'Boots on the ground'. There is nowhere else in human occupied space where that phrase would invoke such fear and trepidation. The ground here has eaten ships and drones, who's to say it doesn't eat people? Despite this, Maeve jumped at the opportunity. She bolted to the ship's lab and retrieved as much equipment as she could carry, even offloading some onto Calli.
"Even though I am grateful for your willingness to go down, I still cannot understand it," Calli said while packing the equipment bag.
"Despite all I have seen on my monitors, I still have not actually seen anything, and what I have seen on my monitors I cannot explain." Maeve was much more comfortable with informality than her commanding officer, especially with Calli. It was Maeve who transmitted Calli's message all those years ago, exposing the Citrine Corporation's heinous scientific experiments. The same message that cost Calli her career at Imperial Intelligence. The two shared ideals, namely that the Empire needs to change to 'keep up with the times'. "The real trick will be convincing the mercenaries to go down."
Surprisingly, the crew of the Valiant was also eager to go down. Apparently, the rule of 'finders, keepers' is a great motivator, and the fact that this was a science settlement guaranteed valuable loot. Calli chose three men, all soldiers (or 'knights' as the group liked to say), mostly for scouting purposes, though also for their big guns. Prudence is a virtue.
Calli and Maeve boarded Cyril's Python, docked with the Valiant to pick up the three soldiers - Andrew, Patrik and Drane - then landed just outside the settlement. They were told, unsurprisingly, that seismic activity grew, but was holding steady at an imperceptible level. What was surprising were the anomalous energy readings which suddenly flared into existence. Both the Donnager and Valiant detected these signals which were the same as ambient signals detected on Cyril's first venture. Calli asked for the last surviving drone to act as the sixth member of the team as it was the only thing with a Wave Scanner.
The five walked under the banner bearing the settlement's name as the drone flitted by overhead. Maeve, as quickly as the low gravity permitted her, made her way to the middle of the 'main road' splitting the settlement in two. There, she pulled out her seismic probe - a long pole with a computer monitor at the top and a point at the bottom - and stabbed it into the ground. The seismic probe is essentially a unidirectional, highly potent, sonar device which can form detailed images of what is underground. This handheld version isn't as powerful as the larger, vehicle sized ones but it gets the job done just as well. Calli ordered the three mercenaries to split up and explore at will while she helped Maeve.
"Whoa!" The drone operator called out. "Sirs, I have movement, lots of it!"
"Where?" asked Calli, looking around instinctively, but not seeing anything.
"Everywhere, the Wave Scanner is saturated."
"This is odd," Maeve whispered to herself.
Calli looked at the seismic probe but couldn't understand it. She asked Maeve to be more specific.
"I'm not getting an image. Well, I am…it's just blank."
Calli looked up at the science module. As the spotlight from the drone swept past it from behind, she could swear she saw the silhouette of a head peering out at them. She asked if Maeve could handle things there before making her way over to the module for a closer look.
"Knights, report in."
"Andrew here, nothing to report so far. The darkness is making this difficult."
"Patrik. Shadow, shadow, and more shadow. I'm gonna search some of the buildings for 'reclaimable' items."
"You will do nothing of the sort until we give clearance," Calli ordered firmly.
"This is Drane. I haven't seen anything, but think I'm picking up movement on my infrared scanner from one of these houses. I'm going to investigate."
"Ah, yes, Drane the Drone," mocked Patrik.
"You gonna take some samples in there too?" Andrew continued.
"I know you two are useless flux-stains, but if I'm going to be the only to take this seriously, can you at least leave me in peace to do so?" Drane, while he did his best to hide it, spoke with definite Imperial sophistication. It is possible he was from a noble family, probably seeking to escape the confining lifestyle.
"I appreciate your help here, Drane. Be careful," said Calli, trying to help him.
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Ma'am? Oooh, now we know why he took this mission," teased Patrik.
"Oh, shut up."
Calli had arrived at the stairs leading up to the entrance to the science module. A moment of fear washed across her.
Do I really want to know what's in there?
"Donnager, do you read?" asked Maeve.
"Loud and clear, Lieutenant. What is it?"
"Sir, I need a hi-rez ground radar survey on my position. The narrow band seismic probe is useless."
"Ok, Lieutenant, stand by."
In the distance, the white form of the Donnager made its approach. In the few days of preparation for this venture, the various systems on the ship, which had deteriorated after a year in storage, had been repaired. The team didn't realise how nervous they were until the comforting presence of an allied ship made itself known.
"I'm going to switch to the wide-scan probe," Maeve announced.
The sight of the Donnager overhead gave Calli new confidence. She pushed her doubt aside and began the climb. They've come this far, no reason to stop now. Once she reached the door, she asked the Drone operator for a detailed scan of the building.
"Apologies ma'am," replied the operator, "I cannot get a clear picture, the building must be lined with absorptive materials."
"I'm going into the science module," Calli announced. She gathered her strength and pulled open the sliding door. She was surprised by how easy it was; it wasn't locked our obstructed. Calli looked around. There was nothing, as expected, but something was moving, she could feel it.
"Incredible!" said Maeve.
"What?"
"The ground…It's alive!"
"Alive? Please be more specific." Maeve's announcement caused the fear to return. Calli pulled out her pistol and infra- scanner, holding both out in front of her, scanning the room.
The Donnager's system's officer broke in, "Anomalous signals are growing stronger. Movement patterns increasing."
"It's difficult to describe," Maeve continued, "Like hundreds of tiny pin-pricks moving around in an unpredictable, almost organic, way. I'm going to get a sample of the sand."
"Meave, how big are this 'pin-pricks'" Calli asked.
"Microscopic."
The drone's spotlight swept the module again from the distance. A shadow burst across the far wall. Whatever was in here was definitely not microscopic. She turned slowly. The scanner was giving her nothing, just the black shapes of objects exposed to the cold of space.
A scream echoed across the communications line. It was one of the mercenaries. Calli jumped in fright. Something lunged at her. She fired her pistol instinctively, causing the thing to wretch back, giving her the time she needed to escape.
"Team, report!" she called. She could see Maeve still working on her probe, so Calli wasn't concerned when she didn't call in. Andrew and Patrik responded as they emerged from the shadows of the buildings, but Drane did not.
"Seismic activity increasing rapidly!" called the systems officer.
"Calli, get your team out of there," ordered Cyril.
"Not yet," she said, "We have a man missing."
"Seismic activity is centred on the Fate's Reach."
"Oh, not again," said Cyril, as dust burst high to conceal the now doomed Python. This loss wasn't as hard hitting as the Deviant Reprisal, but that ship was still worth millions. The dust settled. An unmarred landscape bore no trace of the vessel.
"Seismic activity has settled, though is still strong."
Meanwhile, Calli and the two mercs were scouring the route taken by the third - Drane. His footprints lead into one of the pre-fab houses. They entered, slowly, guns ready. In the middle of the room lay an EV suit. It was torn and tattered, but the markings of The Knights Valiant were still clearly recognisable.
"What the hell did that?" asked a distressed Andrew.
Patrik walked over and carefully picked up the suit and helmet.
"What is that!?" Maeve's voice burst through the comm line, "No, stay back! HELP!"
"Calli, get your team out of there now! That is an order!" Cyril called.
Maeve's shrill scream filled their helmets as Calli and the mercs ran as fast they could back to the main road, but they were too late. As they rounded a building, they saw naked legs disappearing into the science module. In the middle of the road was the portable seismic scanner, a sample container and an equipment pack, but meters from it rested Maeve's ripped space suit.
"Seismic activity spiking!"
Cyril called out again. Oisin ordered the Donnager down. Calli retrieved Maeve's helmet cam and the mercs grabbed the equipment then they ran towards the extraction zone. The Donnager extended is boarding ramp and held position metres away from the settlement.
Cracks in the ground began to form around the team as dust flew up to obscure their vision. Only the bright blue glow from the Donnager's thrusters guided their run. The ground began to shake violently, and more than once threatened to trip her up. The two mercs ahead of her jumped onto the Donnager's ramp. Calli was seconds from safety when the ground fell from beneath her. She made one desperate jump for the ramp, but fell short. She flailed her arms, dropping Maeve's suit, and a wave of despair washed over her as hopelessness set in. But she was rudely awakened by a tug on her arm. She looked up. One of the mercenaries leapt off of the ramp to grab onto her hand. The other merc was lying on his stomach holding onto his friend. Calli felt movement as the Donnager pulled away slowly, but she could swear the sand was tugging on her lightly. Long seconds later, the dust finally cleared. She was slowly pulled back onto the ship as the docking ramp closed behind them.
Cyril stormed into the room and made a beeline for Calli, who was struggling trying to remove helmet. Cyril bent down and helped her. Once the helmet was off she collapsed, hyperventilating.
"You…!" Cyril began, but Calli looked up at him with wide fearful eyes.
"What is down there?" she asked, absently.
Cyril relaxed and pulled Calli into an embrace. "I don't know," he said softly as she burst into tears.
"Do we get a hug too sir?" joked Andrew.
. . . . . . . . . .
Calli was resting in sickbay. She was physically fine, but recovering from an acute panic attack not dissimilar to what Cyril felt after his first venture. Cyril was by her side the entire time, trying to understand the incoherent babbling at first, then offering sympathy and understanding when her tale became more coherent. Despite the pain and loss, Cyril felt relieved about the discovery of 'creatures' in the settlement. He did see a face on his first venture, it wasn't a hallucination.
"I didn't see it," she said, sitting on the edge of the medbay bed, "it was too dark, and it moved so fast. I'm not even sure if I killed it."
"At least you got out alive," Cyril tried to comfort her, "The equipment you…"
"I left the door open. That…thing killed Maeve. I let it kill Maeve," Calli stared intently at Cyril.
"You said the door was easy to open. Sure this creature could have opened it itself anyway"
"But I left her alone! I did the wrong thing."
Cyril moved to sit next to Calli. "I know how horrible you must feel, I've lost people under my command too, some of them best friends."
"I've lost people before too," Calli looked sternly at him, "I'm not an amateur, I know the job. This time, I made the mistake." Calli stood up. "Can I go now?" she asked the doctor, who gave an affirmative nod. She stormed out of the room.
Cyril sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm the wrong person for this," Cyril sighed.
"I know it's not my place to say, my Lord," the Doctor began, "But you are. She does trust you. I'm no psychologist, but I've never seen a trauma patient so open about their fears as she is with you. Give her time, she's still recovering. She'll open up eventually."
. . . . . . . . . .
Cyril entered the bridge and was about to ask for the equipment recovered from the expedition, but then he saw everyone's faces. They were white as a sheet, their eyes wide. "What is it? You look like you've all seen a ghost."
Cyril was not aware of the irony of that statement. Oisin ordered the systems officer to 'play it again'.
"Captain? Are you receiving?" It was Maeve's voice, but flat and monotone, as if devoid of life. "The colony is safe; you can come down now."
"But…" was all Cyril could muster.
"Captain? Are you receiving? The colony is safe; you can come down now."
"What the hell has happened to my crew member!?" yelled Oisin at Cyril.
Cyril just stood there. "I…"
"Captain? Are you receiving? The colony is safe; you can come down now."
"Captain, the Valiant is hailing us."
"But him through," Oisin said through gritted teeth.
The voice of an angry Josh came over the loudspeakers, "Why is my supposedly dead soldier now telling me to go down into the settlement? He doesn't even sound right!"
It knew Drane came from a different ship?
Oisin fixed Cyril with a stare. "Lady Calli retrieved Maeve's equipment, did she not?"
"Yes, she did," Cyril said slowly.
"Um, sirs," the quivering voice of the drone operator interrupted them.
"What?" Oisin was almost yelling.
"Look," the operator pointed at his screen.
He had been continuing to explore the settlement with his drone, but he caught something with its camera, something nobody wanted to see. The operator rewound to footage and froze it. There, peeking out at the drone from the science module, illuminated by the drone's light, was a face, if you could call it that. Its skin was dark and wrinkled, its eyes were wide and utterly alien. Its mouth was nearly perfectly round. Its lips were torn and teeth could be seen jutting out from places they shouldn't. A viscous green substance oozed from nearly every orifice. It was utterly grotesque, but the scariest part is, the face was familiar. There was no mistaking the shape of its features. It was Commander Whittaker of the Hamilton.
Oisin, breath trembling, turned to Cyril. "We have no reason to remain here…or to leave this place standing."
"Ah, now he speaks my language," said Josh, unaffected by the horror, "Let's turn this place to flux."
Cyril too felt the urge to destroy this place, he felt it when he was lifted off of it mere days ago. They could annihilate it, these two ships had the weaponry to do so, but this grotesque image only served to increase his curiosity. Whatever was sending this messages under the guise of what it takes is aware of the two ships. They knew so little about this place. Still, his options were limited. Lives had been lost now. With each expedition they lose much and gain little.
"I would love nothing more than to rid the galaxy of this enigma, and when the time comes, I would even bring the Seraph out of mothballs to do so. But, before we act too hastily, we should at least analyse the data that Calli's team brought back. We don't want to make this…thing worse."
Oisin stared at him. "Unbelievable! You want to keep studying this place? It almost took your life; you should be the one pulling the trigger!"
"Oisin, you aren't thinking straight."
"And what makes you say that?"
"You haven't called me Lord once in this entire conversation." Cyril didn't care for the title of Lord, but Oisin did. Imperial tradition was very important to him.
Oisin sighed. He pushed back the rage. Cyril was right. But he knew that destroying this place was the right thing to do. "I understand, but I still say we destroy this place…my Lord."
"We will, in time," Cyril smiled disarmingly.
"Very well. I'll have the team's data analysed."
"Oh, come on," said Josh, "Just as I was getting to like you."