The Black Planet (5 page)

The sergeant sat forward, ‘I will keep that in mind sir.’

‘What about the rest of them sir?’  Colonel Howe asked.

‘Leave them just now, let’s see how our new friend adapts to his situation.  Has this thing been disabled?’

‘Babes assures me the safety systems would have kicked on the moment we began to cut into it.  It’s going nowhere.  How’s it going at your end?’

‘Not good, so far not a single survivor.  I had better get back to it.’

‘Good luck sir.’

Sergeant Kelly waited patiently keeping himself to himself but when Lewis turned up his mouth dropped open, ‘holy shit boy, what your mama been feeding you?’

Lewis wasn’t amused, ‘you dis Sergeant Kelly fella?’

‘Yup.’

‘Den you gotta come with me.’

The sergeant followed him through the complex and he seemed to have no trouble keeping up with Lewis.  His curiosity kept him from asking questions as his eyes swept over everything.  They reached the air lock and Lewis thrust the suit at him, ‘you gotta put this suit on.’

‘What the hell for boy?’

‘It absolute zero out der.’

‘Hell boy I been in places that were minus thirty or forty; zero is nothing to me.’

‘Not zero, absolute zero.’

‘Don’t get yah!’

‘Don they teach you white boys anything, absolute zero, dat means it’s minus two twenty out der.’

‘It’s what, where the hell are we?’

‘You see soon enough.  Just shove the damn suit on’

Just then Komoru and her pilot walked past and the sergeant went for his gun, ‘is that a nip?’  Lewis hand slapped against his and pinned it down.  A struggle developed between the two men.  When the two Japanese were out of sight Lewis let go.

‘What the hell’s going on here boy; who was that?’

‘Dat der was Miss Komoru, de captain of my ship.’

‘The nips aren’t allowed a damn navy.’

‘You been on ice for a damn long time Kelly, lots has changed, and we ain't at sea either.  Get the suit on and you ass out there, then you may begin to understand what going on.  Give you all de answers you need after dat.’ He suddenly felt a moment’s sympathy for the man.  ‘What you gonna see is gonna knock your socks off.  Hope you man enough to take it.’

Kelly growled, ‘I've been man enough all my life boy, I've seen shit that would turn you white.’

‘Yeah heard dat before and I still ain't white.  Put you hand against dat green panel when you ready; I’ll close the door inner door from here.  On the other side you will see another green panel.  When this door closes put you hand on dat and when it opens step outside.  Don’t wander off nowhere.  When you want to come back in de same thing, you will see a green panel, you will have to close the outer door before you can open this one.  Now let’s get this suit on you.’

Kelly was well over six foot but he was very aware of how loose the suit was on him.  Lewis checked him over then opened the door.  Kelly stepped inside, ‘ain't you coming boy.’

‘You got my suit fool, ain't no way I'm going out there without it.  Don’t try and take it off neither; I ain't never seen no one die in space before but dey say you blood freezes so fast it boils and your eyes pop out oh you head.’

Kelly suddenly felt a sudden dread and didn’t want to close the door, but there was no way he was going to let this man see his fear and indecision.  Lewis placed his hands on the panel and the door slid shut.  Kelly opened the outer door and stepped boldly out into the all-consuming darkness.  He felt his fear rise to a level he had never felt before in his entire life.  The door hissed closed behind him and the last remaining light left him in this strange and hostile world.  Eventually his eyes began to adjust, he looked upwards and saw the stars.  Kelly knew the stars well and prided himself in being able to navigate by them.  There was something strange about them he took a few steps away from the building to get a better look.  Something else began to happen.  There was a shimmering in front of him and two large, bright, tear shaped objects appeared out of nowhere.  He stumbled back against the door and when the green light appeared he hit it.  The door slid open soundlessly and he tumbled back into the airlock.  His world spun as he grabbed a rail for support.  He hit the panel and the door slid closed behind him.  Lewis seeing the state the man was in opened the inner door and Kelly stumbled back into the building.  His heart hammered in a way he had never felt before and he fell to his knees.  Lewis grabbed him, sat him back against the wall and removed the helmet.  For a full five minutes the sergeant hid his hands in his face.  When they stopped trembling he removed them.

‘Where the hell are we?’

‘You in outer-space man.  Halfway between our universe and de next on a planet we have nicknamed the Black Planet.  You wuz abducted by an alien race and brought here.’

‘Those beasts weren’t a nightmare?’

‘Nope dey were real.’

He shook his head, ‘I don’t want to ask this.’

‘Two thousand and twenty three.’  Lewis supplied having a feeling he knew what the man wanted or didn’t want to know.’

Kelly’s hand shook as he wiped his mouth, ‘holy shit.’  He thought his situation over, ‘can I see the captain again?’

‘Yeah sure, he said to bring you if you asked.’

The sergeant staggered to his feet and was still trembling when they found Steven.  Kelly fiddled with his helmet, ‘thank you for the rescue sir.’  He reached into his pocket and unloaded the pistol.  He handed over to Howe with a nod and a thank you then turned his attention back to Steven.  ‘It’s quite a shock.’

Steven smiled sympathetically, ‘I imagine it would be sergeant, how are you feeling?’

‘Like shit sir.  I suppose all of the people I once knew are now dead.’

‘That would be a fairly safe bet, did you have family sergeant?’

‘A brother sir, that’s all.  He had a wife and a couple of kids.  I was married to the army sir.’

‘Then you may still have some relations; when I get in touch with Earth tonight I will send your details and try and find out for you.’

‘Thank you sir, do you know if any of my men are still alive?’

Steven looked towards the capsules, ‘I have no idea sergeant.  There are thousands of these capsules and so far we have only found the remains of people.  Maybe somewhere deeper are your people, they may well be still alive, I don’t know.  Right now I want you to go get cleaned up, report to the doctor for a physical; take a little time to adjust to your new reality.’

‘Yes sir, thank you.’

‘Lewis I want the sergeant to bunk with you.  Take care of him will you?’

‘Yes suh.’

Chapter 9

Steven was angry; Sergeant Kelly stood rigidly to attention in front of him his eyes reaching out into the darkness beyond the ship.  They were in Stevens private quarters where he had a desk built that could swivel three hundred and sixty degrees.  Today it was swung inwards.  Buzz and Colonel Howe were present along with Lewis and Komoru who lounged prettily on the couch.  It was she who had asked Steven to deal with this man.

‘Remove those sun glasses please sergeant.’

‘Uh!  The glare sir.’

‘Take them off sergeant, it wasn’t a request.’  Kelly did so reluctantly.  ‘That’s quite a shiner sergeant would you like to explain yourself?’

He sniffed, ‘no sir.’

‘This is the third time you have attacked Lewis in a single day and the third time you have taken a beating for it.  Wasn’t once enough?’

‘I don’t like people that lie sir.’

Steven sent a silent command and behind him the wall became white and on it played a number of incidents that the sergeant had been involved in; the man’s jaw dropped open.  Steven let them play out.

Steven saw them man’s jaw harden and he stiffened.  ‘Let me make things clear for you sergeant if I may.  Lewis does not lie; there has been two black presidents since you were put on ice as you like to refer to it.  You did not beat the Koreans and the American forces did get their asses handed to them in Vietnam.  On the last matter, Lewis most certainly can build an atomic bomb from scratch.  These days we call them nuclear weapons or devices.  He isn’t the only one on board that can do it either.  Lewis was a member of your American Special Forces.  After being wounded on a number of operations he specialised as an armourer where he was taught how to build one.  Oh and one more matter I want to clarify; just because I may talk with a bit of an American accent and was brought up in America, I am not American, I am Scottish.  I have never applied for American citizenship.  Do you understand?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Good, now let’s move onto your deplorable behaviour in the canteen shall we and the remarks you made to some of the Japanese.  Do I have to play the incident in question?’

‘No sir.’

‘Your remarks were racist to say the least, and you turned the air blue.  That kind of language will not be tolerated outside your own private quarter’s sergeant, nor will any form of racism, neither here nor when you return home.’

‘I ain't racist sir.’

‘Really you’re not!’

‘Hell no sir, white, black, yellar I've killed them all sir.’

Howe burst out laughing and Steven went red in the face.  ‘I don’t find that funny colonel.’

‘I am sorry sir it’s an old soldiers joke.’

‘Still not laughing colonel,’ he turned his attention back to the sergeant who seemed a little amused at his own wit, even if he was trying to hide it.  ‘Back home remarks like the ones you have made here will land you with six months in jail sergeant, but here I have only one punishment and it involves an airlock and no space suit.’

‘Holy shit!’

‘Language, there is a lady present.’

He snapped to attention again, ‘sorry sir,’ he nodded towards Komoru, ‘sorry Ma’am.’

Steven leaned forward, ‘an old spaceships captain’s joke sergeant.’

Kelly took a deep breath, ‘I am sorry sir, it’s just been very hard.  Yesterday I was fighting for my life on a hill in Korea and today.’  He shrugged, ‘I don’t have the words, I'm sorry sir.’

Steven relented a little, ‘I am not unsympathetic to your situation sergeant, despite what you might think.  All of the military men on board these two ships are Special Forces and all have seen combat.  I am sure you have probably clocked up more time in battle than most of them put together, but they too have faced the same dangers, lost friends and live with their own personal demons on a daily basis.  The gulf between your world, your time, and this is immense.  You won’t fully understand that until you reach home.’

He flicked up a screen, ‘the pentagon sent me your file sergeant.  Your combat record is beyond reproach.  The part that covers your personal conduct however reads like a herd of goats stumbling through a minefield.  It reads to me like you have seen too much combat sergeant and you can no longer cope with what comes with a normal life.  I do have one piece of good news for you, two in fact.  You have living relatives, although your brother passed away a long time ago.  They knew about you and are delighted to hear that you are alive and can’t wait to meet you.  The pentagon has also told me that you will receive full pay at today’s present rates for all the time you have been here; from your day of abduction to the day you return home.  Congratulations sergeant, you are a very wealthy man, even by today’s standards.  You will also receive a full pension at today’s rates when you reach home.’

He looked shocked, ‘they gonna retire me?’

‘You were due to retire anyway weren’t you?’

His eyes turned shifty, ‘in a couple of year’s sir.’

‘In that case sergeant it would seem you have only one battle left to fight and that’s the one with your own foul mouth.  I may not toss you out of the airlock but I will shove you in one of those pods until we reach Earth if your bad behaviour persists.  Now get out of my sight.’

‘One thing more sir.’

‘What is it?’

‘I hear you are packing up the bodies you have found so far.’

‘Yes we are, why?’

‘I did my part with the graves registration sir, I can help with those people, probably cope with it a lot better than some of yours.  It will also get me out of this light.’

‘OK sergeant, if you want to work I won’t stop you.’  Stevens eyes flicked across the room, ‘Colonel Howe he can join the doctor.’

‘Yes sir.’

Kelly took a step back and saluted.  Steven shook his head, ‘I'm not military sergeant, no need to salute me.’

‘I know sir.’

The men filed out and Steven joined Komoru on the couch; Buzz followed.  Steven sat down with a sigh, ‘that wasn’t pleasant.’

Buzz grinned, ‘you gave it to him straight and I think he respected that.’

‘What is the latest tally Buzz?’

‘One thousand three hundred and twenty seven living.  Nine hundred chambers with body parts.’

‘When are we going to start reviving them Steven?’  Komoru asked.

‘We aren’t.’

‘Why not, we should be doing it right now.’

‘We are months away from Earth at top speed Komoru; how the hell are we going to feed them all?’

She blinked, ‘oh how stupid of me.  Then what are we going to do?’

‘I have no idea, there was a large freighter in the graveyard.  It would hold every one of them.  I am going to get Matt to investigate it with one of the pilots.  Maybe if it will fly we can convert it to haul those canisters.  After Sergeant Kelly’s reaction I think I would far rather have them revived at home. We will have to revive those from the pod though.  Babe’s assures me it would be easy to transfer the other canisters to the freighter, she would just beam them across.  We could set up an independent power source to keep them powered up.  Each cylinder has emergency backup power for about three weeks, so there is no danger of them quitting on us before we can connect them back up.’

‘Sounds like a plan to me,’ Buzz agreed.

‘We also need to check out that Battle Cruiser.  If we can, we will get it back to Earth.’

‘Then what!’  Buzz asked.

‘We give it to the Space Corps for the defence of the Earth.’

‘I thought you didn’t want to do anything like that?’

‘No I didn’t, but we have little choice now.  Earth is going to have to grow up fast.  Whether it likes it or not; or we like it or not.’

Buzz stood, ‘I will get some of the ladies to grab some clothes and revive the women from that transport pod.  Rather they did it that some hairy arsed leering scientist.’

They all laughed knowing he meant the soldiers, ‘great idea Buzz.’

‘I will get to it.’

Komoru sat and stared at him for a moment then she launched herself into his arms and held him tight.  The contact barely lasted thirty seconds and then she stood up and almost ran from the room.  ‘What was that for,’ he asked silently aware that his body was tingling from head to toe.

‘Oh nothing, I just needed a cuddle.’  Her words whispered in his inner ear.

Steven found himself grinning stupidly at his reflection.  ‘Glad to be of service.’ He burst out laughing.

Babes decided she needed to have a word with him.  ‘You need to rest my heart; you have been up for 48 hours.’

‘I am OK Babes.  No time to rest just now, too much to do.’

‘You are becoming dehydrated.’

He sighed, ‘OK I will have a quick coffee before I get going again.’

He sat down on his couch with the coffee and barely had a sip from the hot mug before his eyes began to close, ‘what are you doing Babes?’  Was all he was able to say before she knocked him out.  Then she locked all his doors and warned both crews to leave him be.