The Cosmolis

by REM

  “Now that we’ve completed our mission on this side of Nystavia, we should probably secure transportation to the primitive half of the planet as soon as possible.”

  “Agreed. But I want to see about something before we depart.”

  “See about what?”

  Josh hadn’t planned out a lie, but responded with, “I just want to be completely sure there’s no base on this side of the planet. I’m curious as to who those two Mercen are and what they’re up to. I figure if there’s a secret base around here, they’d surely know about it. I’ve no doubts Rolly would approve of our added investigation. It falls in line with why we are here, and shouldn’t take long. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

  Jill stared at him for moment. “It’s your call. But I don’t know how you expect to obtain that type of information in such a short time.”

  Me neither, thought Josh. “Doesn’t hurt to try. We finished the primary. That’s all that really matters,” he said, wishing his words were true.

  Jill nodded and turned toward the wall.

  The pilots climbed over both barriers, into the castle’s courtyard. They made it up to their room to retire for the night without any hassles.

  How the hell am I going to capture Nemchek? Then get him down to the transporter? Clint assigned me a damn near impossible mission, thought Josh, moments before falling asleep.

  Later that morning, when it was light outside, Josh awoke. He looked toward Jill’s bed and saw she was sitting up, yawning with her arms stretched. “Morning, Sunshine,” he said.

  Jill cracked a smile his way, squinting from a ray of light coming in through the window. “Feels good knowing we’re halfway done with this assignment. I slept pretty well for it being our first night on a strange planet. I’m hungry though.”

  Josh felt his stomach growling too. “Same,” he said, drawing back his covers and getting out of bed. “I’ll order up some food.” He strolled toward the blue buzzer.

  “See if they have scrambled eggs and pancakes.”

  Josh chuckled. “I’d say that’s long shot.”

  Jill sniggered too. “Yeah, I know. Girl can dream, can’t she?”

  “I’ll try to get us something that doesn’t look like snot or roadkill.”

  “That would be appreciated. Last night’s dinner wasn’t too bad.”

  “Nope. It was like eating jello, stuffing, and a corn roll.”

  “Ha. Are you going to start your secondary investigation soon? I’d love to be en route to the primitive zone by early afternoon, if that’s all right with you?”

  Josh let a breath out heavily through his nose, thinking about how short a window he had to capture Nemchek. “That sounds doable. But let’s not buy the tickets until after I’ve finished.” He saw her shrug out the corner of his eye while pressing the button on the wall.

  “Sure. But the faster we search the other half of this planet, the faster we’ll be off this rock. I don’t think the amenities over there are going to be nearly as luxurious as what we’re experiencing now.”

  Good point. “I’ll try to be swift.”

  “Want me to help?”

  “Nah. I don’t think it’ll be much trouble. I’d feel better knowing you were safe in this room. If I don’t find anything it’s not the end of our world, just an added search that wasn’t in our profile.”

  “Pleasant light time. How may I be of assistance?” said a host from the main desk downstairs.

  Josh put in an order for food.

  When the pilots had finished their breakfast, Josh showered and got dressed, wearing the same outfit as the night prior: tight pants, a shirt, puff jacket that didn’t go past his waist, and the detector boots.

  “Take your transmitter, so we can keep in touch,” said Jill.

  Josh glanced at it on the dresser while shoving his specialized comb into a pocket and tiding up his outfit. “I will.” He rummaged through his suitcase for a moment, then walked over to the window and peered outside. What an odd place, he thought, staring at the multitude of connected castles and the dark, rocky mountains in the distance, which reminded him of an old vampire movie. He adjusted his collar.

  After that, Josh strolled over to the front door. “See you soon,” he said.

  Jill had just gotten up from her bed. “Be careful,” she responded.

  Josh left the room. Once the door was closed, he could’ve sworn to have heard Jill say something, but the sound was so faint he passed it off as his imagination. Okay, first thing I think I want to do is check the transporter to make sure everything is in place in the event I’m able to subdue Nemchek. Then maybe I’ll ask about him at the front desk. I bet Lisk could tell me something about the Mercen. If that fails, I should probably check the casino to see if he’s there. If so, I’ll have to track him to wherever he goes after. Hopefully he hasn’t moved on to another castle. I know for certain he frequents the lots, so perhaps he wouldn’t move on?

  After taking a few steps down the hall, Josh slid out a hand-sized map with directions to the mission transport hangar. The item had been included in his luggage. All right, first floor, a few lefts, and down this long corridor. He tucked the map back into his jacket pocket.

  When Josh had made it downstairs and taken a few turns, he stopped to glance back over his shoulder. He peered around slowly, looking for any signs of movement. I’m sure I heard something, he thought, staring for a moment longer, then turning to continue on. Five or so steps more, Josh glanced over his shoulder again, just to be sure. There was nobody in sight.

  He kept walking. Before long, Josh was coming out of the long corridor and into a bending one that circled around the landing courtyard.

  “Ah, here it is,” he said under his breath, stopping at the symbol on the door that had been marked on the map. He examined the small door panel. Code is supposed to be the same as the one set up for the transporter inside. Let’s see if this works!

  Josh entered the combination. A blue light flashed on the console, followed by a clicking sound. He pushed open the door and moved inside. A somewhat dim light turned on when he did. The transporter was at the center of the hangar, which, aside from a tiny maintenance area in the near left corner, didn’t have much else inside of it. Eh, a few containers over there.

  Josh pushed the door just shy of closed and strode over to the transporter. Now let’s see if this sucker unlocks. He entered his combination on the ship’s side panel. A tiny blue light flashed, but instead of a click, there was a koosh, as the door slid open. Josh stepped into the vessel, scanning its interior. Pretty standard… Door to the cockpit, passengers seats… there! he thought, eyeing three capsules lined at the ship’s rear. I’d expected there to be only one. Why so many? He pondered a few seconds before coming up with, Maybe Rampage Intel uses this transporter on a normal basis, not just for this mission. Well… everything is set here. Now I’ve got to find that damn Mercen.

  Josh stepped out from the transporter. He halted completely—seeing the two Mercens standing by the hangar door. Both were still, staring at him in their regal robes. The un-named Mercen was carrying a Grusk stun stick in its hand. Josh couldn’t believe they were there. And how the hell did they get access to that weapon?

  “Hello,” said Josh, in a shaky tone.

  The Mercens were unflinching—until one of them said, “Why are you here?” which sounded as if the words were slithering out from its mouth. Nemchek glared as if eyeing his prey.

  “The hangar door was open. I decided to have a look inside. I was just on my way out.” Josh started forward, but stopped at hearing the same Mercen say, “Aaught!” A tremor of fear rumbled through his chest. It felt as if his blood had suddenly thickened. “Is there a problem?”

  “Spyyyyyy!” Nemchek cried out, in a voice as slithery as the other Mercen’s.

  Josh could see the skin tightening on their faces and faint jitters from the aliens’ bodies, like energy was surging within them.

  “Zesh. Zaish!” Nemchek hissed, in
Mercen tongue.

  The accompanying Mercen opened its mouth, rearing its sharp teeth and forked tongue. “You are food!”

  “Aaaigh!” Nemchek cried.

  The accompanying Mercen rushed at Josh. It jabbed the end of the stun stick at his mid-section. Josh sidestepped the thrust—but the Mercen swung the weapon again, this time at his head. Josh ducked the attack. He came up with his arm folded in, and plowed his elbow against the bottom of the alien’s chin. Then he swung his elbow across the side of the Mercen’s face. It grunted, dropping the stun stick, and stumbling away to the floor.

  Josh grabbed the stunner swiftly from off of the ground.

  “Josh!” Jill shouted desperately.

  He glanced in her direction, shocked to see her standing by the door.

  Nemchek twisted toward her.

  Jill slammed a small pipe down atop the Mercen’s head from the elevated flooring by the door.

  Nemchek tumbled to the floor.

  Josh pressed a button on the stun stick and jabbed an end of the weapon against Nemchek’s chest. He held it there until the Mercen had been shocked unconscious.

  Just as soon as Nemchek went out, the accompanying Mercen had already rushed over to Josh’s side. It swung its fist into a vicious backhand. The blow drove Josh off of his feet, and onto his back.

  The Mercen snatched up the stunner and charged to where Josh lay.

  Jill screamed from where she was still standing by the doorway, as the Mercen brought the stun stick down from over its head with both hands—and then again.

  Josh rolled to one side, then the other to avoid being hit. He drew his comb knife from a rear pocket, leaned up while ejecting the blade, and thrust it into the accompanying Mercen’s lower thigh.

  “Aaaigh!” the Mercen cried. It raked the stunner against the side of Josh’s upper body.

  Josh managed to block the blow partially with his arm—but still felt some impact to his ribs. “Errrgh!” he grunted feverishly, collapsing onto his side. He glanced up, clutching at his mid-section.

  The Mercen was cocking the weapon over its head, drawing back with all of its might.

  Josh felt his eyes brighten on their own. The pain at his side was too much. He wasn’t sure if he could muster the strength to move out of the way.

  “Aaaah!” The end of a pipe pounded against the back of the accompanying Mercen’s head. The alien crashed to the floor, dropping the stunner from its grasp.

  Josh saw Jill standing with the metal cylinder in her hand. A swirl of disbelief rushed through his brain. Still, he found the drive to push himself to all fours, grab the stun stick, and thrust it against the accompanying Mercen’s chest—until the alien went unconscious.

  Josh took in a few heavy breaths. He looked up at Jill. “What are you doing here? How’d you find me?”

  “You forgot your transmitter. I tried catching up to you, but then I saw the Mercens following you. So, I followed them to make sure you were all right.”

  Josh shook his head. Then he smirked. “Well, you did do a good job of making sure I was all right. Don’t think I’ve ever been happier to see you.”

  Jill glanced at the Mercens. “What do we do now?”

  “That transporter is open. I’m going to stash these two inside and jam the locks. That should buy us enough time to escape to the primitive side of the planet.

  Jill bobbed her head, looking up.

  “I just need you to stand guard outside; make sure no one is coming this way. Don’t stand directly in front of this hangar though. Maybe across from the next one down.”

  “I can do that.” She tossed Josh his transmitter. Before turning, she asked, “What if they wake before you can trap them?”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.”

  Jill’s wide eyes looked very uncertain. She turned and hurried out of the room.

  Josh pulled the bladed comb from the accompanying Mercen’s leg. Please don’t wake! he thought, watching the alien’s body twitch and hearing a suppressed grunt. Josh closed the blade then ejected the syringe. He jabbed it into the same Mercen’s neck and squeezed out half of the sedative. Then he hustled to Nemchek and drained the rest of the fluid into the main target.

  All right, you first, thought Josh, bending down to place both arms under Nemchek’s armpits. He dragged him a few steps, thinking, Man, these guys are heavy. He pulled the alien through the transporter doors to the rear of the vessel. There he opened a capsule. “Up you go,” said Josh, lifting the Mercen’s body halfway over the side, then pushing him the rest of the way in. After that, he closed the capsule and pressed a button to activate it. That’ll keep him unconscious indefinitely. Now for the other one.

  Josh hurried out from the transporter and dragged the accompanying Mercen into a capsule the same as he’d done Nemchek. When finished, he stood over both. I can’t believe things happened the way they did. This couldn’t have gone any better. Josh smirked. Clint will probably give me a promotion for this, he thought, knowing that it was highly unlikely.

  He pressed the purple button in the cockpit as instructed by Rolly, and locked the transport, as well as the hangar on his way out. Jill was waiting across the hall one hangar down, just as he’d suggested.

  “They didn’t wake, did they?” she asked.

  “No. Everything went well.”

  “Then let’s grab our stuff from upstairs and leave this side of the planet.”

  “Aye.”

  Once they’d gathered their belongings and made it to the main desk in the lobby, both were surprised to learn of a subway system that ran across the continent. Makes sense. Otherwise there’d be flight traffic from castle to castle, thought Josh.

  They were led down to the nearest station and shown how to buy tickets to the primitive side, which they discovered had a name.

  “Mascarpa. That’s what it’s called where we’re headed,” said Jill. “Taun is where we are now.”

  Josh was looking around but still nodded. “That’s good to know.” His eyes moved across a handful of tourists sitting on rocky benches. Then the booth where they’d just secured their trip, as well as the tunnel where some sort of speed train would be emerging.

  It wasn’t long till their transportation arrived. Josh and Jill boarded the train and sat in a twin seat near the window. A mounted ceiling monitor was in perfect view. From what Josh could tell, it was used to promote tourist attractions. The screen was currently showing off the gambling hall they had played at the night prior. Josh smirked. Alien ads aren’t much different than humans’. Smiling faces, celebrating tourists; like everybody’s a winner.

  Jill turned toward Josh and moved her lips into some semblance of a nervous smile. “I’m hoping for lush green fields and beautiful cabin houses over there.”

  Josh suppressed his laugh and said, “Have you seen anything on this planet that would make you think of lush fields?”

  Jill’s faint smile was still there when saying, “No, I guess not.”

  “You’re holding up really well. I thought that incident with the Mercens would’ve shaken you up a bit more.” He saw her jitter some.

  “Oh, it did. I guess I’m doing a better job of hiding it than I thought. I’ll feel a lot better once this train starts moving. We’ll get to Mascarpa, investigate its mountain range, and then catch the fastest flight off of Nystavia. How long do you think it’ll take for those Mercens to escape, or someone to find them?”

  Josh wanted to tell her slim to none, but instead said, “Breaking out from that transporter would take them days. There’s no way they’d fit through one of its windows. Someone finding them is a different story. But it didn’t look as if that hangar was going to be used anytime soon. I’m confident we’ll be fine.”

  Jill drew her lips back a smidge. Josh could tell she was pleased by his words. Both saw an indicator flash for passengers to fasten their seat belts.

  “I bet this thing is extremely fast,” said Jill.

  “Me too.”<
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  “Josh, look!”

  Josh stared up at the monitor. There was a picture of two humans showing on the screen, plus a message written in multiple languages, including Creston. Reported missing. Please notify a Grusk if you see them, Josh read.

  “Josh… those two were at the playing hall last night.”

  “You’re right,” Josh uttered, fascinated by the news.

  The train began to move.

  Chapter 5

  The train carrying Josh and Jill rose above the surface and pulled into an outdoor station built along the side of a cliff. Before it stopped, the pilots peered out through a window at a long, transparent, tubed bridge, as well as the purple river that ran beneath it.

  “Looks like we’ll be footing it across that,” said Jill.

  “Yep. Wonder if the channel divides the territories completely.”

  When the train had stopped, Josh and Jill grabbed their bags from the overhead and moved toward the doors. They exited the vehicle then followed the platform a ways to a security checkpoint.

  While standing in line, Josh saw an elevated transport station farther down. Probably handles all traffic going into Mascarpa. Grusk-controlled, so no illegal weapons get smuggled onto the planet.

  It didn’t take long for the pilots to be admitted onto the bridge. They passed by two stun-stick-carrying Grusks in doing so.

  Just shy of making it midway across, Josh peered at everything from the cliffs on the other side, to the clear sky above, and purple liquids below. He reflected on how strange it felt being on Nystavia—while also remembering how his life had been on Creston. From what he could see of Jill’s face, which was turned in the opposite direction, Josh thought she appeared to be lost in thought too.

  The pilots arrived at the Mascarpa end of the bridge. It, too, was guarded by Grusks. They passed through a final checkpoint and onto a smaller platform, where a light-blue and an orange Firble were standing at a small booth along the edge of a walkway. Josh and Jill made their way over to the pair.

  “Hello! And welcome to Mascarpa!” said one of the Firbles.

  “Is this your first visit to the province?” asked the one with light-blue fur.