Dark Vengeance (17 page)

“For once we’re slightly ahead of you, Commander. Some of that is already in progress. Perhaps you should stay and join that group.”

“I’d be more than happy to, Captain.”

I left R.J. to devise and scheme against a brand-new, malevolent life form whose sole purpose in existence seemed to be the devouring of anyone it could find. The ride down the lift gave me a new, wide view of a ship now in utter confusion. Evening lighting had automatically faded in already, but the activity in the grand gallery and what concourse remained beyond it, was hectic and unusually populated. At the main desk, questions were being asked, directions given, small items distributed while onlookers struggled to understand. Other staff and guests seemed to be adding to their own frustration by busying themselves with unimportant trivialities.

I realized I was starved and quickly found that even the cafeteria was busy for the first time; the rites of Last Supper. I dealt myself the biggest, heartiest meal I could think of, scarfed it down, and watched the parade of people milling pass,many going in no particular direction. Imminent doom can sometimes make the time pass faster than you wish. Fatigue made me realize it was later than I thought. I headed for the escape of my stateroom.

My room lights were turned down unusually low for some reason. It gave me pause. Lizard man had been intent on killing me and had gone to great lengths to accomplish that. Maybe he had left one last calling card surprise.

It straightened me up. A master martial artist once taught me that the best way to block a punch was to not be there when it arrived. In the dim light, I took two sidesteps to the left. It was also bothersome that the lighting had not automatically increased upon entering.              The only option now was to circle the room keeping my back to the wall, worrying the entire time that the predator was wearing infrared eyes. But, as I began to take the next side step, the lighting slowly brightened to a minimal visibility level.

A voice from my bed spoke haughtily. “You’re going in the wrong direction, dear.”

I had to squint to be sure it wasn’t an hallucination. There in the bed, Fantasia waited. A bare leg was draped over the covers. Her left arm held the blanket to her chest, although one ample breast was brazenly left exposed. Even in the low light her perfect skin had more of a blue tint to it. Her sparkling hair had been turned loose and lay over one shoulder. The allure of her was irresistible. Only fear gave me a dwindling resistance.

“Not the best of times, is it, Fantasia?”

“Or is it actually the most perfect of times, Adrian?”

It took me a moment to relax, a moment to lie to myself that I was in control. “Shouldn’t you be up front trying to calm the masses?”

“The masses cannot be appeased. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“So this was the next thing on your list?”

“There may not be a tomorrow, Sir.”

I could feel the thread of connection from her that R.J. had warned about, the only part of her story that had been true.

“Are you going to stand there all evening, or don’t you at least have the courage to come sit with me and talk about it?”

Looking at her in that pose was like looking at an angel in a dream. I kidded myself that I could not let her think I was so out of control that approaching her was too much. I took a long breath and strolled over to the bed and sat.

“Really, Fantasia. I need to get some rest.”

“I can help with that in ways you can’t imagine.”

It suddenly occurred to me that she was winning each exchange. “Isn’t there a little matter of a certain involuntary connection forming?”

She did not hesitate. “Yes, because we would be the most incredible complement you’ve ever experienced. Now my turn. What are our chances of getting off this ship alive? Be completely honest.”

I had to look away. “Maybe not so good,” I replied, losing another one.

“So tomorrow may never come.”

“You tricked my friend,” I added, sounding like a hurt seven-year-old.

“Yes, but Elachia will be making up for it.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Do I look like I’m kidding, Adrian?”

She did not. It was too late. I was fully in her field of influence and had no desire to escape. She reached up, allowing the covers to fall away, and grabbed me by the collar, then did something I had never experience before. She pressed one thumb against my chin, pulled down my lower lip and kissed my open mouth. My clothing seemed to anger her. I barely had to help with its removal. Afterward, all conventional imagery seemed to coalesce into color and sensation. There were times I could not tell which parts were hers and which were mine. Other times there was no way to understand who was shifting in rhythm and who was not. On several occasions I would have sworn the two of us had passed completely through each other. It went on forever.

I awoke to artificial light shining again through my artificial window. Fantasia was attached to my left side, still asleep. There was a sound I could not focus on. It was possible it had already sounded several times. Finally my stateroom door opened without my permission and Captain Mars stepped in. He took one look and returned a stolid expression.

“Do you know what you’re getting yourself into, Captain Tarn?”

“No?” I replied in a cracking voice. It was the only answer I could come up with.

“That is correct,” replied the Captain. “We need you upstairs. That is, if you’re still human.”

The Captain left us. The door slid slowly shut. Fantasia slowly slid off me. Her eyes were open just a tiny slit. She was on her side, covered by silk sheet, her arm still resting on my chest. She was glowing with beauty.

“I have to go,” I said.

“Of course. You’ll find me again trying to appease the masses, if you need me.”

“We can meet afterward.”

“In my quarters. I’m guessing you’ll be abandoning this room soon.”

“Will you be all right?”

“Yes. I can have your things moved to my place.”

“That would probably work.”

“I’ll speak to Commander Smith about his needs if the opportunity arises, that is if Elachia has not already fulfilled them.”

I forced myself to ooze away from her and head for the showers. Suddenly I realized I felt as clean and fresh as if I had already taken one. I used the dry shower for three minutes, and pulled out a fresh flight suit. My coffee mix was waiting for me in her hand when I returned.

“How did you know?”

“I know everything about you now.”

At the door I looked back. “Where are your quarters?”

“Just follow your heart song. You’ll find me.”

Outside the stateroom a contingent of staff and engineers were already setting up several weapons test beds. It surprised me. I sucked down the coffee as I took a moment to study what they were doing. There were half a dozen or more weapons positions in addition to several new exotic cameras. Also surprising, guests were already being moved out of my section. Apparently Captain Mars was wasting no time. For the first time, he seemed to be ahead of the situation.

A crowd of people had gathered at the receiving desk, but no one was there to serve them. They quietly complained to each other as they waited. Realizing I had left Fantasia back in my stateroom, I suddenly stopped in doubt and wondered if that was really such a good idea. Then a flash of fear hit like an ocean wave. I had not left her at all. She was smiling back at me from within. I could see her plainly in my mind, still in my stateroom, still in my bed. She was with me as much now as if she were standing next to me.

Crossing the gallery, the gravity of our situation again took precedence. As the lift took me up, I looked out over a ship in as much discord as any ship could possibly be. Men setting up weapons stations hoping to stop an unknown creature. Crew and guests so intermingled in fear there was no longer a status quo. They were all of equal despair.

As I entered the ready room, Captain Mars looked over and eyed me with a long appraising stare. I scanned for R.J. but did not find him.

“Are you really with us this morning, Captain Tarn?” asked the Captain.

“Have I missed much?”

“As predicted, your Gaglion has come through the aft engineering wall and taken over the C-section. There is once again only a single wall between us and it.”

“So the shadow of tentacles we saw sticking out of engineering was a sign it was getting close. But that was too quick.”

“Yes, a disturbing development, I agree. It is learning.”

“Is there any good news?”

“We’re still concentrating on access to the flight deck. My staff believes they may be able to open the outer door very soon. When that happens, I will enter in a safe suit and the outer door will be resealed behind me. With luck they will then be able to bypass the quarantine seal and open the inner door. I will attempt to re-engage the engines and bring us back to light speeds.”

“Captain, we’ll never make it to Enuro in time. Besides, do you know how much damage has been done in engineering?”

“We believe the stellar drives are still available. But I agree with you. Even at light there is not enough time unless we can slow the creature down.”

“Has the weapons group come up with anything new?”

“Commander Smith and the engineers worked through the night. They are hopeful at least one of the countermeasures will be effective. Our best hope is to either trap it, or destroy it.”

“Is he still back there working?”

“Yes, but you may want to first attend to your stateroom before we close off the section, Captain.”

“It’s being taken care of. I’d like to be briefed on the weapons development. Think I’ll just check in there.”

“Evacuation from the B-section is targeted for 13:00 hours, Captain.”

I nodded and withdrew.

The engineering lounge had been converted into a research area with active monitors scattered everywhere. They displayed aft engineering along with the closed off section of the concourse. Many of the engineering displays were gruesome. Aft Engineer Yen appeared to be still partially alive wearing the pulsing Gaglion on his head. The macabre duo continued to stagger around with dead arms swinging, the creature smiling away as it navigated around equipment it kept running into. Other monitors in the rear area of the concourse showed the second Gaglion now furiously hunting around the sealed off staterooms.

I turned to find R.J. standing beside me. His hair was sticking up more than usual and he had dark circles under his eyes. “There may be good news, and there is definitely bad news,” he said hoarsely.

“You’ve been at it all night, haven’t you?”

“It seemed the prudent thing to do.”

“You and the Captain are making me feel guilty.”

“If you managed to get a good night’s rest, you may have done the right thing.”

“Is that the good news?”

“No, the good news is that when that thing breaks through to the next section we may find it doesn’t like some of our test weapons.”

“Okay, what’s the bad news?”

“I’ll tell you, but it’s just a guess, you understand.”

“Of course.”

“We may find that we have a good weapon against it except that, in the worst case scenario, someone may have to go in there and kill the thing.”

“Ah, now I see. Suddenly it has become very important to me exactly what kind of weapon this is.”

“We’re lucky. Ambassador Athos’ people have some experience with multi-dimensional weapons. He managed to come up with something we actually had the materials to construct.”

R.J. thumbed over his shoulder. I spotted Athos leaning over a table with two engineers. He happened to look over, saw me and nodded.

“So a new type of firearm. How bad can it be?” I said.

“I wish we could have come up with a discharge type of weapon. But that was impossible. It won’t even be a real blade,” replied R.J.

“Some kind of knife?”

“You won’t be able to get that close. Those tentacles remember? More like a Sabre or a foil, except the only thing solid about it will be the hilt. It will emit a dozen different super-light, multi-dimensional frequencies that form a kind of burning blade that will do absolutely no harm to any inert matter, but will dissect anything biological including, of course, the user handling it.”

“What’s the reach?”

“Thirty-five inches. So the user must be within three feet of the target to affect it.”

“Well, clearly that is the bad news, as you’ve said.”

“And you understand why this may be the first time I don’t try to talk you out of being the one, right?”

“Because if I do not win, we all lose.”

“Exactly. Probably the entire ship will be watching on monitors, knowing that if you are killed, it probably means death for all of us.”

Someone called to R.J. He took a last somber look at me and went to them. I decided I needed some time alone and headed for the door. As I left the room someone caught up and stopped me.

It was Athos.