Planets Falling (15 page)

Chapter 34 – Camp

Gorian was spent.  She was recovering from the incident on the Raven and had just witnessed a man being torn apart by the very fog surrounding her.  And now she was trying to extract a stubborn nut from its shell.  She could use a hit of Verat's strong tea.  Miraculously, Verat appeared with a steaming cup and put his hand gently on her shoulder.

"You’re an amazing woman, Ms. Gorian.  This should keep you going for a bit longer."

She looked at him curiously.  "What are you doing Verat?  This is severely out of character."

"I may be an ass.  But I admire hard work and dedication.  Also, you’re the only one who will be able to get this ass off this bizzare planet.”

She sipped the tea and grimaced.  Verat walked back to her data tablet in the tech tent to monitor the drone and communicate with the expedition.  She resumed tinkering with the data pad on the shuttle's hull.  She breached the first level of security.  It was now a matter of time that her program would find the right path to override Melat's lock.  She looked over at Banna. He and Tyrrel were taking turns watching the camp's perimeter.  Tyrrel was napping in her tent.  Neither of the guards had seen anything.  She smiled at Banna and he nodded with a reassuring grin.

While Gorian crouched in the mud outside the shuttle door, Melat reclined on the shuttle floor only a few feet away, her mind in another universe.  She recalled her time when they were stranded in transit.  While submerged in the Raven's guts, she met someone.  Or perhaps it was something.  It did not have a name or a form but it was intelligent and spoke to her.  It told her things about the universe, about piloting, that made her swoon. 
There are secrets,
it said.
  Follow me and I will show them to you.

The Raven was her mother and she bathed in its warmth.  The being in the Raven told her that she would never have to leave this place. 
But you must do a favor for me first.
  She would have to go back to the cold, lonely place once more. 
Tell the woman how to bring you back and take them to the planet.
 
When you get there, you will know what to do.

She let Gorian extract her from heaven, to allow her to become Melat again - the little girl with the extraordinary ability, pulling the strings of the universe, strands formed at the very beginning of space and time.  When she began piloting, the instructors told her that everything in the universe was connected.  When the explosion occurred and the universe started its expansion, every bit of matter and energy remained strung together, a tapestry forever stretching.  Her talent was to step outside of the fabric, find a nearby fold, and jump back into the weave.  She was the worm and it was her apple. This was her final trip through the vast expanse- the Raven her final companion.  Soon, she would be cocooned in warmth and would never care again.

When the Raven arrived in orbit around Nine, she was giddy, energized, and ecstatic.  This was her opportunity to set things right.  Nine was an affront to the order of the universe.  The being showed her that.  Like life itself, Nine mocked the universe, creating order out of randomness.  The universe was a clock slowly unwinding.  Matter sank into gravity's trap and energy surrended to decay.  But life, well, it was determined to wind that clock up again, forcing light into the darkness.  The universe she knew and understood was prepared to defend itself.  The being she met showed her how it all began.  It was beautiful and she longed for it.

The Raven was her sword - a means for salvation.  She first needed to have the shuttle to herself.  While the others preoccupied themselves with the unholy, undulating planet, she would retire to the shuttle.  From there, she would command the Raven to join her on the planet.  She knew her actions would concern her companions.  But by keeping the shuttle on the surface, they’d refrain from calling for help and spend their time trying to reach her.  This would give her the time needed to set her plan - their plan- in motion.

Returning back to the present in her mind, Melat stirred.  She shuffled to the navigation panel of the shuttle and talked with the Raven, which was waiting patiently in orbit.  She gave a series of commands. In response to its master, the Raven fired its thrusters and descended toward Nine.  It extended its heat shields as the thick atmosphere tried to repulse it.  Nine failed and the Raven penetrated the clouds towards its destination- a flat clearing devoid of vegetation about a kilometer away from the shuttle landing site.  Soon Melat would fly the shuttle the short distance to the Raven and rejoin paradise.  She’d activate the Raven's quantum drive forcing a singularity - a black hole- to form on Nine's surface, dragging the whole planet and the filthy creatures on it into oblivion, far beyond the boundaries of space and time.  The universe would be safe and Melat would be home forever.

Outside the shuttle, Tyrrel switched shifts with Banna.  Gorian was taking a fitful nap.  Iggy had emerged from the stasis he called sleep.  Dawn was approaching, casting murky shadows around the camp.  They first felt rather than heard the approach of the Raven.  The air pulsed in synch with the massive propulsion engines.

"This can't be good," Verat said as he looked up scratching his head.

Gorian was awake and in the tech tent instantly.  "My God, Mel’s roused the Raven.  I have one of the drones tracking it.  She’s landing the ship remotely in a nearby clearing."

"How’s she doing that?"  Tyrrel was clearly regretting taking this assignment.

"The shuttle allows pilots to fly the mother vessel virtually.  Melat is in there hooked up to the Raven via remote control.  Why’d she bring the vessel down here rather than taking the shuttle up to it?"  Gorian was perplexed.  In the cellar of her mind though, she seriously considered that Melat was going to destroy the ship, the planet, and them with it.

She typed furiously on the comm.

"What are you telling the expedition?" Iggy asked.

"We may need their firepower to blow the shuttle out of the sky.  We can't let Mel reach the Raven.  This is absolutely horrible."

Chapter 35
– Invitation

The ghostly figures vanished as the sun rose in the hazy morning mist. Minns and Fen poked out of their tents.

"What’d we miss?"  Minns asked groggily.  Her hair was matted to her forehead; she looked miserable.

"A whole army of the walking dead," Grey replied calmly.

"What are you saying, Grey?"  Fen looked much older.

Fromer attempted to clarify.  "We saw the anomalies.  They were the figures of sentients wandering around.  As far as we can tell, some of them were aware of us but unable to communicate.  They weren’t solid.  Rather, they seemed like projections.  All of this is consistent with the imagery we gathered on the Platform."

"Why didn't you wake us?"  Fen was clearly upset.

Grey answered.  "We were so mesmerized that it didn't cross our minds.  We can stay here until tonight and try to quantify what’s occurring."

Minns pulled breakfast out of her pouch - a small energy wafer.  The others did the same.  "Ooh wee, what I would give for a cool drink right now," she said.

They sat and ate quietly.  Fromer reviewed the video he shot that night.  “Look at this footage.”  Fen and Minns perked up and joined him.

As Fen looked over Fromer’s shoulder he said, “Oh my.”

“What’s wrong?”  Minn’s asked.

“One of those figures is my aunt.  She died 40 years ago.  How is this possible?”

Fromer stood up.  “The wonders continue.”

Minns and Fen continued gazing at the images in quiet contemplation.  Grey busied himself on his data tablet, trying hard to concentrate on writing in his journal.  A small light appeared on the screen – a new message from Verat.

"Oh no. I can’t believe this.  Mel’s brought the Raven to the surface.  Gorian fears that she may use it to destroy the planet."

Realization about the quantum drive struck them all.  Even Minns had heard the stories about using their primary means of galactic transportation as a weapon of unparalleled destruction.

"We must get back to camp immediately." Fromer was already packing.

“This completely sucks,” Minns said.  She was disappointed and frightened – a strange, unpleasant combination.

In a few moments they were perched at the cliff edge.  Minns descended followed by Fen.  Grey started down when Fromer felt a pleasant warmth radiating on his back.  He turned to face Mup.

Mup was younger and happier.  His face was complete- his dark eyes twinkled and his mouth grinned.  "Hello my old, old friend. You need to follow me if you want to save your colleagues. Don’t fear.  The nasty sour puss Mup the Mop that tried to kill you is no more.  I banished him."

Grey called up to Fromer. "Fromer where on earth are you?  I know this is doubtful but do you need help?"

Fromer knew that Mup was right.  It was illogical but he felt it within every cell.  He shouted down into the fog. "Grey, I need you all to get back to camp immediately.  I have to remain here for awhile.  I will rejoin you soon.  You do not have time to argue with me.  Please leave."

Grey paused for a moment.  He knew that Fromer was impossible to persuade once he set his mind to something.  "Fromer, I have no idea what you’re doing, but I’m going to trust you.  Keep your comm on and we’ll keep watching you with the drone.  We’ll not leave you on Nine."

Fromer turned to Mup.  Mup nodded, grinned broadly, and ran into the fog.

Fromer had no trouble keeping up.  The ground was flat and the fog was lifting.  Sunshine peeked through the mist.  "Are you really Mup?"

Mup laughed deeply.  "I’m not the same being that you left in space.  He’s still there, a frozen brick, and good riddance.  When I was him, I was so lost, angry, frightened.  I did such horrific things.  It’s amazing how a little death opens one’s mind."

"Brother, I do not understand.  If your body is where I left it, then who are you?"

"It’s impossible to explain.  I don’t understand it myself.  This world allows me - all of us- to manifest physically.  Quite remarkable.  We have very special plans for you."

"We?  Your plan - you will help me stop Mel?"

Mup chuckled.  His pace quickened.  "Stopping your friend, your dear lost love Melat, is a minor task compared to what’s in store for you – for all of us."

Fromer's eyes struggled to adjust to the radiance before him.  He and Mup reached the edge of a lake.  Sunshine sparkled merrily on ripples.  Below the surface, Fromer saw stars.  Or were they something else?

Mup picked up a flat, round stone and skipped it across the surface.  "Remember when we were kids and imagined having a family - mother, father, siblings? What if I told you that there’s more than that?  That we’re part of a greater family?"

Fromer sighed.  "Mup, we do not have time for this metaphysical discussion.  I know I am conversing with a ghost or a hallucination.  However, Mel has lost her mind.  She is going to destroy us.  I need to know what I can do."

"Your love Melat knows as well as I do that it’s all relative.  Time here only has meaning when you’re in it.  Jump into the water dear friend.  It will all make sense.  Or sense won't matter anymore."  Mup giggled and jumped.  Strangely, no splash followed.

Fromer gazed at the water and its ghost lights.  The water was not water.  It was clarity - vastly empty yet strangely full.  He needed its warmth.  Fromer the hybrid, one of the galaxy's great technological achievements, followed Mup into the depths without making a sound.

Chapter 36 – Conflict

Fen, Minns, and Grey bounded through the thick haze, following beacons that Grey set along the way, just like the electronic bread crumbs he set in the tunnels of his home world so many years ago.  Fen was laboring, his age finally challenging him.  He hadn’t completely recovered from the fire on the Platform, which was not helping.  He fell to his knees.  "Grey, Minns, go ahead without me.  I’ll catch up."

"Uncle, we can't leave you here."  Grey just abandoned Fromer.  He couldn’t abandon one of the last threads of family behind in the organic ooze.

"Grey, give me a concussion rifle.  When you stop Melat, you can recover me. If Mel suceeds, you won't have reason to come back."

Minns touched Grey's arm.  "He makes a compelling point.  He’s got enough firepower to keep those things away from him.  We've got to go.  Now."

Grey gave Fen a long desperate look.  Fen nodded.  And they started running again.

The planet then decided that they were to go no further.  Swirls of fog coalesced before them.  Hundreds of hands, wrinkled palms spread wide, surrounded them.  Mud tendrils weaved in between the fingers and wrists, eel-like, obscene and sensual.  Grey felt his stomach turn.

Minns was not happy.  "I'm so tired of this miserable place.  What the hell are these things?  Grey, was your father completely insane?  Who in the hell would come up with something so, disgusting?  If he wanted to kill any intruders, why did he have to use such awful creatures?"

Deep down Grey knew that this wasn't his father's craft.  Something corrupted this act of creation.  Behind them, the concussion rifle fired four times, with the characteristic whump of collapsing air.  Grey turned but the snakes and digits had weaved a thick blanket before him.  "Fen?  Are you okay over there?"

Fen's muffled voice tunneled through.  "I'm fine.  I presume you're mired like me?"

"A little bit.  They haven't attacked us yet.  It's like they want to trap us, not kill us."

Minns started firing angrily into the hands.  With each charge's impact, a hand or tendril would fall into a pile of slop.  But another formed in its place.

"Minns, conserve your ammunition.  We need to wait until they become aggressive.  We're not going to shoot our way out of this."

Minns stopped firing and threw her rifle on the ground.

Grey typed into his comm and waited for help to arrive.