabbed Alex just before he was thrown over the side. The platform finally reached the top, and the bay doors sealed behind them.
“We’re in, Captain, get us off the ground.”
“Hold on to something,” said Cervenko, and seconds later the engines fired.
With a great roar, the ship pulled itself out of the sand below and rose into the air. They fell to the cargo bay floor, as the ship righted itself.
After a moment the ship stabilized.
“Bowman, I only read three of you, who’s missing?”
“Yes, sir, we lost Marko.”
“What? Marko is lost? What about the rest of you; is everyone okay?”
“Yes, sir,” he said looking over at Sarah as she clawed at the dust that still covered her.
“Well, get cleaned up and get up here. I want to hear what happened down there.”
“Yes, sir.”
He looked over at Alex, “So what’s the proper decontamination protocol for this?”
Alex leaned against the bulkhead and said, “We go through sterilization and we burn the suits.”
He walked over and helped Sarah stand up.
“Well, Doctor, after you.”
That night, the crew of the Juliet met f
or dinner. They had already left the Cetus system and were currently heading towards the next jump point. The mood was somber and the usual banter subdued. Captain Cervenko sat down with a bottle of vodka and passed it around the table.
“Let us drink to the boy that asked only for a ride home.”
He sipped from his glass, and leaned back heavy in his chair.
“I did not really know him, but he seemed to me to be a good man with much promise. I wish we could have brought his body back for ceremony with his family members still on Earth.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Bowman as he reached for a salad bowl, “the whole city collapsed to dust right before our eyes.”
“Agreed,” said Alex, “I am unaware of any weapon that would create such an effect.”
“Everything was hollow, as if it was only a mock-up of the real city,” said Bowman.
“Not hollow, hollowed out maybe,” said Alex frowning.
“Desiccated.”
It was Sarah, she still looked unnerved.
“Are you all right?” asked Bowman as he sat down next to her.
“Yes, thanks. I’m sorry about my reaction”
Alex sat down across the table.
“It was the dust I think,” he said as he prepared his food, “an entire colony reduced to it.”
“Yeah, the dust.” Sarah rubbed her eyes, and stared at her plate. She reached across the table and grabbed the captain’s vodka bottle. In one quick motion she filled her glass and sat back down. Sipping from it, she said, “I wonder when it happened.”
Captain Cervenko looked at Alex, “That’s a very good question. There must be records of someone visiting the colony.”
“Yes, you’re right,” said Alex, “I’ll see what I can find.”
Looking around the table, Bowman said, “Where’s Nicho and Lukas?”
“Nicho was charting our next few stops, and Lukas should be wrapping up his evaluation of any damage to the landing struts,” said Cervenko.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.”
It was Nicho, approaching from the hallway. He emerged holding a huge map folded in many places, but still flapping nearly to the floor.
“Captain, I think we can accomplish both points at once if we plan carefully.”
Bowman looked confused, “What’s he talking about?”
“I told Nicho that our first order of business was to report what happened at Cetus Beta,” said Cervenko, “We need to find the authorities.”
“Yes, but we still have several tons of perishables including fruits and vegetables that we were supposed to sell to the Madras colony,” said Nicho.
“Not to mention the Adara wine.”
“That’s right.” Nicho sat down next to the captain, his map covering the table and everything on it.
“So what do you propose, Nicho?” Cervenko reached under the map to retrieve his glass, “Where does your star chart say we should go?”
Nicho smiled and pointed at a small dot on the map.
“Deneb Cygni.”
“What?” said Bowman shaking his head.
“You know that’s at least four jumps from here?” said Alex.
Sarah groaned.
“I know, I know. But listen, the Lester Colony reports to be under a severe drought. They will pay well for the foods we can bring them.”
“And what about the authorities?” said Cervenko.
“Yes, Captain. Our first jump will be to Sabik, a highly populated system with- ”
“Yes, Nicho, I know the system,” he said finishing his glass and setting it down.
Cervenko looked around the table, stood up and said, “Very well let us make course to Sabik. I will feel better when we have left this incident far behind.”
Bowman watched as the captain picked up his vodka bottle and left the room, stumbling slightly at the door. It was a hard day for the Juliet, and it showed.
Bowman stood up as well, “I’m off to find our missing mechanic. I recommend everyone get some sleep.”
“Here, here,” said Alex finishing his drink as well.
Nicho was still circling details on the map, and Sarah had fallen asleep at the table.
Bowman grabbed another full plate of food and headed to the cargo bay to find Lukas.
Below the cargo drop, he found Lukas replacing a toe-piece on Juliet’s starboard strut.
“Mr. Beck, we missed you at dinner.”
“Yes, sir,” he said as he tightened the last bolt.
“What’s the damage?”
Lukas finished and stood up, stretching and rubbing his shoulder.
“Well, Juliet is fine. The stress to the landing struts happened when the ship fell to the side. I thought there was nothing at first, but checked twice and found a compromised brace on the front toe.”
He bent over and pointed at the metal brace he’d just finished attaching.
“That’s the piece I replaced.”
Bowman had flown with Lukas even before the Juliet, and trusted him as he trusted few others. The man was smart and thorough.
Using his suitably impressed voice, he smiled and said, “Admirable job, Mr. Beck. It looks very solid.”
Lukas put his tools away and laughed, “Make fun if you like, Russell, but imagine the distress of our captain if his pretty ship fell over the next time we land.”
“Do you think he would notice?”
“I imagine so, yes.”
“Here, I brought you some food. I figured you were still working.”
“Thanks, Russell, I wanted to finish.”
Bowman put the food down and helped him lower the toe segment of the strut back to the bay floor. It was heavy and fell with a loud crash when they let go.
“Lukas, get some rest,” he said as they walked back to the front of the bay, “we’re off on another run in the morning.”
“Where to?”
“Deneb, the Lester Colony.”
“Oh hell.”
Bowman laughed and headed for his quarters.
The next morning found the crew of the Juliet emerging from the jump between Cetus and Sabik. The Sabik system was one of the first jumps discovered and now had several thriving colonies.
“Mr. Bowman, put us in orbit around New Dublin,” said Cervenka. “And Sarah please send a communication regarding the Madras Colony. I expect they’ll want to talk about it, but I don’t really want to stay that long. See if we can just send them a report.”
Sarah and Bowman both nodded, and the ship sped off toward the fourth planet.
The captain activated the comm function on his chair and called Alex.
“Alex?”
“Yes, sir, I hear you; I’m in the aft science station.”
“Very good. Alex, have you finished your record of the Madras Colony?”
“Yes, Captain, but I do wish we’d been able to capture samples from there.”
“Alex, Sarah is contacting the port authorities in New Dublin right now. Please send her your report and she will transmit it to them.”
“Yes, Miles, right away.”
Sarah was already talking with the Fleet Port Authority.
“Yes, Lieutenant, I understand, but we are on a tight schedule. We were hoping we could submit a written account and depart.”
Bowman leaned back in his chair, “We’re in standard orbit Captain.”
“Very well, I hope this will not be too painful.”
Several hours later, the fleet authorities seemed satisfied with the report from the Juliet crew. Captain Cervenko was thanked for his diligence and allowed to depart for his supply run.
The administrators on the orbiting supply depot watched as the ship streaked off.
“Did you get the itinerary for the Juliet?”
“No, didn’t you?”
“Well, I was trying to figure out how to label their incident report.”
The man was shaking his head, “What do you think? Could the whole colony really be toast?�
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“Naw, just last month they sent a whole shipment of Madras Adrenal-Berries through here.”
“Really? You know they’re a narcotic right?”
“What? I ate a few, I thought they were harmless.”
He dropped the report on a stack of papers.
“So what do you think they saw out there?”
“Who knows, maybe they were eating the berries too.”
They both laughed and started the paperwork to file the reports for the day.
Chapter 2
Remember this: once the human race is established on more than one planet and especially, in more than one solar system, there is no way now imaginable to kill off the human race.
- Robert Heinlein
“Where is Captain Holt?”
The Fleet Rear Admiral, Jacob Radke, was under pressure to appease the local segment of the Science Council. Apparently there was some problem with a fringe colony somewhere. Never mind that he was busy putting down pirates along the inward edge of the colonies.
Pirates.
He had beaten them back time and again, only to have more appear elsewhere. The last incident involved a dignitary and her daughter from a prominent family in the Vega system. Now the government in Bucker’s World was raising a lot of questions about the Fleet’s ability to protect them. Communications from the Vice Admiral suggested he should take care of the problem quickly, and with a very visible action.
Radke stood up from his desk and handed his assistant a list of the officers he needed to speak with.