Chapter 36

"I'm looking forward to coming back, back to Earth, the landing, the views."

~ Duane G. Carey

Landing the Hopper just outside the area where they had first encountered Enki and his wife, the remains of the minor battle had vanished. Every trace of the illicit activities was gone, scorch marks from the energy weapons, the blood and guts of the Marines who lost their lives, not a trace. Even the building that had suffered damage from the battle had almost completely rebuilt itself.

John carefully landed the Hopper just outside the door to the lab. “Alright. Here we go.”

“Alright, you ape fucking degenerates. It’s time to earn your keep!” Major Thomson began his usual mating call to his officers. John never understood the need for such harsh language, but he never questioned it. The Marines were fierce, loyal, and robust! Despite the ancient rivalry among Sailors and Marines, John was glad to have them aboard. “Cortez, Daniels. Get your troop of toddlers out on point. Clear the engagement zone.”

John watched as the Marines received their orders and executed them flawlessly. The sensors and the O.P. did not reveal any life forms beyond the type that could be determined as native animal life, but the Marines never took anything by chance. They stormed the area, weapons raised to full readiness while the sailors followed them with their sidearms pointing towards the ground, ready to fire without hesitation.

John took a second to touch the device still embedded in his skull. Currently powered off, he debated about turning it on to reveal what was actually happening here. He chose to ignore it for now, as every time he used it he felt his brain melt. “Look at that!” John pointed to a piece of the entrance that was shot to hell when those beasts had the crew pinned down. “It's repairing itself. It looks like this proves your theory, L.T.”

“Yes, sir, it's amazing. Imagine what we could do with this tech! It explains why this city is still here in perfect condition!” Heidi explained.

Witnessing the building miraculously repair itself out of nothing proved a theory that Heidi Watney came up with on their last visit that some sort of nanotech was at work here. No sensor scans or readings of any kind could confirm their existence from the field equipment, but no one could dispute what they were witnessing with their own eyes. The standing theory was there were two types of nanotech at play on this planet. The first being nanomachines, self-replicating entities able to construct and maintain any non-natural object in their vicinity. This would explain the building being repaired and the cleanup of the previous battle. This type of tech has been widely theorized and researched since the early 20th century, but no one has been able to make ground on its development.

The second was far less than a standing theory among the Federation’s top scientists: biological nanomachines, or artificial bacteria. Scientists have only talked about the possibility of manufacturing something along these lines, but no working theory could ever have been agreed upon. The idea was a programmable cell or a multicell organism capable of biological repair and maintenance, from healing wounds to curing diseases. Heidi had theorized one step further. These bio nanites were keeping the local vegetation contained to prevent the wildlife from taking over the ancient city.

“Whatever this is, this is some seriously high-tech stuff,” Charles commented.

“Yes, sir, and it's scaring the shit out of me!” Cortez interrupted, forgetting that Charles still outranked him despite being in a different branch of service.

“Cortez!” Thompson shouted, “What the hell are you doing in the Marines if all it takes for you to wet your panties is some sparkling space magic?”

“Sir, I’m just pointing out whoever made this has to have some serious weaponry.”

“Space. Magic. Cortez. Space fucking magic. If that scares you, go home and watch some Walt fucking Disney.”

“Oorah!” the Marines shouted with smiles on their faces, the public hazing finished for the time being.

“These Marines sure do know how to keep the attitudes positive,” John noted to Charles as they walked far enough behind the Marines so they wouldn’t hear.

Charles couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Yea! No different than the U.S. Marines we had on our sub.”

“That must have been rough.”

“You have no idea. When those boys get bored, I would much rather deal with a Russian sub than a pack of bored enlisted Marines.” The two officers laughed, louder than they had intended, and drew some looks from the Marines up ahead.

“Hey. What do you call a sailor that doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up?” a Marine said to another just loud enough for the sailors to hear.

“The same shit that’s going to happen to you, Eckhart, if you don’t zip that hole of yours,” Thomson fired out.

They had finally gotten to the door, further inward than they had gained. Just outside the door was the room where the crew had encountered the Sumerians and the Minmoran duking it out, only to be forced to flee the area with wounded. The door remained closed and sealed as the Marines tried to figure out how to open it. A few of them suggested blowing it open, an idea that was met with disgust from John, and a few remarks of ‘Typical Marine’ from other sailors. The answer was more straightforward than anyone had hoped. The door slid open as John walked up to it to reveal a room completely covered in darkness.

Now, no one was joking. The Marines flicked on their armor lights and weapon lights and flooded the room. They were searching for any threats that lurked in the unknown facility. All of the navy personnel were requested to stay put while the Marines cleared the room; however, John couldn’t. Something was calling to him, and he could not explain the feeling he was having. He slowly entered the room, watching as the lights started to turn on one by one. With each light activated, his implant tickled his cranium, itching to be activated. All around John was a room full of laboratory equipment that started to come to life with each step John took into the facility.

John observed something odd; there appeared to be no computer terminals, or pads, or anything that would indicate input and output of data. How were the researchers doing any of the actual research without data readouts?

“Whoa!” one of the Marines said, walking over to a long table in the center of the room, which could be interpreted as a conference table. The table had three chairs on either side, and each chair had enough room for multiple terminals between them if they were laid out as such. However, the center chair on one side did have a tiny nine-inch monitor that was displaying a question.

“Donovan, get on that terminal. See what you can do,” John ordered.

“Aye, captain.” Jeff wasted no time as the chief engineer ran towards a terminal as giddy as a kid trying out a new toy. “Sir, this ain’t right.”

“What is it, Jeff?” John walked up behind the burly Australian and immediately knew the problem. “It’s in English?” Everything on this planet had been displayed in English but he was taken off guard when he noticed the terminals were as well.

“I wonder if it’s the bioengineering, programing our minds to read it and understand it?” Lieutenant Heidi Watney suggested, theorizing that whatever had been in the atmosphere was able to interact with the human brain on a level no one could understand.

The small terminal displayed a simple sentence, asking a question.

‘Everyone wants more of it to feel special, yet the more you have of it the less special you feel. What is it?’

“Da-fuck is this?” Cortez blurted out, confused as everyone in the room.

“It’s your mom’s recipe for homemade apple pie. What the fuck do you think it is, you shit for brains!” Major Thomson had to retort.

“Knowledge,” Heidi said out loud, not knowing where to input the data.

“Correct,” a voice answered from everywhere.

“Who, what was that?” John asked as he saw the small display ask another question.

‘You can only have it once you have given it’

“Respect,” Heidi again answered the riddle. The computer responded right on queue with another riddle. “Sir, these are questions on humanity, being a good person. I recognize them, I had to study some for an ethics course,” Heidi Watney responded to the stares pointed in her direction.

‘I do not listen to reason, but I hear every siren’s song and will try to steer us towards the rocks if you let me take the wheel. Who am I?

“Ego,” Cortez beat Heidi to the answer.

“Cortez, you fucking…..,” Major Thomson was interrupted by the voice in the ceiling.

“Correct.”

“Well, holy shit, Cortez isn’t a useless cum stain after all!”

The terminal flashed a green hue on the screen and shut off, retreating into the table just after it had relayed its congratulations on answering the question.

“That’s it?” Cortez said. “All that buildup for that?” A few sailors and Marines wanted to answer but never had the chance. The tiny monitor finally closed its door above it, hiding it from view, and a multitude of holographic monitors took life. Readouts in various windows and information panels filled the entirety of the table. Nothing was confined to an arbitrary numbered monitor or terminal size, but each window was just large enough to display the information it needed to show. Six input panels appeared on the table, one in front of each seat, allowing six people to sit and manipulate the data in front of them, seeking out anything they needed to.

“Donovan, Watney, O’Connell, see what you can find. Thomson, do any of your men have any technical or scientific backgrounds?” John asked.

“Yes, sir.” Without hesitation, the Marine major knew what his captain wanted. “Cortez, Desroches, Ziegler. Get on it. The rest of you apes, sweep the area.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” every Marine said in almost perfect unison. The three chosen all took a seat in front of a terminal on one side of the table, while the WarpStar crew took the other side.

“You came up with those three pretty quick, major,” John said softly to Major Thomson, surprised at the chosen three.

“Yes, sir. I know my men. You see, Cortez there likes to pretend he's Billy dumb fuck born in Alabama. But in reality, he's got a brain on him that would surprise the panties off an Orion Horse. He graduated from the University of Hawking with a Master’s in Astrology. The kid loves to explore.” U. of H. is an orbital university that orbits Earth at far Earth Orbit and was named after one of the pioneers of modern space exploration and travel, Stephen Hawking.

“Now you see Desroches there? University of Central Mars. Master’s in Structural Engineering.”

“Impressive,” John interrupted.

“She's our gal for figuring out if buildings are safe, or the best breach method. Now look over to Ziegler. She's a particular cookie. She’s our medic. Or, more accurately, our doctor. Ph.D. in theoretical Xenobiology and an M.D. in internal medicine and trauma.”

John wondered why the minds of brilliant people were in the line of fire, risking their lives. Then a military saying came to his mind. ‘Service guarantees excellent education!’

“Sweet Jesus,” Sergeant Paulette Desroches said as she read the information presented to her.

“I know, sarge, look at this shit. It's all in English. And it's... marvelous,” Cortez replied in amazement. “Look at this, wormhole probes?”

“I have something called ‘Hyper-linked transitional communications,’” Donovan added to the amazement.

“Check this out. Wormhole Transitional Drive. Is this another faster than light method?” Corporal Hillary Ziegler theorized from her screen.

John interrupted everyone’s awe and amazement. “This is some impressive information; however, we can’t speculate on any of this right now. Donovan, start a data transfer to the WarpStar. Send everything you can to her. Everyone else, try to see if you can find anything at all that will help stop these assholes above us right now.” The task was laid out and priorities given. All the advanced technology at their fingertips that would make any scientist go crazy over, and they can’t explore any of it. Instead, the six soldiers of different military affiliations had to put aside their differences and concentrate on finding a way to stop the assault on their brothers and sisters a few thousand kilometers above them.

“Sir, I don’t think I can send it all to the WarpStar,” Donovan retorted. “There's several billion zettabytes here. We don’t have enough storage to hold it all.”

“Prioritize—” John didn’t get a chance to finish the order. His implant came to life momentarily, screaming at him to take cover, he heard a loud bang, and all he could do was watch as a bolt of superheated energy charged at the crew, zipping through the atmosphere and vaporizing any particles in its path. The green bolt of pure energy whipped past John’s body, missing him by a wide margin—but it was not meant for him. The shot was aimed for one of the men sitting at the terminals, looking up information. The man sitting next to Donovan. The bolt landed with force square in the middle of the rear of Charles O’Connell’s skull, melting everything in its path before exiting out the front and continuing its path forward. Zipping past the holographic displays as if nothing was there, the blast finally found its end, in the center of Ziegler’s forehead. Unfortunately for the German Marine, she had watched the bolt blast through the head of the WarpStar’s executive officer and was unable to move out of its way quick enough before it found its way into her own.

“Sweet Mary, fuck!” Cortez shouted as he jumped up and grabbed his weapon, while other Marines snapped to attention without hesitation. Another Marine standing sentry saw where the shot had originated and did not hesitate. Swinging his weapon up at full force, he unloaded a magazine full of kinetic rounds into the stealthed alien. The Marine did not stop his assault, scoring every direct hit as the stealth gear of the alien failed and he hit the ground, lifeless.

“That’s one of those lizard fucks!” a Marine shouted.

“Everyone, take cover now!!” Thomson shouted.

As everyone, sailors and Marines alike, dove behind anything they could for cover, more of them came in. This time, none of them were wearing stealth gear. Mordechai and Minmoran flooded the room, shooting at every human they could.

“All units, kinetic rounds only!” Thomson ordered, noticing the energy blasts from his weapon were not doing anything to the shielded assault force.

“I got one on my six!”

“Cortez, three o’clock!”

“I got it, sarge. He's down!”

John had never been more frightened in his life. He had trained for controllable situations in space; he was the commanding officer of a starship. Not down here. He had no authority over the Marines, and he had no training on how to handle a firefight. He kept his head low while propped against an experimental table of some sort, keeping his eyes closed, trying to block out the zaps and the short bangs of the rifles. The screams of pain from the Marines as they got hit, their flesh and armor melting away from the high energy shots, took over all his senses. Even Heidi Watney, the ship’s tactical and security officer, had no real training for this. She could repel boarding parties onboard a ship, but this was entirely different.

“Mayday, mayday, mayday,” John had no idea how or when he had grabbed his comm unit or even how he had the energy to speak into it. “We need immediate assistance at the following coordinates. We are pinned down, overwhelming force."

He had no answer. No reply to his request for help. He had set it to broadcast repeatedly, then noticed the firing died down and ended just as quickly as it had started.

“All units, cease fire,” the major ordered, sounding defeated. John opened his eyes to see a lizard shoving a gun in his face.

“Ssssssjor’Mack!” he hissed while making a gesture with his rifle to stand. John did not argue or resist. He threw up his hands and stood, never taking his eyes off the lizard. As he rose, he noticed all of the Marines had their hands in the air with either Minmoran guards or lizard troops holding them all at gunpoint.

“Ahahahahahahahah.” A laugh started to formulate in the back of John’s mind. “AHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.” It grew louder as he realized it was not in his mind but being emitted close to him. He turned around and saw The Queen waltzing in, victoriously.

“Ahhhhh. Thank you for that,” Queen Lithanul said as she walked in, giving an appearance of owning the lab.

“Now, it’s my turn, My Queen,” John did not hesitate, knowing there was no chance of survival.

“Your turn? Ha!” she fired back in amusement. “At what?”

“How did you survive?” The major and his sailors looked at the captain, almost disgusted, hoping he would get them out of the dire situation.

“HAHAHA! Even a greater fool than I thought. Did you honestly think I would have let you escape that ship?” John’s fears were confirmed. The WarpStar’s escape was too easy, staged. She had planned for them to leave and wanted it. All for this moment. They had been set up. John glanced over to the terminals, which displayed a treasure trove of technology, all for the taking.

“Yes!!” The Queen replied, noticing the quick gaze from John. “Now, you see! Now you understand!”

“How did you know we would unlock it?” Confused, John asked what he thought to be an obvious question.

“Aww, still can’t figure it out?” The Queen gave a sarcastic answer, with a slight smile on her lips. “I had you right where I wanted you to be the entire time!”

The captain continued to stare at her while she taunted the humans, noticing a crucial detail. Two, actually. The first was she was not changing the color of her skin as she went through several emotional changes.

“Now, my dear captain, since I no longer need anything from you, I will eat your sweet flesh while I enjoy the screams of your crew as my troops enjoy their meals as well!”

“I don’t think so,” John said with a smile as he walked towards her. The troops all raised their weapons towards the overly confident captain as he refused to take his gaze off the Queen, waltzing closer. “You see, my Queen. I am not scared of you.” He closed the distance between them to only a few inches.

“Ha!! And why is that you delicious creature?” she replied, looking up at him, as he was almost a half a foot taller than her.

“Two reasons, My Queen. The first, you are not actually here. Instead, you hide on a ship while you project an image here.” She stepped back, shock coming to her face.

“And the second?”

“This!” John shouted as he leapt up just slightly so he would land on the ground face down. All sailors and Marines followed suit as an X-401 fighter came racing down, stopping just sort of the opening, and unloaded its weapons. Striking each Minmoran and lizard troop it could, mowing them to the ground with ease with their larger-than-life caliper rounds designed to tear through the hull of destroyers, making flesh like paper.

“Die you, whore shit fuckers!” Cortez screamed as he grabbed his rifle and unloaded his magazine at the few remaining troops, while a few other Marines followed suit, eliminating the troopers that were left.

“Ahh!” The Queen screamed in anger. “Fine. So be it. If you won't give up your secrets, then you shall die here with them!” She scowled as she walked away, her image fading into thin air.

“WarpStar to Captain Henderson,” John’s comm unit beeped.

“Go ahead,” he replied while standing up, directing his crew to get back on the terminals with a gut feeling they were not out of danger yet.

“Sir,” Robert was on the other end relaying a report. “The O.P. has reported a large ship, probable Battleship or Dreadnaught entering the outer orbit of the planet. Estimate fifteen minutes to reach firing range.”

“Understood, get the ship ready to take off, we will meet you in the air.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Robert,” John looked away and replied in a soft tone, trying to hide his voice from others. “We have fatalities here. Lock on and transport them to sickbay so we can take our dead home.”

“Y…yes, sir,” Robert replied with a broken heart, mostly because of how he was ordered to retrieve them. Transporters were regarded very widely as a non-option for biological transportation, as the effects were felt with extreme intensity. It was even frowned upon for the dead as a sign of disrespect. Robert did not argue with his captain in this matter, as he understood the lack of time required to correctly and honorably retrieve their dead.

“I thought you could use a hand!” a voice came from behind him, a sound he was so desperately in need of hearing! Lieutenant Commander Charlene Carr walked up and saluted her former commanding officer with a grin so full she could not hold in her excitement.

“Char!” John returned the salute and grin, noticing her flight suit. “Commander Air Group Enterprise? Holy shit, that is quite the accomplishment!”

“Yessir!” she replied. “Alpha group has you covered, sir, I’ve got patrols in the entire area; we’ve already shot down a few of their shuttles.”

“Captain!” Heidi shouted at the top of her lungs to get her commanding officers’ attention, ignoring the presence of a presumed dead shipmate in front of him.

“Understood, L.T. Be advised, we have an incoming major asset positioning for an orbital strike in less than ten. We need to vacate ASAP. WarpStar is en route for in-flight pickup. Have your squad dock up in WarpStar for fast flight to the engagement zone.” John saluted and walked towards his security officer, who had just been field promoted to executive officer by battlefield default.

“Start getting men into the Hopper, we are wheels up in five,” John ordered his Marine major as he walked towards his sailors. Major Thomson started ordering his Marines to finish up, pack up, and get the Hopper ready.

“What is it, commander?” He walked up to a terminal where Donovan was sitting with Lieutenant Commander Heidi Watney hovering over him.

“Sir, I found it. A solution! But first, I have to drop the planetary cloak!”