Grendel Unit

by Bernard Schaffer

  "What planet is it?" Frank said.

  "Officially, it's XXXXX…wait, that's too many X's. XXX-112A. Unofficially, it used to be called Nyular."

  "Nyular," Frank said, snapping his fingers at Buehl. "Find it."

  "Already on it, Lieutenant," Frank said as his fingers flew over the keys on his console. Information began to immediately pop up on the screen in front of him and he said, "Nyular, the fifth planet in the R-Hicks System, stable atmosphere suitable for human colonization." He leaned closer to the screen and said, "Wait a second. Early exploration vessels reported a large asteroid strike on the planet's surface that disrupted the ecosystem. Warning: planet overtaken by aggressive invasive species. Loss of all indigenous species, imminent."

  "Imminent?" Monster whispered.

  "It means 'likely to happen,'" Frank said.

  "I know that," Monster growled. "Why the hell are we going there?"

  "It's a dark planet, and somebody just turned on the lights," Vic said. He lifted the bottle to his lips and took another swig, "We're going to find out who, and why, and most likely kill them. Or get eaten by whatever the hell's down there. Whichever comes first. Oh, and by the way. Your suspensions are hereby revoked and I'm captain again." Vic held up his hands and said, "So, yay for that. I'm gonna go lay down. Set a course for suicide, Sergeant. Wake me up when it's time to die."

  They watched him go back into his cabin and Monster turned to Frank and said, "I blame this on you, human."

  "Me?" Frank said. "What the hell did I do?"

  "You voted to let me onto this stupid unit. At least Buehl had the decency to try and keep me off of it. Now look at me."

  Hours later, Frank was leaning forward against the observation deck's window so he could look down at the planet below and sang out, "Dun-dun-dun-dunnnnnnn."

  "What are you doing?" Vic said.

  "Trying to set the mood. Just looking at the planet you couldn't tell there was anything bad on it. It's way too peaceful and green looking. I figured an ominous music cue would keep everybody on their toes."

  Vic shook his head, "I need to stay away from you sometimes. The fact that my life could be in your hands in an emergency situation terrifies me more than anything I could possibly face in this job."

  The door opened and Buehl and Monster both entered carrying several large black cases. Buehl grinned at them and said, "Gentlemen, you'll be glad to know that I, in my infinite wisdom, packed just the gear you would need in a circumstance such as this." Buehl cracked open the first case and unfolded a hooded, baggy bodysuit made of dull gray material no thicker than paper. He yanked on it a few times with his hands to show them how strong it was and said, "These are the next generation in hazardous environment suits. Fireproof, impossible to tear, impermeable to gases, and provides a ballistic protection rating of three quarter-inch hull plating. They're also equipped with reflecting camouflage technology. When you're in the jungle, they'll turn green. If you're in the dark, they'll turn black." Buehl rolled each suit up into a ball and tossed them at Frank, Vic, and Monster. "And they weigh less than three ounces. Each one of those costs more than any of us make in a year. Probably even if we all put our salaries together."

  "So how did we get three?" Vic said.

  "Remember the stash of unmarked creds we found in that Phendicyn dealers apartment last year?"

  "The one who fled before we could arrest him?"

  "Right."

  "The creds I told you we were supposed to hand over to Unification Requisitions so we don't get arrested?"

  Buehl shrugged, "It's not like the money was evidence, Captain. And we couldn't just leave it laying around, so I appropriated it and used it for a good cause."

  Monster looked down at the balled-up suit in his hand and said, "Appropriated is the human word for stealing?"

  "Appropriating is stealing when done by a government entity," Frank corrected him.

  Vic closed his eyes and said, "We never had this conversation. What else do you have, Bob?"

  Buehl held up a pair of clear goggles with an attached respirator for the nose and mouth, "I've got these."

  "Oh goody, goggles," Frank said.

  "These are more than just goggles, buddy," Buehl said. "There's a Heads Up Display on the inside screen, they show six different spectrums of thermal, nightvision, you name it. On top of that, they feed live into my console and I can connect you directly to our sensors, databanks, and anything else. It's also a self-contained breathing system."

  "I thought you said the planet had an oxygenated atmosphere," Vic said.

  "It does, but what if the invasive species shoots some kind of poisonous fumes to disable its victims? Or it's a microscopic bug that’s inhaled into the body?"

  "Good call," Vic said. "What about weapons?"

  Buehl grinned and said, "I thought you'd never ask." He lifted the latches on the last case and removed a vicious looking assault rifle with a sleek electronic box attached to both the underside and top of the weapon. "This is a standard Rangefinder assault weapon, with two hundred plus rounds stored in the magazine, accurate up to two hundred and eighty-six yards. However, this bad boy is specially configured for non-clandestine ops. This is the gun I designed for when our only job is to show up and blow up."

  Frank said, "That's kind of catchy. I like it."

  Vic waved his hand, "Today, Bob."

  Buehl patted the top of the rifle, "This sighting system will feed a targeting reticule directly to your goggles Heads Up Display. You will hit whatever you are looking at when you pull the trigger, as long as the reticule is activated." He turned the weapon upside down and showed them the electronic device attached to the bottom, pointing to the small red button just under the gun barrel. "This button will tag whatever target you select with a homing beacon that automatically sends a signal to the Samsara's weapon systems. A word of caution. Do not be within fifty feet of whatever you tag, because this ship is about to send a missile down the target's throat. We've only got four missiles on board, so use your tags sparingly. Any questions?"

  "I have one," Monster said. They turned to look at him, only to see that he was holding up his hazardous environmental suit to his chest and that it wasn't even big enough to go down to his knees. "Do they make these things for adults?"

  "Damn it, Monster," Buehl said. "I ordered you the largest size they had. Why do you have to be so big?"

  "Why do you have to be so ugly?" Monster snapped back.

  "Enough," Vic said. He looked at the suit in Monster's paws and said, "You can't go. It's that simple."

  "What!"

  "I don't know what's down there, and if you aren't protected adequately, you're staying on board. End of discussion."

  Monster let out a terrifying roar and slammed the table with his fists so hard that the surface cracked and he stormed out of the room, punching the hallway repeatedly every few feet as he went.

  Buehl put down the Rangefinder back down in the case and said, "I think you're making a mistake. Heaven knows what you'll run into down there and he'd be a major asset."

  "I guess we'll just have to take our chances then, won't we?" Vic said.

  Frank leaned close to Vic and quietly sang, "Dun-dun-dun-dunnnnnnn."

  The pain was elixir.

  With each cut and scrape of the electroscalpel against raw flesh, it instantly singed the severed edges of the skin, cauterizing as he continued to slice. It left his exposed cheek bone and gumline sticky with burnt blood, but manageable, oh yes, manageable enough for him to peer at the quivering length of worm trying to hide. But it could not. He stabbed the thing and halved the thing and dug into his own bones with the blade of his instrument to pry it loose. When he had it free, he dropped it on the countertop and immediately ignited the electroscalpel, watching with satisfaction as curled up in agony and died.

  Sonjiin laid the device down and stepped back to stare at his own grisly handiwork. He'd opened himself across the top of his cheek to the corner of his mouth
and back to his throat, cutting a patch of flesh from his face in the shape of a deformed trapezium.

  His bad eye twitched rapidly, some kind of latent response to the worm's invasion and the rough surgery, he reasoned. It twitched again and again until the movement overtook the side of his nose and upper lip, forcing his face into convulsion. The sensation was maddening. Sonjiin pressed his hands up against the mirror and lifted his head back to look up his nostrils, seeing what appeared to be miniscule white pearls tangled in his nose hair.

  He immediately thrust his head down and squeezed one nostril shut at a time, forcing air out of his nose so violently that a long stream of yellow snot streamed down, littered with the glistening white balls. He watched in horror as the balls uncoiled on the counter and straightened themselves, at least a dozen baby worms coming to life before his very eyes, soon to be in search of something to eat.

  Sonjiin stepped back and cried out, "No! No!" He screamed in outrage at the madness of it all. The sheer unfairness.

  Something burst on the right side of his skull, just beneath the bone. A withering pain that dropped him to his knees and made tears spill out of his eyes. He clutched his head with both arms, trying to squeeze it hard enough to make the pain cease, but it was inside and could not be reached. Inside, he moaned to himself, inside of me. They're in my brain now, devouring it like cotton fluff.

  Blood spilled out from his nose and splattered against his lips, making him instantly spit in revulsion. He watched in disgust as several worms swam in the blood puddle on the ship's polished floor. Sonjiin, the last defiant son of Nyular, struggled on his hands and knees toward the Sun Hammer's radiation chamber. Every inch of the movement was struggle, feeling the worms wrapped around his joints now. He looked down at his hands on the floor and saw them wiggling just under the skin, crawling from his knuckles to his wrists.

  One last chance, his mind screamed as he forced himself against the console, grabbing for the device's activation lever. His hand flopped around the controls but he missed and slipped, only to smack the side of his face on its hard surface. Something was gnawing on the connective tissue behind his eyes and the room was turning milky white in the glare of the bright overhead lamps. He could hear them. By the gods, he could hear them in the tunnels of his ear canals and feel them bulging in his sinus cavities, stopping them up like wads of tissue.

  Get up, he told himself, get up, you fool!

  Before it is too late.

  The planet certainly didn't look ominous. Vic and Frank both rotated their heads in every direction of the never ending green. "I think polar bears and snow leopards can be safely ruled out as the invasive species," Frank said. He squinted through his goggles at the thick tangle of trees and said, "Damn, what if it's an all-green tiger. Wouldn't that freak you out?"

  "Shut up, Frank," Vic said. He flicked through the various displays on his goggles, checking for thermal signatures, camouflage and more, but saw nothing. He looked up at the Samsara, hovering just twenty feet above them. "Are you reading any life signs?"

  "Nothing, Captain," Buehl said. "It's damn odd."

  "Maybe whatever it was killed everything on the planet and had nothing left to eat, so it died," he said.

  "Or maybe it's a non-carbon based life form," Frank said. "That's all we are able to scan for."

  "How the hell can any life form not be carbon based?"

  "I don't know! They could be light creatures, or made of some kind of gas. Or zombies, even. Who knows if they'd show up, I mean, they're dead. We don't scan for the dead."

  "We also don't scan for leprechauns or unicorns, Frank, because they're not real."

  "Just because we haven't found something doesn't mean it isn't real, Vic." He looked around the forest again and shuddered, "Zombies. I hate zombies."

  "I hate you," Vic said. "Let's go."

  Buehl's voice crackled in their ears, "The radiation burst was located approximately fifty yards due north, toward those cliffs just beyond the tree line."

  Vic tapped Frank on the shoulder and pointed in that direction, "Moving in."

  "Roger that."

  "Stay frosty on that life signs scanner," Frank said. "I don’t want any green tiger zombies creeping up on us."

  "Got it. Maintaining high-zombie-alert mode, el-tee." There was muffled static through the earpieces and they heard Buehl's voice arguing about something, catching only the tail end, "Hell no. Do not open that door. Damn you, Monster, we might get exposed to−"

  A round hatch on the bottom of the Samsara popped open and they looked up to see Monster's grinning face looking down at them. "I just thought of something," the mantipor shouted, "look out below!" He dropped two long lengths of black cable that unspooled like anacondas down toward them. "Clip these tow cables onto your harnesses. At the first sign of trouble I'll yank you up."

  "He'll snap our spines or impale us on a tree trying it," Frank said.

  Vic grabbed the end of the rope and turned to look at their path toward the cliffs and saw that if they stayed left of the tree line, there would be nothing between them and the ship. "He's just looking out for us, because he can't be down here. He never gets to go with us. Put it on."

  "You're willing to risk our safety just to placate him," Frank said. "I think that sucks."

  "Would you stop crying like a girl and just put on your leash."

  Frank muttered as both he and Vic bent their arms behind their backs to clip the long rope to the metal ring on their harnesses. "Be careful when you throw the switch to pull us up, you big ape!" Frank shouted.

  "Earth apes are what we give small mantipors as pets on their birthday, human," Monster said. "You'll be lucky if I let the winch pull you up instead of doing it myself."

  "Enough!" Vic shouted. "Not that I mind standing around a forbidden planet with an invisible predatory species right next to a goddamn radiation burst, but what the hell, since we're here we might as well get going!"

  Monster's voice came back online, "Sorry, captain."

  "It's all right."

  Vic's eyes turned toward Frank, who only held up his hands and said, "What? I'm ready to go. You're the one standing around."

  They lifted their weapons and headed for the cliffs, careful to walk so that their tethers connecting them to the ship would not get tangled in any dangling branches from the swamp of trees surrounding them. Inside the cockpit, Bob Buehl inched the Samsara forward, knowing that the slightest application of extra pressure would lurch the ship forth so suddenly it would tear the two men below in half. "Can you guys walk any faster?" Buehl said into their headsets. "My hand is starting to cramp."

  "I'm asking for a transfer off this unit," Frank grunted. "You people are a pain in the ass."

  "What do you mean by you people," Monster said.

  "Request denied, on both counts," Vic said. He stopped abruptly and held up his fist to halt Frank, only to realize the ship was still advancing forward above them and starting to tug on their rope. "Stop, stop!" he shouted into the headset.

  The Samsara's engines hissed to a stop and both Vic and Frank crouched in the tall grass to inspect the ship sitting in front of them. It was perched on the cliff, just a few feet away from the overlook, and the main door was shut. "Scanning the vessel now, Captain," Buehl said.

  Vic dialed his goggles in to magnify the ship's hull. There were classification numbers printed on the side, but he did not recognize them. Whatever it was, it wasn't Unification Standard. "Where is she from, Sergeant?"

  "There is no known registration that corresponds with any of our records, sir."

  "Maybe it's a smuggler, using a counterfeit number to try and look legitimate?" Frank said.

  "No," Vic said. "If anything, they'd have a stolen registration from another ship. Anybody who scanned that would see it doesn't belong."

  "Maybe an alien species who just printed a bunch of random numbers then."

  "It's possible," Vic said. "Are you still scanning the surrounding area?"


  "Affirmative. Nothing showing, Captain."

  "Direct all scanners on that ship and tell me exactly what's inside it." He cocked an eyebrow back at Frank and said, "And you can be on lookout for zombie tigers."

  Frank lifted his rifle to peer down the sites into the surrounding trees and said, "That's funny right up until one starts using you as a chew toy."

  "I don't have to worry about them eating me," Vic said. "I just need to worry about outrunning you."

  Buehl's voice came on the radio again, "Captain, there is definite radiation emanating from inside that ship, but it's like nothing I've ever seen."

  "Can you get that front door open?" Vic said.

  He could hear the sound of Buehl's fingers typing madly, "I can't even find the right frequency for their ship, boss."

  "Okay. I guess we're doing this the old fashioned way." He led Frank across the cliffs in a low crouch, each of them taking a different angle at the corner of the entrance, ready to fire at anything that moved. "Clear," Vic said.

  "Clear," Frank responded.

  They moved in unison toward the front entrance and Frank swung his weapon around and aimed it at the door as Vic dropped to one knee. He reached around his back to his harness and unsnapped one of the small pockets there, finding a flat rectangle of clear rubber tucked inside. Vic crept toward the door and gently placed the rubber on its metal surface, holding it in place until it stuck. He removed a round metal disk, using the tip of his thumb to sink it into the rubber. He raised his rifle toward the door and backed away, staying low. "C-32 deployed. Frank, get out of my way."

  Frank swung around the side of the ship and backed up, giving Vic room. The two of them lowered their heads instinctively, knowing their ear pieces would muffle the blast but bracing themselves for the sudden blast of light and heat. Vic looked at Frank, "You on thermal?"

  Frank snickered, "Of course I'm on thermal," as he quickly reached up to adjust his goggles to their thermal display.

  Wah−BOOM.

  They wheeled around the corner of the entrance through the smoke and seared metal of the blown out door, shouting, "Unification Forces, surrender peacefully! Unification Forces, surrender peacefully!" Both of them crouched on either side of the door, scanning with their weapons, searching the ship's interior. There was a soft, white glow and a dull whine from the right side of the ship, coming from a sealed off room. Vic turned his head to look into the light, seeing an elaborate electronic device housed within. "I found the source of the radiation," Vic said. "It appears to be a weapon of some sort, but I don't recognize it. Can you scan it?"