The Agathon: Book One (28 page)

“I would say close to a thousand years,” Tyrell said. There was a collective intake of breath at the table. Meridian’s face seemed to lose all its colour suddenly.

“Doctor, are you telling me that the people we have left behind in the stations have been traveling alone in interstellar space for a thousand years?” Meridian said, shocked. Carrie felt her father reel. She herself could not believe the reality of what Tyrell was saying. She wasn’t entirely sure that she trusted what she was hearing. Although she sensed that the man sitting in front of her was not what everyone else thought he was, she sensed no deception in what he was saying.

“Yes, Captain. Of that there can be no doubt,” concluded Tyrell. His demeanour was calm and he delivered the news without emotion, as if presenting a scientific paper to a peer group.

“Jesus, they’re all dead,” said Tosh, with his head in his hands. Carrie felt her father struggle to process the information.

“How can this have happened?” said Young finally.

“Everyone stay calm,” said Barrington quietly. “What do we know about this planet?” he asked. Carrie knew he was trying to ground everyone in the room and try to focus their attention on the present. It was the first rule of crisis management.

“Now that The Agathon’s systems are operational, we are starting a full sweep of the area and beginning core readings,” said Young. “I really don’t know what we’re dealing with here.”

“Chase?” asked Barrington. She had turned white and was wearing a rather grim expression. She shook her head.

“Evolution outside the normal realms of organic biochemistry has been hypothesised, but until now believed to be unlikely. Whatever it was that attacked us was clearly artificial and the construction of the surrounding area would suggest that this entire area was made from a composite alloy,” She said. Barrington shook his head. He looked at Emerson, who didn’t need to be asked the question.

“Bow and stern ventral thrusters are operational, sir. The Betty is undamaged and functional.” He looked at Tyrell.

“Should you ever choose to use it again.”

“I should note one final thing, Captain,” Tyrell said. Meridian looked as if she was physically holding herself for more bad news. “The signal makers’ signal,” he said.

“What about it?” asked Barrington.

“It’s still active. I have also triangulated its position.” Barrington was about to ask a question when he was interrupted by a chirp from the comms.

“Bridge to Captain,” came Boyett’s voice.

“Go ahead,” he said.

“Sir, we have movement. There’s someone walking towards the ship from the treeline,” she said.

“Jesus, it’s them,” said Meridian.

“Do you have a visual?” Barrington said.

“Yes, sir, patching it through,” Boyett answered. They turned to a wall screen that flickered on. It showed the outside of the ship. The sun was beginning to set and the figure was silhouetted. It was definitely human, with short cropped hair. It moved slowly in the direction of the ship. Meridian jumped up from the desk.

“Jesus, it’s Amanda!”

22

T
he Planet

22:51 Martian Standard

C
arrie looked at the silhouetted figure as it stood about fifty meters away, watching the ship. She stepped off the airlock ramp with Brubaker and her father, who was carrying a pulse rifle, and began to walk towards her. The dark female figure did not move.

“Amanda?” shouted Brubaker, who was quickening her pace. Llewellyn didn’t move. Carrie sensed nothing from the young woman. It was like there was nothing there.

“Michelle, hang on,” she said to the doctor, reaching for her arm.

“What are you doing?” Brubaker replied, shrugging off Carrie’s hand. Her father looked at Carrie and backed her up instantly, seeing the doubt in her eyes.

“Doctor, just a moment,” Barrington said.

“Llewellyn, are you all right?” said the captain.

“Sir, all due respect, if she has been injured we need to get over there,” said Brubaker, sounding angry. Carrie’s father didn’t answer. Llewellyn began to walk smoothly towards them. Carrie thought that there was something unnatural about Llewellyn’s rhythm, but dismissed it as paranoia. She still sensed nothing from her. Carrie thought that she could have been tired. It had been nearly two days since they had slept. There was definitely something about the way Llewellyn walked. Carrie felt threatened by it. They stood waiting for Llewellyn, whose face began to lighten. She looked uninjured. There was no blood on her jumpsuit or bruises on her face. Her expression was calm. Carrie took a step back without realising it, as the crewman approached the group and stopped. Brubaker took a step towards her and put her arm on hers.

“Amanda?” she said. “Are you all right?”

Llewellyn turned her head smoothly and looked at the doctor with calm serenity in her eyes.

“Yes, I am fine,” she answered. Carrie still sensed nothing from her, which worried her. There was a presence she could not understand with Tyrell, but with Llewellyn there was nothing. It was like she wasn’t there.

“Amanda, are you hurt?” said the captain. Llewellyn looked at him blankly in the eyes.

“I am not hurt,” she replied. Carrie thought her eyes seemed vacant.

“She’s in shock, John. I need to get her inside,” said Brubaker.

“We thought you were dead,” Barrington said to her. Her nonchalance remained.

“I am fine,” she replied.

“Come inside, Amanda. I need to check you out,” said Brubaker. She placed her hand lightly on Llewellyn’s back and guided her towards the ship. Carrie and her father remained behind, looking into the direction of the forest.

“What do think, Dice?” her father said to her, still looking into the unmoving forest.

“I don’t feel anything from her,” Carrie replied. “It’s like she’s not there.” He turned his head and met her eyes. She could see and feel his mind trying to process a thousand decisions.

“I think we should get off this planet, Father,” she said.

“I think you may be right,” he replied, giving her a wink.

“Go see if that boyfriend of yours is up and about yet, will you?” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. His expression changed to one of confusion as he began to look down at his feet. Something that looked like a tentacle had wrapped itself around his right leg.

“What the...” he began to say before he was pulled crashing onto the ground. Carrie grasped at his hand, which was now firmly holding hers. She looked back at the endless black snake that had taken hold of her father and was beginning to pull him away from her. It must have been hundreds of meters long and was now tightening its grip around his leg.

“Father!” she screamed as he began to struggle and lose ground. He tried to claw at the ground but had nothing to hold onto. Carrie fell to her knees and grabbed his arm with both hands.

“Help!” she cried out to anyone who could hear her. She looked back at her father, who was beginning to show strain against the force of the creature. She suddenly realised that her father was trying to free himself from her grasp. There was a violent tug and he was yanked firmly out of Carrie’s hands. She was thrown onto her back and sent skidding.

“Run,” he said to her, screaming as he was dragged across the ground at speed towards the forest.

“Father!” she screamed, getting to her feet and running after him.

“No!” his voice suddenly said, appearing in her mind. She ignored it and began sprinting towards the edge of the forest. Panic filled her lungs as her heart raced out of control. She began to feel a familiar surge in the tips of her fingers. He was like a rag doll being dragged by a rope. She caught a glimpse of her father disappearing into the darkness of the treeline just as a hand grabbed a tight grip on her arm. She turned to see Chase Meridian out of breath and looking
wide
-eyed.

“Let go of me,” she screamed. Meridian looked scared. Carrie suddenly realised that she could feel the familiar heat of her eyes and wondered if they had changed colour again. She looked away towards the quiet forest.

“Hold on, Carrie, please. I saw what took him. We can’t fight this, whatever this is, we need help,” she said between breaths. Carrie tried to run again, but Meridian held her arm firmly.

“He’ll die!” she screamed. She could feel small pulses of electrical energy beginning to run up her spine.

“Don’t be stupid, Carrie, we don’t know what it is. It didn’t kill Llewellyn. Just think! The ship will be able to track it and will have sensor data, whatever it is. He wouldn’t want you going in there by yourself and you know it!” Meridian was beginning to match Carrie’s anger now. Carrie began to feel her anger subside and be replaced with fear. She looked at Meridian and nodded.

“We’ll get him back,” Meridian said. “I promise you.” Carrie believed her and turned back to the ship to see others running in their direction. Emerson and Young were running towards them.

“What the hell happened?” shouted Young.

“The captain’s been taken,” said Meridian, looking at Carrie. She felt like the world had just crumbled from underfoot and felt weak. She could still feel her father and knew that he was alive. “We need to talk to Amanda,” said Meridian.

“Right now. We need to know where the hell she’s been!” They all turned and began running back to the ship.

B
ridge

23:00 Martian Standard

Charly Boyett sat in the flight chair and ran the last set of
start
-up protocols. Sam Reynolds was under her console, bypassing one of the damaged thruster control units and there was a light flurry of activity to the rear of the bridge with several crewmen running various system checks.

“Don’t get too comfortable down there, Sam. I don’t like your vantage point,” she said to the engineer with a slight raise of her eyebrow. Reynolds chuckled lightly.

“Yes, sir,” he replied, closing a panel under the main flight controls. He stood up and leaned over the console, pushing in a command on the computer panel.

“Okay try it now, Lieutenant,” he said politely. Boyett tapped her entry code and the panel came to life. She gave Reynolds an appreciative nod and was about to task him with reconnecting one of the bridge monitors when the comms chirped.

“Young to Bridge. Emergency,” came Young’s voice, sounding out of breath. Boyett sat up straight and answered.

“Boyett here, Mr Young. Report,” she said.

“Something attacked the captain. He’s been taken into the forest. Looks like one of those things. Lock the ship down.” Reynolds looked at Boyett. She hesitated momentarily, not fully realising what Young was saying.

“Boyett, you hear me?” he said over the comms. There was a momentary wave of panic, but her training kicked in almost instantly.

“Understood,” she said. “Boyett out.” She closed the comm channel and focused the view screens in the direction of the forest. She looked at the bridge crew who were all clearly looking at her for guidance.

“Lock the ship down,” she said, using the adrenaline that was surging through her veins. “No personnel off The Agathon until further notice. Sam, I need you in the engine room. Landon will be on his way there and we need to be able to lift off at a moment’s notice. Understood?” she said. Reynolds nodded without a moment’s pause and headed for the lift.

“Boyett to medical bay,” she said, tapping the comms.

“Medical bay here,” came a female voice.

“What’s the status on Lieutenant Chavel?” she said.

“Stable,” came the reply. “We’re just finishing up the last infusion. He should be up and about in the next hour.” Boyett sighed with relief.

“Please tell him to report to me as soon as possible. Where’s Doctor Brubaker?” she asked.

“She is en route with Crewman Llewelyn. I expect her here any... hang on, she just walked in,” said the female voice.

“Brubaker here,” said the doctor.

“Doctor, have you been made aware of the situation?” said Boyett.

“Yes, Lieutenant, Carrie and Chase are with me now. You will have my report regarding the crewman shortly. I am returning Chavel to active duty shortly, he’ll be fine,” she said, sounding worried.

“Keep me apprised, Doctor, and send Chavel straight to the bridge, please. Boyett out.” She turned her attention to the staring eyes of those on the bridge. She climbed out of the flight chair and stood in the centre of the bridge.

“Condition one, people, this is not a drill. I want this ship ready to fly, so get back to work,” she said, holding their gazes.

“What about the captain?” said Kevin Ferraté, a scrawny communications technician who always looked like he was about to cry.

“You let me worry about that. Just focus on that telemetry,” she said sincerely. Leadership came easily to her and she was always ready for it when it came. She took a step up to the centre seat and tapped her access codes into the computer pad, granting her full access to the ship’s systems. She focused the ship’s sensors at the treeline and activated all airlock security seals. Her mind began to turn to the immediate problem of sending a team out to retrieve the captain. Dead or alive. She knew that he would probably object to that. It was a standing order, not only for John Barrington but also for any military situation, that if an immediate threat to the safety of a ship presented itself then the commander of that ship must remove the vessel from that threat. In other words, she had to start prepping the ship for
lift
-off. If Charly Boyett had run her military career by the book they would have been in the air already. Instead, she started making an inventory of the available fully charged pulse rifles and pulled up the scans of the surrounding area for up to fifty kilometres.

Me
dical Bay

Twenty
-four days since departure

08:12

“Wake up, David,” said Carrie at Chavel’s bedside. They had just arrived in the medical bay where Brubaker was scanning Llewellyn. She was standing calmly in a diagnostic tube while a spinning medical disk mapped out her vitals. Chavel slowly opened his eyes and looked into hers. He seemed disorientated but smiled at her when their eyes met.

“Any chance you can try and stay alive the next time you leave the ship, Lieutenant?” she said, forcing a smile. He raised a hand and brushed her cheek. The touch formed a tear in her eye that escaped down her cheek and onto the bio bed.

“What’s happened?” he said, frowning. He raised his head off the bed and began to sit up, holding his side.

“Did those things attack the ship?” he said. Carrie shook her head and looked deep into his eyes. She knew he understood.

“Where’s the captain?” he asked. Urgency had begun to creep into his voice.

“It took him,” she whispered. He took a moment to take it in, looking over to Llewellyn.

“Jesus, Amanda!” he said out loud. Carrie put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head, trying to get his attention off her.

“I need to see Boyett,” he said, clearing his throat and swinging his legs off the side of the bed.

“Hang on there, soldier,” said Brubaker, catching his attention.

“Doc, I’m leaving,” he said to her forcefully, getting to his feet with Carrie’s assistance.

“Of that I have no doubt, Lieutenant, but not with a lumbar attenuator attached to your spine, you’re not,” she said. He looked around and saw a small tube attached to his back. “You pull that out now and your spinal fluid will drain out onto the floor and what good will you be to anyone then?” she said with her arms folded.

“Five minutes,” she said. He nodded and sat back onto the bed. Brubaker walked over and started removing the various tubes attached to his torso.

“I thought she was dead,” he whispered to Carrie, gesturing over at Llewellyn who was calmly sitting upright on the bio bed staring blankly ahead.

“She appeared standing in the clearing, in front of the forest, unharmed but...” She trailed off, not knowing how to explain her insight into the blank woman standing in the medical bay.

“But what?” Chavel pressed. Carrie let it go but kept a close eye on her distance from the young woman.

“All done,” Brubaker said to Chavel.

“Carrie,” she said, addressing her directly. Carrie felt great sadness in the woman and knew Brubaker’s heart was breaking at the thought of her father dying.

“We’ll get him back, Doctor,” she said. It was the first time she had said it out loud and she really believed it. Chavel smiled at her assertiveness.

“Yes, we will,” he chorused, making eye contact with Young who was looking grimly at Llewellyn. He began to dress himself and tapped a comm panel above the bio bed.

“Chavel to bridge,” he said, fastening the top button of his jumpsuit.

“Bridge,” came Boyett’s response. “You finished with your nap?” she said. He smiled.

“I’m a whole new man,” he replied.

“Great,” she said. “Now get your butt up here, we have work to do,” she said, cutting off the comms before he could respond.

“Time to go to work,” he said to Carrie. She felt his confidence and fed off it. “Mr. Young, care to join us? I think we could use you on the bridge,” he said.