CHAPTER VI: THE SKY OF IO
The first colony on the Moon was an impressive achievement for a species that could hardly stop fighting amongst each other.
The space station was cramped and dirty, yet Kyle preferred it to the alternative – UAC Mars City 1. The memories from that place were strong, and there were quite a few people there that he did not want to see. During his first journey, the transport had not stopped there, and Kyle could only see the huge metal structure floating through the emptiness of space. "A piece of metal," that is how the Gatekeeper had described it. The description was completely accurate.
Space station "Apollo" was the first station to be built far away from Earth orbit – between the moon and Mars. Named after an ancient spacecraft that was the first to land humans on the moon, it was always considered as the last stop before the conquering of the red planet. Possessing the largest share of it, the UAC did not spend their time improving the safety systems that could save the lives of astronauts, instead they sent a quickly designed and assembled spacecraft, praying that there would not be fatal accident in space. It landed on Mars and returned successfully. The special examinations afterwards revealed the dozens of design flaws accidents that could have resulted in disaster...
The station consisted of sixteen modules, assembled in four levels – each module able to be sealed off from the others in case of incidents. Each of these compartments had a specific purpose: hangar, crew quarters, storage, laboratories, workshop, and others. The crew was kept at a constant number of twenty. The training for a position there was hard and demanding, the payment was low. Still, working on "Apollo" had several long-term benefits that everyone knew about, though they were supposed to be secret. Fortunately, there had not been any problems within the station, and the UAC, who had become the sole owner of the place, thought of expanding it, as the traffic to Mars and Io was increasing.
Kyle spent his time looking through the files he was given. He noticed that the Io base had implemented PDAs, which were obligatory for each colonist. These little devices supported communications, as well as personal data collection and storage, and the uploading of access authentications. Kyle already had one such device – an older model but perfectly usable. Another thing he read was the fact that Io Base Alpha had requested additional marine and scientific personnel, yet the UAC had replied that the restoration of Earth engaged all of what was left of their resources. Harlan considered this for a moment – the personnel request could only mean that the situation at the base had changed significantly due to unexpected events. Perhaps they had discovered something – the ancient crypts that contained a demonic outpost, or something even worse... Then he looked at the data on Dr. Stalker's equipment requests. There were many things that made no sense. He asked for clothes – simple maintenance worker suits without anything special on them. He also asked for reagent tanks – special devices used for long and slow chemical reactions, as well as fermentation and fungi cultivation. What else – the Stalker also requested a number of chemicals that were used to exterminate bacteria... or induce mutations in them. The final thing was a weird request for steroids and synthetic adrenaline. Kyle sighed – that scientist was doing something weird, though no one had any idea what it was.
The doctor had not sent any reports of what he had done, yet that was a minor trouble compared to some recent events. Five marines had disappeared in the last few months. That confirmed Kyle's suspicions of the discovery of something extraordinary. The reports mentioned of tension among the colonists, as well as cases of missing supplies, though it was noted that the reason for that could be wrong records on initial delivery. Harlan could only assume that Dr. Stalker was somehow involved in the things that happened there – if he was, the marine would take care of him.
"No one threatens the lives of space marines and goes away unpunished!"
The shuttle departed after half an hour of maneuvering, in order to avoid damaging the station's crude structure. Through the armored windows, Kyle could see Mars and Phobos in the distance. He glanced at the emptiness where Deimos used to be and the memories returned again, together with the nightmares of what he encountered within the corrupted Deimos base. The marine preferred to stay awake, after yet another vision of the Tower of Babel and the horror that dwelled there. The cool steel walls calmed him, even though he knew that they were the only thing to separate him from the void behind them. That thought reminded him of the Void Sphere that still rested quietly in his backpack. Whatever he tried, it remained dark and inactive – perhaps it was permanently damaged. He wanted to keep it as a reminder of the threats that still hung over humanity.
Mars was now far behind, and the colossal shape of Jupiter was ahead. Because of the planet powerful gravity, spaceships had to perform special maneuvers and fly by specially calculated trajectories in order to land safely and not be sucked by the planet itself. Io was already visible, together with several of the other moons – Ganymede, Calysto, and Adrastea. The pilot's voice informed the passengers that the ship would land within one hour. Everyone looked at the giant planet and the furious storm that raged within its atmosphere ever since it was observed by humanity. The view from Io would be glorious as the sky was filled with the monstrous planet.
The landing was successful. When the obligatory procedures were over, the new marines and Kyle were met by a man whose eyes had the color of arctic ice, though his hair was completely black. His face bore the scar of a blade, as well as strong determination and worries. His assistants went to the other marines, while he approached Kyle without hesitation.
"Corporal Kyle Harlan, I am Major Nicholas Boyd, commander of the marines stationed at Io Base Alpha. I am pleased to meet you, as I was told that you had played a big role in defeating the demons at the Earth star port. You were sent here with special recommendations, and statements of your great experience and knowledge of the invaders that were recently defeated. I have also been told to provide you with access to classified information and brief you about the recent events here. All this will happen tomorrow. My assistants will show you to your room."
Kyle wanted to ask a question, yet the Major was quicker:
"All will be made clear to you tomorrow, Corporal. I am very busy at the moment because of the new marines that have to be prepared and briefed for their duties. Please accept my apologies. You will receive a message on your PDA with the details on the strategic briefing tomorrow. You will also receive a file that you will upload on your device, in order to receive all access that you are authorized for. Oh... one last thing, when I say tomorrow, you should keep in mind that there are no days and nights on Io. For convenience purposes, our time measurement is a 24-hour day/night cycle, based on the local time at the star port that you departed from. Right now, the time is 18:24. Your PDA will adjust its clock automatically from the main server. Have a nice day."
The Major saluted and went away together with two Lieutenants. The assistants came and showed Kyle his room – a bit better than his tent, providing everything necessary for a soldier. There was even a laptop on the table – a bit outdated, yet useful. Above the table was a small window... through it the raging atmosphere of Jupiter could be seen, filling Io's sky, looking as if it would fall down, and crush the tiny human colony beneath its titanic mass.
"The sky of Io. I have heard so much about its beauty... as well as about people who went insane just by watching it. What a monster! And some day, perhaps, there would be a colony where Saturn will be seen in the sky. For now, the restoration of Earth is the main priority."
After everything was arranged, and the PDA was updated with all necessary data, he decided to take a look around. He explored the map of the base. It was divided into four main sectors – a scientific compound, a military base and stockpile, main colony (the place where he currently was), and an abandoned high security experimental facility where the UAC intended to perform dimensional Gateway research. Fortunately, it was permanently abandoned... Io had no breathable atmosphere, as well as no dangerous radiation emissions or any natural phenomena that could threaten a human in an appropriate protective suit.
Kyle was thirsty and that was a good reason to find the canteen and see what it offered. As he approached the large hall, he heard a quarrel somewhere ahead. As he entered, he saw the small colonial cafeteria and a man, scientist as the clothes suggested, who shouted at the scared young woman who tended the place.
"You pitiful, mindless excuse for a human! What is this? WHAT IS THIS?! I specially asked for dark strong tea without any sugar – as bitter as possible! And what is this putrid slime you gave me? Are you so stupid or just extraordinarily lazy?"
The girl was shocked and could not move or speak as the man kept shouting.
"Worthless wretch! I will recommend that you be replaced with someone who is not that useless."
He threw the cup of tea on the floor and turned around. It was then that Kyle recognized him. Doctor Simon Stalker, his gaze as insane as it appeared in the photographs, with pens and small flasks of reagents in his pockets.
"What the Hell are you gawking at? Don't you have to march back and forth senselessly, soldier boy? Get back to work before I report on you."
Kyle realized that Dr. Stalker was talking to him. The scientist turned around once again, and went away trough the rear exit of the hall. The girl remained there, too shocked to react. Kyle decided to go away, the scientist's words still echoing in his mind. He did not like Dr. Stalker from the very beginning, and now he was starting to despise him.
He completely forgot about eating and drinking. Some sleep would help him, as he had not closed his eyes for a moment in the last week. Harlan went back to his room and locked the door. With people like Stalker around, it seemed prudent.
