Absolute Zero

by Phillip Tomasso

  “Aroldis?”

  He sucked in a deep breath and then exhaled. “Now, I’ve got to rethink this.”

  “I guess that means I should say goodnight?” she said.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  The sense of victory Commander Anara Meyers felt was short lived.

  The four of them, Adam Stanton, Danielle Rivers, and Angela Ruiz, were still inside the communications room. They managed to get the radios up and working, made contact with the Eclipse, and at least had some kind of a plan in place for moving forward.

  Meyers didn’t care about Euphoric’s altered agenda. Retrieving diamonds was furthest from her mind. If management had an issue with her disobeying the order, they could write her up when she got back home. They weren’t here. They didn’t see what was going on. Of course, the new order came before she’d made contact with Eclipse. Once Windsor relayed the situation back to Euphoric, she was certain her employer would see things differently.

  They would have to see things differently. People were missing and dead. There were giant reptile-like creatures on the planet that, as best she could tell, no one had known a thing about. (And if she found out Euphoric did know about the monsters . . .) And the creatures were tough to kill. Something about the snake-like scaly plating deflected or absorbed bolts fired from blasters. Only way to knock them down and out was by hitting them in exposed, soft spots.

  An open mouth has proved effective.

  She had shared that tidbit with her team. Right now, it was the best she could do.

  “Okay,” Ruiz said, “so are we going to explore the rest of the colony together?”

  “We are,” Meyers said. “The dorms, the kitchen, the rec room. Those are our next stops. Looks like, based on the layout, in that order. We stay close. We watch each other’s backs.”

  “You think there are more of those things in here, inside the compound?” Stanton looked over his blaster. The weapon still held a near-full charge. He touched his fingertips to the bowie knife in the sheath strapped against his thigh.

  “I have no reason to think there aren’t any more,” the commander said. Her mind raced through scenarios that might have played out on the colony months ago. If one or two of those things were loose inside the compound, the miners and scientists never stood a chance. They might have a few weapons down here, but it wasn’t like everyone had been on high alert the way a para-military crew would have been. In actuality, the colonists were defenseless against an alien attack.

  Only on Neptune, Meyers knew all too well, they were the aliens.

  “In here? Inside the compound?” Rivers asked.

  Meyers said, “It’s not much of a stretch. Something caused the colonists to set off the alarm. We get here, and what do we find? Place is like a ghost town.” She thought about the hand they’d found in the mound of mined diamonds. “We haven’t run into one person. It’s possible we’re the only four people here.”

  “Alive, you mean?” Ruiz said. “The only four people here still alive.”

  Meyers nodded. “So we’re going to search this place. We’re going to search the place good, too. And then we’re out of here. We’re getting off this planet. Right now, I am mostly concerned with our safety. Us. My crew. Is that understood?”

  “Aye,” they said, in unison.

  “I’m going to want one person to stay back. This room is a lifeline. It needs protection.” Meyers made brief eye contact with the three of them. She didn’t want one of those things getting into the communications room. She imagined a creature like that could do untold amounts of damage. This room was their link to the Eclipse. If things didn’t go as easily as she had planned, they may need to get a hold of Windsor. She didn’t trust the portables, not with the unstable weather. The signal might not reach her ship, and the crew on board would have no idea they were in any kind of trouble.

  Rivers raised a hand. “I’ve got this, Commander,” she said, straightening her back and standing tall.

  Meyers gave the lieutenant a slight nod. “You stay inside this room, Lieutenant. Once we step out, you lock that door. No one gets inside. Not alien, not even a colonist. We have no idea what the entire situation is. Someone shows up you get a hold of us on the comlink. Nothing comes inside this room.”

  “Aye, Commander.”

  “Okay. Good. The rest of you, let’s get this search over and done. I’ve got point. Everyone else fall in behind me. I don’t think I need to say this, but eyes open. Stay alert. Let’s move!”

  There was a quick moment where the only sound was off the Eclipse crew lock and loading blasters. Meyers stepped out of the communications room. “Last one out, make sure the door is closed.”

  The commander’s comlink crackled. “Commander Meyers? Commander Meyers?” The tone of voice sounded panicked. “Hello? Anyone?”

  It was their medic. Marshall Weber. Meyers responded, speaking slow, calm, and clear. Meyers knew the importance of defusing the situation as best she could. While she wasn’t with Weber, the way she spoke with him on the radio might help reassure him that everything would be okay. If she matched his level of intensity, he’d feel less secure. It wasn’t easy, but the commander stayed relaxed. “I read you, Lieutenant Weber. Go ahead.”

  The four of them stood silently waiting for the next transmission. They anxiously looked from one to the other. It was almost as if no one wanted to say a word, except, Weber wasn’t talking either.

  Meyers knew the mission had come unraveled from the moment they pierced the planet’s atmosphere. Space exploration was dangerous from the get-go. Everyone knew that, accepted it. Danger came with the job. It was also why a lot of people signed up. It wasn’t just the healthy Euphoric paychecks and benefits that were the draw. There was something to be said for living on the edge.

  Problem with that way of thinking was most people considered themselves somewhat immortal. Meyers always thought the admiral was going to live forever. Until recently, until the last time she saw him. He had become quite thin. His skin was loose on his bones. There was a tremor in his hand. She noticed it when he poured himself a cup of coffee the last morning she spent visiting with him just prior to the Neptune mission.

  He was going to die. The admiral, the strongest man she’d ever known, would not live forever. And now, she knew with equal conviction that she would not live forever. It was okay, but she didn’t want to die out here. Not on Neptune. And not with at least getting the chance to say goodbye to her father.

  “Weber?” Commander Meyers said.

  “We’re surrounded, Commander. Surrounded.” Marshall Weber whispered. He sounded cold, scared. There was an audible tremor in his tone of voice.

  Stanton and Meyers locked eyes. No words.

  Meyers said, “Weber, where are you? Do you have Bell? Is Bell with you, Weber?”

  “They’re everywhere, Commander. We—we’re not going to get out of this.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Lieutenant Marshall Weber positioned himself behind Murray Bell. They were on the icy ground. Bell lay between Weber’s legs, his head on Weber’s thigh. Weber kept letting go of the barrel of his blaster, patting Bell on the shoulder. It was for reassurance, although there was nothing at all reassuring about the situation.

  They’d made it out of the shuttle and into the rover. The escaped a sinking rover, only to wind up stranded on the ice. And now they were surrounded by serpent-like creatures. They were hideously frightening, and moving closer, and closer.

  Weber knew they must look as alien to the creatures as the creatures did to him. For some reason, the things didn’t immediately attack. It might suggest a level of intelligence. Perhaps the things were just curious and investigating.

  On Earth, people would have done the same thing.

  Eventually, they would kill the unknown whatever, and autopsy it, or cage it.

  Yeah. On Earth, they’d mess with anything alien, anything new and never before seen. Why? Because people thought they were supe
rior over everything else. Entitled.

  Why should a natural inhabitant of Neptune feel any differently?

  The creature things were all around them.

  One, coiled less than fifty yards away, raised its croc-like head. The eyes never blinked. The mouth opened wide as cords in the back of its throat vibrated. A prehistoric scream erupted. If Weber was forced to explain what the sound meant, to translate, he’d have sworn he just heard the first alien battle cry.

  “Web, man. Shoot it. I don’t know what you’re waiting for. Shoot the thing!”

  Shoot it. Made the most sense, if there had been just one of the creatures in front of them. He counted five, no, six. Sticking with the idea the creatures housed some sort of intellect, Weber didn’t want to appear like the aggressor in the situation. If these things were just slithering in for a closer look, satisfying a curious itch, the last thing he wanted to do is inflame a possible peaceful circumstance.

  “They haven’t done anything, Bell. We’ve invaded their planet. We’re the ones who shouldn’t be here. I start sending bolts at them, then who’s the one at fault?” Weber said. Inside his own mind, it made sense. It wasn’t him being passive, as much as responsible.

  “Have you seen my leg?” Bell waved a hand over what was left of his leg. “They’ve attacked, partner. They have already drawn first blood on us, on our race. And if you ask me, Web, if you ask me? They like the way we taste! They’re probably damned tired of a diet consisting of eating whatever else lives under this ice. Bored senseless with the local cuisine. And then what? Low and behold, here we come like a meat buffet on legs. A meat buffet, Web.”

  Marshall Weber knew Bell was crying. He heard the sniffles echo inside his own helmet between their transmissions. Weber wouldn’t call him on it. He knew the man was afraid, terrified. Hell, he was terrified.

  “Shoot them, Web. Shoot them.”

  He lifted the strap of his blaster up and over his head. He held the rifle in his arms, finger on the trigger. “Bell, I can’t just open fire—”

  “Give me your blaster, then. If you can’t do it, I will.” Murray Bell reached for the weapon.

  Weber tugged free, fell backward. Bell rolled out from between Weber’s legs. He stayed on his stomach, perched up on his elbows. “Shoot the damned things, Weber!”

  Marshall Weber saw the look on Bell’s face through the faceplate; there was no denying the torment and pain in his friend’s eyes.

  Bell was right.

  They were in danger. They would never get anywhere safe, and would never make it back to the colony with so many creatures around them. This might be it. This could be the end.

  He did not want to infuriate the creatures. This was their last stand, no doubt. If there was another choice, he’d take it. He didn’t see any other options. Resigned, Weber raised the blaster.

  The coiled creature looked to be the most aggressive. Maybe that one was the leader. Take out the biggest guy in a fight, and the others might back off. That had always been something his father had taught him. Go up to the biggest. baddest guy and break his nose. It sends a message. It lets everyone else know you are not playing around.

  Weber still wasn’t convinced making the first move was the best idea.

  The options remainedweren’t just limited, they were nil.

  Shoot the things where they sat coiled or get eaten.

  That was about it.

  And while Weber wasn’t in a hurry to become the main dish on an alien smorgasbord, his finger still hesitated on squeezing the trigger.

  The creatures must have sensed the mood swing, the increased hostility in his action when he raised his weapon and pointed it directly at the main monster, because they all raised their heads. Jaws spread wide. They let out screeches and growls.

  The best Weber could compare the action to would be a pack of wolves howling.

  Weber’s heart raged behind his ribcage. It was now the moment of truth. Although he was para-military, had extensive weapon training, he considered himself a paramedic, a healer. A helper.

  He closed his eyes for just a second, a moment to regroup.

  When he opened them, he placed the head of the largest creature in blaster crosshairs. He squeezed the trigger.

  The segmented red laser bolts flew through the air and struck the target below the head.

  The thing cried out. It could have been in pain, or it might just have been angry.

  His actions didn’t deter the other creatures. They all shrieked their own kind of howling, with heads back and jaws opened wide. Worse than the sound, they all uncoiled and started moving. The motions were unnerving. An attack was now imminent, and Weber couldn’t help realizing it might be a battle he actually started.

  Like a pit of snakes, vipers, the creatures slithered about making their way closer and closer. None came directly at Weber and Bell, though. It was as if the aliens insisted on utilizing as much caution as possible. Slow, and calculating. In a roundabout way, however, the things were shortening the distance between them; tightening the noose.

  “Don’t stop! You can’t stop,” Bell yelled. He kept leaning his weight on one forearm, and then the other. He craned his neck this way and that. The man was doing his best to see all around him at once. His jerky movements were making Weber dizzy. “They’re coming!”

  Weber shouted, “I know they’re coming. I can see them!”

  Trying his best at lining up the next shot, aiming just for the head of the closest creature, Weber let bolts fly. The air sizzled as the red laser zipped out of the end of his blaster.

  As if realizing, learning, and understanding that the bolts were dangerous, deadly, the creatures dropped their heads low. It made them harder targets.

  And they moved fast.

  The creatures serpentined this way and that.

  “We’re not going to make it,” Bell screamed.

  “We’re going to make,” Weber responded, but inside his head, his own brain agreed one hundred percent with Bell. There was not a chance in hell they’d make it.

  They were going to die.

  For a fleeting moment, Weber considered putting a bolt through Bell’s head and then firing one up through his own chin and into his skull.

  Death would be swift that way. Hopefully, painless.

  Weber figured, even if it hurt some, a murder/suicide would deliver far better results than getting devoured by one of the creatures.

  It would have to be better.

  Weber, in a crouch, spun around and sent an almost endless stream of bolts at the enemy, because that was what they were now. The enemy.

  Most of his shots missed. The hot bolts passed through the ice, kicking up sprays of diamonds and poisonous ocean water.

  The blaster stuttered, kicking out a handful of bolts, and then nothing.

  The charge was depleted.

  The weapon was rendered useless.

  It was as if the creatures, when they saw Weber lower his weapon for closure inspection, were confused by the gesture. They paused. Hissed.

  And then, as if they understood the significance—their enemy was now defenseless, the voice of the creatures, as one, resounded with an ear-piercing cry. More like snakes than even when they sat coiled, the creatures slithered and raised their heads poised to strike …

  Chapter Forty

  Captain Adam Stanton stayed behind Commander Meyers and Lieutenant Ruiz. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Ruiz watching his back, because he did, it was just that he thought he could watch all of their backs better. It was the same when it came down to anything. He just naturally trusted his own skills and talents more than he trusted anyone else’s.

  Commander Anara Meyers moved slowly through the halls. They had an entire half of the compound left to explore. The expectation was coming across survivors and getting the heck off the planet. Quick. Simple. Stanton knew better. Planning and execution rarely worked out the way one thought. Regardless, Stanton remained as optimistically hopeful as possi
ble. Success was more than fifty percent mental. The other fifty percent rested in his hands and the hands of his teams. They had gelled as a team, too; had grown together over the long months on this first mission as a crew with the Eclipse.

  They moved as one, silent, except for their shallow breaths and the sound of their boots on the metallic floor. The amber lights kept them in an almost constant dismal setting. Stanton ignored all of it as best he could, although the sounds of them letting out ragged breaths and the somber lighting took a mental toll.

  He walked backwards, more or less, sidestepped and pivoted. His blaster swiveled left and right with him. He swept the area, and aimed the barrel with his finger on the trigger ready to pull at all times. If he saw one of those things coming after them, he would annihilate the thing before it even got close. The creature would be hating life once Stanton opened fire and the bolts blasted holes through its crusty scales.

  Anytime they approached an intersection of passageways, the commander stopped. They’d group close together. She would inspect the passages carefully before moving forward.

  They knew nothing about the creatures. Could they scale walls? Squeeze into tight places? Camouflage scaly skin with plaid backgrounds? Nothing. They knew not a thing. While Stanton applauded the commander’s tenacious efforts, he was also a bit unnerved, maybe even agitated. The slow moving was certainly cautious—especially with how much they didn’t know about their newly discovered advisory—but it was eating up the clock.

  Time kept ticking away. He wouldn’t say he was homesick, but right about now all he wanted was off the planet and to be back on the Eclipse. He didn’t consider that an unreasonable wish. However, Stanton stayed focus, concentrating more on his responsibilities of back watching and less on dreams. Inside his mind, he couldn’t help but replay the recent transmission exchange between Weber and the commander.