"Well, it was probably supposed to scare anything away, but it may have been a detector as well. If it was, then the one we're chasing has friends and they know we're coming."
"Do the odds frighten you? Are you changing your mind?"
"Lead the way," said Harry.
"It isn't far. Be very quiet from here on. When we get there, we will watch and form our attack."
They moved out, Kretin in the lead. He soon took to the trees, as did Arai. Harry tried to keep up, but he soon lost sight of them.
Minutes later, Harry glimpsed the alien ship through the trees. He moved closer until all that hid him from the ship was the trunk of a tree that could have hidden twenty people. There was no sign of either Kretin or Arai. Harry looked up into the branches. The two Bedorans were there somewhere, waiting for the chance to exact their revenge.
Harry's attention was drawn back to the ship as two aliens emerged from the forest and walked on spidery legs toward the vehicle. Between them they carried several bundles, all wrapped in what appeared to be a soft, white, billowy substance, not unlike large tufts of cotton. The bundles ranged in size from a foot across to several feet, large enough to hold a body.
When they reached the ship, a hatch opened, and they deposited the bundles into it. They then turned and retraced their steps, walking back into the forest. The hatch remained open.
Harry didn't move. In five minutes, the aliens returned with a new set of parcels. These they also put inside the ship. As before, the aliens walked away.
Harry stood and moved quickly. From the trees, the two Bedorans watched with interest. What was the stranger doing?
He ran across the open field to the alien ship, all the while keeping a sharp eye on the place the aliens had disappeared. He half-expected any second to be burned by a laser discharge.
He moved closer to the ship and the open hatch. Realizing there was no force-field in effect, he quickly stepped to the hatch.
The portal was above his head and he had to jump to grip the edge. The additional gravity caused Harry's one hundred and seventy pounds to feel more like two-ten. He strained to pull himself up and, with great effort, managed to hoist himself over the lip of the opening.
The inside of the portal was smooth and slick with nothing to hang onto. Harry slid down the shaft into darkness and fell into a soft, semi-lit chamber. As his eyes adjusted, he saw the bundles the aliens had loaded. Harry picked up one of the smaller packages.
There was something inside, covered by the downy material. He tore the outer covering loose and saw that it held a small forest animal, something like a squirrel. To his surprise, the animal was alive, although it was unconscious. He set it down and picked up another package.
This one was a little larger. Harry tore it open and quickly drew in a breath before dropping it. The package held a severed and withered Bedoran hand.
At that moment, more bundles came sliding down the shaft and nearly buried the linguist. As Harry climbed out, he heard a mechanical sound and the light in the chamber dimmed considerably. The exterior hatch had been shut. There was no way out.
Chapter 35
The alien ship drifted to within a thousand yards of the Magellan. Attempted radio communications with Blane proved to be fruitless. Bonner and Nadine had both watched, speechless, as Blane entered the alien ship.
"Why would he do it?"
"Because he's crazy," Nadine flatly said. "I never liked him anyway."
"He's still part of the team, Nadine."
"The team? I don't see anybody left except you and me. We are the team, man."
Bonner took a deep breath. "How long will it take to run a navigations routine?"
Nadine grinned widely. It was what she'd wanted to hear for days. "Not long. I've already calculated the coordinates to the wormhole and laid the program in."
"We need to physically secure the ship."
"I'll get right on it," Nadine volunteered. It was amazing how quickly her mood changed. Ice water, Bonner thought, the woman has ice water in her veins.
"All right," the engineer said, "I'll take the hanger bay and you take the lab and storage bays. I'll meet you in the crew space and we'll check out the remainder of the compartments together."
"Aye, aye," Nadine said. The woman unbuckled her straps and floated off the bridge.
Bonner didn't feel good about his decision but he saw no other course. Nadine's attitude didn't help. Well, the decision's been made, whether he liked it or not, it was time to carry through with it. He initiated the system checks for the Magellan's thrusters and watched while the computer reported its findings. One by one, the various systems reported back ready and on-line. When the checks were completed, Bonner tripped a switch that started a pre-heating process for the ship's fuel.
He scanned his pre-flight checklist and, satisfied he'd properly finished the routine, he unstrapped himself and made his way down to the shuttle bay.
A minute after he left the bridge, a faint voice broke through the radio speaker. "Magellan, this is Fagen. Do you hear me?"
Unfortunately, there was no longer anyone on the bridge and the message passed without being noticed.
*
Harry relaxed for a moment and tried to think. Now that the hatch was shut, cutting off the source of fresh air, he noticed that the confines of the alien shuttle held foreign odors, none of which smelled pleasant. The compartment was ten feet on both sides with a low ceiling. Harry could easily reach it if he stood up.
He strained to see through the dim light and searched for an alternative exit. At a corner of the ceiling, he finally spotted what looked like seams. As he stood on one of the larger bundles, a deep rumbling came vibrating through the walls.
The ship shifted and Harry lost his footing, tumbling down into the soft, lumpy packages. As the rumbling gained in volume and the alien shuttle began its lift-off, Harry was pinned against the floor.
Outside, Kretin and Arai watched safely from their perch in the trees as the ship, accompanied by a thunderous sound and a great wind, rose into the air. When it was gone, the forest regained its sylvan composure.
*
The hull of the Magellan loomed closer. Fagen saw that the alien ship with its sleek, black exterior was closer than when he'd left.
He pulled Parker toward the airlock and directed him to one of two handholds. While Parker held on with a viselike grip, Fagen punched a button on an exterior panel. Automatically, the hatch slid open.
Fagen helped Parker climb inside, then followed. The exterior hatch closed and the airlock slowly filled with air.
The trip had been surprisingly simple. The coordinates for the Magellan were dead on course. At forty miles away, Fagen had glimpsed the running lights of the ship. Of course, the blast was frightening, but they remained unharmed. Fortunately, they'd moved far enough away to avoid the greater part of the radiation. The shockwave didn't hurt at all. As a matter of fact, it had acted as a wave that helped to push them closer to the Magellan. Unfortunately, the radio circuits were scrambled by the explosion.
As soon as the airlock recycled, Fagen stepped out and punched the nearest intercom. There was no answer from the bridge. He angrily turned away and started toward the bridge. Parker limped along behind.
Once on the bridge, it took Fagen less than a minute to recognize that the Magellan was prepared to move out of orbit.
"Where is everybody?" asked Parker.
Without answering, Fagen again tried the intercom, this time addressing all spaces throughout the ship. Bonner's voice came back.
"Edward? Is that you?"
"Of course, who did you expect?"
"Well, we thought you were dead."
"From the looks of things, that's pretty obvious. Where's Blane? Where's Watson?"
"Nadine's here. Uh, there's been a problem with Blane."
"Well, get up here and fill me in."
"We'll be right there."
The intercom clicked off.
&nb
sp; Moments later, Bonner sheepishly appeared on the bridge. Nadine didn't share the engineer's embarrassment and came in behind him, head held high, chin jutting into the air. She looked like she was ready for a fight.
"We thought you were dead."
"Apparently," said Fagen, looking at the launch control panel. "Where's Blane?"
Bonner ran down the events that had transpired since contact had been lost with Fagen. The commander listened without commenting until Bonner was finished.
"So you and Nadine took it upon yourselves to save the mission, along with your lives?"
Bonner shrugged. Nadine wasn't so docile.
"We should have left a full twenty-four hours ago. If we had, we'd be missing two of the crew instead of four. Look, Fagen, we've gathered as much data as the Corporation requires; we've got an imminent nova in Volans, hostile aliens, and half a crew. Who else has to die before you're satisfied?"
Fagen eyed the black woman. She was making a power play with the wrong man.
Surprisingly, Parker interjected himself between the two. "Calm down, Nadine. Edward isn't to blame for what happened."
"Not to blame? He's the mission commander. Without an executive officer, he doesn't have to answer to anyone."
"We don't act by majority rule."
"Maybe we should," she grumbled.
"I've heard enough," said Fagen. "Under the circumstances, I don't blame either of you for wanting to get out of here. However, I'm the mission commander, and I'm still here, and as long as I'm still here, I'll make the decisions. Is that clear?"
Nadine, arms crossed over her ample chest like a recalcitrant child, avoided his gaze. Bonner showed his understanding by nodding.
"All right," Fagen said, "Doc, go take care of your foot. Nadine, help him. Afterwards, both of you get some rest."
"I don't need to rest," said Nadine suddenly.
"Yes, you do," Fagen said. "Bill, stay here and help me."
The doctor and Nadine left the bridge. Nadine was angry, but she held her tongue and followed the doctor to the lab.
After they left, Bonner turned to Fagen and apologized. "Edward, I swear I thought you and Parker were dead. When Blane left the ship, that was sort of the last straw."
Fagen held up a hand. "I understand. But we're not dead and we do have options left to us."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that we can prepare to leave this system, but we can also afford to wait until the eleventh hour. If Gamma-2 goes nova, we'll still have enough time to make it back to the wormhole long before the radiation gets here."
"What about the aliens?"
Fagen didn't answer immediately. He looked at the display that showed the ship floating in space less than a thousand yards away. "The aliens are the most interesting find we’ve made. They'd be the most interesting thing to the Corporation as well. But think about it, Bill. I'm sure they're just as aware of the nova as we are. They won't stick around. I'd be willing to bet they'll be gone long before. After the nova, this planet will still exist, but it will be nothing more than a lifeless cinder. The Corporation will be only marginally interested. Without hard data on the aliens, the chances of large bonuses will disappear. I know this for a fact, Bill. The Corporation is run like any other large company: it's ruthless. Personally, I'm willing to roll the dice again if it means the largest payoff in Corporation history."
Fagen sighed. "Understand me, Bill. The money doesn't mean anything to me. I'm rich already. I've got more than I could ever hope to spend. What we face here goes beyond bonuses. It goes beyond Nadine's retirement plans. And it goes beyond personal greed. The aliens are big news. Maybe the biggest thing to happen since we discovered the wormhole, probably bigger. There's still a lot to be learned and I want as much as I can get before we have to leave. If Nadine doesn't understand, well, that's just too bad. Now, on to more practical considerations. Did you see Blane enter the alien ship?"
"No," Bonner replied, "he was too far away."
"So we don't know his status?"
"I figure he's dead by now."
"Not necessarily. Blane is very resourceful."
"He's also crazy."
Fagen didn't answer; something on his instrument panel distracted him. "What's that?"
Bonner looked at Fagen's display. Radar reports showed a vehicle en route from the planet's surface. The engineer squinted at the readouts and shook his head. "I don't know."
"There's only one thing it could be: it's the alien shuttle on its way up."
*
When the alien shuttle reached its mother ship, Fagen surprised Bonner and Nadine by taking the unprecedented step of moving the Magellan to within 500 yards a the mother ship. Predictably, Nadine complained, but to no avail.
Inside the shuttle, the soft bundles prevented Harry from being crushed on lift-off. When the shuttle docked with the larger ship, Harry felt a soft thud as the craft locked into place. Surprisingly, a light gravitational field prevented him from floating. He stood and reached for the seams in the overhead.
There was little doubt it was an access into the compartment, but there were no controls Harry could see. He ran his hand along the seam and felt for hidden buttons, but there were none. The more he ran his hands along the seams, the warmer the area became. After a few seconds, he noticed that the seam began to widen and he realized that the seams responded to his touch.
It opened slowly at first. When there was just a crack, Harry peeped through to the opposite side, but there wasn't much to see, just another dimly-lit tunnel. When there was enough room, Harry crawled through.
The tunnel was no more than three feet high. The walls, floor and ceiling had a fine dust covering as if cleaning the area had been a neglected duty for a long time. The seam closed behind him and he found himself with a choice of two directions. One seemed as good as the other, so Harry mentally tossed a coin and took the left-handed path.
The tunnel ended at another seam. Harry paused. He knew how to get through but he had absolutely no idea of what lay on the other side. Rather than continue forward, he turned around and worked his way to the opposite end of the tunnel where he found another seam. Again, he had a choice of directions without an inkling of what lay beyond.
He ran a hand along the seam and, before his eyes, it began to widen. Harry braced himself. The seam stretched into a wide line that parted from the center. Light from the outside broke over Harry. For a moment, he could see nothing, then as his eyes adjusted, he saw he had chosen correctly: he'd found the exit.
The alien shuttlecraft sat in the hanger bay of the alien ship. None of the aliens were present. Harry gripped the edges of the newly formed portal and jumped onto the invisible surface of the force field.
Stars shined beneath his feet. Miaplacidus was out of sight but a portion of the hanger bay caught its light and afforded Harry a good look around.
He stepped to the airlock controls trying not to close his eyes as he walked over the invisible floor. All his instincts screamed for him to find a handhold, anything that would prevent him from falling through to the emptiness outside.
Taking a deep breath, he selected the hatch control for the airlock. It opened with a sucking sound and Harry stepped inside. The airlock was unoccupied and when the outer door slid shut he pressed the control for the inner door. The hatch slid open. Still no sign of the aliens.
As Harry stepped into the corridor, the lighting grew brighter as if the ship sensed his presence. He re-traced the path he and Doris had taken and soon faced the hatch to the control room.
Harry wasn't sure what he would find on the other side. An encounter with hostile aliens seemed most likely. For a moment, Harry wondered if any of his team would survive the mission. Perhaps he had only moments to live himself. He rested a moment longer and reluctantly admitted that he'd run out of ideas. Stuck on the alien ship, eventually he would be discovered.
He reached for the hatch control and pressed the release button. The hole appeared a
nd grew in size until it was large enough for him to pass through. Harry stepped into the control room.
A voice floated to him from one of the chairs set before the curving console. "Hello, Harry. Nice to see you."
Harry's jaw dropped. For the next few seconds, he was speechless. Sitting before the alien instrument console, with wires running from the console to his head, was Dr. Barthelme Blane, the wirehead.
Chapter 36
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked Blane.
"I could ask you the same thing."
"Where are the aliens?"
"It's a long story."
"Do I have time to listen to it?"
Blane smiled. "Yes, I suppose you do. First, tell me how you got here."
As Harry related the details of his ordeal on the planet surface, he couldn't help but notice how Blane seemed to have changed, not physically, but emotionally. Harry had never seen the man so relaxed, even happy.
Blane listened carefully. Occasionally, he was distracted by communications with the ship's computers. When Harry finished telling Blane about his experiences, he asked about the aliens. Where were they? Was he in danger?
"Danger?" Blane said. "Oh yes, I don't want to downplay that." He passed a hand over a light panel and a hidden drawer slid out of the bulkhead. In the drawer sat the severed head of Doris Leonelda Ilyich. Wires and fluid-carrying tubes ran out of her skull and into the wall. Harry gasped and took a step backward.
Bart glanced at the young linguist and, seeing his reaction, quickly said, "Sorry, I should have warned you."
"What have they done to her? Is she alive?"
"No, she's not alive, but they are using her brain. Incredible technology." Blane passed his hand over the panel again and the drawer slid silently back into place.
Harry looked about the alien bridge. "Where are they?"
"In cells," the wirehead replied, "in stasis. The ship takes care of everything, so much in fact, that they practically ignore any kind of threat. They rely on the ship to take care of them. At least while they're in space. It's a wonderful ship, Harry. The computer, if you want to call it that, is self-aware. It's alive, Harry, and it contains so much knowledge that even I have a difficult time keeping up with it."
"What are they doing here?"