Project U.L.F. (53 page)

“Could it be…?” he began to ask her, reluctant to ignite false hopes.

Her eyes sparkled in the darkness. It could.

As one they broke into a run towards the pale gray bulk they had so nearly missed. As he sprinted down the slope towards the shuttle, his pack bucking wildly on his back, Wyatt’s heart soared. They had done it. They were going home. He was smiling so much that his gums felt the angry bite of the freezing air.

He slowed, then stopped, and the smile disappeared from his face. As he stepped from the trees Kate caught up with him from behind. She too immediately recognized that something was wrong.

The shuttle looked battered, more so than before. It had been damaged since they had left it, and there were no signs of life. The windows were black and cold. There was no light from within. Not even the faint flickering glow of candlelight.

The fire looked long cold. Wyatt disturbed the ashes with his foot, hoping to find hot embers amongst the black. Nothing. The powder daubed the toe of his boot gray and he felt no heat through his sole. No fire had been lit this night.

Kate’s features mirrored his own. A mixture of apprehension and deep concern.

Wyatt scanned the trees for signs of danger, something that might explain what had happened here. The place was eerily quiet. The trees stood like silent gray ghosts all around. A chill breeze swept across the clearing, sending a shiver down both their spines and making them mindful of the cold again.

He crouched and retrieved a small boot knife before advancing on the shuttle. Kate followed close behind, not wanting to be too far away from him. Fearful of the uncharacteristic quiet.

The shuttle door was shut and pressure-sealed. That was a good sign. At least it had been locked from the inside. He only hoped that they were still alive. He and Kate could not survive the night out here.

He laid a hand against the door. The steel felt colder than the night air. There was no warmth from within, at least not enough to radiate through the thick hull of the ship. He put his ear against the door in a vain attempt to hear something, but again, nothing. He shook his head at Kate’s expectant look.

Wyatt brought the boot knife up in his hand. The blade was clasped deftly between his thumb and forefinger, the heavier hilt waggled nervously above. With a quick snap of his fingers, Wyatt brought the hilt into contact with the shuttle door. In the still of the night, the experimental tap sounded like the striking of a gong.

*
  
*
  
*
  
*
  
*

Chris’ eyes snapped open. Now, even when sleeping, his unconscious mind was acutely attuned to the slightest sound. “Bobby? Par?” he hissed in the darkness. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah, kid, I heard it,” Par’s voice whispered.

“Do you think it’s come back? Y’know, that thing? Just come looking for us?”

“I dunno, but your talking’s gonna give it a reason to stay!”

The tap came again from outside.

“What do you reckon it is?”

“It could be anything. Maybe a nocturne just scouting about looking for food,” Bobby offered.

“What, making a noise like that?”

“Maybe if we just sit quiet, maybe it will go away.”

“Somehow I doubt it.”

“Quiet!” Bobby insisted.

*
  
*
  
*
  
*
  
*

Wyatt looked at Kate in the moonlight. Her eyes glittered in the darkness beneath the peak of her cap. The pale light turned the rest of her features white, like porcelain. She looked like the Kate that he had first met, fragile and delicate. A half-smile turned the corner of his mouth.

“What? What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing. A memory,” he said quietly.

She frowned.

“I could have sworn I heard something. From inside.”

“Well, try again.”

*
  
*
  
*
  
*
  
*

“I told you it wouldn’t go away.”

Neither Bobby nor Par said a word.

“What if it’s the others, come back already?”

“I doubt it,” Bobby put a voice to her earlier thoughts. “It’s a lot of distance to cover, there and back in two days. Besides, it’s well below freezing out there now.”

“And what if it’s not,” Par objected. “What if it is that thing come back for us or something equally as nasty? Do you want to open the door and find out? ‘Cause I sure as hell don’t. Are you prepared to risk all our lives on a ‘what if’ now that you’ve put so much work into saving our asses?”

Par had a point. Chris chewed his thumbnail, thinking on what had just been said. The tapping continued from outside. “But what if it was us outside? How would you get the attention of the people inside?”

“You’re not going to let this drop, are you?” Bobby huffed.

“Hey! I’m only saying…”

“Alright, I’ll go into the cockpit and see if I can see them from the windows. Okay?”

Chris shrugged. “Mind where you step. We’ve only got half the floor panels, remember?”

“I remember.” Bobby got to her feet and gingerly stepped through the cabin. The air was distinctly colder in the cockpit even though the two compartments were connected. The glass of the windows gave the cold an ally and the heat a convenient escape route. As soon as she stepped into the cockpit she knew this gesture was an entirely futile effort. The two windows were forward facing and bowed only slightly to match the curvature of the shuttle’s nose.

She clambered over the co-pilot’s seat and pressed her face against the glass, feeling the cold of it against her cheek. Her warm breath instantly condensed on the cold surface, turning it misty gray. Quickly she wiped it away, smearing the glass and leaving trails of larger water droplets across its surface. Absentmindedly she wiped her hand on the backside of her fatigue pants as she peered out into the night. She couldn’t see far enough down the side of the ship to see if anything was out there but at least the monster wasn’t back. She looked up into the sky to reassure herself. There was only one moon tonight.

*
  
*
  
*
  
*
  
*

“Surely they would have heard us by now if they were in there.” Kate said. Worry and cold made her voice quiver.

“Well, yeah, I would have thought so too.”

“So why aren’t they answering?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they’re scared.”

“Of us?”

“No. Of something else.” Wyatt turned to scan the trees again, convinced now that he was right. “Why else would they lock the door, knowing we were coming back? Why didn’t they light a fire? We, or they, may have attracted something.”

Kate looked around nervously. “Well, then we need to find some way to identify ourselves, and fast. I’m growing to dislike this place more with each passing second.”

Wyatt fingered his bottom lip thoughtfully. He had it! A universally recognized signal. Ancient yet modern. Something that had survived for centuries. Simple code.

*
  
*
  
*
  
*
  
*

Bobby walked back into the cabin. The tapping seemed to have stopped momentarily. “Well, your monster’s not back, but I can’t see what’s making that noise.”

Then the tap came again, only this time it wasn’t a single tap, it was a well-defined sequence. Tap, tap, tap. Tap…tap…tap. Tap, tap, tap.

“It’s them, you stupid buggers! Open the door!”

“How do you know?” Par demanded.

“Don’t you know an S.O.S. when you hear it? Now open the door, they must be freezing out there.”

Par heaved against the handle that released the pressure seal and Chris yanked on the lever for the door. Without a word they quickly bundled the startled Wyatt and Kate into the shuttle before shutting and sealing the door again.

Wyatt and Kate sat with their backs against the bulkhead huddled close together, arms folded across their chests, hands tucked firmly into their armpits.

“Jesus, Wyatt, it must be minus ten out there. Are you nuts?” Bobby couldn’t believe it.

“Where’s Kit? And the alien? Where’s Gon-Thok?” Par badgered.

“Did you find the other ship? Have you got the parts we need?” Chris asked, his voice full of expectation. The last question seemed to hang in the air as if demanding to be addressed first. Wyatt turned to Chris and nodded slowly.

The spark of hope flared anew in each of their eyes and then they hugged each other in the cramped confines of the small dark ship.

“You really do look like shit, y’know, Wyatt,” Bobby said sarcastically. Wyatt said nothing, just smiled and showed her a mouthful of chattering teeth.

CHAPTER

“So what happened to the alien?” Par asked him

“It left us. It was in a bad way.”

“So you don’t know? You don’t know if it made it or not?”

Wyatt shook his head. “No I don’t. I’m sorry, I wish I could tell you otherwise.”

Par looked genuinely saddened. Wyatt focused his attention elsewhere.

“Hey kid? You reckon you can get that hyperdrive fitted and up and running?”

“Within the day,” Chris replied, a broad grin spreading on his face.

“Well, that depends,” Bobby interrupted.

Wyatt frowned.

“On how much noise he makes,” she said, hoping to clarify the situation but only confusing Wyatt further.

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

“Something’s been attacking the ship since you left, Wyatt. It’s blind, attracted by noise. We think it’s what’s responsible for the death of the shuttle crew and how we came to find the shuttle as we did.”

“What, in the tree?” Wyatt said with a smirk.

“It’s big, Wyatt. Bloody big.” Bobby’s face remained deadly serious.

“Is that what all this is for?” Wyatt gestured to the panels welded onto the hull’s interior.

Chris shook his head. “No, that’s just to reinforce the hull from the damage it’s taken. The hull’s been stressed. I figured it might not take kindly to zero atmosphere.”

Wyatt nodded thoughtfully. “Mmmm. Good thinking, kid.” He rubbed his chin. “Well, do you want to get to it? Creature or not, we’ve got to get that hyperdrive unit fitted sometime and I don’t think any of us want to be here any longer than we need to be. Right?” He looked around at the others. Nobody said a word. “No, that’s what I thought. Kid?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it, sir.”

Chris worked tirelessly all day to fit the hyperdrive unit into the gutted shuttle while the others took turns to keep watch for the beast. They all experienced a tense excitement, knowing that they were now so close to going home and yet, out there, somewhere in those trees, was a monster that could literally crush that dream. The shuttle itself paid testimony to that truth.

The day had been incredibly hot. Hotter than any they had experienced before on this hostile world, and they all took shelter in the small ship, not just from what they feared outside, but also from the oppressive heat.

It was nearing dusk, as the second sun dipped toward the horizon and the shadows of the trees began to stretch their way across the clearing, when Chris emerged from the hole in which he had been working and weaved his way through the shuttle to its bridge. His fatigues were patched with sweat and his face was stern and serious. The others watched him in silent anticipation. He took a few moments to re-connect some wires and re-route some power and then he took a deep breath and held it. His fingers traced a complex route over the keypads and then, after the flick of a switch he paused, and waited. His eyes searched for something. Some kind of indication that all was as it should be.

Slowly the ship seemed to come to life. Chris heard it first, a distant whirr that became a quiet hum, but the others heard it too, and their faces cracked into smiles. The lighting and indicator lamps on the bridge consoles stuttered into activity, flashing intermittently and then staying on, the glow growing in intensity as filaments thrived on the flow of power and heat that came with it.

“I think that’s it,” Chris said. “See, this old bird’s still got something left to give.” He turned and grinned at the others.

Kate walked through the door to the bridge and hugged him, nearly squeezing the life out of him. “Thanks, Chris, you have no idea how much this means to me.” He could see tears welling in her eyes.

“That’s okay. It was pretty damn important to me, too!” They both laughed and hugged again.

“So, you wanna try her out? No time like the present.”

“No. Sorry kid, but we’ll fly tomorrow,” Wyatt said. “I’ve got preliminary checks to run tonight and coordinates to put into the computer. By the time I’ve done that it will be dark, and if whatever attacked this ship first time around decides to come back, I at least want to be able to see which direction it’s coming from to give us a better chance.”

For a second their moment of euphoria was gone and Wyatt felt bad that he had stolen it away from them. He stood and walked over to Chris. He offered his hand and the youngster took it and shook it firmly. “I will get you home. I promise you that. But it has to be tomorrow that we make our bid.”

“I know.” And Wyatt could see that the kid understood. They smiled and hugged each other.

*
  
*
  
*
  
*
  
*

Wyatt sat in the pilot’s seat and ran through his checklist while the others discussed the logistics of the flight in the cabin behind him.

“We do have one small problem, though,” Bobby said. “Our rations are low and we’re looking at a two-week journey, even with the hyperdrive. We simply don’t have enough food to sustain five of us for that period of time.”

“But we’ve got cryosleep chambers, right?” Par said, “We’ll just sleep through it. Then we won’t need any rations.”

“I don’t want you going into cryosleep,” Chris said seriously to Bobby. “The cold temperatures are designed to slow down the metabolism, and that will affect your immune response. I don’t know if you’ve cleared the infection yet, or even what the cold might do to the infection. It might be a bacterium that thrives in extreme conditions. It’s too dangerous and you need to continue on your antibiotics.”

“Well, that’s good,” Wyatt called out from the cockpit, “Because we need at least one person awake to ensure that the ship’s staying true to the pre-programmed coordinates. With the damage this ship’s sustained we don’t know if the navigational computer’s working properly or not.”

“And we don’t want to overshoot by a couple of light–years, after all we’ve been through,” Kate added sarcastically.

“Right.”

“Do we have enough rations for one, Bobby?” Chris asked her.

“Oh yeah, easy. Probably two at a squeeze.”

“Well that’s that problem solved, then.” Wyatt said, and he returned to his buttons and switches.

“Tomorrow it is, then,” Chris said.

The four of them exchanged glances and nodded solemnly in the darkness.

*
  
*
  
*
  
*
  
*

They slept fitfully that night. The cramped conditions and the cold did not help, but their minds kept them awake, thinking about the approaching morning and their attempt to get off the planet’s surface.

As it was, the night seemed to pass painfully slowly, simply because they willed the morning to arrive. It was down to this. Hours, minutes and seconds before they would finally be going home. Numerous times during the night Chris looked at his watch. The fluorescent second hand moved around the face with a steady patience. Time could not be hurried.

He must have finally fallen asleep around 3:30 AM local time because he could not recall looking at his watch much after then. Fatigue finally overcame his growing apprehension at what the day ahead held in store for them.

*
  
*
  
*
  
*
  
*

The first of the two suns appeared tentatively on the horizon. It climbed slowly into the sky as if cautious, nervous about what its own light might reveal. The grass wore last night’s dew like a fine silver coat, and the sounds of waking animals could be heard in the forest all around them. A fine mist retreated back towards the trees.

Chris turned the latch on the door and slid it open. He squinted in the brightness of the morning light and sucked in a breath of cool, fresh air. Behind him, the others were stirring. He had waited for what had seemed so long for this day—they all had – and now it was here. Why was he so scared now that it had arrived?

Little was said over breakfast but the tension was tangible. Doubt troubled each of their minds. It was like waiting for sentence to be passed. Today would decide their fate. It could be the first day of the rest of their lives. It could be their last. They all knew it, and they all knew that each of the others knew it. There was little that needed to be said.

“Kate, I’m going to need you up front with me to pilot this thing, just like before.”

She nodded. “Of course.”

“How far away do you think that thing is that attacked you, Bobby? How much time do we realistically have to get this bird in the sky?”

“I have no idea.”

“We need at least forty seconds,” Kate said, looking at Wyatt for confirmation. He nodded his agreement.

“Surely it doesn’t take that long to fire up the boosters and get us up,” Chris said.

“No, in theory, it doesn’t,” Kate confirmed. “But, like all ships, these shuttles have a system of water jets on the underside of the hull which have to be running before we fire the rockets. The ship just won’t allow us to take off without getting the pumps going. Besides, if the water’s not being pumped out under the ship then as soon as we fire the boosters we risk torching the whole area and ourselves. Forty seconds is the minimum time frame we’re looking at to get us into the air.”

“Well, are they loud, these pumps?” Par asked her.

“They will make some noise. Yes.”

Chris’ face went ashen. “Jesus. You wait until now to tell us this. Don’t you think it might have been a good idea to have told us about this?”

“It makes no difference,” Wyatt interrupted. “Those pumps have to be set in motion regardless of whether there’s something out there or not. Besides, I doubt it’s anywhere near here by now. It hasn’t shown its face in the last couple of days, has it?”

Chris and Par shared a worried glance.

“Well, has it?”

“No, sir.” Chris said. Par slowly shook his head.

“Now, look. Here’s what I propose we do. Kate and I will run through the pre-flight checks together one last time and get the shuttle up to speed. You guys sit in here and leave the door open. If that thing so much as pokes its nose out of those trees once we start firing up the launch systems, you guys lay into it with everything you have.”

“That’s a great plan,” Par said, with more than a hint of sarcasm.

“Well, it’s all we’ve got. If this thing is as big as you say it is, and can cause the kind of damage we’ve seen, then I’m counting on you guys to stop it before it reaches us, because if it does, it’s curtains for all of us.”

“I don’t know if we’ve got the kind of firepower to bring that thing down,” Bobby said.

“Well, we’ll just have to hope that we do. Now, any questions?”

Nobody said anything.

“Well, let’s get this show on the road. God knows we’ve waited long enough. Kate? Are you ready?”

She nodded, and the pair of them turned and walked through the small cabin compartment up to the cockpit.

“Oh Jesus, this is it. This is really it.” Chris’ hands were shaking as he attempted to clip his shoulder straps into the quick release buckle around his waist. Bobby took a seat to his right and Par sat facing the pair of them. He removed the clip from his weapon and checked it. He pressed firmly on the top cartridge case. It did not yield. His clip was full. He slipped it back into its housing on the gun and banged it home with the palm of his hand. Then he reached into his pack and pulled out another full clip. Bobby saw him do it and the pair shared a knowing glance. She shared Par’s apprehension. For once, Wyatt really had no appreciation of what it was he was dealing with.