by Saqib Sadiq
“Then explain this.” He gestured for the colonel to look at his screen. Ramsey decided there was no harm in that, so he made his way over to the console. It was configured to provide a bio scan of the refinery. As he drew closer he could make out a pulsating green cloud. The colonel was reminded of a microorganism under a microscope lens. Even he had to admit that he was looking at a living creature and remained silent.
“Sir the structural integrity of the refinery has been compromised. It is going to decompress in less then 10 seconds.”
Ramsey turned towards the other crewmember “Lower the hatches, seal off that section.” He replied solemnly.
Personnel on the battle crafts had a clear view of the explosion. They watched as the chokehold the strangulating tubules had on the asteroid was obliterated. Debris from the refinery shot up from the surface of the asteroid. Huge chunks of twisted metal collided with the ships causing minimal damage. The space station was rocked and sustained heavy damage. Emergency crews were dispatched and seen scurrying around the station trying to put out fires and frantically repairing vital systems. Luckily the section adjacent to the refinery was sealed off in time and the entire station didn’t blow up with it.
Cruchev sat and watched all the mayhem unfold before him. He couldn’t help feeling satisfied. Clearly Ramsey’s first few hours in command ended in disaster. He was certain the colonel would manage to get the mining space station operational however his thoughts soon drifted towards the entity. He did not know what to expect from it, a sudden concern for his life and the lives of others onboard the station suddenly overtook him.
“Sir? I think you should come see this.” It was the operator at the wide range bio scanner beckoning his former commander. Cruchev got up without any hesitation, not realizing that he was still under guard.
“Not so fast!” the armed guard turned his weapon toward Nicolai. “Just where do you think you’re going?”
“I have to speak with that crewmember.” He pointed towards the bio scanner.
“I decide what you have to do. And right now you have to sit back down!” he said as he gestured with his automatic weapon.
“You don’t understand, the entity is real, it can kill us all.” Cruchev tried pleading his case “You weren’t here when it attacked us you don’t know what it is capable of.”
“All I know is that I don’t take orders from lunatics like you. Now get your ass back on that floor until the Colonel says otherwise.”
Cruchev remained standing “Have you seen the body in the airlock? That’s going to be you if you continue following Colonel Ramsey’s orders. He could careless to what happens to you, he can get more muscle from headquarters.” His words had an impact on the man he started shifting nervously.
Feeling unsure of himself he blurted out, “All right fine! You can go over there and talk. But I am warning you, try something and I will open fire.”
“Fair enough.” Cruchev carefully turned his back to the armed man and made his way over to the console. He stood besides the crewmember so that he had a good view of the monitor. What he saw next shocked him greatly. “What is it doing?” he asked in amazement.
“I believe it is a form of cellular de-cohesion.” The operator replied. They both looked at the display intently. The pulsating cloud had gone down in intensity. Only faint wisps of the entity were visible.
“I think you are right.” Cruchev intently studied the screen. Trying to decipher the creature’s odd behavior “That could explain these fracture lines.” He said as he traced an outline on the display.
“Yes that is most peculiar. I have studied the report filed by the science team not even they have ever encountered such readings.” They had always seen the gas creature as a whole now its body appeared to be in pieces.
“Do you think it’s a form of reproduction?” Cruchev asked the operator.
“Not likely notice how the rate of de-cohesion intensifies in the fragments. That is not consistent with asexual reproduction.” Nicolai considered this as he watched the display more intently. Small pieces of the entity were breaking off of the main body then they would disappear into nothingness.
“What does this mean?”
The man turned towards the captain and said, “I think it is dying.” Cruchev started to say something when he was cut short by a commotion at the entrance.
“What is that man doing?” Ramsey had just returned from a round of the space station. He was overseeing the repair of the station when he decided to return to the battle-scarred dome.
The guard assigned to Cruchev became panic-stricken “Sir he threatened to kill me!” Cruchev was appalled by how his words were being twisted “I had no choice…he just wanted to talk.” He looked expectantly at the Colonel.
Ramsey glared at the blubbering man “Search him! Make sure he no longer poses a threat.” The guard scurried to carry out his orders. He grabbed Nicolai by the arm and threw him up against the wall. He began searching the former commander’s clothing for any concealed weapons. When he came across his waist he felt a slight bulge.
“What do we have here?” The man lifted Nicolai’s shirt to reveal his utility belt, the gleaming surface of the energy weapon immediately caught his attention, “Sir I found something!” the guard exclaimed as he held up the weapon so that the Colonel could see it.
“I thought you searched these men before putting them under guard.”
“We did, I don’t know how this slipped through.” Ramsey would have loved to “discipline” the incompetent man but right now he had other priorities.
“Give me the damn thing!” he made his way over to the security guard and snatched the weapon from his hand he then turned to him and said, “Make yourself useful get out of my sight.” The man quickly ran away grateful he wasn’t subjugated to the Colonel’s infamous temper.
He then turned toward his rival “This is a fine piece of equipment, very rare if I do say so myself. Only the top brass of the UFSN space force manage to get one of these. I wonder why they gave one to a bleeding heart like you.”
Cruchev looked him dead in the eye but remained silent “What were you planning to do with this? Take over the space station.” He held up the weapon and let out a manic laugh. “These things haven’t been field tested there no match for our assault rifles and RPG launchers. What did you hope to accomplish, singe our eyebrows?” another burst of manic laughter came from Ramsey’s throat.
“It scares the hell out of the entity.” Cruchev’s bluff caught Ramsey off guard. His vocal cords seized up proving that he was genuinely fearful of the being. “When that thing comes calling that emitter is your only hope.” Nicolai decided to withhold the true condition of the entity.
Ramsey was shocked into silence, he slowly collected his thoughts “Yes…I see, well then I guess I’ll keep this with me.” He flipped the weapon in his hand and neatly attached it to his utility belt, next to his dagger, which was still smeared by the rubber coating of the slain pirate’s air regulator. “You wouldn’t want your captain being attacked by that thing, would you?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He replied in a bemused manner.
“Good now get back to your yellow bellied friends!” he shoved Nicolai towards the rounded up group of men. Cruchev had to fight off a strong urge to retaliate.
“Patience!” he thought to himself as he tried to calm his raging anger “Think! I’ve got to think.” He tried to clear the cloud of anger in his mind. So he could behave more rationally.
“Ramsey!” he said out loud “You don’t trust us to work for you so what have you decided to do with us?”
The colonel faced the former captain “Lucky for you, your Gemcore personnel and there will be an inquiry in the event of your death. Even I wouldn’t be able to explain why the captain and his men found themselves in a decompressed airlock without environmental suits.” He said with an ugly sneer on his face. Cruchev was disgusted by the man’s blatant disregard for human life.
Killing was second nature to men like Ramsey they had no remorse. “I’ll arrange a freighter craft to take all you bleeding hearts straight to Gemcore Penitentiary.”
*****
The entity laid unfurled on top the foundations of the refinery. They no longer had to bear the burden of the immense structure and laid exposed to the elements. The being tried to collect itself but lacked the energy. It longed to replenish itself with some nourishment. However in its present condition hunting for prey was impossible. Instead the creature continued to lay still. Its mind was only able to conjure up a few thoughts, for even the simple act of thinking caused him pain.
Weak very weak…but killer prey weak too…pain strong
The creature silenced its thoughts to conserve its energy. It tried keeping its body intact but it was no use all of his energy had been used up in destroying the refinery. Now his body was slowly scattering itself.
I die soon
The entity knew it did not have the energy to sustain itself any longer. What little energy it had was not enough to bind the molecules, of its gaseous body. Its body continued coming apart, the pieces that broke off continued to disintegrate. Soon the being was no more than a swarming mass of atoms. The atoms, following the laws of physics, dispersed themselves. They shot off into the cosmos, in every direction. Some became lost in the empty void of space others managed to land on other asteroids.
The tiny particles that fell upon the floating rocks, wove their way through craggy crevices. By pure chance a fraction of them stumbled upon the ancient sanctuaries of resident gas creatures. The influx of the particles stimulated the creatures. They began to stir and awoke from their deep sleep. They recognized the atoms as belonging to one of their brethrens and so infused the wandering molecules into their flowing bodies.
The molecules were imprinted with the memories of the fallen creature. They began to project these recollections into the minds of the host. The numerous beings began to learn of the killer prey and their wanton acts. How despite being warned they continued to eradicate the creature’s home. They learned of their brother’s desperate act of self-preservation, which ended its life.
Deeply moved by the stirring memories the creatures could no longer remain dormant. Their thoughts began to race.
Killer prey bad…Killer prey mean to us…Killer prey kill brother
After carefully analyzing the memories, they took another take on the situation
Killer prey come here too…destroy our home…steal our essence
After coming to this conclusion, their thoughts became more ambitious
We stop killer prey
These benign creatures were not used to beings that killed without remorse. They had to searched their minds for the proper word to express their desires
Our brother will be…avenged!
CHAPTER
TWELVE
The Command and Control section of V-323 appeared barren. A skeleton crew of a few dozen crewmembers was present. They were mostly there to monitor any disturbances in the asteroid’s trajectory. With the refinery out of commission the day’s quota could not be met. There wasn’t any ore laden freighter craft departing for the night therefore there was no need for C&C to be at full capacity.
Interior lights had been dimmed causing the numerous consoles to cast dismal shadows on the cold metal floor. At that moment Nicolai Cruchev entered the cavernous room. Once again he strolled under the all-encompassing observation dome. At this point of the asteroid’s orbit the moon was in full view. The illuminated sphere cast sapphire hued rays of light through the laser-ridden dome. Cruchev had not noticed the natural beauty of the moon before. He had always been distracted by the hustle and bustle of the nightly departure of ore. Nicolai was suddenly overcome with a feeling of foreboding he wanted to get out this place as soon as possible.
So He picked up his pace and made his way over to the wide range bio scanner. He began to manipulate the controls. Then targeted the scanner towards the remains of the refinery. He did not pick up any signs of bioorganic matter in that section of the space station. Just to be sure he entered a wider search pattern encompassing the entire structure, aside from the numerous life signs of the crewmembers the scan did not pick up any trace of the entity. Nicolai offered a silent prayer “Rest in peace creature.”
“Sir its time to go.” An armed guard appeared at the entrance. He was Nicolai’s escort and was ordered to keep a close watch over the former commander. Ramsey was gracious enough to allow Cruchev’s men to pack their belongings before boarding the freighter craft. Nicolai had not done so instead he chose to make one last visit to C&C.
“Coming.” Nicolai replied he turned away from the bio scanner and walked towards the heavy metal doors. From the corner of his eyes he saw the starlit expanse of space peeking out from one of the service airlocks. The repair crew used the smaller airlocks; to service the surveillance equipment perched on top of the station’s roof. It also allowed access to the laser turrets some of which were in dire need of repair after the recent skirmish. “I want to take a look outside.” He addressed his escort.
“Please hurry.” the sympathetic man allowed the honorable commander one last request. Cruchev made his way to the bulbous opening and peered outside he looked up to the stars he saw a shooting star streak by. “The galaxy is certainly putting on a show tonight.” he thought to himself his mind began thinking about deeper notions “I am glad I had a chance to fight a vile human being such as Ramsey. Even though I will be ostracized at best, I can go in peace knowing that I have fought oppression. I will face the trails and tribulations to come with nothing but fortitude.”
Putting his faith in God He departed from C&C never to see it again. While traveling to his quarters his mind came up with an amusing thought “Although my plan to evacuate the station has been put into motion I bargained that at the end of our trip we would wind up at Gemcore’s space port and not in their custody.”
*****
The leather padding sagged under the weight of the colonel. He was in the ready room trying to get comfortable in the captain’s chair. “I’ll have to request a more suitable chair from headquarters.” He thought as he shoved his rear end into the leather. Despite the slight discomfort, Ramsey was terribly happy. He felt giddy as he ran his fingers over the large tabletop. The mahogany grain gave a pleasant sensation. Ever since the rainforests had been cleared to make way for development projects of other Mega Corporations the richly textured wood was hard to obtain.
His eyes focused on the communication control panel that is when he had a marvelous idea. “Mess hall send me up a plate of sirloin steak, with a wild mushroom sauce.”
Despite it being after hours the head cook was still in the mess hall kitchen. “Sir, we still have not restored power to the decompressors. I am working with the repair crew to get it up and running for the morning shift.”
The colonel wanted to hurl an insult at the man, when all of a sudden the vid screen came alive. “General Walker it’s good to see you!” Ramsey strained to hide his shock as he greeted the leader of Gemcore.
“Good to see you too Ramsey.” The man’s fleshy cheeks curved up into an awkward grin. “I just got your report great work with V-323. I trust you made good use of the battle craft we provided.”
“Oh yes they were very handy.” Ramsey had crossed his fingers and was intently watching the screen
“Tell me why the refinery is out of commission?”
That last question startled Ramsey, he wasn’t sure how he should respond. If he told the truth he’ll be considered mentally inept just as Cruchev had been. No he’ll have to think of something else “It was that yellow bellied Cruchev. I don’t know why he did it…I guess he has some kind of vendetta with us.”
“Perhaps but that still doesn’t explain why you have requested an entire construction crew to rebuild the damn thing all over again.” The General gave his subordinate a stern look, which was equally menacing over the grai
ny vid screen “You now our investors want to see profits soon. I can’t afford these kind of expenses.” The ruby faced man looked perplexed “What is the extent of the damage?”
Ramsey hesitated to offer an explanation “Its…It’s aaah…completely destroyed. He must have used explosives to fracture the walls…then allowed the vacuum of space to do the rest.” He waited expectantly for Walker’s response
“I see” the chairman thoughtfully rubbed his double chin before speaking again “So you have testified to the fact that Nicolai Cruchev, former Captain of Gemcore mining space station V-323 is a terrorist?”
The colonel was taken aback. “Yes…yes I have.”
“Great we’ll be sure to add on the charge of ‘Threat to Corporate Security’ when he gets here.”
The colonel let out a sigh of relief “That is good to hear, sir.”
“Yes it is, just make sure you send a loaded freighter craft to the space port by tomorrow morning. Or else I will be the one breathing down your neck.” He warned the colonel.
“Understood sir.” And with that the link was severed. The instant the Gemcore logo filled the screen he exhaled deeply and began to relax. Despite the pressure put on him to meet the next day’s quota, the newly appointed commander was pleased with how things were going. It seemed that his rival would be severely punished for his treason. Hopefully he’ll be imprisoned for life. That thought gave him comfort as he switched channels to speak with the mining crew foreman.
“Mr. Benson, I take it that the mining crews are ready to depart?”
“Sir, I am afraid I cannot comply with that order.”
The boldness of the foreman infuriated the colonel “And why not?” he said through clenched teeth.
“Company regulations prohibit workers from performing duties during this part of the time cycle.” Bo replied in a-matter-fact tone.
“Screw the time cycle!” Ramsey’s pent up anger suddenly erupted “You morons were suppose to be up and running a long time ago. We missed the day’s quota because of your laziness. I am certainly not going to miss another one, because you lame brains are too lazy to work.”
“Sir I understand that it is very important to meet the daily quota however how do you expect to do that without the refinery?”