Shadows

by Brian Whiting

  Ga Det Gru glided down the well-lit corridor and gazed upon Ga Plu Tin as ga passed. It was a hard stare, but ga made no comment.

  “You looked like you were waiting for gat to kill you,” Ga Plu Tin’s new, young thankful servant whispered.

  “Ga should have!” Ga Plu Tin replied.

  “Perhaps ga didn’t recognize you. You do look terrifying.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re completely covered in blood—didn’t you know?”

  Ga Plu Tin looked over gatself. There wasn’t much of gat body that was clean.

  “Let us get to a shuttle.”

  They followed Ga Det Gru at a respectable distance as the survivors made their way to one of the few shuttles still in the hangar bay. The ship began to vibrate much more harshly. The lights began to flicker on and off. Gravity began to increase and pushed everyone in one direction and then another, changing repeatedly.

  “Hurry up, get inside!”

  The few survivors made their way to the hangar deck and crammed into the last remaining shuttle, but they gave Ga Plu Tin a wider berth than they gave even Ga Det Gru.

  The shuttle bay door began to slowly open, then the door to the shuttle closed. The gravity was increasing at an alarming rate. Twice the shuttle had lifted off the deck an inch or so. The survivors looked out their small windows to see their planet spinning wildly. It took some a few moments to realize it was they, not the ship, that were spinning.

  The pilot activated the shuttle, which was now moving toward the ceiling, then was forced to the floor and now was moving awkwardly to a far wall. As if by fate the next direction took them directly out of the shuttle bay. They watched as a small section of the rearmost portion of the battleship continued spinning wildly toward the surface of the planet, while the battleship itself continued on a dead stick path well above the topmost pole of the planet.

  The pilot continued struggling to maneuver the shuttle and gain control over it; it had been fairly damaged as it was tossed around the shuttle bay before being flung out into space or, in this case, the upper atmosphere.

  ***

  Alex opened his eyes quickly. The first thing he noticed was the odd plastic bubble, much like the ones the Gothans used, except this one was very big. He sat up with alarm; something was different. He felt good, energetic. He was sure he could even feel more of his body than he was used to. The space between his toes, the feel of air moving around his ear—both were much more pronounced than ever before. He felt odd sensations inside his own body.

  His eyesight was suddenly sharp. No matter where he looked, he could see with far more detail than ever before. It was if his brain could collect more data at the same time. His datapad lay next to him. He activated it and now he found that, instead of having to read each line or word, he could understand all the information filling the entire screen all at once. He blinked, trying to understand what was happening.

  “Alex,” the datapad said translating for the Gothan. “I am a pinnacle doctor.”

  Alex responded without giving much thought to what was just said, as if his mouth spoke independently of his will. “What is a pinnacle doctor?”

  “It means that I am considered by my peers to be the best there is. Do you remember much about exiting the jungle?”

  “I remember having a splitting headache. I remember one of my guards collapsed, shortly after my pilot Jeremiah, my pilot did as well. I don’t remember anything after that.”

  “What about now? What do you remember about waking up?”

  “I woke up feeling fully alive, super-aware of everything. I noticed I was surrounded by a plastic bubble much like the ones your people use as an environmental suit. I noticed I was on a flat hard table that is cool to the touch. I noticed several Gothans peering into my space from the other side of this bubble. I remember rubbing my head with my hand and feeling all the grains of dirt and sand that clung to my skin, I spoke before I thought about it, and I can describe so much more, what happened to me.”

  “Our race once lived only a hundred cycles or so. We were hunted by growing numbers of predators, our lives became the great commodity. At first, we learned to do simple things like repair wounds. Cut out defective organs. Install new good organs. Then we learned how to grow our own organs in labs, create designed mechanical cells to repair damage or eliminate viruses. Now, none of that is necessary. We can alter our bodies with specific genome instructions, we can instruct our body to do what we need it to do. Our lifespan has become extensive.”

  Alex watched as the Gothan doctor moved into Alex’s bubble of space and pushed a cart toward him. On the cart was a very large rectangular clear bowl.

  “Alex, I want you to put your arm in the water.”

  “Why?”

  “It will be easier to accept if you see it for yourself.”

  Looking at the container he could tell somehow that the water was clear and pure, and he trusted that it wasn’t some sort of acid. While thinking of all the ways this could be a bad idea, he placed his arm in the bucket. Immediately small bubbles formed across all his exposed skin that was submerged under the water. Within a few moments, bubbles of air would detach and rise to the surface. Alex watched in amazement at what looked like rising beer bubbles.

  He looked at the doctor with a mixture of concern and confusion. “What’s going on with my arm?”

  “Take a moment and think about it.”

  Alex began to focus on his body. He picked up on subtle things like the temperature of the water. He noticed the cart the doctor pushed toward him was motorized. Then he stumbled upon a clue. He realized that he was not breathing.

  He took in a deep breath and held it. The urge to exhale never came. Alex could remember what it felt like to have an uncontrollable need to exhale and breathe in again, but it never came.

  “I feel disappointed, it seems your race is much like ours. How much do you know about your own anatomy?”

  “Not a lot, I admit.”

  “It is the same here. Many do not comprehend what occurs inside the body. It was my hope your race would bring enlightenment.” The doctor exhaled and turned away from him.

  “What is it you are going to tell me?” Alex asked, even as he continued to watch his arm generate air bubbles.

  “Your body uses oxygen to draw out carbon dioxide molecules your body generates. It’s not so much the need you have for oxygen that causes you to breathe, I suspect it’s the carbon dioxide the body needs to get rid of that causes you to breathe.”

  Alex recalled hearing something like that from his college days, but the details were fuzzy.

  Other Gothans began shouting at the doctor. “You need to tell the captain. Stop delaying.”

  “I do not delay. I am concluding my analysis.”

  Alex lifted his arm out of the water and felt calm knowing the mystery would soon be explained to him, as if he just knew the answer was at the door. He waited.

  The doctor returned its focus to Alex. It looked like a gat, but Alex wasn’t positive. “I feel regret. You have my deepest sorrows. Many of your crewmates did not survive.”

  “Tell him why,” someone from beyond the plastic said. Alex looked to see who had spoken, and it was Gs Ho Tae that approached.

  “It was gi who told us they were your guards and as such, so we started with them to develop our understanding of your physiology. I regret it took so many tries to learn what I needed to learn.”

  Alex looked critically at the being that claimed to be a doctor. “What happened?”

  “You were all unconscious, you were collected and brought here. I started with your guards. I took samples and began to make edits to your genome. My initial attempts were not successful. I needed to alter your body so that the carbon dioxide would pass through your skin, thereby negating the need for oxygen allowing you to exist in our atmosphere. I gained enough information that by the time I got to your pilot, I had mastered your code. If I had not done this, none of yo
u would have survived.”

  “You did this to Jeremiah, too?”

  “No, not exactly, he can exist in our atmosphere. I took it upon myself to enhance your other attributes that a leader should have.”

  “Is this permanent? Can you change it back?”

  “Um…I am confused, I believe so, but I don’t see why you’d want to change back.” The doctor began to fidget with his own tiny datapad.

  It now occurred to Alex how many Gothan guards were in the room as well just beyond the plastic walls. They are afraid of me, he realized. How I might react.

  Alex stood up from the table and towered over the doctor, who suddenly stepped back many paces, and said, “I want to see him!”

  The doctor didn’t say anything but pointed to his right. Alex walked over to the plastic wall and noticed the opening was too small for his human body. But when he pushed forward against the wall it gave way easily. With both hands, he tore the plastic apart and walked through the new opening.

  Jeremiah was sitting up on the table. Must have been listening to the entire conversation, Alex thought as he entered.

  “Don’t you knock?” Jeremiah asked, with a slight smile.

  Alex purposefully took a breath and exhaled, even as he realized that the only purpose of taking a breath was to maintain the semblance of routine, or his own expectancy, or perhaps even the dramatic effect, he wasn’t sure. It was an odd feeling that wouldn’t go away, as if he was always forgetting something.

  “It’s about time, you’ve been down for hours.” Jeremiah reached out and gave him a hug.

  This provoked an exhilarated response from the observing Gothans, who mumbled and whispered excitedly.

  “I don’t know about you, but I am feeling like a zoo animal.” Jeremiah looked around nervously.

  “Quite literally, I think.” Alex eyed the observers in the bubble beyond.

  The doctor strolled in behind Alex. “What kind of ritual was that? What purpose does it serve?”

  Alex looked sideways at Jeremiah. “I’ll answer that question if you explain to me what’s with gat, git, and gis.”

  “Ah well, that is simple enough, those are the three sexes like with anyone. There is the desirable sex, the gats; they can bear young, after all. Then there’s the two competitors, the git and the gis.”

  “Three sexes? Man, I thought two was complicated enough,” Jeremiah whispered.

  The doctor’s wideset eyes were fixed on Alex as it waited for an answer to its question. Was it a gat or a git? Or maybe it was a gis; Alex had no clue.

  “Humans can receive affection and congratulations through physical touch,” Alex said while he looked himself over.

  “You have sexual affections for your crew?” the doctor asked bluntly.

  “Uhh…” Alex stopped and scrunched up his face, trying to come up with a response.

  Jeremiah smiled and said, “No, he’s a friend, and that was just appreciation for each other that we were both alive and that it was good to see each other.”

  “I am learning, please describe the nature of a he,” the doctor replied as he—or it, or gis, Alex didn’t know how to describe it as it scribbled notes on its pad. Maybe it would be best just to call them all it.

  “Oh, well, our race has only two sexes, male and female,” Jeremiah said. “We are both male… you know, a git and git.”

  “They lie, there are always three!” someone shouted from behind the plastic wall. The commotion grew and became very distracting.

  The doctor yelled something the translator did not translate, and the room became quiet. Only then did Alex hear the distant sounds of gunfire.

  “What is going on out there?” Alex said, suddenly alert.

  Jeremiah got off the table and attempted to put his clothes on, but they had been cut to shreds. “What gives?”

  The doctor did not seem eager to answer the question.

  “It doesn’t matter. We have to get back to our ship!” Alex shouted.

  “I feel complexity. Your arrival has sparked a revolution,” Gs Ho Tae said as gi entered the enclosed space.

  Alex thought for a moment on what complexity is supposed to feel like. Without much success.

  “For a long time in our history, the gats have considered themselves superior in every way. Over time they have begun to twist the minds of our youth, saying we no longer need the other weaker sexes. With thanks, this point of view is not widely believed, and biologically it makes no sense. However, when Ga Det Gru took command of our strongest and last remaining battleship, ga declared gatself ruler of all. Many of gat followers have turned against the rest of us. They attacked you, and then they began to attack us. The capital is under siege.” Gs Hoe Tae said.

  “Why are you here helping us then? Shouldn’t we all evacuate?” Jeremiah said.

  “You humans are the most important discovery my race has ever stumbled upon, and you are not easily movable,” the doctor said as it peered straight up at its patients, who towered over it.

  “My points have been reconfirmed, I am the legitimate leader of the military once again, and I am asking you to help me settle this skirmish. Then we can help you get back to your ship.” Gs Hoe Tae said as he approached Alex even closer.

  “No, thanks. Can we just send a message to our ship?” Alex wondered and then assumed the meaning of his fake smile was being lost on cultural differences.

  “Yes, the equipment is in the military wing in the capital building, and it’s under attack. If the gats take control, you will never have access.” Gs Ho Tae felt like gi was talking to gods as gi craned gis head to look up at them.

  Alex looked to Jeremiah. “What do you think?”

  “Their weapons are a bit smaller than a .22 caliber. I just have no way of knowing how deep they would penetrate our bodies if they even could. Might sting like hell though, maybe a lucky shot could kill.”

  “Only takes a well-placed shot to hit an artery.”

  Alex looked at the doctor and said, “Our guards had equipment with them. Where is the equipment located?”

  “We dragged the equipment over there into a pile.” The doctor pointed off to another direction. In the corner of the not-so-large bay, equipment and clothes had been tossed into a pile.

  Walking over, Jeremiah grabbed a pair of cargo pants and put them on. Alex was still wearing his. Together they scavenged the pile of equipment. They each got an assault rifle and a pistol. Alex doubled up with a shotgun and a portable radio. Jeremiah grabbed the heavier alien pulse weapon and slung his assault rifle over his shoulder. He grabbed a satchel of grenades and a small packet of water.

  Alex looked around. “There should be more equipment here,” he whispered.

  “Yeah, missing a pistol and most of the water, the other radio.” Jeremiah sifted through the pile.

  They made sure to whisper quietly enough so that the datapad could not translate their words.

  “This isn’t a good idea, why are we getting involved?” Jeremiah struggled to carry everything he wanted. Some of the straps had broken or were cut. Some of the items had been slashed.

  “We’re not… Look, as far as I am concerned, we are making the fastest and most efficient attempt to make radio communications, on a hostile planet.”

  “Well, when you put it that way.”

  “What do you make of these cuts?” Alex pointed to Jeremiah’s cargo pants, which had four side-by-side cuts in the material.

  “It matches the cuts on my clothing over there. But I have no idea.”

  “Was it from those creatures that attacked us in the jungle?”

  “Maybe, but I wasn’t cut then. And I was inside my EVA suit, which was mostly unharmed and is now a pile of shreds.” Jeremiah pointed to the nearby EVA suits, which looked more like spaghetti.

  The last couple words of Jeremiah had been translated as the doctor held the datapad high and was walking over in their location.

  “I am only interested in getting to the transmission
room,” Alex said looking down at the doctor, who was soon joined by Gs Ho Tae.

  “You will not fit in the majority of our structures. You can help us clear the exterior; once inside I can get you what you need.”

  “Where’s the capital building?”

  Gs Ho Tae walked out the large partly open door to the receiving bay. Alex slowly followed behind gis pushing the large, but easily moveable, mechanical, door wide open.

  Alex stood upon the edge of a city. A large metal building about seven human stories tall was about three miles distant. In between was a city at war with itself.

  Chapter 6

  Everything Changes

  He should be used to it by now, he thought as he glanced over at the steel tray with medical tools on it. A digital clock on the wall had just ticked over to 13:47. The pressure on his hand was constant and steady. He tried to remember the last time he was in this position, thinking of how certain he had felt he would not end up here again. Now is not a good time for this, he thought again and again.

  Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Then he heard it. Whee, whoo, whee, whoo, whee, whoo, whee, whoo. It was a fast, repetitive, joyous sound.

  His eyes shot open, and he and his wife looked at the screen together while the nurse pointed something out. “You see that right there?” she said.

  Grissom wiped his eyes and tried to focus on the screen. He glanced at the nurse with an uncertain face.

  “It’s definitely a boy!” she said.

  Grissom looked up at the ceiling with such thanks and then allowed his head to fall onto his wife’s chest as she hugged him fiercely.

  “Oh, thank God!” he heard her whisper.

  In the background, they weren’t really paying attention, but they subconsciously heard the nurse say the baby was fine and that she was going to step out for a minute.

  He turned his head to look at his wife with an odd expression. “If it was another girl I’d never hear the end of it.”

  Just then Grissom’s datapad lit up brightly on the other side of the room. He didn’t care, he was going to enjoy this moment with his wife as he wiped her face dry of tears.