CHAPTER 9

2237

Rogue Planet Exoginos

Of the twenty-five people who started the journey, just eleven remained. The wolves no longer followed them. The survivors moved as quickly as they could to leave the area. They shuddered at every sound, hoping they had seen the worst that the planet had to offer. Everyone stayed alert, looking out for anything unusual that might appear next. Nobody dared to talk about what they left behind them. It was a long walk, but they were at least free of the blizzard. The sunlight was vivid, shining down from two suns. The surrounding landscape was so many colors that it seemed unreal. The blue fields stretching up the mountain, a fountain of sparkling yellow dust coming from the ground, flowers that followed them as they walked past. Since the wolves and the slug, they hadn’t encountered another creature, not even an insect. The place was deathly quiet, yet unquestionably beautiful.

The nearer they came to the top, the harder their ascent became. The air was colder, thinner, and they struggled to catch their breath. They reached a flat area that was unlike the others they had seen. The grass was taller, and it changed color with every second that passed. From the grass, there grew pink, three petal flowers that glowed warmly, comfortingly. There were large, smooth rocks scattered several feet apart. Isaac chose a rock and sat on it. He took off his glasses, stuck his thumb through the empty frame, and smiled wearily.

“We’re going to die out here,” he said.

Ethan approached Isaac, struggling for breath. Lily was asleep in the pod. Isaac looked down at Lily and his eyes widened. He jumped up from his seat, fell to his knees beside the pod, and touched Lily’s neck. Isaac breathed a sigh of relief as he felt a pulse. He sat in the grass. Ethan placed a hand on Isaac’s shoulder and squeezed gently. Isaac looked up at Ethan and they nodded at each other. Isaac put his glasses back on, stood up, then looked ahead to the others. They were watching in awe as the pink flowers released floating beads of the same color.

Ethan’s eyes widened. “Fuck!” he shouted. “We need to get out of here now!”

No one listened to him, other than Sayeed. Ethan’s shout woke Lily. Her face beamed with excitement when she saw the flowers and the floating beads. She tried to stand but her exhaustion overwhelmed her excitement. Lily hadn’t tasted food or drink in more than a day. None of them had. They were all famished, desperately thirsty, and their bodies had endured more than they would have believed possible. Lily slowly pulled herself out of the pod, grunting with pain. She had never been lazy, she hated asking for help, and she hated excuses. Even if it was hard, Lily believed in doing what was necessary. Even if it could kill her. It was one of the consequences of growing up on the Titan II space station. There were never many kids on the station to play with, and very few people who could help her with the little things. If she needed something fixed, she learned to fix it herself. Lily was good at fixing everything, not just vehicles. She fixed showers, blending machines, even the food printer. If there was a machine, the chances were that Lily could fix it. She loved the thought of adventure, even having never been on one, with the current exception. She wanted to know what was out there, to explore. For Lily, this was the adventure she had always dreamed of, the chance to satisfy her curiosity. That curiosity inspired her as she pulled herself out of the pod, even as her broken leg was healing, in the hope of discovering what the glowing beads were.

“Do you hear that?” asked Bethany as gazed at the beads. “It sounds like they’re singing. It’s beautiful.”

“I don’t hear anything,” Anderson answered, angrily. “What’s that smell?”

“I smell something too,” said Sayeed. “It’s like coal…”

“No,” Anderson inhaled it deeply. “It’s sweeter… it reminds me of my wife.” Anderson reached for the bead.

Sayeed grabbed Anderson’s wrist.

Anderson tried to free his hand, but Sayeed’s grip was too strong. Tears were forming in the Captain’s eyes. “Son, let me go.”

Sayeed shook his head stubbornly.

“Have you ever had something so beautiful,” Anderson asked, “so precious, that you would give your life just so it can go on existing?”

“No, sir, I haven’t,” answered Sayeed. “I spent years of my life in the Arcadian desert. Two hundred and eighty-seven men digging into the Raich mountain, digging day and night for coal. One night, I found a lump of diamond in the mine. I left the mine and went to hide the diamond in the desert. When I returned, the mine had collapsed. I gained riches that day but lost my friends, lost brothers. I often think I should have died with them. Being here reminds me of that. It’s offering me a chance to make things right, but I know it isn’t real. You need to snap out of it.”

Anderson slowly took his hand from Sayeed and backed away from the flower. They heard a twinkling sound behind them. They turned and saw Lily holding a bead, her entire body sparkling like light through a diamond. She was smiling.

“It’s fixing me,” said Lily. “The bead, it’s fixing my leg.”

A soldier also took a bead and slowly floated into the air. He spread his arms and moved around as though he was swimming, laughing with glee. Everyone looked at Lily and the soldier with amazement. Lily finally stopped sparkling. When the light faded, all that remained of her gruesome injury was a faint scar that ran down her knee. Bethany stared down at it, astonished. When she looked up at Lily’s face, she had to cover her mouth to avoid screaming. Lily was wrinkled, as though she was thirty years older. Bethany’s eyes widened with horror. Lily ran to Bethany. When she reached her, she had aged another twenty years. Her skin was creased, her hair gray, and she struggled to stand. Lily fell, but Bethany caught her.

“W… what’s happening to me?” Lily stuttered, growing older before Bethany’s eyes.

Isaac ran to them and knocked the bead out of Lily’s hand. The aging stopped but it was too late.

“Be- Bethy,” Lily muttered, her teeth almost falling out.

Bethany couldn’t speak. She stood in silence, looking down at Lily. Lily was trembling, she felt like little more than skin and bones. Lily tried to speak, but she no longer had the strength to make herself heard. Bethany’s face was a blur. Lily opened her mouth to speak one last time. Instead, her eyes turned white, and her mouth hung open. Bethany felt Lily’s body turning cold.

“Lily, Lily!” Bethany called, shaking her, but Lily could no longer respond. “Lily!” Bethany sobbed but her grief was interrupted by a scream.

Everyone turned and saw a civilian screaming as she slowly turned into a tree from her legs up, clutching a bead in her hand. Before anyone could react, the soldier who was floating earlier had ascended more than two hundred feet in the air, screaming for help. They looked up, but there was nothing anyone could do. The soldier released the bead and fell back to the ground. He struck the ground face first and died instantly.

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“Nobody move!” Anderson yelled. “No one touches another flower!” He raised his arms and walked across the field, doing his best to avoid touching any of the flowers or their beads. Bethany was kneeling, still holding Lily’s lifeless body.

“We have to go, Bethany,” said Isaac, trembling as he spoke.

Bethany gently placed Lily’s body on the floor, then stood up and followed Isaac. Sayeed stayed behind as the others left. He made sure nobody was looking, then wrapped his bandana around his hand and took two beads from the flowers. He wrapped the beads in the cloth and tucked them into his pouch. He raised both arms and followed the others.

Hours later, they had climbed close to the summit of the mountain. Anderson checked his tablet. They were less than a kilometer from Riley’s Vindex’s signal. Anderson was the oldest member of the group. He wasn’t as strong as Sayeed, nor as determined as Ethan. Even so, he was a proud, tough, stubborn old-timer. He was more exhausted than the others, the hungriest he had ever been, and he cursed every drop of sweat that left his body. Every time somebody stopped to rest or complained about how much they had endured, Anderson felt a powerful urge to do the same. He wouldn’t let anyone see him groaning or complaining. He had to lead by example until the end.

Anderson had endured so much to get here. He placed his wife on Elemeera station and his two children on Ganymede station. He spent years of his life knowing his loved ones were relatively close, yet he couldn’t touch them. They communicated via video for a time, until his wife was diagnosed with cancer. She suffered through it without him, spent her final moments alone. He sent her away for her safety, yet there was nothing he could do to protect her. Soon after, communications between the stations failed, and he lost contact with his children. He had spent every moment of the past twenty-seven years in pain, but he couldn’t tell anyone. The Captain had nobody to tell. Regardless of the suffering, Anderson performed his duties without question or complaint. If he couldn’t be with his family, all that remained was his job.

“We’re nearly there, people,” said Anderson. “Stay sharp. Lord knows we don’t need more surprises.”

Their steps became more difficult as they progressed. Through their grunts and groans, they forged ahead. Finally, they reached the top ledge, and all that remained was to find Riley’s Vindex. A loud boom was heard at the summit of the mountain and the ground shook beneath their feet. Anderson raised a hand. They stopped with their guns aimed toward the summit. There was another boom. Slowly, they realized what it was. Even here, at the top of a mountain on an alien world, it was something familiar. It was the footstep of a vilis. A ground-shaking roar bellowed through the air. The terrible sound made two of the group fall backward and they rolled down the mountain.

The vilis rose from behind the ridge, its body casting an enormous shadow over them. It was so close. As exhausted as they were, they cried out in terror and started running down the mountain. The vilis observed them with curiosity and followed. It was no ordinary vilis; it was an A-class, the largest and deadliest type. Sayeed, Ethan, and Anderson stood their ground. They unleashed a barrage of explosive bullets into the vilis. It stopped running, stood on its hind legs, and growled in pain. Anderson’s gun clicked empty, followed immediately by Sayeed’s. Ethan continued to fire.

“Get out of here!” Ethan shouted at Sayeed and Anderson.

Anderson nodded, turned, and ran down the mountain, but Sayeed stayed. Ethan’s gun clicked. He took out its magazine and confirmed that it was empty. Ethan turned to Sayeed, surprised to see him still there. They stared at each other for a moment. Sayeed nodded and Ethan turned and ran down the mountain. Ethan quickly realized that Sayeed wasn’t following him. He stopped and turned to see Sayeed standing face to face with the vilis.

“What are you doing?” Ethan yelled and ran back toward Sayeed.

Sayeed put his hand into his pouch and brought out his bandana. He untied it, then dropped the cloth and let the beads fall into his palms. His eyes glowed the same pink as the beads. He could feel his body being torn apart from the inside. He looked back at Ethan, who was horrified by the glow. Sayeed tossed the beads in his mouth and swallowed them. He looked up at the vilis, gritted his teeth, then charged it with all his remaining strength. Cracks formed in his skin and pink light burst from them. When he was close enough, he leaped into the air at the vilis’s massive mouth. The creature opened its mouth and effortlessly swallowed Sayeed. It roared, standing on its hind legs. When it tried to lower its fore-feet to the ground, it couldn’t. Its hind legs slowly lifted from the ground, and the vilis floated up into the sky. Suddenly, it exploded into a burst of bright pink light and vanished.

Ethan watched helplessly and fell to the ground in despair. He buried his face in his hands and sobbed into them. The others approached him.

“Where’s Sayeed?” Isaac asked, looking around.

Ethan shook his head and couldn't let a single word out of his mouth.

Isaac fell to his knees. He took off his broken glasses and dropped them. He no longer had the energy to cry. He could only stare at the streak of pink light in the sky as it slowly faded.

Bethany walked up behind Isaac and knelt beside him. “You were right,” she said.

He didn’t look away from the sky. “About what?”

“We’re all going to die here.”

Isaac turned to look at her, but didn't say a word.

Ethan used a sleeve to wipe away his tears, then pulled himself up and walked to them. “I’m sorry about the kid,” he said, then turned and walked on toward the summit without looking back.

Everybody followed Ethan. There were only eight left: Ethan, Bethany, Isaac, Anderson, Evans, two armed civilians, and a soldier. Ethan took point to scout the top of the mountain. As soon as he reached the peak, he saw the Vindex armor mere meters away. He signaled for the others to join him. When they caught up and saw the mech, after everything they had been through, Bethany and Isaac smiled. Ethan continued walking, checking that they were alone at the summit.

They stood before the mech and gazed up at it. The armor was covered with blue moss, and its color was far more faded than they remembered. Ethan walked to one of the feet and kicked it with his exo-suit. It clanged loudly.

“This thing hasn’t moved in at least a decade.” said Ethan.

Isaac circled the armor. On the ground behind the mech, he found a black box with sleek edges. There was a small circular glass window on its top. Isaac gasped when he saw what was inside.

“Guys!” Isaac called. “You need to see this!”

They rushed to Isaac. Bethany gasped too. Through the window of the pod, they could see Riley. It must have been a stasis pod and he was sleeping. He had been for years. Bethany searched the pod for a terminal, but she couldn’t find it. As she looked, her hand brushed the surface below the window and activated a holographic interface above the pod. Bethany was relieved but then confused when she saw the text that appeared on the display. It was no language she had seen before. Isaac and Ethan stepped either side of Bethany, squinting as they tried to read the text. They turned to look at Anderson, the only one who didn’t seem surprised.

Anderson crossed his arms. “It’s not ours.”

“No shit,” Bethany replied.

He frowned. “Not just the text. That pod isn’t ours.”

Isaac rubbed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” said Anderson. “A lot that I don’t know either. The founder of Titan Corporation was a mysterious man. No one knew his real name or his background. Only a few even met him in person. He knew things, so many things that some of us suspected he wasn’t human. He gave us technology that even our greatest minds couldn’t understand, with instructions on how to integrate them with our existing tech. Back on Earth, some of our best scientists tried to reverse engineer it, but nobody could. The technologies he gave us don’t observe the laws of physics as we understand them. They were like magic, but they somehow worked.”

“Sir,” said Ethan. “Do you think it’s possible the founder of Titan Corporation is an alien and we’re standing on his home planet?”

Anderson shrugged. “On this particular subject, I gave up trying to make sense out of things a long time ago.”

Bethany turned her attention back to the pod and almost fell onto it with exhaustion. She put a hand on it to stop herself. The display was briefly distorted and, when it returned, the text had changed to English.

Earth Days in Stasis: 9855

Status: Alive

Mental Assessment: Dangerous

Recommendation: Do not wake

Bethany ignored the text and looked around the display, searching for the eject button. She found a red button with no text or symbol and she tapped it. A warning appeared.

Warning! Warning! Occupant is unstable. Warning! Warning! Occupant is unstable.

Bethany ignored the warning and pressed the button again. The pod changed from black to white, and then to black again. It hissed open, releasing steam from its seal. The cover gradually disappeared into the back of the pod. The steam cleared to reveal Riley, wearing a skintight black jumpsuit, covered in transparent liquid gel. Water splashed onto Riley, cleaning away the gel as it drained into the pod. Riley blinked repeatedly and rolled over out of the pod. Bethany and the others stepped back to give him space. Riley fell to the ground, still covered in some of the gel. He coughed and more of the fluid poured from his mouth. He slowly raised his head. When he saw the people surrounding him, he glared at them.

“Who the hell are you?” asked Riley.