Inseminoid (20 page)

E
ven from far above, the planet appeared grey and forbidding. It was not a place where one would care to spend very much time. The three crew members of the reconnaissance team would do their job and get back to the space station. To them this was just another job.

They sat in contoured seats facing a large viewing screen which provided them with a wide-angle perspective of the sky beyond. At their fingertips was a streamlined console. Behind them was the computer that recorded everything the crew and craft did while providing the team with important data on atmospheric conditions, disturbances and unusual phenomena in the general vicinity.

Jeff was thirty years old. This was his last week as part of Recon. He looked forward to his scheduled six weeks of R and R. Then it was a desk job for him at Headquarters. He didn’t mind that, really. He’d had his share of tight squeezes and near misses. He was lucky to still be around and he wanted to keep it that way. “What’d ya say, time to let them know we’re on our way?”

Corin checked the digital readout on the console. They were due to touch down in twenty minutes. “Give it a try. It probably won’t do any good though.”

Jeff flicked the toggle switch which activated the communication system. “Nova Planetary Archaeological Expedition, this is auxiliary module zero-four-seven. Reconnaissance squad four. Can you read?”

Static!

Jeff tried again. But there was no response coming.

Roy was a strong, well-built man with shoulder-length auburn hair. “We should let Command know our status.”

“Good idea,” agreed Jeff. He punched a series of buttons and came up with a different frequency. “Seventy-five TX Nova II, auxiliary Module zero-four-seven, Recon squad four, here. Please reply.”

Contact had been made. A voice returned, “Zero-four-seven, this is Nova II, go ahead.”

Jeff did a quick once-over of the digital readouts. “I have the planet’s surface in view. We’re going down. But one thing, we’ve still not been able to get a response from the archaeological team. I suspect their equipment is at fault.”

“That’s probably the case,” the voice stated. “Even so be careful.”

“Right,” Jeff said.

The voice continued. “Okay, we’ve got you logged in. Set your approach channel five-zero-five and proceed.”

“Acknowledged,” Jeff said and turned off his radio link with the space station.

Corin pulled down the brim of his ten-gallon hat and sank deep into his chair. “Hold tight, here we go!” He pulled a lever towards him and the craft shot ahead. The barren, jagged surface of the planet drew near at an incredible speed. The mountain ranges swept past them like a torrent of flooding waters.

Roy glanced at Jeff. “I wish the cowboy wouldn’t take it in so fast. One day he’s going to get us all killed.”

Jeff smiled. “Take it easy. He gets his rocks off this way.”

Corin reduced speed to find an appropriate surface on which to land the craft. “By the way, when was the last transmission?”

“Twenty-eight days,” Roy disclosed after checking the log.

“I’ll bet they’ll be glad to see some new faces,” Roy said.

“And I hope to check out some new talent,” Corin grinned. “Don’t worry, ladies, Corin’s on his way.”

Corin smacked his lips in anticipation. “Well, folks, hang on to your hats.” He dropped the craft vertically to within twenty feet of the surface. At the last possible second he pulled it up so that it hovered. If they hadn’t been wearing their seat restrainers the crew would have gone flying through the roof.

“Damned cowboy,” Roy grumbled.

But Corin was good at his work and he brought the module down the remaining distance gently and without a hitch.

It was Jeff’s responsibility to stick with the craft while Corin and Roy went scouting. “Don’t forget,” he said, “let me know what’s happening. I don’t want to have to go looking for you in twenty-eight days.”

Corin and Roy stood up from their seats and stretched their muscles. “Don’t worry, you’ll get a blow-by-blow description,” Corin promised.

“That’s not what I mean.” Sometimes even Jeff became annoyed with Corin.

When they were suited up and heavily armed with a belt weighed down by high-powered lasers and explosives, the hatch was lowered and the two men descended the ramp to the planet’s surface.

A reddish mist seemed to envelop them as they walked the short distance from the module to the airlock. They carried high intensity beams which showed them the way. Even with the lights, the colored fog was so dense that they weren’t able to see much past their outstretched arms.

“Don’t like walking blindly like this,” Corin said.

“I think we’re almost at the airlock.”

A moment later they were, but its door was no longer intact. It had been wrenched apart and was leaning against the wall of the lock.

They looked at each other, not quite sure what to think. Then they continued on, moving slowly through the darkened corridor. Their lights drenched the walls with brightness.

They came to a point where the single corridor became two. They decided to split up. Corin removed his laser and switched off its safety catch. He was tense and ready for anything. Reaching a doorway he stopped, brought the light on to it and then kicked it in with full force. It slammed back against the wall making a loud crashing sound. Corin directed his beam inside. It was a sleeping cabin. It was in good order. Even the bed was made. Barbra had been very meticulous.

But it was empty.

Roy entered the exercise room. The bar-bells and other equipment lay strewn about. It appeared that a major explosion would have had to have taken place for the heavy weights to be positioned as they were. He increased the amount of light coming from his beam and studied his surroundings. There was dried blood everywhere. On the floor and on the walls.

Something caught his attention and he bent down to look at it. It was a small dumbbell, but there was something attached to it. He lifted it closer to his helmeted face and realised what it was. The weight had become imbedded in a portion of a human skull. Long black hair hung from the bone. It was Holly’s hair. As soon as Roy recognised what he saw, he dropped it in horror. As if by touching it he might become contaminated.

His heart pounded faster and faster. He continued to shine the light on the room as he backtracked towards the corridor. Suddenly he stopped. He felt something on his shoulder.

Roy raised his laser and swung around. It was a human arm, hanging from an exercise bar. The skeletal bones were kept together by shreds of human tissue. The sight of it caused him to jump back and he nearly fell over the equipment. After regaining his balance he examined the arm closely. He determined there was no way human flesh could decompose so quickly. There was more to it than that.

Roy decided it was time to get Corin on the communicator. “I’ve got a section of human body here. Hard to tell who it was or even the sex. Only bones.”

Corin listened to the words carefully on the speaker inside his helmet. While Roy was telling him about his find, Corin looked down at the floor. “I have the same thing here,” he reported, “Only . . .” he stopped himself.

“Only what?”

“It seems to be a complete skeleton but the bone structure is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The spine is arched to the breaking point and the hands and feet . . .”

“What about them?”

“There aren’t any fingers or toes. I can’t believe it but they look like claws. And the teeth, definitely not human. Sharp, sharp like an animal’s.”

It was Sandy.

“I’m heading for the control room. Maybe the computer can tell us what in hell went on here.” Corin made his way up the wrought-iron steps and walked through the open door. The place was a shambles. The monitors above the console were on the floor and had been smashed in. Multicolored wires had been pulled through the console. Corin was sure it no longer functioned, that it had been deliberately sabotaged.

“At least the computer has its own independent power supply,” he reminded himself. “And there’s no way for anybody to get to the tape.” It had been sealed before the mission began, to be used as an unalterable record of what occurred.

“I’m at the terminal,” Corin informed Roy.

“Run it through from twenty-seven days ago and let me know what it says.”

Corin pressed the playback button and watched the digital counter spin backwards. He stopped it at minus twenty-seven and pushed another button. Then he waited for the printout to come through.

A square sheet of paper dropped into the receptacle and Corin picked it up to read. He shone his light on it but it didn’t make any difference at all.

“Roy?”

“Yeah?”

“Something real crazy. There’s nothing on the tape.”

“Come on, Cowboy, what does it say?”

Corin was deadly serious. “Nothing, absolutely nothing. The tape has been wiped clean.”

“That’s impossible!”

“I know it is, but it happened just the same.”

“I think it’s time to let Jeff in on this mess.” Roy unclipped the hand communicator from his belt and signalled the module.

“I read you,” Jeff said. “Go ahead.”

Roy took a deep breath before starting his report. “Jeff, we’ve completed our preliminary survey. It’s as gruesome a sight as I’ve ever seen.”

“What do you mean? Be specific.”

“First of all, it looks like there’s been extensive damage from explosives. The radio transmitter was knocked out and the walls in that wing are blackened.”

“Any sign of life?”

“None. But we’ve found the crew. Most of ’em at least.”

“Killed in the explosion?”

“No. Too spread out. Too much blood. Dismembered limbs everywhere.”

Jeff thought about what Roy was saying. “Okay. Then tell me what happened.”

“We’ve checked the atmosphere and the remains with the analyzer and there isn’t any reading of disease. The airlock was no longer functional. The outer door was broken down, which indicated that they might have been attacked by an outside force. Or they could have descended into the depths of lunacy and fed on each other. Definite signs of cannibalism here.”

“Well, bring the computer readouts with you. Maybe we can piece together what happened from that,” Jeff said.

Then Roy told him that the tape had been erased.

“Holy shit!” Jeff cursed. “Look, we’ve done our job. Both of you get back to the craft right away.”

“What about the remains?” asked Roy.

“Leave ’em. It’s time we closed the book on this planet. Make it a no-entry zone. This is the second team to be sent here in the last fifty years that has come to an unexplained end. Return immediately.”

“Acknowledged,” said Roy.

The three members of the Recon Squad sat tied into their seats ready for take-off. Roy made a last check of his gauges and said, “Pressure is at peak, most of the container loadings are complete. Request clearance for return.”

Jeff flicked a switch on the console. “Stand by.”

Then he opened up the communication system to the space station. “Seventy-five TX Nova II, this is auxiliary module, zero-four-seven. Preliminary survey complete. It’s a classification five.”

A voice cracked on the audio speakers. “Did you say five? That’s disaster—disaster of unknown origin. No survivors.”

“I know what it is. I repeat, classification five.” Jeff rechecked his controls. “Request clearance for return.”

“Permission granted,” the voice stated. “Station commander requests you contact him immediately on your arrival.”

“Will do,” Jeff promised.

Corin was looking for the signal at Jeff, who gave it with a simple nod of the head. Corin went through the prescribed procedure. The carefree mood that prevailed on their journey to the planet with two suns had evaporated. Corin’s ten-gallon hat remained on the floor. He just didn’t feel like hot-dogging it.

Suddenly Roy shouted, “Kill the engine. Kill it!”

“What’s wrong?” Corin wanted to know, switching off the thrust.

“I heard something—something scratching at the hatch.”

They listened and then they all heard it. “Maybe someone’s still alive,” Roy said.

The scratching sounds became louder and more insistent.

“Forget it,” Jeff argued. “Whatever it is, I don’t want to know.”

But Roy was adamant. “It could be one of the archaeological team. I’m opening the hatch.”

Before Jeff could say another word, Roy activated the control and the hatch eased open. The gap becoming ever wider. There was nothing, only the planet’s surface. Then at once, the twins, fully grown, leaped into the cockpit. They went for the three men right away, digging their claws through their suits and into their necks and hearts. Roy, Corin and Jeff didn’t even have a chance to defend themselves. They died strapped to their chairs.

The twins were very bright. It took them no time at all to figure out the complex controls and close the hatch. If Mitch had got farther along with the tablets, he would have learned that besides their appetite for food and sex, the species also had a hunger for knowledge and a tremendous capacity to absorb it. The computer tapes were blank, though not erased as Roy believed. The impulses had been pulled off by the magnetic force emanating from the twins. Pulled off and internalised by them.

Thrust was increased and the craft lifted off. The voice of the communications operator on the space station called to the crew of the Recon Module, “Zero-four-seven, this is Seventy-five TX Nova II with urgent instructions from the Station Commander. Do not, repeat, do not return with any remains of archaeological crew or any artefacts discovered. You are to go straight to the decontaminator on your arrival. Acknowledge receipt please. Acknowledge.”

He waited a moment then said with urgency in his voice. “Zero-four-seven, do you read?”

The twins listened to the sounds from the speaker and laughed. It was going so very well for them. In a day they’d arrive at Nova and until then they’d have enough food to keep them happy. For Corin, Jeff and Roy were very large human beings with lots of meat on their bones.