Chapter 21

Fick paused, listening to the eerie whistling of the wind that seemed to blow in and out like bellows through the ship. While it vaguely reminded him of breathing, which was an unnerving thought, he also thought he picked up the faintest sound of someone wailing being carried by the moving air. He waited a moment longer, but didn't hear it again. With a hand signal, they continued inward.

They'd made entry shortly after he'd radioed in his report to Captain Bartz. Once he'd determined which Marines were sidelined from the mystery ailment that had seemed to rip through the platoon, Fick had assigned Fulmer and Eberwein to watch over the downed Marines. The rest had become his 'boarding party'. Guerrero, Walker, Johnson, Liscomb, Anderson, Rendar, and Titov had all followed the Lieutenant up the steep slope of rock and sideways tree trunks towards the ship.

After a treacherous crawl through a weird amalgamation of grass, rock, and whatever the hell the ship was made of, they'd made it into the 'belly' of the ship. There hadn't been any delineating line to mark where terrain ended and ship began. The only constant factor was the bed of gray-black mold-like substance that seemed to coat everything.

As he'd been making his ascent, Fick had noticed the small egg-like sacks that had been growing from the mold. The one he'd touched between two gloved fingers and shriveled before disintegrating. He'd paid the rest no mind as he continued up into the alien ship.

The Marines he'd taken with him into the ship had turned on their flashlights. Some were weapon lights, others utilized the small lights mounted to the side rails of their helmets. Bright cones of white light crossed over dark gray corridors that were much too large for the humans that now explored them. Condensation coated most surfaces, and they could hear water dripping steadily somewhere within the bowels of the large craft. It had then been joined by the sound of pouring rain, which they could hear and see through a hole that had been torn in one of the ship's outer walls.

The deeper they'd gone, the more each of them wanted to turn back.

Boots splashing through pooled water came to a halt as Marines froze in place, weapons snapping up. Lights and green laser designators danced over the row of upright figures. None of the Marines could tell whether the things were sculptures or alive. If they were alive, then Fick and his troopers were in trouble.

While mostly humanoid in that they were bisymmetrical, the things were massive. If they were representative of whoever, or whatever, had built and operated this craft, then it gave a proper scale as to why the Marines felt so tiny walking through the curved, high-ceilinged passages within the arm.

"God. Look at their faces." Johnson said quietly. Fick looked up, his helmet-light illuminating the tall being's face. While the rest of them looked mostly human, their alien visages were anything but. The 'skull' was rounded, and there were two sockets for what might have once been eyes. But that was where the similarities ended. Instead of a nose and mouth, the thing had a ridged, elephant trunk-like appendage that started between the eyes and ran all the way down the thing's chest, connecting what could best be described as an external ribcage.

As always, Frank was there with his camera in hand. He held a flashlight in his other hand to ensure that the things was properly lit.

"What's your take on this?" Pops asked Frank. The Gunnery Sergeant was irritated they'd had to bring the company man along, and figured the guy might be useful in making sense of this whole situation.

"I know just as much as you guys do." Frank said, not taking his eyes off the camera's screen to ensure everything was being documented. "Whatever these big guys are, this is the first time we're coming across them."

"Yeah, but are they alive?" Private Johnson asked from behind Frank, his weapon still trained on one of the 'statues'. "Doesn't exactly give me a warm and fuzzy knowing these things are in here with us. For all we know, they're playing possum. We leave here, and the next thing I know I've got one of these big bastards trying to eat my head."

"Well, there's one way to be sure." Liscomb said, flicking the safety off his rifle.

"Stand down, Liscomb." Pops said sternly. Liscomb acknowledged by flipping the safety back on. Pops looked at Fick and saw that the Lieutenant was sweating profusely, and was looking slightly pale. "You alright, sir?" The Gunny asked. Fick reached up and opened the collar of his top a bit more.

"Think I overheated a bit during the climb, Gunny." Fick looked at Pops and smiled. "All good here." Pops could see that Fick wasn't as sure as he sounded.

"Lieutenant Fick." Rook said from the doorway at the end of the chamber. All eyes turned to face the synth. "I think I may have found something."

"Shit, I forgot he was with us." Liscomb said quietly to Walker. Second squad's marksman nodded, then swallowed hard. Liscomb looked at Walker. The man's face was drenched in sweat, and he was swaying from side to side. "Hey man, you okay?"

"It's hot." Walker said, his voice raspy as if he was parched. "I'm burning up, man."

"Hey, keep it moving." Corporal Rendar said, irritated that he'd had to lug his 240 up the mountain, and now had to maneuver the large weapon in the 'tight' spaces of the ship. He paused when he saw Walker clearly suffering from whatever was ailing the Marines outside. "What's wrong, Walker? You caught the bitch-bug too?"

"I uh…" Walker shook his head, as if trying to think. "I don't know, Corp." Rendar frowned at this.

"Liscomb, take Walker back outside and have one of the medics look at him." Rendar said. While they were both corporals, Rendar had seniority.

"Check." Liscomb said. He stepped aside to allow the two gunners to pass by and catch up with the rest of the boarding party. "Come on buddy, let's get you out and into some fresh air." The Georgia-native said. Walker just nodded, clawing at the top of his vest to try and get it away from his body. Liscomb had to all but drag Walker from beneath a stream of falling water, which the Lance Corporal seemed to be using to try and cool himself down.

"Just a few more seconds." Walker said.

"Come on, man. It's raining outside." Liscomb said. "That'll cool you down plenty. We'll have the medic stick you to get you some fluids, and you'll be better in no time."

The two continued on, all but sliding down the strange mold-covered tunnel that they'd climbed up to get into the ship. Walker almost lost his footing a few times on the walk down the fallen trunks towards the plateau where the rest of the platoon sat. Liscomb was about to say something, but a piercing scream cut through the air as he opened his mouth.