THE HODMANDOD EFFECT
CHAPTER SEVEN

The soldiers were lucky to have found Fisk on that day. Instead of doing as they were told, Rooney decided the first order of business was to try and find out what happened to the League personnel. They conducted a wide search that included a planned reconnaissance of a fifty-mile wide sweep. It was by complete accident they came upon the commander. It was unnerving that no sign of the League personnel was seen.

Now that they were back at the League ship, Rooney and Stone went inside, decontaminated, and took their bio suits off after closing the main hatch. Safe inside, they wanted to find out if the animal they had left in the corridor was dead or alive. Both men listened intently for any noise on the other side of the sealed door. Rogers had allowed them to keep their pistols, even though neither had much confidence in their effect if the animal were found to still be alive.

Believing they were safe for the moment, Stone eased the latch to ‘OPEN’ and gently pushed on the door. A wave of a foul odor rushed at them.

“Oh, Geez!” Stone exclaimed.

“Man, that’s awful,” Rooney agreed.

They covered their mouths and Stone pushed the door open wide. The rotting remains of the animal were in the corridor, almost next to the door. As Stone had predicted, the beast had

‘bled’ out and most probably died an agonizing death. It took them several minutes to secure the animal with enough rope to slide it out of the corridor. They put on their bio suits and opened the main hatch. Tying the other ends to the rear bumper of one of the rovers, they managed to drag it outside, but only after great difficulty.

Once again, they decontaminated, removed the suits, and worked to clean up the mess that was left behind. They used as much cleaner as they could find, trying to reduce the odor of death inside the ship. Rooney finally decided they had done enough and motioned for Stone to follow him. They walked to the end of the corridor and opened the storage room. Both of them immediately smiled at what they found inside.

The room was quite large and possessed another hatch leading to the outside. The men discovered it was much more than a store room. It was a weapons room. To their further glee, it was stashed with weapons they were used to seeing and had experience with.

Stone laughed when he saw two, fully automatic plasma rifles. He lovingly ran a hand over the closest one and kissed its barrel. The weapon fired 25mm depleted uranium enriched plasma rounds with a rate of fire maxed out at thirty rounds per minute. It was a large gun used as a heavy perimeter defense weapon. It had a self-propelled tripod stand with a base for the gunner and a side base for the loader. The weapon possessed frontal armor plating, laser sights and carried a full load of sixty rounds. The destructive force was lethal with just a close proximity hit.

Rooney was handling an X20 Rocket. There were fifty of them on the shelves. The X20 was a shoulder fired, single shot, laser guided missile. It weighed forty-five pounds and was thirty-six inches long. The rocket, when detonated, had the explosive capacity to cover a fifty-foot diameter.

The next thing they saw was twenty, Danko 10.5mm assault weapons. Hand held, these were fully automatic machine guns that fired 10.5mm explosive shells at a rate of one-hundred and twenty rounds per minute. The rotational ammo barrel held two-hundred and forty rounds. The explosive was encased in a steel shroud equipped with a proximity detonator. This detonator sets off the explosive when it reaches the desired distance setting. If the round were to make impact prior to, or at the set distance, the explosive is detonated on impact. The destructive force of the explosive was enough to blow off a man’s leg with one impact.

They found five-hundred Symbaba Fragmentation Grenades. Called the ‘Hellhound’, these were self-propelled grenades that came with their own operator remote firing mechanism. Instead of throwing the grenade, the soldier would energize it and roll it along the ground in the direction desired. An internal motor would then engage, rolling the explosive to the target at a speed of one-hundred feet per second. When the grenade reaches its target, the operator presses the ‘FIRE’ button on the remote. The resultant explosion sends phosphorous laced shrapnel in a one-hundred and eighty degree fashion away from the operator. A small gyro inside the grenade determines the direction of the effect. The weight of the Hellhound is two pounds and is four inches in diameter. The explosive force was equal to two sticks of twenty-first century dynamite.

Rooney and Stone were quick to strap on two of the Chidi-19 Magnum Explorer side arms. There were ten of these gems and the men laughed out loud when they were discovered. The Chidi-19 was a standard .357 caliber pistol that fires explosive bullets that simply detonate on impact. The weapon was a fourteen shot semi-auto with laser sights. The destructive force of these rounds was the same as the Danko assault rifle.

To round off the weapons depot inventory were the Zulu Anti-personnel mines. These were pressure activated, but could be detonated remotely. Each one produced the same effect as one pound of plastic explosives. To their amazement, the League ship was stocked with more than five hundred of these mines.

In addition, there were thousands of rounds of ammunition for every weapon but the X20. They were one time use only. The men found spare parts for the weaponry with How-To manuals for each. There were cleaning kits, oils, de-greasers, and everything else one could think of to make sure all of the weapons could be maintained and well taken care of. Rooney discovered advanced weapons protective plating with uniforms to go with them. Combat helmets were in good supply with person to person communication cams already installed.

The men looked at all of it in amazement and shook their heads in disbelief. They were in a room that possessed every soldier’s dream. In their minds, it would take an army to defeat them while armed like this.

“What do you think, lieutenant?”

“I think we just found our gold mine, sergeant.”

Stone looked at Rooney with a furrowed brow.

“We ain’t gonna tell the others…are we?”

Rooney slowly shook his head.

“No, I don’t think so. Requisition a Danko and a Chidi-19 for yourself, with plenty of ammo. Keep ’em close by.”

“What about the Hellhounds?”

Rooney looked at Stone and smiled.

“Oh yeah,” he said, nodding. “Keep a couple with you.”

Rooney appropriated a Danko and a Chidi-19 for himself. He also took an X20 from the shelf and slung it over his shoulder. Clipping two Hellhounds to his belt, Rooney walked out of the room and to the bridge on the other end of the ship. Environmental, communications and sensors were still powered up. Stone went to check on ship’s food stores to see what they could bring back to the Elpis. When he came to the bridge to report, he found Rooney listening to a message on one of the monitors. It was from the Sub-Saharan League headquarters on Earth.

“….arrival should be imminent. Please take all precautions to negate the possibility of engagement with the Federal States’ party until arrival. Please respond.”

“What’s it talking about, lieutenant?”

“It’s on a loop,” Rooney replied. “This message was sent a day or two after we were here the first time. It’s been playing over and over. I don’t know why they haven’t sent any newer ones.”

Rooney turned in the chair and looked at Stone.

“They have another ship,” he said. “It should be here any time.”

“More scientists?” Stone inquired.

“No,” Rooney said, flipping the switch to turn off the monitor. “Sub-Saharan Regulars.” “Why are they doing that?”

“They mean to take this planet for themselves,” Rooney explained. “First order of business is to get rid of the competition.”

“How many?”

“I don’t know,” Rooney said. “But I’d bet it won’t be less than fifty.”

“Hot damn,” Stone replied, a worried expression on his face.

“What do you want to do?” Rooney asked him. “You want to fight them, or stand down?” “You know better than to ask that, lieutenant,” Stone smiled. “Lock and load.”

**********

After twelve hours, Brubaker was tired of the sick bay. He tried to get up and leave at one time, but his leg and the coughing forced him back down. Trotter stood there and let him try, knowing that his own body would convince him it was not a well thought out idea. She walked over and gave him an injection of corticosteroids, one of the few medications available on the ship that could help in decreasing the inflammation in his lungs. Just as she was finishing with that task, Fisk walked in.

“Hello, doc,” he said in greeting. “Can I talk to the captain?”

“Sure,” Trotter shrugged. “I’ll be in the mess if you need me. I gotta have a cigarette.” “You brought cigarettes?” Fisk asked, incredulous.

“Hey,” she replied. “A girl’s got to have her vices.”

Trotter went through the door and shut it behind her. Fisk walked over to Brubaker.

“We got a problem, captain,” he said. “Rooney’s transmission records show he connected to BOB-2 on a remote link about thirty minutes before he went haywire. After that, BOB-2 contacted him and he established the link again. He started running a diagnostic that was interrupted. I don’t know why. Anyway, the com link was terminated five minutes before he killed Johnson.”

“This was all on Rooney’s console?” Brubaker frowned. “Could anyone else get in to that console?”

Fisk pursed his lips, thinking.

“I guess it’s possible,” he finally said. “That would take some doing, sir. All these science geeks around here are specialists in…science. I don’t think any of them have a computer background that sophisticated.”

“We have to consider everything,” Brubaker told him. “A League ship is here and they didn’t seem too concerned about us coming. If Rooney and Stone are plants, we’re in serious trouble.”

“Do you want me to arrest them?”

“No,” Brubaker scolded. “Of course not. What if we’re wrong? What we need to do is make sure they aren’t armed and that they’re cut off from access to BOB-1 and the computers.”

“That’s a pretty tall order, captain,” Fisk warned. “They’ll ask questions.”

“Let them ask me, then,” Brubaker countered. “Get Rogers and a couple of volunteers from the science team. Arm them and go to the League ship. Commandeer the rovers, relieve Rooney and Stone of their side arms and bring them back here, under guard. I’ll have a chat with them when you get back and try to get to the bottom of this.”

“Yes, sir,” Fisk said, turning to leave.

“Commander,” Brubaker said, stopping him. “Don’t cause any problems. But, if they cause problems, settle it.”

“Yes, sir,” Fisk said again.

He turned and left the captain alone. Fisk walked down to the mess and could smell the cigarette smoke halfway down the corridor. He walked in and saw Trotter with a half-smoked cigarette hanging out of her mouth and nursing a cup of coffee.

“Does Lt. Commander Rogers approve of you smoking in here?” He asked. “Why don’t you do that outside?”

Trotter gave him a dismissive look.

“Sonny,” she said. “I’m fifty years of age and have blackheads on my ass older than you. I don’t go outside. You should take a cue from the other officers around here. You might need me one day and you don’t want me treating you with the word ’asshole’ on my mind. Capiche?”

“Uh..yes, ma’am.”

“Anything else,” she said, taking a deep drag on the cigarette.

Fisk was amazed how she could smoke it and there still be two inches of ash holding on for dear life.

“No, ma’am…uh…yes, ma’am,” he said, still taken aback by her coarseness. “I’m through visiting the captain, now.”

“Well, thank you for telling me commander,” she teased. “I’d have never known.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Fisk replied, turning awkwardly and leaving her alone in the mess.

As he walked down the corridor, heading toward the bridge, Courtney Vickers came inside the ship holding a clear plastic bag of black goo in her hand. She was beaming, literally smiling from ear to ear.

“What’s that?” Fisk asked as she walked by.

“Alien shit!” She proudly exclaimed and kept her pace toward the lab.

Fisk shook his head and kept walking.

Courtney stopped at the mess when she smelled the cigarette smoke and looked inside.

“Hey, Stephanie,” she said. “Look what I have. It’s shit.”

“Great,” Trotter said, unenthusiastic.

“Can you analyze it for me?”

“Sure,” the doctor agreed. “I can’t wait.”

She dropped the cigarette butt in the cup of coffee and stood to follow Courtney to the lab. This is going to be another exciting day, she thought.

Fisk relayed to Rogers what Brubaker wanted them to do. The two commanders left the ship to approach Davis about the new mission. He suggested they take Julio Martinez, mission botanist, and Delmar Richardson, the species behavioral analyst. It took the three men a little over an hour to find them. Martinez reluctantly agreed to go. Richardson was not hesitant in agreeing to join them. It was almost mid-day and they needed to get going. At least they would be safe at night, coming back in the rover.

Rogers equipped them with AK’s and .30 caliber carbines. Each man was given a hundred rounds each for their respective weapons. Before long they were marching off to convince the two soldiers to come back peacefully and unarmed.

When the soldiers initially arrived it was during the pouring rain. The mud was so deep it slowed their progress and took them almost five hours to reach the League ship. Now that the ground was much dryer and easier to walk on, Rogers figured it would only take three hours to reach their destination.

An hour into their march, the men had to go around a small gathering of the Blue Boulder animals. The beasts followed them for a short while but soon gave up interest. They noticed the animals were constantly defecating, and not in small amounts. Soon, their encounter with them was forgotten and they once again concentrated on the task at hand.

Except for one instance when Rogers got turned around with his coordinates, the men made good time to the League ship. They topped a small hill to see the vessel and the campsite

around it. Rooney was loading a box of supplies onto one of the rovers when he looked up and saw the armed men. They were a hundred yards away.

“We got company,” he said over the helmet com. “With guns, Stone.”

“Roger that,” the sergeant said. Stone was busy in the cargo bay, just inside the ship.

“They might have them for protection,” Rooney advised.

“From us?”

“Maybe,” Rooney answered. “Be ready just in case. Don’t show yourself until I tell you.” “Yes, sir,” Stone replied.

The four men walked forward, keeping one eye on Rooney and scanning the area for any sign of Stone. After a few minutes, they were standing ten feet in front of the lieutenant.

“Rooney,” Rogers said. “Where’s the sergeant?”

Rooney pushed the button for the speaker phone.

“Inside,” he said.

“Why do you insist on wearing those stupid suits?” Richardson asked with a tone of superiority. “There’s nothing in the air but air.”

Rooney ignored him.

“What’s the problem, commander,” he said to Rogers.

“No problem, lieutenant,” he replied. “The captain wants you and the sergeant back at the

Elpis, pronto. We came to offer our help in getting the supplies back to camp.”

“Why the guns?”

“You’ve seen those blue things hanging around,” Rogers explained. “We didn’t want any surprises.”

“Like the one we got when we were here last?”

“That was different,” Richardson protested. “You boys got trigger happy.”

Rooney turned to face full in front of Richardson.

“I’d be careful about calling a soldier ‘boy’,” he said.

“Delmar,” Fisk countered. “Shut up.”

“How can we help you?” Rogers asked, trying to diffuse the situation.

“Soldiers don’t need help, sir,” he said. “We got it covered.”

The men stared at each other for a few moments, each one trying to figure out how to proceed. Rogers decided a confrontation wasn’t worth the effort.

“Very well,” he said. “We’ll go back. How long you going to be?”

Before Rooney could answer, Delmar brought his carbine up to bear and flicked the safety to ‘OFF’.

“I’ve had enough of this shit,” he said.

“Delmar!” Fisk exclaimed.

Martinez, panicked, pointed his AK at Rooney.

“Stand down!” Stone yelled from the ship.

All eyes turned to see the sergeant with a Danko 10.5mm assault rifle aimed straight at them. Their worst fears had come true. A Federal States soldier was armed and ready with the firepower he was used to. Rogers and Fisk were well aware of the danger they were facing.

Richardson and Martinez were not.

“If you don’t drop that weapon,” Richardson yelled. “I’ll kill the lieutenant!”

“Shut up, Delmar!” Fisk shouted. “Son of a bitch!”

“Go ahead,” Stone said, calmly, the weapon trained on the primary threat. “Then I’ll kill

you.”

Rogers kept his eyes on Stone, but spoke to Delmar.

“Richardson. Do you know what that weapon can do to you?”

Delmar fidgeted, taking a quick glance at Fisk before retraining his eyes on Rooney.

“No,” he confessed.

“It will drill a hole in you about a half inch in diameter,” Rogers explained. “Once it reaches the half-way point in your chest, it explodes. The only thing left of your torso will be mush. Do you understand me?”

“Yeah,” he whispered. “I think I do.”

“After that,” Rogers went on. “The same thing will happen to the rest of us in rapid succession. Is that what you want?”

“No,” Delmar whispered again. “I don’t think I do.”

“Then lower your fucking weapon,” Rogers ordered. “Before you get us all killed.”

Delmar started to move, but was stopped when Stone yelled at him.

“Real slow, idiot shit,” Stone warned. “Very, very slow.”

Richardson did as he was instructed.

“I think you gentlemen should leave now,” Rooney said. “Take this rover. It’s all packed up and ready to go. We’ll keep the other one.”

“You planning on staying here?” Rogers asked.

“Yes, sir,” Rooney answered. “I just now made that command decision. Tell the captain that when he’s better, he can come out here and talk to us about what he thinks is going on. Until then, we shoot at anyone who isn’t the captain.”

Rogers nodded and started to turn away.

“Commander, we’ll shoot first,” he added.

“Understood, lieutenant,” Rogers said.

The men got into the loaded rover as best they could and drove away. Stone watched them until he was sure they were leaving. He then walked over to Rooney’s side.

“I think they came here to arrest us,” he said.

“I think you’re right, sergeant. Let’s make sure that if they decide to come back without the captain that it’s gonna be a bad experience.”

The soldiers toiled on setting up their defense works for the rest of the day. Several Blue Boulders came walking by and took little interest in them. Stone kept the Danko close by until he was sure they weren’t coming back. By dusk, they were only a quarter of the way with the set-up being complete. Not wishing to risk being caught out at night, they went inside, decontaminated and sealed the main hatch.

Stone went to the mess in search of food. Rooney headed for the bridge so he could activate exterior sensors, just in case Rogers decided to return with newfound nerve. He was busy monitoring the viewers that gave him a wide angle look around the ship. Some Blue Boulders were behind the vessel about a hundred yards away, but it seemed they were resting and posed no danger. A few minutes later, Stone arrived with two trays of food.

“Here you go, lieutenant,” he said, handing him his portion. “We have enough food stores here to last a while if we have to.”

“That’s good news,” Rooney acknowledged, taking a bite from the tray.

The men ate in silence, watching the monitors to see if anything was amiss. Finally, Stone spoke up.

“You think we’ll ever make it back to Earth?”

“No,” Rooney answered quickly. “I don’t. We knew this was more or less a suicide mission when we accepted the assignment. At the very least, we knew our chances of getting back were pretty slim. Think about it, sergeant. About thirty years has passed on Earth. Five of their years ago we stopped receiving messages from them. They even stopped confirming they received our reports. Brubaker chalked it up to the communications system not being able to perform up to standard.”

“What do you think?” Stone asked.

“I think Earth is a non-option for us,” Rooney replied. “We’re probably going to die here. I’m glad the League is coming. At least we can die in combat.”

“Yeah,” Stone reflected. “At least that.”

The men ate in silence for a few moments before Stone changed the conversation subject.

“Hey, lieutenant,” he said, munching. “You never did tell me what it was like meeting the commander. I bet you were shittin’ in your pants.”

Rooney smiled at the recollection. “Yeah, I was,” he snickered. “I was so up-tight I could have taken a Danko round right up the ass and fired it back at you.”

Both men laughed.

“I would have probably passed right out,” Stone confessed.

“You know, Dawg,” Rooney went on. “He was all right. Regular Joe type. I was surprised.”

“Wow,” Stone replied. “Really?”

Rooney leaned over in the chair, as if he were about to divulge a dark secret…which he was.

“I guess the old man’s dead now,” he said. “It won’t hurt to tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“I asked him how he lost his arm.”

“No!” Stone exclaimed with surprise. “No shit?”

“No shit,” Rooney nodded in confirmation. “Asked him right out.”

“I always heard that while he was on Sicily,” Stone interjected. “A League tank blew it off with a hydrogen-plasma round. They say he didn’t even go down. I heard one guy tell it that the commander just went to a knee, aimed one of our Jocko Rockets and fired it right down the turret, and with him only twenty feet away. After that, he walked back to the med tent and said, ‘I think I got hurt.’ I always liked that story.”

Rooney was staring blankly at the viewer while Stone talked. The commander was larger than life in all of the Federal Guard soldiers’ eyes. He was a super hero. He was indestructible and infallible. A man’s man. A soldier’s soldier. The ultimate warrior. There were hundreds of wild stories about what happened to the man’s arm. When the commander told Rooney the truth, it was a huge let-down for him to know he was only human, after all. His concentration was jolted when Stone slapped him on the arm.

“Tell me, man!” He said with excitement. “What’s the real story?”

Rooney slowly shook his head in denial.

“The real story?” He repeated, smiling.

“Yeah,” Stone pressed. “What did he say?”

Rooney looked over at Stone with a quirky grin.

“He told me to mind my own fucking business.”

**********

“Well, well,” Trotter said, looking through a microscope. “What do we have here?”

Courtney was sitting across the lab table, looking through a microscope of her own. She lifted her head when Trotter spoke.

“What is it?”

“A micro-organism of some kind,” Trotter said. “I haven’t seen anything like it.”

“It can’t be too much different than the others we’ve found here,” Vickers replied. “So far we’ve catalogued over a thousand.”

Trotter was intent on what she was seeing and had yet to look up.

“You said this shit came from those blue boulder thingies?” Trotter asked.

“Yes.”

“I’ll tell you something else,” Trotter said. “These things are weird. We have to try to get a sample of their flesh or their blood.”

“Why is that?”

“There’s no carbon deposits in the feces. I’ve run a metals analysis and this stuff contains an extremely high content of germanium.”

“Germanium?” Vickers was shocked.

“There’s no mistake,” Trotter said, finally looking up and rubbing her eyes. “I think we’ve made a significant discovery here.”

“You think they are germanium based life forms, and not carbon based?”

“Think about it,” Trotter said, lighting a cigarette. “Germanium-based semiconductors are valued components in transistors and other electronics. Germanium organic molecules, we’ve always known, could provide a wide range of electron routing functions in what we would refer to as exotic biochemical ingredients. Germanium has a significant optical index of refraction, which has been very useful in fiber optic applications.”

“How does that figure?” Vickers asked, mesmerized by what she was hearing.

“That means it can also be useful as a potential in organic signal-transducing macromolecules,” Trotter explained, taking a deep drag on the cigarette and blowing the smoke out her nose. “There are a few known Ge-organic molecules, including germane, or GeH4, which is a structural analog of methane, or CH4.”

“If these creatures are germanium based,” Vickers said, “then this could be one of the greatest finds in history.”

“It could also be the deadliest,” Trotter countered. “I’ve found an organism in this feces that is unlike anything we’ve seen so far. I certainly haven’t ever seen one like this on Earth.”

“What makes you think it could be dangerous?”

Trotter put her eyes back to the microscope.

“I think everything’s dangerous until I prove it’s not,” she said.

Courtney walked over to Trotter’s side of the table.

“May I have a look?”

Trotter said nothing. She rolled her chair backward and continued smoking her cigarette, the ashes now over an inch long and hanging on. Vickers looked in the microscope and saw what Trotter was looking at.

The organism was red in color and possessed cilia much like a paramecium. It was almost triangular in shape. At each point was a long appendage. The organism was single celled and looked dormant. Vickers glanced at Trotter.

“Strange,” she said.

“I’ll say,” Trotter agreed. “There’s thousands of them in that pile of shit you brought me.

Maybe tens of thousands. Now, I know feces has a lot of bacteria and other bugs in it. But, I have a feeling about this one. I don’t like it.”

“Maybe a breakdown of its individual compounds would tell us more,” Vickers suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” Trotter said. “At the same time, I’m going to put it in quarantine until we know more about it.”

“Good idea,” Vickers said. “In the meantime, I’ll try to figure out how to get a sample of the creature’s DNA. If its germanium based, that’s huge.”

Courtney left the doctor to her work and went outside. The heat at that time of day was extreme, and almost all the water from the rain had evaporated. The ground was getting harder and each day the wind picked up. She also noticed the plants and trees in the surrounding valley

were wilting. They were still green and lush, but the branches and stalks of the plants were lowering and bending under the incessant heat.

She noticed Herman Stocker, the team psychologist, was sitting in the shade of the Elpis, working in his notebook. Courtney walked over to him and sat in an available chair.

“Hello, Courtney,” he said, smiling. “How is your day?”

“Good, Mr. Stocker. I was wondering if you would have time to walk down to the river with me?”

“I’d be happy to,” he said. “I’ve been needing to stretch my legs.”

The river was more than half a mile away from the campsite. They used it to replenish their fresh water and to bathe in. A trail had already been established through the forest by their continued trek to gather water, and it wasn’t dense enough to be surprised by any animals they hadn’t encountered as yet.

“Do I need to help you gather water?” Stocker asked, rising from the chair.

“No, it’s not that,” Courtney said. “Commander Rogers doesn’t want us going out alone. I need to get something and you were the most readily available.”

“I see,” Stocker said, chuckling. “I thought I was chosen for my good looks.”

Courtney smiled, somewhat embarrassed. Stocker was anything but good looking. Courtney and all the other team members possessed a remote pause switch on their belts, allowing them to walk through the outer defense perimeter without being harmed. It would detect the approaching sensor and shut down long enough for the wearer to pass. The two walked past it and headed down the trail. Stocker was never one to stay silent for long.

“What do you make of the conflict we are experiencing with the soldiers?”

“Nobody has really talked about it with me,” she confessed. “I think it’s stupid since

we’re all marooned here.”

“But, if the soldiers were responsible for destroying the Astraeus, would you not want to see them punished?”

Courtney thought about it for a moment.

“No,” she said. “I wouldn’t. I would rather talk to them and reason that since we’re all in this together we should work as one.”

“Interesting,” Stocker said, smiling. “I’m sure the captain doesn’t see it that way. The Astraeus was his ship.”

“You men,” Courtney laughed. “All you ever do is find reasons to fight with one another. The ship is gone. It’s in the past. If we are all going to survive we need to work together.”

“What would you think if I went to speak with the soldiers?”

“It couldn’t hurt,” she said. “Unless they killed you without letting you speak.”

“Yes,” Stocker considered. “That is a possibility. I am wondering about something else.” “Shoot,” Courtney allowed.

“It has been the complete acceptance of the Astraeus being no more. Our only way back to Earth and yet everyone seems to be going about their work as if it never happened. Why do you think that is?”

“We were all prepared to die coming here, doctor,” Courtney said. “They trained us and drilled it into our head there was a better than a ninety percent chance this was a one way ticket. You know that. Throughout the whole journey we’ve been expecting something bad to happen that would either destroy us all or keep us from going back. Now that it did, it came as no surprise.”

“See, that is what interests me,” Stocker replied. “Everyone has conceded there is no way to return to Earth.”

“Why is that interesting? The Astraeus is gone.”

“Yes,” Stocker said, stopping and holding up a finger for emphasis. “But the League ship is still here.”

Courtney hadn’t noticed that Stocker had ceased walking. When he mentioned the League ship she stopped and turned.

“I guess we all assumed nobody could fly it.”

“My dear,” Stocker added, “a machine like that and the Astraeus pretty much fly themselves. It comes down to the simple matter of knowing which button to push. I doubt it would take the captain too much study to figure it out.”

The couple resumed their walk down the trail.

“That leads me to my next question,” Stocker said. “If you were given the opportunity to leave…would you?”

Again, Courtney let the question sink in as she walked. This time, it took several seconds for her to respond. Stocker did not want to interrupt her train of thought, and gave her the time she needed to answer the question.

“No. I wouldn’t. Earth is dying. Hell, she’s probably already dead. It’s been thirty years there. Who knows what’s happened since we left?”

“And that, my dear…I think is the consensus we have all reached on our own. I find it fascinating.”

Several minutes later they came to the end of the trail and broke from the trees. Soft blue- green grass was now under their feet as they walked toward the river. It was about two hundred yards away. To their left and far enough not to be a worry, were fifteen of the blue boulder creatures. They were drinking and wading in the river.

“There they are,” Courtney said.

“Ugly things, aren’t they?” Stocker remarked.

“No, I think they’re beautiful.”

Courtney started walking in the creatures’ direction with Stocker following behind. The wind was picking up and blowing dust swirls all around them from the wide banks of the river. It got into their eyes, ears and mouths, leaving a grainy and gritty feeling between their teeth. They couldn’t help but breathe some of it in, which in turn caused them both to choke as it went down their windpipe.

“Is this how the dry season is going to be?” Stocker asked. “One part of the year is torrential rain and the other part is dust and heat? The plants and animals may find this to be home, but I could do without it.”

“Don’t be a pud,” Courtney said, laughing. “This is an adventure!”

The young doctor did her best imitation of a whirling dervish. She was happy to be there and she was happy to stay. Stocker found her refreshing. They continued with their approach of the blue boulder animals until they were less than fifty yards from them. Courtney dropped to one knee and removed the knapsack from her shoulder. Unzipping the bag, she took out a small air pistol and injected a CO2 cartridge underneath the barrel. Stocker watched as she placed a dart in the chamber, threading a string through the handle, and to a reel below it.

“What are you doing?” Stocker asked, intrigued at the weapon.

“I’m going to shoot one of them in the ass and get some of its blood.”

“Won’t that make it angry?”

Courtney laughed.

“If he can catch me, he can have me. You wait here.”

She stood up and walked, unafraid, toward the animals. Once she was within twenty yards, several of them raised their heads and started to walk from the water in her direction. She stopped to see what they were going to do next. To her surprise, when she stopped, they went back to their business. She turned to Stocker and spoke loudly for him to hear.

“That was strange,” she said. “It was like they were expecting me to walk right up to

them.”

“I wouldn’t get any closer!” Stocker shouted back. “They look dangerous to me!”

Courtney ignored his warning and started her approach again. She had to get close enough to make sure the dart hit soft flesh. If it hit the armor, it would probably bounce off. When she was within ten yards, the animals again turned their attention to her and started to come out of the river, straight for her.

“Come back!” Stocker shouted. “You’re not safe there!”

Courtney aimed the pistol at the closest creature’s neck. It was only nine yards away, then eight, then seven, then five. Courtney pulled the trigger and the dart found its mark. She

started to back away, keeping her distance as she reeled in on the string. The first purpose was the string would pull back on the syringe inside the dart, extracting her sample. The second purpose was to pull it out and reel it to her without being in danger. Everything worked perfectly, and when she started to walk away, the creatures went back into the river. In moments, she was standing beside Stocker, smiling and holding up the dart.

“Got it!” She beamed.

“My,” Stocker said, patting his chest. “That was most exciting.”

Courtney looked back at the animals and shrugged.

“I swear, doctor,” she said, “it seemed like they were thinking I was going to walk right up to them.”

“It doesn’t look to me like they have much of a brain to think with,” Stocker replied.

Another wind gust hit them, covering them in the dust from the river bank. Courtney spit to try and get it out of her mouth. Stocker threw a section of coat over his face.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said.

“I’m with you,” she replied.

The two ran to the tree line and found the trail, glad to get within the trees that offered some shelter from the wind and the dust. They patted each other down, creating a brown cloud around them and laughing at the spectacle they must have portrayed. Courtney motioned for Stocker to follow her down the trail.

“Now that I have some of their blood,” she said, “we can truly find out what they’re made of.”

Behind them, on the river…a scenario began to play out that had been a part of Ajax

Strata Prime for the past twenty millennia. Had they stayed another ten minutes it would have been viewed by alien eyes for the first time. Further down the river bank that would have been to their right, a small herd of deer-like animals were walking along the water’s edge. Their fur was almost black and the hooves were triple split. The males possessed two long spikes that protruded from the side of their head. They were larger than the females and built for combat. At the shoulder, the males were four feet in height, while the females were approximately three feet.

It didn’t take them long to spot the blue boulder creatures. Most of the deer-like animals stopped and stared at them. However, a few kept walking toward them, seemingly oblivious to there being any danger. As they drew closer to the animals, the blue boulders came out of the river to meet them. The ‘deer’ started to trot toward the obvious carnivores, as if going to meet old friends.

To what would have been Courtney’s horror, the ‘deer’ trotted up to them, only to be ensnared by their lethal jaws. Even when the first one was bitten and began to scream in pain, the others acted as if nothing was happening. They walked among the blue boulders, and one by one, each was taken in between jagged teeth and jaws. There was no need for the predators to do anything. All they had to do was wait for the ‘deer’ to come to them. And, as soon as they did, the feasting began. Each animal emitted pitiful cries of anguish as their bones were crushed and organs mangled until at last, each one was dead and being devoured with great haste. There was nothing left. Not skin, not bone, not blood. The blue boulders ate it all and licked at the ground as if they might never see another meal again.

The ‘deer’ had walked up to them as if they were willing sacrifices to the blue gods. They simply gave themselves up for feeding. Within minutes, the meal was over. The beasts looked at the other ‘deer’ that were still more than a hundred yards away, drinking at the river’s edge.

They stared at them with hungry, bulbous eyes, waiting to see if more would come their way. After several minutes, they determined there were no more that would come close. They turned away and began to slowly trudge in the opposite direction of the ‘deer’. Perhaps they were trying to locate a resting place for the night, or maybe another spot that might yield further animal suicides to walk into their waiting jaws. Whatever the reason, they left the other ‘deer’ to themselves and soon disappeared around a bend in the river.

The wind picked up and a gale rushed down the expanse of the river. The dust was getting worse as each day passed. Beta Comae Berenices was ratcheting up the temperature with each week of days. The scientists didn’t know it, but soon the entire hemisphere would be one,

gigantic dust cloud. Their ability to breathe within its folds would be almost impossible and visibility would be reduced to mere yards without the help of sensors to guide them. Had there been sentient life on Ajax Strata Prime they might have dubbed this time as The Reckoning. What these new visitors would soon realize is there would be only three months of Ajax with weather as they witnessed when the Adventure was there so long ago. They would realize this planet has secrets that it cherished and wished to keep in the shadows of ignorance. Ajax Strata Prime was not ready to be colonized. It was not ready to embrace a new species to thrive that could adapt and change the natural order of things there. Not only was it not ready, it was not willing to allow them to. There were already established parameters of existence and the environment saw no need for nature to repair it. And the nature of Ajax Strata Prime had defense mechanisms in play that would assure no changes could be exacted on its perfection. However, the foundation on which all things lived and died on this planet welcomed any new arrivals. It did so with open arms of assimilation into its fold. And there was no escaping the mandatory conformity to its will. The humans from Earth would soon realize the error of their ways. But, by then, it would be too late…unless they could find out its secrets in time.

Man had come to a new world, believing with his whole, arrogant heart that it could be subdued just as the one he came from had been. The haughtiness that was ingrained over the centuries would not allow him to think for one moment there might be something greater and more powerful than he. Thus, a new lesson needed to be learned.

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