Elsewhere, Chapter 13
#13 of Elsewhere
"Jump completed," Astra said. "Initiating scan."
Kamala slithered over to the central console, coiled herself up to keep out of everyone's way, and braced her lower hands on the panel. Roger put his left arm around her as she stared at the graphics and data in the holofield above the console. She smiled and slipped her upper arm around his shoulders.
"Four planets detected, two outer gas giants and two rocky inner planets. Neither inner planet has an atmosphere. No spacecraft detected. No comm traffic detected."
"Another uninhabited system." Asuka sighed, then shrugged. "Well, it's better than finding another dead civilization."
"I've picked up something from the nearest planet--the third from the star, the inner gas giant. There are large, metal structures in the upper atmosphere. Preparing to enter orbit."
"Maybe there's someone here, after all." Henry smiled and gave Luana's hand a pat. "Maybe they'll be able to tell us where we are, at least."
"If we can communicate with them," Kamala muttered. "If there's anyone here at all."
"We'll know more in a few minutes," Astra said.
Everyone watched the holofield in silence as the ship made its approach to the third planet. Eventually, a planet slightly resembling Jupiter, but with more wildly varying colors, filled the display.
"Launching probes."
A swarm of the tiny, spherical devices flitted through the image and entered the atmosphere. The camera then shifted and zoomed in on a structure as some of the probes approached it. It was ovoidal with a flat underside and spherical, cylindrical, and dome-shaped modules on the upper surface. Kamala couldn't guess the object's size without anything familiar to compare it to.
A new window opened in the holofield, showing a feed from one of the probes as it dipped under the structure. Long, thin projections extended from the underside deep into the atmosphere. Kamala counted more than two dozen of them.
"Huh," Roger mumbled. "I wonder what those are."
"Maybe they're holding the thing up," Kamala replied. "Something like anti-gravity field generators, maybe."
"Scans indicate the projections range from four to ten kilometers in length," Astra said, "and appear to be drawing in certain gases from the atmosphere."
"Hmm." Kamala stared at the image and rubbed a claw over her bottom lip. "It's like they're mining the atmosphere."
Shakira raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Cloud City."
"Could be. Something like it, at least." Kamala smiled at her before resuming her contemplation of the holographic image. "Astra, any signs of life?"
"No biological or synthetic life forms detected in any of the structures. Constant power output measured. Machinery in motion. It's possible the facility is fully automated."
Kamala watched the smaller window's first-person view changing angles as the probe continued its approach. A hexagonal opening slid into view.
"I've found what appear to be landing platforms," Astra continued. "Some of the probes have found what may be doors leading to docking bays. Entering now."
"So, there's equipment running," Otto muttered, "but no one there. Still, there could be computers that could have information we need--star charts, or something else that might give us a clue as to where we are."
Kamala nodded and continued watching the probe's feed. "There are corridors and rooms inside, so the place must've had a crew. Or maybe they're for periodic maintenance."
"One of the probes has found living quarters," Astra said.
"Okay, it did have a crew, then. I wonder where they are."
"No corpses or partial remains have been found."
"Huh." Kamala turned to Roger and arched a brow ridge. "I guess there's only one way to find out."
#
"You sure that's on securely?" Kamala grinned and nudged Roger's shoulder with one hand while waving at his breather mask with another. "Need me to check it one more time?"
"Never gonna let me live that down, are you?" Roger chuckled.
"Eventually." She winked and double-checked her own breather.
He rolled his eyes but smiled at the same time, then glanced around at Seth, Marissa, Hitomi, and the mech body Astra was remote-operating. Everyone had split up into teams and taken separate shuttles to the hovering structure, entering at different points and exploring from there. Astra had placed one of the humanoid mechs on each team to provide additional support.
The mech was entirely robotic, but built in the shape of a human female with an expressive face that was actually quite lovely. Not on the same level as a supermodel, but definitely ... aesthetically pleasing.
He imagined Otto, on one of the other teams, wondering aloud if the fembot were anatomically correct--and Shakira swatting his shoulder. He almost laughed.
But then, he realized that the bot's wearing a technician's jumpsuit might serve a purpose other than providing pockets to carry tools.
"At least the atmosphere isn't toxic," Hitomi said as Kamala opened the shuttle's hatch.
"Yeah." Kamala swept her ultratool in front of her, slithered down the ramp and onto the landing platform. "Atmospheric pressure is a little higher than we're used to, but nothing we can't live with for a while. If the station were at a lower altitude--_or_higher--we'd have to use full spacesuits, and we don't have one that'll fit me."
"Those things are a little too bulky, anyway," Marissa said. "I mean, not nearly as bulky as the ones from our time, but I don't think I'd be able to work in one of those, anyway. Never really quite got the hang of it."
"Well, we didn't really have many opportunities to get used to them," Seth said. "Maybe sometime we'll have a chance to get some practice."
"We can ditch the breathers once we figure out how to close all the outer hatches and flood the interior with breathable air." Kamala slid across the floor toward one of the hexagonal, open doorways a few dozen meters away, and the rest of the group followed her, everyone glancing around as if afraid of being attacked out of nowhere.
"As long as we're careful which buttons we push," Marissa muttered.
"Agreed," Astra said, her remote-piloted body's mouth moving in synch with her words. "I don't want a repeat of what happened to the other ship."
"None of us do." Kamala shuddered, as if trying to shake off the memory of that explosion. She took a deep breath and surged ahead, scanning the area in front of them continuously with her 'tool. Once they passed through the hatch, everyone turned to examine the walls around the door frame.
"Well, that seems straightforward enough." Roger stared at a square panel to the door's left, which had a glowing display above two buttons.
Kamala waved her ultratool over the panel. "The wiring looks very similar to hatch controls I've seen before." She reached out toward the panel with her lower-left hand, hesitated, sighed, and touched the first button.
Nothing happened.
She pushed the second button, and two sets of doors slid across the opening, the first coming from the floor and ceiling and meeting in the middle, and the second coming from either side.
Roger took a quick look around, halfway expecting an alarm or the start of another countdown.
The air remained silent.
Kamala drew in a deep breath and released another relieved sigh. She turned and smiled at everyone else.
"Okay. Only a few dozen more to go."
#
"Oh, good." Lopez paused after turning the corner. "Another long, empty corridor."
Tank chuckled and patted his left-front leg. "At least the corridors are big enough for you to fit through."
"Fair point. Getting wedged between two walls wouldn't be any fun." He bobbed his arms in his version of a shrug and clomped forward. Tank, Nova Luchenko, Gasm, Omega, and Astra followed him.
They reached the next hatch, closed it, and moved on. After a few more minutes, Tank couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"Hey, Gasm, how're you and your squad adjusting?"
"It's not that bad, at least compared to what we went through after we lost the Challenger." The panther-woman shrugged. "Stuck in our fighters for several days, expecting to run out of air and die in some middle-of-nowhere point in space, after seeing the whole crew killed by an alien critter they brought aboard...what we're doing now is practically a vacation. So, we're dealing."
"Yeah, I bet. Any day we're not in danger of being eaten or eviscerated or turned into goddamn zombies is a good day." Tank glanced over her shoulder at Astra's mobile platform. "Have your probes found anything interesting yet?"
"They are continuing their exploration of this structure, but have not turned up anything." Astra cocked her head. "I've just lost contact with several of the probes heading into this area. There is no indication of what is responsible."
"Oh, that's wonderful," Omega grumbled. "We found alien spider-centipedes and reanimated corpses running rampant on an Earth ship--who knows what the hell we'll run into on an _alien_atmospheric station."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Nova held up a cybernetic hand. "It could just be a malfunction or some sort of discharge from the atmosphere through one of the open doorways."
"Still, better safe than sorry." Omega plucked his sidearm from where it was magnetically clamped to his metal thigh.
The team passed through another hatch, turned the corner, and stopped. Tank stared at what lay on the floor ahead of them and was suddenly thankful for her breather mask.
"That's...uh..." Gasm shook her head.
Lopez emitted a whistling sound. "That's the biggest fucking turd I've_ever_ seen."
"Seriously." Tank grimaced. "Bigger than your whole body."
"Whatever grunted this out," Nova said, "it's huge."
"Either that, or it needs to reconsider its fiber intake." Lopez swept his cameras over the mound blocking the corridor. "This is fresh."
"I was just thinking it looks kinda soft." Tank's pulse jumped and she took a step back. "I wonder what kind of creature emptied its satchel here."
"Probably something that escaped from a damned laboratory." Gasm sighed and drew her own sidearm. "That seems to be a thing we keep running into."
"Well, we'll have to find another corridor to get where we need to go." Tank shook her head and turned back the way they'd come. "I'm sure as hell not trying to dig through that thing."
She stopped and a cold sensation surged through her chest at the sight that greeted her. She moved her hand slowly down to the giant wrench hanging from her tool belt.
"Uh, guys," she whispered. "I think I've found the...whatever it is." She took a quick breath and fought the urge to snap her hand up. "Don't make any sudden moves!"
#
"I wonder why all the hatches are open," Shakira muttered as Otto walked over to the panel and closed the sixth one they'd come across.
"At the moment, we can only speculate," Astra said. "We don't have enough information yet."
"I can think of a few possibilities right off the bat." Morrison leaned against the wall and glanced around. "Since all of 'em are open, I'm thinking it could've been a mass evacuation--everybody hauled ass and nobody was left behind to button the place down. Or a system malfunction opened all of 'em at the same time, as unlikely as that probably is. Or somebody did it deliberately to take out everyone else."
"Or perhaps whoever once lived here simply left the doors open. Perhaps it was normal for them." The topless young woman in the animal-skin loincloth, who'd introduced herself as Zuri, paused at one of the many long windows to stare at the yellow and orange and red clouds. "If they weren't like us, they may have been able to breathe the air here, and only closed the doors when necessary. During storms, and whatever else."
"Hmm." Luana shrugged. "Could be, I guess. It's possible we're just assuming whoever once lived here were similar to us, when they weren't at all."
Astra motioned at the ceiling. "The dimensions of most corridors suggest that the previous inhabitants were similar in size to you. Also, several of the alien species encountered before my inception were bipedal. However, that doesn't eliminate the possibility of their minds being quite different from what we're familiar with."
"Well, maybe we can find something like a captain's log." Otto walked ahead of the group and peeked around the next corner before continuing around it. "Assuming we can translate whatever language it's in."
"I'd really prefer not to touch any controls unless we're sure what they'll do." Shakira shivered again at the memory of the sleeper ship's explosion.
Otto returned to her and slipped his hand into hers. She managed a shaky smile.
"The next open hatch is this way." Astra led the others down several more corridors and doorways.
"Hey, that one's open." Otto pointed ahead and jogged over to the wide entrance. Shakira hurried after him and stopped in the doorway to take in the large room beyond.
"Looks like a lab or a workshop." She took a hesitant step inside and waved a hand at the benches and racks lining the walls and the tables in the center. Half of them held parts, tools, and instruments she couldn't identify.
"Repair bay, maybe. Probably for shuttles or whatever other ships used to land here." Otto walked slowly past the racks to the right of the doorway and stopped in front of a console. "I don't recognize the text on the labels. Don't see any buttons, either." He glanced over his shoulder. "Hey, Astra, is any of this familiar to you?"
"It's not, unfortunately."
"Might be holographic displays and hard-light buttons," Shakira said. "But if that's what this is, it's powered down."
"Well, we can come back to this later." Otto took one more slow look around, shrugged, and walked back into the corridor. "We'll focus on closing the hatches and trying to fill this place with an atmosphere we can breathe."
Astra nodded and took the lead again. "The next hatch is around the upcoming corner."
She stopped suddenly and cocked her head.
"Uh-oh," Luana muttered. "What's wrong?"
"Team Three has found something." Astra turned to face them. "Or, more precisely, something has found them."
#
"Guys? What the hell's going on?" Kamala flinched as another burst of screams came through her comlink. Both hearts pounded hard enough to shake her whole body. She glanced around and locked onto Astra. "What's happening to them?"
"They are running from a life form and are eluding it, so far. It seems to be having difficulty pursuing them, but is closing the gap gradually." Astra pointed at the corridor to the left. "They are this way."
"Let's go!" Kamala bolted through the hatch and everyone else sprinted after her. "What kind of life form?"
"An enormous one. It's almost too big for the corridors. Lopez has engaged it, but since he has no built-in weapons, his options are limited."
"Where are they?" Seth gasped for breath and strained to keep up.
"Two sections over, straight ahead, but they are moving away from us."
"What about the other team? Are they close enough to--?"
"They are too far away to arrive in time."
Shit!_Kamala whipped around a corner and surged ahead. _Come on, think!
"Lopez has managed to impede its progress, but it's gotten past him."
Kamala zipped through another intersection. In the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of another open exterior hatch. She stopped suddenly and the others caught up with her.
"Astra, is there one of those near them?" She pointed at the open doorway and the yellow, orange, and red clouds beyond.
"They have just passed one."
Kamala nodded and smiled grimly. "I have an idea." She launched down the corridor. After hurling herself around corner after corner, she made one last left turn and found a greenish-brown mass blocking the corridor ahead. She grabbed the edge of the doorway to halt her forward motion and gaped at the creature. It had eight powerful legs that ended in spike-tipped, flipper-like structures which fumbled and scrabbled their way across the floor in pursuit of the other team.
_Not adapted to this kind of environment. Aquatic, maybe._Kamala took a deep breath and flung herself at it. She plowed into it and sank her claws into its thick skin.
It snapped its head around toward her, and she gasped. It had no eyes as far as she could tell, but was all teeth, with a maw big enough to bite her in half.
Even though it had only a few centimeters on either side to maneuver, it twisted around as if its body were gelatinous, and in the space of a single heartbeat, it faced her head-on and roared.
She tried to scream, but couldn't draw in a breath.
"Kamala!" Roger whipped around the corner behind her and approached at a full sprint. His cry jolted her back into action and she turned and launched away from the creature.
"Clear a path!" She waved her upper arms frantically. "Go!"
He hesitated, and she gave him a shove that sent him reeling back toward the others. She glanced over her shoulder and found the thing's muzzle turning toward them.
"Keep going," she whispered. She shoved her hand into one of the pouches on her toolbelt and grabbed a wrench. She chucked it at the beast and the wrench bounced off its forehead. It immediately lunged at her.
"Kamala, what the hell are--"
"Just keep out of the way," she snapped before slithering into a side-corridor.
"She's leading it to the outer hatch," Hitomi said.
"There is no landing platform at that one," Astra added.
Kamala zipped back the way they'd come until she reached the corridor leading to the outer hatch. She made the turn too fast and bounced off the wall before continuing her flight.
The animal's pounding footsteps came ever closer.
She burst from the last doorway and slid across a large, empty floor before reaching the open hatch. She caught a handhold at the edge and took a quick look around.
Less than a meter away was a protrusion, roughly the thickness of a human body, sticking out from the main structure. She pulled back and threw herself forward, like a snake striking, and leaped across the gap.
Roger screamed.
She clamped all four hands onto the protrusion, coiled her tail around it, and glanced over her shoulder in time to catch a glimpse of the animal tumbling off the edge and plunging into the atmosphere. Kamala stared as it dwindled to a speck and vanished into a reddish-brown cloud.
"Kamala," Roger moaned.
"I'm still here, babe." She took a few long breaths and tried to slow her hearts.
He appeared in the hatch, his eyes locked onto her, and he slumped against the frame.
She waved and loosened her grip on the protrusion. "I, uh, I'm gonna have to jump back across."
"I'm ready." He found a handhold and stretched his other arm out to her.
"_We're_ready." Seth, found a secure grip on something inside the hatch and held his other arm out. So did Marissa, Hitomi, and Astra.
Trembling, Kamala tried to slide herself into position and coil her tail beneath her. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit--
She sprang and her hearts slammed as the sensation of empty air beneath her overwhelmed her. Roger lunged forward and locked his arm around her. She wrapped all four arms around him and clung on desperately--then released a soft whimper as her long tail began to swing downward like a pendulum.
Astra and Hitomi gabbed Roger's belt and yanked him backward hard enough to fling him into the middle of the room, pulling Kamala with him. They slid to a stop and lay there for a moment, gasping and holding each other.
"I've got you, honey," Roger whispered, and Kamala let out a half-sigh, half-sob. He kept his arms around her, looked into her eyes, and smiled. "I've got you."