Chapter 8
The next hour gave Austin a chance to regain his thoughts. Most of the crew was preparing to leave for the site, and the lack of chatter helped him think clearly for once. The first thing he noticed was how out of place he suddenly felt. No one would look him in the eye, conversations changed when he came closer, he was the outcast. Austin realized he had committed a great error and he needed to correct it. He could not afford to drive a wedge between the crew and him, to do so would put Carolina at risk. He had gone too far by trying to send that message. It was hard to explain, but he could feel the threads of safety loosening the more that greed pushed Dmitry. And being this far from home meant Earth’s laws could do little to protect him... if it came to such a point. It was time to realign himself among the crew, to let them know he was a friend and not an enemy. It was for his sake, and especially for Carolina’s sake.
Despite the morning sun, Austin had tucked Carolina in to bed with her photolense and markerpen, as if surrounding her with gadgets protected her somehow. Then he quietly retreated and went to the mess room to repeat the ritual of instant coffee. When it was ready he begrudgingly went outside. Looking up, he saw a pink and pale sun, rising against the cloud speckled sky. Behind those scarf shaped clouds he saw Paphos’ rings, a long thin brushstroke of purple and pink. His radio crackled as Dublin and Athen had managed to get some functionality out of the com equipment. The frayed wires had caused a programming malfunction, they reasoned, though the software was designed against it. Austin could fix it… if they let him. Dmitry, Orlean, and Helena came outside and approached him. Dmitry had a look of intent on his face.
“Austin, we need to talk,” Orlean said.
“Yes, I know... I have something to say. I want to say that, well, I’m excited to get back to work,” Austin said. He felt wrong apologizing and he lacked better words.
“That’s great, Austin. I think we should have a meeting, just to keep everyone on board,” Dmitry said. Orlean stared for a moment before glancing away and nodding. Helena fixed her eyes on the floor. Austin noticed something was up if those two were so obviously uncomfortable.
“A meeting?” Austin asked.
“Austin, we have a problem, and it’s affecting how efficiently we work as a team. Let’s all go inside and clear the air about that message you tried to send,” Dmitry said.
“Sure,” Austin replied, heading inside. He was surprised to see Dublin and Athen already waiting in the mess room. Orlean and Dmitry stood behind him. Dublin’s arms were crossed, he never stood like that that unless it was serious.
“Austin, about that message, it really helped convince us about what needs to be done,” Orlean said. Helena would not take her eyes off the floor. Austin started to worry.
“What needs to be done? Are you going to contact corporate then?” Austin asked.
“Dat’ wasn’t what we were thinking, lad,” Dublin said, uncrossing his arms. Dmitry nodded, giving Dublin a signal.
Dublin walked over to Austin, reached out with a prong and dropped him to the floor with a zap of electricity. Austin fell into Dublin, who with Orlean’s help scooped him into the chair. Austin realized his wrists were being bound with plastic restraints. Dmitry spoke while this happened.
“You see, Austin, I need to protect my team, and what you did put all of us at risk,” Dmitry said.
Dublin prepared a gag to tie around Austin’s mouth.
“Oh hell guys, come on, do we really need to gag him?” Athen pleaded. “Carolina is right down the hallway.”
Dmitry exhaled. “Lose the gag,” Dmitry said. Dublin waited a moment, he almost looked disappointed. Austin fumed, his muscles wouldn’t stop twitching.
“Austin, we all stand to lose if we don’t stand together. This is the discovery of a lifetime, and it’s up to us to see how it is handled. Corporate isn’t here, we are,” Dmitry said.
“You… you can trust me. I swear it,” Austin said, struggling to speak. The effects of the stun lasted about a minute and his words came slow at first.
“I lead this team, and you are either with us, or against us,” Dmitry said. He was so pleased with himself, as if this were some generous offer. Dmitry must have planned this in private with the others. Austin had a thousand terrible threats on the tip of his tongue, but he was able to withhold them. He remembered his resolve from earlier, and vowed to keep Carolina safe. Speaking of his little girl, she was standing in the hallway.
“Why is daddy tied up?”
Helena looked away, Dublin coughed. This little lesson was meant to go unseen by Carolina. Athen’s face looked utterly ashamed, she quickly removed the plastic ties from Austin’s wrists.
“Never mind kiddo,” Austin said standing up. “Thank you,” he told Athen.
Dmitry stood in front of him, demanding some sort of answer. “I’m with you,” Austin said. His wrists burned. Dmitry’s dominance was proved. Austin had underestimated how serious everyone was about this whole thing, he wouldn’t do that again.
“I know everyone is without sleep, but no one hits the racks while that thing is crawling around,” Dmitry said.
“We could do a fire watch, rotate every couple hours, let the crew recharge, everyone gets some sleep,” Austin said. Proving himself to his crew felt like the smartest thing to do, and he wanted to do it right away.
Carolina said something. Her tiny voice carried more weight than it should. But it was what she said that made all eyes turn to her. “It won’t come back here. It’s too close to what it wants,” Carolina said. An invisible weight pressed down on Austin’s chest.
“What did you just say?” Orlean asked.
Carolina froze.
“It’s nothing, she’s just tired,” Austin said. He turned to Carolina. “Honey, go back to bed now, try to sleep awhile longer,” he said. Dmitry crossed his arms, silent in his thoughts.
“But I’m not tired,” she said.
“Go, I’ll be with you in a bit,” Austin ordered. Carolina looked half alive as she turned and walked, drooping her shoulders all the way back to her bunk.
The moment she was in her rack the silence died.
“Did she say it?” Orlean asked.
“Please don’t ask her anything, she isn’t ready,” Austin said.
Dmitry stepped forward. “Carolina suggests a shared consciousness with the parasite. This changes things,” Dmitry said.
“Are there more of them?” Athen asked.
“I hope not,” Helena said.
“Doubtful. We’ve been here for months, and our satellites have found no trace of any ecosystem,” Orlean said.
“Aye, well, our satellites missed the wall and everything inside it,” Dublin said. Dmitry turned to a monitor and brought up a video snapped from their research this morning.
“We will speculate on that later. In the meantime, this is a video from the lobby of our alien facility,” Dmitry said. The word lobby was strange to use, but Austin supposed they had to call it something. It sure looked like some kind of a lobby.
“These are signs, words it’s safe to assume,” Orlean said, pointing at symbols over entryways. There were also some on doors. They were looking at the first evidence of alien script.
“Tis’ some kind of processing room, like maybe it’s a security checkpoint?”
“Maybe, but the building is very complex. There’s much more than this top level lobby,” Dmitry answered.
“Complex?” Athen asked.
Orlean answered. “I couldn’t get the readings I wanted to, but I could scan enough to see that the facility extends well into the mountain, and probably deep underground as well. I gathered evidence of multiple floors, but the radio waves in this place make a clean reading almost impossible.”
Austin stood up and walked next to the monitor, squinting at it. “The building was deliberately hidden, but it doesn’t feel like a warehouse
or storage facility. Those markings appear… soft, almost inviting. At least to me,” Austin said.
“They do, if that means anything. This entire room has a certain flow to it,” Athen said pointing at parts of the screen.
“Maybe it’s a hotel resort,” Helena said. Austin almost laughed. Helena’s mind saw things a little differently at times, an alien hotel was just comical to him. Hell, why not. Secluded, far away, feel of interior design… nah. The lobby room was a bit too stale for a hotel.
“Team, let’s realize something. We have learned everything we can learn from outside. If we choose to continue our research we must explore the interior of this facility. And something else… if Carolina is right, then the creature is after something. Do we ignore this?” Dmitry asked.
“Dat’ wouldn’t be in our best interest. An’ already we are losing time against it, whatever it is,” Dublin agreed.
“Are you suggesting we hunt this thing?” Helena asked.
“If there is something dangerous inside that building, and that creature wants it… think about it,” Dmitry said.
“I get it,” Athen added. Orlean leaned back in his chair. Helena looked pale. Austin knew what Dmitry was saying, that whatever the parasite wants could be a threat to them. Austin was in awe at how easily Dmitry could manipulate people. He wanted to find the alien, and he knew how to motivate the others to do it. Dmitry wasn’t actually concerned for anyone’s well being.
“We find what it wants first, or we capture it along the way,” Dmitry said.
“We will need to prepare,” Austin added, hoping he sounded helpful. He would be on his best behavior.
“Austin, you should stay here. We can’t just leave Carolina by herself,” Athen said.
“I’m sorry to disagree, Athen, but Carolina should come with us. She appears to have… unique insight,” Dmitry said. Austin swallowed hard. “But it is up to Austin of course. He is her father, after all.”
Austin hoped he did not growl out loud. Two choices, both terrible. He remembered thinking that being together with the group would benefit them the most. He just wished he didn’t have to put something on the line to do it. And though Dmitry gave Austin the courtesy of deciding, he knew it wasn’t really a choice. He expected them to come, and he would find a way to punish Austin if he didn’t. His wrists still burned from the plastic restraints earlier. Austin knew the saying, keep your enemies close. “If things get crazy, we’ll just come back here,” Austin said.
With Austin’s blessing, and he hoped it was the right decision, everyone got ready to go back to the alien facility. The team stocked up on snack packets and a little water, Dublin and Athen grabbed cutters and torches and a few other purpose tools until their cargo pockets bulged. Dublin was ready first, waiting outside for the others to trickle along. He was enjoying himself. Orlean resisted the urge to load Helena with lab instruments, Dmitry had advised everyone to travel light. They didn’t have any weapons, something Austin regretted. For a group of educated scientists no one really knew what they would need. They left and hiked up the trail, keeping mostly to themselves. Austin took note of each crew member, their looks of excitement and nervousness, and almost two kilometers later they stood atop the ramp leading inside.
Dmitry went down the ramp as soon as Helena caught up to them. Dublin was just behind him, and then the others followed. You could walk down it in a trot but it was easier to slide. Austin looked at Carolina before following, she was eyes forward and ready. Even though he knew the parasite was out of her, she didn’t seem herself. Watching the others slide down the ramp towards the entrance, Austin considered going back right now. This place was too dangerous, and he just knew they shouldn’t be here. “Come on daddy,” Carolina said holding his hand. Austin for a small moment imagined the parasite coming after them while sitting at the quadrohuts, exposed and alone. Maybe they were safer in a group. It was the push he needed to go down the ramp.
The crew had gaggled inside the lobby and Austin approached them, looking at the room and the mess Dmitry made throwing furniture and boxes at the parasite. It seemed so long ago.
“I wonder what’s powering these lights?” Orlean asked.
“Solar power?” Helena suggested.
“We didn’t see any exterior solar panels, but something is obviously powering this building,” Athen said.
The lights inside were good enough to read in if you squinted, but for the most part it was hard to see all the way across the room. Austin looked closer at the signs over the doors, trying to make sense of them, and then moved on. He stooped over one of the desks at a stack of sheets, files perhaps, each marked with symbols similar to the ones over the doorways. Austin blinked twice when he looked at an alien drawing, it was childlike in nature. Staring at it, he realized he could almost put his finger on what this was reminding him of. In Austin’s schema of recognition, this place made him think of something back home. He figured out what it was when he saw Carolina, doodling on the table with her marker pen. Watching Carolina scribble triggered the memory Austin was trying to place. She looked like she did when they took her to the medical clinics, waiting for a doctor. He studied the room, looking from corner to corner, all of it suddenly making sense. “Guys,” Austin said loudly. He waited until everyone looked at him. “I think it’s a hospital.”