“Everyone back to the Galileo now, I am sorry Maria, you and Haru were right, we should have left this planet when we could. Quickly now team, before any more of us are killed, we will have to leave Haru here, I am sure that he will understand.” Kramer ordered and not one of his team argued his decision to leave their friend upon the ground of this unfriendly planet.
As they hurried back alongside the small river, and then through the woodland that would lead them to the lake, they were too busy looking after themselves to see Ricardo Anceris fall to the ground, he had been tripped by the Talia, the female Venetou, winded he had not been able to cry out in alarm. Had they turned they would have seen Talia appear as she bit him with her two deadly fangs, moments later and she was crouched over the still form of Anceris, and it was now that she began to feed upon him. The others arrived back at the Galileo before he was found to be missing, and now panic took hold of nearly everyone, Kramer led the way back aboard the survey ship, the ones at the rear pushing the ones in front as panic finally took over their minds.
**********
The Venetou sensed that their prey, their food, was about to run away from their land around the large lake, and without a moment`s thought they followed the terrified people back aboard the Galileo. They were not going back to a subsistence level of living, not when they had once again tasted the high life, as they saw it. They felt a thrill at the thought of the strange den taking them to another part of their world, with Sarai following the leader of the Bora to the small bridge of the Galileo.
Talia though was more interested in finding a place that would be suitable for their new den, she made immediately for the hold of the starship, here it was dark, and it was in here that they had hidden away before. They did not need to use their powers too much to stay hidden from view, for she always felt so tired after a long hunt, when they were forced to use their powers for too long a time. That of course was before she had fed upon the life-force of her prey. It was also nice and dry within this den of the Bora, and not too cold, although a little uncomfortable, it would do for a short period of time.
**********
“Chief, we are leaving immediately, please start the engines in preparation for lift off.” Kramer ordered Chief Engineer Mayer, who acknowledged his order with a nod and hurriedly left the small bridge of the Galileo with his assistant Charles Milano closely following behind.
On the bridge Palin was haranguing Kramer for not leaving the planet earlier, forgetting that he had been in agreement with Kramer`s decision to stay. As he screamed his abuse at the captain he saw a ghostly figure moving behind Kramer. Sarai had made what could be a fatal mistake by coming up onto the bridge, even he found it difficult to concentrate on using his hypnotic powers, it was because of all of the bridge equipment with its many different coloured lights, its many different monitors each showing something different but vital to the safe operation of the ship. Palin pulled out his Phaser and fired, the bolt of energy whistled though the air but missed Sarai, who he had only seen as a ghost moving towards him, rippling as Sarai attempted to clear his mind and concentrate on making himself appear invisible to anyone near to him. However the bolt of energy had to go somewhere and it exploded against the ship`s bank of computers sending a shower of sparks and starting a fire. Just one second later and Sarai grabbed a hold of Palin and bit deeply into his soft neck to prevent him from firing again, and all the while Kramer`s attention was on the explosion behind him. Palin cried out in pain. Turning, Kramer saw a shimmer of movement behind the falling body of John Palin, but no actual shape, and then he watched as Palin`s slack body hit the floor of the starship with a loud thump. For a moment Kramer was stunned, should he look for the creature, that had now disappeared, if that shimmer of movement had indeed been the creature, or go to the assistance of Palin. Kramer could now seen the bite marks made by the creature so he knew that John Palin would die before help would come in the shape of Doctor Garner. The noise of the fires behind him now called for his urgent attention, he turned and saw that the fires were quickly consuming his computers and they were beginning to get out of control, he needed to extinguish them, and before they spread and caused even more damage.
Sarai had disappeared into the gangway just as the rest of the crew arrived to see just what was happening. What they saw was Palin, just laying there and looking very much as if he was dead, this and the destruction he had unwittingly caused, they now felt the cold hand of fear grab a hold of their heart and squeeze so very hard.
“What the hell happened Chris?” Garner asked as soon as he arrived on to the bridge. He hurried across to the Palin and attempted to resuscitate him, but it was no good, the toxin from the Venetou was too strong.
“Professor Palin must have somehow seen the creature over my shoulder, he pulled out his Phaser and fired at it, unfortunately all he took out was our bank of computers, then he just collapsed upon the floor, it was only then that I saw the bite marks of the creature.” Kramer explained to those crowding around him. “I think that I too saw a blur of movement, but then it was gone.” Kramer said looking around the bridge for signs of the creature.
“Well Chris, these are the same puncture marks that we found on the other victims.” Garner said grimly.
“In that case it must mean that those creatures are all but invisible, for as I said, all that I saw was a blur of movement, and then only for an instant, and then it was gone.” Kramer groaned fearfully.
“My god Captain, if there is one of those creatures aboard the ship then you must do something, you told us that you now have a way of finding it, what are you waiting for, find it so that we can kill it before it kills the rest of us.” Professor Kristiana Georgiou demanded.
“Unfortunately that option is not open to us now Kristiana, Professor Palin destroyed all of our computers when he shot at the creature, and with it our only chance of finding the creature. I am afraid that even getting back to New Caledonia will take all of my knowledge together with a batch of good luck, and luck is something we seem to be rather short on.” Kramer replied despondently.
Just then Chief Mayers called the bridge on the intercom. “We are ready down here, Captain, just say the word.
Kramer looked at those standing around him. “Take a seat everyone, I will need you to protect me so that I can get us home safely.” Kramer then spoke to his engineer. “We are lifting off now Chief, be warned, we have at least one of those creatures aboard the ship, and it may well be invisible.”
The chief engineer looked across at his assistant and swallowed loudly. “Charlie, lock all the entry points into engineering, I just wish that we had one of those the infrared detectors that are sitting safe and snug in the hold. Maybe with one of those operating we would be able to see if there is one of the creatures in here with us, for then I could blast it to kingdom come.” He said angrily before contacting the bridge and telling them of his idea of using infrared detectors to locate their terrible enemy, unfortunately those on the bridge were too afraid to risk a trip along to the ship`s hold.
The survivors aboard the Galileo were lucky that the survey vessel had been able take off after the destruction of so much vital technology up on the bridge, but soon they were on their way back to the planet of New Caledonia, and they hoped safety. For here on board the Galileo their terrible enemy stalked them through the passageways of their starship.
For two days the Venetou were forced to eat some of the food that they found stored away in the ship`s hold, fortunately for them the life-force that they had fed on before the ship left Retem kept them strong. However, they were now hungry for more of the Bora`s life-force, and were watching for another chance to feed on the crew of the Galileo.
The crew of the Galileo had been taking it in turns to sleep, right now only Katriana and Kramer were awake, although Kramer was well and truly exhausted as he had been without sleep for the entire two days. Katriana needed the toilet badly and it was just outside in the passageway that led to th
e bridge, something told her that it would be safe for her to use it, that something was the two Venetou, she never returned to the bridge after leaving it. When the others found that she was missing, they did not dare to go in search of her. However, they now so afraid that they decided to stay awake for the remaining two days of their terrible journey.
Two days later and an exhausted crew finally succumbed to the one thing their bodies craved, sleep. They had all been fighting it for most of the four days of the trip back to New Caledonia, Doctor Garner had dosed them up with drugs to stop them from falling sleep, and fear had provided the final stimulus to staying awake. Even so they had all finally slipped off into the arms of blessed sleep just two hours away from their destination, with a little help from the Venetou who used their hypnotic powers to send messages of sleep to the tired crew. Kramer awoke with a jerk to find that they had been travelling through space without anyone awake on the bridge, and with no computer to guide them safely to the planet of New Caledonia. The personal computer that was all he had to guide them through to New Caledonia was sending out a shrill blast of sound, it was this that had awakened him. It was telling him that they had safely arrived in the vicinity of the planet New Caledonia. Feeling just a bit shaky he quickly woke the others, and exhausted as they prepared to take the ship out of hyperspace, soon they would be preparing to go into orbit around the planet of New Caledonia.
Chapter Three
New Caledonia
The planet of New Caledonia was so named because the first man to set foot upon the planet had a large amount of Scottish blood running through his veins, and when he caught sight of the heather that covered the highland part of the planet, he felt homesick.
Kramer was totally relieved to see their home planet, he took the starship down through the atmosphere, through the tall cloud banks and there below them was what remained of the great northern forest. He followed this west and this soon took him to the planet`s spaceport, however he found that he was faced with something of a problem. With all of the ship`s communication`s systems destroyed by Palin`s Phaser bolt, he could not alert the planetary authorities that they were about to land at the spaceport, or of their other problem, that they had an invisible killer aboard their ship. With no options open to him, he brought the survey ship down to the safety of the spaceport unannounced, and thinking only of the security of the planet he landed away from the other craft spread around the spaceport, however, he parked as near as possible to the security wing of the spaceport. Kramer felt that the worst was over, but there was one more terrible ordeal the survivors on the Galileo would have to endure before they were able to escape. It was Maria Alejandra who brought it to their attention when she enquired shakily where Doctor Mason Garner was, but once again no one dared go and look for him.
Kramer, and the other members of his crew that still lived, now walked along the empty gangways of the ship towards the craft`s main air lock. It was near to the airlock that they found the two missing crew members, they had both been murdered, and Doctor Garner during the last hour, their bodies lay on the floor next to two chairs in the small clinic of the Galileo. Doctor Garner had retired there after giving the crew their last shots to keep them awake, and there was no doubt as to what had killed him or Katriana Georgiou. Why they had done such a stupid thing as to leave the safety of the bridge, the survivors could not even hazard a guess. In fact it had been the hypnotic power of the Venetou that had got control of their minds and convinced their tired brains that it would be safe to leave the safety of the bridge.
Kramer now resorted to an extraordinary measure, one never needed when landing on one of the planets that had been colonised by Earth, he put on a spacesuit and then entered the main airlock. Once inside, it was closed after him by Chief Mayers who manually operated the airlock from the gangway, Chief Mayers now emptied the airlock of air, and then after one minute refilled it with air again. This measure Kramer thought would ensure that none of the alien creatures aboard the ship would escape it. He then opened the exterior door of the air lock and stepped out onto the hard surface of the spaceport, he now took off the helmet of his space suit and walked towards the people who were hurrying towards him.
As the authorities had been unable to contact the Galileo as it approached and landed at the spaceport, and now from this strange way for this man to leave his ship, the authorities knew that something was seriously wrong aboard the Galileo. A small team of security men had rushed out and now they mounted a guard around the ship to prevent any one else leaving the vessel. The senior security man then approached Kramer, who looked haggard from his lack of sleep, but immediately recognising him the security man smiled.
“Is everything ok Captain, you look terrible?” He asked realising that there probably was a problem, for why else would Kramer look so haggard and leave his ship in such a way. Kramer told him the abridged version as he realised that he would have to repeat himself to the head of planetary security.
“Ok Captain, you had better hold it right there, until our head of security gets here.” He ordered Kramer who stopped where he was, but he now pleaded with the security man to urge his superior to make all haste, for the safety of his crew who were still aboard the survey ship depended on it.
Francis Strom, the head of security at the spaceport, and also of anything to do with the Morang Corporation, soon turned up, as his offices in the council building were just five minutes away from the spaceport. After introducing himself he asked just what the problem was aboard the ship.
“Here is my ship`s log together with the log of our doctor, they will tell you everything that you need to know Mr Strom. However, let me tell you the main problem, we have an unfriendly alien presence aboard my ship, one that had taken the lives of ten members of my crew, and it is invisible. It must be prevented from leaving the ship at all costs, as the consequences would be fatal for the colonists here on New Caledonia, if it were to escape the ship.”
Kramer felt some relief at passing the matter over to someone else, now maybe he could find the time to get some sleep. After that he knew that he would have come to terms with all that had happened on the planet Retem and also on his ship, and all in so short a period of time.
“There are still three of my crew aboard the Galileo, please hurry.” Kramer begged the security man who was glancing at the log entries of the starship`s doctor.
Strom was a little taken aback by Kramer`s description of the alien, had he said invisible? However he decided to let this point slide for the moment. Instead he glanced at the last few log entries made by Kramer and seeing them he looked directly at Kramer.
“If the situation aboard your vessel is so dangerous, just why did your remaining crew members stay aboard, why not allow them to come out with you?” Strom asked, in truth he was just a little baffled by this action, and it seemed to Strom that maybe the situation aboard the survey vessel might not be quite as Kramer was making it out to be. Maybe the good captain had gone space crazy and had murdered all of his crew, and this tale was designed to cover up his deed.
“We had an explosion aboard our ship, it is why we could not contact you before our arrival, it took out all of our communications and it also disabled some of the systems that operate the airlock, it can now only be operated from the gangway on the other side of the airlock.” Kramer explained. He had seen the disbelief in Strom`s eyes but had disregarded it, he had more problems than a second rate security man to deal with right now.
“So why didn`t you and your crew take care of the alien, Captain, I thought that you planetary survey types were more than capable of dealing with the odd alien?” Strom asked still not buying Kramer`s story.
“We normally are, however, these aliens are not only brutal killers, as I told you they are also invisible, something that we discovered a little too late, which is why I lost so many of my crew.” Kramer replied bitterly.
Strom looked at Kramer strangely, as if trying to sum him up, however, he appeared to
give up trying to be a psychologist and just shrugged.
“Ok, then Captain, your ship is now under quarantine, no one is to leave it unless I agree to it. Do you want to return to your ship and you crew, or will you come with me while I make the necessary arrangements to get your crew off safely?” Strom had to ask the question although he thought that he knew the answer.
“I will return to what remains of my crew, they are still in the gravest of danger Mr Strom, once again, I beg of you, please help my crew to get off my ship!” With that Kramer entered the airlock and joined the three members of his team, who thankfully were still alive.
A long telescopic security tunnel was soon attached to the hull of the ship fully enclosing the airlock, and only now were the four surviving members of the crew of the survey ship Galileo finally allowed to leave it. They walked along the security tunnel until they reached the head of security, Francis Strom, who was standing at the far end of it. He was waiting for them at the entrance to the isolation wing of the planet`s main spaceport building.
“Mr Strom, please take care, the aliens aboard our ship are now free to follow us along the security tunnel, have your people ready, and do remember they are invisible creatures. Can you tell me just how do you propose to deal with them?” Kramer somehow managed to ask as tiredness threatened to overcome him.
“Do not worry Captain, you are about to leave the tunnel and enter the building, the tunnel will be sealed at this point and then the tunnel will be closed up and finally a toxic gas will be pumped in to it and your ship, nothing will survive, take my word on it.” Strom promised.
Kramer smiled and then followed his remaining crew into the building before them with Francis Strom following on behind him instead of supervising the work of sealing the tunnel.