Abductees

by Alan Brickett

  “That burns significantly more energy. However, you are all the fittest and most optimum examples of health that you can be. This makes your bodies’ energy regulation and processing as efficient as possible. Coupled with the high-nutrient ration bars and electrolytic component water that I have provided you, you should have sufficient energy for many activities.”

  “When you do feel drained or worn out, as soon as it starts, remember to consume the sustenance provided to restore your strength. Your body can absorb and make use of the high-calorie compounds very quickly.”

  “Alrighty, then. Thanks, mate.” Ormond shook his head to banish the specters of memory that were creeping around.

  “Enough questions. We need to get this done.”

  Lekiso and Connor teleported down to the bottom of the ship, not their longest teleport yet, but the reorientation was strange.

  * *

  Connor put up another gravitonic barrier across the mouth of the tunnel.

  The violet wall sat there peacefully. It was hard to believe that something that looked like it was made of light could be so strong.

  But then he had seen it save his life already.

  He and Meriam were blocking up the tunnels closest to the rear of the refugee crowd. The map from SAI and ongoing scans could show them even the smallest tunnel exit. They had all been put out by the higher technology, which they could have used.

  SAI had explained that the humans shouldn’t look like they had much more advanced technology than the local timeline.

  They all knew they were being manipulated, but SAI had been brutally honest about everything, and Connor wasn’t lying when he said he was happy to help. This chance, this new body, for him, it was a godsend.

  He looked up the inside of the park, further away from the refugees, pictured himself there, and teleported to the point marked as an overlay on his display in his vision. This was a smaller tunnel entrance; he certainly wouldn’t fit, but various Devourer forms could.

  His map showed markers for some of them moving even now.

  Connor focused the way he had before when creating the shields, which he now knew was shaped gravity. SAI had provided the metaphor that it was like creating any shape he had in mind and giving it mass.

  Like how a rock would drop to the floor when you let it go, he would build the shape, give it the gravity, and then let it settle into place.

  An inverted dome filled the inside of the tunnel, extending from inside the tunnel walls on all sides, above and below. The analogy of mass wasn’t perfect since the barriers were pure gravity. The Devourer forms could dig around them, which is why they had extended the obstacles into the walls, not for support, but to make the Devourer forms work harder.

  Marc and SAI could detect if there was a lot of activity at any single barrier and any of them could teleport there to reinforce it.

  A thought occurred to him. “Hey, SAI?”

  “Yes, Connor?” it replied on the private com.

  “Why are the barriers glowing violet?”

  “The effect is generated by the spill of photonic light through the permeable layers of the effect you have created. All gravitonic effects bend the light to some degree among novices, and the shift in the visible spectrum shows up as the violet color.”

  “Oh, novices?”

  “Yes, I do not mean to be insulting. Once you master the Gravitonics, you will have no spill. Everything you do can be completely invisible to the human eye.”

  “Wow.”

  “Indeed.”

  Connor spotted his next marker and teleported over. This was his second-to-last one. They would never be able to cover every tunnel in the area, so they were focusing on the ones within a three-quarter mile of the refugees.

  That way, the Devourer forms would have to come out into the open along their planned openings and along with the narrowing park space to get at the crowd or access to the Enone Hub.

  That was where their plan to coordinate with the Domums came in.

  * *

  The corridors were blank and had no ornamentation at all.

  The entire ship, in fact, was functional, without ostentation or uniqueness in design. Lekiso had thought to find pictures or paint, markings in another language or anything to show that this ship was housed by something as strange as the Devourer.

  The only writing was in Domum, and there was nothing else to show that the organism was on board. They hadn’t come across any bodies, nothing was moving except the machinery, and there were absolutely no Devourer forms.

  They had passed many maintenance corridors, which seemed to be the primary makeup of the ship. According to the schematic map building up in detail in her vision, the ship was a lot of maintenance area surrounding the plates that made up the inner core.

  So far, SAI and Marc had analyzed the jamming that was disrupting their sensors and had determined that the signal was being amplified by running it through the structure that housed the hive brain.

  With the separate sections of the ship and all the redundant systems built in to support each segment, the core of the vessel connected across the divisions and was lined with thick walls.

  Something was connected to those walls, separated by insulation from the outer walls and the maintenance corridors to amplify the jamming signal.

  Ormond and Lekiso were now at the second door into the core rooms. They had started from the first one below the maintenance hatch where they had come down. Being over a mile long, the ship had eight core rooms in segments.

  Ormond was by the control panel for the door.

  Small filaments from his forearm had extruded and then infiltrated the panel. Marc was subverting the control software to unlock the door. He looked up and gave Lekiso a nod that it was ready.

  She hefted the energy rifle, faced the door, and gave him a replying nod to open it.

  The bolts on the inner lining of the door popped with a dull clang, the magnetic seals released, and the door popped away from its seam. Ormond put a hand on the rim and then pushed the door all the way open. It moved soundlessly on well-maintained hinges.

  Lekiso wondered what had been maintaining the ship—it was like a ghost ship—and then she was moving inside.

  The ship’s lights were on, and everything was powered, so she could quickly scan the room with her sight as well as the various devices her display was continually using. It was the same as the first one: rising up nine hundred feet, the room’s sides followed the design of the outside vessel, angling to a point above her.

  The base of the floor was twelve hundred feet across, forming the triangular shape of the room.

  In it, the open space was filled with the biological mass of the Devourer mind, very similar to the cave organism they had seen in the tunnels but much more prominent.

  This was a full-grown and mature brain, separated into eight parts, one per room. Some of it resembled a human brain from pictures she had seen, but only in the texture of some of the flesh within the outer slime cocoons.

  The creature was made up of pods connected by intestine-like tendrils all piled atop one another.

  The Domum data confirmed this was the natural state of the Devourer brain organ, so the mishmash of flesh growing all over itself was normal. In the first room, they had hoped that it was somehow deformed or injured, but SAI assured them it was not.

  They needed another explanation for what was wrong.

  “Got anything, Marc?” Ormond asked.

  “Uh, scanning now,” came back the reply.

  Lekiso moved over to the other side of the room. There were gaps between the groupings of pods, small vents in the flesh that sighed as if the entity were breathing. Corridors of fleshy substance would sometimes arch overhead or form walkways higher up.

  Apparently, the brain organism did need general care, so it allowed for easy access to its subservient Devourer forms.

  The organic mass piled up close to the ceiling, tendrils stuck to the walls to hold it. L
ike the first room, there was no technology visible inside, no devices or consoles on which the lifeform would grow fingers and tap away at keyboards.

  That was what she had thought they would find, a hard-working intellectual brain with stunted limbs and stooped body. SAI had highlighted for her as an overlay to her vision the neuron structures and communication nests of nerve clusters.

  The entire thing really was a giant brain.

  “Uh, I’ve got something,” Marc said. “Some signals are stronger now in this room than in the first. They are coming from the walls, from various units embedded in them. Whatever is jamming our scans isn’t just sending through the ship’s structure. It is sending a signal into each room as well.”

  SAI broke in. “Analysis of the signal being projected into the rooms aligns with the Domum signals for Devourer disruption. Something is deliberately keeping the hive mind under a jamming signal, disrupting its thought routines and preventing it from acting, although these signals differ in a number of ways.”

  “Uh, yeah, and some more good news. Because of the difference in wavefront patterns, I can detect the source of origin. Whatever is plugged into that ship’s systems is originating from room five.”

  “Great job, Marc,” Lekiso said in praise. That was useful. Now they didn’t have to search room by room.

  “Get in touch with the others and Commander Obragon. They all need to know that the Devourer isn’t attacking on purpose.”

  * *

  Meriam was off on the far side of the park, to the right of the crowd of refugees if you were looking into the park itself.

  From her position, she could see the violet sheen of the wall Connor had erected across the center at the back of the crowd. Five hundred feet into the park from there, he had created shorter walls of glowing violet for the Domum firing line.

  One of the security guards had commented that firing slits would be very useful, and Connor had politely told the officer that that level of complexity wasn’t in the cards just yet and they would have to make do.

  The Domum hadn’t argued; for the most part, they seemed grateful for the help and impressed by what the humans had achieved in such a short time.

  Teleportation really cut down on travel time, of course.

  That was why Connor had put himself on the far left and her on the far right. With the design of the park area, anything trying to get to the refugees now could only come out of tunnels deeper in. They could then expand outwards to rush at the crowd, but the entranceway narrowed to the eventual connecting tunnel to Enone Hub.

  A natural choke point, as Ormond had described it.

  The Devourer forms would have to be funneled directly towards the middle as they approached. With their other tunnels blocked, they could only come out and attack en masse—which they hoped it wouldn’t do, but it was likely that the more the new hive mind realized it was going to be starved for fresh bodies, the more desperate it would become.

  Plus, the driving force of the hive mind would be to get into the hub, where it could spread further.

  “Devourer forms spotted” came over her communications channel, this one connected to the Domum communications relays.

  “I see them,” Connor replied on the same frequency, “charging up the middle, with two more groups separating to each side. Meriam, you’re going to have company.”

  She looked across the rolling grassland.

  The even lighting from above didn’t allow for many dark spots, although the various weird trees dropped shade perfectly beneath themselves. In the distance, she could make out a large group of Devourer forms heading directly towards the middle, where the Domums were grouped to defend the refugees.

  Connor was right: on his side and hers, there were advancing Devourer forms. Sprinting ahead of the others, they resembled the wings of some bird of prey extended forwards from the center body.

  “I got it, Connor. Good luck.”

  The Domum channel was filling with orders, and various protocol directives as the Domum front prepared to fire into the approaching horde. It was up to her and Connor to singlehandedly prevent their flanks from being overrun.

  “You too, Meriam.”

  Automated log update.

  Subjects are behaving within accepted parameters.

  Suitability of selection confirmed.

  Relevant material on subject viability stored in file 411-V for future study of sociological variables.

  Psychology of subjects is healthy.

  Marc Umber has the lowest count, but all subjects display acceptance of the current situation and are working towards combined goals.

  Definitive conclusion to the current conflict is expected shortly.

  Subjects are engaged in a variety of combat scenarios while they use Gravitonics.

  Records will continue with a full suite of sensor scans to monitor adaptation.

  Restrictions on technology use now given variability based on visual and auditory noticeability that cannot be erased. Subjects will have more advanced options based on whether the use of those options will contaminate the observers.

  Identified potential concerns overlaid with strategic success requirements have determined allowable success margin increased by thirty percent with some fractions.

  Interaction and monitoring continues.

  * *

  The Domums of Manor Vax who, on their first tour of duty, was assigned to the Puzzle Box were there because they were young and because they had the lowest aptitude scores among all the newest students.

  Obragon Vax was fully aware that he was provided the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality soldiers, security personnel and officers.

  However, what he also knew was that no Domum who completed the studies and trials of Manor Vax could ever be considered sub-par. Each and every one of them had passed through the crucible of Manor Vax’s teachings to stand proud as a representative of that great institution.

  He had taken them in and crafted their activities, watched their every routine and pushed them to be more than when they had started.

  He was very proud this day that the Domums of Manor Vax who had been sent to be under his command because they were the less influential or the poorest rated were now standing toe to toe with one of the most formidable enemies in Domum history.

  The orderly firing line protecting the rear of the refugees was making regular sweeps of the front ranks of the Devourer mass.

  Controlled bursts of fire decimated the Devourer forms, reducing them to ashes blowing in the wind from precisely targeted explosions. Massive holes were rent in the following ranks of the Devourer horde, while various munitions were judiciously applied to thin the expanding ranks even more.

  Seven hundred feet ahead of the Domum defense, the ground was pristine and untouched, a testament to how well the Domums were keeping the Devourers at bay.

  The art of battle had many brush strokes; to be able to face down an approaching enemy with the might of Domum battle armor was simple bravery. To use that equipment in the manner intended was to apply the brushstroke of battle in the most perfect application of color and form.

  Staggered groups of Domums would fire in tandem with others. The secondary groups would then take on the firing while the first groups sought new targets.

  The third groups, half the size of the first two, sought out anything that got past the planned barrage.

  The only problem with the superior firepower of the Domums was that eventually, they would run out. The power cells would be drained, the munitions all fired, and the Domums would be reduced to hand-to-hand combat, where the Devourer forms most certainly had every advantage.

  All the Domums had to do, though, was buy the humans enough time to awaken the Devourer principle mind. Then it could take back control of these forms, and the battle would be over.

  Obragon Vax had gotten the communication from the humans a few minutes ago, just after the front lines had engaged each other in the park below.

&n
bsp; How he wished he could be down there with his men, but the larger coordination of the evacuation still required his experienced hand.

  He had few enough men to do that with.

  Obragon Vax spared a glance to either side at the men behind the violet glowing walls the humans had created.

  He had to credit the humans with this: they fought exceptionally well. The outpouring of weapons fire on both sides was immense, far more than a squad of his own Domums in full battle gear was capable of. Added to this the violet splashes of light, which were sometimes accompanied by heavy, dull thumps and swirls of dust, and he could only wonder what they were doing.

  For now, they were holding back the flanking lines, allowing his officers to focus on the front and spare their efforts from being overwhelmed.

  For that, he would thank them.

  * *

  Teleporting down the passage that connected to the room was a simple task.

  They teleported to the next bulkhead door in sequence until they were outside the fifth room. Because of the unified design, the corridor repeated itself with exactly the same construction. Only by referring to their schematic could they tell where they were in the mammoth ship.

  “I’ll take left, you take right. Keep a wary eye out, luv. If it were me, I’d be protecting whatever gadgets I’d put in here.” Ormond had settled in next to the door, and his forearm armor had again extruded the filaments that were infiltrating the door lock.

  Lekiso appreciated the other man’s experience, not that she hadn’t thought the same thing, but it helped to be with someone.

  Surprisingly, Ormond had a way of making her feel more settled and calm, more capable of handling whatever they were about to face.

  The military psychologists would probably have attributed it to some sort of authority figure worship.

  “Okay.” The filaments had done their work. He looked up to see if she was ready.

  She gave her nod, and the door unbolted and popped open just like the others. Whatever software SAI had, it did an excellent job against the Domum and Devourer systems.