Last Flight of the Ark (14 page)

“Yes, sir.”

***

It appeared they were more than mildly allergic to canines. The hijacker’s skin looked gray. His chest didn’t move. Jessica tipped her head and listened carefully. No heartbeat. They looked human, but appearances could be deceiving. She’d seen what these things did. There was nothing human about that.

“What’s that, ten?”

Jessica nodded. “Before I studied to become a wildlife biologist, I used to work in the local morgue as a teenager and cleaned the offices. I made good friends with the local medical examiner and learned a lot from him. I think if I didn’t love animals so much, that would’ve been my career choice. I can tell a lot by looking at a body.”

Jessica dropped to a knee beside the dead alien and brushed the pads of her fingers over his face. Cold, but his flesh felt human. She wrinkled her nose. That odor, unlike anything she’d encountered before. Coppery like blood, with the acidic smell of violence. She’d never known violence had a scent until now, but then again, she’d recently learned a lot about different perspectives. Funny how narrow the human view was.

“Should you be touching it?”

“He’s not going to attack, if that’s what you mean.”

“Never mind.”

“Asphyxiation. It happened quickly.” Jessica rolled the body to his side and stared at the underside of the alien’s arms. She tugged his shirt up and examined his shoulders. “Look. All the blood pooled to his back. Lividity. See here.” She pointed. “The blood doesn’t move; it’s fixed. They died within minutes of exposure. This guy has been dead at least eight hours.”

“Great.” Frank nodded, but didn’t look. If she wasn’t mistaken, his complexion had taken on a green tint in the dim light. Hard to tell. He swallowed and raised his hand to his nose and mouth.

“Let’s move. Most of the crew is on the lower level,” Frank said.

He was right. This was neither the time nor the place for an autopsy. The weapon had done its job with amazing precision. No need to examine the evidence further. It had killed them, and that was all they needed to know. She twisted her head, glanced at the locked door, and activated her com. “I’m popping the hatch and going to the lower levels,” Jessica informed Kaleb and started toward the lift. She adjusted her headset and pulled a flashlight from her tactics belt. She switched it to on and moved ahead. “Keep your weapon ready, just in case.”

“Got it right here,” Frank said.

As they entered the lower levels, her breath floated in front of her in a thick mist, a sure sign the main power had switched to the backup system. Even the decking began to get a little icy. Jessica picked her way down the corridor.

“Watch yourself,” Kaleb said.

“Aye, sir.” She pressed her hand into the gel lock and the doors slid open. The auxiliary power to the lower levels was all that illuminated the lift. It didn’t take an aerospace engineer to know that something was drawing a massive amount of power. The weapon must still be engaged. The faster they got the crew off the ship, the better.

“They’re running on batteries down here, sir. We need to evacuate ASAP.

“Roger. I’m warming up the shuttles now. Send anyone that can walk to the main bay.”

“If I find anyone alive down here.”

“You’ll find them. I heard knocking on the pipes. They’re still trying to communicate between the levels.”

The lift came to a stop and Jessica stepped off. She turned left and headed for the main corridor, where the security officers had reported the largest concentration of the crew. “I haven’t seen or heard anything to indicate anyone is up and moving or alive, sir.”

“Keep looking. Their security log says they were locked on the lower levels.”

“Roger.” Someone ahead coughed. Jessica lifted a flashlight and aimed the beam down the corridor. Several sets of eyes, blue and luminescent, reflected back at her. Her heart jumped. It was though she stared into the eyes of wild animals. “I think I found some of them, sir.” The hair on her neck stood on end. Was that what she looked like?

“Identify.” Jessica raised her laser. She couldn’t take the chance that one of the hijackers hadn’t died. They looked too close to human to assume anything, and assumptions could get a person killed. She got a bead on the man in the front of the group and held the weapon steady, her finger on the trigger.

“Lieutenant Colonel Smith, head of medical, and you are?” The man coughed and tossed his ID over to her. He leaned against the wall, wheezing.

“Lieutenant Sterns. I’m from the
Genesis I
.” Jessica stooped down, not taking her eyes from the group ahead. She lifted the ID and compared the face to the picture.

“Forgive me if I don’t trust you, but I need a little identification as well,” the medical officer said.

Jessica kept her weapon pointed at the man. She unclipped her ID and tossed it over. “We don’t have much time. We need to evacuate this ship.”

“Not going to happen. I’ve ordered quarantine. Protocol states we must go into lockdown.” He scooped her security card off the floor. He glanced at it and tossed it back to her. Jessica lowered her weapon.

“Where’s the rest of the crew?” she asked.

“The locks just released. We were going to check on them. Whatever this illness is, it hit fast.”

“I need you to get the crew together and organize an evacuation. The infection is the least of your worries, sir. This ship could blow. Whatever weapon they’ve planted onboard is still active. It’s draining the main power. The engines are off-line and you’re floating dead in space. Another twelve hours and life-support systems will shut down, but I don’t think we’ve got twelve hours to wait and find out. They set that weapon to charge full power for a reason.”

The medical officer nodded. “The hijackers?”

“All we’ve found are dead.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this virus. The symptoms…are crazy. I can smell you.”

“Sir, we’ll talk about the virus later. It was necessary in order to free you.”

“Are you telling me we were intentionally infected?”

“Everyone on this ship and ours has been infected. It will be explained to you once we get the crew off.” How could she tell him he was part animal now, that the infection he didn’t have a choice of receiving may not have been a cure, that he might never be able to go home? She’d had a choice. He didn’t. Jessica frowned. Her choice to stay with Kaleb and Melissa had been the right one, even if Titan had been an ass about it. This man might not feel the same. He might have a reason to go home.

“Who’s responsible for this?”

“I repeat—we need to evacuate first.” And explaining it was better left to Kaleb. Jessica raised the laser again. “Either you comply willingly, or it will be by force. Your choice, sir. It’s safe to use an open channel now. I suggest you contact your crew and get them moving.”

“Put the laser away, Lieutenant. I’d rather live than not. Remember, I’m a doctor. My duty is to keep the crew alive.” He hit his com. “Attention crew of the
Genesis II
, the quarantine has been lifted and you are ordered to report immediately to the main shuttle bay for evacuation to the
Genesis I
.” He cut the com and turned to Jessica. “I had to attend a birth and ended up separated from the command crew when the hijackers boarded. Have you had contact with them?”

“Again, that’s best left for the briefing.”

He nodded. “Until I have contact with the commander, I’m in charge. I agree we need to get off this ship, but there are a lot of questions that will need to be answered. I’ll release the crew to go over to the
Genesis I
, but I will not release them to go down to the planet until I have some answers about what we’re dealing with.”

“Yes, sir. It’ll all be explained.”

“It better be. The only reason I haven’t notified Earth Command yet is that I don’t know what’s going on and we were unable to transmit without making the hijackers aware of what we were doing.”

***

Kaleb kicked the dead hijacker with the toe of his boot. “Jessica, report.”

“All the hijackers on the first two levels are dead, sir. I’ve counted ten.”

With the two bodies he’d accounted for in the shuttle bay that brought the grand total short by three, the commander and her two bodyguards. Three short and a missing shuttle. Two plus two equaled a trip to the planet, sooner than later. If the alien commander found out they’d killed her crew, she’d blow this ship. “The hostages?”

“Sprung. They’re weak, but capable of moving on their own. They’ve got twelve shuttle pilots and twenty-five medical crew.”

“Good, we’ll evacuate them to the
Ark
and set up a triage unit in the main bay.”

“We can bring them over to the
Ark
, but we don’t have the resources to hold them long, sir. Need I remind you we’re a cryo-ship and not equipped to house a crew of that size. This ship was designed to haul animals in stasis, and equipment with a small crew to keep things running. We are, for all intents and purposes, a flying warehouse. We don’t have berths for everyone, nor food, water…or oxygen.”

“I’m more than aware, and it doesn’t matter. We either evacuate them to the
Ark
or the planet.”

“The
Ark
it is. But you better figure out what’s down there ASAP.”

“Already working on that. We have quarters and hospital facilities on Terra II that were flown in by remote months ago. I’ve sent Captain James and a small task force to the surface to clear the facility and set up beacons for landing the shuttles. Once we get the crew from the
Genesis II
safely on the
Ark
and know our installation is clear, we’ll start evacuation to the surface by shuttle.”

“Negative, sir. The chief medical officer refuses to lift the quarantine to allow evacuation to the planet until he knows what he’s dealing with.”

“Of course he does.” Kaleb blew out a breath. He should have known the real brass would throw a monkey wrench in the works. It was all about regulations, and boy did the military love their regulations. “Fine, contact Melissa and have her start evacuation to the
Ark
and I’ll talk to
Genesis II
’s medical officer and stress the importance of getting the crew to the planet as soon as possible, mutation or not. He has to lift that quarantine order. We won’t survive more than a few hours with the drain on our resources up here.”

“And if he doesn’t lift the restriction to land on the planet?”

“He will. I can be really convincing, but we better have answers to what is going on down there. Three of the hijackers are missing along with a shuttle and I have a good idea they’re on Terra II, doing God knows what, and we need another small contingent to recon what they’re up to. I don’t like jumping into this blind.”

“Neither do I. Who knows what kind of weapons they have down there? If they discover we’ve killed their crew and freed the hostages, they could attack. I’ve seen their handiwork and would like nothing better than to muck up their plans.”

“And that’s exactly what I plan to do. Glad you decided to volunteer. Get your ass to the shuttle bay. We’re taking the virus to the planet.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Jessica?”

“Sir?”

“I’m sorry. I was a dick.”

“Yes, sir, you were. I’ll be there in five.”

Would she forgive him? He shouldn’t have said what he’d said and did what he’d done. But there wasn’t much he could do about it now. He’d caught the hurt in her eyes. He’d treated her roughly and said some really nasty things. He wouldn’t be surprised if she’d have nothing further to do with him. He’d been a complete and total ass, especially when he’d finally recognized the scent she’d been giving off.

Love.

***

“Is it reversible?” Lieutenant Colonel Smith eyed the blood sample through the scope.

“I’m not sure.” Kaleb watched the medical officer’s expression grow into what he could only describe as fierce.

The chief medical officer lifted his gaze and stared at him. “My God, Colonel. What have you done?”

“I did what I had to in order to save everyone on my ship and yours.”

“You played with something you had no business playing with.” He looked back into to the scope. “You have no idea if this can be contained. If this mutation gets back to Earth, we could have a pandemic. We have no idea the long-term effect of this mutation. You could kill the entire human race.”

“Or save them. I don’t believe it’s deadly. Actually, quite the reverse. I’m healthier than I’ve ever been. There are side effects but we can learn to live with them if we have to. The bonus is our enemies can’t eat us now.”

The medical officer’s mouth fell open. “Come again? Did you say ‘eat us’?”

Kaleb nodded. “I thought you ought to know what they had planned for you, the
Genesis II’s
crew, and all the colonists en route from Earth. I can guarantee we’re not at the top of the food chain here. They hijacked your ship, killed your command crew, and they’re feeding them to their hatchlings. That’s why I’m going down to the surface. I have to stop them.”

Smith nodded. “We should contact Earth Command before we go down there. Taking this mutation to the planet isn’t a good idea. It’s against protocol.”

“I disagree. There are a couple of issues with doing that. The first is that they control the halfway station and the other is that we have more lives at stake than our own. That’s why I need to find the hives and destroy them. We can’t stop the ships that are on their way. I charted their progress and they’ve gone too far to turn back, and even if they could, we can’t warn them without letting the enemy know. Our only choice is to make the planet safe for the colonists. They’ve got enough fuel and oxygen to get here and shuttle to the planet. Do you want to be responsible for their deaths, too?”

Smith sighed. “My wife and children are on one of those colony ships. Even if we could contact Earth Command about this, they’d be quarantined and condemned to death up there. If what you say about the mutation is true, it won’t kill us, but that won’t stop the Terran government from doing it. You know damn well and good they’ll chose to protect the planet over saving human lives. We’re all collateral damage, and we can be written off for a greater cause.”