Universe Online - Enter the Game: Complete Edition (28 page)

From where I'm standing, it's a glorious sight. It would have taken me weeks or even longer to get this far if I had tried to do it all myself. Getting that call from Drune was probably the best thing that could have happened.

But Celes leads me toward the other side of the hold, where the ships set down in the impromptu hangar. We'd had to mark out landing zones for each of them, in order to make sure that they will all fit into the space now. Each of the working tugs get a numbered spot and so does the real mining ship, and the Hauler. The Hauler isn't here at the moment though. It’s already on another pickup around the asteroid field and then will stop by here before making a circuit back down to the planet.

The newbie pilots are good enough to at least do that without damaging anything. So that's a good thing.

But one of the tugs is in, and two of its arms are holding something off to one side. Something it’s very gingerly placing on the floor.

Hmmm.

I don't recognize what it is. It’s like two beach balls had been squashed together. One is metal and has an obvious set of antenna arrays sprouting all over it. The other one... I recognize that black armor covering. It’s the same that the Drex use. But it’s cracked and dried out in some places; and is leaking a yellow fluid onto the floor from where it met the metal one.

“Okay. Anyone know what these are? That one is obviously Drex, but I've never seen either of them before.”

I ask as soon as I get near the small group who are waiting to examine them. None of them are real scientists, but the mix of mechanics and technicians should be able to make up for that.

“Ah, Boss. It seems Celes was finally able to wake you.”

One of the men teases and even shoots a wink at us, and I can hear Celes give a rough grunt. But when I look her face is red again. Uh oh. Just how long did it take her to wake me?

I don't even want to think about it right now.

No doubt that there will be a reverse Sleeping Beauty story going around the gossip wheel here soon enough.

Bah.

Still, they quit teasing almost instantly and I finally get my answer.

“The metal one is a communications relay. A satellite used for faster-than-light communications. Archon Station is close enough to Drune that radio will work quite well in allowing us to speak back and forth with only a little lag. But beyond this point things get a little weird and it can take hours, days, or even months for radio signals to go further.”

I nod, getting the idea.

“I don't know about all the tech, boss, but we seeded the entire solar system with these relays. Mostly because they are limited in their bandwidth, but also as a safety precaution. Taking down one wouldn't cut anyone off in case of emergencies.

“The Drex did the same though, using whatever the hell they use in place of the tech, anyway.”

The man motions to the armored ball.

“If I'm right, this is a Drex relay. Because they are satellites, we tend to put them at spots where gravity is rather stable or neutral. Lagrange Points, for example. It cuts down on the energy required to keep them stationary. These were found out in the asteroid field, so I think that they were knocked into each other.

“Ours is dead though. Its batteries are totally empty. But the Drex is still... well, alive. It’s damaged, and leaking whatever it is... But it still has power. We've found enough dried out Drex to know what happens when they decay in space. This one is still mostly glossy.”

Yeah, even I could tell that. Living Drex armor has a luster to it, even though most is a flat, matte black color. But dried out they turn a dark gray and become as brittle as dust when touched.

“Hmm. Is there any way to check it? If even the Drex required faster-than-light communication relays like this, then it means they still require -some- technology to live in space. Is there any way to read what's in it? It should have something that acts like memory and a processor, right?”

I ask the question, but the guys only look at each other before shrugging.

“We aren't really sure Boss. Until recently none of us had ever seen a Drex outside of the videos we had archived in Site Prime. We never studied their anatomy, their technology or anything. This is the first example of working Drex equipment we've ever found.”

At that I nod my head and would have rubbed my chin if the helmet wasn't in the way. It’s a quandary, that's for sure. Still, it could prove valuable. Very valuable.

“Okay. Crate it all up, securely. The Hauler should be back here soon to unload and reload the next round of supplies for Site Prime. I'll take it down with me and have it checked out.”

It seems I'm back to being a freight driver. Well, at least it isn't that bad of a job. I really need to find some more stuff to read though. Nearly ten hours of doing nothing but napping doesn't sit well with me. Oh, how I wish we had a library.

A proper library with mountains of books.

Oh well.

“And make sure the crate used is lined with a Faraday Cage. I don't want any sort of signal coming in or out of this thing. I shudder to think that the Drex could be hearing us speaking over comms right this moment.”

My words startle the crew, and with a nod from Celes the men go scrambling. They really are too lax. But you could say I'm paranoid about some things.

“Good call Boss. I don't know why none of us thought to not contain the thing securely.” Celes comms me after taking another glance at the Drex ball. I frown, but I don't worry about it too much.

“Things have been too lax. Even with the impending ruin of the life support system in Site Prime, there hasn't been enough challenge, enough struggle. It’s one thing to fight against the environment. That's utterly impersonal. Like fighting against a meteor shower. It’s another to go up against a creature just as smart as you are. One who could potentially outwit you.”

I can clearly see her shudder as she takes in my words.

-|- -|- -|-

Fun Fact #10: Vector-based flight, which is required in space, is very math heavy.  It makes my brain melt without even trying to do the calculations...

BOOOOOOM!

The blast was big enough to rattle the entire room, the heavy ballistic shielding separating the rest of us from the interior space cracking under the sudden onslaught. Sirens go off, and between the cursing and sudden cries of 'No!' and 'By the Gods!', everyone, including myself is stunned.

But even then Silene has enough presence of mind to slam her gloved fist against the big red button on the wall near the hatchway. The one used for emergencies.

Within moments a thick fire retardant foam is sprayed into the inner chamber, clearing away the smoke for us to see what had happened.

It is not a pretty sight. One man horribly dead, and the chamber's composite metal flooring and ceiling, along with the table and robotic probe set nearby were all blasted to bits. Bare rock can be seen.

Along with the smearing of sickly yellow fluid and black shards of chitin-like armoring.

The Drex satellite had exploded almost as soon as we'd got it set within the isolation chamber. A big ass freaking booby trap.

“What the hell happened?”

The first one to rush in is Andrix, who'd only just walked out while the rest of us watched. Soon enough a team of security follows him in, silent and yet emitting enough killing intent to make my skin crawl.

“It went boom.”

I speak up first, catching myself after only a moment while the other still seem dazed.

“Oh damn. We lost Klinton.”

Silene's remark brings the others back quickly, and several start cursing or yelling at the same time.

“QUIET! Secure the room!”

Andrix yells with his commanding bellow, and I nod and turn my gaze back to the fractured glass that separates us from the inside. This lab and the isolation chamber within it had been set up almost as soon as I had reported what we'd found in space.

The chance to actually study Drex biotechnology didn't come very often. We were all optimistically cautious about it. In space, it seemed to be inert, even dying.

We didn't find any inkling that something like this was going on when we checked it before offloading it, along with the rest of the supplies I'd brought down in the Hauler.

But it seems it had another trick up its sleeve. One that's already cost the life of the man who'd volunteered to put it in the chamber by hand. And he'd even been equipped with a totally sealed environmental suit. The sort that'd allow him to survive on the surface for about twenty four hours.

His upper limbs and head had been blown off.

It’s a gruesome thing to even look at. The blood and offal and other
things
is enough to make me want to gag, even though I'm on an empty stomach anyway.

I do look though. I scan over everything. I'm happy I did, too.

My hand goes up a split moment before Silene's does, stopping the guards who'd started toward the isolation chamber.

“Don't bother. In fact, what the hell is happening? Silene?”

I ask before the others realize what's going on inside.

The yellow fluid is bubbling on everything it had come into contact with. The glass, the metal floors and walls, the ceiling. The bare rock that'd been revealed beneath.

It’s become a frothy goo, and I can see the spots where it had hit the thick reinforced glass. It was growing, like a mold.

“It is... Shit! Do we have any fire teams!? Andrix, get them in here now!” Silene yells, even as I glance where her own gaze is directed. To the body. The yellow fluid that had splashed upon the late Klinton's remains has turned black, and has started... eating the corpse. Like an acid.

Except... it’s growing while it does so. Covering over more and more of the dead body. Even through the cracked glass I can see the protrusions erupting from the it. A mix of fine black hair-like growth and thicker, waving tendrils.

Okay, I do gag. That's just gross. And horrifying.

Andrix is on his comm almost instantly.

By the time I've regained control of myself, more than half the body has been consumed, and the black mass has become a pool on the floor, spreading across both the metal and the rock. Where it touches the rock, it starts to spread out like a web, and the growth speeds up, spreading even faster.

“It’s growing. Fuck. The shit is spreading all over the place after consuming the biomass.”

Silene is cursing herself, which is almost never a good sign.

“The fire team will be here in three minutes.”

Andrix's remark is about right on the mark, but I don't think we have three minutes. It’s already eating through the glass. I start smelling a pungent, sickly sweet smell. Like a corpse laid over rotten flowers. Yet stronger.

Several of the others are gagging and holding their mouths and noses.

The smell is overpowering... Wait, smell.

For some reason that sticks with me, and for a moment I cannot figure out why.

…

Damn!

“Silene, seal the chamber then vent it! Put it in a vacuum!”

It came to me like a light-bulb going off in the dark. The reason why the cracked satellite remained inert while in space.

Because it was space! Totally cold and airless.

We already know that the Drex still require air to survive. If their armored shells are punctured, they will die of suffocation in a vacuum.

She gets it too, and moves to the nearby control console and puts in the command. Heavy steel shutters slam down around the isolation chamber, followed by the hiss of the air pumps kicking on in the walls.

We cannot see in, except through a few cameras that survived the blast being projected from the holo-monitors. The suction isn't enough to pull up any of the fluid, which has become very thick and viscous, but it’s already visibly slowing as all the air is pulled out.

The already cracked glass isn't able to handle the negative pressure though, and breaks; shattering into the chamber in a thousand shards that'd look pretty in any other manner. The force of it causes the heavy shutter to groan and flex inward a little; but it thankfully holds against the force.

“Good call, Allec. How much has it slowed down, Silene?” (Andrix)

“Off the top of my head? Maybe ninety percent. It’s still growing, but not as quickly. Nowhere near as quickly.”

Silene seems more collected now, but her face is pale and she's sweating buckets. Andrix and the others aren't looking much better.

We're out of options.

“Damnit. Now we cannot burn the shit. As soon as we lift the seals, the shit will spread out here too. If it gets into the ventilation... Freak.”

I can only nod to Andrix. It’s bad.

It just tossed almost a whole weeks worth of work out the freaking window. Trying to rescue Site Prime, keep everyone alive, and myself in working order and expand control of Archon Station... It’s like juggling a bunch of water balloons. Any missed one will cause them all to go -pop-.

And now this happens.

I grit my teeth, even though my mind is working furiously.

Is there any way out of this? Any way at all? We don't have enough space suits for two thousand people. No way to make enough in time. I'd hate to think of what that Drex shit would do to a living person. Actually, I right out refuse to even think about it. It’s too... much. Way to much. Even for me.

And I've faced dragons and literal mountains of undead before. Seen an troll bite a knights head off, helmet and all. Crept through a stinking sewer full of shit and piss and other things not worth talking about in a civilized manner.

What was growing on that body though puts everything else to shame. It was like a liquid, inky darkness. Utterly inhuman.

“How much time do we have before it eats out of the chamber?” I finally have to ask. I need concrete information in order to make a decision.

“I'd say... five days. Maybe less. There's still ambient heat in the chamber, even with it in a vacuum. That's what it is using to survive. Especially where it’s bare rock. With us so far underground, it’s actually warm enough that we have to keep the life support on cool in order to live.”

I nod my head, even though I'm biting my lower lip.

“Is there any way to pump in something cold? Liquid nitrogen, helium, anything?”

This time it’s Andrix's question, and after a moment of looking thoughtful Silene nods.

“It’s worth a try. I'll get on that, although it will have to go through the ventilation system. But sir, by the time we work out a fix, it may already be too late. Here, look.”

She points us at the holo-monitor she's been staring at, where we can see the black pool of... stuff on the floor. On the bare rock, more growths are already pushing upwards, sprouting like some sort of... well, it looks between a cross between grass and a fungus.

They are small at the moment, but the individual blades are waving around as if in a wind.

Then I spot what she's referring to. It’s like a cloud is forming overtop of the growth. Spores. It’s releasing spores, so dense that you can see it with the naked eye.

They're heavy enough to stay localized, but where they touch the bare rock that hadn't been overrun by the black spread, they are stained with the black shit that spreads out almost as quickly as it can.

It’s a slow process, but already in minutes... Shit.

“If we use the ventilation system, it could spread that stuff faster. And if it gets into the air... No one will get out of here alive.”

Those are my own words, and the already pale people assembled go green in the face. Not to mention it seems highly corrosive to glass and metal. At the edges the hole to the bare earth is already being eaten away, even while we watch.

“Shit. Okay. Fire team, remain here and get this place under guard. Everyone else, evacuate to the next sector. I don't want a single person within five hundred feet of this room without permission. Allec, come with me. It’s time for another... talk.”

Andrix's orders are precise and unquestionable, and the guards all salute while everyone else, including Silene seems more than happy to get out of there.

Hell, I'm happy to get as far away as I can, as well.

I follow Andrix out, and he leads me back to his office. It’’s the most secure place in the Site, and at this point I'm happy to get off my feet and take a little while to think and work this out. It’s become one giant mess. Neither of us bother talking either, and instead make it at our best pace; which is surprising fast in only 30% gravity.

We sorta just bound along. More of a stride than what you'd see on the videos of the astronauts on the moon though.

Finally he closes the door and I seat myself without waiting. We're long past the point of being overly polite with each other. I close my eyes for a moment and take a deep breath, trying to regain my own calm.

Personally, I'm not so worried that I might die. I'd simply revive on the station as if nothing much had happened, although the double penalty is going to suck a lot. Site Prime doesn't even register as a respawn point, anyway. Too dangerous and unstable.

“Allec... For some reason I want to curse you right now. You brought this mess on us. And yet you didn't have that intent. I have to respect that. In fact, even I wanted to be able to get some real information on the Drex. Everything we know of them is centuries out of date, and none of it includes what the hell they really did to themselves.”