Tandem of Terror (13 page)

The security team of four grunts led by
Dianna, Finn and Meg donned their transport suits and breathing
inhalers. Dianna nodded to the Captain, switched on her shoulder
camera and pushed a button on her belt. The entire recon team was
engulfed in a flash of silver light and vanished.

Moments later the enormous view screen in the
command center filled with static before a hazy picture started to
form.

Darius and Landon watched the interior of the
missionary ship come into view. Dianna's camera scanned the area
revealing a horrific scene. A cloud of smoke hung in the first
corridor they entered. Blood smeared the walls around them. A
lifeless body stretched across their path. Vents hissed with
sparks, and monitors blinked erratically, casting the bloodstains
in inky black.

The team switched on their flashlights and
continued their journey. They stepped over the body as Meg paused
and bent to it. "No pulse," she said, and examined his face. She
recoiled.

Dianna reported back to the captain. "His
throat's been cut, so deep it nearly decapitated him. There are
lacerations on his hands. There are bite marks on his face. They
appear human."

"
Be careful in there." It
was the only response Darius gave.

The team moved on slowly. Finn and Meg
trailed behind, allowing the security team to take point and using
their sensors to detect biorhythms. So far nothing registered.

They came to a door with a damaged console.
"We'll have to force it open," Dianna said.

She and a one of the men on her team took
hold of the door and pulled with all of their strength. A metallic
bellow groaned through the ship as the door reluctantly opened. The
ship rocked slightly and a strange hiss resounded in the distance.
Dianna caught her breath and her balance and started into the room
when she stopped short.

Through his view screen, Darius could see her
eyes widen and her mouth drop. She stifled her reaction.

"
What is it?" Finn asked as
Meg stared over his shoulder.

"
It's pretty bad. Doctors
wait here until we make sure it's safe."

Meg's sensor beeped erratically. "We need to
move now. Someone needs our help in there," she said.

"
I'm responsible for all of
you," Dianna answered. "I can't have you in an unsecured area.
Remain behind."

Meg understood all too well that the military
division overruled the medical team, as always, and pressed no
further.

Dianna and her team drew their pulse rifles
and stepped into what appeared to be the command center. They froze
in mid-step and surveyed the hellish scene.

The air was thick and hot. Navigation
computers practically sizzled with bonfires. Blood drooled from the
monitors and view screens like rivers. That was only the
beginning.

The room was filled with bodies, lining the
floor, slumped over chairs, sprawled over consoles. Men and women
were locked in perpetual states of violence. Insanity plastered on
their dead faces for all of time. They were but shells of their
former selves, some were burned, their charred faces leering up at
the stunned security team. Others still had their hands locked
around each other's throats.

Some bodies were actually melted together,
limbs entwined, corpse had consumed corpse. The team surmised the
intense heat of the fire must have done it. Faces had all but
burned off their skulls. Those bodies that still had faces were
burned with images of every manner of cross known to old Earth. It
was a ghoulish display-- -a puzzle of flesh unlike anything Dianna
had ever seen.

Darius received the images back on the Tiamat
and rubbed his face in disbelief. His stomach churned as cold sweat
dampened his face.
What the hell happened over there?

This was the first time any salvage ship had
come across casualties. Dianna had never even seen a dead body
before. She studied the corpses, their ravaged faces, their black
cleric clothes marred with burns and wounds leaving the religious
insignia on them nearly unrecognizable and hoped to find a sign of
life. She stepped through the fallen and a face in the bodies
turned to stare at her. She jumped, aiming her rifle.

"
What is it?" one of her
team asked.

Her hands trembled and before she shot, she
blinked and looked again. The corpse was still. "Nothing, just my
eyes playing tricks on me. Let's keep..."

Before she finished a moan reverberated
through the room. The team rushed to a young man in the corner. He
stirred sluggishly and looked up at them with liquid blue eyes.
"Help...me."

"
He's alive!" One of the
grunts called.

The man was dressed in a pure white bodysuit,
his angelic face was dusted with soot and peppered with scratches,
but he appeared unharmed. His blond hair was a thicket of gold.
Dianna bent to him. "Are you all right?"

His eyes widened. "They've gone mad! All of
them! They're killing each other... the
killing...horrible...insanity...please don't let them..." He passed
out.

"
Doctors!" Dianna called.
"We have a survivor!"

Finn and Meg rushed through the room. Meg
tried her best not to focus on the senseless carnage around her.
Finn ushered her through, protective as ever. They scanned him for
vitals and Meg put her hand to his face. "He's burning up," she
said.

"
We need to get him back to
the Tiamat stat," Finn said.

"
I'm not so sure that's a
good idea," Dianna said. "Can't you treat him here first, make sure
he isn't a threat to..."

Finn's voice raised as his patience grew
thin. "No. He needs to be moved or he could die. We aren't equipped
to treat him here. All of our equipment is back at the med
lab."

"
Fine. I want him under
surveillance and my objection to this action noted."

"
Noted," Finn replied. "We
can do him more good on the ship."

Dianna glared at Finn but kept her composure.
His remark surprised her. There had never been tension between them
before now it was almost palpable.

Finn's wife said nothing. She held the
survivor's head in her hands and stroked his golden locks. He
moaned softly. Finn's brow furrowed as he kept close watch on
her.

"
We're heading back now,
captain," Dianna alerted Darius. "We've secured the survivor. He's
unconscious but needs emergency medical treatment." With that she
pressed the belt on her transport suit sending the group back to
the Tiamat.

The Tiamat blazed through space, plotting a
course back to Earth with the missionary ship in tow.

"
Still no contact with
home?" Darius asked Landon.

"
I'm afraid not. It's the
damnedest thing. Our com link is working just fine, we should be
able to reach them by now. Unless their equipment's
down."

"
Keep trying. I'm sure
they'll pop up eventually. I'm going to check on our guest." Darius
left command and headed for the medical lab. The lights in the
corridor blinked sporadically as he reached the lab's
door.

Darius looked around then shook it off,
entering the lab. He discovered the survivor sitting up in bed,
fully conscious and smiling. His face was practically glowing. Meg
Blackwood stood beside the bed, unable to take her eyes off her
fascinating new patient. She played with the buttons of her uniform
absently, until opening them to reveal her cleavage.

"
How is our guest?" Darius
asked noting Meg's strange behavior.

"
It's remarkable," Meg
replied, fastening her collar. "His fever is completely gone. It
vanished as soon as we got him off that ship. I haven't done a
thing."

"
That's not true," the
survivor said, his voice soft and soothing. "Your presence alone
has made all the difference."

"
I'm Captain Darius Thorne
and you're onboard the salvage ship Tiamat. What's your name?"
Darius continued.

"
It's Lucian," he
replied.

"
Do you remember what
happened, Lucian?"

"
The missionaries picked me
up on the moon Sirius L49. My shuttle crashed there when I flew
into an ion storm. Within twenty-four hours they had gone mad. They
damaged their own ship, attacked each other, committed mass suicide
and tried to kill me. I don't know how I survived. The only thing I
remember next is seeing Meg's beautiful face."

Meg blushed and smiled.

"
It must have been an awful
experience. We're glad you're okay. You should rest while we
transport you back to Earth. Save your strength. You've been
through a lot."

"
There's no other place I'd
rather be." He eyed Meg.

"
Good. I'll check in on you
later." Darius turned to leave and saw the tall and lean Finn step
from the supply bay with syringes and medicine. His expression was
brooding, and his eyes were dark. He moved past the captain without
saying a word.

Darius stepped from the room and nearly
collided with Dianna. "Sir, I want it to be clear that the
Blackwoods went against protocol. And I objected with bringing the
civilian aboard."

"
It's all right Dianna. It's
noted in your report. It was the only way. He couldn't stay on a
powerless ship."

"
Yes sir. I just don't want
you to lose confidence in..."

"
I haven't Dianna. Now get
some rest." He started away when the ship vibrated then shook
slightly. He pushed the com button on his belt. "What's going on
Jared?"

Down in the bowels of the ship, Jared Pascal
answered the call. "Ain't nothing to worry about cap'n. Just a
little interstellar turbulence. She's holding strong."

"
Right, can you check your
power readings? The lights in the medical corridor were flickering
on and off."

"
I'll check it. Oh and when
we dock next, we're going to need a refill on platinum and
synthetics. All these tractor beam tows are sucking us
dry."

"
It never ends does it,
Jared?"

"
It'd be a lot easier if I
had a first mate you know. A handsome one with broad
shoulders."

"
That's enough."

"
Jealous Cap'n? You know I
think you're the most handsome man this side of the
universe."

"
Sure. You say that to all
the men we meet out here. Give me a status report in two
hours."

Darius headed back to the command center and
stopped when the whisper caught his attention.

"
Darius..." His wife
whispered. "Why did you do it? Why?'

You're not here.
Darius fought to
clear his thoughts. "You're gone Sophie." He rubbed his face hard
and returned to his duties.

"
Meg," Finn stood behind his
wife, towering over her. His brow furrowed again and his lips
thinned. "Could you please go to the lab and analyze the blood
samples we took from the other ship?"

"
Um...oh...I'm sorry." She
finally tore her eyes off Lucian's perfect skin and tranquil blue
eyes. "I'll do it right now."

Finn watched her leave then turned his
attention to Lucian. He put down all of his supplies and took a
syringe. "We just need a sample of your blood. Something had to
have infected the people on that ship."

He eased the needle into Lucian's arm when
their eyes met. Lucian cracked an odd smile. "So Finn, what's it
like to be married to a whore?"

Finn looked away. The syringe plummeted to
the floor. "What?"

"
Oh come now. Don't act as
if you didn't know. All of those men she was riding while the two
of you were in medical school. While you were across state doing
research. She might as well of had a turnstile for a dorm room
door. No wonder you wanted to marry her so quickly. Make an honest
woman out of her. Except it didn't work did it, Finn? The captain,
Landon, there's just no stopping her is there?"

Finn's hands trembled. His face flushed red
and the veins in his neck throbbed. "I...I"

Meg walked back into the room, smiling from
ear to ear. "I should check his temperature again and make
sure--"

"
Why Meg?" Finn turned, his
face a mask of rage. "So you can fuck him when he's got his
strength back? Or will you even wait for that?"

"
What?" Meg froze in her
steps. "What are you saying?"

"
Don't play dumb with me you
dirty whore. Did you think I was stupid? Banging all the guys in
medical school while I was doing my internship."

"
Finn...this is crazy. We put
this behind us. It was one man, a long time ago. I made a mistake.
You said you forgave me."

"
I did... until I discovered
it wasn't one guy but hundreds!" He stomped towards her.

"
That's not true," Meg
cried. Tears welled in her eyes. "Stop this-- -please stop. It isn't
true."

"
Stop your lying! All of
these years, you lying piece of filth." Finn advanced on her in a
flash. He swiped a laser scalpel from the tool tray and slashed it
across his wife's throat.

Her scream died in a gurgle as the red-hot
laser burned through her flesh as if it was melting butter. Flesh
singed as blood spattered across the lab walls.

Darius heard screaming in the back of his
mind. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination. Ever since
Lucian was brought aboard he felt uneasy. He stared out the view
screen that spanned the entire command center and watched the
dormant missionary ship float sluggishly through space, locked in
place by their tractor beam.