Chapter Six
Space Junk
Candi slowly opened her eyes, feeling the sluggish hangover of awakening from cryosleep. She fluttered her eyes and frowned. Had four days already passed? It seemed she had only just fallen to sleep.
At first, her sight was blurry and distorted. She rubbed her face, blinking sleep from her tired eyes and found she could see clearly. She was still sealed in her cryochamber and could see Nyquilio at the control panel in the middle of the sterile white room. He smiled at her and held up one finger to gesture 'give me one second.' He then waved his hands over the control panel before him and pressed his finger against it. Candi's cryochamber hissed and slowly opened. Nyquilio rushed over to her and gently removed her IV and then the electrodes that were attached and very gingerly disconnected a small cable from her neural implant.
"What's going on?" Candi asked hoarsely.
"Before we went into cryosleep I got into the system and pulled some strings so the IV didn't feed to me. We are still in warp speed but if we do what we need to do in less than an hour and get back into cryosleep then we'll be okay. Are you up for it?"
"Up for what? What do we need to do? Are you sure this is safe?" Candi asked, disoriented and confused.
"I told you in the lab remember? About the artifacts. When you threw the book I saw blood come out of it. I was afraid to say anything. I didn't want to look crazy. I'm sorry I left you hanging out to dry but we need to get rid of those artifacts. You were right! He wanted us to find them. I could do it by myself but I knew you would want to see it done, for us and for Nancy."
Candi was beginning to feel clear headed again. "How did I get here? I don't remember..."
"Yeah, Talos and Lubdan ambushed you with a sedative and the crew worked together to put you in cryosleep with the rest of us. Very much a dick move by the lab rat and his robot," Nyquilio explained.
"Oh, but how did you wake me from cryosleep? The drugs are measured out for the exact amount of time that we are supposed to hibernate. How did you manipulate that?"
"I made sure you only received a weak sedative instead. I waited for you to wake up. It didn't take long, but we don't have much time. We need to move if we are going to do this," he answered
"You know, if anyone finds out you'll be fired right? We could face criminal charges " Candi said.
"I've manipulated the security feeds for the next hour. It's on a loop from shortly after cryosleep initiated. There's no way they will know whose to blame! Besides, I don't care. We can't let these artifacts make it back to Somnium-5 or Earth 2. Will you do this with me?" Nyquilio asked.
"Of course I will.," Candi said, feeling the anxiety rise inside her gut. "Thank you for believing me. Everybody seems blinded by greed! Freddy is real. I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't seen the words and blood form in the diary! It has to be true! If we let them sell these things then we are giving him a whole new playing field! What's your plan?"
"The airlock," Nyquilio answered. "We put the glove, the house, and even the diary in the airlock and launch them into space. I know you feel a connection to that diary but if we found it it means he wanted us to! We will loose them into open space, No one is ever going to find them! I thought about trying to burn them or even fire a plasma gun at them but I have a feeling it wouldn't do anything. They are in pristine shape after almost five hundred years so I don't think we are going to be able to do any damage. But if we launch them into space at warp speed then even if they aren't destroyed they will at least be lost to the void of space. That Freddy Krueger is a real son of a bitch!"
"Yes! Great idea! But, wait, what about Talos?" Candi asked climbing out of the cryochamber as Nyquilio took her hand to assist. "He might try to stop us."
"Don't worry about him. Before cryosleep I uploaded a small virus to the system he connects to. It will shut him down for three hours. I checked, he's out. By the time he wakes back up we will already have the artifacts launched and be back in our cryochambers. So do you trust me?"
"Yes," Candi answered. "We're doing the right thing!"
"Good, let's go. We don't have a lot of time," Nyquilio said taking Candi's hand.
Nyquilio and Candi exited the cryochamber room which brought them to a long corridor that ran horizontally, the end of each side represented by airlock #1 to their left and the Shuttle bay to their right.
Five doorways adorned the walls of the corridor. One door was the one they were using to exit the cryochamber room. Another door on the same side of the corridor as the cryochamber room was the lift to the bottom floor or top floor. The three doors on the opposite side of the corridor were the nanomed lab, the kitchen/mess hall, and restrooms. The bottom floor of the ship held the cockpit, and cargo bay and the uppermost floor was the recreational lobby, sleeping quarters and offices. The room they needed now was the nanomed lab. Talos-16 had been ordered by Donella to continue examining the artifacts from Earth-1 so Nyquilio and Candi intended to check there first. Nyquilio was still holding Candi's hand tight as they moved quickly through the hallway. He stood at six foot and seven inches so his stride was much longer than Candi's who stood at five foot one inch. His grip was very tight and it felt as if he was dragging her along because he moved so fast.
"Ow, Nyquilio, you're hurting my hand! Please slow down," Candi pleaded.
"My apologies, Candilynn. I am just concerned about time," he said, releasing his tight grip on her hand and slowing to her pace as they approached the nanomed lab.
"Okay, here we are," Nyquilio said, placing his hand on the scanner next to the door. A beep could be heard followed by the door whooshing open. The two would be saviors of the Beowulf stepped into the lab. Directly in front of them were the four nano med beds. Control panels spread from one side of the room to the other on the far side of the lab. To their left was some cabinets and a counter and table with four chairs. Candi had been sitting there earlier reading from the diary. To their right was the large control panel where Talos and Lubdan had pulled up the history of the Springwood Slasher, Freddy Krueger. The glove, house and diary sat on a table that had been placed next to the control panel to be scanned earlier that day. Candi gasped when she saw Talos-16 laying sprawled out on the floor in front of the artifacts, his legs bent at the wrong angle. She would have assumed he was very dead from his posture had he been human.
"Oh my God! Talos! Is he okay? Are you sure the virus didn't kill him? We need to set him up or something!" Candi said.
"Eh, He's just a robot Candi," Nyquilio responded. "He will be fine. Once we are done with everything and enough time passes he will be up and running good as new!"
"Nyquilio! He's our friend! We can't just leave him like this!"
"Of course he is, yes you are right. Sorry, I am just concerned about getting this done before too much time passes. Let's set him up at the control panel."
Nyquilio and Candi each put one of Talos' arms around their shoulder and hefted him up. He weighed much more than Candi had expected but thankfully Nyquilio took on most of the burden of lifting. They walked to the control panel, Talos' feet dragging across the floor, making an annoying squeaking noise all the way. They set Talos in a chair at the large control panel and Nyquilio pulled a shiny silver bag from a pocket of his pants. He quickly went to work placing the diary and the glove inside the bag and tying it to the side of his waistband. He then took hold of one side of the model house as Candi followed suit and took the other side.
"Alright, let's get this over with," Nyquilio said.
"Out of sight and definitely out of mind!" Candi added.
The pair lifted the model home from the table much like they had when they had initially found it on Earth-1. Candi wished like hell that she had never brought the damn thing to the ship to begin with, wished that they had just made a trip to their original planned location and brought back boring political and religious artifacts. But you can't go back in time and the damage was done. All she could do was try to right the wrong she had committed and make sure the legend of Freddy died that night on the Beowulf.
Candi and Nyquilio awkwardly walked out of the nanomed lab into the corridor on the middle section of the Beowulf. They made their way down the corridor to the very end and stopped at the door that read Airlock Inner Door. Nyquilio readjusted his grip on the house so he could hold his side with one hand as he placed his other against the scanner, opening the Inner Airlock door. He again took the side of the model in both hands and the pair carried it into the airlock and sat it down.
"Okay, almost done! I'll prep for opening the outer airlock door. Can you drag the model closer to it?" Nyquilio asked.
"Sure!" Candi said as she bent down and took hold of the model and began walking backwards dragging the model across the room until her butt bumped into the outer airlock door. She released her grip and stood up but was mortified to hear the Inner Airlock door whooshing closed. She ran back across the room to the inner door and Nyquilio stood on the other side looking through at Candi through a small glass observation window affixed in the door. He looked quizically through the window at her and asked, "What's wrong?!"
"Nyquilio! QUIT FUCKING AROUND! OPEN THE DOOR! WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"
"Actually, I've got more time than I've had IN A LONG TIME! HAHAHAHAHA!" Nyquilio began laughing and as he laughed his voice began to deepen into a guttural deep sinister laugh. Candi beat against the door pleading with him to open it. She tried putting her hand against the scanner on the inside but since she wasn't a crew member it did not open for her. She looked back up at Nyquilio and her blood ran cold as she saw his face morphing from the blue skinned, three eyed Noc'Tralian she knew into a hideous human face covered in wet looking burns. She could make out the shape of his face, his hook nose, his sadistic smile. She had seen that face before but it hadn't been covered in burns in the pictures she had seen earlier that day on the control panel.
It was Frederick Charles Krueger.
As her heart rate began to rise she watched as he lifted his hand holding a black fedora hat and placing it on his bald burned head.
"Freddy!" Candi yelled.
"The One And ONLY!" he replied.
"Oh my god, I'm still asleep!" Candi realized in horror.
"I really do want to thank you, Candilynn. You did me such a solid."
"What the hell are you talking about?! LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Candi demanded.
"All in good time Candi. I wouldn't even be here without you. I was sitting around in my limbo, bored, lonely, and then you and your crew visited Casa De Freddy or as you call it Old Earth " Freddy said with a smile. "Others have visited before but they were out of my range. I only had so much ability to affect the living world but when you have nothing but centuries to practice you learn to master your craft. I cast my line into that ocean in the sky and you all took the bait."
"Go TO HELL YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'D NEVER HELP YOU!" Candi hissed.
"Oh, but you did Candi. You, that nerdy leprechaun, and his pile of nuts and bolts all helped me so much. It's funny, your boss didn't even question how she couldn't pull up any other location or how in a town completely buried in the ground there was still a street sign and a house standing and it was all because the only thing your boss saw was dollar signs. Your crew brought me to your ship but it was Lubdan, the robot, and you that gave me life again. They found the stories and you filled in the blanks with that diary you just so happened to find. You three spread me like a virus to your crew and I'm back, baby! Guess we won't be needing this anymore."
Freddy held up the withered leather diary in front of the window for Candi to see as it burst into flames in Freddy's hand.
"No!" Candi yelled.
"Oh, yes! But most importantly you reunited me with an old friend that has been away for FAR TOO LONG!" Freddy croaked as he held the glove in his left hand for Candi to see and then slowly slid it onto to his right hand. He wiggled his fingers causing the blades to tink against each other. He spread his hand out in a quick motion, flourishing it before the window for Candi to witness.
"Would ya look at that! Still fits perfectly after all these years! I do thank you, Candi. I couldn't have done it without you, but now we go our separate ways. Parting is such sweet sorrow. I'll give your friends your regards. Looks like you really are destined to be Varissa's STAR PUPIL!" Freddy said and then began laughing maniacally, reaching for the control panel to open the outer airlock door but before he could Candi yelled out.
"NO! YOU MAY HAVE PUT THE DIARY THERE BUT I READ IT ALL! I KNOW YOUR WEAKNESS! NANCY KNEW IT TO!"
"Oh, is that so?" Freddy said a bit amused, staying his hand for the moment.
"You only have power if we give it to you!" Candi said sternly. "I know the secret, Krueger! This is just a dream! You're not alive! I take back the fear and energy I gave you! YOU'RE NOTHING!" she finished as she turned her back to Freddy.
"NOOOOOOO!" Freddy yelled behind her with extreme fear and pain in his voice. Candi held her breath, the outer door did not open, and Freddy didn't speak again. She turned back around to see that the observation window was empty. She smiled and took a deep calming breath. Just then an unfamiliar teenage girl's face appeared at the door looking through the window. She had curly dark hair, a pretty face, and a brilliant smile.
"You did it Candi! Just like I did!" the girl said.
"Nancy?" Candi asked.
"Yes, thank you. He almost got out! But, Candi, you have to remember one important thing!" Nancy said with a deadly serious tone.
"What?" Candi asked.
Candi let out a small squeal as Nancy went to talk but instead of words Candi saw blood pour from Nancy's mouth. Nancy's face went slack, the light in her eyes went out, and her head slowly began to rise up revealing it to be a bloody decapitated head being held by a gnarled burned hand. The hand tossed the head behind it and Freddy was once again looking through the window at Candi.
"Ya gotta remember I KILLED THE BITCH!" Freddy said and began laughing as he reached over and placed his hand on the control panel next to him. Behind Candi the outer airlock door began to slowly open. She frantically tried to open the inner door with the control panel but her hand was not recognized. She beat on the inner door but Freddy just laughed harder. She looked to her left and noticed a handle on the wall. She grabbed hold just as the air began being sucked out of the room and the airlock door slowly opened completely to empty space.
The vacuum of space pulled on Candi. Her body hovered horizontally as she held onto the handle for dear life. She felt her blood beginning to heat up. She grew weaker and her grip began to fail her one finger at a time. Freddy glared at her through the hole, no longer laughing. He looked at her with pure, seething hatred and yet it almost seemed like the bastard was soaking in the moment, savoring every second. She stared deep into his burning eyes and was filled with hatred and sadness. She knew her time was up and now Freddy would be going after Varissa, Butch, Nyquilio, and the rest of the Beowulf's crew and after that...
Her thoughts were cut off by the worst headache she had ever felt. She was holding on to the handle by one finger and it too finally slipped free. Candi was sucked out of the Beowulf and into open, empty space. She floated away, feeling her blood boil, watching the Beowulf get further away and Freddy's face get smaller and smaller. Her head felt like it would explode and then she saw no more as her eyes burst like a child popping a bubble. She let out a silent scream as she felt her insides begin to expand, her bones break, her vessels pop as her expanding body pushed her skeleton through her skin and then she felt no more.
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"Gallagher Sphere 2.0 update," Talos-16 said out loud in the NanoMed Lab of the Beowulf as he recorded his progress working on Lubdan's upgraded sphere. He continued, "I have successfully manipulated and evolved the nanoant technology of Nanomed Bed #1. The Nanoants are now able to reproduce allowing for the upgrade of the Gallagher Sphere to produce projectiles. Said projectiles will deactivate and completely deteriorate after sixty seconds and will be reproduced within the sphere by new ants. In a surprise development, not only is the Gallagher Sphere 2.0 now completely self sustaining but is now capable of powering any object formed by the wielder's control. Lubdan will be pleased. I am also continuing research on the artifacts from Earth-1. I am-"
Talos stopped speaking, caught off guard as the diary on the table next to the model home and glove suddenly burst into flames and ash faster than he could react to stop it.
"Strange," Talos said to himself.
As he leaned in to examine the ashes an alarm on the screen of the control panel to his right began sounding. He rushed to sit back down and redirected his attention to the screen and saw it was a vital sign alert from the cryochamber room. Talos quickly waived his hand over his control panel and pulled up Lubdan's vitals. Everything was in normal range. He began checking each of the other crew members but before he could find out who was in distress his attention was again distracted as he witnessed the five plus artifact, the bladed glove, began to slowly dematerialize in front of him. He sprang back to his feet and tried to grab the glove before it was completely gone but his hand passed right through it and within seconds it was completely gone, as if it had never been there to begin with.
"What is going on?" Talos asked no one.
The vital sign alarm was joined by another vital sign alarm. Talos leaned back over the control panel and finally came to Candilynn's vitals. Her heart rate was off the charts and her blood pressure was rising rapidly. Talos quickly left the lab and made his way to the cryochamber room.
Talos placed his hand on the door's control and the cryochamber room opened up before him. He stepped in and did a quick glance around the room, saw Lubdan was sleeping normally in his chamber, and looked to Candi's chamber. Her breathing was extremely labored as if she were unable to draw breath. He rushed to the control panel in the center of the room and pulled up her vitals.
They were in unsurvivable levels. He heard a clank and looked up. Candi's hands were pressed against the glass encasement of her cryochamber and then suddenly her eyes shot wide open and she screamed. Within seconds of her scream Talos watched in startled fascination as her eyes exploded in their sockets and Candi began heaving. She still appeared to be screaming but her scream was suddenly cut off there was no sound coming from her but she still screamed.
Talos immediately waived his hand over the control panel to begin an SOS to home base but was distracted again, this time by the sound of breaking bones. He looked up to see what appeared to be Candi's body flattening, spreading. Her broken bones erupted through her skin. Talos waived his hand over the control panel to begin his SOS call and that was when Candi's body exploded, filling her clear cryochamber with blood and gore.
In the moment Candi's body exploded, an electrical energy colored red and green shot out from her cryochamber striking the control panel and hitting Talos square in his chest. Talos flew backwards across the room hitting the wall behind him and landing with a thud on the floor. He saw the room go completely dark and then it was lit back up in a dim red informing the android the ship was now on auxillary power. He tried to rise to his feet and realized he could not move, could not lift his hand, or even move his head. Everything began to fade to black as the android slowly shut down.
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Varissa opened her eyes and found herself suddenly standing in the middle of a strange street. She couldn't remember how she had gotten there. The last thing she remembered was seeing the door to the house on Earth-1 slowly opening and the girls jump-roping and singing. She looked up and saw she was standing in front of a white building on the corner of a street. She could tell from her studies of Earth-1 that she was somehow standing on a street sometime in the distant past on old Earth. The sign on the building in front of her it read, 'The Crave Inn' and to the left of that sign was another that read 'Soda Fountain.' She looked around her at the dark road, saw street lights, buildings and old earth vehicles parked along the curb but no people.
She was completely alone and couldn't remember how she had even gotten there. It was late in the evening, almost dark.
She stepped up to the door of the Crave Inn and pulled on the handle. A small bell jingled over the door as she stepped inside.
She was standing in what appeared to be a twentieth century small town diner. Empty booths ran along the wall. The front of the diner had large windows in lieu of a wall and a counter ran sideways with stools in front. A young woman with reddish-brown hair wearing a light pink uniform stood behind the counter. She wore a strange small white hat with a blue border and a white apron sporting a similar blue border around her waist.
"Come in and have a seat," the girl said.
"Where am I?" Varissa asked as she slowly walked up to the counter and sat down on a stool.
"Springwood," the girl answered. "We don't have much time."
"Wait, Springwood? As on Springwood, Ohio? What year is it? Who are you?"
'My name is Alice. Listen, you're not safe here. He knows you're here and he's coming for you."
Alice paused, her eyes widened in shock as she looked behind Varissa out the large windows of the diner's face. Alice returned her gaze to Varissa and shouted, "He's here! I'll find you again but you need to RUN!"
Varissa saw the light in the room begin to dim and turned to look outside. There was no daylight left at all. It was completely dark and right outside the window the three girls were back again, singing while jump roping.
Five...Six... Grab you're crucifix," they sang.
"GO!" Alice yelled behind her. Varissa stood and turned to ask Alice a question but Alice was gone. Varissa was alone in the diner. She could hear a maniacal laugh somewhere in the distance and heard the girls still singing.
Seven...eight...Gonna stay up late."
Varissa ran and pushed open the diner's door and ran away from the playing girls, the diner, and the laughter that was getting much closer. The last verse of the girl's song chased her into the night.
"Nine...ten...Never sleep again…"
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