The Awakening (The Hyperscape Project Book 1) (17 page)

Arya closely
watched the readings from the sensor array. “The monster is feeding off the
generator’s power. It has increased in size by a power of twelve to the fifth,”
she announced with an unusual nervousness in her voice.

The creature
continued to grow rapidly larger in the display until it was a million times
its previous mass.

“We’re freked!”
Karg blurted.

The monster
looked furious. It swirled violently in the blackness of space, only visible
against the dark center of the black hole due to the enhanced sensor display.

Arya hit her
com-badge. “Captain?”

“I see it.
Moving us to a safer distance now,” Argos replied.

Enormous black
tentacles lashed out at the ship, only to be pulled back by intense gravity.
The creature was now beyond the point of no return, slowly being swept
backwards into the gaping mouth of the black hole. Despite the beast’s
struggles, it would eventually slip beyond the event horizon into its ultimate
demise in the crushing gravity of the singularity. 

“That’s it
then,” Arya said.  “There’s no way it can get out of that.  It’s
effectively dead.”

Arya com-linked
up to the bridge. “Captain, I suggest we get the hetek out of here, Sir.”

“Agreed. Setting
course. The three of you make a good team. Well done. Go get some rest, you
earned it. That is, after you wake the rest of the crew from their nap.”

Arya sighed.
“You know how long it’s going to take to bring them out of Cryo?” She looked at
Karg and Nick. “Well, you heard the Captain. We make a good team, so come on
you two, we better get to it.”

“I feel like
we’re
in Cryo. It’s dran cold in here,” Karg complained as he brushed ice crystals
from the edges of his nose.

“Yeah, sure….
Explore the creepy planet, get attacked by Dragorans, kill the monster
hitch-hiker, wake the frozen crew…. Just your average day in space.” Nick waved
his arms and talked to no one in particular. “I mean, can’t I have just
one
day where something’s not trying to kill me? Is that too much to ask?” In an
attempt to brush off the shivers, he raked his hands down his goose bump
covered arms. “Just one day on the beach of some nice, warm planet, with no gun
fire, no schematics, no….” An odd feeling of being in a vacuum made Nick pause
and glance around.  He was the only one left in the room. “Of course I’m
the only one here.  No one ever listens to me.  Hey!” he shouted.
“Wait up.”

“I hate it when
you do that,” he muttered as he jogged toward the door. Rounding the doorway
into the corridor, Nick stopped. He expected to be on the heels of Karg when he
hit the corridor, but the dark hallway was empty and eerily quiet. The light
from the room filtered through a puff of breath as it left his mouth. He stared
through the small cloud of frigid crystals and down the long black passage,
listening. Nothing but absolute silence. The hairs on the back of his neck
stood up, but the reaction wasn’t from the frigid temperature. He suddenly felt
apprehensive and downright spooked.

Puzzled by the
silence, he turned cautiously to look in the other direction.

Loud, deep
snarls met him as he turned.

Nick lurched in
fright as he saw a massive black shadow looming behind him in the darkness.
“Ahhh!” He turned screaming and headed down the corridor as fast as his legs
could carry him. “Karg! It’s back! The creature is back!” he yelled. “Arya!”

His screams were
silenced by the sound of laughter coming from behind him.
It’s laughing?
That doesn’t sound….
“Wait a minute.” Nick’s feet hit the floor with an
ever slowing pace. He stopped and turned to look back down the gloomy hallway.
Karg and Arya laughed hysterically as they rolled on the floor.

“Did you see him
run?” Arya squeaked out between laughs.

Karg snickered
and looked down the corridor at Nick. “
EEEK!
Save me!” Karg screeched.
“I’ve seen Echoc children who are braver than you, Bannon.”

Nick bent over
and held his pounding chest, trying desperately to catch his breath. “I swear,
if the monsters don’t kill me, the two of you will!” he huffed. “You guys
really need to come over to my house for Halloween.” Nick had been itching for
a way to get back at his neighbor Joe for scaring him so bad last year. Karg
would be perfect. The big hulk would make Joe crap his pants.

Nick plopped
down and leaned back against the cold metal wall of the corridor, waiting for
his heart to calm down.

Karg puzzled
over Nick’s statement. “What is Hal Owene? Is that some kind of human food?”

“No. It’s a
holiday. You’d love it. You would fit right in,” Nick replied between huffs.

He blew out his
cheeks and released a long breath. “Can’t believe I’m still alive after all the
stuff I’ve been through in this short time with you two. Is this how you
normally roll?”

“Yes,” Karg and
Arya answered in unison.

Nick frowned,
then grinned. “S’alright. I reckon I’ll get used to it. I can keep up with you.
Don’t you worry about me. No sir. Nick Bannon is one tough dude.”

“We’ll see about
that when we engage the Tac Squads again,” Arya commented. “Now come on. Up on
your feet. We have some units to unfreeze.”

Nick scrunched
his eyes in confusion. “Units? Is that what you call people?”

Arya shrugged.
“It’s easier than peeling off a list of alien nations to reference each one.”

Nick nodded. “I
reckon so.”

“Now come on.
I’m tired, and I want to get moving on this,” she commanded.

Nick sat and
watched her cat-like walk as she swayed down the corridor. He was startled when
Karg grabbed him by the back of his pants and yanked him off the floor in one
clean swoop, setting him back down onto his feet with little effort.

“Uh, thanks for
the lift, Buddy,” Nick said. He gazed at Karg. “Remind me again never to piss
you off. That kind of strength is just downright scary.”

Karg grinned at
him with his chunky teeth and ambled after Arya. “You’ve already pissed me off
several times, Bannon,” he called back over his shoulder.

Nick stood
staring after him, his jaw slack. “Right. Um. Yeah. Right. I did?”

Not knowing what
else to say, Nick followed Karg down the corridor.  “Time to unfreeze some
units.”

“What is that horrible smell?” Arya
demanded from the doorway.

Nick looked up
from his notes. “What smell?”

“You can’t smell
that? It’s horrendous. Honestly, is there anything your species does well? You
can’t see well at all, your muscular structure is ridiculously weak, and you
can’t smell. How your people ever survived so long is beyond me. You must have
large litters of young.”

“Children. We
have children and—”

“Here,” Arya
interrupted. “Come out here where the smell is stronger.” She motioned for him
to come into the corridor.

Annoyed with yet
another interruption, Nick tossed his notebook onto the table as he eased out
of his chair and followed her into the hall. One step into the hall and Nick
recoiled, quickly burying his face in his raised arm to block the foul stench
assaulting his nostrils. “Oh my God, what is that stink? That’s awful!” Nick
turned to head back into the room.

“Oh no, we’re
not done here. Follow me.” Arya moved down the corridor, apparently taking it
for granted that he would do as she asked.

“No thanks. I’m
fine right here,” Nick replied into his sleeve.

Arya paused and
threw a glance over her shoulder, one fine brow arching upward when she saw
that he hadn’t moved. “Move your arsk. We have to find the cause of this smell.
And quickly.”

“I think I’m
going to be sick.” Nick fought the gag wiggling its way up his throat.

“Come on!” she
insisted. “It’s coming from this way.”

Nick reluctantly
followed her as she tracked the horrible smell down the hall.

“Arya?” the
Captain’s voice broke in. “Is there a problem with the waste disposal system? We’re
getting an…odd…smell up here.”

“Not sure, Sir.
I’m tracking down the cause of it now. Whatever it is, it’s spreading through
the ship’s atmospheric ducts.”

“Keep me posted.
And hurry up, it’s getting worse.”

“Yes, Sir.”

As Arya neared
Karg’s quarters, a loud trumpeting sound echoed through the hall.

“What the
hell
…was
that?” Nick looked around cautiously. “It sounded like a tuba.”

Arya glanced
briefly at Nick and then peered at the bulkhead, listening. “What kind of
creature is a tuba? It sounded kind of like a Halozian Wonk Shrell to me.”

“Is
that…moaning?” Nick turned in a circle, attempting to determine where the sound
originated.

Arya’s superior
ears twisted independently, quickly narrowing in on the source. “Yes, it’s
definitely moaning, and it’s coming from Karg’s quarters!”

They both moved
forward with cautious, stealthy steps, and eventually paused just outside the
door to Karg’s quarters. Another deep bellowing sound vibrated through the
bulkhead, followed by a moan. Nick was curious but afraid to know what was on
the other side of the door. He’d had enough drama already. He didn’t need more.

Arya drew her
weapon. “Karg? You okay in there?”

Karg’s voice
held obvious distress. “No.”

Arya locked eyes
with Nick. He gave her a silent nod of agreement then drew his weapon. She
flicked her hand over the door sensor. Nick readied himself as the door panel
slid open. His eyes immediately began to burn and water from the horrid
smelling air that whooshed out of the room and enveloped him in a stink so powerful
that his stomach lurched.

“Oh, God!”
Choking, he fought the urge to reel backward and instead peered into the
darkened room. “Yep, this is definitely where the smell is coming from. No
doubt about that.  Can’t miss it.”

Arya called for
the lights. When they came on, neither of them could miss the massive heap that
lay in the middle of the room.

Karg emitted a
moan so deep that Nick felt it reverberate through his body. The big hulk
clutched his stomach in obvious pain.

Arya leaned over
the moaning bulk curled up on the floor. “Karg? What’s going on?”

Karg made a
sound like a whimper, all four of his big hands wrapped tightly over his belly.

“Karg! Talk to
me!” Arya demanded. “What’s going on?” Frustrated by Karg’s silence, she
reached down and tried to haul him up by the arm. “Come on! I can’t think in
all this stink. We need to get you out of this room before we all lose
consciousness.”

Karg resisted
her attempts to get him upright. Arya let go of him and resorted to yelling.
“Get up! I can’t carry you. You’re going to have to get up!”

Suddenly, the
tuba sound blasted through the room, long and loud. Nick reeled backwards.
“Holy moly! It’s him! That sound is coming from Karg!” Nick said, gasping for
air.

Karg groaned.
“It’s that freking aspak root or maybe the scriggle eggs we picked up on that
grubby little farming planet. Ohhh…my insides.”

“I thought
Rakozians had iron stomachs,” Arya reminded him.

“Yeah, me too,
but that sket isn’t fit for a Tarnac to eat.” Karg’s intestines gurgled and
then let out a sound like a large, angry beast. His eyes flew open wide. “Oh,
sket. Get out of the way!” Karg leapt to his feet and raced out of the door and
down the hall.

Arya started
after him. “Karg, what are you doing?”

Nick grabbed her
arm to stop her from running after him. “Don’t! I wouldn’t follow him if I were
you,” Nick said, peeking out of the doorway.

Down the
corridor, two crewmembers ran out of the elimination room toward Nick. As they
passed, they shouted “Don’t go down there! It’s horrible. Not even the methane
breathers could handle that!”

Nick pulled Arya
into another room across the hall and shut the door. He glanced at her over his
sleeve. “Man, I thought that case of food poisoning I had a couple years ago
was bad. What are we going to do? We’re going to have to evacuate the ship if
this continues.” Nick pinched the end of his nose with his fingers in an
attempt to get some relief from the smell.

Arya stared at
Nick’s watery eyes. “I have an idea.” She motioned for him to follow her. The
two left the room and made their way to a locker room near the hangar bay.
“Here.” Arya tossed him a helmet and then slipped on a spacesuit.

Nick hurried to
follow Arya’s lead and get into another available spacesuit. He couldn’t put
the thing on fast enough. To be rid of the horrid smell would be such a relief.
He wasn’t sure how much longer he could survive the stink.

He clicked his
helmet into place and sighed in relief. “Ah, finally, I can breathe.” He gave
Arya a thumbs up.

The two returned
to the elimination room but hesitated before entering. Neither of them really
wanted to go in there, but they had to do something. As they cautiously stepped
forward, Nick hoped like hell he would be spared the site of Karg on the
toilet.  They made their way along the row of stalls, checking for signs
of Karg. The sound of Karg heaving echoed off the walls of the room. Just
hearing it was almost enough to cause Nick to lose his lunch, even inside the
suit, isolated from the horrendous smell by the suit’s self-contained air supply.

They tracked the
sounds to a single stall in the corner and waited a few minutes for Karg to
finish emptying his stomach.

Arya knocked on
the door. “Karg, you need to come with us to the lab,” she said through the
door.

Karg’s voice,
obviously weak from his ordeal, nonetheless penetrated through the door. “No, I
don’t want any tests. Just leave me here to die.”

Arya yelled so
Karg could hear her through the helmet. “It’s not for tests. Trust me you need
to come to the lab with us.”

There was a long
pause. Arya looked at Nick and raised her hands in a gesture of uncertainty.
Nick shrugged. He didn’t know what to do either.  He sure as hell couldn’t
convince Karg to do anything.

“Alright,” Karg
finally said.  “Give me a minute.”

A few minutes
later Karg emerged from the stall, his face worn from his gastrointestinal
encounter. A low bellow echoed in the room once more. “Sorry. I can’t help it,”
he said, obviously exhausted.

Arya looked at
Karg standing there all hunched over and tired. “Get to the isolation room in
the lab,” Arya directed urgently. “Go. Now.”

A nervous look
came over Karg’s face. “Why. I don’t have anything contagious do I?”

Nick looked at
Arya. “He doesn’t, does he?” Nick hadn’t given much thought to the possibility
of catching some kind of alien space bug. He sure as hell didn’t want whatever
Karg had. Anything that could cause this kind of agony in something the size of
Karg might kill a human.

“No, I don’t
think so, but the isolation lab has its own separate atmosphere and disposal
system. Its air doesn’t mix with the ship’s atmosphere and it incinerates any
waste material.”

“Oh, good
thinking,” Nick remarked.

Karg began
walking slowly out of the elimination room. Nick tried not to look at the big
guy’s stained backside.

“Did you
see
that mess back there?” he asked of Arya. “Who’s going to clean
that
up?
And don’t you
dare
look at me! Not even in a spacesuit!” he quipped,
gagging at the mere thought of it.

Arya glanced
back at him as they walked. “Relax, we’ll get the Meths to supervise the
maintenance bots for that.”

Arya tapped her
badge. “Captain?”

“Arya? Please
tell me you isolated the problem. Even Sirok is looking woozy up here.”

“Yes, I’ll fill
you in later. Right now I need you to shut down the atmosphere to Elimination
Two, on Deck Six, and turn the scrubbers up to full capacity. Hopefully, that
will get things under control.”

“Will do. I also
need to talk to you about another matter. Come to my ready-room after you get
finished down there.”

“Aye, Sir.”

As ordered, Arya
appeared in the ready-room. “Sorry for the delay, Captain. I had to get cleaned
up. Couldn’t seem to get rid of that smell.”

“I heard. How is
he?” Argos asked.

“Not bad, but
we’ll keep him in Iso overnight to be sure. Apparently, there actually
are
some things that even a Rakozian can’t eat. I think it’s safe to say we
debunked that myth.”

“One Rakozian
myth was enough, thank you. We may not survive another.” Argos motioned for
Arya to have a seat.  “I called you here about Arnon.”

“Sir?” Arya was
puzzled over why the Captain would want to talk about Arnon.

“Have you had
any luck locating any of his family?” Argos walked around behind her. “I would
like to send my condolences.”

Arya was
confused by the Captain’s questions. Sending any communication to the family
now would be nearly impossible from this deep inside of Demented Space. They
were virtually cut off from the rest of the Resistance. Not only that, but
Arnon was a spy and could have gotten them all killed. “But, Sir. He was a spy.
He killed the Admiral.”

“Yes, but it
wasn’t his fault. He didn’t do it willingly. He was a prisoner in his own body.
The poor kid went through a lot at such a young age, and regardless of what
happened, I would still like to let his family know personally.”

Arya lowered her
head. “I’m sorry, Sir. We haven’t found any records. It’s possible his entire
family was killed when he was taken prisoner.”

Argos came to a
halt in front of her. “You may be right.” He paused for a moment. Arya waited
for him to continue. It wasn’t like Argos to seem so hesitant, or to pause for
too long.

“There is one
other thing I need you to do.” Argos held out a data chip. “The instructions
are all on here.”

Arya took the
rectangular metallic chip from his hand. She hesitated as she looked at it. It
was rare for Argos to hand her instructions on a data chip without giving her
some sort of explanation. It had to be something he didn’t want to voice. And
that made her nervous. “May I ask, Sir?”

“We need more
information about the Dragoran spy plot. I need you to do a detailed scan of
Arnon’s body, and I also want you to run scans of the crew. We need to finish
what the Admiral requested that we do. We have to be sure there are no other
spies on board. The anomalous readings you need to scan for are detailed on
that chip. And…I want you to keep it to yourself for now. You can tell the crew
you’re checking for Verusian flu. All of my instructions are there.”