Absolute Zero

by Phillip Tomasso

  The mission was a bust.

  “Move slowly. Watch each other’s back,” Meyers said.

  It didn’t matter how Euphoric assessed any of this after the fact. The debrief would be a nightmare. It didn’t matter that the storm they flew into was beyond her control. She was the commander, the one in charge. Lives were lost. She expected civil hearings, and more than likely termination. There was no one else to blame.

  Just her.

  They shuffled forward. The crunch of diamonds beneath their boots was almost deafening. There was no quiet way to get through the storage area.

  What Meyers needed to do was push the pain, remorse, and guilt aside. If only for the next few hours. The calls were hers to make. The orders were theirs to follow. Until she got them back onto the Eclipse, she was the one still responsible for their survival. The responsibility remained heavy on her shoulders.

  “I saw something, Commander. There,” Ruiz said, using the nose of her barrel to point in the direction where she spotted movement.

  Meyers knew there was a shuttle in the colony bay. It would be their ticket back to the Eclipse. It was perhaps the one glimmer of hope in what was now one of her darkest moments.

  What would the admiral think of her now?

  “I’m not seeing anything,” Meyers admitted.

  The admiral wouldn’t be proud. If she managed to save the rest of them, get them back to the Eclipse safely, she might—might—be able to look him in the eye when she next talked to him.

  Eventually.

  “I see it. Near the top of that pile. Three o’clock!” Stanton shouted.

  Commander Meyers opened fire. Bolts flew through the air. Struck diamonds blew out in all directions from the blasts and rained down around them.

  “It’s one of those things,” Stanton shouted. “They’ve breached the colony!”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Captain Adam Stanton took a knee. He knew the others still stood behind him. He lined up his sight. The creature inside the storage facility, inside the colony, moved fast. He squeezed the trigger. The bolt from his blaster slammed into diamonds, missed the target.

  “Everyone get out,” he shouted, directing them with a waving arm. The only exit available to them was the north exit. It was the direction they wanted to head toward, anyway.

  Ruiz clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s go!”

  “I’ll be right behind you guys. Now go. Move. Move!”

  Commander Meyers dropped to a knee beside him. “Let’s get this thing.”

  She opened fire.

  “What happened to not killing the locals,” Stanton said. Bad joke. Worse timing. He couldn’t help himself.

  “Hit it, Captain,” she ordered.

  He kept one eye closed. “It’s fast. Freaking fast,” he said.

  They fired their blasters at the same time. Bolts sizzled through the air.

  Commander Meyers yelled, “I hit it.”

  She may have hit the monster, but the bolt didn’t stop it. If anything, the creature got faster, looked pissed off.

  “Commander,” he stammered.

  “Go with the others,” she shouted. Her blaster kicked with each shot. Bolts thundered out of the end of the barrel.

  The thing was off the mound, on the ground and slithered at them. Its mouth kept opening wide, revealing rows of long, sharp teeth.

  Stanton said, “Look at the fangs.”

  “Kidding me?” she said. “I’m aiming for them.”

  Stanton chanced a look back.

  Ruiz was at the doorway; she waved him on. He wasn’t leaving the commander on her own. He focused on the target. Bolts flew from his blaster.

  The thing continued at them, somehow moving even faster. Its body snaked this way and that behind a bulbous head. The few legs it had, had feet that were more like three-taloned claws.

  “Let’s finish it,” Stanton said.

  “And, there …” she paused, took aim, and then squeezed the trigger.

  A bolt slammed into the creature’s mouth. The head exploded. The sound of the chunks of scaled skull clamored against the floor, as if the head were made of metal.

  “Man, for a minute there, I was thinking the things were indestructible,” Stanton said. “Nice shooting, Commander.”

  “Why, thank you, Captain.” The commander stood up.

  Something let loose a gravelly growl, followed it up with a mighty, angry sounding roar.

  The two locked eyes.

  “More than one of those things is in here,” the commander said, it came out in a whisper and sounded filled with disbelief.

  Before either of them saw the creature, they turned and ran for the door.

  Ruiz still stood where she’d been standing, and ushered them through.

  Once past the threshold, Ruiz let the door close.

  Rivers said, “Now we know why there’s a hand in the diamonds and no body. Damned things ate the guy!”

  _____

  Lieutenant Marshall Weber dressed Murray Bell in the extra spacesuit. He was as gentle as possible pulling the suit over the stump where his left leg had been.

  “Air working okay?” he asked.

  “Fine,” Bell said. He ground his teeth. Even through the faceshield Weber saw the beads of sweat roll down his brow.

  “We’re going to get out of here, now. Head for the colony. They’ve got a sick bay there. I can better treat your leg,” Weber said.

  “We’ve got to go outside?”

  “It’s the only way to get to the rover,” Weber explained.

  He lifted Bell and positioned himself under Bell’s left arm. “Lean on me,” Weber said. There wasn’t another option. They couldn’t risk staying at the shuttle any longer. There was no telling how many of those creatures waited for them around the rover. Staying put sounded like a good idea, it just wasn’t practical. He didn’t like the idea of moving Bell so soon either, but Bell needed more, and better, medical attention.

  “That hurts, Web. It really, really hurts.”

  “I’ve got you, Murray. No worries, my friend. No worries.”

  There was plenty to worry about. Holding most of Bell’s weight left him incapable of using the blaster. He was forced to use the strap and wear the weapon like a satchel slung across his back. He kept one arm behind Bell’s back and his other hand held onto Bell’s wrist, which was draped over his shoulder.

  The two of them, practically tethered together, hobbled through the back of the shuttle.

  “You ever do a three-legged race when you were a kid?” Bell asked.

  “Not now, Bell,” he said, but smiled. At the hatch, Weber sucked in a deep breath and held it for a count. “Ready?”

  “Let’s do this,” Bell said, no conviction in his tone of voice. At least the sentiment was there.

  Weber leaned over, punched in the access code, and when the door opened, he lunged them forward and out of the shuttle. It reminded him of swimming. When he knew the water would be cold. Dipping in a toe prolonged the torture. The only way to get it over with fast was to jump right into the pool.

  The ground was icy. The special boots they wore gripped the surface. Bell was far more helpful than Weber would have anticipated. He hobbled the best he could.

  At the rover, Weber leaned Bell against the body of the machine and pulled open the passenger door. Bell grabbed onto the handle and set another hand inside on the passenger seat. He, with minimal help from Weber, hoisted himself up and into the cab.

  Weber unslung his blaster. So far, so good.

  He waved the blaster around as he passed in front of the rover. Bell was inside pounding on the front windshield, garnishing Weber’s attention. Bell pointed behind Weber, who then spun around.

  It was almost too late.

  He had not seen the thing, despite the contrast of its black scales against blue, diamond-crusted snow. The rover headlights highlighted the creature’s outline, though. Weber pressed his back against the front hood of the rover a
nd fired his blaster.

  Bolts tore through the air, zipped toward the creature.

  As if the thing possessed some kind of sixth sense, the creature zigged and zagged. The bolts punched through the ice.

  Ocean water sprayed into the air, a geyser burst through the thinning surface, and took out one of the creatures.

  The second did not miss a beat.

  Weber didn’t think he had time to reach the driver’s side door, open it, and hop in, before the thing was on him. He dug in his boots, grit his teeth, and fingered the trigger in rapid succession.

  The head of the creature was roughly the size of Weber’s body. It opened its mouth, as if ready to eat him whole.

  Weber screamed into his faceshield as he continued firing his blaster.

  Several bolts slammed into the opened mouth. One of the bolts exited the back of the thing’s skull.

  The creature dropped, eyes open, mouth shut. It slid on the ice, and stopped just shy of Weber’s feet.

  Weber sighed, and then laughed. “Holy crap, Bell. You see that?”

  Behind him, the second creature fell from the sky. It crashed onto the surface. Its legs twitched. Its head moved. It resembled a sleeping animal just moments before waking up. And then the mouth opened. Saliva dripped from elongated fangs. A rattle sound emitted from its throat. The scales along its back quivered, and reverberated.

  The fall from the sky must have stunned it.

  Inside the rover, Bell waved Weber on, urgently.

  Weber, taking advantage of the moment, and not in need of encouragement, raced around the front of the rover. The creature gave chase as Weber pulled open the cab door.

  The creature rose on a middle set of legs and rocked its head from side to side, as if shaking off a daze.

  Weber pulled himself into the rover, just as the creature uncoiled, and attempted a strike with fangs bared. Weber pulled his legs up and into the vehicle. The head of the creature bit down on air.

  Weber reached out for the door and yanked it close. “You okay?”

  Bell just nodded. “How about you? You okay?”

  “Yeah. Wonderful. Peachy, even.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “Okay,” Commander Meyers said. Her heart still beat fast inside her chest. The run-in with the creatures in the storage facility had unnerved her. It wasn’t that she doubted Captain Stanton and Lieutenant Ruiz’s report. They claimed they’d seen the creatures on their trek from the starfighters to the colony. A part of her just wasn’t positive the retelling wasn’t exaggerated some, the way a fisherman’s tale of catching fish became more legendary with each rendition. Lesson learned. She would believe her crew until given a reason not to believe them. “Here’s what we need to do first. I want to locate the communications room. We need to contact the Eclipse.”

  Rivers raised a hand.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Meyers said.

  Lowering her arm, Rivers said, “Don’t you think we should head to the colony’s shuttle? It’s our best chance of getting off the planet. We can fly back to the Eclipse. Regroup. Figure out what to do from there.”

  From somewhere not on Neptune with giant, man-eating creatures, Meyers thought. “We will use their shuttle for safe passage off the planet, yes. But not now. Not before making contact with the Eclipse, and not before we finish the exploration of the colony.”

  “Ma’am?” Ruiz said. “Why are we going to explore the colony?”

  “There still could be survivors,” Meyers stated.

  Stanton said, “It’s been months, Commander. Months since the trouble alarm was triggered. I think we know what kind of trouble they ran into.” Stanton pointed toward the closed storage room doorway. “They probably went out on a mining expedition. When they were vacuuming up the diamonds, my guess? They brought in some of those creatures. Gave them a ride right into the compound.”

  “The things may also have attached themselves onto the vacuum vehicles.” Meyers thought about it. Could have happened that way. It seemed as if the compound was properly sealed. That could work in their favor. It might mean only a few creatures made it inside. Unless, there was a breach. “Either way, the things went from living out there, to wreaking havoc inside here.”

  “Which is why we should try and get safely from here back to the bay. I can get that shuttle ready for take-off in less than thirty minutes. We’ll punch a path off the planet and rendezvous with the Eclipse far, far away from this place,” Stanton offered.

  “What if when we take-off there’s another storm, and we crash again. Then we could be grounded down here for God knows how long. We need an up-to-date weather forecast. They have a Doppler here. And from space, Windsor can report on cloud activity, as well.” Meyers wasn’t in the mood for arguing. She knew, as Commander, she could shut down the discussion. She was in charge. What she said was what should go.

  Except, not listening to her crew was more of a dictator role than a commander one. She wanted rapport with the members of her ship. Trust. Loyalty. The least she could do, the very least, was hear them out.

  It was all of their lives on the line now.

  Not just her career; her reputation.

  “With all due respect, the Eclipse didn’t catch the storm we flew directly into when we got here, Commander.” Stanton held eye contact for a two-count and then lowered his chin. “Forgive me. That was uncalled for.”

  “Nothing to forgive,” Meyers said. “You’re right. We didn’t see the storm. The planet is far too unstable for us to guess weather patterns. However, I’d still like a best guess before taking any unnecessary risks. The way I see it, we have two shots off this planet. The colony’s shuttle, and the second shuttle on the Eclipse. If we mess up and crash with the colony’s shuttle, whether it is because of some out-of-nowhere storm, or a mechanical issue, or whatever, then we are down to just one last hope. Windsor would have to pilot the second ship, come down here, and pick us up. Based on everything we now know, that would be even more dangerous. Him coming here, picking us up, flying us out. Twice the risk. I appreciate your concern, I do. But right now, I believe our best option, our best chance, is first getting in touch with the Eclipse. Let’s find out what is going on. Let’s give them the information we know so far. Euphoric needs to be alerted to what’s happend. And we’re forgetting one major reason for why we can’t just high-tail it out of here right now.”

  Ruiz said, “And what’s that reason?”

  “Even if there is just one person left on this planet, we are their last hope for survival. What if they know we’re here, but can’t reach out to us, and then we just leave? What if that were you? You’d want us to come find you, wouldn’t you?” Commander Meyers stood a little taller, jaw set. “I know you are all scared. I’m scared. I’ve never seen anything like those things. But they can be killed. We can stop them. We will get off of this planet.”

  “Do you think Euphoric knew about those things?” Rivers asked. “Do you think they had any idea there were monsters mixed in with the precious diamonds?”

  Meyers didn’t have an answer to the question, and she did not miss the tone of voice change when the lieutenant said the word precious. She pursed her lips, eyebrows arched, and shook her head. “At this point, I really don’t know, Danielle.”

  _____

  Lieutenant Marshall Weber kept both hands on the wheel. The rover handled nicely. Despite the diamond-paved road, hills, dips, and mounds, it was an overall smooth ride. Bell sat beside him, and although his eyes were open, the man looked slightly lethargic.

  “Hanging in there, Mur?” They had known each other a long time. Their friendship stemmed back to when they served together in the North American Alliance Armada. They became friends when they enlisted at about the same time and as privates were sent to the boot camp training facility on Mars. Prisons and boot camps. That was all Mars was good for.

  “Want to hear something funny?”

  Just the question made Weber smile. “I
could go for a joke.”

  “It’s no joke,” Bell said. “But my foot itches. My left foot. I don’t have a left foot. Not anymore. I swear to you, Web, I swear—the damn thing itches. And you know what I want to do? I want to scratch. Almost reached down, more than once, but stopped myself.”

  “It’s called a phantom itch.” Weber knew it was a common thing with amputees. “The nerve that ran through your leg, it’s still alive above the knee, and what it does is it sends mixed up messages to your brain.”

  “So what does that mean? I might keep feeling like I have my whole leg, when I don’t?”

  “It’s possible, Mur. There are meds you can take. Should numb some of that sensation for you,” Weber explained. “We’ll get you back home, okay? We’ll get this sorted out.”

  “Gotta admit,” Bell said. “Some of those prosthetics they have out now, kinda sweet.”

  Weber nodded. “Yeah. Think of the women you can woo with your tale of battling a monster. You’re going to be fighting them off.”

  “Fight them off? Me? Never. Plenty enough of me to go around, way I see it.”

  When Bell laughed, Weber joined in. It felt absolutely amazing to be kidding around and moving forward.

  The rover jerked to a stop. A pit in the road. Weber thought he’d avoided it. The back tire must have gotten stuck.

  Bell placed both hands up on the dash. “What was that?”

  “Pothole.” Weber gave the rover gas and thought he felt the tire spin. They didn’t climb out of the divot.

  “You don’t want to do that,” Bell said. “Rock it backward, and then when it rolls forward, give it a little gas.”

  Weber dropped the rover into reverse, and then shifted into drive and gave it another push of gas.

  The back of the rover sank.