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 / 1250
Duncan sighed as he looked around his office. Once he had given the all-clear for the passengers to return to the outside, most of them had stayed in the capsule. He had expected it, but then what else would they do? This time they had all been inside with the airlock closed when the boom sounded. He was hoping that whatever it was, it was Jinn’s group. If instead, that sound was the result of one of the other capsules being destroyed. If that was the case, then whatever did that could do the same to this one. The shield dome that they had created should help them. Like the insectoids, it would force anything that attacks them to use energy to get through it. If they could kill anything that broke through fast enough, they could weather any swarm.
At least Terra was handling everything topside. Already she was looking into ways to keep the shield strong. He thought that the batteries would last the night even with the drain, but she wanted to be sure. And once they set up a few more towers, the additional firepower would help them if the shield fell. With a rotating shift of guards, there wasn’t anything else they could do. If they were attacked all through the night, the chances that the shield would break were high.
But they were stuck, anything that could hear the noise the shield made was on the way. And if they brought the shield down, then anything that was coming might kill them. Still, he’d have to do something about personal. Maybe see if any of the passengers could help out? For a moment he just stood there before he started to laugh hard.
After a few minutes, he chuckled as he rubbed away a tear. If any of them had any skills besides lording over people, then pigs could fly! Already he hadn’t seen anything that showed that any of them were fighters! If some of them had hunting experience, maybe they could be trusted to handle a weapon. But could he trust any of them to not use the weapons on the crew?
To ask for help, might be something that was beyond his power right now. With the way that they had handled the attack, he just knew that Bradford would come by sooner or later. There had to be a way to deal with him, a way that didn’t start at the end of a weapon. A knocking on his door caused him to look up and sigh, he just knew who this was.
“Come in Bradford,” Duncan said softly and he sighed as the door opened. He pressed a button smiling as his screen showed Bradford looking around in shock. The camera above the door was perfect to see the chamber, a good addition as far as he was concerned.
“How did, no. No, I won’t let you trick me!” Bradford said as he stomped into the room.
Duncan only raised an eyebrow as he sighed. “Trick you about what Mr. Bradford? I don’t have the time to deal with anything more, so what do you want?”
“I mean the way you brought everyone in! you said that the shield would protect us, so why did you keep us inside?” Bradford demanded as he crossed his arms.
Duncan only looked at Bradford and tried to keep a grin off his face. This might be the best thing that happened to him. If he could use this the right way, then the problems he had might solve themselves.
“Well, we didn’t count on the bloody shield calling the things on us, did we?” Duncan said with a shrug.
Bradford just stared at him, shocked beyond words. All he could do was look at Duncan as he tried to understand what he just heard. “What do you mean, called them?!”
Duncan just sighed and shook his head. “Well, it’s a long story. From what I was told, the testing for this kind of shield was near dogs. The dogs would all cry. From that, the researchers found out that in an atmosphere the shield made a sound. A sound beyond our ability to ‘hear’. Now that sound is drawing in the bugs.”
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Bradford looked at the old fool, shocked beyond words. If that was true, then every bug monster was coming for them, and maybe others! This was worse than he feared, and he had no way to use this! The shield problem sounded like it was one in a million to even know about it! And he remembered now, he was one of the people who approved this project. If that got out to the other passengers, then even his new powers might not save him!
He had seen enough lynch mobs to know how to survive, don’t be their way! If it got out that he had any hand in the shields, then his life might be in danger! All he had was a way to connect to one of his followers, he needed a weapon! No, no he needed to think. All he could do now was wait, try, and find another way to use whatever was fueling his ability. He refused to think it was all just a one-trick pony, it made no sense. There had to be more,
But that was for later, for now, he had to think. There had to be a way to go forward here, there had to! If he could get it so that Duncan asked for volunteers, then he could be in the clear if they died. And any one of the passengers who survived the coming slaughter would only be good for him.
“This is bad then. I de… I request the right to help however I can. So to know what we have to work with, I request the right to go up to the top of the crater!” Bradford declared as he looked at Duncan.
Duncan only shrugged as he got up and took hold of a crutch. “Well if you think you can help at all, sure. I don’t feel right asking you to hold a weapon but if you want one. Only for your safety and peace of mind of course,” Duncan said as he looked at Bradford.
Bradford felt a grin form on his face as he laughed a little. “Sir, you’re talking to a three-time winner of my city’s sharp shooting contest! Of course that was over twenty years ago, but I keep in practice. Why, I was deadly with a pistol once!” Bradford said with a shrug.
“Oh, by the way, were you going to get a rejuvenation once the ship made port?” Duncan asked as he walked towards the door.
Bradford sighed and nodded as Duncan passed him. “Yes, I was looking forward to losing all these old pains. But finding one that won’t eat your nanites is hard. But you must know the story sir. After all, you were special forces at one point after all.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
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Duncan went still and slowly looked at Bradford, his eyes a hard glare. “And how do you know that?”
Bradford looked at him and shrugged. “I saw one of your debriefings once during my career. I believe it was Omega protocol or something like that.”
Duncan looked at Bradford and felt his heart freeze. He couldn’t understand, how was Bradford that high up in the government? Omega-level debriefings were the codenames for operations his ‘Mind-Cloud’ nanites were activated after! And that with what Duncan thought about Bradford’s character this was shaping up to be a very bad thing. Before Bradford could say anything more, Duncan dropped his crutch. Before it fell he turned on his good leg, and grabbed Bradford, holding him against the wall.
“Those are things I can’t talk about, and if you talk about them. Then things will be a problem that will end one way, do you understand?” Duncan asked with a growl.
Bradford just looked at him and nodded, Duncan snarled again and dropped him. Shaking his head, Duncan walked out of the office. He heard Bradford followed him as he walked towards the airlock, his mind a mess.
As they walked outside, the first thing they saw was a group of deckhands moving boxes upwards. As they looked around, they saw more boxes stacked next to the crater’s wall, and a few deckhands looking over them. One turned his head and saw Bradford and Duncan standing there, and saluted. “Sir!”
At his cry, the others all turned and looked at them, saluting as well.
Duncan only laughed a little and saluted back. “As you were. Now Mr. Bradford wanted to know what he could do to help. So where is Terra?”
“Up at the edge of the shield on the south side sir! She wanted to try and figure out the best places to put the other towers. I saw Bob going along the other side. Something about a patrol I think,” One of the deckhands said.
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Terra looked past the shield as another flying worm died on impact. So far, they had all just been the red ones, with a black or blue one now and then. She had wondered what had made their coloration different, they looked the same. But would that even work here? Different hives would explain the coloring, but there had to be a better reason behind it. But it would probably take a scientist in a research institute to find out.
For now, the best thing would be to set up the extra towers and batteries before the day was over. Even with the constant blows, the shield was still holding around ninety-eight percent. Once they had the other towers up, sharing the load it would be even stronger. But would the drain be reduced, that was the main problem here. If they could keep the shield up through the night, then they might be able to sleep safely. And once Jinn’s group made it back, they would hopefully have something to help them. She had to hope that whatever they were after was enough to help them. If they could find any of the other escape capsules, then maybe they could stand together.
As she turned she went still. There, at the crater she saw Duncan and Bradford appear, and when Duncan waved at her she walked towards them. As she moved, she wondered just what had caused Duncan to bring Bradford up, and what this meant.
“Chief Duncan, Sir Bradford. Can I help you two?” Terra asked with a strange look.
“Terra, Bradford here wanted to know just what he could do to help. And he said that after I told him about how the shield is calling the monsters. Now isn’t that nice?” Duncan said as he eyed Bradford.
Terra saw Bradford look at him and sighed. “We guessed that the shield is doing that. We can’t exactly test the range of the creature's hearing. It’s just a stay theory with what we know, nothing more.”
Bradford looked at her and released a breath. “Well, either way, anyone here should help. Now you’re adding more towers yes? Are you sure the energy of the capsule will handle it?”
“We’re using solar sir. And with how much power we’re taking in we could set up turrets and still not worry about power. But with the batteries I expect that we’ll handle the night,” Terra said with a small smile.
Bradford looked around at the field, seeing another tower being set up. "What can any of us do to help you all? You look like you have it all in hand.“
“More bodies. Perhaps you could ask the other passengers? Even if they stay at the top of the capsule, it would help us so much. At least it would free some of us,” Terra said as she looked at Bradford.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Duncan hide a smile. For a moment she wondered why he did that, and then she understood. It felt terrible that she had made a move that he couldn’t, because of politics. For some reason, Duncan didn’t trust Bradford, and that was enough for her.
“Yes, yes!” Bradford declared as he looked around. “I’ll go and talk to everyone about this, we’re all stuck here after all! Chief Duncan, might I have the right to use the intercom to call everyone? Thank you, sir!”
As Bradford walked off, Duncan stayed and looked at Terra before sighing. Terra looked at him and they both waited until Bradford was down the crater. Terra took a deep breath. “You wanted someone else to ask Bradford for more bodies, didn’t you?”
Terra locked her eyes on Chief Duncan and saw emotions in his eyes. Pride and shame fought, and after a few moments, he sighed.
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“Yeah, I wanted someone to ask. Politics. People like him, they use anything to get ahead. I couldn’t show weakness. Sorry, you were dragged in,” Duncan said softly as he looked around.
He didn’t know what to say, the kid had hit the nail. There was a lot that was riding on him staying in charge. Still, the fact that Bradford knew about one of his ‘Forgotten Missions’, was alarming. But as he looked around, he tried to think of what to say to Terra.
Seeing the crew under his command doing their jobs, safe behind the shield felt good. This was something he liked about command, the way command spent lives? That he hated. He had signed on to security on a cruise ship to get away from that, and yet here he was. Again, he started to mentally curse whatever or whoever had caused them to crash here.
A commotion from the people preparing the second tower caused the two to turn their heads. As they watched the second tower came online, reinforcing the shield.
“That’s something, isn’t it? With help from the passengers, we’ll be able to rest. And wait for Jinn’s party,” Terra said as she looked at Duncan.
Duncan looked back at her, trying to think of what to say. He had played his hand, and Bradford wouldn’t have anything to use against him. So maybe letting out what Jinn had found would be something that he could do. Looking at Terra he sighed and shook his head. “They found an Anchorage ship out there lass. It ain’t a new model, but if it’s active.”
Duncan smiled as he saw Terra stare at him, her mouth dropping open. He only smirked as he remembered her file said that she was from a space station near the inner border. She had likely seen more colony missions pass her by than he had, and she knew ships. Something to consider if the worst happened.
“An Anchorage ship? If the factories and holds are even at half strength….. we might just be able to handle those things,” Terra said in awe.
Duncan nodded and looked at her before sighing again. In for a credit and all. “Maybe, but there’s a lot more that you don’t know kid. Things that I’m not talking about now. Just….. don’t be scared if strange things start happening to us all. Things like Jinn’s abilities.”
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Terra looked at Duncan, a strange feeling going through her as she tried to understand what he meant. “You think that what happened to Jinn will happen to more of us?”
“I expect it. Keep watch up here kid. I’ll handle the passengers,” Duncan said as he moved towards the capsule, a small smile on his face.
Terra looked at Duncan as he walked away. Something about what he just said at the end, was bothering her. If others could gain abilities like Jinn, then what….. She went still as the credit dropped. She looked towards the crater, a horrible feeling going through her. They had no idea why Jinn had developed his abilities. Then that meant anyone could gain something like them. If that was true, then anyone in the capsule, deckhands, or passengers could become a threat.
The sheer chaos that could happen here, she didn’t even want to think about it. Her mind went farther along the thought, and she dropped to the ground as her legs failed her. That chaos she thought about was just this capsule, what about the others? Even the creatures like the one that could paralyze with a roar, and the bugs! What could they have gained if it happened to them?
“The shield might not hold. Even if we put up the other towers, then those things out there might kill us. What can we do, what can we do?” Terra muttered as she looked down at the ground. All she could do was stare into space, trying to think of anything to fight against this. She didn’t know how long she stood there, trying to think of something before someone grabbed her arm.
“Hey! HEY! You okay Terra?” Bob’s voice caused her to look up and see he had grabbed her. As she looked around she saw a few of the others looking at her but only Bob had come towards her.
She looked up at him and forced down a scowl.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” She gritted out. As she got back to her feet, she looked at him. Her worries about him notwithstanding, he might need to know. But could she tell him? Duncan had played the information he had close, and she felt that he didn’t know the full story. If even now others out there were gaining powers and abilities, some of them might not be friends. And there was the threat that any creature with powers might attack.
“So willing to share what that was?” Bob asked and Terra sighed.
For a few moments, she stayed silent. Finally, she looked at Bob and spoke. “Chief Duncan shared that what Jinn could do? We don’t know how he got those abilities. So then anyone could develop them. Or ones like them.”
“So I might be able to fire energy blasts? Nice! That should…. Wait. You said anyone, right? As in any of us deckhands, right?” Bob asked
Terra looked at him, a little impressed. He had figured out what she had, so maybe he wasn’t all bad. But all she did was shake her head, and she watched as Bob’s eyes shrank.