The Epherium Chronicles: Embrace (22 page)

Martin continued to cut up his sausage as he replied, “Well, I’d have to say it was because of my father.” The Petty Officer quickly chewed and swallowed a piece of the sausage before he continued. “Whenever I tell people that they all seem to think the worst, but it’s not that way at all. My father was my idol, my inspiration to join. He served as a Marine when he was younger, and was wounded three times on different missions both on Earth and off world. When he came home he married my mother, raised a family and started a small construction business.”

Hood began to see parallels in the young man’s life and his own. “Hmm, I was unaware of your father’s service. Why didn’t you join the Marines and follow in your father’s footsteps.”

“Dad always encouraged my brother and me to find our niche in life and when we did, he stood behind us one hundred percent. He often found me looking through his old pictures and awards from his days in the service. We would spend hours talking about what it meant to be a part of something like that,” Martin explained then paused for another mouthful of food. “I told him that the Marines required a real tough as nails attitude and that it just wasn’t me. To my surprise, he agreed with what I said and helped me find what I wanted to do in the EDF Space Forces. I couldn’t be happier, and I’ve never looked back.”

Hood smiled at Martin. “I think your father had exactly the right attitude. My parents were a bit wary of me attending the Academy, but it was my uncle that really helped win them over,” Hood said as he pointed to the picture on the wall of him as a boy with his uncle and father. “Family helps define us and gives us direction. My family has had a role in space now for decades and perhaps for more to come. My uncle was the pilot on the colony ship that headed to Cygni. My dad was so proud of his younger brother that he always found little ways to help him prepare for it.” He looked back at Martin. “You mentioned your brother. What does he do?”

Martin finished his plate of food and wiped the syrup from the side of his mouth. “He’s a transport pilot. He always liked structure, and he landed the same run every day from Lunar Station to the Mars Orbital. He always knows what he’s doing, and where he’s going to be.”

Hood placed the cover over his empty plate and handed it to Martin who put the two plates together. “Sounds like both of you found your niche then. So do you want to stay in the military, or is there something else you want to do?”

Martin thought about the question for a few moments. “Actually, I really like being a part of this crew. Opportunities like this to travel to a far off world and help establish a link to a new colony don’t come along all that often. I was never much of a homebody and serving out here suits me just fine.”

Hood stood and clasped his hands together. “Well, Mr. Martin, I think you made the right choice and I, for one, am thankful for all your help. Thanks for the grub, I really needed it.”

“You’re welcome, sir.” Martin took the plates and headed for the door. “I’ll take these down to the mess and come back to prep you for your senior staff meeting.”

“Ah, yes, senior staff. Thanks, Mr. Martin. What would I do without you?” Hood said with a wide grin.

Martin smiled back and nodded as he walked out the door and headed down the hall. As the doors closed, Hood walked back to his chair, sat down, folded his hands underneath his chin and stared at the picture on the wall. Talking about family with others was something he rarely had time for, and finding someone with a similar sense of purpose and direction was a hearty blessing, especially when the next few days could get very messy, and he had the strong belief that there would be little he could do to keep that from happening.

Chapter Sixteen

EDF Armstrong
Deep Space Route to Cygni
Wednesday
,
January 22
Earth Year 2155
Six Hours After Fourth Jump

Krieg’s fighter was sluggish to respond
,
and the intense gravitational forces pummeling his ship forced him to adjust his controls repeatedly
,
just to minimize their effects.
He had flown high level patrols on the surface of Jupiter many times
,
but this one was just inside the deep gas clouds of the planet
,
and visibility was next to nothing.

The colors of the gases outside varied from a deep reddish tan to a pale green color.
The flow on the surface of the cockpit was fascinating to watch
,
but Krieg kept his vision trained to his real eyes
,
his sensors.
Normally these scan patrols would include his squadron
,
and each would each be assigned a grid to search and monitor for any signs of Cilik’ti presence.
Except this time
,
his communication gear couldn’t reach any of his squadron mates
,
and his scanner range was limited due to enhanced electrical storm activity in the area.

Taking a break from the sensor readouts
,
he looked outside at the gases as they passed.
At this depth
,
he was sure he could see the edges of open space
,
but the gases were thick.
As he watched
,
the mist outside congealed as his fighter cut through it
,
and he could make out shapes and images
,
much like he used to do with clouds back on Earth.
The display outside his canopy was captivating
,
and the images became more defined as they got closer.
The first few started off as familiar items
,
like his ship
,
his boyhood home
,
but they quickly changed
,
and he was able to make out faces.
An image of his mother passed by on his right then one of his father passed above him.
They were so lifelike he could hardly believe it.
A
few moments later
,
Thielson’s face appeared to his left
,
and he chuckled as the image contained that disapproving scowl she presented whenever he was around.

Just in front of him a larger image of his sister
,
Elsa
,
formed out of a red tinged mist
,
and Krieg found himself staring at it in silent awe for several seconds.
The image was so real.
He looked closer and swore he could see her lips moving.
Was she trying to talk?

As he tried to focus on what she was saying
,
alarms called out all across his main display.
He instantly switched on his helmet’s HUD and ran a systems check to try to find the cause of the alert.
His scope was blank
,
and he could find nothing wrong with his systems
,
but the image of Elsa’s face was still there
,
it hadn’t passed by in the mist.

He pulled back on his control stick to move closer to the edge of Jupiter’s atmosphere
,
but even as the engines responded and his sensors registered a change in his position
,
the gases failed to dissipate.
He increased his throttle and adjusted to a more extreme vector
,
but his situation remained the same.

Frustrated
,
he tried to raise his squadron mates via their comm channel
,
but only static responded.
Refusing to let panic set in
,
he calmly tried to think through his situation.
He rechecked his systems again and looked back outside.
Elsa’s face was there
,
still talking to him in the mist.

Krieg turned off his HUD and tried to focus on her face again.
As much as he tried
,
he couldn’t understand what she was saying.
He could make out his name
,
but that was it.

Without warning
,
the proximity alarm beeped on his panel.
He re-engaged his HUD and checked his scope.
Something big was out there
,
directly ahead
,
and it was close.
He looked outside to get a visual
,
but still nothing.
He looked back toward Elsa’s face and the image quickly faded
,
leaving behind a large gray object in the mist.

Krieg recognized it immediately.
Asteroid!
He pulled back on his controls to break away from the huge rock
,
but his ship failed to respond.
“
How did that get here?
”
he shouted.
Rogue asteroids were common around Jupiter and some had maintained a low orbit
,
but never inside the gaseous layer of the planet.
He issued a Mayday call across all EDF monitored frequencies
,
but again there was no response
,
only static.

He was in trouble.
His heart raced.
Trying to relax and keep control
,
he took a few deep breaths as he reduced his throttle and attempted to slow his ship down with maneuvering thrusters
,
but they too refused to activate.
He checked his sensors again.
His ship’s computer estimated about twenty seconds to impact.

He shut down his systems and performed an emergency restart to regain control.
The systems came online again as the pocketed surface of the asteroid grew larger outside.
His fighter continued to close the distance.

Krieg pushed his throttle forward and all power to his systems died.
“
No.
no
,
no.
Come on baby...come on
...”
He looked back at the approaching asteroid.
Knowing the impact was only seconds away
,
he closed his eyes and waited for the end.

* * *

One of Dr. Patton’s nurses nearly dropped the urine specimen glass she was taking to the lab when she heard the scream from across the room. She quickly set the glass on a nearby counter and rushed over to the bed where the scream originated.

The young pilot they brought in earlier was now awake and clearly frantic, pulling against the restraints that tied him to the bed. The nurse reached across him and attempted to hold him down as he struggled against the bed’s restraints. “Dr. Patton!” she yelled. Another nurse arrived to help her restrain the young man. “Lieutenant Krieg is awake!”

Patton rushed to the bed, his white coat flowing out behind him as he ran. Krieg was still actively resisting the nurses’ attempts to restrain him, and the bed nearly toppled when Patton reached it. He leaped on top of the pilot, using his body to hold down his arms as the nurses tightened the restraints. Patton struggled to maintain a good hold on the surprisingly strong lieutenant. As he managed to press his shoulder firmly against Krieg’s chest, he witnessed the changes in the pilot’s face.

Krieg’s face was already red with frustration, blood vessels were now becoming visible, and his eyes, now fully dilated, were showing signs of red around the irises. Patton immediately yelled behind him to the third nurse who arrived on the scene. “Nurse, twenty cc’s propofal!”

The nurse quickly opened the door to the nearby medicine cabinet and removed a jet injector and vial. She pushed the vial in fast, snapped the cover down to ready the injector and rushed to Patton’s side. She moved her hand to the lieutenant’s neck, pressed hard against his skin and pulled the trigger.

Krieg didn’t react to the injection, but it took only a few seconds for the powerful sedative to flood his system, and his thrashing began to ease. As his body relaxed, the blood vessels in his face receded slightly. His breathing began to slow down. Taking advantage of the new situation, the nurses assisting Patton finished tightening the restraints and secured the bed to anchors on the floor.

Patton continued to sprawl across Krieg’s chest until he was satisfied that the sedative had done its job. Once he was sure that Krieg’s condition had calmed, and the nurses had secured the restraints, he slid off the lieutenant’s bed and wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. “I want a full neural workup on him and keep him conscious,” he told the nurse who had administered the sedative. Patton leaned over Krieg’s head, checked his vitals, and gently felt the raised areas on his face and neck caused by the blood vessel expansion.

“Where...where...where am I?” Krieg muttered, and his eyes slowly trained to Patton’s face.

“Easy, Lieutenant,” Patton said soothingly. “Just relax. You’re in medical.”

“How did I get here?” Krieg said a bit sluggishly.

“All in good time, Lieutenant. For now, just relax. You’re in good hands.” Patton patted his shoulder with his hands and moved out of the way to let the nurses begin their tests. He left the medical ward for his private office and activated a new comm channel from his terminal. “Lieutenant Greywalker. Your suspect has regained consciousness.”

* * *

Commander Sanchez entered Hood’s quarters and realizing he was the last to arrive, quickly took a seat with Maya and Dr. Patton around Hood’s desk. Hood nodded to him as he sat down and walked over to his chair with a new cup of coffee. “So, what do we know?” Hood asked the trio.

Patton spoke first, and the Australian adjusted his low rim glasses to read his data pad. “Well, I have several things to report. It seems that Lieutenant Krieg has suffered some sort of neural shock induced by an unidentified reagent. I found a small trace of it near his puncture wound under his chin, but it degenerates quickly, which has made analyzing it difficult. There were traces of it in his blood stream, but nowhere near the levels in that of the victims. Once I knew what to look for, I set a diagnostic to scan for it.”

As Patton explained his findings, Hood set down his coffee and nearly spilled it off the saucer. “Is it a poison?”

Patton removed his glasses. “Not exactly, but rather some sort of neural stimulant,” he said. “It seems to act very similarly to medications which regulate synaptic activity, but on a whole new level by temporarily restructuring brain chemistry in two specific areas, the prefrontal cortex and amygdala.”

“What about the tasers?” Sanchez interjected.

“As I suspected, the taser wounds were all post mortem, and the bruises on Lieutenant Krieg’s arms were defensive, so he may have indeed seen his attacker”

Maya handed Hood a data pad with her investigation file already open. “The taser was definitely one of ours,” Maya added. “It came from a security station on deck eight that wasn’t activated yet.”

Hood started to look through Maya’s file. “If the taser and this reagent didn’t kill those men, then what did?”

“Fear,” Patton said. “Extreme terror to be more exact. Each of them experienced a level that their mind and body could not handle, thus causing neural distress and then cardiac failure. In each case, the autopsies are consistent.” Patton opened a file on his data pad that displayed different areas of the brain and showed it to the three officers. “The two areas of the brain affected have direct control over the level of stimuli and how we process our fears. By altering the function, the toxin simply loosened the controls, but something had to interject an image or basis for that terror that these men experienced.” Patton shivered. “Mr. McCraken said he heard each of the men scream in agony just before they died. I am positive that Lieutenant Krieg would have met the same fate, but his lower exposure produced an unconscious dream-like state instead. We were lucky to have him in medical when the nightmare became conscious for him, or he would be joining the others currently in the morgue.”

“How would someone interject an image like that into their mind?” Maya asked.

“The body processes a variety of stimuli differently, but this would have had to be fast and quite detailed to produce such a quick onset,” Patton said. “A neural transmitter possibly, but...”

“But what, doctor?” Hood questioned.

“Our neural transmitters are huge rigs. We use them to diagnose symptoms in unconscious states, not interject images or new neural patterns into our patients. Outside of any revolutionary technology, I would say telepathy would be a fast transmitter.”

“Telepathy, doc?” Sanchez asked pessimistically. “The Cilik’ti supposedly communicate that way. Do you think they could be involved?”

Patton thought about the question for a moment. “Highly unlikely, Commander. I am not an expert in that field, but from what I have read, their ability to communicate via telepathy is limited to their own species. My suggestion was merely hypothetical.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Hood told Patton. “When do you expect we can talk with Lieutenant Krieg?”

“The toxin degenerated quickly, and he seems to have made a resounding recovery. I still have him under observation, but he can take visitors at any time,” Patton said. “Barring a security issue, he should be cleared to return to duty by tomorrow.”

“Excellent. I would like to hear what he has to tell us.” Hood looked at his Security Chief and handed back her data pad. “Lieutenant, how is your investigation proceeding?”

“Forensics at the scene has corroborated my early beliefs that the perpetrator attacked each individual separately and by use of this foreign reagent, neutralized them. According to the access records and the hallway video surveillance cameras, Lieutenant Krieg entered the office at the time of the murders based on Dr. Patton’s time of death estimate,” Maya said.