Silence—the creature hadn’t responded.
Suddenly, a recorded male voice, a routine notification, came out of a monitor, “Sixteen TCP protocols have just been updated.”
To my left and right and in front of me, there was about ten feet of open space. If the Uduss rushed across it, there was enough time to kill it with the flamethrower before it reached me.
My eyes began drooping because I was tired. Somewhere close by, an air valve began hissing. I opened my eyes, surprised by the sound as my aching neck muscles tightened even more.
Outside Exp One, someone fired a machine gun for several seconds!
I blinked, trying to stay awake.
Close to the ceiling, a humanoid silhouette, a dark shape with wings glided toward me and came to rest on the floor.
I squeezed the trigger—a flame shot out.
The beast dodged. The flame missed it. The creature started walking, coming toward me.
I aimed the barrel to the left—flames hit the Uduss.
The beast’s huge jaws opened—it screeched, “Eeeee.” It dodged to my right.
I aimed, fired.
The beast jumped out of the flame, still walking toward me.
I moved the barrel from left to right.
The Uduss crouched—flames went over its head.
I drew a circle in the air with the barrel.
The creature leaped out of the blazing orange circle.
I began shooting in random bursts and hit its leg.
It screamed, “Ieeee,” and dodged to the left. After raising both claws, it raced toward me.
In an attempt to distract it, I removed another pen from my pocket and threw it at the creature’s legs.
The Uduss glanced down, surprised by the object.
I fired and hit its leg again.
“Eeee!”
Suddenly, a ball—a projectile shot by someone else—flew into its mouth. Its mouth snapped shut.
I raised the barrel—flames went up its slimy gray chest. The creature backed away. At the same time, a section of its upper jaw blew off and the beast fell!
I lowered the barrel.
Flames engulfed the Uduss and its body burned to a crisp.
I let go of the trigger, took a deep breath, relieved and looked to the right. Whoever shot the ball was gone.
Behind a cabinet, UE stood and walked toward the beast.
I rose to my feet. “Let’s put its corpse in a body bag. Then I’ll open the hatch door and throw the bag out. According to my scanner, the creature’s blood is full of E Coli viruses. We have to get rid of the corpse or the disease could spread throughout the ship.”
UE nodded. “After we do that, I’ll help Jen.”
“Good.”The hatch to the exit chamber hissed open.
We stuffed the dead creature into a bag and pushed it inside the chamber. Once the bag was inside, I would stuff the creature’s burnt claws and any other body parts that had fallen off into another bag, then place it inside the chamber.
Feeling curious, I looked out the chamber window on the opposite wall. The tube was gone. I left the chamber, then walked behind a telescope housing.
Not far away, Jen was face up on the floor, unconscious or dead. UE stooped over her.
“Is she alive?”
“The Uduss took a big chunk out of her leg.” UE touched her wrist. “Her pulse is weak. I’ll take her to Joel. Jen needs medical attention.”
“After I dump the rest of the creature’s body parts, I’ll help you.”
“Understood.” An automated cart rolled into the room. Both of us placed her body on it. The cart left, UE following it.
I grabbed both claws, placed them in the bag, picked it up, stepped inside the chamber and threw the bag on the floor. The chamber depressurized—Exp One jerked. Much to my surprise, the outside hatch opened. I looked outside. Another tube had just attached itself to Exp One! Farther down the five-foot diameter structure, inside it, there was only darkness. Something growled. At the same time, chills ran up my spine.
Ten feet down the tube, a dimly lit humanoid, a barely noticeable silhouette, scampered toward me. Above the humanoid, on the ceiling, a creature stuck out its claw, trying to slash my face mask.
I raised my flamethrower and squeezed the trigger. A flame shot out—the beast retreated.
The other Uduss grabbed at my leg.
I lowered the barrel and fired. The creature backed away.
Above me, a scraping noise grew louder.
I looked up.
On the tube’s ceiling, a claw moved, about to tear off my face mask. The creature had returned.
I lowered the barrel, trying to shoot the other Uduss and squeezed the trigger.
Suddenly, bullets came through the right side of the tube! Someone on Exp One’s hull had just shot a hole in the tube!
Above me, blood spurt out of a beast’s face. It shrieked,
Ieeeee!
Two grenades flew through the hole and landed inside the tube.
I dove to the right and rolled across the chamber floor.
Both grenades exploded—shrapnel sprayed against nearby walls.
I sat up, my adrenaline pumping. My suit was intact, no holes or tears. I stood, walked over to the outside escape hatch, looked outside and saw stars. Sixty feet below me, the end of the tube that had just detached from our hull plummeted farther. Beneath it, one creature’s body, a motionless corpse, floated away.
The engine roared louder—Exp One jerked forward. I took a deep breath, relieved that we were moving away from the Toa.
Another thought occurred to me. Had the other beast crawled onto the hull?
The bags floated toward me. The gravitational force was low. I tossed both outside and the escape hatch closed.
After entering room nine, the place where I had shot the Uduss, I picked up my vtp, spoke into it, “UE, Joel, is Jen alive?”
“It’s UE. I’m going down to E Four in the shuttlecraft to pick up a Reen Surgeon. Both of us will return within half an hour. He will operate on Jen’s leg in En One right after he arrives.”
“Understood. See you when you return.”
I entered an observation room with a window allowing me to look inside En One, an ad hoc operating room, and sat down. Needing some rest, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
A voice said, “Captain, the Reen Surgeon, Dr. Yis, has just arrived.”
I opened my eyes, waking up from a short nap.
Close by, UE pointed at the observation window.
Inside that room, a male humanoid with orange skin, six feet tall and dressed in beige scrubs, leaned over Jen. He handed a tiny tool, less than an inch long, to a nearby robot, one of two androids.
I blinked. “Dr. Yis’s eyes dominate most of his face. Does this odd entity understand human anatomy?”
UE paused. “To some degree he does. Fortunately, the Reen know more about microsurgery, PCR and hot start cloning than your race does.”
I leaned forward. “How did you find that out?”
“Sam told me.”
I raised by eyebrows, surprised by his desire to know more about us. “Jen was in a lot of pain. What did he do to help her?”
“A few moments ago, he gave her a tranquilizer, and she fell asleep.”
I rubbed my face, trying to wake up. “What did the Uduss do to her leg?”
“It tore off the patella and the anterior cruciate ligament or ACL.”
“UE, what did Joel do before I arrived?”
“We had to act fast. He signed a consent form. According to it, he gave Dr. Yis permission to design the robots, ones that would assist Dr. Yis during Jen’s operation.
“Can he create more blood?” A male voice, information from Exp One’s database, came out of my earplugs, “PCR, polymerase chain reaction, creates more DNA from limited amounts of type O samples. Although the technology is not yet available, someday scientists will use DNA to create more blood.”
“Yes.”
“Can any of us donate blood?”
“No. She uses type A-positive. No one’s blood is compatible with hers.”
Forceps and clamp-like surgical tools, holograms, appeared above UE’s scanner. He said, “Greg, Dr. Yis just told me that these surgical tools, devices that Joel finished building a few minutes ago, are helpful because they are designed for humans, not translators.”
“Does Dr. Yis speak any English?”
“No… but, he learns quickly.
Without warning, Jen screamed, “Yowwwww! That hurts!”
I flinched. “What the hell is he doing to her?”
“According to the message I just heard through my vtp, the robot, an android that was designed to act as an Anesthesiologist, must raise the nitrous oxide level, or else Jen will go into shock.”
“Somebody help me!” Jen lapsed into silence.
My stomach muscles tightened, a nervous reaction. “How can I help?”
“Sign Zero form,” UE replied. “Exp One is far from Blue. You are the captain. After you sign, Dr. Yis can proceed. Joel, the surgeon and I have already gone too far without your permission. For the time being, this consent form will have to suffice. The laws on this method of consent are vague. EMPE executives might consider this operation illegal.
“Also, right now, Dr. Yis is investigating her wound because the beast’s saliva may be saturated with mutated streptococcus. The surgeon wants to eliminate any infection.”
Would the mutated organism kill her? I wasn’t sure.
I took the tablet with the form from UE and signed.
“There is a problem.” UE glanced at Jen. “Dr. Yis has never operated on a human, he has only studied holograms. However, without more medical attention, she will either die or remain in a coma.”
Jen didn’t blink. Her stomach rose slowly—she was breathing. There wasn’t anything else I could do. I wiped sweat off my face and exhaled, releasing tension.
Joel’s voice came out of my vtp. “Greg, I’m almost finished repairing the engine wall. I filled holes with a carbon nanotube polymer sealant. However, the sealant may crumble in two months.”
“Understood.”
Alan’s voice came out of my vtp. “Greg, Thomas and I are searching for an orbit that isn’t filled with space debris.”
“Keep me posted.” Joel needed to train David, because Joel was exhausted. Joel didn’t have enough time to see Jen. I would check on her myself.
UE turned toward me. “According to a recent text message from E Four, a Reen humanoid named Eim wants you alone, no other humans from this ship, to visit E Four and speak to the Council. I can fly you down on a shuttlecraft.
“Eim contacted me because he received a message from Dr. Yis telling them that you killed the Uduss. Dr. Yis didn’t say anything else about Eim.”
“I wasn’t
alone
. Will Jen get some recognition?”
“I don’t know.”
“The crew deserves a break from these tight-living quarters. Can they visit E Four?”
“I just sent Eim a message mentioning your request.”
I paused. “Who fired bullets at the Uduss?” I told him what happened.
UE bent two fingers, indicating that he was thinking. “A few minutes ago, David called and told me he saw a video of the battle. When the beast was close to you, a small robot entered the room and fired a ball-shaped grenade into its mouth.”
“Thanks. Who fired the grenades?”
“I don’t know.”
On my vtp, thirty incoming messages, all of them urgent, illuminated and turned red. It was important to read all of them.
“What was going on outside Exp One while I was fighting that beast? There was a lot of noise.”
“I don’t know.”
“Another tube attached to the hull—”
“I don’t know about that, either,” he responded, cutting me short. He looked at the surgeon.
“Ask David or Alan to study video archives and tell me what happened.”
“I will. Right now, the crew is running out of food and water. They need you to act as a liaison. The surgeon just told me that the Reen respect any beings who kill the Uduss.”
“I didn’t have much choice. It was fight or die.”
“Agreed.”
Dr. Yis kept staring at Jen, examining her.
I yawned. “I need some sleep.”
“You can rest during the flight to the planet’s surface.”
“When do we leave?”
“In fifty-eight minutes.”
I entered shuttle bay one.
UE stepped inside the shuttle craft’s center cockpit, one of three side-by-side compartments.
I climbed a ramp, entered another cockpit, bags in hand, and sat down. Within seconds, the canopy closed, the space vessel took off, then flew outside. S4, a sun-like star, blinded me for a second and we turned port. On E4, in the middle of a vast ocean, clouds spread.
“Hours from now, you and I will land in the Stra valley,” UE said, speaking through my earplugs.
“Their robots will help me load boxes of wafers and bottled liquid inside the shuttle’s cargo holds. Then I’ll fly back to Exp One.”
I paused, thinking. “Understood. What do the Reen want in return?”
“I don’t know. They will discuss that with you.”
The shuttle landed on a grassy plain, next to trees. The canopy opened. I climbed out and went down a ramp.
Not far away, a humanoid who was just under six-foot tall with ebony hair, orange skin, and huge eyes dominating most of her face took a few steps toward me.
I looked closer and noticed her tiny mouth and small nose.
Above her waist, slightly narrower than any human’s, gray highlights on her tight indigo jumpsuit shifted as she hesitated.
I wondered if she was half humanoid, half insect. This stranger didn’t have any corneas, making it impossible to tell if she was looking at my face.
I hesitated. “Why are you here?”
“I am a translator, your guide,” she replied softly, sounding like a robot.
“What is your name?”
She replied, stony faced, “Irea.”
It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
Behind me, a humming noise grew louder.
I looked over my shoulder.
A thirty-foot-long, ten-foot-wide clam-shaped car descended and came to rest in the dirt. Six humanoid robots got out. The front of it opened. They pulled out boxes.
UE said, “Greg, these are the supplies for Exp One.”
“Good. I’ll examine them in a few minutes.”