Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 154 of 365. Sol standard year]
Days after of Crash landing/ 2
Uninhabited Island / Clearing of Escape Capsule # 405
Galactic Standard Time / 1150
Duncan sighed as he leaned back against his chair, scowling a little. So far, the scouts above hadn’t reported anything that might be wrong, but there was just something. Since they lost the foraging group the other day, they were still on rations. To see if anything was still in the clearing, he had sent three people there. And they had orders to see if they could recover the bodies of their dead, but they found nothing. And with no bodies, there was nothing to contradict Jones’s version of events, and that was a problem. He had seen the coward walking around like he was in enemy territory, and that meant he was scared. If Jones was scared, then he had something to hide. For a moment Duncan tried to think of anything else that Jones could be keeping silent on, but what was it?
Once more he cursed the company’s way of keeping out a person’s private affairs. Sure, he had done that a few times to give jobs to people who needed it, but sometimes it bothered him. There had always been something about Jones that rubbed him the wrong way. No matter what Duncan did to look into Jones, that feeling was still there. He didn’t need this, he really didn't. With the creatures, keeping the passengers calm. There were just too many problems here. Even staying alive there was no end of things to worry about. And waiting for Jones to backstab them? Nothing good would come from that. But could Duncan trust him?
“And to think, I hoped that I would only have to deal with Bradford,” Duncan muttered. A flash of heat caused him to glare in anger at his broken leg.
Just thinking about former senator Bradford caused his head to ache. The man was as slimy as they came, and there was just something about the man. Duncan had only felt that once before about someone, and that scum turned out to be a pirate. And he had been trying to lead his group into a trap to kill them!
There was no doubt in his mind, that if Bradford took over then everyone would die. Bradford was the type to kill everyone around him if he lived longer. Duncan had seen the type a lot during his time in the military, usually in spies. But Bradford was smart enough to know how to trick a crowd, to get the mob to follow his vision. All in all, between Bradford and Jones, his position within the escape capsule was not stable.
“And that’s not counting the fact that we were attacked,” He muttered as he sighed. The creatures that had attacked them were beyond deadly. The fact that the creature had a way to paralyze people with a roar. And then there were the abilities Jinn had developed…… all together they painted a bad picture. There was something about this place, something that just made him think of his service days. There was something there, something that he couldn’t just see. And that was what worried him the most.
That meant it was in one of those ‘Time locked’ missions of his. Ones that his nanites were keeping him from remembering. Those were always the worst, the kind of mission that brought him into contact with secrets. Secrets that the government wanted kept in the void, and that was why that strain of nanites were made. When he joined the special forces, he thought that he would never need them, but after a while they became common. That was when he quit really, after his twentieth mission.
A few months later, he joined the ship’s crew and worked his way up to the Chief’s position. All in all, he had a pretty good run, this situation not counting. All they had to do was wait, and hope the team sent out came back with something that could help them. Even if they just cleared the yard-ship, even if it’s a wreck, they would have a much better place to live in. With any luck, they might be able to signal a rescue.
“But that’s just a dream. There has to be a reason the ship is still here. And I think the locals are part of it,” Duncan muttered as he looked down at his leg. With a thought, he called out to a strain of nanites within his body. With a thought, he saw a report of his body’s status appear in his right eye. With a small smile, he saw that all he needed was another two days and his leg would let him walk on it without help.
“Good. This could help me out a lot in keeping them calm. But what to do? It’ll probably be a few days. And if we’re attacked again?” Duncan mussed as he sighed and once more cursed the civilian mindset. The number of times that he’s dealt with civilians were convinced the sky was falling because of a loud boom! But there had to be a few people who worked with shield systems here, and they could help him. Once he got the internal affairs under control, then he would look at the outside. If they only opened the shield to gather food, then they would be safe. But with what they had, they had enough to survive for a few months.
No, the best thing was for them to ‘fort up’, and let anything that would attack them just die on their guns. Once the party made it back, and if the Yard-Ship was everything he hoped it was, then they would be safe. When they made contact with the other escape capsules, then they could survive. And if he was really lucky, then he would be able to let someone else take command.
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Terra rubbed her forehead, smiling as she looked around the field. They had finally set up the last of the three towers. Since they were all almost fully charged, they would activate. Within minutes the field would be covered by an energy dome that only let air in. Then they would be able to let the passengers out again. All the problems with the creatures would be solved because the shield would let nothing in! Well, as long as nothing tried to burrow under the shield. But then the towers all had seismic sensors, so with that, they would be safe. And so far, they had seen more creatures that might threaten them on and above the ground and nothing from below.
Looking around, she nodded as she saw the other deckhands all looking out. As soon as the shield was up, they could all rest.
She looked towards the forest where Jinn and the others had gone, her mind going dark places. Even though it was wrong, she had to admit to herself that there was something about Jinn that scared her. Back on the ship, the sheer surprise and joy at things that any child would know was wrong to her. The only way that could have been possible was if Jinn had been raised in total isolation. But that was impossible! Anyone raised like that wouldn’t have even come aboard the ship. The few cultures that did that were in the inner regions, near homeworlds! How had he even gotten so far out? It didn’t make sense!
Plus there were the others to think about! None of the group that went with Jinn were people that she thought had secrets, could they be trusted?
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“Calm down, calm down,” Terra muttered as she walked around the clearing. Try as she might, there just wasn’t a simple way to handle her nerves. But nothing worked, most of the people who left were people she had problems with.
Al was quiet, always staying away from people. Unlike most of the Engineer’s Way on the ship, he liked to work with people. While most of them were taking engineering lessons or working on the ship’s system, he stayed alone. They took shifts in engineering, he worked at the restaurants! And while they prayed in groups, he prayed alone. There were records of those of the Way that acted like he did, those who became Heretics of their worlds. Could Al have played a part in what happened to the ship, some experiment of his?
Racha was even worse! Most of the crew stayed with their sections, but she moved all about the ship! Terra had seen Racha talk to deckhands from all over. Okay, maybe there was a reason but they all were from shits that handled the areas the highest guests stayed in. There was a problem a few years ago, a problem that Terra had been a part of. A newcomer like Racha had come aboard, she had charmed everyone. The one thing that everyone agreed, she was very friendly. She had talked to crew members all over, and then they found out why. The newcomer had been an assassin, and she was tracking her target. Terra had almost become her scapegoat if not for Duncan.
Sara was a medic, but she was more like a scientist than a healer. Terra had always seen Sara reading in the crew library and always medical journals. There were always rumors of biologists who went mad. The creatures that they had run into, were they the result of science? Would Sara join whatever or whoever made this place? Could they trust her?
Finally, there was Paige. She had come aboard the Spirit and Duncan had recurred her himself, another of his ‘strays’. Most of them were only aboard for a while, but Paige didn’t call anyone. She stayed in the shadows, doing the work that kept her from the light happily. When the parks were open to them, she stayed in the crew section! And when she had come aboard, she barely had anything to her name, what was she running from?
As Terra tried and failed to calm down her paranoia, she heard a humming. Looking towards the nearest tower, she saw the emitter start to shine. As she watched, it fired a beam into the air, as the other towers did the same. The beams climbed into the sky, rising thirty feet into the air. As the beams reached the zenith, the energy flowed over the sky, merging into one. As Terra watched, the shield formed and the other deckhands all cheered.
“Perfect, we’re safe!” A voice behind her caused Terra to smile a little. While she thought they were only a bit safer, whoever spoke was right a bit. This place was still so deadly, but this was good. Now all they had to do was wait, and hope the party was trustworthy after all.
Suddenly Terra saw ripples flow over the shield. Looking around, Terra saw one of the flying red worm’s bodies fall down the shield. Terra only looked at it, then to the tower nearest to where the worm had hit and cupped her hands around her mouth. “How’s the power drain?”
“Barely half a percent! Recovered in seconds!” The deckhand by the tower called out in joy. Everyone else only cheered louder. Terra only laughed a little, swept up in the sheer joy everyone was feeling.
“Don’t rest easy people, we’ve still got work to do! I want five of you to go get three more of the towers, the rest are on guard duty! I want this pyramid to become a pentagon before shift change! And keep an eye on the power readings, I want to know if the drain goes over recharge!” Terra barked and within moments the other deckhands were moving.
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As the hardshelled bipeds moved towards the softskins, what few could think were excited. The power the soft ones had already shown, was what they needed. With the hordes that were all around them, they had to get something to make themselves stronger. The far strike ability that the soft skins showed, was what they needed. The food that the bodies would bring to the hive, would let the mother birth more warriors. With their limited strength, the hive mother had sent ten warriors, a good portion of their power. With luck, they would bring the strength back with them, even within themselves if they had to.
As the group moved through the forest, they saw the mindless long flyer hover about. For a moment some felt fear, but luckily there were only the venom-ones about. If the bolters were around, then they would have to move faster. And once more a few of the hardshells cursed the fact that the long things couldn’t be harvested for strength. If only they could find the egg sacks, but no. those things central hive were still hidden away, but one day, one day.
Pain suddenly shot through their bodies as they heard a strange screeching. Lifting their heads, they looked ahead. They that the sound was coming from a strange clear shell around the clearing. As they watched one of the long flyers crash and die against it, the others all started to buzz. Looking at the shell, they all saw something that could only help them. If they brought back this power, then they could change so much. But this also changed things, they had to leave. They had to bring one of the great thinkers here. They would know how to beat this, what to do to get around it.
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Within the bathroom, Bradford held his head in the stall. So far, everything was still on a small ledge as far as he was concerned. If that idiom Jones spoke the wrong word to the wrong person, he was screwed! Why did he have to go and collect the cash himself? Why could he have sent someone and have anything taken a bonus for them?!
He tried and failed to keep his breathing under control, trying in vain to handle his episode. Thankfully, he had gotten somewhere private before he had reacted. If he had everyone see this, it would have hurt his image. If Duncan had seen it, the argument that Bradford wasn’t mentally sound could have been made. And that would have ended every hope he had of getting these people home!
He had to take control, he had to. He had been a senator, he had seen the records of the black ops once or twice, and Duncan had been in many of them. The things he had seen Duncan do had to affect the mind. To have someone in control that was in danger of a mental break or a sociopath, that just invited death! And to make matters worse, his people weren’t even here! If that muscle-bound fool was here, then they could have imitated Duncan to step down. Or if his spy was here, she could have gotten enough blackmail to get Duncan to hand over command!
“Keep calm Bradford, keep calm. Think, just think. What can you do?” Bradford muttered and looked around the bathroom stall. Looking around, trying to figure out the next step.
After a few minutes of nothing, he just sighed and shook his head. For now, the best he could do was probably what he was doing. If he saw a chance, he’d take it. But for now, he would let Duncan go until Bradford had enough to take him out.
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Vivian shook her head, she had gone over everything she knew, and sighed. The mission she had been on, it was looking like a snipe hunt. And after checking everything the passengers had on hand, she found nothing. The data she was after must be lost, and that meant she failed beyond the crash!
The Guild made this seem like it was an easy job, seduce some cooperate type. Then use her tech to take a file he was transporting to a meeting. Give the file to her contact at a planet before the one her target was going to. Then get payment and head off on a vacation for a few years. Not the worst job she’s done, and one for the road until she came back from vacation. Then she went still as she suddenly had a terrible thought. Could she have been set up? Was this a trap for her? Was she being used as a smokescreen!?
That was what the others sometimes said, that every once in a while the Guild sacrificed members. The stories around the office were that the agents all knew of the possibility, sure. But in the field, on stakeouts the whispers said something else. She had always figured that it was the way the living could remember the dead. The talk of how the agents were all too skilled to fall like that if they planned. She thought people were just trying to understand what happened to their friends. Now she wasn’t.
She shook her head suddenly, trying to shake the thoughts away. There might have been a plan to use her, but right now she had to stay in the moment. All she had to do was make a choice, and her fate would be decided by it. One way, she could stay hidden and people might die. Or two, she could help, show everything she was able to do, and betray the Guild.
She had heard about what had attacked the clearing, she had seen what it had done. She could help them, she knew how to hunt those with abilities like that thing. More often than not, she had been one of those who had taken hunting missions from bio-makers. She had even once found out that one had blended sentient genes with a beast. So sad that the beast had killed its maker and died in flames…….. could that have been the reason she was here? But how had he known? She had spent two days ‘searching for survivors’, there was nothing there! Was there a way she had missed, something she didn't know? But what had they planned and why?
“Everyone! Could you all come to the main room, please? I have a wonderful announcement to make!” Duncan’s voice over the intercom caused her to look up.
Vivian frowned as she looked up at the ceiling, trying and failing to figure out what to do. There were still the two paths forward, and she had to make a choice soon. This might be a sign for her, but could she even trust Duncan? No matter what, she now knew what she had to do, and that was to choose once she heard his announcement.