Voices
Larry Mann
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"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"
Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software
"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown
"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann
"The most merciful thing in the world ... is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and
it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each
straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little;
but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will
open up such terrifying vistas of reality ... that we shall
either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light
into the peace and safety of a new dark age."
-- H. P. Lovecraft
* * * * *
X - C O M S A G A I I
T A L E S F R O M T H E D E E P
by Larry Mann
"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From the Deep"
Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software
"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown
"X-Com Saga II: Tales From the Deep"
Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann
= = =
ASPECT ONE:: Voices
- - -
A.D. 2040
TRANSPACIFIC LINER _KUSANAGI MARU_
ENROUTE TO HAWAII
The splash of the mist and the wind helped to accentuate
the already cold sting of the nighttime sea air, but Steffie's thoughts
were so far away she didn't really notice. Her eyes were on the
cloudless, starry sky. (Miles from civilization, the only light came from
the running lights on the cruise ship itself.) Her mind was on the
voices, voices which had come and gone like the ebb and flow of the
tide for as long as she could remember, and which had called out to her
again tonight. Most of those who knew her simply chalked the voices up
merely to vivid dreams, since they always seemed to come at some ungodly
hour of the night, as they had this evening.
Steffie didn't know what to think. It wasn't just any dream that
woke her up and made her want to be close to the sea. Or failing that,
to look out at the stars. Almost as if someone, or something, were
calling out to her. Her eyes traveled downward from the sparkle of the
sky, to the soft green glow of the phosphorescent algae beds surrounding
the ship.
She found it easy to believe the sea was calling out to her, especially
when she saw something like this. The sea was full of life, as it had been
since long before there were humans. For as long as she could remember
the sea had been her friend, filled with many mysteries and treasures.
Some of her more landborne friends had accused her of being a fish
because of her attachment to the ocean. She'd laughed at their remarks,
but she couldn't deny the truth in the statement either. There were
times when her devotion to the ocean did become a bit consuming. She had
never shaken the feeling that the sea held some very important secret,
and it expected her to learn that secret as soon as possible. Why else
would it call out to her--
Dreamer.
Steffie jumped perceptibly. It was one of the voices. She'd
heard it. But she was awake!
You are the Dreamer. You know of the Elemental. You are the
key. Another one.
Steffie looked around, suddenly a turmoil of excitement and
apprehension. They were speaking to her! They were really speaking to
her!! And yet, something seemed... wrong, a corner of her mind becoming
more cautious. Reflexively she reached toward her chest, to clutch her
amulet, but it was not there. Damn, she had left it in her cabin. More
and more she felt confusion, and a little fear. What was going on?
Do not be afraid. You seek answers. We seek answers.
The algae seemed to be moving now. No... something *in* the
algae was moving: an indefinite clump of glowing green, oblong in shape,
had differentiated itself and had moved into a clearer, darker piece of
ocean. It was coming closer. Steffie thought she could make out a
yellow body below the surface of the water, and the creature looked
up at her with glowing green eyes. Out of the corner of her eye she
thought she saw two more of the creatures to the port side of the ship,
also coming closer.
Who are you? she thought, not knowing whether to be excited or
terrified.
Do not be afraid. T'Leth seeks the Elemental. Help us, and your
questions will be answered.
What is the Elemental? What is T'Leth? What do you want from
me?? These were not the same voices in her dreams. They had only
pretended to be. She sensed definite danger now. The word "T'Leth" had
struck a black chord in the deepest recesses of her mind. She had to
get out of here. She needed her amulet.
At that moment, the surface of the ocean erupted in a huge spray
illuminated by the glow of the algae and the eyes of the strange
monsters. The two monsters to the portside rose as one, and then Steffie
saw that it was not two monsters, but one single yellow-hulled flying
submarine. A flying sub unlike any she had ever seen in her life. The
sub hovered in the air for a moment, and then a volley of green beams
spat from the front of the vessel. Explosions rocked the upper decks of
the cruise ship, momentarily joined by the howl of alarm klaxons and the
screams of people. Steffie watched, horrified, as the submarine shot
forward until it was directly above the ship. It paused there for a
moment, then rocketed away, plowing back into the ocean with a terrific
splash and disappearing entirely. Then the sound of gunfire and more
screams could be heard, and on one of the upper decks, silhouetted by
flames, Steffie saw... something... moving.
Then the wind picked up and she found herself bathed in a green
light. She whirled and saw another flying sub, this one much smaller
(not much more than 10 meters across), touching down on the deck a few
meters away from her. A hatch on one side snapped open with a loud
mechanical hiss, and something stepped out. It was smaller than she,
with blue-green skin, a bulbous head, and spindly body, and it was
carrying some sort of gun. Then it turned and faced her, and its
gleaming red eyes bored into her.
You will come with us, it said in her mind.
The sight of the creature triggered something in her deepest
subconscious which she did not really understand, but didn't really need
to, for one word came into her mind: ENEMY.
"No!!" she cried, and turned to run away, but before she had
taken more than two steps a shot rang out. There was a bright flash and
suddenly she felt extremely woozy. Her legs gave out and she fell to the
deck, turned so that she was facing the red-eyed creature.
T'Leth needs your strength, the thing intoned as it approached her.
Come. *Now*.
GET AWAY FROM ME!! she screamed mentally, trying with all her
might to will her unresponsive limbs to move. She couldn't let them take
her. She knew that. The creature abruptly staggered and nearly fell,
clutching at its head with its two-digit flippers, but then regained its
composure, and its eyes bored into her as its small mouth twisted into
what looked like a snarl.
And then it was inside her head.
She watched herself get up, shakily, and stumble toward the
small sub. She couldn't stop herself. Panic surged and she kept
fighting to break free, but the creature kept its angry stare fixed on
her, kept her conscious will locked in a terrible vise grip. It followed
her as she stepped inside the submarine and headed towards its stern,
towards a gray boxlike chamber just large enough to hold a human. She
watched herself press some undecipherable keys on the machine and its
lid hissed open.
Then she started to step inside, and the part of her mind which
had been fighting for control all this time realized what this was,
realized escape was impossible, and saw one last long-shot chance. In
one last ditch effort, even as she was climbing into the cryocapsule, she
gathered all her energy together one last time and screamed.
HELP!!! SOMEONE! ANYONE!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!
Then something struck her on the back of her neck, the world
exploded into dancing stars, and then nothing.
* * *
Several thousand miles away, in an underground base whose
existence was known only by a select few people, a power cell sparked and
burned out, setting off an alarm. The two techs on duty scrambled to
rectify the problem, but found they were unable to act: one of the
chambers had begun its reanimation sequence, and it could not be halted
without killing the occupant. A minute later a gray-haired woman in a
military uniform stormed into the alcove. Words were exchanged, some of
them harsh, and she departed again.
A few more minutes passed, and the room containing the cryochambers
was entered by the gray-haired Commander, flanked by two Able Seamen armed
with gauss pistols. The cryo which was currently the cause of their
problems, number 15, was already completing the final stages of its
cycle, and in the next moment the upper seal broke, the water vapor in
the air condensing into clouds instantly. One of the Seamen started to
raise her pistol but the Commander waved her off, then turned her
attention back to the chamber. The lid started to raise upward slowly
but then was forcibly pushed upward by a muscled arm. The other Seaman
nearly raised *his* pistol but checked himself at a sidelong glare from
the Commander.
The Commander could understand their worries, but carefully
concealed any anxiety she might have felt as the form of a muscular
woman with short blond hair lifted herself up into a sitting position,
with absolutely no signs of post-cryogenic shock which the few other
revived troopers had shown. Her icy blue eyes locked with the
Commander's, and she started to speak but stopped short as her raw
throat screamed in protest. Instead the Commander heard the words
ringing in her head, clear as day:
Someone called me.
END ONE
END