“Yeah, I suppose so, but I can't help thinking that there has to be some part of the planet's ecosystem that survived. And now we have introduced Earth lifeforms which will eventually overwhelm and erase any vestige of native life.”
“Don't take it so hard, Dr. Rogers. There are billions of worlds in this galaxy alone, and life dies whenever its star does, or a nearby star goes nova.”
“Your probably right, Doc, but I didn't get a chance to save all those species that were killed off on Earth because of the alien bombardment. I feel like I have a duty to try and rescue a small part of planet
C's
ecology if I can.”
“All right, but remember, all work and no play makes Joe a dull boy. And that is medical advice.” Betty smiled at the scientist and continued on toward the lounge.
Joe entered the Science Section and went to the middle, bio-hazard isolated lab module. The isolated labs were hermetically sealed with airlock doors, preventing anything from escaping into the ship's interior. The lab module itself was totally separate from the ship, an airtight chamber within the hull that could be ejected if something contaminated it.
No hazardous alien contaminants had been found so far during the Peggy Sue's voyages to the stars, but there is always a first time. Thoughts of such possible danger did not occur to the climate scientist as he sealed himself into the lab. His mind was on doing a bioassay on the deepest part of his last core sample. Given projected deposition rates, it should have captured the surface layer at the time life disappeared from the unfortunate world 10,000 years ago.
He selected the section of core sample from the storage locker and sat it on the bench. Near the very bottom was a layer discolored by a dark substance. It looked almost like charcoal though chemical analysis indicated it was not. All other analytical tests having failed, Dr. Rogers' next step would be to prepare a living solution to test the sample with.
A bioassay determines the physical effects of a substance on a test organism and the relative strength of the reaction in a standard preparation. Whether traces of alien life would interact with Earthly microbes was unknown but, since nothing else had worked, it was a gamble he was willing to take.
Engineering Spaces, Aft
One person overjoyed by Hitch and Jacob's discovery of alien “poo” was Chief Engineer Arin Baldursson. He had appropriated several of the largest sapphires to use in device fabrication. Slicing off thin layers of crystal, the ship's engineers were using it to make image sensor arrays, temperature and pressure sensors, and other devices. A major attraction of SOS, silicon on sapphire, integrated circuit construction was that such devices were highly resistant to radiation. It was also great for RF circuits and making white light LEDs.
Earth technology had used SOS devices in satellites and spaceships for decades. The fabrication was straight forward but growing large crystals of sufficient purity was a problem aboard ship. Baldursson now had a ready made supply of large crystals to play with. A new batch of devices was in one of the fab units, components to rebuild the front end of the hover sled that Cmdr. Danner had smashed.
“At least they brought back some useful materials to help fix the things they broke,” the engineer muttered as he checked the fab's progress. Nearby, Engineer's Mate James Michaels was still working on decoding the alien memory device that had been found on the first planet the expedition had visited.
“Hey Chief, you need to have a look at this. I think I have finally got the bugs out of the video signal decoder.”
On an adjacent wall, a picture appeared on a holographic display. Unlike previous attempts to playback the alien recording, this time the images were sharp and in focus. The display showed a view of the alien world unlike any the Earthlings had seen—a world of trees and flowers, of buildings and living creatures.
“What the... ?” said James.
“
Djöfulsins helvíti!
” the Icelandic Engineer swore. “What is that?”
Everyone in the engineering department stood in stunned silence as the recording played out. When the display finally went dark, Baldursson spoke in a harsh, almost choked voice.
“Start the computer on translating the voice track and catalog this so only the ship's officers can access it from the main datastore.”
“Aye, aye, Chief,” James replied.
The Chief Engineer turned and headed out of the room, yelling over his shoulder, “No one talks about this until I say, understand? I'm going forward. The Captain needs to see this as soon as possible!”
Main Lounge
Chief Engineer Baldursson strode into the lounge like a man on a mission. He hurried to the Captain's table and halted, coming almost to attention.
“Excuse me, Captain, but might I have a moment of your time. There is something you need to see.”
Billy Ray was about to tell the engineer to sit down and have a drink but there was something about the man's deportment that rang alarm bells in the Captain's head. He squinted at Baldursson and saw fear in the man's eyes.
“Certainly, Arin. Let's go to the CIC.”
“You might want to have the other officers accompany us, Sir. Dr. White too.”
Billy Ray nodded and, rising from his chair, motioned for the others at the table to follow. As the engineer, four officers, and ship's doctor went forward, low whispers spread throughout the room.
Arriving at the CIC, Bobby closed the door behind the party. They gathered around the large holotank in the middle of the room and looked expectantly to the Chief Engineer.
“So what's this about, Arin?” Billy Ray asked.
“I can call spirits from the vasty deep,” Baldursson intoned, typing a code on the forward touchscreen display. As he stepped back a holographic recording began to play.
A view of trees with green sweeping branches, and fields of red flowers dotted with white flowing buildings appeared. Accompanying the video a voice, obviously synthesized, started a narration.
“I am Senior Academician [untranslatable], an historian at the local university. I am making this recording for any of you who may survive the calamity that has befallen our world...”
Science Lab
As was his habit, Chief Zackly was making his rounds of the ship, checking to see that everything was squared away and ship shape. He noticed the presence of someone in the Science Section and entered to see what was going on—most everyone on the ship who was not on watch was in one of the lounges celebrating the end of the expedition to the metal moon.
Inside, he found Joe Rogers, locked inside one of the isolation labs doing something on the bench. The Chief used the intercom on the lab's outer airlock door to talk to the scientist.
“Excuse me, Doc. Is everything alright in there?”
Rogers was startled to hear the chief's voice in the silence of the lab module. He looked around and spied the Chief looking in through the large transparent panels the separated the isolation pod from the rest of the Science Section.
“Oh, it's you Chief. You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry, I didn't mean to make ya jump. Just checking to see that things are squared away. What are you doin' working when everyone else is celebrating?”
“I've just got a few more tests to run on some of the samples we collected on the dead planet. Besides, I didn't have anything to do with the mission to the metal moon.”
“Any reason to have a free drink on the Captain is a good reason, Doc.”
“I suppose. I won't be much longer and then I'll join the others in the lounge.” Looking back at the Petri dish on the laboratory bench he noticed that there was motion in the solution—small bubbles seemed to be forming on its surface.
“Hey, it looks like I've got a reaction of some sort...”
CIC
“That was... horrible!” Beth finally managed. She was the first one to speak after the holographic recording finished.
They had witnessed scenes of destruction unlike any they had ever imagined. Cities demolished, vast open spaces stripped bare, a civilization destroyed, an entire world laid waste. Worst of all, they had seen the narrator's last minutes, as her city was desecrated outside her window. They watched as the Academician's own daughter was brutally killed and consumed in front of her. They listened to the dying scholar's last strangled cry as death took her.
“Those, those creatures were the inhabitants of the dead planet?” managed Betty White.
“Yes, we think so, Betty,” answered Arin.
“What in God's name happened to them?”
Though this was the Engineer's second time seeing the recording it still had a chilling affect on him. “It looks like some kind of alien lifeform was set loose on their world—something that consumed every living thing on the planet.”
“That poor mother, having to watch her child die in front of her and not being able to do anything.” Mizuki was near tears, empathizing with the plight of the mother even though she was not even remotely human.
In fact, the now deceased inhabitants looked like large flatworms, or perhaps snails without shells on their backs. They had two eyes mounted on stalks above their heads and on their sides were frilly membranes that they used to manipulate objects and equipment. The Academician's appearance was definitely not human, yet her last words held emotions that any human mother might feel. What had happened to these creatures was a tragedy so foul, so evil that those present could hardly comprehend the enormity of it.
“I thought that the alien bombardment of Earth was about the worst way for a species to die. That weren't nothin' compared with that black stuff, it killed everything. Do we have any idea what it is?”
“Some form of virulent fungus or other growth,” speculated Dr. White. “But I have never seen something spread like that, so quickly, like it was seeking out all living things.”
“I think we need to call the other scientists in to view this video, Captain,” Mizuki said. “Perhaps they can shed some light on what this noxious organism is.”
Before the Captain could respond a loud alarm sounded throughout the ship.
“WARNING! Imminent danger of lethal biological contamination in the Science Section, Deck 2...”
Part Three
That Is Not Dead Which Can Eternal Lie
Chapter 1
8
Science Section, Peggy Sue
The Chief was trying to make sense of what he had just witnessed through the transparent walls of the lab module. Inside, Dr. Rogers reached out with one gloved hand and touched the contents of a Petri dish setting on the bench. Immediately he jerked it back. Rogers staggered backward from the lab bench, holding his hand up in front of him.
A look of terror overcame the scientist as his gloved appendage ballooned and then collapsed. It was as though the hand inside had melted away. Filaments of black—sinuous and questing—reached out from the shriveling stump, wrapping themselves around the scientist's arm, quickly reaching his face. Rogers screamed.
His outcry was cut short as the rapidly expanding mass of black fibers encased his head and torso. Between the inky strands, flesh bubbled and popped. The man collapsed in on himself, like the wicked witch melting in the
Wizard of Oz
. In seconds the only thing moving in the lab module was a mound of pitch-black goo on the bottom of the room. From that noxious heap, tendrils ran across the floor and up the transparent walls, working their way around the airlock door.
As the airlock seals began to bubble, being eaten away in much the same way as the dead researcher's flesh, the bio-hazard alarm sounded. All this had transpired in less than a quarter of a minute.
“Sweet merciful Christ!” the Chief exclaimed. He activated his comm link on the emergency command channel and called the Captain.
CIC
Barely heard over the sound of the bio-hazard warning, Billy Ray's comm pip chirped.
“Captain, Chief Zackly. We got a situation here in the Science Section.”
“Go ahead, Chief.”
“Some kind of black crap just dissolved Dr. Rogers, I ain't never seen anything like it. Now it's tryin' to eat through the airlock seals. Whatcha want me to do, Sir?”
Beth called up live video from the lab while the men conversed. The Chief could be seen standing outside the airlock for isolation lab two, staring in horror at the black tendrils attempting the eat their way through the containment barriers.
“Shee-it,” Billy Ray swore under his breath.
“If that gets out into the ship we're all dead,” said Betty.
“Dump it!” cried Beth.
“Right,” said the Captain. “Chief, dump the module.”
“Sir?” came the unsure reply.
“Eject the module into space. Get it off the ship before that black stuff can eat through the seals.”
“Aye, aye, Captain!”
Over the video link, the Chief could be seen opening the protective cover over the emergency ejection control. With the palm of his right hand, the sailor struck the large red button. If anyone other than an officer tried to eject one of the lab modules, the computer would normally ask for authorization, but the ship's computer was smart enough to interpret the Captain's order to the Chief as
a priori
authorization.
Over the comm link came a thunk, followed by a whooshing sound as the lab module pulled away from the interior wall. From the Chief's perspective the lab flew away into the distance, leaving a large rectangular hole in the ship's hull.
“Initiating level one decontamination of Lab Bay Two,” the computer calmly reported. This entailed illuminating the entire bay with high levels of UV radiation. The transparent bay walls turned opaque and the Chief backed away, out of view.