Story: Below
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A story by User:Holbenilord. Who can say what lives in the deep places of the world? What manner of nightmarish things crawl or slither in the darkness, with twenty miles of old, weakening rock our only defence?
Chapter 1
"Endless miles of caves. The rocks are igneous, but they've been around long enough that the joints have been widened into caverns by hydraulic action, though we don't see much water in them. It's probably far deeper down, where it will be heated sufficiently to act as a geothermal power source for the camp."
The recon team were sat in the ship's briefing room. It was fairly large, at least five by ten metrons, with a high ceiling and a number of hanging bulbs on the ceiling that illuminated the whole area cleanly. There were four rows of benches, each row with the capacity for four people though only ten were sat there. At the front, by the visboard, was the expedition chief.
"The first housing and labs are being dropped off first, and then us. We have eight buildings in all- three for sleeping, a control centre, two storehouses and two labs. They expect us to assemble new buildings from local resources if necessary, but they probably won't be."
The comm on the front desk beeped, and a small red light came on. "Jed here. Forty minutes to atmo."
"Thanks for the warning. How's it looking from there?"
"Approach vector is clean. Insertion should be smooth, without much turbulence. It's a beautiful day on the planet."
"Perhaps we should give it a name. CLA-56930 doesn't quite do it justice."
"I agree there. I'll keep you posted, Sav."
Savin pressed a button on the comm, and the light turned off.
"Forty minutes. Any questions?"
An atrenid raised its hand- Marik, the botanist. "What kind of food can we expect?"
Savin shrugged. "Probably ship rations at first. Maybe we'll find something groundside."
Marik nodded, and sat back.
"Anything else?"
Iva, a Detroni zoologist, was next. "Who'll be in which building?"
"Decided after we get there. Don't worry, you'll all get a say."
Zaron grunted. He raised his hand and looked piercingly at Savin.
"Yes, Zaron?"
"Why the krag am I here?"
"Because it's standard procedure to have an espatier with any science team going to a new world. We might need you to shoot things, corporal."
"Yeah, yeah, I know the kragging rules. Why didn't you take some soft-scaled fleet private? Why'd you pick me?"
"Your winning personality, of course."
"Krag you, man." Zaron crossed his arms and growled. He was a Zyrothan, a big and heavy one with a long scar from his snout to his chest. Despite his veterancy, he was only twenty eight.
Irista, the Velaya security chief, walked in on her hind four legs. In her hands, she held a PDA and a screwdriver. "Salv?"
Her husband got up from the back row and headed over. "What's up?"
"Nothing much. Just an anomaly on the scanner." As they walked off, her voice grew fainter and fainter. "I told Jed it was nothing, but he asked me to ask the friendly local geologist what kind of..." The sound of the fans and slow thudding of machinery masked the words from the team's ears.
"Alright. Get kitted and ready. Meet me by the dropship in twelve." Savin headed off, composed as ever.
Chapter 2
The dropship sat in the hangar, door open and ready to receive the team. The ship itself was too large to land without spaceport facilities, so it would remain in orbit until the supply ships arrived. It was a large freighter, around eight kilometrons long, and could carry several million tonnes of ore if it was purposed that way.
The structures were enclosed within heat shields for insertion. Each heat shield bore rugged retro-thrusters to slow its descent and balance its landing anyway.
"Suits on and in the boat!"
Each of the group put on their spacesuit- even though Velaya spacesuits were particularly awkward. It was an established law that every spacer had their own suit, usually two- the funders didn't want to pay for two dozen different suit models every trip.
Once in, they headed into the dropship. Jumpseats were there for them to sit on, and the walls and floor were padded for added shock absorbence.
Savin got in and motioned for the others to follow him. The hangar's door now began to slide open, revealing the blurry clouds and oceans below. The planet's sun reflected from the water in bright cells.
"Pretty." Kali sent by radio.
"Yep. But we'll be seeing it close up soon enough."
"I can't wait to be back on solid ground, in natgrav..."
"You're lucky. When we were shipped off to fight the Xenopterans, we had a five-month subjective. No kragging cryo, either. We were at each others' throats before two were up. Eight died, in all, before we set down." The grumpy voice of the Zyrothan.
"Shut up, Zaron."
"Krag you."
Clipped in, they watched the dropship seal. A vidscreen came up on the wall behind the cockpit, showing what the vessel's nosecam saw, along with altitude and ETA.
The acceleration was soft at first. The first-timers relaxed slightly, but the veterans remained in their acc-positions. "It doesn't get gentler, I'm afraid."
They hit the planet's upper atmosphere. Here it was too diffuse to have much effect.
However, as the craft plummeted down, flames licking the ship's sides, they began to feel a gentle rattle. Then, a force like a tonne of rocks came smashing into the side of each of the crew. "Gaaaaaaaahhh..."
The ship quickly activated a mass field to compensate, softening the impact so that only the rattle of the ship could be felt. But there would probably be a dozen bruises when they got off.
The viewscreen showed the ground shooting up towards them. They smashed through clouds, and now the landing site was visible- a large, flat area with a lake, a kind of plateau amidst a long mountain chain. A few shiny specks- the heat shields of the buildings- were visible.
"Aren't we going too fast?"
"Thrusters will come online in a moment."
Now another force, gentler but definitely there, came pressing on their loins. It, too, was weakened by the compensating mass field. The altimeter read two thousand metrons.
One thousand five hundred.
"That kragging display. I'm removing it the moment we land."
"What, too ominous for you?" Kali laughed.
"Damn right it's ominous..."
Five hundred... four hundred.
"Hey, is there a chance we'll crash into one of the huts?"
"It wouldn't matter if we did. The ship and the hut would both be undamaged."
"Okay."
Silence. Two hundred.
"Why the krag am I here."
"Shut up, Zaron."
One hundred.
"Krag you."
"Hey, did you see that?" Savin perked up.
"What'd you see?"
"Like- something small, running out of one of the buildings."
"Maybe there were rizzak on board. Maybe it was a local animal."
"Yeah."
Five.
"Alright, here we go."
Five.
"..."
Five.
"..."
Five.
"I think it's broken."
"Yep."
"Ok. We're going to have to open the door manually."
Savin keyed in a password to his suit's wrist computer, then pressed a button. The dropship's door opened, revealing the rocky landscape.
"So five is the new zero?"
"That's what it said."
"Ok, ok. Let's get out."
They filed out, then began to remove their suits. The air was cold, but not chillingly so. About 15 degrees cellit.
The sun was sitting on the horizon, rising slowly into the whitish sky.
"High atmospheric pressure. Sky is whiter."
"Yeah, I'm feeling it."
Zaron went to one of the buildings.
"Bulkhead's open. I thought we closed them all."
"We did."
"Hmph."
"Maybe we left one of the ship's crew in one."
"Nah, they'd have seen us landing even if they'd been sprinting off from the moment they landed."
"Our first mystery..."
"Second. Meet me at the control hut."
"That being?"
"The one with 'control' written on it."
"Makes sense."
"Yes, yes it does."
Chapter 3
"Kali?"
A small, female Salsene responded. "Here!"
"Marik?"
"Yep."
"Iva?"
"Here."
"Salvo?"
"Yes."
"Irista?"
"Uh-huh."
"Esko?"
An Alxen nodded.
"Syra?"
"Yes." Syra was a Zyrothan, and an engineer.
"Okay, good. We are all here."
"Krag you." Zaron glared.
"And there I was hoping you wouldn't show up." Savin smiled.
Zaron weighed the Fang Battle Rifle in his hands. "Some day, Savin. Some day I won't show up and that'll be the day you realise what a useless, spineless git you are."
"I look forward to it."
Zaron growled and walked off.
"Now that's out of the way, I can tell you what we're doing. Orbital scans, now verified by the seismic data we're picking up, has confirmed these caves are even more extensive than we thought. In fact, they're the deepest in the known universe."
"And we're going down them?"
"Not just yet. Once we have geothermal and have had a sleep."
"Why can't we keep running off the nuclear rod we brought?"
"That's for backup power."
"Ok."
"We have a carvicor, and two drones. The robot drill will be spent once it's finished digging, which it's doing now. I plan for everything to be ready tomorrow for our first descent. Weapons will be distributed by Mr Grumpy, survey kit from Esko here. We're doing science, people!"
Savin turned on a projector, and an image of the front bulkhead of one of the labs. It was pixellated and blurry.
"This is the thing I pointed out as I came down. You can see the figure coming out of the door."
"Humanoid."
"Yes. I contacted the ship and they do have a guy missing- who was doing the last furnishings in the lab. He must have got trapped. The acc probably hurt."
"So why didn't he come to us?"
"No idea. If we find him, we're to take care of him and send him back when the first supply shuttles come. If he's hurt, we have Kali and I have some medical training. Our second objective is to find him. That's all I wanted to say, so go and get some rest."
Chapter 4
After doing the roll-call, Savin got the kit out from the storehouses and laid it out on the ground. Ropes, harnesses, torches, VLF radios and everything else were distributed around.
Esko gave each individual a helmet camera and a multi-sensor.
Zaron handed out pistols, keeping the Fang himself.
"Zaron, I don't want a Mincer. I want a Mauler."
"I can't kragging give everyone Maulers. Some kragging idiot only put three in."
With everyone ready, they headed to the cave opening. Savin and Esko set up a radio hub and some seismometers, then shored up the entrance with some girders.
"Ok. It's wide enough here for us to all go in, but in case we have to go in single file, I'll go in front and Zaron will take the back. If we get split up, everyone should immediately go straight back to the entrance. The cords attached to our belts will let us find our way back even if the torches fail."
And with that, they all headed into the darkness.
Salvo touched the cave wall with his hands. "Solid granite. Not the same kind of caves I'm used to- I grew up caving in limestone areas."
"No stalactites or stalagmites here, he means."
"Just keep walking."
They came to a cavern, around 30 metrons down. Basalt pillars joined the roof and the floor, and the walls were dark grey rock. Small shafts pierced the ceiling and floor here and there, too small to climb into.
"To think that all of this is the result of water widening one joint in the rock."
They picked their way through, the rocks providing strong footholds. When they came to the end of the cavern, they saw two openings- two paths.
Savin spoke up. "I'll take Salvo, Irista, Marik and Esko. We'll go right. You four, go left."
"Kragging typical."
"Shut up, Zaron."
He growled. "Krag you."
As he watched Savin's group disappear into the darkness, he turned to the other three with him. "Kali, Iva, Syra. Who has what gun?"
Kali showed the Snakebite she was holding. Iva pulled out a Mincer Machine Pistol. Syra drew a Mauler and a Stonecutter SMG.
"I don't remember giving you a kragging Stonecutter."
"It's mine."
"Yeah. We're going slowly and carefully. No-one do anything risky. If any of you kragging slip or fall, I'll leave you where you fell."
Kali looked alarmedly at him. "You're not serious-"
"I don't kragging say things if they aren't kragging serious."
"So... we should have gone with Savin?"
Zaron glared. "Just stay kragging close."
Chapter 5
Savin looked confusedly at the wrist computer.
"What's wrong?"
"I remember when no-one else had these things. We bought them- thousands of credits. And then four years after, we gave up and went back to handheld computers. Now, they're back in favour."
"So, that makes you a kind of... accidental hipster?"
"Yeah, if you like."
They moved on, silently. The tunnel narrowed and then widened, darkness pressing in all around the weak patches of light their torches produced.
"Okay, stop."
"What is it?"
"I'm gonna try contacting Zaron."
He took out his VLF radio. "Hello? Zaron?"
The static was weak, but audible.
"Granite's too thick. The signal can't get through. Should we go back?"
"What's the time?"
Salvo checked his wrist. "We've been in here for two hours."
"Two hours? Krag, that was fast."
"Yeah, well, that's caving. We want to be out before sundown."
Kneeling to taste the dirt, Zaron's expression became one of disgust. "Bleh."
"Teach you not to eat dirt."
"If I want to eat dirt I'll kragging eat dirt. It tastes of crap."
"So what does that tell you?"
"Nothing. I saw them do it on the holo and I wanted to see why. Turns out they're just kragging stupid."
In the circle of light his torch made, grit began to trickle down the walls.
"Tremor?" Kali asked.
"I'm not a kragging geologist."
"Perhaps I wasn't asking you."
"I don't see any kragging geologists. I think you've got the groups confused."
The trickle stopped.
They moved on through the narrow tunnel. Basalt pillars- heaxagonal prisms- formed the walls, exposed by hydraulic action and forming strange-looking structures. Iva stepped on something which crunched.
All turning, they pointed their torches at the place- and there was a grey fungus, forming a circular shape maybe a foot across. There were more around it, on the walls and ceiling.
Where it had broken, a light brown substance was revealed. It oozed beige sludge out onto the stone.
Kali leant over to study it. "I guess it's chemosynthetic. A fungus-analogue."
"Looks more like a crap you'd find on a farm than a fungus." Zaron kicked it idly, breaking it again and making bits of the brown insides fly out.
He shrugged at the glares.
"We're eight hundred metrons down."
"What's the time?"
"Five hours since we started."
"Alright, time to eat. Get your kragging food out."
They sat down on a collapsed pillar, and opened their packs. Nutrient bars and carbloafs were all that was in them.
"This isn't food for people." Iva eyed it with distaste.
"On Scarab, we ate the kragging bodies of the Xenopterans. Kragging command refused to supply us because there was a nest nearby."
"Shut up, Zaron."
"Krag you."
They sat there in silence. Only quiet munching could be heard.
Zaron performed NSPs on his Fang, and once satisfied, slung it over his shoulder. He stood up.
"Come on. No kragging time to waste. I want to be back before nightfall."
Reluctantly, the others followed him.
Chapter 6
Zaron held the torchlight over a small stream that had cut a deep gorge in the cave floor.
"Try not to kragging fall."
Zaron jumped, and landed safely on the other side. Then the others leapt over, one by one, first handing their packs across. Iva almost slipped, but Zaron grabbed her and pulled her up.
"...thanks."
Zaron grunted and turned away.
They walked on slowly, unheeding to the rocks around them. There wasn't much in the darkness, but they stared into it anyway.
"How long have we been down?" They turned another corner, into a strange cavern that had many offshoots and tunnels leading away.
"Just let me check..." Kali sat down on a boulder. "Seven hours."
"Krag. Well, probably time to start going back."
"Has Savin sent anything?"
"Not a kragging thing."
"Probably the walls. Blocking the signals."
He grunted, and looked around. Then, he turned to the others, a look of annoyance on his face.
"Now, which of these tunnels did we kragging come from?"
"Uh..."
"No-one made a note? No-kragging-one?"
"Well... there are only so many..."
Iva spoke up. "We can go along each and look for things we recognise."
"Alright. Krag."
They each went to a tunnel opening, scanning for anything they remembered.
A tremor shook the ground, and little rocks dislodged from the ceiling. Their landing made a quiet patter.
"Uh..."
Slightly larger rocks began to fall now. Clunks as thet hit the rock.
"Get the krag back!"
There was a great clatter as they each leapt back from the tunnels, and boulders began to fill the entrances, rapidly blocking most of them up.
"I remembered!" Iva got back up, smiling. "There was an anvil-shaped rock sticking from the wall at the end!"
"That's just kragging great." Zaron went up to an anvil-shaped rock, and then peered between the boulders that had shut the path. "No way through that."
"Some of the paths are open. They might lead back."
"Did you see any kragging tunnels rejoining ours?"
"Well... no..."
Zaron jabbed at the rocks with his rifle. "Might as well kragging try, though."
"The compass! It should have recorded our every step and orientation change! It should lead us back to the surface, even if we use this one."
Zaron glared. "Marik and Savin had the kragging compasses."
"But..."
"I told you it wasn't kragging bright of that kragger."
"Maybe their tunnel will join this one further on."
Syra was looking at the far tunnels as they spoke.
"There seems to be another crossroads cavern ahead. It's possible."
"Well... alright." Zaron grabbed his gear and marched over.
This cavern was larger. It was taller, and the ceiling spiralled strangely upwards. A number of broad stalactities, inset with gems, hung down.
"I thought there were no stalactities?" Iva studied one closely.
"These aren't normal stalactites. They're weathered from the granite, rather than produced by dripping water depositing limestone." Syra tapped one with her Mauler.
"Oh. I guess that explains the gems, too."
"Yeah. But there are more than I would have expected."
"Who kragging cares?" Zaron walked past them, an even angrier scowl than usual on his face.
"Zaron, you've spent time in Xenopteran nests, right? They're underground." Kali tried to keep up with him.
"Yeah, but there you have the kragging bodies of the Xenopterans you've killed for company, and there are objects scattered around. This is just kragging empty. And too kragging big."
It was then that they came across a Mauler heavy pistol, lying on the floor. It was a little tarnished by dust, but shone in their torchlight.
"Must've been Esko's. Kragger must have dropped it."
"And this means their tunnel did join this one."
"Yeah." Zaron picked it up and gave it to Iva. "Better this than a kragging mincer."
"Thanks."
They hurried on, now on the lookout for the light of a torch or the sound of a voice.
Chapter 7
The fungi, which had only been blotches earlier, formed a thick carpet over the ground and walls here. It cracked under their steps, and also revealed a trail of familiar footprints.
"Let me count- two Velaya, one Atrenid, Alxen, and a kragging Salsene. They don't seem to be moving fast, either."
"So they're okay. I wonder if the tremor affected them."
Syra checked the prints herself. "It seemed very localised in the tunnels behind us. They shouldn't have been affected."
"Good. Can you radio them?"
Zaron took out his radio and extended the aerial. He pressed the 'to talk' button.
"Savin? Where the krag are you?"
A soft static answered him.
"They can't be that kragging far ahead. These things have a dozen miles' range, straight."
"Maybe there are odd formations in the way."
"Maybe." Zaron put the radio back in its pouch, aerial still up high. It wagged behind his shoulder, making a slight sound, but they ignored it. The static from the speaker could just about be heard.
The fungus mat stopped as they came into a new cavern. It was quite warm here- they had to be many miles under the surface. The floor was rough but glittering marble, though the walls were still dark and brooding granite. It was quite beautiful.
A column rose in the centre of the chamber, and behind it was another tunnel entrance, again lined with the fungus. They went to it, and then Zaron stopped.
"Four sets of prints only. Krag."
"Yeah, and they seem to have milled about for a bit."
Iva picked up something from the floor. "Was this Marik's?"
Kali motioned for the jacket, and Iva gave it. She looked it over. "Yeah."
"Blood, on the sleeve."
"Which sleeve? I didn't see any-"
Another drop of blood came down from the ceiling and landed on the jacket.
They looked up slowly. A shaft was there, and from it stuck an atrenid arm. There was a meandering red mark along its length, going down a finger, and little crimson droplets formed there.
"Krag."
"How did he get up there?" Kali stared at the corpse.
"There are footholds. And- kragging gaps in the dust on the rock shelves. He climbed up."
"Then they just abandoned him?"
"Looks kragging like it. Judging by the blood, it can't be more than twenty minutes since he died."
"Krag."
Zaron looked at her curiously. "Exactly."
"Do we just leave him there?"
Iva climbed up some of the way and pulled the body down. It hit the floor with a gentle squelch, but remained intact. A series of slashes had cut straight through the Atrenid's abdomen, exposing the intestines within. Zaron watched in a kind of morbid fascination.
"Well, we can't bury him."
"We'll just have to kragging stick hi- wait."
Zaron moved down to the feet, which were gone. They had been neatly cut off.
Taking hold of the body, he flipped it over so the face was pointing up. Here, too, were strange things- a hand was gone, the skull was cracked open, and there was a long line going down the chest. Blood had almost completely drained from the body, but there wasn't much on what was left of the Atrenid's clothes.
"Ok. Let's just stick him in a kragging hole and be done with it."
He hauled the corpse over to a shaft in the floor and pushed it in aggressively, then wiped his hands against the rock.
"And the others didn't kragging care enough to do that?"
"Or they were too scared..."
Syra gripped her Stonecutter a little tighter.
Chapter 8
The blackness had assumed a more sinister aspect now, crowding around them and only held at bay by the light of their torches and computers. Jagged rock formations seemed to move and dance as the light moved over them. Fire sparkled in the marble, the result of a million glistening particles but still giving the appearance of an angry flame.
As the world around them seemed to become more and more savage and primitive, so their faces became less resolute and their steps gentler. There were nameless things in the dark places of the worlds.
They came to a new chamber. There were more of the stalactities here, though these were larger and their gems were more sizeable.
"Remind me to grab some on the way up." Iva didn't know she was talking in a whisper, but it seemed wise to the others.
Zaron's front foot hit something, which yielded slightly. He stopped, and the others gathered around as the torchlights passed over the object. It was a body- an Alxen body.
"Esko." Breathed Kali.
It had been ripped in two, but the spine still connected the halves. A gaping wound, torn open and still leaking blood, went through the left shoulder and out the other side. The hands and feet were gone, again.
A frostbite medium pistol lay next to the corpse, snapped in two. They couldn't find the barrel.
Something moved in the darkness, and their torches all whipped round. It was a large... bristly.... thing that had crashed down onto the floor from the shafts in the roof.
Zaron's light revealed its face. It was badly mutilated, but they could just about see Salvo's features in it. Here, every limb was gone and the skin plates were broken in a dozen places. One if the eyes was also missing.
"Krag. Krag. Krag..."
"Calm the krag down. We have to find anyone that's left and kragging get out of here."
With some vigour renewed, they pushed on through the blackness. The warmth was increased, and though they all thrived in such conditions, here it was uncomfortable and stifling.
They came to a fork in the caves. One tunnel was open, but the other was sealed with some kind of thick sheet that yielded a little when Zaron pushed his Fang into it, but then recoiled. Rocks thrown, even at full force, bounced off. Bullets made little holes, but the way remained impassable.
"Looks like our path has been chosen for us, then."
The tunnel they entered was riddled with sizeable holes on both sides and above. Fungal mats surrounded their openings, but did not enter them. There were the traces of footprints on the floor- very fresh.
"We're kragging catching up..."
But there was only one trail. The prints were four-toed, with webbing in between- Salsene. They were laboured, and the left leg dragged a little, leaving shallow gouges in the fungus.
"The others...?"
"Probably kragging dead. We just missed the bodies."
"But... what killed them?"
"Kragged if I know."
They looked together into the darkness, perhaps a little glad of its opacity now that they had seen a glimmer of what it contained.
"Let's go find Savin."
"Hey, wait!"
They all turned to see Iva at the entrance to another tunnel, with fungus on its floor. Another set of footprints, but far older.
"The guy Savin saw escape the dropped buildings?"
"There's more than one kragging set of prints. None are from people I recognise."
"What's going on?"
"Maybe these are the kraggers who killed Marik, Esko, Irista and Salvo."
"So, do we follow them or Savin?"
"Savin."
"Okay. So, are we going?"
"Yeah."
They moved off, following the Salsene tracks.
Chapter 9
Zaron traced the imprints left in the fungus and the thin line of blood by them. Concentrating on them, he was surprised to walk into another of the strange sheets. The footprints carried on through it, and indeed one was cut in half by the material.
"Can we get through?" Iva tapped at it.
Looking a little reluctant, Zaron pulled a frag grenade from his pouch. "Stand the krag back."
He placed it just below the sheet, and then walked back, holding the remote detonator in his hand. His face seemed to have adopted a slightly sad expression, and he looked down at the floor. When he was around twenty yards away, he pressed the button.
The membrane was torn to shreds by the explosion, leaving little strands of it all around the clear area on the floor that the grenade had produced. Bits of brown fungus dripped off the walls around it.
There was a long quiet as the tunnels recovered from the shock. Then, Zaron looked back up, at where the tunnel had led.
This cavern was enormous, and illuminated from all around. It was at least a mile wide and tall, and great columns of basalt connected the roof and floor. All around them, and from floor to ceiling, were...
...pipes?
Thick, grey tubes, yards across, with odd patterns along their lengths and hundreds of smaller tubes connecting and splitting off along their lengths. Some pulsated like something living, others hung down from the chamber's apex and dripped some kind of foul fluid. The lights were embedded in the pipes and walls- if they had been outside, their dim candescence would have been barely visible, but the team's eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness.
And the walls were not rock, but plated metal and glass. Hanging from the cavern's apex were more of the hanging, gem-encrusted 'stalactites', but here they slowly rotated and were armoured with steel.
A steep slope led down from where they were to the almost industrial scene below and ahead. Dank water covered the ground, obscuring it from view. Thousands of tunnel shafts, forming a honeycomb-like structure, ringed the water and the roof. Zaron cautiously stepped down. A little dust gave around his foot, but it remained mainly stable. Moving sideways, he half-walked, half-slid to the bottom of the slope.
The others moved down too, remaining careful. Then, they stood in the murky water together, and looked around for anything notable.
A radio lay, discarded, on the shore. On closer examination, its casing was split in half and the aerial had been twisted and snapped. "Savin was here." Iva put it back down again.
"Yeah."
The waded on to the far side. The mud was thick and oily, and clung to their feet and ankles. Zaron examined the shafts leading away, and saw a trail of blood in one.
"Kragger got this far. He can't be far ahead."
He stooped to enter, but Zyrothans couldn't effectively crawl with their four legs. More than a little annoyed, he looked down its length.
Something flashed in the darkness, then was gone.
"Krag!" He shouted. "I saw something!"
"What was it?"
"I don't kragging know. But it was watching us."
"Was it Savin?"
"I don't think he could have moved that kragging fast."
"The lost guy?"
"...maybe. Don't have a kragging idea."
"No large animals could live down here. There just isn't the biomass."
"I don't know anything about kragging biomass. I know I kragging saw something." Tubes and coils pulsated behind them, and the quiet moan of their motion was the only sound. The rotating stalactites had frozen.
There was a slightly larger tunnel just by the one Savin must have entered, so that was the one they filed into. Zaron was at the front, Fang held up and torchlight sweeping over the rocks as he shuffled along.
This was a very long passage, and they moved to the rhythm of their breaths for a long time before anything happened. The tunnel was no longer a straight line, but coiling in on itself, as well as upwards. They had no choice but to follow it to its end. At the top, the walls stopped being rock and became a black, slimy material, rigid but smooth. Walking was hazardous as the slippy surface below made their toes and claws shift slightly as they walked.
They were moving downwards, and a little light appeared at the end of the tunnel. Zaron slid down to greet it, and almost crashed into one of the large 'stalactites'. This one was armoured like those in the last chamber, and frozen in position with its largest gem facing Zaron. He crouched and moved under it.
Many more hung down, in the same way and orientation. It was a maze to move through them, squeezing between their metal sides, pushing through narrow gaps.
They came out in a chamber like the last- but maybe twice as big. And that wasn't the only difference.
At the centre of this cavern was a plinth, and on it sat a colossal egg-shaped thing, silver and glinting. A ring of crackling fires surrounded it, making red and orange light dance around, revealing the shadows which cavorted and shifted into alien forms, then regained their own only to begin again.
There were hundreds of pipes coming from the base of the central object, sticking into various other tubes and objects which pulsed or hissed with gas.
Stalactites fifty times bigger than the ones they had seen before remained still on the roof. There was a black, dirty pool around the plinth, and in it floated strange debris. The fungus formed amoebic shapes around the plated walls, and reached down into the water. Hanging filaments, thin and black, were connected to the ceiling.
And again, dense honeycombs of shaft openings ringed the chamber. However, maybe half were sealed with the sheets they had seen before, and in some of the others small fires burnt.
There was a massive boom that made the group stumble, like the sound of a ship's horn, which reverberated for twenty secrends. The hanging filaments jiggled around in the noise.
Things moved in the unsealed tunnels. They could not see them, but darkness passing before fires and blocking vision into the shafts gave away their presence. Other forms crawled down the 'stalactites', and the fires sputtered a bit, dimming.
"Do we go back?" Kali's eyes were wide, and she shook a little.
Iva took her hand encouragingly. "Not before we've found Savin."
Zaron was looking at the new shapes through his rifle's scope. He swore a few times.
"What are they, Zaron?"
"I don't kragging know! There are hundreds of them!"
From the shafts, some of the forms began to move down the vertical walls, creeping downwards as others took the places they had previously held. The walls were alive with moving bodies- thousands of them.
At least pretending to be calm, Zaron stepped forwards into the water. He began to wade out towards the egg-thing, and the others nervously followed him, constantly glancing around. They stayed close together.
The tunnel they had just been in was suddenly blocked, and little lights glimmered within it.
With no way back, they pressed on. Reaching the plinth, they pulled themselves up onto its rocky surface.
They could see now dozens of smaller eggs around it, six feet tall with holes in their bases. Zaron examined one, and found a line down its side- a hinge? Bracing himself and still gripping his gun in his left hand, he threw it open.
It was empty, but the sides were a good inch thick. A number of spikes protruded from the back- almost like... needles?
There was a sound from one of the eggs, and they all whipped round to look at it. From the hole protruded a small claw, which moved feebly in the air. Then another, and a small thing flopped out.
They all recoiled upon seeing it. It was only a foot or so long, with six limbs tipped with single, broad claws. It had six narrow, glinting eyes which were solid black in colour, and did not move. Chitinous plates, flexible now, armoured its back, and a stumpy tail protruded from its back. It had no true head, just a hook-like front resembling the top half of a beak. Two thin tendrils came from the underside of the neck, and writhed plaintively as the newborn lay on the ground.
Seeing them, it got up and began to shuffle over, tendrils spread out wide. Its eyes did not move, but merely fixed them hypnotically with their stare. Zaron broke its gaze and looked around the cavern, seeing that the forms moving down the walls and on the far shore had stopped, staring with six eyes each.
Another claw came out from the egg's hole. And one of the other eggs began to release another of the things.
The one that was moving towards them reached Zaron's boot and climbed onto it, then traced its tendrils over the artificial leather. Then, unprovoked, it rammed its hooked head into his scales, triggering a shout of pain. He kicked it away, and it made no squeal as it hit the ground a few yards away.
Another boom filled the cavern, and this time it was far louder, driving them to their knees. The movement of the crawling monsters sped up, and some began to enter the water, filling its blackness with thousands and thousands of armoured bodies.
Chapter 10
"KRAG!" Zaron lifted his Fang and fired off a shot, which hit one of the coming creatures straight in the head. The bullet made the thing stagger a little, but it moved on, undamaged with a slight blemish on its forehead.
The two babies behind them climbed up onto the eggs. One jumped at Zaron, but he ducked and it went flying into the water. The other went lower and wrapped itself around his boot, trying to insert its tendrils between the tongue of the shoe and his scales. Pulling out his Mauler, he shot it off, and it began to flail wildly on its back. One of its clawed limbs lay, seperated, a few feet away. The blood which came out was red, but streaked with black.
The water was now full of the creatures, and the first set its claw on the plinth, pulling itself up. Slowly and steadily, unaffected by the pistol fire which made clunking noises against its back, it moved up to Zaron.
He stepped back unconsciously, and tripped, falling onto one of the eggs just as a new claw came from its hole.
"Krag it." He took a grenade in hand and pulled open the egg.
Inside there was no tunnel, or birthing tank, or anything they might have expected.
Instead, there was a Velaya, sleeping quietly with her belly bloated to the extent that her plates could not cover the inflamed skin underneath. A number of needles stuck into her back, and a pulsing tendril had pushed into her abdomen. Her body shuddered as it prepared to expel another of the baby creatures.
"Krag! Irista!"
Zaron kicked at the thing approaching him, knocking it back.
"Help me get her out!"
Syra held the monsters back with her SMG in one hand and her Mauler in the other. The others grabbed Irista, and pulling out all the tubes and hypodermic drips.
She moaned and sighed as they pulled her up, lidless eyes sagging. "No... put me back..."
"What the krag?"
Kali pinched her in the belly, and she jumped spasmically. Now properly awake, she looked around at them, and then at the egg. Falling onto all six, she began to move back towards it.
Iva blocked her path. Irista's expression grew furious. "NO! I belong in there! I have to go back! Let me back in!"
"She's kragged-up. Lost it."
"What do we do?"
Zaron hit another thing away with the butt of his rifle. "I'm kragging busy here! You choose!"
Irista forcefully grabbed iva and threw her aside, then lunged towards the egg.
"I'm sorry." Syra aimed her Mauler carefully, and then the Velaya's head exploded as the shot hit. Her momentum took the decapitated body into the pod, but it crashed clumsily against the walls and blood flowed freely into it.
Another boom. However, this time, it was accompanied by a grinding noise from below. The plinth shook, almost knocking them over, and then began to rise. The things already on its stone suddenly became desperate, leaping at Zaron and knocking him back, and surrounding the others with tendrils flailing.
Zaron threw his arms around like a madman, shaking furiously to get them off as they pinned him to the ground. He punched one in the head, sending it flying off the platform, and blasted another off with his Mauler. With a kick, he freed himself, and picking up the thing threw it over the side.
Syra discharged a magazine into one of the creatures and then reloaded, firing again to no effect. The ring around them tightened, and tendrils began to whip in anticipation. One broke off to stall Zaron, evading his lashing and grabbing his front legs... Some kind of weapon fired and the things were blasted off the plinth, launched into the abyss. The plinth had stopped moving, amongst the frozen 'stalactities', and another platform met it. They turned to look, and two armoured Salsenes lowered their cannons.
Another stepped out from between them, this time with only a pistol and a sword as weapons.
"So, what do you think? They're beautiful, aren't they?"
Zaron marched up to him. "Who the krag are you?"
"I'm Colonel Oloron. You're going to be dead very soon, so it won't matter if I tell you my organisation."
"Dead? The reck?" Iva raised her pistol again.
Oloron ignored her. "I'm from the EPF- the Emenata Preparation Foundation."
"What the krag? You just made that up! Why the krag would Emenata need to be prepared?"
The colonel laughed long and hard, and the cannoneers also sniggered amusedly. The blank stares of the explorers did not deter them.
"Oh reck... that's a good one..." He calmed himself, and then shook Zaron's hand. "Thank you for giving me the best laugh I've had in a very long time. But to business."
Kali raised her left brow. "Business?"
"Yes. The Meek."
"Meek?"
"The creatures you saw down here. The ones who made these tunnels and fortified them."
"They're... sapient?"
"Not individually. As a group."
"Did they evolve here?"
"What genes they do have left certainly do not fit this planet's fauna. No, they came from that Egg."
"What is the Egg?"
"No idea. We just know that it's egg-shaped and they come from it."
Zaron grabbed Oloron and snarled. "Hold up. You haven't told us how you got here."
Oloron gently took Zaron's hand it moved it away. "We were on the same ship as you. We were in the buildings when you dropped them."
"Savin knew about this?"
"No. Only your pilot."
"But... why?"
"You aren't the first group of people to have come here. The last was a civilian colonisation effort, which brought ships and prefab buildings. The even landed exactly where you did."
"So why didn't we see their stuff?"
"The Meek took it and broke it down for scrap. They used the females, like you saw they did with your Velaya, to reproduce."
"What the krag was that?"
"The Meek cannot breed amongst themselves. They must find organisms capable of laying eggs or with wombs- so females- and inject their embryos in. Apart from the speed at which they develop, they follow that organism's reproductive methods. A single female can yield tens of thousands of Meek."
"Why did you call them the Meek?"
Oloron grinned. "Never mind that. Just follow us. Your camp will have been taken by now, so we'll have to fight our way to the south entrance and take the ship we hid there."
"Fight our way?"
"Of course. You killed Meek infants and mothers, so they're coming for you. And the others are needed to become new mothers."
Kali almost threw up. "That's... that's sick."
Oloron shrugged. "That's just the way they are."
He turned to lead them off, and then turned back around.
"Also, watch out for the other Meek castes."
"...castes?"
"You've only seen workers. There are also gunners, sharpshooters, brawlers, and bombardiers. Bombardiers are nasty."
"How do you know all this?"
"Well... we met some of them on the way down. We also got some information from... classified sources."
"I'm gonna take you for trial back on Centro, so you may as well tell me now." Iva spat.
"Oh, take me for trial?" Oloron smiled kindly. "That won't be possible."
"Why not?"
"Because we are above Centro, and its council, and all the governments of Viperius. We do what we must and no-one can be allowed to interfere."
He began to walk up the tunnel.
"Now come along."
Chapter 11
The ground underfoot was jagged and rough, making the barefooted team members wince as they walked over it. The EPF people strode ahead, cannons ready and torches lighting up the darkness.
A group of Meek began to hurtle down towards them, but the cannons scattered them and stunned enough that they could move on through. They moved into a wide chamber, and immediately sharp spikes began to zip past.
"Take cover!" Ordered Oloron, and they did. Zaron growled a little.
He peeked over, then ducked back down.
"Gunners. Those spikes can shred you up, and contain paralytics."
"What the krag do we do now?"
One of the EPF guards took a cylindrical device from his netting and activated it. The tower shield covered them all, and the spikes pattered off it. "Quickly!"
They ran to the other side, spikes littering the ground around them.
Once there, they ducked back into cover and the tower shield dissolved away to recharge. "That's what we do."
Zaron grunted. "Why'd you say we were going to die here?"
"I didn't say you would die here, I said you would die soon."
"Why?"
"We're helping you as best we can, but the fact remains that your chances of survival are extremely low. It's just probability."
"We've survived so far."
Oloron chuckled a little. "You've survived so far, but things only get worse from here."
One of the EPF troopers turned back. "Sir, we have a blockage."
"Clear it."
They both turned a few dials on their cannons, and then pointed them at the rubble. There was an audible power-up, and then two enormous shockwaves smashed into the rocks, forcing them out.
"Now quickly, through! Don't forget to reset your cannons!"
"Kragger! Why didn't you use that setting on the Meek?"
"Because," Oloron seemed a little annoyed, "we need a living hive to research."
"You wouldn't have to kill all the kraggers!"
"I know what I'm doing, Zyrothan."
"Oh, well it must be kragging right then, mustn't it?"
Oloron was visibly irritated now, and took Zaron's jaw in his hand. "Listen here. I didn't have to help you, but because I did, you're still alive. You're making me regret that, and you need me to have any chance of making it through this. So shut up, and do as you're told."
"Krag you."
Oloron looked contemptuously down at Zaron, then let go roughly.
Kali went up to Zaron's side. "You're always trying to make people hate you, aren't you?"
"I can't kragging help it. They're just all skegs."
"Ahead!" Shouted a trooper.
A number of large Meek, with front claws divided in two and thicker armour, were at the end of the passage. "Brawlers. Turn back."
They moved back the way they had come, but spikes shot up towards them.
"Surrounded. Well... let's go the brawler way."
The brawlers charged towards them, and the EPF cannons knocked them back, firing as fast as they could. However, there were too many, and one crashed into a trooper with a thud. His spine broke before he hit the ground, and he slumped down dead.
"Krag!" Zaron began to fire his Fang at the brawler, but succeeded only in drawing its attention. Each of its six eyes fixed on him, and it raised its front legs menacingly into the air. He continued to fire, backing against the wall.
Syra picked up the dropped cannon, and pointed it at the brawler. She looked furiously for a trigger, but could find none.
The remaining trooper shouted at them. "Below the smallest dial! The button!"
Following his instructions, Syra tapped the button. The shockwave it launched sent the brawler sprawling, and Zaron rushed up to smash it with his rifle butt.
"Quick! Go!" Yelled Oloron, firing his pistol ineffectually. A volley of spikes hit him in the back, but was stopped by his armour.
They ran on, the brawlers recovering behind them and preparing to follow.
"Use the cannon! Knock out some rocks from the roof!"
The trooper charged his weapon and let loose, smashing a sizeable gap in the tunnel's ceiling and bringing rubble crashing down. Only a small crack remained at the top.
Through that crack came a Meek claw, and then another, and a worker pushed through. More appeared around it.
"Run!" And they did, sprinting away as fast as they could. The ground became smoother and they met another of the strange seals across the tunnel.
"They put these in to slow us." Oloron signalled, and the trooper blasted through the material. Immediately, a storm of spikes came out and buried itself in his head. He fell slowly, landing in the dust with a thump.
Zaron grabbed the cannon as they all threw themselves into cover. "How d'you make it kragging supercharged?"
"First dial four notches clockwise, second two notches clockwise, hold down the firing button to charge."
Zaron did so, then poked the weapon around the corner. He let go of the button, and an enormous shockwave crashed through the chamber. A few heavy things hit the floor.
Still readied, they moved in. The gunners were already recovering, so they fired a few more shots to keep them down.
A few workers dropped from the ceiling, attempting to land on them. However, quick smashes with their weapons was enough to knock them off. They hurried on, ignoring the walls as they came alive with bodies. A few needles flew past, barely missing. "We're rising quickly!"
The next tunnel was almost at a forty-five degree angle, and keeping a foothold was difficult- particularly as Meek began to enter it at the base. They could not see them, but they blocked what little light came from below.
Iva was at the head, and so she was the first to see the Meek sentries pointing their organic weapons down the tunnel. She was also the first to be hit by their hail of fire, rendering her senseless. Her unconscious body fell down onto Oloron, who grabbed the cave wall to keep upright.
Now, the gunners moved closer to the team, unleashing another volley. Blood trickled from little cuts all over Iva. Oloron pushed her up in front of him, taking her Mauler and starting to fire shots at the Meek. They were pushed back a little with each shot, but not enough.
"You, Zyrothans! Use the pulse cannons!" Zaron squeezed in front and fired, causing the gunners to stagger back up to tunnel. As he recovered, a worker threw itself down towards him, hitting the cannon and splitting it in two. Unable to keep its grasp, it went flying off into Iva. Its claws scored long gashes in her flesh, and the impact sent the two crashing down. Oloron let go and sidestepped reflexively, then attempted to grab her arm as she fell.
He reached out, and his fingers brushed her arm, but it slipped away.
She landed on the floor below, broken, and letting out her last sigh. Meek gunners appeared around her body, heading up towards them. Zaron threw the broken cannon down and drew his Fang, firing wildly into the Meek ahead, the bullets ineffective but distracting to the silent creatures. Spikes flew overhead, narrowly missing them each time. Brawlers appeared from shafts in the ceiling, dropping down with limbs posed threateningly to charge...
Syra blasted a few back with the remaining cannon, and they dashed through. Breathing hard, they reached the other side and sheltered behind a turn in the corridor, recovering for a short moment as shadows moved across the dim light. Oloron lifted his head back up, evidently feeling the strain. Then, he squeezed into a narrow tunnel leading off to the side, his back pressing hard against the rock. "Just this way."
Chapter 12
They emerged in between two enormous bonfires, which crackled loudly enough that they could not hear Oloron's shouting. This chamber was miles across and high again, the ceiling obscured by mist. Pipes slithered over the walls and also connected them, pulsing, glowing or being moved over by hundreds of Meek.
Another giant egg sat in the middle, surrounded by dozens of the smaller ones that Irista had been in. Oloron yelled something, and though they couldn't hear it, his lips spelt 'a second egg'.
Meek gunners faced them on every side. A few brawlers came up from the dozens of stagnant pools that pitted the ground.
A few strangely humped Meek, with red streaks along their backs, approached from behind.
Oloron grinned, and pulled out the tower repulsor.
But before he could activate it, workers began to drop from above, driving them all to the ground. One pinned Zaron's head down as he grabbed wildly for his rifle, and another grabbed the cannon. It put its front limbs in the barrel and pulled sideways, ripping it in half.
Oloron lashed out angrily, struggling to push the Meek off his chest.
The workers dragged the others towards the eggs, stabbing them repeatedly with their tendrils until they went limp. A brawler came over and sat itself down on the Salsene, crushing him slowly so that he gasped for breath.
From his left wrist came a short blade, and he stabbed at the brawler madly. It could not even pierce the scutes, and the creature was quite content to stay as it was. Oloron pushed angrily up, but achieved nothing.
He turned his head to look at Zaron.
"Zyrothan! Listen to me! Get yourself to the plinth. The way to the ship will be shown to you. Here is the key..."
He opened his fist and threw something weakly, which made a tinkling noise as it landed just outside Zaron's reach. Straining as hard as he could, Zaron threw the worker off his head and pulled himself up. Another Meek jumped at him, but he punched it down and grabbed the key from the floor.
"Now go!" Shouted Oloron as he took a grenade-like object from his belt. It was spherical, but with silver lines running horizontally across it and an EPF logo on its lower end.
Zaron charged through the Meek in his way, ducking past stabbing claws and punching leaping Meek out of his way. He caught a glimpse of his remaining teammates being carried over towards the silver eggs, but was powerless to stop them. Fighting on, he noticed a brawler running up behind, front claws held menacingly upwards.
He leapt onto the plinth, hands grasping at the edge. He pulled his front legs up, then his hind ones, even as workers climbed effortlessly onto the stone and tried to force him back.
He kicked one off the edge and grabbed another, using it to knock a mob away. Then he let go, allowing it to fly off into a brawler below. Angrily, he backed up a little, and saw workers opening up eggs further along. He heard pained breathing from within others- the original colonists.
He could only reach one of his teammates, and so he did, first kicking the worker dragging her so that it flipped over and skidded off the edge. With a grunt, he heaved Syra onto his back, ignoring the spasm of pain that shot through his body.
He climbed up onto the first row of pods, claws scrabbling over their smooth shells. 'The way to the ship will be shown to you'. That was working out kragging well, wasn't it. He watched the Meek surround him, unblinking eyes staring up with a kind of carefree blankness.
There was a whipping sound as a rope dropped down from above. The sling on the end came to rest by Zaron, and then another rope came down by it.
The Meek noticed, and their gunners began to fire. Zaron put Syra in first, desperately trying to avoid the spikes, and clipped her in. The rope began to ascend again, and he attached the belt of the other rescue rope around himself. He felt it tug on his torso as he rose into the air, spikes flying crazily around.
The ground flew rapidly away and was soon obscured by fog. Zaron could still see tubes and shafts all around the walls, many with Meek clambering over them. A number of gunners had taken up stations on one, and began to fire, but he was gone before they could hit him.
The ascent began to slow, and then he came to rest just below a shaft high in the ceiling. A hand came down and took his, then pulled him up onto the rock.
It was not a Zyrothan hand- it was a mechanical one. The robot standing there was centauriforme and four-eyed, with white plastic 'skin' and a form quite definitely designed to imitate a Zyrothan's. It turned back to Syra and heaved her over its shoulder without much effort.
Zaron followed, slightly bewildered, as it marched up the tunnel.
"Stop!" He shouted.
It stopped and turned to him. A synthetic voice came from its mouth. "Explain."
He recoiled. "You're... a kragging AI?"
"Affirmative." It turned back.
"But... but... we haven't built any AIs!"
"Affirmative. I was not constructed by a Viperian government."
"Then who the krag built you?"
"I am a TLF frigate-class remote interface unit. I was constructed in classified by the Emenata Preparation Foundation."
"You were constructed in 'classified'? What the krag?"
"I contain self-redacting mechanisms to prevent the dissemination of information relevant to the Emenata Preparation Foundation. All redacted verbal material is replaced by the word 'classified'."
"...kragging weird."
"I have on occasion speculated on the necessity of this mechanism. Over ninety-nine percent of analyses suggest the judgement behind it was sound."
"What the krag?"
"I would advise you to minimise verbal communication and maximise the speed with which you are walking."
Zaron grunted bemusedly, but followed.
A few Meek workers appeared around the corner, climbing along the ceiling. The robot placed Syra down gently, then began to reform. Its body became flatter and straighter, and its limbs tapered down to sharp scythe-like blades. It reached up and grabbed the Meek, slamming them down against the ground and then beating them with its arms. The blades could not penetrate the Meek armour, and so the workers were quick to recover, racing around the robot and making occasional swipes inwards with their claws.
The machine stopped for a moment. It drew its limbs into itself and then became a sphere, spinning slowly on the ground. Then, long spikes shot out from its skin, and pinned the Meek against the wall. It spoke to Zaron. "Move the other Zyrothan past. I will continue to inhibit the movement of these hostiles."
Zaron picked Syra up, and she moaned slightly. Holding her up, he moved quickly past and headed off at a run.
A brawler stood there, claws raised in a now-familiar stance, its cold glare transfixing. It began to creep towards them.
A white blur shot past and smashed into the brawler, knocking it over. It then reformed into a centauriforme shape.
"Increase your speed. I wll carry the female."
Zaron gingerly handed over Syra, and then had to jog to keep up with the robot. "Hey, machine?"
"Please limit your verbal communication."
"Yeah, I get it, but what do I kragging call you?"
"I am usually referred to as Xon. This designation should suit your purposes."
"Ok... Xon..." After a few more minutes of awkward silence, they glimpsed daylight. The morning sun shone through a crack in the rock, blinding in intensity after so long a time in the depths.
"The ship is located approximately three hundred metrons ahead. Exercise caution. Meek are present in that area."
"Alright." They reached a bend in the tunnel, and Zaron poked his head around. A dozen or so Meek sat on one of the ship's wings, scratching at its armour.
"We may be able to evade their notice. Remain silent."
Xon ran quietly across to the ship, stopping at a bulkhead. It touched an arm to the lock and the door swung open.
Zaron braced himself, then sprinted after. About halfway across, he noticed the brawler staring at him. It began to chase, and the workers followed on behind it.
He reached the bulkhead just as the brawler grabbed his hind leg, pulling him back as he wrapped his arms around the lock. He felt like he was being torn apart by the Meek behind, and still more workers began to join in...
"Kraaaaaaag!"
A shockwave knocked all the Meek back, and Xon didn't put the cannon down as he took hold of Zaron with another arm. He yanked the Zyrothan in and then slammed the bulkhead shut. The sound of clicks and whirs indicated its locking.
Zaron looked around and the interior of the ship, and was impressed.
Chapter 13
The walls and ceiling were a sterile white, though the floor was a steel grating. It was well-lit, with a circular lamp set in the ceiling every two metrons or so. The doors were the same unblemished white, and opened by sliding left. Zaron could see large locking mechanisms built into them. Rounded butresses marked off various sections.
Xon led him to one of the doors, and it opened automatically. This was the sick bay, with a dozen beds and various medical equipment scattered around. Robotic arms hung down from the ceiling, and three large, empty cylinders with transparent walls were present at the far end of the room.
The robot placed Syra down on one of the beds. The arms activated, selecting tools from sheaths on their bases and attaching them to their ends. Zaron watched, curious.
Xon spoke. "Please move to the command centre. I shall join you in a few minutes."
"Where the krag is the command centre?"
"Continue along this corridor to its end. Go through the central door. I shall open it for you."
Zaron grunted in thanks and left the room, heading back into the corridor. He looked around at the engineering as he walked, and came to the door Xon had opened in advance. He stepped into the command centre.
The room was large, perhaps eight metres wide and eight metres long, with console banks arranged in a circle around the centre and large display screens, arrays of lights and bizarre electronics covered up the hind and side walls. They emitted a gentle, deep, and soulful hum.
At the centre was a rotating chair on a raised platform, with a screen on a moveable arm attached to the chair's left arm. Other screens and interfaces were attached to clamps on the ceiling, positioned to allow the person sitting in the central chair the best possible view.
The far wall was occupied entirely with one giant screen. On it was displayed an image of the surface of the planet on which they lay, with numbers and code superimposed on top. A rotating circle marked their position.
The internal speakers turned on. "Ship clearing for takeoff. Launch in three... two... one..."
The mass fields were extremely smooth, and Zaron almost couldn't tell that they were moving. But they were moving up, and the main screen changed to show the image from the ship's front camera. Zaron could see only darkness, and then realised that the ship was drilling upwards through the rock. He looked down and considered the fact that, if the agrav was turned off, the rear wall would become the floor.
Suddenly, the image brightened rapidly. The sky was visible, with clouds drifting lazily across its blue vastness, and the planet's sun present over to the far right. Xon entered, and moved to the central chair. The robot lifted itself up and sat in the seat, adopting a shape that fitted it exactly. Long cords extended from its sides, plugging into ports in the floor and the ceiling. Little lights blinked on.
"Destination: Centro. You will be dropped off with the female and shall inform them of the loss of your team due to a cave-in, and your subsequent rescue by a supply ship."
Zaron snorted. "That didn't happen, though."
"You shall be administered an amnestic and new memories shall be provided which fit this scenario."
"Amnest- what the krag?"
"A procedure resulting in the loss of memories."
"You kragger..." Zaron pulled out his Fang, and pointed it at the robot's head. "You'll have to kill me first!"
"That will be unnecessary. I am obliged to give you one opportunity to cease resisting."
The Zyrothan did not change position. He kept the gun pointed straight at Xon.
"Your continued resistance is unimpressive. Cease."
"I thought you couldn't be impressed, kragger."
"Correct. I am attempting to manipulate you into submitting."
"You really don't kragging get us, do you?"
"On the contrary, this exchange has provided the necessary time for onboard drones to reach positions which will allow them to rapidly incapacitate you."
Four hovering robots approached from behind. One extended an arm and grabbed the rifle, pulling it from Zaron's hands and throwing it aside.
"You shall remain in storage until arrival."
"Kragging machines! Get the krag away from me!"
Suddenly, the ship's lights turned off. There was a moment of darkness, and then a red glow filled the room from the emergency lighting. Zaron looked down and saw the deactivated drones lying at his feet.
Xon disengaged from the control chair, and two bright lights turned on from its head. They moved across the dimly lit room, scanning the shadows.
"Ship power has been deactivated. Cause: unknown. Requesting co-operation."
"After your little performance just then? Krag you!"
"Very well." The robot moved to the exit and plugged itself in to the control panel, causing it to slide open. Zaron followed at a distance, picking up his rifle and casting his gaze around nervously. What was going on?
Chapter 14
Xon illuminated the corridor with its torches, which swept from right to left and back, searching for any movement.
The corridors adopted a very different aspect in the dim red lights of the emergency systems. It didn't look like a modern, well-designed cruiser any more- instead, it had become a stifling and constricted prison ship, a trap in which Zaron felt like suffocating despite the fresh air.
"I am going to engineering, in order to find the source of the power outage." Xon's voice said.
The robot attached itself by a wire to the door, and it opened with a soft hiss.
"Pressure change occurred in engineering. Possible cause: ventilation system blockage."
"Okay." Zaron muttered.
They moved in, the Zyrothan still holding his rifle high. He wondered whether to go and find Syra first, but decided against it.
This ship, being a cruiser, had a small drive core. It was still impressive, though. It was inactive, but residual plasma cast a gentle blue glow out from within the glass that surrounded the reaction chamber.
The core was surrounded by a platform, where the various consoles and monitors were located. It was narrow at best, and you could see down through the metal grating into the cooling system below. Enormous white pipes, with fins and radiators sticking out the top, entered the top of the engine.
Xon activated one of the monitors, and allowed the data to transfer.
"All ventilation shafts are blocked."
Zaron looked around for one, and saw it. It was a long tunnel leading outwards, with a rectangular entrance. He poked his rifle barrel in, and it rebounded from something. Xon came over to investigate.
He shone his light in, revealing something that made Zaron gulp unconsciously.
It was a wet, thick and organic sheet that sealed the passage. One exactly the same as those they had seen in the caves.
"Krag." He breathed.
Xon backed out rapidly, then stood up straight on six legs. "Warning: Meek are present within ship. Purge must be activated."
"Purge? How the krag do we do that?"
"The fusion drive must be adjusted to release a cascade of neutron radiation. This will sterilise the vessel, containing the outbreak."
"But... krag... what about me?" Zaron half-shouted.
"Containing the outbreak is a class-B priority. Your survival is a class XX2 priority. Acknowledge."
"Kragging... no!"
Zaron hit the robot in the face with the butt of his rifle. The impact produced a loud clang, but Xon was undamaged. "Please desist."
Then, Xon was cleaved open by a large, familiar claw. The two halves of the robot attempted to reassemble, but were crushed under the creature's blows.
A Meek looked up at Zaron, silent as ever. Its six eyes did not blink as it stepped forwards, and its tendrils hung low. Another Meek appeared behind it, around half the size but just as terrifying.
Syra woke up.
The lights were gone, and everything was illuminated only by a dim red glow. She could make out robotic arms hanging from the ceiling, and a series of beds. She was on a spaceship, she guessed. The EPF people's?
Groggy, she tried to stand up.
Nothing happened.
She looked down, confused. And she saw a thick, moist sheet of membrane that she had thought to never see again, holding her in place against the wall.
Something large moved in her belly, something that should not have been in there. She tried to vomit, but nothing came out. She coughed hoarsely, and tried to calm down.
Something dropped down from the ceiling and moved towards her- a little worker, still wet from its birth. It was carrying with it a number of nutrient loaves, held to its body by one of its limbs.
It clambered onto the sheet and dropped the loaves by her head, then began to mash one up with its claws. Once the food was in pieces, it grabbed her snout and forced it open painfully. Syra tried to say 'ow', but it came out like a mumble.
The worker began stuffing the pieces into her mouth, aggressively pushing them into her throat. She coughed and tried to force them out, but then realised how hungry she was and how much she needed to eat right now.
She let the worker force all the food in, and then let her head drop, exhausted. The creature moved off, probably to find more food.
Syra's stomach was definitely getting bigger.
Chapter 15
Zaron walked backwards, pressing against the rail, as the Brawler approached. He fumbled for something to hold on to, but there was nothing. He sighed.
"Fine, krag, fine."
And then he jumped down into the drive core. It wasn't a big ship, so he guessed he wouldn't have long, but he did take a moment to enjoy the wind rushing past him. It felt great- the sudden rush of adrenalin and the feeling that he just might die.
But he hit the core's mass envelope before he hit the floor. The increase in mass was sudden and painful, but also reduced his velocity enough that he knew he wasn't going to die- at least, not in the next minute. That was... a good feeling. He smiled.
His feet hit steel, and began to sting like the skin had been burned away completely.
"Kraaaaaaaag. Ahhhhhhh."
He limped, on his four legs, towards the maintenance exit, and crawled in.
It was dark in here. There were several glowing lines that went along the ceiling- red, orange, blue, white. Probably represented the different rooms- he had seen a white circle outside the medbay. So, then, that was the line he would follow, and he would get to the medbay, to do... krag if he knew.
Sure enough, the lines diverged along the shaft. He kept underneath the white one, and the path angled upwards. He was going up within the ship, and his feet hurt.
Pointing his Fang in front of him, he switched it to thermal sights. He wondered whether the Meek were actually particularly visible under infrared for a moment, and then switched to UV. Something moved, far ahead.
Shaking a little, he pushed onwards. His claws pressed against the metal, and he finally reached the far opening. There had been a hatch here, but it was torn in two and thrust outwards into the room. That wasn't good.
He squeezed through the gap, and was now out. The room around him was bathed in red- the emergency lighting, of course- but it made everything more sinister and menacing. The robotic arms hanging from the ceiling seemed altogether malevolent, waiting for an unwary being to move to close so that they could tear it apart.
Zaron looked around, and the beds were all empty.
"Syra!" He didn't care if the Meek heard his shout.
A little voice spoke up from the corner. "Hi again..."
He rushed over. "Thank krag, you're..."
He looked at the membrane that held her down, and her distended abdomen. He saw the mushed up remains of food around her mouth and the strange wire that stuck into her body.
"I'm..." He choked slightly.
"Don't... worry about me. Get... to the escape pods... blow this ship up..."
"No kragging way." He pulled the wire out from her, and looked disgustedly at the syringes and tiny implements on its end, then threw it aside.
He pulled at the membrane, as hard as he could, and it began to peel away from the wall. He forced it off, and then extracted her from the corner.
"There. We'll get out together or we won't kragging get out at all."
"I think... one's coming."
Zaron pulled out his Fang and scanned the room quickly with his eyes. "From where?"
"No, from inside me."
"Ah."
He watched her belly pulse as the Meek inside tried to expel itself.
"Well... force it out. Get that thing out from inside you. Push!"
She pushed, and the strain was visible on her face. "Nnnnnnnn. It's coming."
There was a wet splash as the little Meek dropped out. It waved its arms and tendrils feebly in the air, lying on its back.
"Kragging... thing!" Zaron stamped down on it as hard as he could, his face a picture of fury. The baby's arms were broken, and one of its tendrils had detached, but it thrashed still.
He hit it with the butt of his rifle, again and again and again.
Syra put a hand on his arm, and gently stopped him. "It's dead."
It was. The body lay, intact but still and leaking fluids, on the floor. Zaron spat on it, and then took Syra in his arm, helping her along despite his own limp. "Was that... the first one we've killed?"
"I... think it was."
"Kragging things. We need Centro to bring an orbital strike here. Burn them all out."
"Later. We have to get there first."
"Yeah."
They moved on through the hallway, slowly and cautiously. There were still Meek on this ship, somewhere, but they weren't sure they really cared any more.
Chapter 16
The escape pods were arranged in a row along the wall, each with a circular bulkhead providing access. There were three, each currently open and with their lights spilling out into the corridor.
Zaron helped Syra in first, and then entered himself. He pulled down the lever to close the door, and there was a hiss as it shut. He took a moment to enjoy the bright, white light they now found themselves in, and looked around the capsule.
It was not large, with just enough room for two cryobeds, two seats and a few computers. On the ceiling were some storage chests and two safes. One was open, the other shut, and they were combination-locked. The controls for the craft were all labelled electronically, and Zaron pressed the 'release' switch.
There was a 'clunk' as the pod detached. The screen above the pilot's console showed them slowly drifting away from the ship.
"Warning. Remote destruction protocol for the EPFS Vallum initiated. Please move emergency craft to safe zone immediately." The electronic voice came from a speaker above.
Zaron pressed some keys and typed the acceleration commands, and then the thrusters fired. The pod began to accelerate away from its mothership.
"10 secrends to destruction."
The little capsule continued to move away, trailing shining blue exhaust. Zaron watched the space between it and its mothership widen on the screen, the scale growing larger and larger.
"Destruction has occurred."
The image of the spaceship they had been in just a minute ago blinked out.
Zaron turned to Syra. "We're out."
She smiled. "So we are."
The speaker had not finished. "Setting course for Centro. Please enter cryobeds to prevent death during journey."
They climbed in under the glass shells, and lay down upon the beds. The cases moved down over them, and there was a hiss of cold gas as the cryonics activated. Everything was still, and the lights switched off. Only the dim, flickering illumination from the console could be seen.
They were on their way back.
...
A bang against the door of the closed locker, and then another. A claw stuck through the metal, and sliced down it, allowing the Meek inside to fall out onto the floor. It clambered up onto the cryobeds, and looked at the occupants within, each of its six eyes glinting.
It examined Zaron's sleeping face for a few moments, then scuttled over to examine Syra's. Its tendrils perked up, and then the console's lights turned off.
