by G J Ogden
Taylor’s fingers tightened around the grip of his handgun. “Empty or occupied?”
“Occupied,” said Satomi, but then she was quick to follow up with, “but malfunctioning; the unfortunate occupants of all twenty pods in this room are dead.” Her speedy clarification was timely enough that Taylor didn’t quick-draw his weapon.
Satomi reached up and wiped away the condensation on the outside of the stasis chamber with the base of her fist, revealing the wizened, gnarled face of a dead Hedalt soldier. Taylor winced and recoiled.
“Hell’s fire, how long has it been dead for?”
“That’s the strange part,” said Satomi, “the level of decomposition suggests it has been dead for at least a decade, perhaps a lot longer.”
“What’re you talkin’ about? That’d mean it died before the war even started,” said Blake, who had crept up behind Taylor and was scowling at the decayed Hedalt. Casey was behind him, looking slightly green.
“I know that, Blake, but I can assure you that the readings are correct.” Satomi replied, cycling through the status readout on the chamber’s console screen. “The stasis fields in these units all malfunctioned long before the revival cycles were triggered, which the data on this screen suggests only occurred a few days ago, maybe less. But...” she hesitated.
“I don’t like ‘buts’. But what, Satomi?” said Blake, sounding increasingly twitchy.
“But these stasis chambers aren’t designed for extended hibernation. I’d say something went wrong that prevented the revival cycles from triggering at the proper time.”
“What, so you’re sayin’ they were never supposed to be on ice for this long?” asked Blake, but then he frowned and added, “Just how long have these ugly SOBs been here for, anyways?”
Satomi was still peering at the data panel with narrowed eyes. “I can’t tell exactly how long these chambers were in use for, but from what I can glean from the data, I’d say maybe a hundred years. Honestly, it could be a lot longer, it’s impossible to be sure without more study.”
“C’mon Satomi, are you sure?” said Blake, sounding increasingly irritated. “I mean, how can that be? You just ain’t readin’ it right, is all.”
Satomi peered at Blake; her brow remained furrowed, but this time because she was cross, rather than confused, “Yes, I’m sure, Blake.” she replied, testily, “and, yes, I’m reading it right.”
Taylor thought for a moment, trying to make sense of their discoveries so far. He laid out the facts in his mind as plainly as he could. They had stumbled on a major Hedalt starship base, cleverly concealed in a lava tube in a distant arm of the galaxy so that no-one would find it, but one that had seemingly been abandoned long before the end of the war. In fact, if Satomi was correct then it was probable it had been abandoned long before the Hedalt war with Earth had even begun. But how and why were questions to which he had no answers. Why were these Hedalt put into stasis so long ago? Why build such a powerful military asset and not use it during the war with Earth? And if it had been intended as a reserve base – a sort of backup plan in case the war went badly for the Hedalt – why had they not returned to it when it was clear the Hedalt were on the losing side of the battle? From the limited information that Satomi had been able to gather, they knew the base could support at least twenty Hedalt Corvettes, and probably considerably more than that. It was firepower that could easily have turned the tide of the war against Earth. None of it made sense, and Taylor liked things to make sense. Then he remembered that there were five doors leading off the main corridor outside, and adrenalin kicked in again.
“Wait, Blake, you said there were three other rooms off the main corridor, just like this one?”
Blake nodded, “Yeah, that’s right Cap...” and then realization dawned on him too. “Damn, there could be more of these chambers in those other rooms too!”
“Another hundred and twenty of them,” added Casey, also recognizing the danger. “And maybe not all of them malfunctioned...”
“Let’s move out, room to room, quick and clean,” said Taylor, grabbing his sidearm and raising it to a high ready position. “Judging by the state of these chambers, it’s likely the others will have malfunctioned too, but we can’t afford to take any chances.”
They cleared the room opposite, with Blake again on point, and then worked diagonally across. Both of the rooms were identical to the first, containing forty stasis chambers, all of which had been recently activated and all of which had malfunctioned decades earlier, killing the Hedalt occupants. Taylor began to feel more at ease, but there was still one room to go. They moved outside the final room and performed the same action again, conducted with the same polished proficiency. Blake went in first, as before, followed by Taylor, Satomi and then Casey.
“Clear!” Blake called out, “There’s no one home and these chambers are all busted up, like the rest.”
“Clear! Same here, Cap,” called out Casey, and the relief was palpable in her voice.
“Clear… Mine are all dead too,” Taylor followed, lowering the weapon to his side. “Looks like this base is a ghost, after all.”
Then they all looked over at Satomi, waiting for her to confirm the all-clear, but her voice remained conspicuous by its absence, and Taylor felt a lump harden in his throat. He peered over to see Satomi standing by the final stasis pod in the row, staring up at it, her face white. Then she turned, met the eyes of Casey, followed by Blake and then Taylor. Even through her visor, Taylor could see that the little wrinkles at the sides of her eyes had tightened, a tell that he’d come to recognize over the years; one that meant she was scared, but trying to hold it together.
Satomi swallowed hard; her mouth was dry and her pulse was threatening to triple its usual, sedate resting rate. “Captain, this chamber is empty...”
NINE
Blake’s head was on a swivel. He was alternating between peering up and down the corridor outside, through the window in the double doors, and glancing back at Satomi and the others in case there were any updates. Satomi continued to analyze the empty stasis chamber, trying to determine whether it had previously been occupied or had simply never been utilized to begin with. She scrolled through the information on the console screen, her face a furrowed mix of concern and concentration. Taylor watched her constantly, growing more anxious with each passing second, until Satomi deactivated the console and turned to him to make her report. It was short, and to the point.
“This pod was definitely active recently,” said Satomi, “and by some miracle, it didn’t malfunction like the others. It’s safe to assume that there is at least one Hedalt soldier still active on the base.”
Blake darted back into the room holding his handgun low in both hands, knuckles white. There was no need for him to state the worst-case scenario anymore, because they all knew it; all except Casey, who had anxiously folded her arms across her chest.
“But there’s four of us, right?” Casey asked, directing the question towards both Taylor and Satomi. “Four versus one surely put the odds in our favor?” Casey had still been at the flight training academy when the war had ended, and so she had never seen action. Out of her five years in Earth Fleet, almost four of them had been spent in the near-solitude of their current DSR mission. For most of that time, she had been breezily lost in the vacuum, barely having to give a second thought to the real reason they were all out here. She would have to face it now.
“In space, fighting ship-to-ship, we can fly further and fight longer and harder than the Hedalt,” responded Taylor, deciding the best way to tell her was without any sugar-coating. “Something about their physiology makes them poorly suited to space travel, but it’s a different story fighting on the ground.”
Blake moved next to Casey; he could see the fear behind her eyes, but, like Taylor, he knew the best way for Casey to survive was to be under no illusions as to what they were facing.
“They’re animals, Casey. Down here, fightin’ on the ground, one Hedalt
soldier could take us all out.”
Casey swallowed hard, but remained composed at least on the outside.
“Keeping the fight in space is how we won, Casey,” added Satomi, “They are faster, stronger and tougher than us; they’re born killers. But their Corvettes were no match for the Nimrods; that, and our crews could literally fly rings around them. It nullified their advantage of numbers. But, had the fight reached the ground, Earth would have surely fallen.”
Casey’s arms tightened further around her chest, as far as was possible given that, like the others, she was still wearing her environment suit. “Right...” then she took a deep breath, and looked embarrassed, as if she was about to own up to a dirty secret. She looked at Taylor directly, “You know, I... never really saw much fighting during the war, Cap. Actually, none at all.”
Taylor smiled. “I know that, Casey, but you’ve had the same training as the rest of us, and I know I can count on you.” Then he looked at Satomi and Blake in turn, “I know I can count on all of you. We haven’t just spent nearly four years in the darkest and coldest recesses of the galaxy only to die on this miserable lump of rock.”
“I certainly ain’t dyin’ on a moon in the Scrotum-Crotch arm of the galaxy,” said Blake, adding a welcome lightness, “and seein’ as Casey’s the only one who can fly us outta this rabbit warren, she sure as hell ain’t dyin’ here either. You hear me Casey?”
Casey managed a smile, “Your concern for my wellbeing is touching.”
Blake laughed, “Don’t knock it, Casey! If it came down to a choice between lettin’ the Hedalt take you down or one of these two, I’m definitely savin’ your ass. No offense, Captain.”
“None taken,” said Taylor, though he was only half-sure that Blake was kidding.
“Offense taken!” Casey hit back, thumping Blake on the arm of his suit. “I’m not some fairytale princess, Blake, I don’t need rescuing, by you or anyone else. Besides, unless you sprout wings or learn how to pilot a Nimrod in the next few hours, it’ll be me who does all the saving around here!”
Blake held up his hands in a mock gesture of surrender. “Whatever you say, Casey, just so long as you don’t leave without me, is all.”
“The thought never crossed my mind…”
“I suggest we remove our environment suits and conceal them here,” said Satomi, who was not in the mood for another saccharin exchange between Casey and Blake. “If there is a Hedalt soldier loose in this compound, these suits will only slow us down and make us easier targets.”
Casey seemed shocked at the suggestion, “But, without the environment suits, we have no way of getting back to the ship?”
“We ain’t getting’ back to the ship until that Hedalt freak is dealt with,” Blake cut in. “Satomi’s right, we need to find that soldier an’ take it out, before it finds us.” Satomi was so surprised to hear Blake agree with her that she let out an involuntary laugh.
“How can you be sure it even knows we’re here?” asked Casey.
“Between the watch tower outside an’ Satomi helpfully switchin’ on all the lights inside, I’m pretty sure it knows we’re here, Casey.”
Satomi glowered back at Blake; it hadn’t taken long for him to get the daggers out again. The sardonic quip about turning the lights on was not meant playfully.
Taylor sensed Satomi’s growing irritation and stepped in, “Look, we have no chance of fighting a Hedalt soldier if we’re squabbling amongst ourselves,” he said, looking at Blake, “so let’s get out of these suits and find our unwanted friend as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, Captain,” said Satomi acidly, though she was still glowering at Blake who just stared back at her impassively, as if goading her on.
Taylor twisted his helmet and oxygen hissed out into the room as the seal was broken. He removed it and took a breath of the air in the room, which was cold and tasted stale and musty, like a damp cellar. He felt a chill run down his spine as the cold air replaced the warm air in his suit. Compared to the temperature-controlled environment of their ship the base felt positively arctic. He then turned towards Satomi while continuing to remove the rest of his environment suit.
“Satomi, once you’re out of the suit, see if you can pull up a map of this complex and find us a place to source the parts we need.”
Satomi removed her helmet and set it down on the ground, “Yes, sir. And I’ll try to make sure I don’t accidentally activate any other systems while I’m at it.” She shot a snarky glance at Blake as she said this, but he was too busy removing his own suit to notice.
Unencumbered by the environment suit, and only wearing his regular uniform plus the combat body armor that Blake had assigned them all, Taylor almost felt like he was floating. They all stacked the suits next to the empty stasis chamber and then gathered behind Satomi, who had found a working computer console at the far end of the room.
“Have you got this place figured out yet?” asked Taylor, hopefully, rubbing his hands together to warm them up.
“I think so,” Satomi replied, and then she stepped aside so the others could more clearly see the console screen. “As far as I can make out, we’re here,” she pointed to a room highlighted on a wire-framed, three-dimensional map displayed on the large screen. “This is one of two identical structures, possibly denoting two distinct combat wings. From the layout, I’d suggest we’re just down from the main command and control center for the first combat wing. Living quarters and other non-combat structures seem to be over the other side of the lava tube, a good few kilometers from the operational part of the base.”
“What’s that?” asked Taylor, pointing to a large rectangular structure between their location and the other buildings on the opposite side of the cave.
“I’m not sure,” replied Satomi, “but it looks like some sort of warehouse, or perhaps a factory. It’s massive, though; it has to be at least a kilometer across each side.”
“Maybe they intended to build the ships here too, but never got around to it?” suggested Casey.
“It’s possible,” agreed Taylor, massaging his chin, glad that he was again able to do so. A self-contained shipyard and base, hidden from enemy eyes, would make a lot of sense, he mused. “But it’s too far away to be of help to us, so let’s focus on locations inside this structure that might have the kit we need.” Then he pointed to one of the other sections on the map Satomi had found. “What’s your best guess for these three areas?”
Satomi paused to consider the question, but Blake moved forward, barging into Satomi and causing her to glower at him again. “I’d put money on them bein’ hangars Cap. I’d say there’s likely to be fifteen or twenty ships in each.”
“Agreed,” said Satomi, jostling Blake back away from the screen. “Our best chance of finding either compatible RCS thrusters or the materials we need to fabricate them on the ship is to make our way there.”
“Okay,” said Taylor, still stroking his stubbled face, “that places these two sections in-between us and the closest hangar, if that’s what they actually are.” He pointed to a room, which appeared to be at the end of the corridor outside, and then to another similar-sized section next to that, leading on to what they guessed was the hangar. “We have to assume the Hedalt is hiding out somewhere in one of these sections.”
“Hey, you never know, it might have already taken a ship and got the hell of this rock,” suggested Casey, trying to remain optimistic. “Or it could have headed back to the other side of this lava cave, and be tucked up in bed in one of the accommodation blocks!”
“Hedalt don’t sleep in beds like we do,” said Satomi, missing the attempt at humor.
“I know that, Satomi,” said Casey with more snark that anyone was used to hearing from her. “I’m just saying there’s a good chance that it’s not here anymore, that’s all.”
Casey had barely finished speaking when the lights in the room suddenly dimmed and the computer panel in front of them shut down.
“I somehow ge
t the feelin’ we ain’t that lucky...” said Blake, before sprinting back to the door and prizing it carefully open to peer down the corridor again. “Hedalt eyes see better in low light levels than we do; this could mean it knows we’re here and is coming for us.”
“Or it could just be a power failure, Blake,” Taylor added quickly, being the yang to his yin, “but, just in case it’s not, let’s be ready.”
Blake waved them over, “Okay, c’mon, the corridor is clear.”
“We move in twos,” said Taylor as he reached the door. “Casey, you partner with Blake, and Satomi, you back me up.”
Casey clenched the grip of her handgun and took a deep breath, “Aye, aye, Captain Taylor Ray,” she said, before moving up beside Blake, who gave her a soldierly rap on the shoulder with his fist.
He smiled at her and whispered, “Hey, he’ll take any opportunity he gets to have her back him up, know what I mean?”
Casey shook her head and then returned his gesture of reassurance by thumping him gently on the chest, “That still doesn’t make any damn sense, Blakey, but I love that you keep trying…”
“At the end of this corridor there’s another double door,” said Taylor, oblivious to Blake’s continued failed attempts at innuendo. “We move up and then clear the room, nice and smooth, just like before.”
“An’ if you see anythin’ movin’ in there, you shoot it; ain’t that right Cap?” added Blake, staring at Taylor with expectant eyes.
Ordinarily, Taylor would not countenance such a gung-ho approach, but on this occasion he couldn’t dispute the logic. “Agreed, so long as the thing that’s moving isn’t one of us.”
Blake moved out into the corridor first with Casey close behind, and then Taylor and Satomi followed, hugging the wall on the opposite side. Without their environment suits, they were able to move far more swiftly and also more quietly, but since the only other noise was the low hum of the dimmed overhead electric lights, every one of their footsteps still sounded like a hammer striking against the hard floor. They reached the door to the adjoining room and Taylor grasped the handle nodding to Blake, who raised his weapon and nodded back.